By Barbara Schellenberg –
HEALTHY SNACKS AND WHY
School Snack Bars
(Makes 12 bars)
Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup rolled oats, blended to a coarse powder in food processor
1/2 cup raisins, finely chopped
3/4 cup coconut, shredded
1/2 cup dates, finely chopped
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
Method
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine the rolled oats, processed oats, coconut, raisins, dates, wheat germ, and salt. Then in a separate dish, whisk the egg and egg whites with a fork and add the maple syrup and vanilla. Pour the egg mixture over the oat mixture and combine well with a spoon.
Coat an 8×11 inch baking dish with butter or fat. Press the oat mixture firmly and evenly into the pan.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the edges of the granola patty become lightly browned. Allow to cool for five minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, cut the patty into twelve equal bars.
NUTRIENT DENSE MEAL
Sweet-Potato Chicken Pie
(Serves 6)
Ingredients
4 tablespoons chicken fat
1 large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, cubed
600g leftover roast chicken, shredded
2 cups organic frozen peas
2 cups organic frozen corn kernels
2 tablespoons flour or corn flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 organic bouillon cube
3 large or 6 medium sweet potatoes, boiled
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Sautée the onion and carrots in 2 tablespoons of chicken fat. Remove from heat and stir in the chicken, peas, and corn.
To make the gravy, melt 1 tablespoon chicken fat in a small saucepan and mix in the flour/corn flour. Slowly add the chicken broth, stirring constantly until thickened. Finally add the bouillon cube to season.
In a bowl mash the peeled, boiled sweet potatoes with 1 tablespoon chicken fat and a little salt to taste.
Assembly
Spread the chicken vegetable mixture into an 8×11 inch casserole dish. Pour the gravy evenly over top. Spread the sweet potato mash on top evenly and bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes.
Enjoy!
MYTHS UNVEILED
Organic, pasture-raised chicken is very expensive.
I recently set out to debunk this myth. I used two broiler chickens—one natural free range from the health food store and one fully grown, grass-fed, organic chicken from Pasture to Plate.
For the natural bird I paid $17.55 ($11.99/kg). For the P2P bird I paid $53.45 ($19.99/kg). From the natural bird I got 711g meat, 0g rendered fat, 416g bones (3cups gelatinous broth), 23% shrinkage, 50% meat yield.
From the P2P bird I got 1.464kg meat, 110g rendered fat, 515g bones (4cups gelatinous broth), 22% shrinkage, 70% meat yield.
How I Use a Pasture to Plate Chicken
Roast Chicken Dinner serves 6: ~600g roast chicken, with roasted potatoes and salad.
Hearty Chicken Vegetable Soup with leftovers serves 12: 4 cups gelatinous broth, ~400g chicken, lots of chopped vegetables using a little of the fat to sautée the vegetables before adding chicken and broth.
Chicken Rice Bowls serves 6: ~300g chicken added to sautéed vegetables in black bean sauce, steamed rice. I cook my rice first in a little chicken fat; then I add the less gelatinous second boiling of the bones, which is rich in minerals but not as flavourful.
Light Lunch Chicken Salad serves 4: ~200g chicken, dried cranberries, crumbled feta cheese, salad greens, shredded carrots, shredded beets, toasted pecans, and honey-citrus vinaigrette.
One Pasture to Plate chicken yields 28 servings for my family. That’s $1.90 per serving.
How I used the Natural Chicken
Roast Chicken Dinner serves 6: ~600g roast chicken, with roasted potatoes and salad.
Hearty Chicken Vegetable Soup serves 4: 3 cups gelatinous broth, ~100g chicken, lots of chopped vegetables. A much less meaty soup, but I used a bit more concentration of broth to enrich it a bit.
The natural chicken yielded 10 servings. That’s $1.75 per serving.
In the end, the high quality, organic, pastured chicken cost only $1.50/kg more than the natural bird from the health food store. That’s only 15 cents more a serving.
WALK THROUGH YOUR PANTRY:
GET RID OF: Processed oil like corn or canola oil.
REPLACE WITH: Learn to save and utilize all the beautiful natural fats rendered from your meat while cooking. Keep a little jar beside your stove and carefully scoop excess fat into it. I use this fat every day for cooking. Instead of buying frying oils I simply use the leftover rendered fats, which not only saves me money but makes sure we get all the good fats from the high-quality meats we buy.
For “Nourishing our Children” newsletters of the past visit www.thegreengazette.ca.
