A few days ago I decided to take the plunge and register a domain of my own (and get hosting). With the help of my beloved boyfriend who has many of his own websites I now have my own website with a more unique theme (not custom, but maybe less run of the mill then my last). I am very happy with it. Please update your bookmarks and links to www.lisaopolis.com Thanks J
Stouffer’s Cheese Cannelloni For Lunch
The afternoon I was not in the mood for cooking. I decided to make a frozen meal for lunch. I made a package of Stouffer’s Lean Cuisine Cheese Cannelloni.
The package describes the entrée as cheese cannelloni with 6 cheeses (the cheeses are ricotta, cottage, part skim mozzarella, parmesan, asiago, and boliviano) and a delicate tomato sauce. It also says that there are no preservatives in the food.
Here are my thoughts on this pasta.
The directions on the package state to microwave the cannelloni for 3-5 minutes. I cooked my cannelloni for 4 minutes in the microwave and that seemed to be the perfect amount of time for it. I was impressed with the relatively quick cooking time.
Taste wise the cannelloni is very yummy. The cheeses blended together create a delightful flavor. The tomato sauce is also very good. It contains real pieces tomatoes and onion.
My only criticism of this cannelloni is that there is way too much sauce for the amount of pasta. My suggestion to Stouffer’s would be to just use less sauce (it would be just as good with less) or add one more cannelloni in the package (there seems to be room) and increase the price if you have to. I know I would still buy this frozen meal even if it was more expensive.
Heath wise this entrée scores well in my books. In the tray (pasta and sauce) there are 240 calories (that is a pretty nice number). There are also 5g fat (8% of your daily intake), 15 mg cholesterol (not so good, but you can’t win everything), 650 mg sodium (27% of your daily intake), and 25% of your daily intake of calcium! The amount of calcium in the meal alone has me sold on it.
Stouffer’s Cheese Cannelloni is a tasty quick meal idea. It is filling enough for a meal, and fairly low in calories. It is also high in calcium.
I would recommend this frozen entrée to all pasta lovers who need a quick meal.
Champagne Truffles Anyone?
Today I was in the mood for chocolate. Since I still have a lot of the chocolate my boyfriend gave me for Christmas I decided to have some of that. I chose to have a Mister Booja Booja Organic, Dairy Free Champagne Truffle from the Chocolate Trading Company.
Before tasting my truffle I cleared my mouth with some cool filtered water.
These chocolate truffles are made with dark chocolate (cocoa solids 56%, cane sugar, soy lecithin, vanilla), coconut oil, corn syrup, and organic French champagne (9%).
Here are my impressions on these truffles.
Upon opening the box I smelled rich dark chocolate. Visually each truffle is lightly dusted in coco powder. Upon tasting a truffle I tasted pure luxurious dark chocolate. The texture is silky smooth. As the chocolate gradually melted in my mouth I tasted the pure champagne. The champagne was a distinct yet not overpowering flavor. It was the perfect amount of champagne to tantalize the taste buds.
The experience of sampling a Booja Booja Champagne Truffle was that of pure ecstasy.
Its was like taking a trip to a world of sensuality. It’s melt in your mouth joy.
I would recommend these truffles to all truffle lovers! If you are a lover of chocolate with a hint of alcohol of any kind you will likely love these amazing truffles.
To learn more about these truffles check out this website www.BoojaBooja.com
Indulge your senses in a little taste of heaven.
Kiss Smartie Cookies
Lately I have been in the spring cleaning mood. I had been thinking about cleaning out one of the cupboards (the cookie/cracker treat cupboard) for quite awhile. There were a few small Halloween size boxes of Smarties from Halloween and a few Hershey’s Kisses that had been in the cupboard for a least a year. Since no one in our house likes to waste anything unless it is moldy or otherwise compromised, I decided to search for a recipe to turn the Smarties, and Kisses into some cookies.
I found a recipe on this website www.cooksrecipes.com/cookie/super_smarties_cookies_recipe.html.
I modified the recipe only slightly. I added some rum extract for extra flavor, I also used more vanilla extract then the recipe indicated. With the smarties I cut each one in half (since I don’t like big chunks and I had very few smarties), I also used Hershey’s chocolate kisses. I cut the kisses into small pieces. I used a total of 1 cup of smarties combine with kisses.
The cookies turned out very well. The are soft, and a little bit chewy from the oatmeal (in a good way). They also have a small amount of crunch from the smarties. The combined textures make a very delightful cookie.
Here is my modified recipe:
Kiss Smartie Cookies
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup olive oil margarine
¾ white granulated sugar
½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rum extract
3 large eggs
2 cups rolled oats
Smarties (desired amount)
Kisses (desired amount)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl combine the margerine, vanilla and rum extracts, and eggs. Beat well. Add the sugars and beat well. Add the flour, salt and baking soda. Beat until smooth. Now prepare the smarties and kisses (cut to desired size). Add the oats and the smarties/kisses mixture. Blend. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 12-13 minutes in your preheated oven. Enjoy.
This recipe makes about 50 medium sized cookies.
TGI Friday’s Potato Skins-A Quick Simple Appetizer
A few months ago I was at Costco browsing in the frozen food section. I found some potato skins by TGI Fridays that seemed appealing so I bought them. They have been sitting in the freezer ever since.
Today I decided to give them a try.The box directions said to bake them in the oven for 11-12 minutes. I was impressed with the quick baking time.
The potato skins are stuffed with cheddar and bacon. I had a few hot out of the oven. They were slightly crispy on the outside and nice and soft in the middle.
I had them with some mild salsa. However even with salsa they seemed like they were missing a “zing” to them. Maybe I just thought they would be more flavorful then they were. Maybe if I had eaten them with a medium salsa that would have given me the “zing” that I was hoping for.
Nutrition wise the potato skins have 70 calories in each potato skin or 210 calories in three skins. They also have the following (in three skins): 12 g fat, 25 mg cholesterol (ouch), 15% sodium 360 mg, and 10% calcium ( I thought this was a very good thing for me).
Overall I did enjoy the potato skins, however since they were missing a “zing” in flavor that I was hoping for I’m not sure if I would buy them again.
