December Reci-Pea: Peppermint Mug Brownie!

BBBBRRRRRRR!!

The holidays are here, the days are dark and temperatures have dropped. Some nights, we all need a little bite of something special without a big mess or a lot of work. That’s where our mug brownie comes in - its hot and fudgy with just the right festive peppermint flavor! Best of all, you already have all of the ingredients in your kitchen and since everything gets mixed in one mug, the cleanup is quicker than the New Years ball drop!

This recipe is gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, and low-fat, with an option to make it vegan and dairy-free as well. What more could you ask for! You can certainly substitute different sweeteners, and yogurt and applesauce work equally well, though we like the little protein kick of the Greek yogurt. The texture is dense and chocolaty in the center with a firmer cake-like exterior – best of both brownie worlds! So treat yourself – without the guilt!

Ingredients:

2 tbsp crushed peppermint candy or candy canes

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp peppermint extract

1 pinch of salt

1 tbsp maple syrup (or honey or agave nectar)

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (we love Guittard)

¼ cup fat-free Greek yogurt or applesauce

Process:

1. Mix 1 tbsp of crushed peppermint and all other ingredients in a mug and blend with a spoon until uniform. Mixture will be quite thick.
2. Microwave on power level 8 for 1minute and 20 seconds.
3. Peek inside – depending on your microwave and desired “doneness” (we love the fudgy and almost mousse-like texture of 1 minute and 40 seconds) and continue to microwave in 20 second bursts until you’ve reach that level.
4. Brownie will be very hot, so let it sit for a moment while you sprinkle the remaining 1 tbsp of crushed peppermint candy on top.
5. Indulge!

Food of the Month - Carrots!

This month we're feasting on CARROTS! Not only are carrots important ingredients in our carrot Veggie Wedgies, Peas of Pie, Garden Grown Nuggets and Pull-a-Parts - they're healthy, delicious and very versatile.  Carrots are in season this time of year so check out your local farmers market or grocer to explore the wide range of different types of carrots; we have a feeling your little ones will LOVE eating Kaleidoscope carrots which come in purple, red, yellow and white.

Carrots are a perfect fridge staple as they can be served hot or cold, used in savory or even sweet dishes.  One trick to ensuring that your family enjoys the array of carrots you'll be serving this spring is to experiment with different types of cuts. Here are some time saving tips on different ways to cut carrots:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C79WRZrZ-ys  Currently, our favorite way to eat a carrot is by peeling the whole thing. This spaghetti like cut is great for salads as it adds crunch but blends in nicely with lettuce greens, it looks beautiful and tastes really good with light spring inspired dill dressings!

Carrots ARE good for your eyes; they're loaded with vitamin A which is good for the immune system and of course vision. It also helps the lungs, heart and kidneys function properly.  Carrots also contain a large amount of Vitamin K which can help against blood clots, cancer and heart disease. 


Have you every tried adding carrots to your families favorite meals? We love adding carrots to pancakes, marinara sauces, muffins and meat balls.  The secret is in the finely chop (or simply use a food processor) to get the carrots down to an unnoticeable size.  And remember, the perfect side dish for your carrot infused meat balls are Peas of Mind's carrot fries. Your little one's plate will be LOADED with vitamin A and we promise, dinner will be scarfed down before you can say CARROTS ARE MY FAVORITE SPRING VEGETABLE!

Breakfast with s Smile

One of the best things about getting pancakes at a diner is the whipped cream smiley face. There’s something about a steaming hot stack of smiling pancakes that just makes kids want to squeal with delight.  This month we’re reinventing the smiling pancake stack by cutting the flour in half and replacing it with oats and using baked in fruit instead of the whip. This smiley-faced reci-pea is guaranteed to warm the house and belly even if there is a blizzard outside!

 Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup quick cooking oats

¼ tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp of salt

2 cups milk

1 Tbs maple syrup

1 Tbs lemon juice or vinegar

3 Tbs canola oil

½ tsp of salt

An assortment of sliced fruit for the pancake faces (bananas, strawberries, kiwi and blueberries make the best faces and taste great in the pancake batter.

Method:

Pour milk into a bowl. Add lemon juice or vinegar and set aside for 5-10 minutes.  (This is a simple and inexpensive way to make buttermilk).

Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir in all wet ingredients (including the buttermilk that was just made) taking care not to over mix.

Preheat a large skillet on medium heat. Lightly coat the pan with canola oil. Pour about ¼ cup batter into the pan for each pancake. Cook about 3 minutes, or until bubbles form on top and sides are a little dry. Place your fruit into the pancake to create a silly face. Flip, and cook another minute or until pancake is cooked all the way through.

Makes 6-8 pancakes

We're celebrating Friday with A Dinner Story

Here at Peas of Mind, keeping kids healthy and happy is what we do best. We like to think that we celebrate kids every day by feeding them their favorite foods while (unbeknownst to them) filling them up with their daily dose of veggies.  As you know, we think the time has come to celebrate the grown-ups because at the end of the day, it's the hard working parents that (no matter how chaotic and crazy their schedule) bring the food to the table.  This week’s Dinner Story is celebrating Alyssa, a mid-western Mom of two young girls who prides herself on dining in SIX days a week and practicing “stealth health” with our veggie fries!

Where do you live and how many kids do you have?

"New Lenox, IL. I have two children, Alexandra 3 1/2, Addison 2."

What meal do you make that you know, no matter what, your family will devour?

"Well that’s a tricky question because I have 2 EXTREMELY picky eaters, so I usually have to make 2 separate meals, one for them, and one for my husband and me. But when it comes to the girls, nuggets and French fries are always a hit!"

What's your favorite Saturday morning breakfast to enjoy as a family?

"French toast!"

What's your favorite Peas of Mind Product?

"Veggie Wedgies! Broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot fries! My girls have NO idea what amazing veggies are hidden inside each bite! When I bake them I sprinkle a small amount of olive oil and salt over them, toss until coated, and bake! Yum!"

How many times per week do you cook from scratch?

"We rarely eat out so I probably cook 6 days a week."

What's your go to "I'm feeling unhealthy and need a nutrient-power punch" meal?

"I make a salad. I recently discovered that Target sells Panera Bread salad dressings with their recipe on the side! The Fuji Apple Chicken Salad is my favorite! Romaine, red onion, fresh apple, tomatoes, avocado, raisins, gorgonzola and croutons!"

What kitchen tool could you never live without?

"A sharp knife! I am always chopping something :)"

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

"Chocolate :) Donuts, brownies, ice cream, you name it!"

Juice it up!

Here at Peas HQ we practice stealth health; we reinvent the classics by taking those unhealthy dishes kids love and making a nutritious version the entire family will eat up (or in this case, slurp up).  A fantastic way to get your kiddos to meet their nutritional needs is by juicing; taking the most fresh, seasonal produce you can find, juicing it and serving it up in their favorite cup is quick and easy.  Now I know what you’re thinking, “I don’t have a juicer and I’m not going to spend $300 on a machine that takes hours to clean.” We’ve got great news for you, all you need to make juice is a blender and a cheese cloth!  It’s cheap, easy and the outcome is just jucalicious!

For this juice recipea, we were inspired by California stone fruit because this time of year peaches, plums, cherries and nectarines are literally falling from the sky.  This made us realize – it’s time to reinvent the summer camp classic known as bug juice and turn it into a nutritionally packed juice that’s both easy and inexpensive.  Don’t forget that you can make this recipea your own by using this juicing method and exploring different veggie and fruit combinations based on your family’s tastes.  Let the stealth health begin! 

Stone Fruit Bug Juice

• 3 ripe peaches cut into quarters with the pit removed (the sweeter the fruit the sweeter and tastier the juice)
• 3 ripe plums cut into quarters with the pit removed
• 1 cup of pitted cherries
• ½ cup of water

Combine pitted fruit with water in a blender.  Blend until completely puréed.

Cover a large bowl with a large piece of cheesecloth (you want there to be a few layers of cheesecloth so that the juice is fully strained).  Pour fruit mixture onto cheesecloth, wait for the liquid to strain a bit so that the fruit mixture doesn’t over flow. When blender is thoroughly empty, grab all ends of the cheesecloth to create a little sack and squeeze all of the juice into the bowl until all that’s left in the sack is the fruit fiber.

Add a few ice cubs to your serving cups and fill about 2/3 with the juice mix and top off with water (if you’re feeling crazy, try some seltzer water) and mix with a spoon. 

Shocking Sugary Stats

We all know that too much sugar is a bad thing.  We know that processed sugar is just empty calories that can lead to obesity, tooth decay and other major and minor health problems.  But did you know that according to the USDA economic research service, the average child under twelve eats 49 POUNDS of sugar every year?  This means that there are five and six-year-olds out there eating their weight in sugar each year!  Here at Peas of Mind, we want to help you ensure that your child is not within this statistic. Check out these three easy tips that will help you and your family drastically lower your daily sugar intake.

1. Steer clear of the empty calories of sugary drinks by making your own homemade soda's, juices and spritzers.  Water is always the best liquid but we know this may not be what your child is craving.  Instead of juice from concentrate, freshly squeeze oranges or if you have a high powered blender, combine your favorite fruits and veggies and strain using a cheese cloth (much less expensive then buying a juicer).  Make a homemade soda by combining seltzer water with a dash of fresh squeezed OJ or a squeeze of lemon and a dollop of agave.  If your child has a major sweet tooth, make the spritzer to their sweetness liking then lower the amount of agave or OJ you put in the seltzer every day which will eventually change his pallet.
2. Making homemade desserts may sound like a large task but why not spend an hour on Sunday baking with the kids and getting them involved with their food?  You can easily lower the amount of sugar in a recipe by replacing the processed sugar with natural sweeteners like beet puree, applesauce and mashed sweet potatoes.  This will not only give the dessert the desired sweetness your kids crave, you’ll be infusing the sweet-treat with an extra dose of vitamins and minerals!  Check out our delicious, quick and veggie infused corn muffin recipea or our sweet potato cinnamon rolls recipea.
3. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again.  Read labels! Children should be eating between 12-16 grams of refined sugar per day so take that into account when buying packaged foods.  If the granola bar that you’re about to buy has 12 grams of sugar in a serving, put it down because that’s almost a days worth of sugar in one bar.  Here at Peas of Mind, we believe that it’s up to YOU, the parent, as to how much sugar/salt goes into your child’s food.  This means that we add very little to our products, allowing you to make the decision on how much sugar your child eats. Our Peas of Pie, Veggie Wedgies and Nuggets all have less sugar then leading brands so fill your freezer up with these delicious meals and give yourself some Peas of mind when it comes to your child’s sugar intake.  
   

We're heading to Expo West

This is an exciting time here at Peas of Mind because next week we’re heading to Southern California to introduce our new product line at Expo West.  Expo West is a huge trade show highlighting organic, natural and other healthy products; anything you’d find in the aisles of a Whole Foods will be exhibiting at this show (all the way from Pet food to tea to hummus to kid's food)!

We’ll be there handing out samples of our new product! Any guesses what it might be? Here are three hints:

1. It's a kid's food classic.
2. It's loaded with Broccoli and carrots.
3. When paired with our veggie wedgies it makes a really yummy, complete and healthy meal.

Grocery shop like a pro!

Last week we had a pretty chaotic grocery store experience.  As we left the store and pushed our over-flowing cart into the parking lot, we realized that we had just committed some major grocery shopping “no nos.” We rolled through each aisle “window shopping” throwing anything and everything into the cart that sounded yummy (at the time). We were beyond hungry so we grabbed a bag of something salty and crunchy and munched until the bag was empty and at the check out counter, stared in shock as we realized we’d gone way over our weekly grocery budget.  So as we plan this week’s grocery outing, we’ve decided to figure out a few simple ways to make the experience and outcome easy, breezy and healthy.

1. Make a list. The last thing you want to do is browse.  Before you head to the store, figure out what you actually need for the week and organize the list by sections in the store so that you’re not making circles and ending up in aisles you don’t want to be in.
2. Plan a head.  When you make your list, plan for actual dinners and lunches.  But it’s also important to shop for all occasions; be prepared for Saturday morning pancake requests, savory after-school snacks like our Pull-a-Parts which are yummy and contain a serving of veggies in every box.  Don’t forget about that night you really don’t want to cook (which usually happens to us on Friday after a long week).  Your best option is to have lots of Peas of Pies on hand!  Quick, yummy and totally nutritious!  
3. Read and compare labels.  It’s so important to choose food with a few ingredients, if you find yourself reading the label of something for more then one minute, put it back.  You want to look for foods that contain fiber, vitamins, calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium and foods that are low in sodium, trans and saturated fat and cholesterol.   
4. Don’t go hungry!  Your hunger pangs will fill your cart with things that may sound good at the time but usually they’re food you’ll really regret when you’re unpacking your groceries.
5. Bring a reusable bag.  This not only helps the environment but it allows you to think realistically about how much food you’ll be buying. If you get to check out and you have more food than you do bag space, you might want to rethink those two boxes of brownie mix that were buy one get one free. 
6. Pick out one new food (we highly recommend experimenting with a seasonal vegetables and grains).  This will help save you money (seasonal produce is usually on sale), encourage your family to try new foods and help you liven up your recipes.  Its win, win, win!

Fight the Flu

If you’ve been watching the news, you know that flu season is here, and it’s here with a vengeance!   How do you stay healthy when it seems everyone around you is getting sick?  Well here at Peas of Mind, we are practicing two simple tips to stay healthy: stay away from germs and keep our immune system strong.

First things first, wash your hands! I know we hear it all the time but it really is one of our best defenses against germs. By washing our hands (sing happy birthday to yourself to gauge how long you should wash) we wash off the germs we constantly come in contact with from doorknobs to sneezes. And remember to avoid touching your mouth, nose and eyes because germs can easily sneak through these entry points. Did you know that the average person touches his or her face three to five times per minute? This means you've probably touched your face three times while reading this blog so go wash your hands!

Secondly, get in touch with your animal instinct and find time to hibernate!  Winter should be the season we slow down and get lots of sleep. Now I know sleeping for four months is just not an option but during these cold months it’s important to aim to get about 8 hours per night.  This not only boosts your immune system but it also reduces stress, inflammation and increases positivity.

An apple a day DOES keep the doctor away…well sort of… Diet greatly affects our body’s ability to fight off sickness, which means a helping of veggie wedgies (which is about 10 fries and contains 1.5 servings of vegetables) can really keep those nasty germs at bay.  Combine your veggie fries with seasonal produce, garlic (fresh garlic has been shown to fight off viruses) and whole grains and you will have that healthy edge you need to fight the flu and make it through the winter with a clean bill of health!

Fort Frydays

Fort Frydays is back for 2013!  As you know,  Peas of Mind’s Veggie Wedgies are now in military commissaries, which means we get the honor of feeding the brave men and women who serve our country and the families who love them.  Fort Frydays is a celebration of the moms and dads (or Home Town Hero’s as we like to call them) who take care of the household while their spouse is/was away. 

This week we’re celebrating military wife and mom, Chantal Shelstad. When Chantel's not busy with her daughter and husband, she writes for her blog Scattered Seashells about life as a military mom helping her family live a healthy lifestyle (her life just got a little easier because now she can get Peas of Mind products at her commissary)! 

More from Chantel, this week's hometown hero:

What branch of the military is your spouse in?

“My husband is in the Army. He is training to be a helicopter pilot.”

How long have you been a military wife?

“We've been married since June 2008, and he's been in the Army since then too! So it'll be five years come this summer.”

Do you have kids? If so, what are their names and ages?

“We have one daughter, Penny, who just turned one in December.”

Do you or have you lived on base? 

“We live on base here at Fort Rucker. Before we lived here, we were stationed in Hawaii, and we lived on base there too.”

What is the best thing about base life?

“We love being close to his work so he can come home between breaks.  There are lots of perks of living on base - proximity to the commissary and PX, close to other families, good housing. I especially love being on post here because I'm close to friends, because my husband is gone a lot for training in flight school.”

What is your favorite food to prepare for your family?

“We have tons! But I like a good meatloaf with roasted broccoli and sweet potato fries on the side. I’m so excited to try Peas of Mind Carrot fries, they seem super healthy and easy to make.”

You are on a deserted island and can only bring one thing...Go!

“Does my husband count as a thing? Seriously, he would get us out of anything. I'm sure that's putting a lot of faith in him but I trust him beyond words. I know he would work to get us off that island.  Well, unless we liked it so much, and then he'd work to make us a great house!”

Is Military life what you thought it would be?

“That and more! I love the relationships I have with others who understand exactly what I'm going through. I love the opportunities we have to travel. I love the activities they organize. I love the sense of community. I love being an Army wife!”

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!