Tag: cheese

Hamburger Helper Stuffed Bellies

Just saw a TV commercial for Hamburger Helper.

The family is together, sitting at the dinner table and the dad is stuffed so he leans back and pats his belly, full to the brim.

He looks at his young daughter, they smile at each other and she imitates him, patting her belly as well. Camera pans out to show everyone is happy and laughing as they all pat their full bellies after dinner.

Their tagline: “Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni – now even cheesier and tastier.”

So that’s the message of Big Food! Inspiring families to eat meals together, but eat until bellies are stuffed or better yet, over-stuffed!

Sigh

And THAT, in a nutshell, is what’s wrong with our dysfunctional eating habits. We don’t stop eating BEFORE we get to the point of busting our bellies! Our brains are broken, not connecting with our bellies to tell us to stop eating.

The bigger problem is, overly-processed foods like Hamburger Helper are never going to satiate us, so we have to keep eating, and eating, and eating, until it’s too late and our bellies are beyond stuffed.

So, good ole Betty Crocker is taking advantage of our dysfunction by feeding us more of their processed crap, that tastes really, really good, but doesn’t do anything to really NOURISH us.

Stuffing your belly, until it hurts, with white pasta drowned in dried cheeses is not healthy, even if mom makes it at home, and all family members eat it together at the dinner table!

Just in case you were wondering, here is the list of ingredients for Hamburger Cheeseburger Macaroni. It’s funny, in comparison to their older ingredients (found online), they weren’t lying when they said it was now “cheesier” – they’ve added a lot of dried cheeses:

Enriched Macaroni, Corn Starch, Salt, Enriched flour, Sugar, Dried Ricotta cheese, Dried Tomato, MSG, Natural flavor, Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Modified Corn Starch, Paprika, Spice, Colors (Yellow Lake 5&6 and Yellow 5&6), Monoglycerides, Dried Cheddar Cheese, Dried Cheddar cheese, Dried Whey, Dried Buttermilk, Dried Blue cheese, Enzyme modified blue cheese, Silicon Dioxide, Sodium Phosphate, Enzyme modified cheddar cheese

Swiss Chard Ricotta Egg Pie (Frittata) Recipe

I found an inspiring recipe over on Kalyn’s Kitchen for ; I had some yummy swiss chard greens from this week’s CSA share, and I knew it would be a great substitution for the kale.

swiss chard ricotta egg pie

Recipe Ingredients

1 large bunch of swiss chard or other hearty greens (kale, spinach, arugula, turnip/radish greens, etc)
8 oz fresh ricotta cheese – I used whole milk ricotta, but to save calories, part skim might be preferred.
1 – 2 oz grated cheese – cheddar, Parmesan, Pecorino, whatever you have on hand.
1 cup eggs, beaten. I used 5 extra large eggs, but the original recipe called for 6 large
kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Recipe Instructions:

2-4 servings depending on how hungry you are! We turned what was originally thought to be four into just two servings for us.

  1. Preheat oven to 375F.
  2. Wash swiss chard leaves, pull/cut off ribs, then coarsely chop and quickly steam in a shallow saucepan or fry pan. About 1-3 minutes.
  3. Use a little coconut or olive oil to grease the bottom and sides of a baking dish. I used a large round quiche pan. Kalyn’s original recipe suggested to use a spring form pan. Any type of glass or ceramic baking dish would be fine.
  4. Line bottom of baking dish with steamed swiss chard or greens.
  5. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, grated cheese, and salt/pepper.
  6. In separate bowl, beat eggs, then blend into the cheese mixture. It’s lumpy, so don’t be alarmed.
  7. Pour egg/cheese mixture over swiss chard greens in baking dish.
  8. Bake for about 20-40 minutes, maybe longer depending on the depth of your pie. The original recipe called for 40 minutes, but her pie was much thicker.
  9. Allow to cool and enjoy! Serve with a small salad or even veggie soup. Great for Meatless Mondays!

Recipe Notes:

  • Farm fresh ricotta is always the best choice before a grocery brand. It tastes like cream! I like Maplebrook Farms from Vermont…they also make fresh mozzarella cheese.
  • We also received 2 very small corn on the cob in the CSA share this week. I figured instead of boiling them, I’d add some freshly cut corn off the cob. Well, because there was such a small amount, the corn really didn’t add anything special to the dish, so I left it out of my recipe here.
  • I would have loved to add a sprinkling of freshly grated nutmeg into the cheese mixture, but since my microplane grater/zester had soft cheese all over it, I couldn’t grate the nutmeg. Next time, I’ll grate the nutmeg first.
  • Leeks and tomatoes would also make a great addition! Hmm, like sliced tomatoes placed on top before baking! Yum.

swiss chard ricotta egg pie

Nutritional Data

Use the nutritional data as a guide; the info is not absolute, your results might vary considerably depending on the total weight of the finished dish.

Calories: 456
Fat: 33.6g
Saturated: 17g
Polyunsaturated: 2g
Monounsaturated: 9g
Trans: 0
Cholesterol: 591.7mg
Sodium: 716.7mg
Potassium: 532mg
Total Carbs: 7g
Fiber: 1g
Sugar: 1.7g
Protein: 33.5g
Vit A: 76%
Vit C: 13%
Calcium: 44.4%
Iron: 20%

Meatless Monday: Cabbage Mango Salad with Caramelized Onion Crostini

I sometimes find Meatless Monday dinners are more delicious than meals with meat! Tonight, was one of those nights.

I made a big batch of cabbage mango salad with roasted pumpkin seeds along with scrumptious yummy caramelized onion crostini.

I love cabbage! In the cooler months, I always try to keep it in the fridge for salads. It’s inexpensive (so much less than lettuce, when it’s out of season) and it’s packed with nutrients, especially cancer fighting anti-oxidents & anti-inflammatory properties.

Mango was on sale this week at Whole Foods, and I still had one left this afternoon, so I googled cabbage mango salad, and found that they do pair well together! You wouldn’t think it, would you?

Here’s my recipe:

Cabbage Mango Salad

cabbage mango salad with roasted pumpkin seeds and onions

Mix the following ingredients together in a large bowl:

  • 1/2 head of Cabbage, chopped into small chunks
  • 1 Mango, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 Onion, minced
  • 1/4 cup roasted pumpkin, or other favorite nut or seed
  • 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice

I made enough for our dinner plus lunch tomorrow, along with probably another

Caramelized Onion Crostini

caramelized onion crostini with cheddar & roasted garlic.

First caramelize the onions. It takes about 20-30 minutes. You might end up with extra onions; they are still tasty as leftovers. Add to other recipes like tomato sauce, brown rice, or soups.

  1. Starting on medium heat, add 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil and 2-3 thinly sliced onions to heated saute pan.
  2. Stirring occasionally, let the onions brown a bit; turn down the stove temp to low, and cook for 15-20 minutes.
  3. When onions are golden brown and yummy, splash on 2-3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar and cook for a few more minutes.
  4. If bottom of pan is crusty and browned, add a touch of wine or water, and scrape up the bits at the bottom of the pan.

Time for the crostini.

  1. Toast a few slices of whole grain bread in the oven.
  2. Once toasted, remove the bread, and top with your favorites. I smeared on a few cloves of roasted garlic, then topped with an aged Grafton Village cheddar cheese and a scoop of caramelized onion.
  3. Put bread back in oven and broil for a minute or two until the cheese is melted.

Once summer arrives, sliced fresh tomatoes make a wonderful addition, as do sliced olives and chopped basil leaves. I also love to experiment with other cheeses like Pecorino, Manchego, fresh Ricotta, and Mozzarella.

Enjoy! I thoroughly did!

Stupid Domino’s Pizza Commercial

The new Domino’s commercial just infuriates me! They’re trying to jump on the grass fed bandwagon! Their new commercial is trying to give the impression that their cheese comes from happy grazing dairy cows in a pasture!

The commercial shows a “panel study” group discussing how they don’t trust the ingredients that Domino’s uses, and then all of a sudden, the walls come down and they are smack dab in the middle of a cow pasture, surrounded by cows. Yeah right! That’s realistic!

While I admire Domino’s Pizza marketing department for trying to revamp their image, starting from scratch, putting together a new pizza recipe… I hate when big food companies try to pull the wool over consumer’s eyes. Just like the ads for “happy California cows“, it’s very misleading! The majority of dairy cows do not lead a wonderful carefree life, as depicted in the new Domino’s Pizza commercial.

I would be a hypocrite if I said that I didn’t eat dairy; in fact, I adore cheese, but I try to limit my consumption just because it really is a cruel life for a dairy cow. And Domino’s Pizza is just adding to the misconception! I don’t think I’ll be trying Domino’s new improved pizza any time soon!

ETA October 28, 2010: After receiving a comment from “Dairy Farmer”

Yes, the farm in the commercial is a real farm….googled and found some info.

Truttmann Dairy, LLC is a real farm, and they look like they are doing the right thing by raising their cows naturally and grass based.

http://www.dairydoingmore.org/Family.aspx?articleId=114

BUT it’s highly unlikely that this farm provides the bulk of Domino’s cheese inventory. My guess is, Domino’s is using a much much larger diary or dairies and Truttman’s is actually just for show to make consumers think they are getting a natural product.

Ha! After more googling, looks like I’m not the only one that doubts Domino’s intentions and marketing scheme:

http://eater.com/archives/2010/10/21/dominos-wisconsin-sixcheese-pizza-is-a-total-fraud.php

There aren’t many farms left that are like Truttman’s and I applaud them for trying to do the right thing. But there is no possible way that Domino’s is using grass based naturally raised dairy on all their pizzas!

So, quit fibbing to the public, Domino’s and fess up!

Word is the next commercials will cover their naturally grown tomatoes and spinach! Can’t wait to see them!

Eggplant Parmesan Soup

I found a fabulous soup book at the library!

New England Soup Factory Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes from the Nation’s Best Purveyor of Fine Soup is written by a local woman who operates two restaurants in the Boston area. I’ve never heard of her restaurants, but the book looked interesting with gorgeous photos and glossy pages, so of course I borrowed it!

Now that the cooler weather is upon us in New England, I’m starting to crave soups & stews. I was thrilled to find a whole bunch of intriguing recipes to try in the book, but the Eggplant Parmesan Soup (pg 51) really caught my eye. I knew I’d be getting some eggplant in the CSA share this week, so I made a commitment to myself to make the soup!

Continue reading “Eggplant Parmesan Soup”

Seriously Sharp – Cabot Cheeses Review

Before we left for vacation, I was browsing the cheese at the local grocery, trying to choose a cheese for our trip. I saw that Cabot offered extra sharp cheddar along with SERIOUSLY sharp cheese. I was tempted to get “seriously” sharp but I opted for just extra sharp. Next time, I’ll get serious!!! hahaa

While we were away on vacation, we visited the Yarmouth Clam Festival and Cabot had a little booth set up, with samples of horseradish, extra sharp and pepper jack cheeses. I LOVED the horseradish and pepper jack. Yum. I was hesitant to buy it before, so getting to taste it was great!

So, I was at Market Basket, grocery store this week, and I saw the horseradish cheese in the dairy case. I turned the package over to read the ingredients, and oh no! “Natural and artificial horseradish flavor” – artificial flavor? yuck! It also had the additive sodium citrate! So, I put it back down and decided to check Whole Foods for a more natural brand of horseradish cheese.

I’ll still buy Cabot sharp cheeses, but I’ll stay away from any of their flavored cheeses. Too bad they couldn’t stick to a more natural list of ingredients.

Campo de Montalban Cheese – Review

Yesterday, I made a sandwich for lunch with some Campo de Montalban cheese inside one of my strangely unique wheat rye sunflower caraway rolls.

I love cheese but let me tell you, this particular cheese really rocks! The flavor melded so well with the flavors of rustic wheat and caraway seeds in my bread. I savored every single bite!

Campo de Montalban cheese (the name brings a smile on my face because I immediately think of Ricardo Montalban) is a yummy blend of cows’, sheeps’ and goats’ milk from Spain. I purchased a little wedge from Whole Foods on sale last week for $10/lb, which was cheaper than the yummy raw sheeps’ milk Manchego cheese. I think I am enjoying the Campo de Montalban cheese more than the Manchego!

This morning, I thinly sliced a few pieces to put on my breakfast Bruschetta with olives, garlic and basil. It melted beautifully under the broiler, keeping it’s shape. It didn’t get runny or stringy. It’s a “hard” cheese, not as hard as Parmesan though.

bruschetta with olives, cheese, garlic, & basil

Nutritional Data per 1 oz serving

Calories 108 Calories from Fat 81
Total Fat 9g
Saturated Fat 7g
Cholesterol 30mg
Sodium 160mg
Total Carbohydrate 0
Dietary Fiber 0
Protein 7g

Smile & Say Cheese!

I wanted my first official review for 52 Foods in 52 to be special, something significant and poignant.

What’s better than cheese! Yum! In fact, the original idea for my 52 Foods in 52 project popped into my head when I saw this particular cheese!

Healthy Delight French Style Yogurt Cheese

yogurt cheese

I love walking in the cheese department at Whole Foods, and even better when they have cheese samples out. Well, she just put out a fresh plate of samples for the Healthy Delight Yogurt Cheese, and as soon as a tasted a bite, I knew I had to purchase a block. Delicious, soft, and mild. I immediately thought about pizza topping and mac & cheese!

Continue reading “Smile & Say Cheese!”