Best Ever Dairy-free Macaroni and Cheese

I gave up dairy cold-turkey in December 2013 and honestly it was really hard. Not just giving up a food I loved, but the fact that dairy hides in so many foods that you wouldn't expect!

It was the right thing to do for the sake of bub's reflex and dairy intolerance (and for my health too) but I was completely addicted to dairy and ate loads of it - milk, cheese, cream, ice cream, you name it.

At first I just completely avoided it and didn't look for alternatives but as time went on, I started really missing the creaminess that only dairy gives. I  perfected dairy-free ice cream and dairy-free lasagne a while ago, which brought macaroni and cheese to the top of the list. It's one of my husband's favourite meals and he has mentioned it often over the past few years.

After a bit of experimentation, mac and cheese is back on the table!

So while this is not exactly the same as the original it is creamy, full of flavour and has a delicious cheesiness from the nutritional yeast. It is the ultimate comfort food and the kids will never know there are hidden veggies.

We LOVE this dish and it's become a regular feature on our meal plans.

If you're dairy free give it a go and let me know what you think!

Best Ever Dairy-free Macaroni and Cheese

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
375ml rice milk
3 tbs spelt flour
2 tbs nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 ts garlic powder
1/2 ts onion powder
1/2 ts turmeric
140 diced sweet potato
140g diced pumpkin
500g macaroni, cooked per packet instructions
Crispy bacon and fresh parsley to garnish

Put the water on to boil for the macaroni. Add the macaroni and cook as per packet instructions while the sauce is cooking.

Place the sweet potato and pumpkin into the bowl and chop for  8 secs / SP 8 or until very finely chopped.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add all remaining ingredients. Cook for 12 minutes / 100 degrees / SP 4.

The sauce should be smooth but if it's not, puree for 30 secs / slowly increasing from SP 3 - 9.

Drain the macaroni and return to the pot. Pour over the sauce and mix well.

Serve topped with crispy bacon and fresh parsley.

Serves 4-6

Salsa Verde

Happy New Year everyone! How are you feeling about 2016? Tired and not ready to go back to work, or pumped and positive about what what the new year may bring? As for me, I am really excited about the big things that are happening this year. Oscar is going into grade 2, Charlie is starting prep and Noah is off to daycare for the first time. That will leave me with 3 child-free days (feeling a little sad about that) to really get stuck into my study (feeling great about that!).

In order to make it all run smoothly I will need to be really organised with food and shopping and I'm working on some planning tools to help with that. My health will also have to be a priority this year if I am going to have the energy to do everything I want and need to do.

While I don't set resolutions as such I do set intentions, and as always I intend to eat more vegetables, to really get a rainbow of colours on my plate every day. We tend to get stuck in a veggie rut and let's face it, the same old steamed vegetables served on the side of whatever protein we happen to be having that night can get boring.

For me the secret to eating and really enjoying salads and vegetables is a great sauce. If you can whip up a great homemade mayonnaise and a handful of different salad dressings you can make anything taste amazing.

Salsa verde literally means 'green sauce' and is a packed with the good stuff like fresh herbs, garlic and extra virgin olive oil. It is fantastic tossed through salad leaves and it makes a plate of steamed greens really sing. It is so good that I can (and do) eat spoonfuls of it straight from the bowl.

 

Salsa Verde
Slightly adapted from Taste

1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley
1/2 bunch basil
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 ts capers
zest of 1 lemon
3 tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup extra virgin oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place the herbs, garlic, capers and lemon zest into the food processor and blitz until finely chopped (TMX 10 secs / SP 8, scraping down the bowl halfway).

Add the lemon juice and then with the motor running drizzle in the oil and process for about 30 seconds. Transfer to a glass bowl and store covered in the fridge for up to 3 days (if it lasts that long!)

This one is husband-approved so give it a go!

Marinated Chicken Burger with Fountain Good Choice Sauces

I gave up sugar in September 2012 after reading Sweet Poison by David Gillespie and then stumbling across Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar program. While I don't remember the exact date I do remember jumping up and clearing out the pantry and being horrified at the amount of sugar that was hiding in our everyday products. I thought we were eating quite healthily but the bags of stuff I threw away said otherwise!

One group of products that didn't survive the great cull of 2012 were condiments. I knew that some sauces were quite sweet but I was astounded that our tomato sauce was over 25% sugar, the BBQ sauce around 40% and the sweet chilli contained a whopping 60%! I know you don't use much at a time but if I was going to be eating something so packed with sugar I would have rather had a chocolate bar or bowl of ice cream!

While I make most things from scratch these days, especially since buying our Thermomix, I have never really made any sauces.  I just didn't think I would be able to make a version that the kids would really like and I didn't think we would get through a whole batch before it went off.

So I was delighted to receive a pack of Fountain Good Choice Sauces to review thanks to Product Talk by Nuffnang. All the sauces are free of both sugar and gluten and the pack included a squeezy bottle each of tomato and barbeque sauces, and glass bottles of sweet chilli, hot chilli and soy sauces. Instead of sugar the sauces are all sweetened with Natvia which is an alternative sweetener using stevia.

We had a BBQ at Oscar's birthday party last weekend and I knew this would be perhaps the greatest test for the Good Choice Tomato and BBQ sauces. Would the kids be able to taste the difference? Would the adults notice the labels on the bottles? Well, I can say that both sauces got the thumbs up from all our big and little taste testers, every sausage got eaten and there was not a single complaint!!

As for the other sauces I decided the best test for them would be a burger. I mean, it's not a real burger unless there's sauce dripping from your chin! I came up with this simple marinated chicken burger and it was SO good: lick-your-fingers-to-savour-every-last-bit good. I was surprised how spicy the sweet chilli sauce was (in a good way) but the hot one was too hot for me. In fact you can tell just how much we like the sweet chilli sauce as by the time I got around to taking the photo of the bottles it was half empty!

Marinated Chicken Burger

For the marinade:
6 chicken thigh fillets
2 tbs Fountain Good Choice Soy Sauce
1 tbs Fountain Good Choice Tomato Sauce
1 tbs Fountain Good Choice Sweet Chilli Sauce
1 crushed clove of garlic

Place all ingredients into a large ziplock bag. Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible. Massage the sauces into the chicken pieces until well covered and then leave to marinate in the fridge for at least a 2 hours. The chicken pieces can be fried, grilled or barbecued until cooked through. I baked mine at 200 degrees C for approximately 20 minutes (make sure you check they are cooked through). Cover the chicken pieces with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the burgers.

For the burger:
6 hamburger buns
1 avocado
2 tomatoes
lettuce
2 grated carrots
Fountain Good Choice Sweet Chilli or Hot Chilli Sauce

Assemble your burgers with your favourite salad ingredients, place a piece of chicken on top and drizzle over some sweet or hot chilli sauce to taste.

So. Would I buy these for myself? Yes but I'd still use them in moderation. There's not too much research into stevia yet and I've gotten my kids out of the habit of smothering everything in sauce so for us these sauces would still be a 'sometimes' food.  That being said I do love that this range is available and for anyone who wants to switch to something healthier but is worried the kids would reject it, try these!  The full range is available at Woolworths both in store and online.

*This is NOT a sponsored post. I received product for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Meatless Monday - Tagliatelle with Roasted Garlic, Capsicum and Tomato Sauce

Pasta and sauce is a regular on our weekly menu. It's easy, the kids love it and there's always leftovers for hubby's lunch the next day. After spying some gorgeous red capsicums and Roma tomatoes at the fruit shop on the weekend, this yummy pasta sauce was born!

It's pictured above with some egg tagliatelle with herbs from Aldi of all places. The pasta cooked up beautifully in just a few minutes and was a great partner for this sweet and silky sauce.

Roasted Garlic, Capsicum and Tomato Sauce

1 head garlic
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
750g Roma tomatoes
450g red capsicums
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 ts sugar

Preheat oven to 230 degrees C and have 2 large baking dishes ready.

Slice each tomato in half length ways and place in one of the baking dishes. Place the whole unpeeled head of garlic in the centre and drizzle over 2 tbs of olive oil. Use your hands and toss well to combine. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt, pepper and the sugar.

Drizzle a little olive oil over the capsicums and place in the other oven tray.

Place both trays in the oven and roast for about 40 minutes or until the the capsicums are blackened and soft. Remove the capsicums from the oven and place in a heatproof bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Check the tomatoes and garlic, they may need another 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven when the tomatoes are softened, collapsed and beginning to colour.

To prepare the capsicums you need to remove the skins. If they are cooked properly it should come away quite easily. Use a small sharp knife to make a slit and very carefully use your fingers to pull the skins away from the flesh. They will be hot so watch out for burnt fingers! Discard the skin and seeds and chop the flesh coarsely.

Into the bowl of a food processor, add the tomatoes, peeled capsicums and then squeeze out 5 or 6 cloves of the cooked garlic. Garlic cooked like this has a richer, milder flavour than raw garlic so you can go a little crazy here. Add 4 tbs olive oil and blitz to combine. When smooth, return to a pot to keep warm over a low heat. Check for seasoning and add salt, pepper and fresh herbs to taste. (The sauce can be served immediately or refrigerated overnight to allow the flavours to develop. I used a tagliatelle with herbs in it so did not add fresh herbs to my sauce).

Cook your pasta according to packet instructions. Drain and serve with the sauce and plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

I also did a more kid-friendly version with spiral pasta and regular tasty cheese which went down a treat!

This sauce would also be fantastic on a char-grilled pizza with lots of feta or goats' cheese. I have stashed some in the freezer to try later on. Will let you know how it goes.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

We have recently discovered a super butcher near us (literally called Super Butcher) where they have wonderful quality meats like wagyu roasts at great prices. A few years ago I could have easily become a vegetarian but I've since discovered a taste for red meat. We have had the most amazing grilled steaks, pork belly and roasts I've ever eaten and they all came from the super butcher.

On the menu tonight were Black Angus beef sausages and I was looking for some way to spice them up a bit. This recipe falls into the always-wanted-to-make-but-never-got-around-to-it category. I think most of us have a list like that and while a lot of wishlist recipes tend to be extravagant, expensive or just downright decadent, this was a great addition to a weeknight meal.

I know there are a million other bbq sauce recipes out there, some sweeter, some hotter, some that take days to make in a slow cooker ... but this was perfect for us and I will definitely be making it again!

BBQ Sauce
Recipe adapted from Taste.com.au

2 tbs olive oil
1 small onion, peeled, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 x 400g can diced tomatoes
2 tbs tomato puree
1 heaped tbs brown sugar
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs sweet chilli sauce (I used a tomato, capsicum and chilli salsa)
2 tbs white wine vinegar
1 tbs Dijon mustard

Place the oil in a saucepan over low heat, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until softened slightly. Add all the other ingredients and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until thickened slightly. Set aside to cool slightly. Place in a blender and blend until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.