The Succulent Wife's Favorite Things

Raw Food Lifestyle - Rawlicious

When I have a moment, I need to tell you about the raw food, aka living food lifestyle that my husband and I are incorporating in our lives.

My lunch today looked so beautiful, simple and healthy, I just had to snap it. Mixed vegetable & nut salad with honey lemon dressing and olive-sundried-tomato crackers. Miammmmm.

We took a raw cooking class at the Ki-Atsu Institute and have been running with it since. Delicious and satisfying and beautiful and a remedy to my constant low blood sugar. Love, love, love it!

More on that later!

Everyone Needs to Know This: How to Stop a Kitchen Oil Fire

Forwarded by a friend of mine. Anyone who ever spends any time in the kitchen and puts even a single drop of oil in a saucepan needs to know about this:

Craving Cookthink.com - The Really Useful Recipe Website

Still in beta & dubbed as the Pandora for Recipes, I'm indeed craving this new recipe-finding website. Cookthink.com.  Users enter search terms based on their craving of the moment... or planned craving. In my case, it would be more often a case of "what do I have to work with in my fridge and pantry" but it would work the same way.

I entered sundried tomatoes as my first keyword. Then added chicken and olive as two additional keywords. I got a wonderful Pan-Seared Chicken With Two Olive Tapenade And Sundried Tomato Cream recipe. Don't know that I would have all the ingredients for that on hand (I'd be missing the cream) but i would definitely be bookmarking this one.

The site is extremely user friendly and smart. You can see that the creators put some real thought into developing their site: handy tips and accompaniments to the highlighted recipe appear alongside it. User reviews should appear shortly once the site gets a bit more traffic.

Some things still need tweaking. The keywords do not always bring up relevant results. Earlier on today, a keyword search for Chicken, onions and herbs revealed a recipe for mussels. Huh? I think that Chicken got mistaken for chicken broth. I'm sure that this kind of thing will be fixed soon.

Still, I'm thinking that this will be my new go-to online recipe resource.

The Winerack™ is Getting Worldwide Press!

The Winerack™  is making quite a sensation here in the  US  and  across the pond  too.  See it  here  reviewed  on the  Tonight  Show as  a  SuperBowl  "accessory"  and then  featured in  Metro.co.uk  as a  news  item. 

The Brits are describing the Winerack as only the Brits could do: "Be it a rock concert or simply a trip to the women simply need to fill up the sports bra device with their favourite tipple and then once inside suck the liquid out of the special teat."

In case you really need one, the Succulent Wife has them in her gift store right here. And for the guys, she has the Beerbelly®, bien sur!

 

Japanese Boxed Lunches - Or why I feel like an incompetent mom!

Wow. I have never ever prepared lunch boxes like this. Ok, I admit, I have slipped cute love notes and the occasional Hershey Kiss, but this is nuts! Healthy AND cute (except for what's that blue stuff???) Inspiring and charming but absolutely out of control. Actually, I'm hoping that these are lunch boxes are commercially prepared. If any Japanese moms are actually making these for their kids,  I want to know what they're taking!  Via LikeCool.

Meringue Topiaries - To Make (Dominomag.com)

I am making these for my Christmas Eve get-together.  Seems like the hardest part will be the find a styrofoam topiary cone at Michael's, hoping that they still have some left and finding a parking spot at the mall. Otherwise, the meringues will come from my second home (Trader Joe's) and voila! I might create a little more ornamentation on mine though. With fresh cranberries perhaps? Find the whole set of instructions on Dominomag.com. Love that magazine.

I almost feel the Christmas spirit coming on...

The BEST, most Scrumptious Bake-at-Home Chocolate Croissants

It's not secret that my second home is Trader Joe's. I avoid shopping anywhere else if I can.

My latest and long overdue discovery is their Proof & Bake Chocolate Croissants. OMG!!!! I "made" these the other morning for my daughter's birthday. It being on a week day, I was looking for a little special something to serve and to still have her out the door at 7:40am. The frozen chocolate croissant answered the call for this occasion. I simply took them out of the package, laid the frozen little sticks of dough on a parchment paper covered baking sheet and let them rise overnight. They were nice and plump the next morning. That's it, you can just pop them in the oven or, go all out like I did and give them a nice egg wash and sprinkle them with sugar. That took a whole extra 60 seconds.

The croissants came out magnificent and hot, golden brown with the perfect flakiness and butteriness. The chocolate provided the perfect amount of sweetness, not more, not less. Absolutely DELICIOUS.

These were the most worthwhile 320 calories. Must, must try!

Oh, and let me know what you think when you try them.

INTRODUCING THE BEERBELLY® - a great gift idea for your scrumptious man!

We know, we know… This item is seemingly a little out of our range of expertise. But for having sneaked our fair share of Jones Sodas and Toblerone chocolate (ok, and the occasional flask filled with a Cosmo) into movie theatres, we totally got this the second we saw it.

Whether you see The BeerBelly as a gag gift or as a really useful and essential device, know that The Beerbelly Deluxe Kit can contain any drink of your choice, hot of cold. Yes, think outside the beer bottle for a moment and dream of margaritas, hot chocolate, lemonade, hot cider, soda or your own signature cocktail in any place you want, when you want.

The designers of the little appliance were tired of being gouged when buying their drinks at the games. Hence The Beerbelly. Now, that’s succulence in action!

GET The Beerbelly HERE!

And for the ladies? Lest our potential enjoyment to consume our favorite beverage anywhere any time be ignored, The Beerbelly developers came up with this clever contraption: The Winerack! Too funny and certainly the favorite prop at any girls’ night out event! GET The Winerack Here!

Trader Joe's Fruit Floe Popsicles: My FAVORITE 100 Calories Sweet Treat

I'm seriously addicted to the Trader Joe's Fruit Floes and don't understand that it did not occur to me, until today, to share about them. Actually, it's only upon watching a Tivo-ed Oprah episode where she shares about her favorite 100 calorie snack (The Skinny Cow Fudge Bars - these are good too!) that I went "duh" and knew that I had to write this blog post.

The addiction officially set in over the past summer, where I could easily go through two or three boxes (4 popsicles to a box) of these - to myself!!! - per week. Sure, there is sugar in these, fructose and sucrose, but there are no artificial flavors and no preservatives. So, when I have this gnawing for a little something sweet, I find these entirely satisfying. They come in 4 flavors. My favorite is strawberry, but there is also mango, Caribbean (pineapple and other fruit) and lime.

What does a floe mean? I knew you were dying to know! This French Canadian had to look it up 'cause this word was not yet activated in my vocabulary. Dictionary.com gives this definition:  1.  Also called ice floe. a sheet of floating ice, chiefly on the surface of the sea, smaller than an ice field     2.a detached floating portion of such a sheet. Makes sense.

Enjoy & let me know what you think of them if you've tried them too! I only hope that you have a Trader Joe's in your 'hood...

SpudWare Biodegradable and Compostable Cutlery - Made from Potatoes

Why go Spudware™? Currently, huge volumes of paper, plastic and styrofoam cutlery, tableware and food packaging are used and disposed of each year. To give an idea of the scale, an estimated 39 billion items of disposable cutlery are used in the US each year (source: The Food Packaging Institute, Washington, D.C.). That's just outrageous!  Switching to compostable foodware and packaging would remove the economic barrier to composting, as food waste, packaging, and tableware could simply be processed together.

Great for alternatives for restaurateurs who offer To Go service and for individuals or families with the smaller quantities available at Treecycle where you can get a set of 50 spoons-50 forks-50 knives for $20. Here's the scoop on the Spudware cutlery:

• biodegrades in 180 days
• made from corn and potato
• GM free
• heat resistant up to 105C
• durable and reusable
• good feel and weight

Isn't this what they use at Whole Foods for their takeout food service?

via IG Picks.

Vosges Chocolates - Exotic Chocolates and More

When friends visit us in Las Vegas, we like to parade around The Strip to hear their oooohs and ahhhhs, vicariously feeling that we had a hand in creating all this crafty overload of sensorial experiences. Alas, I'm not that brilliant and my input is confined to knowing "all the good places".

Indeed, when Pierre visited recently for Toronto, Canada, I made the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace one of our obligatory stops. Besides the Forum Shops unbelievable collection of upscale and luxury shops, nouveau/ancient roman-like environment, the curved escalator is one of its main attraction. But the Forum Shops are not the subject of this post. Indeed, the subject is a shop that the curved escalator led us to: Vosges Chocolate...

Agreeing to indulge my endless faiblesse for good, real chocolate, Pierre agreed that this shop was a necessary pit stop. Refuelling, you know... We sampled. And sampled some more. And eventually, we walked out with the totally indulgent Exotic Caramel Collection. OMG!!!! As my good friend Audrey would say, "a real M.O.". If you can't figure out what that means, you'll need to email me. No, it's not Modus Operandi. The M stands for Mouth...

Anyhoo, I love, love, love the novel mix of flavors, adding bona fide spices with sweet tastes. Just brilliant combinations. If you drop by Las Vegas, you must pay a visit, otherwise, you might find a retailer or Vosges Boutique in your area.

Charles Shaw Wine from Trader Joe's is an Award Winner!!!

Hahaha. I knew it!!! Just saw this story and had to share, for all the people who look at me funny when I say that I buy - and drink!- this wine, Charles Shaw's Three Buck Chuck ($2.99 here in NV) Chardonnay is an award winner!!!

Here's a sweet excerpt. You can read the whole story on ABC.com:

Charles Shaw Chardonnay, beat hundreds of other wines and was named the top prize in a prestigious tasting competition in California... The characteristics that we look for in our gold medal winner … a nice creamy butter, fruity … it was a delight to taste," said 2007 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition judge Michael Williams.

 

The affordable wine beat out 350 other California chardonnays to win the double gold. Second place went to an $18 bottle, and the most expensive wines at the event, at the price of $55, didn't even medal.

Personally, I don't like chardonnay, but really enjoy the Charles Shaw Cabarnet Sauvignon and their Sauvignon Blanc. I would say that one out of every 12 bottles doesn't quite cut it, but at three bucks  a pop, who cares.  I am a snob in many, many things, in wines for one thing, having a semi trained palate influenced from the days when my dad had his winery. May I share that Dad blind-tested the Charles Shaw wines and that they won his approval as well. They well compare to $12 and $15 bottles any day.  well, know, I may even serve these at my next casual dinner party without causing too many frowns of disapproval. Woohoo!

The Cheese Knife

Although this is called the Cheese Knife, I bought this knife for my 10 year old daughter who loves to help out in the kitchen but is very afraid to work with sharp blade knives. I remember being morbidly fearful of knives at her age as well.  This "Cheese" knife is perfect. It allows her to merrily cut through veggies, tofu , fruit, bread and... cheese with ease. This will allow to perfect her knife wielding techniques so that she'll be a pro when the time comes to use the real thing.

The Cheese Knife website actually sells the benefits of this knife as a great tool to use on anything that typically sticks and leaves a residue on a regular knife. So besides cheese, they mention eggs and pasta and that sort of thing. It's dishwasher safe, heat and stain resistant and FDA approved. Woohoo.

Seriously, this was a great buy for my novice cook. And, I might use it on cheese too.

Risibisi Restaurant & Wine Bar - Petaluma, CA

Worth the detour. We actually stumbled upon this little gem "by accident" on our way to Sonoma. We were searching for something "charming"and Risibisi Restaurant delivered that and then some.

Cool bistro decor. We were immediately welcomed by one of the restaurant owners of this casually chic restaurant. As always,I like the know "the story" behind everything (a weird obsession and kinda the premise behind The Succulent Wife's Gift Company) so I peppered the gentleman with questions. He was proud to say that he and his partner were the real deal real Italians. No Fettucine Alfredo here. Although we did get some balsamic vinegar in our dipping oil. They traditionally don't do that in Italy...

Although we were in wine country, I could not resist the invitation to try the Champagne Mojito. Wow, that was wonderful and the perfect aperitif to get me to focus on the meal to come. I started with the Heirloom Tomato Trio. Nice presentation and a great sampling of their tomato favorites. Hubby had the organic baby beet salad with caramelized pecans.

It was Porcini mushroom month with a tasting menu dedicated to the little fungi. I selected a simple mushroom risotto from that menu. The flavor was anything but simple. Totally savory and dare I say, succulent? I forget what my husband had (guess that the mojito had taken effect by then...) and he's not around for me to ask, but I remember him raving.

Service was friendly and efficient without being hurried. Atmosphere was pleasant, unfussy and relaxed. Food was fantastic and pricing very acceptable. If this restaurant was in my neighborhood, I'd definitely become a regular.

Do make it a destination in you are in the Santa Rosa or Sonoma area.

Killer Brownies

The Fillmore Street Jazz Festival took place in San Francisco this past weekend. We were lucky enough to catch it during our quick pass through town. It was a lot of fun. Living in a need-to-drive-to-get-anywhere suburban area, I now relish any opportunity to be - walking - on a city street where  "stuff" happening. And there was plenty happening here. Jazz of course, at several stations set along the blocked-off-to-traffic Fillmore stretch. And lots of pop up merchants and artists showing off their wares for the weekend. And of course, the fun shops that have permanent residence on the street. Oh, and you could buy a glass of wine or beer or margarita on the street! Liked that part too.

Anyhoo, in the particular post I merely wanted to mention The Killer Brownie Company. Wow. They deserve that label without a doubt. Perfect light crust on the outside, perfect gooey yumminess in the center. Yes, this was brownie perfection.

You can buy them online. My personal favorite is the Chocolate Chip Macadamia Brownie. Totally worth every penny of the shipping cost.

Here's what they say on their website: " These gourmet brownies are made fresh every day at our Bakery in South San Francisco. Our recipe calls for only the finest ingredients and the best chocolates available from Guittard Chocolate Company. We personally guarantee you’ll love the rich and unique flavors they all have to offer. "

Yes, indeed.

Your Dreams Come True: The Pure Inventions Cocoa Extracts are Here!!!

I've written about the Pure Inventions Green Tea Extracts before... I can't imagine spending my summer without them (i live in Las Vegas and need to hydrate ... a lot, and drinking plain water just gets, hummmm, well, boring).

So,I'm quite excited to announce that The Succulent Wife now carries the brand new Pure Inventions Cocoa Extracts. And guess what, these have all the great - wait, fabulous - antioxidant properties of the cocoa bean and the irresistible taste of chocolate with NONE of the calories or sugar!!!!

There are many ways to use these extracts: in water, hot or cold, as an addition to your coffee to make it a mocha, in yogurt, in cereal, and wherever you want to add pure cocoa flavor.

The benefits? I knew you'd ask, although you are afraid that this is too good to be true. The Pure Inventions Pure Cocoa Antioxidant Extracts contain the highest amounts of chocolate antioxidants, including flavanols (these are the cocoa’s antioxidants) and polyphenols associated with lower blood pressure and overall cardiovascular health. Scientific studies have shown that these flavanols seem to prevent both cell damage and inflammation. Recent studies show that cocoa may also help improve skin structure and density and that cocoa may support, protect and increase blood flow to the skin – improving its appearance!

Pure Inventions uses Lo Han fruit in these delicious formulations as a natural sweetener. Excellent for digestion, Lo Han is grown in Southern China and is called the “longevity fruit.” Together, these ingredients form an amazing combination of health benefits with a rich, unique taste.

The 2 ounces bottles are available in Chocolate Cocoa, Vanilla Cocoa or Mint Cocoa. Yum! Oh, and take a look at the gift sets too, which contain a one ounce bottle of each cocoa extract flavor.

Just good - or, is that delicious? - enough to be true!

Delectable Summer Refreshment: Fresh Mint Tea

My kids and husband clamor for this. And it's sooooooooo easy to make. I buy a pack of fresh mint leaves at Trader Joe's (you know, my second home). It's packed full of mint leaves, 2 ounces worth at a whopping $1.39. All that one needs to do is to remove the stems, place the leaves in a teapot, add boiling water and steep for about 5 minutes. I actually steep the same leaves a second time and since my teapot is small, I go through two rounds of this. I add stevia to sweeten. It complements the mint flavor very nicely and doesn't add any calories. So this is actually a totally guilt-free drink. My kids like it cold, over ice. I like it hot. The whole two ounces of mint yields about 2 to 3 quarts of fresh mint tea.

 

Of course, I prepare this because it is simply delicious, but wow, there are actually health benefits to it too. Mint has long been known for its ability to calm up stomachs and to sooth the digestive tract. It has other benefits too, but you can do that research on your own. And, shhhhh, don't tell the kids that it might be good for them.

Try it and let me know what you think!

Best Dessert Idea EVER & Under 90 Seconds to Prepare

I just hosted a ladies night at my home and served this and got the regular oooohhhhs and ahhhhs when the guests saw this dessert presentation. I serve this chocolate platter as the accompaniment to a lighter dessert. So easy, you’ll get it done in 90 seconds. OK, maybe 120 seconds if you count the time to pull out your platter and cheese knives (yep, cheese knives). All I do is get 2 or 3 kinds of chunk chocolate, usually found in the bulk bins. These Ghirardelli pieces are from Trader Joe’s but Whole Foods also has some good choices like white chocolate with cranberries or milk chocolate with hazelnuts. Simply lay these on a cutting board, garnish with fruit or berries of your choice and stick a hard-cheese knife in each piece of choco.

Guests love cutting off their own piece(s) sized according to their appetite or craving. And this amount of chocolate laid out for immediate and unmonitored consumption always gives off a flair of decadence. Huuummmmm. We like decadence.

Stevia Sweetener

Since most of the people that I mention it to have never heard about it, I thought it was time to share about the herb Stevia that I use as a sweetener. You probably have not heard about it for a good reason. It was not available here in the US until a few years ago. 

Stevia is actually is South American plant that has been used by the Guarani Indians of Paraguay for hundreds of years. The Japanese started cultivating Stevia in the 1970’s as an alternative to artificial sweeteners, aka suspected carcinogens. But here in the US, the herb was banned in the early 1990’s at the request of an anonymous complaint. The FDA labeled stevia as an "unsafe food additive" and restricted its import. There is evidence that the FDA acted in response to industry pressure. I wonder from whom. Hummmm…

Stevia is 300 times sweeter than fructose (table sugar) so a little bit goes a long way. I pay $9.99 at Trader Joe’s for this little bottle but it contains 1120 servings. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s in you neighborhood, you can buy it here from the manufacturer.

Anyhoo, I have been using Stevia for about three years now, mostly in my coffee, tea and lemonade. Actually, a Stevia lemonade is my favorite summer drink. My 2 second recipe is so simple: all I do is fill a glass with ice cold water, squeeze in a lemon (or a couple splashes of Realemon if you’re in a bind) and add a tiny sprinkle of Stevia. Mix and drink. And lemon juice is great for us blood type A’s. Stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose and even enhance glucose tolerance, which might be an additional reason that I so enjoy drinking the Pure Invention Tea extracts that contain it. Makes me feel good and has a way of satisfied that craving for a “little something sweet”.

Ahhh, Stevia… You can read up on Stevia on Wikipedia and on SteviaInfo.

Green Tea Extracts - The delicious alternative to drinking plain water

The sale is on at The Succulent Wife's gift shop. And you know what's flying out the door? The Pure Inventions Green Tea Extracts!!!

You need to try these! I know you know that we should all be drinking at least 80 oz of water a day. Eighty ounces, that many? I still think that’s a hard one to swallow, not only because it’s difficult to fit all that hydration in our busy days, but drinking all that water is… admit it, boring! If I have to drown myself in 80 oz of water, I want it to at least be pleasant!

Well, ends up, the marvelous Green Tea Flavored Extracts by Pure Inventions™ might be the cure to more than just putting an end to boring water consumption. Delicious and sweetened with Stevia leaf and LoHan fruit and flavored with 100% natural flavors, these green teas count as water intake - unlike the sodas, diet drinks, coffee and other nasty beverages that do nothing for your health.

The extracts are free of caffeine, calories, artificial sweeteners, sugar and alcohol. But, the real clincher, you ask? It’s all the added benefits of green tea itself. Studies show that green tea (more precisely, Polyphenols - the potent anti-oxidant compounds found in Green Tea) helps to fight free radical damage, preserve younger looking skin, maintain healthy cholesterol, promote weight loss, increase energy, help balance blood sugar and burn fat. What’s not to love? A mere squeeze of Pure Inventions™ Green Tea Extract into your water provides over 90 mg of Polyphenols. You would have to drink 14 cups of the strongest brewed green tea per day to achieve that amount. Oy!

One quick dropperful per 8 oz of the flavor of your choice (original, tropical, raspberry or peach) into your water bottle and you receive a mega-dose of antioxidants plus delicious hydration. There are about 60 servings per bottle – That’s about 50¢ per serving. And now the Green Tea Extracts are on sale. What a deal!

Fountain of youth in a dropper bottle? Just may be…