Remember this?
Why, of course! It is that box of dairy-free (vegan) mac & cheese (“chreese” 😉 ) that I got to try FOR FREE from Whole Foods. Yesterday was a vegan day for me, so I decided it would be a great opportunity to try it out. My oh-so-lucky boyfriend also got the chance to see what vegan mac & cheese is all about. Since I would need to make two meals out of this seemingly small box (turns out it makes quite a lot!) I decided to add vegetables in order to “stretch” the box a bit further and to get in some extra veggies for the day. I followed the package directions exactly, except I tossed some chopped broccoli and cauliflower into the pot when there was about 2 minutes remaining for the pasta’s cooking time.
So you’re probably wondering….how did it turn out? Well, we sat down to a meal consisting of this:
We both topped our mac & “chreese,” broccoli, and cauliflower pasta with sea salt, black pepper, and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast to up the cheese flavor. We also enjoyed it with a side of steamed veggies (out of a bag..the SteamFresh brand) made up of broccoli, carrots, sugar snap peas, and water chestnuts. The verdict? It was good! Not GOOOOOD…but good! For not containing any dairy products (cheese, dairy milk), I was certainly satisfied with this meal. The flavor did not scream cheese, but it was still quite good and the extra seasonings we added on top helped a lot. Eating something like this proves to me that you can eat vegan and still satisfy your cravings for dairy products. So, would I eat it again? Definitely! I hope to try some of the other varieties soon, though I will likely have to pay for them this time! 😉
Even if you are not eating vegan mac & “chreese,” you can still stretch your favorite box of mac & cheese and add more veggies into your diet by doing something as simple as tossing your favorite vegetables into a box of pasta. Some vegetables that I think would be good in mac & cheese include: broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, onions, tomatoes, asparagus, peas, etc. Just try whatever you like the best!
And do yourself a favor and eat a Blueberry Muffin Larabar for dessert (if you aren’t totally stuffed from the meal). I ate it as a snack earlier in the day and it was delicious…..and it contains only 6 ingredients: dates, cashews, unsweetened blueberries, blueberry juice concentrate, lemon juice concentrate, and vanilla extract. Now that definitely meets my seal of approval!
