Broccoli & Blue Greek Yogurt Mac & Cheese

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I received a gift card to offset the expense of my ingredients in this recipe. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by the California Milk Advisory Board and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.

***

March is National Nutrition Month, a month designated to focus on making healthier food choices for
better overall health and wellness. I do try to make healthy food choices on a daily basis, but when I heard the California Milk Advisory Board (we know them as "Real California Milk") was challenging bloggers to lighten up some of their favorite recipes this month with California dairy products, I got right on board.

Really for three reasons:

1. Cheese. It's delicious. And we all know I eat the stuff at least once a day.
2. I have to admit the Real California Milk commercials crack me up. Like this one.
3. Since I don't eat meat, dairy is a main component of my diet and I get a lot of my protein from milk and yogurt. I drink smoothies or eat a yogurt parfait in a jar almost every weekday morning to get a calcium and protein boost to last me till lunchtime.

I also always keep organic cheese and yogurt snacks on hand for Riker, which he always asks for when he wants a snack - 9 times out of 10 he will ask me for a string cheese when he's hungry, rather than crackers or other typical kid snacks, which makes me happy. So I'm a firm believer in making dairy a part of a healthy diet - at least in our family. (Note: You can grab some great dairy healthy eating tips, family meal planning guides and recipes from HealthyEating.org, the Dairy Council of California's website.)

So back to this recipe. Mac & cheese is a favorite for pretty much everyone, but I don't make it very often because my traditional version is laden with tons of cheese, whole milk, butter, flour...you get it. It's clearly not very healthy and is reserved for special occasions. So I figured it was the perfect dish to lighten up on this challenge.

I swapped out a bunch of the high calorie ingredients for some really flavor-packed, lower fat dairy products that made the mac & cheese really tasty (zingy you might even say) and also creamy even after baked in the oven. 

Since Greek yogurt is already naturally thick, I didn't need to make the traditional roux of butter, flour and milk to thicken the sauce up. And I promise - you don't actually taste yogurt in this. It's just a blank canvas for the cheese and seasonings. 

I used California Monterey Jack & Blue Monterey Jack cheeses, which melt incredibly well and give a nice tangy flavor to the sauce, so you don't need as much cheese as usual. I loved using the California Blue Monterey Jack because it had the flavor of blue cheese but was much more mild than your typical blue cheese. That meant in addition to melting well, it was kid-friendly (Riker loved it).

Add whole wheat pasta and a helping of green veggies, and this is one protein, fiber and vitamin packed dinner all in one bowl. It tastes like comfort food but without all the guilt!

**Note: While I was compensated for the ingredients used in this recipe, as always, all opinions are my own.**

Broccoli & Blue Greek Yogurt Mac & Cheese

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

8 oz. whole wheat pasta

2 cups fresh broccoli florets

5 oz. California Monterey Jack Cheese, grated* 

5 oz. California Blue Monterey Jack Cheese, grated* 

1/2 cup Greek Yogurt (I used 2%)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp. sea salt

2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Dash of crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 Tbsp. parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook pasta according to package directions. During last two minutes of cooking, add the broccoli florets. Drain the cooked pasta and broccoli, reserving 1/4 of the cooking liquid.

Return the pasta and broccoli to the pot, and add the 1/4 cup cooking liquid and grated cheeses. Turn the the heat on low, and stir together until the cheese is melted. Add the yogurt, garlic powder, salt, pepper, mustard and red pepper flakes. Stir until well combined, then remove from the heat and set aside.

In a small dish, microwave the butter for a few seconds until melted. Add the panko breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, and stir to combine.

Grease a 1.5 quart baking dish and pour the pasta mixture in. Top with breadcrumb mixture. Bake in the oven uncovered for about 10 minutes, until breadcrumbs are golden brown and cheese is bubbling around the edges.

*I used Sonoma Creamery cheeses. Real California dairy products can be recognized by their seals:

An InLinkz Link-up

Shell-Less Tacos

Who says you can't eat tacos when you're trying to eat low carb (at least during the week)?

Last weekend Matt's sister Missy told us how she had been making shell-less tacos, using Romaine lettuce leaves instead of taco shells or tortillas, and I immediately added the idea to my dinners list for this week. I love lettuce cups but have only ever used them for Asian style wraps, and really, why have I never thought of this before?

For background, last night just screamed for Mexican food. I had a busy day at work, Riker was acting like a crazy person who hadn't napped in 3 days (not sure why since he actually did have a good nap at daycare yesterday), Butters was barking at every living and non-living thing and making my ears bleed, and Matt was a bit of a grump since his mountain biking buddy canceled on him for biking today. We were one loud, grumpy family in need of something good for dinner.

Tacos. And a cold beer. Eaten at the bar in front of the TV.

Riker needed to immediately eat and go to sleep, so I fed him spaghetti and put his butt to bed while giving directions to Matt on prep work to be done for the tacos. I have to say, he did a pretty amazing job pulling them together.

In the "tacos":

- Tequila lime shrimp (barely marinated, sauteed in a bit of oil with a splash of the good stuff)
- Cilantro lime slaw (made with a head of "cone cabbage" my mom left here last week, and with the addition of garden jalapenos)
- Chopped tomatoes from the garden
- Avocado (smashed lightly with lime, salt and pepper)
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Hot sauce

I have to say, the lettuce shells were awesome. They were crunchy and held everything together just fine, and after eating them I did not feel stuffed and bloated the way I normally do after taco night.

The beer was not my idea. Buttt it was just what Matt needed, and when he said he was opening a bottle of the precious Pliny we got in California, I had to have a sip to wash down my tacos. I had just a smidge - it was a Monday after all - but it was just the right amount and the citrusy IPA went perfectly with the tacos. Plus, not eating carby shells left plenty of of room for the more important glass of carby beer, right?

Big bite!

These will definitely be on the dinner menu again.

On The Water

This weekend reminded me just how much I love living here. I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful area so close to the ocean. After a long week of work I wanted nothing more than to relax with my family and enjoy the beach. Thankfully we didn't have any specific plans or obligations, so we could wake up and do whatever we felt like doing each day.

Yesterday we lazed around in the morning, got some stuff done around the house while Riker took a lovely 3 hour nap, and then had spinach & coconut tofu salads for lunch before heading out for the day.

Matt needed to do a little back to school shopping (I know, sooo soon) so the mall was our first stop followed by a visit to Chris and Vanessa's to say hello to their new addition. They just had a baby last week and little newborn Brayden is adorable. His parents were glowing as well, and it was awesome to see them so happy with their little guy.

We left there late afternoon and drove over the bridge to Island Beach State Park for the evening. All summer Matt and I have wanted to do an evening BBQ up on the beach, so getting there late in the day worked perfectly. We set up some fishing poles, took a dip in the water, and then Matt fished and played with Riker while I got to work on the grill.

I made a simple picnic of grilled zucchini, quinoa salad, grilled keilbasa for the boys (soy dogs for me) and sliced mango, which we ate while watching an amazing sunset.

We had hoped to build a fire and stay out a bit later making s'mores, but the beach tired Riker out and by the time I got him dry and into PJ's he was crying for his crib. Instead of building a fire with the other beach-goers, we packed it up and went home so Riker could go to bed, then built a fire in our own backyard. It was just as well, since being home meant we could crack open a bottle of red from our trip to Napa and put on some music. Perfect ending to a perfect day.

Today we had more plans to be on the water. We got a call from Matt's parents last night asking if we wanted to go out on their boat today, and you don't need to ask me twice to go on a boat. I haven't been boating all summer so was really excited to go.

We hit the road as soon as Riker woke up this morning, so were on the bay by 9:00 am. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be out - 85 degrees and sunny, with no humidity and crystal clear water.

We did some fishing in the inlet, then spent some time splashing around on a sandbar where Riker could swim, and spent the rest of the time at the end of Island Beach across from the lighthouse, where a bunch of boats tie up and hang out by a secluded beach.

I even caught a fish! Not a keeper, but it was still fun. As if all that wasn't enough for a great weekend, our friends Heather and Kevin invited us and a couple other friends over for some poolside action this afternoon. Jen and Dan came over as well, and brought with them a bunch of seafood and appetizers.

Dan made shrimp two ways since we couldn't come to consensus on what kind of we wanted: grilled Old Bay shrimp with cocktail sauce...

...and shrimp poached in the grill pan with the broth leftover from cooking the clams - it had lemon, butter, parsley, garlic and clam juice. Both were really delicious, but I liked the grilled Old Bay ones best. Mmm.

Everyone at the little party was talking about ice cream and this new place, Sweet Kate's, down the street that I've never tried, and it doesn't take much to get me to agree to an ice cream cone on a weekend night in the summer. It just seems like the most appropriate way to top off a great summer weekend. Especially when it's a scoop shop with flavors like Carrot Cake, Toasted Coconut and Sea Salt Soiree - which is what I ordered. Oooohmygod. It was filled with salted caramel, chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate covered potato chips.

The perfect amount of sweet & salty goodness. Yum.

We're back home now with beach bags unpacked, a toddler bathed and in bed, and in sweats on the couch waiting for the premier of Breaking Bad. I've only been waiting an entire year to see this series finale. Cannot wait! Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Microbrews and Muir Woods

Ok, last post on Cali before we return to regular New Jersey life. :)

On our second day in Napa, we woke up pretty early (guess that's what happens when you go to bed at 9:30 ;) so decided to go have breakfast at the resort's restaurant and then relax poolside for a while.

The morning after tasting over 30 wines calls for very large cups of coffee. And Eggs Benedict of course. The addiction continues! I was so excited when I spotted the Napa Style Eggs Benedict, with lox, avocado and toasted brioche. Yes, yes, yes.

It was so, so good. Our bellies full, I filled up another coffee cup and we went to the adults-only pool to relax in one of the comfy couch lounges. Matt with his Zymurgy Magazine and me with my Kindle.

Spa music, blue water, fluffy pillows and a vineyard to look at - what more could you want?

I admit this is a terrible picture of me, but I had to share the beauty of this lounge. The pool was surrounded by them and they were probably the most comfortable thing I have ever laid on.

Eventually we got ourselves moving and took showers to head out for the day. We did one more wine tasting at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (famous for its Cabernet that won a blind taste test against the French, as shown in Bottle Shock) before switching gears to beer - northern California has some really great breweries.

Russian River in Santa Rosa just won best brew of the year for their Pliny the Elder, so Matt was beside himself that we could go to the source and taste every one of their creations. Taste, we did!

Not only beer, but also "Pliny Bites" which are basically chunks of pizza dough covered in mozzarella and jalapenos.

Matt loved the "lacing" on Russian River's beers.

We left with a few bottles to bring home since we can't get it here, then stopped for a quick lunch down the street. Santa Rosa is famous for one other place I've been dying to go to - Tex Wasabi's by Guy Fieri. Actually both his restaurants are in Santa Rosa, but "rock & roll sushi BBQ" sounded really good so we stopped for some. It didn't disappoint. I went with fish of course, but Matt loved his unique pulled pork sushi. The atmosphere was pretty fun too.

Finally it was time to make our way to Petaluma to meet up with Amanda, Justyn and Riker at Lagunitas, the other great area brewery. I love Lagunitas, especially their IPA, and we had a lot of fun going on the brewery tour and hearing all the crazy stories about the brewmaster and owner.

The atmosphere was great here too. The tasting room was kitschy and unique, and the outdoor eating area was relaxed and featured live music, picnic tables and drinks in Mason jars - you know how I feel about Mason jars.

We hung with Amanda and Justyn for a while before saying our goodbyes, packing up Riker and heading back down to Napa. Riker didn't seem much in the mood for sitting at a restaurant for dinner, so instead we hit up the Napa Street Fair for gourmet street eats, live music and all kinds of other fun stuff.

We ended the evening back at the hotel with a fire and a movie after Riker went to bed. Such a great day.

***

The next day started with a simple breakfast at the resort's coffee shop, a little pool time for Riker and then a final drive through beautiful Napa.

It continued with lunch at Sunflower Caffe in Sonoma, which I found on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and really wanted to try. Ohmygodsogood.

I had a salmon and brie salad with capers which was pretty good, but the goat cheese filled piquillo peppers with honey, orange and pistachios was seriously to die for. I need to try to make these at home.

Next up was Muir Woods for a gorgeous cliffside drive and redwood trees! I couldn't believe how much the weather changed from Sonoma to Muir Woods. It went from 80 degrees and sunny to 60 degrees and foggy in a matter of miles - miles spent climbing up and up into the forest.

Though it was chilly, the beauty was breathtaking. It reminded me a lot of our trip to Ireland a few years ago.

We drove around for a while letting Riker nap, and eventually made it to the groves of giant trees with a few hours to hike around.

The trees really are so majestic.

And that pretty much concludes our week of fun in California. I loved this trip because we had so many different activities packed into the week - we got to experience the city, the country, some history, the finest wine and beer the country has to offer, good eats, and nature. All in 7 days. That's one heck of a week if you ask me.

Time to power down and settle in for the evening. It's Shark Week, so guess where we'll be for the next four nights? ;)