So emotionally speaking, it's been a rough couple of weeks for me. I was crying yesterday on and off while I was washing dogs. It was sweet, quite a few of them gave me kisses, and one dog in particular seemed to really understand me. I know it might sound crazy, but I saw it in her eyes. Anyway, when you can't even not cry at work, you know it's a bad week, so I felt like I needed cozy comfort food last night. I had some raw cashews in my freezer, a tiny bit of leftover Teese that needed to be used, and some pasta in the cupboard, MAC&CHEESE!
I did not measure, or even think to measure as I was listening to the newest Brilliant Idiots podcast, trying to cheer up, and didn't think. But man is it a shame because I made what I think was my best vegan mac and cheese to date. I kept it very simple as I just didn't want to mess around. It was a night where I would have preferred not to cook at all. So I can give you suggestions rather than a recipe I guess. I used about a handful or so of cashews, if I had to guess, I'd say 3/4 of a cup or so, and I did soak them for about 6 hours or so. Then I blended them with about the same amount of water, but always start out with less. I wanted it to be on the thinner side, and I blended it with salt, a pinch of onion powder, a good amount of nutritional yeast, and a small squirt of mustard, and a small pinch of turmeric. I blended till smooth, and there was my base. While I was making my sauce, I boiled up a little less than half a package of fusilli pasta, drained it, put it back on the pot, stirred in a small amount of teese, (could easily use daiya, or skip it altogether.) stirred in my sauce, cooked it on a very low heat for maybe a minute, turned off the heat, and bam! It was so good, I think because I kept it simple. Sometimes simple is the most soothing. It was so creamy, it reminded me of Amy's frozen mac and cheese.
On a night that I just didn't want to cook, I created some beyond delicious food. Oh irony how I love you. And this whole meal was made in under twenty minutes. It is super flexible, and mostly relies on individual preferences. I doused mine with hot sauce before eating, which again is up to each individual.
I know sometimes when you're feeling low it can be tempting to nuke something , or if it's in your budget maybe get takeout, but quick meals like this really do help, and there is something soothing about nurturing yourself. And of course when you try to find healthier comfort food options, you are taking care of every part of yourself.
If I ever cook for an Omni, I would make this mac and cheese. It is so creamy I don't see how anyone could have a problem with it. The Teese made it a little extra cheesy, but vegan cheese is rarely in my budget, and I know it would be delicious without as well.
Kitten update: Robin is doing great! He only runs from me when I have the vacuum, and he has pretty much been accepted by everyone, some more than others. Although he doesn't run from me, I can still only pet him when he wants to be pet, which is usually at breakfast, treat, and dinner time lol! He is adorable, and it has been such an easy transition that I cannot recommend adoption over buying enough. If you have a kid who wants a kitten, look outside before you go to a pet store look at me, I plucked one up from right outside my door!
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