Friday, April 22, 2016

Day 5: Cauliflower? I hardly know her!

I think I've mentioned several times by now that I love rice.  I had a rice cooker on our wedding registry 12 years ago.  We've been through 3 of them now.  My husband will tell you that especially when we first got married, I had no problem making recipes with rice in them 3 times a week.

And now I'm learning that PCOS makes it harder to process carbs.  So what's a girl to do?

I guess join in that "vegetables posing as your favorite carbs" thing.  Since my kids don't want to touch anything that's green, much to my shagrin, the zoodles (zuchini noodles) option isn't working so well yet (can you do it with yellow squash?) but I have tried cauliflower rice.

I'm not going to lie--I HATE cooked cauliflower.  The smell turns my stomach (maybe it's from all those years working in the dining commons at the college and the dish room smell of food being sanitized off plates?  who knows.) The first time I thought, "Oh!  This looks like a good idea.  Steam it first!"  NOT GOOD IDEA.  The pungent smell meant there was no way it was passing as rice for me.

Then I found this: Curried Cauliflower Rice


Quick?  With Garlic, Onion, and Curry?  YESS!!! I'll admit--their approach WAS easier--cut in half, take out the core, pulse in a food processor (as step I'd done before, but not as effective then because I had too much stem), and then saute.  Extras could be frozen in portion-sized bags.  Oh I loved this--one prep for  4 family meals! 
 After adding some oil, garlic, curry and chicken, this was my lunch!

Yeah, it was WAY better than the first time! I'm slowly warming up to cauliflower again...but never steamed or served in a college dining commons again!

 Pros: easy to prep, easy to make, freezes well for later use, big yield! (8 cups or more from 2 heads). Cons: messy! Thanks to my little one spinning my cabinet, it got on pots, pans and a shelf. Dividing it led to crumbs on the stove

After this test run, I'll try the full recipe for dinner--fingers crossed that the kids will at least try it (the 15 month old always tries, the 3 year old almost exclusively rejects anything I make, and the 6 year old is hit and miss).

I will say though that next time, I may make it on my back porch as my kitchen counters/surfaces now seem covered in cauliflower confetti (it's rather messy to make!)


What are some ways you've found to replace your favorite carbs with healthier options?

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