Beth: Welcome back to Fresh focus, I’m Beth and I’m here today with fellow Marion VA Dietitians Abbie, Amanda, and Lindsey. I just love having you all on to chat with me today.

Lindsey: This series all about heart health, we wanted to give our listeners a round table discussion about nutrition and your heart.

Amanda: heart health is near and dear to me. I helped establish and run the HBCR and HBPR programs for the Marion VA and now I work with the HBPC program and get to go in veterans homes and talk to patients and caregivers. Building a rapport and being able to provide education in the veterans homes is much more individualized- I can look at their kitchen, what kinds of foods they have been eating, and where we can make some changes to improve their health.

Abbie: Amanda, that is a perfect example of heart to home. Everyone has a different kitchen set up and different levels of cooking experience. Some people cook homemade meals every week, some prepare meals from a box or a meal delivery service, while others would prefer to go out to eat because they haven’t spent time in the kitchen cooking. I know I have mentioned it before, but if you are a Veteran who wants to learn more about cooking or needs some ideas on how to start, check with your local VA to see if they offer Healthy Teaching Kitchen classes like we do here in Marion. If you aren’t a Veteran, check out Healthy Teaching Kitchen videos online. We also have great resources and handouts available such as the one on Kitchen Set-Up and kitchen safety too (insert handouts).

Lindsey: Abbie, you are so right! Sometimes heart healthy eating can have a different starting point for everyone. Where you are in the process and where you want to be at the end are both important things to consider. Amanda, working with HBCR, what would you say is the goal for hearth healthy eating?

Amanda: In general, across the board, it is important for everyone to try to find ways to reduce their intake of processed foods such as microwavable meals, frozen pizza, meats like bacon and pepperoni. Try to limit fast-food. And find ways to cut back on pre-packaged foods like boxed macaroni and cheese or canned soup. Processed food, fast-food, and pre-packaged foods are often the foods with the most salt, saturated and trans fat, sugar, and additives…the things that lead to risk for heart disease.

Beth: I agree Amanda. I bet a lot of listeners just heard that and thought “well that is everything I eat. What can I possibly eat instead?”. Which is why we are here to help! So, lets help our listeners. How can we think outside the box here? Like what I did just there?

Abbie: Haha Beth, I love it. Yes lets literally speaking think outside of that box of sugary instant oatmeal and find new easy replacements.

Lindsey: Yes! That is a perfect example. We love overnight oats at our house. My husband has started taking them for his 3AM snack when he works midnights. Instead of the individual oatmeal packets like the maple brown sugar, make your own using quick oats and some milk or water. You can add sliced nuts, fresh fruit, and some vanilla extract, protein powder, or ground cinnamon too. So many options!

Amanda: Very true. It doesn’t take much longer to make it yourself and it’s much less expensive to buy oats and fruit than to buy those instant packages. I have two growing boys at home and I know they would each eat 2 packs of the instant oatmeal plus a banana with peanut butter. So I just make a big batch of quick oats (enough to last through the week) and then add fruits and peanut butter mixed in and divide it between them. Abbie, didn’t you just present an oatmeal recipe at our employee town hall?

Abbie: Yes! It was actually overnight oats (insert recipe). You can take all the ingredients that Lindsey mentioned and mix it together in a jar or container before you go to bed. Then in the morning when you are ready to eat or on your way out the door the oats are soft and ready to eat. It is a cold version of oatmeal with the same great taste and no need for cooking! We have a lot of great oatmeal recipes on the VA website (insert recipes). Here is another interesting take on oatmeal I heard recently was from a MOVE! Veteran who eats oatmeal daily. He was tired of the same thing every day and didn’t like cooking it, letting it cool, eating it, and cleaning it up every day. He decided to make a big batch in his insta-pot and portion out a serving each morning for breakfast. Now he makes that last 3 or 4 days and just add sliced nuts, spices, and fruit in the morning to give it a good crunch.

Beth: Such great spins on oatmeal. Abbie, that reminds me of the conversation we had the other day about using up ingredients in order to reduce food waste. If you buy a large can of quick or old fashioned oats, you can also use them to make homemade granola bars or protein/energy bites, or use oats in place of flour to hold the ingredients together when making homemade black bean, turkey, or hamburgers. Amanda, can you think of another common meals that can be made at home for a more heart healthy version?

Amanda: Yes there are so many! I think a common one would be canned soup. We look at canned vegetable and beef soup and think “vegetables and protein and all I have to do is put it in the microwave, perfect!” but what people don’t realize is just how much salt is in the can. The quality of the meat and vegetables is often low and there really isn’t a lot of either in the can as well.

Lindsey: I know that canned soups are easy, and very cost effective, but if you have the option, I would recommend making them at home. If you have a big pot at home, place it on the stove top and make your own homemade soup. Buy low-sodium broth, whatever fresh or frozen vegetables you want, maybe some meat and beans, and even some whole wheat noodles or brown rice. Toss it all into the pot with some spices and herbs like garlic or onion powers, Italian seasoning, or even just some black pepper. Let it sit on the stove top for 1-2 hours on medium heat or low heat for 4-5 hours and you have a delicious and heart healthy soup ready to go!

Abbie: You can find some great soup recipes on our website (insert link). You can also use your crockpot or insta-pot as to make soup as well. Oh and don’t forget soups, stews, and chilis freeze well. So whatever leftovers you can’t finish within 2-3 days, freeze for a simple homemade microwave meal a few weeks or months later when you are busy or don’t feel like cooking.

Beth: Ladies, we are on a roll! Lindsey mentioned beans. Beans are a heart healthy, high fiber, protein rich food that is cost and food budget friendly. If you buy dried beans and cook them or purchase no-salt added canned beans, you can do some much with them. Like soup or chili. Anyone else have any bean recipes?

Amanda: Beans can be mixed with tomatoes or corn to make salsa. They can be added to salads or put on tops of a potato. Some beans like black beans can be turned into veggies burgers or chickpeas can be made into falafel.

Abbie: I love the budget-friendly protein and fiber rich bean ideas. In my cooking classes, we also use chickpeas to make homemade hummus. Hummus can be savory to use as a dip with vegetables or a spread for a sandwich or wrap. Hummus can also be sweet to spread on some toast or eat with fruit for a healthy dessert.

Lindsey: I feel like we could do a full series just on how to use different ingredients haha!

Amanda: I know I could use some new ideas.

Beth: Me too! Maybe we will come back to this idea again with some other common ingredients. If you are listening and thinking about getting started in the kitchen, think about your most common meals and consider how you can start making some of them at home. Consider what ingredients you will need and what else you could use those ingredients for. How about everyone shares one more ingredient and few ideas on how to use them before go?

Lindsey: My go to is chicken. Even an already cooked rotisserie chicken from the store. Pull it apart and make homemade chicken soup, chicken salad, lunch wraps, or add it to your egg in the morning instead of processed breakfast meats like sausage and bacon.

Amanda: Cauliflower has been trending over the past few years because it is low in calories and carbohydrates, but it takes on the flavor of whatever ingredients you mix it with well. Cauliflower rice instead of fried rice. Cauliflower crust for pizza. Cauliflower can be used in soups or added to mashed potatoes for more volume and lower carb and calories. You can also make BBQ or buffalo cauliflower bites instead of chicken nuggets. Cauliflower is great roasted on its own as well! I have found that tossing it in olive or avocado oil, with a little bit of salt and pepper and roasting it at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes is the easiest and tastiest way to eat cauliflower and many other veggies as well.

Abbie: Oh yes I have tried cauliflower in some of those ways and they are all great. I will add in quinoa. Actually, I just saw a new cauliflower and quinoa meatball recipes that I want to try (inset recipes). Quinoa is a great whole grain that is gluten-free, a good source of fiber, and contains all 9 essential amino acids. Quinoa can be savory or sweet. Add it to your oats in the morning. Make a cold quinoa salad to serve at a celebration or add to your lunch. It can be served warm over your protein like fish or chicken as well.

Beth: Wow, thank you for these amazing ideas and thank you all so much for being on here today. I appreciate it. Everyone out there listening thank you for tuning into Fresh Focus, please reach out to your local VA Dietitian for additional heart healthy nutrition ideas for you to incorporate. And please don’t forget to like, subscribe to this podcast and leave a review.