WW- Have You Started Your Spring (Window) Garden Yet?

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Pillsbury Sweet Rolls – A Lot of Orange Sweetness

Last night I was hungry for a treat, but not ready to dive into the heavy work, so I pulled a tube of Pillsbury Sweet Rolls from the fridge.  I don’t normally have tubes of sweet rolls in the fridge, but I have been known to pick up one every now and then when there’s a sale or I have coupons.  If I think there will be a bunch of boys over I might grab a couple to have on hand, just in case also.  I put together the sweet rolls according to the directions, placing the rolls in the glass pan, then I threw some chopped walnuts on top before baking it in the oven.  When I pulled them out of the oven, hot and toasty (walnut toasty) the topping just slid all over and smelled so darn orangey good.  I think a little grated orange on top before baking might have been nice too. 

My son popped his head out and snarfed a couple to eat before getting back to homework.  It was a nice little evening snack.  I might put a little less topping on next time, but that’s what’s nice about it, you can spread as little or as much on as you like.  My grade B.

 

 

Disclosure: – I was given a coupon for a free tube of Pillsbury Sweet Rolls to Try out – and a pair of Pillsbury pajama bottoms. 

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Into the Heart of Italy by Bertolli

@Bertolli has invited all of us to a tweet-up – Bertolli’s Taste and Tweet (#bertolliitaly) tonight during Desperate Housewives (ABC, 9/8c) – .   The Taste & Tweet is to introduce you to the new Into the Heart of Italy Webisodes with Rocco DiSpirito, Marissa Tomei and Dan Cortese.  They travel to Italy participate in challenges – that involve food, and Italian Culture and end up with a great family meal.

I tried their Chicken Florentine & Farfalle for dinner tonight.  We loved the frozen pasta dinner.  I served an asparagus side dish with some garlic toast.  One package states that it serves 2 . After I heated it, I was in agreement, and so added another bag to the pan because there are three adults sized people at dinner.  There were leftovers though, and we’ll eat them for leftover night sometime this week. I like that it only takes ten minutes to cook on the stovetop.  When the kids were younger we survived on soccer nights with frozen pasta dinners.  It was more important for my kids to sit down with me for a meal, then for us to pick up fast food to eat in the car on the way to soccer.  I read that 66 percent of kids who sit down to family meals don’t do drugs, and that reinforced my sit down to dinner together ideas.

There’s also a sweepstake you can enter in order to win a Culinary Vacation to Italy. Your own adventure to the Heart of Italy, wouldn’t that be cool.

Join in on the tweets – tweeters get entered into a drawing for a local cheese making class.  Every Tweet using #BertolliItaly between Sunday, March 14 from 9:00 PM to 1:00 AM EST Monday, March 15, will be entered to win the prize, which will be selected by a random drawing Monday.

The First Episode “Into the Heart of Italy – Adventure 1: The Secret to the Perfect Pinch”

 

Full Disclosure – Bertolli sent me a gift card to cover the purchase of their meal as well as a wine aerator as a thank you gift.

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Bananas Not So Foster – Use Pama Pomegranate Liqueur

I was introduced to a cupcake company that uses Pama Pomegranate Liqueur.  Though I haven’t tasted Chocolate Pomegranate Cupcakes  by More – which by the way look fantastic, I have tasted Pama – and it is fantastically delicious.

I thought I could take the liqueur and use in in a sort of Bananas Not So Foster served on top of an almond pound cake.  I love cooked bananas, I love rum but since I love Pama, and this sweet Pomegranate Banana sauce over top of the cake was really really good, that’s what I used.  My son and husband agreed.  I made the almond pound cake using almond flour and cardamom, but I’m still working on the recipe.  However, the Bananas and sauce can be used as a topping for your favorite desserts – ice cream, cake, scones, etc.  I used only two bananas, and made slices to go on top of the cake better.  I also didn’t use the flaming rum.  I have a seventeen year old son who doesn’t need that much alcohol, I just wanted a taste of Pama in it.  So it’s  Not So Foster after all.  The Pama gave it a little fruitier taste; we thought it was yummy.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup Pama liqueur
• 2 bananas sliced

Directions:

Melt butter in sauté pan along with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Cook this down to caramelize and reduce down a little – about 3 to 5 minutes.  Add in Pama liqueur, and simmer for another couple of minutes.  Stir in bananas until warm.  Pour your sauce over cake or ice cream or whatever  you desire.

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Kielbasa, Peppers and Potatoes – a Fast Family Meal

This is one of my favorite quick tasty dinners.  Maybe I take too many shortcuts, but this one is good.  I can do this meal in under a half an hour, which is more time than my son gives me before he asks about dinner.  Seventeen year olds who run track are always looking for food; the quicker I get it into him, the less likely he is to fill it with junk or fillers. You can parboil the potatoes in a pot of water on the stove or a bowl of water in the microwave.  I do this because it will absorb less oil since it’s partly cooked already.  The kielbasa is turkey kielbasa, and it’s a little lower fat too.  The peppers – are mine.  We grew peppers last summer and froze them.  I haven’t run out of peppers yet, so I like to find  as many meals I can to use them in and the peppers though wilty are still delicious and full of flavor. I don’t put a dressing on it because my son isn’t a big fan, and we just use our preference of mustard or ketchup.  If I had my way I would pour on a mustard vinaigrette or dressing.

Ingredients:

• Kielbasa
• 2 peppers- seeded and sliced
• 1 onion – sliced
• 4 potatoes  – cut into cubes
• Olive Oil
• rosemary
• pepper
• salt
• parsley

Directions: 

Parboil potatoes in water then drain.  Sauté peppers and onions in  olive oil.  Slice kielbasa into 1 inch thick pieces, and throw in with peppers and onions and add in potatoes.  Toss in herbs and spices. 

 

That’s it, it’s all good. 

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Steak and Roasted Corn Salsa Stew(p)

I found a bag of roasted corn in the grocery store that inspired this stew/soup. Salsas always make me think of summertime, sitting on the deck reading a book and snacking on salsa and chips.  Well, the deck is being used to stain wood right now, and my husband’s hands got really cold while he worked, so a warm meal was in order.  I had some chuck roast that I diced and sautéed with onions and peppers, before cooking the rest of the way in a beef broth and adding the rest of the ingredients.  This is a quick soup to make, and was on the table in about an hour. If you double the ingredients, you can freeze a batch for another meal.  I dolloped sour cream on top to mix in, which my son thought was great – and oh by the way dear daughter, we do not have any avocados in the fridge like you promised – those are limes!  I would have chopped up some avocados to place on top with the sour cream if I had some – I was assured that I did. Even without the avocados this was a fantastic stew(p). Summer and Winter all rolled up into one delicious tasting pot of good for you food.

Ingredients

• 1 tbs Olive Oil
• 1 onion – diced
• 2 cloves garlic – diced
• 1 1/2 lbs chuck roast – diced
• 1 pint beef broth
• 2 cups roasted corn (frozen)
• hot peppers – seeded and diced
• 1 jar salsa (use your favorite brand – I used homemade)
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can of black bean drained and rinsed
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 1 lime
• salt
• pepper
• sour cream

Directions:

Heat up oil, sauté onions, garlic and beef in bottom of deep pot – add in a little salt and pepper to the beef.  When the onions are soft, pour in beef broth.  Simmer until the beef is about ready, then add the other ingredients one by one.  Let the temp come up and add the next ingredient. Squeeze Lime into soup. Salt and Pepper to taste.  Add more than one pepper if you like it really spicy.  We like the slightly spicy taste, but we’re weak stomached wimps when it comes to really spicy. Dollop sour cream on top of your soup when serving.  If you have some avocado, dice it up and add it too.  We ate them with chips instead of crackers – and that’s my suggestion for you too, because it turned out so great.

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Risotto Chips by New York Style – My Son Loves Them

Risotto Chips are an awesome treat, the whole family enjoyed them. They didn’t taste like risotto to me, they were delicious crispy (cracker-like) treats – that are gluten free.  We love the Parmesan and Garlic and the Sea Salt.  The Spicy Marinara wasn’t our first choice, but it was devoured too.

My son said that I have to let you know that these chips were so good he was willing to brush his teeth twice for them.  Here’s what I mean – he was ready for bed, and packing his lunch.  Instead of his usually pretzels, he grabbed the Sea Salt Risotto Chips.  He had brushed his teeth already, but said that even though he knew he’d have to brush his teeth again, he finished off the bag. He said it was worth it because they were so good.  I thought it was funny, but also, when he told me, I was disappointed, because there weren’t any left for me.  Then later my husband came looking to see if there were any left and he was disappointed that the bag was empty also.  I tried to hoard the Parmesan & Garlic but it was discovered and devoured. I loved the Parmesan and Garlic taste – one of my favorite combinations. The Marinara was delicious and a little spicy, but we liked the other two better.

These chips hold up well to dip and also hummus.  They were absolutely great with hummus.  The only drawback?  Not enough in the bag because you just can’t stop eating them.  Well, maybe it’s a good thing after all. My recommendation – Risotto Chips – Overall A+, Parmesan & Garlic – A+, Sea Salt A+, Marinara B+. 

 

 

 

The Details – I was given New York Style Risotto Chips to review.  This was my honest opinion.  Gluten-free, 0 grams trans fat and 11 grams whole grains

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Upgrade Your Pizza

Pizza is a regular meal at our house for Fridays, but I don’t have time to make dough because I’m usually spending the day working.  Since you can’t throw a pizza in a crockpot and let it go, my favorite shortcut is to upgrade my pizza.  I get the fresh pizzas – not frozen, and then add ingredients to make it a little more scrumptious.  My husband likes grilled pineapple, I like onions, peppers and chicken.  I made two pizzas last Friday.  My husband and I were supposed to go out to dinner, but another snow squall and a daughter who needed to be met at a drop-off point made that impossible.  While my husband was on the road I put together two pizzas. The first I grilled chicken with peppers and onions.  Then I chopped up the chicken and spread it all out among the cheese.  The second pizza I cooked up some pancetta, grilled a little pineapple, then I caramelized onion in some pineapple juice.  That went on the second pizza.  Turns out my son likes the pineapple, and my daughter prefers the chicken with onions and peppers.  It was fun to relax around the table and enjoy each other’s company.  This week while my daughter is home on spring break we’ve been trying to make sure we sit down together every night.  I swear I won’t get empty nest when my son goes away to college next year, really I swear it won’t happen to me.

    

 

Here’s a Wordless Wednesday picture of some scrumptious Homemade Pizza’s at Robyn’s World. Let us know in the comments – What’s your favorite way to UPGRADE your PIZZA?

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WW – Birthday Dinner – Thanks Kids!

 

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Food News – Feb 28, 2010

• Congrats to Chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill and Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture was awarded the Second Annual USA Network “Character Approved” award  for his work in changing the face of American culture through food. Dan Barber is at the forefront of a new frontier in food. His philosophy-practiced at his Blue Hill restaurants-is that by combining old world farming wisdom with new agricultural technologies, we can create food that is at once delicious, innovative, healthy, and environmentally responsible.

 

• Denny’s is relaunching the Free Grand Slam birthday program, offering each and every American another free meal on their birthday.  Looking to help stretch the American Dollar  Denny’s is offering unlimited free refills of two of America’s favorites, French fries and pancakes at participating locations nationwide,through the end of March. Valid 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the offer applies to any order of French fries or pancakes served with an entrée, including both original buttermilk pancakes and Denny’s Hearty Wheat pancakes, for a limited time.

 

•   Arclinea,(a well known Italian kitchen company)- March 11, 2010 6-8 pm local time

“Italia in Cucina, Live Cooking Day” is Arclinea’s FIRST worldwide culinary marathon that will feature dynamic cooking demonstrations by well-known chefs in twenty-one Arclinea showrooms to support and celebrate artisanal Italian products. Selected by the Ministry for its international acclaim and innovative artistry, Arclinea will host this major event as an exciting extension of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture’s Made in Italy program, which serves to further promote local Italian products worldwide. The twenty-one showroom locations include: Auckland, Seoul, Beijing, Moscow, Padua, Vicenza, Rome, Milan, Turin, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Barcelona, New York, Washington D.C., Miami, Chicago, Mexico City, San Diego, San Francisco.

 

• Congrats to Wild Mountain Gourmet, their Sweet & Spicy Mustard has won a gold medal in the Sweet – Hot category at the 2010 Napa Valley World-Wide Mustard Competition. Their Key Lime & Pineapple Mustard also picked up a victory capturing the Bronze in the fruit category. The company makes a variety of products including a barbecue sauce, hot wing sauce, and several varieties of gourmet mustards. Wild Mountain Gourmet Inc products are sold to grocery and fine food retailers, and can also be found at many food shows and events in the Mid Atlantic region.

 

• Alaska Seafood – The 2010 wild Alaska halibut and black cod (sablefish) season opens March 6, 2010. Alaska halibut is the largest of the flatfish, some weighing over 300 pounds. Alaska black cod is high in omega-3 fatty acids, making it a preferred source of protein. Both whitefish selections pair naturally with a wide variety of flavor profiles and cooking applications such as: smoking, sautéing, poaching and roasting. Wild Alaska halibut and black cod are available fresh until mid-November, or frozen year-round.

 

• Delaware North would like a follow on Facebook and/or Twitter. Delaware North is the company that runs the food concessions at a lot of sports arenas, entertainment venues and the national parks, plus gaming destinations.

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