Today, I share with you three easy-to-make alkalizing pasta sauces that are also delicious on potatoes, rice, vegetables, and other dishes. While pasta is acidifying and not a nutrient-rich food, the good news is that there are more varieties than ever to choose from, including gluten-free pastas and less acidifying versions such as quinoa and ancient grains pasta.
When I eat pasta, I make sure to combine it with alkalizing vegetables and sauces. But let’s face it, it’s easy to settle for the same tomato or cream-based sauces, the latter adding to the acidifying nature of pasta.
So it’s important to incorporate a variety of bone-smart, alkalizing sauces into your favorite pasta dishes. And that’s exactly what you’ll be able to do with today’s recipes, so let’s get started!
Take A Break From Traditional Pasta Sauces
A homemade tomato sauce is delicious and alkalizing, but variety is important in a bone-healthy diet. The same sauce all the time doesn’t provide the nutritional variation that is so important for building strong bones.
In addition, many traditional pasta sauces are rich in cream, butter, cheese, and milk. Not only is this bad news for the 60 percent of the population who are lactose intolerant, but dairy products are not a healthful source of calcium for your bones. In fact, milk and milk products have the opposite effect, contributing to an acidifying body environment that then draws calcium out of your bones to balance the pH.
So dairy-based pasta sauces are acidifying, and so is the pasta itself. But as you’ll see in a moment, creamy, non-dairy sauces are delicious and satisfying as well as alkalizing.
And finally, the third most common type of pasta sauce is rich in acidifying meat. Ground beef is often cooked into tomato-based sauces, and spaghetti with meatballs is traditional Italian fare. Like all healthful acidifying foods, meat is not forbidden on the Osteoporosis Reversal Program. But if you’re looking for ways to cut back on your meat consumption to keep your diet more pH-balanced, exploring ways to reduce your meat consumption and meat-based sauces is a good place to start.
What’s Wrong With Jarred Sauces?
Another reason to cook your own pasta sauces at home is to avoid the ones sold in jars. Many store-bought sauces are full of preservatives and other additives, and it may surprise you to learn that they often contain high amounts of sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup, plus they’re typically very high in sodium.
So if you want to enjoy a pH-balanced pasta dish, alkalize acidifying grains like rice, or add dairy-free creaminess to vegetable dishes, try these three delectable sauces you can make at home.
Velvety Sauce
Quantity: 1 ¾ cups
pH-Balanced
Ingredients:
- 1 cup lima beans, cooked
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk or your favorite milk substitute (adjust to desired consistency)
- 1/2 cup cashews, raw
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch turmeric, thyme, or rosemary, dried (optional)
Directions:
- Using a blender or food processor, blend together all ingredients until smooth.
- Transfer to a pot and heat at low temperature, stirring occasionally.
- Adjust seasonings to taste.
Creamy Sauce
Quantity: 1 ½ cups
pH Balanced
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon honey (optional)
- Pinch of dried ginger
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (adjust to taste)
Directions:
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl, using a spoon or a stand mixer on low speed.
- Adjust lemon juice to taste, and serve warm or cold.
“Cheesy” Sauce
Quantity: 2 cups
pH-Balanced
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cauliflower florets, raw
- 1/3 cup cashews, raw
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock (adjust to desired consistency)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Directions:
- In a medium pot, bring all ingredients to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Transfer contents of pot to a blender, and blend until smooth.
- Adjust seasonings to taste.
As you can see, bone-healthy cooking doesn’t need to be complicated. All of the above sauces have just a few ingredients, and their preparation couldn’t be simpler.
Bone-Smart Cooking Made Easy: The Spirit Of Bone Appétit
Through the years, many Savers have asked for a cookbook to accompany the Osteoporosis Reversal Program. They were searching for detailed guidance on how to prepare bone healthy meals. So I created the companion recipe book, Bone Appétit, which shows that bone-smart cooking can be simple and delicious.
If you haven’t checked out Bone Appétit yet, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see the rich variety of recipes that can be created with bone-smart foods, many of them Foundation Foods. The recipe ingredients have been chosen to supply your bones with the specific nutrients they need to rejuvenate and resist fracture, and to promote a more alkaline body environment that benefits your overall health as well.
Bone Healthy Meals Made Easy!
Discover over 200 mouth-watering bone healthy recipes for breakfast, smoothies, appetizers, soups, salads, vegetarian dishes, fish, and plenty of main courses and even desserts!
With Bone Appétit by your side, eating your way to bone health has never been more delightful and creative!
Till next time,
Comments on this article are closed.
-
-
Hi Vivian thanks for the tips am going to try make the pasta sauce. Regards
-
I’ve recently been reading about using unfiltered, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar to detox your body. Good for lowering bp, cholesterol, blood sugar.etc. I also read that if you have osteoporosis or arthritis, you should not eat or drink this. Any words of wisdom on the subject of using unfiltered, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar for cleansing the body?
-
Another way to alkalize pasta is to get a spiralizer and make your pasta out of veggies. They’re absolutely wonderful; just saute them in some coconut or olive oil. Sweet potatoes make the most amazing noodles and hold up well to hearty sauces, but I’ve made noodles out of zucchini, kohlrabi, turnips, rutabagas. If you toss the noodles in a food processor and pulse carefully, you get veggie rice!
-
I have had spinal compression fractures two times ( L-1&L2 $ L-4)…..(T-11 & T-12 5years apart. My osteo is rated high risk.at-5. I’m doing my best to avoid bisphosphonates but at 75 years of age I’m collecting a lot of fear. Is it too late to rely on a less acidifying diet?
-
Love your recipe if I was to do these all at once could I freeze them for later. Love making my own tomatoe sauce that way you don’t have to look at what’s in them just sit down and enjoy thanks.
-
Thanks, Vivian. I eat a lot of goat cheese and goat yogurt. Is that as acidifying as cow’s cheese and yogurt?
Thanks for all you do -
Appreciate your recipes. Your “Cheesy” one would taste a lot more “cheesy if you added nutritional yeast flakes. And just a very little lemon juice helps as well.
-
I’m lactose intolerant as well as having a gluten problem. Am looking forward to meal plans that I can tolerate. Help!
-
I’m lactose intolerant as well as having a gluten problem and have difficulty finding meal plans that I can tolerate. Help!
-
Thank you so much for these new sauce recipes. I just brought home a Jambalaya and pasta dish with a cream sauce. You’ve just given me an idea how to turn this into something more bone healthy immediately, and I will add bone healthy veggies, of course.
-
Dairy products are not so acidifying when properly produced, raw and grass fed. Also, the Calcium in the dairy should be balanced with proper Magnesium and vitmin K2.
I have a friend from France who cannot drink milk here, but can in France. -
Do you have any recipes using cornmeal.I used to have recipes but need to replace them. H
Dear Mrs. Goldschmidt.
So happy to know that I can find nutritious and healthy recipe books. I’ll be ever more enthousiastic if I could find them in French, that way I could make gifts to many of my friends who have ostheoporosis.
Thanks a lot.
Nicole