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  

Breaking of the bread

 

Just a few decades ago you weren’t having a “meal” unless you there was bread. Now it’s sort of a luxury for those keeping carbs at a distance. I had the pleasure of making new acquaintances recently. When the setting sun shined through some “holy” bread, I found symbolism in the breaking of the bread, bread and water and good conversation. Good thing cameras are so handy.

 

Bread and water are the basics. Here are some other liquids that enhance our tables:

Livvy – Pineapple Hibiscus is one of the Livvy wine-based hard seltzers with dandelion, licorice and ginger roots. In Texas, we may prefer Prickly Pear Lemonade, but there are plenty of reasons to www.drinklivvy.com. They’re focusing on real fruit juice and other good stuff. I’m finding it’s all good stuff out of these slender, calmly-colored cans.

Zoup – Two guys and some oregano is behind a casual soup franchise. I’ve shared Zoup! Broth with you before and now you can get jars of something new: Seafood broth that’s good enough to drink. Southeast Texas has fresh seafood and Zoup! can add depth to all of it. Lobster, shrimp and crab goes in there. Confession: I may already have confidence in my cooking, but I may be lazy. Zoup! said it was good on it’s own and that is exactly how I served it. Go to www.zoupbroth.com to get something that lives up to label claim that it’s Good, Really Good,

No Need to Pretend – Don’t think powdered oat milk or ice cream mixes are “pretenders.” They’re real things on their own and I’m enjoying Upright Instant Oatmilk for an easy breakfast mix. Look for the Upright giraffe on the package. I tried it in HIJINKS, a powder inviting you to create your own signature ice creams in your blender, and befriend snapping turtles. If you can’t think of your own, try their tips for add-ins to create Blueberry Goat Cheese, Matcha Mascarpone and Bourbon Brown Butter. I didn’t happen to have all that when I got the craving, so I’ll tell you, blueberries, vanilla and walnuts became my signature on Sunday. www.uprightoats.com www.hijinxicecream.com

Stop the Stink with Purggo. A hemp case holding bamboo charcoal will absorb odors a whole year with a main ingredient you could eat (see video at www.purggo.com) but I’m good with slicing open the sleek hemp casing to use those sustainable charcoal bits in my garden. That’s also in the video. It looks like a fancy pillow but you attach it to the back of your headrest. It’s fancy and it has been a working conversation piece in my car.

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who loves how flavors shape our memories. Share yours with her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

The beet goes on, and into your cocktail

                  The beet goes on . . .

                             If someone invited you for cocktails/mocktails and at the last moment mentioned they were beet based, you might hightail from that cocktail. Are you being punished? I’d run from the rare serving of red stuff when I was a kid, but oh, look what they’ve done to beets now. Beetology comes in a very cool ridged glass and with mixes like beet + lemon + ginger you feel healthy just picking up the bottle. I added some to sparkling water for extra bang.

                             Makers have more ideas for that and Wonder Melon, which zings an old fave with splashes of lemon, cayenne and more fun. Are you still running? Get these bottles in refrigerated sections of stores and sit down to enjoy the flavor and the benefits from KAYCO, because they’re into health.

                  Beet Juice bits from the makers:

                  * New evidence links antioxidant-rich beets to strengthened immunity, better skeletal muscle function and greater stamina.

                  * The International Olympic Committee has declared beet juice a sports food.

                  * Beet juice is being used by researchers for its potential benefits to people with diabetes, obesity, hypertension and the elderly.

                  Reasons to drink your watermelon

                  * The amino acids in watermelon may lower blood pressure and reduce risk of heart attack

                  * Watermelon is 92 percent water – a sweet way to keep every cell in your body hydraded.

                  * Watermelon has more of the antioxidant lycopene than any other fruit or veggie. Studies show that lycopene may be associated with reduced risk of cancer and diabetes. 

                  Wonder Melon Immune-Boostine Smoothie

                  1 frozen banana

                  1 cup frozen strawberries

                  1 half cup Greek yogurt

                  1 half cup Wonder Melon Lemon Cayenne

                  1 quarter cup orange juice

                  Honey to taste

                  Buzz all ingredients in a blender and enjoy.

                  Tropical Beet-a-Colada

                  1 and one half cup ice

                  3 ounces Beetology Beet + Tropical Fruit

                  2 ounces coconut Cream

                  2 ounces dark rum

                  2 ounces coconut rum

                  Blend all ingredients in a blender until frothy. Garnish with a pineapple slice.

                  Zoup is on

                  There’s a reason National Soup Month is in January. Have you been craving a steaming bowl of chicken noodle in steamy Southeast Texas temperatures? If not, think again with a jar of  inspiration: Zoup! Good, Really Good® Veggie Broth. It’s okay to think about corn and beet gazpachos instead of the hot and heavy soups. Zoop! has you covered. I enjoyed this “savory” vegan flavor as much as bone broth and I accepted the label’s challenge: “Good Enough to Drink.” I simply heated up some of this jar’s broth and poured it in a mug to enjoy… in an air-conditioned space. Broth is the basis of making everything you’re making with it better. Zoup! Is good to begin with.

                            Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie socially distancing and still enjoying great company and flavors. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com