Did You Know?

I made some hard boiled eggs the other day to snack on at work. When I went to peel one for lunch half of the egg white peeled off too and stuck to the shell. How many times has this happened to you? How annoying!

After some research, I found out that this happens when you hard boil fresh eggs, there is a ton of science behind it (see this link) so we will just leave it at: fresh eggs are not as porous as older eggs. As the egg ages, air is absorbed through the shell which helps to release the egg white from the shell.

So most importantly, here is how to avoid egg whites from sticking to their shell:
-hard boil eggs that are 7-10 days old
-run eggs under cold water immediately after hard boiled
-peel under cold water

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 counsels families with a wide range of nutritional concerns including food allergies, poor weight gain, and weight management.  She treats loads of those picky eaters between the ages of 15 months to 6 years old who have diets that largely consist of chicken nuggets (shaped as prehistoric animals), macaroni and cheese, and no veggies!

With her tried and true picky eater program, Melanie gets kids to eat a well balanced diet while easing the minds of thousands of worried parents she has counseled.

We want to bring some of Melanie's expertise to the Peas family so we have asked her to offer a monthly tip (or Peas Pointer as we call them) to our blog. Thanks so much Melanie!!! We look forward to your first Pointer next month!

New Product Reveal: Uncured Pepperoni Pizza with Veggies in the Crust!

Joining our cheese Peas of Pie, our Uncured Pepperoni Pizza is made with real broccoli and carrots kneaded right into the dough! 

Unlike regular frozen pepperoni pizzas, ours has uncured pepperoni with no added nitrates or nitrites. Compared to the leading brands, our pepperoni pizza has half the fat and contains 1.5 servings of veggies in each pizza. And yet, Peas of Pie: Uncured Pepp (like we call it at Peas HQ) looks like just a pepperoni pizza!

It's great for anyone who could stand to eat more veggies, growing kids and adults alike.

Share your thoughts with us the Peas of Mind Facebook page!

Typical Day in the Life of Peas, Part 1: Music at HQ

We wanted to really mix it up this week by sharing some of the inner workings here at Peas HQ with you.

We’re fortunate enough to listen to music during the workday. Sometimes, one person will D.J. with universal favorites like the soundtracks for  The Darjeeling Limited, Twilight 1 or 2, etc, but we tend to ‘tune out’ here and there throughout the day based on the task at hand.

Here’s a rundown of the music that keeps me, the sales and marketing assistant, going on a typical Monday, no matter what may land on my desk or in my inbox:

• Tuning in to Morning Edition on NPR on my commute brings me up to speed on current events and sets the stage for a thoughtful day.
• Mondays are always busy at Peas. After a quick morning meeting, I tackle my inbox and to-do list with a bowl of cereal, hot tea, and some indie pop like Phoenix. (I know. What can I say? It’s catchy!) 
• I’ll blast out a bunch of emails, process orders, follow-up on long-term projects, etc., with something more intense like my current favorite Pandora station, Panic Switch radio station.
• If it’s a really crazy day, nothing gets me crankin’ like an hour of techno. 
• We all wear a variety of 'hats' here at Peas. Lately, I’ve been tapping into my food science background, helping out with R&D projects, formulations, nutritional calculations, etc. For some serious number crunching or other tasks that require my complete focus, I grove to old school reggae like Toots and The Maytals. Something about the beat really clears my mind.
• Later in the afternoon, I’ll indulge in some Nat King Cole while I tie up loose ends and re-prioritize for the rest of the week. Ending my workday with music from the 40’s, I leave the studio relaxed, renewed and ready for the evening ahead: Salvadorian food or Burmese? Indoor rock climbing or ashtanga yoga? Thai chili lime ice cream or salted caramel? San Francisco, how you spoil me.

 

Fruit Remix on the Original Candy Necklace

We love all things edible here at Peas HQ! This is a fun crafty project you can do with your kids on a rainy afternoon or whenever their friends come over. Here is our healthy version of those edible Sweet Tart necklaces & bracelets. Instead of those sugar rounds why not string snacks you would rather your kids eat?!

Supplies:

* elastic craft string
* plastic craft needle
* stringable foods:

• cheerios
• dried fruits like
• mangoes, cut into 1/2 inch peices
  
• apples, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• raisins
• cherries
• licorice, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• mini marshmallows
• popcorn

For the younger kids you may want to make bracelets instead of necklaces for safety reasons.

Start with about an 8 inch length of elastic craft string for a bracelet and 14 inches for a necklace.

Thread one item on the string and double-knot the string to it.

Let your children continue threading the ingredients you have gathered onto the string.

When they've filled it, knot the ends together. Now they have a necklace to wear and a snack to nibble!

For more kids' food crafts, check out this site.

The Story Behind the Black Bean Polenta Puffet

Being that her dad was raised in Alabama, its not surprising that the owner of Peas of Mind grew up eating grits.

Inspired by this childhood favorite, the Black Bean Polenta Puffet was originally called the Black Bean & Grits Puffet. When nobody in California knew what grits were, polenta was the perfect substitution. But wait, what's the difference between polenta and grits?

Two main differences:
1. The corn ground to make polenta is finer than that of grits, a difference that affects the final texture.
2. The corn used to make white grits is soaked in lye to remove the bran. The resulting corn is called hominy, which is also used to make masa harina (used to make tortillas.)

* Image from: http://www.food411.com
* http://www.grits.com

Baked Sweet Potato Donuts - FAT FREE!

We've outdone ourselves this time, we've created a fat free, baked vegetable donut made with sweet potatoes. Yes, a vegetable donut! The inspiration for this month’s reci-pea is Father's Day. We are dedicating this reci-pea to the father of our Marketing Manager, Kelly Walsh. Kelly's dad has a sweet tooth, but not for sweet potatoes. She teases her dad frequently saying, "Dad, who doesn't love sweet potatoes?" They're the greatest vegetable on earth; naturally sweet, slightly starchy, and you can prepare sweet potatoes in so many ways. Best of all, sweet potatoes are super high in antioxidants (vitamins A & C) and contain vitamin B6 that helps to maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

Baked Sweet Potato Donuts:

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 of one large sweet potato (peeled, cut, boiled and mashed)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup regular sugar
• 1/4 cup apple sauce
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking poweder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt

Cinnamon Sugar Sprinkle:

• 2 Tbl melted butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbl sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, mix the mashed sweet potato and applesauce together until combined. Using a stand-up mixer, and a paddle attachment, mix together all dry ingredients. Then add the sweet potato and applesauce mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix on low for 10 seconds and then move to high for about 30 - 45 seconds or until all ingredients are combined to form a dough. The dough will be slightly sticky.

Prepare a well-floured surface. Gently, kneed the dough a couple of times to incorporate a bit more flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about a ½ inch thickness. Use two round cookie cutters, (one large, one small) to form the donut shape. Gently place uncooked donuts onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 6-9 minutes (Do not over cook.) For the Cinnamon Sugar Sprinkle, combine the cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl. When donuts are out of oven brush each with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Who's Responsible for Food Safety?

Food Companies Are Placing the Onus for Safety on Consumers

We are especially concerned about food safety here at Peas of Mind because there are so many families, especially those with children, that are suffering from food related allergies. That's why we created our Peas of Mind FDA Food Recall widget that monitors all food recalls that occur and helps parents stay even more proactive in the concerns of potential health hazards. Download for free here: www.peasofmind.com/widget

A good friend of ours who owns Healthy Living in Burlington, VT passed this interesting article along to us. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/business/15ingredients.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1242918383-UCOWGykW9KUQ80zMUBUb4w

The article states that the consumer still has to be sure to closely follow cooking directions especially with frozen foods, because even though most frozen meals are already cooked, there is still a "kill step" that should occur once the meal is taken home. (The kill step is when you cook food to a certain degree to kill harmful food borne bacteria.)

Although it's debatable at times to know exactly where to place blame concerning food safety issues, it was very interesting to read this part of the article:

"General Mills, which recalled about five million frozen pizzas in 2007 after an E. coli outbreak, now advises consumers to avoid microwaves and cook only with conventional ovens. "

After some research, I was unable to find any information that would indicate that there would be any reason why cooking in the oven vs. the microwave would make food more safe to eat. In fact, there are sources saying that microwave cooking isn't as bad as we thought, it doesn't deplete vitamin levels as much as previously indicated for example.

So, why is General Mills asking you to bake your pizza in the oven vs. the microwave? Here's my theory... It's all consumer psychology, General Mills knows that the general consumer, once told that they have to put something into the oven is going to have their expectations set to be waiting longer for their meal. This means they'll take more time to be sure that the food is cooked all the way through. If a consumer is putting something into the microwave, they want it to be quick and may consider eating it before it's really fully cooked.

Another quote from the article:
"The problem is particularly acute with frozen foods, in which unwitting consumers who buy these products for their convenience mistakenly think that their cooking is a matter of taste and not safety."

If you have an opinion, let us know!!