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Expert Q&A
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| By Leanne Ely Leanne Ely, C.N.C., Certified Nutrition Consultant | ||
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How can I incorporate more fiber into my toddler's diet?
I think muffins make a most impressive vehicle for fiber transfer! Muffins can take on many personalities and be sweet, savory or somewhere in between and deliver an excellent nutritional punch, as well as beef up your child's fiber count.
To do this, eliminate white flour and use a whole wheat pastry flour. Available in health food stores, this flour is soft and adds fiber without turning the muffin into a brick. Also, the addition of oats, oat bran, wheat bran, nuts and veggies even, help to increase the fiber content of your average muffin.
My book is filled with wonderful, fiber-filled muffin recipes. Here is a kid pleasing muffin that isn't from my book but is wonderful nonetheless:
Banana-Blueberry Muffins
Makes 1 dozen
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 medium)
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (available in health food stores)
1/3 cup honey
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (thawed and well drained)
Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease bottoms only of 12 medium muffin cups or line with paper baking cups. Beat milk, oil, banana and egg in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients except blueberries just until flour is moistened. Fold in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups (cups will be almost full).
Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan.
Per serving: 189 Calories (kcal); 5g Total Fat; (24% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 32g Carbohydrate; 17mg Cholesterol; 202mg Sodium
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