Just in Time for Fall Baking and Entertaining: The Sneaky Chef Tips Featuring Eagle Mills All-Purpose Flour Made with Ultragrain

28/09/07 The close of summer traditionally marks the return to school and cooler weather, and then the advent of fall and holiday baking seasons. This year, in response to recent concerns over obesity -- especially childhood obesity -- healthier cooking is a growing trend. A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that the biggest gains in kids' body mass index occur during the summer months, when parents are responsible for maintaining their child's diet. Many parents are looking to turn their child's diet around, but they aren't sure how to make lasting dietary changes that their children will accept.

It's no secret that parents struggle to get their kids to eat unfamiliar healthy foods -- and both kids and adults are "hungry" for a more enticing approach to good nutrition. An innovative and highly successful technique was recently developed by Missy Chase Lapine, author of the bestselling book The Sneaky Chef: Sneak nutrients into the foods that kids already like. Now ConAgra Mills, an industry leader in whole grain innovation, has partnered with Lapine to provide simple strategies for adding healthy ingredients to recipes.

Lapine spent five years perfecting her array of easy and undetectable ingredient swaps and additions. One such healthy swap is using Eagle Mills All-Purpose Flour made with Ultragrain. Eagle Mills flour looks, bakes and tastes like refined flour, yet has the goodness of whole grain nutrition. A quarter-cup of Eagle Mills flour contains 9 grams of whole grains, about half of one of the three daily services recommend by the U.S. government.

"You can substitute Eagle Mills flour cup-for-cup in any of your recipes. Sneaking it into your recipes increases the amount of whole grains your kids are getting with virtually no taste difference over products made with traditional refined flour, which typically has none of the nutrient-rich parts of the bran and germ of whole wheat," said Lapine.

Home cooks, bakers, restaurants and manufacturers can use Eagle Mills All- Purpose Flour to put more whole grains, and their accompanying higher levels of fiber, minerals, B vitamins, phytonutrients and antioxidants, into family- favorite recipes without sacrificing cooking performance, appearance or flavor. In spite of the health benefits of whole grains, more than 94 percent of flour purchased today is still white flour.

"The Dietary Guidelines and MyPyramid food guide recommend increasing Americans' whole grain intake to three servings daily, but only one in 10 Americans achieves this because taste continues to be a barrier," said Mike Veal, vice president of marketing at ConAgra Mills. "More and more consumers are looking to add whole grains to their diets but they don't want to sacrifice taste, texture or appearance. Products like Eagle Mills All-Purpose Flour offer consumers mainstream appeal and whole grain nutrition," Veal said.

Sneaky Chef Strategies

With a few ingenious ingredients and simple substitutions, the Sneaky Chef can help parents in the never-ending quest for healthy foods that their children will devour happily. Below are some "sneaky" tips, along with a few examples of how to use The Sneaky Chef's signature purees in family-friendly dishes:

-- Always use a whole grain flour blend when making recipes that call for flour.
-- Add one of The Sneaky Chef's signature vegetable purees to tomato sauce, meatballs and/or pre-packaged kid-approved items like Chef Boyardee's SpaghettiOs.
-- Include the white puree of cauliflower and zucchini in macaroni and cheese.
-- Sneak the purple puree of spinach and blueberries in brownie mixes.
-- For grilled cheese sandwiches, spread an orange puree of sweet potatoes and carrots between the bread and cheese before frying.
-- Cook rice in antioxidant-rich green tea instead of water to seal in extra nutrients while boiling.
-- Wrap burritos and other kid-friendly items in "fast food-like" paper such as aluminum foil or clear wrap.