Healthy White Sauce

Ever wish you had a white sauce ... but you're plum out of luck?  Or, are you looking for a healthy alternative to regular Alfredo sauce?

If you have a can of beans and some milk... you're in luck.

But -- Just for the record, my healthy substitute does NOT taste like Alfredo.  It has a good flavor, one I appreciate, but it is not Alfredo.  I highly recommend it atop veggies and pasta (a great way to clean out the fridge too!).

Healthy White Sauce - SnoWhite

1 can Great White Northern beans, drained

3 T - 1/4 C milk (as needed)

1/4 C Parmesan cheese

Spices (like basil), if desired

Begin by draining and rinsing your beans.

Then, place beans in the blender along with a few T of milk. Puree, adding more milk as needed to create a creamy sauce to your desired thickness.



I usually end up using about 1/4 C milk to make my sauce.

Pour sauce over your pasta or veggies while they are still heating in the pan. Add the cheese and any spices you want to add to your sauce.



Stir to melt cheese and warm sauce.

Serve warm.



It's a nice change from a traditional white sauce. Frog Prince (who doesn't like beans) enjoys the sauce too, although his comment is often that it's not as creamy as he'd like. The sauce does dry out pretty easily, so adding more milk when re-heating the dish is helpful.  You'll have to take creative liberties with the milk to achieve the desired consistency of the sauce.

Linked to:

• Ultimate Recipe Swap
• Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays

Thanksgiving!

I don't know what I've gotten myself into, but this year, it's just me and Frog Prince for Thanksgiving and we're cooking up our first turkey!!!

At the Farmer's Market two weeks ago, we could place orders for free-range, organic turkeys... so I did :) Last year, my MIL made a fantastic turkey from a local farmer and it was one of the best birds I've ever enjoyed, so I jumped at the opportunity to try a local one this year.

As Thanksgiving dinner will just be the two of us, we're not making all the sides/etc., that I normally would eat at Thanksgiving -- it's just too much for us.

We're keeping our menu pretty simple:

Turkey (hopefully made in the crockpot)
Wild Rice Stuffing (family favorite) - recipe below
Sweet Potato Casserole (new)
and, Lucy's Dinner Rolls (new)

For dessert, we'll likely enjoy a Sweet Potato Pie (with gingersnap crust)! I'll be posting this recipe in the next couple of days... it's so easy and absolutely delicious. You'll never know it's not pumpkin.

Today, Life as Mom's Ultimate Recipe Swap asks us to share our favorite Thanksgiving recipe, and mine - hands down, no contest - is our family's Wild Rice Stuffing.



I love that I can use up our old bread and make a delicious, filling stuffing that complements the turkey very well. What's better -- you can make up most of the stuffing the day before and just bake the morning of Thanksgiving!

Minnesota Wild Rice Stuffing - Mom

2/3 C wild rice, uncooked*
1 large onion, chopped
2 C celery, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 loaves of bread, dried (and cubed)
Sage and lemon pepper seasoning, to taste
Water
4oz mushrooms (either canned or fresh)

*You can also use Uncle Ben's Original Wild Rice in this stuffing for excellent flavor :)


1) Break bread into bit-sized pieces and set in a large bowl to "harden" overnight. Toss occasionally to harden the pieces on the bottom too.

2) Prepare rice as directed on the package. Set aside and allow rice to cool. This can be prepared a day in advance (or even 2)!

3) Dice celery and onions according to taste.

4) Put the celery and onion in a pan together, cover with water and simmer until tender.

5) When cooked, DO NOT DRAIN.
6) Refrigerate the veggies and their cooking water until cool. (Again, do this the day before!)

7) The morning of your dinner, mix dried bread in a large bowl with the cooled celery and onion mix.

8) Mix to a "mush" consistency. Your hands work really well for this.

9) Add rice and mix.

The stuffing should be the consistency of oatmeal. If it's too dry, you can add more water, or even chicken/veggie broth. If you are adding mushrooms, add them now.

10) Place in a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 until heated through - approximately 45 minutes.

11) Stir occasionally - the most frequently you stir the softer the stuffing!




Enjoy... as it's own meal. Seriously -- we could just eat this alone.



This post is also linked to:

• Thanksgiving Party @ The Krazy Kitchen
  

URS: Allergy-Friendly

I have a food allergy. So does my sister. And, my mother-in-law. Frog Prince does too. It seems that almost everyone knows someone who has to learn how to cook slightly differently in order to avoid their allergens. This week, Ultimate Recipe Swap is sharing recipes that are free from some of the top allergens.

In our kitchen, we cook 100% tree-nut free. All of our recipes are tree nut-free. No cashews. No brazil nuts. No almonds. No pecans. No walnuts. No nuts. These allergens never enter our home. Every packaged item gets the label checked carefully because packaging processes change all-too often.

Many of my friends and family members have wanted to learn how to cook for a person with allergies. My best advice -- talk to the person you know because everyone's allergies are different. For me, I'm not comfortable with certain things that other people who have allergies might be and vice versa.

If you do want to cook for someone with allergies, it's important to remember that even just a small amount of allergen has the potential to cause a severe reaction in an allergic-person. By reading labels, it's fairly easy to avoid the allergen... but, it's also important to think about cross-contamination in your kitchen... utensils, towels/cloths, or even your hands can bring allergens in contact with foods that normally would be safe for an allergic girl like me.

Take a look around my blog -- if you're looking for nut-allergy friendly recipes, you'll find them here.

A few recipes that are hard to find nut-free we've made are:

No-Nut Pesto



No-Nut Trail Mix



No-Nut Granola



No-Nut Granola Bars

Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins

This is a knock-off of my all time favorite zucchini dessert -- cinnamon zucchini cake. I used my no-oil muffin base, plus the spices from the cake recipe, and although I love the frosting, I thought frosting for breakfast might be a little overkill. The result, delicious cinnamon zucchini muffins!

Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins - Modified from Mom

1 recipe no oil muffins
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (yes, in addition to the base recipe)
1 C zucchini, shredded and water drained
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 C raisins

Make muffins according to directions, then add in zucchini and raisins along with spices.



Stir well, and bake in muffin tins for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!





These are the perfect muffin to make ahead and freeze. Why? They stay moist, and if you happen to have a little cream cheese frosting around, they quickly can become dessert cupcakes in a pinch :) Breakfast or dessert right in your freezer ;) Love it.

For more make-ahead meal ideas, visit Life as Mom's URS.

Apple Honey Tea

Are you peeling a bunch of apples?

Save those peels!

You can make a delicious tea.



Apple Honey Tea

~6 apple peels
3-4 C water
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 T honey
1 T lemon juice

Place apple peels in a sauce pan. Cover with water and lemon juice and cinnamon.



Bring to a boil for 10-15 minutes, until liquid is colorful and appley.



Your house will smell amazing during this process too :)

Strain out the apple peels.

Then, add in the honey. Taste... add additional honey or cinnamon to taste.



You can pour the whole batch into a crockpot to keep warm!

Or, to make ahead for a frugal holiday party beverage, just boil the apple peels and then freeze the liquid. Add to your crockpot about 3 hours before serving, and heat through adding lemon, honey and cinnamon to taste. Serve warm from the crockpot.



This post is linked to:

• Fall into Flavor 09,
• Crockpot Wednesdays,
• URS: Anything Goes,
• Grocery Cart Challenge,
• Fall Season Recipe Roundup at the Krazy Kitchen,
• Rhoda's Recipe Party,
• The Progressive Dinner Party - Beverages
  

Crockpot Apple Cake

I'm just beginning to explore the wonderful world of baked goods make in the crockpot! Sure, I've tried my hand at a few cobblers and had some success, but I've never tried making a cake!! This cake was awesome -- moist, fully cooked, and full of the flavors I love so much about fall. We started the dessert, ran out to get the new David Crowder Church Music CD, went for a quick walk, and came back to enjoy a tasty treat!



Crockpot Apple Cake - Modified from Fix-It and Forget-It

1 C flour (1/2 C wheat, 1/2 C white)
3/4 C brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large apples, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. vanilla

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.



Peel and slice your apples (I diced mine fairly small), and then coat with the flour mixture.



Mix the eggs and vanilla in a small bowl.



Pour the egg mixture over the floured apples. Pour/spoon into a greased crockpot.



Yes, the batter is thick.

Cover, and cook on high for ~2 hours.





Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.



Slice and serve warm. Leftovers were great for breakfast too ;) And, since it's fat-free, I didn't feel too bad about eating cake for breakfast!



Here's Frog Prince enjoying it as we listed to David Crowder's new CD - Church Music.



I think that if David Crowder would have been joining us, he would have liked it too.



This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Mondays, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Save Room for Dessert, Crockpot Wednesdays and URS: Baked Goods.

In-Season Swap: Apples

Apples. Yum.

I love apples.

Crisp. Juicy. Flavorful.

Bliss.

God was brilliant for creating apples.

Today's In-Season Swap focuses on apples (in case you hadn't guessed). We are just at the beginning of the apple season, and I'm looking forward to a full season of enjoying apples in their many varieties. These treats are some of my favorite fall foods!

I've been reading a great book - How to Pick a Peach - and the chapter on apples helped me to understand the shift in the apple market over the years. The US used to produce almost entirely Red Delicious apples; this apple now only makes up 1/4 of the apples grown and harvested on US soil. Did you know that Gala and Fuji apples are only 20 years old? Really. The apple market has exploded in the past few decades. With all these new varieties of apples, there are a myriad of different flavors and textures achieved that make some of our favorite fall foods:

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bread



Apple Chips



Spiced Country Applesauce



Cherry Apple Crisp



Apple Juice Fruit Cobbler

Crockpot Apple Cobbler



Apple Cake



Apple Fruit Leathers



Apple Cinnamon French Toast



Baked Apples

Crockpot Apple Bacon Pork Chops



Apple Pockets



Crockpot Apple Cake



Apple Crisp



Crockpot Autumn Pork



Apple Granola



Apple Cinnamon Rolls



Apple Pie Muffins

In addition to just using apples as the main part in a dish, applesauce makes a great addition to baked goods as a replacement for oil!

Granola Bar Bites



No Oil Muffins

Cinnamon Apple Pancakes

Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Bread

Or, for a myriad of other desserts....! Yum.

However, one of my favorite ways to enjoy fall apples is in a simple apple pie!




Mom's Apple Pie - From the kitchen of my mom


Crust*
1 C flour
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 T olive oil
1 T butter, melted
1-3 T cold water
(note: this makes 1 crust, double to make a second)

Filling
~6 apples (any good cooking apple)
1/2 C sugar (or less, depending on the tartness of the apples)
2 T flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

To prepare the crust, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Use a fork to cut in the oil and butter until the dough is crumbly. Slowly add enough cold water to get the dough to hold together in a ball. Roll out the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap to create an 11-inch crust. Freeze for about 10 minutes before using.

While crust sets in the freezer, core, peel and slice your apples. Toss in a large bowl with sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.


Remove crust from the freezer and carefully form into a 9-inch pie plate. Fill pie crust with apple mixture. Top with remaining crust, sealing to form an edge. Slice a few slits into the top crust, and place pie on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 45ish minutes, until apples are bubbly and crust is browned. If edges brown too quickly, cover the edges of the crust with tinfoil and continue baking.

Happy Apple-Season :)

Check out what others enjoy making during the fall at URS: Fall Favorites Edition, at Stop and Smell the Chocolates Fall Fruits Festival: Apples and at Our Krazy Kitchen's Fall Season Recipe Round -Up.  


*Crust recipe is adapted from Taste of Home's Light and Tasty.