Time left to sign up for the next culinary adventure: 16 days
I am so excited to introduce you all to Spice Madam, a Texas-based, woman-owned spice-subscription box company. Which each and every box, customers are taken on a culinary journey to different parts of the world, sampling authentic cuisine you cook up with your family, from each destination.
This year as part of our homeschooling, my girls have been learning geography and history from around the world, thanks to our "Galloping Around the Globe" lessons. In addition to making stops in each country, learning about the different regions, cultures, etc., my girls and I have also been cooking our way through each country. I have a few cookbooks that we choose recipes from and at the end of each lesson about a particular location, we make a meal for the whole family to enjoy. And, while enjoying each authentic meal cooked with spices from that region, the girls share about things they learned. I love seeing my girls get excited about Geography, as I know this isn't a popular subject for kids to learn about in public school and homeschool. I, for one, never was a fan of memorizing states and countries and their capitals. But, maybe if it was taught like I am doing with my girls, then it would have been more enjoyable. I find that hands on learning and immersing ourselves into a culture, that the girls gain so much and retain so much more information, than just by learning through textbook study.
So, when I was contacted by the folks at Spice Madam and asked if I wanted to review and feature their monthly subscription box as part of my holiday gift guide, I jumped at the opportunity, as I knew it would be perfect for me to do with my girls, and something my readers would love to learn more about, especially foodies and homeschooling families.
Grab your passports (well not really) and get ready to journey around the globe with Spice Madam. First stop will be a surprise...but, you are in for the travel experience of a lifetime, without having to leave your house. Well, you have to grab some ingredients to make the dishes (recipe cards included), but other than that, no jet lag or worrying about packing and lugging heavy carry on bags. :-) We just received our first Spice Madam box and are journeying all the way to Pakistan.
This is one place we hadn't studied yet with our schooling, so it will be fun to dive right in next week learning all about Pakistan, which is located in South Asia, and borders India, Afghanistan, Iran and China. I took a peek in the box with the girls, as we could smell the spices, and they were curious as to the destination we would be learning about.
This curated Pakistan box included the following spices, which we will be cooking with:
- Chili and Tumerica Spice Blend
- Cardamon
- Cumin Seeds
- Garam Masala
I appreciated this spice information card as it gave me more information of each spice for me to share with the girls, for the couple I haven't used before. In addition to the spice info card, there was also a full-color fact card included in the box from Spice Madam.
Knowing that I would be using this with our homeschooling, I loved the addition of this fact card which showed the Pakistani Flag, a postage stamp, the famous Badshahi Mosque located in Lahore, and a map view of Pakistan so that the girls could locate on their big world map in our hallway. There is even a link to a musical playlist you can listen to while you cook with your family some of the recipes included in this curated box. I took a quick listen and love their selection of traditional music and modern Pakistani pop songs. The tabla drums is typical of classical Pakistani music and can be heard on this playlist, which will set the mood for you to cook amazing dishes from Pakistan.
There is also a shopping list you can bring with you to the market, so you know what you need to purchase, as well as a list of pantry items you should have on hand already like salt, olive oil, basmati rice, dried beans, evaporated milk, etc.
For this particular box, we will need to buy stew beef, potatoes, white onions, fresh cilantro, fresh mint, garlic, fresh green Thai chili, Fresh ginger, Roma tomatoes and a lemon. We also need to pick up plain unsweetened yogurt and 1 egg. If you are a vegetarian or eat a gluten-free diet, you will be happy to know that the recipes and shopping list cards include substitutions for these two diets.
These are the recipes we will be making once we do our shopping over the weekend:
- Appetizer -- Aloo Tikki with Mint Chutney
- Side Dish #1 -- Tadka Daal
- Side Dish #2 -- Aloo Gosht (Beef and Potato Curry)
- Main Dish -- Pakistani Rice Pulau
- Dessert -- Kulfi Popsicles
I am eager to make and try the main dish and Kulfi Popsicles.
The recipe cards include full color pictures of each recipe, which will make your mouth water, and get you excited to get in the kitchen and start cooking with your new spices. Stay tuned next week when I will share photos of the dishes we make from our Pakistan Spice Madam box. But, in the meantime, why not consider signing up for your very own Spice Madam box to share with your family, or to share with the special foodie or arm chair travel enthusiast in your life. :-)
More about Spice Madem and their monthly curated boxes:
"Our mission is to bring love to homes by bringing family & friends together through the spices and flavors of the world!
Travel/Wellness aspect: Research has shown the value of face-to-face time with friends and family, which is becoming more and more important in an 'always-on' world where phones and laptops can often replace in-person conversations and quality time. Spice Madam boxes are a fun way to connect with others around a themed dinner night with music, food and discovery about other countries.
Lifestyle/Health aspect: By introducing customers to spices + recipes from around the world, Spice Madam encourages home-cooking and healthy eating. Spices add exciting flavor in place of added fats, sugars and salt.
What's in each box:
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For $20 a month, customers will receive a culinary adventure subscription box filled with spices, recipes and a Spotify music playlist from a different destination every month, as well as fun facts and travel tips from the destination country.
Each box comes with a menu plan and a shopping list to help with planning. This helps busy customers save time on trying out cuisines from other countries, searching for the spices, looking up recipes & finding a way to tie it all together. "
Two interesting things about us:
(1) Every box sold support a non-profit that impacts youth education.
(2) We also hire refugees to give them opportunities to work.
(1) Every box sold support a non-profit that impacts youth education.
(2) We also hire refugees to give them opportunities to work.
Learn more about Spice Madam by visiting https://www.spicemadam.com/ today.
Don't forget to follow Spice Madam on their social media pages below:
Disclosure: I was sent samples from the vendor in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.
I love that they support non-profits and hire refugees! That's so awesome!
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