Garlic Alfredo Sauce

So it all started with this recipe. I was so excited, thinking that I could enjoy chicken alfredo without gluten or dairy, not to mention that the base of the sauce was made from a healthy vegetable, cauliflower! If I could pull this off I would be super mom!


http://practical-stewardship.com/2013/04/23/fettuccine-alfredo-dairy-free-egg-free-g-f-option/

I got it all mixed up I was ready to take that first taste. Would it taste anything like what we were used to?

Disappointment...

There was no way any of us were going to be able to eat this super sweet concoction. I don't know if it was the coconut milk or the cauliflower but something was wayyyyy off. There was no way all this food was going to waste,  so the frugalista in me pulled out the spice basket and went to town and what it turned into was something beautiful! When you've grown up with a father whose main ingredient in most dishes was garlic, you quickly learn that this delicious vegetable can do amazing things.

Garlic Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients

6 cups (1 head) cauliflower, chopped
1.5 cups of coconut milk
2 T organic olive oil
1/4 cup onion, finely minced
2 T of minced garlic
4 strips of bacon, cut into small pieces
2 chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 cup of water or chicken broth
1/4 t nutmeg
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
organic olive oil
1 t salt
2 T of garlic powder
2 T of onion flakes
pepper

Chop up cauliflower and add to pan with coconut milk. Bring to a boil, them reduce heat, cover, and simmer until soft(about 8-10mins). Move softened cauliflower mixture to blender, add 2T of olive oil, and blend until smooth. Start your pasta cooking. In a large skillet, put in 1T of olive oil, cubed chicken, and chopped bacon, saute until cooked through. Add onion and minced garlic, cook until softened. Pour cauliflower "sauce" into your large skillet and combine. Add 1/2 cup of your pasta water to thin a bit. Let flavors combine on medium heat while stirring. Taste. Add parsley, onion flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Don't be afraid to play with the seasonings. We love garlic at our house so I kept adding until it was garlicious!! ;) You can use this on gluten free pasta or over veggies.

How the Howards Got Healthy

Now that 2013 is behind us, you know the year of seizures, year 7 of body pain and fatigue and new diagnoses of a plethora of food intolerances, we felt it was time to try something new.

I don't know much about the human body, but the one thing I do know is God has blessed me with this one body and has instructed me to be a good steward of His gift. I hope with His help to live the kind of life He would be pleased with.

I've eaten, cleaned, and lived a certain way for 30 years, so the transformation isn't going to happen overnight. By making small meaningful changes, we hope to feel better, be healthier,  and live long lives that bring glory to God! We also hope to teach our children healthy eating and living habits so they can grow up without facing many of the challenges that bad diets, chemicals, toxins and processed foods can cause.

We have really no experience with gluten free, dairy free, wheat free diets, cooking, or living or with natural cleaning, body care, or household items so this adventure is one we are jumping into with both feet and praying that our chamges will drastically change the way we feel.

We are also not tree huggers or hippies(even though I did love that era of music growing up). We love real food, hamburgers and chocolate chip cookies not tree bark or rutabagas,  so we are really excited to see what kind of recipes we will be trying and products we will be using.

I hope you will join us for the fabulous, the failures and the freak outs!