Most recently it’s been Chia’s turn.  Once the domain of late night TV hawkers selling novelty planters sprouting green hair, Chia has become the “IT” seed for the food industry.  At this year’s Natural Products Expo West, we saw this diminutive seed in everything from chips and pasta to peanut butter and oatmeal bars.  There’s even a chia beverage offering extra omega 3 (if you can swallow the lumpy texture).

Country Choice Organic won’t be launching Chia Sandwich Cremes though anytime soon. Chia packs a nutrient punch, but so too do real, simple foods. Michael Pollan says it best: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” There isn’t a single magic bean for health (as the grains and seeds that have had their 15 minutes of fame know all too well).

Moderation is our mantra, even when it comes to super foods.  Where do you weigh in on the Chia craze?

With the Slow Down with Country Choice Organic Recipe Contest, we’ve connected through your touching stories and delectable recipes. And you’ve inspired us to share to share some of our own traditions.

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John DePaolis, Chief Cookie Officer for Country Choice Organic (yes, you read that right – and yes, it is the best job ever) has been spending sub-zero weekend mornings with his wife and daughters this season making baked oatmeal. It’s a family favorite and never fails to provide a warm start to the day…even in the heart of Minnesota.

Winter Warming Baked Oatmeal

3 cups Country Choice Organic Old Fashioned Oats
3/4 cup organic brown sugar
1/2 cup organic butter
2 organic eggs
2 cups organic milk
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp organic cinnamon

Now, here comes the fun part. Add whatever you want…raisins and walnuts, blueberries, etc. You can’t mess it up!

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix together all ingredients with a spurtle and pour into 13 x 9 inch buttered pan. (You can also bake in a greased muffin tin, but watch the cook time!)

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Through these campaigns, our community of oatmeal-eating holiday givers has grown significantly, as have our donations. In fact, last winter you helped us give more than 35,000 bowls of oatmeal to those who need it most. This year we’re hoping give just as much, or even more.

So please share our message or our Facebook page with your friends and family before January 4, 2013. We’d love for them to be a part of the giving, too.

Happy Holidays,

Your Friends at Country Choice Organic

“My grandmother Mame was an incredible woman…oldest of eight siblings…devoted wife…doting mother…adoring grandmother…and most recently, an amazing great-grandmother. Those who had the pleasure to meet her know Mame exuded grace, charm, and wit. She had many talents she readily shared, including teaching us how to bake her famous oat rolls.

In saying goodbye, there is much to celebrate about this beautiful woman and her long and significant life. Mame left us on her 98^th birthday. We’re convinced that her husband and family were in Heaven impatiently waiting for her to join their planned birthday party. October 19^th, 1914 was Mame’s birth day. 98 years later it has become what we will dub her re-birth day. Welcome to the party Mame. Welcome to your new life. May it be filled with North Dakota sunflowers and wild horses. And may it be as meaningful and wondrous as the life you’ve shared here with all of us.”

Beloved by all who knew her, Mame passed through the world with grace, charm and humor. Anyone who ever sat at her table will remember what she served, especially the bread she baked.

Rest in Peace.

Mame’s Oatmeal Rolls

• 1 1/2 cups Country Choice Organic Old Fashioned Oats
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp. salt
• 3 cups boiling water
• 2 packages yeast in 1/3 cup warm water
• 5 1/2 to 6 cups flour

Combine oatmeal, margarine, brown sugar, and salt into large mixing bowl. Pour boiling water over ingredients and mix lightly. Allow to cool to warm temperature. Stir in yeast. Add flour until fairly stiff. Knead dough on floured board until fairly smooth (about 5 minutes). Put dough in greased bowl and cover. Let rise until double in bulk. Shape into rolls, dip in melted margarine and place on cookie sheet. Let rise until double in bulk. Bake at 375° F for 15 to 17 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes 3 dozen rolls

This spiced purple sweet potato casserole creation has us growling (our stomachs, that is):

Oats AND pumpkin? How did we get so lucky? This baked treat will send adults and children alike off on the right foot—or wooden stub if you’re a pirate—for the spookiest day of the year.

What Halloween oatmeal treats do you make?

California’s Prop 37, the Right to Know GMO Labeling proposition, requires food manufacturers to label products that include genetically modified ingredients (GMOs). The ballot initiative doesn’t seek regulations or limits in any way. It just mandates that GMO food be labeled — the way it is in at least 50 countries worldwide, including all of the European Union, China, Japan and Russia.

As a country, we tend to not think much about our food…until it’s too late. We clamor for more information about calories, sugar or trans fat only after obesity, diabetes and heart disease have become national epidemics. Likewise, our concern about genetic engineering comes when GMOs are already ubiquitous in industrial agriculture, especially corn, soy, and sugar beets. By some estimates, over 80 percent of all processed foods contain GMOs.

It’s this ubiquity that has spawned “absence of negative” credentials, where consumers avoid GMOs by purchasing products with seals of approval from USDA Organic or the Non-GMO Project (both of which certify all Country Choice Organic products as GMO free). But given that 90 percent of American consumers want to know if products contain GMOs, do we have it backwards? Shouldn’t we be labeling foods that have been altered or messed with, those that contain pesticides, trans fats, GMOs, etc.? We think so. Good, real food should be expected, not the exception.

That’s why Country Choice Organic is proud to support California’s Prop 37. Knowledge is the key to creating a healthier nation. When people know what they are eating, they can make better decisions. We all deserve to know what’s in our food. It’s only right!

When summer is on and I’m outside enjoying the sun, the nature and the atmosphere, I want my lunch to be simple, healthy and, preferably, cool.

In Sweden, a very common product for relaxed summer lunches is muesli with milk, or ‘fil’, an acidic Swedish type of yogurt. We call this “to give the stove a summer break.”

Summer has definitively come to Minnesota but hey, where’s my muesli?! I’ve been so excited with trying out the new oatmeal products available to me that I’ve completely missed the fact that muesli is not a common product in the U.S. You all don’t seem to eat it. And you’re really missing out!

In the stores (tucked away in a corner) there are a few products available claiming to be mueslis, but only some of are true mueslies. A muesli is a non-sweetened cereal blend of raw and toasted grain flakes, with or without dried fruits or nuts. And that’s it! A muesli is supposed to be simple and clean. It should not contain a lot of added sugar, baked grains or other unnatural stuff. Some mueslis might be sweetened with honey though, which is okay since that is a natural sweetener.

What’s great about muesli is that it’s minimally processed, healthy, filling and nutritious. To me it is also as close as you can get to the farm in a complete meal. Finally, I love the taste and crunchy texture of muesli.

At home in Sweden, I always a carry a few different types of muesli with me – from very basic grain blends to blends with fruit and nuts. Depending on my mood and how sweet I want my meal to be, I’ll either it them as they are or add some extra fresh fruit or nuts (I always add nuts. I love them!). In the summer I eat my muesli with ice-cold milk. It’s a great lunch and really refreshing.

Writing this makes me crave muesli… I’m gonna go out now and buy oats, wheat, barley and rye flakes, hazelnuts, and some dried cranberries and pineapple and make my own. Not as convenient as I’m used to, but it will definitively be worth it!

{Swedish Muesli}

This is a great recipe to spice up breakfast in the morning. You can get most of these items in the bulk section of the health food store, which makes it all really affordable!
2 Lb organic oats
1/4 LB shaved coconut
1/4 LB craisins
1/4 Lb Dates
1/4 Lb flax seeds
1/4 LB wheat bran
1/4 Lb wheat germ
1/4 lb bran flakes
1/4 lb nuts
1/4 LB dried fruit

Mix everything together in a big Ziploc bag adding whatever your family likes or is on sale at the store. Cover with Kefir or an organic drinkable yogurt with live cultures.

I’m a huge fan of oats and other grains for breakfast and snacks, love their convenience and versatility. But in Sweden, I’ve always eaten them uncooked. Just plain with milk or yogurt. It wasn’t until my first day with Country Choice that I had oatmeal. And I was hooked!! This product is so great! It’s tasty, filling and convenient – much more than eating it raw since you don’t need to have fresh milk or yogurt at home.

The reason why I haven’t had oatmeal before is that it’s just that it’s not a common product in Sweden. In the food stores there you can only find two varieties of oats: regular old-fashion and whole grain old-fashion. And they’re not in the cereal aisle either but in the baking aisle!

So, off I went to the supermarket to buy me some oats to have at home. After finding the right aisle, the next cultural difference emerged: you all have so many options to choose from! At first I was amazed, but then I started to feel a bit lost. I had no idea of where to start – should I get instant or regular, unflavored or flavored, multigrain or only oats? What brand and size?

Well, since I wanted organic I effectively narrowed down my choices. I also wanted something that was certified organic, to get an honest product, which reduced my options further.

I ended up buying Country Choice regular old-fashioned oats, which I eat for breakfast (simply add hot water and let it sit for 10 minutes – love the texture it gives!) with blueberries and coconut flakes; and Country Choice maple raisin spice instant multigrain, which is perfect for an afternoon snack!

Yummy!

I wonder how many pouches of instant oatmeal I can squeeze into my bag when I leave…

We are so pleased to give a year’s supply of Country Choice Organics to Kellie, creator of Powerhouse Poblanos! This was a flavor-packed combination of veggies and protein. The crew here at Country Choice Organic was excited to use steel cut oats for the stuffing — a surprising savory application that many of us had never tried. Delicious!

Thank you again to everyone who participated! The sharing doesn’t stop here — we’re always interested in hearing about how you use oats. Let us know what’s cooking in your kitchen!

Powerhouse Poblanos

10 Poblano peppers, tops removed deseeded and cleaned.
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
12 oz lean pork loin, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup corn
1 cup Country Choice Organic Steel Cut Oats, prepared
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp salt
½ tsp fresh ground pepper
1 jar mild salsa
8 oz shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 375F. Over your stove’s burner or under a broiler, char the outside of the peppers until blackened. Promptly place peppers in a brown bag and close to steam –about 5 minutes. Remove skins from the peppers. Meanwhile heat olive oil in a skillet, brown pork and add garlic and onion. Cook on medium until onions are tender. Mix onions, beans, corn, oats, and spices together. Stuff peppers with mixture and place in a baking dish. Pour salsa over top and finish with cheese. Bake until bubbly and cooked through, approximately 30 minutes. Serve!

As you would imagine, we have quite a few oat fanatics around our office. We love our steel cut, rolled, multi-grain… not to mention our Soft Baked Oatmeal Cookies. In fact, we spend a lot of our working hours perfecting new and delicious ways to deliver our organic oats to you. Most recently, we introduced several new products: Quick Cook Steel Cut Oat Pouches, Apple Cinnamon Multigrain Instant Oatmeal and Maple Spice Multigrain Instant Oatmeal. You should see them soon where you buy organic products.

However, we know we aren’t the only ones with “outside the canister” ideas for enjoying Country Choice Organic oats!

So now it’s your turn to get creative! We’d love to hear the delicious ways you make eating organic easy. How do you incorporate organic oats into recipes enjoyed by you and your family? Enter the Outside the Canister Recipe Contest before February 8, 2012, and let us know what you are whipping up in your kitchen. You could win a one-year supply of Country Choice organic products. What better way to start the year?