Vaguely healthy nacho cheese recipe?

[crl]

DS really liked the nachos at the bowling alley. I was hoping to make some vaguely healthy nacho cheese sauce and serve it with chips, broccoli and cauliflower for dipping. Any recipes for the cheese dip? Bonus points if I can do it in the crockpot. :D

Thank you!
Catherine

[kijip]

It's cheese. The healthy part is the veggies you will be giving to dip. Low far cheeses don't melt well and many nacho cheese recipes call for things like condensed cheddar soup to go in with the cheese. So frankly, I would not worry about it being healthy. Cheese or not, so long as it is not all the time or a lot each time, I would go ahead and call it healthy enough on the basis of the combination and moderation. If you make it from home and leave out the artificial cheese food ingredients, that right there is a big leg up on the bowling alley.

[etaylor75]

This one sounds good! Off to find arrowroot powder....

http://www.foodrenegade.com/creamy-mexican-cheese-dip-without-velveeta/

Erin

[crl]

It's cheese. The healthy part is the veggies you will be giving to dip. Low far cheeses don't melt well and many nacho cheese recipes call for things like condensed cheddar soup to go in with the cheese. So frankly, I would not worry about it being healthy. Cheese or not, so long as it is not all the time or a lot each time, I would go ahead and call it healthy enough on the basis of the combination and moderation. If you make it from home and leave out the artificial cheese food ingredients, that right there is a big leg up on the bowling alley.


Yeah, the difficulty is finding a recipe that doesn't have velveeta as the main ingredient. I'm good with real cheese and wouldn't use low fat cheese anyway. It's that processed cheese thing that I'd like to avoid, or at least minimize. And when I google, all I'm getting is velveeta.



This one sounds good! Off to find arrowroot powder....

http://www.foodrenegade.com/creamy-mexican-cheese-dip-without-velveeta/

Erin

Thanks! This is definitely along the lines of what I was thinking of although maybe a bit too challenging for my cooking skills.

[JenaW]

was it the actual cheese he liked, or the nachos? I make "vaguely healthy nachos" all the time for dinner and my kids LOVE them. I use whole grain nachos (wegmans makes an awesome one, as does TJs). I use ground turkey, a jar of homemade salsa (tomatoes, onions, garlic, banana/bell/jalepeno peppers), a can of goya black bean soup (black beans with some yummy spices), a bag of frozen spinach and frozen corn. Brown the turkey (can use beef too) and drain fat. pour in Salsa and beans (drained). Add corn and spinach (you can SEE it, but it takes on the seasoning flavor and is not spinachy-tasting so my kids don't mind it). Season with whatever you like (I use Mccormick's fajita seasoning from BJs). Lay chips in a single layer on microwave safe platter or oven baking sheet. Top with beef mix. Sprinkle with cheese. (I use a mix of bricks of extra sharp cheddar and monteray jack, which I shred myself, not the pre-shredded stuff). Heat and serve. We plop sour cream, more salsa (I like verde, the kids like red), and occasionally home made guac. MMMMM!

[KLD313]

Melt 2 T's butter and add 2 T's flour to that and cook a minute or two. Whisk in two cups of milk. When it starts to bubble add 2 1/2 cups of shredded Monterey jack cheese and stir til combined. You're supposed to use a wooden spoon, idk why. I've used cheddar before and it was a little lumpy but I like cheddar better.

[crl]

Thanks! It was the cheese. He's generally not a fan of salsa or ground beef or beans (picky kid) so I don't think I can go with the loaded dip. But maybe I can manage the butter, flour, cheese recipe.

Catherine