The Best 3 Sauces for Quick and Nutritious Home-Cooked Meals: A Game-Changer for Menopause Nutrition
When life gets busy, it's all too easy to reach for convenience foods. But what if you could whip up a nutritious, home-cooked meal in minutes without sacrificing quality or flavor? The key to making this happen lies in the art of batch cooking—specifically, by preparing versatile sauces that can form the backbone of countless dishes. If you’re navigating menopause, prioritizing nutrition is more important than ever. With just a bit of prep work, these three essential sauces will become your best kitchen allies, helping you manage your diet with ease and efficiency.
Why Sauces are the Secret to Success in the Kitchen
During menopause, maintaining balanced nutrition can be a challenge, especially when fatigue, mood swings, and busy schedules come into play. This is where having a few go-to sauces can make a world of difference. Sauces aren't just about adding flavor—they're about building a meal's foundation. When you have a batch of homemade sauce in the freezer, you’re never more than a few minutes away from a healthy, satisfying meal. This approach not only saves time but also ensures you’re eating wholesome, nutrient-dense foods rather than relying on processed, ready-made options that often lack the nutrients your body needs.
Batch cooking these sauces and freezing them in single portions can transform your approach to meal preparation. Imagine coming home after a long day, too tired to cook from scratch, but instead of reaching for a takeaway menu, you defrost a homemade sauce and pair it with some pasta, grains, or roasted vegetables. Within minutes, you’ve got a delicious, balanced meal that’s both comforting and nourishing.
1. Tomato Sauce: A Nutrient-Packed Powerhouse
Tomato sauce is a kitchen staple, and for good reason. It’s incredibly versatile, pairs well with a wide range of dishes, and is packed with nutrients that are especially beneficial during menopause. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that has been linked to a reduced risk of certain cancers, including breast cancer. They’re also a good source of vitamins A and C, which are essential for skin health and immune function, both of which can be affected by hormonal changes.
This sauce can be used as a base for pasta, a topping for grilled vegetables, or even as a pizza sauce. It’s a simple way to boost your intake of vital nutrients with minimal effort.
2. Béchamel Sauce: The Comforting Classic
Béchamel sauce, or white sauce, is one of the five "mother sauces" of French cuisine and is incredibly versatile. While it’s often associated with comfort food, it can also be made lighter and more nutrient-rich with a few tweaks. Traditionally made with butter, flour, and milk, you can substitute part of the milk with a plant-based alternative like almond or soy milk to add a different nutritional profile. Fortified plant-based milks can provide additional calcium and vitamin D, which are crucial during menopause for bone health.
Béchamel can be used as a base for creamy pasta dishes, lasagna, or even as a topping for baked vegetables. By keeping a batch in the freezer, you can quickly elevate a simple dish into something more satisfying, all while ensuring you're getting those necessary nutrients.
3. Velouté Sauce: The Elegant All-Rounder
Velouté sauce might sound fancy, but it’s actually quite simple to make. This sauce is typically made with a light stock (like chicken or vegetable), butter, and flour. The result is a silky, savory sauce that can be the base for countless dishes, from casseroles to pot pies to creamy soups.
What makes velouté particularly beneficial for menopause nutrition is its ability to carry other nutrient-dense ingredients. For instance, you can mix in some pureed vegetables, lean proteins like chicken or tofu, or even some nutrient-boosting grains like quinoa. This sauce is an excellent way to add flavor and texture to a meal while ensuring that it’s packed with the nutrients your body needs during menopause.
Bringing It All Together: Meal Ideas and Tips
With these three sauces in your arsenal, the possibilities for quick, nutritious meals are endless. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Tomato Sauce: Toss with whole-grain pasta, roasted veggies, and a sprinkle of Parmesan for a quick dinner. Or use it as a base for shakshuka, a Middle Eastern dish of poached eggs in a spicy tomato sauce.
Béchamel Sauce: Layer it in a vegetable lasagna, or mix it with steamed broccoli and cauliflower before baking for a creamy, comforting side dish.
Velouté Sauce: Pour over cooked chicken and bake for a simple pot pie, or use it as the base for a creamy mushroom soup.
Batch cooking these sauces isn’t just about saving time; it’s about taking control of your nutrition during a time when your body needs it most. By having these sauces on hand, you’re making it easier to choose healthy, home-cooked meals over processed alternatives, all while enjoying a variety of flavors and textures that make eating well a pleasure, not a chore.
Conclusion: Empowering Your Menopause Journey Through Nutrition
Navigating menopause can be challenging, but with a bit of planning and preparation, you can ensure that your nutrition supports your overall well-being. By focusing on simple strategies like batch cooking and having versatile sauces on hand, you’re setting yourself up for success. These sauces not only save time but also help you maintain a balanced diet, rich in the nutrients your body needs. So, roll up your sleeves, get cooking, and take the first step towards a healthier, happier you!
Tomato sauce
Ingredients
900g very ripe tomatoes OR 2 tins peeled plumb tomatoes (whole NOT chopped)
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
Options
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Method
If using fresh, ripe tomatoes we first need to remove the skin. Place tomatoes in a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave for 1 minute then drain off the hot water (otherwise they will start to cook). Now peel the tomatoes and chop them.
If using tinned plum tomatoes just open the tins. Use whole tomatoes, the chopped ones are too watery.
Finely chop the onion.
Finely chop the garlic
Heat the olive oil on a medium heat in a saucepan
Add the onions and garlic
Turn the heat low and cook until the onions are soft and translucent. This makes the base of our flavour so don’t rush.
Add the chopped tomatoes
Bring the sauce to the boil for 30 minutes so that the flavour develops and the sauce has time to reduce to a thick, sauce like consistency.
If you don’t like bits in your sauce you can press it through a sieve to make it smooth and velvety. But remember for our bowel health the fibre and the seeds are what our body needs.
Add some variety to your sauce.
To make a spicy tomato sauce stir a teaspoon of chilli powder to the onion and garlic mix when it is cooked and let the spice cook out for 1 minute before adding the tomatoes. Remember chilli can trigger hot flushes so if this affects you try some of my other variations.
You can also add fresh basil just before you serve your sauce. Don’t add it too early as the heat destroys the light flavour.
Or try adding some dried oregano, add whilst the sauce is cooking as the dried herb needs time to rehydrate and release its flavour.
2 Bechamel (white) sauce
Ingredients
40g butter
40g plain flour
500ml milk
Salt
Pepper
Mace, about ¼ teaspoon ground mace.
½ onion- whole but peeled and root trimmed
1 bay leaf
Variations to add at the end.
Mornay sauce add 75g cheese and a pinch of mustard powder.
Parsley sauce add 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard and 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Method
First we need to infuse the milk. Put the milk in a saucepan with the onion, bayleaf and mace and heath until it simmers.
Remove from the heat and leave for about 30 min.
Remove the onion and bayleaf.
Pour milk into a jug.
In a saucepan melt the butter and when it is hot and bubbling add the flour, stir to mix into a paste and keep stirring on a low heat for 2 minutes to cook out the flour.
Now gradually add the warm milk from the jug.
Keep stirring between each addition to keep the mix smooth.
If it goes lumpy use a whisk or blitz with a hand blender.
When all the milk is added keep heating and stirring until the sauce is thick and smooth.
Season to taste or add variations for mornay sauce or parsley sauce.
3, Velouté sauce
20g plain flour
20g butter
400ml stock (beef for meat dishes, vegetable for fish dishes, chicken for poultry dishes)
Salt and pepper to season
2 tablespoons double cream
Method
In a jug make 400ml stock with the best stock cubes you can find. I like the gel ones
In a saucepan melt the butter until bubbling
Add the flour and stir for 2 minutes on a low heat to make a smooth paste
Add the stock gradually whilst stirring to keep the paste smooth (or use a whisk to get the lumps out)
Add the double cream
To make it extra tasty add a splash of white wine (left over prosecco/champagne, rare I know!) to the vegetable velouté or a splash of Maderia/sherry to the chicken stock.
Add tarragon or spinach for a velouté to go with fish
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