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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Food Contests – Feb 28, 2010

• Idaho Potatoes – Now through March 31, submit your original, healthful, affordable & easy-to-prepare Idaho® potato recipes in the Idaho Potato Commission’s “Watching Waistlines & Wallets” Recipe Contest for a chance to win more than $7,500 in cash & prizes, including a $5,000 grand prize! The IPC has compiled a continually growing resource of its best low-cost, low-cal recipes http://www.idahopotato.com/waistlines_wallets and is rewarding resourceful home cooks for contributing.

 

• SPAM! – Dish This! allows consumers to share their SPAM^® creations, try and rate recipes from others and  learn how merely adding SPAM^® products to some of their favorite and most-familiar foods is a surefire way to spice up mealtime.  Jan – Mar they’re looking for Egg recipes that include SPAM.  In April through June participants can upload their SPAMWICH™ inspired sandwich, try and rate others and receive a coupon for SPAM^® products. Five top-rated recipes will receive a year’s worth of SPAM^® products. During July through September, Consumers enter a contest by submitting an original recipe that combines SPAM^® with Mac & Cheese. One grand prize winner will walk away with $1,000 in cash or a gift certificate to a kitchen store of their choice.

 

• Apple & Eve Fruitables  (not a recipe contest, but is sponsored by something edible) – is proud to announce its support for the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.  To kick off this new partnership, Fruitables has begun the search for the best music mash-up in America, providing school vocal groups (K-8) with the opportunity to show off their talent and increase their school’s music program funding via the Fruitables Facebook fan page, along with a 100-word essay describing their school’s need for music program funding.  Entries must be received no later than April 30, 2010 and can be submitted via Facebook at www.Facebook.com/AppleandEve.

Beginning May 3, 2010, America will have the opportunity to view all of the finalists’ performances, chosen by an independent panel of judges, and vote for their favorite.  The winning school will then be announced the week of May 17th. The winning group will receive $10,000.

 

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Pace Salsa Winner

Susan C.  You are the Pace Salsa Winner.

I had a dilemma with Susan, she was so darned nice about both teams. 

She said:

I like that Sweet & Spicy Barbeque Brisket. I might have to make that next week. How can you go wrong with a good BBQ??

Who will win?? I’m going to say Colts, although I’ll be rooting for the Saints. (I am Catholic – got to root for saints.) I’m more interested in the commercials.

 

I almost gave her an entry for being Catholic, but it wasn’t in the rules, so it didn’t count (seriously, that’s a joke – it has to be in the rules to count).  I actually used random.org, and it helped that she had extra entries.  So Susan C, you are the winner.  I’ll contact you for a postal address.

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Pace Superbowl Salsa Recipes and Giveaway Pack for Superbowl Sunday

Pace did a giveaway last year for the Superbowl, and is doing it again.  We love Pace, don’t we.  Actually, we do love Pace, my husband is a salsafied salsa fiend. He eats a quart of salsa a week because he loves the fresh tomato taste.  Salsa is one of the healthiest dips/sauces around because it has lots of fresh vegetables and not a lot of fat and sugar.  You can top eggs, sandwiches, chips, burgers, beef, chicken, spaghetti.  It’s such a versatile topping, though you can just go at it with a spoon.

In preparation for Super Bowl XLIV (taking place this Sunday, Feb. 7 in Miami), here are four of Pace Kitchens’ favorite recipes for Super Bowl Sunday, to help make your party more festive and more memorable. Note:  Giveaway at the bottom of the page.

Warm Spinach Dip with a Kick

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Makes: 32 servings (2 tablespoons each)

• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup Pace® Picante Sauce
• 4 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 1cup)
• Tortilla chips or fresh vegetables

1. Spray a 2-quart saucepan with the cooking spray and heat over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the onion and cook until it’s tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir the spinach and flour in the skillet. Gradually stir the milk in the skillet. Cook and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Stir in the picante sauce and cheese and cook until the cheese is melted. Serve with the tortilla chips for dipping.
–

Read more

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Jennie-O Coupon Winners

Here are our Jennie-O coupon winners.  I love Jennie-O products.  I try to eat food that’s good for me, that tastes good.  Food with flavor, but without a lot of grease and I think Jennie-O does that.

Our Winners are:

Arp

Ingrid

Roseanne

Annalee

and Laura.

 

Please send me your postal addresses and I will get those coupons in the mail.

 

Thanks for entering our contest.

  ~Diana

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Food Contests Around the Blogosphere – January 29, 2010

We have some great contests to announce.  I hope some of our readers are into experimentation and coming up with some great new recipes to enter in these contests.  If you enter, or win, just drop a comment at the bottom so that we can take a look at it.  Good Luck!

 

Association for Dressings & Sauces Announces “10 in 2010” Recipe Contest . The theme of the contest is 10-ingredient salads. So, let us know your very best salad recipe that includes 10 ingredients or less. Your recipe just might be the one that takes the $500 cash prize! The salad also must include a retail salad dressing. This one sounds easy, what’s your favorite salad and dressing combination?

Coastal Uncorked – Maybe you’re more of an Artist than a chef.. we’ve got you covered. Coastal Uncorked announced a poster competition for the inaugural food and wine festival taking place May 16-23, 2010 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The competition is open to artists of all ages who submit an original piece of artwork for judging by Friday, February 26. A committee of three judges will select the winning poster based on its design quality, marketability and its ability to most effectively display the concept of the Coastal Uncorked Food & Wine Festival. There are plenty of rules, so see the website for all the details.

Idaho Potato Commission – Watching Waistlines and Wallets Recipe contest. Beginning January 25, consumers are invited to submit their original, healthful, affordable and easy-to-prepare Idaho® potato recipes on www.idahopotato.com for a chance to win the $5,000 Grand Prize. Denise Austin and Alan Ginsberg are also involved in the promotion of the contest and it’s prizes.  

Food & Wine Magazine and Muir Glen are hosting a recipe contest. The Muir Glen Exceptional Tomato Recipe Contest – send in your best canned tomato recipe and the winner and a friend win a trip for two to the Aspen Classic in Aspen, Colorado on  June 19 – 21, 2010.  Food and Wine has plenty going on, so take a good look around.

 

Gorton’s - From January 4 – February 23, 2010 use Gorton’s Grilled Seafood to renovate a recipe or to create a new dish that is lower in calories and fat and has an irresistible seafood taste – and you could win a $5,000 Room Renovation!

 

Bays "Your Perfect Pizza" Winter 2010 Online Recipe Contest -submission dates are January 19-February 9, 2010.  Your recipe should use Bay’s Old English Muffins to make a pizza – different than the average tomato and mozzarella.  First prize 500.00

 

In case you missed Cookerati’s last contest round up, here’s the link – because a lot of those contests are still ongoing.

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Turkey Enchilada Soup Recipe and a Jennie-O Coupon Giveaway

Here’s another recipe by Devin Alexander using Jennie-O Turkey Sausage.  I love a spicy mexican soup, this lightened up version is just terrific.

Below the Recipe is our Coupon Giveaway. 

Turkey Enchilada Soup

• Olive oil spray
• 1 package (20 ounces) JENNIE-O TURKEY STORE^® extra lean ground turkey breast
• 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
• 1 tablespoon salt-free Mexican or Southwest seasoning
• 1-1/4 cups uncooked instant brown rice
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (no more than 100 mg sodium per cup)
• 2 cups mild red enchilada sauce
• 14-1/2 ounce can no salt-added, diced tomatoes in juice
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons chipotle queso (all-natural, if possible; salsa con queso will work as a second option)
• 1-½ cups rinsed and drained, 50% less-sodium black beans
• 6 lime wedges, divided
• 6 teaspoons finely chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 24 baked tortilla chips, divided

Place a large non-stick soup pot over medium-high heat. Lightly mist the pot with spray and add the turkey, onion, and garlic. Sprinkle the Mexican seasoning over the turkey mixture, then cook the mixture, breaking the turkey into large chunks as it cooks, until no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes. Add the rice, broth, enchilada sauce, and tomatoes. Turn the heat to high, cover the soup and bring it to a boil. When the soup reaches a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer it for 20 minutes, or until the rice is completely cooked.

Stir in the cheese sauce. Continue cooking for an additional 20 minutes, uncovered, or until the soup begins to thicken slightly. Stir in the black beans and continue cooking until they are just warmed through.

Divide the soup among 6 serving bowls (about 2 cups per bowl). Squeeze the juice of 1 lime wedge over each bowl, then top each bowl with 1 teaspoon of the cilantro. Using your hands break 4 chips over each bowl of soup. Serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings. Each (about 2 cups with chips) serving has: 340 calories, 31 g protein, 40 g carbohydrates, 7 g fat, trace saturated fat, 38 mg cholesterol, 5 g fiber, 787 mg sodium

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Jennie-O Coupon Giveaway

We have 5 coupons for three dollars off any Jennie-O Turkey product.  I am going to give away coupons to 5 different people.  Just tell me in the comments, what you would buy with your Jennie-O coupons, and what you would make with it. (You can even use some of the recipes from Cookerati)

 

The Rules:

• US residents only
• One entry per household
• Go to the Jennie-O Products page and let me know what your favorite Jennie Product is (or the one you would like to try)
• Tell us how you would prepare it
• Contest ends – January 26, 2010

The Prize:

• Five Winners
• One  coupon worth 3 dollars

Extra entries.

    One extra entry each(2 total) for a tweet or if you subscribe to either @Cookerati (twitter) , a reader or an RSS feed, or become a facebook fan (see link on right).  Leave a comment with a link to your tweet and/or your twitter name and let me know if you subscribe.

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Cookerati, Jennie-O and the Biggest Loser

The Biggest Loser has started up again, have you been watching?  Jennie-O, the sponsor of The Biggest Loser wants to help us keep on track with our healthy eating plans.

JENNIE-O TURKEY STORE® partnered with Chef Devin Alexander, author of “The Biggest Loser Cookbook” and “The Most Decadent Diet Ever!” .

 

Here are some tips from Chef Devin Alexander to help us keep on track with our New Years Resolutions, and healthy eating.

 

SET REALISTIC GOALS -When it comes to exercise, be sure to set realistic goals for yourself and remember that even the smallest incremental step is an improvement. For example, don’t require yourself to begin jogging five miles every morning right away, especially if you’ve been pretty sedentary until now. Instead, start out with simple steps like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking at the far end of the lot, and spending at least 10 minutes of your lunch hour taking a brisk walk instead of surfing the Internet. (Diana -  I walk at work in my building with a friend, we start at the bottom floor and work our way to the top, walking each floor and set of steps in between.)

GET ENOUGH REST – Commit to getting better sleep by giving up just one half hour of television a night. Instead of staying up for late shows, hit the sack 30 minutes earlier and you’ll be amazed at how much better you’ll feel in a short time. Realize that managing stress is also an important part of your overall health goals. Explore techniques that have proven to work for others – from yoga to running to reading – and find what’s right for you. Engage in some stress-relieving activity every day, even if it’s something as simple as walking your dog or playing with the cat. (Diana – I have a difficult time with this one.  I know that the more tired I am, the more likely I am to grab junk to eat.)

REPLACE HIGHER FAT MEATS WITH TURKEY - But without improving your diet as well, any resolution to improve your health will fall short of success. When it comes to eating better, replacing higher fat meats like beef with lean protein like turkey is an easy, flavorful way to improve your diet without making yourself feel deprived. “Ground turkey is especially versatile and, with a few simple tweaks, can replace higher fat ground beef in virtually any recipe,” notes Devin Alexander, host of Discovery Health’s program “Healthy Decadence with Devin Alexander,” and author of “The Biggest Loser Cookbook.” “Turkey is a lean protein that easily replaces beef to create fulfilling, full flavor dishes. Adding turkey to your diet can help you reduce fat without feeling like you’re giving anything up. You can still have that burger with all the fixins – just make it a turkey burger!” ( Diana – I like a variety of different meats, but I try to offset the higher fat ones one day with a lower fat another day.)

For those watching what they eat, turkey is a satisfying, lighter dish. In fact, 40 percent of those polled in a recent Kelton Research survey say turkey is a lean meat that has helped them with their weight-loss efforts.

Advantages of cooking with ground turkey include:

* Turkey is naturally leaner than beef while still packing in the protein.
* The delicate flavor of turkey will not overpower any dish you use it in.
* Turkey can be a more satisfying alternative than non-meat protein substitutes like tofu.
* In many cases, turkey products cost less than other proteins.

Jennie-O Turkey Store has partnered with Chef Alexander to share special, signature recipes that help you create lean, healthy meals that are full of flavor. These nutritious recipes are part of Jennie-O Turkey Store’s “30 Days/30 Ways” program, which offers hundreds of recipes with turkey that will help improve your diet.

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Recipe Contests Around the Blogosphere – Jan 5, 2010

 

• The California Wild Rice Advisory Board is sponsoring a California Wild Rice Rocks My World Recipe Rumble.  You have to submit a recipe that includes California Wild Rice.  The prize, 5000 big ones ($5000.00).  Closing date is February 28th, 2010. 

 

• The Florida Strawberry Growers Association and Taste of the South magazine is sponsoring Florida Strawberries A Taste of Summer All Winter Long Recipe Contest. Recipes must include one pint of Florida Strawberries and no more than 7 other ingredients, excluding herbs and spices.  The prize is $6,000.00 and closing date is once again February 28, 2010.

 

• King Arthur Flour is holding a National Maple Syrup Festival Sweet Victory Challenge – the required ingredients – King Arthur Flour and Pure Maple Syrup, two of my favorites. Entries must be received by February 19, 2010. First place will get you 500.00. 

 

• Florida Citrus – Healthy Pure and Simple Recipe Contest. You must have a recipe that uses 1 cup fresh Florida Citrus, or 1 cup fresh Florida Orange or Grapefruit Juice.  The prize $500.00.  The catch, you’re required to pay for your own plane fare if you are a finalist.  Deadline January 15, 2010.

 

• DelMonte has a Healthy Kids Challenge Recipe Contest for 7th and 8th graders. You need to use a Del Monte canned fruit, vegetable or tomato in the recipe and it must be lower in fat and salt content.  Closing date is March 30th, 2010.

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Reynolds Handi-Vac Bags brought back by Debbie Meyer and HSN

Really folks, this is great news I was clicking through the shopping networks (you know you do it) and they had the Reynolds Handi-Vac System, plus the bags on HSN.  Debbie Meyer – the smart lady who brought us the Green Bags that keep vegetables fresh is bringing it back and they also have the bags sold separately if you already have the system – which I do.  So don’t go to EBAY and pay 36.00 for 8 bags, go to HSN and pay 14.90 for 40 bags.  If you don’t have the system, I recommend it.  I store my peppers in the  bags for freezing, as well as onions.  I have my ginger stored in the freezer also.  You can use it to vacuum all the air out when you freeze your meat, which means it will last longer without freezer burn, or even store your cheese in the fridge without air.

Thanks Debbie Meyer and HSN.

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