Does this ever happen to you? The other day, I was looking in the cabinet for a particular spice to start making my dinner. I opened the cabinet where the spices are kept, I pushed aside the dozen or so containers of spices that have probably been in there for – well, I’m not going to even guess – but I never find anything I’m looking for.
Instead of finding what I needed, I saw all these bottles of spices that were purchased for a particular recipe, or received as a gift and never used, or worse yet, bought at some fancy gourmet shop and never used. For me, it sometimes gets so frustrating because I know some of those spices were just sitting up there taking space, used once or twice so long ago, and then just remain in there. I’ve decided the next time I get in one of those random cleaning modes, that cabinet is going to be emptied out for sure.
Once I get that cabinet cleaned out, I’ll not be re-filling it with bottles and spices that I’ll never use again because I recently learned about products made by the folks over at Ground 2 Table that will meet my needs and keep my spices fresh. The products? Ground 2 Table uses the idea “Buy Small / Use It All”, and they offer twelve different salt and sugar-free spice blends in small 0.7 ounce (2g) packets that are perfect for one time uses.
For selfish reasons, I think these individual spice packets are a brilliant idea and I can’t wait to try them all out. For other reasons, the Buy Small | Use It All revolution has two main goals: 1 – Raising awareness about food waste and why it’s a problem; and 2 – Taking steps to encourage convenient purchase alternatives, from Ground 2 Table and other producers, in a shared effort to positively impact the world around us.
For purposes of this post, I took a quick look, found a basic Ground 2 Table spice – #1, the All Purpose spice, grabbed a center cut pork loin and split it on the plate. I popped it on the grill, and bam! a couple minutes later, i was eating an amazing piece of meat with my salad. I’ll even tell you this: you could smell the fabulous spice throughout the house and it smelled like something gourmet was cooking in the kitchen. I was amazed at the great taste. Because I only cooked one pork loin, I rolled the top of the packet up and used it again on a piece of chicken the next night and it was just as tasty!
I was provided with a full set of all 12 Ground 2 Table blends to try so I’ll be checking out recipes and trying some great things in the future. I saw there was one that said “Cinnamon and Spice” and since I knew I’d be eating an apple for dessert, I poured some of #12 right onto my apple. I felt like I was eating a piece of apple pie instead of just an apple – and imagine the calories I saved there with the same fantastic flavor!
The one-use size of these spice packets also make them perfect to take to a cookout, on a picnic, or on vacation if you have a kitchen or grill available because you can take and use exactly what you need. Ground 2 Table makes 12 organic spice blends free of salt, sugar, artificial flavorings and GMOs. Each spice blend inspires and keeps culinary creativity alive by providing endless ways to mix and match foods. Intended and designed for anyone from beginner cooks to accomplished chefs, the 12 freshly ground organic spice blends are convenient and simplifies spice usage. Ground 2 Table is the fastest way to make any ordinary snack sensational and any basic meal gourmet.
For CEO Jay Fishman, who had started a wholesale organic spice company back in the 90s in San Diego, the concept was a natural. Son Paul, with his background in luxury retail marketing and sales for brands like Cartier and Marc Jacobs, took on the post of “Chief Marketing Guru.” For obvious reasons, they have launched the business with spices, but, says Paul, “In the future we’ll move into other categories that people often buy in bulk, but by buying smaller you get more flavor.” The pair worked with their supplier to develop a dozen spice blends. “We homed in on the top things North Americans cook and pulled in spice blends that work with those things,” Paul explains. “We also wanted to encourage people to try spices and blends unfamiliar to them. Buying in such small quantities allows people to experiment. And they can buy what they need day to day, the way it used to be, instead of in huge quantities.”
To that end, they’ve numbered and named the blends. The idea behind numbering them is to strip our assumption that we have to use certain blends or spices for certain meals. The blends range from Italian, Seafood, Curry, and Cinnamon & Spice to Taco, Mesquite BBQ, and Chinese Five Spice. When you buy online at Ground 2 Table, you can click on each blend to learn what the key ingredients are and get pairing suggestions and flavor notes. The list of ingredients is long—too long for such tiny packaging—so be sure to look at the list to understand what you’re getting. The website also has a recipe page—and you can submit your own.
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