Hagerstown native writes cookbook full of healthful recipes with flavor

GREENBACKVILLE, Va. — Hagerstown native Bill Kendle, 63, has never been a man to shy away from the kitchen.

"Since my wife and I have been together I've done about 95 percent of the cooking," he said during a telephone interview from his home in Greenbackville, Va.

Kendle and his wife of 18 years, Beverly, moved to the town near Assateague and Chincoteague islands after he retired after 30 years with General Motors in Martinsburg, W.Va.

In 1995, his family doctor diagnosed Kendle as being a diabetic. Ten years later, he was told that he had high cholesterol.

"(My doctor) told me then to change my eating habits, but I didn't do it," he said.

A year after his high cholesterol diagnosis, Beverly was diagnosed with acid reflux disease.

"And until that happened, the word ‘dieting' was no more than noise on a television show," Kendle said. "... We knew we had to make some changes."

The result is his Healthy Eating Made Easy cookbook (209 pages, Bilken Books).

Kendle said before he started his culinary journey, he was insulin dependent and was taking "something like 14 pills every day." With his wife's diagnosis, he said "it was time we woke up."

But Kendle wasn't looking to do something radical with his and his wife's diet, instead he wanted to take foods they loved every day and find ways to make each dish more healthful.

He also didn't want to have to cook dishes that deprived either himself or his wife.

"I told her that I didn't want to sit here and eat a cheeseburger while she couldn't," he said.

So in 2007, Kendle started writing the cookbook, one recipe at a time, and he began with the recipes that he and his wife enjoyed.

At first, Kendle made little changes such as replacing salt with Mrs. Dash and other herbs, using lemon zest and other flavors to liven up what could potentially be a dull dish.

What they realized was that not only were the dishes more healthful, but they tasted good, as well.

For two years, Kendle and his wife would go through a different recipe every day. With Beverly acting as his primary taste-tester, Kendle said he was able to tweak his recipes. He said he had to redo some dishes about three times just to get the right taste.

During those times, he adjusted the ingredients of about 350 recipes, from that he whittled down the number to the 197 that appear in the book. The recipes are broken into seven chapters: breakfasts; soups and salads; meats; poultry; fish & seafood; vegetables & sides and desserts.

A favorite snack he included in the cookbook is a chocolate chip cookie because he can eat two cookies with skim milk for a late night snack.

Each recipe includes a nutritional index that Kendle said he worked with Pat Brinkman and Cheryle Jones Syracuse, extension educators with Ohio State University Extension, to include the correct information.

Kendle said after making the changes in his diet, he has lowered his cholesterol and his A-1C numbers (which is a three-month average of glucose). Although Beverly still has acid reflux, it is under better control, he said.

He said he also lost weight, but is careful to say that this is not a book about a diet.

Kendle said often people who eat healthier meals sometimes complain that they're eating cardboard.

"If we couldn't get the taste right on a recipe, it didn't go in this cookbook," he said. "My wife and I don't like eating cardboard."



How to buy the cookbook

To purchase Bill Kendle's Healthy Eating Made Easy cookbook call 757-824-4393 or fax to 757-824-3039. Costs $16.95 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. Checks can also be mailed to Bilken Books, PO Box 25, Greenbackville, Va. To have cookbook personalized, send the recipient's name.



Baked salmon with cucumber dill sauce

1 pound salmon fillets

2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons water

1 cup fat-free sour cream

2 teaspoons dried dill weed or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1/2 cup diced cucumbers

1/4 cup minced green onion


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse the salmon fillets under cold water and place them in a large baking pan. Sprinkle the lemon juice and water over the salmon and place the pan in the center of the oven.

Bake until the fish turns opaque and flakes easily with a fork, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix the sour cream, dill, cucumbers and green onion.

Serve the fish while hot with the cucumber dill sauce on the side.

Serves 4.

Nutrition information per serving: 220 calories; 5 grams (saturated fat 1 gram) of total fat; 70 milligrams of cholesterol; 31 grams protein; 10 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams of fiber and 170 milligrams of sodium.

— Courtesy of Bill Kendle from Healthy Eating Made Easy cookbook



Chocolate chip cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg white

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the egg white and vanilla and mix until well blended.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa power. Gradually add this mixture to the egg mixture. Use a wooden spoon to work the dough together, and don't worry if it seems a little crumbly at first. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 30 cookies.

Nutrition information per cookie: 65 calories; 2.3 grams (1.8 grams) total fat; 5 milligrams of cholesterol; 1 gram protein; 10 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 44 milligrams sodium.

— Courtesy of Bill Kendle from Healthy Eating Made Easy cookbook