Heart - Healthy Cooking

LOVE AND BUTTER

Look at that baby's happy, chubby face!  It's incredible to me that this five month old, 21-pound bundle of love and butter has never eaten anything but his Mamma's milk.  Speaking of love and butter, last night I said to D.H. that I've finally, a month and a half past the New Year, decided what my New Year's Resolution will be: healthier cooking.



Here are things I've made for dinner that my family likes:

1. meatballs and potatoes,
2. meatloaf,
3. marinated steaks,
4. beef roast,
5. enchiladas,
6. tacos,
7. spaghetti, 
8. fish and potatoes,
9. stir fry and rice,
10. barbeque chicken,
11. Hawaiian haystacks,
12. fresh ravioli,
13. pasta primavera with shrimp and mushrooms,
14. broccoli beef and rice,
15. home-made sub sandwiches,
16. chicken pot pie,
17. pancakes with jam,
18. chili and cornbread,
19. yam curry with brown rice. 

Out of these 19 dishes, there are 8 that are meat-heavy.  Most could be recreated with less meat, with a mixture of meat and beans, or with no meat and only beans, or with zero meat.  I could make chicken pot pie without the chicken, just with broth and veggies.  I could make vegetarian tacos, spaghetti, stir fry, haystacks, ravioli, chili, curry, bbq.  I just don't think of it.

This late resolution is inspired by the fact that many of our friends and relatives have had heart attacks or near-heart attacks, high cholesterol reports, and other physical scares that are said to be diet-and-exercise-related. 

The responsibility of cooking better, for the bodies and lives of my family members (and me) scares me.  My family is so dear.  And food is one way we show love.  But are high-fat, high-sugar, low-nutrition treats a loving gift-- in the long run? 

An occasional "bulla" or brownie is okay, but too much of our family's diet has too much fat, too much meat, and too much sugar.  I need to educate myself and begin to use more vegetables and more whole grains than I do.

I am thinking about what we eat here.  On the good side, we usually have a spinach salad, at almost every dinner.  On the bad side, we usually have dessert, at almost every dinner.  We also have nutrition-free snacks in the house, like crackers, candy, ice cream, etc., which we eat more often than we eat the apples and grapefruits we keep in the fridge.  How to refocus?  I think it will take a little creativity and some work.

My friend, J.H., said she dramatically dropped cholesterol points a year after she dramatically dropped meat out of her family's dinners (except for her husband's).  She read a book called the China Diet that convinced her to do it.  She says now she uses veggies and grains and eggs like crazy, and rations one pound of ground beef per two meals for her seven-person family.

She and another friend of hers started a healthy cooking club recently.  I was invited to my first one, coincidentally, today.  It was inspiring!  We learned how to make homemade yogurt and healthy quiche, berry breakfast bake, oat-wheat pancakes, and more.  When I try out the recipes that I got there, on the family, I will post them here.  I also just checked out the recipes at the Mayo Clinic's website and bought ingredients to try their heart-healthy dishes.  I will report whether they are yummy, and whether my family likes them.

I do have a lot of meat in my freezer right now, because I live in the friendliest town on earth.  (When I moved here three years ago, I was stunned at the friendliness!  People just come, bearing gifts, as if it's Christmas most of the year.  One neighbor brings us Alaskan salmon, fresh from Alaska, and rainbow trout, fresh from the local lakes, from his fishing expeditions.  Another neighbor often shovels others' snow, secretly.  Another one brings zucchini bread.)

Well, one of my neighbor friends came over the other day with at least thirty pounds of extra lean, grass-fed, home grown beef, frozen ground beef, and wouldn't accept a penny for it.  She'd just gotten a whole cow and didn't have room in the freezer.  This is lean, good meat, and I mean to make it last until summer with my new, less-meat resolution.