Food isn’t the only thing you can make yourself. Bath and body products are a classic gift, but they can be extra special if they’re hand made. Westpoint carries a number of products that are not only delicious but also make wonderful bath scrubs, soaks, and melts.

• Salt: Epsom salt, mineral rock salt, and unrefined sea salt all contain a spectrum of natural minerals that can be absorbed through the skin. Try the coarse salts as a base for a homemade bath salt, or use the fine salts for a salt scrub.
• Milk Powder: Skim milk and buttermilk both gently exfoliate and soften the skin after a long soak in the bath. Add them to bath salts or create a custom milk bath.
• Oats: Oat flakes give off a soothing, moisturizing, milky liquid when soaked, making them a great addition to a milk bath or bath salt. Or grind them to add the same qualities to a facial or body scrub.
• Almond Meal: Can be used alone or in combination with oatmeal, salt, or sugar in an all-natural body scrub.
• Sugar: Demerara and organic cane sugar are both great exfoliants. Sugar and salt are both ideal for facial scrubs, as they dissolve in the scrubbing process.
• Citric Acid & Baking Soda: These two are the essential pair of ingredients when it comes to making your own bath bombs.
• Cocoa Butter: Cocoa butter can be added to pretty much anything for its moisturizing properties, and it is especially useful as a base for a homemade bath melt or massage bar.
• Starch: Corn starch, tapioca starch, and arrowroot powder absorb and hold scents in dry products like bath salts and bombs, or can be used as a base for dusting powders.
• Herbs: The smallest, but arguably most important part of homemade bath products is the choice of herbs, for looks and for scent. Popular bath-time herbs and spices are lavender, rose buds, cinnamon, orange peel, rosemary, vanilla, chamomile, green tea, and jasmine.

Relaxing Bath Bomb

Ingredients

1 cup citric acid
2 cups baking soda OR 1 cup baking soda and 1 cup skim milk powder
Lavender, crushed or ground
Green tea leaves, crushed or ground
¼ cup fine mineral rock salt
2 tbsp. cocoa butter, melted
10-15 drops lavender essential oil
Water (or strong green tea) in a spray bottle

Directions

1. Stir together dry ingredients in a glass bowl. Be sure to mix thoroughly.
2. Stir together cocoa butter and essential oils, quickly mix into dry ingredients.
3. Spray with tiny bits of water or tea until it just starts to stick together when squeezed. Be careful not to add too much at once, or it will start to react and ruin the batch.
4. Press firmly into molds. Anything can be used for a mold, if you don’t have any shaped molds then muffin tins do a fine job.
5. Leave in the mold for a few minutes, then tap the bottom until it falls out. Let bombs dry 4 hours in a warm place.
6. Wrap individually in tissue paper with a ribbon, and prepare for a romantic night in!

Want to see for yourself how psyllium works? Mix a couple of tablespoons into a glass of water and let it sit. After a while you will see that the water has turned to gel. When taken as a supplement with a large glass of water or two, it does the same thing. As it moves through the intestinal tract the gel mixes with other materials, suspending and carrying them along more efficiently than they would move in a psyllium-free environment. Psyllium may also be used as a binder in gluten free recipes.

Westpoint is pleased to announce that we have added organic whole psyllium husk to our regular line. Organic psyllium is grown on a certified organic farm without pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers, and steam sterilized.

To avoid an endless run of peanut butter sandwiches, you can follow a simple formula when creating your lunches.  Try to include at least one of each of the following items:

Starch:  Pasta, rice, beans, lentils, bread, potatoes, etc.  You can cook up a big batch of one of these and keep it in the fridge to use for the week.  Westpoint carries a vast array of whole, healthy and delicious starch-type foods.  Try a new one every week and you’ll never get bored!

Protein:   Chicken, beef, pork, sausage, tofu, eggs, legumes, cheese, nuts, etc.  Roast two chickens instead of one, or throw an extra steak or two on the barbecue and you’ve got lunch meat for a couple of days.  Keep the fridge stocked with pre-boiled eggs and lots of cheese, and throw in a pan of nuts to roast while the oven is still hot from your weekly baking session.

Fruits/Vegetables:  Pre-chopped crunchy things like carrot sticks, bell peppers, and apple slices, leafy greens used as a salad base, or leftover roasted veggies.

Flavour:  This is the important one!  Sauces, dips, dressings, and extra herbs and spices are the things that can transform leftovers into a whole new meal.  Plus you can work in more of those healthy Omega 3 fatty acids.

Dessert:  Fresh or dried fruits and berries, cookies, cupcakes and tarts are all great, portable dessert options.  Westpoint has many flours, sugars, and other baking ingredients essential for making delicious, nutritious sweets.  Or if you’re in a hurry, grab a handful of our organic candies on your way out the door.

Set aside one day per week to prepare your base ingredients.  Chop your vegetables, cook your starch, do some baking, and plan your protein for the week.  Then in the mornings (or the evening before) all you have to do is assemble them in a container or two.

What are your favourite foods to take for lunch?  Tell us on our Facebook page.

Goals are much better when they are specific and measurable. For example, instead of the vague “Eat healthier” try “Eat one extra serving of vegetables per day for a month” or “Bake one loaf of whole grain bread per week until June.” Instead of “Lose weight” try “Lose 10 pounds of fat by March 1st.” Instead of “Get Fit” try “Go for a 10 minute walk after dinner three times per week for the month of February.” With this type of definable goal, it’s easy to track your progress and reward yourself for true successes.

Westpoint carries many products that are healthier choices than their over-processed counterparts. We have whole grain flours that can be used to make delicious, nutritious bread. Not quite prepared to give up your white bread? Add just a little bit of whole grain flour, and a little bit more to your next loaf. Or try one of our lighter flours, like our Organic Light Rye, or Organic Light Spelt Flour. These flours have been ground as whole grains and then the largest particles of bran and germ are filtered out, making the final texture closer to a white flour.

For your starchy dinner side dishes, most whole grains can be used in place of white or brown rice. Make things interesting! Try Westpoint’s whole Kamut©, spelt, wheat, oat, or rye kernels, or go gluten free with amaranth, red and white quinoa, sorghum, or teff grain. If you’re looking for something with a bit more protein, look for our organic legumes – every colour of beans, peas, lentils, or a mix of all of the above.

At snack time, instead of reaching for the chips, grab a handful of freshly roasted nuts, fresh or dried fruits, or make some organic popcorn – easy on the butter!  Herbs and spices add flavour to all kinds of snack foods without relying on extra fat or salt.

Eventually you will find that the foods you used to love are too salty, too sweet, too bland, or just not satisfying. Over time, you’ll build up a series of good, healthy habits that will last a lifetime.

The following excerpt is a delicious holiday treat for two – serve as-is or add a shot of rum for extra special occasions.  We wish you Happy Holidays, from our family to yours.

Gingerbread Latte

Ingredients
1 ½ tbsp Organic Cane Sugar
1 tbsp Blackstrap Molasses
¼ tsp Ginger Powder
4 Whole Cloves, lightly crushed
1 tbsp Water
2 cups Milk
1 ½ cups Coffee OR 4 shots Espresso

Garnish
Whole Nutmeg, freshly grated
Turbinado Sugar
½ cup Cream, whipped

Directions

1.  Prepare coffee or espresso, put ¾ cup or two shots in each mug.
2.  In a saucepan combine sugar, molasses, ginger, and water. Bring the mixture to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring often.
3.  Add the milk in a stream, whisking vigorously, and heat, still whisking, until it is foamy and hot but not boiling. Pour over coffee, garnish and serve.

The cold, dark and damp weather inevitably leads to more evenings spent safe and warm inside with friends and family, so it’s always good to have freshly-baked goodies on hand for entertaining.  Many cookies, pies and bars can be assembled ahead of time and frozen before baking, saving time in the kitchen when you could be visiting.

It can be tricky for those with allergies or special diet requirements to navigate the many offerings of the season.  Westpoint carries a variety of ingredients to help make baking for ingredient-sensitive loved ones easy, including gluten free flours, flour mixes and baking ingredients, egg replacer, soymilk powder, organic products, and several sugar-free sweeteners.

These traditional Italian almond cookies are high in protein, dairy free, gluten free, salt free, low cholesterol, and low in sugar.

Amaretti Cookies

Ingredients

2 Egg Whites
½ cup Organic Cane Sugar
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
2 ½ cups Blanched Almond Meal

Topping
2 tbsp  Turbinado Sugar
36 Whole Unblanched Almonds

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.  In large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add sugar, 2 tbsp at a time, and continue beating until stiff, glossy peaks form.
2. Fold in almond meal.
3. Form mixture into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on parchment paper lined baking sheets, flattening slightly.
4. Sprinkle Turbinado sugar over cookies and place an almond in the centre of each one.  Bake for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch and light golden brown.

This means Bullfrog Power’s generators inject clean, renewable electricity onto our regional grid to match the amount of power Westpoint uses in our office and warehouse. Across Canada, Bullfrog’s electricity comes exclusively from wind and hydro facilities that have been certified as low impact by Environment Canada under its EcoLogoM program—instead of from polluting sources or large hydro.

By choosing green electricity, we are reducing our impact on the environment, supporting the development of new renewable electricity generation facilities in Canada and helping to create a cleaner world.

Both homes and businesses can be bullfrogpowered with green electricity. Thousands of Canadians have already bullfrogpowered their home, apartment or business and, like us, are doing their part for the environment and helping take action on climate change and air pollution.

We invite you to visit the Bullfrog Power website at www.bullfrogpower.com for more information.

Hungarian Goulash

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 lbs stewing beef, lamb, or mutton, cut into 1” cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
3 medium onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 parsnips, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, de-seeded and chopped
2-3 medium potatoes, sliced
1 tbsp Hickory Smoked Hungarian Paprika
½ tbsp Hungarian Style Paprika
1 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and ground
¾ cup red wine
2-3 cups stock or water
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, melt lard and cook onions over medium heat until nicely brown.
2. Add garlic and paprika, stirring well to keep the paprika from burning.
3. Add meat cubes. When the meat has browned, add wine, caraway seeds, bay leaf, and enough stock or water to cover.
4. Cover and simmer for 1 hour, adding more liquid if necessary.
5. Add carrots, parsnip, potatoes, tomatoes, celery, and enough liquid to cover. Simmer another ½-1 hour, until vegetables are cooked. Keep covered for a thinner soup, remove cover for a thicker stew.
6. Season to taste and serve with noodles or bread.

Nuts are an excellent snack food, quick and easy to roast and flavour yourself. Get the kids to help – they can put their own combination of nuts and seeds in a jar, pour in a little oil, then add their own seasonings and shake it all up. If your child has nut allergies or goes to a nut-free school, home-roasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds are a good substitute. Westpoint also has some delicious fruit and nut mixes that make great instant snacks.

Dried Fruits. Raisins are the classic dried fruit snack, but they’re not the only option. Westpoint carries many types of dried fruits, from apple slices and banana chips to strawberries and mango slices. Send them along as they are, or rehydrate them first in some fruit juice for extra flavour.

Candy. For a special treat, our line of organic fruity candies are just the thing. We have sour worms, sour bears, fruity bears, jelly beans, and, new this week, organic fruit hearts. These treats are fresh, juicy and delicious, and one serving contains 100% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C.

Cookies and bars. Home-baked cookies, granola bars, and other goodies are easy to make in large batches and freeze until you need them. You can even freeze your cookie dough in single-serving batches so you can have fresh hot cookies for the kids when they get home without taking time away from dinner preparations. Westpoint’s array of baking ingredients are sure to inspire some fabulous creations.

Good luck with your back-to-school snacking season! Here’s a recipe to get you started off on the right foot:

Chocolate Chip Almond Bars

Ingredients
½ cup Butter
1 ½ cup Demerara Sugar
2 Eggs
½ cup Sorghum Flour
½ cup Millet Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ cup Blanched Almond Meal
¾ cup Chocolate Chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
2. Sift together sorghum flour, millet flour, and baking powder.
3. Melt butter and add to sugar, beat eggs, and add vanilla.
4. Combine mix with dry ingredients and fold in the almond meal and chocolate chips.
5. Pour into a greased 8” x 8” pan, bake 40-50 minutes, until firm. If it browns too much, cover with foil for the last twenty minutes.
6. Cut into bars and serve.

Westpoint Distributors carries a variety of spices, sugars, and other ingredients that are useful when it comes to preserving fruit, whether you prefer to can, freeze, or make jam. Our Rapid-Set Pectin can be used in any jam or jelly recipe, or to make a simple syrup for canning or freezing.

Freezing is the easiest method of fruit preservation. To best preserve the colour, flavour, and texture of whole berries, pack them into jars or freezer bags with a simple pectin or Organic Cane Sugar syrup, or even just a light coating of dry sugar. Try adding some extra flavour to future desserts by including a vanilla pod, dried lemon or orange peel, or whole spices such as cardamom or cinnamon sticks in each container. Berries frozen in this manner will keep for 8-12 months.

In addition to preserving your fresh berries, you can also put in a bit of extra work now to give yourself a winter gift of instant pie. Fruit pies can be made ahead and kept frozen, unbaked, for 3-4 months. Before assembly, brush the inside of the bottom crust layer with a beaten egg white to help prevent sogginess. When it comes time to bake, remove all wrappings and put the frozen pie directly in the preheated oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes longer than usual.

For those of you who aren’t ready to admit that summer might not last forever, here is a gluten-free tart recipe that requires strawberries fresh from the garden, U-Pick, or farmer’s market. Enjoy!

Strawberry Almond Tart

Ingredients
6 Eggs, separated
1 cup Almond Meal
¼ cup Organic Cane Sugar
¼ cup Orange Marmalade
2 pints Strawberries, hulled & halved
2 tbsp Slivered Almonds

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray the bottom of a spring form pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a mixing bowl, whip the egg yolks and 1 tablespoon of water on high speed until the mixture is thick and lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Fold the almond meal into the yolks.
3. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites and sugar until medium peaks form, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Fold the whites into the yolk mixture and stir until just combined.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until edges are golden brown, about 5-8 minutes.
6. Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Remove sides from pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
7. In a microwaveable bowl or saucepan, warm the marmalade until it is runny. Brush the top of the tart with half of it.
8. Lay the strawberry halves cut side down on the marmalade glaze, in concentric circles. Start at the center of the tart and work your way out towards the edge.
9. Glaze the tops of the strawberries and the outside edge of the tart with remaining marmalade.
10. Garnish with slivered almonds. Makes 8 servings.