Easy Heart-Healthy Recipes for Seniors With FirstLight

 Taking care of your heart is integral to healthy aging. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S., resulting in more than 600,000 deaths a year. The good news is heart disease can often be prevented, and even reversed, when people make healthy lifestyle choices. One of the easiest changes to make is the adoption of a healthy diet made simple with some easy heart-healthy recipes for seniors. 

Know Your Heart Disease Risk 

The National Institute on Aging says that people 65 and older are at the most risk for heart disease. When there are additional risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or obesity, the chances of developing heart disease increase significantly. Knowing the early signs of heart disease can help you make a plan with your doctor and assess your risk. 
 
Eating right and staying fit are important no matter what your age. Whether you’re 22 or 82, you can take proactive steps to lower your risk for heart disease. 

Ways to Keep Your Heart Healthy 

Small lifestyle changes can easily help increase heart health for seniors and adults alike. These can include: 

• Following a healthy eating plan 

• Maintaining a healthy weight 

• Including regular physical activity in your routine 

• Quitting smoking 

• Managing stress 

Heart-Healthy Habits 

A healthy lifestyle is the best defense against heart disease, and a great place to start is to adopt a heart-healthy diet. Heart health for seniors doesn’t have to be boring. Just because a diet is described as “healthy” doesn’t mean it has to be lacking in flavor or satisfaction. Heart-healthy eating can be as equally delicious as it is good for your body. You can boost flavor and cut calories with a few simple kitchen tips. 

Nutrition Tips for Seniors 

• Eat the rainbow. Choose vibrant, eye-appealing ingredients, including fresh fruits and vegetables in an array of colors. The more color, the more vitamins and antioxidants. 

• Choose lean cuts of meat. Cut away excess fat from beef and pork and remove the skin from poultry before cooking. 

• Fold in flavor. Aromatics such as garlic and onion add flavor depth to any dish. Also try adding herbs, spices and lemon juice to season food instead of salt, butter or margarine. 

• Use a low-fat cooking method. Choose steaming, broiling, poaching or grilling over frying. Or try a stir fry with just a little added oil or broth. 

FirstLight Favorites: Recipes for a Healthy Heart 

We’ve gathered some of our favorite recipes to help inspire you in your own cooking. 
 
Baked Mashed Sweet Potato 
Ingredients: 

• 1 sweet potato (3 oz) 

• Ground pork (4 oz) 

• 1/3 onion 

• 1/4 tsp salt 

• 1 TBSP margarine 

• 2 TBSP olive oil 

• 1 TBSP white wine (optional) 

• 1 TBSP soy sauce 

• 1 tsp stevia or honey 

• 4 TBSP water 

• 1/2 tsp cornstarch 

Serve With: Cherry tomatoes to garnish; side of steamed or boiled fresh green beans 
 
Preparation: 
Peel and slice sweet potato, then steam or boil until tender. Once cooked, mash in a medium bowl and stir in salt and margarine to taste. Mix well.  
 
Peel and chop the onion. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat and stir fry onion for about thirty seconds, until fragrant. Stir in ground pork, add white wine, soy sauce, stevia/honey, water and cornstarch. Stir fry until pork is cooked through.  
 
Put the potatoes on a plate and spoon the pork mixture on top. Garnish with cherry tomatoes and serve with a side of green beans. 

Chicken/Beef Vegetable Soup 
Ingredients: 

• 2/3 lbs. of beef chuck or boneless, skinless chicken breast 

• 2 carrots 

• 2 potatoes 

• Half of an onion 

• 1 cup shredded cabbage 

• 1 tsp salt 

• 8 cups water or low-sodium chicken broth 

Preparation: 
Cut meat into small pieces. Peel the carrots and potatoes and dice onion. Add meat, vegetables and salt into a soup pot, bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer for 40 minutes. Add pepper to taste.  
 
Optional: Change the vegetables you use to suit your own taste or create different flavor combinations. 

Baked Pita with Cheese, Tomatoes and Cucumbers 
Ingredients: 

• 4 6-inch whole-wheat round pita breads 

• 4 ounces fat-free shredded cheese (about 1 C) 

• 1 clove garlic, minced 

• 1/2 tsp dried basil 

• 2 medium tomatoes, sliced into quarter-inch rounds 

• 1 large cucumber, cut into quarter-inch pieces 

• 1 green onion, chopped 

Optional: Add sprouts, chopped lettuce or any other favorite veggies 

Preparation: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the pitas in half and set aside.  
 
Shred the cheese and mix well with the garlic. Sprinkle the dried basil over the shredded cheese. Divide cheese evenly between the 8 pita halves, about 2 TBSP per pita bread.  
 
Place pitas with cheese on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Carefully remove from heat. Put onto plates and serve with tomatoes, cucumbers and green onions. 
 
Pro tip: You may wish to make these in batches to keep the cheese melted and prevent the bread from getting hard. 
 
Turkey Chili 
Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 tsp olive oil 

• Half of an onion, chopped 

• 20 ounces ground, skinless turkey breast 

• 2 large garlic cloves, minced (or substitute 1/2 tsp garlic powder) 

• 2 1/2 tsp chili powder 

• 1/2 tsp pepper 

• 1/2 tsp cumin 

• 15.5 ounce can no-salt-added pinto beans, rinsed and drained 

• 15.5 ounce can no-salt-added black beans, rinsed and drained 

• 15.5 ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes (undrained) 

• 1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn 

• 4 medium green onions – green part only – sliced 

Preparation: 
Add the oil to a Dutch-oven or soup pot and heat over medium-high heat, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook onion in oil for 3 minutes, or until soft, stirring occasionally. R 
 
Reduce heat to medium. Stir in turkey and cook for 5 minutes, or until browned, stirring frequently to break it up. Stir in garlic, chili powder, pepper and cumin. Then, stir in remaining ingredients except for green onion.  
 
Cook for 20 min, stirring occasionally. Just before serving, top with green onions. 

Mexican Spaghetti Squash 
Ingredients: 

• 1 lb. ground beef or turkey 

• 15.5 ounce can black beans 

• 1 onion, chopped 

• 1 tomato, chopped 

• 1 large spaghetti squash 

• Olive oil 

• 2 tsp chili powder 

• 2 tsp paprika 

• 1 tsp onion powder 

• 1 tsp garlic powder 

• 3/4 tsp sea salt 

• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 

• Juice of one lime 

• 1 jar of your favorite salsa 

• 3/4 cup fresh low-fat mozzarella cheese, grated 

Pro tip: A package of low-sodium taco seasoning can be used in place of the spices listed in the ingredients. 
 
Preparation: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the spaghetti squash in half long ways, sprinkle with salt and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 45 minutes.  
 
Sauté the onion in a tablespoon of olive oil for 2 minutes. Add ground meat and cook until done. Add spices, and ix in beans, tomato, salsa and lime juice. Simmer for 10 minutes. 
 
When spaghetti squash is finished cooking, remove seeds and scoop out pulp. Place on several layers of paper towels and squeeze out extra moisture after allowing the pulp to cool somewhat. Place in a glass baking dish. Add meat mixture and top with cheese. Place under a broiler for a few minutes, until cheese is melted. 

FirstLight Home Care – Making Mealtimes Easier 

If you or a loved one needs help preparing heart-healthy meals, FirstLight’s senior care services can help. Some older adults fail to get adequate nutrition simply because they can’t or don’t want to prepare a meal and clean up afterward. 
 
FirstLight’s in-home caregivers can prepare easy heart-healthy recipes for seniors that help you or a loved one maintain a healthy diet and simply add joy and comfort to an older adult’s day. Find a location near you to learn more!