Ham Balls

 

My freezer inventory always carries small packs of sliced ham.  Here's an easy idea for a make anytime main dish.

Ham Balls

(2-3 Servings)

Grind together in a small food processor. 

6 ounce sliced ham

2 Tablespoon onion, diced

3 Graham Cracker squares, or 3 Tablespoon wheat germ or bread crumbs

1 egg

Portion into 2 ounce balls.

Bake at 375F for 10 minutes.

 

 Mix together:

3 Tablespoon ketchup (no high fructose corn syrup)

2 teaspoon brown sugar

2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Brush onto meatballs.

Bake for 10 additional minutes.

 

These are good stuffed in pita halves!  

1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard  

    

Sheet Pan Creole Seafood Penne

 

Here's a dish I'll enjoy for days at a time. While the pasta is cooking on stove-top, I roast the vegetables. Add creole seasoning with raw seafood and bake some more. Then stir in the drained pasta and warm a few minutes more. For leftovers, I'll add some arugula and other cooked vegetables or protein for lunch time salads. The whole meal takes less then 30 minutes to cook.

Sheet Pan Creole Seafood Penne

(3 Servings)

Cook pasta.  Bring cold water to a boil.  Add salt and pasta.  Cook for 12 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Drain.

2/3 cup penne

 

Mix together:

1 cup cherry tomatoes, diced

2 mini sweet peppers, diced

1 green garlic, diced

1 green onion, diced

2 Tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt.

Pour onto sheet pan lined with aluminum foil. Bake at 350F. for 15 minutes.

 

Creole seasoning

Mix together: 

3/4 teaspoon paprika

3/4 teaspoon onion powder

Pinch white pepper

Pinch thyme

Pinch oregano 

 

Mix partially cooked vegetables with seasoning and raw seafood.

8 jumbo shrimp or 3 ounce scallops.

Return to oven for 10 minutes.

 

Stir in drained pasta. 

Return to oven for a few minutes more.

 

Serve with grated parmigiano cheese.

 

  

  

Blending Retains Fiber and Nutrients

 I'm using my blender most days for morning smoothies with fruit and yogurt. When I buy local asparagus at our farmers market, I often cook and puree it to make a delicious soup without the waste.

Here is the recipe:

Asparagus Soup 

(Serves 4)

Saute onion and garlic in butter for 5 minutes.
1/3 cup sweet onion, diced
2 garlic gloves, minces
1 tablespoon butter

 Add asparagus, broth and salt. Simmer 8 minutes.
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut in pieces
3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt

 

 

Spring is almost here-time to use the winter squash cooling in the basement!  Bake the squash, puree in the food processor with cocoa and maple syrup  The result is a delicious nutrient dense treat with 5 grams of fiber. 

Butternut Squash Pudding

3 Servings (6 Tablespoon Each) 

Roast whole butternut squash for 1 hour at 425F. Cool slightly to handle. Peel and remove any seeds and strings.

 

Puree squash flesh with cocoa and sweetener. Add additional flavorings as desired. Mine has ground almonds.

 

1 cup squash

3 Tablespoon 100% Cacao powder

2 Tablespoon maple syrup

2 Tablespoon ground almonds

 

I serve mine with vanilla skyr (a cultured milk product similar to yogurt) to add protein. The parfait has 5 Tablespoon of skyr.

 

Nutrition Information of parfait per serving: 

Calories 118

5 grams fiber

7 grams protein

8 grams added sugar 

Eclectic Muesli and Yogurt to Power My Day

 

I call this roasted cereal Muesli 11 as it contains 11 prebiotic fibers:  4 nuts, 4 fruits, 2 seeds and 1 grain. Combining with yogurt or kefir (a fermented probiotic) can enhance immune and metabolic health.

Muesli 11

17 (1/3 cup) servings

Chop nuts to your desired consistency. Mix nuts and seeds. Toss on a wide rim baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Toast in a 350 F. oven for 7 minutes.  Reduce oven to 275F.
1/3 cup pistachios
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup pecans
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 teaspoon fennel seeds

Mix honey, peanut butter, oil, orange and vanilla until smooth.   
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoon smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon vanilla

Toss peanut butter sauce with nuts and seeds and oats.  Mix until completely covered. 
2 cups old fashioned oats
Spread onto parchment lined rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.  Stir.  

Chop apricots and berries in a food processor.  Mix with partially roasted oats.  Bake in oven for another 30 minutes. 
1/2 cup dried apricots

2 cups fresh cranberries (I buy several bags of these in December and freeze, as they are not available after the holiday season)

Alternate the ingredients in this recipe for a variety of nutrients. We pick wild black raspberries in the summer, freeze and use those in place of the cranberries. The nuts can be any on hand, as could the dried fruit.

 

 

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.