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Try this: Mac and Cheese-Healthy, Pregnant friendly, Frugal, Gluten-free, Dairy-free Version!
- Sep 2, 2009 at 9:48 AM
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- Comments (6) Total Views (401) Everyone can see this journal post.
Ok so I have been craving mac and cheese and creamy pasta dishes for sooooo long-maybe 2 weeks? lol
I just had to have my mac n cheese!! I was a vegetarian in my teens and so when I moved abroad I had a lot of trouble finding the cheeses, trans-fat free vegetable margarines, and baked goodies!
I had a very strong intolerence to dairy since I moved here- or maybe it has to do with pregnancy? I don't know. Dairy especially milk and cheese gave me nasty 24 Hour diarrhea and so I missed mac and cheese, 10x the horrible headaches, and nausea. The usual version I made of mac and cheese was veganaise mixed with nutritional yeast and some soy milk and spices. Since I have no veganaise and all that stuff I made a very easy version anyone can do with very basic ingredients and very healthy as well. My version is vegetable based that is slowly cooked in olive oil and spices then creamed with a hand blender. Thats it!! and just mixed with cooked macaroni pasta or any shape you like :)
This recipe serves 4 OR one very hungry pregnant lady!
Ingredients:
Gluten-free macaroni or any pasta you have on hand- I just used regular white pasta
1 Zucchini (Courgette)- Skinned & Grated
1 Carrot- Grated
1/2 Green or Red Sweet Bell Pepper- diced
1 small Onion-Diced
2-3 cloves Garlic-Minced
Seasonings: Salt, Pepper, dry basil and oregano, pinch of red chili flakes (optional)
Directions:
Boil the pasta in salted water and little bit of olive oil until soft. Drain. Set Aside. You might want to reserve some of the pasta water to add to the sauce later.
Drizzle some olive oil into a preheated frying pan then add the onion, green bell pepper, and carrots. Saute until soft.
Add the garlic and zucchini and saute until soft. Then add your seasonings. Saute until you can smell the veges and seasonings.
Transfer the mixture into a blender or into a long narrow measuring cup or anything kind of narrow and then take a hand blender and try to blend it. If it''s too chunky just add a little bit of pasta water until it's the consistancy that you like! Then add the pasta back into the pan with the sauce and mix them together if you want
Give it a try and please comment!
Comments:
I will try it under the understanding that it is just a new recipe and is NOT mac and cheese lol! I tried a meat substitute once that my friend said "tastes JUST like chicken", needless to say I expected it to taste like chicken, not strange squishy beans. If she had just said it tasted like beans I would have liked it better. The texture really threw me off. Your recipe sounds tasty but I don't think it will taste like mac and cheese.
Oops, I just realised my comment sounded rude toward vegetarians/vegans. Sorry! It wasn't meant to. I am currently a meat eater transitioning into a meat free diet. I have a friend who is a longtime vegetarian and she suggests food all the time and says they taste like the real deal. They never do lol! I like vegetarian food I just have to go in expecting it to taste very different than what I've become accustomed to. Thanks for the recipe!
so the veggie paste is the cheese part correct? sorry to be ignorant. There is no cheese? Sounds delish. I really want to become vegetarian but hubby is a meat and potatoes man. I make a really yummy almond feta cheese that rocks..and really has changed my health.
Hi Lulu 101. I wasnt sure where to put this. So I will add my feta cheese recipe to my page. Please feel free to stop by and say hi. :)
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I'll have to give this a try. I am not a milk drinker, but I suspect the dairy I have been getting through cheese and yogurt may be causing my nausea and headaches. I have been craving it more than usual since I am pregnant. I guess I should go a week without and see how I feel.
- logansmomma2007
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