Welcome to the Jalna Living winter e-newsletter! It may be cold and grey outside, but there’s no reason not to feel inspired about what we eat. This issue I’ve looked at some super winter soups and why they are so good for us. There’s also an article to inspire you to try something new, and I’m sure you’ll love the Pear & Oatmeal Yoghourt Muffin recipe featured – great to take to work or classes.
Kind regards
Karen Inge, Accredited Practising Dietitian.              SUBSCRIBE HERE

Pear & Oatmeal Yoghourt Muffins

Makes 12
 
2 cups plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon mixed spice or cinnamon
2/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar
2 ripe pears (or apples), chopped with skin on
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups Jalna BioDynamic Blueberry or Low Fat Strawberry Yoghourt
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
Oil spray

• Sift flour, baking powder, bicarb. and mixed spice into a bowl.  Stir in oats, sugar and pear.  In a separate bowl combine lightly beaten egg, Jalna Yoghourt and oil.  Gently stir yoghourt mixture into flour, until just combined. Spoon mixture into 12 non-stick muffin tins and bake in moderate oven (180ºC) for 15-20 minutes or until skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Turn onto cake rack to cool.
• Serve with a yoghourt smoothie or any Jalna Yoghourt On The Go or Vitalize drink.

Soup up your diet Soups are an excellent way to warm up and stay healthy in the colder months, and help meet your five vegetables a day target. So why not explore the power of soups …more

Be inspired, again! They say that everything old is new again; food our mothers and grandmothers made is suddenly ‘hot’ today. But what these old favourites reflect is a more relaxed approach to dining, where food is the pleasant centre of our lives, whether with family or friends…more

Soup up your diet

By Karen Inge, Accredited Practising Dietitian

When it’s cold outside, soups are an excellent way to warm up and stay healthy in the colder months. They can be a great way to meet your five vegetables a day target. And don’t forget that dollop of Jalna yoghourt on top to boost calcium counts. Let’s explore the power of soups a little closer.

Soups fill you up, without filling you out

Several studies have demonstrated that eating soup before a main meal helps to lower the total kilojoule intake at that meal by an average of 400kilojoules (that’s a saving that can really add up).

Due to their high water and fibre content, vegetable broth based soups have a low energy density and high satiety or appetite satisfaction score. In simple terms, this means that they fill you up without filling you out. So regularly including a portion controlled soup as an entrée to your main meal is a smart strategy in the colder months, when you’re likely to burn less kilojoules in physical activity.  It will take the edge off your hunger on fewer kilojoules and is likely to decrease the portion size and total kilojoules of your main meal.

This kilojoule deficit is just what’s needed to counteract a little hibernation time and get you through to spring, without any unwanted baggage.    

Easy 3 step plan

1. Veg out
Go for thick soups made from a range of pureed or diced vegetables like carrots, pumpkin, kumara (red sweet potato), roasted peppers, cauliflower and broccoli to reap the rewards from a range of antioxidants.  Add soup mix with lentils and other pulses which are high in fibre (particularly soluble fibre), B-group vitamins (including folate), iron, calcium, phosphorous, zinc and magnesium. They’re also low GI, a good source of antioxidants, low in fat and very filling – what more could you want? Add some Jalna yoghourt for added creaminess or swirl through soup just before serving. The Jalna web site has a delicious Pumpkin Kumera & Red Lentil Soup with Cumin Yoghourt recipe.
 
2. Lighten up
Adding sour or fresh cream plus butter, mean some soups, especially the condensed varieties, clock up around 10g of fat per serve.  For a lighter alternative, go for a vegetable based soup and add your own dollop of Jalna Low Fat Natural or Greek Style Natural Yoghourt.

Jalna Low Fat Greek Style Natural Yoghourt still has the characteristic tartness you love in a traditional Greek style yoghourt, and the creamy texture most of us prefer, but it is 97% fat free. (It’s also perfect on its own, over cereal or fruit for breakfast, or any classic dish that demands a Greek Style yoghourt.)

Why not try this seasonal recipe:

Cauliflower Spinach Soup

Serves 4
1 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion, diced
1/3 medium (650g) cauliflower, chopped
1 ½ cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 bunch English spinach, washed and coarsely chopped
1 ¼ cups Low Fat Jalna Greek Style Natural Yoghourt
1-2 teaspoons ground nutmeg, to taste
Seasoning to taste

• Heat oil in a large saucepan, add onion and cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes until onion is soft. Add cauliflower and stock, bring to the boil, reduced heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until cauliflower is tender.
• Puree mixture until smooth. Stir in spinach, yoghourt, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Reheat but do not allow to boil. Serve with crusty wholegrain rolls.

3. Heap on the herbs
Once regarded as a little player in the antioxidant stakes, culinary herbs are now sprouting a powerful health story.  A review published in the Medical Journal of Australia has concluded that the antioxidant capacity of herbs and spices compared very favourably with that of fruit and vegetables.

More so, herbs can boost your daily antioxidant activity by acting in synergy with other phytochemicals like those in vegetables, so add them to your favourite soup. The good news is that cooking tomatoes actually increases the absorption of the powerful antioxidant lycopene, especially when you’ve added some oil and herbs. Here’s an easy soup you’re sure to love:

 Quick & Easy Tomato Soup
Serves 4

1 tablespoon oil
1 large onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/3 cup plain flour
1 kg tomatoes, diced or canned tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup Jalna Natural Yoghourt
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil or parsley
Seasoning to taste

• Heat oil in a large saucepan and sauté onion and garlic for 5 minutes or until onion softens. Add flour and stir over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
• Reduce heat. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, until tomatoes break down.
• Gradually stir in stock and simmer 10 minutes. Puree soup and return to pan.
• Stir in Jalna Yoghourt, basil or parsley with salt and pepper, but do not allow to boil.

Be inspired, again! 

 They say that everything old is new again; food our mothers and grandmothers made is suddenly ‘hot’ today. But what these old favourites reflect is a more relaxed approach to dining, where food is the pleasant centre of our lives, whether with family or friends.
So, how do we make this happen? Hopefully these three ideas will leave you feeling inspired this winter with all the possibilities of enjoying different kinds of ‘old fashioned’ comfort food – the healthy kind.

1. Relax, everyone is there to help

Instead of one person racing home to prepare and cook, first get everyone together, enjoy a quiet drink and a chat, and have everyone contribute to cooking the meal. Working together to prepare meals means everyone enjoys the experience and relaxes at the dining table. If everyone helps prepare, then dinner time loses its stress. Once everything is on a platter, it is so quick and easy to cook.

What made fondues or one pot dishes popular in the past is the shared time together. The modern version is a wok or grill plate.

2. Think about new ‘old’ foods

Australia has so many multicultural influences, and now we can find the most amazing diversity of ingredients in the average supermarket, when once we had to search them out from specialist stores, often in only a few suburbs.

Once yoghourt was either home made or available in few places; today the supermarket is stocked with so many varieties. The family who started Jalna Dairy Foods about 50 years ago, using traditional ‘pot set’ methods still practiced by the family-owned business it remains today, produced a limited range of yoghourt initially for a small Melbourne-based clientele.

Today we are spoilt for choice – everything from Jalna Natural Yoghourt, Greek Style Natural Yoghourt (available in both full cream and low fat), Genuine Leben European Yoghourt, luscious Premium Creamy Yoghourt, Fat Free or Low Fat varieties (natural or fruit offerings are available), a wonderful BioDynamic Organic range plus the Vitalize choices.

Jalna has always been an innovative dairy food company, committed to producing nutritious food for Australians concerned about their wellbeing. It was the first yoghourt producer to introduce viable quantities of probiotics to yoghourt and one of the first to introduce fat free yoghourts.

All Jalna dairy foods contain viable quantities of acidophilus, Bifidus and casei (aBc) cultures – over 600  million cultures in every 200g serve, even at the end of shelf life. That’s over 200 million of each of the three strains - La-5® Lactobacillus acidophilus, BB-12® bifidobacterium, Lc-01® Lactobacillus Casei – each with recognised benefits.

Plus all Jalna dairy foods have a low glycaemic index ranging from a GI value of 11 to 27. Jalna Yoghourts and Yoghourt On The Go plus Vitalize contain no gluten, so they are suitable for people who need to choose gluten free products. The lactose levels in Jalna dairy foods vary and are less than 1-2 grams per 100 grams, 50-80% less than the average for natural yoghourts in Australia (based on figures referenced on Dairy Australia’s web site).

Today Jalna Yoghourt On The Go and Vitalize let you enjoy all the dairy goodness and cultures in Jalna yoghourts as a drink. If you are rushing off without time for breakfast, a Vitalize Brealfast+ drink means you won’t miss out on the calcium, protein, vitamins and fruit you need to start the day.

To give you an afternoon boost, when we once reached for the caffeine or sugar hit, how much better is it to grab a Jalna Vitalize drink tailored to your specific needs? There’s Vitalize Vitamin+ and Immune+; both delicious and full of healthy ingredients.

Or make up a smoothie. Simply blend one cup of Jalna Wildberry Yoghourt On The Go, 1/4 cup Jalna Premium Creamy Vanilla Yoghourt, 1 tbsp wheatgerm, 1 banana or any seasonal fruit and 1 teaspoon honey (optional) and serve in a tall glass. Perfect with the pear and oatmeal yoghourt muffins in this newsletter.

Or what about a comforting (low fat) fruit crepe dessert?

Fresh Fruit Crepes with Vanilla Yoghourt
Serves 4 (Makes 8 large or 16 small)
185ml Jalna Vitalize Vitamim+ drink or Wildberry Yoghourt On The Go
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
80g plain flour
Oil spray
Fresh fruit (eg. kiwi fruit, peeled & sliced, bananas, strawberries)
¾ cup Jalna Vitalize Immune+ Yoghourt
2 passionfruit (canned pulp if fresh not available)

• Mix Jalna Yoghourt On The Go (or Vitalize Drink), eggs, sugar, vanilla and flour into a batter.  Heat a lightly greased pan and cook the crepes till golden brown. 
• Serve crepes with fresh fruit, topped with Jalna Vitalize Immune+. Garnish with passionfruit pulp.

3.  Substitute

If you fall into the habit of too many high fat, high sugar choices in winter, remember there are alternatives. While cream, coconut cream and sour cream are rich treats, substituting Jalna yoghourts or drinks can reduce the fat hit substantially, without losing any of the creaminess you crave.

You can stir black pepper and balsamic vinegar through Jalna Strawberry yoghourt (including the low fat one), for a luscious alternative sauce with meat, chicken or fish; or use Jalna Natural Yoghourt instead of Mascapone with warm pears.

If you thought sausages were off the menu, then think again with this tasty, low fat meal the family will love (and even the kids will enjoy making) – and it is so quick to prepare and cook:

Homemade Chicken, Mango and Cashew Nut Sausage with Mint Yoghourt Dip
Serves 4
200g chicken tenderloin
100g Jalna Fat Free Berryfruits Yoghourt
2 tablespoons chopped cashew nuts
1/4 small mango (50g), peeled and finely diced (canned mango, drained, can be substituted)
Salt & pepper
100g Jalna Fat Free BioDynamic Yoghourt
5 peppermint or mint leaves, thinly sliced
Pinch paprika
Mince chicken in food processor.  Mix in Berryfruits Yoghourt, nuts, mango and salt and pepper to taste.  Shape small handfuls of mix into 4cm long sausages, wrap in foil and steam for 10 minutes.  When cool enough to handle, grill or panfry until golden. 

For the Mint Yoghourt Dip, combine Jalna BioDynamic Yoghourt, mint, paprika, salt and pepper to taste. 

Winter foods don’t have to be boring! Are you feeling inspired?