Mac And Cheese- well, not really....

I love macaroni and cheese. Always have.  I had made accommodations to it when I found out I had to eat gluten free, but still ate it about the same way as before- just different noodles.  Well, this last year I have wavered between vegetarian and vegan and have settled closer to vegan (I am not strict due to a lot of dietary restrictions I already have - so if I find a gluten free pastry or bread when we are out I will eat it even if it is not vegan) at home we are 100%vegan.  I like it so much! I feel so much better, my skin is so much better, my digestion is better, so much has improved.  However, I have tried a bunch of different cheese substitutes that I don't like.  I have scoured the blogs and cookbooks for macaroni and cheeze recipes and none of them have appealed to me- until now!!!

I stopped by Gluten Free Goddess and found an amazing recipe!!! We had it for dinner tonight and it was by far the best recipe for a vegan mac and cheeze that I have actually liked (little B even had 2 bowl fulls!!!)  It wasn't oil free- I will have to work on a way to do an oil free rue- but it cut the oil in half- which was a start, right!! Anyway, I added sun dried tomatoes and white beans for protein.  It was the perfect meal for our first meal at home since the trip. Unfortunately I don't have a picture....but use your imagination and enjoy this lovely pic of my kids at the lake....not anything close to mac and cheeze but they are so cute, aren't they!??

adjusted from the Best Cheesy Uncheese Sauce c/o gluten free goddess
Cheesy uncheese sauce-

2 tbs oil
2 cloves garlic chopped
5 tbs rice flour
2.5 cups of nondairy milk (I used oat milk, you can use any unsweetened milk)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 tbs rice vinegar (I used garlic infused)
1 tbs onion powder
1/2 tsp honey mustard
1/4 cup white wine

Heat the oil in a pan. Chop garlic while the oil is heating then add garlic to the oil. Turn the heat down to Med.  Almost immediately add the rice flour.  Stir the flour with the oil until mixed through.  You may have to add a little more oil.  Slowly add the nondairy milk whisking while adding to the mix.  Before it is completely mixed in add in the salt and turmeric and continue to mix until smooth.  Add rice vinegar and mix until smooth.  Mix onion and mustard and when fully incorporated add in white wine, stir until smooth.  Keep mixture on the back burner until bubbling for 5 min.  Then cover over pasta, potatoes, vegetables, anything you can think of!!!

add any vegetables or flavors that you like- like I said we had it with sun dried tomatoes and white beans.

Mother's Day Success

   I had a wonderful weekend.  The weather was perfect- sunny and warm.  Saturday we got to see some filming for the up-coming Food Network's Food Truck Race.  They were at the local health food store- filming crew and all.  It was very exciting for our sleepy mountain town!

Mother's Day was great.  Every 30 seconds I would hear a round of "Happy Mother's Day!!!!" Of course that was almost always preceded by an argument about who won at buckling their seat belt or who got to play with the sparkly star sticker.  It was definitely what I would expect from my family!!!  

                                        

     There was free photo sessions for families (mothers) and then we cuddled after lunch (more "Happy Mother's Days every few minutes), I got in some gardening and Bryce made me a fantastic plant based dinner.  We had PPK's Chesapeake Tempeh cakes  (AMAZING!! the recipe for that is here) some vegan béchamel  recipe here, roasted asparagus and some hash browns- it was amazing!!!  I am so proud of my husband for working so hard at making it!!! He even picked me some lilacs from our friends yard so the table smelled amazing.   

(Sorry, the picture of the food was from my phone, so quality wasn't the best)

                                                                                                                                                       

Changes and Cinco De Mayo!

It has been forever since I have written on this blog. And I am making some changes!!!  I am going to be blogging daily- m-f.  I am going to make a pattern- to this stay tuned to see what they will be about!!

This Sat was Cinco De Mayo- also known as in our family as Nani's birthday (what my kids call my Mother in Law).  Daddy had all the kids call Nani- who is off having fun in New York City!!!  So we stayed here and had a little Mexican themed fun.  We had a nice time with our lovely neighbor and her daughter who came over and we had a Mexican-style meal.  So for those of you who don't know, we have gone plant based.  I won't say vegan, because we occasionally eat cheese or local eggs (rarely) so our meal was sans animals.  There was some yummy beans (homemade local pinto beans ) and rice and calabacitas AKA summer squash -Sorry no pics  :(  - the camera was MIA during that time.  I wanted a margarita- but didn't want to share, so the margarita mix stayed put.  It was ridiculously filling.  But there is always room for cookies!!!!!


The one thing that did stand out from the meal......my new discovery.  I had a last minute craving for cookies.  Chocolate chip cookies!! These are gluten free since my body hates gluten....darn celiac. But these cookies make you forget Celiac!!! They were SOOO Good!!! Best part is that they are vegan....so the dough is NOT off limits!

Mexican Chocolate Chip Cookies- vegan/gluten free

2 tbs cinnamon

1 1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1/2 cup potato starch

1 tsp xanthum gum

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup vegan brown sugar

1/2 cup turbinado sugar

1/4 cup vegan shortening

1/4 cup margarine

2 tbs flax

3/4 c water

3/4 c chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 365

melt shortening and margarine in the microwave.  Add sugar and cinnamon and mix. In a separate cup put flax and 2 tbs of water together, wait a minute for it to gel.  Add to the sugar/margarine mix.  Add in the salt, starch, flour, xanthum gum, and baking soda and mix.  add in the rest of the water and stir.  Finally stir in the chocolate chips then cool in fridge.

  Then spoon the cookies onto a pan with parchment paper or that has been greased.  Bake for 10 -12 min each and then let cool for 3 minutes each pan and remove to a separate plate. 

And enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!