One risk factor that we have complete control over is what we eat.

Eating a heart healthy diet is something that can make a big difference not only in your heart health, but also for your daily health and energy levels.

A Heart Healthy Diet includes foods that are low in salt, saturated fat, and cholesterol.

I found a pretty extensive list of foods included in a Heart Healthy Diet from the American Heart Association:

Fruits	Fresh, canned or frozen
Vegetables	Fresh or frozen (avoid sauce or flavor pouches, which add salt and fat) Canned is OK if unsalted or rinsed
Meats, poultry, fish	Fresh or frozen fish (not breaded) Canned tuna and salmon (unsalted or rinsed) Chicken or turkey, both with the skin removed Lean cuts of beef, veal, pork or lamb (trim away all fat)
Meat substitutes	Dried beans, peas, lentils (not canned) Tofu (soybean curd) Nuts or seeds (unsalted, dry-roasted), such as sunflower seeds, peanuts, almonds and walnuts (Eat nuts in small amounts because they’re high in fat and calories.) Unsalted peanut butter
Drinks	Fruit juices, fresh, frozen or canned Canned low-sodium or no-salt-added tomato and vegetable juice Breakfast drink, powder or liquid (limit to 1 cup/day) Lemonade (frozen concentrate or fresh) Tea and coffee in moderation Soy protein powder, soy milk
Dairy choices	Liquid or dry milk (1 percent, ½ percent, fat-free or nonfat) Cottage cheese, dry curd (low sodium) Low-fat or part-skim cheeses, such as ricotta and mozzarella Neufchatel (Choose 2–3 servings of these low-fat dairy products per day.)
Fats, oils	Unsaturated vegetable oils like canola, olive, corn, cottonseed, peanut, safflower, soybean and sunflower Low-sodium, low-fat salad dressing and mayonnaise Unsalted margarine with liquid vegetable oil as first ingredient (Use any of these in small amounts.)
Breads, cereals, grains, starches	Pasta Rice (enriched white or brown) Starchy vegetables, such as corn, potatoes, green peas, etc. (not canned unless salt-free) Loaf bread and yeast rolls Homemade breads (with regular flour, not self-rising) Melba toast Matzo crackers Pita bread Taco shell, corn tortilla Cooked cereals, such as corn grits, farina (regular), oatmeal, oat bran, cream of rice, cream of wheat (avoid instant cereals) Puffed rice or wheat, shredded wheat (or any cereal with 100–150 mg of sodium (limit to 1 cup/day) Wheat germ (in small amounts) Unsalted, no-fat popcorn
Cooking ingredients, seasonings	Corn starch, tapioca Cornmeal (not self-rising because of high salt content) Fresh or dried herbs, salt-free herb seasonings Flour — regular white or whole-wheat (not self-rising) Fresh fruits and vegetables, such as lemons, limes, onions, celery, etc. Fresh garlic or ginger Louisiana-type hot sauce (limit to 1 teaspoon/day) Low-sodium baking powder Onion or garlic powder (avoid garlic salt) Tomato paste, unsalted tomatoes, unsalted tomato sauce Vinegar Water chestnuts Yeast Butter substitute (limit to 1/2 teaspoon/day)
Sweets	Carob powder, cocoa powder Flavored gelatins Fruits Frozen juice bars, fruit ice, sorbet, sherbet Sugar, honey, molasses, syrup (cane or maple) Jelly, jam, preserves, apple butter Graham and animal crackers, fig bars, ginger snaps

Other Heart Healthy Diet Tips from the American Heart Association:

• Keep total intake of fat between 25-35 percent, saturated fat less than 7 percent, and your intake of trans fats less than 1 percent per day.
• Limit your intake of cholesterol from food to less than 300 mg per day.
• Eat 25-30 grams of dietary fiber every day from whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes.
• Keep sodium to 2,300 mg or less

Just Remember!

A heart healthy diet is not just about what you can’t or shouldn’t eat! Learning to make smart choices is a life long process and one that produces life long benefits. As long as you’re focusing on making the best choices whenever you can, a heart healthy diet will happen easily. Not every choice will end up with you eating a salad, but choosing whole and nutritious foods as much as possible will ensure you’re getting the nutrients you need.

Eating a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and lean protein is the best way to make sure you’re eating the Heart Healthy way.

Next up? Heart Healthy Recipes!

Good Snowy Morning!

We have a 2 hour delay today! Yay!!!  It’s been so nice to not be rushing around this morning. I got up, took my shower, and checked to see if work was delayed/cancelled. Nothing was up yet, but once we got the message that it was delayed, I decided I had time this morning to do my yoga! I was planning on just doing my yoga once we got home, but I decided to do it this morning while the house was quiet. I thought I had downloaded the Gentle Hatha 20 minute one from yogadownload.com, but I guess I only have the pose guide. I just went through the pose guide at my own pace, and it was great! It was a nice way to start the day.

This is what Roxy was doing all morning

She loves laying up on the back of the couch.

Since we had more time for breakfast, I had a hard time deciding. Bacon and eggs? Oatmeal? Then I saw the cookies from last night. Decision made  :)

Oatmeal Cookie Oatmeal

• 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup water, pinch salt
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• 2 Tbsp walnuts
• cinnamon!
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1 cookie crumbled over top

Yum.

and of course, a cup of coffee.

I’m glad so many of you like this mug! There’s this guy that lives in this area and he makes all kinds of stuff with these crazy faces: mugs, jars, vases, tiles, etc. We’ve gotten one of these for most of the guys in our families that drink coffee. This one was my Pampaw’s, but my Mammaw let me have it so now I have my face mug.

Hope you’re enjoying your Monday!

Make sure to check out the humongous giveaway Alisa is doing!

Today was not what I expected! I thought the weather was going to be like yesterday – in the 40s and rainy. It’s only been in the 30s today and it’s been snowing/raining all day! We have probably close to an inch at our house, but we saw on the news that there’s more near work. I’m hoping there will be enough by morning to get work cancelled – it’s a long shot, but I have to be optimistic  :)

 

Since it was so cold today, I changed my original dinner plans and made this instead.

 

Mexican Chicken Soup

• 4 chicken thighs, skinned
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 packet taco seasoning
• 1/2 packet Ranch dressing seasoning
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp red onion, diced
• 1 bag frozen veggies (I used one with green beans, peas, carrots, and corn)

1. Put chicken in crock pot. Pour tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, onion, and seasonings over chicken.
2. Cook on high for 3 hours.
3. Once chicken is cooked, take out of crockpot.
4. Shred the chicken into bite size pieces and return to crockpot.
5. Steam frozen veggies, then add to soup.
6. Let cook for 5-10 minutes more.
7. Serve!

 

I toasted a ww tortilla in the toaster oven to make some “tortilla chips” to have with my soup.

 

This is just what I needed today. It was so warm, spicy, and comforting.

And…..these didn’t hurt either  :)

 

 

I used the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe here, but used chocolate chips instead of raisins.  I love cinnamon with chocolate – I think all chocolate chip cookie recipes should call for a little cinnamon. There’s just something about the combination of the two.

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Bread Experiment Update!

 

 

 

Interestingly enough, both slices still look fine! Today is day 7 of the experiment, and I don’t see any spots on either slice. Now, neither have been exposed to any air since I put them in the ziploc bags, but I am surprised that I can’t see any changes yet.

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I’m about to have a few cookies and a big glass of cold milk and get ready to watch an all new Iron Chef.

 

A la cuisine!

Make sure to check in tomorrow for the next Heart Health Installment!

 

Also – Check out the cool giveaway Krista is doing!

Ha – I guess I forgot to post my other baking project from last weekend, so here it is!  :)

Nick loves cookies. And so do I. We decided to try to make some healthier cookies, so I looked up some recipes and we ended up making our version of these Oatmeal Brownie Cookie

Check out that chocolate chip – looks like he’s trying to bust out of the cookie  :)

 

My modifications were:

 – I ended up having to add a little milk to the batter to get it to come together

– We did 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips and about 1/4 cup walnuts

– Instead of using just regular sugar and vanilla extract, I used this!

 

 

Vanilla Sugar!!! Beadie gave this to me when we met a few weeks ago, and I knew I need to use some  – this stuff smells and tastes a.mazing.

Needless to say, these cookies did not last long in our house….although, it only made about 25 cookies so I guess there weren’t too many to begin with  :)

 

I figured I should finally post these since I’m hoping to bake some more healthy cookies tonight! Don’t worry – I’ll try not to make you wait a week to the next batch!

 

The church fellowship was good and I think people liked my couscous salad – it was completely gone. I’m glad I made a batch of couscous just for us.

Alright – off to finish laundry, clean, finish dinner, and hopefully bake before posting dinner!

It’s snowing here!!! I’m hoping it will stick.