Amy's Kitchen...an awesome company !!

I have emailed several companies to ask about their ingredient sources and purity. I was concerned about milk and cheese ingredients. This is the reply I received from Amy's. I love this company. Their food is awesome and they are supporting Proposition 37 in California. If California gets GMO labeling, so will the rest of the US and Canada. I went shopping yesterday and picked up some Amy's Kitchen.

Amy's Kitchen has very strict requirements for their cheeses.  The milk must come from cows that have not been treated with rBST. The cheese must be made without any animal rennet or rennet derived from genetic engineering.  It must taste great and melt to perfection when heated.  And, as a more practical consideration, the cheese cannot be so expensive that it would make Amy's Kitchen's products unaffordable for our customers.

In our first few years of production, we could not find good quality organic cheeses that met these requirements.  Over the years, more suppliers have made organic cheeses that meet our composition and flavor requirements and the costs of organic cheeses have come down as well.  Because of this, we are now able to incorporate more organic cheeses into our products.  The Cheese Lasagna, Cheese Enchiladas, Burrito Especial and Mushroom Olive Pizza now contain some organic cheese. 

Our Quality Assurance Department has very strict requirements for each and every shipment of cheese.  Our staff has visited the cheese plants of each and every supplier to assure they have systems in place to avoid any contamination with unacceptable chemicals or compounds.  In addition, we have sent our cheeses out for pesticide testing; all results have been ND (non-detectable).  So even though our products may contain a mix of both organic and conventional cheese, you should feel comfortable that all our cheeses, conventional and organic, meet a very high standard for quality in the industry.

You might also be interested to know that all our fresh milk and cream are now organic.  These are easier ingredients to find in the quantities and at the quality level we require so we have been able to convert existing products and develop new products with these ingredients. 

Salad Dressings...delicious, safe, non GMO and healthy

I love salads. I am an organic gardener and love to forage for salad ingredients. I have found some healthy salad dressings that taste pretty awful. I am thrilled to report that I have found Litehouse brand. Following is a list of their organic dressings. Their dressings contain soybean and canola oil, so you need to choose organic. I will review each as I try them.

Organic Raspberry Lime Vinaigrette by Litehouse Foods
Ingredients
WATER, ORGANIC SUGAR, ORGANIC DISTILLED VINEGAR, ORGANIC SOYBEAN OIL, ORGANIC RASPBERRY PUREE, ORGANIC RASPBERRY JUICE CONCENTRATE (ORGANIC RASPBERRY, ORGANIC APPLE, ORGANIC PEAR AND ORGANIC ELDERBERRY JUICE CONCENTRATES, ORGANIC FLAVOR, CITRIC ACID), ORGANIC CORN STARCH, ORGANIC RED GRAPE CONCENTRATE, ORGANIC DIJON MUSTARD (ORGANIC APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, WATER, ORGANIC MUSTARD SEED, SALT, ORGANIC SPICES), SALT, ORGANIC HIBISCUS, XANTHAN GUM, ORGANIC FLAVORS, ORGANIC ROSEMARY EXTRACT.
Erin: I love this dressing. It is tangy and sweet. Very flavorful. The colour of this dressing on the salad is absolutely beautiful.

Organic Balsamic Vinaigrette by Litehouse Foods
Ingredients
WATER, ORGANIC SOYBEAN OIL, ORGANIC BALSAMIC VINEGAR, ORGANIC SUGAR, ORGANIC PARMESAN CHEESE (ORGANIC WHOLE MILK, CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), ORGANIC DRIED GARLIC, SALT, ORGANIC CORN STARCH, ORGANIC SPICES, NATURAL FLAVOR, XANTHAN GUM.

Organic Caesar by Litehouse Foods
Ingredients
ORGANIC SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, ORGANIC CIDER VINEGAR, ORGANIC PARMESAN CHEESE (ORGANIC WHOLE MILK, CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), SALT, ORGANIC SUGAR, ORGANIC LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, ORGANIC GARLIC, ORGANIC SPICE, NATURAL ANCHOVY FLAVOR, XANTHAN GUM, ORGANIC MUSTARD SEED, ORGANIC CRUSHED RED PEPPERS, ORGANIC ROSEMARY EXTRACT.

Organic Ranch by Litehouse Foods
Ingredients
ORGANIC SOYBEAN OIL, ORGANIC BUTTERMILK, WATER, ORGANIC CIDER VINEGAR, ORGANIC EGG YOLK, ORGANIC SUGAR, SALT, ORGANIC DISTILLED VINEGAR, ORGANIC ONION, ORGANIC MODIFIED CORN STARCH, MALTODEXTRIN, CULTURED DEXTROSE, ORGANIC MILK POWDER, ORGANIC SPICE, LACTIC ACID, XANTHAN GUM, ORGANIC GUAR GUM, CITRIC ACID, ORGANIC EXTRACT.

Peanut Sauce

Peanut Sauce by Erin & Allan

1 can organic coconut milk

3 rounded tbsp organic cane sugar

2/3 cup peanut butter

Pinch crushed chilis

1/2 tsp black pepper

Pinch cumin

Pinch chinese five spice powder

Put it all in a pot and bring to a boil. Let boil for a minute or two. Add sauce to chicken and stir fry veggies. There will be a LOT of sauce. We used it the following night as a sauce on rice. It is really delicious if we do say so ourselves. 

Luscious Potato Soup

Luscious Potato Soup

From Recipes for a small Planet

	1/4 cupVegetable oil
	2 cupsOnions chopped
	1 cupCarrots diced
	1 cupCelery chopped
	6 mediumpotatoes diced
	1 quartVegetable stock
	2 teaspoonsSalt
	1 teaspoonMarjoram
	1 teaspoonDill seeds
	1/2 teaspoonPaprika
	1 teaspoonCaraway Seed
	1 1/2 cups non-instantMilk Powder

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a large stockpot. Saute the onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes until the onions are transparent.

Pour in the stock, salt and spices (not the milk powder), bring to a boil, cover and pressure cook for 20 minutes, or simmer about 1 hour until the potatoes are very tender, but won''t fall apart.

Dissolve the milk powder in 1 1/2 to 2 cups of the soup liquid. To avoid lumps, mix in a blender or with an immersion blender. Return the mixture to the pot and simmer about 1 minute.

Kitchen Sink Cookies

Kitchen Sink Cookies (from Recipes for a Small Planet)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup soy flour
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup milk powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
2/3 cup raisins (I leave these out)
2/3 cup chocolate chips (I use carob chips)
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs, beaten

1. Stir together all of the dry ingredients
2. Beat the eggs in a small bowl; measure the oil then the honey and molasses in the same measuring cup. Beat all the liquid ingredients together thoroughly.
3. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine until the dry ingredients are moistened. If the mixture seems too dry add some milk or water until the dough is of drop cookie consistency.
4. Drop the cookies on to an unoiled cookie sheet. Bake at 350*F for 10-12 minutes. 

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Onion, chopped
1 Clove Garlic, minced
3 lb butternut squash {peeled and diced}
1 sweet potato {peeled and diced}
2 Apples {peeled, cored and diced}
6 cups vegetable stock
1Tbsp rosemary, or 1 tsp dried
1 Tbsp thyme, or 1 tsp dried
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
A pinch of cayenne {optional}

Heat oil in a large pot. Sauté onions and garlic until soft and fragrant. Add squash, sweet potato and apples. Stir to combine. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until squash is very soft. Purée soup. I use a stick blender, but you must be very careful if soup is hot. Return to heat for five minutes to warm soup.

 

 

Apple Flax Muffins

Apple Flax Muffins
(This is a variation on the Pumpkin Bran Flax Muffins recipe)

Mix together:
1 1/2 cups Unbleached White Flour
3/4 cup Flaxseed Meal
3/4 cup oat bran
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Cinnamon

Stir in:
2 large grated apples
Handful of pecans
Handful of organic chocolate chips
Handful of organic blueberries

Combine:
3/4 cup Almond Milk
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla

Mix the wet ingredients into dry. Stir until moistened, do not over mix. If it's a bit too dry add a bit more almond milk. Put mix in oiled muffin tin and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 15 servings.