September Love with Food Box

For my birthday this year, my brother signed me up for Love with Food, a monthly subscription service that's kind of like the Birchbox of the food world. Each month you get an assortment of 8 - 10 items curated by a different celebrity food guru. If that's not the coolest kind of mail you can get, I don't know what is! Even better, for each box sent, Love with Food donates a meal to a hungry child. Check it out: www.lovewithfood.com.

SPOILER ALERT: The photo and description below is for the September box. If you're already a subscriber and haven't received yours yet, look away if you want to be surprised when your box arrives!

This month's box, which is gluten-free, was curated by Chef Ming Tsai and contains the following:

1. Cheddar Cheese Organicasaurus from Good Boy Organics
2. Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Bruschetta from Milas Foods
3. Blueberry Fruit Bar from Betty Lou's
4. Roasted Garlic Hummus from Wild Garden
5. 100% Natural Crunchy Cinnamon Apple Chips from Bare Fruit
6. Cherry Berry Raw Cookie from Licious Organics
7. Sipping Broth from Millies Savory Teas
8. Cinnamon Crunch from Cosmos Creations
9. Fruit Snacks from YunEarth Organics

This was my first Love with Food box, and I have to say, I'm very happy with it! There's nothing in there that I won't eat. Granted, I'm not much of a picky eater, so that's not surprising, but everything sounds good to me! I've tried two things so far. First up, the Cherry Berry Raw Cookie. Now, I think they have a little bit of nerve calling it a cookie considering it has no flour, sugar, butter, or eggs - basically everything that makes cookies delicious - but it was good nonetheless. Pretty filling, and I especially enjoyed the dried cherries. Then I tried the Cinnamon Crunch. It's awesome. As soon as I opened the bag, the heavenly cinnamon smell burst out, and the flavor did not disappoint. I saw on the packaging that they have a salted caramel option as well, so I am clearly going to have to track that down.

I'll try to remember to check back in and update this post as I try more of the items in the box. But so far, I'd encourage any food lover to sign up for this very fun, and affordable, subscription!

Black-Eyed Pea and Sweet Corn Salsa

 

It's football season. And that means it's tailgating season, too! On Saturday, 13 of my friends and I headed up to Rentschler Field for a UConn football game. Up there, tailgating is no joke. Hoards of people arrive four hours before the game with the sole purpose of consuming massive amounts of food and beer. Our group was no different. With a table full of snacks, two grills working nonstop, and four different dessert options, we all had more than our fill.

One of my contributions was this black-eyed pea and sweet corn salsa. At a party I went to over the summer, someone brought a similar dish, and since then I've been wanting to recreate it. I did a Google search on some of the ingredients I knew were in it, and came up with this version from Sweet Little Bluebird. It looked pretty close, so I decided to give it a shot, with a few tweaks of my own, and I think I can safely say it was a big success. By the time we were ready to move onto the burger/hot dog/sausage portion of the afternoon, there was nothing left in my salsa container except a few stray corn kernels. I guess everyone liked it!

Black-Eyed Pea and Sweet Corn Salsa

Adapted From Sweet Little Bluebird

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel sweet corn, drained

6 scallions, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil (I actually used just shy of 1/4 c.)

3 Tbsp sugar

Pinch of salt

Pinch of black pepper

Directions:

Combine black-eyed peas, corn, scallions, and jalapeno in a medium bowl.  
In a measuring cup, add vinegar, oil, sugar, salt, and pepper and whisk well to combine.  Pour dressing over the vegetable mixture and stir together until coated. 

Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more to allow flavors to blend. 

Both times I've had this, it's been with Fritos Scoops - I highly recommend this combo!

 

Welcome to My Blog!

Thanks for visiting! This is my new little corner of the Internet, where I'll share recipes I make, foods I eat, and anything else about my life that I feel like sharing.

Who am I? I'm Jess, lover of bacon, the Red Sox, football, leopard print, line dancing, cake, and anything Irish. Oh, and the New Kids on the Block. I sell Pampered Chef, Scentsy, and Mary Kay because I'm a sucker for all of their products. I work at the same University that I graduated from, putting me on that campus for over 14 years now. I'm thoroughly convinced I have the best friends in the world, and my brother is the funniest person I know. I'm a planner, I love making lists, and I'm never late. I'm also super lazy and can happily spend a day in bed or on my couch without ever leaving the house. 

That's enough about me, for now anyway. Please come back and check out my first recipe post!