Light Cajun Alfredo Sauce

My husband and I have been together for over 8 years and I can honestly say, I have never made Alfredo sauce for him, which is his favorite. I know, bad wife! I've never been a fan of cream sauces or making Alfredo sauce at home (usually I just get store bought and heat separate sauces for our pasta). 

Alfredo on the Light Side

In an effort to try to come up with a lighter version of Alfredo and one that I would enjoy as well, I thought about adding some spice.

Grill, Meat, Football

I got home Thursday night to a happy husband....a VERY happy husband. He had the coals on the grill heating up, our Meat House steak tips and veggies laid out and counting down the minutes until NFL preseason started! 

It certainly was a nice treat to have him prep and cook dinner, all I had to do was steam broccoli and slice a tomato. He stepped outside with a huge grin on his face to start grilling (oh, the relationship between a man and his grill is almost as enigmatic as the one with football). I offered to get him a drink and he giddily asked for the new Stout that was chilling in the fridge. I opened and poured some for the both of us. 

We opened a bottle of one of our good wines (from a wedding gift case we got from a family friend) and enjoyed the hell out of that steak! It is amazing that among our chaotic lives, we still find simple pleasures in food and drink (and football). We watched our beloved NC State Alum, Philip Rivers take on the Packers, and enjoyed the beginning of football season. (Why the network wasn't playing Peyton's debut, I shall never know!!)

So, in the spirit of my blog, I have to include a little something about our meal. When Ryan grills, he takes half a red onion and greases the grill with olive oil. This adds extra flavor and prevents the use of an aerosol cooking spray. I took the other half of the onion, sliced it and sauteed it in some of the delicious Stout beer that we were drinking that night. The beer gave the onions a yummy caramel coating, which paired well with fresh tomato slices and basil from our garden.

The onions caramelize in about ten minutes - a flavorful and easy addition to any cookout or dinner salad!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

We all love the men in our lives, but let's get real for a second ladies....we LOVE our girl time! This past weekend myself and 5 other girls headed for the coast for a fun-filled weekend of good food, drinks and noodling!

Noodling?? This was a new concept for me as well. It involves a noodle flotation device, a can of beer and sunglasses.....oh, and of course, a large body of water. (The beer is optional, but highly suggested)!

You can probably also imagine that with 6 girls in the house, we were bound to eat and drink well. That we did my friends! Everyone contributed to the stockpile of food and drinks, but this time there was a standout - Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites!

I seriously had to hide the two in the picture above so I could get a picture before we ate them all! Katie and Nicole outdid themselves on these - we couldn't stop eating them! And the common quote of the weekend was, "I know I shouldn't have a second one, but I'm on vacation." It really was hard to just stop after one! 

I know that I preach healthy recipes and eating, and that my blog focuses on whole foods and organic ingredients, but healthy, smealthy!! There are always exceptions. You can't eat healthy 100% of the time, so when you cheat, you might as well cheat WELL. 

The last thing I will say about these delicious little bites is that they reminded me of the Take 5 candy bar. So if you like those - make these....

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites (a.k.a. Take 5 Bites)

Recipe from Two Tiny Kitchens
Yields: 45-60 treats

1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons softened butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar (maybe more)
3/4 cup brown sugar (maybe more)
Small pretzels
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine peanut butter and softened butter in a large bowl with a fork or whisk, or in a stand mixer. Add the sugars and mix to combine. If the filling rolls easily into a ball without sticking, they are ready. If not, add a little more of each sugar until a consistency is reached that is easy to roll.

Use a teaspoon measure to scoop the filling. Roll each portion into a small ball, then sandwich them between two whole pretzels. When all the balls are rolled and successfully sandwiched, stick the whole tray in the freezer for about half an hour.

Pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat at 30-second intervals, stirring occasionally until completely melted.  Remove the pretzel sandwiches from the freezer and quickly dip each half-way into the melted chocolate.  Return to the tray and repeat with remaining sandwiches.  When all are dipped, return the tray to the freezer to set up completely.  Store the sandwiches in the refrigerator until serving time.