I only spent $50 on the ingredients to make 16 of these veggies and plant-protein packed meal prep meals. I centred each of these meals around fibre and protein, as each one has over 10 g of fibre and 25 g of protein. Each of these meals are only made with a handful of ingredients which is key to saving time and money. Grab these meals by liking this post and commenting meal prep!
Which meal are you trying first?
Who doesn’t love a good muffin as part of a breakfast or snack. However, so many muffins are sugar-packed and don’t have a lot of notable nutrition benefits.
Now it’s time for *muffins with benefits* to enter the chat.
These muffins are still delicious and satisfying, but they have:
No added sugar.
Have 5 g of protein & 4 g of fibre per muffin (each muffin is just over 100 calories).
They each contain and fruit and vegetable.
They are made with nutrient-packed chickpeas and tahini and contain iron as well.
Make sure you grab them today! Which flavour are you trying first?
There are undeniable benefits of fruits and veggies in maintaining your health, including reducing cancer risk and preserving your brain and heart health. However Most Canadians are not eating enough fruits and vegetables – in fact in the 2021 Statistics Canada report, only 21.8% of Canadians reported eating 5 servings of fruit and veggies a day.
These easy plant-based lunch boxes make it easy to make half of your plate fruits and veggies – and I guarantee you and your kids will love them! For the vegetables in these boxes, I used colourful and fresh root vegetables from Gwillmdale Farms.
I challenge you to make half your lunches to be fruits and veggies this week – do you
think you can do it?
Recipes Include:
If you don’t have time to make dinner this September, these recipes are for you! Sheet pan meals save so much time and energy in the kitchen and make for an easy weeknight dinner when time and energy are pressed!
If you’re looking to make improvements in your families health, start with one thing – filling your plate with half fruits and vegetables at every meal.
For this post I’m partnering with Half Your Plate and Gwillimdale Farms to showcase how easy it is to fill up half of your dinner plate with vegetables! Family-owned Gwillimdale Farms is Ontario’s largest grower packer and shipper of delicious and high quality root vegetables. Enjoy their root vegetables in a variety of ways through these sheet pan meals – roasted and blended into a delicious pasta, roasted on a sheet pan for a veggie-packed tzatziki bowl or made into a sheet pan stir fry.
Which recipe are you trying first?
If you aren’t a ‘Type 4’ on the Bristol stool chart, then your digestion may need some work! One key food to incorporate for better digestion is Ontario plums.
Ontario plums assist with our digestion as they contain both soluble and insoluble dietary fibre plus naturally occurring sorbitol which acts as a mild laxative by drawing water into the intestines to ease bowel movements. Let’s break all of that down below:
Soluble Fibre: Soluble fibre dissolved in water to form a gel-like substance. It improved digestion by adding bilk to a watery stool to help manage looser stools while also softening firm stool to ease elimination. It also helps to feed gut bacteria by acting as a prebiotic, serving as food for your large intestine to support a healthy microbiome.
Soluble fibre also brings additional health benefits. It helps to lower cholesterol by binding to cholesterol and bile acids in your gut to help clear them out and reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or ‘bad cholesterol’. It assists with stabilizing blood sugar by slowing down how fast your body digests and absorbs carbohydrates and prevents sharp glucose spikes after meals. This fibre can also aid in weight management as it helps us feel full for longer.
Insoluble Fibre: Insoluble fibre adds bulk to your stool and helps waste move quickly through your digestive tract. It helps to prevent constipation by drawing water into your stool, making it easier to pass. It also helps to promote gut regularity as it speeds up the time it takes for food to pass through your system.
Sorbitol: Sorbitol is a water-soluble sugar alcohol. It naturally is found in many tenderfruits. It is about 60% as sweet as table sugar with few calories. It has a water-binding osmotic effect which triggers a natural laxative action.
Enjoy improvement in your digestion by enjoying these delicious ‘dessert snack’ recipes that are naturally sweetened with Ontario plum!
Recipes:
Carrot Cake Plum Muffins (40 minutes) 12 Servings
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF (177ºC).
2. Add the dry ingredients (almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and chia seeds) in a mixing bowl and mix with a fork.
3. Mix the wet ingredients (banana, oil, eggs, maple syrup and grated carrot) in a separate mixing bowl.
4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients together and stir until well mixed.
4. Line a muffin tin with muffin papers. Ladle the mix into the tins. Top with the sliced plums. Bake for 30 minutes or until baked through. Enjoy!
Plum Chia Jam (15 Minutes) 5 Servings
Maple Ginger Plum ‘Sundae’ (10 Minutes) 2 Servings
Air Fryer Plum Crumble (20 Minutes) 3 Servings
1.Preheat the air fryer at 350ºF (175ºC).
2. Place the plums into ramekins.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the lemon zest, vanilla, and half of the maple syrup
and spread evenly over the fruit.
4. In a small bowl, mix the flour, oats, flax seed and the remaining syrup together.
5. Mix in the applesauce until the mixture is crumbly.
6. Spread the crumbles evenly over the plum mixture. Cook in the air fryer for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the plums are soft.
7. Top with yogurt (optional) and enjoy!
