Tag Archives: buitoni

Drum Roll Please

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15

My oh my! Things have been pretty busy for me lately, and all I want to do is take a nap. Just one, please. I actually fell asleep in class the other day while we were sitting at the conference table. Oops! Atleast I had my head up, right? Anyway, I’ve been meaning to do this for quite some time now, and I finally got around to making one… a review page! You can check it out at the top of my blog or just click here. I have a couple of exciting new ones I’ll be sharing with you all soon!

Now what has this busy lady been up to in the kitchen?

Chickpea burger served in a pita bread.

To go with the chickpea burger I stuffed the pita bread with baby spinach, avocado, cherry tomatoes, onion jam, and BBQ sauce.

Nom nom nom!

I like to make batches of things that are easy to take with me, and that are tasty as well! Whether it’s vegetarian burgers, noodle dishes, or pasta bakes. CHOW is a great site to find recipes. I know some of you have asked some of my favorite places to get recipes, and that is one of them. Epicurious, The Post Punk Kitchen, VegWeb, and of course fellow bloggers have great recipes up their sleeves as well. Most of the time I’ll look up a single ingredient and I’ll stumble upon great recipes that way. Anyone have any favorite recipes for when you’re on-the-go you’d like to share?

Oh and that onion jam I mentioned above?

I finally got around to making some! Not quite as “jammy”, but it sure adds lots of a flavor! Onion jam is a must-have condiment if you like sandwiches. It makes things extra-special.

Banana-Cashew Balls

I saw this recipe on Susan’s blog, and I must say that these were mighty tasty!

I liked how these tasted different from the usual “ball” recipes out there.

The banana pulp gave so much flavor, and the oats made it this taste so comforting. I felt like I was eating yummy baby food. Just give me a blankie and a bottle, and I’d be good to go… take a nap.

Vegan Fudge Love

When Katie shared her tasty recipe for chocolate fudge I knew I had to make it! Each ingredient is something I would eat on its own, or mixed with something else (cocoa powder and cinnamon alone… no thank you). Since I didn’t have coconut butter on hand I just made some. All of the flavors were able to shine through, so if you like the ingredients then go ahead and try to make it. Just the thought of making my own fudge made me happy. The flavor possibilities are endless, and Katie knows that too!

Speaking of love… on Valentine’s Day I woke up to this sweet gift my roommate left for me.

Later that day we planned to have a Valentine’s Day dinner date.

I thought that would be a nice time to try out Buitoni’s Pasta Riserva.

As part of the Tastemaker’s Program I was given the chance, through Foodbuzz and Buitoni, to try out Buitoni’s Riserva line. The wild mushroom agnolotti ravioli sounded like something I’d really enjoy. Stuffed pastas are my favorite!

Dinner is served!

To go with the ravioli I made Giada’s balsamic brown butter sauce, and served it with sautéed peas, lacinto kale, toasted walnuts, and grated blend of three cheeses.

My lovely date.
Why hello there!
Emily’s father has a vineyard and started bottling his own wine–cheers to scuppernongs!
Mmm ravioli!

The raviolis were huge, and actually quite flavorful. I wanted to keep the accompanying sauce simple so I could really get a taste of what I was eating. It was simple, but I think it complimented the pasta very well. It was earthy, but didn’t taste like dirt! Something my teeth could sink into, and that I could chew on forever. Emily agreed! Verdict? Delicious! Now how’s that for fast, convenient, and tasty ?

During the few days of warm weather I had tacos!

I filled them with black beans cooked with spices and onions, goat cheese, Trader Joe’s tomato-less salsa, avocado slices, lettuce, and lime juice. Warm weather… please stay! I love soups and all, but lately I’ve been craving lots of fresh foods like salads, juicy peaches, and cold sandwiches.

A flavor of Kombucha I hadn’t tried before.

Notice the 99-cent price tag. My parents live near a discount health-food store, and they brought up a bottle for me when they came to visit. If only there were more discount health-food stores in the world… Sometimes it annoys me how organic or all-natural things can be overpriced. It’s funny because these things are just reverting to the good old-fashioned way of doing things.

Another refreshing meal enjoyed on an unusually warm day.

I’ve forgotten how wonderful pasta salads are. I used the rest of my box of mini farfalle to make Kristin’s farfalle with broccoli and feta. I threw in some cherry tomatoes for a burst of more flavor. Serving this with extra olive oil drizzled on top really does something wonderful to this dish. When does an extra drizzling not do that?

So now is the time to announce a couple of winners!

First up, the winner of the Farm Rich & Gardein vouchers + a special surprise giveaway is the very thoughtful Lindsay! And now the winner of the Three Sisters Cereal giveaway is… the lovely Eloise! Congratulations to the both of you! Just e-mail me your addresses and your prizes await you.

Much love to everyone!

At the Top of Your Game

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25

I’m glad to see that so many are in the same boat as me! That’s one of the reasons why I love keeping up with my blog and others as well. It’s helped me realize even more how we are all human! We have more in common than what meets the eye.

My beautiful friend came over for a special dinner on Friday.

While we were talking about being a single young woman, the World Cup, and whatever random things popped into our heads…

I was cutting the vegetables.

We were taste-testers that night!

Courtesy of Foodbuzz and Buitoni! I love pasta, especially anything stuffed like ravioli, tortellini, and cannelloni. I went to the grocery store and traded my voucher in for the four cheese & spinach ravioli with tomato basil sauce. Sounds appetizing doesn’t it?

Before you knew it, dinner was served.

Ze pasta.

I bulked it up with veggies and garnished it with some fresh basil.

Yummm

The verdict? I was actually pretty satisfied with the taste! I loved the cheesiness–I could actually taste the different cheeses–and the large raviolis!. The sauce could’ve been a little thicker though and I did add some salt and pepper to it, but I tend to do that anyway. I would definitely recommend this if you like pasta and find yourself sometimes pressed for time. A warning though! It is on the pricey side, or maybe I’m just not used to buying frozen meals? When I went to Buitoni’s website I found a coupon so that helps out! One day I want to make my own stuffed pasta! And my friend was satisfied as well! She’s a pasta lover like me, and it was so much fun to partake in this taste-testing adventure together.

We made an impromptu decision to go the movies--it was starting in five minutes!

This is what happens when I ask "Mom, can you take a picture of us?" Action-shot!

We wanted to watch “Grown-Ups” but it was already sold out, so we decided on “Knight and Day”. It was actually a pretty funny movie and I realized that I hadn’t seen an action movie in a long time! Within the first action scene I couldn’t help but burst out, “WHOA!!! OH MY GOSH!” I definitely laughed out loud at some of the one-liners and cheesiness in the movie. I love feel-good movies. Who doesn’t?

When we got home from the movies we formed an ice cream brigade.

Aye aye captain, more Coconut Bliss in my life! And you know what? Everyone loved it! I’m pretty sure my mom has been mentioning it everyday. The other day we went for a nighttime stroll along the beach and as we started heading back home she mentioned that she wanted ice cream. I pointed out the ice cream shop right across the street and she said, “no I want the coconut one we had the other day!” I sadly had to break the news to her that we didn’t have anymore. I think Luna and Larry’s creation is going to be a new staple in our household.

The next day I pulled out a delicious surprise!

My dad went for his long run on the beach and stopped by the German bakery. Usually he brings back a yummy loaf of freshly baked bread or maybe some German chocolates… but that day he brought back a bag of brötchen!!! You don’t know how happy this made my family. We so dearly miss going to the bakery first thing in the morning and picking up a variety of fresh bread rolls. No bread rolls in the world can top the beloved brötchen. I don’t care what anyone says haha! We could come back from the bakery and lay out a spread of toppings for our bread. Deli slices, cheeses, butter, cream cheese, marmalades, fruits, tomato slices, herbs… the works! Just sit down at the table, grab your roll from the basket, and enjoy to your heart’s content.

Remember the curried sweet potato and tofu dish I made?

Well I made it again, and this time my parents got to try it as well. That time around it was more satisfying because someone besides myself enjoyed it as well.

Brötchen!!!

And my dad made a delicious salad to go with the meal!

With baby spinach, tiny but incredibly flavorful bell peppers, avocado, baby mango (extra sweet!), cherry tomatoes, onion, and olive oil.

Germany getting third place...

My mom ran over to get my camera to take a picture of the television hahaha! They are great team full of young players, so I hope that in four years they’ll be the best! World-Class. Then I started to think about how these top soccer players must feel. On top of the world, and like nothing can bring them down? I would! But you know what? The great thing is that I think most of us have those moments from time to time. Those moments where everything just seems right in the world, and you couldn’t care for anything else except the now. Fill in the blank: I am a world-class ___________. Let’s see… I’m a world-class always-smiling-creative extraordinaire!