BY NANCY WEINGARTNER MONROE 8
Michelle Mazzara, founder of Luvafoodie
Michelle Mazzara’s company, Luvafoodie, started out in 2014 as a dating website where single foodies could meet. From there it quickly evolved into a love affair with food, starting with chocolate and caramels and moving into spice blends.
To share her company’s news, Mazzara attended the Women Who Really Cook networking meeting in mid-May where she shared both her Luvafoodie chocolate bars and the news that her latest spice blend, umami, was going to debut on CBS Minnesota’s Cooking with WCCO TV show on May 22 in preparation for the Memorial Day weekend. Her umami blend spiced up a grilled hamburger, served with shitake mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese. She also used a barbecue spice blend on ribs and her No. 1 seller, a garlic blend, in a buttermilk salad dressing. Shitake mushrooms and dried tomatoe are two of the ingredients in her umami blend. Umami fires on all taste buds with its bitter, sour, sweet and salty taste profile.
The blends don’t contain salt and are free of fillers. The salt-free decision is based on Mazzara’s work as a Brand Ambassador for the American Heart Association. After a misdiagnosis, Mazzara suffered a heart attack, which she survived, but left her with a passion for advocating heart-healthy routines and checkups.
Her Luvafoodie spices can be ordered from Amazon, and found locally at Hy-Vee, Coborns Delivers and Kowalski’s, among other spots.
Another of her products is for the dogs—and cats. Dog Lovers and Cat Lovers spice blends are an all-natural product that can be sprinkled on wet food to help pets deal with issues such as arthritis and illnesses. The small cans come with a set of measuring spoons that correspond with the right amount of the product based on a pet’s weight. The canine version of the blend consists of basil, parsley, ground turmeric, cinnamon and ginger. As a bonus, the parsley is a natural breath freshener. Cats’ meals are enhanced with a blend of basil, parsley, dill and catnip. (Dog’s need fresh breath, cats need a mood enhancer.)