Homemade Nachos: A Healthier, Tastier Alternative

Our family life is filled with traditions. One of my favorites is Friday Family Movie Night. It starts when I get home from work and yell at the top of my lungs, "IT'S FRIDAY!" That is the signal for family time.

We usually begin with either a family swim (still loving the remodeled pool - thank you Above & Beyond) or a rousing round of Just Dance on the Wii. After we have spent what little energy we have left from the week, the kids get into their pjs, dinner and popcorn are made, and the movie of the week begins.

For Family Movie Nights, there are only two options in our house for dinner - pizza and nachos. Of course, being the pseudo-health nuts that we are, both of these are homemade. While the pizza came fairly quickly and somewhat easily to perfect, the nachos took some finessing to get the perfect recipe. But as we perfected the recipe, we quickly discovered that all other nachos left something to be desired.

Warning!!! If you try these nachos, you will most likely lose all respect for any other nachos,
especially those that are served at sporting events. So be warned, you may turn into a nacho snob (but if this happens, welcome to this side of the line. The nachos are great over here).

Creamy sauce, no chunks

Ingredients:

Cheese Sauce
2 T. butter
1 T. corn starch (or 2 T. flour)
1 c. milk
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
8 - 12 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese*

1. Make a roux by melting the butter in a sauce pan and stirring in the corn starch (or flour), cayenne, and salt with a whisk until smooth.

2. Add milk, a little at a time.

3. Turn off heat and add shredded cheese. Stir until smooth.

Chips, cheese, and beans - the foundation of nachos

*I highly recommend shredding your own cheese. Pre-shredded cheese has additives to keep it from clumping, things like cardboard and non-nutritive cereal varnishes. Not only is that weird to eat, but it causes the cheese sauce to have a funky texture. Try my personal favorite: Tilamook Sharp Cheddar Cheese - yum!

4. For a thinner, runnier sauce, add a little more milk. For a thicker sauce, add a little more cheese. 

Toppings:

1 avocado, cut into small cubes
1 large tomato, cut into small cubes
1 can black beans, rinsed
Ground beef, browned with taco seasoning

Add a little spicy oil for a little kick!

Cilantro
Sour Cream or Plain Greek Yogurt (make sure it's plain and not vanilla)

Fill your bowls with corn chips, ladle on the cheese, and add the toppings. For extra zest, drizzle on a little spicy oil or an extra sprinkle of cayenne pepper. After your first bite you will be hooked and will never settle for canned cheese sauce again.

On a side note, we have found extreme benefit in covering the couch with a bed sheet on Family Movie Nights. Sure, it looks trashy. But we can enjoy the movie together, eat our nachos, and not freak out when Little E jumps up to cheer for the X-wings and upends his entire bowl of nachos onto the couch.

Let the Family Movie Night begin!