Hello, lovelies! Still reading after yesterday's lurid post? Good. Cause today I'm gonna take you back to childhood-kinda the antithesis of yesterday's mess. With me? Awesome.
So, today, aside from rockin' the socks off a budget amendment for work, I got in my first 50 mile ride of the season. Sweetness. I kinda forgot how numb your tooshee gets after two and half hours in the saddle, but I felt pretty darn accomplished when I finished-'specially for a Wednesday. Know what 50 miles does besides giving you a sore backside? It makes you a HUNGRY guy. Or girl. Ya know. So, of course, for the last half hour of the ride, I plotted dinner. A sinfully delicious dinner. Without the sin. Humuna humuna humm...no, not hummus. But we're gettin' warmer.
Mac n cheese. Not yo Mama's Kraft, though. Who needs a 1200 calorie box of artificial colors? Not me. Who eats a one cup serving of mac n cheese (400 calories)? We gotta bulk this baby up! Inspired, I headed to the kitchen with one thing on my mind-my mother in law.
Yep, figured I lost you. There's a story (as there always is). See, when I married the hubster, I somehow inherited the right to all holidays (I think the mothers had some sort of secret conspiracy there). However, basically all I had to do was host-between the two of them, they always brought enough food to last a week! And the hubster's mom always brought a salad. Not just a lettuce salad, mind you, but the biggest salad in the world. Lettuce in a bowl and about 40 containers of any topping we could dream up-onions, tomatoes, cheese, croutons, zillions of veggies, at least 5 dressings, and...cici beans. I always thought thy were chickpeas-but seeing my mother laughing over these silly beans always did me in. Clearly, I have no place for chickpeas anymore. Bring on the cici.
Best part? They jazz up any dish-adding protein , fiber, and tons of good stuff. Added bonus? The color fades into mac n cheese...now I was onto something. The result?
Mac and Cici-eese!
8oz dry whole wheat pasta
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup ff plain greek yogurt
1 tsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup mixed veggies
1 cup chickpeas-"cici beans"
Dash hot sauce (optional)
Cook your pasta al dente (about 6-7 minutes). Set the mixed veggies and beans in a colander, drain the pasta over them and set aside. Combine the milk, butter, garlic powder and salt in a medium saucepan and heat until just bubbling. Add flour by teaspoonful, continuously stirring. Stir in cheese and adjust heat to low. Add in macaroni and veggies, stir to coat. Add in Greek yogurt and stir until creamy and heated through. Top with a dash of hot sauce, if desired.
The result? Two heaping servings of this love:
Oh my cicis was that good. Two big thumbs up from the hubster, too! Almost worth another 50 miles...but I think I'll settle for some DVR'ed trash and a foot rub instead. Hey, I made dinner :-P
So, today, aside from rockin' the socks off a budget amendment for work, I got in my first 50 mile ride of the season. Sweetness. I kinda forgot how numb your tooshee gets after two and half hours in the saddle, but I felt pretty darn accomplished when I finished-'specially for a Wednesday. Know what 50 miles does besides giving you a sore backside? It makes you a HUNGRY guy. Or girl. Ya know. So, of course, for the last half hour of the ride, I plotted dinner. A sinfully delicious dinner. Without the sin. Humuna humuna humm...no, not hummus. But we're gettin' warmer.
Mac n cheese. Not yo Mama's Kraft, though. Who needs a 1200 calorie box of artificial colors? Not me. Who eats a one cup serving of mac n cheese (400 calories)? We gotta bulk this baby up! Inspired, I headed to the kitchen with one thing on my mind-my mother in law.
Yep, figured I lost you. There's a story (as there always is). See, when I married the hubster, I somehow inherited the right to all holidays (I think the mothers had some sort of secret conspiracy there). However, basically all I had to do was host-between the two of them, they always brought enough food to last a week! And the hubster's mom always brought a salad. Not just a lettuce salad, mind you, but the biggest salad in the world. Lettuce in a bowl and about 40 containers of any topping we could dream up-onions, tomatoes, cheese, croutons, zillions of veggies, at least 5 dressings, and...cici beans. I always thought thy were chickpeas-but seeing my mother laughing over these silly beans always did me in. Clearly, I have no place for chickpeas anymore. Bring on the cici.
Best part? They jazz up any dish-adding protein , fiber, and tons of good stuff. Added bonus? The color fades into mac n cheese...now I was onto something. The result?
Mac and Cici-eese!
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup ff plain greek yogurt
1 tsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup mixed veggies
1 cup chickpeas-"cici beans"
Dash hot sauce (optional)
Cook your pasta al dente (about 6-7 minutes). Set the mixed veggies and beans in a colander, drain the pasta over them and set aside. Combine the milk, butter, garlic powder and salt in a medium saucepan and heat until just bubbling. Add flour by teaspoonful, continuously stirring. Stir in cheese and adjust heat to low. Add in macaroni and veggies, stir to coat. Add in Greek yogurt and stir until creamy and heated through. Top with a dash of hot sauce, if desired.
The result? Two heaping servings of this love:
Here is another AMAZING cici bean recipe:
ReplyDeletehttp://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/31/deep-dish-cookie-pie/
Go ahead and cut the brown sugar to 1 cup, it's all it needs. I can just about eat the whole thing myself!
Haven't even read the whole post yet, but did you write this just for Dad G? I'm tryin' to teach him what real Mac 'n' Cheese is: The whole kaboodle does NOT come from a box! Period.
ReplyDelete~ Your soon-to-be-met .....something, Lois
PS - You've definitely one-upped me - looks delish'. Lois
ReplyDeletelol, completely coincidental, but thank you! You are right on that one-homemade mac n cheese is yum.
ReplyDelete~ Your soon to be met partner in crime (how bout that?)