Author: Carma Spence

Carma Spence has been experimenting in the kitchen since she was four years old and loves trying out new recipe ideas. She is the author of Bonkers for Bundt Cakes and Your Perfect Pie, as well as author and contributor to several more non-food-related books. With Carma's Cookery, she is taking her passion for empowering people and blending it with her passion for cooking, gift-giving and entertaining.

Product Reviews

Product Review: YS Organic Bee Farms CERTIFIED ORGANIC RAW HONEY

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date September 17, 2015

Photo from Amazon.com

100% CERTIFIED ORGANIC Raw HONEY, Unprocessed, Unpasteurized – Kosher 32 oz

Organic Raw Honey by YS Organic Bee Farms — Photo from Amazon.com

According to Natural News, “Raw honey has anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties. It promotes body and digestive health, is a powerful antioxidant, strengthens the immune system, eliminates allergies, and is an excellent remedy for skin wounds and all types of infections.” There is evidence that raw honey can also stabilize blood pressure, balance sugar levels, relieve pain and calm nerves. Raw honey has been used to treat ulcers, an expectorant and relieving inflammation. It has also been known to treat respiratory conditions such as bronchitis and asthma fairly well.

However, these benefits are not necessarily found in the conventional honey found on the shelves of supermarkets. Not only is much, if not all of this honey, over-processed and devoid of any nutritional value, but it also contains many unnatural additives. Additionally, tests have confirmed that despite government regulations, many brands of honey contain no pollen whatsoever. Pollen is a required ingredient in real honey and without it the product is nothing more than a syrup of questionable origins.

YS Organic Bee Farms CERTIFIED ORGANIC RAW HONEY, available on Amazon.com, is a good option if you don’t have a way of acquiring local raw honey at a Farmer’s Market in your neighborhood.

Product Highlights:

100% pure, natural and organic
Unheated and unfiltered
Highest levels of live enzymes, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals

Product Description:
Light in color with a thick, butter-like consistency. The consistency is due to the honey being unheated and unfiltered which prevents it from losing vital nutrients and other health enhancing benefits.

Additional Health Benefits:

Heals cuts, scrapes, wounds and burns
Contains anti-inflammatory properties
An effective acne treatment, cleanser and moisturizer
Soothes sore throats and coughs
Immune boosting compounds
Boosts energy and is especially good before a workout

Product Specifications:

Item weight: 2.4 lbs
Shipping weight: 3 lbs
ASIN: B00014JNI0
UPC: 726635121285

Amazon Customer Reviews:

I’ve been using YS Farms Honey for about 4 years now and I’ve never looked back. This is the ONLY honey I will purchase. I was sad to see it leave the shelves of our local Winn Dixie but happy to see their still around and selling online. Best Honey overall!
This honey is soo wonderful. The company is very careful in their handling of their fees and hives the honey tastes great and the price unbelievable for organic raw honey! I’ve been eating raw honey as my only sweetener for years and I’ve seen so many but never one that equals this in every single way. I’m so glad I found it and will be a regular customer. Our family uses about 2-3 pounds a month-old everything from baking to tea to mix with our Apple cider vinegar. We won’t be shopping anywhere else. I highly recommend this product! 🙂
Great tasting and a good price. I add a little to my kids’ oatmeal in the morning to help with allergies. I saw recently that honey sold in stores has very little actually honey in it. This stuff is the real deal. Delicious!

Order your jar from Amazon.com here.

Tags honey, organic, raw

Tools of the Trade

Cooking Up a Kitchen

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date September 16, 2015

I thought twice about publishing this post.

About a week ago, I received a pitch email letting me know about IKEA’s new advert for IKEA’s new IKEA METOD Kitchen range. I clicked on the link to watch the video and had two reactions:

1. This is clever.

2. Some of this imagery is slightly disturbing and makes me very uncomfortable.

The video literally cooks up a kitchen, using miniaturized IKEA products as “raw ingredients” to highlight the fact that the new METOD range of kitchens can be put together according to very personal tastes.

Like much of IKEA’s products, METOD is a modular system. Each piece allows for easy installation in your kitchen, efficient measurement and accessible combinations of doors, interior fittings, hinges, colors, drawers and frames, etc.

I liked the idea of a modular kitchen and asked for more information. I thought they’d send me more information about the METOD kitchen. Instead, I received pictures from the video and a document with a story about the video.

Strange, huh?

Since Carma’s Cookery is about creativity, and this video is creative, I’m going to share it. It’s clean … you don’t need to worry about the kids seeing it … but I’d love to read your thoughts about the imagery. The scene with the screws gave me the willies.

Tags IKEA, kitchen, Tools of the Trade

Creative Cookery

Popcorn? In a salad?

Public domain image via pixabay.com.

Over the Labour Day weekend, I got to meet my in-laws-to-be for the first time. We all met at my fianceé’s mother’s house for a salad potluck. Given my love of salads — my favorite restaurant is Sweet Tomatoes/Soup Plantation — I was delighted by the array of salad choices and made sure to have a little bit of each one.

Some were better suited to my palate than others, but for me the stand out salad of the day was — get this — Popcorn Salad.

I would never have thought of putting popcorn in a salad, and, frankly, I didn’t even recognize that as an ingredient until I tasted it. I asked my mother-in-law-to-be for the recipe.

If I had seen this recipe before I tasted it, I would have left out a couple of ingredients. I’m not a big fan of celery and I might have tried to find a substitute for the mayo. But it was so good, I knew I had to share this with you as it was presented to me.

I think it could be your next hit — with kids and adults alike — when it comes time to bring something to the buffet again.

Check it out here.

So now put on your creative thinking caps: How could you use this basic recipe to come up with something uniquely your own? Here are some ideas that came to the top of my mind:

Use cheddar popcorn instead of plain
Toss in some ranch dressing mix
Add Craisins for color and a touch of sweetness
Increase the chives or add in chopped green onions
Add in 1/4 cup shredded purple cabbage for flavor and color

Share Your Kitchen Creativity!

I hope you enjoy this salad as much as I did. If you do — and if you experiment with it and come up with something new — please tell us about it in a comment below. And be sure to share it in social media using the hashtag #carmascookery.

Tags buffet, kid-friendly, popcorn

Recipes

Popcorn Salad

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date September 14, 2015

Public domain image via pixabay.com.

Here’s an unusual salad that you can bring to buffets or serve with a weekend BBQ. It is surprisingly good and people will enjoy the whimsical flavors.

Public domain image via pixabay.com.

Ingredients:

10 slices bacon
¾ cup mayonnaise
1 cup diced celery
1-¼ cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided (1 cup and Â¼ cup)
1 8-oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained
¼ cup shredded carrots
2 Tablespoons minced fresh chives
6 cups popped popcorn

Directions:

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly browned. Drain and crumble. Set aside. NOTE: It might be easier and faster to cook the bacon if you cut the strips in half before cooking.
In a large bowl, combined the mayonnaise, celery, water chestnuts, carrots, chives, 1 cup cheese and ½ cup bacon. Mix well.
NOTE: Complete this step that last minute, otherwise the popcorn will become soft and not as tasty. This dish does not make good leftovers! Add popcorn and stir to coat. Sprinkle in remaining ¼ cup cheese and the rest of the bacon. Serve immediately.

Source: My fiancée’s mother

Tags salad

Recipes

Simple and Delicious Vegetarian Dinner

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date September 11, 2015

If you’re looking for a meatless meal that satisfies, look no further. This isn’t exactly a recipe, but is meant to inspire you for our next veggie-only dish.

Ingredients:

Chopped fresh vegetables
Chopped fresh herbs, such as basil, parsley and oregano
Olive oil

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Chop up some veggies, herbs and toss them in some olive oil.
Mix all your ingredients and wrap everything in foil on a baking dish. Bake at 350°F for about 40 minutes or so.
Drizzle with your favorite balsamic reduction and serve over rice, quinoa or just have it by itself.

Here pattypans, peppers, onions and tomatoes are used, but mushrooms, eggplant, garlic and plenty of other veggies also work well.

Tags dinner, vegetarian

Flavor Blending Recipes

Creative — and Quick! — Pink Sauce

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date September 9, 2015

A few weeks ago, I was at a party where bow-tie pasta with mushrooms and pink sauce was served. It was incredibly delicious. So, I went into research mode to find out how to make pink sauce myself.

Turns out, it is pretty much marinara sauce with added cream.

That gave me the idea for last night’s meal. I purchased a small container (one pind) of whipping cream and mixed it into a jar of basic marinara sauce.

Voila! Very tasty results.

I also sautéd some onion, garlic and mushrooms. Tossed that with bow-tie pasta and mixed in my off-the-cuff pink sauce. Dinner took about 30 minutes to make and it was a hit!

This is what Kitchen Creativity is all about … using simple skills you currently have, with simple ingredients that are easy to buy, to create meals that taste like those made by a fancy, shmancy chef!

Have you recreated restaurant fare in your kitchen? Please share in a comment below.

Tags pasta sauce, pink sauce

Healthy Living

Organic Living: Farm Fresh Foods

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date September 8, 2015

Michael Barera [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Photo by Michael Barera
[CC BY-SA 4.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL],
via Wikimedia Commons

One of the best ways to live organically is to buy farm fresh foods. The best way to do that is to frequent you local farmer’s markets. Here is Long Beach, Calif., we have several and one is being held somewhere within 10-15 miles of my home almost every day of the week!

So why not look up and remember when your local farmer’s markets are? They’re often cheaper than the grocery store, and you can ask directly about how the food was grown. Why would you do that? Well, not all food has to be labeled “Organic” to be healthy. And, there are different levels of “organic.” If you’re buying directly from the farmer, you can ask how it was made and make more educated purchasing decisions.

Want to save even more money at the farmer’s market? Stay to the end — they’ll often give out last minute deals to clear out inventory.

What if you don’t have a local farmer’s market, or it occurs at an inconvenient time? There are now alternatives to trekking out to get fresh produce. You can now sign up for your local fruit or veggie boxes. Farmers will deliver fresh organic produce straight to your door. Even some national companies offer such services that deliver local foods, too. Here are some services to check out:

Missed previous posts in this Organic Living series? Check them out here!

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Take Charge of Your Health!

Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.

This Healthy Eating Worksheet will walk you through the process of creating a healthy eating plan. All you need to do is print it out, set aside some time to complete it, and then fill it out. Then you can create your plan, knowing that you have addressed potential obstacles and came up with some creative ways to handle them.

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Tags organic living