Have we ever talked about guilty pleasures? You know, those things we do that we are just slightly ashamed to admit to? I love to watch “Fixer Upper” and “Property Brothers”. I sometimes eat ice cream right out of the carton. Everything I wear (and I mean EVERYthing) has to coordinate.
I eat a piece of candy every morning with my coffee. I totally get lost in the language of sappy romance novels from the beginning of the last century. And I always bring colouring books and pencils on vacation. There you go….
I have to confess to being a little bit of a purist with food, though — I don’t want gravy, dressing, or sauce cluttering my palate. Runny eggs gross me out. And I don’t typically like my food to touch each other. (This makes potluck dinners very challenging. Jello salad melting into a hotdish is actually grounds for fasting. 🙂 )
Even though I try to prepare and serve healthy meals, every once in a while, I just want something full of carbs, fat, and sodium. I’d like to think that everyone has days like that. (Another one of those guilty pleasures?)
Baked potatoes have gotten a bad reputation for being empty starches, but they have all sorts of great nutrients, especially when baked and the skin is clean enough to eat. And bacon is a protein, right? To redeem the healthiness of this dish, I pile on steamed broccoli. Then smother it all with this white cheddar cheese sauce. Oh my! Happy dance ensues!
Don’t allow any goofy health guru to talk you out of enjoying a guilty-pleasure meal like this every once in a while.
PrintWhite Cheddar Cheese Sauce
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp gluten free flour
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk, or half & half
- 2 cups shredded white cheddar cheese
- 2–3 dashes Louisiana hot sauce, or to taste
- Baked or roasted vegetables – our faves are baked russet potatoes with broccoli and cauliflower – and bacon or leftover chicken
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a medium-sized sauce pan, sprinkle the flour and black pepper over the surface, whisk together and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour in the milk, and whisk. Allow to simmer slowly until beginning to thicken, which takes just a few minutes.
- Stir in the grated cheese and hot sauce, then season as you wish. (Don’t add salt until you’ve tasted it, because the cheddar makes the sauce pretty salty.)
