Crazy Rich Asian Chicken Satay

The February/March reading selection for the Cook the Books Club is Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians, described by its publishers as "a fun, over-the-top romp through the unbelievable world of the Asian jet set, where anything from this season is already passe and one's pedigree is everything."

That pretty well describes it!  I found it to be a lot of fun and a lot flabbergasting (these are the rich people so rich that the rich people barely know they exist).

Into this world comes the main character, Rachel Chu - a Chinese American academic who discovers (as one does in wealth-fantasy novels) that her unassuming fellow-academic boyfriend just happens to be the son of one of the most crazy-rich families in Singapore.   She finds this out while on a plane to go meet his family and from there, hijinks ensue.

I enjoyed the book a lot and whipped my way through the entire trilogy shortly before the movie came out.  The intrigues and drama are the sort that clearly matter a lot to the characters involved, and for the most part were so far removed from my own life that the whole thing was just fun escapism.

Crazy Rich Asians (the movie) captures a lot of what happens in the book and keeps the frothy tone of it with a few significant modifications.  The biggest one is the way Akwafina's character takes on her sparkling over-the-top-ness, making her quite different from the book version, who is actually one of the most grounded secondary characters involved.

I liked both versions just fine, but don't read the book expecting to see the same character.

By luck, the movie is also this month's Food n' Flix choice, hosted by Eliot Eats (and typical of me, I'm getting this in right under the wire).

Seeing so many of my favorite actors (Constance Wu!  Michelle Yeoh! Lisa Lu!) and enjoying the beautiful sets and fun, not too challenging plot made for a really enjoyable movie night.

The recipe I was inspired to make was chicken satay.  This is what Rachel's boyfriend shares with her when they first land in Singapore, and she's still reeling a bit at the discovery of who he is.

Rather than whisk her off to a fancy restaurant, he takes her down to a popular outdoor street market area, where she meets a few of his friends and they introduce her to the best street food choices in Singapore - especially the Chicken Satay.

Now, I'm not even going  to try to claim mine is as good as theirs was described, but we really enjoyed it!  This version has a spicy peanut sauce to go with it - and I used some extra sauce to mix into some zucchini noodles sprinkled with peanuts.

The recipe I used is based on Milk Street's Singapore Chicken Satay, cooked in the oven rather than a grill.  Other than the time it takes to marinate the chicken, this made for an easy and simple dinner that would also be wonderful as a part of a buffet table.

Chicken Satay
serves 4

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" wide strips

Marinade
2 Tblsp freshly grated ginger + 2 tsp. (reserve)
6 garlic cloves, finely minced + 1  clove (reserve)
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tblsp oil
1 Tblsp sesame oil
2 Tblsp turmeric powder
1 Tblsp ground cumin
1 Tblsp salt

Peanut Sauce
1/4 cup boiling water
2 Tblsp creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 Tblsp sugar
2 Tblsp oil
reserved 2 tsp. grated ginger
reserved clove garlic, minced
2 Tblsp. chile garlic sauce
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 cup finely chopped roasted peanuts

Prepare the marinade:
Combine all and stir until sugar is dissolved.  Add chicken and marinade for 2-3 hours in refrigerator. (Don't marinate any longer than that - it will get too salty.)

Prepare the sauce:
In a medium bowl, whisk together peanut butter and boiling water until smooth.  Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sugar, whisking to combine. Set aside.

In a small skillet, heat oil and add ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant (about 1 minute).  Add the chile garlic sauce and turmeric, and cook another 30 seconds, until fragrant.

Whisk the garlic-ginger sauce into the bowl of peanut butter and soy.  Remove 1/4 cup for basting the chicken, and set aside the rest in the refrigerator for serving.  Let come to room temperature about 30 minutes before cooking the chicken, and stir in 1/4 cup of the peanuts.

Prepare the chicken:
Cover a sheet pan with foil or parchment paper, setting a wire rack on top of it.

Drain chicken in a colander in the sink.  Using wooden or metal skewers (I used wood but would have preferred metal), thread 2-3 pieces of the chicken onto the skewers, and set on the rack in the sheet pan.  Continue with remaining chicken, making sure not to crowd them on the rack.

Broil chicken for 5-7 minutes, then flip them and broil another 4-6 minutes.

Brush the chicken with half the sauce reserved for basting, and broil until nicely charred, another 2-4 minutes.  Then flip the chicken and brush with sauce again, then broiling for 2-4 minutes, until well charred.

Serve with peanut sauce.

To serve I made a cold zucchini noodle salad by spiralizing some zucchini and tossing it with part of the peanut sauce and sprinkled with chopped peanuts.  Delicious!

Check out the Food n' Flix Round Up to see the other delicious treats inspired by Crazy Rich Asians!

Sausage Spaghetti Sauce over Zoodles

While my husband I still enjoy a great pasta dish now and then, we often switch up the pasta itself for spiralized zucchini (zoodles!), not only to reduce the carb load, but because they taste great!  Both of us are 'pasta is the carrier for saucy goodness' people, so this really works for us.

This sauce recipe has been how I do it for years - make up the sauce a couple hours before dinner, zoodle up the zucchini in just a couple minutes and chop up those little zucchini tubes left behind and toss them in the sauce.  The actual labor is minimal, and this sauce freezes beautifully, so this is an excellent weeknight meal.

I like to keep those little four-packs of individual servings of wine in my pantry for cooking - a pack of red and a pack of white gives me just enough to add a bottle to a meal without having to commit to drinking the rest of a full bottle that night.  If you enjoy wine often, boxed wine also let's you draw a bit for cooking without the rest of a bottle going stale.

Heads up - this sauce is flavorful and on the spicy side!  If you prefer a more mild taste, reduce or leave out the red pepper flakes and use sweet Italian sausage in place of the Spicy Italian sausage.

Italian Sausage Spaghetti Sauce over Zoodles
serves 6

1-2 zucchinis per person, spiralized
2 Tblsp. olive oil
1 lb. spicy Italian sausage
1 onion, minced
1 pkg sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup of red wine
1 Tblsp minced garlic
1 can sliced black olives
1 large can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 large can tomato paste
2 cups beef broth
2 Tblsp. Italian seasoning blend
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese


Remove sausage from casings and brown.  Add onions and mushrooms, and cook until softened.

Add garlic and cook just until fragrant.

Add wine, and cook until wine is reduced.

Add tomatoes, paste, broth, olives and seasonings, stirring to combine and incorporate the paste. Bring to boil, then reduce and simmer on medium low for at least an hour - two if you have the time.

Taste about half way through, and adjust seasonings as needed.  If sauce gets too thick before you're ready for it, add some water or broth and let it continue simmering.

Spiralize the zucchini a few minutes before serving.  Chop the spirals a bit (otherwise, they're one long noodle strand) and divide into dinner bowls. Dice any unused zucchini bits and toss them in a pot - they'll cook in just a few minutes.

Top the zucchini noodles with the sauce - the heat from the sauce will soften the zucchini just slightly, so that they are al dente.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

I am sharing this with the Improve Cooking Challenge, a fun two-ingredient cooking challenge that posts on the 2nd Thursday of each month.  This month's challenge was Wine & Italian Seasoning.

 Check out what the other bloggers have made!

Improv Cooking Challenge: February 2019

Ingredients: Wine and Italian Seasoning

Creamy Italian Dressing With Mayo & Red Wine Vinegar by Sneha's Recipe
White Wine & Herb Grilled Chicken by Kate’s Recipe Box
Veal Scalloppini and Piccata Gnocchi by Palatable Pastime
Slow Cooker White Wine Mushrooms by Cheese Curd In Paradise
Slow Cooker Italian Roast Beef by Cookaholic Wife

Winey Mary: Bloody Mary meets Red Wine by Our Good Life

Lemon Caper Italian Chicken by Cindy's Recipes and Writings

Lady and the Tramp Spaghetti and Meatballs by Simply Inspired Meals

Italian Sausage Marinara with Penne by Jolene's Recipe Journal

Pasta in White Wine Herb Sauce by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Sausage Spaghetti Sauce Over Zoodles by Reviews, Chews & How-Tos

The #ImprovCookingChallenge is a monthly blogging event where two ingredients are assigned to a month. Bloggers can make any recipe they like as long as it features the two ingredients.

If you are a blogger and would like to join us, please visit our Facebook page.You can also read more about the event on our our home page.  If you’d like to see previous creations, check out our Pinterest board.

Salmon in Puff Pastry #BakingBloggers

This month, I am joining several other bloggers at Baking Bloggers to share a dish with this month's theme: British Baking!

My first thought was to try something amazing inspired by the Great British Bake Off, but as much as I enjoy watching the show, I do not make intricate desserts, nor do we eat dessert often enough to go through all that.

Instead, I looked into my Kindle, where I keep a ridiculous number of cookbooks, to see what I might have.  Sure enough, there was an old-fashioned little gem from the Hippocrene Cookbook Collection, entitled The English Country Kitchen, by Geraldine Duncann.

Among the recipes there was one I actually had all the ingredients for, so I decided to give it a try: Salmon in Puff Pastry from Northumberland.  This made for a nice not-too-heavy meal served alongside a salad, and meat wrapped in pastry is a British technique that goes back for centuries.

One note on this - the original recipe very cavalierly mentions removing the skin off the salmon fillets.  I did not find this to be an easy task, and some instruction on just how to go about that would have been good.  

I did not manage it gracefully, so it was a good thing the salmon was going to be hidden inside the puff pastry!

I did crisp up the skins in the microwave for our dog, so she won even if my salmon lost!

Additionally, I included the called for hard-cooked egg slices but honestly, I didn't find that they added much to the taste or texture when we ate them.  I wouldn't bother doing that again if I make this in the future.

Otherwise, I made a few modifications and this recipe is what I did. (sorry, I have no good advice on removing those skins!)

Salmon in Puff Pastry
Serves 2-4

4 Tblsp. English Mustard
1 tsp. nutmeg
salt and pepper
2 tsp. dried dill
4 salmon fillets, skins removed, thawed
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed but still cold
2 boiled eggs, sliced (optional)
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a small bowl, mix seasonings into mustard. Set aside.

Cut puff pastry into four rectangles, and roll slightly to make them large enough to encase the salmon fillets.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Set a fillet in the center of a rectangle. Spread with 1 Tablespoon of the mustard mixture. Set a couple egg slices on top, if using.

Fold the puff pasty over the salmon completely, pinching the edges where they meet  and at each end, sealing well. 

Set on the parchment paper, seam side down. Repeat with the other fillets.

Brush puff pastry top with the egg wash and make slits on top of the pastry.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until the puff pastry is golden brown and flaky.

Take a tour of these other Baking Bloggers sharing their British Baking dishes!

Bread & Butter Pudding by Sneha's Recipe

Chocolate Chip Scones by Jolene's Recipe Journal

Eccles Cakes by Caroline's Cooking

English Granary-Style Bread by Karen's Kitchen Stories

Fat Rascals by Palatable Pastime

Jammie Dodgers by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Mini Toad in the Hole by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

Raspberry Bakewell Tarts by Pandemonium Noshery

Salmon in Puff Pastry by Reviews, Chews & How-Tos

Strawberry Almond Crumble by Food Lust People Love

Strawberry Dark Chocolate Shortbread Biscuits by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice

Traditional Scottish Shortbread with Rose by The Schizo Chef

Wizarding World Chocolate Trifle by Simple Inspired Meals

Cottage Pie with Mashed Cauliflower #eattheworld

This month's Eat the World Challenge is hosted by Evelyn of CulturEatz, and takes us to England!  I'm joining several bloggers as we explore and try recipes from around the world on the 10th of each month.

This month, I'm sharing Cottage Pie - a great, hearty old-fashioned dish  that, like many Americans, I mistakenly called Shepherd's Pie for many years. But Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb or mutton - when it's made with beef, it's Cottage Pie.

I haven't made this in awhile, but when I have, I usually use leftover mashed potatoes. This time around, I decided to make it low-carb and switched it up for mashed cauliflower.  It worked out well and was even better the next day as leftovers!  The next time I do this, I'm going to make up the mashed cauliflower the day before and let it chill overnight to give it some extra time to thicken up.

This can also be made when any leftover vegetables you have on hand.

Cottage Pie with Mashed Cauliflower
serves 4
recipe inspired by Living Chirpy

Filling:
1 lb ground beef
2 Tblsp. Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tblsp. olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 onion, minced
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 cups beef broth
1 3 oz. can tomato paste
Salt & Pepper to taste

Topping:
1 head of cauliflower, cut into chunks
1/2 stick of butter
2 tsp. garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Put cauliflower chunks into the top of a steamer pot over boiling water, and cook until tender (20-30 minutes).

Put steamed cauliflower into a blender, along with butter, garlic, salt, pepper, and cream and whip to a puree.  Fold in half the cheddar, mixing to melt the cheese in the hot cauliflower. Set aside. (Or overnight in the refrigerator).

Brown the ground beef and season with Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.  Add oil, onions, carrots and celery, and cook on medium heat until the vegetables are softened.

Add broth, tomatoes, tomato paste and Italian seasoning and simmer for about 45 minutes until vegetables are fully tender and liquid has cooked down and thickened.

Turn meat and vegetable filling into a casserole dish and spread evenly.  Top with the cauliflower mash, and sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes, then give it 5 minutes under the broiler until bubbly and slightly browned.

Enjoy!

Check out all the wonderful English dishes prepared by fellow Eat the World members and share with #eattheworld. Click here to find out how to join and have fun exploring a country a month in the kitchen with us!

Camilla: Britain's Favorite Game Bird: Roasted Pheasant 

Juli: Lancashire Hotpot with Lamb 

Lynda: Cottage Pie with Mashed Cauliflower Topping 

Loreto and Nicoletta: Toad in the Hole, a Taste of Great Britain 

Simply Inspired Meals: Wizarding World Beef and Guinness Stew 

Margaret: Easy Fish and Chips and Mushy Peas 

Wendy: Venison Shepherd’s Pie 

Amy: Leaky Cauldron Mini Cottage Pie 

Sue: English Crumpets

WIPocalypse January Stitchy Check-in

This is my January WIPocolypse post to track my progress on cross stitch  Works-in-Progress (WIPs).  WIPocolypse is an ongoing monthly link up, as well as a Facebook community, and is open for all sorts of crafty WIPs.

Each month, there is a question. This month's question is:

What SALs are you participating in this year?
I enjoy keeping track of Stitch-a-longs of all sorts, even though I only participate in a few, and even more rarely do I keep up enough to do at the same pace everyone else is.

The one and only one I always try to go for is Steotchalong.  I love the snarky pop culture fun of this one, and especially love the the final pattern includes several options so you can customize to your own interests and sense of humor.

I also participate in the Facebook group Stitch Maynia, which treats SALs as themed events you can share your work in.  I love the variety there and how low-pressure it is.

One of those events is the annual Temperature SAL.  This is my progress on this year's, up to Jan. 26:

This year, I've gotten involved in another Facebook group, School of Mystery & Literature, devoted to stitching and reading, with an overall Harry Potter theme.   The way they're handling it has been so much fun!  When you join, you get sorted into one of the Houses (I'm Slytherin) and each week, the Houses get points for completing various stitching and reading challenges. It's all in fun, and I've really loved the way it's spurred on both my stitching and my reading for the year.


Finished this year/since last check in:

Spattered Paw Print / Climbing Goat Designs

7 Swans a Swimming / Satsuma Street

I got stuck on this for so long - something about  that yellow on white put me off, and it languished in the bottom of my WIP bag for months. So glad to finally get it done so I can move onto the next one!

New Starts This Month:

Mermaid Skeleton / Pixlstitch

Isn't this great?? PixlStitch does a whole collection of fantastical creatures as skeletons!

Bouquet de Fleurs / Jardin Prive

also:

If the Broom Fits / Lizzie*Kate (restart)

another procrastination project - I hated everything about it. My stitches were sloppy, the colors weren't working with the fabric, and the linen was so floppy that every stitch was an ordeal. So I gave up and am starting over.

Also worked on so far since last check in:

Astrology / Peacock & Fig

This makes me laugh everytime I see it - almost done!

Leia Hope / Stitchbucket

The last part of this will be the word HOPE at the bottom.

Mermaid of Atlantis / Mirabilia

Upper right corner finished, beading and all!

Coffee Quaker / Heartstring Samplery

M is For Mermaid / Prairie Schooler

Purchased Stash Since Last Check In:
a few necessary flosses

Intend to start before next WIPocolypse Check In:
8 Maids a'Milking / Satsuma Street
Country French Witch / JBW Designs
Witches Wizards All Welcome / Fiddlesticksau

Intend to finish before next WIPocolypse Check In:

Mermaid Skeleton 

If the Broom Fits / Lizzie*Kate

Astrology / Peacock & Fig

My current full WIP list (22):
2019 Temperature SAL / Apricot Polkadot
All My Scattering Moments / Stitcherhood
Alphabet Acorn / Cross-Eyed Cricket
Astrology / Peacock & Fig
Bouquet de Fleurs / Jardin Prive
Bride's Tree Orn - Home / Brooke's Books
Coffee Quaker / Heartstring Samplery
Hocus Pocus / Prairie Schooler
If the Broom Fits / Lizzie*Kate
Leia Hope / Stitchbucket
M is For Mermaid / Prairie Schooler
Mermaid Fraktur / Plum Street Samplers
Mermaid of Atlantis / Mirabilia
Mermaid Skeleton
Mermaid Tales SAL / Peacock & Fig
Polly Wolly Doodle / La-D-Da
Pretty Little DC / Satsuma Street
Primitive Ouija Board / Cloud Factory
Springtime SAL (Warm) / Satsuma Street
Summer Ornament / Prairie Schooler
TARDIS Biscornu / Cloud Factory
Yellow Submarine / Blackbird Designs

Next check in: Feb 24
Next Topic: What do you listen to while stitching?

See you then!

Instant Pot Chicken Corn Chowder with Bacon

I am going to be honest here - I have had an Instant Pot for two years now, and it still freaks me out.  I have given up trying to sort out exactly why.

To be sure, I find the instructions incomprehensible (although easy once I manage to figure out what I'm being told to do) and the inability to know exactly how long something is going to take really messes with my decades of practice at timing multiple elements of meal. 

There is also a little bit of really lingering ancient fear that came from my mother's hushed assurances that using a pressure cooker would BLOW UP THE HOUSE! (she never crossed paths with an Instant Pot - but her voice still lives in my head.)

My daughter and son in law are geniuses with the thing - so when they were visiting with us, I used the opportunity to make something in it so that if it went tragically wrong, I could blame them get their help fixing it.

I'd had my eye on this recipe for Instant Pot Bacon, Corn, & Potato Chowder from FoodFunFamily for awhile and decided to add some cooked shredded chicken I had on hand, and modified it a bit to our taste.

The result was delicious, filling, and as easy as could be!

I can't say I've defeated my fear of the Instant Pot - but I certainly have found at least one thing I know will come out just right.

I used bacon reserved from breakfast - but you can certainly cook it up in the Instant Pot as your first step, using the saute feature.

Instant Pot Chicken Corn Chowder with Bacon

Serves 4-6

1 lb cooked, shredded chicken

2 Tblsp. bacon grease or 1 Tblsp. coconut oil + 1 Tblsp. butter

1 onion, minced

2 celery stalks, thin sliced

4-5 Yukon Gold Potatoes, diced (peeling optional)

2 bay leaves

16 oz frozen corn kernels

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried parsley

1/2 tsp. dried marjoram

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. Cholula or Tapatio hot sauce

1/2 pack bacon, cooked crisp and diced

2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar (optional)

Melt bacon fat or coconut oil in the Instant Pot on Saute.  Cook the onion and celery, stirring occasionally, until soft; about 5 minutes.  

Turn off the Saute feature, add potatoes and bay leaves and let rest a couple of minutes. (This allows a bit of cooling so you don't create a lot of steam when you add the broth.

Add the broth.  Close and lock the lid and seal the valve.  Press MANUAL and and cook 1 minute on HIGH.

Release valve pressure and remove lid once the steam stops.

Discard bay leaves and add chicken, corn, seasonings, milk and cream, and hot sauce.  Press CANCEL, then SAUTE and cook, stirring frequently, until hot - about 5-10 minutes.  Stir in half the diced bacon.

To serve, top with diced bacon and, if desired, shredded sharp cheddar.

This is excellent with biscuits or crusty rolls, but just fine on its own!

Simply Earth Subscription Box (Giveaway/Review)

Do you enjoy using essential oils in simple DIY projects to create homemade natural alternatives to commercial products?  I do, and I have a modest collection of oils and books of ideas to work with, but often I never get around to doing half of what I'd like, due to missing one vital item or another.

Simply Earth is a monthly subscription box that is delivered to you for $39.00 a month that makes it easy to build your oil collection and provides six projects a month with necessary tools and four essential oils.

Simply Earth Bonus Box

Each month tends toward a seasonal theme, making the whole thing a lovely way to learn a few techniques with the help of just a few pieces of equipment you are sure to have on hand.  Many of the projects are quick and simple enough to do with children.

When you first sign up for the subscription, along with the current month's Recipe Box, you will receive their Bonus Box that contains six amber vials, six roller ball bottles, a small jar, solid coconut oil, liquid coconut oil, almond oil, and beeswax pellets.

These supplies are used often in each month's recipe collections, and a new Bonus Box is delivered every six months as long as you have a subscription.

I received the January Box along with the Bonus Box for review and I was intrigued as I explored the contents after opening it.

The January theme was body and skin care - perfect for these winter months that can make us so dry!

The monthly recipe box came neatly packaged with four essential oils, a packet of multicolor pastel tapioca beads, a silicon square mold, two lip balm tubes, six recipe cards and a sheet of stickers for labeling the completed projects.

The four essential oils for January are Bergamot, Myrrh, Ravensara, and a blend called Farewell Scars made up of Lemon, Lavender, Rosemary, Myrrh, and Helichrysum.

I was most curious about the Ravensara as I had no previous experience with it.   It is touted as an oil that helps with seasonal illnesses and has a calming effect that increases confidence.  The scent was highly reminiscent of anise, so it was no surprise to discover its botanical name is Ravensara anisata. I find the scent to be very pleasant and was pleased to find that it is often used during cold season much the way eucalyptus would, to clear stuffy heads.

The first and simplest project was a confidence diffuser blend that used bergamot and ravensara.  I added it to a tea candle style infuser and set about to work through the other projects.

Both the Skin Healing Booster Roll On for minor injuries and scar care, and the delightful Skin Renewal Sugar Scrub were quick to make and would be easy for children to make as gifts with adult supervision.

The Calming and Uplifting Body Butter required a mixer to whip the ingredients together, but otherwise was also very simple to put together, and the result was sublime - I have so enjoyed using this and will definitely be making up another batch when it's gone.

The last two projects - the Lip Rejuvenating Lip Balm and Relaxing Textured Massage Bar  (which is where the tapioca beads come in) both required melting wax and coconut oil over a double boiler or similar alternative.   I used a glass measuring cup so I'd have an easy way to pour the contents into the lip balm tubes and square mold - I found that hooking the handle over the edge of the pot and suspending it in boiling water was the easiest way to keep the handle available to pick up with a potholder when it was time.

As a tip - remember not to use hot water to remelt the remains of wax on your tools with hot running water and let it go down the sink!  It'll reharden in your pipes.  Instead, wait until it is nearly cool but still soft and wipe out thoroughly with a paper towel before washing.

Both of these projects worked out just as described - of the two, I like the massage bar best. The lip balm is not quite creamy enough for my winter-dry lips to use without pulling at them.

All in all, I found this subscription box to be a lot of fun, and a great value - the four oils included go for a total of $64.96 on the website - that, along with several projects and supplies to get familiar with using them make the $39 a month cost a real bargain.  Add to that the free $40 Bonus Box that arrives the first month of your subscription and you will be all set for several months of fun and a collection of homemade natural products to enjoy.

If you've ever wanted to try out a few DIY techniques using essential oils or to grow your essential oil pantry, Simply Earth may be the perfect subscription box for you.

The February Box will be all about making your own cosmetics!

If you subscribe following using the code RCHFREE you will receive a free $20 gift card with your first subscription box and bonus box! You can use the gift card for individual purchases on Simply Earth or the next box.


Simply Earth is also allowing us to host a giveaway for the February Box plus Bonus Box - read on to see how you can enter to win!

UPDATE:  This giveaway was originally for the January Recipe Box plus Bonus as described above - however January has now sold out and the winner of our Giveaway will receive the FEBRUARY Recipe Box plus Bonus Box.   Check here for a sneak peek, and if you want to subscribe, don't delay - these things do sell out before the end of the month!

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One winner in the US will win a February Simply Earth Subscription Box plus Bonus Box (value $79.00).

This Giveaway ends at just before midnight ET February 4, 2019.

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment in this entry as instructed by the Giveaway Tools Entry Form below. This will open up additional optional entries to increase your odds of winning. (If you don't leave a comment, any additional entries will be void.)

The winner will be notified by email 24 to 48 hours after the end of the giveaway by email. In order to claim the giveaway prize, the winner will need to respond within 24 hours of notification, or an alternate winner will be selected.
 Good luck!

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