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

Steamed Broccoli with a Dijon Butter Sauce & Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips

July 23, 2016 by Mary 6 Comments

Carrie Mae's Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips package.Inspired by her grandmother, Carrie Mae started making Crunchy Strips in her kitchen with all natural ingredients. While she makes several flavors, we chose the Chia Seeds to include in our MARY’s secret ingredients summer box. Chia seeds are so darn good for you! They are a “whole grain” food, and are among the most nutritious foods on the planet. Loaded with fiber, protein, Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and various micronutrients, these crackers are a delightful little crunch of goodness.

All crackers are handmade with tender loving care; hence the company’s slogan – Made from the heart to feed your soul. I know that Carrie Mae herself hand made each one of these crunchy strips with a lot of LOVE and then actually drove them up from North Carolina to our warehouse in NJ, to make the delivery date for the box. This woman is determined and dedicated to her delicious and healthy craft, she’s bound to become a huge success.

I love using these crunchy strips as a topping to soups, salads and to this yummy steamed broccoli dish I made up. Think of them as croutons, but better because they’s light and thin. Using the strips on top adds another layer of texture, that crunch we all crave.

For those of you with little ones, I’ll bet this could be a great way to get your kids to eat their vegetables. Crush and sprinkle these little crackers on top to add a chia seed nutritious delight to anything.

Additionally, broccoli has huge health benefits. Check out this link http://www.well-beingsecrets.com/health-benefits-of-broccoli/ Broccoli is rich in vitamins, minerals, nutrients and compounds, promoting good heart health and known even to prevent cancer. So eat your broccoli and it’s even better this way, with our Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seed Crunchy strips!

Carrie Mae's Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips topping a finished broccoli dish on a white platter.


STEAMED BROCCOLI WITH A DIJON BUTTER SAUCE & CARRIE MAE’S KITCHEN CHIA SEEDS CRUNCHY STRIPS
– serves 4

One large head of broccoli, washed, trimmed, stems peeled and stalks cut in half or quartered
3 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. lemon juice
1.25 oz. Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips

Steam the broccoli until crisp tender.

Melt the butter and whisk in the mustard and lemon juice.

Remove the broccoli from the steamer, pat dry with a clean linen towel and lay out on a platter. Drizzle the sauce all over the broccoli. Top with crushed Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips.

Serve with LOVE and enjoy!!

Carrie Mae's Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips on a salad.

Use Carrie Mae’s Kitchen Chia Seed Crunchy Strips to top a salad!

Carrie Mae's Kitchen Chia Seeds Crunchy Strips on chicken noodle soup.

Or garnish a soup!

Filed Under: Dinner, Products for sale, Vegetables Tagged With: chia seeds, crackers, easy broccoli, steamed broccoli

Everyday dinners

May 21, 2013 by Mary Frances 15 Comments

We had guests this weekend up in the country. Had a great deal of fun catching up, eating and drinking with long time friends. Of course I tried to make a special dinner but I also tried to balance it, making something not too complicated as I wanted to able to spend time with the party and my kitchen upstate is a separate room, not open to the living and dining room as it is in the city. Not sure I really succeeded at that as I still did spend quite a bit of time cooking.

They loved what I made! (I’ll tell you all about that menu later this week with wine pairings.) Said it was better or equal to any restaurant meal and oh, by the way, when was I going to open my own restaurant? Well, that’s not something that interests me. We have talked about perhaps opening an exclusive “supper club” type of place, that might be open once or twice a month, in our home – as a way to have fun and meet new, interesting people upstate – but not a restaurant. Then the conversation went to, do you cook every night? And yes, I cook almost every single night. In fact, when we have leftovers, while I enjoy the speed of getting that meal on the table, I have to tell you, I miss the cooking process those nights. Once you get into the habit of doing it, it’s easy, and I enjoy it, no matter what time I get home.

Sesame curry crusted salmon with steamed broccoli and tomato cucumber salad on a white Wedgewood plate.

Sesame curry crusted salmon with steamed broccoli and tomato cucumber and avocado salad with fresh chives.

Just take a look at these quick, easy meals for weeknights – super simple and super easy. And don’t they look much better and are certainly cheaper than anything you could ever get from ordering up?

Lamb ragu with Girelle in a bowl with grated Romano cheese and cracked black pepper.

Lamb ragu with grated Pecorino Romano cheese, parsley and cracked black pepper

Roasted zucchini with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Roasted zucchini with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Really, all of these meals took 45 minutes to maybe an hour to make. Plus, if you’re cooking, you KNOW what you’re eating, particularly in terms of fat, salt and calories. Feed your body with healthy food, prepared with love and you will feel better. I promise.

Sauteed chicken thighs with bacon, shallots and dry white wine, steamed Jasmine rice and sauteed baby bok choy with garlic on a white Wedgewood plate.

Sauteed chicken thighs with bacon, shallots and dry white wine, steamed Jasmine rice and sauteed baby bok choy with garlic

Everyday dinners, roasted salmon, steamed Jasmine rice with parsley and roasted asparagus on a white Wedgewood plate.

Roasted salmon, steamed Jasmine rice with parsley and roasted asparagus with lemon and olive oil

Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: chicken thighs with bacon and shallots and white wine, everyday dinners, lamb ragu, roasted salmon, roasted zucchini, sesame and curry crusted salmon, steamed broccoli, steamed Jasmine rice with parsley

New!

November 17, 2012 by Mary Frances 7 Comments

This past week we had a meeting on lower Broadway and anytime I go there, I must stop in at Fishs Eddy, a fun, everyday china shop. They started out by carrying lines of old restaurant dishes (they even have the Steak ‘n Shake dishes – I worked the counter there in high school), and now have gotten really more interesting. Somebody there is starting to pay attention, and the shop looks great!

I needed some cheering up as I had to have outpatient surgery the next day on Thursday. What makes us so happy about spending money? Or is it really about getting something new? I was also able to pick up some Christmas presents – that always makes me feel so accomplished when it’s early. (I’m usually running around the city buying for everybody the week before December 25th.)

Well, I thought that perhaps you all might be getting tired of looking at the same old serving bowls here at LOVE, so I bought this bright red one. Just perfect for the holidays, don’t you think?
Broccoli in a red bowl.My wonderful husband has been cooking since Thursday and just look at how beautiful his steamed broccoli looks in it! He made a little sauce of Dijon mustard and olive oil to lightly drizzle on top. It was delish!

Filed Under: Dinner, Sides, Vegetables Tagged With: broccoli, dark green vegetables, Fishs Eddy, steamed broccoli, vegan, vegetarian

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Mary Frances

Mary Frances

Spread love through cooking.

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