THE PEANUT PRINCIPLE

Shannon and Joe Campagna had delved into a wholesale candy business, when they suddenly went nuts.   Healthy nut butters, that is.  Mostly butters using peanuts.  In fact their  new company is called, The Peanut Principle.

Don’t expect these delicious butters to taste like the bottled stuff you usually buy at your supermarket.  The closest you can come to just their basic peanut butter is by doing into a health food store and getting some dry roasted ground up.  Even then, it may not be the same since Shannon and Joe have some special equipment for grinding.

You may be able to find this brand of nut butters in some supermarkets, but it’s best to simply go to the website.  Oh, btw, there are no dairy products used.  I ordered a bunch to taste and not one to spread on bread but eating a few spoonfuls from the jar that would amount to what I would have spread on bread.  Here are the ones that I sampled.

Keep It Smooth : Dry Roasted Organic Peanuts ground to perfection in our 1950's Nut Grinder.   I happened to have some of the low sugar blueberry spread from my trip to the Poconos and combined this. 

Beat Me To The Crunch: Dry Roasted Organic Peanuts ground leaving crunchy chunks for that great flavor.   I did the same as above.

Almond The Mood For Chocolate: Dairy free Belgian Dark Chocolate, raw coconut and our signature almond butter mashed together.   Okay, this is not a peanut butter.   I didn’t really think I’d love this one, but after getting hooked on Greater’s Ice Cream flavor of Coconut Chip, I had a difficult time eating just the “spread” amount.  

The Dark Side of Peanut (Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter):  60% Dry Roasted Peanuts ground 40% Pure Dark Chocolate.  The Dark chocolate comes from a company in the Adirondacks called Barkeater Chocolates.   In fact, you can purchase the butter at their locations.

Raisin The Roof (Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter):  A Blend of Organic Peanuts, Ground Cinnamon, Currents and a touch of sugar.   Now this is great on French Toast. 

Razz It Up (Chocolate Raspberry Peanut Butter):  Chocolate peanut butter blended with raspberry puree.  A few spoonfuls for dessert or mixed in a smoothie.

Healthy Brain Blend: A blend of peanuts ,almonds, sunflower seeds, pistachios, brazil nuts, pine nuts, chia seeds, hemp seeds, sprouted broccoli seeds, goose berries, blueberries.  Healthy Heart Blend: A blend of peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pecans, chia seeds, hemp seeds, goji berries, banana chips, alfalfa seeds.  I didn’t think I would like these two having all that healthy stuff.   They both tasted great!  

I Think My Flax Are Sexy:  A marriage between Golden Flax Seeds and Dry Roasted Organic Peanuts!! If your need to get your Omega 3's on this is the JAR for You!!  This one is a good “smoothie” choice.

Very Berry: Peanut Butter packed with blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, acai berries, gogi berries, cherries, gooseberries and pomegranate.   What can I say about this one?   If you don’t have time for breakfast, at least have three spoonfuls of this one.  

Chocolate Haze: 30 percent dark chocolate and 70 percent hazelnut.   I didn’t really love this one due to my taste for the “nutella” type that has a lot more sugar. 

Open Sesame:  Asia Peanut Butter. This fantastic blend combines fresh ginger and garlic with dry roasted peanuts and sesame seeds.   This is the perfect one to use for cooking! 

The above are only the ones that I have sampled.   There are so many more and various nuts.   Smores fans...beware…this one is a dessert in a bottle.   www.peanutprinciple.com

GREAT AMERICAN HEALTH BAR

Food regiments doesn't necessarily pair well with restaurant reviews unless I can find a few that work with the concept.  The Great American Health Bar peaked my attention billing themselves as "A Restaurant for Healthy Eating".  With a kosher and feature of Mediterranean cuisine, the enhancement is having items such as a Create Your Own Salad.

In case you are not familiar with kosher restaurants, keep in mind that they are either "dairy" or "meat" and never a combination.  This one is "dairy", allowing fish such as salmon and tuna.  So it's eggs but no chicken, milk and no beef.  Soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps, pasta, pizza, quesadillas, platters, beverages and desserts. 

I would have loved to have ventured in a more fresh juice selection or combination since they are equipped with a juicer.  A large glass of carrot juice went fine with my meal. 

In the mood to check out the Mediterranean, I went for the Mediterranean Combo of: Hummus, BaBa-Ganoush, Tabullie, 3 Falafel Balls, Stuffed Grape Leaves, Feta Cheese, Israeli Salad, Green Olives and Pita (cut up in triangles for dipping).

Hummus is a puree of cooked garbanzo beans and tahini, a paste made from sesame seeds.  Garlic, lemon, salt and olive oil tend to be added.  At home I add salt and olive oil, topped with sumac (not the poison plant).  BaBa-Ganoush is a puree of eggplant, sometimes smoked, garlic, tahini and lemon juice.  I didn't ask for their exact ingredients.  Garbanzo beans (aka chick peas) is the basic ingredient of Falafel, sort of equivalent to having a fried meatball.  Tabullie centers on fine cracked wheat with the basic addition of diced tomatoes, cucumbers and parsley.  Grape leaves are stuffed with rice.  Israeli salads tend to have the same ingredients as the Tabullie without the cracked wheat (with a few additions).

I missed out on their veggie burger prepared with chopped vegetables and garbanzo beans, topped with muenster cheese, tomato and served on a whole wheat bun. Next time.

One other feature of The Great American Health Bar is the  Low-Fat Frozen Yogurt with a wide variety of toppings to add to it.  They are located at the lower level of 35 West 57th Street. It's full service with a decent amount of tables.   FYI.  Cafe Classico is upstairs...kosher as well, but no dairy.