Hello! I know it’s been awhile. I’ve been busier than normal taking the last steps to secure my teachers license. But! I am back with some sauce recipes that are not only delicious but are generally healthy. I am not a vegan, or even vegetarian, but, like the majority of the human race, I don’t always feel good after consuming a heavy cream sauce. These sauces are creamy without the cream! What could be better than that?

Sauce #1–Jalapeño Cilantro

As you can see, I put this in a taco (SO YUM!) but you could also mix it into chicken salad, serve it with fish, or whatever else you can think of!

1/3 c. raw cashews
1/4 c. & 1/8 c. picked jalapeños
1/2 c. lightly packed cilantro
1 T. lime juice
3 T. plant plant yogurt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt

Soak cashews in boiling water for 20 minutes. Once 20 minutes have passed, discard water and blend cashews along with all other ingredients until smooth.

Sauce #2–White Miso ‘Cream’ Sauce

This is a great sauce when you want to have some creamy pasta without the cheese. I have made this several times with different pastas and vegetables!

1 c. raw slivered almonds
2 T. miso paste
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 c. almond milk
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 T. olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

Add all ingredients to high powered blender (I use my NutriBullet) and blend until smooth. NOTE: I bought miso paste to make miso soup, and have found good uses for it besides that. It lasts a good while in the fridge due to it being fermented soy beans.

Sauce #3–Jalapeño Vegan Ranch

No picture because we gobbled it up! Great substitute for ranch dressing in salads, or for use as a dip for fries or chicken! Lol, definitely not vegetarian. 🙂

1/2 c. raw cashews, soaked for 4 hours
1/4 c. filtered water
3 T. lemon juice
1 T. olive oil
5-6 rings pickled jalapeño
Splash of pickled jalapeño brine
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt & pepper
Finely chopped green onion

Combine all ingredients except for green onion and blend until smooth. Stir in chopped green onion.

Hope you enjoy all the guilt-free creamy goodness!

Love,
Feisty

Made healthier with a few substitutions…

Over the past year or two, I have tried to focus more on making healthier choices. I’m not a diet person; I love food too much to abandon a whole category of it (though I try to cut out carbs when I can!).

I have discovered a few ways to cut corners however, so that I can enjoy my meals while still working towards the goal of feeling better about myself and taking care of my health. I am 34, and am starting to really see the effects of good food (vegetables, protein, whole grains) vs bad food (fast food, soda, fried foods) on my body. Substitutes I currently use:

Greek yogurt for sour cream

Greek yogurt has lower calories per serving and no saturated fat, and it is so similar to sour cream! Tangy, creamy; in most dishes I can’t tell the difference. I’ve served it with Pierogies, in the pic above with chili, and used it in making breads or sauces that call for sour cream.

Ground turkey for ground beef

Ground turkey is lower in saturated fat and is really no different in most cases. Pictured above in my chili, it’s also great in a meat sauce. I’d say the only time you can tell the difference is with a burger, but you can still make a seasoned, juicy burger using ground turkey!

Brown rice for white rice

Brown rice is a whole grain, so it has more nutrients and fiber than white rice, a refined grain. This is one of my oldest subs, I started buying brown rice instead of white years ago because it was cheaper and I knew it was healthier. Now it is always used in place of white rice in recipes, even for risotto!

Joseph’s Pita Bread for regular sandwich bread

I like a good sandwich. It is my lunch of choice most days, but the amount of bread I was eating needed to change. This brand of pita is still bread, but with the fiber it has, it reduces the amount of carbs. There is also 6 grams of protein per pita. The best thing is it doesn’t taste ‘healthy.’ It doesn’t have a strong flavor and let’s your sandwich fillings shine.

Vegan cream sauce for cream sauce

This recipe is a bit more involved than making a cream sauce (roux, add cream), and those allergic to nuts are SOL. But! I love it because it combines a bunch of random ingredients (sliced almonds, miso paste, lemon juice) and makes a creamy sauce for pasta. No dairy, and by making this you are lowering the calories and adding fiber.

More veggies for no veggies

I usually do this for dinners. A lot of Italian food recipes, for example, are pasta, sauce and cheese. My husband is a great lover of Italian food so I had to find a way to introduce more nutrition into these dishes. Spinach, zucchini, yellow squash, green pepper, and carrots all go great with tomato sauce. Of course, if you want to add Brussel sprouts, green beans, broccoli, asparagus, sweet potato, corn, or any other vegetable, you do you. The point is to load up your meal with vegetables; try to incorporate at least 2.

I’m sure there are many more out there that work just as well and I’d love to hear them. What are your favorite healthier substitutes?

Love,
Feisty

I recently purchased a pack of cheese straws at Food Lion after a long sabbatical without them, even though I have loved them since I worked at World Market in 2010 and would sample (read: steal) the fancy, international snacks offered at the back of the store. I have since become more and more invested in my health, most likely due to maturity and old age (I’m 33 and my body is falling apart 😫), so I swore off chips, and anything similar.

However, I noticed that this particular package of cheese straws boasted only 150 calories for 6 pieces. My new thing is 100 calorie snacks; if each snack I eat is 100 calories, I may actually make my daily intake low enough to lose weight. I’m not starving myself, and I try to consider the nutritional value for most things I eat. But, cheese straws!

Anyway, I brought them home, my husband asked what a cheese straw was, and I described it as a ‘fancy Cheez-It.’ I suppose it could also be considered the ‘adult Cheez-It.’ The side of the box suggests pairing your cheese straw with a glass of wine, prosciutto or apple slices. Cheez-Its are probably more likely to address their younger clientele. Even so, it’s essentially the same thing right? So why do I not like Cheez-Its but love cheese straws?

I’ll admit I like the finer things in life. As much as my husband hates it, I love the restaurants that create wildly inventive plates with ingredients you’ve never heard of. Farm to table, small plates, seasonal menu; these are all favorite things of mine but are also considered to be snobby, hipster shit. I’d rather have a little bit of something nice than a lot of whatever. Nick likes diner menus, and I’ll enjoy it once in awhile, but there’s usually no health benefits there. I’m not the kind of person to order a salad everywhere I go, especially because diner salads are usually shit.

I think, in the end, I like to feel fancy. And maybe the form of Cheez-Its vs cheese straws is different, and those differences matter to me. Maybe eating fancy, in a silly way, makes me think I’m eating better too. And even though I know the realities of drinking a glass of wine at lunch, the romantic ideal of it lingers in my mind. I want grapes and Prosecco, cheese straws, thin slices of Havarti, tiny pickles and a beautiful outdoor setting to enjoy it.

…What do you know, I guess I am a white, upper middle class woman.

Love,
Feisty