Saturday, March 17, 2012

Welcome to Tween-hood


We celebrated Meagan's 11th birthday with a mall scavenger hunt.  Chris supervised one group of girls and I supervised the other.  Of course, when I say "supervised" what I really mean is Chris sauntered 10 yards behind them while checking basketball scores on his smart phone.  It's really better that way.


                                                     Meg in some of her new clothes


So proud of my girl.  She is responsible, hard working and an invaulable friend.  In fact she has far more responsibilites than most kids her age, to which I often remind her, "You'll thank me one day!"  (Even though I used to hate it when my mom said that to me)  Love you Megsie!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Mac N Cheeze

Ok, so this post deviates from the parenting theme a little, but I have post the recipe for this non-dairy mac n cheese from Alicia Simpson's book Vegan Celebrations .  Eating meat-less has for the most part become a no-brainer as I find more and more foods I actually prefer over meat.  But my attraction to gooey, melty, creamy cheese has been more difficult to part with.  I try to keep in mind that there are entire continents of people that enjoy food immensely and do so without the consumption of dairy products.  But my Midwestern palate feels a little deprived...until now!  I know it's hard to imagine mac n cheese without...well...cheese in it, but I seriously doubt that the convenience product we grew up on has a main ingredient of cheese either.  Major food companies have made big business of making food taste "cheesy" with artificial flavors.  This recipe does the same thing using all natural ingredients.  My kids could seriously eat this stuff everyday!  There is another variation to the recipe that produces a thicker sauce which can be used as nacho dip, poured over baked potatoes, used as fondue...oh the possibilities are endless.  And it contains no cholesterol and lots of monounsaturated fats that are good for your heart!


Classic Macaroni and Cheeze
Vegan Celebrations p.174

1 pound macaroni
2 med Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and diced
1 med carrot peeled and diced
2/3 cup diced white onion
2 1/2 cups water
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup raw cashews (I pulse them through my coffee grinder to get really smooth texture)
2 tsp salt
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 dry ground mustard
2 TBS lemon juice
1/2 tsp pepper

Prepare pasta as directed.  Combine potatoes, carrot, onions and water in a small sauce pan over medium heat.  Bring to boil then simmer until tender.  Put vegetables and their cooking water, along with remaining ingredients into blender and process until smooth.  Add the sauce to pasta and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.