Pasta with sauce is one of the many foods Americans and food lovers all over the world enjoy. A new study published by USA Today on March 9 shows that Type 2 diabetes in on the rise not only in the United States, but in 175 other countries worldwide. Now more than ever Americans need to be able to prepare delicious, inexpensive and healthy meals.
How do you get the best bang for your food dollar when you and your family are making dietary lifestyle changes to reverse or prevent Type 2 diabetes? Many moms mistakenly believe that eating healthy means more money spent on groceries. If you make your food from scratch instead of buying processed food items, you will find over time that you are saving money.
One of the easiest and least expensive swaps you can make is serving whole wheat pasta instead of white spaghetti. Whole wheat pasta falls into the category of nutrient dense complex carbohydrates that will make you feel full longer. If you look closely, most discount stores or generic brands of whole wheat pasta are approximately the same price as regular spaghetti, or just a few pennies more.
A serving of whole wheat pasta is the same as regular spaghetti at ¼ cup per person. When you eat regular spaghetti you will generally eat more because it does not fill you up. When substituting whole wheat pasta ¼ cup will make you feel full faster, costing less than or equal to the serving of regular pasta you would needed to eat to feel as full.
Another swap you can make is homemade pasta sauce for jarred or canned commercial spaghetti sauce, which is usually loaded with salt and sugar. Avoid unnecessary consuming and paying for salt and sugar by making homemade spaghetti sauce. Even though low salt or no salt tomatoes may cost you a little more, you are paying for tomatoes, not salt and sugar, or even other unhealthy ingredients.
A simple pasta sauce is easy to make and if preferred, can be made in large batches and frozen or canned. If you prefer a smoother pasta sauce, use tomato sauce instead of crushed tomatoes. The crushed tomatoes add a nice texture to the pasta sauce. If desired, you can make homemade vegetable broth in your crock pot and leave out the salt or use it sparingly. When you make homemade vegetable broth it will cost you almost nothing because you make the vegetable broth from scraps.This pasta sauce recipe will make enough for eight ½-cup servings.
- Click here for the vegetable broth made from scratch in the crock pot recipe
- Click here for more information about good carbs and bad carbs
Pasta sauce low-carb, lower sodium recipe
Ingredients for diabetic-friendly spaghetti sauce
- 1 large can (28-ounces) low salt or no salt crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup reduced sodium vegetable broth
- ½ cup water
- 1 to 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced or 2 to 3 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon fresh oregano, finely chopped or 1 teaspoon dried, crushed oregano
- 1 Tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped or 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 Tablespoons fresh Italian flat leaf parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon granulated sugar or agave nectar or turbinado sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 to 3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese or nutritional yeast
How to make pasta sauce from scratch:
- In a 3 to 4-quart pot, add vegetable broth and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sauté until garlic softens, about 3 minutes.
- Add water, canned tomatoes, herbs, sugar and salt to pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Reduce to low, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add grated cheese to spaghetti sauce, stirring to incorporate.
- Cover and simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat and let stand, covered, for about 5 to 7 minutes before serving over whole wheat pasta.
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