Food Friday on Thursday- dairy free soy free cheese sauce

OK. I've been meaning to write this out for some time now. But first I had to make some and measure. I don't measure. Ever. I dump and stir and add and taste until things look and taste... right. So this took FAR too much time. But it's done now.

Ingredients (and this is what I used, but is by no means set in stone)
4 Tablespoons oil
8 Tablespoon flour
4 1/2 cups rice milk (almond would probably taste pretty good, but we can't use that)
1 teaspoon garlic powder (more wouldn't hurt)
1/2 teaspoon pepper (also- more would be fine)
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (I tried to use less- it tasted really bad until I got up to 1/2 teaspoon. More would be fine, too, just not less)
3/4 bag of daiya "cheese". Pepper jack is really yummy in it, cheddar is what I normally use because it's more readily available, mozzarella I've tried but the result was a bit bland.

Heat oil in large pot over med to med/ high heat. Add flour and whisk or stir. Whisking makes it smoother more easily. Add rice milk 1/2 cup at a time whisking/ stirring well in between each addition and adding the next when it gets thick. Once you've added all the milk reduce heat to a low simmer. Add in seasonings. If it's getting too thick add some more rice milk. Once you have it the right texture and the right taste (should be tasty before the addition of the "cheese") add about 3/4 of a bag of Daiya and remove from heat. Stir until cheese is melted and well blended. I let sit in the pot until cooler (or in the fridge) and then I pour into ice cube trays.

This is enough to fill 2 full ice cube trays. Once frozen I pop 'em out and store in a ziplock bag i the freezer. This is AMAZING to have on hand for quick lunches or something. I just make some noodles for Bravo, melt 2 cubes of this in the microwave and add the noddles to the bowl and stir. Also good to use over veggies, it may just need to be thinned out a bit more. This makes good sauce for a baked pasta dish as well. I make the giant pot of it so I only have to make it every so often and I have it ready to use when needed. If I didn't know this didn't taste like cheese (like if I had been dairy free for a while, or like Bravo, for always,) then it would get the cheese sauce job done.

I was so excited when Bravo outgrew his pea allergy because it meant I could use daiya cheese. Wonderful. And superstore even sells it, so it doesn't mean an extra trip to the too expensive store health food store.

Voila.
Tomorrow: diary free cream of mushroom sauce- amazing for meatballs!