Wholegrain crackers may not be on your ‘yum’ list or your thought of something interesting or tasty to eat but once you start to get abit adventurous then they can really become quite delicious and you can revive your morning or afternoon snack.

A few brands I would recommend:

Arnotts Vitaweat crackers both the rectangular and round cheese board varieties, PLUS the new Lunch Slices (which are a larger version to put toppings on instead of bread). I would choose the multigrain variety as they have a slightly higher fibre content than the other varieties like sesame or cracked pepper, however mixing them up is always nice too.

Vitaweat wholegrain crackers

Vitaweat Lunch Slices

Ryvita is great especially now that they have come out with more varieties compared to the original (so if you haven’t tried anymore since the original, I urge you to try some new choices). They have a lovely Pumpkin seed&Oat, Sunflower seed and for those with a sweet tooth then the Fruit &Seed Crunch is lovely. These are high in fibre and provide and will keep you fuller for longer than rice crackers or lightbread.

Ryvita varieties

Huntley &Palmers wholegrain varieties. This brand has gone through a product renovation and has now also got some great Multigrain varieties. I particularly like the Sunflower seed and Chia seed one.

Huntly &Palmers crackers

3 Tips to choosing a cracker:

1) Aim to choose a wholegrain variety so that when you look at the ingredients list it starts with wholegrain wheat flour and then has has extra seeds in it like sesame, chia, pumpkin or sunflower seed plus grains like rye, barkley, oats etc. You will get added nutrients from these grains/seeds.

Ingredients list for Huntly &Palmers crackers

2) Look at nutritional panel- look at fibre content (this will keep you fuller for longer and help with bowel transit time). Per 100g you want above 8g to be defined as ‘high fibre’

Huntley &Palmers nutrition panel

3) Sodium- generally crackers are going to have quite a high salt intake however you get your acceptable and then unacceptable products. Aim to keep below 450mg of sodium per 100g. This can make you abit thirsty or if you have high blood pressure, do stick to this. However if your diet is generally low sodium (limited processed foods) then having a few crackers slightly over this will be fine. Just keep up your water intake. Remember our general sodium intake is 2000mg per day.

There are many toppings you can get adventurous with from savoury like marmite and thin slice Edam or abit tuna, tomato, hummus, avocado, salsa, honey, peanut butter to doing something like this:

Shredded coconut with honey

Vitaweat cracker with smear of honey, coconut, pumpkin seeds and raisins

Vitaweat cracker with honey, coconut, pumpkin seeds and almonds

Mushrooms may be small but they shouldn’t be underestimated. They can contain many quality nutrients that should put them on your daily meal or at least weekly meal planner.

• Mushrooms contain about 80 to 90 percent water, and are very low in calories. They have very little sodium and fat, and 8 to 10 percent of the dry weight is fiber. Hence, they are an ideal food for persons following a weight management program or a diet for hypertensives.

• Mushrooms are an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that helps lower elevated blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke. It also helps maintain the pH levels in the body. One medium portabella mushroom has even more potassium than a banana or a glass of orange juice. One serving of mushrooms also provides about 20 to 40 percent of the daily value of copper, a mineral that has cardioprotective properties.

• Mushrooms are a rich source of riboflavin, niacin, and selenium. Selenium is an antioxidant that works with vitamin E to protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals. Male health professionals who consumed twice the recommended daily intake of selenium cut their risk of prostate cancer by 65 percent. In the Baltimore study on Aging, men with the lowest blood selenium levels were 4 to 5 times more likely to have prostate cancer compared to those with the highest selenium levels.

• The most commonly consumed mushroom in the New Zealand is Agaricus bisporus or the white button mushroom. A. bisporus has two other forms – Crimini or brown mushrooms with a more earthy flavor and firmer texture, and Portabella mushrooms with a large umbrella-shaped cap and meaty flavor.

• All three mushrooms, but especially the fresh button mushrooms, possess substances that inhibit the activity of aromatase (an enzyme involved in estrogen production), and 5-alpha-reductase (an enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT). The latest findings show that white button mushrooms can reduce the risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer. An extract of white button mushrooms decreased cell proliferation and decreased tumor size in a dose-dependent manner. The chemoprotective effect can be seen with an intake of about 100 grams  of mushrooms per day.

• Shiitake mushrooms have been used for centuries by the Chinese and Japanese to treat colds and flu. Lentinan, a beta-glucan isolated from the fruiting body of shiitake mushrooms, appears to stimulate the immune system, help fight infection, and demonstrates anti-tumor activity.

• Add mushrooms to soups, salads, and sandwiches, casseroles, stews or to use them as an entree or addition to any main meal. Check out this recipe below;

Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

These add a hearty side to any meal.

INGREDIENTS

• 2/3 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 4 (5-6″ diameter) portobello mushroom caps
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
• low fat cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, chopped

DIRECTIONS

Prepare the grill.

In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, mozzarella, 1/2 teaspoon of the olive oil, rosemary, pepper and garlic.

Using a knife, remove the stems and discard.Try get the mushroom quite level.

In a small bowl, mix 1/2 teaspoon of the olive oil, lemon juice and soy sauce. Using a pastry brush, brush the soy sauce mixture on both sides of the mushroom caps.

Grill the caps, stem side down first for 5 minutes on each side or until soft.Spoon 1/4 cup of the tomato and cheese mixture into each cap, cover and grill for about 3 minutes or until cheese has melted. Garnish with cilantro.

Serves 4.

Pancakes and fritters; two great ways to stuff abunch of ingredients in a batter and fry it up for a quick meal or snack. Both pancakes and fritters use the same basic ingredients of flour, milk and eggs to make a batter. However pancakes are generally made thinner than fritters (hence pan cakes), fritters tend to be bulkier with more ingredients and less batter. You can make both these options very healthy by just choosing the right set of ingredients. For example boosting the fibre content by swapping white flour to wholemeal and even add wheatgerm or bran to the mixture. Instead of adding sugar to pancake mixture, add fruit like apple puree, blueberries, raisins or chopped dates. A lovely breakfast option is mashed banana and date pancakes served with low fat plain or vanilla yoghurt.

Recipe:

1 well- mashed banana
1/2 cup finely chopped dates
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup trim milk
1Tb flaxseed oil (optional- to boost omega 3 intake)

Mix together and dollop about 2Tb of mixture onto a non stick frying pan on med heat (or use a bit of spray oil) and pan fry for about 2mins on each side or until golden brown.
Serve with low fat plain yoghurt or vanilla. Makes about 6-8 pancakes
You can also make savoury pancakes-

Breakfast pancakes – Baked beans and creamy corn;

1 tin creamy corn
1/2-3/4 tin baked beans
2Tb tomato sauce
1 beaten egg
1 cup wholemeal flour
(don’t need salt as there is enough sodium in the baked beans and creamy rice for flavour)

Mix together and dollop about 2Tb of mixture onto a non stick frying pan on med heat (or use a bit of spray oil) and pan fry for about 2mins on each side or until golden brown.
The mixture makes about 10 pancakes.
Fritters are great to stuff a bunch of healthy ingredients in and you can’t really go wrong with the combinations. For example corn fritters are a classic so you can use a  tin of creamy corn as a base and then add in peas, grated carrot or zucchini, mushrooms, ham or tomato. You can get adventurous with spinach and feta cheese fritters.

Mixed vege fritters;

1 tin standard corn
1/2 cup frozen peas (defrosted) or you can use 1 cup of mixed frozen corn and peas
1 grated carrot
pinch of salt and pepper
2 eggs beaten
1 cup wholemeal flour
tsp crushed garlic
Optional extras; 2Tb feta or grated Edam cheese

Mix well, the mixture tends to be a little thicker than pancake mixture. Panfry each side for around 2mins. Makes around 8-10 fritters. Serve with side of mesculin salad.

Making a fruit loaf or fruit muffins is a great way to put ‘not so good fruit’ to a good use. I had a bag of peaches that were going brown pretty quickly so instead of throwing them away I just diced these up and put them in the baking. You could the same with any fruit. If you are going to put anything in your mouth, make sure it has some nutritional benefit to it as we all know that you get your vitamins and minerals from what you put in your mouth! Hence try to add extras to your recipes like wholemeal flour, seeds or nuts, spices, bran flakes or wheatgerm (outer husk of wheat- very nutritious). These can all help boost your daily nutrient intake in a yummy flavoursome way. (And a good way of getting them into the kids).

1 cup white flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
2tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup castor sugar (can use brown sugar or standard sugar)
3Tb honey
2 eggs
3-4 peaches (about 2 cups- but flexible)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2tsp vanilla essence
100ml trim milk or soymilk
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp cinnamon

Turn oven on to fan bake 180 degrees and grease a 6 case muffin tray (I use spray olive oil). Sieve the flours and baking powder into a large bowl, add salt, cinnamon, sugar and sunflower seeds. In another bowl combine well the eggs, milk, vanilla essence and oil. Take the skin off peaches and dice them into small chunky pieces (about 1 cm) and add the honey, mix well. Then add peaches to dry mixture and fold in, followed by the wet mixture, just add it in slowly, you don’t want it too wet or to overmix it. Then fill into muffin tray and fan bake for about 15mins or until cooked. (to check if they are cooked- stick a knife into the centre and if it comes out clean then they are ready, if there is still residue on knife, leave in oven for another few minutes.)

Flaxseed, Wheat, and Bran Muffins

High fiber, healthy breakfast muffin or snack

INGREDIENTS
1 C.flaxseed ground
1 C whole wheat flour
1 C. Oat Bran
1 C. Brown sugar
2 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp. Cinnamon
1 1/2 C. shredded Carrots
2-3 Apples, cored and chopped up or shredded
1/2 C. Chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 c. Raisins (optional)
3/4 C. 2 % milk
2 Eggs, beaten
1 tsp. Vanilla

DIRECTIONS
Mix flour, flaxseed, bran, sugar and dry ingredients together. Shred carrots and apples and add these along with optional raisins and nuts to dry ingredients. Mix well. Stir together milk eggs and vanilla and stir this into batter until well moistened. Fill cupcake or muffin trays until 3/4 full and bake at 180 for 20 to 25 minutes.
Makes 24 med muffins.
( freeze them in ziplock bag, then just pull one out each morning and will be ready to eat 20 minutes later on the way to work! )

Number of Servings: 24

I like to be creative with all my meals, it is always fun to try something new every day to keep breakfast or lunch fun, interesting and of course healthy!

Savoury

Poached, fried, scrambled or eggs on top of wholegrain toast with steamed spinach and sliced tomato

Eggs on top of wholegrain toast with smear of lite cream cheese and avocado on grain toast.

Lite cottage cheese with sliced tomato on toast

Baked beans on toast with sprinkle of Edam or mozzarella cheese

Lite cream cheese with tin of salmon or smoked salmon, try tomato too on top.

Breakfast Burrito- You can use any tortilla but Mountain Bread is very nice for a low calorie wrap. Slice tomato and place in centre and/or spinach. Then add scrambled eggs on top. Fold each side up so ingredients are enclosed- best to use knife and fork to eat this.

Sweet

Honey and peanut butter with sliced banana

Any fruit e.g. sliced banana or tinned peaches or defrosted berries with few tablespoons of yoghurt(I love plain yoghurt) on top with a sprinkle of cinnamon and pumpkin seeds

Honey, lite ricotta cheese and tinned peaches or grated apple (steamed apple goes very nicely)

Breakfast burrito- Mountain bread wrap with honey smeared over it with sliced apple and banana (can use other fruits) placed on one side with 3Tblsp yoghurt and 1Tbslp seed mix (pumpkin, sunflower and linseed) on top. Carefully role the wrap so all ingredients are enclosed. Best to use a knife and fork to eat this.
Can also use a wholegrain pita bread to add all ingredients into.

French toast- You can still use wholegrain toast for this. Whisk two eggs and little milk together then dip bread into the mixture until well soaked. Place on hot pan and grill each side for about 2mins. At the same time grill banana. Smear abit of honey over toast and grilled banana. You can make this a savoury option with adding a Tuscan seasoning to the egg mixture and then grilling tomatoes or mushrooms with the bread.

Porridge or rolled oats is one of the best breakfasts you can have. Jam packed with essential nutrients and fibre and more nutritious than most cereals you can buy. You don’t have to get bored with porridge when you get creative and add something new every day!

1. Add sliced banana to the rolled oats before you put them in the microwave, then once you cook your porridge for 1-2mins you will bake the banana too. Give the softened banana a stir through the porridge after and you have banana flavoured porridge!
2. Once your porridge is cooked, add sprinkle of cinnamon and roast chopped nuts (you find in baking section of supermarket
3. Add different types of fruit to the top of your cooked porridge. Tinned fruits are very nice as well as grated  apple or sliced kiwifruit.
4. Add baked cinnamon apple to your porridge with a couple of tablespoons of warmed low fat custard. (To bake an apple quickly, dice into small-medium sizes pieces and put in glass or ceramic bowl with a 1cm of water in the bottom. Then generously sprinkle with cinnamon and put a plate or plastic wrap on top of bowl. Put on high for 2mins in microwave. )
5. Add tsp of honey through warmed porridge and sprinkle over two tsp shredded coconut. Shredded coconut goes well with the baked banana too.
6. For an omega 3 and 6 boost add 2Tblsp of mixed seeds such as linseed, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
7. To sweeten your porridge and add fibre, dice a couple of dried apricots or dates to your rolled oats before you cook them. The natural sugar from the fruit will sweeten the oats once cooked.
8. Add low fat custard or yoghurt to porridge to cool it down instead of milk, this sweetens the porridge and makes it decadent and exciting but still low fat and gives a calcium boost!
9. Instead of porridge, make yourself some Bircher- style muesli the night before. Just add your rolled oats and milk together, then cinnamon, chopped dates or sultanas/raisins with sliced almonds or seed mix and let soak overnight in the fridge. All set to go for the next morning!
10. Make yourself a porridge sundae! Bake the banana through the porridge, pour over warmed low fat custard or vanilla yoghurt then….. sprinkle with cinnamon, coconut and chopped nuts. Yum!

Spinach is very important to the diet. It is known as one of our ‘super foods’ as it is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, and vitamin B6, dietary fiber, copper, protein, phosphorus, zinc and vitamin E. In addition, it is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, niacin and selenium.

One of the reasons I recommend it is because not only is it almost a ‘one stop shop’ for nutrients but the nutrients it contains can provide relief or help prevent a number of health concerns. For example, asthma, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis are all conditions that involve inflammation. Since beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin K all have anti-inflammatory properties, they can be helpful in reducing symptoms in some patients. In addition, due to its high potency of free radical killing antioxidants, it can help prevent many cancers including colon, breast, ovarian, prostate and more by preventing DNA damage and mutations in cells, even when they are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals.

Fresh spinach is great and can be used in salads or laying in dishes like lasagna or toss steamed spinach with pressed garlic, fresh lemon juice and olive oil. Or Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese. Pine nuts are also a great addition to cooked spinach.
Wash fresh spinach well as the leaves can still contain dirt and pesticides.

I like frozen spinach as it is really quick to prepare and can be used in a number of ways. Most brands selling frozen spinach have the leaves packaged into bundles which make nice portion sizes.

Some great ideas to use frozen spinach:

Healthy snack includes: 1-2 bundles of spinach defrosted and heated in microwave. Stir through a pinch of salt and ½ tsp garlic. On a piece of toast, spread a tablespoon of tomato paste then put spinach on top and either sprinkle feta cheese on top or edam cheese and grill in the oven for 5mins.

Great to add in soups to boost quantity (everyone loves a big meal but low calories) and increases nutrient level.

Great to take to work in a container for lunch and heat up with a piece of toast or steamed potato/kumara with a tin of salmon/tuna. Or boost vege intake from night before leftovers.

Another great recipe you can try is adding half a tin of chickpeas to 2 bundles of spinach and 1 tablespoon of lite sour cream.

A warm spinach salad is great for lunch or dinner:

Per person- 2 bundles spinach, 2 boiled eggs, ½ tsp of ginger and garlic, pinch of salt, ½ onion, ½ tin of Watties Moroccan or Indian diced tomatoes.

Heat pan on medium-high heat with a tsp of rice bran or sunflower oil. Add the 2 bunches of frozen spinach to pan and defrost. Once defrosted add the ginger, garlic and salt and stir through well. Then add diced tomatoes to mixture. Once heated through place on a shallow bowl as the juices run and slice boiled eggs over the top.
This is keeping it simple, you may want to add extras to it.

Still on the topic of soups….Another easy recipe for soups that I have just made and went down superbly was an Asian inspired soup.  I didn’t feel like a tomato, pumpkin or say minestrone soup,  I just felt like something light. I happened to have a Tom Yum soup at a cafe a few weeks ago which was divine and so this inspired me. Of course on a Sunday night I didn’t have all the ingredients for an exact Tom Yum soup but made do with what I had in the pantry and it came out pretty well (to my liking anyway). You can definitely be as creative as you want as this a ‘keep it simple’ version:

Kate’s easy Asian Soup

1 onion (yellow) or spring onion
1 stick of celery sliced into small pieces
2 portions of frozen spinach (they come in blocks)
¼ cup thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms but white button mushrooms work well
1tsp minced garlic and ginger
2 Tblsp of roughly chopped mixed fresh herbs such as coriander, parsley and/or kaffir lime leaves
2Tblsp soysauce
1.5 cups of hot water in a bowel

Heat pan on medium-high with 1 Tblsp of oil and add onion, celery pieces, mushrooms, ginger and garlic. Pan fry together for about 3mins, add frozen spinach (good to put in microwave first for a minute in a bowl to soften) and soysauce. After spinach is heater through add chopped herbs and only panfry for about a minute.

Have your hot water in bowl ready and carefully put vegetables from the pan into hot water and stir. You can add a dash of coconut milk for a more Thai flavouring. Another great spice is chilli flakes if you want to heat things up.
To add a protein source, you can either add 1/2 can of cannellini beans or sliced chicken or ready cooked prawns.

This is packed with antioxidants and will help keep the immune system strong.

Soups are a great way to get your vegetable intake during winter.  If you are the type of person who can’t stand eating salads in winter then going for a good quality soup is important. Home made vegetable soup is always my preference as you can usually put a great variety of fresh vegetables in there and usually lower in sodium than bought soups as one can control the amount of salt we put in. We just have to make sure we don’t cook or boil the daylights out of the vegetables as it diminishes their antioxidant levels.

It’s easy to make home made soup- I know there are plenty of recipes out there but many have slow cooking times using a large pot or crockpot and this can put many people off making their own (especially parents-they need quick dinners).
My favourite for a quick soup is steaming some vegetables for a few minutes in the microwave such as broccoli, carrots, capsicum, zucchini, butternut etc. Once they are just soft but still crunchy (not zapping the daylights out of them), put them into a blender, add a can of diced tomatoes and possibly 1/2cup water if need be. Then add a pinch of rock salt, fresh herbs like coriander or tuscan seasoning then blend until smooth. Voila! Soup in 8mins! You can serve with a wholgrain bread roll or toast and you can either have your protein to the side such as fish or chicken or put a tin of tuna on your toast. You can also slice smoked chicken into the soup or a boiled egg or add chickpeas to the soup for a vegetarian meal.

If you are looking for bought soups these are some of my favourites due to taste, limited preservatives and additives, relatively low sodium for a soup and equivalent of 2-3 serves of veges.

Cambells Sensations or Relish

Watties Soup for One

Pitango Range

Artisan Range

Delmaine’s Range

If you are watching your fat and calorie intake then just make sure you choose the tomato/pumpkin/ capsicum or mushroom based soups rather than cream based. Always compare products for energy content, fat content and sodium content.