Hi Everyone,

In Last month's H&S Newsletter I mentioned Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals show. I received an e-mail concerning the boxed chicken stock Ray uses. I have not noticed the brand she uses but chicken stock in a box is not special these days. When I started looking for boxed chicken stock I could not find any, so I ordered it from Amazon.com when placing my book orders. Many supermarkets now carry it. It should be in the soup section. The key is to look at the ingredients, if salt or sodium is high on the list do not buy it. By the way, the difference between chicken broth and chicken stock is that it is called broth when you have cooked the whole chicken or chicken meat and stock when you use mainly the bones of the chicken. I use a whole chicken because I am a family of one--it would take me forever to save chicken bones.

Do you love vegetables? Make a promise to yourself to try new and different veggies and spices, you will open your world. Both of these recipes are flavorful; Spicy Vegetable Stir Fry and Blackeyed Peas with Tomatoes. When I was a little girl my family ate a lot of vegetables. It was probably not because my mother thought that veggies were more healthful than meat but that they were more plentiful. My dad's garden was a small forest of vegetables. Although, dad loved to garden, he was a dedicated meat man. His favorite meat was any kind smothered in lots of gravy. This Chicken Fried Steak is served with salsa instead of gravy. Here is another recipe for the steak and potato folks, Spicy Grilled Sirloin Steak with Onions. The dry rub has three different peppers. Yum!

Here are a few March/April recipes you may have missed

• Savory Tuna Patties
  
• Peppered Roast Pork
  
• Hot Chili Oil - Easy To Make Recipe
  
• Baja Pork Stew
  
• Curried Ground Beef
  

Also, do be sure to visit our Hot & Spicy Foods Forum to offer hints, get hints or share just share your favorite recipes with us. We'd love to see them. You can get to the H&S Forum by going to the bottom of any H&S recipe page.

As always, please leel free to pass this on.

Until the next time,

Vannie Ryanes, Editor

And remember to add some spice to your life!

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