Supermarket food v homemade

'Food is the most important of all things for the body; therefore it is the best medicine for all the body's ailments.' (Taittiriya Upanishad).

​It would be good to avoid ready-made food whenever you can. It might be there to 'make your life easier' but in reality it is there to make money. The ingredients often make the food look and appear appealing, but how do you know if they are good for you? Better to make your own food from scratch and know what you put into it. It doesn't have to take long.

Tomato sauce for pasta
Never buy a jar of tomato sauce for pasta. It is so easy to make:

• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 finely chopped small onion (or half normal onion)
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped into 4 pieces (so you can fish them out if desired)
• fresh basil (if you have it); a tiny spoon of pesto if you don't.
• splash of oil (olive oil best, but sunflower perfectly good).

Put splash of oil in saucepan over low heat. Add onion and fry until it begins to go soft and add the garlic (don't add too soon or it will burn and taste bitter). After a minute or two, chuck in the tinned tomato and basil leaves (or pesto), and maybe half the empty tomato tin full of water. Let it simmer (stirring now and again) for about 20 to 25 mins until it has reached the right sauce consistency. Yummy!. This is plenty for pasta for 5 or 6 people. So just use half for 2 or 3 people. Any leftover sauce can be used to top homemade pizza or ciabatta bread sliced lengthways.

Did I mention I have an Italian mother?