The Healthy Way to Get Through That Superbowl Party
January 27, 2012 - Written by DianaSuperbowl and healthy eating don’t seem to go hand in hand. We associate this testosterone infected party with fried finger foods covered in cheese, things you can toss back and swallow with beer – though in my case it would be wine or a cooler. The truth is, though I bring healthier foods, there will be other things there that I should stay away from. I’m going to try and give us some great ideas to help us get through this fat laden party in the next week. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll eat some of the bad stuff, but if I fill my plate with the good stuff, and just leave a little spot here and there for the other stuff that will be okay.
Tosca Reno the queen of the Clean Eating recipe books has produced a small guide book. It’s small in size, and you can stick it in your laptop case or your briefcase to reference whenever you need a little help. Tosca calls it “JUST THE RULES: TOSCA’S GUIDE TO EATING RIGHT
Genius Choppers – Great Tools When You Have a Lot of Chopping To Do
January 25, 2012 - Written by DianaRecently I came home to baked fries, that my son made and put into the toaster oven. No oil, not deep frying, just baking and they were fantastic tasting. He decided to use the Genius Nicer Dicer to cut the potatoes into uniform size – and I think it did the trick. Since the potatoes were uniform in size, they took the same amount of time to cook and were perfect. Because he used herbs, salt and pepper, they were tasty even without the oil.
We’ve been trying out the Genius Salad Chopper and the Genius Nicer Dicer, two chopping tools that are sold on QVC. They’re mostly self contained because you can store the blades, and slicers inside the container the Chopper sits on top of. It’s both a work and serving station.
The salad chopper bowl is huge, which will come in handy when you have a really big gathering and want to serve a big group though, t’s a bit oversized for a family of four. The Salad Chopper comes with two different sized blade inserts, an insert with two graters and a cleaning tool. The …
Turkey Pumpkin Panini Or Turkey Pumpkin Wrap – Leftovers
January 1, 2012 - Written by Diana
Leftovers can be a treasure trove of deliciousness – or a burden if you don’t want to waste and don’t know what to do with it. For us it’s always a wonderful thing. The difficulty is wiring the fridge to zap my husband every time he sticks his hand in the zipped bag of turkey parts to snitch pieces. Leftover meals don’t happen if he eats all the turkey parts before you can create something. While some ideas take a lot of work, a Turkey Panini or a Wrap is really one of the easiest. It’s a step up from the regular turkey mayo on rye which is also one of my favs.
I used pumpkin puree instead of mayo or mustard in my sandwich and on the wrap, plus leftover turkey, white cheddar, some arugula (from the salad) and cranberry sauce for dipping in. This was the dinner for both my husband and me. My son is in love with wraps and all the leftovers are being rolled up as a convenient way …
Dinner with Deb!
September 23, 2011 - Written by DianaI’m visiting my mom in NJ and we drove up to see The Great and Wonderful @debng , my sister and (sometimes) Cookerati partner. Tonight’s dinner was pot roast. I wanted you to see her lovely presentation. I guess I took a video instead of photo, which was dumb but not the first time for me. So look at this short video of her pot roast while Deb’s son’s voice is talking about something totally unrelated.
Edited to add that Grandma is holding a creamer that is used as a gravy boat.
Gooseberry Patch – Quick and Easy Autumn
September 15, 2011 - Written by Diana
Gooseberry Patch is more of a community foodie publishing company than a cookbook publishing company. Anyone can send in a recipe for their books, and if you do, you receive a copy of the book your recipe is in. One of their latest is Quick and Easy Autumn Recipes, which I have the privilege of reviewing. Lots of recipes sent in by the Gooseberry Patch Foodie Community that are quick and easy just like the title says. I like how each recipe is credited to the foodie contributor and all of the personal notes attached also. The Autumn Acorn Squash by Jenny Sarbacker looks very tempting, and I plan to try it out.
Plenty of autumn farmer’s market ingredients found in this book – apples, squash, beans, sausage, stews, soups, everything you want on your dinner table when the weather starts to turn a little cooler. All the recipes take less than 30 minutes to make. These recipes do depend on shortcuts such as canned biscuits and crescent rolls, canned soup and beans, etc. However, you have to know that I am not against …
Jennie-O Turkey Burgers – Will You Make the Switch? Coupon Giveaway.
September 7, 2011 - Written by DianaJennie-O Switch to Turkey Promotion
Jennie-O has a new Switch To Turkey Burgers Promotion. Jennie-O sent a food truck to NY to show people how tasty turkey burgers could be and to convince them to make the switch to turkey over other burgers. For dinner, we tried out Jennie-O Turkey Burgers and let me tell you, they get an A+ from my family. No, they don’t taste like beef hamburgers, they don’t taste like vegetarian Luna Burgers, they don’t taste like bison burgers, they taste like Jennie-O Burgers, delicious in their own right.
NYC Inspired Turkey Burgers
What neither of us expected, is that my son has decided that it’s a great pot for using to make dinner. He first tried it with a spaghetti meat sauce. I thought it was a good idea (and hey no sauce splatter). he cooked the meat in the microwave and prepared the sauce in the Cook N’ Stir, then added the meat to the sauce. We loved pouring the sauce over top of the spaghetti. Then another day he did macaroni and cheese. One of the features I love about the Cook N’ Stir is the thick bottom. Not only did we not have splatter, but …
I get a kick out of reading what some of my favorite chefs like to say – like Mario Batali and how just a little bit of …
June 10th is National Iced Tea Day – Lipton is celebrating by giving away free iced tea to Facebook Followers. 3. Claim your free Iced Tea coupon. To celebrate the new line and National Iced Tea Day, Lipton is also treating tea drinkers to unplugged music programming. Check out “The Natural Side of Music” online videos featuring cuts and conversations with music artists.
What I’m trying – Wine Doctor Intelli-Stopper
August 24, 2011 - Written by Diana
The Wine Doctor Intelli-Stopper helps to preserve the wine left in your bottle after you’ve opened it, plus removes any air left in the bottle. The Classic wine preservation kit contains one pump, to remove the air and two stoppers. You line the preserver pump onto the stopper and pull the air out until the red indicator disappears. It’s easy to use, and though I don’t have a scientific way to measure success (except for the red indicator), I can tell that when I take out the stopper, the whoosh of air tells me that the stopper worked. I’ve had other stoppers and I also have an electric preservation kit, but none of it comes close to the Wine Doctor Intelli-Stopper. The preserver is small enough to stick in a drawer and doesn’t need to be plugged in to an outlet, more pluses if you ask me.
Cook N’ Stir – My Son’s New Favorite Cooking Tool
July 12, 2011 - Written by Diana
I was sent a Cook N’ Stir by Beka - to try out. It’s a 2 1/2 Quart measuring pot with a pour spout. When my daughter and I saw it, we both immediately thought of her alfredo sauce. I think it’s deep enough that her sauce won’t splatter all over – that’s always a problem when my kids cook. The splatter goes everywhere. This is less wide and more tall, so maybe less splatter – one can hope.
Man with a Pan edited by John Donohue
June 29, 2011 - Written by Diana
On Father’s Day I gave a tribute to the men in my life who cooked (or in my son’s case – didn’t cook). I got my inspiration from Man with a Pan, Culinary Adventures of Fathers Who Cook For Their Families. , a compilation of essays by different men, presented and edited by John Donohue, mostly it’s about how they were inspired to cook. I find it fun to read the male perspective, though I came from a family where men were for the most part, comfortable in the kitchen. I can identify with some of these men, whether directly or seeing a trait in someone else I know. Manny Howard turning dinners into events with much ado – that was my father. He believed dinner gatherings should center around the presentation of the food, even if it was delivered as everyone was leaving.
Cookerati Alert – Free Lipton Iced Tea
June 10, 2011 - Written by Diana
HOW:
1. “Like” Lipton Iced Tea on Facebook
2. Share free Iced Tea coupon with at least one friend.
New 100% Natural Lipton Iced Tea is available in four flavors: long-time fan favorites, Green Tea with Citrus and Iced Tea with Lemon, as well as two new flavors: Iced Tea with Blueberry Pomegranate and Green Tea with Passionfruit Mango. New Diet Green Tea with Watermelon joins the beloved Diet Green Tea with Citrus flavor.
