Recipe for Heart Healthy French Bread

Here is how I transformed a traditional (e.g., sodium-packed) recipe for French Bread into an incredible Heart Healthy Recipe for French Bread.


The key: (1) replace the butter in the original ingredients with "unsalted butter"; (2) replace the salt in the original ingredients with NoSalt (sodium-free salt substitute).


Classic French Bread Recipe

1 cup + 2 tbsp Water
2 tsp Unsalted Butter
3-1/4 c Bread Flour
1 tbsp Sugar
1-1/2 tsp NoSalt
2-1/4 tsp Yeast

Place ingredient in bread machine in the following order: water, butter, bread flour, sugar and salt. Make a small indentation on one side of the flour for the yeast (making sure it does not come in contact with the liquid ingredients).

Make using the "French Bread" program with medium crust and 1.5lb loaf setting (3.5 - 4hrs). Remove from bread pan & cool.

12 servings:
Fat: 0.9g
Sodium: 0.9mg
Potassium: 361.5mg
A mind boggling 402:1 Health Ratio! Wow...

NoSalt instead of salt, Unsalted Butter instead of butter and you can transform a traditionally sodium-packed bread recipe into a Heart Healthy Bread Recipe!

It Worked! My Blood Pressure is Back to Normal!

Read this book and
become Heart Healthy,
naturally!!!

What else can I say but, "IT WORKED!" 

I reinvented my diet and my High Blood Pressure is GONE. No drugs, no doctors, no scare tactics from the pharmaceutical industry - just good old fashion "do what is good for your heart"

Remember this all started in May 2010 when I went to donate blood and learned my blood pressure was a shocking 145/95. I studied what causes high blood pressure, analyzed my lifestyle, reinvented my eating habits and began checking my blood pressure at home using a cheapo "home monitor." The home monitoring suggested things were working - well I proved it last week. I went to donate blood on Feb 1st and got the official reading - I lowered my blood pressure to 120/80. It Worked! from 145/95 to 120/80 by reinventing my diet and focusing on the potassium:sodium ratio of my food intake.

For those wanting to change your life and lower your blood pressure, here is my (now proven) recipe:

1. Exercise regularly: I do at least 1 hour/day of vigorous activity, with 2-3 hours/day at least twice a week.
2. Maintain a low fat diet: just remove foods high in fat - there is enough variety in foods that you do not need anything high in fat.
3. Maintain a potassium:sodium ratio in my diet of at least 3:1. 1:1 would probably be sufficient; 5:1 would be incredible; I targeted 3:1 as my goal and it has worked.

The first 2 items in this recipe for lowering your blood pressure were already a part of my lifestyle (regular exercise & low fat diet). So, it was the addition of a 3:1 potassium to sodium diet that revolutionized my heart and health. Note that most so-called experts state to "lower sodium" to lower your blood pressure - this is a half truth - you MUST increase your potassium and get your diet to a 1:1 potassium:sodium ratio, at least. Also note that if you focus on increasing your potassium:sodium ratio that you will magically lower your sodium as a by product. As you investigate ways to increase potassium and increase the potassium:sodium ratio, you will naturally lower the sodium count. The potassium to sodium ratio is the magic factor in becoming heart healthy.

I owe my diet transformation to the extremely useful and informative book: What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Hypertension. I strongly suggest anyone who has high blood pressure (or even a family history of high blood pressure) to read this book and discover how easy it is to take control of your heart health!

Heart Healthy Spicy Chicken Soup in a Crockpot

Use this chicken broth to transform
just about any crock pot soup recipe
into "heart healthy"!

Easy to make, tasty to eat, good for your heart - a Crockpot Spicy Chicken Soup!

Ingredients (with potassium/sodium/fat counts):
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth (520/280/0)
- 1.5 cups 505 Southwestern Green Chile Sauce (1520/1520/0)
- 3.5 cups [no sodium added] frozen corn (588/35/3.5)
- 1 4oz can hatch chiles (600/300/0)
- 3 garlic cloves (36/3/0)
- 1 (14-15oz) can [no sodium added] diced tomatoes (2200/40/0)
- 24 baby carrots (576/192/0.3)
- 6 scallion green onions (552/32/0.4)
- 1.5 cups water (0/0/0)
- 1 potato (515/5/0.1)
- 1 large chicken breast (440/120/5)
- 1 cup fresh cilantro (521/46/0)



Preparation:

1. Cook the chicken breast (i.e., toss it on your Foreman Grill and it will be done by the time you process the rest of the ingredients).
2. Toss the water, salsa (green chile sauce), broth, diced tomatoes, hatch chiles and frozen corn into your crock pot.
3. Dice the garlic, carrots, green onions, cilantro and potato in a food processor and add to the crock pot.
4. Shred the (cooked) chicken breast in a food processor and add to the crock pot.
5. Cook on Low for 4.5 hours and tada: Heart Healthy Spicy Chicken Soup!

Analysis - the above recipe makes 8 servings:

• Potassium: 8068mg or 1008.5mg per serving.
• Sodium: 2573mg or 321.7mg per serving.
• Fat: 9.3g or 1.2g per serving
• Total (per serving): 1008.5mg Potassium, 321.7mg Sodium, 1.2g Fat [a 3:1 health ratio]

You will find this soup to really hit a homerun with your taste buds - it is delicious! You can experiment with different salsas to alter the flavor; but I have found the 505 Southwestern Green Chile to be an excellent choice.

The World's Most Heart Healthy Banana Bread

Imagine this - a banana bread so good for you it should almost be required in your diet. It is true, here you go:

- 4 medium sized fresh/ripe Bananas
- 2 tsp ground Cinnamon
- 1 cup unsweetened Applesauce
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 cups White Flour
- 2 tsp Ener-g Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Ener-g Baking Soda

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mash bananas into a mixing bowl (I use a Cuisinart food processor to mash really good).
Add applesauce, cinnamon, backing powder, baking soda and sugar and mix well.
Add flour and mix well.
Spray bread pan with PAM and add batter.
Bake in oven for 60-70 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean).
The resulting bread will be extremely moist: no need to add any spread - it is perfect as-is.

Nutrition Summary - one loaf has 12 servings:

• Potassium: 2616mg per loaf = 218mg per serving!
• Sodium: 64mg per loaf = 5.3mg per serving!
• Fat: 4.52g per loaf = 0.38g per serving!
• Total serving: 218mg potassium, 5.3mg sodium, 0.38g fat - a 41:1 heart healthy ratio!!!!

You read that right - this banana bread has a 41:1 heart health ratio with only 0.38 grams of fat per serving. As I said - this is the world's most heart healthy banana bread - so good for you it should be a required part of your diet!

Baking ... Sodium Free via Ener-g!!!

Sodium Free Baking - not possible, you say? Not so - read on and discover how!

Ever since "removing sodium" became a necessity for my heart health, I had been avoiding most forms of baking. Aside from the few low/no sodium bread recipes I had found and refined, it just did not seem possible to bake without sodium. Why? Well, most recipes call for a few teaspoons of baking soda and/or baking powder.

• 1 teaspoon of baking soda adds 1259mg of sodium to any recipe.
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder adds 480mg of sodium to any recipe.

So, a typical "12 serving" recipe that calls for 1 tsp of baking soda and powder starts with 1739mg of sodium (or 145mg per serving before you add the real ingredients) - ouch! With that baseline, it seemed impossible to make any low sodium baked goods.

Au contraire I recently learned. Let me introduce you to Ener-g No Sodium Baking Soda and Ener-g No Sodium Baking Powder. What do these Ener-g products offer? Basically an amazing transformation to the world of baking - any recipe calling for baking soda and/or powder can now start with a NO SODIUM baking agent! Seriously, you just use these Ener-g products instead of standard (high sodium) baking soda and/or powder and you have removed all sodium contributed by the baking agents in the recipe. Wow....

Is there a drawback or is this the greatest creation ever to hit baking? Well, the only drawback is cost. Typical (sodium packed, kill your heart) baking soda and powder costs about a penny per teaspoon. Ener-g baking soda and powder costs about 10 cents per teaspoon (see amazon, for example).

So, here's your decision to make, if you want to bake: (1) bake with traditional soda/powder at a penny a teaspoon and kill your heart; or (2) bake with Ener-g soda/powder at a dime a teaspoon and save your heart. I am not sure what you think, but I certainly think my heart and livelihood is worth 9 cents!

Look for sodium-free baking recipes to enter my heart healthy diet.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich the Heart Healthy Way!

You probably never thought you would see these 5 words together: Heart Healthy Grilled Cheese Sandwich!


The Ingredients:

• 2 slices of Heart Healthy Whole Wheat French Bread: 208mg potassium, 4mg sodium, 2g fat.
• 1/5 a cup of Low Fat Sharp Cheddar Cheese: 32mg potassium, 192mg sodium, 4.8g fat.
• 2 teaspoons of Garlic Powder: 66mg potassium, 4mg sodium, 0g fat.
• I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray: 0/0/0.

The Preparation (very straightforward)...

1. Spray one side of each slice of bread with the butter spray. The sprayed sides are the outside of the sandwich.
2. Sprinkle the garlic powder on the inside of once slice; sprinkle the cheese over the garlic powder; cover with the other slice.
3. Grill until cheese melted... Easiest/less messy way to grill - use a Foreman Grill. 

The result: an extremely tasty sandwich with 306mg potassium, 200mg sodium and 6.8g fat [a 1.5:1 health potassium:sodium health rating]. WOW! A grilled cheese sandwich that is GOOD FOR YOUR HEART! You read it here...

Add any hearth healthy side dish to this sandwich and you will have a 2:1 to 5:1 heart healthy meal with grilled cheese as the main course (e.g., a banana, an orange, a vegetable medley, brown rice & broccoli, etc).

Did I say wow?!?! ... WOW!

Two Appliances Central to my Heart Healthy Kitchen

My favorite 2 appliances that have helped transform my kitchen into "heart healthy enabled": George Foreman Grill and Sunbeam Breadmaker.

George Foreman Grill & Sunbeam Breadmaker
2 appliances central to my heart healthy kitchen

Why am I in love with these two appliances?

George Foreman Grill:

• Easy to use & cost effective.
• Make fresh grilled meals without the mess of a full grill!
• Has allowed me to stock my freezer with heart healthy seafoods & chicken breasts that can be grilled to serve in just 5-20 minutes!
• Tip #1: spray your meats with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray before grilling - this will lengthen the life of your Foreman Grill.
• Tip #2: sprinkle garlic powder on just about anything you are grilling (the spray will keep the powder on the meat). 1 teaspoon of garlic powder adds 33mg of potassium and only 2mg of sodium to whatever you are cooking! 

Sunbeam 5981 Breadmaker:

• Easy to use & cost effective.
• Has allowed me to explore and discover heart healthy (no sodium) breads.
• You cannot be heart healthy on store bought (highly preserved) breads - read the labels, it is not possible. You can make heart healthy, homemade breads without much effort and this Sunbeam Breadmaker is my cornerstone to accomplishing this!

These two appliances have enabled me to bring a whole array of foods I once thought "too hard to make" or "not heart healthy" back into my kitchen and healthy lifestyle!

Heart Healthy Tuna Fish Sandwich

Imagine... A tuna fish sandwich low in fat & low in sodium with a boost of potassium to benefit your heart! It is possible...

The Tuna Base: Mix 1/2 a 5 oz can of "chunk light tuna in water" with 1 teaspoon of nonfat mayonnaise.

The Bread: 1 serving of your favorite "no sodium" sandwich bread (cut into 2 slices). Plenty of no sodium bread recipes are provided in previous posts, my favorite to use with tuna is the garlic chili bread or the garlic herb bread.

The Preparation:

• Toast 1/8 cup of low fat mozzarella on the sandwich bread.
• Sprinkle 1 tsp of garlic powder on the toasted cheese (while still hot).
• Spread the tuna base on the bread to complete the sandwich.

The Heart Health Facts:

• 345mg potassium: 82mg (bread) + 90mg (tuna) + 120mg (mayo) + 20mg (mozzarella) + 33mg (garlic).
• 341mg sodium: 9mg (bread) + 180mg (tuna) + 60mg (mayo) + 90mg (mozzarella) + 2mg (garlic).
• 6g fat: 3g (bread) + 0.5g (tuna) + 2.5g (mozzarella).
• Total: 345mg potassium, 339mg sodium, 6g fat [a 1:1 health ratio]

 Now, complement the sandwich with any heart healthy side dish and you have a heart healthy meal! Examples:

• Sandwich with a fresh orange: 602mg potassium, 341mg sodium, 6g fat [a 2:1 meal]
• Sandwich with a vegetable medley side: 1233mg potassium, 396 mg sodium, 7g fat [a 3:1 meal]

There you have it - a hearth healthy tuna fish sandwich meal!

Brown Rice & Broccoli - A Heart Healthy Side Dish

An easy & tasty side dish to have with any meal: Brown Rice & Broccoli delivering a 7:1 to 3:1 health ratio!

The Ingredients:

1. 1 cup (after cooked) Brown Rice - try any of the "10 minute boil in a bag" varieties for easy prep.
• 115mg potassium, 0mg sodium, 1g fat.
2. 1 cup steamed Broccoli.
• 261mg potassium, 20mg sodium, 0.2g fat.
3. [optional] 1 tbsp Heart Healthy Salsa.
• 40mg potassium, 40mg sodium, 0g fat.
4. [optional] 1/8 cup Low Fat (2%) Mozzarella.
• 20mg potassium, 90mg sodium, 2.5g fat.

The Results:

• Brown Rice & Broccoli: 376mg potassium, 20mg sodium, 1.2g fat
  19:1 health rating!
• Brown Rice, Broccoli & Salsa: 416mg potassium, 60mg sodium, 1.2g fat
  7:1 health rating!
• Brown Rice, Broccoli & Mozzarella: 396mg potassium, 110mg sodium, 3.7g fat
  4:1 health rating!
• Brown Rice, Broccoli, Salsa & Mozzarella: 436mg potassium, 150mg sodium, 3.7g fat
  3:1 health rating!

I like adding either mozzarella or salsa (or both) to the brown rice and broccoli mixture. While the straight rice & broccoli is a 19:1 health gem, I find I need the salsa and/or mozzarella flavoring to make this taste great.
Easy to make, tastes great and a potassium:sodium health rating worth adding to any meal. This 7:1 to 3:1 side can join with any healthy main dish to deliver a meal your heart will love!

Recipe for Heart Healthy Garlic & Chili Bread

An "easy to make" heart healthy (high potassium/low sodium/low fat) bread recipe I recently perfected....

Garlic & Chili Bread

Nutrition (per serving, 12 servings per loaf):

• 82mg Potassium
• 9mg Sodium
• 3g Fat
• A 9:1 Health Ratio

Effort: About 10 minutes to collect and prep the ingredients; about 3 hours of "bread machine time".

1 1/4 c Water
2 T Unsalted Butter
3 Garlic Cloves (finely chopped)
2 T Green Chili Peppers (chopped)
2/3 c Frozen Corn
3 1/4 c Bread Flour
1/3 c Cornmeal
2 T Sugar
1 1/4 t Yeast

Place ingredients in bread maker and process on white bread (or basic bread) cycle. Makes a 1 1/2 pound loaf.

This bread makes great sandwich - allowing you to keep sandwiches in your heart healthy diet. It also make a great "soup dipping" bread.

Heart Healthy "Eggnog"!

Heart Healthy Eggnog?!? Impossible, you think (so did I).

Well, look what I discovered: "heart healthy eggnog" via Silk Nog (ok, so it is "heart healthy nog" - but it tastes the same)!

The vital stats on the nutrition content (1/2 cup): 150mg potassium, 75mg sodium, 2g fat. Yes, you read that right - eggnog with a 2:1 health ratio.

Consider this.... a 1/2 cup of Silk Nog and 1 banana yields 687mg potassium, 77mg sodium and 2.5g fat. Wow - a 9:1 heart health ratio with something that tastes so good it feels like you are cheating!

So, ring in the holidays: as amazing as it sounds, I'll be improving my heart health while sipping the eggnog (Silk Nog, that is).

A Banana A Day...

Looking for a way to jumpstart your heart healthy (high potassium/low sodium/low fat) diet?

A banana a day keeps the high blood pressure away!

The nutrition facts behind bananas (1 average sized banana): 537mg potassium, 2mg sodium, 0.5g fat [a 269:1 health ratio]

Consider a meal with 0mg potassium and 180mg of sodium - if all you do is eat 1 banana with this meal you have transformed it from a sodium pit into a heart healthy (3:1 potassium:sodium) fare. Now consider the impact of eating 2 bananas a day - this simple treat transforms 360mg of sodium contribution into a net healthy feast.

How about an even more compelling argument for a banana or two a day? Many people consider a potassium:sodium ratio of 1:1 to be "heart healthy". Well, ok, then eating 2 bananas a day means you can eat 1074mg of sodium in any "potassium poor" food you want and you'll maintain a 1:1 health ratio. Anyway, you get the message: bananas are a super boost to any potassium:sodium diet you are constructing.

Bananas taste good, bananas are inexpensive, bananas require no preparation. A banana a day keeps the high blood pressure away!

Healthy (Tilapia) Fish Tacos

When you see fish tacos at a restaurant, you probably think: not heart healthy. Here's a way to make great tasting fish tacos with a 3:1 heart healthy potassium:sodium ratio.

Fish Preparation:

• Spray both sides of a (4 oz) filet of frozen tilapia with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray (or similar spray) and sprinkle a teaspoon of garlic powder on the top of the filet.
• Cook the filet for 6-8 minutes in your George Foremann Grill (or similar grill).

Tacos (2 total):

• Start with 2 soft corn tortillas (slightly warmed in a toaster oven or microwave, if desired).
• 1 teaspoon of heart healthy salsa on each tortilla [2 tsp total].
• Split 1/8 a cup of low fat (2%) mozzarella across both tortillas.
• Split the (just cooked) tilapia across both tortillas [just cooked means the fish is warm and heats the salsa and mozzarella].

That's it, you have 2 great tasting tilapia fish tacos! The nutrition profile:

• Potassium (mg): 40(tortillas) + 26(salsa) + 20(mozzarella) + 424(tilapia) + 33(garlic) = 543mg.
• Sodium (mg): 10(tortilla) + 26(salsa) + 90(mozzarella) + 64(tilapia) + 2(garlic) = 192mg.
• Fat (g): 1(tortilla) + 0(salsa) + 2.5(mozzarella) + 2.8(tilapia) + 0(garlic) = 6.3g.
• Total: 543mg potassium, 192mg sodium, 6.3g fat - a 3:1 potassium:sodium ratio.

Note that the potassium:sodium ratio is technically 2.83:1 - I'll round that to 3:1 given how good these tacos taste ;-)   Seriously, though, what I do is add a serving of my Vegetable Medley to the 2 tacos to make a complete meal. The nutrition profile of the meal (2 tacos + salad) is as follows:

2 tacos + vegetable medley (w/out mozzarella) meal:

• Potassium (mg): 543(tacos) + 888(salad) = 1431mg.
• Sodium (mg): 192(tacos) + 55(salad) = 247mg.
• Fat (g): 6.3(tacos) + 1.2(salad) = 7.5g.
• Total: 1431mg potassium, 247mg sodium, 7.5g fat - a 6:1 healthy meal!

2 tacos + vegetable medley (w/ mozzarella) meal:

• Potassium (mg): 543(tacos) + 908(salad) = 1451mg.
• Sodium (mg): 192(tacos) + 145(salad) = 337mg.
• Fat (g): 6.3(tacos) + 3.7(salad) = 10g.
• Total: 1451mg potassium, 337mg sodium, 10g fat - a 4:1 healthy meal!

Good tacos, good salad ... Happy & healthy heart! Enjoy...

Recipe for a Perfect "Warm Breakfast"

Fall is upon us, the temperatures are dropping and you want something warm for a heart healthy breakfast...

Combine oatmeal, banana & bran to make a high potassium, low sodium, low fat and tasty warm breakfast entree.


The base recipe:

• 1 serving Quaker Instant Oatmeal: 105mg potassium, 75mg sodium, 2g fat.
• 1 banana (sliced into the oatmeal): 540mg potassium, 2mg sodium, 0.5g fat.
• 1/4 cup Kelloggs All Bran (mixed into the oatmeal): 175mg potassium, 40mg sodium, 0.5g fat.
• Total: 820mg potassium, 117mg sodium, 3g fat [a 7:1 healthy meal!]

If the base recipe is too bland for your tastebuds, then you can upgrade to one of Quaker's many flavors of instant oatmeal (e.g. apples & cinnamon, maple & brown sugar, etc). Unfortunately, flavored oatmeals have a 1:1.5 to 1:2 potassium:sodium ratio - changing the recipe's nutrition as follows:

• 1 serving Flavored Quaker Instant Oatmeal: 105mg potassium, 160-200mg sodium, 2g fat.
• 1 banana (sliced into the oatmeal): 540mg potassium, 2mg sodium, 0.5g fat.
• 1/4 cup Kelloggs All Bran (mixed into the oatmeal): 175mg potassium, 40mg sodium, 0.5g fat.
• Total: 820mg potassium, 202-242mg sodium, 3g fat [a 4:1 healthy meal]

A 4:1 potassium:sodium ratio is still incredible for your heart; but suppose you are in love with 7:1 nutrition profile of the base recipe yet want more of the flavor of the 4:1 recipe? The answer: use honey instead of flavored oatmeal:

• 1 serving Quaker Instant Oatmeal: 105mg potassium, 75mg sodium, 2g fat.
• 1 banana (sliced into the oatmeal): 540mg potassium, 2mg sodium, 0.5g fat.
• 1/4 cup Kelloggs All Bran (mixed into the oatmeal): 175mg potassium, 40mg sodium, 0.5g fat.
• 1 tablespoon honey (mixed into the oatmeal): 11mg potassium, 0mg sodium, 0g fat. 
• Total: 831mg potassium, 117mg sodium, 3g fat [a 7:1 healthy meal!]

7:1 to 4:1 - pick one of these 3 recipes that tastes best to you. In any choice, you have a high potassium, low sodium & low fat warm option for your heart healthy menu through the chilly fall & winter months.