I Broke My Own Rule + THE Plant Based Smoky Gouda Cheese Sauce Recipe (2024)

As a general rule… I do what I say and I say what I do.

Before I commit to something, I always make certain that I have the want, the time and the bandwidth to do it. This goes for a trip out of the country or lunch with a friend. If I don’t want to do it, if I don’t have time to do it, or if I can’t do it for whatever reason, I have no problem saying no.

This used to be really hard for me. It’s gotten easier with practice.

What I’ve learned is, most people beat themselves up for saying no FAR more than the person receiving the no. Most people completely understand if you say no, but they aren’t as understanding if you say yes and then you don’t follow through. So if you know you can’t do something, or if you think it’s a stretch, f*ck it – say no and move on.

Now, all this said, there are times when we have the best intentions to do something and we jump the gun and say yes before we think it through all the way.

Case in point:

Last month, I said yes to creating a Clean Food Dirty Girl Sauce E-Book with some of our most popular plant based sauce recipes. I said yes because our private Facebook group is filled with awesome #Saucewhor*s who REALLY want this book.

I knew I was busy.
I knew it was going to be a stretch.
But I said yes anyway.

About a week into the project I knew I had prematurely sauced.

Here’s what happened. The more I worked on the sauce book, the more it became like an onion, and the layers of potential kept unfolding. See, I was going to do a quick little ebook with 25 sauce recipes and call it good. The thing is, I have WAAAAAY more than 25 sauces that are deserving of being in a book. I also have a TON of recipes to slather these nommy sauces over.

I have oodles of helpful tips about creating your own sauces. I have recommendations on the best blenders to buy – and why. I have important information about tahini and the best way to store your nuts (not those type of nuts, you dirty girl). Point is, I realized that my sauce book and the people using my sauce book (because they will be users) deserve more time and focus than I amable to give it right now.

So I made the decision to put it on hold until I can make sweet love to it and have the outcome of the book match how I envision it. This might mean findingan agent and pitching it to publishers. This might mean hiring an additional person to help me with recipes and meal plans so that I have more time and focus to give to this project. This might mean hiring another person to help with our day to day business.

Right now, I’m not exactly sure what it means or how it will unfold. But just like everything else in my life, if it’s something I want, the first step is to imagine it and play with it in my brain. The second step is to KNOW that it’s possible. The third step is to let that sh*t go, wait for the universe to open doors, and let the manifesting begin (along with a sh*tload of work).

In the meantime (for all of you #Saucewhor* wannabes), our weekly meal plans have heavenly sauces in them Every. Single. Week. (both new sauces and classics that deserve repeating). So if you love sauces and dressings, jump on the plans for just $20 a month. You’ll get a new meal plan every Friday that includes a detailed grocery list, instructions for your batch cooking day, and how to throw everything together for easy and delicious dinners throughout the week (you’ll also have plenty of food for lunches throughout the week. Your body will thrive and your inner #Saucewhor* will be very happy.

If you know me at all, you know I’ll squeeze a lesson out of anything for you.

This week’s lesson…

say no more often

It’s freeing. It’s empowering. It’s self preserving. And oftentimes it opens doors to much better things that your whole mind, body and soul will SCREAM yes to.

Do you have a problem saying no? Talk to me in the comments below.

As a token of my appreciation for understanding my sauce book debacle, I present to you our famous Whole Food Plant BasedSmoky Gouda CheesySauce. This is the sauce that our meal planners have been raving about since it came out back in April. Enjoy it and know that the Dirty Sauce Book will happen… one day. And when it does, it will be beautiful and well worth the wait.

Whole Food Plant Based Smoky Gouda Cheesy Sauce

Ingredients

Instant Pot Ingredients

▢ ½ cup yellow onion diced (70g)
▢ 1 zucchini chopped (about 1 1/2 cups / 195g)
▢ ½ cup daikon chopped (75g)
▢ 1 small-ish head of cauliflower cut into chunks (about 4 cups / 335g)
▢ 2 garlic cloves peeled and left whole
▢ 1 ½ cups water 355ml
▢ ½ cup raw cashews soaked in water for at least 10 minutes (65g)
▢ ¼ cup nutritional yeast 20g
▢ ¾ teaspoon salt
▢ 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
▢ 2 tablespoons ume plum vinegar
▢ 1 teaspoon brown rice vinegar

Stove Top Ingredients

▢ ½ cup yellow onion diced (70g)
▢ 1 zucchini chopped (about 1 1/2 cups / 195g)
▢ ½ cup daikon chopped (75g)
▢ 1 small-ish head of cauliflower cut into chunks (about 4 cups / 335g)
▢ 2 garlic cloves peeled and left whole
▢ 1 ½ cups water divided (355ml)
▢ ½ cup raw cashews soaked in water for at least 10 minutes (65g)
▢ ¼ cup nutritional yeast 20g
▢ ¾ teaspoon salt
▢ 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
▢ 2 tablespoons ume plum vinegar
▢ 1 teaspoon brown rice vinegar

Instructions

Instant Pot Directions

Place all of the ingredients into your Instant Pot and lock the lid into place, making sure the nozzle is in the sealing position.
Use the manual setting and set the timer for 3 minutes. Use the natural release method when the timer is up.
When all of the pressure is out of the pot, take off the lid and allow to cool for about 10 - 15 minutes, and then transfer the mixture to your blender and blend until super creamy and smooth, about 2 full minutes. You may have to blend this in batches.

Stove Top Directions

Place the onion, zucchini, daikon, cauliflower and garlic into a medium-sized pot, cover with 1 cup of water (235ml) and simmer for 15 minutes over medium heat with the lid on.
After 15 minutes, allow to cool for about 15 minutes and then transfer everything from the pot (including the remaining liquid) to your blender.
Drain and discard the water from the cashews and add the cashews to the blender, along with the nutritional yeast, salt, smoked paprika, ume plum vinegar, brown rice vinegar, and the additional 1/2 cup of water (120ml).
Blend until the sauce is super creamy and smooth, about 2 full minutes.