Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee tells Fox News Digital why she supports the Make America Healthy Again movement and shares healthy cooking tips and a favorite recipe.
As the Make America Healthy Again movement gains new supporters every day, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said she’s always been on board to make Americans healthier.
Sen. Blackburn told Fox News Digital in an interview, “I have long said you are what you eat,” she told Fox News Digital. (See the video at the top of this article.)
“That is something I’ve done with my children and grandchildren — making certain that they’re not eating processed or ultraprocessed foods, that snacks are fresh, that we’re eating fruits and vegetables,” said Sen. Blackburn.
Blackburn said she hopes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., newly confirmed as President Donald Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services, will first look at the FDA and the approval process on food — and then look at how benefits are used.
“We want to make certain that everyone has healthy food,” said Blackburn.
“The other thing is, when you have pharmaceuticals, you want to make certain that they have gone through the proper testing. And this is something that people paid a lot of attention to following the COVID vaccine and the issues that arose there.”
Blackburn said she appreciates RFK Jr.’s focus on preventative care to help keep Americans healthy.
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“I very much appreciate that he is looking at wellness and health and looking at health care as opposed to only focusing on sick care,” said the senator.
“There is so much that we can do on the preventive side. I would hope that we will explore more of those options for the American people.”
A passionate cook and baker, Blackburn said that making food at home yields healthier results.
“I believe that by cooking from scratch and making certain that you have healthy ingredients, you’re going to have that better outcome.”
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She is a big supporter of buying produce from farmers’ markets and grows a herb garden with her family, she said.
“I like to get fresh produce during the summer and then put it in the freezer so that I’m able to use it in cooking all year long,” she said.
She also tries to make recipes healthier, and one of her husband’s favorite dishes is apple pie.
“By getting in the kitchen and experimenting a little bit, looking at the ingredients, it’s like doing a science project, and it helps you to make certain that while you’ve got that piece of pie, it’s not going to be a high-calorie piece of pie.”
Blackburn shared her sugar-free apple pie recipe with Fox News Digital.
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“It is going to be something that is lower in calories and more nutritional because you’re using fresh apples, and you’re cooking them, and you’re not using a refined sugar product in that pie and in that recipe,” she said.
She also shared that although cooking and baking may take a bit more time, the more a person practices the better he or she can get — and preparation is key.
“One of the things that I did early on was learn how to make mixes so that I would take some of that time. You get in a rush, you’re trying to get out the door in the morning, or you’re coming in the afternoon, and you’re trying to get dinner on the table.”
“When you make your own mixes, you don’t have the preservatives that are in those mixes. If you were to buy a mix on the shelf so you know that you’re getting a product that is going to be better for you, you don’t have sugar in it because you don’t have those preservatives that are in it,” she said.
Blackburn makes mixes for muffins and corn bread and stores them in a big gallon glass jug — preserving them for a longer time.
“My little granddaughter loves blueberry muffins. We do a good bit of making blueberry muffins,” she said.
“And when it’s birthday time, we make those cakes — and we get in the kitchen and we spend time together making the cake and decorating it.”
Pie crust
9 green apples
1 can frozen apple juice concentrate
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Cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup cornstarch
1 cup cold water
butter
1. Grease a pie pan and insert the bottom half of the pie pastry. Press it down to ensure there is no air underneath.
2. Chop 9 green apples into large chunks and put into a pan on the stove over medium heat.
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3. Add 1 can of frozen apple juice concentrate (“make sure it’s 100% juice,” she says). Mix ¼ cup of cornstarch and 1 cup of cold water and slowly add it to the apples. Add 2 tabs of butter, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and cinnamon to taste. Stir and combine. Cover and bring to a boil.
4. Pour the apple mixture into the pie crust and cover with top of pie pastry, making sure to seal and pinch the edge of the pie.
5. Put pie in 400°F oven until golden brown.
Serve hot with ice cream or whipped cream.
This recipe by Sen. Marsha Blackburn was shared with Fox News Digital.