Thursday, January 29, 2009

A Great Place for Seniors

We had a presentation on the local library system's programs and services for older adults at our church senior's meeting this week. If you're not taking advantage of all the great FREE stuff from the library you are really missing the boat. The local library system here in Jacksonville has computer classes, a closed captioned movie series, a talking book library that is soon going digital and a whole lot more. There's no need to spend your time watching Jerry Springer reruns when the library has so much to offer. So go! Find out what your local library has in store to make your life more fun, interesting and educational. Learning is a forever activity.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Honey Mustardy Goodness

Here's a favorite recipe that's easy as anything but would be right at home on any high end restaurant menu... and it's low in fat and low-moderate on the sodium too. What could be better?

*Chicken parts (use breasts, thighs, whole cut up chicken, boneless, whatever you want. I don't care.)
*Equal parts Paul Newman's light honey mustard salad dressing, white wine and water. (You can leave out the wine if you want and have 1 part salad dressing to 2 parts water and it's still very good.)
* Red new potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half or in quarters if they're bigger

Saute the chicken parts in a little olive oil until they're browned. Add the potatoes to the pan. Mix up all the liquids and pour them over the chicken and potatoes. Add some pepper if you like your food peppery, I do. Simmer until the chicken is done (160 degrees or when the juice runs clear when you poke it with a fork.) Put the chicken and potatoes in a serving dish and reduce the remaining liquid to make a sauce to pour over the chicken. Make sure you stir up the bits on the bottom of the pan, they taste good in the sauce. You may have to add more water or wine first and then cook that down. Serve with a favorite green veggie, we usually have frozen baby peas with this one. It's so good you're going to just love it. I've impressed quite a few folks with this one and nobody has to know how easy it is. Except that I just told everybody. Oh well, enjoy!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Tax Time

I heard a presentation at a networking meeting last week by a representative of the Real$ense Prosperity program which is an initiative of the NE Florida United Way. They have several financial classes which are very timely given the current economic climate but they also provide free tax preparation for anyone 60 or over or if your total family annual income is less than $45,000. AARP also has a one-on-one tax assistance plan called Tax-Aide. Click here to find the nearest location to you. I'm all for free professional assistance when it's available and plan to check on one or both of these programs myself.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

From my e-mail box

Here's a recipe that came in my e-mail today from Taste of Home. Looks easy, delicious and it's well within Mama's sodium range so hooray for them! I'll be test driving this one soon. I'm thinking jasmine rice and fresh green beans to go along with it.

Pork Medallions in Orange Sauce

TIME: Prep: 15 min. Cook: 25 min.
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup sherry or reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 pork tenderloin (1 pound), cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons canola oil

Directions: In a small bowl, combine the orange juice, sherry or broth, ketchup, corn syrup and orange peel; set aside.
Flatten pork to 1/4-in. thickness; sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, brown pork in oil. Remove and keep warm.
Pour juice mixture into the skillet, stirring to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes or until liquid is reduced to 1 cup. Return pork to the pan; cover and simmer for 4-5 minutes or until meat is no longer pink.

One serving: 3 ounces cooked pork with 2 tablespoons sauce
Calories: 194
Fat:6 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 63 mg
Sodium: 289 mg
Carbohydrate: 10 g
Fiber: 0 g
Protein: 23 g
Diabetic Exchange: 3 lean meat, 1/2 starch.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A Milestone... or "Blogstone"?

This will be my 100th post on the Feedin' Mama blog, a "blogstone" if you will. Hard to believe that I have managed to come up with that much to say but I hope it has been relevant, interesting or at least somewhat useful to folks dealing with older adult issues of their own or for someone in their care. Thanks to all of you who stop by from time to time and I hope you keep checking in to see what's new.

Here is some timely information for such a monumental moment in the Feedin' Mama Empire - I heard a presentation at the VOICE, Inc. meeting this morning on Real$ense Prosperity Campaign which is a United Way initiative here in NE Florida. It is a financial services program that provides financial classes that can help set up a spending and saving plan and repair your credit. There is also tax preparation assistance and a matched savings program and it's all free of charge for qualifying individuals. For tax preparation you must be either 60 years old or have a total family income of less than $45,000. A list of locations to get tax preparation assistance is here. For more information on these and other United Way programs and services you can dial 211 (in Duval County) or go online at www.nefl211.org. You can use 211 for all manner of information. Give them a call if you need information on medial and health services, support groups, help for crime or abuse victims, emergency assistance and a whole lot more. It's a good number to know.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Soup is Good Food

Well, we're back from Mama's doctor visit. Just a follow-up visit from her case of shingles and everything is looking good. She's in mighty good shape for being 90 praise God! Despite the fact that we live in FLORIDA!!!! it is cold and rainy and just miserable outside so I'm going to make tomato basil soup for lunch, low-sodium of course. Here's the recipe in case you missed it the first time http://tinyurl.com/77mxv5.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Dr. Irene's Nutrition Tidbits

I just ran across a fun and informative site on teh Interwebs... Dr. Irene's Nutritional Tidbits. It's a great site with tons of good nutrition information including low-sodium diet. There is even an interactive nutrition game you can play. In Episode One: "The Sodium Test!" you can test your salt smarts! I love it when I discover helpful and informative sites that are also interesting and fun. My kind of place. I'm going back to play some games and test my nutrition "creds" now...

Monday, January 5, 2009

I resolve to find more new recipes!

Here's a new recipe that was in the Mrs. Dash Newsletter that I plan to try this week. I'll let you know how it turns out. One of my resolutions is to get back to trying new recipes and getting out of the menu rut I've been in lately. I think I'll use Panko bread crumbs instead of cornflakes though. Progresso's only have 50 mgs of sodium in 1/4 cup and they are so much better than regular bread crumbs. This is within reasonable calorie limits* too - even better!

Oven-Fried Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:
  • 4 Tbsp. (60mL) Mrs. Dash® Table Blend
  • 1/2 cup (125mL) crushed corn flakes or dry bread crumbs
  • 8 (4 Oz.) (115g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 Tbsp. (30mL) non-fat milk
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
  2. Combine corn flakes and Mrs. Dash® Table Blend in shallow dish; mix well.
  3. Brush chicken with milk and roll in crumb mixture until well coated.
  4. Place in nonstick baking dish.
  5. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until done.
Recipe Summary:

Serves: 8

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 25 min to 30 min

Nutritional Information: Calories:181 % of Calories from Fat:10 % Total Fat:2 g Low Fat Recipe! Saturated Fat:1 g Unsaturated Fat:1 g Trans Fat:0 g Cholesterol:88 mg Sodium:127 mg Low Sodium Recipe! Potassium:398 mg Carbohydrates:3 g Low Carb Recipe! Fiber:0 g Protein:35 g low fat low fat
low sodium low sodium
low carb low carb

* If weight loss is part of your plan for the new year this system is just the thing to help you meet your goal.