U.S. flour production totalled 21.3 million tonnes in 2025, down 0.9 per cent from 2024 levels, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

That is the smallest output in 14 years.

Things are trending differently in Canada, where mills produced 2.68 million tonnes of wheat flour in 2025, a 7.7 per cent increase over 2024 levels.

The Canadian National Millers Association was contacted for this story but did not respond in time to meet publication deadlines.

DTN lead analyst Rhett Montgomery thinks the slowdown in U.S. flour production is linked to a relatively recent fad.

“You continue to see a dietary move away from wheat,” he said.

Gluten intolerance is on the rise and so are wheat-free diets, but he isn’t ringing the alarm just yet.

“I don’t know if I’d be overly concerned,” Montgomery said during a recent DTN webinar.

“Bread and wheat have been the cornerstone of food and human consumption for thousands of years.”

Greg Horstmeier, DTN’s editor-in-chief, said what might be a cause for concern is the newly published Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which placed meat protein at the top of the pyramid and grains at the very bottom.

“It’s kind of a complete 180 from what we saw as a recommended food pyramid in the past,” he said.

“We’ll have to see how that changes things, whether that alters this (gluten-free) trend even more.”

WHY IT MATTERS: The dietary guidelines form the foundation of federal nutrition programs.

Horstmeier just returned from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s annual convention.

“They were certainly happy with where meat is on that food pyramid,” he said.

The same can’t be said for the country’s millers, who in a recent press release called the new pyramid a “major shift” in the government’s approach to nutrition.

The guidelines de-emphasize whole grain consumption, calling for two to four servings a day compared to six to 11 servings in the original food pyramid introduced in 1992.

The guidelines also call for Americans to significantly reduce the consumption of highly processed refined carbohydrates, such as white bread, ready-to-eat or packaged breakfast meals, flour tortillas and crackers.

The document refers to refined grains as “sugar in disguise.”

The North American Millers’ Association (NAMA) said milled grains have been foundational to diets and health for centuries.

“NAMA urges the administration to look more closely at the beneficial role that fortified and enriched grains play in supplying critical nutrients like fiber, iron, and folate,” the organization said in the press release.

“Stigmatizing grain foods as highly processed undermines U.S. farmers and the high-quality, American-grown products they make possible.”

NAMA said it will be lobbying in support of all grain foods as the U.S. administration implements the new dietary guidelines in federal nutrition programs in the coming years.

The National Association of Wheat Growers called the guidelines “unintentionally confusing.”

“Wheat, wheat flour and foods made from wheat have been nutrient-rich, life-sustaining staples for tens of thousands of years and deserve clear, continued support as a central part of our nation’s diet,” NAWG said in a press release.

The post Flour production slumps in the U.S., increases in Canada appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The bread, made from flour ground from dried crickets as well as wheat flour and seeds, contains more protein than normal wheat bread. Each loaf contains about 70 crickets and costs 3.99 euros (C$6.01), compared with two to three euros for a regular wheat loaf.

“It offers consumers with a good protein source and also gives them an easy way to familiarize themselves with insect-based food,” said Juhani Sibakov, head of innovation at Fazer Bakeries.

The demand to find more food sources and a desire to treat animals more humanely have raised interest in using insects as a protein source in several Western countries.

In November, Finland joined five other European countries — Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Denmark — in allowing insects to be raised and marketed for food use.

Sibakov said Fazer had developed the bread since last summer. It had to wait for legislation to be passed in Finland for the launch.

“I don’t taste the difference… It tastes like bread,” said Sara Koivisto, a student from Helsinki after trying the new product.

Due to a limited supply of crickets, the insect-bread will initially only be sold in 11 Fazer bakery stores located in Helsinki region hypermarkets, but the company plans to offer it in all 47 of its stores by next year.

The company buys its cricket flour from the Netherlands, but said it was also looking for local suppliers.

Fazer, a family business with sales of about 1.6 billion euros last year, did not give a sales target for the product.

Insect-eating, or entomophagy, is common in much of the world. The United Nations estimated last year that at least two billion people eat insects and more than 1,900 species have been used for food.

In Western countries, edible bugs are gaining traction in niche markets, particularly among those seeking a gluten-free diet or wanting to protect the environment because farming insects uses less land, water and feed than animal husbandry.

— Tuomas Forsell is a Reuters correspondent based in Helsinki.

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According to research quoted by dietitians, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Diabetes Association and the Alzheimer’s Society, making the switch to whole grains is worth the effort. Whole grains are those that retain all three components of grain kernels — the bran, germ and endosperm. This leaves them with the full complement of fibre, vitamins and nutrients that have been shown to lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some cancers. A big difference from refined grains which have been linked to increased risk of obesity, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

Making the switch to whole grains isn’t difficult, but it does require a willingness to try new things. While some people may initially balk at the chewier texture and nuttier flavour of whole grains, over time most people learn to love them and can’t imagine going back to the rather bland taste of refined grains.

If you’re interested in the benefits of whole grains like barley, brown rice, buckwheat, bulgur, corn, oats, quinoa, rye, wheat and wild rice here are a few ideas and recipes to get you started.

Choose rice, pasta, breakfast cereal, crackers and breads made with whole grain instead of refined grain. Look at the ingredient list to ensure whole grain or whole grain flour is one of the first ingredients mentioned. Ignore claims like “multi-grain,” “ancient grains,” “all natural,” “organic” or “made with whole grains” that don’t indicate if a product is actually whole grain. Even the term “100 per cent whole wheat” does not mean a product is whole grain because in Canada, up to five per cent of the kernel (primarily the bran and germ) is removed while making whole wheat flour.

When baking use whole grain flour or whole grains like oats whenever possible. In most baking, you can substitute half of the white flour with whole grain flour without changing anything else. The more whole grain, the better.

Make or buy snacks made with whole grains. The no-bake granola bars below feature whole grains, as does a bowl of popcorn. Did you know two cups of popcorn are considered one serving of whole grains? Just remember to go easy on the butter and salt.

Prepare double batches of whole grains then freeze extras for another day. Cooked whole grains like rice, buckwheat, wheatberries, quinoa and barley can be frozen with excellent results. Simply cool the cooked grain, place in freezer container, remove as much air as possible, label and freeze for up to six months. To use, thaw overnight or heat with a little water in the microwave. These whole grains are great in soups, stews, salads, rice pilaf, etc.

Soup, salad and snack, here are three whole grain recipes for you to enjoy.

Beef ’n Barley Soup

Use hulled barley (the whole grain form of barley) in this soup. Unlike pot or pearl barley, the bran and germ have not been polished away, so it retains all the nutrients and it will keep its shape nicely.

• 1 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 lb. stewing beef
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 3 carrots, diced
• 2 parsnips, diced
• 5-6 mushrooms, diced
• 1/2 tbsp. Italian seasoning (or 1/4 tsp. thyme & 1/2 tsp. oregano)
• 4 cups beef broth
• 2 cups (1 can (14.5 oz./428 ml)) diced tomatoes
• 2 -3 cups water
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup hulled barley
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped

In large soup pot, heat oil over medium-high heat.

Add beef and brown all sides. For best results, do this in two or three batches to ensure beef gets browned not steamed.

Add onions, garlic, celery, carrots and parsnips. Stir well to release browned bits from pot.

Sauté vegetables for two to three minutes to soften onions and release flavours.

Add Italian seasoning and sauté for half a minute.

Add beef broth, tomatoes, two cups water, Worcestershire Sauce and vinegar; stir well.

Add barley, stir and bring to boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for one hour with lid slightly askew so steam can escape.

If more liquid is needed add additional cup of water.

Taste and adjust seasoning as needed with black pepper and cayenne pepper.

Add half of parsley, saving the other half to garnish each bowl of soup.

Serves: 8

Recipe: gettystewart.com

Saskatoon and wheatberry salad

This saskatoon and wheatberry salad is as gorgeous as it is tasty and a great introduction to eating whole wheat grain kernels. If you’re out of saskatoons, use chopped apples instead.

Dressing

• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 tbsp. lemon juice (juice of 1 lemon)
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper

Salad

• 3/4 cup raw wheatberries
• 2 stalks celery
• 1/4 red pepper
• 1/4 yellow pepper
• 1/4 green pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped parsley
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 3/4 cup saskatoons (fresh or previously frozen)

In screw-top jar, combine oil, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper. Shake vigorously until well mixed. Set aside.

Rinse and drain wheatberries. Place in medium saucepan and cover with one to two inches of water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 50 minutes until tender. Drain any remaining water and cool.

Dice celery, red, yellow and green peppers.

In a medium-size salad bowl, toss together wheatberries, peppers, parsley and green onions.

Add dressing and mix well, gently fold in saskatoons and serve and enjoy.

Makes four servings and you can store leftovers in the fridge for up to four days.

Recipe: gettystewart.com

No-bake granola bar

• 1-1/2 cup All Bran Flakes cereal
• 1-1/2 cup large flake oats
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup hemp hearts
• 1 cup dates (about 12 to 15 dates)
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup for vegan option
• 1/3 cup almond or peanut butter

In large non-stick skillet, toast oats, walnuts and pumpkin seeds over medium heat, stirring often for about 8 minutes or until light golden and fragrant.

Pour oat mixture into a large bowl and let cool slightly; stir in bran flakes and hemp hearts.

In bowl of food processor, pulse dates until finely chopped and starting to form a ball.

In small saucepan, heat together honey and almond butter over medium-low heat until melted and smooth. Add dates and stir to combine.

Pour into oat mixture and stir together until dates are distributed evenly and oats are coated well.

Press mixture into 9 x 13-inch parchment- or foil-lined baking pan and press to flatten evenly (warning: don’t place it on a pan that’s too big —you want the mixture to be “tight”).

Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour or until firm. Cut into bars.

Wrap individually with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator for up to one week or in the freezer for longer.

Recipe: Nita Sharda at carrotsandcake.ca

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The Canadian International Grains institute, better known as Cigi, has completed a year-long project examining how blending barley into traditional wheat flour could improve both nutritional properties and milling performance.

On its own, barley can be difficult to mill, often clumping and clogging machines, but Cigi’s senior technology adviser and project leader said hulled barley could make up as much as 50 per cent of a wheat-barley blend with a few milling adjustments, similar to those made to accommodate soft wheat.

“Milling barley is very much like milling soft wheat,” Ashok Sarkar said. “And although there are often separate mills for hard wheat and soft wheat, you can achieve reasonable results milling soft wheat in a hard wheat mill.”

The only catch is that the load must be reduced by about 25 per cent to make it work.

“So barley is very similar to this, it doesn’t sift properly and the endosperm is very gummy or woolly… so you have to open up the apertures or screens in order to allow the material to move,” he said. “It needs help, but when you blend wheat with it, it acts like sand almost, allowing it to flow through.”

Three types tested

The project was funded by Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions, and the Alberta Barley Commission provided the Cigi team with samples of three different types of food barley to work with, including a non-waxy variety with normal starch, a partially waxy variety and a full-waxy variety with high starch content.

These barley types were then blended with wheat at different ratios and milled in pursuit of higher beta-glucan levels. A beta-glucan health claim was approved by Health Canada in 2012 and now foods with at least one gram of barley beta-glucan per serving can be promoted as a way of lowering cholesterol.

“Barley is high in beta-glucan content, which is a dietary fibre,” said Elaine Sopiwnyk, Cigi’s director of grain quality. “Wheat essentially has no beta-glucan content, wheat has some insoluble fibre, but the levels can be really, really bumped up by including barley.”

She added that the United States also allows for barley beta-glucan health claims, giving manufacturers, distributors, millers and bakers yet another reason to include this often-overlooked cereal in their products.

“The excellent thing about barley, is that there is no problem with the taste either. It actually tastes good,” Sopiwnyk added. “So if we can produce products that meet that health claim, tasting good, it is an advantage.”

Health benefits

Sarkar said the consumption of beta-glucan can also lower a person’s risk of coronary heart disease and possibly offset certain cancers. Because of barley’s beta-glucan content, as well as the antioxidants, vitamins and phytonutrients contained in the cereal, it’s also known for its ability to regulate blood glucose levels.

“And this is something that could especially assist those with diabetes,” he noted.

Cigi first began to examine the possibilities of milling barley with wheat several years ago, looking at including about 15 per cent barley at that time. While the trials were successful from a milling perspective, the work was put on the shelf until a year ago.

Sarkar said that in part, the increasing interest in making wheat a healthier option comes from pressures placed on the industry in the wake of Wheat Belly, a widely popular and often discredited book which labelled wheat as the cause of a huge swath of health problems.

“Our customers overseas have been very interested in this and also in North America where health and nutrition are a major focus — especially after the Wheat Belly book, the gluten free and all of this,” he said. “The response to all of this is to come up with a healthier bread or end product, using other cereal crops.”

Sopiwnyk noted that bake tests were not the primary focus of the project but added those that were done showed the flour performed well, although it requires more liquid as a result of the high fibre content.

“There was also a very slight reduction in volume at some level, but not enough to be considered a defect,” she said.

The project leader said more baking trials would likely go ahead in the future.

“But the milling part has been very critical, because nobody wants to invest money to try something new that they don’t know if it works,” said Sarkar. “Launching any new product is expensive, so it was very importent for us to learn from this project, and gain information we could provide.”

Spreading the word

The next goal for Cigi is to get the word out and let people know that milling barley and wheat is an option that works and that it provides nutritional benefits. Farmers also need to know that there is another market opening up for barley.

“So we also need help from the producers’ side,” Sarkar said, adding that millers may have difficulty finding enough hulless barley to add to their wheat until the word gets out.

“So we hope that one day, sooner rather than later, that this gets out and becomes more popular,” he said. “There’s no reason it shouldn’t be.”

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“I worked with a lot of Canadian wheat flour in England,” the British-born and -trained baker said. “Everybody knew that if you were making good biscuits, you used Australian flour, and if you wanted to make good bread, you used Canadian flour.”

Tweed had actually been seconded by the Canadian International Development Agency and was planning to start mobile baking schools in Peru when he learned his wife was expecting.

The family changed their plans, and he was looking for a new job in 1972 just as the fledgling Canadian Grains Institute, as it was then called, was looking for a head baker.

The rest, as they say, is history — 40 years of it to be exact. An iconic fixture in the Cigi baking technology centre, Tweed has spent the past four decades working with customers from 115 countries on the technical aspects of products, travelling to dozens of countries as well as helping teach the 38,000 or so participants in the more technical courses Cigi has offered.

What he learned upon his arrival at Cigi, as the Canadian International Grains Institute is now called, and what he has conveyed to customers ever since, has been the infrastructure that is behind Canada’s quality, everything from the variety selection, to farm practices, to clean handling and quality segregation systems, to a skilled team of troubleshooters who help processors sort out technical glitches.

“You are really selling Canadian grain, but you are also selling Canada — clean air, fresh water, nice people, and the systems are honest here,” Tweed said. “It is a very unique place to work. Where else do you get to meet people from all these different cultures? You are working with the Japanese this week and the Sudanese next week.”

Cigi’s staff has grown to 35, a group that collectively can boast some of the world’s best technical expertise when it comes to understanding the finer points of milling, baking and processing quality.

He now has colleagues within the organization who are equally expert when it comes to noodle-making ingredients and processes, Asian steam breads, and processing pulse crops into food ingredients.

A few floors down, pasta extruding researcher Peter Frolich is looking for ways to convince North Americans to eat more nutritionally dense pulse crops such as peas, lentils and beans. In some parts of the world, it’s as simple as mixing them with rice or making a paste.

But Canadians are partial to snack foods.

Frolich holds up what looks like a puffed cheese snack. “I can make a Cheeto-like product that has high protein, high fibre, folate minerals and vitamins that has the same mouth feel,” he says.

“I think in the next five to 10 years these flours will be added ingredients to many if not all the foods processed in Canada,” Frolich says. But first, companies need to know that it can be done, and secondly, how to do it.

As supporters of the Canadian International Grains Institute gathered to celebrate 40 years of its remarkable history this week, they were looking forward to a future that contains no small measure of uncertainty.

The organization set up to soft sell Canadian grains, oilseeds and later pulses is looking for new ways of financing its operations.

The federal government has temporarily stepped in to fill the void as the Canadian Wheat Board, one of its founding partners and key funders, loses its monopoly. But in the future, its operations will have to be financed, at least in part, through a farmer checkoff and fee-for-service contracts.

Cigi also finds itself working with a whole new type of client as grain companies step up to fill the board’s marketing role. And if the City of Saskatoon has its way, the organization will be moved lock, stock and barrel to another province.

Industry sources at last week’s celebration offered mixed views on the possibility. Some say the organization has outgrown its space in the Canadian Grain Commission building in downtown Winnipeg and if the proposed Cereal Centre of Excellence for Winnipeg is off the table, considering such a move only makes sense.

Others say Cigi’s strength is in its people and its close working relationship with the CGC, both of which would be compromised in such a move.

One thing is for sure. Cigi will be looking for a new top baking expert. Now in his 70th year, Tweed plans to retire at the end of this month, although he has already been contracted by British baker Warburton’s to continue running their wheat quality control program.

Tweed has seen three generations of technical experts come through his lab, and witnessed an explosive growth in the sophistication of milling technology. “They have much more opportunity to buy different-origin wheats and they are more skilled in blending and cleaning,” he said.

“But we are still in the driver’s seat when it really comes to high-quality, good-quality protein, good milling yield, absorption all the things people are looking for,” he said.

Tweed doesn’t quibble with those who say Canadian farmers should be growing more medium-quality wheats. “Some customers are buying those kinds of wheats. If Canada can do that and still be competitive to the customer, I don’t see why they wouldn’t.

“But there are still the customers, as much as we travel, who tell us there are two problems with Canadian wheat: the moisture content is too high, which we all know, and it’s too expensive. But they want it.”

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If you bake, muffins are probably one of your most frequent productions. To your mothers and grandmothers, who had plenty of recipes for small quick breads, though, muffins may have been somewhat new or “trendy.” I recently came across a Country Guide column from August 1984 where writer Kathy Baranovsky described muffins as one of the “in foods” of the 1980s.

Muffins were “in” to stay for lots of reasons. There are plentiful recipe variations or you can make up your own. Muffins store and travel well and they’re a snap to make — no special occasion required. You can start and finish a batch in about a half-hour and they always make someone happy just smelling them out of the oven. Here are a few recipes to tempt you this week, including a classic from Country Guide 1984.

Rhubarb and Brown Sugar Muffins

• 1-1/4 c. brown sugar1/2 c. canola oil1 egg1 c. buttermilk2 tsp. vanilla1-1/2 c. finely diced rhubarb2-1/2 c. all-purpose flour1 tsp. baking soda1 tsp. baking powder1/2 tsp. salt

In large bowl, beat together brown sugar, canola oil, egg, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir in diced rhubarb. In second bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir dry ingredients into canola oil mixture and stir only until ingredients are combined. Fill paper-lined muffin tins 2/3 to 3/4 full.

• For topping:1 tbsp. melted butter1/3 c. sugar1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix topping ingredients together and scatter over tops of muffins. Press lightly into batter. Bake at 400 F for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centre of muffin comes out clean.

Source: Manitoba Canola Growers

Chocolate BananaBran Muffins

• 1 c. all-purpose flour1 c. bran flakes1 tsp. baking powder1 tsp. baking soda1/2 tsp. salt2 tbsp. cocoa1/3 c. canola oil1/2 c. white sugar2 eggs1/4 c. sour milk (1 tsp. vinegar in measuring cup add milk to make it 1/4 cup)1 c. mashed bananas (approximately three medium bananas)

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, bran flakes, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa. Stir to combine. Make a well in the centre.

In a medium bowl, mix together canola oil, sugar and eggs until well blended. Mix in sour milk and bananas. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Don’t overmix. Mixture will be lumpy. Spray canola oil into the muffin pan cups. Fill the pans 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Yield: 12 muffins

Garden Oatmeal Muffins

This was one of nearly a dozen recipes published that summer in Country Guide.

• 1-1/2 c. milk1-1/2 c. quick-cooking rolled oats1 egg1/2 c. margarine, melted1 c. all-purpose flour1 c. whole wheat flour1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar3-1/2 tsp. baking powder1 tsp. salt1 tsp. cinnamon1/2 tsp. nutmeg1 c. grated carrot1 c. grated zucchini

Pour milk over rolled oats in a bowl; let stand five minutes. Add egg and margarine; mix well. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in large bowl. Stir oat mixture into dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened. Fold in carrot and zucchini. Spoon batter into greased or paper-lined muffin cups, generously filling each to the top. Bake at 400 F for about 20 minutes or until done. Cool. Store in airtight container. Makes 12 large muffins.

Carrot Pineapple Muffins

• 1-3/4 c. flour1 tsp. baking powder1 tsp. baking soda1/2 tsp. salt1 c. sugar1 tsp. cinnamon2/3 c. oil2 eggs1 c. grated carrots1/2 c. crushed pineapple with juice1 tsp. vanilla

Sift dry ingredients into large bowl. Add oil, eggs, grated carrots and pineapple with juice, then vanilla. Blend together, beat two minutes. Pour batter into muffin cups, filling 2/3 full and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes.

Good Morning Muffins

Barley flour isn’t as easy to find as it should be but if you have some try this great recipe — it makes a lot!

• 5 c. wheat bran5 c. buttermilk1 c. brown sugar, packed firmly1 c. canola oil4 eggs1 c. blackstrap molasses1-1/2 c. water5 c. whole barley flour2 c. raisins1 c. wheat germ1 tbsp. salt4 tsp. baking powder4 tsp. baking soda1 tsp. cinnamon

In a very large bowl, stir together the bran and buttermilk. Mix sugar, oil and eggs and add to buttermilk mixture. Add molasses and water. In another bowl, stir together barley flour, raisins, wheat germ, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add to the buttermilk mixture and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fill paper muffin cups to top edge and bake in a 375 F oven for about 20 minutes. Makes 36 muffins.

Source: Alberta Barley Commission

The post Recipe Swap, May 10, 2012 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Green split pea flour, whole yellow flour and chickpea flour are a line of Manitobamade flours now passing taste tests in kitchens around the country as home bakers hear about their health benefits, try them, and discover they make a darned good cookie, muffin or brownie.

The recently launched organic flour products, plus a pea fibre, come from Best Cooking Pulses, a Portage la Prairie company owned by sisters Margaret Hughes and Trudy Heal. They’ve been test marketing at places like the St. Norbert’s Farmers’ Market and in schools’ human ecology classes. Now a major Canadian distributor is picking them up this spring.

Unusual as a flour made from peas might seem, it’s not such a new thing. Pulse flours were commonly used in England early last century.

That’s how long the family business Margaret and Trudy carry on has been around too.

Best Cooking Pulses was founded by their grandfather in 1936 and has been active in the international pulse trade since. In the 1980s, their father developed the processing equipment at the Portage plant to mill peas into a fine flour that he supplied to overseas markets, said Margaret. The flour was first picked up by pet food markets across North America; its food-grade quality eventually also attracting a U.S. bakery customer too.

Word of this made-in-Manitoba flour really began to spread after mid-2000 when researchers, through a Pulse Canada initiative, started looking into the health benefits and potential new markets for pulse foods.

Best whole yellow pea flour and pea fibre were sought by the Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals to make pea-flour and pea-fibre muffins for use in clinical trials.

Subjects ate two muffins a day

4 c. boiling water

4 tsp. vegetable bouillon

3/8 -1/4 c. Best whole

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk vegetable soup base and pea flour into boiling water, stirring for about 1 minute. Turn heat to low, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Alternatively, add 1/2 c. each carrots, potatoes and/or minced celery to boiling water and cook 3 to 4 minutes, then add pea flour and proceed as above.

VERY QUICK PEA SOUP

Delicious and filling pea soup with no need to soak dried peas overnight!

containing whole pea flour, fractionated pea flour (pea fibre) and white wheat flour. After 28 days of supplementation the researchers noted improvements in the insulin levels among those eating the muffins supplemented by the pea flour. Furthermore, fat around the waist and abdomen (android fat) was lower in the whole pea flour group compared with the wheat flour group. Decreased insulin and fat around the belly are both contributing risk factors for diabetes.

The study attracted a lot of attention and further boosted the appeal pea flour is having among food makers as a low-cost source of protein, fibre and other dietary benefits. More commercial bakeries are now using Best’s flours. U.S.-based Mary’s Gone Crackers company, specializing in gluten-free products, now makes cookies made with Best’s yellow pea flour.

Health-conscious consumers like these flours but it’s also meeting the need of a growing number of persons who can’t consume wheat flour and are looking for healthier alternatives than rice flour for baked products.

“These flours can be used by anyone but have particular relevance to those with conditions such as celiac disease (and) wheat intolerance,” said Margaret.

Pulse flour can be used in bread, bagels, tortillas, crackers, cakes, muffins, brownies, cookies, and make a nice alternative for a breadcrumb coating for fish, chicken and chops too. They were a hit last fall when the sisters spoke at the Manitoba Farm Women’s Conference. They’d sold out within minutes there, said Trudy.

yellow flour or Best green

split pea flour (depending

on preferred thickness)

2 oz. unsweetened

chocolate or 2/3 c. cocoa

1/2 c. butter or

margarine

1 c. sugar

“These were all people who bake and they were really interested in them,” she said.

A word of advice before you try them. Pulse flour can have a bitterness to the batter as you’re preparing it. Don’t worry about it. It will disappear when you bake it.

“There’s a certain point in the heating process where all that bitterness is transformed and it is gone,” said Margaret.

Curious to try some yourself? Look for Best’s one-kg gold packages containing either whole yellow pea flour, pea fibre, chickpea flour, or a green split pea flour in these local stores. But do call ahead! The yellow pea whole pea flour is popular and wasn’t available the first time I checked at Vita Health and Organza Market in Winnipeg.

Where to find Best flour

A Sense of Manitoba-Beausejour Family Foods-Portage and Stonewall Federated Co-op-Portage Gramma Carol’s-Selkirk

Main Bread and Butter-Steinbach Two Farm Kids-Brandon Dreams Health Store-Winnipeg Eatit.ca -Winnipeg

Humboldt’s Legacy-Winnipeg La Grotta-Winnipeg

Marcello’s Meats-Winnipeg Meyer’s Drugs Ltd.-Winnipeg Nutrition Plus-Winnipeg Organza Market-Winnipeg Vita Health-Winnipeg Prairie Fire-Winnipeg Food Fare,Wolseley Ave. and Portage Ave. -Winnipeg

Best CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

1/2 c. Best Whole Yellow

Pea Flour

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Pinch of salt

Melt the chocolate and butter/margarine on low heat. Remove from heat and add the sugar and flour. Beat each egg before adding to the mixture. Add the vanilla and a pinch of salt. Pour into a greased 8 by 8-inch pan. Cook for 25 minutes at 375 F. This recipe can be doubled, tripled and quadrupled with no ill effects.

Sendyourrecipesorreciperequeststo:

ManitobaCo-operatorRecipe Swap

Box 1794, Carman, Man. R0G 0J0

or email lorraine@fbcpublishing.com

Recipes for using Best pulse flours can be found on the company’s website –www.bestcooking pulses.com. You can also sign up forPea Snaps a monthly newsletter created by Margaret and Trudy to share recipes and other information on the health and nutrition as well as the enviromental benefits of pulse-based diets. Here’s a selection of recipes from Best Cooking Pulses website to help you try each of these flours as well as the pea fibre.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH Best PEA FIBRE

This recipe was developed by University of Saskatchewan researcher Carla Flogan for conducting studies on fibre fortification of foods for kids with constipation. She used Best pea fibre to boost these cookies’ fibre and folate content.

1/2 c. butter

1/3 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1-1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/3 tsp. salt

1/3 c. Best Pea Fibre

1/2 c. chocolate chips

Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt and Best pea fibre. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the white and brown sugars. Cream until fluffy. Beat in the egg, and then the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and beat until well mixed, adding the chocolate chips halfway through. Shape the dough into 15 g balls (for 44 cookies) and place on greased/coated baking sheets. Squish the balls down with a fork. If the dough is too soft to work, cover and refrigerate until firm. Place the cookie sheets on a rack above the centre of the oven, and bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Cool on a wire rack.

TIDBIT

In England during the 1920s and 1930s, pea flour was widely used for cooking, baking, and car repairs! If your car blew an engine gasket and a replacement couldn’t be found, the mechanic would sometimes use thick brown paper and pea flour paste as an alternative. Apparently, it worked just fine!

– Source:Pea SnapsSeptember 2010 newsletter

HUMMUS WITH Best CHICKPEA FLOUR

2-1/2 c. water

3/4 c. Best Chickpea

Flour

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 c. tahini (ground

sesame paste)

1/4 c. lemon juice

1/4 c. Tabasco sauce

1/4 c. vegetable broth

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 c. olive oil

Bring 2-1/2 cups of water to boil on medium heat. Whisk the Best Chickpea Flour into the boiling water. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Turn the heat down to medium low and continue cooking for five minutes. Let cool. In the meantime, purée the garlic, tahini, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce and vegetable broth in a food processor until smooth. Fold the puréed mixture into the cooled chickpea mixture. Add the ground cumin, salt and pepper before stirring in the olive oil. Pour into dipping bowls and serve at room temperature.

The post Recipe Swap – for Feb. 17, 2011 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Judy Driedger had no idea where to start when she began eliminating gluten from her diet after suspecting she had a gluten intolerance causing her stomach aches and itching skin.

That was over five years ago.

The Austin-area woman saw her symptoms disappear and her health restored. Although never having a blood test to confirm it, she’s convinced she’s learned to live with celiac disease by changing the way she eats.

But what a struggle it was learning to eat gluten free, says Driedger. So many foods contain gluten and cutting out the bread, muffins, cakes and cookies she loved was very difficult.

“Basically, I hardly knew what to eat,” said Driedger, a self-professed snacker, who admits the first thing she did was start snacking on rice crackers, until she couldn’t look at another.

“And in the meantime I tried to figure out alternatives besides basic meat and potatoes.”

The cost to buy gluten-free breads and other gluten-free products was also an issue. A small loaf of bread was often about double what she’d pay for regular bread.

That’s when this passionate home baker decided to see what she could make for herself at home.

She literally started from scratch, lacking access to the Internet and unaware at the kind of resources available through organizations such as the Manitoba Celiac Association.

She began experimenting with baking with rice, tapioca and other wheat flour substitutes. Her first results weren’t very impressive, but as she tweaked more recipes she did have success. Finally she was baking what “tasted like the real thing again,” she says.

“I was amazed. I’d managed to make wonderful muffins and cookies and cakes.”

Were others struggling as she had to go gluten free, she wondered? Two years ago, Driedger decided to publish her recipes in an 80-recipe cookbook Gluten-Free Cooking and Baking which she now markets directly.

Once thought to be a childhood disease, celiac disease is far more common today than it was 50 years ago. It’s an auto-immune permanent intolerance to specific peptides of gluten-containing cereals including wheat, rye, triticale and barley.

According to recent findings of a study at the Mayo Clinic at Rochester, Minnesota reported last July in Gastroenterology magazine there is a 4.5 times higher incidence of celiac disease today.

“Celiac disease is unusual, but it’s no longer rare,” according to Dr. Joseph Murray, the American gastroenterologist who led the study which tested and compared blood samples gathered in the late 1940s and early 1950s with samples collected today.

New screening methods using a variety of blood tests indicate the incidence of celiac disease in the general North American population may now be as high as one in 100.

An estimated 200 to 300 new cases of celiac disease are diagnosed every year in Manitoba, according to figures cited in Wave the Winnipeg-based Health and Wellness publication of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

The condition has unspecific symptoms that can vary greatly from person to person but common symptoms include vitamin deficiencies, diarrhea or constipation (often both), and abdominal pain.

Thank you for supporting the recipe swap! We love receiving readers’ favourite recipes and recipe requests.

The condition has also been linked to other health problems such as the development of osteoporosis; those with celiac disease are unable to effectively absorb nutrients such as calcium and iron from food.

Manitobans can request a blood test at no cost at any walk-in medical clinic if they suspect they are manifesting symptoms of celiac disease, says Susan Finlay, president of the Manitoba Chapter of the Canadian Celiac Association.

She says Judy’s story of struggling to eat gluten free in a world awash in wheat-based foods is a common one.

“We hear this over and over,” said Finlay, adding that it’s usually immediately after diagnosis that those with celiac start to puzzle over how to organize their daily diet.

Gluten is found in many foods, and many unexpected sources, including certain drug products and anything that lists hydrolyzed vegetable or plant protein as an ingredient.

The Ca n a d i a n Ce l i a c Association’s website includes extensive information on living a gluten-free lifestyle and eating a gluten-free diet, noting on its website that many individuals “are often confused and needlessly avoid certain foods and ingredients, thus limiting the variety in their diet which can lead to nutritional imbalances.”

The Canadian Celiac Association held its annual conference in Winnipeg June 4 to 6 with speakers addressing many issues including the health risks posed by the disease, “silent” celiac disease, and workshops on creative cooking for celiacs.

For more information Manitoba Celiac Association website: www.celiac.mb.ca/CanadinaCeliac Associaton website: www.celiac.ca/

SEND RECIPES OR RECIPE REQUESTS TO:

Manitoba Co-operator Recipe Swap

Box 1794, Carman, Man. R0G 0J0

or email

lorraine@fbcpublishing.com

Here are two recipes shared with us this week from Judy Driedger of Austin. For a copy of her cookbook (cost is $15 including shipping and handling) contact her at Box 415, Austin, Man. R0H 0C0

RHUBARB MUFFINS

1 c. rice flour

1 c. tapioca flour

1/2 c. potato starch

1 tsp. xanthan gum (like

a glue that holds things

together)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1-1/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. oil

1 egg

1 c. buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. rhubarb

Topping:

1/2 c. white sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together all dry ingredients. Make a well in the centre. Premix all the wet ingredients excluding rhubarb. Beat and add to the well, lastly adding the rhubarb. Pour into greased muffin tins. Divide toping between muffins. Bake at 350 F 20 to 25 minutes.

CORN BREAD

This recipe is found in Judy’s cookbook Gluten-Free Cooking and Baking published by Rasmussen.

1/2 c. corn flour

1/2 c. rice flour

1/4 c. sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. xanthan gum

1 c. cornmeal

1 beaten egg

1 c. milk

1/4 c. oil or melted

shortening

Combine all dry ingredients, make a well in the centre, add remaining ingredients and just stir until blended. Put in a greased 8 x 8-inch pan. Bake at 400 F for 20 to 25 minutes. Tastes great warm with butter!

COUNTRY CHILI

Pulses – beans, peas, chickpeas and lentils – are gluten free and provide a great alternative to wheat and other gluten-containing grain, adding starch, fibre and many other vitamins and minerals that could be lacking in a gluten-free diet. Pulse flours such as black bean, whole bean and pea flours can also be used very successfully in gluten-free baking.

This recipe for Country Chili, suitable for celiacs and non-celiacs alike, is found in Pulses, Cooking with beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas a recipe source of Pulse Canada that contains over a dozen gluten-free cooking and baking recipes. The recipes can be found online at www.pulsecanada.com.

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 tbsp. canola oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 c. onion, chopped

1 green pepper, seeded

and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 -7–oz. can (398 ml)

tomato sauce

1 -28-oz. can (796 ml)

tomatoes, halved

1 tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. Worcestershire

sauce (gluten-free variety)

4 c. red kidney

beans, cooked OR

2 -19 oz. cans (2 -540

ml) red kidney beans,

rinsed and drained

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Pinch salt and pepper

In skillet, cook ground beef until browned. In a medium soup pot, heat oil and sauté garlic, onion, green peppers and celery about five minutes. Add ground beef, tomato sauce, tomatoes, chili powder and Worcestershire sauce. Cook 10 minutes on medium heat and add beans. Bring to a boil and season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy.

The post What To Eat When You Can’t Eat Wheat appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“We have one of the lowest average protein contents that we’ve had in the spring wheat crop in years,” said Mike Krueger, president of the Money Farm, a grain market advisory service near Fargo, North Dakota.

Protein is the main selling point for U. S. Hard Red Spring wheat, which is grown primarily in North Dakota and neighbouring states. High-protein wheat increases the gluten in bread dough, making lighter, airier bread.

Samples collected and analyzed by North Dakota State University roughly halfway through the harvest showed the average protein content of the Hard Red Spring wheat crop running at 13.7 per cent, about one full percentage point below normal.

Krueger said some North Dakota farmers were harvesting wheat with as little as 10 per cent protein – comparable to the levels for soft wheats used in crackers and cakes.

Given the large supply of low-protein wheat, farmers in the region are facing discounts at grain elevators of up to $1 per bushel for each percentage point below the par grade of 14 per cent.

Wheat industry groups are struggling to find a market for the low-protein crop at a time when big harvests across the Northern Hemisphere have produced a global wheat glut.

On Sept. 19 the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council, the North Dakota Grain Growers Association and North Dakota Wheat Commission suggested in a joint report that spring wheat farmers store their grain or put it under the government loan program while the market adjusts to the influx of low-protein supplies.

The post U. S. Wheat Farmers Struggle With Low-Protein Crop appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.