Even though my head is cracking in half...
...there must be dinner large enough to provide me with lunches at least a few days this week.
I haven't had a major headache/migraine in well over 2 months. I guess I was due. I have done nearly everything in my non-prescription drug arsenal to beat back the beast - ice, Advil, a half-assed neck massage provided by The Man (football was more important, I guess), peppermint essential oil on the temples and nape of my neck.
Still it exists.
So I had big plans to prepare and eat dinner (difficult when the brain is pounding like Thumper's foot on the ground in Bambi), do the dishes (as even severe brain pain does not induce The Man to help - yes, I am feeling a little pissy - sorry), take a shower to let our wonderful Revolution shower head pound on my skull and neck, and then crawl into my comfy bed with an extremely hard pillow and sleep the pain away.
Since going GF, I haven't had a migraine. I had honestly forgotten what it felt like and worse, forgotton what the warning signs were. I could have headed this off at the pass if I had been paying attention, but NO - I had to be playing around on the computer and not listening to the bod. Or watching what the cats were doing.
It's amazing what my boys do when they sense that something is wrong with their momma. Now that I am thinking about it, Vester was batting at the base of my skull above my neck three hours ago. Baby, not to be outdone, did his lovey-dovey thing (snuggling his head into me) up against my left temple a little while later.
What am I, stupid?
Anyway, we are under some sort of winter watch with freezing rain, sleet, etc., so I sure as hell wasn't driving to the store to get what I needed to make paella, which was the original plan for dinner. I told The Man this morning that I needed to use up some cheese in the fridge (I cleaned it out this morning) so we would be dining on the ultimate comfort food, macaroni and cheese, this evening.
Who knows - maybe a little comfort food will zap this headache.
And I am sure that staring at my laptop isn't helping. It's addictive, this blogging thing.
Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted from The New Best Recipe
1 pound fusilli pasta (I use Tinkyada)
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (don't use that bagged crap - take the time to shred a block)
1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 cup Monteray Jack with Jalepenos, shredded
5 tbsp butter (recipe calls for unsalted but I only had regular lightly salted so I cut back on the salt near the end)
6 tbsp GF flour (I used cornstarch - DON'T repeat this mistake)
5 cups milk
1 tsp dijon mustard
8 oz ham, diced
1 cup frozen peas
For the topping:
1 1/2 cups GF breadcrumbs
3 tbsp butter
Combine topping ingredients together in a food processor.
Cook the pasta per the package directions; drain and set aside. While the pasta is cooking, preheat your oven't broiler. In a stock pot, heat the butter until foamy. Add the flour and stir well to combine. Cook the flour/butter mixture for a few minutes, then add the milk; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook at medium heat (stir, stir, stir) until it becomes as thick as heavy cream. Add 1 tsp salt, the cheese, mustard, ham, peas and pasta. Stir until everything is coated in the cheese mixture.
Pour the mac and cheese into a 9x13 pan; sprinkle with bread crumbs and broil until crumbs are toasty brown.
Very creamy, but kinda bland. Gonna have to play with this one a bit.
I am now left with a small unopened package of goat cheese, an unopened package of Manchego, half a brick of Chihuahua, some Asiago, and half a brick of Swiss. What to do with that?
I haven't had a major headache/migraine in well over 2 months. I guess I was due. I have done nearly everything in my non-prescription drug arsenal to beat back the beast - ice, Advil, a half-assed neck massage provided by The Man (football was more important, I guess), peppermint essential oil on the temples and nape of my neck.
Still it exists.
So I had big plans to prepare and eat dinner (difficult when the brain is pounding like Thumper's foot on the ground in Bambi), do the dishes (as even severe brain pain does not induce The Man to help - yes, I am feeling a little pissy - sorry), take a shower to let our wonderful Revolution shower head pound on my skull and neck, and then crawl into my comfy bed with an extremely hard pillow and sleep the pain away.
Since going GF, I haven't had a migraine. I had honestly forgotten what it felt like and worse, forgotton what the warning signs were. I could have headed this off at the pass if I had been paying attention, but NO - I had to be playing around on the computer and not listening to the bod. Or watching what the cats were doing.
It's amazing what my boys do when they sense that something is wrong with their momma. Now that I am thinking about it, Vester was batting at the base of my skull above my neck three hours ago. Baby, not to be outdone, did his lovey-dovey thing (snuggling his head into me) up against my left temple a little while later.
What am I, stupid?
Anyway, we are under some sort of winter watch with freezing rain, sleet, etc., so I sure as hell wasn't driving to the store to get what I needed to make paella, which was the original plan for dinner. I told The Man this morning that I needed to use up some cheese in the fridge (I cleaned it out this morning) so we would be dining on the ultimate comfort food, macaroni and cheese, this evening.
Who knows - maybe a little comfort food will zap this headache.
And I am sure that staring at my laptop isn't helping. It's addictive, this blogging thing.
Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted from The New Best Recipe
1 pound fusilli pasta (I use Tinkyada)
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (don't use that bagged crap - take the time to shred a block)
1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 cup Monteray Jack with Jalepenos, shredded
5 tbsp butter (recipe calls for unsalted but I only had regular lightly salted so I cut back on the salt near the end)
6 tbsp GF flour (I used cornstarch - DON'T repeat this mistake)
5 cups milk
1 tsp dijon mustard
8 oz ham, diced
1 cup frozen peas
For the topping:
1 1/2 cups GF breadcrumbs
3 tbsp butter
Combine topping ingredients together in a food processor.
Cook the pasta per the package directions; drain and set aside. While the pasta is cooking, preheat your oven't broiler. In a stock pot, heat the butter until foamy. Add the flour and stir well to combine. Cook the flour/butter mixture for a few minutes, then add the milk; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook at medium heat (stir, stir, stir) until it becomes as thick as heavy cream. Add 1 tsp salt, the cheese, mustard, ham, peas and pasta. Stir until everything is coated in the cheese mixture.
Pour the mac and cheese into a 9x13 pan; sprinkle with bread crumbs and broil until crumbs are toasty brown.
Very creamy, but kinda bland. Gonna have to play with this one a bit.
I am now left with a small unopened package of goat cheese, an unopened package of Manchego, half a brick of Chihuahua, some Asiago, and half a brick of Swiss. What to do with that?
2 comments:
Sorry to hear about the migraine. My wife also gets them. Lately, these crazy swings in weather have been playing havoc with her head. I sure hope it passes quickly and stays away!
Despite the migraine, you have turned out one yummy macaroni cheese! In all the time I've been GF, I've never tried this dish ... and I used to love it! The time maybe approaching .....
:)
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