WHAT’S COOKING

Little Potato of the Month:

Baby Boomer

Teeny, tiny and pleasantly petite, the Baby Boomer goes from package to plate in just 15 minutes. Better still, it’s perfect for roasting, so it’s a real Sunday chicken or roast beef dinner helper. Or, if you’re in need of some cozy, warming goodness after a chilly morning outdoors, our featured recipe is sure to satisfy. Be sure to give it a try! Also, you can check out other LPC recipes by clicking here.

Potato, broccoli and white
cheddar soup
There is nothing better than a creamy, warming bowl of soup and some crusty bread for an easy Sunday supper.

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs (1 kg) BABY BOOMER POTATOES, halved

2 quarts (2 litres) chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs (750 g) broccoli, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups grated white cheddar cheese
1 cup whipping cream

Heat butter and oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until softened.

Add potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil, cook, uncovered for 10 minutes. Add broccoli, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cook, uncovered for 10 minutes or until broccoli is very tender. Remove from the heat. Let cool for 5 minutes. Add cheese and cream.

Process in batches in a blender until very smooth. Return to the same pot. Stir over medium heat until hot. Serve with bread. Serves 8 to 10.

Bite-Sized Resolutions

New Year’s is a tough time of year, where many of us make the 180-degree switch from the indulgence of the holiday season to the cold, harsh abstinence of January; from heaping seconds of dessert on your plate to taking half of what you’re used to of everything; where the phrase “I really shouldn’t” suddenly changes tone from bashful to boot camp.

We’re not here to add to the guilt. Rather, we believe that our fast-cooking, versatile, nutritious potatoes are a great solution to help you eat better, trim calories and save time in the kitchen (leaving more time for exercise, right?!)

Just think: cutting back on your time spent cooking in the kitchen by only 15 minutes a day will free up hours every month to spend on other activities and projects. Here are some simple, FAST meal ideas

you can incorporate into your routine:

• Broiled salmon filets with coarse salt and pepper; steamed vegetables and PICCOLO potatoes tossed with pesto
• Cook up a bag of CHERIE potatoes and some green beans
  while you eat breakfast. Drain, and put them in the fridge for the day. When you come home from work, assemble a simple Nicoise Salad with the chilled vegetables, a can of tuna and some olives. Voila!
• Omelets and frittatas are great ways to use up odds and ends in the fridge (a small chunk of cheese, handful of spinach and couple slices of ham, for example).
• Steam up some AMANDINE potatoes, toss with an Italian-style salad dressing, and you have a complete meal (and a tidier fridge!)
  

A warmer winter night makes barbequing easier and much more fun! Take advantage of the reprieve and do a complete dinner on the grill: steaks, BABY BOOMER kebabs and some asparagus brushed with olive oil.

Making your resolutions stick

Some friendly advice. Hey, we’ve all been there.

1. Make your resolution as specific as possible.
   Vague goals like "eat better" are hard to quantify and stick to. Make a more specific resolution, such as “run a minimum of 3K, two times a week”. The odds of keeping your resolutions will be MUCH better.
   
2. Commit to small (but meaningful) changes.
   For example, “eat out for lunch no more than once a week” or "switch to milk instead of half and half in my coffee." These are great resolutions: specific and extremely doable.
   
3. Go on record?
   There's something about making your resolution public that makes it just a little bit harder to abandon it. To give your resolution a little extra staying power, why not put it on record by announcing it to friends and family or sticking it on your fridge or computer monitor at work.
   

Fresh Squeezed … Potatoes?

As much as we love potatoes, we’re not about to break out the juicer for them – though in the Vitamin C department potatoes really do give oranges a run for their money, providing a whopping 45% of your daily requirement of Vitamin C per serving. Go ahead and keep chugging

the OJ in the morning, but you can also give your defenses a boost at suppertime with a couple scoops of LPC’s delicious potatoes on your plate.

Click here to learn more about the nutritional value of LPC’s products!

WHAT’S NEW

International Year
of the Potato

As some of our loyal readers may know, the United Nations declared 2008 as the International Year of the Potato (IYP). IYP was a truly global program, uniting people and organizations around the world toward a common goal of integrating the potato into non-traditional foodways and using the potato’s hardiness, nutrition and high yield to combat hunger. The UN achieved great success with this program worldwide, and will continue its work through into 2009 and beyond. According to the UN, “if trends continue, 2009 will be another record year for global potato production, which has expanded steadily since 1991 thanks to a massive 95 percent increase in harvests in the developing world.”

The Little Potato Company also set its sights to fight hunger in a big way in the

Edmonton area, having partnered with Edmonton’s Food Bank with acommitment to donate 2,100 pounds of potatoes each month to help feed the poor and hungry in our community. In the last half of 2008 alone, LPC’s donations amounted to an incredible 12,600 pounds of potatoes (that’s equivalent to the weight of about six farm tractors!).

Participating in IYP was important for The Little Potato Company, and the partnership with Edmonton’s Food Bank is a way to give back to the community that has supported the company from the very beginning. For the Food Bank, being able to offer its clients healthy, nutritious, fresh foods is extremely important, especially since potatoes and other fresh produce are oftentimes in short supply.

FRIENDS OF LPC

Friends for Potatoes!

We always try to bring fun, useful and interesting information to our customers through our website and newsletter. If you agree that there’s an amazing amount of good stuff to say about potatoes, why not let a friend in on the

secret and tell them to sign up for our newsletter! We will be thrilled to email you a coupon for one free bag of potatoes once your friend signs up for our newsletter.

Just click here to join our fan club!

WHERE TO FIND US

There has been a good deal of expansion and growth at LPC in 2008, so we thought our fans might appreciate an up-to-date list of retailers that carry our product.

If you’re ever in doubt, you can always use the convenient store locator located on our website.

A & P / Dominion
Calgary Co-Op
Cooper’s Foods
Costco
Federated Co-op Stores
IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance)
Longo’s
Metro
Safeway
Save-On-Foods / Overwaitea
Sobeys
Quality Foods
The Barn Markets