Food for thought: For a healthier and wealthier you

We spend hundreds of riyals on our weekly grocery bills, stuffing our food carts with fancy readymade sauces, salad dressings, dips and other processed food, most of which are expensive and contain preservatives.
These food additives can also end up causing different health ailments. Some of them are toxic and carcinogenic in nature and can impact our central nervous system, reproductive health, behavior and overall immune system.
If I tell you, you can whip up fancy meals without making a hole in your pocket and that are a lot healthier, will you believe me? You only have 700 words to read before you change your mind on that one.
Here are some quick home recipes of some usual store-bought products that can give a healthy and upmarket feel to your food:
1. As good as Prego: To make this Italian pasta sauce, begin by heating four tablespoons of olive oil over medium low heat. Throw in two minced garlic cloves. Stir and cook until golden brown. Add one finely chopped onion and cook until soft and golden, stirring frequently. Add seasonings (basil, parsley, black pepper, oregano, salt) and seven cups of fresh tomatoes. Slowly bring to a boil on medium to high heat. Let boil for 10 minutes, covered. Reduce to lowest heat. Cover and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. Yields 12 cups.
2. Maggi stock: This generally contains MSG, the killer food additive. Use homemade bone broth instead. Throw a bunch of your leftover chicken/mutton bones (carcass) in a big pot. Really no measuring required here. Add to it an onion, celery, garlic, and a couple of carrots. Season with salt, pepper, and herbs. Add enough water to cover the chicken by at least an inch or two. Bring pot to a simmer, cover, and cook for about an hour. Strain, use or freeze.
3. Enchilada sauce: Who doesn’t like Tex-Mex? To whip up a scrumptious enchilada sauce from scratch, heat butter/oil in a skillet. Sauté diced fresh onion and minced garlic cloves in the pan until light brown. Stir in flour and chilli powder and cook until lightly brown. Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, and salt into the flour until smooth. Continue cooking over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes, or until it thickens slightly.
4. Alfredo sauce: Craving for a bowl of comfort food? This rich and creamy sauce may be just what you are looking for to go with your pasta. Melt a fourth cup of butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Add a cup of cream and simmer for five minutes, then add a minced clove of garlic and one and a half cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese and whisk quickly, heating through. Stir in parsley and serve.
5. Coconut milk: Though readymade coconut milk powders are available in the market, nothing compares to the flavor of fresh homemade coconut milk. Blend a cup of fresh coconut flakes (Coconuts can be bought for SR 5 per kg) or grated coconut with two cups of water to a smooth running mixture. Then pass the mixture through a strainer and press with a spoon until all the milk is drained.
6. Chocolate sauce: You can make the best hot chocolate and chocolate cookies at home without having to bring home those packaged sugary chocolate syrups. Mix a half-cup of cocoa powder and a cup of water in a saucepan. Heat and stir to dissolve the cocoa. Add two cups of sugar, and stir to dissolve. Boil for three minutes over medium heat. Add a pinch of salt and a fourth teaspoon of vanilla. Let it cool, store in a glass jar and stash it away in the refrigerator.
7. Condensed milk: Combine 2/3rd cup granulated sugar and a cup dry milk powder in a pot on medium heat. Add a teaspoon of vanilla, three tablespoons of melted butter and a third of a cup of water. Blend for a few minutes on heat until thick. Store in the fridge and use as regular condensed milk. This recipe is extremely easier and cheaper than the store-bought varieties.
A study reported last month that as much as half of all the food produced in the world – equivalent to two billion tons – ends up as waste every year. The report, ‘Global Food; Waste Not, Want Not,’ further emphasizes the need to cautiously spend on food and fully use every available resource to derive its maximum benefit.

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