Chew On This: Food News You Can Use

Sunday is going to be crazy — with the Super Bowl and Grammys, plenty of snacks will be in order.

Don’t let snacking get out of control. Be sure to offer fruits such as bunches of grapes and apple slices, which pair well with cheese chunks and crackers. Not any cracker will do either. Organic/artisan-baked Doctor Kracker Snacker crackers have extreme crunch and varieties like Pumpkin Cheese Cheddar and Seeded Spelt not only offer a substantial flavor, but unique texture as well. Doctor Kracker now offers a variety of whole-grain flatbreads too. For recipes like the following hummus dip, visit drkracker.com.

Pumpkin Hummus with Pumpkin Cheddar Flatbread

Dr. Kracker Flatbreads & Snacker Krackers

While working as bakers for Whole Foods Markets in Texas, George Eckrich and Carsten Kruse bonded over their love of baking. As their friendship grew they found that they also shared a passion for innovation, occasionally brainstorming ideas for new products that they could make.

In 2003, they met Klaus Karg, a German artisan baker who had been producing his own unique flatbread for the previous three years under the name Dr. Karg. These flatbreads had been so well-received in Europe that they became the primary focus of Klaus’s bakery. After tasting them for himself, George knew that he wanted to introduce them to the United States. He enlisted the help of Danny Kelly, an expert in European Industrial Bakery Equipment, and the four men founded Dr. Kracker in Dallas, Texas. They began producing Klaus’s flatbreads here in the United States later that year.

What they created is a wholesome snack that satisfies our craving for something crunchy. Using only the highest-quality organic grains, seeds, and dried fruit, these flatbreads and crackers are an excellent source of fiber, omega-3’s, vitamins and iron. All of their Flatbreads and Snackers (crackers) are certified USDA organic, free of peanuts or tree nuts, and the Klassic 3 Seed, Seeded Spelt, and Seedlander varieties are vegan, too.

The first thing the Naturally Savvy team noticed about these crackers was how they certainly live up to the “uber crunch” description given to them by their makers. The whole seeds baked into the top of the crackers adds an extra dimension to each bite. The seemingly small serving size of 8 crackers or 1 flatbread is actually very satisfying and filling. The team experimented different toppings on the crackers and came up with these tasty combinations:

• Apple Crisps with almond butter
• Fire Roasted Crisps with mozzarella or another mild cheese
• Seedlander Snackers with roasted red pepper and goat cheese dip
• Pumpkin Cheddar Snackers with medium salsa or a spicy deli meat
• Klassic 3 Seed Snackers with anything (it all tasted great)

All in all, Dr. Kracker’s Snackers were a huge hit in our office. Nutritious, delicious and crunchy, Dr. Kracker certainly earns the Naturally Savvy Seal of Approval.

The Doctor is In: Dr. Krackers

I don’t usually buy crackers, because I love them. They happen to be one of my favorite snacks but I tend to show little restraint around them. There’s just something satisfying about a cracker that very few things can provide. I also love how versatile they are!

The last crackers I purchased where an organic store brand and they were disappointing. Disappointing enough that they ended up going stale and became an afternoon snack for some birds and squirrels rather than this lady. In my search for another organic cracker alternative, I was reading around the blogworld and kept seeing Dr. Krackers pop up and started to do a little of my own research.

“Dr. Krackers” aka George Eckrich has been a baker for most of his life with a lifelong interest in whole grains. He knows the products inside and out since he spent three years in Mexico working in agriculture and has “rolled more dough and pulled as many loaves of bread out of the oven as any baker.” He truly has a passion for providing a quality whole grain option to the public.

George was kind enough to offer to send me the Klassic Three Seed to try myself!

This vegan cracker was voted “Best Cracker” by Men’s Health Magazine in June. Well, if those guys on the cover like it then I probably will too Oh my, this cracker was lovely. I’m not a big fan of salty foods, generally. While I like there to be some salt on a cracker there’s a delicate balance that I was looking for. This pretty much hit it right. As a fan of seed-y bread, I loved how many sunflower seeds there were throughout. I’m not a big fan of sesame seeds because I think they can ruin a dish in the wrong hands, but their flavor and texture were blended nicely in this cracker. There was just a slight sweetness that I liked as well! It was crisp and lovely and I bet it’d make a great gateway for a creamy topping like a soft cheese or a nice jam.

The best part about this cracker is that it was a “flatbread” cracker. One flatbread was 100 kcal and perfectly portioned for me, since that’s where I tend to falter and end up with too many crackers on my plate. I had it as a side to a large salad and later with soup and it was perfect. I love portion controlled items without a ton of packaging, don’t you? When I pack my lunch in the morning, I just place one in the container with my salad and it’s ready to go! One got crumbled once and it made for an ”better than croutons” topping for me!

George is so generous that he sent me two other flatbreads to try and a lot of their other crackers as well!

I was swooning when I opened the package, but wouldn’t you!? I’ll be doing full reviews of these as I go along but this one girl can only eat so many crackers before she needs to purchase a new wardrobe (unless someone else wants to foot the bill?).

Dr. Kracker Review

I am a cracker lover and have been forever and I usually go for something thin and crispy but I finally tried Dr. Krackers crackers and flatbreads and they are hearty, crispy and yummy. They go really great with your favorite hummus. The flatbreads are great with Tofutti and Tofurky with a slice of tomato.

These crackers are much more filing than your normal crackers such as wheat thins, saltines or ritz. My favorite of these crackers is the Seedlander which has tons of pumpkin seeds- a great source of zinc. I love how Dr. Krackers crackers and flatbreads are hearty with lots of seeds that make them filling. At your next cocktail party place these on a plate near some hummus, tofuspread and/or vegan cheese and enjoy!

Green Goods: Dr. Kracker crisps, snackers and flatbreads

We’ve been munching on some new creations from Dr. Kracker, an artisan cracker company that uses whole grains, seeds and healthy oils.

Dr. Kracker’s new Culinary Crisps come in some intense flavors - Hummus Maximus, Fire Roasted Crisps, Apple Crisps and Cherry Semolina. They work wonderfully with hummus, tahini, bean, veggie and cream cheese dips, as well as hard and soft cheeses; dipped in olive oil; topped with cucumbers, apples or avocado. You get the idea. You’ll run out of crackers long before you run out of concoctions.

These new crisps are notable for their unique flavors and their crunch, and their story is a good example of how American food is turning a corner, getting back to earthier, truly healthier snacks.

…

Read the rest of this great article

Doctor Kracker Pumpkin Cheddar Crisps

Dr. Kracker crackers are made in a peanut free and tree nut free facility. They are available in 9 stupendous flavors and are made with a blend of nature’s organic whole grains and seeds.

Beth Reports: We thought these were terrific . . . So yummy and healthy . . . very crunchy, which we loved.

Read all the reports and ratings

Best Cracker

Dr. Kracker Seeded Spelt

If you haven’t been introduced to spelt yet, let me have the honors. Sometimes it’s hard to get past the grains we all so familiar with: wheat, rye, rice etc.. But our “staff of life” really consists of hundreds of different grains from around the world. Not only is it more healthy and infinitely more tasty to incorporate more grains into our diet, it is better for the environment since we become less dependent on several crops that become susceptible to disease and pests.

Spelt has ancient origins as a staple peasant food and spelt matzo is still baked in Isreal for Passover. Even though spelt was planted throughout the United States in the late 19th century, it was soon replaced by wheat. Now it is being rediscovered because it requires fewer pesticides and is tolorable to some who are allergic to wheat gluten.

Spelt is commonly sold in the form of a coarse pale bread, similar in color and in texture to light rye bread only slightly sweeter and with a nutty flavor. This is where Dr. Kracker comes in! They put this often hard to find grain into an easy to grab cracker. Forget the saltines and triscuits, these crackers peppered with sesame seeds are infinitely more flavorful.

Chances are, you’ll find these crackers at your neighborhood health food store or at Whole Foods but online purchasing opportunities are available at amazon.com and greenshopper.com. They might cost a bit more than your kitchen cabinet staples, but they’ll stick by you much longer.

Snack Review: Doctor Kracker Organic Flatbread Crackers

Reviewed by Jim on February 16, 2009

“Peace, love and crackers.”

So ends the catchy Doctor Kracker jingle performed by Tres Lunas. Honestly, these organic, whole wheat flatbread crackers have to be the hippest snacks around. I mean, Jad Fair (singer/guitarist/co-founder of the legendary punk rock band Half Japanese, collaborator for Yo La Tengo, Teenage Fanclub and Daniel Johnston) created a silly animated short for these amazing crackers!

Yes, these are the snacks all the cool kids in the neighborhood snarf on while watching ThunderCats: “But Lion-O, these crackers are too crunchy! Snarf! Snarf!” (Okay, maybe not the really cool kids.)

Despite the throwback look (think Smith Bros. cough drops - specifically the bearded bro’), the playful website and the whimsical package labels (”Gaze with awe upon the Seedlander”), the good Doctor K. is not fooling around. These are seriously tasty and nutritious snacks with a rich German history, from a region where flatbreads are a staple in the best bakeries …

All Doctor Kracker products are certified USDA organic and contain organically grown cereal grains, whole, mineral-rich bran, and organic seeds. All are excellent sources of fiber, protein, Omega-3 essential fatty acids, vitamins and iron. Each variety comes in boxes of flatbread slabs, plastic tubs of bite-size crackers, and bags of single-serving chips (really just thinner crackers).

Seedlander

Chockablock with poppy and pumpkin seeds, these were my favorites. Less crunchy than the others and with a natural sweetness, this is the only flavor containing molasses. Best enjoyed naked - no toppings whatsoever. (You may enjoy them while naked yourself, but beware of errant seeds.) Featured seeds: pumpkin, poppy, sesame, flax, millet grains.

Seeded Spelt

A subtle sweetness thanks to spelt flour, sans molasses. Sunflower seeds were plentiful, leaving a nutty finish. I enjoyed these with tart apricot jam and also, oddly enough, Dijon mustard (separately of course). Featured seeds: sunflower, sesame, flax.

Pumpkin Cheddar

Halloween all over again! Strong pumpkin seed flavor at first bite with toasted cheddar cheese undertones. Pumpkin seeds were prominent on top with other seeds buried within the cracker. Good with bits of sliced ham or a sharp cheese spread. Featured seeds: pumpkin, sunflower, flax, sesame.

Sunflower Cheddar

An earthy flavor with plenty of sunflower seeds; very subtle cheese undertones. I liked these topped with strawberry preserves or dipped in vanilla yogurt. Featured seeds: sunflower, flax, sesame.

Klassic 3 Seed

The toughest, crunchiest of the lot, these will clobber your molars. The mild flavor reminded me of those Old London Melba Toast crackers I grew up with, but tricked out and pimped into super knobby off-road crackers! The Klassic 3 Seed is best when paired with cheese or fruit (gouda and strawberry for me), and I also enjoyed them crumbled into a heaping bowl of hearty minestrone soup. Featured seeds: sunflower, flax, sesame.

I highly recommend these and would definitely try them again.

Mmm…uber crunchy

stins reviewed January 29, 2009 at 12:30 pm

I first tasted Dr. Kracker at SF Green Fest, but just the other day, I was standing in the aisles at Whole Foods contemplating which crackers to buy. I grabbed a box of Dr. Kracker’s Klassic 3 Seed Flatbreads. Let’s see…that was on Monday. It’s Thursday now. And all 8 of the flatbreads have been eaten between two of us. Yes, they’re that tasty. And I still felt like I had to restrain myself!

The box says “Uber delicious! Uber crunch” and they’re not lying. They are both uber delicious and uber crunchy. I have yet to treat myself to all the different kinds of Dr. Kracker, but believe me, it’s on the list of things to do. I ate them straight, but I would imagine they’d be super tasty with some hummus or soft cheese. Yes, I believe that would make a lovely contrast to the crunchiness of the cracker. The crackers are also organi, made with who grains, have 3g of fiber per flatbread, 5g of protein…and the box is made out of recycled cardboard.

Now the only thing is…because the flatbreads are so ladden with seeds and deliciousness, you might find you’ve accidentally left deliciousness in the form of crumbs and fallen seeds on your desk, table, floor, or elsewhere. But I think a little messy factor is well worth it. Plus, it’ll encourage you to sweep. Or take a sponge to your table. And that’s probably a good idea anyway.

UPDATE: Shortly after I finished my box of Klassics, I picked up a box of Sunflower Cheddar. Mmm…mmmmmmmm….mmmm!!! Yeah that’s right. Three “mmm’s.” So very tasty.

• Value: 4.5 star rating
• Taste: 5 star rating
• Nutrition: 4.5 star rating
• Product Eco-Score: 5 star rating
• Company Eco-Score: 5 star rating
• Overall: 5 star rating

Pros: Crunchy, not wimpy, organic, full of good ingredients, delicious

Cons: You might leave seeds all over your table, floor, or shirt front