If you have a few minutes and access to the Internet, I think you’ll find a new web-based health and wellness assessment tool an interesting exercise. It’s maybe an eye-opener too.

Last week the Manitoba government launched Health e-Plan, a secure interactive online site to help you get a better idea about your health status and take a more active role in managing your health.

The site asks you questions about your eating and exercise habits, how you handle stress and family history. Then it produces a customized assessment of your health status based on your information and where you live. You can set yourself some goals by using the support resources provided to take any action you may need, such as calling a dietitian with the phone number provided.

I tried the Health e-Plan. It produces a set of “Let’s just say it makes a few health issues abundantly clear, with the wellness challenges outweighing the ‘wellness assets.’” (I went for a fast-paced walk afterward.)

You can also track your progress with Health e-Plan and it even has a rewards program – with products such as pedometers and stress balls to pairs of tickets to individual games of the Goldeyes, Blue Bombers and even the new NHL team.

Clearly, Manitobans are looking for resources. Earlier this year the Health Sciences Centre put out a call looking for rural Manitobans with insomnia who might want to participate in a support program they were offering through ManitobaTelehealth and online. Response was overwhelming. This was a service people did not have where they lived.

Health e-Plan is a similar resource that can be very helpful to those living farther from resources to support a healthy lifestyle. I encourage you to try it.

The website is: www.manitoba.ca/healtheplan.

***

A few weeks ago we featured recipes fromPulses and the Gluten-Free Diet,a new recipe book released by Pulse Canada. It’s in such high demand they’ve temporarily run out of copies. It should be available again in mid-July but in the meantime you can always find it online.

Pulse Canada has also launched a new biannual newsletterPulse Network Newscontaining recipes, cooking information, answers to frequently asked questions plus information on the nutritional and environmental benefits of a diet containing more pulses. The first newsletter, for example, encourages parents to add more pulses to children’s diets by pureeing cooked pulses and adding them to baked goods such as the yummy biscuits above.

You can look up more pulse recipes, including the gluten-free cookbook plus the links to Pulse Network News online at: www.pulsecanada.com.

BAKED BISCUITS

Who’d have thought you could make lentil biscuits!

1-3/4 c. all purpose flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tbsp. granulated sugar

dash salt

1/4 c. unsalted margarine

or butter at room

temperature

2/3 c. lentil purée**

2/3 c. 1% milk

Preheat oven to 425 F. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut margarine/ butter into mixture and add lentil purée (still cutting) until it resembles coarse oatmeal. Add milk and fold mixture until ingredients are just incorporated. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat down to 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch diameter cookie cutter. (You can dust cookie cutter with flour to prevent dough from sticking) Place biscuits on a baking sheet at least one inch apart. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until golden. Serve and enjoy!

Makes 15

GREEK LENTIL SALAD

1-19-oz can (540mL)

lentils, rinsed

and drained

1/2 c. kalamata olives

1/2 c. onion, chopped

1-1/2 c. grape tomatoes,

halved

1/2 c. green peppers,

chopped

1 c. cucumber, diced

1/4 c. feta cheese,

crumbled

1/4 c. fresh parsley,

chopped

1/4 c. olive oil

1/4 c. lemon juice

1 tbsp. dried oregano

In a large bowl, combine lentils, olives, onion, tomatoes, green peppers, cucumber, feta cheese and parsley. Whisk oil, lemon juice and oregano together.

Add parsley and toss salad with dressing to coat. Can be eaten right away or left in the fridge to marinate before serving.

CHICKPEA AND CAULIFLOWER CURRY

This makes a very tasty, light supper.

3 tbsp. canola oil

1 small onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp. curry powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. cayenne

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp. fresh or

ground ginger

1 tsp. sugar

pinch salt

1 small cauliflower

floret, cut into

small pieces

1 c. frozen green peas

3/4 c. reduced sodium

vegetable broth

3/4 c. coconut milk

10 sprigs cilantro

1 540-mL can chickpeas,

rinsed and drained

Heat oil in a large skillet. Sauté onion and garlic until golden. Stir in curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, cayenne, bay leaf, ginger, sugar and salt. Stir until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add chickpeas, cauliflower and peas. Stir in broth and coconut milk. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until cauliflower is cooked through. Remove from heat and remove bay leaf. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Source: Pulse Canada recipe website www.pulsecanada.com/recipes

Sendyourrecipesorreciperequeststo:

ManitobaCo-operatorRecipe Swap

Box 1794, Carman, Man. R0G 0J0

or email [email protected]

GINGERBREAD CUPCAKES

This is a recipe fromPulses and the Gluten-Free Diet.If you’re not on a gluten-free diet yourself, pass it along to a friend or family member who is.

Place rack in middle of oven. Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously grease a standard 12-cup nonstick muffin pan or line with paper liners. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together rice flour blend, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, xantham gum and salt until well blended. Add the lentil purée, eggs, brown sugar, oil, molasses, vanilla and vinegar and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until blended. divide batter evenly in muffin pan. Bake until toothpick inserted into centre of cupcakes comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan 10 minutes on wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Preparation time: 10 minutes Baking time: 20 to 35 minutes

*Tomakebrownriceflourblend:

1-1/2 c. brown rice flour

1-1/2 c. potato starch

1 c. tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)

Blend thoroughly. Store, tightly closed, in dark, dry place.

**Tomakepulsepuréeusingcannedpulses: Rinse and drain a 15-ounce can of pulses; discard the liquid; yields about 1-1/4 cups pulses. Place the pulses in a food processor, add 1/4 cup hot water and purée (scraping down sides of bowl frequently) until the mixture has the consistency of canned pumpkin, about 3 minutes. If needed, add additional water, 1 tablespoon) at a time, to reach this consistency. Makes about 1 cup purée. Refrigerate or freeze unused purée.

Canada Post has been on strike so your Fruity Story may be stuck in the mail. We’d love to hear more readers’ fruit-picking memories. We’ll publish three of the best on these pages later in July and to each writer we’ll also send a copy of Precious Wild Berries,a cookbook we featured earlier this spring containing loads of wild fruit recipes. Please keep your story down to no more than 150 words.

Send your stories by JULY 15 to: Fruit picking stories c/o Manitoba Co-operator Box 1794, Carman, MB R0G 0J0

1 c. brown rice

flour blend*

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 tsp. table salt

1 c. lentil purée**

2 large eggs, room

temperature

2/3 c. packed

brown sugar

1/3 c. canola oil

1/3 c. molasses

(not blackstrap)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar