Healthy Cravings Crave Nuts!
It’s a good day. I am visiting Oklahoma City’s Farmer’s Market District. It’s actually a great day because I’m spending it with Matt and Amy Gilson of Healthy Cravings and Crave Nuts! at the Urban Agrarian Earth Elements Entrepreneurs Kitchen. I’m taking the day off from my own kitchen, grabbing some beer, and exploring snacks.
About a year ago, Amy and Matt Gilson branched off their successful Paleo-friendly snack line of Healthy Cravings and onto artistically crafted and flavored nut and seed blends. The idea has turned into a thriving off-shoot of healthy and flavorful snacking that, fantastically enough, pairs well with beers!
With twelve different flavors of their nut and seed blends, and a seasonal mix thrown in for good measure, the art of beer making and drinking has a friend in Crave Nuts! These flavor-forward, natural blends can be found at some of our local watering holes and at beer and street festivals. Check out Crave Nuts! on social media to find other pop up locations.
“I’m a beer geek, and my friends are beer geeks. Amy and I wanted to come up with a snacking idea that was still Paleo-friendly, flavor forward, and that paired nicely with different styles of beer,” Matt Gilson tells me in the Urban Agrarian Entrepreneurs Kitchen, while mixing a five pound batch of Bee’s Knees Nut Blend (coconut oil, honey, cinnamon, and a whole lot of goodness).
“With all the flavors and styles we offer, I took them to my fellow beer geeks to sample and help pair with different styles of beer. They have to taste good, and these guys are going to tell me if it’s good or not,” Matt continues while taking the Bee’s Knees back to the oven for a final roast that will seal in the honey coating.
While Matt tells me about his beer geekiness, Amy plates up small samples of their different blends. “Do you like spicy? We may have to get you some water,” Amy giggles. “The Scorpion Sweat has eight different peppers.”
The eight pepper blend is fantastic, and I find it gratifying to hear Matt talk about actually smoking jalapeño himself, grinding it to a fine powder, and adding it to their pepper blend. He smokes whole cloves of fresh garlic for their Vampire Slayer nut and seed blend, and it’s brilliant. Their spice cache is a testament to how quality flavorings and careful sampling enable a small food business to stand out.
Crave Nuts! covers the flavor spectrum. From lightly sweet to fiery hot, from cocoa or matcha to smoked garlic and curry, the perfect pairing between your favorite beer and a Crave Nuts! blend awaits your discovery.
