House Spouse

We had to know “the thaw” wouldn’t last. It’s not even April, after all. Yesterday was the first day of spring. Today it is snowing (and sticking!).

Yesterday, the weather was so sunny and pleasant (in a Chicagoan’s terms, that is). Today, we can’t see the sky amidst all the gray and snow. This is depressing, even for a Chicagoan accustomed to the most schizophrenic of seasons.

So I planted things: cilantro, lavender, mint, chives, and basil. And despite that the newly-filled pots are looking out onto a snow-covered, eyesore of an empty lot, I feel a lot better. I think Lizzy is into the new window garden, too.

I made this slow cooker mac & cheese a couple weeks ago, and my reaction was mixed.

There’s not any dairy in this recipe which is interesting. The “cheese” sauce is made with white beans and cashews and while creamy and tasty, it doesn’t taste cheesy. For me, that’s a not-so-good thing. For others, I think the creamy texture is what they’re looking for in a mac & cheese dish.

This picture is actually the concoction that’s about to go into the slow cooker, which is unfortunate because I think this is when the dish was at its best.

I’m sharing the recipe because I do think this is one that’s worth trying. I will be tweaking it to my liking, because it could be a nice go-to for comfort food days.

Mac & Cheese Florentine
from Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker

Ingredients:
8 oz elbow macaroni
10-oz package frozen chopped spinach (cooked and well drained)
2 T olive oil
1 med yellow onion, chopped
1/2 c unsalted, raw cashews
1 3/4 c ater
1 15-oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 T white miso paste
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp dry mustard
pinch of nutmeg
salt
1/2 c dry bread crumbs

Directions:
Cook the macaroni until al dente. Drain. Toss in the spinach and set aside.

Heat 1 T of oil in a medium skillet and sauté the onion. Set this aside.

Grind the cashews to a powder in a blender or food processor. Add 1 c of the water and blend until smooth. Add the onion, beans, miso paste, the rest of the water, the lemon juice, mustard and nutmeg and season with salt. Blend this until it’s smooth. Pour the sauce over the macaroni and spinach and mix well.

Transfer this to a lightly oiled crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 2 to 3 hours.

Before serving, sauté the bread crumbs in the remaining oil for 3 to 4 minutes or until they are toasty. Sprinkle these over the top of the casserole.

At the top of my feed reader are my subscriptions to Apartment Therapy-Chicago, Design Sponge, Bluelines, DominoMag and Ready Made. I love to fawn over pretty interiors and functional small spaces. My own space is anything but! This living room of ours is an endless project for me. Maybe it’s the length of the room or our abundance of Ikea furnishings. I just can’t get it right! My interior design skills are lacking big time. The space never seems to work for us! It’s where I spend the majority of my day, either in the creaky arm chair reading for class or at the desk Andrew and I share, typing up papers. We’ve done plenty of purges and we clean the floors, dust and pick up regularly. Now we just need to figure out how to arrange this space to make it a place I love to be in! I’m using “we” and “I” interchangeably, because it’s really me who has the problem with this room, not Andrew.

Anyhow, I did make some progress with our couch. I love this couch. It’s the most comfortable, functional couch in the world. It’s a perfect place to nap, for overnight guests to sleep, and a gathering of friends to sit. It’s really ugly and dingy, though. The upholstery is ripping on the arm and because it’s cream colored, it is really showing its age. Here are the latest Before and After pics:

I removed the throw that was covering the couch and recovered the pillows with pillow cases I sewed with Amy Butler fabrics. I think it looks pretty good and is a nice focal point to really work around for the rest of the room. However, all that dingy-ness is exposed. I know I’ll get it recovered (professionally), but I’m trying to decide on an inexpensive way to do that. My sewing skills are lacking, so constructing my own slip cover is out of the question. Also, what color should I recover it with? For some reason, turquoise keeps coming to mind.

I need some advice.