Author: Hannah (BitterSweet)
Author of My Sweet Vegan, Vegan Desserts, Vegan a la Mode, and Easy as Vegan Pie.
Enticing Spicing
Supplements are vital for filling the gaps, ensuring a well-balanced diet, but it’s a simple fact that nutrients are best absorbed through food. “Food as medicine” is far from a fringe movement, though that doesn’t mean it should taste medicinal. If we can have cake made of cauliflower and noodles made of zucchini, why can’t we turn everyday meals into more flavorful, more powerfully nutritious dishes? Enspice is on a mission to end childhood malnutrition by putting essential vitamins and minerals back where they belong: In food.
We’re talking about naturally sourced, plant-based seasonings and spices enhanced with a boost of potent superfoods, not synthetic supplements. Things like maitake mushrooms, kelp, chlorella, kale, sunflower seeds, and more are what bolster the profile of these spicy sprinkles. One teaspoon of any of the six bold, piquant blends contains 50% of the FDA daily values.
Unlike more fragile, volatile ingredients, these spices are designed to withstand the heat of cooking or baking, so you’ll get the full benefit of those nutrients no matter how you put them to use.
Their statement about eradicating malnutrition is more than just hot air, too. The Enspice Children’s Foundation was created first to feed malnourished children around the world. Each purchase donates one meal for a child in need. You’re feeding yourself and your family well, AND making an impact on those less fortunate at the same time- As if a nourishing, flavorful home cooked meal wasn’t enough to feel good about.
Open up your spice rack to make room for the full fleet. Use them just as you would to season any of your favorite recipes. If you’re not sure where to start, aside from the obvious here are some of my favorite uses so far:
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Overnight Oatmeal
- Cinnamon Sugar Toast
- Cacio e Pepe
- Lemon Pepper Tofu
- Toasted Marcona Almonds
- Pozole
- Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas
- Tex-Mex Rice
- Grilled Seitan Skewers
- Spicy Ketchup
- Chipotle Gingerbread
- Corn on the Cob
- Potato Salad
- Jackfruit Crab Cakes
- Popcorn
- French Fries
- Tofu Scramble
Variety is the spice of life, but spices themselves can enhance the quality of your life, too. Shake things up, and shake it on everything! What’s your favorite way to get spicy these days?
Right now, you can get 10% off Enspice seasonings & spices with the code MOMSMEET. This offer expires 12/30/20.
This review was made possible as a collaboration with Moms Meet and Enspice. My opinions can not be bought and all content is original. This page may contain affiliate links; thank you for supporting my blog!
Hot Potatoes
Remember years ago when sweet potatoes had a moment in pop culture history, akin to the fervor perpetually surrounding everyone’s seasonal darling, pumpkin spice? Oprah Winfrey essentially discovered the orange spud, according to online sources- And you know that if it’s on the internet, it must be true. All of a sudden, health gurus and foodies alike raced out to clear supermarket shelves of the tubers. It was as if no one had ever noticed them before, or at least, fully appreciated their flavorful potential.
Like all food trends, the extreme pitch and tenor of that enthusiasm quickly died down to a low roar, eventually settling back into a quiet hum of indifference. Where are all the sweet potato proponents now? Is there really only room in the oven for one autumnal vegetable superstar?
This year, I’m bringing sweet potatoes back. I’ve already professed my support for their simpler starchy brethren, so it’s time we dig a bit deeper into the root cellar for more colorful, flavorful possibilities.
Warm spices and dark, rich molasses join forces with the supple amber flesh, transforming the nostalgic, simple pleasure of the humble rice crispy treat into a seasonal delight. The satisfying crunch of toasted pecans punctuate the chewy, tender squares, rivaling the experience of a full slice of Thanksgiving pie.
Better than baked custard or scratch-made pastry, though, the instant gratification of transforming basic ingredients into a instant dessert surely squashed the competition. That’s definitely something to be thankful for.
Wordless Wednesday: Above and Beyond
Roasted King Trumpet Mushroom Trofie Pasta
Charred Sweet Pepper & Mushroom Pizza
Amarosa Potato & Fig Pizza
Apple Pie Pizza
Above Ground Bar & Kitchen
2170 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94110
Potatoes for President
Like many strangely compelling trends, it all started as a silly hashtag.
#Potatoesforpresident was a random phrase that popped into my head during the previous election cycle, a small nod to my frustration over lackluster candidate options. Tinged with a whiff of frustration and the omnipresent craving for comfort, potatoes just stood out as the spuds for the job.
Potatoes themselves are diverse, proliferating across the globe in all colors of the rainbow. Far beyond white waxy varieties, purple, orange, yellow, and more speak to a wider range of flavors than just basic bland starch.
Endlessly adaptable, versatile, and accommodating, most potatoes can be eaten either cooked or raw, hot or cold. Spiralized, roasted, boiled, steamed, baked, scalloped, simmered, sauteed, mashed, fried, dried, juiced, distilled, blended, or stuffed, your humble potato is there for you, ready for the job.
Persevering through the bleakest of harvests, they’ve withstood the test of time. Unlike most fresh produce, they’ll keep at room temperature for months in the right conditions, good as the day they were unearthed. Potatoes are there for you when you need them, no matter what.
It’s never been more important to vote, so make it count. I’ll still be going to the polls to cast a real ballot on November 3rd, but at home, I’m always going to back this culinary campaign. #Potatoesforpresident, until we get someone in the Oval Office with even slightly more of a brain.
Here are a few of my favorite spuds to keep you company in the meantime.
A Pumpkin In Every Pot
Let’s just say, hypothetically speaking, you recently carved a delightfully ghastly jack-o’-lantern face out of pie crust. I know, it’s quite a reach, but humor me for a moment, will you? Imagine, with those features missing from an otherwise perfectly good, full sheet of pastry, the possibilities for further baking witchcraft.
Pumpkin is still at play here, but under a more savory guise, you see. Humble pot pie pulls on an autumnal cloak in this phantasmic fall affair. Beneath that buttery, golden brown exterior lies a rich stew of tender orange squash, bolstered by an infusion of pumpkin puree throughout. A touch of umami tomato paste and warming spices sets it apart from the standard child’s play.
Of course, this is all theoretical. Such a wildly abstract thought could easily be written off as a dream… Vanishing almost as quickly as the dish itself.