Getting Creative With Wheat
Have fun in the kitchen with recipes from a registered dietitian
The following blog and recipes appeared on Life’s Simple Ingredient as part of a collaboration with Revive Wellness.
The best part of baking is making a mess! When I was younger, I loved baking with my grandmother. I would always find a way to get the flour all over me and she would laugh at the sight of me. Now, as a mother, I do that with my daughter. Every time we bake, I always manage to snap a photo of her with flour on her face and in her hair. It brings us both to giggles and creates beautiful memories.
Baking is a fun activity to enjoy with kids, especially on those cooler winter mornings. For adults, it helps reduce stress, allows you to get creative and enables you to utilize all the senses to make you feel happier. For kids, it’s a great way to boost their cognitive and fine motor skills. They learn things like counting, measuring, following instructions and using their hands to create something beautiful. Kids won’t even realize that they’re learning because they will be having fun! For picky eaters in the house, I highly recommend getting them involved in the recipe selection and grocery shopping and then having fun in the kitchen.
Family Favourite Recipes
One of our family favourites is pumpkin muffins. These homemade muffins bring together fall flavours and help to use up the extra pumpkin puree we make from our pumpkin carving. Adding pumpkin to these muffins increases the soluble fibre content, which aids digestion. Also, a fascinating fact is that one cup of pumpkin can provide over 100% of the recommended intake of Vitamin A for women and over 80% for men. My daughter takes her mixing job seriously and loves getting creative with add-ins like chocolate chips, raisins or pecans. Give them a try, and I’m sure your family will love them too.
With the days turning colder and shorter, another favourite is the Asian chicken and vegetable soup. A great way to get some extra veggies in this fall! With a variety of options are available, it can be difficult to tell what type of noodle is best.
The first place to look is the “nutrition facts” table and find the “% daily value” column. Anything 5% or less is considered to have “a little” of that nutrient, and 15% or more is considered to have “a lot.” This is a great reference to use when you are comparing two different items, especially for fibre (>15%) and sodium (<5%). The next important spot to look at is the ingredients list—not all food is created equal! Did you know that food can be listed as “multi-grain” without a lot of fibre? Look for keywords like 100% whole grain or whole grain flour that let you know you will get all the essential nutrients.
Enjoy!
Read more about Heather Reid here
Pumpkin Muffins Recipe
Get the full pumpkin muffins recipe here
Asian Chicken and Vegetable Soup Recipe
PREP 10M | COOK 30M | ENJOY IN 40M
Makes 12 servings (1 muffin per serving)
Ingredients
- 1 tsp canola oil
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1½ cups diced peeled carrots
- ½ cup diced celery
- 2 cups chopped baby bok choy
- 1½ cups diced yellow onion
- 2 cups chopped Napa cabbage (suey choy)
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
- ¼ cup thinly sliced green onions
- ¾ tsp chili flakes
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 cup chopped or shredded chicken (previously cooked)
- ¾ cup frozen shelled edamame beans
- 75 g whole grain noodles
Preparation
- Heat canola oil and sesame oil in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add carrots, celery and bok choy and cook, stirring, until starting to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Add onion, cabbage, garlic, ginger, green onions, chili flakes, soy sauce and broth and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add chicken, edamame beans and noodles. Cook until noodles and beans are tender, about 8 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutritional analysis per serving: 315 calories, 7g fat, 29g protein, 35g carbohydrate (29g available carbohydrate), 6g fibre, 697mg sodium
