Pajeda's

Get Your Garden Ready

Lesley — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:47:14 +0000

Home gardening is back in the limelight the last few years. Some do it for economical reasons and some do it because they prefer knowing their vegetables are being grown organically. Whatever the reason, there is a pure and simple joy obtained from growing and harvesting your own veggies.

If you haven’t already, now is the time to get your vegetable garden ready for planting. Some of you may already have veggies planted; there are plenty of plants that actually prefer the cool weather, such as radishes, beets and kale. But if you prefer to plant everything all at once, you’ll want to get out in your garden in the next week or two and prepare it.

Till up the soil using a hoe or electric tiller. This breaks up any hard clumps of dirt, encourages nutrient absorption and helps control weeds.
Add some organic matter, such as compost or manure, and work it into your soil with a hoe or rake
Rake your soil so that the dirt is even and ready for planting

Doing this a couple of weeks before planting helps the organic matter to break down and enrich your soil.

Before planting it’s a good idea to rake through it one last time, to assure your soil is loose and ready to go.

As always, we welcome your home gardening tips and tricks; feel free to share them in the comment section. Happy Gardening!

Using Pajeda’s in Your Favorite Recipes

Lesley — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:40:02 +0000

We love when people tell us they use Pajeda’s snacks in their recipes! Here are a few ideas that our fans have shared with us:

Use Pajeda’s Onion Rings crumbled on top of your favorite casserole
Add crushed Pajeda’s Onion Rings to hamburgers and meatloaf
Add crumbled Pajeda’s Tortilla Chips to soups and salads
Add crumbled Pajeda’s Corn Chips or Tortilla Chips to your favorite chili
Use Pajeda’s Party Mix in your next snack mix recipe
Use crushed Pajeda’s Onion Rings or Tortilla Chips as a coating for pork and chicken

Our friends over at Roscoe Ramblings went so far as to even post a photo and recipe of their Southwestern Stuffed Chicken – using crushed Pajeda’s White Tortilla Chips as an ingredient!

If you have a recipe using Pajeda’s that you ‘d like to share, please let us know!

Experts Say 30-50% of Food is Thrown Away

Lesley — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:33:58 +0000

I find this incredibly disturbing:

A new report shows the average American throws away 33 pounds of food each month. That’s about $40 worth, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, which plans to publish the report on food waste in April.

In a year, that means each person throws away almost 400 pounds of food, the weight of an adult male gorilla.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 23 percent of eggs and an even higher percentage of produce ends up in the trash.

You can read the entire article here.

Do you think your household throws away this much food? More? Less?

Do you have any great tricks for not wasting food? I’d love to hear them.

A Stunningly Beautiful Video

Lesley — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:31:07 +0000

Called “Temporal Distortion”, this is South Dakota-based photographer Randy Halverson’s time-lapse video of the Milky Way. It is absolutely stunning.

Thanks to Geek.com for the link.

Easy Spicy Chili Recipe

Lesley — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:24:52 +0000

Winter is definitely chili season! Whether you’re enjoying it at home or letting it help keep you warm while tailgating, chili is delicious and easy to customize to your own personal taste. To make sure they meet our expectations, we make every recipe we post here on our Pajeda’s website and this easy chili recipe is no exception:

Easy Spicy Beef Chili

1 3/4 pound ground beef
1 small white onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, stem & seeds removed, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 ounce) can + 1 (15ounce) can diced tomatoes, un-drained
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans, un-drained
2 jalapeños, finely chopped (or add to taste)
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan or stockpot over medium high heat, cook the ground beef just until it starts to brown. Drain. Add onion and bell pepper, and sauté for another 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté one minute more, or until beef is browned and onion & pepper has softened.

Add the un-drained tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, jalapenos, bay leaf and spices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat & cover. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

For added crunch, top with crumbled Pajeda’s Corn Chips immediately before serving.

* Cooking Notes

For a healthier chili, use lean ground beef, or substitute the ground beef with ground turkey.

For a vegetarian chili, omit the meat and add 1 can each of black beans and great Northern beans.