Shirataki Macaroni and Cheese Casserole (can you say 'almost' mac and cheese?...)

Low Carb Shirataki Mac and Cheese 

Ok, it's snowing a bit outside and I'm interested in some warm comfort food. When it comes to comfort food, me and my belly are in love with macaroni and cheese - our favorite and, my belly shows it! Which is why I follow the Atkins low carb lifestyle.

Since living a low carb lifestyle means foregoing pasta, bread and, well, let's face it - a whole lot of good stuff on earth, I was missing my mac and cheese. But, with some experimentation and an open mind, it's possible to get a low carb mac and cheese pretty close to it's traditional counterpart. In fact, some of the low carb recipes I've made up or found online are even better than their high carb counterparts - that's a win-win situation!

So, with a snowy background and nowhere to be, I've mixed up my latest (and, imho, my greatest) low carb mac and cheese. 

If you try this recipe, I'd love to hear how it worked out for you.

And, finally, I've added at the bottom of the recipe most of the items I used to achieve this success. If you could find it in your local store (like mushrooms and butter), I didn't include that.

All of the items are on Amazon.com (note: I am an affiliate with Amazon which is a program that rewards websites for selling items. We get a small commission from Amazon - it doesn't cost you a penny more!).

Shirataki Macaroni Noodle and Cheese Casserole!

Prep:

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray an 8x8 glass pan with PAM to prevent sticking.

Ingredients:

• 2T butter
• 1C mushrooms
• 1 green onion chopped 
• 1/2C cooked cauliflower
• 2t heavy whipping cream (HWC)
• 6T Kraft Old English Spread (tastes pretty similar to the powdered cheese in Kraft Mac and Cheese)
• 2 oz shredded cheddar cheese
• 3 packages Shirataki Macaroni shaped noodles - rinsed well.

Procedure:

1. Melt butter in medium size saucepan and saute mushrooms. Salt and pepper to taste.


2. Add rinsed shirataki noodles and stir well over medium heat. Let cook just a minute or so. This will dry out the noodles and change their texture a bit.


3. Add in 3 ounces of the Kraft cheese, 1 oz shredded cheddar cheese.  Stir to melt. Note: you can add more of any of the cheeses depending on your taste preference. Since I'm trying not to go overboard on calories, the above worked out perfectly for me.


4. Toss in green onions and stir.
   
   Meanwhile, puree the cauliflower and cream in a Ninja (at least, that's what I have). Add salt and pepper to taste.


5. Add the cauliflower puree to the noodles and cheese and mix well. This is going to act as a thickener instead of the traditional flour roux used in regular mac and cheese.
   You might not need all of the mixture, depending on the texture you want. The resulting mixture will be a bit runny anyway but don't worry about it. Taste. Adjust salt and pepper as needed.


6. Pour into an 8x8 pan and bake for a LONG time - I like my low carb mac and cheese very dry so I baked it a little over an hour.


7. At the very end of baking, add 1 ounce of cheese on top and allow to melt and brown a bit. You can also run it under a broiler to crisp up the top.
   
   Now, let sit for at least 5 minutes for any liquid in the bottom of the dish to absorb. Cut into it and enjoy!

Variation ideas:

I think next time I might grind some pork rinds very thin and add them with dots of butter to the top. Also, browned hamburger added to the mix will turn this low carb mac and cheese into a complete meal.

Low Carb Macaroni And Cheese Unusual Food Items

I live outside Washington, D.C., so I can usually find the House Brand Shirataki noodles (the first link below) at Chinese markets in my area. Others are not so lucky so your only choice to buy these low carb noodles is through a service like Amazon.

Note, these noodles are packaged in water so they're heavy. I suggest you get an Amazon Prime membership (if you don't already have one) so you can get free shipping.

 Tofu Shirataki - Macaroni 8 oz. 10 Pack Skinny Noodles Shirataki Macaroni - ON AMAZON PRIME! Kraft Old English Cheese Spread, 5-Ounce  Kraft Cheese Spread Sampler 5oz Glass Jar (Pack of 6 with 4 Different Flavors)

Kitchen Appliances To Make Low Carb Mac and Cheese

I've been low carbing for about 6 months now and could not imagine living this WOE (way of eating) without my Ninja. It's invaluable in making smooth sauces, purees, and smoothies. Another of my favorite kitchen appliances is my Oster toaster oven. It will bake a 1/2 sheet cake so I use it for about everything. It's also convection which is nice for browning.

 Ninja Mega Kitchen System (BL771) Cuisinart 719-16 Chef's Classic Stainless 1-1/2-Quart Saucepan with Cover Pyrex Easy Grab 8-Inch Square Baking Dish Oster TSSTTVSK01 Extra Large Capacity Countertop 6-Slice Digital Convection Toaster Oven, Brushed Chrome

Atkins Lifestyle? Here I come!

Sept, 16, 2015

Ok, here I am (the pretty one in that picture....um, the girl....), in all of my large glory. I'm bold, I'm beautiful, and I'm, well, overweight. I keep telling myself that the last 40 lbs are the hardest to lose. I should know - I've lost and regained the same suckers multiple times in my life.

My last big dieting 'success' was following the Atkins plan back in 2005. I lost 40 lbs on the plan then and have kept 30 of them off, 10 years later. I consider that a pretty big success story. Now, I haven't followed the Atkins lifestyle for many years, but, at least, I sort of maintained.

So, with a wedding in the future for June 15, 2016 (to the pretty one in that picture above....) and a wedding dress that is about, oh, 6" from closing hanging in my closet, I step back onto the scale and launch myself forward to embrace Dr. Atkins and his revolutionary diet.

I actually started back on the Atkins diet again on Sept 7, 2015 after a trip to Mexico where nothing was off limits. After the trip where burritos were breakfast food, followed, of course, by a very sugary yet delicious margarita (hey, it's 5'o clock somewhere).  I'm pretty sure you can imagine how the vacation went - fabulous! But, as far as fitting into those size 14 shorts? Um, not so much.

Something had to give; I was hoping it wasn't going to be the zipper on my favorite pair of shorts....

So, in short order,

• I joined a nice facebook board of wonderful people who are supportive and a wealth of information.
• I dusted off my low carb cookbooks and thumbed through favorite recipes, and 
• I read up on the Atkins plan again to familiarize myself with Induction foods and practices.

And, after holding steady to the plan, I am down 13 pounds and feeling stronger every minute. On day 3, I passed through the 'Atkins flu symptoms' (lethargy mostly) and came out feeling great the next day. So good, in fact, I went to the gym and then came home and cleaned house.

Since I've done this plan before with some success, it dawned on me this morning that I've amassed a lot of information that could help others. I've also founds and even created some very good Atkin-friendly recipes which I needed to put in one spot anyway, hence, the development of my Low Carb Low Down blog.

You'll find my own recipe creations (there's lots of room for improvising recipes on Atkins), my favorite recipes, and, yes, even some low carb recipes that flop. I'll also document my success and my fails so you'll know you're not alone.

In addition, when I find items that have help me adhere to the Atkins lifestyle, like the Vitamix which easily makes almond flour from raw almonds, I'll post them here. I might even write a quick review which I'll probably post on my website UnSkewedReviews.com.

If you have any questions, please leave me a comment below. I'll try and get back to everyone with an answer or at least where to find the information.

Ok, readers. Favorite my blog and come along with me as we run to meet our svelt new selves!

We've GOT this!