SENSATIONAL SKINNIER CHEESE SAUCE WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH, low-fat, easy

Fabulous reduced-fat cheese sauce for all seasons...

67's Gorgeous Skinny Cheese Sauce with a rich butternut component turns Mac'n Cheese into a rich delight...and it is just as good for cauliflower  

Cheese Sauce enhanced with Butternut Squash is the perfect lower-fat/cholesterol treat which will clean up 'dirty' comfort food.  The sauce has sharply reduced fat levels but is fabulously tasty -- so much so that some tasters prefer it! 

The sauce is surprisingly easy to prepare and is so abundant there will be plenty of leftovers.  

It will work beautifully with Mac'n Cheese (see recipe in Tips), Cauliflower Cheese, cheesy dips, baked potatoes, bread-bowl appetisers, omelette fillings and reduced fat Welsh rarebit.

For anyone trying to live a healthy lifestyle or to lose weight, but missing creamy sauces, you'll never look back! 

Cost: £4.50-ish??

Makes: lots

Ingredients:

   1 medium butternut squash (5'ish cups)

   1 large brown onion, about 100g/3.5oz (fodmap: replace with equiv trimmed fennel) 

   2 cloves garlic, peeled (fodmap: roast garlic & squeeze out puree OR leave out)

   1.25 cups vegetable broth (granules ok)

   min 1 cup-max 1.5 cups dairy or plant milk (67 used generous 1 cup almond milk)

   

   2-3 tsp Dijon mustard   

   1.25 tsp celery salt

   1/2 tsp salt

   1.25 tsp pepper

   1/4 tsp turmeric

   1.25 tsp smoked paprika

   1/2 tsp cayenne powder

   1.25 tsp nutmeg

   2 tbsp lemon juice

   113.5g/4oz low-fat dairycottage cheese, drained 

   min 141.75gm/5oz reduced-fat cheddar (67 used Cathedral plant cheddar) 

   3g/1oz grated dairy/plant Parmesan

scant cup of breadcrumbs (pulse stale bread in food processor until coarse crumbs form)

   

Method:

SMALL HOUSEHOLD'S SKINNIER GREEK HUMMOUS, UPDATED vegan, Low fat, no dairy, easy, beetroot opt.

No more half-eaten tubs of hummous mouldering in the fridge with this recipe..

updated 7/25; first post 2020

Use tinned or reconstituted dried chickpeas for a fabulously easy, tasty, skinnier hummous that's 'Creamy, tasty & thankfully not too garlicky'; 'different - in a good way - between yours and shop bought.'

This gorgeous low-fat, dairy-free hummus is designed to provide enough to satisfy a singleton/couple's craving but not to bore.  

But by simply doubling or tripling the ingredients, it morphs into a party or picnic piece.  

Because it's such an easy recipe,  67 strongly recommends using dried chickpeas which have been soaked overnight and boiled.  (See Cooking Clever with Pulses)   The flavour and texture are so worth it.   Dried chickpeas are also so much cheaper than tinned, especially the organic ones.  Leftover whole chickpeas freeze and defrost easily.  

Of course, if time is of the essence, tinned chickpeas will be absolutely fine but the hummous will likely be thinner.  

For those concerned about Fodmaps, this recipe is for two people. Leftovers will be fine the following day. 

Cost: low, maybe a pound

Feeds: 1-2: recipe, multiplies easily 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup drained chickpeas, tinned or reconstituted

1 small clove garlic, peeled (optional)

2 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp olive oil (opt - 67 didn't bother) or garlic infused olive oil

Juice of half a lemon or lime (or 3/4 tbsp concentrated bottled juice) 

1/8-1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cumin

1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne

          1/4 to 1/3 cup water, plant milk or veg stock - guesstimate to begin with

       Garnish: toasted sunflower or/and pumpkin seeds

Method:

CORONAVIRUS: PREPARING FOR A SECOND WAVE: PART 1

LOSE THOSE EXTRA POUNDS BEFORE A 2ND WAVE OF COVID...  

Can't help but love and laugh at this cartoon
Courtesy of CartoonStock and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

LOSE THOSE EXTRA POUNDS

While life has improved post-lockdown, few people think this Covid thing is over.  

On the one hand, remedies which apparently reduce the worst effects of the virus are being marketed, and there are hopeful noises about an early vaccine.  

On the other hand, effective contact tracing - without which we could be up the creek without a paddle come 'flu season - appears further and further away as time goes by.

Though no one knows what will happen, we are braced for a Second Wave in the autumn and wondering what - if anything - can be done to protect our loved ones.

We're already wearing Masks (though loathed by many, especially glasses-wearers).  Hand-washing and sanitising are so entrenched we barely think about it anymore.  Social distancing - whatever the size of the government-designated gap - is more or less the norm. 

Courtesy of covid-yale-edu and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Now, the focus is on Obesity, one of the most important predictors for severe coronavirus.  No matter what your income, Covid hits the obese disproportionally hard and the obese are most likely to end up in hospital and on ventilators.

This week's post - part 1 of Coronavirus: Prepare for a 2nd Wave - focuses on dietary measures to reduce obesity.    Part 2 will look at the Immune System.  Can non-medical therapies help boost its power, or are they just a load of old cobblers? 

LIVING WITH THE THREAT OF A 2ND WAVE OF CORONAVIRUS

The Government is committed to helping the public get the weight off in order to minimise the severity of the effects of Corvid.  Their obesity strategy will encourage  nutrition & weight management plus exercise (walking, cycling & free exercise apps).   

For many people; it will be about dropping those few extra pounds; others will be encouraged onto a major diet.  Whichever category you fall into, losing weight requires work and will be a longer-term proposition than a vaccine or curative drug. 

Courtesy of Gary Glassbergen and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

GARLIC CHIVE BREADSTICKS: sensationally more-ish; almost-instant

You could save these home-made breadsticks for a special occasion...

Home-made Garlic Breadsticks - a cut above

...but they're so delicious, quick & easy, why would you?

Trust 67goingon50 - these quick and easy breadsticks are fabulously delicious and the best alternative to garlic bread going.

They are soft and chewy inside.  They have a strong golden crust.  They taste sensational - salty, garlicy and lightly oiled.  

OK, they can be a teensy bit fiddly to form but no one will be put off by their shape once they've had a taste.  Get the kids to help -- they'll love it and it will be a good excuse for any deficiency in artistic merit.

As always, there's a good level of fibre with some wholemeal flour; oil and salt are kept to a minimum.  Chives add an onion-like layer of flavour plus vitamins & calcium but are optional.

For best flavour, eat on the day.  

Cost: £1.50

Makes: about 24

Ingredients:

Cup sizes: 67 used English cups (250ml) but any cup will do as long as the proportions are honoured, ie, it's used for both dry and wet ingredients

   1 cup plain flour, inc 2-4 tbsp wholemeal or wholewheat flour
   2 tsp baking powder
   1/2 tsp sea salt

   170gm/6oz 0-fat plain Greek/Icelandic yoghurt (other yoghurts will be too wet) 
   1 egg white, raw 
   
   Optional Toppings: sesame seed, Nigella seeds, sunflower seeds, onion flakes or a combination

Method:

Breadsticks