Organic Chocolate

                                                                                                                                                               

Chocolate. For Valentine's Day or any other day, why not choose chocolate that has a heart? Green and Black’s Organic Chocolate is not only organic, as the name says, but also Fair Trade Certified, meaning all of its products are made from Fair Trade ingredients. The farmers they work with receive a guaranteed minimum for their ingredients, along with an additional premium to invest in the social, environmental, and economic development of their countries. This ensures a higher quality of life for the farmers and a high quality of chocolate for the world.

                                                                  

                                                                                              
Green and Black’s Organic Chocolate offers 13 chocolate flavors, ranging from light to dark chocolate. Traditional varieties include Milk, Dark 70%, Dark 85%, and White, while the more unique flavors are Maya Gold, Hazelnut and Currant, Ginger, and the newest flavor, Peanut and Sea Salt.  Green & Black's also makes hot chocolate and baking bars, perfect for making a romantic Valentine’s Day dessert. Recipes can be found in the new Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate cookbook, Ultimate.

For more information about Green and Black’s, or to view  recipes, please visit http://www.greenandblacks.com/

Organically Good--Not Expensive

Crunch into a savory crunchy snack that is organically good and good for you. O Organics is one of the nation’s largest organic brands (by retail sales) and offers consumers and retailers a complete, multi-category lifestyle solution with over 300 products in 50+ categories. Launched in October 2005 at Safeway stores, O Organics now offers to retailers nationwide a complete range of the highest quality organic foods and supplements at affordable prices.

Available in regular grocers, O Organics simplifies shopping since many organic and conventional foods are now in a one location.

Here are just a few of the savory delights:

Blue Corn Chips with Sesame Seeds

Lightly Salted Cashews and Almonds

White Cheddar Popcorn

Fire Roasted Salsa-- the Mild is really more like a medium--nice and piquante.

You'll find many more so pick and choose a few different snacks each week.

Satisfying Soups

The weather is unpredictable, even squirrelly—every couple of days it seems to go through a mini-seasonal shift. But it still is almost officially winter and one food that seems to be a natural in the colder months is soup. California- based Amy’s offers a winter dense variety called Indian Dal—Curried Lentil. Lentil soup is always fitting during these colder months but this particular one, with organic mung dal (Dal= lentils, beans or peas), green lentils and desi chickpeas is especially satisfying. There are no trans fats, no added MSG, No Preservatives, No GMOs, No Bioengineered ingredients and is gluten free. The taste is just piquant enough to be interesting.

But to get back a little taste of warmer climes, try Amy’s Summer Corn & Vegetable. While a lighter meal than the lentil, it is still hearty enough to offer real nourishment and even comfort. Like the Curried Lentil, the Summer Corn & Vegetable has no ingredients you wouldn’t want. This soup contains organic corn, organic potatoes and other tempting vegetables.

To complete the meal add some nutritious breads and cheese or hummus and a beverage.