Cute bags; It's soup month

January is National Soup Month in America, but guess where I’d like to spend it? Italy for the wedding soup? Gazpacho in Spain? I’m thinking Vietnam with pho for breakfast. I just looked up if it would be weird to have a basic egg pho early in the a.m. and it turns they eat this flavored broth to warm up in the morning. Good hunch, huh?

I used Zoup bone broth, which is good enough to drink from the jar, added kale and dropped in an egg. Winner. I’ve shared Zoup before with readers. This time I tried the concentrate of Beef Base with Bone Broth, Chicken Base with Bone Broth and Savory No Chicken Base Vegan Broth (which I won’t explain here). www.zoupbroth.com will help you celebrate the rest of January.

 

Cute Bags 

Keep it Fresh – I’ve got the cutest raw linen flax bag with a green zip that’s great to carry to lunch. Guess what’s in it. Leafy Greens. But I may go back for a berry or veggie bag. Ambrosia Produce Bag is a “moist bag” designed to keep leafy greens fresher in your fridge for a long time. Because sustainability is always in season. So I got a bag and put some delicate butter-type lettuce in there and kept that bag sealed so long I was cautious about unzipping it. No worries. I enjoyed a salad with just a hint of oil and freshly-squeeze oil as dressing. www.ambrosiaproducebag.com 

The Revolution Will Be Brewed – When a great coffee company makes stand-out tea that actually isn’t tea but everybody calls it that and likes it…. You may be enjoying a cup of Kahawa 1893 Red Tea Rooibos. This is a South African plant brewed as tea and it is very, very loose leaf. Kahawa means coffee in Swahili and the founder of this brand is a woman who saw that women were doing most of the coffee labor without owning the land. Take the coffee vibe quiz that starts with the tools of your brew. I’ve enjoyed this line of coffee before and guess what, the tea is equally impressive www.kahawa1893.com has some style, too. Mug and tote messages have humor and meaning. Respect the Drip is a message many of us can relate to. Excuse me, my rooibos is calling. It also deserves respect.

 Reminder: Tomatoes are technically berries. But you don’t need a reminder that you love ‘em. Or that they go with jalapenos, cheese and (a touchy subject in Texas) barbecue flavor. Just Pure Foods has packaged crispy tomato chips into little 50 to 60 calorie bags that are yummy and fun for foodies on a health kick. I had some out for my gluten-free buddy, but she never showed up, so I’ll have to check out www.justpurefoods.com for more.

To Healthy Hair – Pea sprout extract sounds like a weight-loss diet fad but it is a serious ingredient in a product to create the appearance of thicker, fuller, healthier-looking hair. Pureauty Naturals Biotin Hair Serum Advanced Formula is proud of all the natural stuff in their product. I read up that biotin is a vitamin of the B complex found in egg yolk, liver and yeast, but you can just pump this smooth syrup to rub into your scalp for a soothing treatment. The reviews are off the chain. www.pureautynaturals.com

 Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie souping it up in January. January is also birthday month for her and Port Arthur rock queen Janis Joplin. darraghcastillo@icloud.com