Fresh Seafood Anytime

Seafood meals are my favorite. Something about seafood reminds me of home and summers spent on the Adriatic Sea riviera. Fish and seafood always sounds great for lunch or dinner. I love going out to seafood restaurants but since I have a busy schedule that’s very rare and only reserved for special occasions. Recently I have discovered Bumble Bee’s SuperFresh® line of products and it has been a life changing culinary experience for me. Now I can serve my family delicious seafood meals on a regular basis- without having to leave home!

Bumble Bee SuperFresh® is a complete line of naturally-seasoned, restaurant quality, “fish-forward” prepared seafood solutions for the home. It raises the bar for what seafood lovers can expect from frozen food! Bumble Bee SuperFresh seafood is no mess, and no fuss; just pure perfection, time after time. Their premium Salmon and Tilapia come with their own parchment paper baking pouch and go from freezer to table in under 25 minutes. High in protein, richly seasoned with pure and simple ingredients that let the fish shine through! I could hardly wait until it was on my plate while I was cooking. The smell that filled the house was amazing and the flavors were beyond words. The biggest reason I fell in love with Bumble Bee SuperFresh line is that Bumble Bee SuperFresh® offers unparalleled quality. The seafood is “fish forward” – with nothing to hide under heavy breading, sauces, or a long list of unpronounceable ingredients.

The meals can be made in less than 30 minutes which is great. I can have lunch ready quickly on my days home from work to have a middle of the day getaway from the honey do list. The new line is frozen fresh and comes with specially made parchment paper envelopes for each fillet so the fish stays juicy while baking quickly. Suddenly I was a top chef.

The first creation I made was the Tilapia with Garlic and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It was so easy to enjoy a delicious Premium Tilapia fillet! Bumble Bee SuperFresh® Tilapia has ground black pepper, fresh garlic, sea salt and extra olive oil – making every flaky bite fantastic! For me it naturally made sense to jazz it up with some salsa and pair it with a side of spanish rice and beans for a tex-mex flavor that would make an amazing lunch.

The next one I tried was Bumble Bee SuperFresh® Salmon with Garden Pesto. Salmon is my favorite fish. I could literally eat salmon every day. Bumble Bee SuperFresh® Salmon with Garden Pesto is richly satisfying with Parmesan cheese, basil, almonds and a touch of garlic. It is so flavorful, made with all natural ingredients and has no preservatives. I paired it with a fresh garden salad with tuscan dressing and cheese tortellini in a light red sauce. The whole meal felt like an upscale dinner I’d eat at a restaurant but was super affordable and quick to prepare in my own home.

A long time ago I had a friend and I told them seafood is awesome, but they disagreed. My response was let me cook you a seafood meal and change your mind. Now I wish I had Bumble Bee SuperFresh® to help. Unfortunately I can not cook for everyone, but I can do something better. I want you to visit the Bumble Bee SuperFresh® website for a coupon so you can try these delicious SuperFresh® products for yourself! Leave a comment below telling me which product you’d try first.

<p><i>I was selected for this opportunity as a member of <a href="http://clvr.li/OHjC82" target="_blank">Clever Girls</a> and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.</i></p>


Pineapple Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps {Recipe}

This post is sponsored by Yoplait.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Start to Finish: 15 Minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 container (6 oz) Yoplait® Fruitful™ pineapple yogurt (get a coupon here)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
  • 1/4 cup shredded carrot
  • 2 tablespoons sliced green onion (2 medium)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped red bell pepper
  • 2 tablespoons chopped celery
  • 6 leaves Bibb lettuce

Directions:

  • 1. In medium bowl, mix yogurt, salt and pepper. Stir in all remaining ingredients except lettuce until combined.
  • 2. Divide chicken mixture evenly among lettuce leaves (about 1/3 cup per leaf). Serve immediately.

Recipe and image are courtesy of Yoplait.

Chicken Avocado Wraps {Recipe}

Need a quick meal idea? Try these yummy chicken avocado wraps.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
  • ½ cup cubed red pepper
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • ½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
  • 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
  • 4, 8-inch tortillas
  • 4 red leaf or Boston lettuce leaves

DIRECTIONS

  • Combine chicken, tomato, cilantro and hot sauce in a medium bowl and toss well.
  • Add avocado and toss again.
  • Divide chicken mixture among tortillas and top with lettuce leaves.
  • Roll up and cut in half.

Recipe and image courtesy of Maria Zoitas, creator of “Maria’s Homemade” line of prepared food sold exclusively at Westside Market NYC.

50 Healthy & Kid Friendly Lunchbox Ideas {Giveaway}

(Disclosure: I received milk boxes from Horizon Organic but all thoughts are my own.)

Back to school time means packing lunch for many families. I found last year that I got stuck in a rut and was packing Lucas the same lunch pretty much every day. Thankfully Horizon Organic has the solution for parents like me who have no creativity when it comes to lunchtime.

In collaboration with Elizabeth Somer, a nationally-recognized registered dietician and author, Horizon Organic developed a “5 Lunch Needs and 50 Ways to Please” resource to aid in back to school lunch box packing. The list outlines the five main food groups and 10 great-tasting choices within each group to make packing a nutritious lunch easy and enjoyable. Together, parents and children can mix-and-match items from each food group to create a balanced packed lunch. Parents can then use the resource with marked selections as a simple grocery shopping list.

Here is a sample of ideas from each category….

Whole Grains

  • air-popped popcorn seasoned with cinnamon (not for very young children)
  • whole grain pasta salad with veggies and low-fat dressing
  • mini pizza on a 100% whole grain English muffin w/ pizza sauce and low-fat shredded cheese

Low Fat Milk & Calcium Filled Foods

  • fruit parfait made w/ low fat Greek yogurt, fruit, and low fat granola
  • string cheese sticks
  • smoothie made with low fat milk and fresh fruit

Meats, Eggs, and Legumes

  • baked chicken cut in easy to eat strips
  • hard-boiled eggs
  • mini meatballs made with low fat turkey

Vegetables

  • “ants on a log” (celery topped with nut butter and raisins)
  • baked zucchini or sweet potato sticks
  • grape tomatoes

Fruits

  • fresh fruit shish-kabob
  • watermelon salsa with baked corn chips
  • cantaloupe or watermelon cut into shapes with cookie cutters

Find the other 35 ideas here.

Milk is also a great healthy drink option for lunch. I never gave Lucas milk for lunch since I was worried it would go bad but then I discovered shelf-stable milk that doesn’t need to be refrigerated. Horizon Organic Milk with 32 mg DHA Omega-3 Single Serve Milk Boxes come in vanilla and chocolate flavors and are an ideal option for families who want all of the nutritious benefits of milk, including 8g of protein, Vitamins A and D, and calcium, with the added benefit of DHA omega-3 to support healthy brain development. Lucas {who favors chocolate or strawberry milk usually} loves the vanilla flavored milk from Horizon Organic and I am happy to give him something that is good for him.

Want to try these single serve milk boxes in your child’s lunch? Enter the giveaway below!

GIVEAWAY:

One reader will win a month’s worth of Horizon Organic Single Serve Milk Boxes

HOW TO ENTER:

{Do any or all of the following, leave a separate comment for each you do}

1) Leave a comment telling me which lunchbox idea is your favorite

2) Share this giveaway on a social network

3) Follow Horizon Organic on Twitter

4) Follow me on Twitter

5) Comment on another post

Giveaway ends September 14, 2013 at 11:59pm Central time. Must be 21 or older and reside in the US to enter.

(Disclosure: I received Horizon Organic single serve milk boxes but all thoughts are my own.)

 

 

Wholly Guacamole® OMGuac Lunch Contest

(Disclosure: I am receiving products for posting about this contest.)

The Wholly Guacamole® brand wants to help you make lunch for you and your kids OMGuac -tastic!  After all, Wholly Guacamole is the Official sponsor of the OMGuac Lunch!

Stop by eatwholly.com/omg for some great ideas, a coupon and a chance to win $100 gift card with FREE Wholly Guacamole products! Here’s how it works. Use Wholly Guacamole minis and a little creativity to make lunch fun! The best lunches will win a lunch box full of guacalicious products and a gift card for $100! For complete contest details and rules, visit the website linked above. Three winners are chosen weekly through Sept. 27. 

The One Lunch, Two Ways gives you inspiration on how to create two completely different lunches with most of the same ingredients! Take a look and print out the shopping list for your favorite ideas. No more boring lunches!

Best Lunch Box Ever: Ideas and Recipes for School Lunches Kids Will Love {Giveaway}

Last year was the first year that I had to pack a school lunch for one of my children. I struggled to come up with creative foods to pack because I was always in a hurry to get my children dressed, fed, and ready by 7:20am. It was so bad that a few months into school the teacher actually wrote me a note saying she thought Lucas would like to try something new for lunch.

This year the boys are both in afternoon sessions at their schools. Jacob will eat lunch before he leaves but Lucas will leave at 9:30 and won’t get back until around 3:30. Since Lucas is starting school later in the morning, I hope to be able to have time to prepare some more creative lunches for him.

I was sent a review copy of Best Lunch Box Ever: Ideas and Recipes for School Lunches Kids Will Love. Thumbing through it, I found some great ideas for Lucas that were much healthier than what I packed last year. Want to win a copy of the book yourself? You can do so here!

GIVEAWAY:

One reader will win the book and a set of 3 nesting, leak poof stainless steel containers by Kids Konserve {A $47 value}

HOW TO ENTER:

{Do any or all of the following, leave a separate comment for each you do}

1) Tell me what your favorite kid-friendly lunch is

2) Share this giveaway on a social network

3) Follow me on Twitter

4) Follow Katie, the author, on Twitter

5) Subscribe to this blog via email (look in upper right hand corner)

6) Subscribe to Katie’s blog

Giveaway ends August 23, 2013 at 11:59pm Central time. Must be a US resident, 18 years or older to enter.

(Disclosure: As stated above, I received a copy of this book.)

Lobster Grilled Cheese Recipe

Lobster Grilled Cheese recipe courtesy of Iron Chef, Marc Forgione. 

(Makes 4 whole sandwiches)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Lobster Stock (If you can’t find Lobster Stock get seafood stock)
  • 4 (1 ½ pound) lobsters, claws removed
  • ¼ cup Sriracha
  • 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 6 ounces (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, divided
  • 4 tablespoons canola oil
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons chopped tarragon
  • 8 slices of fontina cheese
  • 4 slices Pullman Loaf or other high-quality thick sliced white bread (1” thick)

Preparation

1. Cut the tails off the lobster bodies, and into 1-inch pieces while the tails are still in their shells

2. Bring the Lobster Stock to a simmer and add the Sriracha, soy sauce and lime juice. Piece by piece, whisk in 6 tablespoons of butter until emulsified. Reduce the remaining sauce until it slightly thickens, about 2 minutes.

3. Toss the lobster tail pieces in oil with salt and pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes or until cooked through. Place the lobster pieces in a bowl and transfer to the fridge until cooled. When the lobster pieces have cooled, pop the meat out of the tails and set aside.

4. For each sandwich take two slices of bread. Place one slice of fontina cheese on top of the first slice, cover the cheese with some lobster meat, sprinkle ½ tablespoon of tarragon, cover with a second slice of fontina cheese, and then top with the second piece of bread. Brush the outer sides of each slice of bread with melted butter and season with salt. Grill the sandwich on the T-fal Mini Grilled Cheese Griddle and serve with a small bowl of the chili sauce on the side.

T-fal Mini Grilled Cheese Griddle
Specially designed for making grilled cheese, the T-fal Mini Grilled Cheese Griddle is a small, non-stick pan that heats up quicker than larger pans and is the perfect size for cooking a single grilled cheese sandwich. It has a flat griddle base to ensure even heat distribution for a perfectly melted grilled cheese sandwich. The griddle is scratch-resistant and its nonstick coating ensures quick and easy cooking and clean up. Available at Target for $8.24

(Disclosure: This post was not compensated. Just wanted to share this delicious recipe!)

Low-Fat Mac & Cheese Muffins {Recipe}

Yield:  6 servings of Low-Fat Mac & Cheese Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups brown rice elbow pasta;
¾ cup Greek yogurt;
¾ cup pureed cauliflower (see Tip);
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil;
2 tablespoon ground chia seeds;
1 red pepper, diced;
1 zucchini, grated;
2 tablespoons almond milk;
½ cup aged white cheddar cheese, finely grated

Directions:

Cook Time: 30 min 00 sec

Ready In: 20 min 00 sec

  • Pre-heat oven to 375F.
  • Boil water and cook pasta as directed.
  • Once pasta is cooked and drained, add back to pot, then add greek yogurt, and extra virgin olive oil.  Mix well.
  • Add ground chia and milk.
  • Mix well, and then stir in cauliflower puree, grated zucchini and red pepper and cheddar cheese (reserving a little for topping).
  • Grease muffin tin with coconut oil and spoon in mixture.
  • Sprinkle top with shredded cheddar cheese and bake for 20min
  • Remove from oven and let cool
  • Remove from muffin tins and enjoy!

Recipe and image courtesy of Peggy Kotsopoulos, Host of Peggy K’s Kitchen Cures on Veria Living. Here’s a YouTube video of Peggy preparing the Mac & Cheese Muffins. Enjoy!

Makeover Your Leftovers In One Minute!

 

Every week we have at least one or two nights that are leftover night. That means we pull out food that we’ve already cooked that week and we eat whatever was left over from the last meal. Sometimes I don’t mind leftovers and welcome eating my favorite meals but other times I just don’t want the same thing again.

Lucky for me I was introduced to Minute Ready To Serve Rice so I can reinvent dinner on leftover night. Sinisa had beef in gravy last night with mashed potatoes. I’m not a huge fan of mashed potatoes and prefer noodles or rice. Since there was leftover beef I decided to create a dinner that I wanted to eat and I was able to do so in less than two minutes with this new Minute rice product!

These rice bowls are seriously awesome because all you do is take the lid off and stick it in the microwave. There is no adding water or other ingredients to the bowls. The rice cooks for one minute and when you take it out of the microwave you are left with a bowl of fluffy rice.

After I cooked the rice I stuck a piece of beef on a plate and heated it up for 45 seconds. 15 seconds to put the meat on the rice and voila! Daddy’s leftovers made Mommy friendly with rice! :)

It was so delicious! One bowl doesn’t seem like a lot of rice but it’s perfect for a single meal!

I tried the Long Grain White Rice kind but they have other varieties as well.

 

Minute® Ready to Serve Rice is an ideal portable solution for lunch or breakfast because you can eat it on the go, straight from the cup. In just 60 seconds, you have fully cooked rice for any meal or snack. You’ll never get bored with your lunch since there are 10 flavorful and wholesome varieties. If you’re looking for a healthy option, Minute® Ready to Serve Rice provides easy portion control since it’s conveniently packaged in two individual single-serve cups.

Visit http://www.minuterice.com/ for recipes, including Minute® Ready to Serve Stir it Up recipe ideas and more information about the Minute® Rice family of products.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Minute® Ready to Serve Rice.

Kid-Friendly Snack: Frozen Banana Pops With Toppings Bar

Yield:  8 Frozen Banana Pops

Ingredients:

  • 4 bananas
  • 2 really ripe avocados
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup

Optional Toppings:

  • Crushed nuts of your choice
  • Unsweetened coconut flakes
  • Granola
  • Chocolate chips
  • Sprinkles

For frozen bananas:

Cut bananas in half and insert popsicle sticks into the flat end. Line on parchment covered baking sheet and freeze.

For chocolate avocado pudding:

Cut avocado in half and remove the seed. Scoop out the inside of the avocado into a food processor. Add the maple syrup and cocoa and continue to blend together until it’s all smooth.

Take frozen banana pop and roll in chocolate pudding, then roll in any or all of the toppings, if you like.

Tips:

The chocolate-avo pudding can be served on its own for dessert or snack.

Instead of chocolate pudding, you can also roll in strawberry flavored apple sauce then shredded coconut, OR almond butter then roll in finely minced dried fruit.

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This fun and healthy snack idea was provided by Peggy Kotsopoulos, Host of Peggy K’s Kitchen Cures on Veria Living.

Mom Made Foods {Giveaway}

Mom Made wants to make it easier for you to keep your commitment to feed your family healthy food, and to teach your kids that nutritious can be delicious! GIVEAWAY!!


Mom Made Foods is wanting to spread the love with the Healthy Pledge 2013 and with that comes coupons!!! Mom Made Foods wants to give moms out there a break from the kitchen without a shred of guilt.

Mom Made Foods is an all natural and  USDA organic created because Mom Made Foods believes in convenient meals that do not sacrifice quality or nutrition, and that kids should be able to eat delicious foods without added junk. Inspired by kids and the familiar recipes they love, Mom Made Foods uses only the freshest quality ingredients, such as organic products and meats raised without antibiotics, all sourced in the USA.


Mom Made Foods not only wants to feed healthy but encourage eating healthy! The healthy pledge 2013 will remind moms that teaching kids to eat nutritious foods can be delicious! Mom Made invites you to take their Healthy Pledge, and receive healthy tips, recipes, deals and more from them all year long.

You can learn more about Mom Made Foods on their website.


** Please enter for a chance to win coupons from Mom Made Foods, using the Rafflecopter form below. 5 winners will each win 10 coupons!**

This giveaway ends February 23, 2013 at 11:59pm Central time. US residents, 18+ only.

(Disclosure: I was not compensated for hosting this giveaway.)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cinco De Mayo Themed Lunch Ideas For Kids

Cinco De Mayo is coming up! How about celebrating the day with one of these fun themed lunch ideas?

{Be sure to click on the pictures to see how these amazing lunches were put together!}

From: Kitchen Fun With My Three Sons

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From: E-Obento

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From: Summer Mum

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From: Little Nummies

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From: Sonoma Bento