I’ve often been asked where I get inspiration for my recipes. Truth be told I think of a lot of them while my mind is drifting at work and I’m trying to remember what I have in my fridge for dinner or what I want to buy at the store to make for dinner. I also get inspired from reading the zillion of food blogs I have out there on my Google Reader.
I think I’ve always had a creative mind in the kitchen, but reading the blogs out there always make me want to push it one step further. For instant I was inspired for dinner tonight from this recipe for Cauliflower Mac n’ Cheese on the Red Hair Yellow Dog Blog.
I liked the idea of using cauliflower in Mac n’ Cheese, but decided to nix the noodles. I also decided to nix the majority of the cheese and instead go the squash substitute route. By the end my concoction no longer resembled the original idea but the inspiration behind it was still there. The end results wasn’t the prettiest thing out there, but let me tell you it was tasty!
‘Cheesy’ Chickpea Cauliflower Casserole
- 1 cup Pureed Butternut Squash
- 1/2 cup Part Skim Ricotta Cheese
- 1/4 cup Vegetable Broth
- 3 tbsp Whole Wheat Flour
- 2 cups Cauliflower
- 1 cup Chickpeas
- 1/2 cup Broccoli Slaw
- Handful of shredded Pepper Jack Cheese
- Garlic
- Oregano
- Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes
- S&P
- Preheat the over to 420
- Spread the cauliflower on a baking sheet, season with S&P and bake for 10 minutes
- Remove the cauliflower and reduce the temp to 375
- In a mixing bowl combine the squash, ricotta cheese, broth, flour and seasoning
- Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray then add the cauliflower, squash and broccoli and toss together
- Top with shredded cheese
- Bake for 15 minutes, enjoy!
It might not look like the prettiest dish, but I really enjoyed it. The flavors all blended together perfectly and I was happily licking my plate clean in the end. I can’t wait to enjoy the left overs.
With the casserole I made a simple salad of Tomatoes and Cucumber that I tossed with some Balsalmic Vinegar and EVOO. A great light compliment to the dense casserole.
Dessert was an apple I heated up in the microwave with cinnamon and topped with a dollop of Fat Free Cool Whip.
My snack earlier this afternoon was a new find from Whole Foods over the weekend. I had a serving of the 365 Organic Teddy Grahams.
At first I thought they were a little tasteless, but after the third or fourth one I was really enjoying the fact that they weren’t very sweet. The light sweetness really made them the perfect afternoon snack.
Now I must get back to my huge pile of laundry that was pouring out of my closet.
Yep, that’s a whole month’s worth of dirty clothes divided in three laundry baskets and a pile on the floor.
I was amused on all the comments from my morning post of how much underwear I own. I guess I collect underwear like some girls collect shoes or purses, they may have a zillion of those items, but I have a zillion pairs of underwear. I also have this problem where every time I walk by a Victoria Secret I have to run in and buy 5 new pairs. They’e just so cute and really who doesn’t feel cute when they have pretty underwear on? Oh well, at least having so many allows me to go over a month without doing laundry. Money well spent if you ask me. 
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