Former diver sneaks nutritious ingredients into recipes

As a teenager who spent half her time dashing around in a Speedo or leotard, Donna O'Brien appreciated the benefits of a healthy diet.

A former top diving and gymnastics competitor at Arlington High School in the '70s, Donna was a three-time College Nationals Diving qualifier at Iowa State University with a three-year scholarship.

Later Donna packaged her interests in sports and nutrition into careers as a diving coach at Palatine High School and for the Windy City Patriot Diving club at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, and as a middle school and high school home economics teacher.

She no longer teaches, but Donna still enjoys making what she calls "homemade basics with a healthy twist," or is that a half gainer?

A little whole wheat flour here, a little oat bran there -- Donna finds sneaky ways to boost nutrition even in chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles.

"But I'm not extreme," she says. "Not to the point where people won't eat it."

Inspired by a junior high home ec class -- she still has the purple mimeographed recipes from that teacher -- Donna started baking at home and found her niche.

"It's more of a science; I'm better at that than art."

A high-energy athlete, Donna found it difficult to sit still for lecture classes, but she took to home ec like flour and sugar to butter and eggs.

"I was the home ec student of the year in 1979 at Arlington High School," she says. "I have to be hands-on."

That held true as a teacher, when she found it interesting "to see kids doing things, to see them make something they have never made before and see them get excited about food."

More recently Donna channeled her abundant energy into a "living cookbook" for her family, completed last summer after six years of tinkering. Instead of the usual bound volume Donna collected recipes from her family and organized them into 60 three-ring binders.

"I'm hoping that every year people will add to it," she says.

More than just tempting her relatives to try new dishes, Donna hopes the cookbook will inspire them to get in touch after sampling one another's recipes -- hopefully with positive feedback.

In her own kitchen, cooking for her husband, Jerry, and sons Kevin and Jeff, Donna is ever the home ec teacher, trained to follow recipes to the letter, at least the first time around.

"In school if you didn't follow the recipe you would get a bad grade," she says. "I'm not Rachael Ray, she just wings it. I'm the total opposite."

She may not throw together ingredients at random, but once Donna tests a recipe she finds ways to tweak the flavor and nutrition profiles.

Her buttermilk pancakes are made with wheat germ, fresh banana and blueberries. Sometimes she makes her own maple syrup. How many people do that?

"It comes in handy if you are worried about additives and preservatives, or you run out of syrup at home," she says.

Her chicken patties are simple and low-fat, made with skinless chicken breast dredged in corn meal and flour and cooked in just a little oil.

But for her father's beloved crescent rolls (her 11 cousins gobble them up) she goes full out with two sticks of butter and four egg yolks.

Even the teacher gets to cheat once in a while -- but only on her diet.

Quick and Easy Chicken Patties

¼ cup cornmeal

¼ cup flour

Coarsely ground pepper

Pinch of garlic powder

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons milk or 1 egg, beaten

4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless

Olive oil

Combine cornmeal, flour, pepper, garlic powder and salt in pie pan or shallow dish. Put milk or beaten egg in a second pie pan.

Moisten chicken in milk or egg, dredge in cornmeal mixture. Coat a skillet with olive oil and heat over medium. Add chicken breasts and cook until golden brown and juices run clear, about 5 minutes per side.

Serves four.

Nutrition values per serving: 130 calories, 2 g fat (0.5 g saturated), 12 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 15 g protein, 35 mg cholesterol, 130 mg sodium.

Fruity Door County Buttermilk Pancakes with Homemade Syrup

Syrup

2 cups sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

1 cup water

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon maple flavor

Pancakes

½-¾ cup fresh blueberries

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups flour

½ cup wheat germ, raw or toasted

1 tablespoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk, see note

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 small banana, sliced ¼-inch thick and quartered

For the syrup: Combine sugar, brown sugar and water in saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cover and reduce heat to a gentle boil, cook for 10 minutes. Cool slightly and stir in vanilla and maple flavorings.

For the pancakes: Rinse blueberries and gently pat dry. Place in bowl and sprinkle with cinnamon. Gently jostle the berries until fully coated. Add more cinnamon if necessary.

Heat pancake griddle to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.

In separate bowl beat eggs with whisk and combine with buttermilk. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Add butter and stir just until combined. Gently fold in blueberries and bananas. Pour into 5-inch circles on griddle and cook on first side until many large bubbles appear. Flip pancakes and cook until golden brown on second side.

Makes 16 pancakes; 2¼ cups syrup.

Cook's notes: Syrup recipe can be doubled; store excess in the refrigerator. If you don't have buttermilk, pour 2 tablespoons white vinegar into measuring cup and add enough milk to measure 2 cups.

Nutrition values per pancake with 2 tablespoons syrup: 190 calories, 3 g fat (1.5 g saturated), 39 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein, 30 mg cholesterol, 240 mg sodium.

Uncle Ed's Slovakian Crescent Rolls

2 cups lukewarm milk, divided

2 tablespoons active dry yeast or 2 envelopes

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided

6½ cups flour, divided

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

4 egg yolks, beaten

Combine ½ cup of the milk, yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar and ½ cup flour. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Into large bowl sift 4 cups flour, ½ cup sugar and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture is the size of peas. Add yolks, remaining milk and the yeast mixture. Beat well. Add 2 or more cups flour until dough is still moist but won't absorb any more flour.

Knead on floured board for 5-8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place dough in lightly greased bowl; cover and let rise for about 90 minutes or until double in size.

Divide dough in 3 equal parts. Roll each portion into a ¼-inch thick circle. Cut each circle into 12 pie-shaped wedges with a pizza cutter or knife. Starting from wide edge roll toward the point into crescents. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Let rise until double, about 15-30 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls one sheet at a time for 15-18 minutes.

Makes 36.

Nutrition values per roll: 180 calories, 6 g fat (3.5 g saturated), 21 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein, 35 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium.