“What about protein? We need protein and you said we can’t eat meat or much of it anyway!” That’s right, we do need protein and for a heart healthy diet it is recommended to limit the amount of animal protein we intake. But there are other, healthier ways to get the protein we need.
It reminds me of a poem my daddy taught me as a kid: Beans, beans the wonderful fruit, the more you eat the more you … oh, never mind. But seriously, beans are a wonderful source of protein that we can eat every single day. And there are so many different ones to choose from: Pinto, Navy, Kidney, Black, Lima, Cranberry, Soldier, Fava, Northern, and the list goes on and on. And dried beans are very economical on your grocery budget.
One of my favorite meals now is one I got sick and tired of as a kid: Pinto beans, corn bread and fried potatoes. I could eat almost any kind of beans and be happy as long as I have some good corn bread and fried potatoes to go along with them. But, sigh, I’m not supposed to have any fried foods so that cuts out the fried potatoes. But these are almost as good.
Cut up potatoes just like you were going to fry them in a pan. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray a pan lightly with olive oil and dump the potatoes in. I like to cut up an onion and bell pepper as well and include. I spray it all lightly with the olive oil and sprinkle it with some Mrs. Dash Original or Onion and Spice blend. Cover it with foil and let it bake for about an hour. I usually stir it once or twice while it is cooking.
And I’ve created my own healthier type of cornbread. I love this stuff.
Brent’s Whole Wheat Salsa Cornbread
Mix together dry ingredients of
¾ cup Corn Meal
1 ¼ cup WHOLE wheat flour
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons Baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Add in
2 egg whites
½ cup low fat sour cream
½ cup skim or 2% milk
½ cup salsa
¼ cup olive oil
Add in
½ cup frozen corn
1 cup shredded low fat, skim mozzarella cheese
Divide into 12 muffin cups spayed with olive oil
Cook 20 minutes in pre-heated 400 degree oven
Eat this healthy cornbread with some oven-baked-fried potatoes and a pot of good old beans and you’ll be getting your protein, your fiber and all sorts of good tasting flavors on your tongue and you won’t be clogging up those arteries.
That little poem my daddy taught me ends, “…the better you feel, so eat some beans at every meal!” That’s some good advice right there!
OkieBrent 