Experiment with us using your grill!

We'll be hosting a summer party this weekend for the Peas family and friends and have decided to grill up Peas products! That's right, grilled Peas pizzas, grilled veggie fries, and grilled veggie tots!

Have you grilled pizzas before? Frozen ones? French fries? Tater tots?
We found a couple online resources, as this will be our first time:

• Grilling frozen pizza
• instructions
• use a low setting on a gas grill or coals that are on their way out.
• cook with the BBQ lid ON.
• use a higher rack, or loft a second rack to encourage even cooking.
• Grilling frozen french fries and frozen tots
• instructions
• we plan to omit their flavorings and use our recipea instead.
• puncture the foil pouch so steam can escape and fries/tots will get crispy!

NonGMO Project Verified!

Peas of Mind is now NonGMO Verified!

Peas of Mind is excited and proud to announce that our Veggie Wedgies have been certified GMO-free by the Non-GMO Project!

So, what does this mean? Well, we started this process nearly a year ago, which sounds like a long time, and it is! The process takes that long in order to be incredibly thorough. Luckily, our fries have so few ingredients that we were able to finish our certification in a series of months. To give you an example, we ensure that not only are there no genetically modified organisms in our products, but that any facility that our ingredients pass through are inspected to guarantee that none of our products could possibly be contaminated by another company’s GMO ingredients.

Our broccoli is real broccoli, grown here in the US, and never genetically modified.   Same with our carrots. And our cauliflower. And our potatoes.

Every aspect of every ingredient we use has been combed through with a fine-tooth comb to bring you, our customers, the absolute safest, healthiest veggie fry we can make! It’s been our pleasure to work with the Non-GMO project on this verification and we are delighted to see it completed. We hope this gives you and your family some peas of mind!

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!”

Fort Fryday's : Celebrating our Hero's at Home!

A huge accomplishment of ours this year was shipping our products into the Military Commissaries! Commissaries are similar to grocery stores accept they are located on military bases all over the world. They stock similar items available in the US regardless where they are stationed, so a service member in the Middle East is able to purchase foods he would buy at home, like burgers and buns!

We started shipping our veggie French fries into the commissaries a few months ago and to celebrate this exciting accomplishment we created Fort Fryday's designed to honor the mom or dad who takes care of the household while their spouse is/was away. We call these strong amazing people, our Hometown Hero's!

Here is our next Hometown Hero and her story:

Name: Amy Cruder
Affiliated Base: Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach

-Amy, what branch of the military is your spouse ? "My husband is in the Navy for almost 10 years now and he was just promoted to 1st class. The kids and I are so proud of him." 

-How long have you been a military wife? "We were married a couple of months after my husband joined in July of 2003 and are currently on our 3rd deployment which is also the hardest because the kids are now old enough to realize daddy is gone." 

-How many kids do you have? "Hunter, our son, is 5 and Arelyn, our daughter is 3."

-Do you or have you lived on base? "As a Navy family we have never lived on base but instead bought a house in Virginia Beach which is a strong military Community with ties to all branches of the military and NASA."

-Tell us, what is the best thing about miliary life? "What I like about living here is the relationships you forge with other military families.  I have friends all around the world because we met here and hope our travels will bring us back together one day."

-Since we are a food company we must ask, what is your favorite food to prepare for your family? "My favorite food to prepare for my family has always been spaghetti because I buy veggie packed noodles and the sauce we buy has 1 1/2 servings of veggies per serving so I am able to get a good amount of vegetables into my family without them being any the wiser, although my kids would probably pick your cauliflower fries over the spaghetti.  In reality, anything that is healthy and natural that my family will happily eat is enough to make me happy which is why I was ecstatic to be directed to your amazing options by another military wife and friend, Jodi Martin."

-Ok, so you are on a deserted island and can only bring one thing...Go! "If I was on a desserted island and could only take one thing?  Oh my that is a tough one.  In hopes that the desserted island would be full of vegetation I would have to take a fully loaded tool box so I could build myself a raft to get home to my family.  Is that cheating?  I would love to say my family but I would hope that fate would never befall them."

-Is Military wife life what you thought it would be? "I am an Army brat so I was prepared for some of the challenges of being a Navy wife, however it is a little harder when it is your spouse leaving all of the time.  Sometimes you feel like a single parent and it's a hard feeling to deal with but then your husband calls and it makes all the hardship worth it to know that he is out there keeping us safe and free.  I would do it over again in a heartbeat.  I am proud of my Sailor and all he does for us."

Thank you, Amy, for sharing your story with us! Keep on pushing those veggies into your family and enjoy your Peas of Mind care package!

Fort Fryday's : Celebrating our Hero's at Home!

A huge accomplishment of ours this year was shipping our products into the Military Commissaries! Commissaries are similar to grocery stores accept they are located on military bases all over the world. They stock similar items available in the US regardless where they are stationed, so a service member in the Middle East is able to purchase foods he would buy at home, like burgers and buns!

We started shipping our veggie French fries into the commissaries a few months ago and to celebrate this exciting accomplishment we created Fort Fryday's designed to honor the mom or dad who takes care of the household while their spouse is/was away. We call these strong amazing people, our Hometown Hero's!

What better time of year to deploy Fort Fryday's than now, the time of year we give thanks!

Here is our first Hometown Hero and her story. 

Name: Ashley Lopez
Affiliated Base: Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington

-Ashley, what branch of the military is your spouse ?
"My husband, Miguel, is in the Army. He is a sergeant"

-How long have you been a military wife?
"I have been a military wife for about 6 years now"

-Do you or have you lived on base?
"We lived on base while we were at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska. We lived on post for 2 and half years. My husband is currently stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state and we are living off post in our first home."

-Tell us, what is the best thing about base life?
"It is like a little city, everything that you need is right there, from everyday necessities to great friends."

-Since we are a food company we must ask, what is your favorite food to prepare for your family?

"My favorite food to prepare is meatloaf, because I love sneaking vegetables into my husband and son’s diet. I love hiding vegetable in all the meals I make."
Cool Ashley, it sounds like we have similar missions!

-Ok, so you are on a deserted island and can only bring one thing...Go!

"If I was in a deserted island I would want to have an ultimate survivor’s kit  because it would have everything I need for a little while . But when I asked my husband this question, he answered that he would want the portal gun (from the game “Portal”) and said that he would become the only survivor in history to become obese. He said he would portal a wild boar straight into a fire pit, then portal the food straight into his mouth. Yeah, my husband is a nerd."
We just laughed out loud after reading this!

-Is Military wife life what you thought it would be?
"I really didn’t know what to expect, everything happened so fast, from when my husband left for boot camp, then schooling and then 2 deployments, but I wouldn't change a thing, all the places I have been and seen because my husband joined, all the great people I met and those I will meet have been a great life altering experience."

Such a cool story Ashley! Sounds like you are open to whatever life throws your way and you handle it with such a great positive attitude! Thank you for sharing your story with us! Enjoy your Peas of Mind care package!

Reinventing the Classics

Who loves pizza and fries!? WE DO!
Often times people ask us about our process for creating our products so we thought we'd take a minute to explain how we do what we do. Here at Peas of Mind, Reinventing the Classics is our brand strategy and in our eyes, all food has the potential for being healthy, so the sky is the limit.

Getting started: We imagine our all time favorite foods; the classics done in a tasty and healthy way; prepared so that we can feel good about serving it to our families and ourselves. Depending on how much time we spend dreaming of food, this step can take a while :)

Moving right along: Take the classic and make it HEALTHY. This requires endless hours in the test kitchen tweaking, baking, tasting and finalizing the recipe. Vegetables tend to be tough for parents to feed their kids so we focus on delivering them in yummy and easy-to-eat foods. When creating products, our priorities are nutritional stats, taste and feel-good-ability, meaning; do we absolutely love this product or do we need to add some more TLC?

Lastly, Eat Peas! After the final recipe has been endlessly tested and tasted we roll into production and get it on the shelves for all of our lovely Peas lovers to enjoy.

How Do You Eat Your Fries?

Tell us how you serve up Veggie Wedgies. 

Do you cover them in chile? 

Sprinkle your own garlic-salt concoction over them? 

Do you dunk them in curry ketchup?

We are looking for the next great reci-pea to pair with our Veggie Wedgies. Let us know what strange topping you put on them and you could win a few free bags! 

Yam Apple Cupcakes

February is easily the sweetest month of the year. Everywhere you turn there are Valentines' cookies, candies and cupcakes galore! Instead of saying no to your families sweet tooth, bake them our Valentine's cupcakes filled with yams and applesauce instead of the full amount of oil and butter! Your kitchen will smell like Pumpkin Pie, your kids won't even miss the extra fat!

Yam Apple Cupcakes
• 1 cup canned yam
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 3 Tbl applesauce
• 3 Tbl unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 Tbl fat free milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners and spray them with pan spray.

Place yams and vegetable oil in a food processor and puree until smooth. In a large bowl combine 3/4 cup of the yam puree with the applesauce, sugar, brown sugar, egg, and milk. Mix.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the yam mixture and gently stir until just combined. Be careful not to over mix. Add the butter and mix until smooth.
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until top of cupcake springs back when touched.

Laughing Cow Frosting
• 4.5 oz of Laughing Cow light swiss cheese, 6 wedges
• 1/8 cup of butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups powders sugar, sifted

Beat the laughing cow, butter and vanilla in a large bowl. Gradually add the sugar and beat well after each addition.

Veggie Wedgies By Peas of Mind!

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