Spicing Things Up in the Kitchen!

Here at Stonyfield we love to cook with our delicious organic yogurt but another key ingredient to a perfect dish is organic spices! We have a new myStonyfield Rewards partner who has a unique way of thinking about spices and will be a great addition to your personal spice cabinet.

We’d like to introduce you to our new friend Sara Engram, co-founder of tsp spices. Not only are tsp spices organic and always fresh, but they are also so conveniently already perfectly measured, freshly sealed in a single-use teaspoon packets and you can now find them through our myStonyfield Rewards Program.

So, Sara, tell us more:

1) How did your company get started?
My friend Katie Luber and I started the company because we loved to cook but hated our spice cabinets. We both had kitchen cabinets cluttered with old, half-used bottles of stale spice. We knew we weren’t alone in that. As we learned more about the health benefits and especially the fabulous flavors of organic spices, we decided that somebody should give home cooks a way to have fresh-tasting spices without having to waste money by tossing out half-full bottles every couple of months. So we came up with our pre-measured, airtight packets, each with one teaspoon of spice, herb or zest. That way, each time you open a packet you get the same fresh flavor you get when you open a brand-new bottle.

2) What is your company’s mission/philosophy?
We want to bring “Spice Enlightenment” to kitchens everywhere. By that, we mean giving home cooks an easy way to use these ancient flavors that can turn an ordinary meal into a trip around the world. Spices were probably the earliest example of international trade – and we think they are the perfect way to help families eat healthier food. We like to say “Eat locally, but season globally.” Spices and herbs add lots of flavor (and we are increasingly learning about their health benefits) – and they do it without adding calories or fat. Now that’s a food bargain!
Above all, we believe that enjoying food together – preparing it and eating it – is central to healthy families and healthy friendships. We’d like to help bring fun and adventure back to the kitchen – and to the table.

3) Why are you excited about being a partner in the rewards program?
We have long admired Stonyfield, both its products and its philosophy. Stonyfield customers are concerned about the same things we are – delicious food that is also healthy, both for the consumer and the producer.

4) Tell us about 1 thing your company is working on right now that you are really excited about.
We are always looking for ways to be more adventurous with herbs and spices. It’s such a great way to make food less boring. For instance, we have a themed tin that contains the spices and recipe for a pot of chili that includes the usual suspects, like cumin and chile pepper. But we also include cinnamon and fennel seeds, which can give the chili just a hint of something enticingly different from the same old chili powder you get at the grocery store.
We are currently working on more combinations that can help bring a new twist to familiar foods. Other than those projects, we want to continue to spreading the word about tsp spices, so cooks everywhere can transform their cooking with our packets of fresh-tasting, organic spices.

5) What is your favorite flavor of Stonyfield yogurt (or product)?
I love Stonyfield’s Whole Milk Plain Yogurt because I can spice it up a 100 different ways. I can add dill weed or basil – or chile pepper and cumin — and use it as a great veggie dip or for a baked potato topping. Or, I could sweeten it with a little honey, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a teaspoon each of ginger and cinnamon and have a delicious and healthy dessert. You could do all that with Stonyfield’s 0% Fat version as well. It’s just that spices add so much flavor that I can skip a lot of the calories from other things like sugar and butter and still enjoy that satisfying mouth-feel that you get from whole milk yogurt.

Check out tsp spices organic spices in perfectly measured, freshly sealed, single-use teaspoon packets on our myStonyfield Rewards site and if you are not already a rewards member, sign up here!