You’ll Need:

• 2 TBSP unsalted butter
• 1/4 milk of your choice (I’ve used whole milk, almond, and oat and all have turned out)
• 1 TBSP flour
• cheese of your choice (I’ve used mozzerella, chedder, cottage cheese, laughing cow, even a mixture of a few different kinds and they all turn out great! Use whatever you have in the fridge)
• handful of fresh or frozen spinach *or any steamed veggies you want to use
• half cup of steamed cauliflower
• pasta *bonus points for a fun shape – Winners always has fun seasonal stuff!
• 2 TBSP nutritional yeast –

** none of these need to be exact measurements. If you feel the sauce is too thick, add more milk, etc.

Directions:

• Boil water for pasta
• Steam cauliflower and set aside
• Melt butter in saucepan
• Add flour and stir until it makes a paste
• Add in milk of choice. If it is too thick, add a little more milk.
• Stir in cheese. Don’t worry if it is lumpy and not fully melted. You are going to blend this so the lumps will go away during that process.
• at this point your water is likely boiling, add the pasta in and cook
• add sauce, cauliflower, spinach and nutritional yeast to high speed blender. If the sauce is too thick, just add more milk.
• poor sauce over pasta and combine.
• serve immediately or divide into portion container and freeze for quick and easy lunches/dinners!

Notes:

*I often have pasta sauce leftover- make sure to freeze it, again, its great for whipping up a last minute lunch or dinner.
* The nutritional yeast is optional but is packed with vitamin B, has protein in it as well as other minerals that can help boost immunity! It has a nice cheesy umami flavour that pairs beautifully with the sauce so much so your toddler won’t even know it’s in there!
* If your child is on a low sodium diet, look for no sodium dry cottage cheese! I have found it at Walmart. It melts beautifully and gives that creamy texture.
* These storage containers are perfect for meal prepping this pasta. They are silicone which makes it super easy to pop out and reheat!

The post Hulk Mac and Cheese appeared first on Teach Me Style - A style, beauty and life blog..

So what’s the fuss you ask? Let me enlighten you!

4 Reasons The Always Pan is the ONLY pan you need:

1.) It is the best nonstick pan you’ll ever use. I’m not sure how they did it, but they did. They have nailed the nonstick which seems to be nearly impossible these days. Of course, like any nonstick pan you must take care of it. They suggest no metal utensils in the pan and to keep it out of the dishwasher.  I suggest slowly letting the pan warm up. Don’t turn the heat up to full blast right away… I’m not 100% sure if this helps but that’s what my dad tells me and he knows everything (at least he sure thinks he does).

2.) It’s beautiful! Seriously though, my pan sits on my stove and is a piece of my kitchen decor! The Always Pan comes in 7 colours, including this beautiful red one they just launched so you’re guaranteed to find one that matches your home perfectly.   The red pan comes in the Red Hot Bundle which includes the red Always Pan, Bamboo steamer, and cooking chopsticks!

3.) The price… now hear me out. I know what you’re thinking $195 is a bit of an investment for one pan BUT that’s the thing, it’s not just one pan.  It really does the job of 8 traditional pieces.  As you can see, I created an entire meal using only 2 of my only pans.  I cooked the chicken, steamed the broccolini, and dumplings all in ONE pan. I am lucky enough to have two Always pan so I used my second one to make the rice!

4.) It ‘s non toxic! I know, it’s hard to believe because the nonstick is SO good but it really is! The nonstick ceramic coating is made without potentially toxic materials like PFOAs, PTFEs, other PFAs, lead, cadmium, toxic metals, and nanoparticles.  You’re going to be using this pan A LOT so this is a good thing!

5.) It’s lightweight.  One thing everyone comments on when they come to my house and pick up my pan is how light it is. The pan itself weighs only 3 lbs!

So, that’s the tea on the pan everyone is talking about! Check out the Our Home website for details on the Red Hot Bundle as well their other essentials!

The post The Always Pan appeared first on Teach Me Style - A style, beauty and life blog..

If you’re a long time TMS follower you may remember I had a little bit of a health scare around this time last year. I had completely run myself into the ground and my body was telling me through my skin. I would react after eating nearly anything. My face would swell up, become extremely dry and itchy and then peel off… it was like nothing I had ever experienced. Through lots of research I found out that the reaction on my face was essentially my body reacting to stress. I made a plan with my naturopath…it was time for entire life overhaul. I needed to slow down, sleep more, reduce my stress levels and be more mindful of what I was putting into my body. Before this health scare I tried to eat healthy but I didn’t always focus on how I was nourishing my body in all facets of my life. 

In the last year I have really tried to focus on not only the foods I’m eating, but also the quality of the ingredients I’m using while cooking. I know that by choosing items like Pacific Foods Organic Vegetable broth I can feel good about what I’m consuming and that’s why it is the key ingredient to my Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl! Cooking the quinoa in this broth is a game changer- it seriously takes this dish to the next level!

Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl

Base:

• 2 cups quinoa
• 4 cups Pacific Foods Organic Vegetable Broth

Toppings:

• 1 head of Cauliflower
• 1 Red Pepper
• 1 Orange Pepper
• 1 Yellow Pepper
• 1/4 purple onion
• 1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped cucumber
• 1/4 kalamata olives (chopped)
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Vegan Tzatziki Sauce

• 3/4 cup Vegan Sour Cream
• 1 cup grated cucumber (drained!)
• 1 TSP lemon zest
• 1 clove of garlic
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt & pepper to taste

Spiced Oil:

• 3 TBSP Avocado Oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 TBSP lemon pepper seasoning
• 1/2 TSP cumin

Instructions:

1.) Wash and chop the cauliflower into bite size pieces. Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes.
2.) Cook the quinoa using Pacific Foods Organic Vegetable Broth.  Make sure to rinse the quinoa before adding it to the pot. Rinsing the quinoa removes the natural coating, called saponin, which can make it taste bitter or soapy.  Add 4 cups Pacific Foods Organic Vegetable Broth with 2 cups rinsed quinoa.  Once the quinoa comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed.
3.) Make the tzatziki sauce. Grate one cup of cucumber into a bowl then squeeze out the liquid. (squeeze hard- lots of water should come out) If you don’t do this, your sauce will be very runny. Mix in the vegan sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, and dill. Store this in the fridge until it is needed.
4.) Chop up the tomatoes, peppers, olives, onions, and cucumbers into bite size pieces. These are the toppings for you bowl!
5.) Toast your pine nuts in the oven or on the stove top. Make sure to watch them very carefully as they burn super easy!
6.) Make your spice oil. Add approximately 3 TBSP avocado (or your oil of choice) to a pan then add the garlic and spices. Careful not to burn this, it burns very quickly. About 3-4 minutes on low to medium heat should do the trick!
6.) Once your cauliflower is done toss it in the spiced oil and it’s time to build your bowl! Make your base with quinoa, top it with your chopped veggies and add the tzatziki and garnish it with parsley! 

This dish is just as good served as leftovers. Toss the leftover quinoa in a bowl with the toppings and tzatziki and mix it all up- perfect for lunches! Enjoy!! 

Enjoy!!

Special thanks to Pacific Foods for sponsoring this this post!

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