A gift is nothing more than an expression of love to the ones you give them to. During the Holiday’s we love to express our love to everyone, especially in times like this, when the pandemic keeps evolving with more variants to keep us all at a distance.
So, you can show the love by making my simple Chocolate Spoons to Make Cocoa. The ingredients are few, the process is simple and the best part is that making them for the people you love will make you very, very happy, Smile!

Category:  CHRISTMAS HOMEMADE GIFTS
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:  45 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $9.30
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free     
Servings: 24  
        
INGREDIENTS
1 bag of chocolate melts, or dark chocolate chips ($1.75)
1 pk. of Bakers baking chocolate ($1.75)
Few blocks of almond bark (.30)
Marshmallows to taste (.25)
Mini and regular size M&M (.25)
12 + Peppermint Candy Canes ($1.00)
 
4 Red bags, old leftover Christmas top cards and a ½ yard of ribbon ($2.00)
1 bag of silver mini spoons ($1.00)
Cellophane bags to place the spoons in ($1.00)
 
DIRECTIONS
To melt chocolate, follow the bags instructions. Usually is 60 seconds and then 15 seconds until it all melts away. Drop the melted chocolate by spoonsful into your ice cube mold. Place a spoon in the middle, add the marshmallows and candy before the chocolate sets.

Refrigerate until you will assemble them.

Check out any leftover holiday cards that you have from Christmas past that you did not use and cut the top, place near the bag handle, make a hole with a hole punch and pass a ribbon through both to secure the card.
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Place the bags of chocolate spoons in the decorated red bags and then give them away! Boom!

So healthy, delicious and once you have your veggies processed, you can make this dish in no time.
 
Category:  Entrée
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:  30 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $11.70 or $5.85 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free    
Servings: 2
 
Ingredients
2 c. Cauliflower-Broccoli-Carrot Rice (processed in your food processor) ($5.00)
1/3 c. Chicken stock (homemade or purchased) (.20)
1 cube of frozen herbs (herbs, olive oil and garlic, processed frozen and ready to use) (.20)
½ Sazón envelope (.10)
 
2 salmon steaks ($4.50)
1 tbsp. Roasted Garlic and Herbs (.10)
1 tbsp. of my basting oil or olive oil to season and sautee the salmon. (.30)
2 fresh corn (cleaning and boil, salted water is optional) ($1.00)
½ lemon, rinsed, sliced and pat dry (.30)
 
Directions
Start by cleaning and boil the corn over med-heat until tender (approx. 15 minutes).
Season the salmon with 1 tbsp. Roasted Garlic and Herbs and 1 tbsp. of my basting oil.
Add the frozen herbs cube to a skillet until melted, then add the Cauliflower-Broccoli-Carrot Rice, Sazón, stock and stir until it wilts and brown a bit. Remove and set aside.
Meanwhile, in another skillet, sear the salmon filet until golden brown.
What’s left is just slicing the lemon, plating and garnish this simple meal. Bon Appetite!
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Angie’s Basting Oil:  www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oil

I am doing the prep today for tomorrow, I will only need to add the seasonings needed to make this dish healthy fabulous! All you need is the veggies, a food processor and you are good to go.
CHECK OUT MY POST TOMORROW FOR A FULL RECIPE USING THIS SIDE! BOOM.
 
Category:  Side
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:    15 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $5 or $2.50 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free   __√__   Vegetarian __√__ 
Servings: 2
 
Ingredients
1 cauliflower head, florets detached from the stem, rinsed, pat dry (2.50)
2 rainbow carrots, peeled ends cut and and cut in half ($1.00)
1 large broccoli head, rinsed, pat dry and florets detached from stem ($1.50)
 
Directions
Follow the aforementioned instructions under the Ingredients and process the veggies until they look like rice.
Refrigerate immediately until time to use and use within a couple of days.

This is a simple and yet interesting dish that I took only 4 ingredients to get it done. The chicken cooked in med-low develop a juicy gravy that completed the meal.
 
Category:  Entrée
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:   under 30 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $4.30 or $2.15 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free    
Servings: 2
 
Ingredients
1 large Chinese eggplant ($1.20)
½ lb. 98% fat free ground chicken ($2.50)
1 ½ tbsp. Angie’s basting olive oil (.40)
1 ½ tbsp. Angie’s dry seasoning (.20)
 
Directions
Season the chicken with 1 tbsp. of my basting olive oil and 1 ½ tbsp. my dry seasoning.
Rinse, pat dry and cut eggplant lengthwise, then cover with salt to allow it to sweat.
Once the eggplant swat, rinse all the salt away and pat dry.
Add ½ tbsp. of basting oil to the skillet and roast the eggplant until golden and done.
Cook the chicken over med-high in another cooking pan until totally done.
Time to plate your meal. Boom!
 
Optional: You can add a bag of Seeds for Change quinoa, brown or Jasmin rice.
 
Angie’s Dry Seasonings: http://www.angieslifehacks.com/family-life/oven-roasted-bacon-chicken-and-angies-seasonings
Angie’s Basting Olive Oil:  www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oil

Since I am not a dietitian or nutritionist, I did some research about Papayas and this is what I found: According to www.healthline.com, some of the benefits of eating papaya are:
 
Assist in better cardiovascular health
Loaded with vitamin A and antioxidants which help improve eye health.
Anti-ageing
Aids digestion
Boost immunity
Help in weight loss
Better kidney health, and
Best for diabetics
 
I am sure that there are more benefits and/or vitamins not mentioned in this article. So, coming across these findings, I am adding papaya to my daily diet, instead of eating it a couple of times a week. How about you?
 
Category:  FRUITS
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:   15 Minutes
Approximate Cost:   This papaya cost me:  $3.49
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free  
Servings: 5+
 
Ingredients
1 PAPAYA (Sold by pound. Price depends on the weight and it can go as high as $1.30/lb.)
 
Directions
Please follow my slide presentation and the captions. It is so easy. Then refrigerate.

It is so simple. Many years ago, I decided to draft a list of my favorite grocery stores with the list of the product that I purchase often from them. I print a copy weekly and highlight what I need.

Then later, I took it to another level, when I noticed that the same product had different prices per stores, and at times significant. So, I added prices to my list and identified products exactly by pound, ounces, etc. I must say that I was up for a nice surprise.

Today, I want to share my groceries format list with you, in case that you decide to draft a list of your favorite grocery stores and get your products at a cheaper price. Hope you like it, smile.
I developed 2 columns for my large retailers, COSTCO and Sam’s.
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I also developed a similar chart for my other day-to-day shopping: Lidl, Walmart, Wegman’s, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Some Asian and Latin Markets that carry products that I use either regularly or not as often. To give you an example, this is just one of the comparisons I did on 7 stores. However, be aware that produce and other products change prices every now and then:

Item: One 12oz can of Carnation Brand Evaporated Milk Price:
Store #1: $1.38
Store #2: $1.25
Store #3: $2.53
Store #4: $1.00
Store #5: $1.50
Store #6: .81 (Costco Kirkland brand)

This is just in one product. But if you purchase 6 cans, this is what you could be paying:
6 cans @ $2.53ea. = $15.18
6 cans @ $1.38ea. = $ 8.28
6 cans @     .81ea. = $ 4.86
 
The question is, what are you willing to pay to save?
To me is totally worth it to spend some time developing these charts that save me lots of dollars.

It’s just amazing how I used only 2 seasonings for my whole 3-ingredients meal. And as a bonus, my husband said, “this meal was amazing”. Smile.
 
Category:  Entrée
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:  30 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $7.80 or $3.90 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free   
Servings: 2
 
Ingredients
2 salmon steaks (cleaned, pat dry and seasoned) ($4.50)
3 to 5 rainbow carrots (peeled and cut on a bias) (.75)
½ lb. asparagus (rinsed and blanched) ($1.75)
3 tbsp. Angie’s basting oil (2 of these tbsp. is for the carrots) (.70)
1 tbsp. Roasted Garlic and Herbs (.10)
 
Directions
Follow the directions that I provided under the Ingredients.
Season the salmon with 1 tbsp. my basting oil, 1 tbsp. Roasted Garlic and Herbs and refrigerate.
In a baking pan add 2 tbsp. of basting oil, rub and oven roast the carrots at 400 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes.
Meantime, blanch the asparagus in enough water to cover them. Remove as soon as they turn dark green.
Finally, when the carrots are done, pan sear the salmon until golden, warm up the asparagus and get ready to plate.
 
Angie’s Basting Olive Oil:  www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oil