Crock Pot Light Alfredo Sauce

Why do you suppose that creamy, thick sauce smothering pasta is so comforting? If you are like me I adore pasta sauces - the creamier the better. Cream does not sit well with healthy diet. Dairy can be harmful to our bodies and cream is full of fat!

My previously favorite dish was Olive Garden's Chicken Alfredo- a classic. My brother-in-law works at Olive Garden while he is going to school and he spilled the beans on how many calories this dish held! 1700 calories!!!!!! I always ate it all!!! I never ate it again even before I began eating better...that number was constantly flashing into my mind!

I really wanted to try and lighten up an Alfredo dish so we could eat it a little more carefree! Now there are a lot of ways to make cream sauces, most of the ways I've found still have a high fat content. If you use nuts obviously it will be better fats for you. This sauce is not made from nuts, I used Vegan Cream Cheese Alternative. It was lower in fats, about 9 grams a serving, than regular cream cheese, but still no where near fat free. So I only tried this dinner tonight since I'm trying to stick to my challenge this week! It was hard not to keep eating it. I used vegetables instead of pasta to give the kids a healthy helping of their greens.

To be honest this meal took some persuading to get them to try it. After the first bite though, there was no more persuading it sold itself! I loved the flavor, it will still be eaten sparingly in this house, but a much better option than traditional Alfredo Sauce.

Light Alfredo Sauce (vegan)

1 container of vegan cream cheese alternative, like tofutti

1 C soy milk

2 cloves garlic minced

1  T nutmeg

1 T paprika

1 1/2 T Italian Seasoning

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Pepper to taste

Add ingredients to the crock pot cook on low for 3 hours. Stirring occasionally to make sure flavors are blending! Serve over cooked zucchini noodles and mixed vegetables or  your favorite pasta!

* this tasted so great with the veggies I think this would make an excellent veggie dip or bread stick dip, what do you think?