music guess what? it's my birthday! i figured i would celebrate with one of my favorite dishes, mac and cheese. thumbs up if you are a fan of mac and cheese. and i am gifting this recipe to you on my birthday because it is one of the 40 recipes in my newest ebook unjunk your foods, your favorite junk food healthified. now you can use any pasta you want in this recipe but i know that choosing pasta can be intimidating. there are so many options and truthfully a lot of the tips that i gave in my choosing tortillas episode can be applied to choosing pasta.
but just briefly, let's chat about this situation. you walk into the pasta aisle and you see so many boxes making so many health claims. the quick version. first of all, the shape of the pasta does not affect its nutrition. secondly, almost all pastas, whether they are white, wheat, quinoa, gluten free, brown rice, whatever, the macro nutrients and calories are about the same. so rather than choosing your pasta based on calories and carbs, you want to focus on ingredients. are you sensitive to wheat or gluten? if so, you may want to go with the gluten free variety like quinoa pasta or brown rice or corn. if you aren't sensitive to gluten but you are trying to make a healthier choice than refined
white pasta, you could go with whole wheat. the choice is yours. it is important to keep in mind that gluten free pastas do have a slightly different texture than wheat or white pastas. if you're not used to them, they can catch you a little bit off guard but they are still tasty and they are a great healthy choice if you give them a try. you will have to try them out for yourself to see which you like best and why don't you comment below and let me know your favorite. on to the star of the show, the mac and cheese. cook your pasta according to package directions until al dente. place a strainer or colander over the sink. here is a little trick that i love. we are going to add nutrition with spinach and wilt
that spinach at the same time with no effort at all. simply add your spinach to the strainer followed immediately by your pasta and hot water. the hot water and pasta is going to make that spinach wilt right away. in the same pot, you are going to pour back in the strained macaroni with the spinach. now to make this recipe super easy, we are not making a cheese sauce. so it is important that you are timely. while the pasta is still hot, we want to add in all of our cheesy creamy ingredients. almond milk, greek yoghurt, shredded cheddar cheese or low fat cheddar and garlic powder. softly stir to combine. you don't want to beat up the pasta but you want to make sure you work quickly
and cook thoroughly so that all of the cheese melts. yum, look at that delicious creamy texture. option to top with a little bit of parmesan cheese and devour. and its macro time. now this recipe yields a hefty portion sizes because i do not want just a small half cup of mac and cheese. and compared to a restaurant or store bought mac and cheese of the same serving size, you're going to save almost 150 calories, 10 grams of fat and 25 grams of carbs. not to mention that we significantly up the protein thanks to that greek yoghurt. that's what i m talking about. if you would like this lightened up recipe and more,
check out my newest ebook at mindovermunch.com/ebooks and if you try this or any of my recipes don't forget to instagram or tweet me a pic. i will see you thursday for a new episode so don't forget to subscribe. and remember it's all a matter of mind over munch. because it is one of my because it is one choosing pasta. i need to redo that. guard but
stir to combine. stir softly. softly stir to combine. unjunk your foods. why can't i remember it? it's my book.