When you want cheese, but you gave it up for Lent

I really love cheese. 
There I said it.  I know it isn’t
the healthiest of foods, and I know that it gives me headaches, but for some
reason I have a hard time giving it up.
I decided that I would do just that for Lent this year.
Vegan Nacho "Cheese" Sauce

I have wanted to participate in Lent for a few years now, it
isn’t something that we have ever really talked about in my home church, but it
is something that I am trying to learn more about.  I know that giving something up for a time is
a good practice, and so I decided to try it this year.

If there is cheese in the house, I usually eat it.  We are pretty big on the Mexican food here,
so our meals during the week often consist of bean burritos, chili, and
tacos.  All of those seem so much better
with cheese, don’t they?
What is the alternative when cheese is no longer an option?
Several years ago I took a 30 Day Vegan course, which
introduced me to this wonderful food called Nutritional Yeast.

Nutritional yeast is deactivated yeast that is washed and
dried and sold as flakes or a powder.  It
is popular among vegans and vegetarians because of its nutty and somewhat
cheesy flavor.  I had no idea what it was,
bought it, and fell in love with it.  Now
I put it in my salads, on soup, on pasta, pretty much anything that I would
normally top with cheese, I use nutritional yeast.
But, you can’t just sprinkle a powder on nachos, no you need
a cheesy dip for nachos.
Vegan Nacho “Cheese”
Sauce
3 roasted red pepper
pieces
1 small or ½ a medium
sweet onion, chopped
½ cup nutritional yeast
flakes
2 garlic gloves or ½ tsp.
garlic powder
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
¼ tsp. salt
1-2 Tbsp. veggie stock
or water
pickled jalapeño
slices
  • Sauté onion in coconut
    oil until browned and soft – 4-5 minutes.
  • Once onion is cooked,
    put all ingredients except veggie stock in a food processor or blender and
    pulse until blended.
  • Add veggie stock if
    needed to help blend.
  • Top with pickled
    jalapeños and nacho chips.


This is definitely addictive, and I can sit down and eat an
entire bowl if I am not careful (I am rarely careful).  Nutritional yeast is a great cheese
alternative, however it can be an acquired taste.  My husband wasn’t a fan of it several years
ago, but now he really enjoys it.
Are you as addicted to
cheese as I am?  Do you have any
alternatives to your favorite foods to help you stay a little healthier without
sacrificing taste?

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21 Comments

  1. I had a friend who participated in lent and gave up soda. She regretted it the next day and moped around for a while about it haha Good for you on finding a way to keep yourself motivated!

  2. Nutritional yeast is the best. It gives you the needed cheese taste. I still love my cheese, though. I try to eat more vegetarian based ones which use almonds or veggie casein.

  3. I am SUCH a cheese addict – it goes on my salads, on veggies (yeah), most starches, I just love it! It definitely doesn't agree as well with my stomach as I'd like… so I'll have to check out the nutritional yeast! Thanks for sharing!

  4. Cheese addict, present and accounted for xD The Mister is the same as well. I just bought two 16oz bars today (2/5$ on sale, that's a stock up price – but let's not discuss how much I actually have in the fridge…to a normal person, it's a lot 😉 ).
    But it is one of those things that, well, it's not the healthiest, and it's not cheap (for as much as we eat it, anyway). I would be interested to try this yeast, but I'm not sure I could get the Mister on board. While not necessarily picky, he is very particular about certain things (ranch, for example – store bought is gross, Hidden Valley is decent, but he would much rather have the Lighthouse (or is it Litehouse?) brand…which is far too costly). Nachos, though, I could probably trick him into trying 😉
    I hope your Lent goes well – and quickly so you can enjoy cheese again!

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