Foodbuzz Tastemaker - Newman's Own

I received quite a nice package of goodies from Newman's Own as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program - 2 jars of pasta sauce (Tomato & Basil and Roasted Garlic), 3 bottles of salad dressing (2 Family Recipe Italian and 1 Lighten Up Raspberry and Walnut), and my favorite item, a Flip Video Camera. SP has been bugging me to do some video how-to posts and now I have no excuse not to. Look for those, probably in the spring when I've got daylight on my side again.

I needed an easy weeknight meal recently so I went into the pantry for a jar of sauce and bottle of salad dressing. I had made garlic and parsley butter over the weekend so all I had to do was cook the pasta, heat up the sauce, toast the bread and cut up some veggies for a quick salad.


First, the salad since we ate those as an appetizer while we waited for the garlic bread to toast. In addition to the spring mix greens I grated some carrot, chopped mushrooms, cucumber and tomatoes and finished with croutons.


I absolutely LOVED this dressing. It was tangy and I could actually taste the oil, vinegar and seasonings. But my favorite part was the cheese. The ingredient list says Romano cheese is included, which was very exciting for me since I love grating cheese over my salads dressed with oil and vinegar.

Next up, the pasta. I topped my bowl with a dollop of ricotta cheese leftover from a lasagna SP and Baby Girl made as a welcome home dinner after my latest work conference.


Notice the basil leaf on the left side of the picture? The sauce was full of real pieces of basil, which was great to see but unfortunately made the sauce overly sweet. I don't put basil in my tomato sauce for this reason. Lots of extra grated pecorino helped tame the sweetness a bit, but this sauce wasn't our thing. Baby Girl, however, loved it. She slurped this one up, literally, and said "yummy" after each bite. I'm hoping the roasted garlic one has a more tangy flavor.

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Foodbuzz Tastemaker - Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program I received a jar of Classico Light Creamy Alfredo Sauce. I decided to make Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo and asked my cooking board how to season the chicken. Elly from Elly Says Opa! recommended blackening seasoning, which sounded great.


(Photo from Classico since I forgot to take a photo of my own jar)



I was pleasantly surprised by how good the sauce was especially since it's a light sauce. The blackening spice on the chicken was perfect and went well with the broccoli and sauce. I cooked it over lower heat so it didn't burn/blacken. My only issue was the amount of sauce. I should have realized how small the jar was and used maybe half a box of pasta instead of the full pound. There wasn't enough sauce to go around, which was a real shame. If you're using a full pound of pasta buy two jars.

This was a great and easy meal.

Blackened Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo
Chicken recipe from Elly Says Opa!; the rest of it was my own

1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
3 teaspoons canola oil, divided
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3 broccoli crowns, cut into florets
1/2 lb pasta
1 jar Classico Light Creamy Alfredo Sauce
1/2 cup milk
Freshly cracked black pepper

Mix together the all of the herbs/spices. Rub 1 teaspoon of oil into each piece of chicken, and then press the spice mixture into both sides.

Heat remaining 1 teaspoon of canola oil in a cast iron skillet or other non-stick skillet until it's smoking (this will take a few minutes).

Place the chicken breasts in the hot skillet. Cook about 5 minutes per side, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes, then slice on a diagonal.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and pasta. Cook according to package directions. Add the broccoli florets to the pot during the last 4 minutes of cooking. Drain and return pasta and broccoli to the pot. Add the jarred sauce and stir to coat. Put milk in the jar, replace the lid and shake to loosen any sauce stuck to the side. Add milk and sauce to the pasta. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Plate pasta and serve sliced chicken over the top.

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Foodbuzz Tastemaker - Simply Potatoes

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program I recently received two coupons for free Simply Potatoes products. Our supermarket doesn't seem to carry many varieties of Simply Potatoes so I stuck with something simple and picked up a bag of shredded hash browns.


On a recent Sunday morning I thought I'd doctor these up for breakfast. I cooked the potatoes in a non-stick skillet with some oil and butter until they turned golden brown, then added some fresh chopped scallion and shredded cheddar cheese, salt and pepper. I served the hash browns alongside scrambled eggs and bacon for a delicious and hearty Sunday breakfast.


I certainly liked the convenience of Simply Potatoes, but like many people these days I'm wary of overly processed products. It doesn't take that much effort to peel and shred my own potatoes, but every once in awhile it's nice to just open a bag and start cooking.

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Birds Eye Creamed Spinach - Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program

I've been a member of Foodbuzz for years but I only recently started applying for their Tastemaker program. I was finally selected to receive samples of Birds Eye frozen veggies and sides, including this one for creamed spinach:





As my mom will attest to, I am a creamed spinach lover from way back. I was one of those weird kids who loved spinach. And I still do, so I was excited to try this. I cooked it on the stovetop instead of in the microwave, but apparently you can cook this right in the bag. Score one for busy families.





Overall this was really good, but I thought it needed a little sprinkling of salt to make it great. I really enjoy Birds Eye veggies in general, although I have to admit the price compared to my store brand usually dissuades me from buying them unless they're on sale. Even so, I would definitely recommend this spinach and can't wait to try the other frozen sides I received. Thanks Foodbuzz and Birds Eye for the opportunity to try these products.

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