Thursday, March 17, 2011

Gourmet Skillet Meals and a Giveaway

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Stouffer's.



I was recently asked to review two varieties of the new Stouffer's Sautes for Two products - Grilled Chicken & Asiago Tortellini and Steak Gorgonzola. Both were good but I am not a huge gorgonzola cheese fan, so I much preferred the Grilled Chicken & Asiago Tortellini over the Steak Gorgonzola.
The meal came together in less than 15 minutes, which is awesome because when I come home from a long day of work, the last thing I want to do is cook! I have to feed the my baby girl, bathe her, and then put her to bed. By the time that's said and done, it's already 8:30pm and I am wiped out! Having this meal on hand was great because my husband and I were able to enjoy a special meal together without leaving the house. We'd love to do date nights more often, but with a toddler, that's often hard to do! (I'm sure the other parents out there can relate to what I'm saying!)

I'll talk about the Grilled Chicken & Asiago Tortellini because that one was my favorite. The cheese filled pasta was delicious. The creamy alfredo sauce that accompanied it was rich and creamy but not too heavy. There was quite a bit of spinach in the dish (yum!) and just the right amount of chicken, too. There weren't a lot of mushrooms in it, but that was fine with me because I don't like mushrooms. The package came with 14 pieces of tortellini, so each serving included 7. At first I thought that the serving size looked a bit small, but after eating dinner I felt like the portion size was just right. I think in general a lot of us have eyes that are bigger than our stomaches and we tend to over eat, so having a package that only includes two servings is perfect for portion control! Eaten alone, the portion size is arguably on the smaller side, but paired with a nice salad and some dessert, it ends up being a good size.
Because they use premium ingredients like asiago cheese, prime rib steak, and roasted red peppers, the Stouffer's Sautes for Two don't feel like your typical frozen dinner. Since I don't cook every night during the work week, having something like this on hand was a great way for my husband and I to enjoy what felt like a gourmet home cooked meal without all the hassle of having to prep it. There are several other varieties, and I'm looking forward to trying the Cajun-Style Shrimp Alfredo, Ginger Soy Shrimp, and Honey Citrus Chicken.

Want to try the new Stouffer's Sautes for Two? I'm giving away a $100 Visa gift card courtesy of BlogHer. If you win, you'll be well on your way to trying a few of these delicious gourmet skillet meals! To enter, simply answer the question: "What do you do to make ordinary nights extraordinary for you and your significant other?" (If you don't have a significant other, perhaps you could tell me what you do with a special family member.)

This giveaway will run from March 17th - April 11th and ends at midnight CST on the 11th.

Giveaway Rules:

- No duplicate comments. Please note that comment moderation is in place and it may take several hours before your comment appears below.

- You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Visit the Official site and find the official rules here.

Visit the Exclusive Offers section for other opportunities to win a $100 Visa gift card.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Get Real. Get La Crème.


This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and La Crème.



One of my favorite yogurt products is La Crème. Have you tried it? So rich and creamy, you won't want to go back to eating "regular" yogurt. Seriously. This post isn't about yogurt, though. It's about coffee creamer. When the folks at La Crème asked me if I wanted to try their new coffee creamer, I jumped right on board. I figured if their yogurt was so good, their creamer had to be, too. Deemed unapologetically rich and creamy, La Crème is made with 100% real dairy and currently comes in four all-natural flavors: French Vanilla, Original, Hazelnut and Cinnamon Vanilla. Naturally flavored La Crème Real Dairy Creamers are a welcomed alternative to artificially flavored non-dairy creamers.


They are lactose free, rBST Free, with no trans fats, no partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (did you know that Coffee-mate® is hydrogenated coconut oil and not really dairy?!), and no high-fructose corn syrup. I really had no idea that most coffee creamers aren't really dairy. I always knew that the non-refrigerated ones weren't dairy (since they can sit out at room temperature), but I just assumed that the other coffee creamers out there were dairy because they had to be refrigerated. So, I went and pulled our (store brand) coffee creamer out of the refrigerator and checked the label and sure enough - it's just partially hydrogenated soybean oil and cottonseed oil (trans fats)!



Both my husband and I tried the La Crème cinnamon vanilla flavor creamer and agreed that it is rich and creamy, exactly how coffee creamer should be. When I found out that cool whip is really hydrogenated vegetable oil and not dairy, I stopped eating it. Now that I know that all of these other non-dairy coffee creamers are just partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, we're going to switch to La Crème. It just seems like the natural choice. There are many other disturbing facts about non-dairy creamers that make me want to make the switch. To learn more, visit the La Crème site.


Now for the fun part! I'm giving away a $100 Visa gift card to one lucky reader. Just leave me a comment below answering the following question: "What is your favorite dairy product?"


Giveaway Rules:


* No duplicate comments. Comment moderation is in place so please allow some time for your comment to appear below.


* You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:


a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post


b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post


c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post


d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.


This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older, through midnight CST on March 31st. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. Several other bloggers are giving away $100 gift cards, too. Visit the official BlogHer round up page and check out the exclusive offers section to view the list and enter to win. Good luck!


*** This giveaway is now closed and no more entries will be accepted ***