Make your own spaghetti sauce

aadmin — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 04:58:52 +0000

f you want to save a little money on pre-packaged spaghetti/pasta sauces, here is a good one to try. An extra benefit is that it won't have the preservatives or chemicals that a jarred spaghetti sauce would have. This is a recipe I created/modified from a lasagna recipe, which I also recommend.

This is meatless, but you can cook 1/2 lb to 1 lb of ground beef or ground turkey for a meat version, then add the following:

1 12-ounce can tomato paste
1-2 cloves garlic chopped (or 1/2 to 1 tsp garlic powder to save time)
2 cups water
1-1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sugar* (optional)

Mix all together, heat. Just like you would do with something jarred like Ragu or Prego, brown ground beef, drain, and mix with this sauce.

If your family is used to the premade-jarred sauces, they usually have sugar in them. That's why we must love them so much, eh? So you can put in a bit of sugar if you want, increase it or decrease it, based on what your family likes.

The consistency of this can be adjusted by the amount of water. If you find the sauce a little too thick for your liking, add water, or you can put a lid on the pot for 10-15 minutes. The condensation will make the sauce a little thinner. If you find the sauce too thin, then turn up the heat and leave top off to let the moisture evaporate from the sauce.

This costs about .80 cents or so to make. A jar of spaghetti sauce in the store will cost $1.50 on sale to over $3. It really is a no-brainer and takes very little time to make.

If you have them on hand, you can add chopped up green peppers or even carrots diced up very small. Just make sure you cook those al

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Health and Wellness

What are the most dangerous foods for seniors?

aadmin — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 04:58:51 +0000

Healthy eating is at the core of a well-balanced lifestyle, and the importance of eating well doesn’t become less important with advanced age; rather, it can become more central to one’s health.

And while healthy eating is an admirable goal, it is not always easy, especially when budget and food preparation abilities are taken into account.

But eating nutritious food is only half the battle; the other half is avoiding unhealthy food, and knowing the difference can be tricky.
Cindy Cordon, dietary team leader at the Los Angeles Jewish Home’s Grancell Village campus, told RetirementHomes.com there are a few major guidelines seniors can abide by which will help keep unhealthy foods away.

“Avoid processed foods, as well as packaged items,” Cordon said. “These foods typically are high in sodium, which improves shelf life, but they’re usually full of salt, MSG, and nitrates.”

According to Cordon, some of the most common prepared foods found in cafeterias include ravioli and canned spaghetti, but these foods, which are pre-heated, have already lost many of their enzymes and fiber.

Steve Barlam, chief professional officer of LivHOME, a home care agency with branches across the United States, told RetirementHomes.com his experience has showed him there is one common food, popular among seniors, which can be problematic for this age group: bagels and smoked salmon.

According to Barlam, smoked salmon contains two major health risks, particularly for seniors: salt/sodium, and germs.

“Salt can deplete valuable calcium, key to preventing osteoporosis, and aggravate health issues common among seniors such as hypertension, heart disease, kidney disorders, dehydration and swelling,” Barlam said.

He said smoked salmon, as a raw food, is more likely to house germs, and while many adults won’t be harmed by small presence of germs, seniors, with a more precarious immune system, should avoid raw and smoked foods as a result.

Gailla Deiters, a certified colon therapist based in Hawaii, added that cheese and red meats should not be regular components of seniors’ diets.

“We all love cheese. Yet cheese is a slow processor in the colon and can cause constipation,” Deiters said. “This is also true of red meat such as beef, pork and lamb,” she said.

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Make your own spaghetti sauce

What are the most dangerous foods for seniors?