Building a Sustainable Seafood Company
Our work toward a fully-sustainable company and planet include not just our products, but our office environment as well. Crown Prince participates in the TerraCycle program, which strives to completely eliminate waste by repurposing items that would otherwise be tossed into landfills.
We participate in several different “brigades,” meaning we save several types of items from our home and office use and send them to TerraCycle for repurposing. Not only are we diverting them from landfills, but TerraCycle compensates us by donating to a charity of our choice for every batch of items we send in.
Given our natural concern for safe and clean water, we’ve chosen for our donations to provide families in impoverished nations with clean drinking water.
Crown Prince’s current 2012 TerraCycle efforts have allowed us to:
- Provide 11 people with clean drinking water for a year ( = 1,650 items recycled)
- Provide 173 people with clean drinking water for a week ( = 519 items recycled)
And we’re only halfway through the year! To learn how your family or employer can help with TerraCycle’s efforts to outsmart waste, visit TerraCycle.net.
Green Living, Green Eating: Know Your Leafy Greens
Green living certainly includes green eating – literally! Getting to know your greens is a great way to improve your nutrition, and most of these greens can be found at your local farmers’ market.
Here’s a quick run-down of our favorite vitamin-packed, leafy green all-stars:
- Collard Greens: Thought to lower cholesterol, collards are a staple of soul food. They can be incorporated into all sorts of soups, stews, and casseroles, or sautéed with garlic to soften them up and add flavor.
- Kale: This nutritious powerhouse is packed with vitamins A, C, and six times the daily requirement of vitamin K. It’s hearty enough to fare well in soups and pastas, but goes great in salad with a little lemon vinaigrette, garlic, and panko.
- Turnip greens: Don’t throw the greens out when enjoying your next bunch of turnips. The greens are a great source of vitamins K and B6. They are excellent braised on the stovetop, or incorporated into a ginger stir-fry along with turnips and carrots.
- Bok Choy: This Asian cabbage is a great source of calcium that is easy for the body to absorb. It is also packed with antioxidants. Delicious as a side dish or incorporated into a stir fry or Asian soup.
- Watercress: Similar to spinach but with a slightly peppery flavor, this tender green is excellent in salads and a generous source of carotenoids, which are believed to protect your vision.
- Swiss Chard: Hearty and beautiful with deep green leaves and rich purple veins, Swiss chard delivers quite a bit of iron, vitamin C, and vitamin A. Use it similarly to kale.
- Escarole: Though not as well-known as many of these other greens, escarole should not be overlooked: rich in fiber and folate, it also supplies vitamins A, C and K. Escarole’s inner leaves work well in salads, and its outer leaves are well fitted for soups and stews.
What’s your favorite way to use greens in the kitchen?
Just as picnic season heats up, we are announcing another brand new product and another twist on a pantry staple: Crown Prince Natural Fillets of Anchovies with Garlic and Parsley.
Available nationwide this month, these anchovies are sustainably harvested and wild-caught from the waters off the coast of Morocco. The anchovies are packed with pure olive oil in re-sealable, BPA-free glass jars.
What makes these quality anchovy fillets special is the addition of fresh parsley and garlic. The herbal parsley and aromatic garlic lend a sophisticated, fresh twist to these classic firm-textured fish.
We find the new Garlic and Parsley Anchovies create a delicious complex base for dressings, sauces and pizza. Here are a few new recipes we’ve perfected to highlight this new product:
Anchovy, Olive and Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb Yellowfin Tuna and Olive Linguine
Even with a classic kitchen favorite, there are new ways to appreciate the simplicity of fine ingredients. We hope you enjoy our new anchovies and recipes as much as we have. Bon appétit!
Spicy Pasta with Fennel & Anchovies Mixed Olive Tapenade
Happy Father’s Day from Crown Prince
Did you know that Father’s Day wasn’t an official U.S. Holiday until the early 1970s, almost 60 years after Mother’s Day was proclaimed a national holiday by President Woodrow Wilson?
According to History.com’s History of Father’s Day, many men were resistant to the idea of being celebrated with a “sentimental” holiday, but during World War II, it gained popularity as “a way to honor troops and support the war effort.” State-wide Father’s Day celebrations began to spread, and in 1972 Richard Nixon finally proclaimed it a federal holiday.
Often on holidays, we hand-pick some seafood recipes fitting the occasion. But this time, we just encourage those of you spending the holiday with the father figure in your life to prepare whatever will make Dad happy. And for those whose fathers are not with them, his favorite meal, enjoyed in his honor can be just as meaningful.
Crown Prince Seafood would like to wish all of our customers and colleagues a Happy Fathers Day.
Today, June 8, Is World Oceans Day
The ocean: unless you live on a coast (and maybe even then) it’s probably not something you give much thought to. Yet the ocean is the earth’s lungs, providing the majority of our oxygen. It covers 70% of the earth’s surface, allows trade routes between continents, provides us food, and supports essential global biodiversity.
Yet our actions aren’t always in its best interest. The United Nations wants to do something about that, so since 2008, the UN has declared June 8 World Oceans Day. People are encouraged to actively appreciate the ocean and all it provides, and to cultivate greater awareness of the connection between individual choices and oceanic consequences.
As a third-generation seafood company, the health of our business depends on the health of our oceans; sustainability has long been a major priority for Crown Prince. And as citizens and family members, we recognize that the health of future generations depends on it, too. Both personally and professionally, we encourage you and your family to observe World Oceans Day.
Get involved!
- Find a World Oceans Day event near you
- Make a Splash! Pledge to help the ocean.
- Spread the word: follow World Oceans Day on Facebook and share their posts with family and friends
- Watch this excellent video of dolphins celebrating World Oceans Day
Green Team Tip: Reusing Glass Jars
Despite so many “throw-away” type packages today (such as plastic water bottles), many kitchen staples are still sold in glass: spaghetti sauce, olives, jelly, pickles, etc. These containers are high-quality, sturdy, and often interesting in appearance: before you recycle, why not reuse them in your home? Here are some of our favorite ways of reusing glass jars.
1. Kitchen Storage
Glass jars are great for storing bulk items (grains, spices, flour, rice, beans, etc.) or items that don’t stay fresh in their store packaging (brown sugar, we’re looking at you!) They’re also great in the refrigerator (especially for leftover soup) and of course, for canning homemade food of your own.
2. Home Organization
From the bathroom to the office, from the craft table to the garage, glass jars are great for keeping your home organized and attractive. Use them for small items like cotton balls, qtips, and crafting supplies or unwieldy items such as ribbons, safety pins, phone chargers, and even receipts. And what’s a better place to keep your spare change than a spare jar?
3. Vases and Planters
Blend elegance with country charm by reusing glass jars as vases or planters in your home. They can be dressed up with simple adornments, dressed down by filling the base with rocks or glass beads, or left simple and clear, showing off the natural beauty of the plants or flowers inside them. (Tip: if you use glass jars as planters, make sure to choose a small plant and don’t over-water, as the jars don’t have drainage.)
4. Drinking Glasses
Nothing says summer like a big glass of iced lemonade in a jar. Medium and large jars are great for lemonade, iced tea, and ice water (don’t forget the straw!). Small jars are great for juice, or if you’re feeling especially rustic, red wine. (Hint: keep the lid, and your jar is a great way to transport a smoothie or other beverage to work without spilling.)
5. Foodie Gifts
Fill a glass jar with all of the shelf-stable ingredients for your favorite recipe (think cookies, soups, or stews) and attach attractive instructions for the remainder of the recipe.
6. Décor
If you’re not the planting type, use a glass jar to display non-living items. Kids can fill a jar with their collection of rocks, marbles, etc. For adults, use a jar to display sea shells from a vacation, or fill the bottom with white sand and use the jar for a votive candle. If you’re open to the non-traditional, a glass jar can even serve as a convex picture frame. Try it: it’s kind of cool!
And of course, if you’re not feeling resourceful or inspired by any of the above, please recycle your jars when you are done with them.
A little splurging on the side might make for a pleasant moment during the afternoon, but have you ever stopped to consider what those chocolate goodies or sodium-filled snacks are doing for your health? Daily habits of eating junk food, too much food, or the right amount but the wrong foods can result in worse consequences than you might think.
Obesity
Outrageously unhealthy eating habits paired with poor physical activity can cause obesity. In order to avoid this, you should be pairing whole grains with healthy, portioned combinations of fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats and the right amount of fats alongside a form of daily, physical activity.
Broken Bones
Did you know that unhealthy eating can actually lead to broken bones? High concentrations of sugar and fewer concentrations of essential dairies (like a glass of milk per day) can deprive your bones of the essential calcium required to maintain bone health. As calcium depletes, you are at higher risk for fractures, chips and breaks, no matter what age you are (even if you are still in your 20’s).
Dental Issues
Your body relies on healthy eating, and your teeth are part of that body. Drinking too much sugar or eating too many sugar-containing products can lead to poor dental health over time, which may lead to issues such as tooth decay, gum disease and nerve damage.
Chronic Illness
Eating too much sugar has been proven to cause Type 2 Diabetes. On top of the risk for this troublesome disease, individuals with unhealthy eating habits can suffer from other chronic illnesses such as sleep apnea, gall bladder disease and joint problems.
Life-Threatening Conditions
As if the other consequences of unhealthy eating were not enough, perhaps the fact that a life-threatening ailment can occur will help you think twice about your bad eating habits. People with unhealthy eating habits are ten times more likely to develop atherosclerosis, which is a disease that affects the arteries around the heart. Furthermore, those with unhealthy diets often have high blood pressure and cholesterol, which paired with atherosclerosis significantly, increases their chance for heart attack.
Eating a piece of oozy chocolate cake or biting into a Butterscotch might seem like a delicious choice for an afternoon treat. However, it’s not the right choice for your long-term health. Next time you grab that sugary sweet from the vending machine, stop and think of the consequences. Pretty soon you’ll be considering a crunchy carrot a much better alternative.
Kipper Snacks – In Action! [NEW RECIPES]
After introducing the magnificent Bay of Fundy and explaining how herring are caught and prepared for our Kipper Snacks, we round out our Canadian leg of the Global Spotlight Series with two BRAND NEW RECIPES featuring these tiny fish themselves. Herring are a delightful little fish, great to snack on straight out of the can (hence “kipper snacks”), but they work very well in recipes, too.
Peppered Herring Cheese Spread
Fresh, creamy mascarpone cheese serves as the base for this delightfully balanced spread, which features not just any kipper snacks, but our brand new Crown Prince Natural Kipper Snacks with Cracked Black Pepper. The cheese is a wonderful backdrop for the tang of whole grain mustard, the fragrance of chopped fresh tarragon, and the savory flavor and perfect texture of the kipper snacks. Simple is good, and this spread certainly shows off its ingredients.
Full recipe for Crown Prince’s Peppered Herring Cheese Spread
Roasted Vegetable & Smoked Fish Pitas
Not just for dips, our Kipper Snacks with Cracked Black Pepper play fantastically with roasted vegetables in this healthy pita recipe. Fresh asparagus, zucchini, and bell pepper are roasted until crisp yet tender then paired with a touch of red onion, alfalfa sprouts, earthy hummus, and savory natural smoked kipper snacks. This is great for lunch or dinner, for family meals or for parties.
Full recipe for Crown Prince’s Roasted Vegetable & Smoked Fish Pitas
We hope you enjoy these brand new, original recipes as much as we’ve enjoyed refining (and taste-testing) them. Let us know what you think in the comments!
Sleep Your Way To Better Health
Sleep: it’s probably the last thing on your priority list, but one of the first things you notice when it’s missing. A new study from the CDC shows that 41 million American workers aren’t getting enough sleep. That’s about 30% of the American workforce.
A strong cup of coffee may mask symptoms briefly, but the problems of insufficient sleep run much deeper: the CDC calls it a “public health epidemic,” not only because it drastically increases on-the-job accidents:
“Persons experiencing sleep insufficiency are also more likely to suffer from chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, depression, and obesity, as well as from cancer, increased mortality, and reduced quality of life and productivity.” (CDC)
Follow the links above to learn more about the problem. And follow these tips below to work yourself toward a personal solution.
10 Healthy Sleep Tips
From the National Sleep Foundation:
- Maintain a regular bed and wake time schedule, including weekends.
- Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine such as soaking in a hot bath or hot tub and then reading a book or listening to soothing music.
- Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool.
- Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows.
- Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex.
- Finish eating at least 2-3 hours before your regular bedtime.
- Exercise regularly. It is best to complete your workout at least a few hours before bedtime.
- Avoid caffeine (e.g. coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate) close to bedtime. It can keep you awake.
- Avoid nicotine (e.g. cigarettes, tobacco products). Used close to bedtime, it can lead to poor sleep.
- Avoid alcohol close to bedtime.
The National Sleep Foundation is a great resource for all sorts of sleep-related information, including an excellent response to the most common sleep-related question, “How much sleep do I need?”
If you want to start sleeping better, now is the time to start. Get your family on board (it’ll do you all good), or for online reinforcement, the folks over at GOOD.is have named “Sleep Better” as their GOOD 30-Day Challenge for May (at the end of the article, you can sign up for sleeping tips and reminders all month).
Now, go get some zzz’s! And sleep well.
Hot on the heels of our Mediterranean Brisling Sardines and Kipper Snacks with Cracked Black Pepper, we just announced our third new product for 2012: Smoked Oysters in Olive Oil with Red Chili Pepper.
We took a customer favorite – Crown Prince Natural Smoked Oysters – and added just enough red chili pepper for the perfect kick. Just like their classic cousin, these sustainably harvested and naturally smoked oysters are packed in pure, cold pressed olive oil.
While the ocean water may be chilly, that doesn’t stop these little oysters from bringing some heat to your kitchen. Look for Crown Prince Natural Smoked Oysters in Olive Oil with Red Chili Pepper nationwide in your favorite natural food market. Give them a try and let us know what you think!
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