New Meal for the Month

One of my monthly goals was to add a new meal to our rotation. Right now, we have about 20 meals that we rotate through. Meal planning is a cinch with our Excel document. I just use the filter feature to select the five meals we want to make for the week and it automatically generates a grocery list of every ingredient organized by section of the grocery store. 

Although the system works perfectly, I find that we have grown tired of our 20 staples. Time to add more!

Enter: Gluten-free Mexican Macaroni & Cheese

My step-father made it over the holiday, and it was delicious. I'm always up for mac-n-cheese, but I appreciate that this one is a little more substantive with beans. 

Here are the ingredients:

• 3 C brown rice elbow macaroni
• 1 C canned black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 tomato, seeded and diced
• 1/2 avocado, diced
• 1 T chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 t fresh lime juice
• 1 T unsalted butter
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 1 T brown rice flour
• 1.5 C 1% milk
• 6 oz. queso fresco, shredded (I used cheddar and it worked well, too)
• 1/2 C plain nonfat yogurt

Directions:

1. Cook pasta.
2. Drain and return to pot. 
3. Add beans.
4. In a small bowl, combine tomato, avocado, cilantro, and lime juice.
5. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium. Saute the onion until softened, 2-3 minutes.
6. Add flour and whisk constantly for 1 minute.
7. Gradually add milk, whisking constantly until thickened (about 3 minutes).
8. Remove from heat and add queso fresco. Stir until slightly melted (some curds will remain).
9. Add yogurt and stir to combine. 
10. Pour over beans and noodles. Stir.
11. Add to bowls and then add tomato mixture on top.

Do you have any links to simple vegetarian meals? 

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