Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries

Processed foods scare me. The long, illegible ingredient lists; the unknown effects on my health/organs; and the unwelcome additions to my waistline.

With that being said, I rarely by frozen, pre-packaged foods that I could easily make on my own with fresh, natural ingredients. But when FoodBuzz offered me a free bag of Ore-Ida frozen sweet potato fries as part of their Tastemaker Program, I was optimistic. I was willing to give them a chance.

Stop and Shop had this product on sale, two for $6 total. At 6 servings per bag, that makes this bag of fries go for 50 cents per serving. Not a bad deal at all – but was the taste (and ingredient list) worth it?

First, let’s take a look at the ingredients:

Sweet potatoes, canola oil, modified food starch, rice flour, tapioca dextrin, sea salt, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), xantham gum, annatto (color), sodium acid pyrophosphate. 

I love how sweet potatoes are the number one ingredient – I mean, why shouldn’t they be? – but there are some scary additions to the mix, as you can see. Despite the worrisome additives, the fries were surprisingly crispy, well seasoned, and not overly greasy (although they were a little greasier than I'd prefer).

Dipped in ketchup alongside a grilled cheese sandwich, Ore-Ida’s sweet potato fries are quite delicious. But because of the slightly illegible ingredient list, I probably won’t be buying these again. It’s just as affordable to buy a few fresh potatoes and bake them in my oven, topped with olive oil and seasonings.

Do you buy a lot of pre-packaged/frozen foods? Why or why not?

Worth the Splurge: Chocolate, Caramel + Ice Cream

"Silky vanilla bean ice cream enrobed in a luscious chocolatey coating, rich caramel sauce, and thick Belgian milk chocolate."

Source: www.outblush.com

Drooling yet?

That's the description for Magnum's Double Caramel ice cream bars. I got to try these luxurious gems as part of Foodbuzz's Tastemaker Program, which came just in time for the hot, muggy weather. To me, nothing tastes better after dinner, on a warm summer night, than cold, creamy ice cream. Magnum's Double Caramel flavored bars were nothing short of absolute decadence, with a rich, chocolatey shell enveloping a thick layer of caramel and smooth, ice cold ice cream.

These bars are sold as singles or in a pack of three - which is kind of odd, in my opinion. Regardless, I bought the three-pack, which cost me almost $5 at the Walgreens near my apartment. Knowing I can get a box of 24 ice pops for under a few bucks, I know I would not be able to afford these Magnum bars on a regular basis. Despite the steep cost, however, these bars are definitely worth the occasional splurge - especially in the summertime.

What's your favorite treat to indulge in during the summertime?

Savory Whole Wheat Bread Pudding

In lieu of Financial Friday, I wanted to share with you my recipe I created with Nature's Pride bread for Foodbuzz. Foodbuzz is running a contest for their publishers where six people who make the tastiest, most creative recipes out of Nature's Pride bread will be crowned Bread Ambassadors, and will serve their innovative dishes at the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival in November. For this recipe, I was able to use Nature's Pride bread courtesy of FoodBuzz.

Earlier this week, my co-worker had generously given me some of the excess produce from her farm share, including fresh leeks. I'd never cooked with leeks before, so I was excited to incorporate them in a new recipe. I knew that for this Foodbuzz contest I wanted to make some sort of bread pudding, so I figured the leeks would be great to add to a savory bread pudding. So that's just what I made.

First, I picked up some whole wheat Nature's Pride bread at the grocery store.

I used this recipe as a starting point, but pretty much changed it entirely. For instance, I cut the recipe in half, replaced some of the ingredients with other things, and also added some of my own. My version ended up coming out fairly healthy, too, as I used soy milk and whole wheat bread, versus challah, heavy cream, and whole milk.

Savory Whole Wheat Bread Pudding

Yields: 5 servings

-10 slices Nature's Pride whole wheat bread, cut into 3/4-inch dice

-3 tbsp. unsalted butter

-4 large leek leaves, sliced 1/2-inch thick

-1 large clove of garlic, minced

-1/2 medium white onion, diced

-1/4 cup white whine (I used a viognier)

-1 tbsp. dried parsley

-1/2 tsp. dried thyme

-1/2 tsp. cayenne (optional)

-Salt and black pepper, to taste

-2 eggs

-2 cups soy milk

-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the whole wheat bread with 2 tablespoons melted butter and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Let cool, and turn oven up to 375°.

Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in a large frying pan. Add the leeks, onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over moderate heat for 5 minutes, then uncover and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes longer. Add the wine and cook until evaporated, then remove from the heat and stir in the parsley, thyme and cayenne; let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the soy milk. Add the leek mixture and season generously with salt and pepper. Stir in the bread and Parmesan cheese. Toss the bread to make sure it's evenly soaked. Transfer the mixture to a buttered casserole dish. 

Cover with a buttered sheet of foil and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until just set. Remove the foil and bake for 15 minutes longer, or until the top is golden and crisp.

Before:

After:

Not to brag or anything, but this was one awesome dinner. I even went back for seconds - and I rarely go back for seconds, unless it's at the Thanksgiving dinner table. I was way over tired, and ended up using the darker green portion of the leeks - which still came out edible and delicious - but definitely use the whiter parts of the leeks when you make this dish. 

This was also a great, comforting meal to make at home before we leave for Italy!!! Today is my last day at my current job, and my last day before vacation. I'll post one more time before I leave, and share with you some genius - and rather embarrassing - ways I made some quick cash before our trip.

Have a happy Friday!

Best Deal This Week: Half Price Appetizers and 10 Cent Wings at The Kinsale

When I go out to eat, a lot of times I will order one or two appetizers versus an entree to save a few bucks - and, because the serving size of a typical restaurant entree can be large enough for two or three people. With that being said, I love it when local eateries give diners a discount on their appetizer offerings. The Kinsale, for instance, has half price appetizers every single night after 10 p.m.

Loaded nachos (originally $11), spinach artichoke dip (originally $9) and Gaelic Four Onion Soup (originally $6) are just a few of the items on The Kinsale's substantial appetizer menu. While 10 p.m. is a little late for me to eat dinner, this deal is definitely great for ordering a few snacks with a few brews to share with friends.

In celebration of the football season, The Kinsale also offers 10 cent wings at the bar during all Sunday and Monday NFL games. The Kinsale's sister restaurant, The Asgard, has its own deals, too - including 10 cent wings at the bar every Monday starting at 5 p.m.

P.S. As you know, I am participating in FoodBuzz's Project Food Blog to try and become the next food blog star. Voting is now open for the first entry, and I'd appreciate it immensely if you could take a second to click here and vote for me! Voting is open from now until 9 p.m. EST on Thursday, September 23rd. Thank you!! 

Taste Test of Kellogg's New FiberPlus Cereals

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received two boxes of Kellogg's FiberPlus Antioxidants Cereal to review. The flavors are Berry Yogurt Crunch and Cinnamon Oat Crunch.

I love cereal. I love cereal so much, I have it in some capacity at least once almost every day. So, when Foodbuzz reached out looking for people to taste test Kellogg's new creations, I quickly raised my hand. Kellogg's created their FiberPlus Cereals after conducting an independent study and finding out that consumers preferred the taste of Kellogg's FiberPlus Antioxidant Bars over Fiber One Bars.

I tend to be leery of food products that include extra vitamins and minerals, or are packed with antioxidants, but I was willing to give Kellogg's new products a try. I started with the Berry Yogurt Crunch, which provides 40 percent of our daily fiber.

The Berry Yogurt Crunch is made up of whole grain wheat and rice flakes with berry and yogurt flavored clusters. The aroma alone resembled an intense artificial mix of berries, and, unfortunately, so did the taste. The flakes themselves tasted much sweeter than expected, and sugar was the second ingredient amongst a long list of illegible items. Even the Lactaid milk in my cereal bowl became sickly sweet by the time I finished the recommended 1 cup serving.

My expectations low, I then poured myself a bowl of the Cinnamon Oat Crunch, which includes 35 percent of our daily fiber. On the nose, the smell was delightful, and immediately reminded me of Cinnamon Toast Crunch - one of my favorite childhood cereals. 

The taste was also not as artificially sweet as its berry yogurt counterpart, but it was still a little too sweet for my liking first thing in the morning. The Cinnamon Oat Crunch also got soggy surprisingly quickly in in my milk. However, the ingredient list was much shorter and slightly more legible than the Berry Yogurt Crunch's; and the Cinnamon Oat Crunch only had 8 grams of sugar in its 3/4 cup recommended serving, vs. Berry Yogurt's 12 grams in its 1 cup serving. 

Overall, I will be finishing both boxes of these new Kellogg's cereals, but I probably would never buy these at the grocery store. My favorite of the two was the Cinnamon Oat Crunch, but both varieties were just too sweet for me - and I'm still slightly skeptical of the long, scary-looking ingredient lists. 

Have you tried Kellogg's new FiberPlus cereals? What's your review?

Recap: Taste of the Nation in Portland, Maine

On Sunday, I was fortunate enough to attend Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation in Portland, M.E. thanks to a contest I won through FoodBuzz. 100 percent of ticket sales to Taste of the Nation events around the U.S. go to Share Our Strength's efforts to end childhood hunger. To date, the chefs and restaurants who participated in Taste of the Nation events have raised over $265 million for Share Our Strength's cause.

Portland's event, which was from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., featured over 20 Maine-based restaurants and chefs. The restaurants served their finest cuisine for guests, with plenty of specialty cocktails, local and Belgian beers and wine to wash everything down with. 

Not only was I fortunate enough to attend this Taste of the Nation event (and, in turn of winning the tickets, cover it for this very blog), I was also lucky enough to enjoy the evening with Z, as well as the winner of my Taste of the Nation giveaway, Juli!

Z and Josh (Juli's husband):

Juli and I:

In addition to the food, the event had an outdoor seating area where the band No Means No performed around 6:30, after the food vendors closed for the evening, and the chefs mingled with the crowd.

Now, let's go to the important stuff - like what I ate. Over the course of the evening, I gorged on a number of gourmet, high quality eats (wild boar, anyone?), but I, per usual, will only share with you some of my favorites. Before I get to it, though, I must express my only gripe of the evening: The lack of vegetarian options. There were only about three vendors who had meatless dishes (or made a meatless version of their meat dish), and, even though I am an omnivore, even I was a little sick of meat by the end of the evening. Z, unfortunately (or fortunately?) had more of a liquid dinner than anything - but he took it like a champ.

OK - now on to the highlights of the evening!

Sweet Pea Pate au Choux Gnocchi with Port Clyde Lobster & Dandelion Farm Peas - Lily Bistro, Rockland:

Talk about locally grown and completely fresh. This dish by Lily Bistro was absolutely outstanding, and perfect for a hot, humid day. The hunks of fresh lobster melted in my mouth, and mixed with the fresh peas? Divine. However...I still don't know where the gnocchi is. But I'll let that slide this time.

Goat Cheese with Beets - Sea Glass at Inn by the Sea, Cape Elizabeth (Blogger does not want to rotate my photo):

Despite the sideways photo, this dish was simple, yet incredibly tasty. The beets were insanely fresh, and the cold, fried hunk of tangy goat cheese proved, yet again, that sweet beets and goat cheese are meant to be together.

Pacific Rim Tuna Tartar - David's, Portland: 

You wouldn't think crunchy, salty potato chips would do wonders with tuna tartar (I sure as heck didn't). But potato chips with tuna tartar has proved to be genius. The salty chips tasted outstanding against the cold, only lightly salted tuna. Bonus: The chips also worked as edible cutlery to scoop up the tuna with.

Mini Chorizo Papusa Atop Fresh Tomato Sauce Garnished with Radish & Cabbage Slaw - El Camino, Brunswick:

After eating a lot of colder entrees, this warm, delectable puff chocked full of chorizo flavor was a welcome change. The crunchy slaw helped bring texture to this otherwise soft dish, and the tomato sauce helped to round out all of the complex, yet well married, flavors.

Harbour Wind (Chambourd, ginger, lime, gold tequila) - Natalie's Restaurant, Camden: 

Tequila. Enough said.

Maine Summer Flounder - Fore Street, Portland:

This just may have been my favorite dish of the evening. The presentation was gorgeous, and the fish was perfectly cooked - it fell apart like a masterpiece with a touch of my fork, and the skin was crispy and well seasoned. The sauce that was drizzled over the top of the fish was also extremely silky and citrusy, and complemented the fish extremely well.

Cow with Red Onion & Quail Egg on a Crostini - Primo Restaurant, Rockland:

Confession: I've never had quail egg before (or at least, not that I can remember). And believe me when I tell you, I've been missing out. This mixture of rich, grass-fed beef with the oily, runny, rich quail egg was pure decadence. Grass-fed beef makes a world of difference, too - for our taste buds and our overall health (not to mention the cow's overall health).

Coppola's Director's Pinot Noir (California):

We were high rollers this evening, and were able to order this red wine in the VIP section of the tent. I'm a big fan of Pinot Noir, and this glass made me an even bigger fan. The wine was smooth and full of rich cherry and chocolate flavors.

Brioche Grilled Cheese with Aged Cheddar & Bacon - The Front Room, Portland:

Grilled cheese will never taste the same again. The crusty, well-buttered brioche mixed with the sharp, salty cheese and bacon (with some sweet, bthinly sliced apple in there) was completely and utterly amazing. Bonus: The Front Room was one of those vendors willing to make their dish without meat. 

Frozen Zabaglione with a Rhubarb Angelica Sauce - Swan's Way, Camden:

Cold, creamy, and the perfect serving size for such an event. 

Mini Chocolate with Salted Caramel Buttercream Cupcakes - Buttercup Cupcakes, Portland: 

These bite-sized delicacies were intensely moist, and the rich chocolate cake married beautifully with the salted caramel frosting. Not being a huge sweets fan, I really liked the addition of the salt here - and the buttercream was intensely airy and not jam-packed with sugar.

Root Beer Float made with Capt'n Eli's Root Beer:

I don't know what vanilla ice cream was used in this, but it was incredibly creamy and full of sweet vanilla flavor. This batch was actually so rich, I only drank/ate about a quarter of it.

Cranberry Colata (light and dark Cruzan Rum, cranberry juice, pineapple juice) - Sean Bishop:

My final drink of the evening was just as refreshing as the previous three (or eight?). Very light and refreshing, and not overly sweet.

Finally - my non-food or drink-related highlight of the evening was the Bagpipe Salute sponsored by the St. Andrews Society. I'm Scottish, so bagpipe players are fascinating to me. 

Our evening at Taste of the Nation was packed with delicious food, tasty cocktails, and plenty of musical entertainment. Due to the large crowd that was in attendance, I am confident Share Our Strength was able to raise even more money for such an important and worthy cause. Thank you again, FoodBuzz, for this wonderful opportunity!

Have you ever attended a Taste of the Nation event? What's your review?

First and Second Helping: Buitoni Pasta and Chicken Sausage Sandwiches

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to receive a coupon for a free Buitoni pasta or sauce from the folks at FoodBuzz. I had never tried Buitoni's products before, so I was excited to sample some of their items. In the letter that accompanied the coupon, FoodBuzz recommended I try Buitoni's Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti, which is ravioli filled with imported Grana Padano, Parmesan, Ricotta, Fontina, and garlic.

Quick note: This particular package of Buitoni pasta would have cost me $4.89 if I didn't have the coupon - and it only feeds two people. Personally, I'd normally just buy a box of pasta that can feed 6 or 7 people for less than $4.

Buitoni recommended, for this particular pasta, that a light sauce is best since the pasta itself contains so much flavor. Taking their advice, I made a simple sauce of olive oil, white wine, garlic, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper - all cooked up with frozen veggies from the supermarket.

 

This bag of veggies has been my savior for so many meals - it contains red, green and yellow bell peppers, along with onions - all cut up and ready for me to cook/eat! In terms of the pasta dish, the end result was pillow-like ravioli chocked full of all those aforementioned, delicious cheeses - Buitoni was correct when they said the pasta holds a lot of flavor. My summery, white wine sauce was also the perfect accompaniment to the pasta - if the sauce were any heavier, it easily would have been too much, especially with all of the cheeses.

A few days later, I was still dreaming about my white wine sauce, so I used it elsewhere - in my Chicken Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches:

Chicken Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches

Yields: 2 servings

-2 links of sweet Italian-style chicken sausage, fully cooked (I used Al Fresco brand)

-1 cup Birds Eye Stir-fry Vegetables, frozen (as pictured above)

-White wine

-1 tsp. minced garlic

-Italian seasoning

-Salt and pepper

-2 tbsp. olive oil

-Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

-2 bulkie rolls (I used When Pigs Fly brand)

Directions: Brown sausage on all sides in a frying pan with 1 tbsp. olive oil, then take off heat. In a separate saute pan, heat up the other 1 tbsp. olive oil. Add stir fry vegetables, then sprinkle in Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Cook until veggies are soft, then add garlic. Once garlic is fragrant (about 20 to 30 seconds), add a few splashes of white wine. Slice sausage into 1-inch discs, and place in pan with vegetables. Serve heaping spoonfuls of sausage mixture on each roll, and top with shredded cheese.

This sandwich was seriously awesome. Again, the light oil and wine sauce worked beautifully with the veggies and sausage. This dish was filling, yet easy and light enough to enjoy on a day that's 90 degrees outside.

Have you tried Buitoni's products? Do you think they're worth the extra few bucks? Why or why not?