Healthy Mac & Cheese (hint: hidden veggie)

It was snowing today in Boston for the first time this season. Not a whole lot, but enough to inspire me to stay indoors and cook up something warm and comforting. I recently found this recipe for a healthy macaroni and cheese but honestly can't remember where. I thought I'd copied it from Mark Bittman's article No Meat, No Dairy, No Problem that linked to some awesome vegetarian recipes. But it wasn't there nor from my huge Foodbuzz recipe collection. So, I'm posting it here and if you're the creator of this recipe, please call me out and take credit for it...no plagiarism intended!

I've never made mac and cheese from scratch. I think of it as a salty, starchy dish that's good enough cooked from the Kraft blue box. My son eats it a few times a week and occasionally I crave it. But I liked the ingredients in this particular recipe: adding pureed butternut squash for extra nutrients, Greek yogurt for protein, and whole wheat pasta for fiber and more nutrients. The directions are fairly simple and you could probably use canned squash or pumpkin to save time. I liked the mellow almost indistinguishable flavor of the squash so that my son wouldn't complain. He's adamant about certain foods looking a certain way (for example he didn't like the Panko breadcrumbs sprinkled on top, which had to be scraped off; otherwise he ate the squash-infused dish without hesitation). The yield is four servings but if you use it as a side dish, you'll get more servings.

 Healthy Mac & Cheese (serves 4)

Ingredients

10 oz whole-wheat elbow or shell pasta, cooked (note: I used a white whole-grain fortified pasta)

1 1/2 lb butternut squash, peeled, cubed, steamed soft and puréed

1 cup 1% milk

1 T soft margarine

4 T plain, non-fat Greek yogurt

1 cup sharp low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

Panko breadcrumbs and additional grated Parmesan cheese for sprinkling, if desired (note: this is my addition)

Directions

1. Combine squash purée, milk, margarine and yogurt in a saucepan over medium heat and stir to blend.
2. Once mixture is at a simmer, gradually add the cheeses and stir until melted.
3. Add cooked pasta and stir to coat completely. Add salt and pepper as desired.
4. Pour into an oven-safe casserole dish and lightly sprinkle breadcrumbs and extra Parmesan cheese on top.
5. Bake for 20 minutes at 400˚F.

Nutrition facts per serving (approx.): 260 cals, 17g pro, 28g carb, 10g fat (5g sat), 3g fiber, 4g sugar

New Year's Resolution #1: Less Laptop

As I help clients achieve their newly formed New Year's resolutions (weight loss or eating better tops their lists), I've been inspired to tackle mine. My #1 goal this year is pretty clear: get off the computer. In the past year it has spiraled out of control as I now watch my favorite television programs (reality, of course) online. Add this to the time I devote to 4 personal email addresses, 2 work emails, communication with 4 employers, this blog, others' blogs, and my ongoing fascination with Twitter and what's happening right now. Thankfully I'm not very active on Facebook (something has to give, right?). I thought that the dark circles and bags under my eyes (nonexistent only 5 years ago) were due to my new sleepless schedule after having a baby. But Jake's been sleeping through the night for 3 years now and my bags haven't deflated.

I finally admitted this was a problem when I realized I was hiding my laptap use from my husband—pulling the plug when I heard him turn into the driveway, pretending to go to bed early and then grabbing the laptop from under the bed to type under the covers...ugh. When my husband drove Jake to Rhode Island one Saturday to visit his grandparents, I anticipated an afternoon of freedom, planning wonderful activities to visit friends, run errands, and read books. I ended up spending 4 hours straight on the computer...ugh.

So here are my goals, not perfect but realistic: 1) check email only twice a day and 2) limit myself to one hour of Hulu or Bravo TV and one hour on Twitter. The first day of attempting this was hard. I felt bored, empty, insecure. No stimulation from sights and sounds left me numb. It made me realize how addicted I'd become! I was soon motivated to concentrate on other activities. I washed all the dishes, did a big load of laundry, sorted out my son's too-small clothes and shoes to give away, cooked a lot, read a few chapters from The Emperor of All Maladies (highly recommend this by the way; big book but easy captivating reading), and shredded down my mountain mail pile. But after all that was finished, I got more desperate to stay distracted. I groomed myself, I sharpened Jake's colored pencils, I played ball with him until he begged to go away. Hours later, finally I let myself check email...but at least it was a lot less screen time than the day before so I counted that as progress! Day 1 is always the hardest, and I'm committed to sticking this out. It gives me greater empathy for my clients who have other types of mountains to overcome. No one said resolutions were easy, that's why we put them off until Jan 1. And if we fail, there's always Jan 1, 2013.

Fibrelle Product Review: A Low Calorie Sweetener with Fiber

Whereas it seemed that artificial sweeteners were about to become passé, a new breed has emerged. Many of them are being touted as all natural even though they're not, and several are available for baking. Whereas high heat used to destroy the structure of these sweeteners and therefore cause them to lose flavor, newer versions are heat stable. Fibrelle has gone a step further to be not only low calorie but provide fiber...about 2 grams per teaspoon or 7 grams per tablespoon. It contains inulin, the same ingredient found in all Fiber One products. When I first saw this product, my practical nutritionist side thought a low calorie sweetener with fiber could be useful for people watching their weight or who have diabetes. But another side of me protested, agreeing with Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food that food manufacturers are creating too many of these junk health foods that are highly processed and unnatural but which hide behind a nice looking nutrition profile. Generally I don't think relatively healthy people should use these products but certain folks could benefit, specifically if it helps them to reduce their total calorie intake for weight control.

When Fibrelle provided me with samples, I was very interested to try them out. Fibrelle conveniently replaces the exact amount of sugar in your recipe. It contains a blend of fibers (polydextrose, inulin, oligofructose), sugar alcohol (maltitol), and artificial sweeteners (sucralose, acesulfame-K). Be aware that some people experience gas or cramps after eating these types of fibers and sugar alcohols because bacteria in your gut will ferment them and produce that extra gas, so just don't gorge on foods made with these ingredients. It's also not completely calorie-free providing 15 calories per tablespoon (versus 45 calories in a tablespoon of sugar). I chose a recipe from The Cancer Lifeline Cookbook that is healthful to begin with and provides the perfect test for Fibrelle: the recipe calls for a crumbly sugar topping, so we could see if Fibrelle would caramelize!

Blueberry Breakfast Cake (yield 16 pieces)

Ingredients

1 large egg

1/2 cup skim milk or soy milk

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt (I didn't have this so I used Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt)

3 T butter or trans-fat-free margarine, melted

1/2 cup Fiber One cereal, ground fine (I have the hardest time grinding Fiber One even in my food processor so I just used it as is)

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (if you don't have this you can use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour)

1/2 cup Fibrelle

4 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries

Topping

3 T Fibrelle

2 T finely chopped walnuts

1/4 t ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. 
2. In a medium bowl, mix the Fiber One cereal, flour, Fibrelle, baking powder and salt. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, yogurt and butter/margarine. 
3. Fold dry ingredients into the liquid mixture. Stir the batter just to blend. Do not overbeat. Fold in the blueberries and then pour the batter into the prepared pan. 
4. In a small bowl stir together the topping ingredients of Fibrelle, walnuts and cinnamon. Sprinkle over batter.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes.

RESULTS: The sugar topping browned! And the cake smelled very fragrant and fruity. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this recipe or the Fibrelle so I was very surprised that it tasted pretty fabulous. It was super moist and didn't carry a weird flavor or bitterness that some artificial sweeteners contain. The recipe saves 330 calories from the Fibrelle (165 calories versus 495 calories if regular sugar had been used). I also calculated the total amount of fiber from the Fibrelle, Fiber One, and whole wheat flour: a whopping 109 grams for the whole recipe, which translates to about 7 grams per 1/16 piece. Most folks, including me, would eat at least two pieces. So keep in mind that high amount of fiber you're taking in at once! (If you prefer less fiber, omit the Fiber One cereal.) I also put it in my morning coffee and it tasted fine, not unlike Splenda. If you aren't sensitive to its ingredients and need to watch calories, I'd recommend Fibrelle. However, it should be used in moderation and not every day because my main worry is that more and more food products are going to be containing fortified ingredients like these and it's possible to overdose on them if you don't keep track. Definitely don't be tempted to all of a sudden bake a bunch of sweet treats to keep in the house as snacks! Try Fibrelle when baking for a holiday or special event, where you can contribute a lower calorie treat to enjoy with everyone else.