Wonder Woman was blessed with a wide range of superhuman powers to help her fight the good fight. Many mortal woman do as much with their own skill sets.

If you’re looking for a thank-you gift for Mother’s Day, how about a token of all the amazing things moms accomplish Pick something from Zak’s new Wonder Woman line:

Prices are as low as $2.99 for a 10-ounce glass and $4.99 for a mug—affordable enough for party favors.

Check out the whole line.
 
  

The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970. It led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the passage of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Yet 45 years later, the need to save the planet is even greater. Here are five painless food-related things you can do to live greener:

1. CARRY A REFILLABLE WATER BOTTLE

Bottled water purchases continue to grow in the beverage category. A plastic water bottle takes 1,000 years to degrade in landfill; if burned in a furnace, it releases harmful toxins into the air.

Carry a refillable water bottle. If you don’t like your municipal water, get a home water filtration system.
 
2. MAKE CARBONATED BEVERAGES AT HOME

Beyond water bottles, how much soda or sparkling water do you consume? There’s a Sodastream waiting for you!

In addition to making just about any flavor of soda—regular, diet, decaffeinated—or flavored water, you’ll save lots of money and work carrying those heavy bottles.

Avoid taking stores’ plastic shopping bags for your purchases. Instead, tuck reusable, folding nylon bags into pockets, purses, glove compartments. Photo courtesy StyleHive.com.

Don’t take plastic shopping bags from the grocery store; bring your own reusable bags instead. Most of them, like these, fold up to fit into a pocket.

Be sure to check out Hannah Grocery Cart Bags, which fit into the shopping cart. You fill them as you shop, unload them to pay, then fill and wheel to your car. They’re sturdy and don’t fall over as you drive home.
 

4. MAKE BETTER CHOICES IN TAKE-OUT FOOD & FAST FOOD

Take-out and fast food generate more landfill that won’t biodegrade in your lifetime. Avoid styrene, or any type of plastic, in coffee cups, plates and delivery containers.

Patronize stores and restaurants that use paper coffee cups and plates, and cardboard or recyclable metal take-out containers. Wash and reuse the plastic utensils.

And when you place your order, tell the establishment not to include any utensils with your order (or soy sauce, fortune cookies, ketchup packets and other things you just toss out automatically).

5. RECYCLE YOUR TRASH

If your community doesn’t have a mandatory recycling programs, call your Department of Sanitation to see what the options are to recycle paper, tin cans and other metals, glass and plastic.

 
BONUS TIP: CUT BACK ON HOME ENERGY USE

The average American household spends more on home energy bills and gasoline for cars, than for health care or property taxes. You can live greener, saving energy (and money!), by being aware of how you waste it.

Turn off lights, computers, televisions and other energy-users when you don’t need them. Use this online tool to see how easy it is for you to cut back.

April 22 is National Jelly Bean Day. If you’re craving a sugar fix, Jelly Belly’s jelly beans have just 4 calories apiece.

While there are numerous producers of tasty jelly beans, Jelly Belly, launched in 1976, was the first to sell them in single flavors (as opposed to mixed). The original flavors: Cream Soda, Grape, Green Apple, Lemon, Licorice, Root Beer, Tangerine and Very Cherry (today there are 50 flavors).

The company also invented the “gourmet jelly bean.” The difference: gourmet jelly beans tend to be softer and smaller than traditional jelly beans, and are flavored in both the shell and the middle (traditional jelly beans typically contain flavor only in the shell).

There are pronounced flavor preferences the world over. The number one flavors by region:

 
*In 1998, Buttered Popcorn moved into first place. In 2003 Very Cherry moved back into the top position by a mere 8 million beans.

The modern jelly bean is believed to have been invented in the U.S., sometime after 1850. The earliest recorded advertisement for jelly beans is from Boston confectioner William Schrafft, who may have also been the creator. The ad promoted sending jelly beans to Union Soldiers engaged in the Civil War (1861-1865).

By the early 1900s, jelly beans had become a staple penny candy. Possibly, they were the first bulk candy. They became part of the Easter tradition in the 1930s, when somebody connected their egg shape with the eggs symbolic of the spiritual rebirth of Easter. Their festive colors made them a perfect celebratory candy.

During World War II, much of the chocolate produced in the U.S. was sent overseas to soldiers. Americans focused on other sweets; flavorful, colorful jelly beans became popular.

Here’s more on the history of jelly beans.
 
 
JELLY BEAN TRIVIA

Each year, U.S. manufacturers produce more than 16 billion jelly beans for Easter, enough to completely fill a plastic Easter egg 89 feet high and 60 feet wide—about the height of a nine-story office building.

Christmas is the second largest jelly-bean-eating holiday. Who knew?
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

In an interview in Nation’s Restaurant News, called “5 Things I Can’t Live Without,” celery salt was at the top of his list.

“I use it in almost everything,” says Chef Emeril. “People don’t usually guess that it’s in there, but I can tell you that it adds oomph to many dishes. My test kitchen team was very surprised when I shared this secret with them.”

His other four must-haves include an electric deep fryer, an instant-read thermometer, Julia Child’s The Way to Cook and an immersion blender. You can read the full article here.

But today we’re expanding on Number One, celery salt.

WHAT IS CELERY SALT

Celery salt is a seasoned salt made from ground celery seeds*. It can be used to add flavor to just about anything: eggs, salads, soups, fish and seafood, vegetables. It’s used by manufacturers of hot dogs and sausages. It’s the primary ingredient in Old Bay Seasoning.

It can be used as a table seasoning in cooking or as a table salt, like garlic salt, onion salt, rosemary salt, truffle salt, saffron salt and so forth.

Does Emeril use a supermarket brand, an artisan brand or his own homemade celery salt? Photo courtesy McCormick.

You can use whatever salt you have, including a salt substitute. Gourmet brands use a more flavorful salt—fleur de sel or French grey sea salt, for example.

If you use a coarse salt, including kosher salt, grind it to the consistency of table salt (or to match the consistency of your ground celery seed).

You can also purchase ground celery seed, but for the freshest flavor, grind your own as you need it.

If you find that there’s too much celery flavor for your taste, you can use a 2:1 proportion of salt to celery seed, instead of the 1:1 in our recipe.
 
*It can also be produced using dried celery or celery root. Large commercial brands can include anti-caking agents like
sodium bicarbonate, sodium silicoaluminate, and sugar (dextrose).

Celery seed is ground and mixed with salt to produce celery salt. Photo courtesy SilkRoadSpices.Ca.

Ingredients For 1/2 Cup

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the celery seed in a spice grinder and process to desired consistency.

2. BLEND with the salt.

3. STORE in a tight-lidded container.
 
If you end up using a lot of celery salt, you can buy celery seed inexpensively in bulk. We found three one-pound bags on Amazon.com for $15.08.

You can also give your homemade celery salt as gifts to friends who cook.

Note that when adding celery salt in recipes, the amount of regular salt should be reduced.

 
Have we left out your favorite use? Let us know!
 
†A Chicago-style hot dog, or Chicago Red Hot, is a frankfurter on a poppy seed bun that is topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled peppers and a dash of celery salt.

There’s no lettuce in this salad, but plenty of color!

It was created by Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian churrascaria (steakhouse) with locations in the U.S. and Brazil.

The chefs have combined three bright colors tossed in a light vinaigrette. It’s easy to do the same at home.

 
You can add additional seasonings as you wish—anything from fresh herbs to toasted sesame seeds.