Versatile Soup Bases

Watkins Soup and Gravy bases are among the products on sale in October. If you've never tried any of the Watkins Soup and Gravy bases, you need to! They might look similar to any old can of soup, but these are NOT the same as typical condensed soup that makes one or two servings. These are dry mixes, that make up to 50 servings or more. So they are very economical. Plus, they have so many uses for flavoring all kinds of dishes other than soup and gravy.

Watkins Soup and Gravy Base flavors:
Beef
Cheese
Chicken
Cream
Mexican
Mushroom
Onion
Six Onion

And these two Gourmet Gravy Bases
Country Gourmet
Roasted Turkey

Additionally, Baked Potato Soup is part of this year's Seasonal Favorites line.

Here is how associates and cutomers use these bases:

• I don't make much soup, so this may sound strange, but my favorite Watkins cooking products are the soup bases. I use them for so many things, sprinkling on chicken when I bake it, simmering it with rice, tossing it in with roasted potatoes. The uses are endless, and the results make the simplest dish seem like you really know what you're doing.
  
• I love the Chicken Soup mix! It got my kids to eat veggies after my mother-in-law used it in the cooking water.
  
• One of my favorite products is the Beef Soup Base. Before trying this product my children would not eat roast and after several days we would have to throw away left overs. Now we're lucky to get one meal out of a roast with my kids.
  
• The Mushroom Soup Base is a huge time saver for making homemade speghetti sauce. Instead of cooking my sauce of hours I now add a few tablespoons of Mushroom Soup Base. It thickens my sauce and adds a lovely light mushroom flavour that even my picky step-daughter can deal with.


• My single most favorite product is the onion soup. I like being able to fix a cup of good soup instantly. My favorite soup is a pack of ramen noodles (throw away their seasonings), some pepperoni (turkey is best, less fat) and two teaspoons of the onion soup. It's delicious and ready in a couple of minutes.
  
• I take a bag of frozen green beans or green peas and I mix in 1 Tbsp of butter/margarine, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1 Tbsp splenda (or sugar if you prefer), a couple shakes of Garlic Liquid Spice, 2 Tbsp of water and 2 Tbsp of the Six Onion Soup base, then microwave for about 5 minutes, and sprinkle with Minced Green Onion right before serving.
  
• We have a customer who's step-dad recently had part of his tongue amputated due to cancer. Due to the chemo, his taste buds are about shot. My customer said that she needs more Beef Soup base, that she is almost out. You see, the only thing that the family found that "dad" will eat is our Watkins Beef Soup Base, because, it is the only thing that he can taste and he LOVES the flavor.


• I just returned from a Good Tastings party and I made a Six Onion Cheese Ball, What a hit! Everyone loved it. I have also tried the Six Onion Mashed Potatoes and are those yummy! (Six Onion Cheeseball recipe). Choose Recipes - Appetizers.

Product Tips:

• You can find other great recipes for the Soup and Gravy bases by going to Watkins Online, then click Recipes (in the left-hand column), and use the Recipe Search box to enter the item number of a Soup or Gravy flavor (for example, 21175 for Beef or 21176 for Chicken).


• If a recipe calls for a "cream" soup, like cream of mushroom or cream of chicken, just whip up one of the Watkins bases according to the "gravy" directions, which would typically be about the same consistency as a cream-style soup.

Living Naturally

These days, everyone is making a greater effort to conserve the planet's resources. Words like carbon footprint, sustainability, and Green have become common place. We are all taking a closer look at how our day-to-day activities impact the resources we leave for future generations. Watkins has been a pioneer in living naturally and we want to share with you what Living Naturally means to Watkins and more importantly what it means to you and your customers.

So what is Living Naturally to Watkins?

A way of life. Watkins is striving to be the most trusted natural products company and Living Naturally speaks to all of our product categories. From sourcing raw materials, to manufacturing, and delivery, Watkins is working toward sustainability in every aspect of our business!

What Living Naturally means to our Associates and Customers?

Living Naturally means each of our customers can expect consistent products and service at an affordable price, all with the sustainability of our planets resources in mind.

With internal expertise, we can assure you that Watkins natural products have been developed, manufactured and delivered with dedication to environmental sustainability. We have taken the burden off your shoulders so that you can make an anxiety free purchase since Watkins natural products are made in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.

Watkins has been a pioneer in natural living, utilizing the finest natural ingredients since 1868. We continue our commitment to you and the environment by implementing processes that reduce waste and conserve energy.

Watkins promise is to continue our Living Naturally philosophy for generations to come.

Watkins 2008 Seasonal Favorites and Gift Giving Ideas

Each year during the fall holiday season Watkins offers their associates and customers a special assortment of products. These products are designed for holiday baking, entertaining, and gift giving.

Here is a list of products, uses, and gift ideas.

Anise Extract

Use in making holiday anise cookies or springerle cookies (one of Germany’s most famous holiday sweets).

Use in making biscotti.

Recipe at www.WatkinsOnline.com/eleisiawhitney under Gift Line recipes:
Crystal Cut Candy

Gift Idea
Wrap Crystal Cut Candy in cello bag and give as a gift, along with Anise Extract and recipe card. Wrap in festive cello with raffia or in a festive tin with bow.

Gift Idea
Fishermen put Anise Extract on bait to attract fish. They tell us it works like magic! Place Watkins Anise Extract, Lemon Pepper, Insect Repellent and Sun Block in a tackle box, or wrap them in netting (like a fish net) and attach to a fishing pole.

Hazelnut Extract

Add to coffee (best when extract is added to coffee grounds before brewing).

Add to iced coffee or cappuccino.

Add to whipped cream, cream cheese or whipped topping for a dessert, coffee topping or fruit/bagel spread.

Add to oatmeal.

Add to fudge and brownie recipes.

Recipes at www.WatkinsOnline.com/eleisiawhitney under Gift Line recipes:
· Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse
· Chocolate Truffles
· Hazelnut Toffee Crunch Pie
· Carol’s Drop Cookies

Gift Idea
Prepare truffles and give as a gift in a decorative package along with the recipe and extract.

Gift Idea
Give extract along with coffee.

Irish Cream Extract

Add to coffee (best when extract is added to coffee grounds before brewing).

Add to iced coffee or cappuccino.

Add to fudge and brownie recipes.

Add to ice cream and ice cream drinks.

Recipes at www.WatkinsOnline.com/eleisiawhitney under Gift Line recipes:
· Chocolate Truffles
· Irish Cream Caramels
· Irish Cream Pie
· Vanilla Custard Tarts with Irish Cream Sauce
· Carol’s Drop Cookies

Gift Idea
Prepare truffles or caramels and give as a gift in a decorative package along with the recipe and extract.

Gift Idea
Give extract along with coffee.

Seasonal Favorites Bread Mixes

The following bread mixes are simple and easy to prepare and make a great breakfast or the perfect snack for an office, class party, or a wonderful welcome to a new member of your neighborhood. Add the pumpkin butter or a compatible recipe for dip spread, along with the required Watkins ingredients, and you’ll have a lovely gift giving set.

Orange Spice Bread Mix

Gift Idea
Combine the orange spice bread mix with some ginger, rum & orange extract
with the Aloha Fruit Dip recipe www.WatkinsOnline.com/eleisiawhitney to use as a delicious spread. Wrap in a festive tea towel.

Apple Spice Bread Mix

Gift Idea
Give Apple Spice Bread Mix along with Watkins Cinnamon.

Pumpkin Bread Mix

Gift Idea
Pair this delightful bread with Watkins Cinnamon and Nutmeg.

Snickerdoodles Cookie Mix

Gift Idea
Pair with anyone of the Hot Cocoa Mixes and a Mug.

Pumpkin Butter
This sweet, rich spread is wonderful on Watkins Good Tastings Bread and anyone of the seasonal favorites bread mixes.

Gift Idea
Wrap with Pumpkin Bread Mix in a festive cello wrapper and tie with curly ribbon.

Limited Edition Hot Cocoa Mixes

Peppermint Stick Cocoa

Gift Idea
Package with mug and chocolate dipped candy canes or peppermint sticks for stirring.

Gift Idea
Pamper with Peppermint – Place Peppermint Stick Cocoa, Watkins Peppermint Foot Scrub and Foot Cream in a decorative basket with a decorative towel.

White Chocolate Almond Cocoa

Gift Idea
Wrap White Chocolate Almond Cocoa with a DVD you know your gift receiver will love along with a small bag of almonds or popcorn. Everything needed for a perfect movie night!

Raspberry Hot Cocoa

Gift Idea
Package with mug and a small box of Raspberry Truffles.

Cinna-Cream Sprinkles

Sprinkle on toast, oatmeal, French toast.

Mix with sour cream for a perfect fruit dip.

Mix with cream cheese for a bagel spread.

Sprinkle on apples or use in baked apples.

Add to coffee or coffee grounds.

Gift Idea
Wrap Cinna-Cream Sprinkles with Watkins Hazelnut Extract and your favorite coffee. You have just treated your gift-receiver to a hot cup of coffee that only tastes expensive.

Cream of Tartar

Gives a creamier texture to candy and frostings.

Will stabilize meringues in pies and cookies.

Essential for the perfect angel food cake.

The secret ingredient for making the best gingerbread houses.

Great for making candy canes and divinity.

Bread puddings and Irish soda bread will taste even better.

Gift Idea
Wrap with Hazelnut Extract. This will be perfect for baking fans on your list!

Nutmeg, 6 oz Collectable Tin

Great value size just in time for everyone’s baking season. Convenient tin is great for eggnog, custard, hot drinks and spice cookies.

Gift Idea
The perfect host gift during the holidays.

Baked Potato Soup

Use for making potato soup and cream sauce.

Use to flavor mashed potatoes, vegetables and meat.

Use for making cream sauce and onion gravy; use for biscuits and gravy.

Use to flavor hamburgers, meatloaf and meatballs.

Gift Idea
Package Soup Base with soup bowls, Good Tastings Bread Mix, Watkins Pepper and crackers.

Gold Medal Sampler

Gift Idea
Gift giving made simple. This assortment is packaged and ready to wrap, add a bow, or give as is.

Turkey Rub

Make seasoning your turkey a littler easier this year. This convenient pre-mixed rub is full of herbs and spices to enhance turkey’s flavor.

Gift Idea
Combine with Watkins Grapeseed Oil - makes a great host gift for the holidays.

Food Coloring, 1 oz. trial mark

Available in red, yellow, green and blue.

Add a teaspoon into frosting mix for the perfect piping for all your holiday sugar cookies and cakes.

Gift Idea
Pair them with a frosting recipe or with Cream of Tartar and a recipe card for Watkins play dough for the “young at heart.”

Watkins Cooked Playdough
2 cups/500 mL all-purpose flour
1 cup/250 mL salt
2 Tbsp/30 mL Watkins Cream of Tartar
2 ½ cups/625 mL water
¼ tsp/1.2 mL Watkins Food Coloring
2 Tbsp/30 mL cooking oil
Watkins Extracts of choice: Anise, Peppermint, Almond, Strawberry, Orange, Banana, Coconut

Combine dry ingredients in a saucepan. Add water and oil. Heat stirring constantly until the
dough comes away from the side of the pan and forms a ball. Cool. Divide in half and knead in
food coloring and 1 tsp/5 mL extract of choice until smooth. Store in a plastic bag or container in
the refrigerator. Keeps for months! Makes 4 cups.

Home Care Sampler
Our #1 selling sampler kit for the season and a great way to get customers hooked on the J.R. Watkins Natural Home Care line.

Gift Idea
Gift giving made simple – just add a bow or ribbon and you’re set to go!

Pucker Up 2-Pack
The dynamic duo that’s a must for every stocking stuffer. Combination of the Tickled Pink and Simply Mauve-lous Lip Tints that are 100% natural with a hint of color and the sensation from
the peppermint oil is fantastic! Watch your repeat business fly with this pairing – they’re highly addictive!

Gift Idea
Stocking stuffer, host gift, teacher’s gift. Pre-packaged so all you need to do is add a bow or some raffia.

Total Body Gift Pack
Full size products of mango fragranced personal care. Complete with body oil, hand & body lotion and body cream.

Gift Idea
Great host reward, raffle item or door prize at your next Good Tastings event, open house or customer appreciation event. Perfect gift for everyone you know that could use some extra pampering.

Pomegranate Spice Sink Set
Complete with both natural liquid hand soap and hand & body lotion fragranced with the sweet aroma of pomegranate and a hint of winter spice. Don’t forget to replenish this sink set with
Watkins Natural Hand & Body Lotions and Liquid Hand Soaps.

Gift Idea
Combine with a bath/hand towel set.

Shop for holiday baking, entertaining, and gift giving at http://www.watkinsonline.com/eleisiawhitney

Watkins Autumn Contest

Watkins Autumn Contest

Autumn arrives Monday September 22nd so it's time for our Watkins Autumn Contest! Autumn makes me think of apples and pumpkins! Use these products to make delicious goodies for your family. Besides Watkins products I threw in a Vanilla Bottle-Shaped Kitchen Timer, a small pumpkin-face bowl for candy or nuts, a pumpkin-shaped jello mold, and a trivet.

This assortment includes
Pumpkin Bread Mix
Pumpkin Butter
Original Double-Strength Vanilla, 2 fl oz/59 ml
Purest Ground Cinnamon, 2 oz/56 g
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Cinna-Cream Sprinkles
Apple Bake Seasoning
Cinnamon Cocoa
Poultry Seasoning
Vanilla Bottle-Shaped Kitchen Timer
Small Pumpkin-Shaped Bowl
Silcone Pumpkin-Shaped Mold
Silicone Trivet

The value of the assortment is $70.97! All are full-sized products, not samples.

This contest is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.

To enter:
Place an order for Watkins products with me and you will automatically be entered in the drawing for the Autumn assortment. My Watkins ID# is 335001. Place your order at http://www.watkinsonline.com/eleisiawhitney, by phone (Watkins order entry 1-800-928-5467), or by mail to Watkins Incorporated, P.O. Box 5570, Winona, MN 55987-0570. Please give my ID# 335001 and name as your Watkins Associate. When I receive your order confirmation from Watkins I will send you an email acknowledging your order and entering you in the contest.

Or
1. Write a post about the Watkins Autumn Contest on your blog.
2. Leave a comment below that you have posted about the giveaway on your blog.
3. Send an email to eleisiawhitney@watkinsonline.com giving me your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner.

I'll choose a winner at the end of the day on September 30th and post the winner here on October 1st!

Contests and prizes are offered by me and not Watkins, Inc. or other Independent Associates.

The Pumpkin Bread Mix, Pumpkin Butter, and Cinna-Cream Sprinkles are available only during the fall and winter holiday season (September - December). You'll find them under Gifts at my Watkins Online web site. The Pumpkin Butter tastes great on pumpkin bread, muffins, bread, toast, bagels, biscuits, or Watkins Good Tastings Bread. And here’s a recipe for cupcakes that uses Pumpkin Butter as an ingredient.

Pumpkin Butter Cupcakes

2 1/4 cups/560 ml all-purpose flour
1 tbsp/15 ml Watkins Baking Powder
1/2 tsp/2.5 ml baking soda
1/2 tsp/2.5 ml salt
1/2 tsp/2.5 ml Watkins Cinnamon
1/2 tsp/2.5 ml Watkins Ginger
1/2 tsp/2.5 ml Watkins Nutmeg
1/2 cup/125 ml butter, softened
1 1/3 cups/325 ml sugar
2 eggs
1 cup/250 ml Watkins Pumpkin Butter
3/4 cup/180 ml milk
3/4 cup/180 ml chopped walnuts

In medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In large bowl cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs. Blend in pumpkin butter. Stir in dry ingredients and milk, blending until batter is smooth. Stir in chopped walnuts. Spoon batter into paper lined muffin tins. Fill about 2/3 full. Bake at 375 degrees F/190 degrees C for 18 to 22 minutes. Makes 16 cupcakes.

Brown Sugar Frosting

1/4 cup/60 ml butter
6 tbsp/90 ml brown sugar
6 tbsp/90 ml half-and-half
2 cups/500 ml powdered sugar
1 tsp/5 ml Watkins Vanilla

In 2 quart/ 2 liter saucepan melt butter over mediumj heat. Add brow sugar and ahal-and-half. Continue cooking, strirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil (2 to 3 minutes). Let cool to spreading consistemcy (5 to 10 minutes). Frost cupcakes.

Start blogging or place your order now!

Eleisia
Watkins Independent Associate

Natural Lip Care

What's In? 100% Natural Lip Care!

Protect your lips with renewable resources from Mother Earth! Watkins natural lip care offers unsurpassed protection and because it is formulated with natural beeswax, not petrolatum (a petroleum by-product) like those other lip balms, you can rest assured earth's environment is protected too! Our light weight, natural formula contains vitamin E and natural shea butter to provide a protective barrier against dry, chapped lips.

With our natural Lip Tints you get all the benefits of our 100% natural beeswax lip balms, with a hint of color! They go on smooth and are perfect for your morning makeup routine or on the go.

Choose from four attractive shades:
20223 Berry Charming
20222 Simply Mauve-lous
20221 Strike-a-Rose
20220 Tickled Pink

Naturally flavored with pure peppermint oil.
(.0.9 oz/2.55 g)
$4.99 each



Pucker Up Two Pack
Two of our most popular 100% natural lip tints are coupled together to offfer you or the one you love a perfect pucker! The special two pack contains Tickled Pink and Simply Mauve-lous.

Makes a perfect stocking stuffer
Lip tints provide all the benefits of our Natural Beeswax Lip Balm

20225(.0.9 oz/2.55 g each) Regularly $9.98 Special $7.99

Shop at www.NotJustVanilla.com

Be Label Savvy!

From 1901 to 1918 and 1934 to 1948 Watkins published an Almanac and Home Book filled with valuable information for all Watkins customers. Times have changed but Watkins still loves to share helpful tips that are safe for your home and the environment!

In the personal care segment many companies are applying "natural" to their product labels. Without a governing agency to set natural standards for personal care, any brand on the market can call itself natural, regardless of its ingredients. Definitely deceiving to consumers!

Without set standards it is easy to see why consumers are confused! With Watkins you can trust our entire line of 95% and above natural personal care products are natural. But just how do you decipher the truly natural products from impostors? Watkins Natural Personal Care Product Manager Andrea Buckner sat down with me to explain and offer a few helpful tips.

What makes a personal care product natural?

The ingredients in a product determines if a product is truly natural or not. At Watkins, we believe that in order to call a product natural, the product as a whole needs to be formulated using natural ingredients. In an ideal world, all of our products would be 100% natural, and that is something we are striving for; however, there are circumstances when a natural substitution is not available. We take into consideration the origin of ingredients, as well as the processes that it may under take to be a useable ingredient in personal care products. Just because a product contains one or two natural ingredients, doesn't mean it's truly a natural product.

What are the clues we should be looking for on the label that tell us the product is not truly natural?

Because the market is not regulated, being label savvy is really important when it comes to natural personal care products. If you see parabens (Methyl-, Propyl-, Ethyl-, Butyl-), petrochemicals (petrolatum, mineral oil, paraffin), chemical sunscreens (Oxybenzone/Avobenzone),or phthalates, you can be sure the product is not natural. Also, be apprehensive when you see a personal care product that says all-natural, made with natural, contains natural. . . .etc. Check the ingredients!

What if a product contains a natural ingredient? Is it natural?

Definitely not! There are companies out there who do this exact thing. Their lotion contains natural lavender oil, so they call it a natural lavender lotion. This is very deceiving to the consumer, but because natural personal care is not regulated, companies get away with stuff like this. This is why we put our natural percentage bar on each product that we have. We are honest with the consumer.

But it says "natural" or "organic" on the label.

Correct, and legally the companies can call it what they want. Recently, however the Natural Products Association (NPA) has stepped forward with a set of guidelines that have defined what 'natural' means. At Watkins, we are in the process of having all of our natural personal care products certified by the NPA, which will allow us to put a seal on each product. This seal ensures the consumer that the products they are purchasing are truly natural. It also helps to separate those who are not natural companies. I encourage everyone to visit their website at www.naturalproductsassoc.org it contains a wealth of information on natural personal care.

What ingredients should we steer clear of?

As mentioned above, there are a handful of ingredients that natural products steer clear of. At Watkins, we have developed what we call our Freedom Code. We adhere to this code in the development and formulation of J.R. Watkins Natural Apothecary.

Parabens
Chemical Sunscreens
Petro Chemicals
Glycols
Phthalates
DEA/TEA-synthetic stabilizers
Formaldehyde Donors
1,4 Dioxanes
Polymers
Acrylates
Carbomer
PVP
Chemical Preservatives
Silicones
Quats
Talc

Bottom line, read your labels! As the old saying goes, you can't always trust a book by its' cover, or in this case, a natural personal care product by its' label.

Shop for Watkins Natural Products at www.NotJustVanilla.com