Mac and Cheese with Cauliflower

So I sent this to publish this morning but for some reason it didn’t so here it is (just a little late).

I figured since I’m off teaching middle school this morning I’d leaving you with a post I promised a few days ago.

On Wednesday night I made Tina’s Mac and Cheese with Cauliflower.

Since I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand I adapted it a little. You can check out her recipe here.

• 1 box of whole wheat macaroni
• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs
• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of parsley
• 1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups of ricotta
• 1/2 cup of skim milk
• Salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400.

Cook pasta according to directions and add chopped cauliflower for the last few mins.

Mix together bread crumbs, 2 tbsp of olive oil, parsley (and salt and pepper)

After pasta is drained mix together pasta, cauliflower, ricotta, cheddar and milk. Pour into casserole dish and top with bread crumb mixture.

Cook in oven for 15 mins (or until golden brown).

I served it with a slice of whole wheat bread with earth balance.

Tina says it made 6 servings for her but I got at least 7 or 8 out of mine.  It was huge and I ate it all week (and on the weekend for lunch).

**A few notes:

• Next time I would like to try it with the sour cream – I didn’t have any on hand so I just used the ricotta I had in my fridge
• Also next time I would take Tina’s suggestion and use extra sharp cheddar. I just used regular cheddar cheese and it really wasn’t as cheesy as I would have liked.
• I’m not a big onion fan so I just skipped on those I don’t really think it made a difference.
• Loved the addition of cauliflower. It was awesome to know your getting some veggies even in this delicious comfort food.
• Finally, I used really finely cut up bread crumbs that I had. I would next time either follow the recipe and cut up bread in the food processor or use a little thicker ones next time. It was very bready and a little messy. Bread crumbs everywhere isn’t all that fun.

I’ll be back later today with the rest of my baking from the weekend and a recap of my day.

~ Katie :)

Baking Queen

So this is my second post on a weekend. Pretty good, right?

When I left you yesterday I was heading to do some baking and as the post’s title might indicate I became a baking queen.

Here’s my baking so far:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

This is my husbands favourite treats. I always end up baking a few batches of this throughout the holidays. They are definitely high in calories but because they are so dense you really only need one to enjoy.

This is also a super simple recipe that is bake-free.

• 2 cups of peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 cups of icing sugar
• 2 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal
• 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a bowl mix together icing sugar and rice krispies.

Then melt together peanut butter and butter and a sauce pan.

Pour the peanut butter mixture over the icing sugar mixture and combine.

Once combined roll into balls about 1 inch in size and place on baking sheet.

Put baking sheet in fridge for a few hours (or if your like me and trying to please the husband as quickly as possible – freezer for about an hour).

Once firm melt chocolate and and dip balls in chocolate. Place back in fridge (or freezer) and another couple of hours and serve.

This delicious little beasts are always a hit around the holidays. I took them to a Christmas party last year and everyone raved about them. They are super easy and they last forever. Just make sure to store them in the fridge (or you can freeze them) as they melt very quickly.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I took this recipe from Kelly at browniesandzucchini.com

I followed the recipe exactly but I’m just going to repost it here for convenience.

• 3/4 cup butter (softened)
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 organic sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375.

In a small bowl mix dry ingredients minus the chocolate chips (flour, baking soda and salt).

Mix together butter, brown sugar, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy.

Then add eggs and beat.

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ones then add in chocolate chips.

Add cookies in baking sheet and bake for 8-14 mins depending on size of cookies. My smaller ones took about 8-10 where my larger cookies took about 12-14 mins.

This recipe made so many cookies. I think in total it made about 20 large cookies and 20 smaller cookies.

They seemed to go on forever. I’ve already put most of them in the freezer for the holidays but not first without a taste test. They turned out perfect.

I’m now in the process of making a loaf of Chocolate Banana Gingerbread and then a batch of pumpkin granola bars.

I’ll give you a preview picture…

~ Katie :)

A Powerhouse Day

As you may have figured out by the title of this post today was a crazy, fun-filled, exciting day. Lots to tell you about so please stick around and I’ll explain.

It started with No Bake Oatmeal from Allie @ Live Laugh Eat.

I followed her recipe but used 1/2 a banana as my add-in.

 

Then cooked in on the grill for a couple of mins on each side.

It made one very large oat cake/pancake thing.

I topped it with a tbsp of pb and a sprinkle of chia seeds.

After breakfast I had to take the husband to the airport. He was leaving to go to a conference in Whistler for the next three days.

After dropping him off I decided to do a little shopping. I hit a couple of home stores to pick some fun items for the house for fall (I will post my purchases tomorrow along with some new house pictures).

While shopping I picked up a non-fat non-whip pumpkin spice latte (I’m obsessed with these).

I also got cheese and fruit plate from starbucks for lunch.

This included apples, red grapes, crackers and four types of cheese.

I enjoyed this in my car while it was raining.

It was gross out!

 

I didn’t eat too much at lunch since I was hitting up a yoga class in a coupe of hours and didn’t want a heavy belly.

After shopping I was trying a new yoga studio. Bodhi Tree Yoga.

The studio was beautiful and it had both a small and a large studio which was nice so two different classes could practice at the same time. For my first class I went to a Hot Foundation class.

According to the website: Hot Foundation is practiced in a heated room, this invigorating class allows students to explore their balance, strength and flexibility.  Rather than a set series, various postures, methods and techniques are taught through the teachers discretion.

It was a tough and challenging class and I felt strong during most of the practice and I thought the instructor was great. She was very hands on and pushed the class to their limits. My only problem was that I got distracted with about 15 mins left of the practice and just couldn’t focus. I’m not sure what happened but I just couldn’t get into it at the end. I just kept weaving in and out of my thoughts. I’ll be going back tomorrow and hopefully this time I’ll be in yoga mode for the whole practice. Overall, I really loved the class and I’m looking forward to going back tomorrow.

After yoga I made a quick stop at Community Foods – a organic market close to home.

Here’s my purchases:

I picked up Coconut Oil, Organic Pumpkin, Sunflower Butter, Amy’s California Veggie Burgers, A Tropical Mix of Dried Fruit (these contain dried pineapple, mango, banana and papaya), Rolled Oats, Some Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and a stash of Cliff and Luna Bars. I also picked up some sweetened coconut and ground cinnamon at the Co-op across the street.

When I got home I made supper. It included Amy’s Veggie Burger with a little mozza and some spinach on a whole wheat bun.

And I served it with some parsnip fries.

With some ketchup.

This was an awesome dinner. I’ve never had a veggie burger before but I loved it. I’ll definitely get getting these in the future.

After dinner I decided to make some healthy treats. Some of powerhouse granola from Angela and some of my favourite granola bars.

First Powerhouse Granola

In the mix:

• sliced almonds
• flaxmeal
• chia seeds
• sunflower seeds
• unsweetened coconut
• pumpkin seeds
• pumpkin pie spice
• oats
• chocolate chips
• maple syrup
• coconut oil

I followed Angela’s recipe pretty close but I made a few changes. I only used about half the amount of almonds, I didn’t use any salt, I used flaxmeal instead of flaxseeds, no sesame seeds, dried cranberries or dried apricots, I used about twice as much as pumpkin spice and finally I used chocolate chips instead of cacao nips.

After cooking in the the oven for 20 mins (stirring once) at 400 degrees.

The only changes I would make would be I don’t think the chocolate chips were needed and I think it was in the oven for about 5 mins too long. It was a little crispy on the edges. But overall, it is delicious. I’m so excited to eat it.

After making some granola I also made some of my favourite granola bars.

I used the original recipe but also added a scoop of protein power to them to make them protein bars as well. Their still in the freezer but I’ll let you know tomorrow how they are.

Well this post has been long enough but I’ll be back tomorrow with at least one post (if not two – what else is a girl to do when her husband is away :P)

~ Katie :)

Houseguests, Breakfast Cobbler and More

I’ve been absent for the past couple of days, I had a houseguest and we were busy catching up.

Oh Natalia! It was so great to see you! Thanks for the visit.

Some eats included over the past days some Chinese food.

A spring roll, mushroom fried rice, and tofu with mixed veggies. The mixed veggies we awesome. They included baby corn, broccoli, sprouts, snow peas and water chestnuts.

My first pumpkin spice latte of the season.

I love the fall.

Some whole wheat waffles with maple syrup.

Leftover breakfast cobbler with pb.

See recipe below.

Leftover macaroni lasagna I made the other night.

I followed Lindsey’s recipe exactly.

Definitely try it. It’s fantastic!

And some grapes.

Served with the leftover lasagna.

The other morning I had some blueberries that were a little sad looking and I was trying to think of a way to use them and I remembered that Angela has recently posted a recipe for breakfast cobbler that I thought looked delicious.

I pretty much followed her recipe but made a few changes you can find Angela’s original here.

Apple and Blueberry Breakfast Cobbler

• 2 cups of rolled oats
• 2 tbsp of flour (I used whole wheat)
• 1 cup of blueberries
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 2 apples (I was out of bananas so I added two apples instead of one banana and one apple)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 of margarine
• 3 tbsp of maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp of lemon juice

The dry ingredients (oats, flour, blueberries, sugar, apples, cinnamon, salt)

 

The wet ingredients (margarine, maple syrup and lemon juice). Margarine should be melted a little.

Wet ingredients added to dry ingredients.

Baked in the oven for 45 mins at 400 degrees.

This was really good!

The only changes I would make would be to eliminate the salt. I found it was unnecessary and didn’t really mix well. I tasted it in a couple of bites (it didn’t really mix very well).

I really liked the double apples.

I’m definitely going to make this again.

Thanks Angela!

Dinner tonight will probably be leftover Chinese.

I’ll leave you with a pictures of my kitty. He was very photo friendly today.

I’m off to enjoy the weekend. I hope you all have a great weekend as well.

~ Katie :)

Oh Happy Day

This post is going to be short and sweet. One of my best friends in the entire world is coming to visit me today. She has been traveling around Europe for the past 2 years (usually comes home at Christmas so we get to see each other then) and she just spend the last month and a half in BC with her boyfriend. She is headed back to NS to start the job hunt and on her way she has decided to make a quick stop in Calgary to visit me! She’s only her for a little less then 24 hours but I’m still very happy that she’s coming. I’ll be picking her up from the airport in about 3 hours.

Before I head to do a little cleaning and tidying I just wanted to share the amazing soup recipe that I made last night for dinner. It was adapted from Simple Bits.

Hearty Vegetable Minestrone Soup

• 3 tbsp of EVOO**
• 1/2 a medium onion, chopped**
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 young carrots, chopped
• 1 cup of celery, chopped
• 2 small zucchini, chopped
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped**
• 2 ears of corn, cut from the cob
• 1 cup of fresh green beans
• 1 box of organic vegetable stock
• 2 cups of water
• 2 large tomatoes (approx. 2 cups), chopped**
• 1/4 of a pack of whole wheat spaghetti
• 3/4 of a can of white kidney beans**
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped – plus more for garnish
• Fresh parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)

**Changes I made to the recipe – you can see the original here.

The recipe was simple but it took about 2 hours in total. It almost took an hour just to cut up the veggies but it was worth it in the end. Definitely don’t try this if your in a rush, it requires quite a bit of prep time.

I also decided to add some kidney beans to make it a little more hearty and filling for a full meal.

First, I chopped up all the veggies. Then in a large pot I heated up 3 tbsp of EVOO in the bottom. Once heated I added the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, zucchini and rosemary. Let that cook for about 5 mins stirring until the vegetables are a little soft.

Then add the fresh beans and corn and let those heat up (approx. 2 mins) then add the vegetable stock, water

And chopped tomatoes.

Bring the water and stock to a boil then let cook for about 10 more mins, stirring occasionally.

While everything else is cooking, heat up water and cook pasta according to directions on the package (before added the pasta break it up so it is in smaller pieces). Also, drain and rinse the kidney beans from the can.

Once all that is done, add the pasta, beans and 1/4 cup of basil.

Cook for another 5-7 mins then season with salt and pepper.

The recipe made about 7-8 servings.

What an awesome end of summer, beginning of fall soup recipe.

Serve in a bowl with a little extra basil and some parmesan cheese.

 

Along with a piece of fresh bread.

A great vegetarian recipe (or vegan without the cheese). Even the hubby who is against anything vegetarian loved it.

I definitely recommend using fresh veggies for this recipe. It made it the soup!

I’m off now to get ready for my houseguest. I’ll be back tomorrow with another yummy recipe to share!

~ Katie :)