I BELIEVE IN BROCCOLI AND BROWNIES
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 Legumes, such as black beans, are a nutrient powerhouse. A half cup of black beans supplies 8 g of protein, 305 mg potassium, 8 g of fiber, and 114 calories. That means adults can get one-fourth to one-third of their daily fiber needs just by consuming a few beans. With their high fiber and potassium content, beans can promote heart health. Regular consumption of beans – about 1 to 2 cups cooked weekly has been shown to has been shown to reduce lipid levels (cholesterol) in people with heart disease. Antioxidant and phytochemicals along with the fiber in beans may also reduce the risk for colon cancer. If the health benefits don’t convince you to add beans to your diet, the price might. An easy way to stretch your food budget is to cook with dried beans. Dried beans cost only about 15 cents per serving and canned beans cost just 30-45 cents per serving. That is a deal! If you are looking for convenience try canned beans if you have more time cook dried beans on your own. Beans can be eaten at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Try a breakfast burrito with pinto beans, scrambled eggs, and salsa wrapped in a warm tortilla. Make a super salad for lunch by adding garbanzo beans to mixed greens, chopped tomatoes, and sliced cucumbers. For dinner check out this flavorful black bean burger.   Black Bean Burgers 15 oz can black beans, drained 3/4 cup cooked quinoa or couscous 1/2 cup breadcrumbs 1/2 cup minced vegetables such as bell peppers, onions, celery 1 tsp minced garlic 1-1/2 tsp ground cumin A few shakes of hot sauce 1 Egg 3-4 Tbsp olive oil In a medium bowl roughly mash the bean with a potato masher or fork into a paste mixture. Leave a few of the bean part or mostly whole. Add the quinoa/couscous, breadcrumbs, vegetable, garlic, cumin, and hot sauce to the beans. In a small dish beat the egg. Mix the egg and all ingredients together. You can use a spoon or your hands. Divide the mixture into 4-6 equal parts. Using your hands form 4-6 patties. Heat half the olive oil in a large skillet. Cook half the patties in hot oil until browned and heated through, about 2-3 minutes per side. Repeat for second half. These patties are delicious served with a tzatziki sauce or fry sauce. References:
https://beaninstitute.com/
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Cooking My Way Through Neighborhood Cookbooks  My mom made this recipe every year with the leftover Thanksgiving turkey, so it was a no brainer to try this neighborhood cookbook recipe for Poppy Seed Chicken (or Turkey). One thing I have noticed about neighborhood cookbooks is the instructions can be a little sparce. I must admit if I had not have seen my mom make this before, I would be a little lost. Start by cutting up some leftover chicken or turkey. I cooked up some boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the Instapot, because I did not have any leftover meat. Even though the recipe says to cut up the chicken I decide to shred it. I had recently heard you can shred chicken quickly with a stand or hand mixture, so I decide to try it out. Wow! That is a game changer – so easy. The first instructions in the recipe said “Stir ½ crumb mixture into chicken or turkey mixture.” My thought was what is the crumb mixture? and what is the turkey mixture? Luckily I’d seen this made before and knew the crumb mixture was a blend of Ritz crackers, poppy seeds, butter, and dehydrated onion.  After mixing up the crumb mixture place half the crumb mixture, the chicken (or turkey), some sour cream, and cream of chicken soup in a large bowl.
Mix everything together  Put chicken mixture into a casserole dish. The recipe did not indicate the size of the dish, but a 2 quart seems about right.  Top the chicken mixture with the remaining crumb mixture.  Top it with some dried parsley and paprika. (I got a little heavy handed with the paprika in the left bottom corner -- oops.)  Bake at 350 °F for 30 minutes. You can freeze this casserole (before baking) and reheat later. Make a double bath of the recipe, prepare the second casserole in a freezer safe dish, but do not bake. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil, write heating instructions on the top, and freeze.  Nutrition Updates As a dietitian I like to bump up the nutrient density of recipes. This casserole is high in fat, but a few simple changes can bump up the nutrient density. First eliminate the butter when making the crumb mixture, next use fat free sour cream, and lastly choose low-fat cream of chicken soup.   Poppy Seed Chicken or Turkey (Updated Recipe) 2-3 cups cubed or shredded cooked turkey or chicken 1 can low-fat cream of chicken soup 1-1/2 C fat-free sour cream 8 oz crushed Ritz crackers 1 tsp dehydrated onion 1 Tbs Poppy Seeds 2 Tbs butter, melted Paprika (optional) Dried Parsley (optional) Stir soup and sour cream together, gentle fold in chicken. Mix crackers, onion, and poppy seeds in a medium bowl. Stir half the cracker mixture into the chicken mixture. Place mixture into a 2-quart casserole. Melt butter and stir into remaining cracker mixture. Top casserole with remaining butter crumb mixture. Sprinkle with parsley and paprika if desired. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 4-5. Poppy Seed Chicken or Turkey (Original Recipe) 2-3 cups cubed cooked turkey or chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup 1-1/2 C sour cream 1 tsp dehydrated onion 8 oz crushed Ritz crackers 1 cube melted margarine 1 Tbs Poppy Seeds Mix well Stir ½ crumb mixture into chicken or turkey mixture. Put in casserole dish. Top with remaining crumb mixture. Sprinkle with parsley and paprika. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 4-5.  During the stay at home orders I’ve been working on enhancing my cooking skills. A while back I saw chef Jacques Pepin make a souffle without whipping the egg whites. I thought I should try that, but never got around to it. Then the other day there was a repeat of the cooking show (there are a number of repeats happening right now). Well this time, I went online and printed the recipe. Surprisingly, I had all the ingredients, even fresh chives as my outdoor plant was in bloom.
 En Papillote is a cooking method where food is cooked wrapped in paper. Parchment paper is usually used but the good ole “tin foil” dinner might fall into this category as well. En Papillote is my no fail way of cooking fish. It is fast, easy, and the fish turns out perfect every time.
First start with a large piece of parchment paper – big enough to fold over the fish and all the vegetables you’ll be adding. Place your fish on one half of the paper. I live far from a coast, so I almost always purchased frozen. I place the frozen fish right on the paper. Eggs are such a simple food that I think they are often overlooked as the nutrition powerhouses they actually are. Eggs are packed with protein, have a multitude of vitamins and minerals, are low in calories, and are budget friendly.  You probably know that eggs are a super source of protein. One large egg has about 6 grams of protein. The protein is found in the egg white, but most of the nutrients are housed in the delicious, yellow yolk. Some of the nutrients in eggs such as vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin D, and iron are well known, but you may not be as familiar with the nutrients choline, lutein, and zeaxanthin.
 A simple glazed ham makes a quick and filling main dish for dinner. Just add a potato, vegetable and you’ve got a meal. Place a fully cooked ham in baking pan and pop into a 325° F oven.
 Growing up my mom had a go to soup – Beef, with vegetables, and noodles. I think it was her favorite because she could make a large pot and keep it simmering on the stove to serve people coming and going at different times. As the years past we started calling it Hanna-burger instead of hamburger soup as a nod to my niece Hanna. As with all soups this one is better the day after as the flavors get a chance to develop. The recipe will make plenty of leftovers for the next day.
The trick to this soup is letting the beef make the broth. Instead of browning the beef, crumble the ground beef into the bottom of a large pan and cover it with water. Simmer over low to medium heat until the meat is cooked through.  Instapots are all the rage, but I still haven’t made the move. I continue to use my stove top pressure cooker to make quick work of long cooking foods. Some day I’ll get an Instapot, but for now I’m cooking some Sweet and Spicy Beans old school. These beans are perfect for a cold winter’s night dinner, served with a little rice and a green salad.
The night before, cover 1-pound pinto beans with water and soak overnight. When ready to make the dish, drain the beans.  Eggs are a nutritious, versatile, and inexpensive food. At an average price of only 12 cents an egg ($1.40 a dozen), they are a nutrition powerhouse bargain. One large egg provides about 75 calories, packs 7 g of high quality protein, and has 5 g of fat –with over half coming from healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Eggs are a good source of vitamin D and many of the B-vitamins (riboflavin, B12, choline, biotin, pantothenic acid) as well as a host of minerals (iodine, zinc, selenium, and molybdenum). You can eat them fried, poached, scrambled, or boiled. Eggs are delicious on their own, but they also add flavor, texture, and color to other dishes. Add chopped eggs to a salad, mix boiled eggs with mayonnaise for a sandwich, or serve a fried egg atop an enchilada (that’s how my mom used to serve enchiladas – delicious.)
To make the Perfect Egg for breakfast, lunch, or dinner place a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Crack in an egg  Recently the weather went from summer to almost winter, seemingly skipping fall all together. The cold weather means soft cozy sweaters, warm jackets, and comfort food. A delicious, warm and hardy meat pie is comfort at its best. One of my favorite things about this dish is I can make the pie using almost all home-grown or raised foods: carrots, potatoes, onions, and peas from my garden and beef from the family cattle ranch. Only the crust and few seasoning weren’t grown or raised by me or my family. Start by boiling a couple of large potatoes and dicing some carrots and onions. Make the dices small and all about the same size.
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