Sunday, March 17, 2024
Oat Flour Pumpkin Mini Muffins
Friday, March 1, 2024
Beyond the Table: Planning the Menu
Achieving a healthy, affordable diet begins and ends with the meal plan. It's usually planned before a week begins then renewed before the week ends.
My plan starts two days ahead, when I inventory the freezer.
I start planning a meal around the protein food, varying the selection with this outline:
- Beef
- Poultry
- Seafood
- Other
- Eggs
- Vegetarian
What haven’t we had for a while? Plan for it!
What are we tired of? Keep it frozen!
Next decide on a recipe. For ground beef, the choices may include meatloaf, stuffed peppers, tacos, chili or lasagna. Pick from family favorites or try something new. Look for inspiration in seasonal magazines, cookbooks and online.
There are 3 items I plan into my weekly menu:
- Beans
- Grain
- Flour
Before I match the day with the recipe, I list appointments and activities for each date. On days we’re gone much of the day, I might choose a slow cooker meal, a dinner with eggs or a thawed previously frozen leftover.
Space the entrees so that seafood on Sunday isn’t adjacent to seafood on Monday.
Plan sides to utilize seasonal produce and a large variety of plant foods. (grains, vegetables, fruit)
Gather recipes.
Write the grocery list.
Once or twice a week, cook an entree in quantity and freeze half for later.
Here’s a snapshot of a week of planned menus. Written and planned in a lined notebook where I write many notes and plans for other things in my life. The book is not a keepsake nor a journal- but an organizational tool kept by my side.
Friday, February 23, 2024
Grain Berries, More Plants and Protein
The main dish salad is a complete and satisfying meal designed to introduce Life Long Learners to new whole grains. This one has Kamut wheat, rye and sorghum, each cooked in water in a slow cooker till the texture is the desired chewiness. (Taste it!) Each grain cooked in about 4 hours.
Here are recipes for the grain salads:
Kamut Carrot and Raisin Salad
(2 cups)
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Assembling a Tortilla Casserole with Life Long Learners
I prepared the vegetables, beans and chicken prior to the class. In class, the students greased their baking dish, then layered tortilla pieces with the vegetable/protein mix and cheese to take home and bake for dinner.
The nutritional emphasis of my class was foremost protein, followed by fiber and diversifying plant foods.
My preparations for 16 student meal prep:
Purchased 4 pound each of raw chicken breast and thighs (boneless, skinless). Shredded cooked chicken to equal 4 pound total.
Cooked 3 pound dry weight black beans.
Diced 5 cups green pepper and 2 cups onion and sauteed in 1/2 cup olive oil.
For seasonings I mixed 1/4 cup cumin, 2 1/2 Tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon oregano and 2 teaspoon salt.
I purchased 9 cans petite diced tomatoes without added salt and 6 cans crushed tomatoes without added salt. Added 3-12 ounce bags of frozen corn.
3 pounds of aged cheddar was purchased and shredded. I planned to use 96 corn tortillas.
I brought disposable gloves (40), 2 cans of olive oil spray, aluminum foil, 2 long handled 1/2 cup scoops, 2 -1/3 cup measuring cups, 4 cutting boards and 4 serrated knifes and 2 tablecloths with runners.
The
door prize today was a food thermometer, emphasizing the need to bake
the dish to an internal temperature of 165 F. The ticket for the drawing
required each to student to count the total plant foods (grain,
vegetable, fruit and nuts) eaten yesterday. Total numbers averaged 5-6,
including lots of folks who ate nuts. Whole grains included quinoa,
oatmeal and rice, though only 1 person specified brown rice.
Here is the recipe for 8:
Chicken Tortilla Casserole
(Serves 8)
Cook meat and beans.
6 ounce cooked chicken
1 ¼ cups cooked dried beans
Sauté peppers and onions in olive oil.
1 tablespoon olive oil
2/3 cup sweet peppers, diced
¼ cup onion, diced
Add
spices. Cook 1-2 minutes.
2 teaspoon cumin
1 1/3 teaspoon chili powder
Dash oregano
¼ teaspoon salt
Add
tomatoes, corn and cooked chicken and beans to pot.
1 ½ cup canned diced tomatoes, no
added salt
1 cup crushed tomatoes, no added
salt
1 cup corn
6 ounces cooked shredded chicken
1 ¼ cup cooked and drained beans
Heat over medium heat and simmer
10-15 minutes to allow spices to develop.
Grease pans with olive oil spray.
Cut each tortilla into quarters. Arrange tortillas in bottom of baking dish. Add protein-tomato mix. Top with cheese. Repeat. Cover with foil. Bake at 325 F. 30-40 minutes. (Till internal temperature reaches 165 F). Remove foil the last 15 minutes.
12 Corn Tortillas
1 ½ cup Shredded Cheese
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Protein, Fiber, Fluids +30
The phrase “plant based” is all over packages, commercials and advertisements. Plant foods offer fiber, vitamins and micro-nutrients. But do plants afford the protein needs of older adults? The answer is concerning. Though calorie needs for older adults decrease, protein needs increase. Senior meals inclusive of animal proteins (lean meats and dairy) surely are nutritious and tasty.
It’s plant foods however that contain fiber-another concern for older adults. Also water as fiber depends on fluids to be effective.
The 30+ challenge proceeds with prebiotic fibers and a healthy digestive system the focus. Eating many different plant foods in the diet pattern adds prebiotic fibers and polyphenol nutrients supporting a healthy gut. The real challenge here is different plant foods. While “plants” include grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, a specific plant food eaten daily only counts as one. Diversifying foods and trying different varieties is good for a healthy gut as well as the environment.
Now for a recipe that meets the bill. This Beef Barley Soup starts with the protein. A recipe for 4 has 2-4 ounce (raw weight) petite sirloin fillets. In a crock pot turned to "high", the steaks tenderize so that the meat shreds easily with a fork or spoon. There's barley, not pearled, cooked in a counter top pressure cooker and peas for fiber. The cooking broth, along with a drink at meal time is fluid. Count up the plant foods-barley, peas, onions, carrots, celery and spinach totals 6 (add rye in the crackers) and we're well on the way to the 30+ challenge.
Beef Barley Soup
(Serves 4)
Place beef in slow cooker greased with olive oil spray. Season with salt and pepper.
Turn slow cooker to high.
2-4 ounce petite sirloin fillets
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Saute onions, celery, garlic and carrots in olive oil.
1/4 cup onions, diced
1/3 cup celery stalks and leaves, diced
1/2 cup carrots (multi-colored), peeled and diced
2 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Add wine. Cook until nearly evaporated.
1/4 cup wine
Pour vegetables over meat in slow cooker.
Cook barley and broth in a counter top pressure cooker for 20 minutes.
Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Release pressure. Pour into slow cooker.
1/4 cup barley
1 cup chicken broth
Add fish sauce.
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 hour before serving, add peas and spinach. Sprinkle with thyme.
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup cut fresh spinach
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Salads Embrace Novel Grains
Cooked whole grains offer unique tastes and textures to salads. Some restaurant salads include pasta, corn, quinoa or rice. This salad features rye, Kamut and sorghum whole grains.
The layered salad in a jar is what’s on the menu for Whole Grains Sampling Day- this one in a class for Life Long Learners on the last Wednesday of March. The objective of the annual event is to try a new whole grain. Most people who try a new whole grain will like it. Diversifying whole grains is good for the health of the microbiome and good for the environment.
Here are the layers starting from the bottom up:
Dressing (1 Tablespoon each lemon juice and olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic and dash of salt)
Chopped radishes
Rye berry and red cabbage salad with caraway seed, Dijon mustard, cider vinegar and apple juice.
Chopped hard cooked eggs
Sorghum and beet salad with pistachios, red wine vinegar, apple juice and dash of pepper
Feta cheese
Kamut, carrot and raisin salad with orange juice, cinnamon and pecans
Spring mix
Portioned into a 2 cup jar, the portion of each layer is 3 tablespoons except feta cheese (2 tablespoon) and the final layer of greens which should fill the jar.
To eat, attach the lid, invert, shake then empty onto a plate.
Tentative whole grain accompaniments include King Tut bread (made with Kamut, millet and wheat flours)
Sourdough crackers made with rye and spelt flours
Oat flour and pumpkin bread
¼ cup carrots, peeled and shredded
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Make Your Own Tortilla Casserole
In this recipe, I'll suggest swaps for protein ingredients and techniques for fitting the casserole in your favorite size baking dish.
Tortilla Casserole
This recipe makes 1 9X 13 inch pan or 2 smaller pans (the one in the picture 5 X 9. I also made a second one in a loaf pan and froze for later) When we prepared this in the cafeteria I managed, we arranged 12 servings in a half size steam table pan and cut 3 X 4 to serve.
(8 servings)
1/4 cup onion, diced
2 teaspoon cumin
1 and 1/3 teaspoon chili powder
Dash oregano
Add tomatoes, corn and cooked protein (chicken or pork and beans) to pot.
1 1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes, no added salt
1 1/2 cup cooked and drained beans
6 corn tortillas
Top with cheese.
6 tablespoon cheese each layer
Repeat.
Cover with foil. Bake at 325 F 30-40 minutes. (Till internal temperature reaches 165 F) Remove foil the last 15 minutes.
The second casserole I assembled was placed in a 8 X 4 X 2.5 inch pan (the layers of protein and vegetables were slightly smaller) and froze. To thaw, I placed it in the refrigerator the night before, then baked at 325 F. The casserole was still frozen slightly and took 90 minutes to bake. The key was using the thermometer to check the internal temperature.