Avocado Mac

Oh.My.Goodness.

Last weekend I made Avocado Macaroni & Cheese, and it was the best recipe I have tried in a very, very long time.  Everybody knows that I love me some macaroni & cheese, so it may not be much of a surprise that I made this dish pretty much as soon as I had set eyes on it.  Thank you very much, Pinterest.  

Here is the original recipe.  I know it doesn't look incredibly fantastic in the photos below, but seriously, this was delicious.  Creamy and cheesy and avocado-y.  Disclaimer:  Even with the lime juice blended in, the avocados turned everything brown after a day in the fridge, so I recommend leftovers simply be consumed before they get the chance to become leftovers.

8 oz. whole wheat elbow macaroni

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 large avocados, peeled and pitted

2 tbsp. fresh lime juice

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

1.  Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot and add in macaroni.  Stir and cook until Al Dente, about 87-9 minutes.  Drain and set aside.

2.  While the pasta cooks, make the avocado sauce by placing the garlic, avocados, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper into a food processor or blender.  Process until smooth and creamy.  Set aside.

3.  For cheese sauce, place butter in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat.  When butter is melted, whisk in flour to create a paste.  Whisk in milk until smooth.  Stir with a wooden spoon until the sauce starts to thicken.  Add Jack cheese and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is creamy.

4.  Place macaroni in a large bowl.  Pour avocado sauce over the macaroni and stir until well-coated.  Ass the cheese sauce and stir until macaroni is coated and creamy.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Serve warm.

*I added Parmesan cheese to the dish when I mixed the avocado sauce and cheese sauce into the pasta.  I also added a cooked chicken breast, cut into small chunks.  The addition of chicken made this into enough food for more than two full meals for two people.  De-li-cious.

Strawberries!

Last month while I was slaving away to strip paint off of that old door, Josh was working on a little project of his own.  He got a wild hair while perusing the garden section of Lowe's one day, and decided that he wanted to have his very own strawberry patch.  At our house.  So guess what we have on our patio now?

I was skeptical at first, but as it turns out, strawberries do quite well in Albuquerque during the spring.  Most of the berries we've gotten so far have been pretty tiny, but they're ripe and edible and quite tasty.  The other day we made our first batch of daiquiris (supplemented by some extra berries from the local Mexican fruit stand), and I baked some strawberry cinnamon bread.  I didn't manage to get any photos of the bread, but it's delicious.  Recipe below.

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Strawberry Cinnamon Bread

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons cinnamon (or, if you're me, 5 or 6)
4 eggs, beaten
1.5 cups oil
2 (10oz) packages frozen strawberries thawed or 2-3 cups fresh strawberries sliced

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Form a hole in the middle, mix the eggs and oil, and pour into hole.  Add berries and mix by hand.  Pour into two greased loaf pans and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes.  Cool before cutting.  I recommend consuming with either cream cheese or Nutella.