Casting Call

We are looking for 10 families to take video of your kids eating our new Pull-a-Parts. We will ship you a free sample (or send a free coupon if you live near a location that has them) and in return we are looking for you to shoot a short video of your kids eating them and then email it to us.

We would like to post these video's on our website so if this is something you would like to be apart of please send an email to: feedback@peasofmind.com with the words 'CASTING CALL' in the subject line. Kindly email us your address and we will let you know if you made the first 10!

Summer Reading List for Kids

We were paging through one of our favorite San Francisco magazines called, 7x7, today and came across their summer reading list for kids. Thought we would pass it on.

 Summer Reading List for Kids by 7x7

What are your kids reading this summer?

Vegan Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls

I recently needed to bring a dish to a friends brunch. She happens to be vegan so I of course only wanted to bring something she could enjoy! I love to make cinnamon rolls and sticky buns so I decided to convert this decadent treat into a healthier vegan option.

In our reci-pea we use Sweet potato puree and applesauce to keep our dough moist so less fat is needed and since both of these ingredients are naturally sweet it also allows us to cut the amount of sugar added. You won't miss the dairy and eggs in these cinnamon rolls, we promise!

 







  


Vegan Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls:
• 1 TBL of a vegan butter spread like Earth's Balance or Spectrum
• 1/3 C Vanilla Soy Milk
• 1/3 C Sweet Potato Puree (canned or premade by you)
• 1/4 C apple sauce
• 1/4 C of sugar
• 1 package of active dry yeast
• 2 C flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ginger

Filling:
• 1/4 C brown sugar
• 2 TBL Earth's Balance spread, melted
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Glaze:
• 1 C powdered sugar
• 1 TBL vanilla soy milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 F 
Warm the vanilla soy milk and Earth's Balance spread together in a small pot over medium heat and stir vigorously until the spread melts and mixture is warm. Remove from heat and let the liquid cool for a few minutes (until the liquid is warm but not hot.) Stir in the yeast and let mixture rest for 5 minutes.

In a kitchen aid mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, allspice and ginger together. Add the apple sauce and sweet potato puree and mix well. Pour in the yeast mixture and mix with a dough hook attachment for about 8 minutes. Dough should be smooth and have come together in a ball.

Spray the inside of a large bowl with pan spray and turn the dough in the bowl until all sides are covered with oil. Cover and let rest for 1 hour.

In a small bowl mix together all of the filling ingredients and set aside. Spray 9" round or square cake pan with pan spray.

Punch down the dough and move it to a lightly floured surface to roll out. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 16" long and 8" wide. Spread the filling evenly over the top of the dough and roll the dough to form one long log shaped roll.

Cut the dough into 1/2" pieces and place the swirls facing up in your greased pan. Let the dough proof again for about 30-40 minutes covered. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Mix all the ingredients together for the glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the rolls after they have cooled. Enjoy!

How We Create

If you haven't been to our website lately than you probably haven't seen our new product which will be hitting store shelves at the end of May (May 27 to be exact). Our newest creations are called, Pull-a-Parts, and they come in two flavors: nacho and pizza.

Basically, we grind down broccoli and carrots and knead them into our signature dough. We then make little bite sized veggie dough balls and let them rise together. They are placed on top of a tasty nacho or pizza dip (which we make). Then topped off with a little cheese. Each tray contains a serving of veggies and is a great source of Vitamins and Iron!

So, how did we come up with such a unique and cool product? Let us walk you through our creative process:

First, we decide what category we want our new product to be in. For example, entrees, side items, novelties, etc. For Pull-a-Parts we were creating for the healthy snack category.

Then, we let our minds run wild while honoring what Peas of Mind stands for! We use our standards as boundaries when creating. For example: all of our products need to meet certain ingredient and nutritional standards, all of our products need to have an innovative twist to them, and our products need to contain servings of veggies!

Next, we create an inspiration board, much like fashion designers do when they create a collection. Our inspiration board contains pictures, drawings, and words of things that inspire us. Our inspiration doesn't always have to relate to food or products, it's more about the look and feel we want to convey in this new product.  The inspiration behind our new line of Pull-a-Parts was: Come Break Bread With Us! The idea of communal meals and family dinners that focus around homemade everything (from bread to butter) !

Then, we start to create! We draw, we write, we make origami! We focused in on a few ideas and develop recipes. We then test them, test them, test them and refine them, refine them, refine them. Sometimes this phase takes months, other times it take weeks, it just depends on how close we get when we start.

We then take our top picks to an exclusive panel who experience our creations and give lengthy feedback.

From there, we pick the overall favorite (or hero as we call it) and continue to refine the product until it meets our standards in order to become apart of the Peas family!  Graphics begin to get worked on at this stage, for the packaging, and the new product really starts to come alive!

We then take the product to our Alpha Group, made up of kids and their parents. We observe their experience and refine the product further from the feedback given.  All the kids we broke bread with chowed down on Pull-a-Parts. Not only did they love how great they tasted but also how fun the interactive experience was... just pull and dunk! We found their parents loved Pull-a-Parts for different reasons: for the ingredient statement, the nutritionals, and the serving of veggies in each tray! It's tough to make both kids and parents happy... but that is what we strive to do!

And that is the story of how Pull-a-Parts were born!
Let us know what you think of them when come to a store near you!

Peas Pointers by Melanie Silverman

We have teamed up with a pediatric registered dietitian who thinks we are doing a great job getting veggies into your kids!  Melanie R. Silverman MS, RD, IBCLC, is not only a pediatric registered dietitian and board certified lactation consultant, she is also the owner of Feeding Philosophies (www.feedingphilosophies.com) and has loads of tips and tricks to help your kids eat the way they should, from infancy through their adolescent years.

Melanie's tips will now be called Peas Pointers and she plans to guest write for our blog every month. Here is her first:

If you have a picky eater, I bet the one food they will eat are those prehistoric animal shaped chicken nuggets. While I tend to believe most foods can be part of a healthy diet, in my opinion, chicken nuggets are grossly over-served to kids. 

If you have a picky eater and you want them to eat a variety of foods, you must offer it to them. And, as hard as it may be, you cannot fall back on foods your picky eater will eat when they skip a meal or two. I have learned through the years that kids will not starve themselves.

So go ahead.  Roast broccoli.  Grill fish.  Bake sweet potatoes.  Be patient.  Picky eaters will try new foods.  It just takes time.   

Peas, Melanie