Teacher Party, Mac-Daddy Style

The best party of the year? Of course, that's the annual teacher departmental party. The hubs is the chair of a fairly large h.s. department, which means for the past several years, we've had the absolute pleasure of hosting this thrillsville of a shindig.

Tonight, however, the stars miraculously aligned and it was at someone elses home. And with an 8-month-old baby in tow, my time there was limited. So, instead of listening to witty banter about macro-economics and the War of 1812, here I sit, catching up on my RHONJ.

(I kid, I kid. I really like most of the hubs' co-workers. A good group of people.)

Therefore, there's no dinner to report on (I ate leftover chicken salad from 8/14/11 instead of teacher-party fare). However, I did contribute a homemade macaroni salad.

Macaroni Salad
Source: Eating Well July/August 2011 (have you noticed how much mileage I've gotten out of this issue, btw?)

Ingredients:

• 3 c whole wheat elbow noodles (approx 14-16oz) (I used whole wheat spirals I had on hand)
• 3/4 c low-fat mayo
• 3/4 c low-fat sour cream
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt (omit)
• 3/4 tsp celery seed
• Pepper to taste (omit)
• 3 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 3 carrots, shredded
• 1 small Vidalia or other sweet onion, finely chopped
• 1 c baby spinach, chopped (omit)
• 3/4 c frozen (thawed) edamame
• 1/3 c shredded mild Cheddar cheese

Directions:

• Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water until tender. Drain. Transfer to a large bowl to cool for at least 15 minutes.
• Combine mayo, sour cream, sugar, salt, celery seed and pepper in a small bowl.
• When noodles have cooled, add celery, carrots, onion, spinach, edamame and the mayo mixture; stir well to combine.
• Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if desired. Sprinkle with cheese just before serving.

Yield: 12 servings, about 1 c. each
Per serving: 190 cals; 7g fat (2g sat, 2g mono); 13mg cholesterol; 28g carbs; 1g added sugars; 7g protein; 3g fiber; 366mg sodium; 215mg potassium

Reviews:
The hubs has promised to provide a report on the teacher reviews, but during my brief appearance, it looked like it was being eaten (always a promising sign). I had literally one forkful to taste-test it before adding the cheese and bringing it to the party - I had just come from working out with my trainer where we (ahem, she) engaged in a lovely conversation about carbs. Therefore, my report is pretty lame tonight: It was super-easy to throw this together, and the teeny taste I had was good. Maybe fewer onions next time. The kid also tried it and declared it "too cold."

1. How cool is this stone bowl? 2. The cheese looks kind of nasty on here but the salad is colorful