You and Me Baby Ain't Nothin' but Mammals

Yeeeaah...so I have been inhaling eggs and cheese like a Flowbee the last few months.  But we were meant to drink milk, right???  We are of an egg so we should be able to revisit it whenever we want.   We ARE mammals, duh!  So, in honor of my struggle to break free from the drug we commonly call "cheese," (it really has a opiate-like effect, okay!), I'll offer up some pics of my Mac Marathon.

But let me give you some background.  I.  Heart.  Macaroni and cheese.  HARD.  My heart literally beats for it and NO comfort food can come close.  Bad day?  Macaroni and cheese.  Feeling sad and chubby?  Mac and cheese.  What?!  ANOTHER sunny day in SoCal???  M&C.  Peanut butter and jelly ain't got shiz on this pair!  So when I first tried becoming vegan, I did not pass go and headed straight to some vegan mac and cheese recipes.  I first tried Veganomicon's Mac Daddy recipe, and while nutritional yeast tastes nothing like cheese to me, I love that it can make a creamy cheeze sauce!  (I now also heart nooch.  HARD.)  The Mac Daddy recipe isn't bright orange and isn't trying to be as cheese like as possible.  And it is really good.  :D

In the year since I had first tried the Mac Daddy, I have accrued quite a number of vegan m&c recipes in order to find my favorite.  My favorites so far always have nutritional yeast (yay, nooch!).  Fake cheese just tastes like barf, soy, and/or yeast.  Murfglopgugaaahhg!  And many have nuts, miso, tahini, lemon juice, and turmeric for a creamy, cheesy look and flavor. 

In a last ditch effort to eat some good m&c, I went to the hot bar at Whole Foods.  With a seemingly endless supply of organic dairy and tasty recipes, they sure know how to fuck up macaroni and cheese!  Gah!  SO HORRIBLE!  As in, full of HORROR!  It was watery and flavorless.  I had to add MORE cheese AND salt.  HORRIFIC!!!

After HORROR MAC, I bought the ingredients to make my favorite mac and cheese.   I like it creeeaamy, so when I found Rachel Ray's stovetop recipe, I knew it was for me!  :)  It turns out great even with lowfat cheese and non-fat creamer!...except I bought 2% milk instead of cream...SUPER SAD FACE.  In the end, I ended up with HOMEMADE HORROR MAC!!! (insert bloodcurdling scream here)

And of course I had to add even more cheese and salt.  Just call me mensa! 


Here are some pics of more entries into my Mac Marathon...


Vegan Smoked Gouda Mac with Caramelized Apples and Onions.

I like the idea, but the vegan version BLOWS.  Read more about it here.

Fat Bottom Bakery's Mac and Cheese

I made it without the breadcrumb topping.  Definitely better baked than straight out of the pot, and with cayenne pepper!!!  My boyfriend HATES creamy foodz so I had to eat the entire ginormous pan myself.  I'm not too sad about it.  Just sad that I couldn't fit into my pants after a week of eating that.

And my favorite thus far, Joni's Cheater Mac'n'Cheese!!!  Although, I screwed up the recipe and used Tofutti cream cheese, instead of Tofutti SOUR cream.  And I measured some other ingredients wrong.  BUT IT WAS SO GOOD!

EXTREEEME CLOSEUP!

And me.  With a combover.  Trying to gnaw through the bowl 'cause it's in the way.  GIMME!

I am also trying to overcome my hate for Daiya in order to have a cheesier experience with veegz m&c.  But it really tastes SO NOT like cheese, which is distracting.  More like buttered popcorn and yeast barf.   I enjoy how ridiculously rich it is, and sure, it feels and acts like cheese (almost), but who wants to eat a piece of cheese-like butt?  Well, apparently me!  My Veggie Grill El Dorado is on its way here as I type this.  We'll see how that goes.  Meh...

And a bite from my next post about...

 REUBENS!!!

Here's to the hope of a cheeseless tomorrow!!!  Huzzah!