Posts Tagged With: Good iron

Mum’s Broccoli and Potato Soup

Posted on January 27, 2012 by leroy watson

Like this, but soup

Proper winter warmer and so easy.

My Mum may be like yours, everything she touches turns tasty. This soup is an ace in Mum’s repertoire and makes me feel at home wherever I eat it.

Makes a nice big pan full.

The Bits

2 onions, chopped, 5 cups vegetable stock (homemade if you’re Mum), 6 potatoes, 2 lge broccoli heads, 1 garlic clove pressed, 2 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, salt & pepper to taste

Do It

Combine onions, vegetable broth, potatoes, and broccoli in a large pot.

Cook until vegetables are tender.

Puree mixture until creamy.

Return to pot add lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper.

Serve

Particularly good with Avocado slices on top or grated cheese if you fancy.

We Love It

Because as Jane’s Dad would put it, ‘this is good fuel kid.’

Foodie Fact

Broccoli can help to maintain healthy bones, it is rich in indoles and sulforaphane compounds which have Cancer fighting properties.

Abundant in Fibre, Folate, Vitamin- C Vitamin- K. Calcuim, Coenzyme, Q10, Carotenoid and under a microscope looks like a magic green fractal kaleidoscope.

A snap of Mum on Christmas morning. Thanks MumX

Categories: gluten-free, Lunch, Recipes, Soups, Vegan | Tags: cooking, gluten-free, Good iron, Mum's, recipes, soup, vegan, vegetarian, Vitamin C | 3 Comments

Nutrition – Vegetable sources of IRON

Posted on January 26, 2012 by leroy watson

IRON

Not enough Popeye in your diet? Hit the spinach. Our favourite iron rich compadre. But spinach is not the only iron rich swinger in town.

A lack of Iron can be a real problem for veggies. It can make you feel lethargic and a low iron diet can lead to more serious problems further down the line.

Over 90% of Indians are anaemic. With the majority of 1 billion plus Indians being vegetarian, it’s a reminder that a vegetarian diet is not necessarily a healthy one!

Iron helps you to produce haemoglobin which helps red blood cells carry oxegen to the tissues. 20% of women and 3% of men do not have enough iron in them.

Most dietary iron is non-haem iron, harder to digest that the iron in meats.

Know your iron rich veg foods (in descending order):

Most Lentils and Beans

Eggs

Pumpkin, Sunflower and Sesame Seeds

Baked Potato

Broccoli Stalk

Bread, Bran Muffin and Rice

Dried Apricots

Spinach

Wheat germ

Peanuts, Pecans, Walnuts, Pistachios, Almonds and Cashews

Categories: Nutrition | Tags: anaemia, Good iron, iron, nutrition, popeye | 1 Comment

Super Spinach Smoothie

Posted on January 26, 2012 by leroy watson

A shot of pure green goodness

This smoothie will kick any day off with a natural sugar hit and good dosing of iron to wake you up and feed your sleepy body. Sweet and smooth with an iron fix.

It is so simple and quick to make and is Janes favourite morning booster. You won’t be craving biscuits for elevensies either, the banana will see you through!

The Bits

1 1/2 bananas per person (ideally, I have two because I’m like a sloth in the morning)

2 tbsp coconut cream

Two good handfuls of spinach

A splash of water (to get it all blended nicely)

Need balast? Add a handful of oats.

Do it

Stick it all in your blender and whizz until smooth.

Serve

Jane eats it from a bowl with a spoon, topped with some finely sliced veggies, celery is nice. I glug from a glass, which is scrapped out after with a spoon.

We Love It

Its so easy and nutritious and its very green!

Foodie Fact

Spinach is famous as a good source of iron, but surprisingly not as good as much as most beans, lentils, nuts and seeds. Even a dried apricot has more iron!.

Bananas are packed with natural fruit sugar (frustose), the highest of any fruit by a jungle mile. This is still relatively low compared to most maufactured sweet foods. They are great for the digestive system, with lots of fibre and also rich in Vitamin C and Potassium.