Beeless Honey?

So, thought only bees could make honey? Think again! People have been making honey on their own for decades, but only now have we started to see an emergence into the public market.

With the risk to honey bees so high, demand for a more stable source of honey has been rising as well. Most of these beeless honeys use clover, rose hip, and alum as a base, but there are a few which use apples and other fruits as well. These honeys are Vegan, Gluten-free, and great for anyone with an allergy to traditional honey.

New Products and the CHFA Show!

Recently the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA) held one of their two annual trade shows in Vancouver. Every year retailers of all types descend upon the show looking for new products to introduce to their customers. Green Earth Organics is no exception and we thought you might like to hear a little bit about how we go about finding new items to bring in.

Throughout the year we rely mostly on suggestions from you, as well as reaching out to companies whose products fill gaps in our offerings. Recently we filled one of those gaps in Vancouver by bringing in Gentle Earth, a Victoria based company, who has helped expand our selection with items like Sun Protection and a Recovery cream for tired and aching muscles. Just in time for summer!

CHFA West is the largest trade show in Western Canada for natural and organic products. It takes up the entire main floor of the Vancouver Convention Centre with a whopping 65,000 square feet of manufacturers, distributors, and brokers. As a lark, I turned on my running app and set it to record my walk throughout the show. We spent 4 ½ hours and walked over 23 kilometers. Note to self: next time wear my good running shoes. A full two aisles of the show were set aside as completely organic products and other companies with both organic and non-organic products were scattered among the exhibitors every where else.

Our first stop was Westpoint Naturals where we were thrilled to discover a new organic corn starch in their trademark resealable bags. Later in the day we also found kelp noodles, which are an awesome gluten-free noodle that look similar to vermicelli. They don’t require any cooking, so they work great in salad, stir-fry, soup, and veggie dishes. Seaweed/kelp products are definitely one of the biggest trends in organic right now.

Gimme Organic, they make roasted seaweed snacks in both regular sea salt and sesame flavours, had a new item. Resealable mini packs of seaweed crumbles in a honey Dijon flavour that are meant to go on salads or be eaten as a snack. They brought a ton to pass out and let people try, so since it was getting close to the end of the day, they happily handed over an entire box to me when I asked to try some. One less thing for them to take home, but I looked pretty silly lugging a box under my arm for the rest of the show.

As a request from one of our Vancouver customers we also were also on the lookout for some black rice and discovered Lotus Foods, who have a whole line of different rice grains and rice noodles. I’d love to try and see if the Lotus Forbidden black rice works for making sushi. It always looks so neat when I see the black rice sushi in restaurants. Also, good news for fans of alternative milk and So Nice (known for their soy milk), they have just introduced a brand new organic Almond Milk. We tried it at the show and absolutely loved it. It won’t even be hitting the market until next month, so let us know if you’re interested!

There were so many new products I'd never have enough room to list them all, but keep checking our products as over the next couple months we have some exciting items coming.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Adapted from PBS Kids

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a hand or stand mixer, mix the peanut butter, sugar, egg and vanilla on low speed until well combined.

Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough 1 1/2-inches apart onto the baking sheet. If you don't have a cookie scoop, drop the dough with a spoon.

Flatten the dough balls the tines of a fork, making a cross pattern on the cookies.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until they are golden around the edges. Allow the cookies to rest on the counter for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Grains and Greatness at Highwood Crossing Farms

South-east of Okotoks, AB and north of High River, nestled into the twists and bends of a river, Highwood Crossing Farm has been grown and shaped by the same family for over 100 years. This time of year, following the last frost and as soon as the land can be easily worked again, the farms bustle with activity as ground is tilled to ready it for seeding. Come late summer, you will see meter-high golden fields waiting for harvest to begin the journey to your homes.


September in the Fields
Owners Tony and Penny Marshall re-established the farm’s traditional roots back in 1989 by switching to sustainable organic farming methods. This meant adapting modern technology to mirror methods originally used back in 1899 by Tony’s great-grandfather. Some of their techniques include crop rotation and growing legumes specifically for the purpose of conversion to fertilizer to replenish nutrients in the fields. They have also worked hard to minimize their carbon footprint and help preserve the natural habitats surrounding their fields, receiving the “Habitat Steward Award” in recognition for their efforts.

In 1996, Tony and Penny began turning their harvests into award winning products that have been spreading throughout the organic market scene. Last year they were named among the “Best Artisan Food Producers in Canada” and next month, Highwood Crossing will also be presented the “Canadian Food Heroes” award by Slow Food Canada. Their foray into food production began with cold-pressed canola and flax oils, but have expanded over the years to include granola, specialty flours, hot cereals, and a special gluten-free line of baking mixes for pancakes, muffins and even pizza crust! This past February their Sunflower Flax Seed Granola came in at number thirteen on the Top 25things to eat in Calgary.

September in the Fields

Recent years have seen amazing growth in both organic markets and among those educating the next generation about the food they eat every day. When asked, Tony explained that “companies need to be responsible for their actions: socially, ethically, and environmentally. One of the ways that our company is able to achieve this goal is by giving back to the community in which we live and work.”

“To this end, we are pleased to support various groups with our time and resources:
The Alberta Diabetes Foundation
The Calgary Food Bank
Seeds of Diversity
Slow Food Calgary
Slow Food Southern Alberta
Alberta Cancer Foundation
The Rotary Club of High River
The Rotary Foundation”

While we currently only carry a small selection of Highwood Crossing Farm’s products, we are always willing to add more. Check out their website and let us know if there are any items you would love for us to start carrying.

Highwood Crossing Farm

Gluten-Free Apple Dutch Pancake

Adapted from Serious Eats

INGREDIENTS

Note: If you don't have oat or brown rice flour, you can sub in a different combination of your favourite gluten-free flours. The total flour amount should equal 2/3 cup, but some gluten-free flour combinations absorb more liquid than others. If you use a different flour, start with the recommended four tablespoons of milk when you're making the batter and ff the batter seems thick, add more milk, one tablespoon at a time. Batter should be thin. If you're not gluten-free, feel free to make this with wheat flour!

For the batter:
1/3 cup gluten-free oat flour
1/3 cup gluten-free brown rice flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
4 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the filling:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter
1 large green apple, peeled, cored, and sliced

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 °F. In a medium bowl, whisk together oat flour, brown rice flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. The batter should be thin. Let batter stand for ten minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and set aside. Melt butter in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle sugar mixture over melted butter, stirring with a wooden spoon to combine. Cook until sugar begins to melt, then reduce the heat to medium-low and carefully place apple slices in a circular pattern in the pan. Cook until sugar mixture begins to bubble up around apple slices, about three minutes. Turn off heat.

Slowly pour batter evenly into the pan and transfer the pan to the preheated oven. Bake until pancake puffs and is golden brown, about fifteen minutes.

Slice pancake into wedges and serve warm as the perfect fall breakfast or dessert.

Harvest Cake

Adapted from Roost

INGREDIENTS

3 cups almond flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup apple butter or applesauce
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup chopped apple

DIRECTIONS

This harvest-flavoured hearty cake is gluten-free and sugar-free and still total delicious!

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9inch cake pan.

In a bowl combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Pour wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir to incorporate. Pour into prepared cake pan and cook in oven for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Serve with whipped cream and apple butter or topping of your choice.