Heart Healthy Recipes & Hints

[lashbear]

Hi all !

OK, so you've had your first heart attack, and you've got to trim that figure to keep your heart healthy. Where do we begin?

I have been given a little list of life-savers (no, not the candy) by my dietician, and I thought I'd start this thread and share some of them with you, after all, I want to keep on chatting with you at LEAST until Disneyland's 100th.

My dietician has told me that you've gotta have carbs, because if you don't and your diabetic (which a lot of larger folk are) then you can go into ketosis which is NOT good for your internal organs. Therefore some of the following do contain carbs. but I try to keep them to about 30g per meal (which is two serves.)

Subsitutes For Those Gotta-Have-Em Items.

Allright, now first up we're talking Diet Jello. THis is your friend. No calories and if you melt it with boiling water (just a little) and then make up the rest with sparkling mineral water, you get Fizzy Jello (No kidding.)

Cream. Gotta have it. IF you need it, buy a tub of Skim Ricotta and beat it up with some splenda and vanilla. Then, beat 2 egg-whites and when stiff (the EGG-WHITES, Kevy) fold them into the ricotta, and you have a very decent substitute for whipped cream with NO fat.

Candy - there is a good range of sugar-free available nowadays. Use them instead. Treat yourself once a fortnight to a real candy bar, just one. Bite size if you can get it.

Snacks. Bruschetta is good. Chop 2 Tomatoes, basil, capers, onion, capsicums (I think you folk call them bell-peppers) and salt (just a touch) and pepper. Add a splash of Olive Oil (extra virgin for good flavour) and pile the mixture on top of crunchy crusty italian bread (no butter). Yummy !

Entree of the day. Note that for international readers I AM being Bi-lingual in my measurements.

Todays entree idea is

Delicious & Legal Souffled Macaroni Cheese.

Ingredients:
170 g (6oz) Macaroni
30 g (2 Tablespoons) pro-activ margarine (or other cholesterol-lowering spread with plant sterols)
1 Medium Onion, peeled and finely chopped
30 g (1 oz) Plain flour
285ml (9 fl oz) Skim Milk (Use Soy if you can stand it)
1/4 Tsp nutmeg
85 g (3 oz) Skim Marscapone
1 Large Egg yolk lightly beaten
55 g (2 oz) cheese finely grated (try to use reduced fat cheese, but avoid any that are fat-free cos they won't work right)
50 g (2 oz) Parmesan, finely grated
2 Large Egg whites
Freshly milled black pepper

Method:
Preheat oven to 200c (390F)
You will need a shallow ovenproof baking dish with a base measurement of 8" x 6" (20cm x 15cm) and 2" (5cm) deep, lightly buttered.
1 Weigh out all your ingredients and grate the cheese. Fill a large saucepan with 2.25 litres (about 2.5 quarts) water and boil on the heat.
2 In a small saucepan melt the pro-activ margarine on a gentle heat, add the onions and soften, without browning and uncovered for five minutes. Add the flour, stir to make a smooth paste and slowly add the milk, a little at a time, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon.
3 Switch to a balloon whisk and keep whisking so you have a smooth sauce. Add black pepper and the nutmeg, and cook the sauce gently for five minutes. Turn off the heat and whisk in the Mascarpone, egg yolk, followed by the cheese and half the Parmesan.
4 Heat the baking dish in the oven, add the macaroni into the boiling water and simmer for 4-6 minutes until al dente (it will cook again in the oven).
5 When it has a minute's cooking time left, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Drain the pasta in a colander, shake to get rid of the water, tip back into the pan and stir in the cheese sauce, evenly coating the pasta.
6 Lightly fold in the egg whites, using a cutting and folding movement so as to retain as much air as possible.
7 Remove the warm dish from the oven, pour the pasta mixture into it,, give it a gentle shake to even the top and scatter over the reserved Parmesan. Put the dish in the oven on a high shelf for 12 minutes or until the top is puffy and lightly browned.

Buon Appetit !!

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by lashbear

Then, beat 2 egg-whites and when stiff (the EGG-WHITES, Kevy)

Well DUH!

Even I know you can't beat the yolks until stiff!

[Gemini Cricket]

Is it true that red wine is supposed to help your heart?

[€uroMeinke]

Fuzzy Jello? Hmmmmmm

[lashbear]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

Is it true that red wine is supposed to help your heart?

Yes it is, but not if you drink a cask per night.

It has been medically shown that a glass or two of red wine per night helps keep your LDL (Bad Cholesterol) down. It also thins your blood and makes it less prone to clotting and therefore causing a blockage in a narrow artery.

BTW: To remember the difference between GOOD cholesterol & BAD cholesterol, consider this: here are two types; LDL (Low Density Lipoproteins) & HDL (High Density Lipoproteins)

L stands for Lousy
H stands for Healthy

...so Let's have a glass of red, huh ?

[tracilicious]

Awesome lashie. Don't forget that good fats keep your heart healthy too. Greeks have loads of fat in their diets, and a very very low rate of heart attacks. So if it's an omega, then it's ok. Within reason of course.

I also wouldn't recommend things like margarine. Your body can't absorb things like that. The less processed food you eat, the healthier you will be. Real butter is higher in fat, but it's fat that your body can use and it isn't the artery clogging kind. Plus it just tastes better.

I've been reading that the jury is still way out when it comes to soy. It is estrogen producing, and large amounts of it can throw your body out of balance. It takes lots of beans to make a cup of milk. Although cow milk isn't exactly risk free either, so who knows which is better.

I wonder how healthy my heart is. Is there some kind of test I can do at home? Like if you can run this far then your heart is this healthy?

Mmmmm...bruschetta! I love that stuff.

My battle is sugar. I won't eat sugar substitutes, as the thought of chlorinated sugar or carcinogen laden whatever doesn't appeal to me. I find that if I eat lots and lots of veggies as well as balanced meals then I crave it less.

[Matterhorn Fan]

I also can't eat sugar substitutes. A long time ago I'd gotten used to the taste of diet soda, but I feel better when I don't drink it (I drink regular and am trying to cut down). Splenda, to me, tastes like poison.

Whole grains are supposed to be good for lowering cholesterol, or so I've been hearing a lot lately.

[lashbear]

Originally Posted by Matterhorn Fan

Whole grains are supposed to be good for lowering cholesterol, or so I've been hearing a lot lately.

I try to eat Wholegrain bread whenever I eat bread. I like the taste too..

...and where's that edamame, carrot, onion, and bell pepper stir-fry you promised us ?

[Stan4dSteph]

Thanks for sharing this thread Lashbear!

I just had a cardiovascular risk assessment done through my employer. It was the second time I'd had it done, so it was interesting to see how my numbers compared. Since I've lost weight, my LDL came down 30 points from 122 to 92. My HDL stayed about the same at 48.

I love diet Jell-O. Black cherry is my favorite. I'll have to try your fizzy recipe.

[Matterhorn Fan]

Originally Posted by lashbear

...and where's that edamame, carrot, onion, and bell pepper stir-fry you promised us ?

There's not much to it since it's a stir fry. It really just comes down to cutting your veggies and throwing them in a wok. BUT, since you ask, here's the instructions:

1. Purchase veggies at the grocery. (Shelled edamame comes frozen in a bag. For some reason it's with the vegetarian stuff rather than with the veggies at my store).

2. Cook the edamame according to package directions (my package says to boil it for 4-5 minutes).

3. Meanwhile, heat a small amount of oil (I used canola) in a wok. Add carrots, some ginger, black pepper--whatever spices you fancy.

4. Drain the edamame and put it and all the other veggies in the wok. Stir fry.

5. Add some teriyaki sauce (I should probably switch to the low sodium variety), and serve.

This would be good over rice, but I didn't think of that until I already had stuff in the wok, at which point it's much too late to start rice.

I did the same combination of veggies yesterday with olive oil and Italian spices (minus the teriyaki). It was pretty good. I put in some pasta and topped it off with a bit of mozzarella; I would recommend leaving the cheese off, actually.