It’s week two of our Back to School Sweepstakes and we’re excited to announce that culinary class is not cancelled – in fact, we have a few awesome lunch ideas that you and your kiddos will love. The best part about these bento boxes is that they can accommodate even the pickiest of eaters, and adults can enjoy them too by using them as meal prep containers for the week.
We put together two bento box ideas in our household – the Garden Box and the Power Box – both scrumptious in different ways, with macro-nutrients depending on you (or your child’s) needs. I love both, and they can certainly accommodate a ‘food mood’ depending on what you’re craving!
What I personally love most about bento boxes, is that they’re a great way to experiment with what your little ones may like – maybe they’re not eating much of the cherry tomatoes, and maybe they’re digging into the apples and PB – good intel for next time! I also love that these make for great on-the-go snacking and can be shared with friends or family no matter where you are, and whatever is left over can be simply saved for later (great for reducing food waste too!)
Being a big snacker myself, I like to prep a bento the night before and snack on different sections throughout the following work day when the busy day gets away from me! I always like a nutrient-packed piece of fruit like an apple with a sprinkle of cinnamon, and lately I have been loving our Starr Ranch Growers apples with the Litehouse Creamy Cheesecake Greek Yogurt dip – this almost feels like dessert minus the guilt! Following my favorite fruits, I typically like various nuts, granola, and a handful of seasonal veggies.
A few of our favorite bento box combos to try at home:
Black beans, shredded cheese, lettuce, corn, shredded tortillas
Are you a fan of bento boxes? Do your kiddos love them too? To win your very own Pottery Barn Bento Boxes and a Kids Kindle Fire if you want to entertain the kiddos while you prep, head on over to our Instagram to enter to win! Winner will be announced 8/28 at 12PST on our Instagram stories. Good luck, and happy bento prepping!
‘Tis the season for stretchy pants, sweaters and firing up the oven! We love fall not only for the fact that it marks the start to our apple harvest in the Northwest, but we also love it for all the recipes we know will soon be underway, cozying up people’s homes with that spicy and sweet holiday aroma. When we think of holiday recipes at home, we love to aim for something easy and achievable, delicious (duh), and something that’s great to save for later so nothing goes to waste!
As soon as we whipped out our planning hats for the big feast, we immediately thought of our friends over at Bob’s Red Mill because well, their products are always our go-to when it comes to baking. We decided on our tried-and-true Salted Caramel Apple Pecan Galette and a new holiday favorite – Caramel Crumble Baked JUICI Apples. Both easy, decadent and truly reminiscent of the holiday season. The Baked Apples alone literally make your home smell like a festive fall scented candle – it tastes and smells that good. I loved the idea of Baked Apples too because while they may be an ‘overdone’ dessert, they are for a reason – they’re easy, tasty and come with a side of less guilt than a Costco apple pie! The Bob’s Red Mill oats gave them the yummiest texture and subtle crunch – almost like a crumbly oatmeal apple pie cookie! Both recipes combined took about 1 hour total to make, and thanks to Bob’s Red Mill – the caramel crumble topping was out-of-this-world and the galette dough was a baked to perfection.
What else should you add to the Thanksgiving menu you ask? Feel free to stray away from tradition and bundle up for a mini-giving outside with your friends, or even bring your dessert plate outside to watch the sunset by the fire pit. Grab a cozy blanket, some pillows and bring the party outside to switch things up. We love snacking since this is the holiday of gratitude and grub, so we stock up on lots of fun cheeses, nuts, seeds (pepitas are the best, tell us we’re wrong!), a vibrant, bold and fruity sangria, colorful fresh produce and even better company to share it with.
How are you celebrating the holiday? We have so much to be grateful for this year, and can’t wait to toast to an evening with friends, family, food and festive decor. Tell us your Thanksgiving traditions below, or better yet – ways you’re starting to create new traditions as we navigate new seasons of change and fresh beginnings. For the next two days we’re teaming up with Bob’s Red Milland are giving away a fresh box of JUICI, a $100 VISA gift card and a big bundle of Bob’s Red Mill goodies to gear you up for the holiday season of baking! Be sure to head to our Instagram and enter to win here – one winner will be announced this Sunday, 11/21 via Instagram stories. Good luck, and we wish you a safe, happy, and delicious Thanksgiving holiday!
Ah, our long-awaited apple harvest season is here and in full-swing which means lots of things – bustling, busy orchards, colorful trees, lots of fruit and best of all – more JUICI! Our JUICI is a Starr Ranch Growers exclusive apple and what we like to call – the lifestyle apple for everyone and every occasion. JUICI offers a wonderful balance of sweet and tart flavors, plus an amazing crunch. It’s a thinner-skinned apple with an incredibly long shelf-life , which means lots of different usages and recipes. Between its ease of storage, delicately balanced taste, JUICI is truly the perfect apple! To celebrate the season, we’re sharing all the ways to Fall in Love with JUICI this fall – from cocktails to desserts, to game night and entertaining. We love the variety of ways to incorporate JUICI into our day.
For week one of our Fall in Love with JUICI Giveaway, we thought we’d cheers to the season with Heritage Distilling Co. – a premiere Washington-based business and top craft distillery in the United States. HDC makes a variety of whiskeys, vodkas, gins, aquavit and rums from as many local ingredients as possible. They are also one of the largest craft distilleries on the West Coast and the largest independently owned craft distillery in Washington. Not only that, they’re also a majority women-owned enterprise and is proudly named the most awarded craft distillery in North America by the American Distilling Institute for the past eight years out of more than 1,500 craft distilleries. We truly couldn’t think of a better brand (and products!) to team up with as we toast to JUICI season. We can promise that not only will you Fall in Love with JUICI, but you’ll fall in love with these fall-inspired cocktails below created with a variety of exclusive spirits from Heritage Distilling Co.
Labor Day weekend came and went, and now we can officially bid farewell to summer vacation and welcome the fall season ahead. While sure, the summer season isn’t necessarily over quite yet, most of us have wrapped up our final family vacations and summer getaways, will soon store away the grill and welcome sweater weather and all things fall decor.
For a lot of us, we’re also welcoming back to school.I think we can all agree last year’s fall semester was a bit of a drag because well, it didn’t really exist! At least, not in the way we all know and love. This fall, most schools are safely re-opening with new protocols in place, and while things may look a little different – school is back in session and the familiarity and normalcy of it all feels SO refreshing.
A huge milestone for some involves moving away for the first time, taking on newfound independence and beginning life as a college student! There are so many unknowns and exciting challenges that come with attending college – with lessons and experiences of growth kept, stored and used for a lifetime.
College comes with so many firsts – the first time having to really grocery shop, cook, live with a complete stranger or even share a bathroom (yikes!) But in all seriousness, it’s these moments that help shape the college experience and teach us about stepping out of our comfort zones, taking risks, inviting new challenges, relationships and learning about accountability and discipline.
One of my favorite aspects of college was the opportunity to actually PICK what I wanted to eat, grocery shop all by myself, meal plan for the week and be in complete control of what, when and how I wanted to eat my food. Before college, it was always mom’s menu (which, luckily, she was a great cook!) But college allowed me to use the notes I had been taking when I was younger in my childhood kitchen, and help apply them in my own life (thanks, mom!) I loved selecting my own produce, planning grocery shopping dates with my girl friends, inviting friends over for dinner or simply choosing when and where we wanted to go out – the ultimate freedom!
One thing I learned, or at least had to learn quickly – was grocery shopping on a budget (because well..college student bank accounts look a little bleak). That said, I knew I had to get creative and only buy what I needed – that means no extra, interesting snacks or splurging at speciality stores. So long are those days! I began meal planning every week all the way from breakfast, to lunch, dessert and even snacks in between. I had to get savvy about planning ahead, and learned how to save, store and freeze things that I just didn’t get around to eating when last minute plans popped up. This really helped eliminate food waste, and also kept my dollars spent from going to waste too! I started looking at grocery shopping as a game to search for the best deals, coupons, and BOGO options.
I also prioritized scanning the parameter of the grocery store and always started off with my produce items – these items are NOT expensive or scary like folks tell you, trust me – and you can mix and match so many different items in a variety of ways. For instance, I’d purchase a whole bag of Starr Ranch Growers apples and stretch them as far as I could – in my morning breakfast bowls, to an apple and PB snack, all the way to chicken apple tacos – nothing goes to waste when you’re in college and purchasing food is now totally up to YOU. I built my weekly menus around fresh options because I knew color on my plate meant less room for the junior-year pounds later – ha! But to be fair, eating fresh always made me feel better – and that is what matters most.
What I would say to today’s college students is to plan ahead, make lists, only grab what’s ON the list (tempting, I know), keep your eyes peeled for deals, and turn grocery shopping into a game. Your wallet will thank you, and so will your stomach – and who knows, you may even have some fun in the process!
For the next 7 days we are Celebrating the Fall Semester with new recipes, hacks, tips, and a BIG back to school prize for one lucky winner we’ll announce next Wednesday 9/15 via Instagram stories. Head on over to our Instagram and be sure to interact with us on every #B2S post – good luck, happy back to school and happy grocery shopping!
Ah cherry season is here and it’s our favorite times of year! Well, ok..we lied, it’s tied with apple harvest 😉
The real beauty of cherry season is that it’s so exclusive – they’re here for a few weeks and then it’s the nail biting waiting game all over again until next year. Nearly 10 months of anticipation makes it all worth while!
What I personally love most about cherries is of course, their flavor (but that’s a gimme), but I also love how easy they are to incorporate into my day. I can pit, slice and dice them into my morning oatmeal, top them in my afternoon salad, snack whole and fresh in-between meals or even make cherry popsicles, ice cream or cocktails to top off a warm summer day.
Not only that, they’re a super fruit that slides under the radar! Why don’t we all talk about the outstanding health benefits of cherries more often?! Move over blueberries, there’s another summer super hero in town that’s larger, more fun to eat (who doesn’t like a good challenge?) and boasts so many health benefits – from antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, potassium, melatonin and more – it’s truly a good tasting AND good-for-you snack that can be used in a variety of dishes.
To celebrate cherries all season long, we’re sharing a few of our favorite easy summer snacks below and giving each of you the opportunity to enter to win our Cherry Summer Splash Sweepstakes so you can win your very own summer prize package equipped with a custom RTIC Cooler, Yeti Wine Tumblers, Cherry Pitters, Beach Towels and a FunBoy Floatie – our biggest prize package yet!
To enter to win, just head over to our latest Instagram post here and follow the simple instructions. Our week 2 winner will be announced tomorrow, Thursday 7/15. Good luck, and happy cherry season!
This Wednesday is Cinco de Mayo and we love a good excuse to eat, drink, decorate the table, round up our friends and celebrate with JUICI. Cinco de Mayo is the perfect occasion to whip up your favorite margarita recipe, bring out the bowl of chips and get festive in the kitchen – creating inspiring Mexican-inspired dishes that we all know and love. We took this opportunity to challenge ourselves with coming up with an entire Cinco de Mayo tablescape with no shortage of JUICI apples – from the margaritas, to the salsa, slaw salad and yes…even the quesadillas.
The JUICI apple is such a versatile, everyday apple that it can be used in a variety of dishes and occasions (that one might not otherwise assume to incorporate apples into) and it adds the perfect hint of sweet and savory flavors and the most delicious crunch. We always say yes to apples eaten fresh, but we love the idea of thinking out-of-the-box and including them into new and inspiring recipes – we hope these inspire you to as well!
This Fiesta Salad has a mix of so many different colors, textures, flavors and seasonal produce. Between the diced, red and crunchy JUICI apples, colorful beets, salty pepitas, zesty micro cilantro and creamy avocado cilantro dressing – this salad truly has the rainbow, and it’s not only refreshing, but full of nutritious flavor. Add chunks of diced avocado for some added healthy fats!
Calling all quesadilla lovers! Is there really anything better than a fluffy flour tortilla, diced crunchy JUICI apples, caramelized onions and ooey gooey queso fresco cheese? We’ll wait 😉 Just top this crunchy quesadilla with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime and you’ll thank us later!
A cocktail with beauty benefits? Sign us up! Aloe Vera is super hydrating and great for your skin, so basically – it’s the perfect addition to a margarita. Just add in vitamin-c rich JUICI apples and you have the combination of our dreams.
Street corn is all the rage right now, so we thought we’d create a Street Corn Salsa with diced JUICI apples – sweet, savory, and topped with cotija cheese and lime. Just grab a tortilla chip and wash it down with a marg, and enjoy the Cinco de Mayo festivities.
That’s a wrap! Do you plan on celebrating Cinco de Mayo with friends and family? What’s are your favorite recipes to whip up? Let us know if you try any of these in the comments below!
Earth Day deserves to be celebrated more than just one day, to us – it should be celebrated every day. In this case, we thought we’d take the whole week to highlight our favorite things about Mother Nature, steps we take to grow and package our fruit more sustainably and of course, our favorite ways to snack outside responsibly. Our Grow your Grove Giveaway kicked off this week and this is our way to share all the Earth Day fun with each of you! How do you grow your grove? Your grove can be anything – your community, environment, spreading awareness about what conservation means to you, etc.
For us, spring is one of our favorite seasons to recognize and reflect on the gratitude we have for our ecosystems. Everything outside plays an integral role in our orchards and the outcome of the quality of our fruit – from the sunshine to the rain, frost, soil, irrigation, bees, pollinators and helpful critters – we are so grateful for the land in which we grow, which is why we put our best foot forward to show it the same care and respect. Our growers and field personnel are constantly working to grow our grove through a variety of different methods and growing techniques.
Thanks to our advanced, non-invasive farming practices, we are proud to say we are leaders in the industry for sustainable farming. By utilizing cutting-edge drip irrigation systems, eco-friendly pest management methods and utilizing high-density planting methods to maximize foliage usage, production, and quality – we always go the extra mile to do things the right way, not the easy way.
We also take extra measures to conserve our most precious resources – water and soil! We use advanced technology to measure soil moisture, which allows us to adjust water levels and schedules with precision. We also utilize micro-irrigation fan jets to distribute water more evenly and prevents wasteful water usage. To ensure that our crops have the optimal environment to grow and thrive in, we also conduct laboratory testing on our soil and foliage to determine if there are any nutritional deficiencies. We carefully manage the field’s health, and to prevent over-treating our soil we use pest and disease-resistant rootstocks – all natural and non-invasive practices to protect our orchards.
Something we are also so proud of at Starr Ranch Growers is our latest innovative packaging endeavors – we now offer 100% recyclable corrugated cardboard apple boxes available at a variety of retailers. In addition to this, we are currently in the process of finalizing new fully recyclable plastic bags made with plastic material that CAN be ethically recycled to reduce waste of toxic and harmful plastics in our landfills! Hooray for strides toward sustainability!
These are just a few of the many steps we are taking toward a more sustainable growing and packing operation. Not only that, we love sharing this journey with other sustainably conscious brands and working together to make an even bigger impact on the planet. We’d love to know what you are doing at home to Grow Your Grove within your own community – be sure to tell us in the comments below and head over to our Instagram @starr_ranch_growers to enter our collaborative Grow Your Grove Giveaway to enter our biggest adventure prize package YET – equipped with Hipcamp $100 gift card, YETI waterbottle, smores kit, fresh shipment of JUICI apples, a custom Heart of Timber cutting board and a case of Lost Grove Brewing beer. Winner will be announced this Friday 4/23 via our Instagram stories. Good luck, and get outside and grow your grove this week!
It’s officially spring! Ah, I feel like we all needed this breath of fresh air. I’ve always looked at spring as the season of fresh starts! The sun even shines differently – things feel lighter, brighter and full of color. To us at Starr Ranch Growers, our spring season is one of our most beloved times of year. Of course, we have to admit that we also LOVE fall because well, that means harvest is here and our apples are on their way to you! However, spring is sort of that ‘guiding light’ that leads the way to harvest, sets the stage for the season ahead and generates excitement for what’s to come in our orchards.
Our orchards truly come alive during springtime. Our trees are brighter, apple and cherry blossoms are blooming and sweeping our orchards in a blanket of white flowers, bees are busy pollinating and the sun is shining down on our crops for that much longer each day. Our growers love watching this process of nature unfold, and being one step closer to bringing the fruits they’ve cultivated all year long to each and every one of you!
Not only do we love spring in our orchards, but we love spring in our kitchens, too! With that extra hour of daylight lately, I find myself going on more walks with my puppy in the late afternoon, or putting on some tunes, decompressing and whipping up new creations in the kitchen. I love utilizing colorful, in-season florals and using spring as an opportunity to create light, colorful dishes, snacks and desserts that I can eat, share and even save for later. One of my favorites I have created lately was this JUICI Apple, Fig & Raspberry Pretzel Pie. It was crunchy, creamy, light, yet filling in a balanced, satisfying way. It’s full of sweet flavor and tastes even better after it’s been frozen, meaning – no food waste here, you can just keep storing it in the freezer every few slices (win-win!).
This spring apple pretzel pie essentially consists of ground up pretzel pieces for the crust, a thick, homemade whipped cream filling, honey soaked Starr Ranch Growers apples and lots of fruit, florals and herbs. Need we say more? I love the idea of making this ahead of Easter Brunch in a few weeks – it’s light enough that you can definitely enjoy it mid-day. Or, you can be like me and sneak into the freezer every night for a bite (or two ;-))
Do you love spring as much as us? What is your favorite part? The longer days? Blooming flowers? Or is it the excuse to cook and bake yummy spring recipes all season long? Maybe it’s all the above! To sweeten up spring even more, we launched our Bites & Blooms Giveaway this week and will be sharing the opportunity to win giveaways the next two weeks that will bring even more joy to this sweet season we all love.
Head to our Instagram @starr_ranch_growers for a chance to WIN your very own shipment of fresh JUICI apples, a beautiful spring flower arrangement and a $100 gift card. Our first winner will be announced this Sunday, 3/28 via Instagram stories.
Here’s to celebrating fresh starts, fresh recipes and longer, sunnier days ahead!
Ah, winter weather has really kicked in lately (at least, where I live). It’s been cold, [very] rainy, windy…luckily, no snow here – however, something about snow does sound a bit enchanting I must admit! Anyone else feeling the winter blues kick in? We’re about halfway through the season and I don’t know about you, but I am itching for spring weather and blooming flowers. One thing I do love about winter is the abundance of excuses to EAT. Cozy and indulgent food is the best food – I love winter baking, but I also love the opportunity to start anew come January, and begin to prep healthier options, because those can be yummy too!
I like to start my day with a simple and nutritious smoothie recipe like this Creamy Cinnamon Apple Spice Smoothie. It feels like the winter in a glass, but it’s refreshing, healthy and a great recipe to start the day with. Beginning the morning with an easy-to-digest meal like a smoothie is a wonderful way to ease your body into the day ahead, and give it some time to easily digest its first meal! This recipe can be substituted with any type of milk alternative, oat milk is delicious and creamy as well. I also like adding in 1/4 cup of oats if I am looking for something a little more filling, this also gives it a super whipped and creamy texture too that is delish!
For lunch, I usually opt for some leftovers because sometimes that’s all my schedule allows for, which is why I always begin my week with some easy recipes I can grab ‘n go with through out the work week. What better mid-day pick-me-up than leftover [cold] pizza, and in this case..flatbread?! I love this JUICI Apple Arugula & Goat Cheese Balsamic Flatbread, and I love it even more for how good it tastes on day one AND two. If you want it fresh, no worries, this flatbread is so quick and easy to whip up on a whim and the best part is, you can save some slices for tomorrow!
Ok now, let’s talk dinner. I am not necessarily condoning flatbread AND a grilled cheese all in one day, but I am also not saying this doesn’t sound like a fantastic scenario…are you following? 😉 A cold, winter evening was made for a warm, crunchy, ooey gooey cheesy grilled cheese – and in this case, a Cheesy Apple Caramelized Onion Grilled Cheese! This has the perfect meld of sweet and savory flavors and incredible textures – the creamy gruyere cheese mixed with apple cider caramelized onions, paired with thick slices of sour dough bread and crunchy JUICI apples! Ah, I am hungry just writing about it.
There you have it – those are some of my favorite winter recipes right now. I don’t necessarily eat this all in a day (but honestly, I just might!) I am all about easy, comforting and delicious during the winter season. I love the spices, the opportunity to indulge when you feel like it, but I also love to throw in some nutritious snacks and breakfast items that are healthy, but don’t exactly taste like they would be! Let’s face it, we deserve the sweeter things especially these days, so why not make each meal count!
What are your favorite winter recipes? Is it something baked and scrumptious? Savory and sweet? I want to know in the comments below!
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