Creamy Cheesy Pasta (Vegan)
Creamy Cheesy Pasta (Vegan) is a go-to in my household. My kid thinks it’s mac n’ cheese so he scarfs it down AND I trick him into eating veggies. Score!!! For me, I love it because it’s incredibly easy, delicious, and healthy. I get loads of nutrients all at once. Lastly, I can make a huge pot and have lunches for me and the wee man for days. Another score for sure! Especially with my insane schedule and life. Time is incredibly valuable!
This is another recipe I made when I was sick. Honestly, I can’t even sit when I’m on my death bed. I feel like if I truly want to shift gears from teaching (I’m a music teacher) to branding myself via this blog, my books, and my upcoming podcast and vlog, I can’t EVER take a break! However, I fuckin’ love it. 😉
I thought I’d share the journey of my weight loss since I spoke about that in the last food post. Down another 3 in a week! Honestly, I tried to cut carbs out completely for a few weeks but it was hard af. Now, I’m limiting them. I don’t mind having one meal a day in carbs. That, I can handle. In a dish like this where the sauce is incredibly healthy, I feel even less guilty. I just re-tweaked my meds and the insatiable appetite did not come back. Fucking phew! How someone gains 60 lbs in 14 months is totally, completely, bat shit crazy, kinda fucked bs. At this point, since the 14 lbs fell off in 6 weeks and I’m still going down, I’m hoping that I’ll have a svelte bod by June. 😉 I miss my bikinis, cute dresses & jeans etc. We need a reunion – ASAP! The way I’m doing it outside of the med switch (albeit the most important part for sure) is by cutting some carbs, cutting some booze, going to sleep earlier, and getting back on the workout train since I just quit my tap dance class. I’m so fucking eager to be myself again, that moving toward that goal quickly is all of the motivation I need. Could I be doing more? Fuck yeah, but this is what’s working for me. It’s what I can give right now. The last thing I’ll say is this, don’t overdo it so you get tired and quit. It’s SO easy to quit. Start small and add on more workouts, dieting etc as you go so you stay in the groove. Gotta be in it to win it, right?! 😉
Happy Monday! -FGG
Here’s a great tune to liven up your Monday blues. 😉
Creamy Cheesy Pasta (Vegan) – Serves 4
Ingredients-
1/2 C raw cashews – soaked overnight from the day prior – drain them now
12 ounces dry elbow macaroni noodles – cooked
1 1/2 C cooked butternut squash – scoop out of the shell
1/2 C carrot – diced & steamed
1 C coconut milk (I use the full fat milk for a better texture)
1/4 C nutritional yeast
2 tsp Dijon mustard (this may sound like a weird ingredient but trust me, it works and is totally necessary!)
1/2 tsp salt (or more to your liking)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
Pepper to taste
Directions-
Combine sweet potato, carrot, and 1/4 – 1/3 cup of water in a high powered blender (I use my Vitamix) and blend until smooth and creamy
In a bowl, add the cashews to the squash & carrot mix, coconut milk, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, nutritional yeast, black pepper (if using), turmeric, garlic powder, and onion powder – blend until completely creamy & smooth
Pour the sauce over the pasta – mix well
Done!
Pair with:
Red – Chianti
White – Riesling
Beer – Pilsner
Vegan Pumpkin Mac n’ Cheese
Vegan Pumpkin Mac n’ Cheese is creamy, easy, delicious, and healthy. You’ll fool all non-vegans for sure! I brought this to a friend’s Thanksgiving this past weekend and almost everyone said, “you’d have no idea there wasn’t any cheese in here.” Just another carb to add to your Thanksgiving day menu! This is a vegan game changer… no doubt.
A couple of my sibs are flying in for my vegan T-day. We have gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan amongst us. I am making this Vegan Pumpkin Mac n’ Cheese (with gluten-free pasta), a vegan meatloaf, Tofurkey roast, stuffing with ‘sausage’ (homemade of course), mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, spinach salad with candied pecans, and an apple pie & pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving. I’m serving a vegan spinach and artichoke dip, some sort of hummus, and a vegan sour cream & onion dip for appetizers. They’ll be LOADS of wine and bubbly throughout the day and well into the evening. If any of us make it up the stairs for bed I will die in utter amazement! I’m carbin’ everyone the ‘f’ up and steering us into booze-ville. If we end the night with garage games I’ll be pleasantly surprised; though I won’t be holding my breath.
I didn’t anticipate shooting this pasta so these are all of the pics I have. I brought this Vegan Pumpkin Mac n’ Cheese, fresh flowers and herbs from my garden, and a bottle of pomegranate mimosas with pom seeds to my friend’s house. She hosted an awesome soiree and it was SO great to see her, as I’ve not seen her since I moved back to OR last year. Thanks for the hospitality, Bethany! 🙂
- 16 oz pasta (I used cellentani)
- 1/3 cup raw and unsalted cashews
- 1 small butternut squash - steamed and de-shelled
- 3 Tbl nutritional yeast
- 1/2 a 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp of thyme
- 1 veggie broth cube (I used the equivalent with Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Broth)
- 1 small onion - diced
- 2 cloves of garlic - diced
- Oil for pan
- Boil water for pasta and cook when ready
- Heat a pan and cook onions for 3 minutes
- Add the garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes ( like mine slightly browned)
- In a high powered blender (I use my Vitamix) add the onion/garlic mix and all other ingredients other than the pasta
- Blend until smooth
- Poor contents of the blender over the drained pasta and mix well (add water if needed)
- Done!
- Amazing dish for Thanksgiving! Also, I LOVE a good hot sauce on any mac n' cheese. If we are sympatico, go nuts!
- White wine: Chardonnay
- Red wine: Barbera
