Last week I had my blood draws done and while most of my numbers were looking great, because of being 8 months out from having Alistaire, I wasn’t so happy with some of my cholesterol numbers. I know why they had slid back up. Frankly it was due to me eating meat while pregnant (duh) and indulging in heavy cheese and eggs periodically. Yeah, beat me with that plant-based diet stick. I fell off the wagon. So for the past week I have made a push to use up the last of the dairy products in the house. Then back to being a good ol’ PBD follower once again. I want to pull my numbers in 4 months and see how it goes. Until then, I still have 3 freaking pounds of cheese to use up – being frugal I refuse to waste good cheese (My Mom would scream from the spirit world if I were to dump it!) But, I have at least been using it slowly and in small amounts. No more liberal touches…lol! I hope to be back on PBD fully on November 1st. A good way to celebrate Virtual Vegan Potluck Day, eh?
What I liked about this dinner was how fast it comes together, it isn’t full of butter/oil but still feels rich. Personally, I have never been a huge fan of mac n’ cheese that only tastes of salty/heavy cheese.
Green Mac n’ Cheese
Ingredients:
- 1¾ cups milk (used unsweetened almond milk)
- 3 Tbsp whole-wheat flour
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 4 ounces grated medium white cheddar cheese
- 10 to 12 ounce package chopped frozen broccoli, thawed
- 13.25 ounce package multi-grain or whole wheat elbow macaroni
- 9 ounce bag spinach leaves, chopped finely
Directions:
Bring a large pot of lightly slated water to boil. Add pasta and cook for time on package. In the last 5 minutes add broccoli, in last 30 seconds add the spinach in, drain gently.
Meanwhile, whisk the flour, mustard, paprika, salt and nutmeg into ¾ cup of the milk.
Add the remaining cup of milk to a large saucepan, bring to simmer over medium heat. Whisk in flour mixture, whisking constantly until it has thickened.
Remove from heat, whisk in cheese till melted. Add sauce to drained pasta, tossing gently to coat.
Serves 4.
~Sarah
This may be off topic, but if you’re nursing I think I’ve heard that your cholesterol is likely to be elevated because your baby’s brain needs cholesterol to develop–in which it’s a good thing to have a higher-than-usual cholesterol levels! Not sure if that’s your story, but if so you could ask your doc. 🙂
Huh…makes sense! I know for me it was hard when I was pregnant – I was taking 3 iron pills a day and I couldn’t make the cutoff for blood draws. Red meat was the only thing that kept me going! Bodies do weird things when preggo, I swear!
I feel your pain about the numbers — mine goes up from stress/inactivity, but as we’re eating some dairy/eggs, I’m still working to make sure that 85% of our diet is vegan, with lots of greens.
I think I adore you right now. p.s. cashew cheez and smoked coconut gouda don’t have any cholesterol 😉 teehee!
I have everything but Agar! Darn it!! 😛 Just means I need to either place an Amazon order or go to Whole Foods (like I need an excuse to do that!).
Sorry about that (not really) 🙂
Lol…I am sure you are 😉