I have been researching at the University of Saskatchewan, so I have been attempting to snack on relatively healthy foods such as homemade granola bars, instead of being tempted to buy chocolate bars and chips from the vending machines. So far, so good.
One of the drinks I’ve been consuming, besides herbal tea, is Snowman soup. I received the ingredients and recipe in a mug for Christmas from BettyAnn last year, and have been enjoying it ever since.
It would be a tasty beverage for anyone who has been working out in the cold, playing out in the snow or curled up on the couch reading a book.
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Snowman soup
1 package hot chocolate mix
3 Hershey’s kisses
10 miniature marshmallows
1 peppermint candy cane
Add the chocolate to a cup of hot water, then drop in the next three ingredients, and wait a minute or two for them to melt into the hot chocolate. Along with the gift, came this verse:
Was told you’ve been real good this year
Always glad to hear it
With freezing weather drawing near
You’ll need to warm the spirit.
So here’s a little snowman soup
Complete with stirring stick
Add hot water, sip it slow
It’s sure to do the trick.
For a really sweet treat in small squares, I made these from a recipe submitted by Maria Upton from Oshawa, Ont., in our Kinette cookbook from 25 or 30 years ago. They are too sweet for some.
Sweet Marie bars
1 cup white sugar 250 mL
1 cup corn syrup 250 mL
1 cup peanut butter 250 mL
6 cups Rice Krispies 1.5 L
Combine sugar and syrup in a large saucepan. Cook over moderate heat, stirring until mixture starts to bubble. Remove from heat, add peanut butter and cereal. Press into a greased 9 x 13 inch (22 x 33cm) pan.
Topping:
6 oz. chocolate chips 170 g
6 oz. butterscotch chips 170 g
Combine both and melt in double boiler. Spread over cereal in pan. Cool. Cut in squares.
Instead of the above topping, I chose to melt a square of unsweetened chocolate and drizzle it over the slice.
Cooking pulses
Dear TEAM: My daughter-in-law wants to cook with pulses. Where can she find recipes to help her get started cooking these? – B.G., Rosetown, Sask.
Dear B.G.: I always like to wander around collecting recipes at Crop Production Week in Saskatoon, which has just passed. The first place that comes to mind is the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers booth.
It also has a website at www.saskpulse.com. Click on “Cooking with Pulses” and you can download recipes from wraps and rolls to salads. If you are not on-line, phone Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, 306-668-5556 or fax 306-668-5557, drop in or write to 104 – 411 Downey Road, Saskatoon, Sask. S7N 4L8 or e-mail pulse@saskpulse.com.
Two of the most popular cookbooks I use are:
- Discover the Pulse Potential, published in 1994, is the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers’ second cookbook featuring more than 100 imaginative, flavourful recipes, allowing you to explore the world of Canadian pulses. It recognizes the individuality of consumers and satisfies the needs of health conscious consumers by providing a nutrient analysis of each recipe. It addresses special dietary concerns such as diabetes and celiac disease and provides information on pulse varieties and how to cook them.
Discover the Pulse Potential introduces international tastes through a worldwide collection of recipes from appetizers and salads to soups and desserts.
- The Amazing Legume: Cooking with Lentils, Dry Beans and Dry Peas, now in its eighth printing, was first published in Canada by the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers’ Association in 1984. Written by Alice Jenner, internationally recognized cookbook author and nutritionist, the book offers recipes with a remarkable combination of flavour, appearance, economy and nutrition.
The recipes are designed to be used by vegetarians and non-vegetarians, and as family and company fare.
Discover the Pulse Potential cookbook is available for $12.95 plus $3 shipping and seven percent GST. The Amazing Legume cookbook is available for $11.95 plus $3 shipping and seven percent GST.
For more information, please call Food Focus, Saskatoon, Sask., 306-652-2691.
One of the features I like about The Amazing Legume cookbook is the section on crowd-sized dishes for feeding large groups at family and community events. During this season, you may be called upon to take a large pot of soup to the curling rink, hockey rink or other venue. This lentil and ham soup is a change from many of the traditional soups. You may even have to cut this recipe in half, and freeze half for another time.
Lentil and ham soup
3 pounds pork shoulder, 1.5 kg
cured, baked
3 pounds lentils 1.5 kg 11/2 pounds potatoes, diced 750 g 11/2 pounds carrots, sliced 750 g
2 cups celery, chopped 500 mL
2 cups onions, chopped 500 mL
1 can (48 oz.) tomatoes, 1.5 L
chopped, drained
3 cloves of garlic
4 bay leaves
1 teaspoon oregano 5 mL
2 teaspoons basil 10 mL
salt to taste
3 gallons soup stock 12 L
mozzarella cheese to top soup
Bake pork shoulder. Remove meat and cube to add to soup later. Use ham bone, juice and stock to make three gallons (12 L). Add all ingredients except meat.
Simmer 40-50 minutes. Add cubed meat. Skim fat, adjust seasoning. Serve topped with mozzarella cheese. Thin with vegetable stock or water.
Yields 50 servings.
We enjoyed this soup at our TEAM Resources meeting the other day.
Lentil wiener soup
2 pounds green lentils, 1 kg
washed
3 gallons soup stock 12 L
6 medium potatoes, diced
6 medium carrots, thinly sliced 1 pound onion, sliced, 500 g
sautéed
10 wieners, thinly sliced
5 bay leaves
salt and pepper, to taste
Simmer all ingredients in a large soup kettle until lentils and vegetables are tender. Taste, adjust seasonings and consistency.
Yields 50 servings.
Adding flax
I also like to incorporate flax into myrecipes. A source for flax recipes is theSaskatchewan Flax Development Commission, A5A-116-103rd St. East, Saskatoon, Sask., S7N 1Y7, 306-664-1901,fax 306-664-4404, e-mail saskflax@saskflax.com or visit the website at www.saskflax.com.
I recently contacted it and received flax samples, brochures and booklets, which include recipes for salads, main dishes and desserts from all over the world.
Flax has protein, is rich in dietary fibre and lignans, and plentiful in vitamins and minerals and essential fatty acids, particularly alpha-linolenic acid.
Substitute flax for fat in your recipes using three tablespoons (45 mL) ground flaxseed for each tablespoon (15 mL) of margarine, butter or cooking oil.
Flax can be substituted for all or some of the fat, depending on the recipe. Note that baking with flax as the fat substitute will cause baked goods to brown more quickly.
Substitute a ground flaxseed-water mixture for eggs in recipes such as pancakes, muffins and cookies. For each egg, use one tablespoon (15 mL) ground flaxseed plus three tablespoons (45 mL) water.
Let sit for several minutes. Note that this will result in a chewier version of the recipe, with less volume.
We grew up eating hot cereal in the morning – oatmeal porridge, cream of wheat and Sunny Boy cereal. Now we eat the same in the morning, substituting Red River cereal for Sunny Boy.
The following recipe from the Flax World Class Recipes booklet suits our palates.
Flax porridge
3 cups water 750 mL
1/2 teaspoon salt 2 mL
11/2 cups quick cooking oats 375 mL
1/3 cup chopped dried apple 75 mL
or raisins
1/4 cup pure maple syrup 50 mL
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 mL
1/4 cup sliced natural almonds 50 mL
or chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons whole flaxseed 30 mL
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed 30 mL
In a medium saucepan, bring water and salt to a rolling boil.
Add oats, apple or raisins, maple syrup and cinnamon. Stir.
Cook three to five minutes over medium to medium low heat, stirring occasionally.
Stir in almonds and flax. Cover, remove from heat, and let sit two minutes.
Serve with warm milk. Drizzle with extra maple syrup, if desired.
Yields five servings of 3/4 cup (175 mL) each.
Barbara Sanderson is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or contact them at team@producer.com.
