High Fiber Recipe Contest - The Winners!

We are proud to announce the winning recipes of our High-Fiber Recipe Contest! The winners are:

Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup from Member Caesar Fiorini
Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins from Member Donna Miles
Beverly's All-Bran® Muffins from Member Beverly Allen
Asparagus and Tomato Minestrone from Member Kathy Gray

Congratulations to you all! Each of these members will receive a free bottle of any one of our products, along with a pill box of their choice, on their next order.

The recipes are listed below including the approximate amount of fiber per serving. Enjoy and stay healthy with fiber!

Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup

From Member Caesar Fiorini

We approximated about 8 grams of fiber per serving, assuming four servings, for Caesar's recipe. The key fiber ingredients are the black beans and the pumpkin.

3/4 ancho pepper
3/4 tsp. cumin seeds
10 ounces canned black beans, rinsed, drained
2/3 cup onions\raw, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1-1/3 cups vegetable broth, or fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
2/3 cup water
10 ounces pumpkin
1/8 tsp. cilantro, finely chopped

Heat ancho pepper in dry skillet over medium heat until softened; remove chili and discard veins and seeds. Add cumin seeds to skillet; cook until toasted, about 30 seconds (watch carefully and do not burn). Process ancho chili, cumin seeds, black beans, onions, garlic, broth, and water at high speed in blender until smooth.

Transfer bean mixture to saucepan; stir in pumpkin and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 5 minutes; season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve in bowls; sprinkle with cilantro. This soup can also be served chilled.

You can make this soup 2-3 days in advance; it can be frozen up to 2 months.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

From Member Donna Miles

This high-fiber muffin recipe has approximately 6 grams of fiber per muffin. Flax seed and bananas give this recipe the edge when it comes to high-fiber. The oat flour, soy flour and walnuts are also good fiber sources!

In trying to find something that was not only healthy but something that my grandchildren would enjoy, I slightly changed up a recipe by adding flaxseed to it. They like these muffins so much that I always have to make a double or triple batch of it so I can put some in the freezer and they can take some home with them. I feel good about giving this to them for a snack because I know in today's world of "fast food" eating, children do not get enough fiber in their diet. My husband and also enjoy warming up one of these muffins in the mornings to have with a cup of coffee. I like to always make sure I have some of these in the freezer to have on hand for unexpected guests or when I am in a hurry and don't have time to cook breakfast. These muffins freeze very nicely.

3/4 cup oat flour
3/4 cup soy flour
3/4 cup unbleached flour 3
1/4 cup ground up flax seed
1/2 cup of raw sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
dash of salt
1/4 tsp. of cinnamon (optional)
3 mashed bananas (best if they are on the ripe side)
1 cup + 1 Tbsp soy milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 cup ground walnuts

Put dry ingredients in large bowl and combine.

Put eggs, oil, and soy milk in medium bowl and mix well. Mash bananas and mix with egg mixture. Add banana mixture to dry ingredients until well mixed. Add nuts and chocolate chips. Drop into a muffin pan (I put the paper cupcake liners in the muffin pan for easier cleaning).

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or when toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Allow to partially cool in pan. Then place muffins on a cooling rack to finish cooling. I usually freeze all of them except what I will use for a week and put those in the refrigerator and the rest in the freezer.

Beverly’s All-Bran® Muffins

From Member Beverly Allen

Beverly's muffins have approximately 6 grams of fiber per muffin (if you used both 1 cup of raisins and and 1/2 of nuts). All-Bran® cereal, whole wheat flour, raisins and nuts are all significantly high in fiber.

Dear Guido,

Don’t think you will like these muffins but your companion (notice I didn’t say owner) will love them and the way the fiber makes them feel. Two of these muffins and a warm drink make a wonderful healthy breakfast. I have discovered that eating fiber for breakfast helps to control weight problems. Adjust the spices to fit your individual taste as well as add raisins, nuts or both.

2 cups of All-Bran®
1 1/8 cup of non-fat milk (or I use soy milk)
2 eggs
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup flour (I use Montana white or my own whole wheat flour)
2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup of raisins, nuts or both

Set oven to 400 degrees.

Soak 2 cups of all-bran in non-fat milk (or soy milk). Then beat in eggs and add vegetable oil.

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Use a bit of flour on the raisins, nuts or both and stir to easily distribute in a separate bowl.

Now stir the flour mixture into the soaking bran and then the raisin and/or nuts. Don’t over-stir or muffins come out tough.

Drop into muffin pans – make 12 muffins. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool and enjoy! I put in plastic sacks and keep refrigerated. If I want to keep them longer I freeze them and warm in my toaster oven for breakfast.

Asparagus and Tomato Minestrone

From Member Kathy Gray

This recipe has approximately 5 grams per serving (assuming a total of four servings). The whole wheat pasta and veggies make it high in fiber.

This is a very fast, tasty, and healthy soup. By the time the pasta is cooked, the soup is done. This is a favorite of my grandchildren. They call it pasta soup. I use 100% whole wheat pasta, organic if possible. We grow our own tomatoes and I dice up tomatoes and saute in the butter and then freeze it in little square containers. Each portion is about 1 cup frozen. When they are frozen, I remove them from the containers and store 2 portions in a 1 quart freezer bag. That makes this soup even faster and easier to make as I just have to put one portion in the soup pot.

2 cups water
1/4 pound uncooked whole wheat spaghetti
3 Tablespoons butter
2 Medium tomatoes, diced
1 14 1/2-ounce can cut asparagus (including liquid)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream

In a saucepan boil water. Add uncooked spaghetti, broken into 2-inch lengths. Cook, stirring now and then, until the spaghetti is cooked. Add to a soup pot.

Meanwhile, put into a heavy 4-quart saucepan the butter and tomatoes. Cook rapidly over high heat until tomatoes become slightly soft.

While the tomato mixture is cooking, put into the blender or food processor the asparagus (including liquid), nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Add the puree to the soup pot with the spaghetti, along with the chicken stock and the cooked tomatoes. Heat the soup to a good simmer. Add heavy (whipping) cream. Stir well and bring to a simmer before serving.

Note: I never add additional salt as there is usually enough in the chicken broth. I have not tried this with canned tomatoes but I am sure it would be good. I would probably cut down on the chicken broth.