Tag Archives: organic valley

Organic Valley: Who We Are ( or why i love my job )

awhile back i posted the following which is somewhat uncharacteristic in it’s lack of sarcasm or super dry wit after hanging out with organic valley farmers at our annual meeting.

what would possibly instill such sincerity in moi? well, now i can give you a glimpse! we made a little video that does a good job capturing why i love working for the cooperative. i’ll bet you can’t help but be a little inspired. and the best part? it’s the real deal. we’re all just crazy enough to believe we can change the world.

ain’t no party like an organic valley 25th anniversary party!

ain't no party like an organic valley 25th anniversary party! I.

as most of you know i work for organic valley, but you might not know that we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary and it was an amazing experience to celebrate with some folks from the cooperative at a recent trade show.

it’s incredible to ponder all we’ve accomplished over the past 25 years as an independent farmer-owned cooperative and i hope they’ll let me be a part of the story for the next 25 years.

george and other coop leadership said a few words about the cooperative’s history and future. i get a little goose-pimply when i think about all the exciting things coming up!

ain't no party like an organic valley 25th anniversary party! II.

a band of current and former employees then hit the stage and. seriously. knocked. it. out. of. the. park. holy cow. i wish i had shot some video. i’m sure there will be some posted eventually. it was an incredible show made all the more incredible by the fact that it was homegrown talent. and if you live in the driftless region you can catch most of them playing sets around town throughout the year.

ain't no party like an organic valley 25th anniversary party! III.

several hundred folks hung out with us at the anaheim convention center to hear the band and have a few drinks. a fun time was had by all – totally looking forward to what our 50th anniversary party will be like 🙂

we haven’t got any breeeaaaad!

we haven't got any breeeaaaad!

some folks from organic valley went to the east coast after hurricane sandy and took a bunch of cheese and all the bread from the cafe on their way out town to make hundreds of grilled cheese sandwiches. of course, temporarily not having any bread was a very small sacrifice ( and all the more so for me since i try to lead a pretty much mostly gluten free lifestyle ).

every time i passed the sign in the cafe, i couldn’t help but hear neil from “the young ones” exclaim “we haven’t got anyyyy breaaaaad”. weird how your brain works. it’s been nearly 25 years since i first saw the episode and i still imitate neil if i’m out of cash ( or bread ) and almost nobody gets the reference.

recipe: organic cheeseburger soup!

recipe: organic cheeseburger soup!

fall is here and the temperatures are dropping and sometimes you just want some good old fashioned warm comfort food like, say, cheeseburger soup. and, of course you could use something like cheddar cheese but if you really want to nail the nostalgic comfort in comfort food, you’re typically going to find a processed cheese like processed american cheesein the ingredients list.

for those of us who aren’t into the emulsified, extruded processed cheese world, the geniuses at organic valley ( *cough* my employer *cough* ) have come up with a 100% real, unprocessed american cheese! it has all the mild, melty american cheesyness you expect but it’s actually made from nothing but 100% real, organic cheese. imagine that!

so i thought i’d give it a try in this taste of home cheeseburger soup recipe, simply substituting the processed cheese with ov american singles. i also doubled the amount of ground beef, because, well, why not 🙂

and wowza. it’s really, really, really(!) good. definitely going to be in our regular soup rotation from now on.

slightly modified directions from the taste of home cheeseburger soup recipe:

ingredients
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup diced celery
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
4 tablespoons butter, divided
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups diced peeled potatoes (1-3/4 pounds)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 package ( 8 ounces ) ov american singles
1-1/2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup sour cream

directions

in a largish saucepan, brown beef, drain and set aside. saute the onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 tablespoon butter until tender. add the broth, potatoes and beef; bring to a boil. reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

in a small skillet, melt remaining butter. add flour; cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly. add to soup; bring to a boil. cook and stir for 2 minutes. reduce heat to low. stir in the cheese, milk, salt and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts. remove from the heat; blend in sour cream.

organic marathon (milk) man!

organic marathon (milk) man!

almost 8 months after deciding to sign up for the chicago marathon, the big day is nearly here!

it’s hard to believe it’s been 9 years since i last ran the streets of chicago and almost harder to believe i’ve lost nearly 70 pounds over the past year to get back into marathon shape ( note to self – don’t let that happen again! ).

of course, as the milk and cream product manager, i’m a big fan of organic valley chocolate milk for recovery and organic valley in general, so i had a nice shirt made up for the race 🙂

when training for marathons the last time around, a veteran runner told me to put my name on my shirt so people could give a personalized shout-out all along the route. it really gives an amazing energy boost, especially in the last few miles.

i already wrote a bit about what time i thought i can run in the “20 miles! and the brutal math of Being A Clydesdale”. i still think i can theoretically run a 4 hour pace, although 4:15-4:30 is probably more realistic this time around. but to be honest, i’m just going to have fun, enjoy the crowds along the route and take some extra time to stop a few times along the way to chat with kris and odin who will be there to watch me run, so who knows what my actual start to finish time will be.

for my first marathon in 9 years, my real goal has already been accomplished – to get back into shape and be able to make to the start line without injuring myself. now i just want to enjoy the day.