It's 8 pm and you've just drug your tired ass through the door after a long, frustrating day at work. Do you cave and just stop by Wendy's on the way home, or do you KISS? It's the IT mantra...Keep It Simple, Stupid...such as when they have to tell the confused customer that their computer doesn't work because they haven't plugged it in. We're going to keep it simple for those days when you are pissed off, exhasted, and just plain done, but don't want to go down into the evil land of the Fast Food Queen.
Our first love = pasta. Our second love = fast pasta. I love boxed mac and cheese. But it doesn't have too much nutrition. So let's jazz it up (insert jazz hands here), but let's keep it simple.
Step one: Fix your favorite boxed mac and cheese according to the directions. I'm sorry, but if you screw up this part, I can't help you. If you want a lower fat option, limit the amount of butter you use or use lower fat butter. Don't worry too much about the fat and carbs at this point because we are going to limit your intake later. One box makes about 4 cups of cheesy goodness.
OOOOO...science! A lot of people say that you should add salt to boiling water to make it boil faster. This is a fact, but not a useful fact. Salt will raise the boiling temperature of water which means that the water will boil at a higher temperature and cook the pasta faster. But the amount of salt that you would have to use to raise the temperature a degree or two just isn't worth it. Add it only if you want some extra flavor.
Step two: Meat. Muscles are so tasty! And they have protein. MMMMMM...protein. I grew up with hotdogs in my mac and cheese, but I can't even begin to tell you how bad most hotdogs are. Try some healthier alternatives such as chicken apple sausage or soy based sausages. Add some grilled chicken or tuna. Most sausages are precooked, so all you have to do is fry them up! Same with the chicken. Buy frozen chicken breasts and fry them up with about a tablespoon of oil. Coat them with fresh ground pepper for some flair.
Hey noticing a trend? Let's talk salt again. Why is salt so good, yet so bad? Well, salt used to be in short supply, but your kidneys need it to clean your blood. So we evolved to crave salt so that we would search it out. Now it's not in short supply and our bodies are having a hard time dealing with the excess. Short story is that the kidneys will use sodium and the natural process of diffusion to control the level of water and minerals in your blood stream. Anything our body doesn't need is pumped into the urine. Normally, our body can adjust to high levels of sodium by getting rid of the excess, but this is stressful. Sometimes our body will start pumping too much liquid into the blood stream in order to dilute the excess salt. The extra liquid in our blood vessels stresses our whole circulatory system. Honestly, you get enough salt everyday. You don't need to add more.
Step Three: Steam and add vegetables. This is the magic ingredient. They are full of vitamins, low in fat, and low in carbohydrates. And the more vegetables you have mixed in, the less pasta you will ultimately eat. Steaming is important because boiling actually leaches those magical vitamins out of the vegetables. They are actually marketing steam-in-bag vegetables now! You can also buy pre-cut fresh or frozen vegetables to cut down on prep-time. Some of my favorites are peas (vitamin K for bones), green peppers (vitamin A for healthy teeth, skin, and eyes), broccoli (vitamin C for a healthy immune system), and carrots (vitamin A again). All vegetables have an array of vitamins and minerals to keep us healthy, but they also have fiber which keeps us *ahem* regular.
Step Four: Add some Tapatio and enjoy. But don't enjoy too much. I know you want to eat all four cups because it tastes so gosh darned good and you've had a bad day, but chill! Dish yourself a couple cups first (keep in mind that this is no longer two cups of just pasta because you added all that other good stuff). Eat this slowly. Wait 20 minutes...your brain needs time to digest this new event. If you are still hungry after 20 minutes go get another 1/2-1 cup and repeat the eat-wait process. And don't stuff...you're not at Build A Bear! Imagine you are getting gas (har har)...fill it up but don't top it off. But seriously, make sure you enjoy it. Savor the taste of your food and think about the little vitamins swimming happily into your blood stream.
KISS your food and your cook,
Michelle
