Focusing on cholesterol awareness
This month we've covered what you need to know and healthy food choices. I've shared lots of great information to help you really understand the importance of cholesterol and how changing your diet can help with heart health. Now for the best part, delicious recipes!!
After all, let's be honest, it's great to know about what to do to make healthy changes, but sometimes it can be just a little challenging to know what to do with that information. I'm taking the guesswork out of figuring it out by giving you this great roundup of recipes. I start with a few tasty recipe cards below followed by delicious shares from some of my friends to help you add new recipes for your heart-healthy diet.
Heart-healthy recipes
Garlic
This first one was submitted by Sam, a newsletter subscriber who sent it in along with a delightful story:
- 1 head of garlic, peeled and smashed
- 32 ounces organic chicken broth
- 32 ounces water
- 1 handful each of three of these herbs (fresh): Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Marjoram
- Put in a large pot, bring to a boil
- Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes or till the garlic is soft
- Remove garlic and herbs
- At this point you can freeze or eat
- To eat, put back into pot on LOW heat
- Add 1 small container of organic cream
- Season with a dash of white pepper
- Serve over homemade croutons and Gruyere cheese grated on top
And now for the story:
My sister's knitting group meets at the library. Last year the group had a drop-in. We were talking about fall soups. She said she once made a garlic soup but lost the recipe. I gave her this one.
Yes, she was THE Peggy! We laughed at how far her soup had traveled before she got it back.
Oat Bran
Another great recipe is oat bran muffins. Now before you run for the hills I promise, these are delicious. It is important to note that if you're not used to a lot of fiber you will need to start with ½ of a muffin and bumping up by ½ of a muffin every 3-5 days in order to allow the body time to re-regulate when adding this much fiber.
- 2 cups oat bran, uncooked
- ¼ cup fresh ground flax seed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup organic whole milk
- 2 egg whites, slightly beaten
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 mashed banana
- Preheat oven to 425 F
- Line muffin tins or grease bottoms only
- Combine dry ingredients, mix well
- Combine wet ingredients
- Add wet to dry and mix until combined
- Fill muffin tins 3⁄4 full and bake 15-17 minutes
- Pre-ground flaxseed meal is often de-germed for shelf stability. Flax seeds can be purchased inexpensively and ground into meal at home. This way you get all of the beneficial parts of the seed. Use a clean coffee grinder, pulse them for one minute and then use.
Broccoli Avocado Bowl
This delicious dish is from my friend Shawn Borup. It is one packed with heart-healthy ingredients including leafy greens, avocado, beans, and seeds, so yummy!
- 1 Tbsp. miso
- 1 Tbsp. unfiltered apple cider or coconut vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. organic tamari or coconut aminos
- 1/2 organic lime, juiced
- ¼ cup organic Greek yogurt
- 2 cups organic broccoli, chopped
- 3 Tbsp. organic pumpkin seeds
- 3 Tbsp. organic sesame seeds
- 2 cups organic leafy greens, packed
- 1 ripe avocado, sliced
- 1 ½ cups cooked white beans (soaked overnight and preferably sprouted) or 1 can, No BPA
- Mix all your dressing ingredients together in a bowl. Steam the broccoli until crisp-tender, about 8 minutes. Set aside. Toast the pumpkin and sesame seeds in a pan over medium heat until lightly golden. Chop the greens and put into a serving bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and fold in the sauce. Serve over organic quinoa or brown rice if desired. Top with sauerkraut and cayenne pepper to taste.
Recipe Roundup
I reached out to a number of friends and I'm delighted to share all of these amazingly delicious recipes with you.
The goal was to create a list of fabulous new recipes for you that include healthy fats plus use ingredients like garlic, onions, high fiber, fish, olive oil, and are low sugar, no crappy ingredients. This roundup covers a wide range of ideas from dressing to dessert. Be sure to bookmark this page so you can stay up to date as it continues to grow.
- Avocado Cashew Caesar Salad Dressing from Hillary Bennett
- Baked Avocado Egg by Maya Krampf at Wholesome Yum
- Carnival Quinoa by Anisha Anand from Heartful Earth Cuisine
- Cauliflower Fried Rice by Tayo Oredola over at Low Carb Africa
- Spicy Cabbage Rice also by Tayo
- Chicken and Spinach – Grain-free Ravioli from Dr. Cheryl Winter
- Creamy Seafood Chowder by Rheagan Jones from Florentissima
- Easy Honey Garlic Broiled Salmon by Kristin Memun at Slender Kitchen
- Easy Indian Lentil Curry from Adrienne Urban over at Whole New Mom
- Egg Roll in a Bowl also by Adrienne
- Moroccan Carrots also by Adrienne
- Heart Healthy Fudge by Heather Carpentier from Chronicles in Health
- Lemon Pepper Salmon Turmeric Cakes also by Heather
- Asian Meatballs with Sauteed Cabbage also by Heather
- Some great Lunchbox Ideas from Sarica Cernohaus at Naturally Living Today
- Spicy Fish Seasoning from Katie Kimball at Kitchen Stewardship
- Paleo Salmon Chowder by Lisa MarcAurele at Low Carb Yum
- Turkey Apple Onion Hash by Megan Stevens at Eat Beautiful
For more information about healthy food choices don't forget to check out my book, The Pantry Principle: how to read the label and understand what's really in your food. This is your information resource about the ingredients in your food that are not a good choice for health and how you can take back control of your pantry.