Food Archives • Reviews by Kathy

Barilla Pesto Pasta Sauce Creamy Genovese

October 23, 2021 Leave a Comment

I am so in love with Italian food, I never miss the opportunity to try some, especially when it is from a brand I love.

Barilla has introduced a new, rich flavor Barilla Pesto Pasta Sauce with creamy Genovese. It is flavorful with Italian basil and freshly grated Italian cheese. This sauce can be used for a number of items, not just pasta. I loved it with my Barilla thin noodles!

Here are some delicious options:
• Stirring into warm pasta and grains (one jar to one 16-ounce box of pasta)
• Spreading onto sandwiches or toast
• Marinating meats and vegetables
• Using as a dip for veggies and pita chips

As you can tell I love it! I used it on my noodles and also on my toast!

This is also great with fresh veggies. I like to serve it with small carrots, cauliflower and cucumbers. This is always a crowd favorite. Most are surprised when I show them it is from a jar.

Remember a little bit goes a long way! It doesn’t take a lot to get the full flavor!

This can be found at Target, (Super Target), Publix, Stop & Shop (Super Stop & Shop), Meijer, ShopRite,
Hy-Vee, Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, and more.

“I received this product for free from Moms
Meet (momsmeet.com) to use and post my honest
opinions. Compensation for this post was provided
and this page may contain affiliate links.

Fire Dept Coffee Review

June 6, 2021 Leave a Comment

I can not even begin to think about functioning in the morning until I have my coffee, my sweet husband knows the minute I start to stir I need coffee. He has recently started to make me a cup before I get up which is so sweet and thoughtful. I have noticed some of my coffee is missing!! Apparently I am not the only one who loves this coffee, he can’t stop talking about it.

Early this month I received some of the best coffee I have ever tried from Fire Dept Coffee. I received two different types and both are amazing. The flavor is so good! My husband has never really been much on coffee but he is now making a cup each morning. His favorite was the Bourbon Spirt Infused Coffee. Mine was the FDC medium roast. We both can’t get over how flavorful this coffee is!

They have some amazing flavors, I liked the convenience of the K-Cups but check them out, there is a ton of varieties including ground coffees! I have a sweet code for 10% off your entire purchase! Code: FDCOFFEE10

This is my favorite part of this Company!

OUR COMPANY

Fire Dept. Coffee is a veteran-owned business and certified by the National Veteran-Owned Business Association (NaVOBA), we’re dedicated to providing great-tasting coffee to people everywhere. Every order is freshly roasted in Rockford, Illinois, by a dedicated team of firefighters, first responders, and coffee connoisseurs.

Inspired by the vital role that coffee plays in helping firefighters stay alert and energized through long shifts, Fire Dept. Coffee was founded in 2016. Founder and CEO Luke Schneider is a full-time firefighter/paramedic and a U.S. Navy veteran who teamed up with firefighter/paramedic Jason Patton who is also a full-time firefighter and VP for Fire Department Coffee.

Fire Department Coffee is run by active and retired firefighters, including our operations officer and chief coffee roaster.

Along with providing a growing selection of incredible coffee — including its signature spirit-infused roasts — Fire Dept. Coffee also supports heroes in need through the Fire Dept. Coffee Foundation. Ten percent of net proceeds are donated to help provide essential resources and assistance to first responders who have been injured on the job, mentally or physically, or who are facing other serious health challenges.

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: Bourbin, coffee, FDC Coffee, fire, Fire Department, Fire Dept Coffee, Firemen, Veteran owned business

Africa-Inspired Food Choices For A New You

February 11, 2020 Leave a Comment

Pixabay – CCO License

With the new year well and truly underway, many of us are fully into our body transformation plans. We want to improve the way we look AND eat more sustainable at the same time. Fortunately, those two things go hand in hand.

Want to know how to remove fat without surgery? Easy: either go for non-invasive surgery or just eat right. Here are some fat-melting recipes that are good for your health and also the planet.

Ethiopian Peanut Stew

Ethiopia probably has the most exciting food heritage of any country in Africa – even more so than Moroccan, thanks to the role Addis Abbaba played in trade centuries ago. The land we see today was once an essential stop-off for merchants as they carried spices from the near and far east.

The country is famous for its teff bread, but it also makes a mean stew too.

Ingredients for up to six people:

One onion, chopped
Three cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed
Tbsp olive oil
Two 450g tins of chopped tomatoes
Three tablespoons of peanut butter
6 cups of stock
Diced sweet potato
Chickpeas
Fresh parsley
Whole, roasted peanuts
Greens of your choice
Chopped red pepper
Salt and pepper

Method

Making this receipt is easy.

First, fry the onions and garlic in the olive oil in a large pan on a gentle heat until they turn translucent.

Next, add the tinned tomatoes, stock, sweet potatoes, chopped red pepper, stock, chickpeas and peanut butter.

Leave to simmer for 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are cooked through.

Next, add the greens and the parsley until wilted.

Meanwhile, put the peanuts on a tray and roast them in the oven for a couple of minutes.

To assemble, use a ladle to spoon the soup into bowls and then sprinkle the roasted peanuts and whole parsley on top.

If you’ve never tried this recipe before, you’re in for a treat. It is unlike pretty much anything else out there. If you want to bulk it up a bit, serve it with crusty wholemeal bread or teff pancakes if you can find them!

When food tastes this good, making healthy choices is easy. Often, all it takes is a little experimentation to discover all of the flavors out there. You don’t have to stick with regular diet foods. They’re manufactured products cooked up in western labs. It’s much better to delve into the food cultures of other civilizations to see what they ate and how they kept the pounds from accumulating in the past.

What you’ll find, almost invariably, is that they centered their diet around traditional staple foods. In Ethiopia, they got their calories from teff and another grain called sorghum. To that, they added a range of fresh local vegetables and beans.

The native Americans ate a diet of quinoa and corn, as they believed that these foods gave them the energy and vigour they needed to survive a harsh, nomadic existence.

And in the far east, the Japanese ate mostly brown rice and sweet potatoes, again with a bit of veg thrown in for good measure. These foods kept people slim and healthy, and they can do the same for you.

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: choices, diet, flavor, foods, healthy, ingredients, people, slim, vegetables

OREO Thins Bites and International Delight OREO Iced Coffee

July 11, 2018 1 Comment

This post was sponsored by Nabisco as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

I usually visit my local Walmart a few times a week and use Ibotta to save me money while shopping. Recently while shopping I decided to try the new OREO Thins Bites and International Delight Iced Coffee. So, of course, I used the Ibotta coupon and saved $1.50 and an additional $.50 when you purchase both together!

I picked up the OREO Thins Bites Fudge Dipped and they were so delish! These are small but full of flavor, and officially my new favorite snack. I already love everything OREO but to cover them in chocolate is just heavenly.

The International Delight OREO Iced Coffee beats any iced coffee I have ever tried. I can drink coffee all day long, but in the summer I don’t like hot drinks. This makes for a perfect alternative!

Filed Under: Food

Good Idea

December 11, 2017 Leave a Comment

This is a sponsored post but these are my personal opinions and thoughts.

Good Idea

Thanksgiving and Christmas. My two favorite times of the year. I love seeing my family, playing football in the backyard, and trading presents at Christmas time. But above all of that, I love the food. The mile-long dining that occurs at both of these times is by far my favorite part. Or at least it was. A couple Thanksgivings ago, I had devoured my second plate of “a bit of everything”. Suddenly, nausea hits me and the whole world is spinning as I nearly pass out. Needless to say, this was not normal. After visiting with my doctor, I come to find out I have high blood pressure and that my incident was brought on because of the high amounts of food I had eaten. He also recommended from here on out I eat very “manageable” amounts of food as to not cause another incident. Well, that pretty much took the wind out of my sails. I cannot stress enough how much I love eating. So, I went on a searching spree to find something that didn’t come in pill form that would help me tackle this new-found problem. And to my dismay, I couldn’t find anything, until now. The Good Idea sparkling water has come and allowed me to truly eat again. This blood sugar regulating drink makes it so my blood sugar levels do not spike after consuming a larger meal. In addition to regulating my blood sugar, it also tastes great. The orange mango is by far my favor

ite. It’s not sweet, but it is very refreshing and knowing that all the good it’s doing for me just makes it that much better. The hardest part is when I leave them in the fridge and I have guests over they all want one because everyone loves the flavors. The lemon-lime flavor has a great balance which I can drink on the porch on hot days. I drink probably 3 a day and never get tired of them. It truly is a doctor’s sent drink. #GoodIdeaDrinks #SwedishSugarBuster

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: #GoodIdeaDrinks, #SwedishSugarBuster, good idea, Unsweetened

Stephens Gourmet Hot Cocoa & Giveaway!!

December 4, 2017 Leave a Comment

I am being compensated by the sponsor for your participation in this campaign by Mom It Forward Influencer Network.

Around the holidays my family and I devour an endless amount of hot chocolate. When I learned about these 1 pound canisters I was stoked. I have tried the Stephens Gourmet Hot Cocoa in three flavors being Dark Chocolate, Salted Carmel, and Candycane Cocoa. Each canister holds 1 pound and as of right now I have about 3 pounds of hot cocoa in my house to make for my family and it’s just thrilling.

Having a large family can be challenging when it comes to finding something everyone likes which makes the different flavors of hot cocoa a great choice for me. Some people in my family like to add marshmallows which makes it kind of tricky because some like the pink marshmallows and some like the white.

Also, we have some family members who like the big marshmallows over the small ones so it’s always fun making the hot cocoa. My personal favorite is to add whip cream to the top once the hot cocoa has cooled off some. I’ve even heard some people use this as a coffee cream, which makes this product very useful to have around the house!

The great thing about the Stephens Hot Cocoas mixes is all you need to do is add 3 rounded tbsp of the gourmet hot cocoa and 3/4 of a cup of hot or warm water and stir well to make sure everything is mixed in properly. You can mix in some cinnamon or some marshmallows to spice up your drink. Don’t miss out on this amazing deal!

To see all of our delicious and unique cocoa flavors visit: https://www.indulgentfoods.com/

Enter to win a year’s supply of Stephen’s! We’re giving away 15, one-pound cans of our delicious, one-of-a-kind cocoa to a very lucky winner! What’s more, you get to choose which of our 22 flavors you’d like to try! From bestselling classics (like Candycane and Mint Truffle) to our newest creations (including Old Fashioned Chocolate Malt, English Toffee, and Salted Caramel), the choice is yours!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: Family, Food

Throw an Un-brie-lievable French Dinner Party

November 2, 2017 Leave a Comment

Would you describe yourself as something of a Francophile? If you can’t resist all things French, one of the best ways to indulge your passion is through food. French cuisine is one of the most highly regarded in the world and found all over in fine dining restaurants. But you don’t have to go to a restaurant to enjoy French food, especially if you love the homely and hearty stuff over the tiny, refined plates. For your next dinner party, why not give it a French theme and inject a little je ne sais quoi into your evening? Try these ideas for some French fun.

Source: Pxhere

Design the Perfect French Menu

For any dinner party, it’s always good to start with what you want to cook. There are so many options for a French menu that you might not know where to start. If you’re not sure what to do, perhaps begin by choosing which courses you want to serve. You probably don’t want to do too many, so perhaps try to stick with three at the most, possibly with canapés to start or cheese to finish off the meal. Look through French cookbooks and food websites for inspiration and choose something that doesn’t need too much attention on the night, so you can still be there for your guests. Try Delish for some good ideas. And don’t forget the wine!

Get the Table Dressing Right

If you’re going to eat French food, you might as well have a French theme around the dining table too. You can dress your table for a fun French evening with just a few simple touches. Try a red and white checked tablecloth, or perhaps a table runner for a slightly simpler look. Some bistro-style napkins from Richard Haworth will make a nice addition to your place settings. You don’t have to worry too much about having a perfectly Parisian dinner set, but you could get some accessories for the table, like silver dishes or some French water jugs.

Source: Public Domain Pictures

Add in Some French Atmosphere

Another way to make sure you’ll be singing je ne regrette rien when your dinner party is over is to add some French atmosphere. Music is the perfect way to do it so, whether you prefer Edith Piaf or Daft Punk, get some French music playing. Edith Piaf might be slightly more appropriate for a dinner party, though. Some other ways to up the atmosphere include lighting some candles and maybe even hanging some French art for the evening.

Be Super Social

Your earlier selection of your menu is crucial for the rest of the evening. A French dinner party might be partly about being a good host, but it’s also about the food and spending quality time with friends and family. So it’s important that you don’t abandon your guests to spend the whole evening in the kitchen. Try to either prepare your meal in advance or have something you can just put in the oven and leave so that you can talk into the night without worrying too much.

Put on a beautiful French evening for your friends, and everyone is sure to have an incredible time.

Filed Under: Dinner Party, Family, Food, Home, Party

Selectivor Food App #selectivor #eattogether

October 29, 2017 1 Comment

Having a large family makes it hard to plan an event we can all attend much less trying to find something to eat. Of course, when the family finally gets a chance to come together you will want to make everyone happy and their food preferences satisfied as in leaving full!

Selectivor is such a simpler and easier way of organizing your eating preferences, share them with others and find similar foods everyone can enjoy. I think the name is adorable because it reminds me of a “carnivore” which makes me think of dinosaurs. Very clever name picking, however, the name is just one of the many added bonuses of this product.

On Selectivor you able to create your own custom eating profile! For starters, you will only fill out three short sentences. These sentences are selected from 80 physician-curated templates and almost 600 hundred foods. Which makes it easy to know what is okay and what is not to bring to the family dinner! I loved making my profile, and the fact I knew I would be filling everyone’s stomach. Another amazing thing about making your very own custom profile is the fact I am able to put it on private so only close family can view it. I love this because I do not feel exposed or as if I’m leaving anyone out when fixing my meals.

For our last family reunion, Selectivor came in so handy! I am so impressed and would recommend this to anyone. I was thrilled to serve things I KNEW they would enjoy instead of having to call everyone or message them saying “Will you eat this dessert or that dessert”. This is definitely something worth trying!!

This is a sponsored campaign although, this is 100% my own opinion.

Filed Under: Educational, Electronics, Food

Ling Ling Yakiniku Beef Fried Rice & $2.00 Off Coupon

October 27, 2017 Leave a Comment

This post was sponsored by Ling Ling, all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

I decided since the Ling Ling Yakiniku Chicken Fried Rice was so good, I would try the Yakiniku Beef. Wow, this was just as amazing as the Yakiniku Chicken was. The flavor was delish and the ingredients are so fresh.

We are always on the go, this meal is quick, good and filling. You can’t beat the price either, you get two bags. Since it is only my husband and myself now, I can do one bag and save the other for another night.

They have an amazing variety too, here is some:

Yakitori Chicken
Yakiniku Beef
Thai-Style Chicken
Chinese-Style Vegetable
Bibimbap Beef

I love when I get to share deals with my readers, so here is a $2.00 off printable coupon. This won’t last much longer so hurry and print it!

We live in the middle of literally nowhere, we drive 30 miles at least to the nearest store, so having an Asian inspired meal would consist of a long trip. Now we can have it anytime we are craving it.

I love to serve it with a salad and breadsticks, so good. These dishes are based on pure and authentic Asian inspired recipes from Japan, China, Korea and Thailand. So unique.

I have added, some of my favorites to make it a meal!

Ling Ling Yakiniku Beef Fried Rice Meal

2 eggs

1/2 tsp soy sauce

1/2 bag frozen peas/carrots

1 Bag Ling Ling Yakiniku Beef Fried Rice

Scramble the eggs in olive oil add the rest of the ingredients, cook low to medium for 20 minutes on the stove top.

Let sit 5 before serving.

“Ling Ling delivers superior flavor and exceptional taste because of the way we cook – e.g. Our Infusion Cooking Method. Infusion Cooking means each grain of rice and noodle is infused with Ling Ling signature sauces for incredible flavor in every bite.” I really didn’t have high expectations for this meal since the price is so good, but after eating it, I am hooked. The flavors are so good even my picky grandkids came back for seconds. Of course, that makes me so happy.

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: food, Fried Rice, Ling Ling, Quick meal

Ling Ling Yakitori Chicken Fried Rice @ Walmart & $2.00 off coupon!

October 9, 2017 1 Comment

This post was sponsored by Ling Ling, all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

Our new after Hurricane Harvey life has not been easy, to say the least!! We enjoyed our weekly dinner dates. Since the Hurricane that hasn’t been an option. Most of our favorite restaurants are completely gone. As we slowly rebuild here in Rockport, I have decided to try new items to help us find quick delicious meals! I wanted something that tasted authentic and easy to fix.

We have always loved Asian style meals and ate them at least once a month. So this was my first mission and I am so glad I did, we tried the new Ling Ling Yakitori Chicken Fried Rice from Walmart and immediately fell in love. It was way beyond my expectations, the rice was so fresh and the flavoring is perfect! We decided it was better than a local restaurant we frequented prior to the storm.

The new Ling Ling Fried Rice has an amazing variety to choose from based on pure and authentic Asian inspired recipes from Japan, China, Korea and Thailand.

Yakitori Chicken
Yakiniku Beef
Thai-Style Chicken
Chinese-Style Vegetable
Bibimbap Beef

If you are in the mood for a delicious stress-free dinner, check out which Walmart where you can find any of these amazing Ling Ling Products in the freezer section!

Our first purchase and try were the Ling Ling Yakitori Chicken Fried Rice, it was so good we decided to try another one next week! Fortunately for us, there is an amazing coupon for $2.00 off! They also have two noodle varieties: Chicken Yakisoba, Drunken Noodles with Chicken and two dumpling varieties: Chicken Dumplings in Chili Sauce and Pork Dumplings in Chili Sauce. I love dumplings so I know this will be next on our list.

Filed Under: Budget, Family, Food, Kitchen Reviews

TEDDY SOFT BAKED Filled Snack Nabisco Sweepstakes

September 11, 2017 Leave a Comment

This post was sponsored by Nabisco as part of an Integrated Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

Since Hurricane Harvey, life is slowly getting back to normal. For the first time in two weeks, I got to shop at my favorite store, Wal-Mart. My first mission was to find some type of snack that was different since we had eaten the same foods for two weeks. I was so excited to find these new TEDDY SOFT BAKED Filled Snacks!! These snacks are made with quality ingredients such as milk, eggs, and chocolate. The best part is they contain no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial flavors, and no artificial colors

My children have always loved the Teddy Grahams so I knew they would love to try these. I purchased both the vanilla filled and chocolate filled to see which one they liked best. Of course, both were winners in my house! I can see another trip to Wal-Mart in our future for more TEDDY SOFT BAKED Filled Snacks!!

After all the devastation around us, it is nice to have something the children can enjoy and take their minds off of the “bad storm”. They are requesting them in their lunch boxes for snack time since their day cares aren’t able to cook right now. They even offered to take extras to give to those children who lost everything. These are a fun snack to not only eat but to share!

I am excited to offer the Nabisco Snacktime Sweepstakes! The prizes are 12 prizes ($50 Walmart gift card each) and two grand prizes ($200 Walmart gift card each) and are going to run from September 11- 29^th, 2017. So hurry and enter today!!

“I-C will randomly select 14 winners from all program entries and will facilitate fulfillment of the winning prizes.”

Nabisco Snacktime Sweepstakes

TEDDY SOFT BAKED Filled Snacks Website: http://www.discoverteddy.com/
TEDDY SOFT BAKED Filled Snacks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiscoverTeddy/
TEDDY SOFT BAKED Filled Snacks Twitter: https://twitter.com/discoverteddy

Filed Under: Children, Food, Healthy Tagged With: Children, day care, nabisco, snack, sweepstakes, teddy soft baked filled snacks

7 Layer Dip, Recipe + Love One Today® Avocado Party

August 28, 2017 Leave a Comment

“This post was sponsored by Fresh Avocados – Love One Today® as part of an In-Home Party Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.”

Growing up, my mom served avocado with just about every meal we had. She loves them more than anyone I’ve met before, except maybe me. I don’t know if it was due to her influence of serving avocados so much or if it’s because I have the same cravings as she does, but like her, my kids were raised on avocados. From tacos to salads to my 7 layer dip recipe, I serve avocado’s just about daily. I even use them in my smoothies. As much as I love avocados, I equally love to host parties. Of course, I show off my favorite avocado recipes during all of my events. Some I’ve created myself and some I talked my mom out of. I’ve tried just about every avocado recipe online that I could find as well.

There are several reasons why it’s easy to get the kids to eat avocados. In fact, they were my kids first fruit. They are smooth and have a creamy consistency along with a mild taste. I would mash them up and feed them from a spoon until they were old enough to have slices of them. Like my own kids, even before I knew about the nutritional value of fresh avocados, I loved them. After learning that Avocados contribute nearly 20 nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and phytonutrients, that are important to infant/toddler nutrition, I started giving them to the kids even more often than I already was. My mom probably knew all of this when she served us avocados, but being a child, all I knew was that I loved the taste. She was counting on that when she served us meals with avocado in them. I’m sure she also knew that wholesome, fresh foods are less likely to contain added sugars, salt, and other processed ingredients.

Today I’d like to share my favorite 7 layer dip recipe with you so you can encourage your own kids to enjoy avocados. It’s sure to be a party favorite so go ahead and bookmark my post to save my recipe.

Ingredients:

5 Ripe Avocados. Use 4 in recipe and dice 1 for the top.
1 can of refried beans.
16 ounces of sour cream.
1 pack of dry taco seasoning mix.
1 to 2 lemons (need 2 teaspoons) or lemon juice.
Garlic cloves (grind 3 cloves).
Green onion (chop 3 to 4 stalks)
2- 8-ounce blocks of cheese, grated (I use mild). If you’re in a hurry, pre-grated cheese works well.
1 small can of sliced black olives.
1 medium-sized tomato diced, chunky sizes.

Instructions:

In a glass bowl spread the can of refried beans evenly along the bottom.
Combine the sour cream and the dry taco seasoning, then spread on top of the beans.
Mix the avocados with the lemon juice and garlic. Sometimes I mash them, sometimes I cube them. Add on top of the sour cream mixture.
Add the cheese, green onions, black olives and tomatoes to top it off.

Serve with Tortillas.