Fresh Food Perspectives

Late July Organic Chips Giveaway

Happy Monday! 

I'm excited to announce April's FFP giveaway of a Late July chips prize pack. 

I have been enjoying Late July organic snacks for many years. It started when when I stumbled on Late July Vanilla Bean and Green Tea cookies. I nearly jump for joy in the grocery store.  I have always loved chocolate sandwich cookies as a very occasional treat (or to use in the crust of my cheesecake) but the ingredients list is pretty horrible. This cookie was free of hydrogenated oils and not so great sweeteners. I also loved that they came in single serve 4-packs for an occasion yum-yum. 

The founder of Late July, Nicole Dawes, is a mother of boys, and committed to great tasting, wholesome snacks. The company also donates proceeds to the American Camp Foundation to help kids be able to attend summer camp. I don't know about you, but attending camp as a kid and then working as a kamp counselor for several summers in college changed my life. I hope we get a chance to meet one day because I think we would get along great. 

Since then, Late July has expanded their product line to include organic, whole grain, super-tasty chips. Now you can enjoy some wonderful flavored chips without weird flavors or colors added. They are also certified gluten-free and peanut/tree nut free for our friends with allergies and sensitivities. My current favorite flavors are Dude Ranch and Sweet Potato.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that we all need to be eating a lot of chips every day. (Although I would LOVE to write the book "The Chips and Dips Diet"!) But, this is a company that I think you can trust and enjoy without regret. We sure have been enjoying all the flavors of Late July chips this month, and now you can too. Enter below to win a Late July organic chips prize pack. It is a sure way to start your summer off with a crunch. 

Have a great week!

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Disclsosure: This prize pack was provided by Late July Organic Snacks. I was not compensated for writing this blog post or hosting the giveaway. All opinions and statements are my own. 

Product Spotlight: MagNoodles Organic Whole Grain Pasta

MagNoodles? What in the world is that?! 

I had the same thought when my friends at SnazzyGourmet.com asked me to try a few more products from their line. After seeing the words organic, vegan, and multi grain I knew I needed to try this unusual pasta line.

Pasta is a no-brainer kind of dinner. It's nice to have some of those kind of meals in your repertoire. However, pasta in and of itself, can be void of any special nutritional value. So I try to find tasty (very important) but super nutritious pastas to serve my family. Well MagNoodles fits the bill with lots of nutrition bragging rights and yes, it's really tasty.

Here's what I like about the company and the particular type (multi whole grain pennette) that I tried:

• It's organic, vegan, all natural, and non-GMO.
• It's truly multi WHOLE Grain. The ingredients are whole grain durum wheat, semolina, kamut, and spelt.
• It has 5 g of fiber and 7 g of protein per serving. This means that it was pretty filling.
• It contains spinach, tomato and beet powder.
• It cooks in just about 6 minutes. 
• It's a product of the USA. I just think that's pretty great. 

All in all, MagNoodles Multi Whole Grain Pennette (penne) gets the dietitian stamp of approval, and even more importantly, the husband-approved label for tastiness. 

I served my MagNoodles with a homemade marinara sauce. I use "a" for a reason because my sauce is usually a little different every time I make it. Really, the secret to good marinara is time -lots and lots of time simmering on the stove. But, I do think pasta sauce is really important, and honestly should be the main point of the dish. Why? Because that's where all the veggies are! You can have 1-2 servings of vegetables in your pasta dish and not even realize it. It's like magic. ;) 

Disclosure: Snazzygourmet.com provided me with this product sample free of charge. I was not compensated for my time writing this review. All opinions are my own. 

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Gourmet Garden January Guest Chef and Giveaway!

I am thrilled to share with you some great news this week. This month I am featured as a guest chef for Gourmet Garden! Please check out the link to their homepage where I am featured. I had a lot of fun working with their awesome product line of fresh herb pastes to create my Creamy Garlic Cauliflower and Dill Ricotta Stuffed Tomatoes. You may not have used Gourmet Garden products before, but chances are you've seen them in the grocery store and you could benefit from having a tube or two in your fridge. 

I love the variety of flavors that Gourmet Garden offers like chunky garlic and lemon grass. I also like they store in your fridge well and don't go to waste. I encourage you to give them a try. Click here to see all 11 herb flavors and the spice collection.

To celebrate my month of guest chef-ness, I am giving away a cooler of all eleven flavors, courtesy of Gourmet Garden. This is the same collection I was sent to play with and develop my recipes. You are going to love it! So enter daily below and win a cooler full of flavor. 

On a personal note, I'll give you a house update. It's been a challenging two weeks for our family as we have gone up and down in every way over the approval of our new mortgage. Folks, it's just really hard to get a mortgage these days. We are still living with our in-laws (thank you Mom and Dad) but are hopeful that we will be in our new home by the end of the week. Your prayers and encouragement have been a huge support to me. Thank you to those who sent me encouragement and posted comments. I have realized how blessed I am to have you all in my life. 

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Disclosure: I was not compensated for my time to write this post or for reviewing products. Giveaway is provided by Gourmet Garden.

How to Brine Your (Hopefully Local) Thanksgiving Turkey

Are you planning on roasting up a free-range, happy turkey from a local farm this Thanksgiving? I hope that you are. You won't regret your decision for all the social, enviromental, and ethical reasons that go along with supporting local agriculture. But you will certainly not regret it from a flavor standpoint either IF you brine your turkey first. 

See, most of the mainstream turkeys you find in the grocery store have some added ingredients beyond just "turkey". Here is what you will find on one particular major frozen turkey brand:

Ingredients: Turkey, Water, Salt, Modified Food Starch, Sodium Phosphates, Natural Flavorings.

Hmm, not what I really want for a holiday that celebrates our founding roots and the natural gifts from the harvest. So for this reason, I strongly recommend you buy a free-range, local bird. To find one, you can visit Eat Wild, a wonderful source for finding grass fed and humane meats and eggs. They have a button on their home page right now that directs you how to find a Thanksgiving turkey.

A natural, free-range bird has not had anything done to it, which is a good thing. But it needs a little help to get nice and tender/juicy for your big meal. This is where brining comes in. Last week, I posted on the Black Hog Blog about brining. Check out this article for more reasons why you brine and for a basic brine recipe. 

Last year I started using a "kit" for brining that includes the brining salt mix and a large brining bag. This made the process so easy and I am definately doing it this way again. In fact, my friends at Snazzy Gourmet sent me their Gourmet Complete Gobbler Brine and Rub Kit and I'm really excited to try it. If you need a brine kit, I recommend you order this one. Remember to use the code FRESHFOOD at checkout for 10% off. 

Here's a couple of pics of last year's bird brining in the fridge and my 2010 turkey out of the oven. (I am the official turkey maker in the family and I love it!)

What are your turkey plans this year? Do you have a favorite recipe, method or secret to the perfect bird? I'd love to know.

Disclosure: Snazzygourmet.com provided me with their brine kit free of charge. I was asked to blog about it. I was not compensated for my time and the opinions are my own. I have not used their brine kit yet (as it is before Thanksgiving) so I can't say exactly how it will work for you, yet. I do NOT receive any kickback from your orders at www.snazzygourmet.com.

Product Spotlight: PB2 and Indian Spices

I was recently contacted by a great website, Snazzy Gourmet, about trying out some of their unique gourmet food products and telling my readers about them. After a few clicks through their product offerings, I was in. Snazzy Gourmet offers a ton of hard to find specialty and gourmet foods like olive oils, salts, sauces, honey, seasonings, and rubs at a REALLY good price. They even offer some gluten-free spice options including this great turkey brine kit, perfect for Thanksgiving. (You'll be hearing more about turkey brining from me soon and how important it is!)

The item that stood out to me the most was PB2 - powdered peanut butter that I have heard so much about but never tried. I specifically requested this item and my package arrived promptly with many tantalizing items (more on those in a second). Not only had I been given the regular PB2, but also the chocolate peanut butter flavor! Oh boy!

So what is PB2? It's peanut butter that has had the fat removed and made into a powder. It's a powder that you just add water to and creamy peanut butter is created. I too was skeptical at first but it works! This creates an incredibly smooth and delicious peanut butter with 85% less calories than the original. I see two great advantages to this product: 1- you can enjoy the flavor of peanut butter in anything without adding a lot of calories and 2- you can control how thick or thin you make your butter based on how much water you add in. 

Let me break down the nutrition facts for you:

Regular Natural Peanut Butter for 2 Tbsp: 200 calories, 16 g fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, 105 mg sodium, 6 g carbs, 2g fiber, 1 g sugar, 7 g protein. Ingredients: peanuts, salt

PB2 for 2 Tbsp: 45 calories, 1.5 g fat, 0g saturated fat, 94 mg sodium, 5 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 1 g sugar, 5 g protein. Ingredients: peanuts, sugar, salt

Not bad, right?! So you don't have to give up yummy peanut butter flavor if you are watching your calories. I think I might even try some holiday baking with PB2. 

Not let me tell you about some of the other great items I received from Snazzy Gourmet.

Carribean Peppered Salt & Isle of Capri Seasoned Salt: I love seasoned salts! They add so much pizzaz to food. I have really enjoyed putting just a pinch of these in my scrambled eggs or veggies. The flavor is strong and has a kick so you only need a little bit to get big flavor.

Vegetable Gold Indian Spice Blend: Do you love Indian food? Would you like to recreate it at home? If so, this is the spice mix for you. This spice blend delivers big Indian flavors, organic spices, gluten free ingredients, no added salt and an easy recipe right on the package. Use this to change up your boring veggies.

Gourmet Coconut Soup concentrate: I really love lemongrass and coconut. Being as I am newbie into the Indian food world, I have not gotten around to recreating any recipes at home. This soup starter makes is so easy to enjoy Thai soup at home. The ingredients list is nice and clean too.

100% Organic Garam Masala: I don't think you will find a better price for an all-organic garam masala. This spice is sodium free, uses no irradiation and is packages in the USA. 

Please visit my new friends at Snazzy Gourmet. This is a great place to purchase Christmas gifts for your foodie friends and family. Seriously, the prices are fantastic. To sweeten the deal, enter offer code FRESHFOOD at checkout for a 10% discount.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Disclosure: I received the products listed above, free of charge, from Snazzy Gourmet in exchange for writing a review blog post. I was not compensated for my time. All opinions are my own.