Upgrade Your Flavors!

We have a lot of new items to share your way! These come in the form of mustards, sauces and condiments! If you need to flavor up your food, we have the perfect suggestions for you! We want to introduce to you the Hengstenberg 1876 line-up, all the way from Germany! They have been available for a little while now, but let’s get YOU acquainted with them now!

There are three lines of thought here…

• Mustards: Mild Mustard, Hot Mustard & Whole Grain Mustard
• Sauces: Smoked BBQ Sauce, Red Pepper Steak Sauce & Sweet & Spicy Dipping Sauce
• Condiments: Sweet Burger Strips, Spicy Burger Chips & Jalapeño Rings

What can we say? They are all packed with different types of flavors to tingle your taste buds! These are perfect for adding to your regular BBQ grilling, everyday sandwiches and snacks and more! All of these items are made with the finest selected ingredients. All of these items are also BPA, gluten and lactose free! How awesome is that? These little friends come ready to serve, packed in resealable glass jars. They fit easily in the fridge and here’s something even more – they are vegetarian and vegan friendly! Even more awesome!

We wanted to show you what we have been up to with these new items! For starters, we’ve been busy learning a new smoker, so we decided to use the Whole Grain Mustard on our rub for pork butt, which ended up as pulled pork for sandwiches or on its own with other side dishes! Take a peek at some of the pictures we took along the prepping and cooking process! We will admit, it *is* hard to get a great looking photo of pulled pork once it’s all said and done, but trust us… it was OH SO YUMMY!

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Need a little snack? Need to flavor up your tailgate parties this season or need new flavors in general when it comes to dips for your appetizers? We made our own toasted bread and enjoyed the Sweet & Spicy Dipping Sauce on top for a nice flavor packed treat! By the way, it’s super easy to make a quick toasted bread spread. Just heat the oven to 350°F and slice up some pieces of baguette. I covered mine with a light layer of olive oil, garlic salt, black pepper and parsley. Keep an eye on them while they are in the oven, I think mine were in the oven for about 20 minutes, and be sure to turn them over a few times if you can. We simply opened the jar and spooned on some of the dip and enjoyed while the toasted bread was warm!

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And finally, we also smoked some MORE pork with the Smoked BBQ Sauce, however, we forgot to take photos of it when it was all said and done! But we can tell you this, it was DELICIOUS! This sauce would also be great for ribs! Also great for marinades and rubs, so think about adding these flavorful sauces to your next meal!

For more ideas and recipes – the Hengstenberg 1876 website is full of ideas to make your plain and ordinary meals into something of flavor!

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For the Organic Fanatic.

Organic. By definition it means: of, relating to, yielding, or involving the use of food produced with the use of feed or fertilizer of plant or animal origin without employment of chemically formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides. (Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Most of us today want to eat food and drink beverages that are not comprised of noxious chemical elements and that contain pure, fresh ingredients. There are many organic products on the market to choose from and it can be hard as a consumer to determine was is best for themselves and/or their families.

I introduced Maintal products not long ago in a post dedicated to rosehip. Today I am going to introduce you to Maintal Organic Fruit Spread. Not only is this product organic, it’s also vegan and all natural. This blueberry organic fruit spread is made with 40% fruit and is made in Germany. So what’s on the label? What are the ingredients? I’m happy to tell you:

Ingredients: Raw cane sugar*, blueberries*, water, lemon juice concentrate* (acidifier), pectin. *Denotes: Only from controlled organic agriculture.

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That’s a pretty basic and simple list of organic ingredients in this fruit spread. This fruit spread contains pieces of actual fruit, as it should, for being all natural and organic! While some fruit spreads with actual fruit pieces sometimes taste odd or may have a texture issue, there is none of that with this Maintal product! Delicious, fruitful and smooth!

The blueberry organic fruit spread is perfect for breads, cakes, pastries and more. According to Maintal’s website, there are approximately 1 million vegan Germans. The mindset of people consciously increasing the amount of vegan products in their diet has been growing. Those who have included vegan foods in their diet have been found to have noticeable effects on the well-being of people who suffer from allergies, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

Maintal’s production processes and techniques have helped to preserve as many vitamins as possible within the fruit spreads. The combination of organic and vegan benefits nature, as well as, providing a simple taste of organic food for gourmet connoisseurs.

The Healthy Benefits of Eating Red Cabbage.

Love it or hate it, red cabbage has some awesome health benefits that you should know about. Red cabbage is often used to enhance the flavor of a favorite dish but it has a powerhouse of healthy activity that’s awesome for your body. Red cabbage is commonly found in salads or as a side dish to compliment certain types of meats. Red cabbage is also used for making sauerkraut. Red cabbage has a lot of dietary fiber and is also very low in calories.

Red cabbage is known for being full of phytochemicals, minerals, vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants. Let’s list out some of the essential components:

• Thiamin
• Riboflavin
• Folate
• Calcium
• Manganese
• Magnesium
• Iron
• Potassium
• Vitamins
  • A
  • The B’s
  • C
  • E
  • K
• Dietary Fiber

With having such high levels of antioxidants, red cabbage can be considered to be an important component to help prevent certain cancers.

Antioxidants are substances that can neutralize free radicals, which are the harmful byproducts of cellular metabolism. These free radicals are responsible for various serious diseases, including cancer and heart disease. Red cabbage is rich in antioxidants, including anthocyanins and indoles. This is actually where the purple color comes from, as some of these phytochemicals normally show in this hue. The rich coloring is proof of just how powerful these vegetables are for your overall health. The indoles in red cabbage have been connected to reducing breast cancer in women in a number of studies. Vitamin A has also been connected with reducing the chances of lung cancer.

Source: Organicfacts.net

So what other ways can red cabbage help your body? It helps support a healthy immune system, it can help treat ulcers, it is great for your skin and your eyes and can aid in weight loss.

In the way the free radicals help prevent cancer that are mentioned above, they can also assist in the anti-aging process. Antioxidants are known to help reduce the signs of wrinkles, and, along with the high levels of vitamin A, all of these help with regrowth of skin cells and keeping elasticity of the skin.

I was always told to eat my carrots when I was growing up because the beta carotene helps your eyesight. The same is true with red cabbage. Since red cabbage is high in vitamin A, it can assist in preventing cataract formation and macular degeneration as you age.

Drinking red cabbage juice has been a homemade remedy used for years as a way to help reduce inflammation and pain that ulcers can cause within the gastrointestinal system. Glutamine, which is a specific amino acid found in large amounts in red cabbage, is what helps reduce that pain and inflammation. Drink some red cabbage juice up if you’ve been feeling funky in your guts!

But there’s more! Red cabbage has also been found to be helpful in preventing Alzheimer’s Disease, helpful to protect against osteoporosis, arthritis, and other types of inflammation (Source: Organicfacts.net).

If you’re looking for a tasty and delicious red cabbage, Hengstenberg has a wonderful red cabbage and red cabbage with apple. Red cabbage can be eaten cold as a salad or you could warm it up for a few minutes and add it as a side dish with just about any meal. Hengstenberg also has a lot of neat recipes on their website – try checking out the Sauerkraut & Red Cabbage Lollipops! There’s even a video there to help you prepare this recipe! The “lollipops” actually look really appetizing!

Hengstenberg red cabbage is considered vegan and is preservative free!

 

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There are only a few words of caution with those who may suffer from hypothyroidism, you may want to discuss with your doctor any concerns about eating red cabbage. There is also a recommendation that pregnant women avoid eating red cabbage while pregnant as babies may develop colic if mothers have eating cabbage while pregnant. A lot of the information I shared here today was taken from Organicfacts.net. Check out their website to read more in-depth information about red cabbage. As always, if you have any medical conditions concerning certain foods, it’s best to consult with your physician before consuming. Nibble, nibble!

Vegan Gummies? Yes!

First off, I have to admit, nobody in my family is vegan, but sometimes there are food and snack options that we will check out. We do like to have other options to give our children and ourselves. We try to find options free of preservatives or food coloring and that are more healthy for us.

J. Luehders of GermanyVegan Gummi Snacks are free from gelatin and contain no artificial colors or flavors. Parents can be relieved to know that there is a tasty treat without the worries of added ingredients and food coloring. Offering such flavors as Exotic Fruits, Red Berries, Fruity Flowers, Exotic Smoothie and Ruby Smoothie, there’s plenty of choices for everyone! These candies are vegan, contain no gelatin and are soft and delicious!

And I can, in fact, say these are really delicious! Along with my two sons, we decided to taste test these gummi snacks. The three flavors were tried were: Red Berries, Fruity Flower and Exotic Smoothie. They were super soft and chewy! These gummies do pack a punch of flavor, and will not disappoint! My oldest gave his dad one of the gummies out of the Red Berries package, and even dad enjoyed the flavor and said it tasted pretty good (and he can be picky, since he’s not a big fan of candy or sweets)!

Luehders Mixed Fruit Smoothie Vegan Gummi.

Luehders Fruity Flowers Vegan Gummi.

Luehders Fruity Flowers Vegan Gummi.

Luehders Red Berries Vegan Gummi.

My youngest son, who just turned 4, said he loved every flavor that we tried. He did not have a package that we tried that he did not like. As for myself and my oldest son (he’s an eight year old expert of treats), we both liked the Exotic Flowers best! We will have to go pick up some more flavors the next time we hit the market!

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Speaking of markets… For those in the local Grand Rapids, Michigan area, Kingma’s Market has these in stock in their brand new location in Ada! That is where we picked up our three packages of Luehders Vegan Gummies. Nibble, nibble! (You can see we ate them all…!)