suzy's mac & cheese

Here's my basic recipe for Mac & Cheese from scratch.  It's a comfort-food classic and a simple crowd-pleaser for potlucks. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1 lb. box elbows (1600 calories)
4 cups / 16 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1600 calories)
3 eggs (225 calories)
1 cup / 8 oz. light sour cream (300 calories)
1 cup half and half (315 calories)
2 tsp. salt

Total calories: 4,040
Calories per serving (8 servings): 505

Directions: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Boil elbows but drain 1 minute before shortest time according to package directions (because they will continue to cook when baked in the oven and you don't want them to be mushy). While pasta is cooking, shred cheese and set aside. Put eggs, half-and-half, sour cream, and salt in a small mixing bowl and whisk together well. Once pasta is drained, put in a large mixing bowl and stir cheese into the pasta. Pour dairy mixture into pasta and cheese mixture, and stir together thoroughly. If you like to add anything special, e.g., bacon or ham, this is the time to stir it in. Pour into a baking dish. Bake, covered, 60 to 90 minutes. (Shallower pans will need less time, deep pans will need more; I keep an eye out for the cheese to get a little crispy and browned at the edges.)

Notes:
I am a big fan of extra sharp cheddar, (my father was a Tillamook addict), but you can mix it up and use a milder cheddar or blend with fancier cheeses likes Gruyere. Since the cheese is the main event, I think this is the time to buy better quality cheese if your budget permits.

If I weren't trying to keep the calories under control, I might take some shredded Parmesan and mix it with bread crumbs for a topping.

I have a square casserole with a glass lid (pictured above) that is perfect for this because it can go from oven to table to fridge, but shallow casseroles or lasagna pans covered with foil will work, too.

Because this recipe has three eggs, it "sets" and gets firm enough to slice. This won't ever replicate soupy Kraft-style Mac & Cheese, but if you (or your kids) prefer a squishier version, cut out an egg and don't bake quite as long. I tried using 2% milk instead of half-and-half, and while it made it much looser and cut out some calories, the cheese didn't emulsify into the other dairy well and was weird and lumpy, so I think cutting out one or two of the eggs and shortening baking time is the better way to achieve a squishier/looser consistency.

Divided into eight servings, they will not be huge. However, with a bowl of tomato soup or a nice salad on the side, or topped with some grilled chicken, it's just right. You can always divide into larger servings or serve as a side dish.

vegetarian burrito

Lunch today was a yummy low-cal vegetarian burrito. This is a short-cut recipe that just requires heating and assembly. I used a new-to-me product, Lightlife Smart Ground veggie mexi crumbles.

Here's the breakdown:

1 whole wheat tortilla (130 calories)
110 g (approx. 2/3 cup) Lightlife Smart Ground veggie mexi crumbles (120 calories)
150 g (half a 15 oz can, liquid drained out) black beans (132 calories)
1/2 cup reduced fat shredded mexi-cheese (160 calories)
2 tbsp Pace Picante salsa (10 calories)

Total calories: 552.

I sautéed the mexi crumbles in a small non-stick pan, (even with non-stick a little bit of cooking spray helps), and heated the beans in a small sauce pan. Then I just lined everything up on the tortilla, rolled it up, and flipped it over. This is too much filling to fold it closed to eat by hand, but I didn't want to add the extra calories of two tortillas. If I'd had it, I would have first covered my plate with chopped or shredded lettuce, then made the burrito, and maybe added a dollop or two of sour cream.

The Lightlife crumbles were in the refrigerated natural foods section at my local Giant. They have a definite Mexican seasoning to them, but not too spicy. For a pizza topping or a vegetarian Bolognese sauce I would use the crumbles that don't have the Mexican seasoning, so I'll have to pick some up to try. I'm working hard to find more items like this that are refrigerated, rather than frozen. I've always liked the Morningstar Farms products (though these crumbles are much better), but I don't have the freezer space on the boat to keep many frozen foods.

quinoa with chickpeas and veggie patties

Here's a flavorful diet-friendly shortcut meal. I heated up two Veggie Patch Mediterranean Spinach and Chickpea Patties in a sauté pan. They are 120 calories each and vegan. I find them in the refrigerated natural foods section at my local Giant grocery store. It'd be nice to always cook from scratch, but these little short cuts are healthier and more affordable in a pinch than eating out and help me count and control calories. (A container of 4 is currently $4.49).


Side dish: Quinoa with Chickpeas (makes two servings at 270 calories each)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup organic red quinoa (a la Trader Joe's) (320 calories)
1 vegetable bullion cube (5 calories)
2 tsp fresh chopped garlic (~ 8 calories)
1 cup water
245 g drained and rinsed canned chickpeas a/k/a garbanzo beans (207 calories)

Directions:

Put water in a small sauce pan, add vegetable bullion cube, garlic, and quinoa. Bring to a boil. Drain and rinse one can of chickpeas. (I weighed them on a food scale because it is far more accurate than using the approximate serving information from a can. Calorie counts on nutrition labels are based on weight, so it is much more accurate to weigh food than to guesstimate based on volume.) Stir the chickpeas into the quinoa mixture, stirring occasionally and simmering until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is "done," i.e., the germ ring is visible on the grain. I set aside half of the pot for the next meal. If I had had something green, I would have added it. Maybe stir in a bag of sautéed spinach or top it with some chopped scallions or cilantro.

For 510 calories, this is a heaping plateful of food, bursting with flavor.