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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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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Let ‘em Handle It

Some days that’s my attitude.  My son likes his friends to come over, and he likes them to stay.  It can become an evening of preparing and cleaning food for me, if I let it.  Sometimes I like to impress.  Today he was home for another snow day, but I had to trudge into work.  When I got the call from my son asking if his friends could come over and stay, I was willing, but only so far.  I told him I didn’t have anything ready for them to eat, and I didn’t want to run into the store (no extra driving please).  He said there were a couple of boxes of mac n cheese in the pantry, they could make it up and have it for dinner.  I thought well, they’ll live, let them handle it. 

Truthfully, it’s not the way I like to eat every night, but I keep things in my pantry because I don’t want to always deal with dinner and figuring out how to make teenage boys happy.  Lazy, maybe, or it could be that one of life’s important lessons to teach my son is that if he wants something, then he has to figure it out.  Something else to think about is that the boys are at my house more than each other’s. So, while I don’t mind providing, it can be expensive and time consuming for me if I decide to go overboard.  Letting them handle it puts the breaks on that – after all, they don’t care about the food so much as the game playing.

One of my tips for letting them handle it, without intervention is to provide the tools that make success easy. Shortcuts like boxes of mac n cheese help.  I also had Tyson’s Seasoned Beef Brisket in Fire Roasted Onion Sauce in the freezer.  Dinner was ready in 10 minutes.  They actually spent more time at the table gabbing, goofing and singing to the phone than they did cooking.  I did learn something new, you can’t carry around your cell phone and cook at the same time. 

My husband and I scraped the pots clean when they were done, it was good enough for us also.  Delicious as a matter of fact.

I have more Tysons Frozen cooked dinner foods in the freezer because they go over well.  I also have hot dogs, tater tots, and chicken fingers in the freezer as well as tuna, mac n cheese, noodles and sauce in the pantry and cans of soup in the cabinet.  I’m sure my son will have his fill of them when he’s on his own.  There are times we work on the meal together, chopping, peeling, sautéing, but then there are the shortcuts and really, I’m okay with that. Let ‘em handle it. 

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Ruby Red Jasmine Rice

I used Ruby Red Jasmine Rice for my Turkey & Chard over Red Jasmine Rice recipe.  This is a fair trade, whole grain rice grown in the Surin region of  Thailand.

Alter Eco Ruby Red Jasmine Rice (Khao Deng variety) is an ancient whole grain rice that is as nutritionally charged as it is colorful. Its crunchy texture and earthy flavored paired with a cocktail of essential proteins and minerals, making it an all-around sustainable choice! It is a rare grain that is found in Surin, a province in the East of Thailand situated along the Cambodian border. Inhabitants of this particular region have long relied on this nutritious rice as a complement to their daily diet.

Farmers of the Agrarian Cooperative of Surin cultivate the Alter Eco Red Rice using traditional farming methods that ensure quality and respect for the environment. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides have been replaced with organic fertilizers and natural plant extracts to produce this premium quality, environmentally friendly rice.

I am a proponent of fair trade and also producing as close to organic as you can, so this was a good fit for me.  The flavor of the jasmine rice was good, better than white rice, but not as strong as wild rice, and not as aromatic as basmati but somewhere in between. I would buy it in the store, definitely.  If I’m going to buy rice, it should be whole grain and hold as much nutrition as possible.  Some of the white rice – especially the instant has lost a lot of their great qualities in the processing.  This rice, didn’t lose it’s outer shell in the processing which contains most of the nutrients and is a lot easier to digest.

My grade A-. 

 

I was given Alter Eco Ruby Red Jasmine Rice to review.  No payment exchanged, and my opinion is my opinion.

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Pump Up Your College Kid With Some Sweet Treats

The holiday season is stressful on college kids.  Some are approaching midterms, others are thinking about finals, while at the same time arrangements need to be made for visiting with family.  I think we’re going to visit some of the family for a big holiday gathering without my daughter because she’ll be in school. She only has a long weekend off, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for extensive travelling.  Some students live too far away and don’t visit with family at all. When I was in college there were some holidays I stayed on campus because I lived over 500 miles away so I really know what it’s like to miss out.  Fortunately, you can send your favorite collegiate special treats to help them through these busy stress filled days. These snacks would also make great stocking stuffers, especially if you want to send your college kid back to school well stocked.

I was given the opportunity to do some taste testing for you. While I like that part of my job, I also enjoy having the opportunity to  introduce a product that may be new to you.  In no particular order, here are our suggestions:

 Aequare Fine Chocolates -  Aequare Chocolates are artisan chocolates that are handcrafted in Ecuador.  

Founded by native Californian, classically trained chef and now Ecuadorian resident, Jeff Stern, Aequare creates origin-specific chocolate confections made from ingredients and raw materials sourced virtually entirely within Ecuador, from raw ingredients all the way to packaging.  The chocolate bon-bons come in traditional and exotic flavors including plain dark chocolate, vanilla, passion fruit, ishpingo, lemongrass, saffron, blackberry and others.

My husband and I tasted the handcrafted chocolates in a gift box, and also the Dark Chocolate Cocoa Beans.  The 6 piece gift box was very nice.  The small bonbons looked pretty fantastic, they were good, better than some, but still they needs a little something more. I think that they looked better than they tasted.  They are very pretty – so a little extra credit for the look, but the taste is what I really grade. We give them a C+.

On the other hand, we loved the dark chocolate cocoa beans. The dark chocolate on the outside was good, and then there’s a surprising crunch when the bean collapses in your mouth with more flavor.  The Dark Chocolate Cocoa Beans get an A-.

 

  Chipn’etzel  – This is probably the one your college kid would have the most fun with.  Chipn’etzel is by Sara Snackers – a milk and cookie company.  Really this was a cool treat to eat.  It contains both potato chips and pretzels, but not in an overwhelming way and these are chocolate dipped cookies.  They reminded me of cookies my grandmother bought when I was growing up. Funny thing, we all love dark chocolate better than white chocolate, but for this treat somehow the white chocolate had an overwhelming show of hands. I suggest extra because these will go fast.  The white chocolate gets an A-, the dark chocolate B+ just because we love the white chocolate better.

 

Mama’s Goodies Nut Brittles – Hold on to your teeth, we’ve got another really good one. These nut brittles have such a buttery flavor with honey and maple syrup along with some great nuts. 

Mama’s Goodies, all-natural nut butter brittles produced by Kathy Khodi and her mother Rohy Khorshidian, mother-daughter Iranian immigrants. They created the candies from an old-world family recipe to remind them of home as they settled in the U.S.   Mama’s Goodies produces artisan nut butter brittles in unique flavors including sesame, which is traditional in Iran, and almond, another Iranian flavor, as well as cashew, pecan and macadamia – coconut.  Kathy and Rohy strive for a true homemade taste, using only the finest all-natural and Kosher ingredients including pure honey, 100% maple syrup and real butter.  These are truly melt-in-your-mouth brittles with a very smooth (not sticky) texture, and they’re loaded with nuts! 

I agree with the taste part, but I would be lying if I said they weren’t sticky, they will stick to your teeth.  They are really great tasting butter nut brittles though and worth brushing your teeth for. Our Grade A-.

 

Disclosure:  These products were all given to me for review.  These opinions are my honest assessment.

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Cranberry Raisinets: “Like Regular Raisinets, But Different”

I received a package in the mail today filled with goodies to review containing, among other things, several packages of Cranberry Raisinets. The timing was good as they came at snack time and I had two seven year olds standing by to give their opinion – The Boy and his friend who, for this study, we will call “The Friend.”

I gave each boy a package of Raisinets and stepped back to catch their honest assessment:

The Boy: Tasty!

The Friend: It’s good. What are they called again?

Me: Cranberry Raisents.

The Boy: They’re like regular Raisinets but different.

The Friend: That doesn’t make sense. How can they be Cranberry Raininets?

The Boy: The should call them “Cranberryets.”

The friend: “Cranberets.”

The Boy: “Cranboogers.”

The Boy and The Friend: “EWWWWWW!!! Gross!!”

The Friend: I wouldn’t eat them if they’re Cranboogers.

The Boy: Me either. We can give them to Matthew. He has peanut allergies. He can eat boogers.

The Friend: EWWWWW!!!!

Me: So what do we think guys, do we like them?

The Friend: Yes. They’re good. You should buy more and give them to me when I visit. My mom won’t buy chocolate because she says it makes me crazy.

Me: I can totally see that.

The Boy: Are they going to make them in big boxes for the movies?

The Friend: No they can sell Cranboogers at the movies for the allergy kids.

The Boy and The Friend: EWWWWWW!!!!!

As you can see, I don’t ask my son and his friend to do product reviews very often. However, the Cranberry Raisinets people sent me some samples, and it’s my duty to give you my honest opinion. They’re good. They’re just what you’d expect. They don’t taste like boogers and they’re healthy-ish. They’ll make a good lunch box snack for The Boy, and they’re in hundred calorie bags for me. They’re tart and sweet and the flavors work well together. If they had a dark chocolate variety, they’d totally rock. They’re like regular Raisinets but different.

My family would totally eat them again.

Full disclosure: Reps for Nestle/Cranberry Raisinets sent me this product so I can do a review. This is my honest opinion.

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Surprise Your Guests With Some New Tastes for the 4th.

I’ve been trying out some new things and there are a few you can bring to the 4th to share with your friends, or have on hand.  I like surprising people and getting them to have a taste on my dime.  Sometimes you’ll don’t mind tasting something new that someone else brings just because you know you’re not wasting your money.  If you like it, then you can buy it yourself next time.  This time you can be the supplier.

Here are some suggestions:

• Zevia -  This is a new sugar free soda made with stevia – a plant based sweetener.

I’ve had stevia before, and I was not thrilled with the taste.  From Wikipedia:  The species Stevia rebaudiana, commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia, is widely grown for its sweet leaves. As a sweetener and sugar substitute, stevia’s taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, although some of its extracts may have a bitter or licorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.

What I experience was the bitter concentrations and swore off Stevia.  However, some FDA changes came about and now an extract form can be used in foods that is much sweeter tasting without the aftertaste that some of the earlier powdered stuff had.  Zevia was really delicious.  My husband and kids and I all tried it and agreed that we would buy it.  Here’s how good it was – I was drinking it and it popped into my head that since I usually drink sugar free sodas, I should look for a sugar free one – and then thought duh!  they’re all sugar free. Really, I’m not that dumb, it was so good I forgot – especially the cola. 

I should tell you that some of the flavors are a little bit different as they are all natural including the coloring. For example, the Black Cherry contains geraniums, clove buds, and spice oil from the bark of the cassia tree. The Orange Zevia contains annatto, because it was the only way to get the natural orange coloring.  Whole Foods carries Zevia as well as some natural food places.

•  Truvia – While you are at it, try truvia also.  It doesn’t have that bitter aftertaste either.  I bought it after I tasted the Zevia, just because I was impressed with the Zevia.  Now Truvia is my first choice, splenda my second – though restaurants don’t have truvia, so I’m stuck there.

 

•   Agavero – This is something for the adult crowd only.  Agavero is an ultra-premium spirit that is created from a blend of 100% blue agave añejo and reposado tequilas hand blended with the essence of Damiana flower for unparalleled smoothness and taste. My husband loved this stuff.  I enjoyed it, but he absolutely loved it.  He drank it on the rocks – without anything else added.  The Damiana flowers are said to be an aphrodisiac, but I can’t attest to that – or maybe I won’t attest to that – or maybe I’m just not telling.

Agavero is made exclusively from blue agave plants that are a minimum of 10 years old when harvested. The production process begins with the delicate baking of the piña, or heart of the blue agave.  The heart of the blue agave is then crushed to obtain the aguamiel (honey water).  The aguamiel is put through natural fermentation and then subjected to two slow distillations to produce tequila.  Before bottling, the tequila is aged in new, French limousine oak barrels. The añejo tequila is aged eighteen months and the reposado tequila is rested up to one year. The long maturation allows for the full benefits of the slightly charred, limousin oak casks to be blended into the liquid. Then the secret ingredient, the essence of the damiana flower, is hand blended to the tequila blend for unparalleled smoothness and taste.

The bottle is lovely to look out blue for the blue agave plant with leave coming up from the bottle.  It’s really a special looking bottle, something that would make a nice gift, or would stand out on your bar.  It would definitely be noticed no matter where it is.

If you like cooking with tequila – here’s a recipe using Agavero:

Grilled Garlicky Agavero Tequila Shrimp Kabobs with Lemon and Fresh Bay Leaves – Serves 6 (courtesy of Diane Brown)

• 2 tablespoons Agavero
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 12 lemon wedges
• 12 fresh bay leaves Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped, fresh parsley Wooden skewers, as needed.

Mix the Agavero, olive oil, pepper, and garlic with the shrimp and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat a gas grill or broiler until moderately hot. Thread the shrimp, bay leaves and lemons on skewers and season with salt and pepper. Grill or broil skewers basting with additional marinade and turning every 2-3 minutes, until shrimp is opaque and cooked through, about 5-7 minutes.

• Boar’s Head Pepperhouse Gourmaise – This condiment adds a little zing to your sandwiches.  It’s really a great combination made with a  proprietary blend of black, white, pink and green peppercorns that are then mixed with Boar’s Head Mayonnaise and its Deli Mustard.  It’s great on hot dogs and also hardboiled egg sandwiches. I think it would go well on chicken or as a sauce for salmon.  I’ve been using it on different things and I think the hardboiled egg sandwich spread is one of my favorites, though I love it on deli-meat sandwiches too.

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Mario Batali – Pizza Line by Copco

I’ve tried out a few new things by Copco lately and the Pizza Line from Mario Batali is another one.  The two items I tried out were the Pizza Knife and the Container Grater, both are decent kitchen tools to have.

The Pizza knife is the best pizza cutting tool for me.  I’ve had the pizza cutters with the little wheel, but this Pizza Knife cuts through it just by pressing down and rocking it back and forth once.  The only downside is that it’s big and you will need to figure out where to store it.  However, my husband and son loved it the first time we used it.  No cheese sticking to it and smearing, just  cut, cut cut, cut and you are done, it’s that simple and fast.  I put it into the dishwasher along the side to get cleaned off- where it won’t take up much room.  If you eat pizza on a regular basis – this would be something you would want to own.

The Container Grater – took a little practice.  I didn’t love it at first, but as I used it and got used to the way it worked, I liked it more and more.  Our first surprise was that we couldn’t figure out how to take the lid on and off.  My son figured it out and I thought I was a dunce until my daughter said that she and my husband wanted to use some of the cheese I had grated into the container, but couldn’t figure out how to open it up.  There are these two little pieces on the end that you squeeze together to slip the grater arm past.  Duh!  Then I filled the Cheese holder part too high, which made it awkward to hold and grate.  Once I realized that I should only fill the cheese holder part way so that the knob fit in better, moving the arm back and forth across the grater became easier.  Lastly, it’s a little messy, so you need to put a tray under the container while you are grating.

  After hearing all of that, you are probably thinking why bother?  Well, grating has always been messy for me and I always use a tray or plate, so that’s no different.  Using the regular cheese grater I scrape my fingers or I try to be careful so that I don’t scrape them.  This has a block with a knob that protects your fingers – thank you!  The components come apart and go into the dishwasher for easy cleanup.  Storage is wonderful.  I can grate the cheese into the container, and if I get interrupted (as I did last week with a sick daughter) I can put on the lid and stick it into the fridge and come back to it later. Once I figured out the trick to filling the cheese holder only part way, it was much easier on my arm to use and rocked back and forth and made the grating faster and easier. 

  

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OliVaylle Estate – Olive Nectar

What do you bring to someone you love?  Expensive Wine, Truffles (my favorite), Caviar – or maybe a bottle of fine Olive Oil, or better yet, a bottle of exquisite Olive Nectar.  OliVaylle Estate is entering the premium Olive Oil market in a great way.  OliVaylle Olive Nectar is produced at a family owned olive plantation and olive oil processing facility in Telopea Downs, Victoria, Australia. 

It’s not just that the bottle is sexy looking – it’s that it’s dark and prevents the light from deteriorating the quality of the oil.  Things that are harmful to the olives and olive oil are: heat, oxygen, time, contaminants and light.  OliVaylle loses out on some of it’s production quantity because it insists on producing the purest quality Olive Oil or as they call it Olive Nectar.

In fact, OliVaylle Olive Oil is the only olive oil in the world that satisfies

  The Eight Absolutes of Olive Oil Perfections:

1. Estate grown olives from irrigated and enriched groves.
2. Mechanically harvested olives, free of contamination by human hands or topsoil (Never hand picked and never picked off the ground).
3. Processed within the estate from depitted olives (mechanically done to prevent human hand contaminants).
4. Truly cold process: lowering the temperature to extract the best oil rather than raising it to extract more.
5. Processed in an oxygen and temperature-controlled environment within 6 hours of harvesting.
6. Stored on the estate in insulated, thermally controlled, oxygen-free, stainless steel tanks.
7. Estate-bottled in oxygen-free, dark glass bottles.
8. Packed and shipped in refrigerated containers and stored in refrigerated distribution centers.

 

My personal impressions – the oil was delicious in taste and texture.  I’m impressed with the quality of the oil as well as the quality of the packaging. I believe that this is an ultra premium olive oil that everyone should try.

Where can you find it?  Try here at the OliVaylle Website. 

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Total Tea by Copco – Tea-riffic

If you are looking around for a Mother’s Day gift – take a look at the Total Tea line by Copco. I had a chance to use these items and they are fantastic.  I am a tea drinker from way back, way before I drank coffee, I was drinking tea.  I love caffeine teas, herbal teas, hot tea, cold teas and all different flavor combinations.  Total Tea by Copco can help you out with your tea needs. 

My favorite is the Soft Grip Tea Thermal.  It keeps the heat in great, but I thought, I wonder if it could take care of my iced tea in a really good way.  Not only did it keep it cold, but I figured out how to make iced tea right in the thermos.  I heat up water in my tea pot and fill the thermos about 1/3 of the way up with the hot water.  I put my loose tea in the top piece screw on the lid and turn the thermos upside down to brew.  Please make sure everything is closed up tight and sealed.  Then I turn it right side up, dump the leaves into the compost bucket and fill the thermos with ice and sweetner.  Then I put the lid back on.  That’s it.  Let me tell you, the double walled insulation works fantastic.  My iced tea still had ice near the end of the track meet, while my husband’s water bottle filled with ice and cold water was melted.  We were so surprised.  It was 87 degrees out yesterday at the meet (and my son’s relay teams came in first), very warm, but my Soft Grip Tea Thermal was cold despite starting out with warm brewed tea.  I have thought of other uses for the basket besides tea.  You could put your lemons in the basket so you won’t have to fish them off the bottom, or throw in mint leaves from your garden (or lemon balm) to add flavor to your tea or water.  The basket is also great for holding tea bags so they don’t sink to the bottom of the bottle.

 

I tried out the Twisting Stick Infuser with Lily Pad.  I like that you can pick up the twisting stick infuser and placed it in the water, then pulled it out and put it on the lilly pad.  A cute way to have your tea with little mess. You give the stick 1/2 a twist to close it and 1/2 a twist to open it back.

 

 

The Basket Infuser was a surprise and it’s innovative.  You put the dried tea in the basket and put it right into the hot mug. The Lillypad Lid covers the cup and and keeps all of the warmth in the cup of tea. Then when you take the Tea Basket Infuser out and flip it upside down it contains all of the tea drips in the Lillypad and off of the table.  Isn’t the Total Tea Line pretty darn cool?

 

Their accessories are great too.  I don’t like drippy huge jars of honey on my table.  I can fill up the smaller Total Tea Honey Bottle and not have the honey drip all over table since it has a nice pour spout.  My son and husband have no excuses now. 

 

All of the Total Tea Line looks very cool. I recommend it highly, especially the Soft Grip Tea Thermal.

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