Tag: whole grain

Brookline Winter Farmers Market

Yesterday, we drove to the Brookline Winter Farmers Market located in the Arcade building (318 Harvard Street).

It’s a small, but effective market. A little bit of everything you need. The vendors I noticed were two veggie farms, a hydroponic farm, a meat farm, a seafood vendor, plus bread, cupcakes and popovers.

The reason we went in the first place, was to meet Liz from Four Star Farms to purchase their fresh-ground wheat and barley flours. I haven’t used the flour yet, but I’m really happy that I found a local grain grower! It’s not something that a lot of farms grown in the New England area.

four star farms barley flour

The farm grows wheat, triticale, spelt, barley, buckwheat, and corn, and they sell as both whole and flour. I can envision white food buckets in our workroom filled with whole grains, ready to be freshly ground in my soon-to-come grain mill.

It was kind of a pain to drive from our area, but if we lived closer, I would absolutely go all the time. There is a public parking lot in back of the Arcade building with free Sunday parking (normally metered) and there is a Trader Joe’s within walking distance, among other shops.

Life is good!

Oatmeal/7 Grain Chia Raisin Walnut Muffins

oatmeal whole grain cereal chia raisin muffins

Oh these muffins were fantastic! Surprisingly, rolled oats work well in place of flour in muffins. I also used Bob’s Red Mill 7 Grain hot cereal, but plain oat bran would work fine. Hmm, I also might try 100% rolled oats next time!

Muffins made from cereal are a quick & easy way to eat a healthy breakfast, especially when you have someone that generally doesn’t like hot cereal!

Like most muffins, these freeze well!

Oatmeal/7 Grain Chia Raisin Walnut Muffins Ingredients:

Makes 12 muffins

1 cup dry Bob’s Red Mill 7 Grain Hot Cereal
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 oz chopped Walnuts
1/4 cup Chia Seeds (I used Bob’s Red Mill brand)
1 cup Yogurt, Plain, Whole Milk
1 large Egg
1/4 cup Molasses
1 Tbsp Honey, optionally dissolved in 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Olive Oil
84g Raisins (about 3/4 – 1 cup)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F
Whisk all dry ingredients (including nuts & chia seeds) in large bowl
Whisk wet ingredients in a large glass measuring cup
Mix wet into dry ingredients, then carefully mix in raisins
Divide into (12) paper-lined muffin pan(s)
Bake for about 18 minutes or until muffins are lightly browned & firm to touch
Remove from muffin pan(s) and allow to cool on rack
Enjoy!

oatmeal whole grain cereal chia raisin muffins

Nutritional Data

Calories: 214
Fat: 10g
Saturated: 1.6g
Poly-unsat: 1.8g
Mono-unsat: 3.8g
Cholesterol: 20mg
Sodium: 191mg
Potassium: 165mg
Carbs: 29g
Fiber: 4.7g
Sugar: 12g
Protein: 6g
Calcium: 12%
Iron: 8%

oatmeal whole grain cereal chia raisin muffins

Bob’s Red Mill Cereal Muffins with Peaches, Strawberries, & Raisins

I love making muffins using Bob’s Red Mill 7 Grain (or 10 grain) hot cereal. They’re similar to oat bran muffins, but so much better!

My husband enjoys eating muffins for an easy breakfast-on-the-go, and I always keep a batch in zip bags in the freezer for him. These muffins are especially great for those (like my DH) that do not like hot cereal! They make a great mid day snack too!

bob's red mill cereal muffins with peaches, strawberries and raisins

Here’s my recipe for muffins with peaches, strawberries and raisins:

Bob’s Red Mill 7 Grain Cereal Muffins with Peaches, Strawberries, & Raisins

Makes 18 muffins

Ingredients

  • 3 cups dry Bob’s Red Mill – 7 or 10 Grain Hot Cereal, or regular oat bran hot cereal
  • 1 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 3 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/4 cup sugar or sucanat
  • 2 cups unsweetened Almond Milk (or any liquid equalling 2 cups: plain yogurt with water, regular milk, coconut milk, etc)
  • 1 large egg (or extra-large, jumbo, whatever you have on hand, muffins are so forgiving!)
  • 1/2 cup honey, preferably raw
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, preferably organic
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp almond extract (optional)
  • 1 cup (not packed) raisins, preferably organic
  • fresh fruit: handful of strawberries, 2-3 peaches or nectarines, 3-4 plums, a cup of blueberries, etc.
  • Other optional ingredients like chopped nuts, seeds, etc.

Note: These muffins were sweet, so you can reduce the honey to 1/4 cup, which is what I will probably do next time I bake them.

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. In very large mixing bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients: cereal, salt, baking powder, sugar
  3. In large glass measuring cup, combine milk/water, eggs, honey, applesauce, and extracts
  4. Pour wet ingredients into dry, mix carefully, try not to overmix.
  5. Stir in fresh fruit
  6. Spoon into muffin tins lined with paper – I use my Good Grips Medium Cookie Scoop that I picked up from Amazon last year. It isn’t overly large, so I need to usually scoop twice, but it works really well without too much mess.
  7. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until tops are no longer soft and mushy to touch.

Mind you, I am NOT a baker, but I do like making muffins because they are so forgiving. I don’t have to measure quite as precise as other baked goods, like cakes and pies. I can throw a bunch of dry and wet ingredients together, and if the consistency is too dry, I add a touch more liquid.

bob's red mill cereal muffins with peaches, strawberries and raisins

Nutritional Data

1 muffin (from batch of 18)

Calories: 179
Total Fat: 1.7g
Cholesterol: 13.6mg
Sodium: 162mg
Potassium: 111mg
Carbs: 39g
Fiber: 4.8g
Sugar: 18g
Protein: 5g
Vit A: 2.7%
Vit C: 4.3%
Calcium: 7.4%
Iron: 7%

As I said, the sugars are on the high side. Reducing the honey to 1/4 cup, lowers the sugar to 14g. If you also reduce the raisins to 1/2 cup, the sugar is lowered to 12g. Start off reducing the sweeteners slowly, and your taste buds will get used to it.

Masa Harina Corn Jalepeno Muffins Recipe

masa harina corn jalepeno muffins

This recipe is slightly inspired from the Cornbread Muffins recipe found on page 124 in the Power Food Cookbook by Rachael Anne Hill and Tamsin Burnett-Hall. I used their recipe as a base, but put my own spin on the ingredients according to what I had on hand.

It’s all about adapting to your own pantry!

I didn’t have any milk (dairy or non-dairy) but I did have a carton of powdered buttermilk in the fridge, so I figured that would work. I also added 2 Tbsp of local raw honey and used less wheat flour, adding a mix of different corn flours, including masa harina, which I bought weeks ago to make tortillas (still on my list of things to do.)

The original recipe included chili peppers and corn! I still have a stock of frozen chile peppers from the summer CSA and there was a half bag of Trader Joe’s frozen organic corn. The original recipe called for 2 Tbsp of baking powder, and in my opinion, that is just way too much, so I cut it in half.

Masa Harina Corn Jalepeno Muffins Recipe

1 cup whole wheat flour (pastry if you have it)
3/4 cup stoneground cornmeal
1/4 cup corn flour
1/4 cup masa harina flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
5 Tbsp powdered buttermilk
couple of grinds of fresh ground pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 fresh chile pepper, deseeded, deveined & minced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1-1/3 cups water (or use milk and skip the powdered buttermilk above)
2 Tbsp honey (optional)
1 egg, beaten
4 Tbsp (1/4 cup) olive oil

  1. Whisk the powdered flours, baking powder, salt and powdered buttermilk in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Add black pepper, cumin, chile peppers, and corn, then mix to combine
  3. In large glass measuring cup, melt honey in about 1/2 cup of hot water and stir; once honey is completely dissolved, add the rest of the water to equal 1-1/3 cups liquid.
  4. Whisk in egg, and oil, then pour liquids into dry ingredients. Stir together until just mixed.
  5. Spoon into muffin tins, then bake in preheated 360F oven for 15-20 minutes until risen, firm, and lightly browned.
  6. Transfer muffins to cooling rack.

I thought these muffins were delicious. I loved the texture of the corn kernels, and the chile peppers didn’t add heat, but did add yummy flavor.

They were delicious for dinner, paired with a fried egg and sides of homemade cole slaw & cranberry sauce.

corn muffins with fried egg & coleslaw & apple cranberry sauce

October Unprocessed 2011 Some Considerations

october unprocessed 2011

I’ve been reading the Eating Rules blog trying to organize my pantry and fridge for the upcoming challenge to give up all processed foods for the month of October.

So here are a few of my challenges and concessions.

Chocolate

So many natural brands contain either soy lecithin, sugar or both. I’ve been working on finding an alternative. We enjoy a small bit of chocolate as a snack a few times a week, so I don’t want to spend a fortune on a $10 bar of chocolate that won’t last very long.

I found a homemade powerballs recipe on the 100 Days of Real Food web site and I just made a batch this afternoon. I pressed them into a square glass baking dish and they’re in the fridge now. I figure I can get 16 servings/pieces, and then we can add more nuts on top when we’re eating them.

We’ll see how it goes. If it’s not acceptable, I will cut back but will not compromise our chocolate needs. I will just find a brand that doesn’t use soy lecithin, and doesn’t cost a fortune, but we’ll have to make an exception for any added cane sugar.

Fruit jelly or jam

I’m a big fan of Crofters. It’s really low in sugar and the ingredients are organic. I buy the premium spreads which contain fruit as the first ingredient as opposed to their Just Fruit product which contains grape juice as the first ingredient. The problem is “sugar” as in processed white sugar isn’t allowed according to the “rules” and the “premium spread” jellies contain organic cane sugar. Since this brand is not inexpensive to buy, I don’t want to pay for fruit juice, so I will not be giving up my Crofters spread for October. Note: As I’ve been reading more and more comments over on the Eating Rules blog, I’m getting the feeling that some participants are a bit over the top. I’m don’t plan to be as strict & rigid, and that’s okay.

So Delicious Coconut Milk

I have an opened carton of the unsweetened milk in the fridge. It doesn’t pass the test for unprocessed because it contains guar gum and carrageenan, ingredients I wouldn’t expect to see in my own kitchen. Plus they enrich with vitamins and minerals. But since I opened the carton before I took the pledge, I will continue to use the coconut milk until it’s finished, and I won’t use it again until after October, if at all. I use So Delicious for baking and a tiny bit for my oatmeal, but I might consider a permanent switch to another kind of milk instead. Or maybe even a fresh non-homogenized dairy milk.

White Flour

I will still continue to use white flour – unbleached and un-enriched from King Arthur, but I will make a conscious effort to use more whole grain flours when baking bread, the way I used to when I first started baking. I’ve become a bit lax on that lately, adding up to half white flour. I’ll keep experimenting with barley, corn and rye flours as well as whole wheat. Oh and I’ll be also using vital wheat gluten.

Restaurants

I don’t think many of the big chain restaurants will qualify for unprocessed, even Chipotle Mexican Grill probably has something that breaks the rules by using sugar, soy, etc.

It was suggested on the blog to try local restaurants instead, but I’m not that sure they would be any better. Even if a restaurant boasts homemade food, how truly homemade is it. I’m sure there is some sort of processed ingredient, like soy sauce (not naturally made) or refined sugar.

So, I have to decide. Do I give myself one day a week to treat myself to a restaurant meal, as long as the meal is presumed to be fairly unprocessed? For instance, steamed chicken and veggies at the Asian restaurant or meat skewers & pork ribs at the Greek restaurant. Yes, I will add this to my list of concessions as well. One day a week, a healthy restaurant meal. NO chain restaurants.

Well I think that is all the issues I’ve encountered. I’m going to try to stick to the rules, but I refuse to spend a ton of extra money or waste food. Part of my challenge will be to stick to our budget!

October Unprocessed 2011 – NO Processed Food for One Month

I stumbled on the October Unprocessed 2011 over on the EatingRules.com blog and it seems like a good challenge to try.

For the most part, I don’t eat processed food, but yes, there are times when a few items sneak in…like a subway sub or some birthday cake from the grocery store.

His definition of “processed food”

Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with readily available, whole-food ingredients.

I call it “The Kitchen Test.” If you pick up something with a label (and if it doesn’t have a label, it’s probably unprocessed), and find an ingredient you’d never use in your kitchen and couldn’t possibly make yourself from the whole form, it’s processed.

It doesn’t mean you actually have to make it yourself, it just means that for it to be considered “unprocessed” that you could, in theory, do so.

There is a discussion from last year

It would be a good challenge, now that summer is winding down. No more vacations to temp me with sugary fatty treats. I signed up! Whoo hooo!

Whole Wheat Bread is Full of Sugar!

No wonder people on “diets” give up bread! Commercial whole wheat bread is loaded with refined sugar!

I only baked two very small loaves of bread for our vacation, so I figured I’d pick up a loaf if needed at the local store while we were away.

Stopping at a little local grocery/convenience store, I found many whole grain bread choices, but wow, was it shocking to read labels. They are full of sugar! I ended up with a loaf of Nature’s Pride “Healthy Multi Grain” bread. One slice was 4 grams of sugar! So, for a normal sandwich, that’s 8 grams of sugar! No wonder Americans are so obese! Sugar is hiding in supposedly healthy foods! The fiber grams for one slice is 3g, funny the sugar outweighs the fiber and it’s whole grain! Pretty sad!

I’m so glad that I don’t mind baking my own bread, where I can control my own ingredients and indeed make something worthy of the description “healthy” – by the way, an equal serving of my homemade baked bread is 2 grams of sugar, and I could probably even reduce it or even remove sugar altogether if I really wanted.

Pondering Toast vs Bread Calories

A few weeks ago, I was wondering if my toast had less calories than bread. I googled, and duh, of course the calories are the same, they are just calculated differently.

For instance, before toasting, my serving of bread was 2.5 oz, after it’s turned to toast, the weight was reduced to 1.6 oz – no, the calories didn’t disappear, but moisture inside the bread did, taking away a good chunk of its weight.

That is a whole ounce difference, which could lead to overeating if you’re not careful to weigh your bread BEFORE toasting it. If you have to weigh bread after toasting, then you would need to calculate the calories as toast NOT bread.

I love toast, it makes day-old bread taste amazing – just make sure not to burn it!

toasted bread

other links of interest:

Recipe: Homemade Low Sugar Granola with Oats, Pecans, & Coconut

homemade granola-low sugar

I made a batch of homemade lower sugar granola for my dad for Father’s Day, based on a recipe I found for “Sugar Free Granola” on allRecipes.com – it’s not necessarily “sugar free” but her recipe contains no added refined sugars. The granola did get sweetness from dates and apple juice. I do not drink juice anymore, so I decided to improvise and substitute 1 Tbsp agave nectar.

So, anyway, it was delicious, and I’ve been wanting to make a batch for us, so this afternoon, I did! I am looking forward to adding it to plain yogurt!

Keep in mind, this granola is not very sweet at all. (see below for approximate nutritional data) If you are used to highly sweetened foods, then it might not be for you! LOL.

Ingredients for Homemade Lower Sugar Granola with Oats, Pecans, Coconut

1 cup chopped pitted dates (about 20 deglet dates) – 150 grams
1 cup water
1/4 cup coconut butter – I use the Artisana brand
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar
1 tsp almond extract (optional)
1-1/2 cups rolled oats – 150 grams
1/2 cup shredded coconut – 50 grams
3/4 (approx) cup chopped pecans – 100 grams
1/2 cup ground flax seed – 50 grams – I use Bob’s Red Mill Flaxseed Meal
1/2 cup sunflower seeds – 75 grams
1 tsp cinnamon

Recipe Notes:

  • if you do not have coconut butter, you might follow the original recipe and add the 1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice, or you can also add oil. A nut oil or fruity olive oil would be nice.
  • When I made it for my dad, I also added raisins and unsweetened dried cherries. I left them out of this version, but they can easily be added after the granola cools. It’s probably not a great idea to include them before baking, as they can dry out and harden.

Recipe Instructions

  1. Preheat oven for 350F
  2. In small saucepan, over medium-low heat, combine the dates and water, and cook until they become pasty and thick, about 5 minutes. Make sure to stir often so they don’t burn. If the dates get too hot, lower the heat.
  3. Once the mixture is just finished, stir in the coconut butter and agave nectar. Keep on very low heat (or turn off the stove) and stir until well melted and blended.
  4. Then add the tsp of almond extract (optional) to the date mixture
  5. While dates are cooking, mix up the rest of the dry ingredients in a large bowl
  6. Spread the oat nut mixture onto a large baking sheet and bake for about 7-10 minutes or until lightly toasted.
  7. Once toasted, pour the oat nut mixture back into the large bowl and gently blend in the date glaze. Mix until it’s well combined. If there are dry patches, add a teenie bit of water.
  8. Return the granola back to the baking pan and bake for another 20 minutes or so. Make sure to keep turning/stirring the granola so it browns evenly, and watch it closely so it doesn’t burn.
  9. Remove from oven and allow the pan to cool on a rack. Stir occasionally to cool. Once cooled, the granola will harden slightly.
  10. Store in airtight container. I am not sure if this granola with it’s lower sugar content will keep as long as conventional granola, so if long term storage is needed, then freezing might be a better option.

ENJOY!

Nutritional Data

Based on 23 servings of 1 oz each – approx 1/3 cup

1 oz of homemade granola-low sugar

(Use the nutritional data as a guide; the info is not absolute, your results might vary considerably depending on the total weight of the finished product)

Calories: 136
Total Fat: 9g
Saturated: 3g (from healthy coconut fat)
Polyunsaturated: 1.6g
Monounsaturated: 2g
Trans: 0
Cholesterol: 0
Sodium: 1.6mg
Potassium: 12.4mg
Carbs: 12.4g
Fiber: 3.3g
Sugar: 5.5g
Protein: 3g
Vit A: 0
Vit C: 0
Calcium: 1.7%
Iron: 5.3%

1 oz of homemade granola-low sugar

Barilla Plus Pasta – Review

Tonight I made a delicious (and healthy) pasta sauce with tomatoes, along with some chopped tatsoi and garlic scapes from the CSA share this week. I usually make higher quality Italian white pasta, even though it’s made with white flour, I find that since we only eat pasta once or twice a week, it’s worth it to eat the “good stuff”!

But tonight, I was filling my salt bowl from the kosher salt box and noticed the almost empty box of Barilla Plus farfalle that’s been sitting in the cupboard for months (probably almost a year). I told myself okay, just cook up what’s left in the box, so I could finally be done with it!

Barilla Plus Pasta review

Yep, so I cooked it (al dente) and I tasted a test piece. At first bite, I thought, okay, maybe not as bad as I thought, but then I immediately changed my mind! The texture is horrible! It’s got a tiny bit of waxy coating of some sort, and it breaks apart easily with a texture of cooked beans. No toothsome-ness like my favorite Dececco pasta!

Barilla Plus Ingredients:
Semolina, grain and legume flour blend, [grains and legumes (lentils, chickpeas, flaxseed, spelt, barley, oats), egg whites, oat fiber], durum flour, niacin, iron (ferrous sulfate), thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid.

As you can see, there’s nutritious high fiber ingredients, but when I want to eat beans and grains, I’ll cook them myself. I suppose this type of pasta can be helpful to families that do not get enough daily fiber, and may be an easy way to sneak beans and grains into fussy childrens’ diets.

I’ve tasted so many different types of pastas: quinoa pasta, corn pasta, whole wheat pasta (which isn’t that bad once in awhile), and brown rice pasta. None of them come close to the taste and texture of high quality white semolina pasta!

Yes, white flour is not the most healthy choice, but ya know what, I’m not eating it every day, and when I want pasta, it’s got to be a delicious treat! It’s got to be worth the calories!

Besides Dececco, I’ve actually had good luck with the Whole Foods 365 brand as well, but Dececco is definitely my favorite! And I’ll never buy Barilla Plus again! Glad that box is finally gone. I should have just dumped it in the trash instead of wasting calories and taste buds! LOL