Alfredo Sauce Recipe!

Alfredo sauce is the first sauce I learned how to make on my own, completely from scratch! 

I loved being able to pull a few things from the fridge and pantry and make a delicious alfredo sauce I could be proud to top my pasta! Over the years, I've combined several different techniques and tips for making the perfect sauce every time! It starts with real, quality ingredients. From there, if you follow my simple directions and tips & saves you'll be able to make a perfect alfredo sauce every time too! 

Enjoy! 

Ingredients: 

2 tbls Butter 

2 tbls All Purpose Flour
2 cups Milk or Half n Half 

1 Wedge of Parmesian cheese 

Dried Basil, 1/4 tsp. 

Garlic-either powdered, chopped or freshly minced. 

Salt & Pepper 

Notes on getting quality ingredients
If you use good ingredients the sauce will almost make itself

Notes on Butter: Use real butter for this. Using a butter alternative made from oil will make your sauce just that...oily. 

Notes on Flour: AP Flour only. Do not use whole wheat, almond, coconut flour etc. 

*If you are gluten free and using this with gf pasta then you may sub corn starch for the flour but you will only need half the amt of corn starch as you would flour. 

Notes on Milk: Use the real stuff...no almond or coconut milk here. It won't taste the same...trust me! 

Half n Half will make a thicker, richer sauce but often I use whole milk just because that's what I have in my fridge. However, if you use 2% or less...beware..low fat milks when heated, can start to separate and the sauce will turn out gritty. So if u want a smooth sauce...u need the fat! 

*If you are lactose intolerant, use a lactose free milk that is made from real milk. 

Notes on Cheese: 

Quality Parmesian cheese! 

Grated with a box grater into shreds. Do NOT use the "grated parmesian cheese"... that is used for pizza topping only! Try to avoid buying pre-grated shreds as well because they contain additives that will affect the sauce. 

Spices:
Salt & Pepper to taste.
Garlic powder, use a small pinch or use 2 cloves freshly minced garlic or 1/4th tsp pre-chopped garlic from a jar. I often use the pre-chopped roasted garlic found in the produce section of my grocery store.
Dried Basil, about 1/4 tsp or less.

How to: 
You'll want to have your milk meaured out and your cheese already shredded and in a bowl ready so you can grab it. Also, a big spoon to stir, because once you start, you're going to have to constantly stir it so it doesn't thicken up too fast & clump.

This sauce needs a little bit of baby sitting. If you get distracted or something happens, don't worry! The sauce CAN be SAVED! Just follow my Tips & Saves below and you'll get it back on track in no time! :)

Directions: 

In a small pot, make a rue by melting the butter first and then adding the flour to the melted butter. Mix the melted butter and flour together til it's a paste like consistency...this is your "rue", which will thicken the sauce. 

Next, pour in your half n half or milk. Now you want to slowly stir the sauce over medium heat til it starts to very slightly thicken. 

Once it starts to thicken, add in your shredded cheese a big pinch at a time. Make sure each pinch has melted into the sauce before adding more. Keep stiring while adding the cheese little by little. Once all the cheese is added, add the spices and stir them in. Keep stiring til it's thickened up enough to cover the back of your spoon in a thick layer of sauce. 

Tips & Saves: 

When you drain your pasta, stick a mug in your sink to collect some of the pasta water in as you drain it. 

Keep this aside in case you need it! 

If the sauce ends up too thick: Add some pasta water spoonful at a time til its thinned out. The starch in the pasta water also helps the sauce stick to the noodles.

If the sauce ends up lumpy: Use a small holed colander or a strainer/sifter and pour the sauce through it into another bowl. You can use a spoon to push around any lumps and the thin perfect sauce will go through and be what you're left with. The lumps you can disguard.

Anytime the sauce is too thin you can keep heating it over medium heat while stirring...it'll eventually thicken up. Or...just add more cheese!

Besides traditional chicken alfredo...this sauce is amazing as a chicken carbonara sauce. Cook up some bacon til it's crispy and then add some cut up chicken breast to the greesy bacony goodness...cook the chicken and then add some frozen peas. Next add your mixture to some pasta and top with the alfredo sauce....so yummy! 

My boys love this one!! ! :) 

Enjoy!!!

I hope you enjoy this family favorite as much as we do! 

If you have any questions about this recipe, please feel free to ask in the comments below and I'll get back to you asap! 

"Two Worlds Collide" About this Blog

I wasn't sure what I wanted to say when I first posted here. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted this "blog" to be. I called this blog "WonderWomom Saves the Day" because I have been a lover of the character of Wonder Woman since I was a kid. Wonder Woman is a strong female who can do anything! Wonder Woman is strong, determined, athletic, smart, worldly, and beautiful! She's an inspiration, so I called this blog Wonder Womom in honor to her. Also, however, in honor to myself! 

My pun (corny as it may be) is to use the name Womom instead of Woman, because I am a mom. I am a mom of two boys. I run our house full of boys 24/7 and absolutely love what I do! Being a mom has made me feel more womanly than I ever did before having kids.

Besides my family, I have found in the past few years a true love of two things that make me giddy with joy to even discuss!

  Makeup and Food! 

So, this blog, this space, is going to be a place where my two joys, my two hobbies,
my two worlds...collide. 

I have made 2 Instagram accounts to post pictures, reviews, short videos and snippets of recipes.
@StephyKross is going to be where you can find all things makeup related!
@Stephssavoryandsweet is where I'll be posting all things food!

Below, I'll talk about my journey so far. I'd be honored if you'd follow me on my continuing journey and see where this leads us. My hope is that I can always be of some sort of help to you and in any small way, "Save your Day!"
...just like Wonder Woman. :)


My Makeup Journey:

I wore very little makeup til I was about a sophomore in highschool. Up til this point the only eye shadow I had worn was this very natural champaign color. Just a slight wash across my lids was all I'd use on my eyes. I didn't wear any liner or mascara or much foundation. I felt awkward. Like I hadn't quite "grown up" and didn't "look" as grown up as some of my peers did in the early years of highschool.
This one day, a friend of mine had some makeup and we took turns putting it on each other. We didn't cake it on and really go overboard with it, (I had this done before and thought it was way too much for me at my age at the time.) My friend did my eye shadow with a slight beige color all over the lid and then did a dark green matte color in the outer V of my lid. She applied mascara and pink gloss to my lips and was done. We took pictures of each other in our new makeup looks.

Once the film was developed, Yes, I said..."DEVELOPED!"

I remember staring at the pictures of myself for the longest time and thinking for the first time, "Wow! I look so pretty!" 

I couldn't believe the difference that little bit of makeup made to define my eyes and make me look (just a tad!) more grown up. That was the very first memory I had of makeup making me feel good about myself and like I was worth whatever extra effort it took to make my eyes pop like that again! 

Throughout the years, my makeup has changed time and time again. In my college years I think all I usually wore was a cream to powder compact foundation, black eyeliner and lip balm, but this made me feel amazing! 

As I've gotten older, and become more involved in social media these last 7-8 years, I've followed the beauty community the most. I love the women who can be so confident, no matter their age or what their skin looks like. I admire the women who post a picture bare faced with no makeup on, or to start a video tutorial fresh faced so we can watch a "transformation" happen!

I have loved getting to connect with so many kind women, of all different age groups, who are using makeup to help other women feel good about themselves. 

I get so much joy out of learning different techniques and ways to use makeup! I also get joy out of trying new and different products. It doesn't matter if it's a $50 product or $1! I'll still enjoy seeing if it's a worthwhile buy so I can share my newfound treasure!
If you choose to follow me on my continuing makeup journey, I hope that I can be useful to you. I hope that I can help somehow, like so many of the women I admire. If I can help to make even 1 person feel more beautful in their own skin, then I feel like I've done a good job here in this space.


My Food Journey:

I remember cooking with my mom since I was very young. I remember baking with my grandma since I was very, very young! In fact, I actually have a picture of myself when I was only 2 years old, sitting on the counter, preparing pie crusts with my grandma! ...Maybe I'll hunt down that picture and post it eventually. Stay Tuned!

As a young girl, I remember being in the kitchen with my mom, making enchiladas or lasagna the most! These two meals were delicious and the first I would make for my husband many, many years later when we were engaged. However, I knew how to make very little else by my memory alone and knew I couldn't make lasagna and enchiladas everyday!

So, I turned to the Food Network and the Cooking Channel! 

I lived 5 min from our first apartment so would drive home quickly for lunch. I would make a very quick lunch and then would sit in front of the TV, turn on the Food Network and with a pen and paper beside me, I would sit and watch. I would furiously take notes when there was something that I really wanted to make! (This was way before I realized that you can look up these recipes on the internet!) I had notes FULL of different recipes I wanted to try.

Thankfully, my husband was a willing guinea pig for all my kitchen experimentation! 

My first "omg!" moment, was when I learned how to make alfredo sauce

...from scratch! 

I had marinara down, but alfredo sauce, I honestly loved the stuff from Olive Garden and had no idea what magic was in it. I had always used a jar, and wondered why it NEVER tasted the same as a restaurants! 

I made the sauce from a "rou" ,whole milk, basil, garlic and parmesian cheese and thought, "Wow! This is BETTER than the one at the restaurants!" and it blew my mind that I could do it with just a few ingredients in my fridge!

...and btw, thanks Giada De Laurentiis!

After that, I vowed to keep learning about food and to make as much as I could from scratch! Besides it being healthier (less preservatives etc etc),

I just feel there's always something magical about being able to open a pantry and say, "Hmm, I feel like making (Insert whatever you're craving!)  and being able to make it at a spur of the moment from scratch! No box, jar or bottle needed. 

Now days, I make anything and everything for myself and especially for the people that I love. My kids and hubby are of course the biggest fans of my cooking and I get so happy when I can make something new and my picky little eaters say,

"Mom! This is the best food ever!" 

My mom and inlaws are also big fans, mainly of my sweets! I love being able to bake from scratch and I always try and have ingredients in the pantry for everyone's favorite kinds of cookies!

I hope that I can assit and inspire you in the kitchen! Whether it's making a simple salad, a new sauce, main dish or a batch of the best chocolate chip cookies! I hope you find a way to connect with food here, and if you have any questions or would like a certain recipe of mine, then don't be shy!


Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope this helps you to learn a little more about me and who I am and why I am here in this space. I hope you enjoy all the content that I've got coming for you!

💋-S