Fat-Free Creamy Pasta Sauce

Asher had open heart surgery in early march and ended up with a complication called chylothorax which requires a fat-free diet for six weeks until it is healed. it can be very difficult to cook for this condition, since there is no cheese, dairy (other than skim milk), almost no meat, no oil,... you know, anything "good." but our family loves creamy pasta sauces, so i did what i had to do, and here's the recipe i came up with.

250 ml fat-free Philadelphia cream cheese
frozen spinach
sundried tomatoes
mushrooms
skim milk (optional)

in a frying pan and using water (oil or butter if there is no fat restrictions), saute the mushrooms lightly. throw in the frozen spinach now, as it will require time to thaw and cook. meanwhile, blanch a handful of sundried tomatoes. once they are ready, include in the pan with the mushrooms and spinach.

add the cream cheese to the veggies. the cream cheese will soften and turn creamy and sauce-like. if you need to stretch the sauce, or if it is too thick for your liking, add some milk until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.

pour over cooked pasta and enjoy.

REVIEW: my kids (and i) love this sauce, and i will continue to make it now that we're done with the special diet... only with regular cream cheese and 2% milk. it is definitely a family favourite around here!