The Spiralizer!

If anyone has followed my tweets (@masonarnold) you probably know that I just finished a cleanse (the Love Cleanse by Kim Love...whose birthday is actually Feb 14th, no lie!). While on this cleanse we spent a lot of time at the Whole Foods raw bar. We had several days of a very restricted, raw diet. We graze on our share of foliage at home, but we hadn't ventured far into raw main dishes (aside from salad) or dehydrated stuff. Our favorite dish at WF was the Pumpkinseed pesto over Zucchini pasta. Zucchini pasta rocked! We saw them make it and instantly fell in love with the device.

We started dreaming of all the glorious dishes we could make with it, so that night we ordered one at www.rawguru.com. (Buy the Spiralizer here). They're not paying me, but they should. Mylie graciously prepped some veggies for me to obliterate with this awesome tool. I'm a pretty good prep cook for her, though in the kitchen I'm one of those employees that you have to tell what to do constantly. And at any moment of inactivity I just might disappear into another room to email or make a call. So she keeps me busy. First up was carrots and then kohlrabi and beets (all from Greenling, of course). You can spiralize just about anything! Mylie nixed my tomato idea, though.

It creates this small core in the middle and you end up with a disk at the end. I think it's to keep it from flying off the spiralizer, but I'm not totally sure. I knew Mylie would get a kick out of em, so I lined up the little towel rods on the counter after each spiralled masterpiece. She loved them so much they became garnishment for our salad and I gotta say, it worked. The most festive salad I'd ever had resulted. I felt like putting on some Kool & The Gang. Tomorrow we'll venture into the world of veggie pasta.

Where does your food come from?

Is it just me or does it feel like the rising cost of energy is going to have a dramatic affect on our food system? We can already see it in rising prices, which make people ask questions, which makes them more aware of their food. Why do Organic apples suddenly cost $5/lb? Well, it's because Spring/Summer they come from New Zealand. That's a long way to travel...racking up food miles which are getting more expensive by the day. They're certainly still healthier and more nutritious than their conventional counterparts, but maybe the year-round apple buyers might start looking to other...maybe seasonal...fruit? Most people just wouldn't even think about it without something like this to highlight where the food comes from.

Have you ever asked your waiter in a restaurant where your dinner comes from? I'm doing it much more often. We know most of them don't know. But they often offer to ask their manager. 'Sure' I say. 'It's not a big deal, but if YOU want to ask your manager, I'd love to know.' They go ask their manager who also doesn't know....'our food distributor?' But you know what just happened? 2 people who otherwise wouldn't even think about that suddenly did. And if anyone around my table heard that conversation, they might think about it too. Start asking anyone who serves you food where it comes from! Not in a condescending way and don't refuse food if they don't know. Just start asking. It could change the world.

I was quoted in an article I didn't even know about...

Not a bad article either....kinda glad a few people are listening:
See the Article Here

I had to post the cached page to get around the subscription vice...let me know if it doesn't work for you.

We just started carrying this amazing pork. I have tried the sausage, cutlets, and bacon so far and they are all awesome!

Also, our Brix meters are on their way. Brix testing is a way to help determine the quality of fresh produce in terms of mineral content. Even if something is grown organically, that doesn't mean there are minerals in the soil...which are needed for minerals to be present in the plants and vegetables. Odds are much better - most organic farmers take care of their soil and replenish minerals, but here at Greenling we looked for more conclusive evidence. The Brix testers help us make sure that everything we deliver is the best possible quality.