National Senior Health and Fitness Day: Summer recipes

Today I met virtually with a great group for National Senior Health and Fitness Day to demo some summer oven-free recipes.  In case you missed it, you may be interested in these recipes too!  

As you try new recipes, I encourage you to plan ahead so you don't waste ingredients and batch cook/chop ahead to save time.  Make sure you are getting lots of good veggies in your meals, and have some nutritious snacks available.  The following three recipes will help make that easy.  Throw some food on the grill one night...chicken or veggies, for example.  Add some salmon to save for tomorrow night in recipe number one, Salmon, Asparagus and Orzo Salad.  On the side of your chicken from the grill, serve recipe number two: corn, tomato and avocado salad.  If you'd like, make extra of that corn salad and add beans for lunch the next day.  Recipe number three is a sweet tooth fix/snack that you can easily pull together with ingredients from your pantry and store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Salmon, Asparagus and Orzo Salad with Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette 
Source: My Recipes 

I cheated for my cooking demo and had Mariano's cook the salmon for me.  Did you know they will cook your meat while you shop, for free?  I picked it up Tuesday, flaked it apart when I got home, and used it in this recipe on Wednesday.  Alternatively, follow the recipe to broil the fish, or use canned salmon!  I only buy whole wheat pasta, so I purchased Whole Wheat Orzo for extra fiber and nutrition.  This recipe offers great, heart healthy protein with omega-3 healthy fats, fiber, antioxidants, lots of B vitamins and potassium, which is good for your blood pressure.  Use fresh dill from the garden if you have it to make your own dressing.  I always use a tad less sodium than a recipe calls for, there are lots of good flavors in this recipe, you don't need the salt.  

Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad
Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

This is one of my all-time favorite recipes.  It is easy to make, and so delicious served as-is over corn or other whole grain tortilla chips.  If you'd like to make it more as a meal, add some feta or crumbled queso fresco and lentils or black beans.  This recipe looks great at a cookout!  I often use frozen corn that I steam first, but you can use fresh corn if you'd like.  And I always add extra cilantro, yum!  

Peanut Butter Oatmeal No Bake Granola Bites
Source: Creative Juice

These are such a satisfying snack for my sweet tooth.  Keep in mind, there are lots of high calorie foods as ingredients, but they also carry a lot of good nutrition including fiber, protein and healthy fats.  Just watch your portion size.  Depending on the size of the bites created, they each carry around 125 calories, 15g of carbohydrate and 2.7g of fiber, assuming the recipe gives you around 20 balls.  You can swap the mini chocolate chips for dried fruit if you prefer, and you might be able to get away with a bit less honey, depending on how sweet you like it.  Also note that instead of peanut butter you can use any nut or seed butter.  My kids can't eat peanut butter so we use sunflower seed butter.  I prefer these to a store bought granola bar.  You can store them in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze them (if they last that long).  

Keep doing the best you can with our current situation!  Stay safe as things slowly open up, and I hope that we are together again somewhat soon!  Galter is now able to offer one-on-one sessions via Zoom, so please reach out if that is something you're interested in.  

Healthy Regards, 

kate
kkinne@schosp.org