ElevenElevenEleven

On this 11-11-11, what do you think, shall I commemorate the day with 11 miles? HA! NO WAY! It's Rest Day, and I've learned not to diverge from the running plan!

Let's start today's entry with the following. I call it "Resting Perfected":

We hound dogs are resting afficionados ...

The point of the day being made, I have a new food from the kitchen to share with you! Take a look as I made a version of mac-and-cheese ... cauliflower style! Stick with me ... the ending is great!

There's the head of cauliflower getting ready to get the tar boiled out of it. Man, that made the kitchen stink, but I'm no fan of cooked cauliflower! Not a fan, and I still made it? You might recall I hate sweet potatoes but tried -- and loved -- baked sweet potato fries. Nancy logic won out on that one, so I gave it a whirl here. By the way, one of the main reasons I went ahead to try this one is because there was nothing in the recipe blurb protesting how this doesn't taste like cauliflower ... you know that argument made popular by the my-cauliflower-actually-tastes-like-mashed-potatoes craze. (I call "pants on fire" on that one ...)

Anyway, after the cauliflower was boiled and smelly, it got mashed up with a mess of stuff in the blender from chicken stock to a smidge of cheese to spices. And, when you need an eighth of a teaspoon of something and only have the spoon measuring a fourth, you guess. At least, I do:

I'd tell you what that spice is, but I've already forgotten. I don't remember things that I know I can look back up. (If there's a way to check my mapping history at Map My Run, I'd see the same route mapped over and over. Save the route? I think not.) That orange goo in the background is the pureed cauliflower with all of the other ingredients in there. At this point, it smelled great!

It was time to put the base in the pan:

Whole wheat elbows cooked for only 5 minutes. They get the rest of the cooking love in the oven! And, while that baked, I also took that chicken recipe and made it again but in nuggets!

A winning decision and smashing success! And, check it out ... both recipes bake at the same temperature for almost the same amount of time ... when does that happen?!

The mac-and-cheese result:

Seriously yummy! There was barely even the hint of cauliflower! I baked mine in a 9 x 13 stone pan ... I used the bigger pan so it would cook faster in the stone. That way, the dishes to came out of the oven close to the same time. The most surprising part of the recipe? It's a serves-four dish. Four? How about twelve?! Good leftovers, though, it's really, really good! Here it is from Runner's World magazine:

And, there you have it. Yummy goodness on a Rest Day. Well, okay, yummy goodness leftovers! I'll take 'em. More recipes to come as I try them! Good fuel = Good run. That's my kind of math! See you after the early a.m. run!