The Farmer's Wife

Now is a good time to evaluate your diet. This article starts off a series that contains a lot of good information about Calcium and how to include it more in your diet. Current recommendations for healthy bones are 1,000 milligrams of calcium and 600 units of Vitamin D for healthy adults and 1,200 milligrams of calcium and 800 units of Vitamin D for the elderly. Further information can be found at asbmr.org.

January 16, 1986

The first of the year is a good time to check out our level of nutritional fitness and make a few resolutions to improve our diet.

Everyone, children, teenagers and adults, need calcium. Too often mothers see to it that everyone else in the family has plenty of calcium rich food and then excuse themselves from eating what they should, saying “I never did like milk and I’m too old to start drinking it now. Besides, it’s too fattening.”

Wrong, on several counts. While milk products are a good source of calcium they are not the the only source and while cream, butter and cheese are high in calories, many other milk products are not.

Your bones are living tissues and without proper nourishment they gradually lose the calcium they already contain and osteoporosis may result. Osteoporosis leads to brittle bones that may fracture easily. There are also other factors in addition to calcium that are involved in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.

But you can build and maintain strong bones by using calcium rich food. Dairy products are a good source as are green vegetables, salmon and sardines, and tofu.

This article will give ways to get more calcium from dairy foods and in the next two weeks I’ll give recipes for using green vegetables, salmon and sardines, and tofu.

The American Society of Bone and Mineral Research recommends that women consume 800 to 1,000 milligrams of calcium daily before menopause and 1,300 to 1,400 milligrams daily after menopause.

Here are ways to get more calcium through dairy products:

• Include milk in diet regularly
• If desired, use skim milk. One cup has 300 milligrams calcium and 90 calories.
• Enrich breads, pancakes, meat loaves, soups and beverages with nonfat dry milk.
• Select hard cheeses for cooking and eating. Swiss and Gruyere cheese have over 270 milligrams per ounce.
• Use fluid, dry or canned milk in coffee. Non-dairy whiteners, creamers and toppings contain no calcium.
• Use skim Ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese. One-half cup has 337 milligrams as compared to 78 milligrams for cottage cheese.
• Make milk based soups.
• Use yogurt as basis for salad dressing.
• Replace cream with evaporated milk.
• Drink a milk based tomato soup or hot spiced milk as a bedtime relaxer.
• Blend milk, ice and fruit juices for a refreshing drink. Example: Orange Julius.
• If you are lactose intolerant, add lactose to fresh milk to make it digestible.

Swiss Quiche

10 ounces frozen broccoli spears, thawed and drained

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup low fat yogurt

3/4 cup evaporated milk

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups Swiss cheese

1/3 cup finely chopped celery

3 tablespoons sliced green onions

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese.

Whisk eggs, yogurt, evaporated milk and cornstarch. Stir in remaining ingredients except cheese and broccoli. Set aside. Grease a 9-inch round baking ban. Pour in cheese mixture. Arrange broccoli spears, spoke fashion in pan. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until set. Makes 6 servings.

Cottage Vegetable Bake

One 10-ounce package mixed vegetables

1 cup cottage cheese

2 tablespoons dry milk

1/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pepper

2 eggs

Thaw and drain vegetables. Beat cheese, dry milk, flour and seasonings together. Add eggs and beat until blended. Put vegetables in casserole. Pour cheese mixture over vegetables Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Serves four.