I'm a sucker for mac and cheese, especially if it's baked. I just love a crispy topping that your fork has to crack its way through to get to the cheesy goodness underneath. It's one of my favourite dishes as a matter of fact.

This time around, I'm giving things a mexican twist! We've got a lusciously cheesy monterey jack and cheddar sauce, tender shell pasta, and a saute of veggies including tomatoes, corn, and black beans, folded together and baked under a layer of spiced panko crumbs until bubbly and delicious.

To finish things off, I suggest a few slices of avo, some sliced green onions, fresh cilantro, and/or a few dashes of your favourite hot sauce. Prepare your bellies for utter happiness and satisfaction and get yourselves over to the recipes page!

HAPPY VEG

Throwing out produce is a major issue. Not only is it wasteful in the fact that there are hungry people who would kill for what we're throwing out, but it's also a colossal waste of our money. There's nothing worse to me than throwing out produce, I'm working really hard to come up with ways to utilize it before it hits the trash.

One idea, is my cleaning out the fridge vegetable soup. The idea here is, use as many veggies as you can in your soup to clear out space for fresh produce. You can really get away with any collection of veggies you have on hand, just stick to the seasonings and stock content and you'll end up with a delicious soup every time! Best part is, you can freeze what you can't eat and save it for a future meal, saving your produce from hitting the trash!

Lastly, don't forget vegetable stock! If your celery is starting to look limp, toss it in your freezer bag full of scraps and save it for stock. Same goes for carrots, onions, garlic, and broccoli / cauliflower. All of these veg can be frozen until it's stock time. 

Head to the RECIPES page for my Cleaning out the Fridge Veggie Soup!

HAPPY VEG

MEXICAN MAC & CHEESE BAKE

A big, bubbly batch of mac and cheese is always something that ignites hunger in me. I love a deliciously rich, cheesy pasta bake especially if there's a crusty topping to crack in to.
That's where my Mexican Mac & Cheese comes in! Shell pasta is tossed in a monterey jack and cheddar cheese sauce along with a saute of black beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, and onions, and baked under a layer of spiced panko crumbs until brown and gloriously bubbly.
Serve with your favourite hot sauce, sliced / diced avo, cilantro, or salsa for a fresh pop.

CLEANING OUT THE FRIDGE VEGGIE SOUP

If you're anything like me, you waste produce. In my case, I always buy too many vegetables with intentions of utilizing them for recipes, but then things come up and the produce dies in the fridge. How do we rectify this problem and stop ourselves from wasting our money AND our produce??
A big, ol' pot of soup, that's how!
Clean out your fridge and make a delicious batch of soup. Soup is a great way to utilize a lot of veggies all at once, plus, soup is freezable so those veggies will go a lot further!
I've got some fridge emptying soup inspiration coming up next week.

SPRING FRESH QUINOA & BLACK EYED PEA SALAD

Quinoa, Black Eyed Peas, Bell Pepper, Green Onion, Cucumber, Parsley, Mint, Lemon & White Wine Vinaigrette

Fresh, light, and delicious. 

happyveggie.weebly.com/recipes/spring-fresh-quinoa-black-eyed-pea-salad

SPRINGTIME POTATO SALAD

Potatoes, Bell Pepper, Green Onion, Spring Peas, Parsley, Mint, Chives, Mayo Dressing

Peas are synonymous with Spring and this fresh take on potato salad is springtime approved!

happyveggie.weebly.com/recipes/springtime-potato-salad