TIDBITS FROM THE COOKING CARDIOLOGIST

Following are some tidbits I got from the cooking cardiologist, Dr. Richard Collins, over the years.

• When steaming vegetables, use distilled water. "You will be surprised how avoiding chlorine improves the taste of vegetables.
• Use earthen bakeware with lids and just a trace of oil for roasting vegetables.
• Sauté onions and/or mushrooms in small amounts of frozen apple juice to caramelize.
• "Take fat-free cheese and put it in a saucer. Pour fat-free skim milk over the cheese. Let it sit for 30 seconds so it will hydrate. Then you put the cheese on any dish you want, and it will melt all over the place when you to cook it."

earthenware 

YAY FOR FRIED FOODS

Hallelujah! Just what we have been looking for, a study that says go ahead and eat fried foods! But before you get too excited finish reading this post. A fairly large Spanish study a few years ago found that eating fried foods posed no heart risk so long as the foods were fried in a mono- and poly-unsaturated healthy fat. This study was conducted on 40,757 adults ages 29 to 69 and was published in the British Medical Journal. The key here is to use the proper fat for frying! I can personally vouch for this fact. I love fried foods and for many years I had extremely high cholesterol and suffered a heart attack. I have inherited some cholesterol and heart problems but even so after changing my diet to only using olive, canola, or coconut oil for frying my cholesterol has been in the normal range for several years now. I do take a cholesterol medication but had taken the same meds back when it was extremely high, too. So relax, buy the proper oils and enjoy some fried foods from time to time! In fact, heart-healthy omega-3 fats are essential to a healthy diet.

TIPS FOR COOKING WITH WHOLE GRAINS

A lot of people are starting to add more whole grains to their diets but are somewhat intimidated about how to cook them. All of the whole grains have their own cooking times, etc but here are a couple of tips to remember when cooking whole grains:

• Cook in a large, heavy-bottom pan to avoid scorching and runover.
• Cooking time starts when the liquid starts to boil again after you have add the grains. Don't panic if you need to add more water or cooking time. The older the grains the longer they may take to cook.
• Grains may be cooked in either water or broth.
• Unless you are under doctors orders not to eat salt, don't forget to salt the grains. Salt helps to bring out the flavor of grains.
• Using grains in a salad? Add dressing while grains are still warm.
• Resist the urge to stir grains once they have been cooked. Fluff using a fork.
• If you purchase grains in bulk, keep the unused grains in the refrigerator or freezer.

MAKE SIMPLE HEALTHY CHANGES WITH SLOW COOKER COOKING

This is a message I received from an email a few years ago. I thought it was very interesting and simple to do. I am going to try it, why don't you try it, too?

This is called a 'Slow-Cooker Switcheroo'.

Halve the amount of starch (potatoes, pasta, rice, etc), double the veggies, use the amount of protein called for in the recipe to make healthier meals.

Brian Wansank, Ph.D. did a study some time ago trying to teach people to use slow-cookers to produce healthy meals. They asked participants to cook a recipe in a slow-cooker and report back as to how it tasted. The next week, they asked the same people to prepare the same recipe with the same amount of meat but to double the vegetables and to half the starch (see above). When the participants came back and were questioned the next week they reported they didn't notice any difference in taste.

Bottom line, you can halve the starch, double the vegetables and not notice a difference in taste but your meal with be healthier. So if you are tired of grilled chicken and steamed veggies, get out the slow-cooker and change your recipe around a little.

file photo

OATS AS A THICKENER

 Most cooks know that sometimes your soups, gravies, stews, etc do not turn out as thick as they would like. Oats to the rescue. Not only are oats healthy, but they are also great for thickening without changing the flavor. Grind up 1 cup of dry oats and stir into the food that needs thickening, 1 spoonful at a time until you reach the desired consistency. The food is thickened, the taste doesn't change, and you are adding a healthy product to the meal.

file photo raw oats

AN EASY SUBSTITUTION FOR HEAVY CREAM

If you are addicted to heavy creams and sauces, there is hope for you.  You can substitute nonfat evaporated milk for the cream called for in recipes!  Your recipe will look the same and taste so similar you won't even miss the heavy cream.  The swap will be a big improvement to your health.

Note: Not an endorsement of this brand.  Any brand will work.

REDUCING SALT IN CANNED BEANS

When using canned beans in recipes, you can usually reduce the salt amount by around 40% by rinsing and draining the beans before adding them to the recipe.

COOKING WITH THE KIDS

Update: This is an old post from 2012. The granddaughter pictured here is now 18. For years she baked for approximately 250 homeless persons in Ft Worth once a month. She is now a high school senior and holds down a job, so she no longer does that baking. She does, however, still go to Ft Worth to serve meals to the homeless one Sunday a month.

One of the best things you can do for your children and grandchildren is to teach them from an early age to eat healthy.  If they start eating healthy when they are young, they will continue to do so.  And I am not talking about refusing them a McDonald's happy meal on occasion or not allowing cookies in the house.  Teaching healthy eating habits and deprivation are two different things!  One of the great ways to teach healthy eating is to let the little ones help you prepare healthy foods.  Kids love to eat what they make!  They can help you make healthy muffins, healthy cookies, etc.  They will become so attached to the healthy versions they make that the packaged processed products in the stores won't interest them.  Below is a picture of my granddaughter in the kitchen making some healthy muffins using fresh pears, whole-grain flour, flaxseed, a little canola oil, and other healthy ingredients.  They have become her favorite muffins/cakes.  So please, don't ban the little ones from the kitchen.  Include them and make healthy choices with them.  The reward will be worth it.

You can find this pear pecan mini cake recipe on my diabeticenjoyingfood blog.