Alright, so I did it. Sunday I tried my hand at making Mark Bittman's mac & cheese recipe that's in the March issue of Runner's World. I've loved mac & cheese ever since I was mixing the Kraft stuff with my green peas at my parents kitchen table when I was like 5 years old. Now that I'm more conscious of what I eat and I understand how bad the stuff is for me, I have hardly had a bite of it in more years than I can count. So when I saw Mark Bittman's healthier version in Runner's World, I knew I had to try it out.
A few things were working against me, so my optimism levels were pretty low as it baked:
- I've never made mac & cheese from scratch
- We have a 3 cup food processor
- It turns out I'm bad at reading recipes (especially when written in paragraph form)
- Apparently when the oven light is turned on, the temperature decreases by 25'
I will tell you a few things:
- I didn't use bay leaves in the veggie stock
- It seemed like there was a lot of sauce, so I didn't use all of it (and I'm glad I made that decision)
- Since I'm still not super experienced as a cook, I was a little confused by the "8oz whole wheat elbow pasta". I started by measuring out a cup of pasta and realized it could not be enough. So I measured out another cup, which was about half the bag, so that made a little more sense.
the base of the sauce is cauliflower |
Our little food processor couldn't do the job, so it was up to the blender |
With homemade bread crumbs and grated Parmesan on top, it's (finally) ready for the oven |
Hot out of the oven! |
Yes, I look exhausted, but it's done! |
If you don't know Mark Bittman, check out his website HERE and his RW blog HERE.
- Are you a mac & cheese lover?
- Does it remind you of childhood memories?
- Do recipes written in paragraph form throw you off too?
Today's workout -
45min elliptical
100 crunches
2x40sec plank
3x10 leg press
3x10 upright row
3x10 hammer curl/squat combo
stretching
Tonight's workout -
heading back to Zumba!
12 comments:
I've made a version of mac 'n' cheese with butternut squash before...maybe that will be your next endeavor? :)
I saw that in the mag and wondered if it would be any good!?!?! Great job taking up the task, if you can do it (not being an experienced cook) than surely I could maybe do it too right?!??! LOL!
I saw this recipe and was intrigued by it...but I always am with mac and cheese recipes and then just "ok" with them at the end.
I like Bittman but the last recipe I made of his out of RW was a total fail.
I love that this has cauliflower in it, it sounds like it could actually be really yummy!
I am a BIG fan of mac and cheese and I've had some success with subbing in cauliflower/butternut squash/pumpkin for the cheese. Gotta get in the veggies :)
I had no idea mac & cheese could be made with butternut squash! I love that and will have to try sometime! Thanks for the tip ladies!
ooooh, thanks for making/reviewing this. Sounds like it's worth a shot. Nice job on your workout too!
I'm glad the mac and cheese turned out so well for you! I'll need to try that recipe.
This looks amazing. I'll have to check it out. And thanks for the tip about the oven light- I always leave mine on because I figure it's better to look at the food through the "window" rather than constantly opening the oven door.
Gracekelle, that's exactly what I thought too! We just discovered how to turn it on not long ago and I had no idea it would change the temp. Kind of strange, right?!
Yeah Really colorful and lovely cheese and i think very tested. i just try make its recipe .thanks for nice details shared ...
That looks great, nice work! Glad you're feeling better, too.
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