Fans and up-and-coming players alike know that being able to train with Misty May-Treanor, who is one half of the world’s greatest beach volleyball team, would be a dream come true.  For one lucky person that dream is going to become a reality!

Arnold, Brownberry and Oroweat Breads, the Official Bread Supplier of the U.S. Olympic Team, has partnered with Misty and are offering the opportunity for one fan to win a private volleyball clinic with this two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Fans can submit their personal “Slice of Gold” sandwich recipe on the Arnold and Oroweat Facebook
page<http://www.facebook.com/arnoldandoroweatbread> for a chance to win the clinic.  The contest, which runs until Noon EST on July 2, will be judged by Misty herself.

For more information on Misty, her pre-Olympic healthy tips, and the
official contest rules, visit the “From Grains to Glory” tab on the Arnold
and Oroweat Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/arnoldandoroweatbread

http://www.facebook.com/arnoldandoroweatbread

Good luck, everyone!

Start with a bed of spring mix with herbs, plus tomatoes and mozzarella cheese

Add some fresh basil

And a drizzle of balsamic glaze

And there you have it – a delicious and healthy meal, with a beautiful and fancy presentation, that took no time at all to make!

which Kristen, of Marina Maher Communications, was kind enough to send me.  Thanks so much, Kristen! 

This cereal is great because it is made with whole grains and provides 9 essential vitamins and minerals.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the package was that the cereal had a nice light fruity fragrance, which makes you really want to eat it! 

I tried the cereal as a snack

and absolutely loved the raspberry granola clusters.

They were nice and crunchy, with the perfect amount of flavor.  It has just enough flavor to where you notice it when you chew the granola cluster, but it’s not strong enough to overpower anything else. 

They were also the perfect size in proportion to the peach flakes, which are light, thin, and crispy.

The peach flakes had an even more subtle flavor than the raspberry granola clusters.  In fact, at first I actually couldn’t even taste any peach flavor.  But then I realized that most of the cereal flakes seem to be more plain in flavor, making up the base of the cereal, and the raspberry clusters and peach flakes are more just accents of flavor. 

I also noticed that some of the cereal flakes almost seem frosted, and those are the ones that have the peach flavor.  If you place one in your mouth and let it linger on your tongue, you’ll definitely taste the peach flavor.  It has a stronger flavor this way than when you just chew it.  Of course, you’re probably not going to eat it this way, but this just helps you to see what the peach flakes actually taste like by themselves, so that when you eat everything all together, you can actually pick out the peach flavor as well.  I think it’s a good thing that the peach flavor is a little more subtle than the raspberry, because then neither flavor has to compete with the other, instead complementing each other nicely.  The peach is more of a background flavor, while the raspberry flavor is more in the foreground. 

I actually liked the Post Honey Bunches of Oats Fruit Blends Peach and Raspberry Cereal so much that it is now my favorite cereal.

It has enough flavor to keep it interesting but not too much to where you get too used to it or sick of it fast.  It’s plain enough that you’ll actually want to eat it everyday, but has enough uniqueness in the flavors, as well as combination of flavors - peach and raspberry – that it will actually feel like a treat as well.

For the filling, I used a whole can of black beans instead of just half – it helped stretch out the filling a little bit.  The recipe said it would make 4 stuffed peppers, but I was actually able to fill 4 huge peppers plus 1 medium pepper, with some stuffing left over (which, by the way, tastes wonderful all by itself – it’s just fun to make stuffed peppers with it – makes for a pretty presentation). 

The filling/stuffing is really moist because it is made with tomato sauce (I used Classico Marinara with Plum Tomatoes), which the brown rice soaks up when you heat everything all together.  All of the flavors tasted really nice, and there was a good amount of texture from the beans, zucchini, rice, etc.

Topped with some shredded mozzarella cheese (I used low-fat, not soy)

They are done after you bake them for about 15 minutes and the cheese is melted. (I just heated them in the oven, and skipped broiling them for the last few minutes).

If you cut the stuffed peppers in half, it makes them easier to eat.

They are even good the next day (maybe even better, as the flavors of the stuffing meld together more as they sit).  I just microwaved a couple for lunch (one for me, one for bf). 

(Added a little extra shredded mozzarella cheese – just heat until cheese is melted). 

A side note is that microwaving the stuffed peppers alters the texture of the peppers a bit, as they become a bit softer, which might not happen (or, at least, not as much) if reheated in the oven.

(Also had some pineapple on the side)

I loved these stuffed peppers!  They were so tasty and easy to make!  And since the recipe calls for very simple and common ingredients, you’ll probably have most, if not all, the ingredients already on hand.  The only things I needed to go out and get were the bell peppers and the zucchini.  Also, the stuffed peppers are really healthy and filling, so they make a good meal anytime.  And, they would make a wonderful dish for holiday/family gatherings, since the bell peppers add a nice pop of color and they make for a really nice presentation. 

Two thumbs up!  This will be one of my go-to recipes from now on! 

Thanks, Tiffany, for sharing this awesome recipe!

My good friends at Kettle Cuisine are hosting a really fun and easy contest for a chance to win a weekend getaway in Boston this Spring.  Here’s a  link where you can learn more (www.facebook.com/kettlecuisine).  The Kettle Cuisine team has also created this short video to show you how easy it is to win http://youtu.be/ySqQ4G8_uqY.  All you have to do is take a picture with any one of their soup packages in a fun, interesting or every day location and post it to their facebook page.  Then you just get as many of your friends as possible to vote for your picture.  The great news is you win an amazing gift pack, just for entering. The contest is only open for a very limited time so check it out as soon as you can and please let me know if you enter.

Thanks! 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Here’s the story behind Kettle Cuisine:

The soups can be found in a variety of flavors in the frozen (organic) section of your grocery store.  They are extremely easy to make – they can be heated in the microwave or on the stovetop.

I actually heated each of the soups in the microwave, and guess what?  It worked perfectly!  They actually tasted like they were heated on the stovetop, which is nice because sometimes when you heat soups in the microwave it gives it sort of an off taste, but no such problem with these.  They also heated evenly after the time stated, so no guesswork, which I find is often the case with canned soups (Kettle Cuisine soups are frozen).  And, there was no mess!  Even after you peel back the film, stir the soup, and then place it back on, the soup doesn’t splatter.  The only reason the soup might splatter a little bit is if you heat it too long (wanting the soup to be even hotter) or peeled back the film too much in the first place (which you shouldn’t even have to do – I found that when you first pull the soup container out of the box, there should already be a small opening in the film (it’s usually not sealed all the way) and it’s just enough to vent the soup properly.

*Edited to Add

Ms. Spurr, of Kettle Cuisine, said she thinks that the dry ice (the frozen soups were sent to me on dry ice) makes the bowl so cold that it causes the film to peel back from the bowl.  If you find a bowl at the supermarket where the film is peeled back or not fully intact- you should discard that product (and let them know!) because that could be an indicator that the integrity of the product had not been maintained.

Now, the soups were not only easy to heat up, but they tasted delicious as well.  Probably because they are made with all natural ingredients!  Here’s a review of each of the six soups I tried.

Roasted Vegetable Soup

• This was my favorite soup out of all of them!  The roasted vegetable soup was just the perfect blend of vegetables and spices.  The perfect thing to warm you up on a cold winter’s day! 

• It was made with very simple ingredients, and I loved them all.  The vegetables had a really nice texture, and the soup was rather filling. 
• It was a creamy soup, but not at all heavy.  I think some of the soup must have been pureed – and probably it was the potatoes that gave it the creamy texture.
• It had a little bit of a kick to it – maybe some black pepper?
• This soup was so good!  I want to eat it all the time! 

Tomato Soup with Garden Vegetables

• This was another great soup!  I think it would be great in the winter with a grilled cheese sandwich.  Or, it would be great in the summer as a more refreshing soup.

• There was a really good amount of veggies in this soup – they didn’t skimp on them at all.  They also still had a bite to them – they weren’t soggy or anything like that. 
• Even though this was a lighter soup, it stil does a decent job of filling you up – making you feel more satisfied than full – because of all the veggies. 

Angus Beef Steak Chili with Beans

• This is a nice hearty chili, made with angus beef and red chili beans.

• Since it was angus beef, the meat tasted really good.  It had a nice flavor and texture, which I think is sometimes rare in chilis that are not homemade.  A lot of times with canned soups, the meat is just this weird texture and off flavor – it doesn’t even taste like real meat, so I don’t even eat it.  With the Kettle Cuisine chili (frozen soup), you could definitely taste the difference. 
• This chili had a little bit of a kick to it, from the diced green chilies and pepper sauce. 
• Other interesting ingredients included pork fat and cocoa powder.  
• Although I liked this chili – there were plenty of beans and meat – I would have liked maybe another variety of beans or some veggies just to add a little more texture and flavor. 

Chicken Chili with White Beans

• I don’t think I’ve ever had a white chili before – I always eat the tomato-based ones.  This one is richer than the angus beef chili because it is made with sour cream. 

• This was similar to the angus beef chili, in that it was made with meat and beans, only this time it was chicken and white beans.   The chicken actually tasted like chicken and it didn’t have any sort of weird texture at all.
• One of the ingredients was a garlic chili pepper sauce, so this one was a little hot, even more so than the angus beef chili. 
• Because it was more of a cream-based soup, it was a bit rich and heavy.  I think it would be nice to add some more veggies. like zucchini and carrots,  just to balance the soup a bit more.

Thai Curry Chicken

• This was probably the most interesting of the soups, just because of the flavor profile and ingredients used. 

• Some of the ingredients include brown rice, natural creamed coconut, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, scallions, garlic chili pepper sauce, curry powder, lemon grass, and lime oil. 
• If you like lemon grass, you’ll love this soup.  Unfortunately, I don’t like lemon grass!  It just has such a strong flavor, and because of that, I felt it overpowered the rest of the soup.  But I’m sure if you like the taste of lemon grass, you’ll also appreciate how it pairs with the rest of the flavors. 

New England Clam Chowder

• This is not your typical clam chowder!  It tastes like clam chowder, but more like a seasfood clam chowder since it is made with fish stock and fish sauce and also contains haddock/cod, anchovy.

• Other interesting ingredients included salt pork and pepper sauce. 
• It didn’t seem as creamy or heavy as other clam chowders I’ve eaten before, so it would make a good appetizer since it won’t make you too full! 

Overall

• I love the Kettle Cuisine soups!  They are so easy to make, and they taste really good as well!  They actually even taste like homemade soup, how about that?!  They would be great for taking to work, since they are nice and portable, wouldn’t take up much space in the freezer, and wouldn’t make a mess in the microwave.
• Pricing – I think they retail for about $3.99, so they are kinda pricey, but I think well worth it if you want something quick and convenient, tasty and delicious. 
• Kind of depends on how easy they are to find – One store only had two flavors, while another store had about four.  Neither had the roasted vegetable soup – my favorite – nooooo!!!!  Hopefully some other grocery stores will carry it because I just love that soup!  The roasted vegetable soup is Kettle Cuisine’s best one, and in my humble opinion, should be carried in all grocery stores!   

The winner of the Nasoya Giveaway is Lindsay, from In Sweetness and In Health!  (The Tofu U pledge was a mandatory comment!) 

Congrats, Lindsay!  Please send your address to fabanddeliciousfood (at) gmail (dot) com.  Thanks!

I was lucky enough to receive some coupons to try some Nasoya products (thanks, Daria!), and made Peanut Butter Cookies with Nasoya tofu. 

Peanut Butter Cookies – Recipe Review

Pros

• Again, you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry, except for the tofu. 

• You can mix everything by hand.  Since you are using silken tofu, it blends nicely with all the other ingredients.  All you have to do is stir everything together with a spoon. 

• Not very sweet – I don’t like things that are too sweet, and these cookies weren’t at all.  I was actually a little surprised, since the recipe calls for a decent amount of honey (I think?  I don’t think I’ve ever used honey when baking before) so I expected it to be very sweet.
• You actually can’t even taste the honey – I guess this could be a pro or a con!  I wouldn’t mind if there was a little bit of a honey taste, but since I am not so used to eating things with honey, I probably wouldn’t like it if it tasted an awful lot like honey.  So since it didn’t taste like honey at all, I didn’t have to worry about anything!

Cons

• It was a really stiff cookie dough.  It was really hard to mix the liquid mixture with the dry – but a pro is that it works your arm muscles really well!
• The dough was really crumbly – it was hard to roll the dough without it falling apart.  I found that placing a bit of dough in plastic wrap and then shaping it into a ball, rather than rolling it into a ball, helped keep the dough together better.

• When I tried to flatten the dough and form a criss-cross design with a fork, the dough would start to fall apart again.  So, I kind of just held the cookie together with one hand and then flattened a little bit with the other, in order for it to hold its shape. 

• Not enough of a peanut butter taste.  It was kind of just barely there.  I would add more peanut butter next time!
• A bit dry – I really like cookies with a moist, doughy texture, and this one was kind of dry. 
• Needed a bit more flavor.  Because it wasn’t very sweet and didn’t have as much of a peanut butter taste, it needed something else to make the taste stand out a bit more.

Changes for Next Time

• I would try adding an egg to the cookie dough next time.  I think this would help bind everything together, making the dough less crumbly.  Plus, I think it would help prevent the cookies from drying out while they bake. 
• I would add some diced apple next time, as well as some chocolate chips for added flavor. 

Overall

• I think this is a good base recipe, and I think it’s so interesting that you can make cookies with silken tofu!  I think that is very neat!  It’s also a very simple recipe, and I think with a few minor changes, the cookies will turn out perfectly!

I was lucky enough to receive some coupons to try some Nasoya products (thanks, Daria!), and made Tofu Parmesan with Nasoya tofu. 

Parmigiana Tofu – Recipe Review

Pros

• You probably have all the ingredients in your pantry already, except maybe the tofu, so that’s the only thing you would really have to go to the store to buy.

• Pretty easy to make – only a few different steps.  Basically it was just breading the tofu, heating it in a skillet, and then layering everything in a pan and baking it.
• Done in no time – once you get the hang of heating the tofu in the skillet, it should take no time at all.  And once you have everything all set in the baking pan, the tofu parmesan takes only 20 minutes to bake. 
• The tofu makes it very filling, so this would be good to serve as a main meal/dish.
• Because tofu has such a meaty texture, you don’t miss the meat at all.

Cons

• The breading kept falling off while I was heating the tofu in the skillet. 
  • I think part of it was because you just dipped the tofu in water before breading it, instead of doing the usual process of flour, egg wash, breading (not that I’ve ever done this before, just seen it on a lot of food programs and in recipe directions).

   

  • Also, I was using tongs at first to flip the tofu over to the other side, but that kind of scraped the breading off of the tofu.  So halfway through I switched to using a spatula, which you could slide under the tofu, and therefore the breading, so it didn’t fall off as much.

• A bit too salty – the breading was a combination of bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, oregano, salt, and black pepper.  Because the bread crumbs already contain a decent amount of sodium, you really don’t need to add the Parmesan cheese (especially since you add some on top of the tofu parmesan as well) or salt. 

Changes for Next Time

• I think would make tofu lasagna next time instead of tofu parmesan.  This way I could just skip the whole process of breading the tofu and then heating it in the skillet (even though if you do it right, it would probably taste really good).
  • Since the bread crumbs kept falling off the tofu, it didn’t really taste like tofu parmesan so much as tofu combined with tomato sauce and cheese.  You could still taste the bread crumb mixture, but since the tofu didn’t have that breaded texture, the breading tasted out of place, so it would have been better just to leave it out entirely. 
• Because the breading didn’t really work out as planned, it kind of needed something else in terms of flavor and texture.  Next time, I would add some veggies – mushrooms, zucchini, onion, and broccoli. 

Overall

• I think with a few tweaks and changes, this could easily turn out to be one of my favorite recipes.  It would make for a good meal anytime, but I also think it would be a fabulous entrée to bring to any family/holiday gathering.  The Parmigiana Tofu would be great for those looking for a vegetarian option, and since it has such a meaty texture it would probably satisfy meat-eaters as well.  And because it is made with ingredients that everyone is used to (cheese, tomato sauce), a lot of people would probably be willing to try it, even if they don’t normally go for vegetarian dishes, and it would be a great way to introduce someone to tofu if they haven’t yet tried it before.     

The prize:

• Five coupons for a free Nasoya item

and

• a Tofu U t-shirt



How to Enter:

1.) Take the Nasoya Tofu U pledge.  Once you take the pledge, you will receive emails with recipes and other fun ideas.  (mandatory comment)

2.) State which Nasoya product you would like to try and why. (optional comment)

3.) Name one recipe from the Nasoya website that you would like to try.  (optional comment)  

Please leave a separate comment for each entry!  Thanks!

Please Note:

• U.S. residents only, please.  And no P.O. boxes.  Thanks! 
• This giveaway will close on Tuesday, December 20th at 9AM Eastern Time. 
• Winner will be chosen by random selection. 

Some ideas of what you can make with Nasoya products:

Apple Cinnamon Rolls

• Made with Nasoya Egg Roll Wraps

Parmigiana Tofu

• Made with Nasoya Firm Tofu

Peanut Butter Cookies

• Made with Nasoya Silken Tofu

Review for Apple Cinnamon rolls is posted here, while reviews for Parmigiana Tofu and Peanut Butter Cookies will be posted in the following days.

Good luck, everyone!