American Heart Association Adds New 'Ingredients' to Simple Cooking with Heart Program

Research has shown that away-from-home meals account for at least half of all U.S. food expenditures and typically contain more saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, added sugars and calories and fewer fruits, vegetables and whole grains than home-cooked meals.

13 Nov 2012 --- The American Heart Association has added 30 recipes, representative of popular dishes from around the world,  to its Simple Cooking with Heart program — continuing to teach people that cooking at home can be simple, affordable and heart-healthy.
 
The Simple Cooking with Heart program, funded by a $1 million grant from the Walmart Foundation for the second year, features several recipes that can feed four people for under $15 and includes live demonstrations, online how-to videos, tips and free downloadable host kits that encourage people to host cooking demonstrations or parties with family, friends and neighbors. This year’s program also will include free, downloadable organization kits for community groups interested in hosting a cooking demo or party on a larger scale.
 
“We’ve developed diverse, nutritious recipes that are very budget conscious and heart healthy,” said Rachel Johnson, Ph.D., R.D., an American Heart Association spokesperson. “We hope to extend our reach with this year’s program, showing more people that it doesn’t take much time or money to prepare a healthy meal for their family.”
 
Traditional, home-cooked meals are becoming increasingly rare as more two-income families work additional hours with longer commutes. Research has shown that away-from-home meals account for at least half of all U.S. food expenditures and typically contain more saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, added sugars and calories and fewer fruits, vegetables and whole grains than home-cooked meals. Less than one-third of Americans cook their meals from scratch.
 
“With busy, on-the-go lifestyles, many Americans have lost touch with their kitchens and thrown in the towel on eating healthy, which is key to prevention of heart disease and stroke,” Dr. Johnson said. “The program and its recipes make it easy to bring nutrition back in the home, and it’s easy on the pocketbook too.”
 
“We believe in supporting initiatives that help people improve their nutritional knowledge and skills, so they are able to identify, shop for and prepare healthy, home-cooked meals,” said Karrie Denniston, director of hunger relief and nutrition at the Walmart Foundation. “It is through partnerships with great organizations like the American Heart Association that Walmart is able to make a greater impact in nutrition education and ultimately enable Americans to live healthier lives.”