Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Pork Chops, Peaches and Pet Peeves

June 8, 2015 by Mary 34 Comments

I don’t know about you, but some things I cannot understand. (now I sound like my mother – hmmm, not necessarily a totally bad thing) Like, why aren’t people at home at dinnertime and sitting down and eating a proper meal? I see kids on the bus eating 6 mini powdered sugar covered doughnuts at dinnertime. Kids running on the street with 2 packs of Milk Duds grasped in their hands. I, for one, happen to hate cocktail parties or small plates the whole night long. At some point, I want to sit down, eat some real food, a real dinner, on a plate. My five brothers and me, we’re all the same. It drives some of my sister-in-laws crazy. I have friends who LOVE cocktail parties/small plates as the whole dinner. I was taught to not spoil your appetite and have a real dinner, so I hardly eat anything at those events, and then if there’s nothing more, I’m in trouble!

Once, when we were kids, we took a family vacation down south. One of my Dad’s close business friends had a daughter getting married. Now at that time in the South, (maybe it’s still true today) they believed that a fancy wedding consisted of an endless champagne fountain (probably of very good champagne), cucumber sandwiches and cake! Well, here we were, 6 kids, and starving for dinner. I remember that EVERYONE got really drunk, except my mother, who didn’t think it was very funny. She was so angry and in her opinion, I remember her saying to my Dad, “John, these children are starving for dinner. Can’t these rich people feed anyone?” and begging him to leave to go anywhere to get some food for all of us. I must have been about 5 or 6 years old but it made such an impression on me.

And here I am, quite the same today. Tomorrow, we will go to a cocktail party benefit at The Apollo Theater, starting at 6:30 and I will want to leave soon after to come home to eat a dinner that I will make – Buttermilk Roast Chicken that has been marinating since Saturday. Easy, if you plan it!

Last night I threw together this combo – pork chops with peaches, sweet onions, and shallots with some roasted zucchini. It was delicious. And we were sitting down.

PORK CHOPS WITH PEACHES, SWEET ONIONS AND SHALLOTS – serves 3
3 pork chops with tenderloin section, 3/4” thick
11/2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
Mary’s cocoa spice rub on one side of chops, S + P on the other side
1/2 large Vidalia onion, cut in 1/4 “ thick slices
2 small shallots, peeled and cut into 1/4” slices
3 smallish white peaches, washed, cored and cut into 8 slices
1/3 cup dry white wine (I used a Vouvrey)
Parsley, chopped for garnish

This spice rub is just terrific to have around for use on pork, duck, or chicken. Use a mini spice grinder and keep it in a tightly closed glass jar or plastic container.

MARY’s COCOA SPICE RUB
1 tbs. raw cocoa nibs/cacao
1.5 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. whole black peppercorns
8 juniper berries
4 whole cloves
Combine everything in a mini spice grinder and pulse until finely ground.

Wash pork chops and dry with a paper towel. Season one side of the chops with a heavy sprinkling of the spice rub.

Melt the butter in the oil in a large skillet on low heat. Add sliced onions and shallots, cover for about 10 minutes. Raise heat to medium high. Add chops, seasoned side down and let cook for 4 – 5 minutes, uncovered. Salt and pepper the top side, turn the chops and add the peaches all over. Cook for another 2 minutes, then add the wine and cook for another 2 -4 minutes, uncovered, until just done, 140 degrees. Remove the chops to a platter and let rest for 5 minutes.

Keep the sauce and peaches warm on low heat and slightly covered.

After meat has finished resting, pour peaches, onions and juices overall, garnish with chopped parsley and serve with LOVE.

Shirataki Harvest Noodles Marinara with Grilled Chicken

May 29, 2015 by Mary 15 Comments

I love pasta. Doesn’t everyone? But you know, it is fattening. Well what if there was a “pasta” that was actually low in carbohydrates and calories? That is exactly what this Shirataki Harvest Noodles Marinara with Grilled Chicken dish is all about! I created this entree with the last product from our spring box. Adding grilled chicken to these saucy noodles makes a fully satisfying, delicious meal that is actually low in calories!

Really.

This “pasta” noodle is made from konjac yam root flour. Full of fiber, it is a secret weight loss food popular in Asia. This ready-to-eat version from Harvest Foods, is in a delicious, light marinara sauce that is just perfect to pair with the skinless, boneless grilled chicken breasts. Plus, this is super easy to make and ready in a jiffy. For the shirataki noodles, just a couple of minutes in the microwave and you’re ready to go. Additionally, the noodles by themselves are vegan. If you would like to keep it an overall vegan dish, adding some grilled eggplant would be a good substitute for the grilled chicken.

Here’s how I prepared the dish:

SHIRATAKI HARVEST NOODLES MARINARA WITH GRILLED CHICKEN – serves 2

2 packages of Shirataki Harvest Noodles Marinara
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Olive oil spray
Italian parsley or basil for garnish
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Wash and pat dry the chicken breasts. Season both sides with salt, pepper and a little dried oregano as shown in the picture. Let sit for 30 – 45 minutes on the countertop.

Light a grill or heat up a grill pan on the stovetop. Spray the grill or grill pan with olive oil spray to prevent sticking. Grill the breast, turning once, until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 – 160 degrees. Remove to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes.

Heat up the Shirataki noodles for 2 minutes in the microwave, following the package instructions. Be sure to puncture the top cover to let air escape. Pour noodles and sauce into a flat pasta bowl.

Slice the chicken breast on an angle and place in a layer on top of the Shirataki noodles. Grate Parmesan cheese on top, garnish with parsley or basil and serve with LOVE.

Skinny, healthy and easy never tasted so good!

The Shirataki Harvest Noodles Marinara is the last item from our MARY’s secret ingredients spring box. Don’t miss out on the summer box that mails June 25^th. You can order that here.

Chelsea Market Baskets Oatie Bites Fruit Crisp

May 27, 2015 by Mary 15 Comments

These little cookies from Chelsea Market Baskets are buttery, crisp, full of oats and totally delicious! This is the sixth item from our MARY’s secret ingredients spring box and I’d say they’re addictive. So, my thought with this recipe was to combine them with healthy fruit to be able to justify eating more of them! In your box, you either got a Banoffee flavor, which Is a traditional Scottish combo of banana and vanilla or Maple Pecan. Either flavor works in this Chelsea Market Baskets Oatie Bites Fruit Crisp recipe.

First, a little background on the heritage of these cookies. Donald Reid started this family-run bakery located in Thurso, Scotland in 1966 using his grandmother’s over 100 year-old recipes. He uses the exact same locally grown oats from the exact same mills that his grandmother used to bake her amazing biscuits and cakes. The recipes are unchanged, and we’re so glad about that!

We get savor these cookies via Chelsea Market Baskets, NYC’s premier specialty food and gift basket store. Owner, David Porat searches the world for distinctly high quality, unique, innovative products with a certain indescribable charm, and we can see why these Oatie Bites fit right in his specifications. Chelsea Market Baskets aims to delight customers through their retail shop in NYC, mail order gift business and wholesale imports. And that they do!

Here’s the recipe:

CHELSEA MARKET BASKETS OATIE BITES FRUIT CRISP – serves 6 – 8

10 large strawberries, washed, cored and each sliced into 3 or 4 thick slices
1 pint blueberries, washed
3 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
1 tsp. lemon juice

TOPPING;
12 Oatie Bites cookies, Banoffee or Maple Pecan flavored
3 Tbs. unsalted cold butter, plus more for buttering pan
1 Tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg, preferably fresh grated

Preheat over to 375 degrees.

Butter an 8” x 8” glass baking dish.

Make sure the fruit is air dried before proceeding. Combine the fruit in the buttered dish. Sprinkle the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice on top and toss all gently to combine with a rubber spatula.

Prepare the topping: Break the cookies into small pieces in a bowl. Sprinkle on cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and place in the bowl. Combine all with a pastry cutter to make the streusel topping.

Distribute the topping evenly over the fruit.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 – 30 minutes, until the fruit is bubbly on the edges.

Serve warm, with LOVE. If you want to be really decadent, you could add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream, but it is not necessary.

This was so good, I’m making it again tomorrow night for a little weeknight dinner party!

The Chelsea Market Baskets Oatie Bites were in our MARY’s secret ingredients spring box. The summer box will mail on June 25th. You won’t want to miss it!

Cit-Trease Peeler

May 25, 2015 by Mary 10 Comments

The pith of any citrus fruit is the most bitter part. You don’t want any piece of it and with this Cit-Trease peeler, you can kiss all those pithy parts away!!

Chef’s Planet, goal in life as a company, is to make your life in the kitchen easy and fun!! They are constantly thinking of new ways to make cooking simpler and more enjoyable!

This clever tool makes it easy to remove citrus from the peel so you can enjoy fresh fruit cut up in a bowl or throw the whole peeled half in a juicer for your smoothie. Simply cut your citrus fruit in half and score the citrus in a complete rotation by placing the blade teeth at the edge of the peel. Continue rotating the citrus and move the Cit-Trease handle in a perpendicular position to the face of the fruit until it pulls away from the peel. Voilá!
You then have a half of an orange that is pure fruit, with no pith at all!

You can use this handy tool on grapefruits, avocados and even squash. Cit-Trease away and have fun!! Kiss all nasty skins and pithy parts goodbye!

Chef’s Planet makes life in the kitchen easier by offering unique, cleverly designed gadgets to fit your active life-style. They are constantly thinking of new ways to make cooking simpler and more enjoyable!

The Cit-Trease tool has a stainless steel blade that will not rust or tarnish, is dishwasher safe on the top shelf and even has a patent pending!

Chef’s Planet Cit-Trease tool was in our MARY’s secret ingredients Spring box. Don’t miss out! Our June box is selling like hotcakes – ships June 25th! Order by June 24th.

Cheese Straw Cornbread

May 22, 2015 by Mary 6 Comments

The buttery, cheesy, delicious Delta Bred Cheese Straws are totally awesome and addictive on their own or served with cocktails. These were one of the first talked about items in our spring box! Comments have come in like “these cheese straws are to die for” and “where can I buy more?” and “The cheese straws were a big hit and didn’t last long at all.” Break them in half and use them to garnish a gazpacho or add some brightness to any salad. Or, you can make this Cheese Straw Cornbread and go straight to heaven.

Putting the cheese straws directly in the cornbread adds a crunchy, cheesy surprise, elevating the humble bread. I made this for a Sunday morning breakfast and it was just divine. You could put some butter on it but honestly, nothing was needed with the extra punch of these cheesy bits. I know you’ll LOVE this!

CHEESE STRAW CORNBREAD – serves 6 – 9

1 cup medium grind whole grain cornmeal (I used Bob’s Red Mill brand)
1 cup of multi-grain flour (or you could use white flour)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup Delta Bred cheese straws, each straw cut into 2 or 3 pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter an 8″ square glass baking dish.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk just enough to combine. Then fold in the cheese straw pieces and let the batter sit for 10 minutes to let the baking powder do its thing.

Gently pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.

Serve warm with LOVE! Enjoy!!

The Delta Bred Cheese Straws were in our MARY’s secret ingredients spring box. The summer box will mail on June 25th.

Chimichurri-ed Wilted Endives with Walnuts

May 20, 2015 by Mary 16 Comments

I love endive. I think it’s so elegant. I remember when we traveled to Egypt in the early eighties around Christmas time, we didn’t dare eat any fruits or vegetables for fear of getting really sick due to their fertilization practices. Now I am a huge fan of vegetables and fruit. I typically eat a ton of each everyday, and after being there for about four days, I was not a happy camper. But on Christmas Eve, we were at a party and they had endive on the buffet table. My husband leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Mary, you can eat this. It’s from Belgium.” And I was in heaven!! This recipe of Chimichurri-ed Wilted Endives with Walnuts, using the Samba Flavor Chimichurri pack from our latest MSI spring box, covers all the bases – different, delicious, elegant and easy. Sautéing the endive mellows the bitterness. I love it being crisp and warm all at the same time. Making the Chimichurri with lemon juice and walnut oil makes it extra special, plus the addition of the chopped walnuts to finish it off, adds texture, flavor and contrast. Make this as a side dish and be prepared for rave reviews.

The SambaFlavor Chimichurri folks are very proud of their spice combination and they should be, as it’s all natural, gluten free and has no MSG. They wanted to create an easy way to replicate dishes from home, (South America) with this pre-made spice and herb combination. With a touch of red chili flakes, this little mix, made just the way they suggest, has a myriad of uses. Dress up some roasted fish, grilled meats, chicken, grilled eggplant or zucchini. I even used it on some boiled Yukon Gold potatoes for a quick warm potato salad and it was delish. Heck it’s probably even good on over-easy eggs. Experiment and have fun! There won’t be a lot that you can’t put it on to perk up any dish and make it more special.

CHIMMICHURRI-ED WILTED ENDIVES WITH WALNUTS – serves 3 – 6

3 good-size heads of Belgian endive, wiped clean with a wet paper towel, ends trimmed and cut in half lengthwise
1 Tbs. Olive oil

For the Chimichurri:
3 Tbs. Samba Flavor Chimichurri spice mix
3 Tbs. hot tap water
3 Tbs. lemon juice
6 Tbs. walnut oil, plus a little extra for drizzling
Extra chopped walnuts for garnish

Make the Chimichurri: Combine the Samba Flavor Chimichurri spice mix with the hot tap water and lemon juice and let it soak for 5 minutes. Whisk in the walnut oil.

Chop the walnuts.

Saute the endives: Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place endive halves in the skillet, cut side down. They should not be touching one another. Season with kosher salt and pepper and cover the pan loosely. Cook until golden brown on the cut side, about 5 minutes. Flip over and cook on other side, loosely covered, until crisp tender, about another 4 – 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and transfer the endives to a platter, cut side up. Spoon about a tablespoon of Chimichurri on each half. (you will not use all of it – keep remainder in the fridge and use on roasted fish, eggplant, eggs, anything!!) Top with chopped walnuts and drizzle a tiny bit of extra walnut oil on top. Serve with LOVE and enjoy!

The SambaFlavor Chimichurri Dry Mix was in our MARY’s secret ingredients spring box. The summer box will mail on June 25th.

Banana Nut Muffins with Loacker Chocolate Chucks

May 18, 2015 by Mary 26 Comments

This Loacker Cremkakao chocolate bar is super delicious all on it’s own. Loacker is a family owned business out of Italy and their factory is located at the foot of the Alps near the Austrian border. For 90 years they have been making a variety of light and crispy wafer cookies. In fact, they are the number one wafer cookie in the world! This is their first venture into the chocolate bar business and keeping true to their roots, they have incorporated a thin crispy wafer in the center of this decadent chocolate. (Isn’t that cool?) One bite and you’ll be looking for more, which will hopefully be available very soon as these bars are just being introduced into this country. You, spring box buyers, are the lucky ones to taste these first! Stay tuned for where you can buy more as I know you’ll be asking.

Meanwhile, I made these decadent Banana Nut Muffins with Loacker Chocolate Chunks for a Sunday morning treat. These were beyond delicious!!

BANANA NUT MUFFINS WITH LOACKER CHOCOLATE CHUNKS – makes 12 muffins

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
11/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (preferably freshly grated)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 Loacker 3.07 oz. Cremkakao chocolate bar, cut into smallish chunks

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs.

Smash the bananas and vanilla together.

Loacker Banana Nut muffins - chocolate cut up.

Your chocolate bar should look like this.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Add to creamed mixture, alternately adding the banana mixture, starting and ending with the flour. Fold in walnuts and chocolate pieces. Butter non-stick muffin cups or use paper liners; fill 12 cups with batter, distributing evenly. Bake at 350° for 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm with LOVE. Delizioso!!

The Loacker Cremkakao chocolate bar was in our MARY’s secret ingredients spring box. The summer box will mail on June 25th.

Veggie Pho – Gluten-Free!

May 16, 2015 by Mary 13 Comments

Savory Creations International, located in Northern California, is the company that makes this outstanding Veggie Pho. They make other pho’s too – chicken and beef – but I chose the vegetable one to include in our spring box because I thought it was so flavorful and I love the hint of cloves. This company supplies broths and demi glace for top chefs at very fine restaurants so they really know what they are doing, as all of their products are super delicious and just as good as homemade. Of course all of them are all natural, no MSG, naturally gluten-free with zero trans fats and come concentrated in these handy little packets where you dissolve each packet in 2 cups of hot water.

I made this Veggie Pho Gluten-Free and paired it with a grilled Provolone and tomato sandwich on whole grain bread (I know – I added glutens with the bread, but we are not sensitive to glutens!) for one of our weekly meatless meals and my husband asked me to make this dinner again. You know he usually complains about the one meatless meal per week but this one was a winner!

Pho is the Vietnamese national dish, typically consisting of rice noodles, onions, herbs, seasonings and thinly sliced beef or chicken in a clear broth.

I chose to keep this pho vegetarian as well as gluten-free, using white rice noodles and a variety of vegetables. Of course you can use any combination of vegetables or add a protein such as shrimp, chicken or pork. Anything works in this broth. It’s super easy and quick to have a satisfying meal to put on the table in a jiffy. And remember to make it with LOVE – for best results! 🙂

Here’s what I did:

VEGGIE PHO – GLUTEN-FREE – serves 3

3 packs of Savory Choice Veggie Pho
6 cups of hot water
5 oz. gluten-free white rice spaghetti
2 radishes, thinly sliced
2/3 of a head of Romaine lettuce heart, cut in 1/4” slices
1/4 of a head of radicchio, cut in 1/4” slices
One handful of sugar snap peas, strings removed
1/4 cup oil cured, pitted black olives
2 scallions, white and light green parts, cut in 1/4” slices
Dash of Sriracha sauce to taste

Set a medium sized pot of cold water on to boil. When it comes to a boil, season with coarse sea salt and cook the white rice spaghetti al dente. Drain and reserve.

Prepare all the vegetables. Dissolve the Veggie Pho in the 6 cups of hot water in a medium sized pot. Bring it to a simmer and add the sugar snap peas. Simmer for 2 -3 minutes, until crisp tender. Add the noodles, the rest of the vegetables and the olives. Remove from heat immediately as you want to keep the rest of the vegetables crisp and tasty – do not cook them. Ladle pho into serving bowls. Garnish with scallions and serve. Use the sauce as you please for an added kick!

PROVOLONE AND TOMATO GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES – serves 2

4 slices of whole grain bread
Unsalted butter
6 – 8 slices of Provolone cheese
1 tomato, cut in 6 slices
fresh ground pepper

Assemble sandwiches as shown, cheese topped with the tomato slices. Grind pepper over the tomatoes. Close the sandwiches and butter one side of the bread.

Melt some butter in a non-stick skillet on medium heat. Swirl the butter around to coat the bottom of the pan. Put the unbuttered side of the sandwich down and cook for about 5 minutes until bread is nicely browned. Flip sandwich over and toast the other side for 4 – 5 minutes.

Remove to a plate and cut in half diagonally to serve with the Veggie Pho. Enjoy!!

The Savory Choice Veggie Pho was in our MARY’s secret ingredients spring box. The summer box will mail on June 25th.

Subscription Box, Spring 2015 Revealed

May 14, 2015 by Mary 6 Comments

MARY’s secret ingredients subscription box, spring 2015, revealed!!

We had so much fun!! It is so interesting to research and find new companies and products, do the testing :), and then pick the best for you! This box has products from Italy and Scotland, spice mixes influenced by the foods of South America, a delicious new form of low calorie pasta that’s really made of vegetables but you’d never know it, an amazing kitchen tool, the BEST cheese straws and the most flavorful and wonderful tasting pho. If you ordered a box, you won’t be disappointed. And I’ve got some knockout recipes coming up, using all of these products as ingredients, giving all the ready-to-eat items a whole new usage.

In doing this, we hope to inspire you with new recipes to take the doldrums out of the daily question, “What’s for dinner?” Please email us any recipes you create using these products as we are planning on developing a community cookbook with the whole collection at the end of the year. Won’t that make a great holiday gift?

And by buying a box, you’ve just helped in our efforts and partnership with Feed The Children to eradicate worldwide childhood hunger. Thank you for joining in on our big hairy audacious goal.

Please take a look at our super cute video put together by our amazing team – it’s worth the one minute!! (who knew products could dance?)

Our June summer box ships on June 25th! You can order that here.

Chef’s Planet Cit-Trease

Chef’s Planet makes life in the kitchen easier by offering unique, cleverly designed gadgets to fit your active lifestyle. They are constantly thinking of new ways to make cooking simpler and more enjoyable! This clever tool makes it easy to remove citrus from the peel so you can enjoy fresh fruit cut up in a bowl or juiced in a juicer. Simply score the citrus in a complete rotation by placing the blade teeth at the edge of the peel. Continue rotating the citrus and move the Cit-Trease handle in a perpendicular position to the face of the fruit until it pulls away from the peel. Getting juiced was never so easy & healthy!

– Stainless steel blade will not rust or tarnish
– Great for preparing citrus and other “scoopable” foods like avocados and squash
– Dishwasher safe (top shelf)
– Patent pending

Chelsea Market Basket – Their founder’s passion for inspired specialty food and thoughtfully designed gifts led to the creation of Chelsea Market Baskets in 1993. Owner, David Porat continues to search the world for distinctly high quality, unique, innovative products with a certain indescribable charm. Chelsea Market Baskets aims to delight customers through their retail shop in NYC, mail order gift business and wholesale imports.

Reids of Caithness Oaties – Product of Scotland

Donald Reid started this family-run bakery located in Thurso, Scotland in 1966 using his grandmother’s over 100 year-old recipes. He uses the same locally grown oats from the same mills that his grandmother used to bake her delicious biscuits and cakes. The recipes are unchanged and their award winning, buttery, crisp cookies have stood the test of time. We can see why!

Delta Bred Cheese Straws

We are excited to share with you one of their most treasured family recipes. These cheese straws are made in small batches and use 100% real cheddar cheese. They are perfect for anyone looking for fine taste at fine times! Whether you enjoy your cheese straws with sweet tea or mint juleps, we can assure you will experience the mighty fine taste of Delta Bred!

Harvest Foods Shirataki Harvest Noodles Marinara

Made from Konjac Yam Root, this secret weight loss food enjoyed in Asia is now available to you in a vibrant marinara sauce of blended tomatoes, onions, basil and sea salt to delight your taste buds. Healthy and convenient, Shirataki Noodles are vegan and low calorie, making them perfect for anyone trying to be mindful of their weight.

Skinny and easy never tasted so good!

Loacker Cremkakao Chocolate Bar – Product of Italy

Nine – count ’em nine – bite-size pieces make up Loacker‘s velvety chocolate bar with cream-filled centers and their signature light and crispy wafers. They make them easy to break apart so each bar-within-the-bar is a treat unto itself to savor and linger over. Cremkakao is a milk chocolate bar.

So easy, yet at the same time, so hard to share.

Samba Flavor Chimichurri Dry Mix

This is your chimichurri on the go! Created with gourmet quality herbs and spices for the chimichurri lover, this is very easy to prepare. You can mix it with wine, vinegar or lemon juice and olive oil. Adjust to your preferred acidity and taste!

Enjoy the best flavors of South America!

Savory Choice Authentic Veggie Pho

Made with traditional flavors and aromatics, infused in a rich broth, this pho contains no artificial flavors or coloring and is made with natural ingredients. Add your choice of protein or veggies, cooked rice noodles and garnish with your choice of condiments to create the perfect pho dish in minutes. Each stick pouch of liquid broth concentrate is reconstituted with 2 cups (16 oz) of hot water.

Savor the homemade flavor!

Mother’s Day at Woman’s Day

May 8, 2015 by Mary 12 Comments

The week before last I received an invitation to a Mother’s Day brunch at Woman’s Day magazine corporate headquarters. I said “Yes!” Not really knowing what to expect, it was a delightful few hours this past Tuesday morning. They had invited about a dozen bloggers and we got to “play”.

Take a look at the cupcake I decorated to, ahem, “match” their cover cupcake. My bee looks a little distressed or crabby, don’t you think? I didn’t mean to make it look like that but the woman next to me accidentally hit my elbow while I was drawing on the face. Oh well! What was really fun was being able to meet some other bloggers in person. Previously we had only known each other through commenting.

The team at Woman’s Day is so impressive. These editors are top notch – all young, beautiful, super organized and as the Editor in Chief, Susan Spencer said, “they get it done!” The magazine is so deep with ideas on food, fashion, crafts and projects, books to read, you name it!

Do It Yourself (DIY) projects are very big with their readers, so another thing we learned is how to make your own salt or brown sugar body scrub. I’m a salt person myself so I made a lemongrass salt version. It’s so simple, it’s stupid and to think I spent all this money on scrubs from Bliss in the past and I could have made this in my kitchen? Who knew? Estee Lauder started in her kitchen and look where that got her!

So let me share this recipe with you. Make this and use it, as it won’t last too long. They say it will keep for about a month in a closed jar in a cool dark place. So all you moms out there should make this for yourselves and give yourself a spa day Mother’s Day!

Homemade Body Scrub – from Woman’s Day magazine

3 rounded Tbs. Kosher salt
2 Tbs. olive oil
5 – 6 drops of any essential oil – lemongrass, lavender, peppermint, you decide!

Place salt in a small clean glass jar. Drizzle in olive oil and stir with a wooden stick or chopstick. Add in the oil and stir again.

Store in a cool dark place and use within a month.

My boy are coming over to cook me a surprise dinner for Mother’s Day. (It’s my favorite holiday!) I can’t wait!!

Hope you all have an awesome day on Sunday!