Glory Foods--Southern Taste with a Soulful Heritage

Not long ago I wrote a post about making crispy bits of delicious goodness from kale, and the kale that I used (and still buy when they have it) is the pre-prepared kale from Glory Foods.  So when I had an opportunity to receive from free food items and do a review of other Glory Foods products, I jumped at the chance. 

(Disclosure: Glory Foods provided me with the products pictured above, but the opinions expressed are my own and those of my family.)

And may I say that Glory Foods did not disappoint? They sent me this huge basket just stuffed with a variety of their canned and packaged products.

They even had another layer of big cans lined up behind the first row!

One of the things I noticed right off the bat is that they have more than one type of canned vegetables--they have the "Seasoned Southern Style", the "Sensibly Seasoned" and even "Sweet Traditions".  "Seasoned Southern Style", is just what is sounds like--old fashioned cooking the way our mothers and grandmothers did it, with plenty of spices and a bit of bacon to bring out the flavor.  "Sensibly Seasoned" is lower in sodium, and has no bacon, bacon fat, or meat flavorings in it. And of course "Sweet Traditions"--that's the sweet potato casserole and fried apples--I haven't tried them yet, but I plan on doing at least two more review posts on all of these yummy-sounding products.

So--"Seasoned Southern Style" vs "Sensibly Seasoned"--I got one kind of black-eyed peas in the basket, but I wanted to try them both, so I went out and bought an additional can, just so we could taste-test these side by side.

 I even cooked them side by side, with no additional seasoning or spices added.

 And even ate them side by side!

 Now, I have one family member that never ever ever eats pork of any kind, they ate only the "Sensibly Seasoned" kind, and gave them a thumbs up; my husband ate both, and liked the "Southern Style Seasoning" the best; and I ate both and actually preferred the "Sensibly Seasoned".

Along with the black-eyed peas, I tried two other Glory Foods products, but this time I combined them in one of my tried and true recipes. I used the Golden Sweet Corn Muffin Mix and the Cream Style Skillet Corn to make a delicious corn casserole.

Ingredients:

• 1 box cornbread or corn muffin mix
• 1 can cream style corn
• 1 egg
• 8 oz container of sour cream
• half a stick of butter

Turn the oven to 350.  Place the butter in a 9 X 9 casserole. and put in the oven to melt and heat the casserole dish while the oven is heating. 

In a small mixing bowl, combine the corn, sour cream, and egg.  Add the corn muffin mix, and stir until well mixed.  Pour the batter into the melted butter in the casserole, and bake for about 30 minutes.

(One note: I was surprised that the "creamstyle" corn didn't look creamy in the can I had--it actually looked like whole kernel corn.  But I used it anyway, and the corn casserole was delcious, as always!)

I may have overcooked this one just a tad!

I served this, as you saw above, with hamburger steak and gravy, rice, and the black eyed peas, and it was a true Southern comfort food meal!

So far, we've been well pleased with all of the Glory Food products that we've tried.  As I use each of these other items, I'll be sure to let you know how they measure up, as well!

To see more about their product line, as well as other recipe and serving ideas, see the Glory Foods website.

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

This post is linked to:

Frugal Food Thursday at Frugal Follies

Fantastic Thursday at Five Little Chefs

Lean Cuisine Chef's Pick--Product Review

Many years ago--more years ago than I'd care to tell you, but it was in the days that microwaves were mainly for industrial use and no one that I knew had one in their personal kitchen, I started my very first "real" job.  I was excited to find that the kitchen/break room at my brand-new "big-girl" job was equipped with a microwave.  It was a whole new way of cooking, but I took to it like a duck to water.  (Must be where I first got my "quick and easy in the kitchen" middle name!)

One of my favorite "quick and easy" lunches to bring to work to microwave were Lean Cuisine dinners.  They were just the right size for lunch, easy to make with that "magic" microwave, and low-cal, to boot. That was back in my single days, when I was supremely conscious of weight, always, and health--well, that was just lagniappe. 

So when I had an opportunity recently to try a couple of the new Lean Cuisine Culinary Collection Chef's Pick varieties of frozen dinners, it took me immediately back to those early working years when I ate Lean Cuisine at least 2-3 days a week, if not more. 

The first one that I tried was Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce.  It contains only 230 calories, 5 grams of fat, and has 2 grams of fiber. 

It had cheese tortellini, grilled chicken, Italian green beens, red bell peppers, and yellow carrots.  I thought the carrots were yellow bell pepper at first, but they were so sweet I had to look at the box to see what they were.  I thought this tasted really good. The green beans could have been a little more cooked, but that could have been my ancient microwave (almost as old as those memories I was telling you about).  The sauce was delicious, I could have literally licked scraped the plate.  Or sopped it with a piece of Italian bread. 

The next one I tried was Glazed Chicken--240 Calories, 5 grams of fat, and 2 grams of fiber--roasted white meat chicken in lemon tarragon sauce with rice, french-style green beans, and cashews. Now this one really brought memories, as the earlier version of glazed chicken was one my very favorites, back in the day. 

The new version is equally as good as my memories, if not more so.  I was especially impressed that it came in a little black microwavable container, all I had to do was peel the plastic cover at one point and stir. (Gone are the days of boil-in-bag plastic bags--I used to bring my own plate to cook and eat mine from at work, along with a real fork. Really.)

When I first took a bite of the rice mixture, I thought it needed just a little touch of salt, but when I mixed the extra glaze into the rice mixture, it was fine.  I liked that this one had more meat in it--actual bigger-than-bite-sized pieces.  I don't remember the cashews in the back-in-the-day version, they added a nice touch of texture as well as another layer of flavor. 

All in all, I was nicely impressed with flavors, the colors, the textures of these meals.  And although I had coupons that covered the cost of these, they were inexpensive enough, even in these days of rising food prices, that I would definitely buy these and eat them again.  I think they'd be perfect to grab-and-go for the work place, and even for those of us who are home alone during the day and don't want to cook for ourselves.

I have partnered with Lean Cuisine through DailyBuzz Food to help promote their new line of Chef's Pick
products. I have been compensated for my time commitment to work with this product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Thank you Lean Cuisine!

Until next time, good (microwave) cooking, and good eating!

Sweet'N Low

As part of the DailyBuzz Food Tastemaker program, I've had an opportunity to try out Sweet'N Low zero calorie sweetener to make some of their signature drinks and beverages, or to come up with some of my own.  This is perfect timing for the ending of this season of overindulgence, to help us get back on track with lower sugar and calorie intake.

As part of the program I received this cute cocktail shaker, some recipe cards, and some packets of Sweet'N Low to try.  As a teetotaler, I wasn't so much interested in the cocktail recipes, but I figured I could have some fun with the shaker on some iced drinks.(I found out I loved the aluminum shaker, it makes things really cold, really fast.  But I digress...)

The first thing I tried to make was hot chocolate. And "tried" was the operative word!  I love hot chocolate, but my favorite versions are full of sugar, and some of the commercial "diet" or "sugar-free" versions taste bland and uninteresting.  So, using a recipe from the cocoa tin and substituting equivalent Sweet'N Low for the sugar, I made my first cup.  Yuck.  Way too bitter. That amount of unsweetened cocoa was just too much. But I tried again, several times.  One time too bitter, one time too bland--until I think I have it just about right. 

Ingredients

• 8 oz milk
• 2 t unsweetened cocoa
• dash of salt
• 1/4 t vanilla
• 2 packets of Sweet'N Low (sweeteners equivalent of 4 t sugar)
• dollop of half & half

Microwave the milk for about two minutes.  (I have an ancient microwave, so it may take less time in a newer model.) Meanwhile, mix the cocoa, Sweet'N Low, and salt in the bottom of your cup or mug.  Add the hot milk, and stir until the cocoa dissolves.  Add the vanilla and a dash or dollop of half & half.   

I wanted to float some mini marshmallows on top, but I refrained.  You may want your hot chocolate slightly stronger, but the secrets seems to be, twice as much equivalence of sweetener as you have cocoa.  Does that make sense?  Each packet of sweetener is the equivalent of 2 teaspoons of sugar, so 2 packets = 4 t sugar, use with only 2 t cocoa.

Here in the south, we may have highs in the 30's or 40's today, and temperatures in the 70's the next, so one afternoon I decided to try something cool. I have a friend who has a lemon tree in her yard, and I have an abundance of lemons, so lemonade seemed like the perfect choice.  I squeezed a couple of lemons, and again, experimented with quantities of lemon juice and sweetener.  This time I used the cocktail shaker to mix everything over ice, and that's when I discovered the cooling qualities of the aluminum shaker!  The basic recipe I started with was a tablespoon of lemon juice and a tablespoon of sweetener to 8 ozs of water, but I found this tasteless.  When I want lemonade, I want some pucker power--and a balance of sweetness, too!  I found a recipe on the Sweet'N Low site for a lemonade that uses a combination of liquid Sweet'N Low and sugar, but all I had to work with was the packets.  What I finally came up with was:

• 1/4 c lemon juice (4T)
• 3 packets Sweet'N Low (= 2T)
• about 10-12 oz water

Put everything into a cocktail shaker, including ice, and shake until blended.  This one I liked--it was sweet enough, and strong enough of lemon, too.  I'm sure every lemon has a differing amount of "pucker", so this is one thing that you definitely need to taste test. 

If you'd like to see more drinks, including some "real" cocktails, along with other items, made with Sweet'N Low zero calorie sweetener, see www.sweetnlow.com/recipes the recipe section of their website. You can also access a coupon to sweeten the deal. 

I remember these "little pink packets" from the days when they were just about the only low- or no-calorie sweetener around.  And while I hadn't used it in a long time, I've already gone out a bought a box of packets, and will definitely be using Sweet'N Low again.

This is a sponsored post, but the review and opinions are those of my own. 

Until next time, good (un) cooking, and good eating (and drinking)...

Review--Progresso Recipe Starters Cooking Sauce

Have any of you had a chance to try any of the new Progesso Recipe Starters Cooing Sauces?  I had an opportunity through MyBlogSpark to try all five of their new sauces.  They even sent me a gift card to buy additional ingredients, the cute wooden spoon pictured above, and a little recipe booklet with a fairly quick and easy recipe using each of the sauces.

Since "quick and easy" is my middle name in the kitchen, the concept of having a sauce pre-made and seasoned and ready-to-go really appealed to me.  The results, for us, were a little bit mixed. 

The first recipe I tried was the creamy lemon chicken, made with the Creamy Roasted Garlic cooking sauce.  I wanted to like this so much that I actually went out and bought another can of this sauce and tried it again.  Maybe I seasoned my chicken too much, or added too much lemon juice, but we found this a little salty and just okay tasting. 

The second one, I wanted to try was the pulled chicken made with the Fire Roasted Tomato cooking sauce.  For this recipe, you basically add sugar, worchestershire sauce and seasonings to this canned sauce to turn it into a barbecue sauce to add to pre-cooked chicken.  I honestly couldn't see the point in this one, because it would be quicker and easier to just use a bottle of good quality barbecue sauce.  I make a killer oven or stove-topped barbecue chicken with bottled sauce and few extra dashes of this and that, so I probably wouldn't bother with this one.  I would use the sauce, but would be more likely to use it in a pot of chili or taco soup, or spaghetti sauce.--maybe even in lasagna. 

The recipe that was recommended with the Creamy Three Cheese cooking sauce was more of the same--use their sauce as a base, add milk and seasonings and cheese--if I'm going to be heating milk and adding cheese, I'm making a cheese sauce--what do I need theirs for?  What did work for us for this one was ignoring the suggested recipe and using it "straight" on some pasta to make a basic mac & cheese.  My son voted a thumbs up on the simple version.

But I'm saving the good news for last--the Creamy Parmesan Basil--this was by far our favorite.  It's a truly stand-alone sauce, good over almost any kind of pasta by itself, and also as recipe base for chicken alfredo, pasta bake, or white chicken pizza, just to name a few.  I bought this one to try again, too, and I'll definitely be adding it to my grocery list again. 

Final result--I can heartily recommend the Creamy Parmesan Basil, as well as the Creamy Three Cheese.  The others I would try again, but probably with a different recipe--speaking of which, you can find all of the recipes I got in my little booklet, as well as many alternative ones to try, at the Progresso website.  There are also come coupons available right now, both for Recipe Starters sauce, and for the Progresso Light soups. 

Disclosure: The information, products and ProgressoTM Recipe StartersTM gift pack was provided by Progresso through MyBlogSpark.

eFoodsDirect Product Review

I was recently contacted by a company called "efoods Direct" and asked to review some of their products, as well as offer my readers a chance to try meals at a reduced price. 

eFoods Direct is a company that sells packaged dried foods and meals suitable for long-term storage, as well as for use while hiking and camping.   There are a lot of reasons to store food, including disaster preparedness--one that hits close to home for me, since I live in a hurricane prone area, and have personally gone through a hurricane, and what's worse, in many cases, the aftermath. Having some of these easy-to-prepare (in most cases, stir into boiling water, cook the recommended time, season, if necessary, and serve) would have been a real blessing while we had gas and food lines for weeks.  There were some things that were just not available afterwards, and some of our stores didn't re-open for weeks and even months later. 

I was given and opportunity to try three different products, the cheesy chicken and rice, tortilla soup and creamy potato soup.



The first meal that I tried was the "Cheesy Chicken & Rice" which I was hesitant to try at first, after looking at the list of ingredients and not finding 'chicken' anywhere on the list.  There is no 'chicken' in the "Cheesy Chicken & Rice"; there is, however, texturized vegetable protein that looks and tastes remarkable like chicken.  This was actually very good.  It was creamy, it was cheesy, and it tasted chicken-y.  It got two thumbs up, from my son and from me.  All it needed was a little black pepper. 



The tortilla soup was the next product I tried.  I have to admit, it looked awful in the pot, sort of gray and unappetizing.  When it was ready, though, you could see the seasoning and bits of vegetables in it. This was not our favorite, but it was quick and easy and tasted.  It wasn't a thumbs up, but it wasn't a thumbs down either.  It was okay, I could eat it again, but I probably wouldn't order it in a restaurant. I have to admit, though, that I'm not really wild about most things that have a "southwest" seasoning flair--some kind of seasoning is just not to my taste. 

It was better with just a little cheese added to the bowl.

And last, but not least, was the Creamy Potato Soup.  I loved this--so easy, and delicious. 

I added salt & pepper to taste, as the directions on the package tell you to do, and then a little cheese, just for good measure--this one was good without the cheese, too, though it added just a little something extra.  I could easily see adding some corn and chicken to this to make a quick-and-easy chicken corn chowder.  This one is definitely thumbs up. 

All three of these meals were easy to make--boil water, stir in, cook the required time.  The creamy chicken & rice mentioned adding a couple of tablespoons of butter, which I did.  I think all of them say to add salt & pepper to taste, which I did to the potato soup, but the rice needed only a little black pepper.  All three of these meals were kosher, all had an extremely long shelf-life (like 25 years long--I have to admit, I've thrown away my share of bargain stock-pile items that I "lost" in the back of the pantry and found only after they were well-expired--something I wouldn't have to worry about with these products!) efoodsDirect prides themselves on using only the best of ingredients, so that the end product is the very best it could be. 

I would definitely try the two I really liked again.  They would make excellent additions to your long-term food storage, whether for disaster or economic downturn preparedness, and I think they'd be wonderful on a camping trip--light to carry, easy to prepare. 

Right now, efoodsDirect is offering a couple of special discount deals, which you can see at efoodsDirect offer.  They include special coupon codes giving you 40-50% off of specified packages, as well as a free trial offer where all you pay is shipping and handling to receive the same three meals to try that I did.  (If you choose the percent-off deals, be sure to use the coupon codes to receive the discount at check-out!)

(Disclosure: I received free products, but no other compensation for doing this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.)

Review and Giveaway--Fiber One 80 Calories Cereal

This giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announced on the next post, and will be notified via email.

As a member of MyBlogSpark, I recently had an opportunity to review a General Mills cereal, Fiber One 80 Calories. The flavor that I received was Honey Squares. Now, I have to admit, that although I do a lot of sugar free recipes from time to time, I'm not usually a big fan of most foods that advertise themselves as being low in calories. Too often that seem to equate with low in taste, as well. This cereal, though, was a welcome surprise. It was really and truly delicious. So much so that I would honestly buy this myself and eat it. As a matter of fact, we finished this box off so fast that I didn't have a chance to take pictures of the cereal itself, it was gone in two days. And for a food blogger, even one as infrequent as I've been lately, not to take pictures of their food--well, you know it went fast.


According to the information I received, this cereal is not only delicious, but healthy as well. With 40 percent of the Daily Value of fiber in one 80 calorie serving, Fiber One 80 Calories cereal can help curb your hunger, which can help you stick to a weight loss or healthy eating plan. It always helps to have a breakfast option that can help you feel satisfied without giving up taste!


As part of this review opportunity, General Mills and MyBlogSpark are offering a prize package to one lucky reader just like the one pictured above, comprised of a box of Fiber One 80 Calorie cereal, a sensor pedometer with USB connector to chart walking progress, and a neoprene iPod/smartphone holder with armstrap to help you stay in touch or walk to a beat when you're getting your walk on!


To enter, all you need to do is fill out the form with your name and email address. Just for fun, tell me on the next line if you're a walker already, or if you hope that this prize will inspire you to become a walker.

This is a quickie giveaway, it will only run from now until Tuesday, September 27th at noon, Central time. Winner will be chosen at random. Giveaway is now closed.

(This prize, as well as a duplicate review package, was provided to me free of charge by General Mills and MyBlogSpark, however, the opinion stated is that of my own.)




Until next time, good (un)cooking, and good eating!

Pillsbury Pie Crusts--Review, Recipes, and Giveaway

(This giveaway is now closed, thanks for entering!)

MyBlogSpark and Pillsbury have done it again with what I think is the best goodie box yet!


As part of a review/giveaway opportunity, I received a coupon for a free package of Pillsbury Pie Crusts, as well as all of the cute kitchen things pictured above--a glass pie plate, pot holder, cutting board, apple slicer, nested measuring cups, and apple-shaped kitchen timer.



Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts have to be one of the greatest commercial kitchen achievements since sliced bread! I grew up in a household where we made cakes and bought pies, and if it weren't for pre-made crusts I probably would have made very few pies in my lifetime! I've made exactly one "from scratch" pie crust in my adult life, and while it tasted fine, it definitely wasn't pretty! I love, love, love the ease and convenience of these crusts, and they taste, in my opinion, better than most frozen pie shells I've eaten.

Let me just show you some of the ways I've used Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts:

(click on the links to go the recipe posts)

During Purim in the spring, I've cut out circles of pie crust and made these little apple tarts known as Hamantaschen....

During berry season in the summertime I've used one as a bottom crust and cut the other into strips to make this Lattice Top Blackberry Pie...

...or pre-cooked the crust and filled it for this Chilled Blackberry Pie...

And last but certainly not least, made this beautiful full-of-spice-and-smells-of-fall custard style Navy Bean Pie.

This giveaway is now closed, thanks for your interest!

And now for the giveaway---thanks to Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark, one reader will recieve a package identical to the one I recieved. To enter, just leave your information on the giveaway form, and let me know what kind of pie you'd make with your Pillsbury Pie Crusts. The form will stay active until next Monday night, November 15, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. Central Time, and the winner will be chosen at random and notified via email.

Good luck!

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

(The opinion stated is that of my own.)

Pillsbury Mini Grands Biscuits--Review, Recipe, and a Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed!

As a member of My Blog Spark, I had a chance once again to review a great product, as well as a giveaway to share.

Pillsbury and My Blog Spark sent me a coupon good for a free bag of frozen Pillsbury Mini Grands Biscuits, a bread basket, butter dish and spreader, and a $15 Visa gift card to buy any additional ingredients I may want to use with the biscuits.

I first tried the biscuits alone...

...or to be honest--smothered in butter and fresh fruit spread or honey. I bought a new bottle of local honey and it was so good on these fresh made hot biscuits. And since I'm home alone most of the time during the week, I really enjoyed being able to bake just as few (or as many!) as I wanted with no extra or leftovers to deal with.

I think these bite sized biscuits would be perfect to serve at a holiday brunch, or maybe to kids to tend to enjoy "kid-sized" foods. Or you could even make this yummy "goodie" that I came up with...

Ingredients:

• 6 Pillsbury frozen Mini Grands biscuits
• 2 T butter or margarine, melted
• 2 T sugar
• 1 t cinnamon
• handful of pecans

In a individual sized oven-proof bowl, greased or sprayed with cooking spray, throw in about 6-8 pecan halves. You can use chopped pecans if you have them--halves were all I had already open, and I didn't want to dirty up the chopper for just these few, so I just used halves. Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl or on a saucer. Dip each frozen mini-biscuit in melted butter, turning to coat, then roll in sugar cinnamon mixture, and place in the oven-proof bowl. Sprinkle a a few nuts on top or between the biscuits. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Regular mini-biscuits are ready in about 20 minutes, but I allowed some extra time because of the way these were stacked on top of each other. I checked them more by feel than anything else, since I couldn't tell from browning. Cover with a small inverted plate/saucer, then flip the whole thing over and gently lift the bowl off.

The only thing better than the way this looked is the way it tasted--delicious! And because I used the mini biscuits, I could make as much, or as little, as I needed.

And now for the giveaway---Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark will give one lucky reader the same prize package I received--bread basker, butter dish and spreader, $15 Visa giftcard, and coupon for a free package of Pillsbury frozen Mini Grands biscuits.

To enter, just leave your information on the entry form below. The form will stay active until Monday, November 8th, at 12:00 noon. The winner will be chosen at random and notified via email.

Giveaway is now closed--winner will be announced shortly!

Be sure to check back next week, I have several more great giveaways lined up!

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

(The opinion stated is that of my own)

"Pigging Out" with Mike & Ed's Bar-B-Q

Be sure to scroll down and enter the Macaroni Grill Meal Giveaway

I'm back in Georgia this week to help my husband pack up and move the last of our things home to Louisiana, and get his things ready to move on to the next project site. While we're here, we took the opportunity one night this week to eat at one of our favorite local eateries, Mike & Ed's Bar-B-Q on Veterans Parkway in Columbus.

Boy was I in for a big surprise the first time I ate at Mike & Ed's. At home, bbq, especially sandwiches, is beef, and it comes chopped or sliced. Yes, we also have bbq chicken, and of course ribs and sausage. But the true test of a good bbq joint is their basic chopped beef. If they can't do chopped beef right, well--let's just not even go there. So imagine my shock as I looked over the menu and Mike & Ed's, and they had no beef--no beef anywhere on the menu.

No chopped beef, no sliced beef, no brisket platter or beef-by-the-pound. No thick sweet sauce.

Their sandwiches were pork. What we call chopped, they call chipped. What they call chopped was bite-sized chunks. They put slaw on the sandwiches. And pickles. And the sauce was yellow, and thin--it comes hot or mild. They do have a hickory flavor, but it's thin, too, and kind of vinegar-y. Good, just not the thick, sweet sauce that I was used to.

But they did have one great thing going for them--great smoked flavor. I learned to eat chipped pork instead of chopped beef. And to actually like slaw on the sandwich--it's not bad as long as you eat it right away so that the bread doesn't get soggy. (just be sure to order the slaw on the side if you get it to go!) And the chicken and ribs (pictured above)--are sooooo goooooood! They have a couple of strange-to-me sides--brunswick stew, bbq stew and bbq slaw--they're okay, but to me they just don't spell barbeque like their baked beans, potato salad, and cole slaw.

And how can you not like a bbq joint that has just right mixture of brick, wood and tin for their decor?

Or that labels their bathrooms "Hens" and "Hogs"? At least they aren't labeled "Sows" and "Hogs"!

This is where the magic happens....

And it really is magic--we went this week intending to order a couple of chipped pork sandwiches and an order of french fries, but it smelled so good, we both ended up with a chicken and rib combo plate!

So whether you're used to Texas or Memphis style, Carolina pulled pork or Kansas City ribs, Mike & Ed's is well worth the stop when you're in the neighborhood.

If my luck holds, I'll still make it by there for a chipped pork bbq sandwich.

Until next time, good (un)cooking, and good eating...