Guest Post: Trick’em Mac & Cheese
Greetings Carrots’n'Cake readers!
I want to start off by thanking the lovely Tina for allowing me to be a guest blogger!
My name is Allison, and I went from being an extremely unhealthy girl in her early twenties, to a fairly health conscious “lady” (for lack of a better term – wink wink) in her late twenties. Healthy eating is something I’ve gotten the hang of, and plan on continuing the rest of my life. When my husband proposed (then just the boyfriend) – I was 50 pounds heavier, and I realized I needed to get my life in order. Now I can happily say that things are. I’ve started my own blog to chronicle all the things I love – the two most important being food and a healthy lifestyle! Check it out at Green Dog Wine!
Today I wanted to share with you one of my favorite recipes – when you eat it, you feel like you are being “naughty” – but it really is good for you! It’s slightly higher in calories than some dishes I make – but compared to the traditional way it’s prepared – it’s still way better for you!
Trick’em Mac & Cheese
This recipe was inspired by a dish I saw on Ellie Krieger’s Food Network show. I’ve made it my own, by swapping stuff out, and adding some of my favorite staples in! Here’s what you’ll need:
Ingredients:
· cooking spray
· 1 box (16 ounces) whole wheat pasta, your favorite shape will do just fine!
· 2 packages (20 ounces) frozen pureed winter squash
· 2 cup(s) milk, skim
· 1 1/3 cups (4oz.) grated/shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
· 2/3 cup (2oz.) grated/shredded Monterey Jack cheese
· 1/2 cup fat free ricotta cheese
· Salt (recommended 1 tsp)
· Dry mustard (recommended 1 tsp)
· Cayenne pepper (recommended 1/8 tsp)
· Onion powder
· Garlic powder
· Chili powder
· Optional: Any veggies you want – like spinach, corn, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, etc
Here’s a picture of all the main ingredients:
Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees, boiling a pot of water to cook the pasta in, and in another sauce pan – melting the 2 blocks of frozen pureed winter squash.
Cook the pasta according to package, and strain completely when it’s done cooking.
Once the squash has melted, add in all of the cheeses, the milk, and spices. I never measure the spices, I just add however much I feel is appropriate. I put “recommended” after some of the spices because that is what the original recipe called for. If you use Cayenne – BE CAREFUL – that stuff has a very powerful kick – which is fine by me J But if you don’t like spicy things – be cautious!
After you’ve added all the remaining ingredients to the squash saucepan, and made sure everything has melted, add whatever veggies you like – here I only added spinach. I didn’t measure – just grabbed 2 big handfuls!
Combine squash/cheese/veggie mixture and cooked, strained pasta in a large bowl, or pot. Spray a 13.5×9 baking pan with cooking spray, and add the combined noodle mixture to the pan.
Bake for about 20 minutes – or just until you see the cheese start to bubble around the edges of the dish, remove from the oven – and ENJOY TRICK’EM MAC & CHEESE!
Here’s my dish – I drown everything I eat in hot sauce – you don’t have to follow suit, but if you do – it will be delicious!
I promise – NO ONE will know there is squash in there – unless they catch you making it. My warning to you on that: KEEP ALL SNEAKY HUSBANDS out of the kitchen! Mine caught me in the act of making it, and now refuses to eat it.
So while I can’t say the Trick’em Mac & Cheese worked on him – I have fooled others! They are eating delicious mac and cheese, and I snuck some of their daily veggies in!
Posted by: Tina 25 comments
Posted in: Uncategorized, guest blogger
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
This looks awesome- I can’t wait to try it! Thanks
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Thank you so much for this recipe, I love the title and I will be sure to make it this time of year. Home made mac & cheese is the best–and this looks SO DELISH!! THANK YOU ALLISON! Keep up the great cooking!
)
and tina, thank you for adding me to the roll….You’re a great blogger!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Ooooh, that looks so good. I am going to have to make it – especially after I had the worst mac’n cheese last night!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
ALLISON!!!! MY FELLOW OHIOAN AND WHOLE FOODS PAL!!!!! Love the post!!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Looks like another fabulous guest post! This Mac n Cheese looks incredible!! Thanks for the recipe!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Thank you!! That looks fantastic… I wonder if I can fool the fiancee… He bought into the pumpkin enchiladas today!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I have made the original Ellie Krieger version of this recipe and it is fantastic. I like your additions!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
I’m going to have to try this! Looks delicious and so healthy!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Love this! It looks SO creamy!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Thanks again for letting me do this Tina!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Ooo great recipe! Thanks for the guest post
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
That looks so delicious. Can’t wait to make it!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Delicious and so healthy~~~~~Thanks for sharing!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Ooh, I’ve made Ellie Krieger’s mac and cheese before and it was so good!
Tina, I know you’re going to NYC soon and I just came back from the weekend there that involved a lot of chocolate (which I know you love) and other yummy food, so check out my blog if you feel like it… maybe you’ll get some good ideas for your trip
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
YUM! that looks and sounds soooo great! Im adding it to my soon-to-make list!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
ALLISON!!!! YOU ARE MY FAVORITE BLOGGER!!! Love that recipe – cant wait to make it
Thank You!
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Wow, that looks good. I’ll h ave to try it soon!
on Nov 18th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
[...] Another cool thing I wanted to update you on – Tina gave me the opportunity to be a featured guest blogger – check it out! [...]
on Nov 18th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Yay Allison!! I actually had a very similar dish to that last night.
on Nov 18th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
this looks like an awesome mac&cheese recipe! i will have to try it!
on Nov 18th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Love your blog, and love this recipe. I made it for dinner last night. I would definitley give it a try.
on Nov 19th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
This recipe sounds and looks very yummy. I will definitely have to try it and I’m sure hubby will eat it. We like to try new things!
on Nov 22nd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
It is happy to see your posting. Yes really informative article. I will tell this information again to my friend, oh yes I suggest you to check my blog on http://www.cheeseworlds.blogspot.com , I hope the article on my blog will be usefull for you… and we can share each other. thank you…
on Dec 9th, 2009 at 12:08 am
[...] Trick’em Mac’n’Cheese: [...]
on Jan 6th, 2010 at 11:46 am
[...] ordering it halfway through and then a few hours later… So the other day when I saw that Carrots n Cake had a guest poster from Green Dog Wine who did a Trick’em Mac and Cheese I was drooling. It [...]