The best way to take advantage of the cold season and enjoy winter is to play outside! Whether it is skiing, snowshoeing, skating or biking on snow, there’s a winter sport for
everybody. Here are a few tips so you can stay fully energized despite the frigid cold, and
some tricks to stay comfortably warm.
Recharge frequently!
All told, we use more energy when it is cold. Our body works harder to keep warm (to
maintain our normal body temperature). As a result, we need to consume more calories
and keeping warm becomes vital. Even if you are properly dressed, it is strongly
recommended to eat small snacks frequently and, if possible, to choose something hot!
How to keep food hot for longer
Choose an efficient insulated container
The quintessential tool is the insulated container (the famous thermos), which can
conserve heat for at least six to seven hours. During Quebec’s harsh winters, a
container’s quality and performance can make all the difference! It’s an investment you
won’t regret.
Our secret to keeping food hot: boiling water
This is a very important step: you have to heat your insulated container before using it to
keep your food hot for longer. And it’s very easy! Simply pour boiling water and let it sit for
10 minutes with the cover tightly sealed.
Make sure it’s burning hot
When heating a meal or drink, you have to aim for “too hot”, even burning! The thermos
will subsequently heat up, especially if it is -30 °C. It’s a good way to compensate.
Liquid diet
To ensure that the container stays hot, choose liquids, like soup, or something with sauce
like chili or pasta. This will reduce heat loss and prevent food from drying out. (Check out
our best thermos friendly recipe ideas at the end of this article)
Separate hot from cold
When transporting food, it’s better to avoid putting the insulated container and cold food in
the same lunch box. Ideally, our food should be put in separate compartments. Consider
putting the thermos with your gloves, scarf and spare toques (That’s right! They’ll be warm
when you change). This way, we help keep our thermos hot on one hand and our
sandwich doesn’t get warm on the other.
Keep cold options on hand
Ideally, you should always have a snack within reach because you have to eat often.
Keep food close to your body, such as in an inside coat pocket, to prevent it from freezing.
Avoid snacks with high water content, like fresh fruit, which can freeze more easily.
Instead, choose wafers, trail mix or cheese.
And when it’s time to call it a day, sit yourself in front of the fireplace as soon as possible!
Here are our thermos friendly recipe ideas
• Milk-based oatmeal, with nuts and dry fruit
• Hearty soup
• Boeuf Bourguignon
• Spaghetti with extra sauce
• Chili
• Hot chocolate made with milk or 5% cream
• Rice pudding
Hearty barley, kale and turmeric soup
This hearty soup is perfect for insulated containers and will be your best friend every time
you go outside. With an ideal vegetable-to-starch ratio, it will please the entire family and
keep you warm when necessary.
Recipe category: Soup
Co-Creator :Annie is a nutritionist, doctor of pharmacy and founder of ScienceFourchette.com. Énergique, créative et allumée. She has a unique way of expanding your nutritional knowledge and simplifying your diet (a lot!).
Preparation time :15 minutes
Cooking time :30 minutes
Yield(number of servings) :4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
Volumes (ml, spoons and cups) for liquids
Weight (g) for solids
imperial AND metric
For example: 125 ml (1/2 cup)
Use tablespoon
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
15 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
4 medium-sized carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) ground turmeric
1 medium-sized Italian tomato, diced
125 ml (1/2 cup) pearl barley or pot barley, cooked according to the package instructions*
5 ml (1 tsp) ground cumin
1 l (4 cups) of sodium-free homemade or store-bought chicken broth
1 ml (1⁄4 tsp) salt
Black pepper, to taste
250 ml (1 cup) cooked chicken, cut into small pieces
375 ml (1 1⁄2 cups) kale shredded and packed
Preparation steps
In a large saucepan, sauté the onion in olive oil on medium heat for approximately 5
minutes or until it is translucent. Add the carrots, celery, garlic and turmeric. Continue
cooking for approximately 5 to 10 minutes.
Add the tomato, barley, cumin and chicken broth. Generously pepper and lightly salt.
Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer half covered for 15 minutes.
Add the pieces of chicken and kale. Cook for an additional 5 minutes and serve.
*Pearl barley does not need to be soaked and cooks twice as fast as pot barley. Pot
barley is more nutritious because it is simply stripped from its outer husk during
processing. It takes about 90 minutes to cook if it was not soaked beforehand. Pearl
barley is more practical for busy people. Although it has lost some of its fibre, vitamins
and minerals, it still contains 15 times more fibre than white rice and takes approximately
25 minutes to cook.
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