Welcome back gang! This week is going to be a bit of a shorter one, but still kind of fun. We all have our own opinions about cookies, and I’m going to give you my Top 5 favorite crunchy cookies today. And while I have stated in the past that I usually lean more toward Team Chewy , I think their crunchy cousins deserve some attention, too. So hopefully I don’t irk too many of you; as I said, everyone has their own favorite cookie, and people can get pretty passionate about this kind of stuff. So bear with me and feel free to express your likes and dislikes in the comments below!
Here we go again guys. The crew over at LWF have sent another tasting box full of interesting samples (both large and small), and were more of the same good-and-good-for you items I have come to expect every month from them. Despite the fact that the official theme of this month’s box was “Surfin’ USA”, the mantra should have been, “Do One Thing and Do It Well.” All of the samples were made by companies who specialize in one or two items and produce them to a very high standard. So let’s jump in and see what I got.
Hawaiian BBQ chips by One Potato Two Potato – Did you know that the largest potato grower in the US is actually Pennsylvania (sorry Idaho)? It’s true, and the nice folks at OPTP have there headquarters in the little town of Womelsdorf. They take a lot of pride in producing a chip that is gluten-free, has no MSGs, and no artificial ingredients. And you can tell – they aren’t heavy, greasy or oily like most run-of-the-mill chips can be, and the Hawaiian BBQ flavor was a nice little twist on the more common style of its competitors. They also offer Sweet Potato, Cracked Pepper, Sea Salt and Sweet Onion flavors to tickle your fancy. The bag that I received had two servings in it (about thirty chips), and contains 190mg of sodium, and no cholesterol or trans fats (that’s per serving, btw.) Delicious, crunchy, and I don’t feel quite as guilty about snacking on them? Sold! www.onepotatosnacks.com
Ok guys, I’ve been at it again. I think I need a healthy snacking intervention or something. I know I talk about snack crackers a lot on here, but I was in the supermarket recently and saw these and…yes, I admit it, I have a problem. And as it turns out, I really enjoyed these so I wanted to give them a little shout out in case some of you hadn’t heard of them.
The best place to begin is at the beginning, so let’s start there. Mary Walden discovered that she had Celiac disease at the age of forty-three. After changing her diet and noticing the overall improvement in her health, she wanted to make eating and snacking easier for herself, particularly when she went out to eat with friends or was confronted with a table of gluten-packed snacks at parties. As a result she developed snack crackers (in her own kitchen) that were comprised of various seeds, herbs and spices that were all gluten-free. Gradually her friends began sampling – and asking for- more of them, until finally, on New Year’s Day of 1999, she informed her husband that she wanted to turn the cracker production into a business. Five years and lots of hard work later, they started Mary’s Gone Crackers, a company that was driven to not only produce snacks that were delicious, but would also be nourishing.
I was not always a sweet potato fan. I was magically converted about twenty years ago by someone who taught me that they weren’t only useful in traditional Thanksgiving SP casserole (which I still don’t like, by the way). I was presented with a plate of sweet potato hash browns, which is still my favorite way to have them; I hadn’t experienced sweet potato French fries, as they hadn’t yet become the hot “alternative” to regular frites in American restaurants. So I thought, why not give them a little bit of attention and maybe shed some light on their health benefits – which are many – and clear up any confusion some folks may have (i.e., what’s the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?)
With the imminent arrival of the one year anniversary of this blog, it occurred to me that I have yet to do a post on my current Favorite Beverage in Life: coffee. And because it is summer (at least where I live), more often than not I find myself craving iced or chilled options. I make an effort to avoid that other well-known coffee brand because I’m somewhat over the Joe Schmo-acchino craze, and I try to find similar offerings that contain potentially better ingredients and maybe even some social or environmental advantages. Enter High Brew Coffee, a brand I recently discovered and – due in part to their flavor offerings – picked up a few to try.
The High Brew story started like many other companies these days; David Smith and his wife had started their own business and after thirteen years of success, they sold it off and decided to embark on a real-life adventure. They pulled their kids out of school and sailed the Caribbean, visiting basically every island they could and resetting their life clocks. When they needed a little energy boost, they came to rely on cold-brewed coffee, a style of processing that has been gaining more attention in recent years, and they decided after some time to give the coffee business a go. Their core demographic seems to be the “active lifestyle” set, as they promote the portability of the beverage. While I don’t consider myself terribly active (although I should be), I can definitely get on board with a grab-and-go concept. They are also very focused on doing good socially as well. All High Brew drinks are produced with Arabica beans that are always 100% fair trade. That means that when you purchase one of these beverages, you’re helping out the farmers who grew the beans. They get to set their own market price for their crop, which enables them to do basic things like take care of their families and have better lives overall. You know, like everyone should be able to do.