My 8 year old made me do it…

At the beginning of February, I decided to get some help with weight loss at my local med-spa.  I started an ultra restrictive HcG program.  It’s going great… but these 500 calorie days are SO boring to someone who likes to cook, eh, yeah… and likes to eat. My lunch and dinner are 3.5 oz of specific protein (grilled chicken & what not) and 3.5 oz of specific veggies… One veggie at a time… no mixed salads and that sort of b.s. This is what my painfully boring lunches and dinners have looked like for 2 1/2 weeks…

Now, I’m averaging a 1lb a day loss, so believe me… I’m happy… Just BORED.  The other day I decided to really torture myself and go through recipes over at The Pioneer Woman.  Now, if you haven’t heard of The Pioneer Woman… you’re either new to blogs or you’re living under a rock. Ree’s a rock star. She’s recently published a cookbook… her food and pictures are always fabulous.

 

I decided that since Sister and I both love tPW, I would order us both a copy of the cookbook. I was a dumbass and didn’t realize that she was in Houston for a signing, so ours aren’t signed… but they are still special.

The day it came in, I read the dang thing cover to cover.  A cookbook. The whole thing.

 

Unfortunately, so did my 8 year old.  Who then asked me why my food didn’t look as good as tPW’s… What a punk thing to say to your mother. I mean REALLY.  However, since we’ve been having farm loads of grilled chicken lately, I decided to throw the girl a bone… or elbow… whichever way you want to look at it.

 

For dinner tonight I’ve made Ree’s Macaroni and Cheese.  Simple. Basic. Beautiful.

 

Until I got home from the store and realized I forgot whole milk and dry mustard… So AFTER I went back to the grocery and picked up those things I got started.

 

Then I got totally skeeved out because the recipe called for an egg… and my dumb ass husband bought extra-large eggs instead of larges… (really, who DOES that?)…and then discovered my XL egg was a twin…

 

After I got my wits back about me I flicked that “extra” part out… GROSS… So after flicking, I figured I had something close to what a large egg would actually be like, so there. Problem solved.

 

Until I had two pots going… one that had to be whisked constantly and the other with the elbow noodles in it was overflowing… I tell ya… I must be easily excitable… and I should NEVER try to whisk with my left hand… Just sayin…

 

I also didn’t think my baking dish would hold all of the noodles, so I used 3 cups not 4.  After screwing up with the egg and noodle measurements, I figured Ree wouldn’t give a damn if I added the right amount of milk either… You see… we use 1% milk not whole. At the store I bought a pint of whole… and the recipe called for 2 1/2 cups… I SWEAR I used to be good at math… really I was!!!

Alas, all is well because now I have THIS mixture in my fancy dancy Le Creuset pot.

 

At this point, I thought it was a little thick, so I added a splash of my 1% milk… improvise people, improvise…

 

I found this fancy dancy Le Creuset baking dish on clearance… so I thought it would be perfect for mac n cheese…

 

And I also found fancy dancy panko breadcrumbs at the grocery so I added them to the top of the dish… Ree’s a middle child too… she’ll understand that this is something we do. We can’t just let well enough alone. Even if the recipe is from a rock star.

 

Right now the dish is resting in my fridge, waiting to baked this evening after our dance classes. I’ll be having even MORE grilled chicken… probably with red peppers instead of mac n cheese… but hey, at least I feel like I’ve cooked something and I’ll get to smell it calorie-free.

 

And maybe next time my punk kid will say, HEY! My mom makes kickin mac n cheese!… Maybe…