For those who enjoy summer entertaining, ZICO offers a new addition to your bevy of beverage options. A tasty and flavorful alternative to water and a more nutritious option than sugary sodas, their premium coconut water offers rapid hydration and refreshment.
Each serving of ZICO contains zero fat, less than 100 calories and comes packed with potassium. It also rehydrates your body with key electrolytes- crucial for maintaining a healthy balance in the warmer weather.
ZICO plans to release its newest flavor, Latte, in mid June. With as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, this flavorful option packs a punch in addition to hydrating and refreshing you on the go. Indulge with friends this summer enjoying a drink you won’t feel guilty about. Any time of day, we Moms could always use a little boost of energy.
Check out the complete line of ZICO beverages here.
Disclosure: Mom Central received a sample of the ZICO coconut water to facilitate this review.
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With the weather heating up, I’m starting to prepare for one of my favorite summer activities: BBQs. I love having the family over for grilled food, cold drinks, and outdoor fun. This type of backyard party entertains relatives of all ages without spending too much money.
I can’t deny that I enjoy a good burger or hot dog from the grill, but I also like to bring some variety to our family barbecues. This year, my new GrillGrate will allow me to surprise everyone with new food that you typically can’t cook on the grill. The interlocking grate panels lie on top of the grill to form a more versatile cooking surface and protect meats from flaring up.
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As summer temperatures heat up, I like to spend as little time in my kitchen standing over the stovetop and oven as possible. Instead, I turn to premade desserts from the grocery store bakery or ice cream treats from the freezer aisle to fill the dessert void.
For those who enjoy baking, the summer months can present a challenge. Thanks to innovative and useful kitchen gadgets like the PizellePro Express Bake iron, you can create light and flavorful homemade treats without turning on your oven.
Pizzelles are as easy as they are elegant, requiring only a handful of basic ingredients including: eggs, flour, sugar, oil and flavoring, to make a delightful dessert. Once you’ve prepared the mix, the PizzellePro Express Bake iron does the rest of the work.
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After lunch, we came upon the open-air seafood market in the old city, where salty fishermen sell their catches of the day. The local fish are mainly comprised of variations of white fish, similar to our cod and flounder, from John Dory to Turbot, as well as sea bass.
Another regional specialty is small white anchovies that get fried up, much like French fries at local restaurants and can be eaten whole. (I have to admit we did skip the heads.) The anchovies have a sweet, fresh taste and the fine bones dissolve in cooking. In the photos, you can see them raw, as well as served flash-fried along with calamari.
You can also find a wide variety of prawns, squid, scallops, mussels, and clams, which most often get served up in bouillabaisse, fish soups, and delicate seafood pastas.
But, there’s also some exotics featured in the mix, such as whole octopus, which held little appeal to us! The local Mediterranean crab is huge!
In neighboring shops, adjacent to the seafood stands, vendors sell multiple variations of dried and salted fish for soup bases.
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We sat down for lunch at the Café de Turin — a seafood specialty restaurant nestled in the former post station for mail making its way from France into Italy via the Turin poste. What started a century ago as a café serving coffee and refreshments to weary mailmen, has morphed into one of Nice’s most upscale seafood cafés, still housed in its original building, now designated as a national monument.
The restaurant serves its own oysters, grown in both salt-water beds in Provence, as well as up north in Normandy. All oysters come with a rating number, with No. 1 being the largest oysters on the market and descending down to No. 3, which most closely resemble our large U.S. oysters. The No. 1 oysters weigh over 300 grams each and are larger than a man’s hand in size.
They’re served simply, with choices of fresh lemon wedges or Tabasco or, with some polite pleading, seasoned red wine vinaigrette. Later, we learned that the restaurant also offers a garlic aioli (French mayonnaise) for the other cold seafood.
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We arrived at 10 a.m., after a long overnight flight, excited about our seafood experience and adventure in the French Mediterranean, based out of Nice, France. Traveling with me, I had my daughter, Kyle, who just finished with her sophomore year at college, and we were both incredibly excited to spend time together on a culinary and exploratory adventure. The long journey from Boston behind us, I drove our cute, small rental car from the airport, hugging the beach and the long stretch of promenade until we reached our hotel, Hotel La Perouse. With our room not yet ready, we decided to venture forth into the adjourning city.
We headed into the vieille ville (old town), the oldest and most scenic area of the now-bustling urban city. The buildings all sport colorful pastel hues and classic European wooden shutters, often with flowers hanging off the porches, or clothes drying outside high windows. We wandered to an open square with a beautiful fountain and view of the dramatic Mediterranean hillside.
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High Liner Foods, a premier seafood marketer, offers the Sea Cuisine brand of seasoned and prepared frozen seafood dishes. The company ensures its seafood originates from sustainable sources and offers its products in local groceries, warehouses, and club stores. Just pop them in the oven for about 30 minutes, and enjoy a tasty dinner!
This minimal preparation makes the Sea Cuisine products a simple and satisfying dinner solution for busy Moms. The meals come with one of three chef-created seafood preparations: flavored crusts, light sauces, or fire-roasted taste. Sea Cuisine offers a selection of seafood, including tilapia, salmon, cod, and shrimp.
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When you think of great barbecue, nothing comes to mind before Southern, home-style grilling. So how did two guys from Boston win hundreds of BBQ awards including Kansas City Barbecue Society championships and the Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue?
Andy Husbands and Chris Hart share their award-winning techniques and recipes that have earned them national recognition among barbecue experts. Their cookbook, Wicked Good Barbecue, includes classic BBQ dishes and new, bold twists that will shock your taste buds. Plus, they don’t stop at the meat- you will find delicious recipes for unique sides, drinks, and desserts in this book.
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Meet Ree Drummond: a city girl who fell in love with a rugged cowboy and found herself settling into his country lifestyle. She now lives on a cattle ranch with her husband and four kids doing things she never imagined- cleaning boots, herding farm animals, and making gravy.
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