Beyond the Shaker (Giveaway)

I have decided that in the new year I am going to start preparing meals for my family that are much different then we normally have. I’m not exaggerating when I say we pretty much eat the same thing week after week. Ravioli, steak meat, pasta and pork cutlets are pretty much what we eat week after week. Can you say BORING? Sigh…

I have a lot of fantastic cookbooks collecting dust in my bookcase. I have recipes for a variety of ethnic foods, low calorie, 5 ingredients and cook in less then 30 minutes. You get the idea. Another words I have a variety of cookbooks that are not being used like they should be.

Sometimes its not so much the food its self  but how its prepared that can break you out of your meal rut. For example, if I add some different seasoning to the pork cutlets they won’t be as bland and boring as they usually are. Just a pinch of this and a sprinkle that can do wonders to any meal.

I don’t usually use salt when I cook. I guess its because salt has a bad reputation. Too much salt in your diet is not good for you. It can cause you to have high blood pressure. It also causes water retention. However you body does need salt to function properly too. Salt is essential to the body so you cannot limit salt for your diet completely.

Salt is used to enhance the flavor of foods. We watch 30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray on the Food Network often and she always adds salt to almost everything she makes.

There is a company called Beyond the Shaker that has taken salt to a whole new level. Their salt mixes put boring old table salt to shame. Their products are not just salt, they are masterful blends of premium unrefined salts mixed with organic ingredients which create the most amazing flavors.

Beyond the Shaker salts look more like spice jars then they do salt. Their salt blends are mixed with other ingredients such as garlic, maple sugar, vanilla, shallots, basil and lemon peel to name a few.

When I was offered the opportunity to try out some Beyond the Shaker salt samples I jumped on the opportunity. I was really curious to see how different the plain, boring meals we eat week after week could be drastically enhanced with a dash of Beyond the Shaker salt blends.

I received samples of some pretty interesting blends.

- Cyprus Black Lava

- Windy City Celery

- Hot Habanero Blend

- Hickory Maple Blend

- Garlic Shallot

- Murray River Salt

All of the blends looked very interesting and appealing. I was most especially curious about the Cyrus Black Lava. It really is black! It looks like little chips of Lava rocks.

Now that I had these unique salt blends, how do I use them? Thankfully the Beyond the Shaker website (www.BeyondtheShaker.com) offers suggestions for how to use the various blends. Not only do they offer suggestions but they also include links to a variety of recipes as well. I found this feature on their website to be very helpful.

My family did notice some of the salt blends that I used. Others they could taste the salt and other ingredients but it was a bit more subtle.

Take for example the Cyprus Black Lava salt. I has big, chunky pieces. One of the suggestions was to use this with mashed potatoes. That is how I used it as well. I made mashed potatoes like I normally do and sprinkled a pinch of the Cyprus Black Lava salt into the mashed potatoes when they were done. Keep in mind I don’t cook with salt. Right away my family noticed the difference. The Cyprus Lava salt really make the mashed potatoes taste so much better then they normally do. The only thing I did wrong was that I used a bit too much of the Cyprus Lava salt. Some of the flakes were a bit big too. My kids were not keen on the “crunch” from the salt in the mashed potatoes. But they ate it none the less.

The Hickory Maple Blend was one of the samples I was most curious to try. The idea of  maple and vanilla mixed with salt sounds odd. But I was still anxious to try it.

One of the recommended uses for this blend is to use it with pork. Since we have pork cutlets usually once a week I knew I had to try out this salt on them. After I cooked the cutlets I sprinkled a little bit of this salt over them.

OH MY GOODNESS! The Hickory Maple blend is SO GOOD! I can’t describe the smell but the taste is amazing. Its sweet and salty at the same time and you really can taste a bit of the vanilla too. Out of all the samples that I received the Hickory Maple Blend is hands down my favorite. I have even used it on steamed carrots and boiled potatoes. I need to get more!

I cook with garlic all the time. I also put Garlic Pepper on a lot of things that I make like streamed veggies, meats, stews and more. The Garlic Shallot salt mix gives the foods a touch of garlic as well as salt. I really liked this blend on baked potatoes, boiled potatoes and steamed broccoli. Just a pinch is all you need.

The Windy City Celery blend is ideal for veggies and potatoes. I even tried it in some rice. I has a nice mix of ingredients and even has some kick to it.

I neglected to mention that only a few of the salts were taste tested by my family. Since there is only a little bit of salt in each sample packet often I just sprinkled some on my foods since I am the one doing the review.

The Murray River salt is really salty. Thankfully the flakes are small so you can grab a pinch to add to your dish or to top off your meal. I used this on some egg noodles and a pinch in my beef stew. Since this one tastes very salty a little bit will go a long way.

The only sample I didn’t try yet is the Hot Habanero blend. I took a tiny bit from the package and OH MY! This stuff is hot! hot! hot! Spicy hot of course. It nearly burned my tongue off (figurativly speaking of course). I’m not a fan of super spicy things.

If you love spicy Mexican or Tex-Mex type foods then the Hot Habernero blend would be PERFECT for you. I just have to get brave enough to try it myself. Maybe the next time I make tacos.

I never realized until now how just adding a pinch of salt can really enhance the way food tastes. When the salt is mixed with other flavorful ingredients it makes a huge different in the over all taste of the food.

Whether you are a “Foodie” who loves to try out the “latest and greatest” cooking products, or someone who needs helps whipping up amazing meals for your family, you’ll certainly want to try out some of the flavorful blends from Beyond the Shaker.

Beyond the Shaker offers customers sample packages of all their salt products. That way you can give the salt blends a test drive before purchasing a larger container. All of their sample packages are $2.50 each and contain enough product to sample with a few different dishes meals.

To learn more about Beyond the Shaker and to check out their other fascinating blends like Citrus Basil, French Herb Blend and Bamboo Jade visit www.BeyondtheShaker.com.

Beyond the Shaker would like to give a lucky She Scribes reader a gift set of their best selling salt blends; Hot Habanero Blend, Windy City Celery and Citrus Basil. This gift set has a retail value of $28.99.

To enter please visit Beyond the Shaker (www.BeyondtheShaker.com) and check out their blends. Then come back here and comment on which blend you’d like to try and what type of food would you like to try it on.

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Please be sure to leave a separate comment for each that you have done. Extra entries are optional.

- Subscribe to She Scribes and/or Connect with Google Friend Connect. Both options are found on the right side bar.

- “Like” Beyond the Shaker on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beyond-the-Shaker/85949143876?ref=ts#!/pages/Beyond-the-Shaker/85949143876?v=wall.

- “Like” She Scribes on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/SheScribes.

- Follow Beyond the Shaker on Twitter, www.Twitter.com/BeyondtheShaker.

- Follow She Scribes on Twitter, www.Twitter.com/She_Scribes, and tweet about this review/giveaway. Please include @She_Scribes in the tweet so I can see it too. This is limited to three tweets per day.

- Subscribe to the Beyond the Shaker newsletter found on their right side bar. This is a great way to learn about new products and more.

- Use any or all of the social networking buttons found at the bottom of this post to share this review/giveaway with others on Facebook, Stumble Upon and/or Digg. Be sure to tell me what you did and please provide a name and/or URL so I can verify.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on January 6, 2011 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be notified via e-mail and will have three days to reply with a name and mailing address (no PO Box) or a new winner will be chosen.

Other awesome giveaways can be found on the right side bar under “Win It”.

Kimberly

*I received several free product samples in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

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