A healthier version of something you love.

This is officially my first foray into food blogging.  And it's not something I'll do a lot.  But as mentioned a few posts down, cooking is what keeps me sane right now.  It's melodic.  By the time my dissertation and this weird transitional time in my life are over, I'll have a pretty full repertoire of recipes to pull from. My beautiful friend Meredith reminded me tonight that I should grow in these new ways precisely because one day I will meet someone who'll they'll make perfect sense to.  In other words, want a second helping ;)

This is a VERY healthy version of macaroni and cheese that I developed just tonight by perusing several blogs and recipes online.  I wanted comfort food, but I also wanted to give myself vitamins and flavors.  It's got tons of carrot going on here, so if you hate carrots, leave this page right now.

It's really easy!  In one large pan, boil a package of baby carrots (roughly chopped) with salt, pepper, and the juice of one orange.  After it reaches boiling, turn the fire to simmer and let it sit for about 30 minutes.  In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 350 and start boiling some penne pasta (about one 7-serving box).

After it's simmered, pour everything in the carrot pan into a food processor with a couple of cloves of raw garlic and a tablespoon of cumin.  Grind it down into a creamy paste!

After that, piece of cake.  Drain your pasta, but put it back into its boiler with a few tablespoons of hot water with the fire on medium.  Add the carrot mixture to it, stir it up.  Add a tablespoon of butter, stir it some more.  Then add about a cup of shredded cheddar cheese...and stir some more.  Add a tiny bit more salt and pepper to taste.  Then pour all of that into a baking dish.  Top with a few more small handfuls of cheese.  And bake for about 15 minutes.

It's on the sweet side, because of the orange and carrot flavors.  It would go wonderfully as a side to...well, basically any fall or winter meal.  

I don't actually expect too many of you out there in the ether to make this.  Hell, maybe I'm wrong.  Anyway, mostly I'm blogging to share my life right now--my experiences, from the tiniest ones like this to the big ones like...

Nevermind that for now.  Peace!