Italian 101

“Mangiando insieme, godiamo la vita”

(By eating, we enjoy life)

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Any person who likes to cook or eat (usually a person likes at least one—in my case both!), can relate to the above Italian quote which is commonly used in Italian kitchens worldwide. There’s just something that screams comfort food, family, and fresh flavors when anything Italian hits the table. But in all reality, I haven’t cooked or eaten as many Italian foods as I’d like. And another reason I want to widen my Italian food palate; remember how I teach cooking classes? Well they implemented a new feedback/suggestion program, and one of the requested themes has repeatedly been Italian—brilliant, huh? I love my students!!

So how about I start this goal to get “in touch” more frequently with Italian food by making gnocchi? I’ve eaten it quite a bit, but I’ve never made it completely from scratch. And what better day to do it then on a lazy snowy Sunday afternoon?

Didn’t think you’d complain!!!

Gnocchi with Chicken and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs whole baking potatoes

• 2 beaten egg yolks

• 1 1/2 cups flour

• 1  medium yellow onion, finely chopped

• 1  large can of chicken, drained

• 1 large can of Italian stewed tomatoes, drained

• 1  clove garlic, finely chopped

• 1  5-ounce bag baby spinach

• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper

• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) grated Parmesan, plus more for garnishing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spear the potatoes with fork tines in several places around each potato to vent moisture as the potatoes cook. Bake the potatoes in their skins until tender, about an hour. Let cool on a rack, cutting them open to help cool and let more moisture escape.

Scoop out the potatoes from their skins. Mash the potatoes by hand and fluff them up a bit with a fork. It is best to work with the potatoes when they are still warm.

Add the flour, egg and a pinch of salt. Mix by hand until you have a nice pliable ball of dough. Do not overmix.

Prepare a work area and dust it with flour. Take the dough, a piece at a time, and roll it out gently with your hands until you have rolls about 3/4 inch in diameter. It is very important to keep a light touch while you are rolling the dough. Gently roll the dough with your fingertips while while exerting the lightest pressure outwards, not down, to draw the dough out.

Cut the tubes of dough into pieces about one inch long. Using either the tines of a fork or your fingertip, press against a piece of the dough and roll it slightly to form an indentation (good for catching the sauce). As the gnocchi are made, place them on flat baking pan, lightly dusted with flour or lined with wax paper. At this point you can freeze the gnocchi ahead of time. Freeze them first on a floured or lined tray, then once frozen you can put them into a freezer bag for more easy storage. Bring water to a boil in medium sauce pot. Add a few gnocchi at a time—once they float to the top, place them on a wax papered cookie sheet. Reserve 1/4 c cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken and  the tomatoes, garlic, spinach, salt, and pepper and cook, tossing frequently, until the spinach wilts, about 3 minutes. Add the drained gnocchi, the reserved cooking liquid, and the Parmesan and toss. Divide among individual bowls and sprinkle with additional Parmesan.

NOTES: This literally took 45 minutes from start to finish, which I think is quite good for such a delicious meal that tastes like it took all day!

What’s your favorite Italian dish? 

Casserole Week: Cheesy Zucchini Bake

Well I’ve got another semester of college under my belt. I am entering my Junior year already—time really does fly! I thought I was so burnt out over courses this semester, but I decided to take another course throughout May. It’s every day a week for about 4 hours, but I can get the same amount of credits for it vs. stretching it out in a whole semester. So I have a week off now and then back to school!

Now onto the first installment of casserole week..I am so excited that summer produce will be in full swing sooner than later. Zucchini is one of the vegetables that people grow and then they always end up with piles of it and no clue how to use it all. I try to compile zucchini recipes all year long, so I can have various uses for it when the time comes.

This recipe caught my eye due to the Italian flare it had—and with me being Italian there was a good chance I would like it. I made it twice in one week—definite keeper in my zucchini recipe file!

Cheesy Zucchini Bake

(Note: I halved this recipe and made it in a 8 x 8 the first time, and it works perfectly fine!)

Ingredients:

4-1/2 cups sliced zucchini

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1 large onion, chopped

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 can (10-3/4 ounces) tomato puree

1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 cans (2-1/4 ounces each) sliced ripe olives, drained

3 cups (12 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

6 eggs, lightly beaten

1-1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large skillet, sauté zucchini in oil until tender. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; stir. Transfer to an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.

 

In the same skillet, saute onion until crisp-tender. Add garlic; saute 3 minutes longer. stir in tomato puree, tomato paste, sugar, Italian seasoning and basil. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in olives. Pour over zucchini. Sprinkle with mozzarella.

 

Combine the eggs and Parmesan cheese; pour over zucchini. Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. Yield: 12-16 servings.

What are your favorite recipes using zucchini?

Talking About Tuesday

Do you like to do something during the middle of the week that helps you reach Friday a little easier? For me it’s having my family visit and just being together, even if it’s just for a short while. I never thought just a 2 hour distance would feel like so far! And since I only have one class on campus Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, we are going to try and get together once a week. We refers to my mom, grandma, and I. =)

So they came down yesterday and even though the weather was icky, we still had a blast. Something I really miss from home is cooking meals everyday for my mom and dad because they are so busy and it was just something I did that really helped em’ out. But, since I obviously can’t be at home forever, I just cook here for them when they come!

Yesterday for lunch, I put together a nice little meal of homemade calzones and a roasted spaghetti squash with a really good and sweet glaze. We obviously enjoyed it!

 

Candied Spaghetti Squash

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash (1 1/2-2 lb)
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp light butter spread
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Cut spaghetti squash in half, and then cut each half in half. Remove all seeds and place face down in a casserole pan.

• Bake for 20 minutes and remove from oven.
• Meanwhile, mix together brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and lemon juice in a small bowl.

• Once cooled, scrape spaghetti flesh into 4 bowls. Place a dollop of the brown sugar mixture on top and stir to coat squash.

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Of course this was just the side dish to the fabulous homemade calzones—I have actually never made calzones before, but they are so fun and rather easy!

 

Homemade Calzones

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

(These are the fillings I used, but of course you can customize them to your heart’s delight!)

• 1 batch of my whole-wheat dough, or any other dough recipe that makes about 9 slices of pizza
• 2/3 c shredded Italian blend cheese, or shredded cheese of your choice
• 1 c baby spinach
• 1/2 c tomato sauce (Yes, it is a small amount, but it will prevent calzones from becoming soggy. You can dip them in more sauce while eating.)
• 1/2 c sliced and diced mushrooms
• 1 c assorted veggies, sautéed—I used red onion and green pepper.
• 1/4 c cubed pre-cooked ham
• 1/4 c Boca soy crumbles

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 F.
• Follow bread machine instructions, or make dough by hand.
• Once dough is done, divide into four equal pieces. Roll each piece into a square about 8’ x 12’ inches.
• Divide all veggies, cheese, and meat into 4 portions. First put the layer of spinach, followed by cheese, meat, sauce, and sautéed veggies.

• Take one end and fold to match the other. Seal with a little water on your fingers.
• Place on cookie sheet, and bake for about 12-15, or until dough does not feel sticky to the touch.
• Take out, let cool a little—dig in!

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So as you can see, lunch was delish, but I’d have to say that our dinner was a close second! We went to the Green Mill, which is a chain restaurant in Minnesota. If you ever visit the land of 10,000 lakes, pay a visit to the Green Mill. They have gourmet looking/tasting food for extremely reasonable prices, not to mention the whole atmosphere is just really fun.

My mom and I actually got the same dish which rarely happens. We both got the Chicken Parmesan which the menu describes as breaded chicken breasts topped with marinara sauce, roasted bruschetta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and parmesan herbs. Served with a choice of potato and grilled vegetables. We both opted for grilled chicken breasts in place of the breaded and I got a baked potato sans butter, and the chicken light on the cheese.

This meal hit the spot! Everything was perfection and I will definitely be getting it again. What’s your favorite chicken dish?

Of course we couldn’t have had a day without the necessary trip to Wally World Wal-mart—mom found a new vest!

Have a marvy day friends!

Box of Bisquick

So glad it’s Friday, like I always am!  This weekend will be busy just like weekdays though. But it is busyness I have brought on myself, and a type of busyness I don’t quite mind—I like to call it kitchen busyness! Do you know what I am talking about? Whole days in the kitchen spent mixing, experimenting, tasting, all the while trying not to sweat due to the oven and stove top on? Yes, that kind of busyness. I have a embarrassing massive amount of recipes from everywhere piling up in a box. I figured since I don’t have a lot of homework, it is a perfect time to put a dent in this box. Some things planned: Cinnamon rolls with an unsuspecting twist, a soup that my old Italian neighbor lady used to make, a new bread machine recipe, one more pizza to celebrate National Pizza Month, and 2 Halloween treats to post next week. Now whether or not I get to ALL of these is yet to be known, but keep your fingers crossed! :-) Oh and keep an eye out for some amazing product reviews soon as well.

So today’s post has reference to Bisquick, which if you don’t know is just an all-purpose baking mix sold in a box for roughly a little over $2.00. Recently I have become a big fan of their slightly newer Heart Smart Bisquick Baking Mix, which is basically just a healthier alternative to using Original Bisquick mix. It also has more calcium, low in fat with 0 Trans Fat, and it is certified by the American Heart Association. Once I logged onto the Bisquick website, I was blown away with all the recipes that use Bisquick. So I bookmarked oh, about 20 and have gotten through about 6. But I need to get through all of them by December, because I am planning on teaching “A Box of Bisquick” as one of my cooking classes that I start teaching in January(the catalog gets printed in Dec.). I think it’s a GREAT way to keep meals cheap, healthy, fast, and I bet you could find at least one recipe on the website, so it can please many palates. Within the next couple of weeks I’d love for you to stay tuned for “A Box of Bisquick” previews and recipes!

Bon Appétit a la Bisquick!

My thoughts on this recipe: Great overall! Looks super fancy, and tasted like it took a long time and expensive ingredients. However, next time I will be using fresh spinach, I am not too fond of the frozen spinach taste.

Impossibly Easy Spinach Parmesan Pie

Ingredients:

1	tablespoon butter or margarine
4	medium green onions, sliced
2	garlic cloves, finely chopped
1	package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to drain
1/2	cup small curd creamed cottage cheese
1/2	cup  Bisquick® mix (preferably Heart Smart!)
1	cup milk
1	teaspoon lemon juice
1/4	teaspoon pepper
3	eggs
3	tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/4	teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

1.Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease 9-inch pie plate. Melt butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook onions and garlic in butter 2 to 3 minutes or until onions are tender. Stir in spinach; spread mixture in pie plate. Spread with cottage cheese.

2.Stir Bisquick mix, milk, lemon juice, pepper and eggs until blended. Pour into pie plate; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and nutmeg.

3.Bake about 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Nutritionals and such can be found here.

Check out one of my prior Bisquick recipes here.

Want some free muffins? Of course you do—head here for your chance!

End of Summer Side

As summer slowly fades to fall, we’re all preparing and gathering recipes to start using up the fall bounty of fruit and veggies. Today I wanted to share a side dish that can use up some of the leftover summer/beginning fall vegetables. Sometimes a good meal needs to be accompanied by a great side to be truly complete. Who doesn’t like a fresh piece of garlic bread with spaghetti or a fresh green salad with grilled goods? This side dish can pair well with many dishes, which is another reason it’s great!

Tomato-Zucchini Bake

Ingredients:

• 1 lb sliced zucchini
• 1 1/2 c fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1 1/4 lb sliced vine-ripened tomatoes
• 1/2 C Panko breadcrumbs
• 1.4 c finely grated Parmesan

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 F. Meanwhile, coat a 2-quart shallow baking dish with cooking spray, and alternatively layer zucchini, corn, and tomatoes. (With this recipe, I divided it into four square ramekins for individual sides.)
• Combine Panko and cheese, and sprinkle on top.
• Bake, uncovered, in the center of the oven for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.
• Then cover with foil and bake 10 minutes more or until vegetable are tender. Serve immediately

What’s your favorite easy pleasing side dish?

Stay tune tomorrow for a VIDEO post! :-)

Dining True to My Roots—Italian Style!

 

Happy Thursday all! You may or may not know that I am almost a full-blood Italian. Both from my mom and dad’s side, so I am pumped full of all the traits of an Italian! (That could be good—great food heritage, or bad—very stubborn) What does your background consist of? But I find it quite funny that I am not a total pasta and pizza fanatic—I think I ate more than my share growing up and now just have it every once and awhile. Another thing I noticed is our family very seldom has an Italian based dinner, so tonight I decided I was going to bring some Italian flavor to the kitchen thanks to Brandi over at Bran Appetit and her tantalizing post of this recipe! Let’s just say it was great bon appétit! I got the original version here, but I subbed a bunch of ingredients to make this a little more on the healthy side. Turning recipes healthier is so easy to do and often won’t cost you any more either.

• I used whole wheat ziti pasta instead of the regular.
• Instead of 1 lb Italian turkey sausage, I used 2 C Boca crumbles and 3 apple harvest chicken sausages.
• Used organic diced tomatoes with less sodium.
• Low-fat ricotta instead of the full fat counterpart.
• Didn’t use the butter for the baking dish, just gave it a light spray with cooking spray.
• Brought the cheese from 3 1/2 C of a mozzarella/parmesan combo down to just 2 C of a shredded Italian blend and a sprinkle of sharp shredded cheddar on top. (Tip: Use sharp cheese to cut down on the amount/calories but still get big taste!)

I put together a little slideshow of how this whole meal went down—any questions, you know where to catch me!

 

And make sure to check out where my strawberry rhubarb bars showed up—but with a different twist!

Fast and Cheap and Delicious—Oh My!

If you guessed, the title of this post is supposed to be in the tune of “Lions and Tigers and Bears—Oh my!” Yes I love Wizard of Oz and I am happy to say that Judy Garland’s hometown is only about 45 minutes from where I live! I guess the whole reason I am rambling on about the Wizard of Oz is because it’s windier than a tornado outside(they said 40 mph winds!), and tornadoes immediately get me thinking about Wizard of Oz! I think they should make a remake, do you?

Anyhoo, I won’t make you put up with my random thoughts for the day more than I already have! =) Today’s recipe is based on a challenge I am trying to do which involves only using the food items we already have in our overloaded cupboards and basement versus going out and buying things that I may already have. Of course this rule does not apply to things like fresh produce, cheeses, or milk.(check out my top money saving tricks for produce below!) Anything perishable that we use up fast. Other than that though I am really going to try hard to base recipes on the abundance of canned goods, boxed goods, and other things—because before I know it, they could go bad, and there goes some money down the drain. And who likes to waste money? Especially in this economy?! :-| I encourage you to try this challenge as well—if you do, let me in on your recipes PLEASE! =)

A Couple of CaSaundra’s Tips for Saving on Produce

* Bell peppers are something I always buy. But make sure you always weigh the peppers even if the two you are buying are identical in size. Why? Because one could have more seeds which can significantly increase the net weight ending up in you having to pay more for seeds in a pepper which you throw away!

*If the vegetable misters just sprayed the veggies, make sure you shake it off good because even a little water can add weight which again will end up in you paying more.

*If you want a fruit or vegetable for a recipe that is not in season, don’t fork out big bucks just to get it, try heading to the frozen department and see if you can get it there. Frozen fruits/veggies are frozen at their peak which means they retain tons more nutrients than fresh.

One of my standby products I love to use in recipes is Pillsbury Crescent rolls or Breadsticks because they always offer up great coupons either online or in your local newspaper’s flier. (I am happy to say I saved a whopping $14.00 last week with coupons—whoo hoo!) I don’t use these products just because they offer coupons, but because with some fresh and gooey dough ready at your fingertips, the possibilities are endless. I couldn’t wait to share my yesterday’s dinner creation with you =)

Peppery Sausage Pizza Bundles

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Pillsbury refrigerated breadsticks
• 1/4 C chopped green pepper
• 1/4 C chopped onion
• 3 TBSP pizza sauce + extra for drizzling/dipping
• 1/4 C shredded cheese(any flavor you like—I used mixed)
• 3/4 C of finely chopped sausage(the choice of what you use is completely up to you—I used Harvest Apple Chicken Sausage from Whole Foods

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 F. Then unroll breadsticks and section into 4 squares each consisting of 3 breadsticks placing on a greased/tinfoiled cookie sheet. Pinch together the seams, so they no longer look like they can be ripped apart.(Picture below)

• Sauté onions, peppers, and sausage until veggies are fork tender (3 minutes), then take off burner and stir in 3 TBSP of pizza sauce.
• Take cheese and sprinkle evenly onto breadsticks, and then top each square with filling.(Try to get each one even.
• Then wet fingers with water and bring all four sides around the filling and pinch together. Sprinkle with additional cheese if desired.
• Pop in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, or until golden. Once out of the oven, you can slather with more sauce or put some in a dish for dipping!

And since this recipe couldn’t bear to be served alone, I continued my challenge of using only what we had to make--->

Easy Cheesy Tomato Gumbo

Serves:4 Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of Campbell’s Healthy Request Tomato Soup with Tomato Pieces
• 1 bag of Boil-in-Bag Rice
• 1 bag of California Blend frozen veggies
• 2 TBSP Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 C of milk
• 1 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce

Directions:

• Boil rice in microwave. Meanwhile pour soup into a saucepan adding the vegetables, sauce and milk. Once rice is done add that.
• Turn burner on to medium heat and let soup simmer. Stir in the cheese before serving. And of course add additional seasonings to jazz it up a bit!

First At Home Eggcellent Meal =)

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

How true is that right?! I think my first home cooked dinner would fit into the category of dining well! I have been brainstorming so many new recipes at college and have a whole notebook scribbled with my game plan. So I present to you my first “at home” feast. Bon appétit!

On the menu:

• My new eggcellent egg salad(recipe below) on stunning marbled rye bread
• Bowl of Imagine organic tomato soup
• Some sweet potato and multigrain chips from Food Should Taste Good
• Dark Chocolate PistachiOat cookies

I so wish I could suggest somewhere to buy this marbled rye bread, but unfortunately it is made by a local bakery in town. Isn’t it so pretty?! It did not disappoint!

   I have reviewed the Imagine soup before, but the organic Tomato flavor still is my favorite. I highly suggest picking up a carton of this from your local store if your lucky enough to have it. This soup doesn’t come from a can, so it doesn’t have that odd can taste—instead it tastes like it was made fresh like 2 minutes before you ate it! My dad actually asked if I made it homemade. Nope, sorry dad, but just as good! I added a little pepper and parm seasoning to jazz it up a bit!

This egg salad was phenomenal, not to toot my own horn or anything. =P It’s definitely not your typical egg salad, it’s a pumped up version that is so good, and so good for you!  

    All together now---->

Keep scrolling for my recipe!

Cassie’s Eggcellent Egg Salad

Ingredients:

*4 hard boiled eggs(2 with yokes removed and discarded)

*1/4 cup finely diced celery

*1/4 cup chopped canned asparagus

*1/4 cup light miracle whip

*1 1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard

*Splash of lemon juice ~1/2 TBSP

*Pepper, Dill Seasoning, and Sea Salt

Directions:

• Hard-boil 4 eggs. Then chop 2 eggs with yokes included, then peel the other two eggs and carefully remove the yolk and discard. Throw all eggs together in bowl.
• Chop celery and asparagus and add to eggs.
• Add in miracle whip, mustard, lemon juice, and seasonings. Mix together and cover. Chill for about an hour, or you can eat it right away if you simply cannot wait! =)

Serve on your favorite hefty bread! Makes 4 sandwiches.

(please link back to me if you happen to use this! I would appreciate it!)

Happy Saturday!

Good for You Goodies: Kay’s Naturals Part 2

Hope you all had a swell Easter weekend. My family came to visit me here and I even got an Easter basket!(I should of known, since it happens every year) But as I get older it has morphed from candy and little trinkets to this year being jewelry, goodies from Bath&Body Works, and clothes. Plus a bunch of cute cards, which I treasure! I am a total card girl—I save all of them & usually end up using them for scrapbooking or some other artsy things. =) The weather was near 60 which was another great thing—so basically this overall great weekend got me geared up to finish off these last 3 weeks of the semester and look forward to getting home.

Good for You Goodies: Pretzels, Protein Chips, and Kruncheeze

The Company: Kay's Naturals

The Chew Review: In the last post I reviewed the Protein Cereals from this company and they all were a winner in my book! But I decided to save the other product reviews for Monday so it wouldn't be a overwhelming post. So here goes part 2. . .

• White Cheddar Kruncheeze

When choosing between cheeses for a chip flavor, I would pick White Cheddar over Nacho Cheese any day. So I was really hoping these could conquer one of those white cheddar cravings. That they did—the cheese taste was the perfect intensity, they are not as crunchy as tortilla chips and not as airy as a rice cake, but somewhere in between which makes for a highly addicting snack. Good thing these babies only come in the small bags!! People over at Kay’s Naturals were definitely thinking right on that one.

· Serving size = 1-ounce / 28g
· Servings per container = 1
· 130 calories per 1-ounce serving / 60 calories from fat
· 6 grams of fat / 9% DV
· 0.5g saturated fat 3% DV
· 0 trans fats / 0 cholesterol / 0% DV
· 200mg sodium / 8% DV
· 9g carbohydrates per 1-ounce serving / 3% DV
· 2g fiber per 1-ounce serving – a good source of fiber! / 8% DV
· 0g Sugar
· 9g lean soy protein* per 1-ounce serving = 33% PROTEIN!
· Iron 10% DV / Calcium 4% DV / Vitamin A 0% DV / Vitamin C 0% DV
· Gluten free
· All natural ingredients

• Gluten Free Golden Butter Pretzel Twists

These were somewhat your typical pretzel, but not totally. Let me explain—first they were more mini sized than a regular pretzel twist from say, Old Dutch or some other company. Second, they were not the brown color shown on the bag, more a yellowish hue. And third you still get that great evil butter taste, without the evil ingredients. Great pretzel for people looking for a new pretzel fix! The next one is even better though!

Golden Butter Twists are:
· Serving size = 1-ounce / 28g
· Servings per container = 1
· 110 calories per 1-ounce serving / 45 calories from fat
· 5 grams of fat / 5% DV
· 0 saturated fat / 0 trans fats / 0 cholesterol / 0% DV
· 220mg sodium / 8% DV
· 12g carbohydrates per 1-ounce serving / 4% DV
· 2g fiber per 1-ounce serving – a good source of fiber! / 8% DV
· 1g Sugar
· 10g lean soy protein* per 1-ounce serving = 33% PROTEIN!
· Iron 10% DV / Calcium 4% DV / Vitamin A 0% DV / Vitamin C 0% DV
· Gluten free
· All natural ingredients

• Cinnamon Toast Pretzel Sticks

These were by far my favorite pretzel of the three I reviewed. I am not a total pretzel fan, if there were chips at a place, I would pick those over pretzels any day. But these had me thinking otherwise! Still didn’t look like what was on the package though—but they didn’t disappoint! Small little pretzel rods covered in a generous coating of a cinnamon sugar tasting sprinkle. The bag is now gone which is evidence it is a snack worth getting your hands on.(and covered with cinnamon!!!)

· Serving size = 1-ounce / 28g
· Servings per container = 1
· 120 calories per 1-ounce serving / 45 calories from fat
· 5 grams of fat / 9% DV
· 1.5g saturated fat 8% DV
· 0 trans fats / 0 cholesterol / 0% DV
· 150mg sodium / 6% DV
· 9g carbohydrates per 1-ounce serving / 3% DV
· 3g fiber per 1-ounce serving – a good source of fiber! / 8% DV
· 6g Sugar
· 10g lean soy protein* per 1-ounce serving = 33% PROTEIN!
· Iron 10% DV / Calcium 4% DV / Vitamin A 0% DV / Vitamin C 0% DV
· Gluten free
· All natural ingredients

• Jalapeño Honey Mustard Pretzel Sticks

 

Again, let me remind you I am not a pretzel gal, so I may not be giving these a fair review. They didn’t make me jump for joy, but they didn’t make me gag either. They were just ok. A cool flavor for a pretzel though—I ended up giving them to my grandma because she’s a pretzel person.

· Serving size = 1-ounce / 30g
· Servings per container = 1
· 120 calories per 1-ounce serving / 60 calories from fat
· 6 grams of fat / 9% DV
· 1.5g saturated fat 8% DV
· 0 trans fats / 0 cholesterol / 0% DV
· 150mg sodium / 6% DV
· 9g carbohydrates per 1-ounce serving / 3% DV
· 2g fiber per 1-ounce serving – a good source of fiber! / 8% DV
· 6g Sugar
· 10g lean soy protein* per 1-ounce serving = 33% PROTEIN!
· Iron 10% DV / Calcium 4% DV / Vitamin A 0% DV / Vitamin C 0% DV
· Gluten free
· All natural ingredients

• Lemon Herb Protein Chips

Wow! Let me start out by saying these are now in my top ten five favorite chips! I love lemony flavor in drinks, as a coating on fish or chicken, and even occasionally squeeze a fresh lemon straight in my mouth—I knew I would love these. I did! Besides their cute little wavy shape, they were airy but very filling and coated with a serious amount of yum. Yum being the lemon herb mix 8-) I know why it was a first place winner at Natural Products Expo!
· Serving size = 1-ounce / 30g
· Servings per container = 1
· 110 calories per 1-ounce serving / 30 calories from fat
· 3.5 grams of fat / 5% DV
· 0 saturated fat / 0 trans fats / 0 cholesterol / 0% DV
· 230mg sodium / 10% DV
· 14g carbohydrates per 1-ounce serving / 5% DV
· 3g fiber per 1-ounce serving – a good source of fiber! / 12% DV
· 3g Sugar
· 9g lean soy protein* per 1-ounce serving = 33% PROTEIN!
· Iron 8% DV / Calcium 4% DV / Vitamin A 0% DV / Vitamin C 0% DV
· Gluten free
· All natural ingredients

• Chili Nacho Cheese Protein Chips

 

These were good also! I really love the texture of these and all of them have such a bold flavor—it makes you glad these are good for you and loaded with protein. These would be a good addition to an upcoming warm weather BBQ.

· Serving size = 1-ounce / 30g
· Servings per container = 1
· 110 calories per 1-ounce serving / 30 calories from fat
· 3.5 grams of fat / 5% DV
· 0 saturated fat / 0 trans fats / 0 cholesterol / 0% DV
· 230mg sodium / 10% DV
· 14g carbohydrates per 1-ounce serving / 5% DV
· 3g fiber per 1-ounce serving – a good source of fiber! / 12% DV
· 3g Sugar
· 9g lean soy protein* per 1-ounce serving = 33% PROTEIN!
· Iron 8% DV / Calcium 4% DV / Vitamin A 0% DV / Vitamin C 0% DV
· Gluten free
· All natural ingredients

• Crispy Parmesan Protein Chips

This one was my least favorite of the three. It still had a decent flavor, but not the boldness of the previous two. But that being said all chips cannot be created equal—if they were all absolutely great it wouldn’t leave for much of a variety and plus I am sure there are many people out there who like a subtle parmesan flavor. These would compliment a nice chicken parm salad possibly? Try em’ all!

· Serving size = 1-ounce / 30g
· Servings per container = 1
· 110 calories per 1-ounce serving / 30 calories from fat
· 3.5 grams of fat / 5% DV
· 0 saturated fat / 0 trans fats / 0 cholesterol / 0% DV
· 230mg sodium / 10% DV
· 14g carbohydrates per 1-ounce serving / 5% DV
· 3g fiber per 1-ounce serving – a good source of fiber! / 12% DV
· 3g Sugar
· 9g lean soy protein* per 1-ounce serving = 33% PROTEIN!
· Iron 8% DV / Calcium 4% DV / Vitamin A 0% DV / Vitamin C 0% DV
· Gluten free
· All natural ingredients