Love this veggie mac-and-cheese served in muffin cups

It was billed as a kiddie dish, but boy, did the big kids give it five stars! Mac and Cheese "Muffins" were baked in muffin cups and formed tidy individual servings that no doubt would be appealing to the younger set.

I prepared it, however, because I liked the idea of this Prevention magazine recipe having fresh carrots, squash, frozen peas, and onions baked alongside whole-wheat macaroni and cheese—with a bread-crumb and cheese topping. Very one-dish, very healthy.

Don't expect these muffins to emerge looking as though they belong in the pastry category just because they're baked in muffin tins. The recipe doesn’t contain flour, baking powder, baking soda, or the typical ingredients that would yield a bread-like texture. Baking the mixture in muffin cups merely creates interest for kiddos. (The recipe also suggests ways kids can help, such as dusting on the crumb topping and filling the muffin cups.) It also could be baked in a lightly greased casserole dish with the crumb/cheese topping—a yummy option.

Forgot to mention that the Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce gave this mix just the right degree of perkiness. Hubby and I were pretty happy with this Mac and Cheese keeper.

Mac and Cheese “Muffins”

8-ounces whole-wheat elbow macaroni

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, coarsely grated

1 package (16 ounces) frozen peas

1 box (12 ounces) frozen cooked winter squash, thawed (I used cooked, sliced, fresh squash)

1 1/4 cup whole or 2 percent milk (I used skim)

1 3/4 cup shredded 2-percent Cheddar and Monterrey Jack blend

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup fresh whole-wheat bread crumbs

2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat 12 muffin cups (1/2-cup capacity) or a 2 1/2- to 3-quart baking dish with olive-oil spray. Prepare macaroni al dente according to package directions. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat while macaroni cooks. Add onion and carrots; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in peas, squash, and milk. Bring just to a simmer. Add shredded cheese, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir until cheese is melted. Remove from heat. Drain macaroni; immediately add to squash mixture. Toss until well-combined. Mound in prepared muffin cups. Toss together bread crumbs and Parmesan; sprinkle mixture evenly over top of macaroni. Bake in middle of oven until tops are golden brown and cheese sauce is bubbling, about 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before you serve. Makes 12 servings. (Source: March 2012 Prevention)

Cheering on a lively, healthy carrot dip good for tailgating or any time

Three cheers for the Baylor Bears, who won our college’s homecoming game this past weekend. And three cheers for Carrot Dip; since last year’s homecoming, I’d saved the recipe in my file to make for this year’s tailgate party. In the middle of a weekend of fast-food and not-always-healthy eating it gave us a reason to bring out the veggies for digging into a tasty and healthy dip.

I shredded enough fresh carrots to make 1 1/2 cups and also chopped green onions to make 1/3 cup. All this was folded into a mixture of fat-fee sour cream, low-fat mayo, and low-fat cream cheese (I use Neufchatel). Seasonings included lower-sodium soy sauce, prepared horseradish, salt, and pepper.

Dippers were zucchini sticks, red Bell pepper strips, fresh carrot chips, and three varieties of chips. The recipe (courtesy www.bhg.com) called for using an electric mixer to make the mixture smooth (before you fold in shredded carrots and green onions), but mine turned out plenty smooth just by beating it with a wooden spoon. (This also saved having to clean up the beaters for the electric mixer). The recipe advised chilling the dip in a covered container for from 4 to 24 hours and not to prepare further ahead than this, or the dip would become too thin. I stuck within the 24-hour limit; everything was just fine, but I can see how very much beyond this might affect consistency.

We feasted and fested and lavished in our annual weekend with family and friends at our alma mater. Carrot Dip helped make things wonderful.

Carrot Dip

1/2 of an 8-ounce carton sour cream

1/2 of an 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

2 teaspoons soy sauce (I used the lower-sodium variety)

1 1/2 teaspoons prepared horseradish (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots

1/3 cup chopped green onions

dippers such as flatbreads, crackers, tortilla chips, celery sticks, sweet pepper strips, jicama sticks, and/or zucchini sticks

In a medium mixing bowl beat together sour cream, cream cheese, mayonnaise, soy sauce, horseradish (if using), salt, and pepper. Use an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Stir in shredded carrots and green onions until combined. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours (do not prepare further ahead than this, or the dip will become too thin). Keep the dip chilled while you are transporting it. Stir dip before you serve with dippers. Makes about 2 cups dip (approximately 10 servings).

Very orange (and nutritious) drink for a very orange evening

On Halloween night, Hubby was pacing . . . no trick-or-treaters yet. I reminded him that most of the neighborhood

Halloween parties had occurred the previous night (Sunday) . . . that it was Monday night, a school night, and that kids go door-to-door later in the evening here than in other places we’ve lived (45 minutes after I mentioned this fact, we had quite a few callers). So while he waited, he decided to fix himself one of his famous smoothies from a recipe suggestion I had placed on his desk. Hubby hates nothing worse than having little pieces of paper on his desk; he’s always eager to get things cleared away.

Power Gold Smoothie was a good choice for Halloween night because (despite the name) it was very orange—and with good reason. Its main element included two cups of chopped or grated carrots (this amounts to about two large carrots, grated), combined with unsweetened pineapple juice, honey, ice cubes, and yogurt. The power

part of the title pertains to the fact that carrots are fat- and cholesterol-free, a good source of fiber, and high in beta-carotene and vitamin A. In other words, it’s pretty power-packed.

Incidentally all this information, including the recipe, was furnished by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension program. The printout on Power Smoothies included this interesting factoid: in Roman times carrots were purple or white, but in the 16th century Dutch growers bred the vegetable to grow in the colors of the House of Orange. Well, who knew that?

Onto Hubby’s smoothie, which he was sipping when our first candy-seekers finally arrived. He pronounced it quite excellent, though with a chunky texture, since it contained the grated-up carrots. The recipe noted that if you want a smoother texture, microwave the grated carrot with 1 tablespoon water in a covered microwave-safe dish on high for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain water and proceed with the recipe.

Now, with the smoothie made, Hubby has one less stray piece of paper on his desk and a lot more power-ful nutrition in his tummy.

Power Gold Smoothie

2 cups carrots, chopped or grated or cooked in microwave. (This amounted to

about 2 large carrots, grated.)

1 1/2 cups pineapple juice (I used unsweetened)

3 tablespoons honey

3-4 ice cubes

1/2 cup vanilla non-fat yogurt

In blender combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth. Makes 4 servings.

OK, walnuts it'll be; healthy carrot cake bars help me keep resolve

For a long time it's been my knee-jerk substitution: if a recipe called for walnuts, I'd automatically sub in pecans. Around our house pecans are in ready supply (in previous blogs I've mentioned about our "forest" of 13 pecan trees). Besides, I've never particularly cared for the taste of walnuts—too strong, too bitter.

But lately Hubby has been extolling the health wonders of walnuts. The new issue of Prevention magazine features walnuts as the current in-season superfood. Hubby had been reading this and at his latest grocery-store run brought home a bad of freshly shelled walnuts. He's been munching them the way I munch almonds—as my mid-morning health snack.

Prevention magazine mentions how walnuts give dishes a heart-healthy punch; they score highest of all nuts in the omega-3s that protect against heart disease. Their stores of fiber and unsaturated fat can help lower bad LDL cholesterol naturally. Oh, OK. I give in. Walnuts need to make their way into my diet.

That resolve, plus some leftover carrots dippers from my New Year's artichoke dip and a dab of leftover cream cheese from holiday cookie preparation, gave me good reason to try this Healthy Low-Fat Carrot Cake Bars recipe. I used walnuts where I'd normally sub pecans. The result produced some delightful bars (recipe provided by www.carrotrecipes.net); I can serve some now and freeze the rest for a later occasion.

O how virtuous I feel as I ingest this carrot-rich dessert that is infused with walnuts, the in-season superfood. May be a while before I can bring myself to munch on walnuts full-bore, but at least with this recipe I've taken the first step toward my change-over.

Healthy Low-Fat Carrot Cake Bars

3 eggs (or 3/4 cup egg substitute)

1 3-ounce jar baby-food carrots (or carrots pureed in blender to make 3 ounces)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (or 1/4 cup brown-sugar substitute)

1/2 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups grated fresh carrot

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3-ounces Neufchatel cheese, softened (low-fat option subbed for cream cheese)

1 teaspoon vanilla

powdered sugar sifted to make 2 cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line with a foil a 13-inch-by-9-in baking pan and lightly grease the top of the foil; let foil extend over the ends of the pan. In a large bowl beat together eggs, carrots, sugar, oil, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Add flour slowly; beat to incorporate. Stir in carrots, ginger, and walnuts until just mixed. Spread into foil-lined pan. Bake 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle emerges clean. Cool pan on a wire rack. Meanwhile prepare the frosting: In a small bowl beat together butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Add sugar and beat on low until thick and smooth. Spread over cooled cake. Sprinkle a few chopped walnuts onto top of cake. Cut cake into bars. Lift foil by ends to remove cake from pan. Remove bars to serving tray or airtight storage container. Keep refrigerated. Makes 18 bars.

A profusion of orange on the table makes post-Labor Day seem more fall-like

No denying it; Labor Day officially kicks off fall. Even the temps here in Texas are cooperating a little and (thanks to Tropical Storm Hermine) seeming a little more fall-like. What color is the essence of fall? None other than orange, so this orange-to-the-bone dish was an ideal one for me to try in my post-Labor Day meal prep.

Sweet Potato Casserole, with the addition of brown-sugar to underscore the "Sweet" in Sweet Potatoes, is a fall staple on many tables, but I love this addition of carrots and onion to make Confetti Carrots and Sweet Potatoes an even more healthy and interesting side dish.

The cooked potatoes and carrots are mashed with a hand masher, not a hand mixer as one typically might mash cooked sweet potatoes, so the texture is not buttery smooth but is more "confetti-like", hence the name.

Confetti Carrots and Sweet Potatoes makes a grand side dish for a ham or chicken dinner. But as usual, Hubby and I didn't need anything else but a small fruit salad to turn this dish into a small dinner meal in itself.

Wee definitely got our "orange-fix" for the week to help kick off fall.

Confetti Carrots and Sweet Potatoes

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 pounds carrots, thinly sliced

6 cups water

1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced

2 teaspoons lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup (or to taste) brown-sugar substitute (I used Splenda)

In medium kettle heat oil and onion until onion is soft. Add carrots, sweet potato, and water. Simmer gently 30 minutes. Remove carrot and sweet potatoes and (using a hand masher and not a mixer) mash thoroughly; add onion. Stir in salt, pepper, butter, and brown sugar. Serve. (If necessary heat in microwave to re-warm before you serve.)

For this "J", flexibility with recipe ingredients can have big payoffs

Where recipes are concerned, I've never been much for adapting.

If a recipe says 1 cup pecans, to me that means 1 cup and not a sprinkling more. If it calls for six ingredients, I follow it to the letter of the law. If I don't possess all the items it calls for, I simply bypass the recipe and select another one.

I recently edited a book in which the author stated that she viewed any recipe as merely as "suggestion" as to how a food item should be prepared. To the basic framework she always added, subtracted, and modified at will.

When I ran across that statement in her copy, I mentally rolled my eyes. A suggestion? I'd starve before I ever failed to follow a recipe down to the last jot and tittle.

My hubby of course would assess that this is because I'm a die-hard "J" on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a renowned personality inventory that helps people understand themselves better. A "J" doesn't flex much and usually is as rigid as the day is long, according to my hubby, who naturally is a Myers-Briggs "P" (don't fence him in! Give him lots of room to go with the flow!) Yes, opposites attract!

All this is a prelude for saying that surprisingly, I've found myself actually flexing a lot more lately when I'm preparing a recipe. For example to the ingredients for "Lemony Vegetable Medley" in yesterday's blog--I shocked myself by adding some thinly sliced carrots to the green bean-corn-radish-red pepper potpourri before marinating. I had some leftover carrot chips on hand and thought, "Bet that would add some extra zing." Yes, that's me, Kay--the die-hard "J"--actually coloring outside the box from what the recipe originally said.

But because I adapted with that recipe and added the carrot on a whim, that left me carrot-less last night when the time arrived to prepare "Calico Beef Burgers", which I earlier mentioned is one of my summer "must-have"s. Calico Beef Burgers, which we sub with ground turkey instead of ground beef, calls for 1/2 cup grated carrot to be mixed in with the meat before one forms the burger patty. Since I was without a carrot, I surveyed the fridge and with a nonchalance that would make any "P" proud, asked myself, "Now what do I have . . .?"

The answer? Corn--left over from Monday night and the "Lemony Vegetable Medley." A couple of ears still were available. Hubby had picked them from his garden a few days earlier. I quickly microwaved them, cut the kernels from the cob, and stirred in the corn in place of the 1/2 cup grated carrot.

The result? An absolute meal in a burger patty, which contained meat, cheese (dairy), green veggie (green onions), potato (carbohydrate/fiber), and corn (fiber again). On a whole wheat bun I added spinach leaves (which we usually substitute for lettuce) to make the whole thing even more healthy.

Hubby said he didn't miss the carrot at all, though I'll probably return to the original recipe when I stir up some "Calico Beef Burgers" (from my cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden) again. On the other hand, flexing was so enjoyable, I might just sub a little grated zucchini next time!

Calico Beef Burgers

3/4 cup pound ground beef or ground turkey

1 cup cold cooked potatoes, riced or mashed

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1/4 cup finely chopped green onion

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg

1 tablespoon steak sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Combine ingredients; shape into patties. Grill burgers. May be served on a toasted bun or by themselves with a little salt-free ketchup on top.