Not Yo Mama's Mac and Cheese

 Last night, I planned to make mac and cheese for the family.  They love Kraft with the exception of my son who loves homemade.  I have often given in and eaten whatever I made for the family, whether homemade or boxed and usually have unpleasant side affects.  So, on good days when I decided to do my body a favor, I have purchased Sweet Annie's Gluten Free boxed Mac and Cheese.  This has worked fairly well.  It has rice noodles instead of regular, but still has a dairy, processed, yellow cheese mix and my tummy never felt quite right after eating it, though it was definitely better than the alternative.  Because of health issues I was having last week, I decided I needed to just bite the bullet and come up with my own recipe.  Try something new and see if it settled.  I was very skeptical, because really, how does one make mac and cheese without milk and velveeta!?  I was delightfully surprised and giddy once I tasted the concoction I had cooked up!  It was delicious!  So, I took the next step and ate a serving size along with steamed broccoli and cauliflower.  Within about 10 minutes I was in pain and it was intensifying.  I took some DE-3 (I will talk about these more later) and hoped for the best and whisked Colin, my son, off to Boy Scouts.  The DE-3 helped immensely, but I was left feeling perplexed about the pain.  There was nothing in the mac and cheese that I had not eaten separately before and I never had issues with any of the included ingredients.  So, today I decided to give it one more try, except I had applesauce with it instead of the steamed veggies and YEAH!  No problems!  My best guess is my tummy doesn't like cauliflower.  Weird, I know, but it is the truth.  I kind of knew that already, but figured a half a cup wouldn't kill me....apparently it can!  :) 

Not Yo Mama's Mac and Cheese

6 cups of water
Sprinkling of Sea Salt
2 Cups Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta
1 tbsp. garlic, minced
1/4 tsp.-1 tsp. ground red cayenne pepper (Depending on how spicy you like your food)
1/2 cup Baby Portabella mushrooms, roughly minced
1/2 cup red onion, roughly minced
1/4 cup thinly sliced celery
1/8 cup red bell pepper, roughly minced
1/4 cup brown rice flour
2 cups Original Almond Lite Milk
6 tbsp. butter
1 cup Feta cheese, grated
1 cup Havarti cheese, grated
1 cup Farmers cheese, grated
1 slice Original Ezekiel bread finely grated into breadcrumbs with a  food processor (or if the bread is frozen, you can break it up with your fingers.  The crumbs just won't be as fine.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a saucepan, season 6 cups of water with Sea Salt and bring it to a boil.  Add the Brown Rice Pasta to the boiling water and allow to boil on medium high heat and cook for 12-15 minutes according to the directions on the pasta bag.  Stir occasionally.  Drain Pasta and set aside.  In the saucepan you used to cook the rice pasta, melt butter and add the chopped vegetables, garlic, and cayenne pepper.  Cook over medium low heat until the onion becomes translucent and veggies soften.  Gradually add in the brown rice flour, constantly stirring.  Once the vegetables, butter, and flour are well combined, slowly pour in the almond milk, continuing to stir.  Turn up your stove top temperature to medium high, stirring the mixture often.  Bring mixture to a boil and allow to boil for 2-5 minutes, continuing to stir so it doesn't overflow the pan and/or burn, until the mixture begins to thicken.  Once thickened, reduce your heat to medium, and add in your cheeses and stir until melted.  Do not worry if the feta doesn't completely melt, it will continue to melt in the oven.  Once cheeses are melted, return the drained pasta to the saucepan and stir until the cheese sauce evenly coats the pasta.  Pour the entire mixture into a 8x8 baking pan.  Sprinkle the Ezekiel breadcrumbs over the surface of the Mac and Cheese.  Place in the oven and bake 25-30 minutes.  All ovens bake a little differently, so the last five minutes you can check and determine whether it is done.  The bread topping should be crunchy and browned.  Remove from oven and Enjoy!

To claify, I use the Lite Almond milk just because it saves on calories, but feel free to use the regular.  I do not suggest using the sweetened or vanilla flavored as it will change the taste of the dish.  I also use Tinkyada brand for pasta from Meijer and have had wonderful results with it, however; if your hometown store carries a different brand, no worries.  This doesn't have to be brand specific.  Lastly, Ezekiel bread can be found at Krogers and Meijer in the freezer section.  Once purchased, it can be kept frozen or, if you are going to use it on a regular basis, keep it in the fridge, but never out on the counter.  It doesn't have any additives and preservatives in it and will mold quickly.  That is personal experience talking :)  Ezekiel bread is a great alternative to traditional store bought breads.  It contains naturally occurring gluten found in whole grains, but is made from six sprouted grains and legumes.  It creates a complete protein and contains 9 essential amino acids.  It is easily digested and has settled well on my stomach with no bloating or gut ache.  It does take some time to get used to it and is best when toasted.  The grains in it are based off of the grains God told Ezekiel to make into bread in Ezekiel 4:9- wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt.  Bon Appetit!