Most of you didn't know me (Chris) as pre-Pickle Lady. Just before I started Pickles-N-Things in 2004, I had lost over 60 lbs! Most people didn't recognize me if they didn't see me on a regular basis. I had been overweight for over 5 years & learned how to loose & manage weight loss through a popular point counting program. The purpose of selling my favorite home cooked products was the reason for starting Pickles-N-Things. That is still true today, but many of our newer products are a result of not finding what I want on the market as I continue to eat cleaner & to heal my body through diet, not drugs. Early on, we converted every jam we could to be much lower in sugar so you can taste the fruit first & not that sicky sweet you get in your mouth from jams loaded with too much sugar. Remember, you get what you pay for, sugar is cheaper than fruit.
In 2013, I mad the choice to eat gluten free after finding out that gluten can exacerbate eczema. As a toddler, a doctor diagnosed me as being allergic to oats, wheat & barley. Gluten Free didn't exist back then, but after hearing this I put the two together. Since then, I've studied what to eat or not to eat & it has turned into a journey to a more healthy me. I've discovered I need to be grain, sugar & potato free & that everything we eat has a direct effect on our health. Processed foods have have so many additives, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup & chemicals like MSG (don't even get me started on that evil ingredient!) Click here for the hidden ways it's added to your food!
The reason I created our Zesty Italian Dressing & Dip Mix was because I couldn't find Italian dressing either bottled or a dry mix that didn't have chemicals, gluten, fillers, etc. in them. See labels of the commercial stuff I found:
Did you know Smuckers uses Red Dye #40 in their low sugar strawberry jam! Who needs that? Research has associated food dyes with problems in children including allergies, hyperactivity, learning impairment, irritability and aggressiveness. Our Strawberry Shortcake Jam is nice & red all on it's own. Click here to read what's in your dyed food
Find out how using real fresh squeezed lemon & lime juice sets us apart from all the other jams including the "home made" ones! Don't assume that just because a product is made in small batches or has that "home made" look it has the purest of ingredients.
