I experimented....and I didn't die... Mac and "Cheese"

OMG GUYS. I'M EATING "CHEESE" THAT ISN'T REALLY CHEESE, IT'S LIKE OTHER STUFF, BUT IT TASTES MOSTLY LIKE CHEESE!


Let me explain.


So, I've been searching desperately for a cheese substitute. Everything delicious is better with cheese. It's my most missed dairy product so far (and frozen yogurt). Do you know how impossible it is to find a gluten / dairy / SOY / corn free cheese? And after my stunt with "vegan cheese slices" I was NOT ready to try another cheese substitute. 


Then one day I was reading recipes online and it mentioned "Daiya - a non dairy cheese"
http://www.daiyafoods.com/
I looked it up, and it looked pretty promising, it didn't look scary vegan, it comes in shredded cheese bits like the cheese I was used to, and it's base ingredient is appropriate oils / flours. So today, I went out and bought it. According to their website, the only place around me for like 150 miles that carries it is Kroger and a local natural foods place. So I went to Kroger. It was next to the vegan cheese, ironically enough.


I brought it home and didn't know when I would use it and then I got stressed out this evening and decided to take a break and cook something simple. The only thing I had all the ingredients for and used that type of cheese - I got the sharp cheddar kind - was Cheesy Quinoa Mac and Cheese


http://aroundthetableri.blogspot.com/2012/02/cheesy-quinoa-mac-cheese.html


I cooked the quinoa for the longest amount on the package so it would be less seed like, and in the recipe I subbed 
milk => almond milk
I didn't put any veggies or extra stuff in, but I did blend up some rice crackers for breadcrumbs. I only put it on half of the thing because I wasn't sure I'd like the breadcrumbs. Turns out, I liked it more without, so next time, no breadcrumbs.


It says to put it in a 9x13 pan, which was way too big. If you are making this for a family, double the recipe and use that size pan. if only 1-2 people, just use a smaller pan. 


As the quinoa was cooking it gave off a terrible smell, which didn't make me too enthusiastic about the recipe. Then I cautiously cut open the Daiya package and leaned in to smell it - probably bad idea. It has a VERY strong, kind of strange smell. I'm sure really strong cheeses do, but I never ate really strong cheeses. So as I was mixing it all up together, I figured the disgusting smelling mixture would come out terrible and would probably make me cry. 


I made it anyway, and stuck it in the oven. As it baked, the smell and look improved. I cooked it for about 20 minutes because it was so thin. 


Then I got it out, cut a nice piece, and slightly terrified, tasted it. Then I was like PRAISE GOD IT TASTES LIKE REAL FOOD AND REAL CHEESE AND OMG I'M SO HAPPY. 


It does have a stronger/different taste, but it's good. and I am so excited about more things to make with this cheese!! 

Another cheese to try in the future is Wayfare cheeses...but for now...Daiya wins.
http://www.wayfarefoods.com/