Love Mi Seasons Offers Fresh Flavor for Any Meal

With temperatures that felt more like Memorial Day than the start of spring last week, it’s likely you’ve ventured outside and fired up the grill by now.

If you’re looking for a new seasoning to add to your grilled delicacies, Love Mi Seasons products, including a Fresh Herb Blend and BBQ Rub Blend, can be found at in Lake Orion, among other local grocery stores. Love Mi Seasons products are made and packaged in Dryden, while Lisa Chappell and Laura Skidmore of Oakland Township work the sales end of the business across Oakland County.

Lisa’s brother, Tom Chappell, is the chef at The Huntsman Hunt Club in Dryden and started crafting the seasoning more than 15 years ago, before he started cooking at the club. Lisa, who co-owns the business with Tom and his wife Michelle, approached her brother about selling the seasonings. After retiring from General Motors, she was looking forward to another venture and Tom was excited about the prospect of being able to sell his creation with the help of his sister.

“I think he’s really excited about it,” Lisa Chappell. “It’s a whole other way for him to share his creativity with other people.”

A look at the seasonings

The seasonings started hitting shelves in August, after about 18 months of surveying the market and having people taste test the products, Lisa Chappell said. The Fresh Herb Blend, which Chappell refers to as the "bread and butter" of the company, has been moving quickly off the shelves and rightfully so, she said.

“In its origin it was created for wild game, but it’s literally good on everything. It’s used in place of salt and pepper,” Chappell said. “It’s great on any kind of meat, seafood, vegetables, eggs …”

Chappell went on to explain that what makes this seasoning so unique is that it’s a kosher salt made with fresh herbs. The three primary herbs that are in it – sage, rosemary and thyme – have never been dried, she said, and instead are hand cleaned right off the stems and processed that way. She also proudly noted there are no MSG, fillers, preservatives or gluten in their seasonings and that the company’s herbs come from Michigan.

“This one jumps out at people,” she said. “So much of a person’s taste is based on smell. I think people are enticed to buy it for that reason.”

Because the blend was originally crafted for wild game, they decided to make an alternative package for the Fresh Herb Blend to intrigue hunters. The package holding the Trophy Game Seasoning, which is the same as the Fresh Herb Blend, has a quirky design on the front created by Tom’s son, Brent.

Love Mi Seasons’ other product, the BBQ Rub Blend, is a true rub that combines 19 different herbs and spices.

“It has a real nice sweet and spice balance,” Chappell said. “This one is fantastic on wings and chicken in general. It’s also great on ribs and salmon.”

Along with meats, Chappell said some of their customers have reported using it in chili saying it works fantastic in the dish.

Taste and purchase the seasonings locally

Whenever possible, Chappell likes to place the Love Mi Seasons products by the fresh meat counters of the grocery and specialty meat stores to make purchasing the blends easier for customers. Hollywood Market in Lake Orion and Rochester Hills, as well as Celiac Specialties in Rochester Hills, carry the products.

The seasonings are also used at restaurants, including in Oakland Township.

“It’s a really nice blend of all the things we want instead of shaking each thing individually it comes together in this lovely medley,” , owner of Seasonings, said of the Fresh Herb Blend. “And when you open it up it shakes out nice, it smells good, we know it’s fresh and clean and that nice people made it.”

Brinson noted she adds the Fresh Herb Blend to the café’s hamburgers, , chicken salad, eggs and more. She even uses it at home.

“So far everything we’ve put it on is enhanced and people come in asking what we’ve seasoned it with,” Brinson said.

The products can also be purchased online at www.lovemiseasons.com, where recipes to pair with the seasonings can also be found. Online a 2.5-ounce package of the Fresh Herb Blend is $6, while a 5 ounce package is $11 plus shipping and handling; a 4-ounce package of the BBQ Rub Blend costs $6 and an 8-ounce bag costs $11 plus shipping and handling.