Posted on

Cottage cheese, if you please!

0[1]

This past Monday was one of a few times during our five-week menu cycle at St. Anne’s that our residents are served cottage cheese, in some form. The evening’s selection was ‘cottage cheese with pear half.’

Our poodle, dodge, really enjoyed it, to our surprise. He was in the Sisters’ dining room at suppertime, and Sr. Christina allowed him to lick out her cup with its cottage cheese residue. He ‘really went to town’ with it, getting his nose down into the cup. He even moved it around a bit trying to get to the creamy remnants.

Although it’s doubtful that this dog is health-conscious, he was actually on to something!  Cottage cheese has some definite health benefits.

For one thing, it has a good protein content, to give you energy, without tons of extra calories; it also offers amino acids.  It has less calories than most other cheeses.  Cottage cheese also is a source of calcium and phosphorus for your bones.  It also has vitamin A, which helps your cells and B vitamins.  Some other helpful trace elements are also found in Dodge’s creamy treat, including iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, and zinc.

image2Substituting cottage cheese for other proteins may help you lose weight.  Being a dairy product with calcium and vitamin D, cottage cheese may also reduce risk of breast cancer.

There are a few concerns, though, to keep in mind with cottage cheese, including the sodium and cholesterol content, if you are on a diet for high blood pressure.

Have you ever wondered where cottage cheese got its name?  You’re not alone; but answers aren’t that easy to come by.  According to some online sources, cottage cheese is thus named because, in times past, it was made in cottages using leftover milk.

It can be enjoyed on crackers, in a salad, or even with a pear half, like we have it here, every fifth Monday.

Sources: