feel good syrup

Fall Harvest Salad with Elderberry Syrup Dressing

0 · Oct 30, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Salads are one of those meals you can enjoy any time of the year. A versatile dish you can change up with the seasons featuring fresh produce or ingredients, proteins, beans, lentils, pasta, rice, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, fresh herbs – really whatever floats your boat for the most part can go into your salad as long as you create a balance.

For example add fresh sliced brussels sprouts and pears to your slaw like in this Winter Brussels Sprout Slaw with Pancetta and you have a winter salad. Fresh summer blueberries help create this Blueberry & Halloumi Quinoa Salad with Charred Corn giving you a delicious summer salad. Salads can be many things any time of the year as long as you have a little imagination and some great ingredients!

Working with Feel Good Elderberry Syrup this month, we wanted to create a salad dressing using the four main elements of a dressing: extra virgin olive oil (oil), white balsamic vinegar (acid), Elderberry Syrup (sweet) and salt + pepper (salt). While elderberry syrup is not that sweet, it definitely brings the sweet element and is as healthy as using maple syrup or honey.

A fifth element involved in making salad dressings, (aromatic) can include shallots, chives and herbs, however we were very happy with the taste of the dressing and left it as is. Our salad ingredients are a combination of Fall ingredients like squash and pomegranates, smokey gorgonzola cheese, slightly bitter escarole & arugula and salty prosciutto. Believe me when I tell you this all came together beautifully!

Fall Harvest Salad with Elderberry Syrup Dressing

Author: Wanda Baker

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 cups escarole
2 cups arugula
1 cup butternut squash, cut into small cubes and roasted
⅓ cup toasted hazelnuts
½ cup pomegranate seeds
100 grams or a couple slices prosciutto (the good stuff)
1 honey crisp apple, cored and sliced thin
160 grams smoked gorgonzola, crumbled
Dressing
2 tbsp Feel Good Syrup
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
sea salt & cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions

Tear up your escarole and add to bowl or platter with arugula. Scatter on squash, hazelnuts, pomegranate seeds, prosciutto, apple and gorgonzola.
Whisk together feel good elderberry syrup, extra virgin olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper until thick and creamy.
Pour dressing over salad and serve.

Notes

To roast squash, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast on parchment lined baking sheet in 375 F degrees oven for 20-25 minutes or until tender and lightly browned. To roast prosciutto, put slices on parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes in 350 F degrees heated oven. Remove, let cool and break up.

With colds and flu’s already circulating through schools, offices and our house (tis the season), we have been taking the syrup regularly to keep our immune systems healthy, boosted and ready for travel to Indonesia next month. Elderberries are a natural anti-inflammatory and high in flavonoids (plant-based antioxidants). It’s these flavonoids that help prevent damage to the body’s cells and boost the immune system. That’s why studies show elderberries are known to be effective in treating colds and flu!

Feel Good Syrup continues to expand their syrup offering throughout Western Canada making it easier to find and purchase the product. Just this month Feel Good Elderberry Syrup became available to purchase at Blush Lane Organic Market in Alberta. You can also find it at Amaranth Foods, and via Spud.ca. Be sure to follow the Feel Good Syrup website for updates on new retail locations as they come on board and company news, plus recipes!

We are working in collaboration with Feel Good Syrup on this post. All opinions, views expressed and recipe development are, as always, my own.

Plum Elderberry Syrup Hand Pies

1 · Sep 28, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Fall has always been my favourite time of the year. From the colours, to the crisp air, to the rustic baking and home cooked meals, it makes me have all the feels.

This is also the time of year the fresh local prune plums are available. We grew up with a prune plum tree or two in our yard and one of my fondest memory every Fall was the Plum Pierogi’s my mom would make. Sometimes I’d try to eat twenty of them in one serving (it’s true). Of course she made other pierogi’s too, but these were and remain my all time favourite.

If you can’t find prune plums, use whatever plums are in season in your local grocery store. Plums are an excellent stone fruit to have around. They are full of antioxidants giving them their colour, they become prunes aka dried plums and are heart healthy and low in calories!

We are in the kitchen working with Feel Good Syrup this month to create another delicious recipe using their Elderberry Syrup. Last month we made No Bake Elderberry Syrup Power Balls just in time for back to school lunches.

You can bake and cook with the Feel Good Syrup or you can take it by the spoonful to help with colds and the flu. We always keep a bottle on hand for those moments well feel the sick coming on as a preventative maintenance!

I’ve had hand pies in my thoughts lately plus a basket of prune plums in the fridge meant for pierogi. Thinking about the plum flavours inspired me to create these plum hand pies. Our typical hand pie recipe calls for pie dough however these plum hand pies are made using puff pastry, an easier way to go.

Frozen puff pastry is a kitchen lifesaver and ingredient you can be thaw and use in many recipes making you look like a rock star. It’s buttery, flaky and crispy when baked and an easy solution when you do not want to make pie dough. There are two sheets of puff pastry in a package which will make a total of six decent sized hand pies.

Plum Hand Pies made using Elderberry Syrup — Plum Hand Pies made using Feel Good Elderberry Syrup

Plum Elderberry Syrup Hand Pies

Author: Wanda Baker

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 cups prune plums, stone removed and diced
¼ cup Feel Good Elderberry Syrup
2 tbsp plum jam
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
2 tsp cornstarch
1 package puff pastry thawed
1 egg, beaten

Instructions

In a bowl mix together plums, syrup, jam, cinnamon, sugar and salt. Once combined mix in cornstarch and set aside.
Unwrap and unroll puff pastry. Lay flat. Cut each sheet into six relatively equal rectangles giving you a total of 12.
Lay 6 puff pastry rectangles on a baking sheet lined with parchment. On each rectangle spoon a good serving of the plum filling. Do this with all six rectangles. Don't worry if the filling spills over the edge.
Place the remaining pieces of puff pastry over each piece to cover. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal in all the filling. Don't worry if it oozes out. Chill the pies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 375 F.
Remove hand pies from refrigerator and brush egg on each one. Make two slits on top to allow steam to escape.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
Remove pies from oven and allow to cool in pan. Enjoy immediately or once cool wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in refrigerator for up to five days.

In Calgary watch for Feel Good Syrup to be launching at all Blush Lane Organic Market locations. If you are not in Alberta, you can buy it online through their website.

We are working in collaboration with Feel Good Syrup on this post. All opinions, views expressed and recipe development are, as always, my own.

No Bake Elderberry Syrup Power Balls

1 · Aug 17, 2018 · Leave a Comment

It’s that time of the year where our summer days are becoming shorter and there is a cool crispness to the evening air you can’t deny. Winter is coming.

Back to school shopping is in full swing for supplies, clothes, backpacks and of course school snacks. It’s amazing how much less my kids eat during summer holidays compared to when they are in school and needing fuel throughout the day. Baking snacks in advance, like these No Bake Elderberry Syrup Power Balls, and freezing is one way we like to get ready for back to school before it arrives.

Cherry Hazelnut Elderberry Power Balls — Cherry Hazelnut Elderberry Syrup Power Balls

Elderberries are full of antioxidants, vitamins A, B and C plus are anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and are the most commonly used medicinal plants in the world. When it comes to antioxidant power, elderberry is higher in flavonoids than blueberries, cranberries, goji berries and blackberries. Known as a treatment for cold and flu symptoms, Feel Good Elderberry Syrup can also be used when cooking or baking as a food flavouring.

No Bake Elderberry Syrup Power Balls are a protein packed recipe you can freeze and pull out for breakfasts, pop into lunches or enjoy while out hiking or camping. Using only 7 ingredients, they are loaded with nutritional foods like elderberry syrup, chia seeds, nut butter, hazelnuts (also called filberts) and dried cherries. This combination of super foods offer immune boosting antioxidants, protein, fiber and healthy fats.

Teaching our kids to make healthy choices is easy when you have great ingredients to work with. For more inspiring healthy recipes or back to school snacks check out our Date Energy Balls, or Pepperoni Pizza Muffin recipes.

No Bake Elderberry Syrup Power Balls

Author: Wanda Baker

Serves: 16

Ingredients

1¼ cup natural nut butter
½ cup honey
2 tsp Elderberry Syrup
2 cups oats (combine large flake oats and quick oats)
¼ cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
½ cup dried cherries
2 tsp chia seeds
salt

Instructions

In a whisk together nut butter, honey and Elderberry Syrup.
Add oats, hazelnuts, dried cherries, chia seeds and a pinch of salt.
Stir to combine. Let rest for 15 minutes.
Pick up a small amount and start forming a ball in your hands. Roll into 1 inch balls. You should get close to 16 power balls.
Keep refrigerated when not using due to the natural nut butter. Or freeze and pull out as needed.