Satisfied and Energized

Hooray for dinner leftovers!

A bunch of roasted veggies from last night’s dinner popped up in my lunch today in the form of a big ol’ salad.

Roasted Veggie Salad

My salad contained:

• Romaine lettuce
• Roasted broccoli
• Roasted carrots
• Roasted Brussels sprouts
• Rotisserie chicken deli meat
• Olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Veggie Close Up

My dressing was a splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Dressing

My favorite part of salads is the sheer volume of food I can eat without feeling disgusting!

I love eating and eating (and eating), and a big salad leaves me feeling satisfied and energized, not overly stuffed and sleepy like other large meals can.

Organic Cheat Sheet

I don’t know about you, but I’ve read about a billion different articles about which fruits and vegetables to always buy organic. Somehow, I can never remember which ones fall into the “only buy organic” category and which ones do not when I’m at the grocery store.

FitSugar.com posted an adorable Organic Cheat Sheet, created by the Environmental Working Group, which may make remembering which produce to buy organic a little easier.

Organic Cheat Sheet

Do you buy organic foods?

I’ll Trade You Dinner for Lunch

My camera battery died. Oh dear.

I’ll make a deal with you… since my lunch today is a repeat from yesterday’s seafood salad pita pocket, I’m going to bypass that recipe repeat in favor of pictures from last night’s dinner. Sound good? Good!

Just in case you missed my seafood salad pita pocket post, here’s a recap via one picture:

Yum, Yum

As for dinner last night… enter Kraft white cheddar organic macaroni and cheese.

Kraft Organic White Cheeddar Macaroni and Cheese

(Please note the glowing Christmas tree in the background for some holiday flava.)

I made this noodle delight since Ryan and I were feelin’ a quick and easy dinner. I added 2 percent milk to the cheese sauce, but omitted the butter. Neither of us missed it at all!

Bowl o' Mac

The white cheddar flavor is great! We both preferred it to Kraft’s original organic macaroni and cheese. This actually tasted a lot like Annie’s organic white cheddar mac and cheese that Ryan and I tried two months ago.

I love that this carb-heavy meal also contains 10 grams of protein per serving.

Delicious

Posting about this makes me want another bowl! What a comforting childhood meal. The organic variety is great because the super-scary ingredient list on the normal mac and cheese boxes is condensed dramatically. Gotta love it!

Were you a macaroni and cheese kid growing up?

I’ve always loved mac and cheese and used to get so excited when my mom would buy the boxes of pasta with the noodles shaped like my favorite cartoon characters. I would always ask my mom if I could add the cheese to the noodles. It made me feel helpful and important. 🙂

Mac and Cheese Fo’ Me

Leftovers for lunch!

Last night Ryan had soccer practice and came home famished so I decided to cook up some Annie’s organic white cheddar macaroni and cheese for my super-schweaty fiance.

Annie's Mac & Cheese

This pasta delight doubled as my lunch today. Both of us love white cheddar macaroni and cheese, so when I saw this lil’ baby sittin’ pretty in my parents’ pantry the last time I was home, I snagged it! It’s been taunting me ever since we brought it back to Orlando.

I love several things about this boxed pasta:

1. Whole wheat pasta shells!

2. It’s made with real cheddar cheese (listed as the second ingredient)

3. One serving provides a decent amount of protein (9g) and fiber (5g)

Compare the ingredient list of Annie’s mac and cheese with Kraft‘s famous blue box and the “real cheddar cheese” is replaced by “cheese sauce mix” followed by a slew of other ingredients. Yum??

Making the macaroni and cheese was beyond simple… So easy even a caveman could do it, Geico might say.

First, boil water and add the whole wheat shells, returning the water to a boil until the noodles are slightly soft (though I prefer them al dente).

Pasta Shells

Then add 1/4 cup of milk and the cheese mix, stirring until the shells are covered in ooey-gooey cheese.

Cheesy Shells

I LOVE pasta shells because each little noodle holds the possibility of housing a pocket of delicious cheese sauce. It’s like a cheese explosion!

I added some Morningstar Farms chik’n strips to my macaroni and served it with a side of steamed broccoli and cauliflower to round out my lunch.

Chik'n Strips

This macaroni and cheese did not disappoint.  Looks like Miss Annie is here to stay!

Question: What was one of your favorite childhood dinners?