Flax seed pancakes your kids will love!

I love brunch – especially pancakes at brunch! These pancakes will fill you up and they are delicious and healthy too! They have key ingredients that are really good for your eyes which is what makes them an eye Food! The secret ingredient that transforms them into an eye food is the ground flax seed. Flax seed has 4 key eye nutrients.

The first is Omega – 3 fatty acids (ALA form). The omega -3 – fatty acids are especially beneficial for people with dry eye. Dry eye is an inflammatory chronic condition and omega -3 fatty acids are amazing at reducing inflammation and have been shown to reduce dry eye symptoms.

Flax seed also has Vitamin E, an antioxidant and Zinc, an important mineral. Antioxidants and Zinc have both been shown to prevent macular degeneration. Vitamin E has been shown to protect against cancer and heart disease, while zinc is important in keeping your immune system healthy.

The 4th healthy component is the fiber! Fiber helps make you feel full and keeps you going. It decreases the glycemic index of food and diets with lower glycemic loads have been shown to decrease your risk of macular degeneration. Grinding flax seeds into flour breaks down the outer layer of the seed and makes it easier for our bodies to absorb the good stuff on the inside.

Adding blueberries to the pancake batter makes them tastier and also adds an extra antioxidant boost!

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

0.5 cup ground flax seed

1 table spoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1.5 cups milk

2 eggs

1 cup fresh or thawed frozen blueberries

Directions:

Mix together in a large bowl the flour, ground flax seed, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the milk and eggs. Once well combined gently stir in the blueberries.

Heat a well-oiled pan or griddle. Scoop about ¼ cup of batter onto pan for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides. Serve hot with maple syrup and for Dr. Freiburger’s favorite way – spread with peanut butter and maple syrup! Yumm!

Makes 8-10 Peppers

Ingredients

8-10 orange peppers

2 tbsp canola or olive oil

1 package ground turkey or extra lean ground beef (500g)

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

½ onion, chopped

100 g frozen chopped spinach

(8 nuggets) (1/2 cup)

2-3 cloves garlic

2 tsp Italian seasoning

2 tsp sage

2 cups cooked barley (just over ½ cup raw barley)

2 omega-3 eggs

1 litre tomato sauce

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Barley
1) Bring 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add barley.

2) Bring water back to a boil, partially cover and simmer on low for 30-40 minutes or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat.

Stuffing
1) Brown ground turkey or beef in a large sauté or saucepan in 2 tbsp olive or canola oil. Drain off excess fat.

2) Add onion, garlic, carrots and celery. Cook for another 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

3) Add frozen spinach and seasonings. Cook until spinach has softened.

4) Stir in cooked barley and remove from heat. Let cool.

5) Add 2 eggs and mix well.

Assembly
1) Remove tops and seeds from peppers.

2) Mix tomato sauce and chicken stock in the bottom of a casserole dish

3) Fill each pepper with stuffing and add to the casserole dish.

4) Cover with foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for approximately 1 hour.

Note: This recipe will produce peppers with a firm texture. Alternatively, pre-cook peppers before stuffing.

Tip: Make extra stuffing and freeze. This will make for a quick, tasty supper.

Waking up on December 1st it looks like winter has finally hit Calgary! Here’s a recipe for a winter soup that has a spicy kick to it to warm your insides! As with all our recipes it also has the added benefit of providing healthy nutrients for your eyes. The 3 ingredients that are power foods in this recipe are Red Peppers, Pistachios and canola oil. The coconut milk adds a creamy texture to the soup without using heavy cream, increasing the health benefits.

Canola oil is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids decrease inflammation in the body and that promotes eye health by decreasing dry eye and it has even been linked to reducing your risk for macular degeneration. Pistachios are what make this recipe unique and they are a unique nut themselves because they contain Lutein. Lutein is a super eye food because it has been proven to bulk up your macular pigment to give you more protection against the sun, thus decreasing your risk of Macular degeneration.

Red Peppers are high in the anti-oxidants Vitamin C and beta-carotene. Beta carotene is an amazing anti-oxidant that helps to reduce your risk for macular degeneration. Vitamin C is an anti-oxidant that helps to keep you and your eyes healthy! There is actually 10-20x’s the concentration of vitamin C in the aqueous humor (fluid inside of your eye) than the fluid of the rest of your body!

Ingredients:

2 Tbs canola oil

1 small onion, diced

2 large red bell peppers, diced

2 serrano or green Thai chilies, diced – just use 1 if you don’t like things too spicy!

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

½ tsp ground cardamom

½ cup shelled pistachios

2 and ½ cups vegetable broth

1 cup coconut milk (the stuff in a can)

¼ cup fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large sauce pan or pot. Add onion and red pepper and chilies and cook stirring until onion is lightly brown (~5mins).

2. Add broth and pistachios, bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until pistachios are fork tender (~20 mins)

3. Remove from heat and using an immersion blender puree soup until smooth. A blender can also be used by transferring soup in batches, but be careful blending the hot soup!

4. Pour in coconut milk and stir.

5. Serve sprinkled with cilantro – serves 4

For additional texture, flavour and presentation – puree an additional ¼ cup pistachios with ¼ cup water in a food processer and add a dollop on top before serving!

Recipe adapted from similar recipe on Eating Well website, but with our own twists!

 

Perfect Fall Recipe:

Sometimes you have to indulge and this recipe may not be the healthiest, but there are some ingredients that help keep your eyes healthy and give you a good excuse to enjoy this recipe from time to time. Just in time for Halloween!

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar

¾ cup vegetable oil

½ cup apple sauce

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups pumpkin (I used baked pumpkin from my garden, but canned works also)

4 eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp ground cloves

1 cup pumpkin seeds (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Grease and flour a 12×18 inch pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Set aside

In a large bowl combine sugar and oil. Blend vanilla and pumpkin, then beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in nuts. Spread batter into pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 mins or until a toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Once cooled add icing if desired. We recommend a simple brown butter icing as follows: (taken from http://www.marthastewart.com/314840/brown-butter-icing)

Icing

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat until nut-brown in color, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and pour butter into a bowl, leaving any burned sediment behind.

Add sugar, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon milk; stir until smooth. If the icing is too thick, add the remaining tablespoon milk, a little at a time, until consistency is spreadable. Let cool 5 minutes. Use immediately.

Benefits of Pumpkin cake

Pumpkin is a delicious fall flavour and as it’s bright color suggests it is filled with vitamins that are

protective for your eyes. The orange color of pumpkins is caused by the large amounts of beta-carotene

found in them. Beta-carotene is an eye super antioxidant and helps prevent Macular degeneration and

may also help prevent heart disease and cancer. Other nutrients that pumpkins contains that are

beneficial for your eyes are vitamin E, Zinc, Fiber, lutein and zeaxanthin. Pumpkin seeds add a nice

texture to the cake and they are also high in Zinc. Zinc is another antioxidant that helps protect against

oxidative damage in your eye that may cause Macular degeneration and cataracts. In this recipe we also

cut some of the sugar and vegetable oil and substituted apple sauce to help with sweetness and texture.

So if you needed any more motivation to try out this delicious fall pumpkin cake now you know how it

can help keep your eyes healthy and taste great too!