Salute to Moms

Good evening. Mr. Foodie is taking a post-dinner nap and I thought I would take a minute to post. Below you will find a great recipe that I tried tonight from the Stella Style Low Carb Cookbook. It knocked my socks off! I even have leftovers to take for lunch tomorrow. Mr. Foodie loved it.

I am really looking forward to this week coming to a close because I get to see my favorite friends in the world this weekend. We are going out of town for the 4th of July. The only thing I hate about leaving town is that I have to leave me cats at home. I wish they were like dogs and you could take them places, but then if they were like dogs I wouldn't love them so much. Yesterday morning when I got up Katalina was sleeping in the cat bed next to my side of the bed, and her brother Southpaw was curled up on a pillow next to her. I got up to make coffee and then came back to bed and they were giving each other a bath. I don't know what I would do without those cats. They are the only peace in my life. Whenever I look at them I instantly calm down. If only I could take them to the office with me. No pets allowed even though many of my coworkers would probably qualify as barn animals. HA!

I am not working on Thursday or Friday which is quite amazing. I am getting my hair done on Thursday and afterwards Mom is coming over to do a little shopping and to borrow a suit case. She is redoing the hems in 5 pairs of my work pants which is probably saving me from paying $50 at the seamstress. Gotta love a Mom with multi-talents.

Cauliflower "Mac" and Cheese Casserole - Eating Stella Style

Ingredients:
Salt
Nonstick Spray
1 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
3/4 cup heavy cream (may use sugar-free soy milk)
2 oz cream cheese, cut into small pieces (may use low-fat)
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard [I used Coleman's because I didn't have Dijon]
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, plus 1/2 cup for topping the casserole
Black Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
1/8 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season the boiling water with salt. Spray and 8-by-8 inch baking dish with the nonstick spray.
2. Cook the cauliflower in the boiling water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Drain well and pay between several layers of paper towels to dry. Transfer the cauliflower to the baking dish and set aside. [Instead of drying it with paper towels, I left it in a colander until right before I assembled the dish]
4. bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan and whisk in the cream cheese and mustard until smooth.
5. Stir in the 1 1/2 cups of cheese, salt, cayenne, and black pepper until the cheese melts. Put Cauliflower in baking dish and pour over the cheese mixture. [At this point I added cubed ham to make this a one dish meal, but you could omit and serve as a side dish]
6. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake until browned and bubbly hot, about 15 minutes, and serve.

Other options: Cooked chicken, crab, shrimp, and of course cooked diced ham.