Super Soup Sunday

Is it just me, or during the cold months, curling up with a bowl of soup is just traditional? I find that my soup consumption October-March jumps significantly. Whether it be tomato soup, a hearty stew, or a broth based soup, they warm you from the inside out. For me, I am more fond of homemade soups because I still can’t seem to get past the canned taste of store-bought soups and sky high sodium levels. However, just recently I was contacted by the Progresso soup company and asked if I would be willing to try various cans of soup from their new line. I agreed with no expectations being I have only tried their Hearty Tomato which actually is now my favorite canned tomato soup!

“We craft all our soups, broths and foods from authentic recipes using only the highest quality ingredients. We are dedicated to making better taste better for you. We believe that food should always be delicious, and there is no reason that delicious food can’t fit within your diet. At Progresso, we love great food. It’s been our passion for more than 50 years.”

French Onion Soup Chew Review: I was highly impressed by this soup—I have tried another brand of French Onion, and it was too salty to eat. This had just the right amount of salt without being over powerful and it had the perfect balance of onions to broth. If you don’t have time to make a homemade French Onion soup, this would be a perfect substitute topped with a baguette and some Gruyere cheese. Italian-Style Vegetable Chew Review: This water based soup has carrots, celery, green beans, tomatoes, peas and enriched penne pasta. Growing up eating a lot of Italian soups, this soup had some good competition from my past. It would have been more flavorful if it were infused with a chicken broth instead of just water—I also would have amped up the seasoning, adding basil, oregano, and some thyme. But, if your in a pinch and looking for a fast veggie fix, this soup could be an option. Light Chicken Noodle  Chew Review: Whether you have a cold or your grandma is known for making her homemade chicken noodle soup, it’s usually a soup eaten no matter where you are in the US. My grandpa makes a killer chicken noodle soup that sits and marinates in flavors for hours on end which results in an incomparable bowl of flavor. But I still tried to go into the canned chicken noodle with an unbiased review—the only thing I would change about this is by adding some celery and a little onion for more flavor. Other than that, the noodles and the chicken remained a good texture after being heated and the broth was a nice flavor. Plus it’s a light soup which is an added bonus!  Manhattan Clam Chowder Chew Review: I am fond of eating the New England clam chowder, known for being a cream based soup with clams, potatoes, etc. So it was a definite switch to open a can of clam chowder and being greeted with a tomato based soup instead. It still had the potatoes, clams and celery, but also included carrots and tomato paste. Being a tomato flavor fan, I would have to say this is by far on top of the traditional New England clam chowder. And I was pleasantly surprised at the great texture of the clams and the veggie to broth ratio. If you haven’t tried a Manhattan clam chowder, I would definitely point you towards to Progresso brand if your not up to making your own.   Light Chicken & Herb Dumpling Chew Review: Since this was another Weight Watcher’s endorsed soup, I was half expecting it to be a little bland like the Italian-Style vegetable, but I was wrong—without the added herbs it might have been a bit on the less-flavorful side, but the combo of parsley and chicken broth really set a base for the rest. The dumplings were a bit on the too-chewy side for me, but then again I don’t eat dumpling soup often, so I don’t have a wide variety of comparison. Plus, where else can you get a hearty dumpling soup for 80 calories a cup?    Light Chicken Vegetable Rotini Chew Review: I loved that this light soup added corn to the mix—it seems to add a bit of a sweet contrast to the chicken. Progresso does a really good job of maintaining the texture of the meats in their soup, however this soup seemed to have too much pasta in it. I would have preferred about half the amount of pasta and double the veggies—I still don’t think this knocked my socks off, and I probably wouldn’t buy it again. Hearty Tomato Chew Review: Say hello to your new perfect match for a grilled cheese sandwich! This soup quickly shot to the top after the first bite. It definitely trumps Campbell’s original Tomato Soup and even their Healthy Request! The chunks of tomato added a lot and really made it clear that it is a “hearty soup”. The nice thing is, you don’t need to add water or milk—so as soon as it heats up and you are enticed by the smell, you can just dig in! So does this post have you craving some soup, or did it just make you curious as to how the Progresso soups would measure up to your standards? Before you head out and buy some, how about entering a giveaway and try your luck at winning some soup, a nice Progresso soup mug, and a electronic jump rope for yourself? It’s much easier than getting in your car, going to the grocery store, finding the soup, buying it blah, blah, blah. Instead, Progresso will gladly deliver the soup and your other prizes directly to your door. Can’t beat that! How to enter:

• 1 entry: leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite canned soup flavor or brand.
• 2 entries: Link back on your blog to this giveaway.

*Please leave a separate comment for each entry*

Contest ends Friday , March 5th 11:59 p.m. Central Time

Come Down to Candy Cane Lane

--My holiday photo contest is extended until December 20th, so keep sending your pictures to apinchandadash@live.com to win the Secret Santa gift!--

Ok, so I may be overdosing on candy canes this year—my tree is a prime example, but hey, I only think, eat, and talk about them during December!

December already?! I honestly wouldn’t believe it if it wasn’t for Jack Frost moving in on us in this last week—10 F temps, my trunk frozen shut, and bringing out the Columbia jacket—it’s December, no doubt. But, in just 26 days I am headed to Orlando for my grandma and I’s annual winter getaway trip. I haven’t been to Orlando in 3 years, so I am excited. Any tips on what to do or see? And any blogger’s in the area January 1-7th? If you are a meet up would be fun!

Now onto the main show..as you know I am not one to use store bought mixes and love making things from scratch, but I realized not everyone has the time to whip stuff up from scratch during this busy season, so I will be featuring some pre-made mix recipes too!

Candy Cane Cake

Makes: 12 servings

**Warning: Make sure you grease your tube pan VERY well**

Ingredients:

• 1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
• Water, vegetable oil and egg whites called for on cake mix box (I subbed unsweetened applesauce for oil)
• 1/2
  teaspoon red food color
• 1/2
  teaspoon peppermint extract
• Icing: 1 c powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp milk or water, 1/2 tsp vanilla
• Topping: Crushed candy canes, if desired

Directions:

1.Heat oven to 325°F. Generously grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube cake pan. Make cake batter as directed on box. Pour about 2 cups batter into pan. Into small bowl, pour about 3/4 cup batter; stir in food color and peppermint extract. Carefully pour pink batter over white batter in pan. Carefully pour remaining white batter over pink batter.

2.Bake as directed on box or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Turn pan upside down onto cooling rack or heatproof serving plate; remove pan. Cool cake completely, about 1 hour.

3.In small bowl, mix icing ingredients. If necessary, stir in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until smooth and spreadable. Spread icing over cake. Sprinkle top with crushed candy. Store loosely covered.

 

Have a wonderful winter weekend!

25 Days Of Christmas

Thanksgiving is over + back to school= not cool

Ok, I have no choice, and I love college..it’s just that after 9 days off, can you expect me to hop out of bed and be on my way? I swear, if I didn’t always have a yummy breakfast calling my name, I would probably oversleep on a regular basis. Are you back to the regular work/school week?

So if you didn’t know, I love the holiday spirit! So in lieu of my obsession admiration for all things red and green, the blog is celebrating 25 days of Christmas.  How you ask? Christmas recipes, a contest with a fun gift, holiday tips and prep plans, cookie round up, homemade gifts, etc.

First up..

Contest time!

What you win: A package filled with all sorts of goodies—and yes, most of it is food, but surprises are always better, don’t ya think?

How to enter: Between December 1st-December 10th, email me (apinchandadash@live.com) a picture of your Christmas tree this year, or if you for some reason don’t have one, send a picture of your favorite thing this time of year, winter related or holiday. All pictures must be original ones that you take. And please link back to this if you wouldn’t mind, because Christmas is all about spreading good cheer!!

Now time to share my Christmas display! I was so excited to finally decorate my own place. Last year decorating the dorms was fun, but I wanted a Christmas tree and all the works! I feel like I am in some sort of Christmas fairy land now—I swear it makes doing my homework easier :-P

By the way, everything is candy-cane due to the fact that I love the real candy-cane story. Read it here!

-Wreath on my door-

-C’mon in!-

-I like to call it Christmas corner-

-Here’s to hoping Santa will fill at least one stocking!-

-“O Christmas Treeeeee”-

-Close-up of all the candy cane fun!-

-My favorite ornament this year-

-Light up candy canes are much more fun-

-Build-a-Bear holiday style!-

And now switching gears to reverse, if you still have leftover turkey from Thanksgiving—which by the way you should only use four days after the holiday for safety reasons according to this—so I used up the last chunk for this Tex Mex inspired recipe!

Tex Mex Turkey Wraps

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1  large wrap
• 1/2 c shredded turkey meat
• 1/4 c golden corn
• 1/4 c black beans, rinsed
• 1/4 c FF shredded cheddar cheese
• handful of spinach
• Hot sauce and/or salsa and sour cream

Directions:

• Place wrap on plate and layer with spinach, turkey, corn, and beans.
• Sprinkle cheese evenly across the top and top cheese with desired condiments.
• To roll fold in two sides until they meet in the center. Fold the bottom of the tortilla to the center over the filling, and continue rolling.
• Heat in microwave or toaster oven until warm.

“Goodbye turkey, and helloooo Christmas cookies!”

I’m Nuts!

Did you come up with any guesses on what today’s giveaway was going to be??

Binoculars…

A water bottle…

All pertains to nature…

which leads to a wonderful giveaway from..

Nature Valley!

But your not only getting a water bottle and binoculars,

you’ll also be receiving this:

• Aluminum water bottle
• Binoculars
• A Nature Valley sling backpack
• A flashlight that is powered by you pumping the handle, so cool!

And of course you’ll be winning some grub as well..

• The complete line of the new Nature Valley Nut Clusters.

(Find out more about em’ here!)

I thought these nut cluster were amazing. They came in Roasted Cashew, Roasted Almond, Nut Lover’s, and Honey Roasted Peanut(my fav). I shared these with the family, and every seemed to agree that they were nuts kicked up a notch and the perfect snack-time treat.

How to enter you ask?

• Simply leave a comment telling me what your favorite nut is and your favorite way to use it.
• I would really appreciate a link back to spread the word about free goodies!
• Winner will be chosen via random number integer on Sunday, November 1st.

TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!!

Olive Garden at Home + Giveaway

I was so glad you all liked my my method of making pizza—one of the reasons I love the blogging world is the endless amount of inspiration in the art of cooking that I can both give and receive.. which brings me to a giveaway! This is only the second giveaway since I started my blog almost a year ago, which in my opinion is much too long—I love free stuff! Since a good portion of commenter’s on my last post said they didn’t have access to Joseph’s Lavash bread, but would like to try it, I figured I’d be the one to help ya out! (I would love to send everyone some, but unfortunately, that isn’t in my college budget!) Btw, the lovely Kelly from the Pink Apron recommended the book American Pie to anyone who has struggled with the search for finding the perfect pizza—thanks Kelly! :-)

All you have to do to enter is:

#1-Shoot me an email or comment in this post about what blog you go to for the most culinary inspiration.

#2-Drop me a note letting me know you linked back to this post—the more the merrier!

The contest ends this Friday at 12 pm Central Time & the winner will be chose via random integer.(And this is open to US residents only)

Onto the food business…

I have always loved Olive Garden, but not for the usual reason—most people head there for the pasta, but I am not a huge pasta fan—instead I tag along and eat all the breadsticks :-) And yes, I do order a dish—minestrone to be exact. So much to my delight, when I received the recent issue of Food Network Magazine and their Top Secret Recipe Revealed was how to make Olive Garden’s breadsticks, I couldn’t help but do a little dance!

 

Making breadsticks sounds a bit daunting, but once you see the ingredients and the simple steps, you should be on your way to making these also! My kitchen smelled like an exact replica of Olive Garden, and the taste test definitely passed with flying colors! Now I can have Olive Garden Breadsticks any day the craving strikes! You can check out the recipe here.

But first, check out my breadstick-making adventure..

 

 

See you tomorrow!