ArcaMax

Is Natural Really Natural?

Coming out of college my first job was working for one of the Big Food companies. I was assigned to the Marketing Department.

Can I just say it? I loved my job! LOVED it.

I loved it so much I enrolled at Northwestern University to take more courses on marketing. I worked all day at marketing and I absorbed more marketing knowledge at night.

I was a sponge for marketing knowledge; everything from packaging to TV ad copy. I was enthralled with the reports on the experiences the customer had with the product. Was the product appealing? Was the packaging colorful and did it attract your attention? What information was on the package that was helpful in making the decision to buy it? I wanted to know more about everything.

I studied. I absorbed. I memorized. Then I grew up.

So what does that mean?

Well, I started to design Plan Z and got involved in deciphering what the advertising really meant. I learned to read labels. I studied the ingredients list and found out what was healthy and what was not. What the box said on the front was not always a totally truthful indicator of whether what was in the package was good for me. In fact, most stuff that comes in a box or a package is full of all kinds of things that we really should not eat if we want to be truly healthy...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Sausage and Summer Fruit Kebabs

Related Recipes at PlanZDiet.com:

Grilled Peaches with Cinnamon Butter Sauce
Quick Grilled Chicken and Veggies 4 Ways

This is a ZReboot recipe.

Servings: Serves 4 as an entrée or several more as an appetizer (*See Note Below)

Ingredients:

1 foot long precooked kielbasa, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 other precooked sausages. I used a spicy one. Cut these into bite-sized chunks
3 apricots. Remove pits and cut into bites.
2 ripe plums. Remove pits and cut into large cubes or chunks.
1 Tbl of your meat rub of choice. I used a Cajun one.
2 Tbl of Simply Fruit jam. I used apricot. This is a natural jam with no artificial sweetener or flavorings.

Instructions:

Preheat your grill. Soak your wooden kebab skewers so they don’t burn on the grill. Fifteen minutes is enough.

Alternately thread kielbasa, sausage chunks, apricots, and plums onto four to six skewers. Spray with olive oil spray and then dust with your rub of choice.

Place skewers on hot grill rack. Five minutes or until kielbasa browns and fruit chars slightly, turning skewers occasionally. All you really need to do is get them hot and get some grill markings on them. Place on a platter. Brush Simply Fruit over kielbasa and fruit. Serve.

*Note: I cut skewers in half or even in thirds if I want to do appetizer-sized portions.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola