We recently hooked up with the nice company called Essential Eating Sprouted Foods, who sent us a sampling of their products to try out. I’m not afraid of healthy foods, so the dark grainy texture of the pastas and pretzels didn’t slow me from trying it, but I was surprised at how “normal” it all tasted when I cooked it up. Most whole grain pastas that I’ve tried have an extra chewy texture, and this stuff just tasted like good pasta. Here’s a little review, recipe, and a chance to get some of their products for yourselves as well!
Along with several pastas, Essential Eating Sprouted Foods sent us Pretzel Puffs and Whole Wheat Cereal. The wheat cereal was the one that scared me the most. I expected a cream of wheat consistency and taste that I just couldn’t have handled (being a grits girl- its not the same!). It ended up being a lot more like steel cut oatmeal- nutty and structured instead of bland mush. We paired it with pears (lol!), walnuts, brown sugar, and lots of butter. Just treat it like your oatmeal, and you’ll be happy.
The Pretzel Puffs were awesome. They didn’t look much like the typical pretzels you’ve seen, which was an initial turnoff, but the flavor totally made up for it. The best part was that they were salty enough, which is essential in a pretzel. I planned to make a dipping sauce to go with these, but I ate them all too fast.
Thank you to Essential Eating Sprouted Foods for letting us try their great products, and for allowing us to do a giveaway of their products to our readers! Here’s what you gotta do to be the big winner winner:
- Like Dirty Gourmet on Facebook if you haven’t already
- Tell us what your outdoor-related goal(s) are for the year 2013 (if we make it past Dec 21 of course), either on our Facebook page or in a comment right here on this page.
We’ll choose our favorite, and send you some food! If you’re really excited about the products, you can get your Essential Eating Sprouted Foods from their website anytime you like. Here’s a great and simple recipe using their delicious elbow pasta.
Whole Wheat Pasta with Swiss Chard Pesto
Yield4 servings
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Activity GuideCar Camping, Backpacking, Bike Touring, Picnic, Day Trip
Ingredients
- 1 pound whole wheat pasta, such as Essential Eating Sprouted Elbows
- 1 bunch swiss chard (or any green)
- 1 bunch basil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1/8 cup olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons
- 1 bunch broccoli, chopped
- 1 breast chicken, cubed
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated or shaved
- salt and pepper, to taste
Tools
- knife
- cutting board
- skillet
- saucepan
- strainer
- food processor
- zip-top baggie
- stirring spoon
Method
- At Home
- Place the chard, basil, garlic, walnuts, 1/8 cup olive oil, and salt and pepper into the food processor. Blend until combined. (I like my pesto to be chunky, so I don’t blend it a lot).
- Place pesto into zip-top baggie for transportation to camp.
- At Camp
- Boil a pot of salted water. Add pasta, and cook until just shy of al dente, stirring occasionally.
- Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook through (this step can be done at home or omitted).
- A few minutes before the pasta is done, add broccoli to the pot. Cook until it turns bright green and pasta is al dente. Strain, and return to pot.
- Add chicken and pesto, and stir to coat.
- Add lots of grated parmesan cheese and serve.
- (*I like to leave my parmesan separate from the pesto so as to accomodate the many vegans in our lives, but you can definitely add it into your pesto at Step 1)
Since i live in nyc i have to get outside and walk anywhere i go! One of my goals for 2013 is to (finally) walk across the brooklyn bridge and to picnic more often in central park when rhe weather gets nice again
Liked you on fb!
I’m gonna try to go hiking atleast once a week. There is a trail near my home that goes up and down numerous times. It’s an intense workout and I love it!
Thanks for the chance to win
floatngpyramids[@]gmail.com
At the end of the year my husband and I have a fun camping trip planned. He gets to use all his survival gear and I get to take a well deserved rest from the city
I haven’t been camping since I was super young, so my husband and I are going to try it out this year!
My plan is start a monthly series called State Park Sundae Sundays. Being new to the Finger Lakes region of NY, I want to explore the abundance of parks in the region AND develop new flavors of ice cream AT THE SAME TIME. I think I know where those Sprouted pretzels will be put to good use…..
Vanilla ice cream with swirls of salted caramel and dark chocolate and pretzel pieces? YES. PLEASE!
In 2013 I will be celebrating my 25th anniversary. We plan on a truck camping trip. We are going to drive as far north as possible in Saskatchewan, Canada; sleeping and living out of the back of the truck box. No camper, just a topper over our heads and making simple healthy meals on the go. This is going to be fun and challenging,especially for me because I have multiple sclerosis. I don’t let my illness stop me, it may slow me down but I keep going. I try to eat as healthy as possible and Sprouted Foods sound and look perfect. Even if I don’t win I’m going to try to find it in Canada and give them a try.
I made a list of 28 things for my 28th birthday that I wanted to do this year. I’ve made it through some of them but there’s plenty left for 2013 (my 29th bday isn’t until September so I have time). There’s a lot that are outdoor related! Trying stand up paddleboarding, visiting Coyote Butte, and visiting five National Parks are three on the list that I can’t wait to do. I’m in Arizona so there’s plenty to do … although I’ve got to pack as much in as I can before we get back up into the 100s! p.s. those pretzel puffs look incredible!
I am a Colorado girl, and my goals for 2013 are to finally summit our local “big mountain” – mt. sopris (almost 13,000 ft), do a one-night backpack trip to Connundrum – hidden hot springs! and do a backpacking trip from Aspen to Crested Butte… and at least 2 trips to Moab! and we’ll throw in at least one car camping trip to a nearby sweet spot. LOVE your blog, have been following for about a year! Hope to win these yummy treats