I enjoy the Eden Organic brand of yellow mustard.

Ingredients: Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Water, Organic Yellow Mustard Seed, Eden Sea Salt, Organic Turmeric, Organic Paprika, Organic Garlic.

It has a strong mustard taste and a bright yellow color.  A little goes a long way so I’ll probably have this jar for awhile.

Organic Coconut Milk is incredibly handy to keep stocked in your cupboard. It deepens the flavor of both savory and sweet dishes, particularly recipes that don’t have much fat from other sources.

Sometimes recipes call for lite coconut milk, which in many cases is simply regular coconut milk plus water. Why pay the same amount for a can of lite coconut milk when I can add water on my own? A ratio of 1:1 with water works well as a substitute for lite coconut milk.

You may often only use half a can of coconut milk for a particular recipe. I transfer the remainder into a glass jar and keep it in the fridge for up to a week. In that time I can almost always find another use: a meat or vegetable curry, a bread or muffin or scone, a lentil or bean dish… the possibilities are limitless.

Having previously professed my love of salsa, it should come as no surprise that, to me, chips are often a mere vehicle to transport salsa from bowl to mouth.

Sometimes, though, I crave chips for their inherent goodness.

Garden of Eatin’ has many delicious varieties of chips.  Sesame Blues are my favorite for non-dipping because they are flavorful and nutty.

The ingredients are: organic blue corn, expeller pressed oleic safflower and/or sunflower oil, organic sesame seeds, sea salt.

It worries me somewhat when ingredient listings include “and/or.”  But in the case of Sesame Blues, I’ll conveniently overlook it.

There are two types of people: those who eat olives and those who do not.

It is hard for me to be friends with people who do not like them. It is very exasperating. I can understand that they are salty. I cannot understand that they should be limited due to fat content. Olive fat has to be one of the best things we can eat. I eat a lot of olives.

These olives are from Otto. An indication of a good Italian or Mediterranean restaurant is olive quality and selection. These were good. Everything else at Otto is good, too.

One of my dining companions for this meal does not like olives. I can’t remember her excuse reasoning. I do remember that it was very exasperating. However, I did get a slightly larger share myself.

There are two types of people: those who eat salsa with corn chips and those who eat salsa with almost everything.

I always have at least two or three jars of salsa stocked in my cabinet, often Green Mountain Gringo in its medium, hot, and roasted garlic varieties. Mexican dishes are obvious matches (burritos, enchiladas, tacos) but I also love a splash of salsa in rice, salads, pastas, and potatoes. It’s a good substitute for fresh tomatoes and is helpful for added spice.

Another benefit of this brand of salsa is that its packaging is a glass Mason jar. I wash the jars, remove the labels and re-use them for canning or storing dried beans or other supplies in the pantry.