I am often asked what do vegetarians or vegans eat.  
Being a vegetarian was easy for me but I have been trying to go vegan but I am addicted to cheese.  
You know the stuff for grilled cheese, quesadillas, macaroni and cheese, etc.  
Cheese is always in the house.  
Keeping vegan cheese at home is easy but when I run out of cheddar cheese for some peanut butter grilled cheese, I have to have the dairy kind.  
I was talking to a friend about it and she suggested I blog about it.  My struggle with staying away from dairy cheese and what I eat (what about protein?).  
For example, for breakfast I had tofu scramble with sauteed red peppers, with daiya cheese, green onions, and spinach.  Lunch was oatmeal w/pumpkin spice syrup.  For dinner we're having black bean chili.  
This weekend will be challenging since both of my daughters are filming.  I stay with the tween while the husband stays with the teen.  
Lots of peanut butter sandwiches for me to make tonight!

My Search for the Craziest Nail Polish

The other day a friend of my daughter took a picture of her nails.  My daughter should it to me and told me it looked so cool.  I already had in my mind what kooky thing are they doing now.
I fell in love.
So yesterday morning after breakfast we headed out.  We had to go to the library anyway to drop off some books and movies.  We headed out to one place that sells makeup but didn't find what we wanted.  After stopping for yogurt and coffee when I decided to check out our local beauty store.
It looked harmless enough.  There are 7 colors but I opted to buy one now (black) and another later (silver).  It is a bit pricey so I didn't feel to bad buying it.  It is very stylish and I felt like such a young girl sporting my new nail polish .
It's called Shatter by Opi.  You start off by applying 2 coats of a base color so that it pops. When it dries you apply one coat of Shatter.  You have a 2 texture look.  It looks so cool!
My daughters are wearing black shatter with silver moon but I think I will do their nails again with a another color so that it can pop.

Yesterday I was hungry for some mac and cheese.  I have a hard time finding whole wheat macaroni pasta so I decided to have it with  rigatoni.  This is from the Skinny Bitch Cookbook

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon refined coconut oil, melted, or safflower oil, plus more for the casserole dish
• About 2 tablespoons fine sea salt
• 1 pound whole-wheat or brown rice elbow macaroni
• 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen pureed winter squash (I could never find this so I just use the canned butternut squash found in the aisle next to the pumpkin pie mix)
• 2 cups soy or rice milk
• 4 ounces vegan Cheddar cheese, shredded (daiya is the best for this)
• 2 ounces vegan Jack cheese, shredded  (daiya is the best for this)
• 4 ounces (about 1/2 cup) vegan cream cheese (Follow your heart is the best vegan cream cheese out there)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons vegan Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Oil a 2-quart casserole dish; set aside
2. In a 4- to 6-quart stockpot over high heat, combine 3 quarts of water with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the salt. Bring the water to a boil, add the macaroni, and cook according to the package directions.
3. Meanwhile, in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine the squash and milk, stirring and breaking up the squash with a spoon until the squash is defrosted. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove from the heat and whisk in the Cheddar, Jack, cream cheese, mustard, cayenne, and the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of salt.
5. When the pasta is done, drain it, then return the pasta to the pot. Stir the cheese sauce into the macaroni. Transfer the entire mixture to the prepared baking pan.
6. In a medium bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and the 1 tablespoon of oil. Sprinkle over the top of the macaroni and cheese.
7. Place the casserole dish on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, then broil for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned