White Sauce:  The Golden Sauce that Will Add Wow to Your Table!

If you have not learned to make a white sauce, you are missing out!  No more creamed soups to buy and you can turn the sauce into a mushroom sauce, cheese sauce and it can make a lot of different dishes.  Did I mention you only need butter, salt, pepper and milk?  So in-expensive and you will turn into a culinary chef!

Basic White Sauce:  Yield 2 Cups

Ingredients:

2 tbs. butter

1 1/2 c. milk

3 tbs. flour

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt the butter in a medium size sauce pan.  Stir in flour to make a paste and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.  Stir continuously, do not allow mixture to brown.  Remove pan from heat and whisk in milk.  Return pan to medium heat and continue to whisk sauce together to avoid lumps from forming.  Simmer sauce until desired thickness, add salt and pepper to your desired taste.

*for cheese sauce, prepare as stated above and add cheese at end, 1/4 c. to 1/2 cup.  Depending on the dish will determine the type of cheese.  For an example, if you are making an Alfredo style sauce, you can add Italian blend cheese, if you are making an Au gratin Potato dish, you would add cheddar cheese to your sauce. 

My favorite addition to my white sauce is onions.  This would be done while melting the butter for the white sauce.  I chop onion and sauté it with the butter and then begin the rest of the process for making the sauce.  You would also add mushrooms to the sauce at this point as well.  The sauté process releases the flavors of the onion and the mushrooms. 

I love to prepare my sauce the old fashioned, on the stove method.  I actually find cooking to be a stress reliever after a long day, so the action of whisking, sort of "whisks away" those stressors of the day!  If you prefer, you can do a white sauce in the microwave, the time is reduced and you don't have to worry about scorching the milk or about lumps forming in the sauce.  Here is a recipe that works well in the microwave.

Easy White Sauce for the Microwave

1 tbs. butter or margarine

2 tbs. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. milk

Melt butter in microwave, approximately 10 to 15 seconds on medium high.  Be sure to cover the dish when melting the butter.  Stir in the flour and gradually add the milk to this mixture.  Cook stirring occasionally on medium heat for 6 to 7 minutes until sauce is thickened.  At this stage, if you are making a cheese sauce, you may add the cheese and cook on high for 1 to 2 minutes until the cheese is melted.

White sauces are very easy to make and step out of your box and be creative with them!  I love to add things like onions, mushrooms and even chopped celery to my white sauce.  Cheeses are a lovely mix with white sauce.  The possibilities are endless!  Something I learned while watching Rachel Ray is that a small amount of chicken broth really adds a great flavor to your macaroni and cheese.  I  keep chicken base on hand and just 1 tsp. of chicken base is a great addition to my cheese sauce.  Check out this video for Ham and Macaroni and Cheese and you will see what I mean!  Challenge yourself to make home made macaroni and cheese for your family and you will never again make a box of macaroni and cheese ever again. 

A couple of notes after you have watched the video.  1.  If you do use the chicken base, simply add 1 cup of water to 2 tsp. of the chicken base, very simple!  2.  Rachel tends to go with fatty choices on milk and cream, I use my good old 1 % milk.  Less on fat and less on my pocket book!  3.  You could add a bag of frozen broccoli to the pasta as you are boiling it and drain when it is cooked.  Throw it together and you have everything in one dish, just add a fruit to your menu and you have all of the food groups in a very simple meal!

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

2 tbs. butter

2 med. chicken breast, cut into chunks ( flash frozen skinless boneless chicken breasts works well!)

1/4 c. chopped onion

4 tbs. flour

2 tsp. chicken base

1 c. water
1 1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. Italian blend shredded cheese

1 pkg. thick spaghetti or fettuccini noodles and 1( 16 ounce) pkg. of frozen chopped broccoli , cooked and drained. 

1.  Melt butter in large sauce pan, add onion and chunks of chicken, sauté until chicken is done and onion is translucent.

2.  Whisk in flour and chicken base.  Cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes, do not let flour brown, keep whisking the mixture around.

3.  Pull pan off of heat,  gradually stir in the water and the milk.  Keep stirring and cooking over medium heat until sauce is thickened.  Stir in cheese. 

* You may toss sauce into the pasta and broccoli mixture or you may top pasta and broccoli with sauce for each plate.   Our family likes to mix it all together.  Serve this with whole grain slice of toasted garlic bread and add a fruit salad to this and you have a complete meal.

Pasta and Broccoli

Alfredo Sauce

Dinner is Served!

~Cooking is a lot like love.  It should be entered into with abandon, or not at all.~  Julia Child













 

 



Are You Ready for Some Football?

If you are like our family, fall means football and football means serious snack food!  I marvel at the amount of money that is spent on football, all the way from barbecue to just over the top dips and chips that can be costly as well as high on calories and fat and low in nutrition.  Through the years, I have learned to keep it simple, add a little flare and with a little creativity, football season does not have to mean stressing out over the food part of it.

The first thing I am mindful of is to fit the football food into Choose MyPlate.  This helps maintain weight, increase nutrition and can even lend itself to staying within your food budget.  Here are a few favorites at our house!  I hope your favorite team does well this season!  Go Huskers!

Humus

Have you ever tried humus?  If you have not, it truly is a treat and so easy to make in your kitchen.  Humus is Middle Eastern food.  It is a spread/dip made from Chic Peas, also called Garbanzo Beans.  It is lovely and I enjoy using it as a dip for fresh vegetables and believe it or not, I enjoy a creative grilled humus and cheese sandwich that I put together in my kitchen.  The recipe I use is very simple, a traditional Humus has tahini in it.  Tahini is a a paste made from ground, hulled sesame seeds and has a bit of a nutty flavor.  It is not an overpowering flavor, so not using it is not going to truly alter the flavor of the Humus.  The main reason I do not add it to my humus is that it is a bit expensive and I would not use it enough to justify the cost of it.  I have a recipe that I use that did not include Tahini in the ingredient list, and it is amazing!

Humus Dip

                      

Ingredients:

1 can Chic Peas, drained

1 tsp. garlic powder or 1 clove garlic

1 tsp. chopped onion

1 to 2 Tbs. lemon juice

1/8 c. canola oil or olive oil

Directions:

Place all ingredients in food processor or blender.  Add the garlic and lemon juice to fit your families taste.  Start out with 1 tsp. garlic and the 1 Tbs. lemon juice and add to your liking.  The oil is for mixing purposes only.  I have found that 1/8 cup is enough to blend it.  You may need to add slightly more.  Serve on whole grain crackers, pita bread, as a dip for fresh vegetables and you can even use it as a whole grain grilled humus and cheese sandwich

                                           

Another great idea for football season is to make your own tortilla chips.  You will find that they are healthier because you control the salt you add or you could choose to add another seasoning such as chile and cumin and forget the salt.  Also, you will find them to be in-expensive, especially if you made your own flour tortillas (see my previous blog on making your own flour tortillas).  Here is a link to walk you through how to make your own baked flour tortilla chips or baked pita chips:  http://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-baked-chips-tortilla-or-pita-124908 

Dips are always a hit at a football party, a favorite for us is a simple dip made with processed cheese ( I do break my rule of natural cheese for dips, it melts better and is a bit less on the pocket book), 1 can refried beans (If I have prepared ahead, I make my own from dried pinto beans), browned hamburger with chile and cumin added to the mix, and finally, salsa ( your favorite heat) and melt this together. This dip works well to keep on low in a slow cooker for easy serving.  This is one of those recipes that the amount of the ingredients depends on the size of the crowd at the football party as well as what your family likes.


Chile is always a great dish to make for a game day, especially on a cold Nebraska game day.  One of our favorites is Taco Soup.   Here is a recipe for Taco Soup in a Slow Cooker http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-taco-soup/  I enjoy soups in the colder months as they make great leftovers and you can freeze them for another game day festivity!

In place of a heavy sugary dessert, try a fresh fruit salad with fruits that are in season.  For fall, I also love a tasty apple crisp prepared in the slow cooker, here is my favorite recipe for this lovely comfort dessert, http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-apple-crisp/

Best of luck to your favorite team this year!  Remember, keep the food simple, add a bit of flare with garnishing and your presentation and you can't go wrong!