Mac N Cheese Zoodles (aka Low Carb Macaroni and Cheese)

Shannon Harding's Mac N Cheese Zoodles from
The Low Carb Dish

My friend Shannon Harding from The Low Carb Dish, a low carb Facebook Group I belong to reminded me about a one-time-true-love. Blue box macaroni and cheese. Yes, I’m a child of the 60-70s and I adored the blue box as soon as I was allowed to taste it (which wasn’t often—Mama was a scratch-cook). I love the Brady Bunch, Leave It To Beaver, and yes, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Is it any wonder I’m fluffy?

Anyway, Shannon made macaroni and cheese zoodles (zucchini noodles) and they were gorgeous! So gorgeous it made me hungry for mac n’ cheese. I’m serious! I was jonesin’ and in less than thirty minutes my fluffy wings were whirlin’ and twirlin’ trying to “get me some.”

On The Low Carb Dish, Shannon and I got to talking about Kraft cheese slices and their convenience for quick cooking. Kraft Deli Cheese Slices remain one of my guilty pleasures: nuked until crisp and used to replace crackers, melted on everything under the sun, or simply folded and nibbled with wild abandon. I heart that creamy, cheesy goodness. I would eat it preferentially over raw milk, healthy cheese. (I’m tellin’ too much, I know…)

So I saw her amazing mac n cheese pic and ran into the kitchen (*snick…not really…I don’t run much these days   ), got my zoodler out (see notes below on zoodles), and zoodled the heck out of 2 zucchini, quicker than you can say Jackie Robinson. In less than 8 minutes, I had big, steaming bowls (2 to be exact: for me and Denny) of Mac N Cheese Zoodles. Zomphg!!!! So good.

Low Carb Mac N Cheese Zoodles (Linguine shape) with the peel left on the zucs.

Now don’t get me wrong…you will not be confused between zoodles and macaroni. You just won’t--not even if you close your eyes and click your heels. But they do make a delicious SDS (Sauce Delivery System) and that’s what we really want, right? We want something to conveniently get that gooey yum into our gobs with a bit of chew on the back end. And zoodles fill that ticket nicely!

Low Carb Mac N Cheese Zoodles (Papardelle shape) with the peel left on the zucs.

The bad thing was…I was out of mustard powder (something Mama always used when making our mac n’ cheese sauce from scratch), and horrors! I was out of Kraft Deli Select Slices. Oh the pain! But no worries, mon! Goat cheese and Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges and a big pinch of turmeric to the rescue! Can I hear a hallelujah? How ‘bout an amen?

Delish! That’s all I can say. Delish and loved it. Will make it again. And again. And again. I actually adored it with the goat cheese and can see so many new applications for the goat cheese cream sauce!

Hope you will try it, then leave a comment below letting me know how it worked for you!  And thank you Shannon Harding of The Low Carb Dish for inspiring us with your culinary inspiration and talents! (Pssst! Shannon's pic was wayyyyyy more enticing than these!)

Don’t forget to share this recipe and post (and Fluffy Chix Cook) with your friends on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest! (Oh and all the other places too!)

xoxo
Fluffy (aka Susie T. Gibbs)

Mac N Cheese Zoodles (Zucchini Noodles)

Low Carb Mac and Cheese

Serving Size: 1 Bowl            Yield: 1 Serving
Preparation Time: 5 Minutes
Cooking Time: 3 Minutes
Start to Finish: 8 Minutes



Easy and super quick lunch or dinner! Just add protein and you're good to go! Another Fast Day (FD) Meal, complete! If you want to add more protein and keep it vegetarian, simply add more cheese! Goat cheese rocks.



1 wedge Swiss Laughing Cow Cheese—or cream cheese
1 ounce soft goat cheese
1/4 cup lite coconut milk (Thai Kitchen)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
6 ounces zucchini, peeled into zoodles
1/2 ounce shredded cheddar cheese

Non-Vegetarian Toppings (Optional)
2 ounces chicken breast, roasted, grilled, broiled, meat only
3 ounces shrimp, cooked

Combine a wedge of your favorite flavor Laughing Cow Lite Cheese—or cream cheese with soft goat cheese and lite coconut milk in a microwave-safe bowl. Nuke on high for 20-30 seconds. Remove and stir cheese and milk with a fork. Smash and stir until cheese is totally melted. Stir in spices, sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Reserve.

Peel zucchini into your favorite shape of zoodles using a specialty peeler or spiral slicer. Place in a separate microwave bowl and nuke on high for 60 seconds. Add cheese sauce and stir together. Top with shredded cheddar cheese shreds. Zap another 30 seconds. Done!

Easy and super quick lite lunch, snack, or dinner side dish!

Per Serving Mac n Cheese Only: 227 Calories; 15g Fat (62.7% calories from fat); 12g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 50mg Cholesterol; 7g Net Carbohydrate

Add 2 oz Grilled Chicken: 93 Calories; 2g Fat (20.2% calories from fat); 18g Protein; 0g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 49mg Cholesterol; 0g Net Carbs

Add 3 oz Grilled Shrimp: 84 Calories; 1g Fat (10.0% calories from fat); 18g Protein; 0g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 166mg Cholesterol; 0g Net Carbohydrate

Serving Ideas: Serve with 2-3 ounces of your favorite lean protein if you’re an omnivore, along with a sliced tomato.

NOTES: Gosh, we love quick meals like this. From start to finish, you're done in 10 minutes or less! You get a big bowl, filled with creamy, comfort food—without the guilt! It is a little light on the protein though, so if you want to make this a heartier entree, add 2-3 ounces of your favorite protein or add more cheese or a soft scrambled egg. We love grilled chicken and grilled shrimp (leftovers of course)!

Also, using the Lite Thai Kitchen coconut milk makes a neutral flavored sauce (it doesn't taste like coconuts)--but you can use cream, milk, half and half, chicken broth, veggie broth, So Delicious Coconut Milk, almond milk, etc...

Zyliss Julienne Peeler - Click on pic to order!

Zoodler Review: Let’s talk zoodlers. I’m a tightwad, but a confirmed kitchen gizmo addict. I’m a kitchen accoutrement horder and I’m embarrassed to tell you how many single-taskers I own. Alton would flay me alive if he knew! So the tools I do buy, I buy at bargain basement prices and want them to be economical. Using Alton’s multi-tasker approach, my favorite tools are just a simple Oxo Good Grips Veggie Peeler and slightly sadistic cousin, the julienne veggie peeler. They give value, you can do a lot of things with them to a lot of veggies…

Aren't they beautiful? It's just like sharpening a crayon!

But I can’t just have one if 3 are better. So I have a Benriner Spiral Cutter, I have a julienne veggie peeler, and I have a new tool: the Norpro Carrot Curler and Slicer. Oh my! I couldn’t resist testing two equal-sized zucchinis today to see which thickness of zoodle pleased us most…we preferred the thinner, linguine shape we get from the $8 julienne peeler (which I found at Tuesday Morning for $3). But the beauty of the Norpro zoodles can’t be argued with, for sure! The Spirooli noodles are more spaghetti thickness and for the density of this sauce, would be too fragile.

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