Bertolli Meal Soup Weeknight Challenge!

Recently, Bertolli's asked me to try out their Meal Soup and put me to the challenge of making a meal with it. This included the preparation of the soup, any side dishes, the preparation of the table and anything else, with one hour only.  I decided to accept the challenge!

 

I visited the frozen foods section of the grocery store and reviewed the four different kinds of soups.Bertolli's makes four different kinds of soup if you aren't partial to Tomato Florentine and Tortellini with Chicken. They are: Chicken Minestrone; Roasted Chicken and Rotini Pasta; and Tomato Florentine and Tortellini with Chicken and Tuscan Style Beef and Vegetables. After careful consideration (and CONFUSION-they all looked pretty good to me!), I selected the Tomato Florentine and Tortellini with Chicken.  

 

 

Making the soup was really easy. I just had to cut the bag open and put it on the stove with one cup of water. After letting the soup boil and stir it a bit, I put the lid on top and let it continue to cook just a bit more. Then it was finished. Very quick and easy.

 

Meanwhile, I made some very easy garlic bread as a side; this soup was so hearty, there was no need to make a salad as I had originally planned. I love that this was a one-dish type of dinner!

The soup tasted fantastic. It was rich, aromatic and full of vegetables and lots of tortellini; Bertolli's did NOT skimp on the ingredients, thats for sure! Also, the chicken was nice and tender and actually tasted like chicken, not like rubbery mystery meat you sometimes find in pre-packaged meals.

I highly recommend this soup and cannot wait to try the rest. This soup is a great way to make an easy, fast meal that your whole family can enjoy and it makes a whole meal in less than a half an hour!

You can learn more about Bertolli's Meal Soups and their other fine products by visiting their website by clicking HERE.

You can also check them out on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Disclaimer: Please be advised that I was provided a coupon for a free soup to review as well as a cash compensation for this sponsored post.  However, please note that all opinions are my own. Thank you!

Amazing Wearable Veggies and More

Recently, I have been working on my daughter's Halloween costume. This had me scouring the web, looking at hundreds of mermaid costumes. While in my hot pursuit, I came across the most amazing, creative costumes. Some of them were made of unusual components. Not sure how long they would last. I think I would get hungry and have to have a few bites.

Here are some of the most unusual ones that caught my attention. What do you think? Would you dare to wear any of these?

Lettuce, asparagus, kale

Green Onions

Bubble Gum

Shrimp

Cream Puffs

Fresh Strawberry Milkshakes



Today in the northeast, it is hot, but the temperature is not that horrible--what is horrible is the humidity which is making everything wilt, including people! Everyone is moving in slow motion today, including my daughter and I. This afternoon, we made good old fashioned strawberry milkshakes as an afternoon sweet treat. There is nothing that brings back great memories of childhood for me than a great, ice cold strawberry milkshake like my grandmother made, complete with REAL ice cream, not the standard low fat or fat free version I typically opt for. Its just a simple, easy recipe and produces an amazing result. Here it is, makes enough for 5 8 oz glasses.

RECIPE:

8 scoops of good quality strawberry ice cream (Haagen Daaz is a good option)
1 1/2 cups of reduced fat milk (OK-if you want to go full fat here, get the WHOLE MILK!!!!)
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/4 cup fresh, cleaned strawberries
(If you have time, put your glasses in the freezer ahead of time for a nice, icy glass)

Using a blender, mix all of the ingredients together until fully blended. Garnish with fresh strawberries, if available. Serve immediately with a straw and enjoy immensely!

Fresh Dark Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

Sno-balls. Not the cold ones made with white snow, but those shaggy pink ones with marshmellow, graham, chocolate and of course, the pink coconut on top! What is it about the Sno-ball that seems to draw me in? Truth be told, they really don't taste that great. However, the classic combination of coconut with chocolate is definitely a great classic combination. Today, my daughter and I decided to make cupcakes reminiscent of the "Sno-ball," but our version takes the form of a cupcake.

My daughter, who recently has been fascinated with the moon and stars, decided that our cupcakes should look like the moon, so we were on our way to create a "Moonblaster" cupcake. Well, these took us to the moon and back and earned their "Moonblaster" name for sure! We added some dark chocolate powder and some brewed espresso in the batter which ultimately brought out a complex, rich chocolate taste in the cupcake. For the icing, we made a cream cheese icing which we added just a touch of coconut extract to along with "Let's Do Organic" finely chopped, reduced fat, unsweetened organic coconut. We ended up with a velvety coconut icing; because of the type of coconut we used, the coconut was not all stringy and sloppy, like typical shredded coconut you can buy in the supermarket. It was like a melt in your mouth coconut icing.

The "Moonblaster" is a perfect combination of chocolate and coconut and will blast you off to the moon!

Recipe:

Cupcakes: (adapted from "Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor")

1 box Devils Food cake mix
3 tbsp unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup reduced fat milk
1/4 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup fresh brewed espresso

Mix the cake mix with the eggs and beat together until wet. Add all remaining ingredients and beat on medium for about 2 minutes, scraping down sides as necessary. Fill prelined cupcake pans and bake for approximately 35-40 minutes at a 350 degree preheated oven, or until cake springs back when touched.

Icing: (my own recipe)

1 8 oz. pkg. room temperature Neufatchtel cream cheese
4 cups of confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp of coconut extract
1/2 cup of finely chopped unsweetened organic coconut
8 tbsp room temp butter
Plus 1/2 cup additional coconut, reserved

With a beater, mix butter and cream cheese together.  Add in extract and beat. Add in coconut and beat. Slowly add sugar in parts and beat until whipped up together to form icing. Chill for 1/2 hour. Ice cupcakes.

Finally, take the remaining, reserved 1/2 cup of the unsweetened choppped coconut and sprinkle over the tops of the cupcakes.
ENJOY!

Fresh Peach Star Pies

I recently received a Williams Sonoma mini pie star cutter. Since peaches here are all over the the farm stands and one of my favorite fruits, I couldn't resist making some mini star peach pies with my 6 year old daughter. I used an old standard pie crust recipe my mother always uses and rolled out the dough. 

In the meantime, we made some homemade peach pie filling and placed a tablespoon or so (or whatever we hadn't managed to eat off our spoons...) on the star.

Next, we used the outside of the mold to make a mini star cutout on one half of the star. Then we placed the cut out star piece in the opposite side of the mold, folded the mold together, pressed firmly and then unfolded it. We baked the star peach pies in the oven until brown, cooled them on a baking rack and then we all digged in--including "Li'l Buddy", my parents' rescue dog. I cannot resist feeding him a treat! His critique: woof, woof, delicious!

The mold was very labor-intensive and problematic. If you did not put just the exact amount of filling inside, you would have a big peach pie explosion everywhere and a ruined star pie. Also, if you did not seal the pies perfectly, they would open during cooking and the filling would all leak out. Each one took a very long time to put together and when we were done, we were lucky if we had about 10 decent looking pies. I would not want to show these to anyone I was trying to impress with my cooking skills! They were not exactly perfect. However-they tasted AWESOME, so who cares how they looked! And the best part is that my daughter and I had a blast making them, so I know I will be using that pie mold again. Thankfully this was a gift and I did not spend any money on it--you could easily make your own "mold" just by cutting out your own shapes.

Fresh Zucchini Bread



I have been inundated with zucchini this summer. Of course, no summer would be complete without baking some zucchini bread. Yesterday, the New York heat wave let up a bit so I turned on my oven and broke out the loaf pans to make some. I added a bunch of fruity flavors by including lemon juice, blueberry applesauce and pineapple juice. The bread came out super moist with hints of fruit, not overpowering whatsoever.

Here is the recipe:

1 bread pan
Cooking Spray
2 cups of white flour
1 cup of wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tbsp ground ginger
1 stick of melted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup of blueberry applesauce
1/2 cup of raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray loaf pan with cooking spray. Set aside. In one bowl, mix dry ingredients (not including sugar) together. In a separate bowl, mix sugar and melted butter together. Add eggs, juices, zest, applesauce and stir. Add in zucchini and raisins. Mix wet and dry ingredients together. Put mixture into the greased loaf pan. Bake in oven for 1 hour 15 mins or until knife in center of loaf comes out clean. Allow to cool on cooking rack. Enjoy!

Fresh Grilled Swiss Chard Packets



My father grew a ton of swiss chard this year; needless to say, I have been eating lots of swiss chard from his garden this summer! I came across an interesting recipe in Cuisine Lite Fresh & Fabulous Magazine, the Summer 2011 Edition this past summer and decided to make it this past weekend. The recipe calls for just a couple of ingredients but the result is amazing.


You end up with crispy grilled swiss chard in some places, along with some tender swiss chard in other places, which is coupled with melted fresh mozzerella and a fresh warm tomato; it almost tastes like a freshly grilled pizza. My picture does NOT do these justice-I forgot to photograph them and by the time I ran to take a picture, this was my very last one. I assure you, though-not only are they a pretty green when done, but they are a keeper, for sure!

Here is the recipe: *Adapted from Cuisine Lite Fresh & Fabulous Magazine, Summer 2011 Edition
(Makes 4 Grilled Packets)

4 Whole Swiss Chard pieces, without holes if you can find some
(the original recipe indicates that you should boil them then plunge them into ice water-I just steamed mine in the microwave until tender; about 1 minute)
Fresh Mozzerella, Cut into Slices About 4 inches long by 1 inch thick
1 Medium Size Ripe Red Tomato, Cut into Slices
Salt
Pepper
Cooking Spray
Fresh Garlic, Minced

Steam swiss chard pieces in the microwave so its just tender and allow to cool. Place one slice of tomato in the center and add salt, pepper and garlic as you like it. Place mozzerella slice on top. Gently fold the swiss chard up, folding the sides as you go, until you have a packet. (original recipe called for toothpicks to close, but I did not use them and I did fine without, but feel free to secure with toothpicks if you like)
Spray one side with cooking spray.
Place on a heated grill over medium heat, cooking spray side down. Allow to grill for 5-6 minutes. Note: do NOT flip over. Remove gently from heat so as not to unwrap the packets. Serve and enjoy!