My advice after 50 years in the dietetic association

My first recollected food assignment as a young college student was to provide an afternoon snack for a nursery school class. I gave the preschoolers ready to eat crackers and cheese. That was more than 50 years ago. There was not as many ready to eat packaged foods.  The meats, vegetables and fruit were likely not processed. For the grain option, menu planners opted for a slice of bread, 4-6 crackers, 1/2 cup cooked rice, pasta or cooked cereal or 1 cup ready to eat cereal. 

Fast forward 55 years when the 2026 Dietary Guidelines to Eat Real Food seemed to invoke a reluctance among colleagues. My advice after 50 years in the dietetic association:

• Don't let highly processed foods be the default option. If you can't make it in your own kitchen it probably falls into that category.   Americans have to eat less of them, not eliminate. Give alternatives. 
• Diversify plant foods. Plant foods include grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. These add prebiotic fibers and polyphenol nutrients supporting a healthy gut. Diversifying these and trying different varieties is good for a healthy gut as well as the environment.
• Include sources of lean meat and dairy to meet the protein needs of older adults. 
• Emphasize fermented probiotic rich foods.
• Wash and cut vegetables and fruits yourself. Safety, nutrient density and taste is better.
• Make it harder for manufacturers to engineer a ready to eat food meeting nutrition standards. 

What snack would I give to the preschoolers today? Do made from scratch mini muffins (pumpkin sorghum) and a fresh banana sound good?

MAHA Breakfast Cereal

 

In the cafeteria I managed at the Health Sciences Center, customers loved oatmeal. Served from the soup station at the end of the fruit and salad bar, they filled their 10 ounce soup bowl with a hefty ladle of hot cereal. Few customers bought the single serve boxes of cold cereal.

Here’s my recipe for hot cereal made with hulled barley, dried and fresh fruit and milk. Served with chopped nuts.

MAHA Breakfast Cereal

(4-1 cup servings)

Cook barley in water.

1 cup hulled barley

Drain water and soak in milk. (It will absorb)

Stir in fruits.

3 ounce raisins

8 dried figs, sliced

3 ounce cranberries in orange juice

The cereal gets sweeter as it sits in the refrigerator.

This cereal has 9 grams of added sugar when white sugar is added to the fresh cranberries while cooking. It too gets sweeter as it sits in the refrigerator.

Dietary guidelines recommend limiting artificial preservatives and flavors, petroleum based dyes, and ready to eat packaged breakfast options. There is overwhelming evidence to support minimizing intake of ultra processed foods.

Eating Real Foods: MAHA Pizza

 

Whole foods, protein, dairy, vegetables and whole grains-they’re all here. The crust, made with whole grains and an egg flows over the whole pan. There are cut fresh vegetables, roasted meat and cheese. This is quick and easy and a great use of leftovers.

MAHA Pizza

(4 Servings)

1 1/2 tablespoon cornmeal 

Mix dry ingredients together.

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup spelt flour 

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Beat egg into milk. Stir into dry ingredients.

1/2 cup 1 Tablespoon milk

1 egg

Pour into 10 inch oven safe pan. 

Sprinkle on top batter.

Peppers, minced, 1 mini sweet pepper

Sprinkle on:

Chicken, roasted, diced (stirred with barbecue sauce)

Vegetables, cut

Bake at 395 F for 12 minutes.

Top with cheese of choice and bake for 2-3 minutes more.

This follows highlights in What to Eat Now and 2026 Dietary Guidelines supporting overwhelming evidence to minimize ultra processed foods.

The crust recipe is adapted from the 2018 cookbook, The 30 Minute Mediterranean Diet Cookbook.

Another Turkey Dinner

These tasty turkey meatballs and creamy sauce are cooked on stovetop. Served with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and a shortcut cranberry sauce, this turkey dinner is good!

Turkey Meatballs

(4 Servings)

In mini food processor, grind crackers, then onion. Beat in egg, salt and pepper. Add turkey and mix. 

6 multigrain crackers 

1/4 cup small onion

1 small egg

6 ounce ground turkey

1/8 teaspoon ground pepper

1/16 teaspoon salt

Form into meatballs, 2 teaspoon each. 

 

On stove top, brown meatballs in olive oil for 3 minutes. (They will not be fully cooked). Remove from pan.

1 Tablespoon olive oil

 

To skillet, melt butter. Add flour and mix, browning for 3 minutes.  Add vinegar and Worcestershire. Mix in chicken broth, 1/2 cup at a time.  Add salt and pepper.

Drop meatballs into sauce.  Cook for 8 minutes.  

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon flour

2/3 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2/3 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/4 cup chicken broth (add 1/2 cup at a time)

1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper 

 

I-81 Traffic Jam

Cook on stove top for 10 minutes. 

 4 ounce fresh cranberries

1/4 cup jelly (Orr’s I-81 Traffic Jam)

2 teaspoon lemon juice

 

 

 

I love that I have time to make my own stock. Also, the mashed potatoes are always homemade.

Seafood Cioppino

I'm in the process of down sizing favorite recipes to match our needs.  This one is a favorite from Oldways. The homemade sauce is the highlight of this dish and it's a great way to use partial packs of seafood in the freezer.  Mine has flounder, scallops and shrimp, served over a whole grain spaghetti.

Seafood Cioppino

(Serves 4)

Saute vegetables in olive oil 8 minutes. 

1/4 cup onion, diced

2 Tablespoon bell pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tablespoon olive oil 

 

Add to pot: 

1 cup diced tomatoes in juice

2 Tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup red wine

4 slices lemon

1/2 teaspoon each dried and chopped parsley, basil and oregano

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Bring to boil.  Lower heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes.

 

And fish and simmer covered for 20 minutes. 

1 4 ounce flounder fillet, cut in pieces

 

Add shrimp and scallops.

6 jumbo shrimp, shell removed 

4 ounce scallop pieces

Simmer 10 minutes.

 

Discard lemon slices. 

 

Serve over pasta.

 

Possibly, tasty additions to this recipe were my own freshly dried and ground herbs. Before the first frost, I take what's left in my front deck planters, dehydrate in the oven (mine has a 150F. dehydrating function) and grind.  They don't last long, but are noticeably tastier than the store bought. 

 

 

 

  

  

 

Beans & Cornbread

 

The meal combo is a West Virginia staple and, as a retired Cafeteria Manager, it's never a good idea to serve beans without the cornbread.  Our local farmers market is lucky to have a family who grows grains and beans.  This one features their newest package of three beans.  That's perfect for my personal goal focusing on diversity of plant foods.  This meal has many.  Here's the recipe I used, based on our personal (smaller) senior portions.  Note that any bean and any vegetable can be included in your personal meal.

Soup Beans

(4 Servings)

Soak beans in water overnight. 

3/4 cup dry beans

Water to cover 2-3 times the level of beans

Drain and rinse. 

 

In crock pot, place beans and hot water.  Turn pot to high. 

2 cups hot water

 

Add vegetables. 

3/4 cup diced raw vegetables

Mine has garlic, onion, celery with leaves, red pepper, fennel and carrots

 

Add ham. 

3 ounce diced ham

 

Add seasonings.

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper  

 

Cook on high for 8 hours.

 

My cornbread was originally made in a large oven safe skillet.  It has apples, onions and thyme too. For a few years, I froze half of it to make my Thanksgiving Stuffing, another classic. I hope to make more to have enough for that stuffing.

 

Cornbread with Apples, Onions & Thyme

(1-7 inch Deep Dish Pizza Pan)

Melt buttery over medium heat .
5 Tablespoon butter
Pour melted butter into a separate bowl.

Add onion to the skillet and saute for 4 minutes.
1/4 cup onion, diced

Add apple, sugar and thyme to the skillet.  Saute 4 more minutes.  Place onion-apple mix in a colander to drain any excess liquid. 
1 apple, sliced thin
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon thyme leaves

 

 Mix dry ingredients-cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and 4 1/2 tablespoon sugar together.
3/4 cup cornmeal, whole grain
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat egg and buttermilk.  Add melted buttery spread.
1 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
Melted butter
Add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (no lumps).  Stir in 1/2 of the apple-onion mix.

Pour batter into skillet (oven proof).  
Top with remaining apple-onion mix.  Sprinkle with1 teaspoon thyme. 
1/4 teaspoon thyme 

 

Bake in 400 F. oven for 30 minutes.  Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes.  To remove from pan, place another rack over the top of the skillet and invert.  The bread slides right out.  Invert onto cooling rack.  Cool an additional 20 minutes before tasting. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smoked Salmon Chowder

This may be my favorite soup of all time. The recipe is inspired by Chef Sherry Pocknett’s creation in the November issue of Food and Wine Magazine.

Smoked Salmon Chowder

4 (1/2 cup) Servings

Melt butter in small saucepan. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes. Scrape roux into a small bowl.

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon flour

Heat olive oil in medium saucepan. Add vegetables and sauté for 3-5 minutes.

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 Tablespoon diced onion 

2 Tablespoon diced red pepper

1 Tablespoon diced celery 

1 garlic clove, minced

Stir in spices.

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon seafood seasoning 

1 sprig fresh thyme

Add stock and diced potato. Heat to boiling, then lower heat to cook potato, about 20 minutes.

1 cup chicken stock, homemade 

1 medium potato, peeled and diced

Stir in corn.

1/2 cup corn

Bake salmon at 325F for 10 minutes. Add thinly sliced smoked salmon and bake another 5 minutes. Flake and stir into soup

2 ounce salmon

3 ounce smoked salmon

Stir in reserved roux and milk.  Heat for 5 minutes.

1/3 cup evaporated skim milk