Mac + Cheese for Metabolic Health and Blood Sugar Balance + Healthy Pumpkin Spice Cookies!

a comfort food classic made nutrient dense and blood sugar friendly

Mac and Cheese is one of those comfort foods that just about everyone loves. If you are here, I know you have committed to eating healthier. So skip the boxed mac and cheese because I will teach you to make the easiest, healthiest mac and cheese in the same amount of time it takes to make a boxed version.

I told my son that this is possibly the easiest, most nutrient-dense recipe he could master before heading off to college. He has three years to master a handful of recipes and loves to cook, so I know he won't starve. I feel like my main job as a mom is to ensure my kids leave home self-sufficient. So that includes cooking, laundry, basic fix-it skills, and some basic car stuff, plus what my husband calls RULE #1 (if you are reading this, kids, you know what I mean!) I think that is a story I will share another time.

Now, for that mac and cheese magic! Start by boiling some pasta in a pot- NOPE! That would be a traditional recipe and this is anything but traditional. No boiling water and no making a roux. If you are confused, keep reading! I love being able to include video clips in this style of newsletter to share exactly how to re-create these recipes at home.

If today is the day you decide to upgrade to paid, thank you! Your support means so much to me and helps me to bring more metabolically healthy recipes into the world.

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As with all of my recipes, this mac and cheese is gluten-free, grain-free, low-carb, and blood-sugar-friendly.

Your bonus recipe today is the most tender and tasty Pumpkin Spice Cookies. I know it isn’t truly Fall for a couple of weeks but I wore a sweater and jeans for the first time yesterday in chilly Northern California, so I thought it appropriate to share a Fall-ish cookie too! You will recognize the glaze on these cookies from my Apple Spice and Zucchini Muffins from a couple of weeks ago. That cinnamon glaze is too good not to use on a cookie, so that is really how this Pumpkin Spice Cookie was born, as a vehicle for more cinnamon glaze!

Healthy High Protein One Pot Mac + Cheese

Gluten-free, grain-free, low-carb, keto, with dairy-free subs

Serves 4-6

Cook Time: on the table in under 20 minutes!

Equipment

• large pot or Dutch oven

• spoon

• grater

Ingredients

• 8 ounces lupin pasta

• 1 pound fresh cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces (about 1/2 head of cauliflower) or a 12-16 ounce bag of frozen cauliflower rice! If you have kiddos that would object to seeing vegetables in their mac + cheese, use cauli rice- it will disappear and even the pickiest of eaters will not know it is there! My son prefers cauli rice because it is dense and cheesy, and my husband prefers cauliflower florets and pieces because he says it breaks up the dense cheesiness of this dish.

• 1 ¼  cups whole milk (A2 milk, or cashew milk if you need to sub) 

• 1 ½ cups filtered water

• 2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste 

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 8 ounces coarsely grated sharp cheddar, about 2 cups (I used goat cheddar from Bella Capra because I find goat and sheep cheese easier to digest)

• black pepper to taste 

whether you use fresh or frozen cauliflower, the process begins the same way

Optional toppings:

• Green onion

• Parmesan

• GF panko

• GF panko + parmesan (½ and ½)

• Bacon, cooked and chopped

• Prosciutto, cooked and chopped

Method

• In a large pot, combine the uncooked pasta, chopped fresh or frozen cauliflower, milk, salt, and garlic powder, and 1 ½  cups of water, and stir to combine. The pasta may not be fully submerged, but that’s OKAY! 

• Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium to gently simmer. Cook, stirring often to ensure even cooking and to keep the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pot, until the pasta is tender and the liquid resembles heavy cream and coats the noodles, about 8 to 12 minutes. 

• While the pasta cooks, grate the cheese and prepare any toppings you want to add to the finished mac and cheese.

• If the liquid evaporates so much that you don’t see any between the noodles, add more water, ½ cup should do it. Adjust the heat as needed to maintain a gentle simmer.

• Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the grated cheese. The cheese will melt as you stir it in and coat the noodles. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy as is or top with chopped cooked bacon, crispy prosciutto, parmesan cheese, sliced green onion, or whatever you like! If you like bread crumbs on your mac and cheese, mix panko and parmesan (½ and ½) and broil until browned and melty. Enjoy!

Swaps

To make this dairy-free:

Sub cashew milk instead of dairy milk

Sub dairy-free cheese instead of cheddar

Instead of Cauliflower, try broccoli.

Use your favorite sharp cheese instead of cheddar.

Notes
If you haven’t tried lupin pasta, please do! Lupin is high in protein and fiber and low in carbohydrates. It just might be the perfect gluten-free, grain-free pasta. Lupin is an excellent source of complete protein for vegans, vegetarians, or anyone wanting to increase their protein intake. You could swap out lupin pasta for an alternative, but it will change the nutrition profile significantly. Swaps include edamame pasta or chickpea pasta; just be sure they are organic because many contain high levels of glyphosate, used in drying the beans. Glyphosate is not used on lupin beans.

Nutrition Cronometer 

One serving:

446 calories

41 g protein 

1 g net carbs  

25 g fat 

Coupons

Lupin Pasta use code NEST20

Vera Salt use code BETH

Mac And Cheese

66.4KB ∙ PDF file

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Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free, low carb, blood sugar friendly

MAKES 16 Cookies

Equipment

• Food processor

• Sheet pan

• Parchment paper

• Small mixing bowl

• Drinking glass

Ingredients

For the Cookies

• 2  c almond flour

• 1/2 c arrowroot

• 1/4 c granulated sweetener (monk fruit or allulose to keep these blood sugar friendly, coconut sugar if that is not a concern)

• 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice

• 2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

• 1 tsp vanilla 

• 1/3 c liquid sweetener (allulose or monk fruit syrup to keep these blood sugar friendly, maple syrup or honey if that is not a concern)

• 1/4 c grass-fed butter, room temperature 

• 4 tbsp pumpkin puree, unsweetened

For the Glaze

• 6 tbsp powdered monk fruit sweetener (to keep these low-carb and blood-sugar-friendly)

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• ½  tsp cardamom

• one pinch of ground cloves

• 6 tsp milk of choice (I used walnut milk, but you can use any dairy or non-dairy unsweetened milk)

Method

Preheat oven to 350℉

Make the cookie dough

1. Add all of your dry ingredients—almond flour, arrowroot, granulated sweetener, and spices—to the bowl of a food processor. Mix well.

2. Next, add wet ingredients: vanilla, syrup of choice, pumpkin puree, and softened butter. Pulse to mix until all ingredients are incorporated and a dough forms. 

1. The dough will be a little sticky, but roll it into 1-inch balls and line them up on a parchment-lined baking sheet. These cookies will not flatten when baked, so leave them to cook in balls if you want a cookie with a chewy center. If you like crisper cookies, go ahead and flatten the balls with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a drinking glass.

2. Bake in 350℉ degree oven for 13-15 minutes until light golden brown.

3. When you remove them from the oven and while they are still warm, use the bottom of a glass to push the dough balls down into a round cookie about a half-inch thick.

Make the Cinnamon  Glaze

1. While the cookies are baking, make the glaze by mixing powdered sugar and spices in a small bowl. Add milk of choice, and blend well.

2. When the cookies are cool, drizzle them with glaze, allow the glaze to dry, and enjoy!

Substitutions 

Almond flour- to make these cookies nut-free, use pumpkin seed or sunflower seed flour

Arrowroot- use tapioca starch instead

Granulated sweetener- monk fruit or allulose to keep these blood sugar friendly, coconut sugar if that is not a concern

Pumpkin pie spice- make your own:
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
¾ tsp ground allspice

Liquid sweetener- allulose or monk fruit syrup to keep these blood sugar friendly, maple syrup or honey if that is not a concern

Butter-  ghee or use coconut oil, to keep these dairy-free

Pumpkin puree- use nut butter instead to make these into nut butter cookies!

Powdered monk fruit sweetener- use traditional powdered sugar if blood sugar balance is not a concern

Milk- use walnut milk or cashew milk to keep these dairy-free

Nutrition Cronometer

125 cal 

8 g protein

4 g net carbs

10 g fat

Coupons:

Vera Salt code BETH

Pumpkin Spice Cookies With Cinnamon Glaze

80.5KB ∙ PDF file

Download

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Thank you🧡

I have been sharing blood sugar-friendly, whole-food recipes (gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and mostly dairy-free) without ads on my blog and Instagram for four years now, and I have met so many amazing people along the way. I am excited to share this enhanced user experience (with video!) on this platform, and I am so grateful you have joined me!

P.S.

If you know anyone with pre-diabetes, diabetes, PCOS, metabolic syndrome, or anyone eating for blood sugar balance, low carb, keto, grain-free, gluten-free, or just eating for better health, will you forward my Substack to them? It would mean the world to me as I try to share the message of eating for good metabolic health.

🧡Beth

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