Food For Thought Nutrition

When it comes to eating different coloured fruits and veggies, people often forget about the white ones.  Apples, parsnips, onions and mushrooms all contain a variety of nutrients that are good for you and should be part of your diet.  In this spirit, I decided to post a delicious breakfast recipe focused on white food.

This cooks in the slow cooker.  If you have a timer on your slow cooker, you can set it the night before and wake up to delicious, steamy oatmeal.  If you don’t have a timer (I don’t), you can cook it ahead of time and just reheat it in the morning.  It was so good and nice to have a hot breakfast ready in a couple of minutes rather than the 10-15 minutes it usually takes for my buckwheat cereal to cook.

The recipe serves 4.  Each serving contains 300 calories with 8 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber.

Recipe for Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

In a slow cooker, put 1 cup of steel cut oats with 4 cups of water, 1 cup of dried apples, 2 grated fresh apples (not peeled), 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of salt.  Turn on low and cook for 4 hours.

Kids’ Verdict

They were horrified by the addition of fruit and spices to their beloved oatmeal.  They prefer it plain with maple syrup.

The carrot soup I often make has a splash of cream in it.  I wanted to replicate the creaminess of that soup but have a dairy-free option since my son can’t have dairy now.  I thought coconut milk would be a good choice and it was!  The soup was warm and creamy.  I think it would be even better with some fresh ginger but I only had ground at the time.  Fresh coriander would be lovely on it as a garnish as well.

The soup made 8 servings.  Each serving has 150 calories and 4 grams of fibre.  It is a great source of Vitamin A and a source of calcium, Vitamin C and iron.

Recipe for Carrot Coconut Soup

In a large pot, place 2 lbs of chopped carrots, 2 diced onions, 8 cups veggie stock, 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp ground ginger and 1 tsp ground coriander.  Bring to a boil.  Once it has boiled, turn down the heat and simmer until the carrots are tender.  Puree until smooth and add 400 ml of coconut milk (1 can).  Serve.

Kids’ Verdict

They love carrot soup and this was no exception.

This is one of my favourite salads.  I’m very lazy when it comes to salad making but this one is extremely easy with zero chopping involved.  I eat this a lot in the summer because we grow a ton of lettuce in our front garden.  I thought it was an appropriate choice for St. Patrick’s Day with it’s beautiful green colour.  The recipe originally came from my friend Fiona but I’m not sure where she got it from.

This salad serves four people.  Each serving contains 110 kcal with tons of vitamins and minerals.  It meets your omega-3 needs for the day, thanks to the walnut oil.

Recipe for Green Salad with Walnut Vinaigrette

Wash 4 cups of baby spinach and 1 head of butter lettuce.  Dry and place in large bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk 1 clove of minced garlic with 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard and a pinch of sea salt.  Add 1 tbs of balsamic vinegar and 3 tbs of walnut oil.  Pour over greens and toss until they are well-covered.  Serve immediately.

Kids’ Verdict

The oldest one loves this salad.  The younger two aren’t really into lettuce or spinach just yet.  I think they will like it more this summer when they are picking the greens from the garden themselves.

I really like black bean soup but I haven’t made one in ages.  I decided to experiment with making one in the slow cooker.  My slow cooker is very old and doesn’t have a timer.  Lately I’ve been having problems with food being overcooked but that’s luckily not a problem with a soup that you are going to puree.  This is a very easy soup to make but it’s not quick because I started with dried beans.  You can substitute canned beans and cook it in a pot on the stove if you want it in a hurry.  I tried a new technique of “blooming” the onion and garlic in the microwave for a couple of minutes instead of frying them up in a skillet.

This was probably the best black bean soup I’ve ever had.  I may have rhapsodized about it all evening.  I was so pleased with how it turned out.  The flavour was really rich and it had a subtle hint of spice to it.  I used canned whole jalapenos but you could use the canned jalapenos that are minced.  They tend to be milder.  I topped it with some diced avocado and a dollop of sour cream and served it with some cornbread on the side.

This soup is a great source of antioxidants.  The recipe makes 8 servings.  It contains 230 calories per serving with 14 grams of protein and 16 grams of fiber per serving.  That is almost half of all the fiber an adult needs in a day (30-35 grams per day is recommended).  It is a great source of phosphorus and potassium.

Recipe for Black Bean Soup

In a large bowl, place 3 cups of dried beans.  Add at least 6 cups of water and set aside to soak for 12 hours.  If you prefer, you can do the quick soak method of bringing the beans and water to a boil for 2 minutes and then letting them soak for an hour after that.  To substitute canned beans, replace the dried beans with 4 cans of drained, rinsed canned beans.

Once the beans are soaked, place them in a slow cooker along with 8 cups of chicken or vegetable broth.  I used some homemade chicken stock that I had in the freezer but canned broth would work just as well.  If you use commercially prepared broth, try to chose the lower sodium kind.

Dice 1 medium onion and mince 1 clove of garlic.  I put them in a bowl along with 1/4 tsp of ground cumin and 1/2 tsp dried oregano and microwaved them for 2 minutes to soften the onion.  You could also saute them in a skillet instead.  Once the onion is soft, add the onion mixture to the slow cooker along with a can of jalapenos.  Turn the slow cooker on low and cook for 10-12 hours until the beans are soft.  Puree the soup and serve.  I use a hand blender and just puree it right in the slow cooker for ease.

Kids’ Verdict

The girls tried it but felt it was too spicy.  The boy was not interested.

I’ve been hearing about these brownies for a while and decided to finally give them a shot.  They have the added bonus of being dairy-free so my son could eat them as well.  Black beans are a great source of antioxidants.  They do a nice job of contributing fiber and iron to something that would normally be fairly low in nutrients.   I found the recipe on Alida’s Kitchen.

They were fantastic.  Very intense chocolate flavour and a gorgeous tender texture.  It’s best to let them cool completely before cutting as they are a bit crumbly when warm.  Once they were cool, they held together beautifully.  I might try icing them next time but we ate them without this time.

I cut them into 9 pieces.  Each piece contains 200 kcal, 5 g of protein, 3.5 g of fiber and 1.7 mg of iron.   They are a good source of a number of vitamins and minerals.

Recipe for Black Bean Brownies

Preheat oven until 350 F.

Drain and rinse a can of black beans.  In a blender or food processor, process the beans until they are smooth.  Add 3 eggs, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 3 tbs of canola oil, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp of vanilla and 2/3 cup of brown sugar.  Process until smooth.  Pour into an 8 x 8 square pan and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.  Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Kids’ Verdict

These were a huge success.  I had planned to bring one to a coworker to try but, between my kids and my husband, they were all gone.

I had some pumpkin in my freezer to use up.  I made a batch of pumpkin peanut soup with it and then used the rest to make these muffins.  They turned out much better than I expected since I was experimenting with making them dairy-free as well as gluten-free.

They are lovely and tender and hold together beautifully.  They are going to be a great school snack because they are very filling but easy to eat.  Each muffin contains 200 calories with 3 g of protein and 2 g of fiber.  They are a good source of Vitamin A.  They contain about 50% of your omega-3 needs (100% of a child’s needs) per muffin.

Recipe for Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare 18 muffin cups.

In a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup of hemp milk with 1.5 cups of pumpkin puree and 2 tsp vanilla.

In a larger bowl, whisk together 2 cups of GF all-purpose flour (or regular if you don’t need GF) with 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp all-spice and 1/4 tsp ground cloves.

With an electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup of coconut oil with 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup brown sugar.  Add 3 eggs, beating after each addition.  Alternate between adding the pumpkin mixture and the flour mixture with 2 additions each.  Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes.

Kids’ Verdict

These were a huge hit.  The one year old kept snatching muffins from his sisters and then running away with them.

I got the original recipe for this from Gluten-Free Girl and only tweaked it slightly.  She claimed it was delicious and refreshing.  I was skeptical but am usually game to try anything once.  I made it with one small change and it was amazing.  So cool and light while still being filling enough for my lunch.  A definite keeper.  I offered to make one for my husband for breakfast this morning but he was not interested in the melding of cucumber and avocado at 6 am. Maybe another day.

My pictures of it did not really turn out but it is extremely nice to look it.  The recipe serves one and each serving contains 375 calories, 10 g of protein, 12 g of fiber, tons of omega 3 fats and a variety of vitamins and minerals including 300 mg of calcium.

Recipe for Avocado Cucumber Smoothie

In a blender, place 1/2 an English cucumber, 1/2 an avocado, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 tbs chia seeds, 1 tbs honey and 5 chunks of frozen mango.  Blend until smooth.  It thickens up if you let it sit for a few minutes before drinking it.  If you like a thinner smoothie, add some milk or water.

Kids’ Verdict

Only the five year old tried it.  She said “It’s good!  It tastes just like cucumber.” She would definitely drink it again.

This is from a new cookbook that I received for Christmas called Fast Flavours.  I’m looking forward to posting a few recipes from it over the next few weeks.

This was very quick and easy to make and is a lovely salad to have in the winter.  I love salads but I find the cold weather makes them less appealing.  We had this with steak but it would be better with a sweeter main dish like a molasses-glazed salmon (another recipe in the cookbook).  The salad is a touch sharp so a sweeter main course would help to balance that out.

The recipe makes four servings.  Each serving has 200 calories, 9 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber and is a good source of a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Recipe for Warm Mushroom and Spinach Salad

Heat a cast iron or non stick skillet over high high.  Add 1/2 cup of slivered almonds and toss until browned.  Remove from skillet and set aside.

Wash and dry 5 ounces of baby spinach and place in a large bowl.  Slice 4 green onions and 1/4 cup cilantro and add to spinach.

Whisk together 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar, 1 tbs of soy sauce, 2 tbs of grated fresh ginger and 2 tsp of sesame oil.  Remove 2 tbs of the dressing and set aside.  Put the remainder of the dressing in a large saucepan.

Slice 1 lbs of mixed mushrooms.  Add to the large saucepan and cook over medium heat until tender.

Add the mushrooms, their cooking liquid, the slivered almonds and the reserved dressing to the bowl with the spinach.  Toss until the spinach is well-coated with dressing.  Serve immediately.

Kids’ Verdict

The one year old liked it.  The three year old liked the mushrooms.  The five year old was not interested.

This is a combination of a few different recipes.  I wanted something that had a nice texture while still being gluten-free and dairy-free.  These pancakes were fantastic.  They were lovely and fluffy with a delicate flavour.  The only change I will make next time is to double the recipe.  The kids ate so many that there were none left for my husband.  This recipe made 8 pancakes.

Recipe for Delicious Dairy-Free Pancakes

Preheat a griddle or two frying pans with some canola oil.

In a large measuring cup, whisk together 1 egg with 1.5 cups of non-dairy beverage (I used Hemp Bliss) and 2 tbs of canola oil.  In a large bowl, whisk together 1.5 cups of GF all-purpose flour (or regular) with 1 tbs of baking powder, 1/2 tsp of salt, 2 tbs ground flax seed and 1 tbs chia seeds.  Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until the batter is smooth with only tiny lumps remaining.

Cook about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake in the hot frying pans.  Serve immediately.

Kids’ Verdict

These were enormously successful.  The older two ate 2 each and the one year old had three pancakes.

I made these a couple of weeks ago when I was looking to bake something with my daughter.  I wanted something GF so I could eat and it had to be dairy-free so my son could eat it.  In doing some reading, I had come across a lot of people recommending using coconut oil instead of butter in baking.  My lovely friend Lisa gave me some coconut oil that she wasn’t using so I could experiment.

These were great!  They smelled amazing while baking (if you like the smell of coconut which I do).  The shortbread base is very crisp rather than a traditional tender shortbread.  I loved the creamy lemon topping with the crisp coconutty bottom.  So good.  Make sure you use fresh-squeezed lemon juice.  They aren’t as good with the bottled stuff.

Recipe for Coconut Lemon Squares

Line a 9″x13″ pan with parchment paper, using enough that it goes up the sides of the pan.  Preheat the oven to 325 F.

In a bowl, beat 3/4 cup coconut oil with 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 tsp salt until fluffy.  Add 2 cups flour, 1 cup at a time and beat well between each addition.  Pour mixture into pan and press down with hands so that it is evenly distributed in the pan.  Bake for 35 minutes or until golden.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

To make the topping, beat 4 eggs with 1.5 cups granulated sugar until pale and thickened.  Add 2 tbs grated lemon rind and 1/2 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice along with 1/4 cup GF all-purpose flour and 1 tsp baking powder.  Beat well and pour over cooled base.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until topping is set in the middle.  Let cool in pan on rack and then lift out using the parchment paper.  Cut into squares.

Kids’ Verdict

A huge hit.  I actually only got one because they and their friends ate the rest.