We have long been a fan of Superseedz, the best pumpkin seeds we’ve ever had.

Now, the line has added organic varieties (photo #1).

Editor’s Note: Those seeds growing inside a thick-skinned squash are safe from surface pesticides, but consumers want what consumers want: the word “organic” on the package.

The flavors include:

 
Eat them from the bag, toss them onto cottage cheese or yogurt, pasta (photo #2) or grains. Garnish salads and, with the new Dark Chocolate Sea & Salt flavor, garnish cupcakes and other desserts.

In addition to the crunchy great taste, you’ll be adding protein, magnesium and iron.

Don’t overlook the regular line:

 
Allergen-friendly, Superseedz are gluten free, nut free, egg free, dairy free, fish and shellfish free and soy free (except for the curry flavor). They have up to 9g of protein per ounce, and provide 15% RDI of iron and zinc.

For guilt-free snacking, see them all at Superseedz.com.
 
 
2. AQUASANA CLEAN WATER MACHINE

If you prefer filtering your tap water to purchasing water—whether to please your palate or to eliminate contaminants—you may have tried a Britta or ZeroWater pitcher filtration device, or even a larger countertop unit.

But if you’re kitchen-space-challenged as we are, you have neither space in the fridge nor on the counter top for one—without sacrificing something else.

Thanks to Aquasana, we no longer have that limitation. The company, which specializes in water filters for sinks and showers—plus handsome individual water bottles with built-in filters—has come up with a space saver countertop unit that nicely hugs the side of the kitchen counter next to the fridge (photo #3).

The Clean Water Machine has the same Aquasana professional filtration system that keeps the good minerals dissolved in your tap water (calcium, magnesium, potassium). It filterd out 99% of asbestos, chlorine and lead, and 96% of 62 other harmful contaminants, including pesticides and pharmaceuticals.

Just 4.5 inches wide and 17 inches long, the Aquasana Clean Water Machine dispenses a gallon of filtered water by the glassful or the pitcherful, and includes a glass carafe (photo #4) to bring to the table.

The device is electric, and claims to remove “10x more contaminants than leading gravity pitchers.”

Instead of slowly trickling through the filter via gravity, Aquasana’s electricity-driven motor filters a half gallon in a minute.

Two filters, each making 320 gallons of clean water, are included.

 
Aquasana Clean Water Machine is available in black or white, and is sold at retailers including Costco, e-tailers and from the company website.

The list price is $129.99 ($124.99 at Costco), but today the Aquasana website offered us a 30% discount on anything.

[1] Superseedz: one of our favorite snacks and garnishes, available in snack and family packs (photo courtesy Superseedz).

[2] Superseeds as a garnish: Add crunch, flavor and nutrition (photo courtesy Superseedz).

[3] The space-saving Aquasana Clean Water Machine fits snugly against the fridge (photo courtesy Aquasana).

[4] You can bring the built-in pitcher to the table, or fill the graceful carafe, included (photo courtesy Aquasana).

[5] and [6] Leonardo’s Pizza Sauce (photos courtesy Leonardo’s).

3. LEONARDO’S PIZZA SAUCE

The majority of commercial pasta and pizza sauces are made with average tomatoes—those with no natural sweetness (they’re cheaper for the manufacturers).

As a result, the sauces are are typically sweetened with sugar or corn syrup, resulting in hidden sugar that no one needs, plus a sauce that often tastes sugary.

Many Americans have grown to accept that everything from mustard to vinaigrette has added sugar. Personally, we dislike sugary notes in savory food, and eschew the practice of adding sugar.

When we find an NSA (no sugar added) brand that tastes really good—like a tomato sauce should—we give it a shout-out.

In 1990, Leonardo’s Pizza began as one pizzeria in Burlington, Vermont. It got so much attention, People’s Choice Awards, professional and Yelp reviews, that it opened more pizzerias in New England.

When home-baked pizza began trending, Leonardo’s bottled their sauces for home cooks, in:

 
Pizza sauce is typically thinner than pasta sauce, so it spreads evenly and flatly on the crust (chunkier sauce is designed to cling to strands of pasta). Leonardo’s aims to give you the best:

“We hunt for the most delicious vine-ripened tomatoes. We gather the finest cheese we can lay hands on. And we combine them with extra virgin olive oil and selected spices. This produces intense flavors, setting a strong foundation for your homemade pie.”

We had fun pairing the sauces:

Buy the sauces online from Leonardo’s, or from these retailers.