Tag Archives: product review

Bella Sun Luci – Not Just Sun Dried Tomato Products

Bella Sun Luci produces more than just Sun Dried Tomato products. Just like their line of sun dried tomato items, their marinades that I tried had fantastic flavor. This company knows their food and they do it right !

Marinades
Marinades

The marinades are only 10 calories per tablespoon – so you just can’t go wrong ! And the amount of flavor you get is phenomenal. The Carne Asada and Basque Norte marinades are great on chicken and beef alike. The Carne Asada was perfect on a thin, thin sirloin that I grilled. When done, I sliced it up and had it inside flour tortillas with some salsa and caramelized onions – OH SO GOOD !!

Marinade
Marinade

Be sure to look for these products are your favorite grocer. They are definitely superior products from a company that cares about quality and value.

Sun Dried Tomatoes
Sun Dried Tomatoes

Bella Sun Luci – Sun Dried Tomato Products that Knock Your Socks Off

Bella Sun Luci is a premium brand of Mooney Farms in Chico, Calilfornia. The company has been family owned and operated and their dedication to value and quality shines through in their products !
Sun Dried Tomatoes

I have used sun dried tomatoes in many of my dishes – I love the flavor of them. Sometimes I find certain brands are just a little too sweet for my liking. Bella Sun Luci products are just perfect to me – they are sweet, but not overly sweet. All the sweet goodness you expect from a sun dried tomato is there, but without the sweet aftertaste that you get from some other products. To me, this makes them just PERFECT.

You can use sun dried tomatoes in sooooo many ways. I often put them on a sandwich. Add a few and you’ll find no need for mayo or mustard – the POW of flavor from the tomatoes is all you need. Try their herbed julienne cut or even their tomato halves. They are packed with lycopene and other good healthful things – but more importantly, they are packed with flavor. Flavor you won’t forget and flavor you will find yourself craving !!

Sun Dried Tomatoes
Sun Dried Tomatoes

As well as sandwiches, try the julienne cut in pasta salads of all types. Just cook pasta, add the tomatoes, artichoke hearts, some sliced prosciutto, some diced kalamata olives and sprinkle with some feta cheese for a great salad that goes well next to just about anything.

By far my most favorite product from Bella Sun Luci that I tried was their Sun Dried Tomato Pesto. This is TO DIE FOR !! The complexity of flavor was astounding. There was just the right amount of tomato mixed with just the right amount of pesto and this has now become a staple in my pantry !! First I made some crostini and ate it pure and simple on the bread (with just a slight dusting of grated parmesan cheese on top). Delicious !

Sun Dried Tomatoes
Sun Dried Tomatoes

Then I sauteed some onions and peppers and added a few tablespoons in right at the end of the cooking period. Can you say FLAVOR ? Now I can’t wait to try it mixed into a soup broth. Take any chicken or fish soup that has a chicken or vegetable broth. Stir in just a tablespoon or two…see what I mean !?! Utterly delicious!

Be sure to keep your eye out for my review of their new marinades, Carne Asada and Basque Norte. Mooney Farms certainly has my vote for delicious products and you’ll want to make sure you try these products soon – my local market carries many of their items and I’m sure yours does as well ! If not, you can always head over to the website and order there.

Looking for some more recipes that use sun dried tomatoes? Check out these recipes that I’ve posted:

Tilapia Puttanesca
Rotini with Ham
Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes
Couscous with Sun Dried Tomatoes
Sun Dried Tomato and Spinach Soup

Lifestyle Foods Does it Right !!

We all know how hard it can be to find prepared foods and snacks that are good for us. Well, Lifestyle Foods has some awesome products that solve that problem – all are healthy options, and all are prepared and ready to grab out of the fridge making them just as convenient as grabbing those cookies or that full of fat hot pocket from the freezer – – healthy eating just got a lot easier ! Lifestyle Foods With so many options (and all of them tasting GREAT), you could live off these little meals and snacks. And that is precisely what I’ve done for a few days as I’ve been taste testing and reviewing all the different options. My goodness, there are so many things to choose from and one tastes better than the next. They definitely get a thumbs up rating from me !

The food is available online (http://www.lifestylefoods.com) where you can mix and match and create your own personalized pack of snacks. Or if you are in the New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania area, you can find the products in 7-11, Sheetz, and Royal Farms locations throughout New Jersey, in a few Hudson News locations including JFK Airport, and most Giant locations across Pennsylvania. There are soups, salads, snack packs, breakfasts, stand along snacks – more than enough choices to keep the pickiest of eaters happy.

I would love to see this product line on shelves in every food store, in every convenience store, and in all colleges across the nation – how great it would be if college students all had easy access to prepared foods that they can eat on the run or place in their dorm refrigerators for easy access to healthy snacks.

The quality is stupendous, the taste is great, the combinations are well thought out, the packaging is minimal (which is an added bonus in my mind!) and the calorie count is way low. Add a piece of fruit and some nuts as a dessert to one of the salads and you have a complete meal. Or instead of 2 slices of pizza next meal, have one slice and one of these quick salads next to it. Eating healthier is so much easier when great options are a few steps away and READY TO EAT.

Below you’ll see a list of all the products I’ve tried and some misc. comments – even if you don’t have time to read the info, please do yourself and your family a favor and grab some of these items. When they are there in the fridge ready to eat, you will find that you grab them. I have, my husband has, my teenage daughter has – and we all feel better because of it !

SOUP + SALAD

The soups are fresh and tasty and if they were packaged separately, I would be buying them up ! They do not taste like Campbells’s canned soup – they are fresh and scrumptious. The salad dressings appear to be low fat options and more than enough is provided, even for dressing hogs like me.

My favorite here is the Tomato Basil soup – oh my goodness ! Just a little chunky; actually the perfect texture. Super taste.

The only thing here is I would recommend NOT using the cardboard as the microwave stand – if it opens up after you grab the soup, you could end up with hot soup all over the place 🙁 And you certainly don’t want to waste even a spoonful of the yummy soup !

Chicken Noodle+ Caesar – 120 calories

Vegetable and Garden – 90 calories

Tomato Basil and Garden – 120 calories

SALADS

The salad dressings appear to be low fat options and more than enough is provided, even for dressing hogs like me. The dressings are very flavorful.

The chicken salad is white meat only and for only 190 calories you are FULL when you are done – the portioning is fantastic. The tuna salad is equally as fresh and quality tuna is definitely used. The chicken in the cobb salad has a nice little kick to it – this could actually use a little more lettuce for all the add ins and dressing you get.

Taco Salad – 160 calories

Caesar with Chicken – 220 calories

Garden with Italian – 80 calories

Garden with Ranch – 120 calories

BLT with Ranch – 200 calories

Tuna Salad and Romaine – 210 calories

Chicken Salad and Romaine – 190 calories

Cobb with Ranch – 220 calories

SNACKS

All the apple wedges are crisp and fresh without any flavor of the agent used to keep them from browning (ascorbic acid).

Veggies are sweet, cheese is mild and fresh, dips are zesty – great snack attack packs.

Apple Wedges – 30 calories

Shred Snack – Chicken strips and cheddar cheese cubes – 175 calories

Essential Snack – Mini bagel with cream cheese, hard boiled egg, apple wedges – 200 calories

Manhattan Snack – Hummus, pita bread, carrots, cheddar cheese – 240 calories

Hollywood Snack – Honey wheat pretzels, apple wedges, grapes, cheddar cheese – 200 calories

Glam Snack – Apple wedges, grapes, almonds – 150 calories

Mac Snack – Mac and cheese cubes, grapes – 110 calories

Obsessed Snack – Greek yogurt and honey graham sticks – 150 calories

BREAKFASTS

The oatmeal was so hearty and such a grand portion ! I might add a little honey or nuts to make it even better. But this is a great little package even as is.

Awake Snack – Granola, apples, grapes, trail mix – 170 calories

Oatmeal and Apple – Whole apple, steel cut oatmeal (with turbinado sugar and raisins to add in)- 230 calories

Lifestyle Foods (http://www.lifestylefoods.com) have snacks and mini meals to satisfy your sweet tooth or your craving for savory food – they have it all. They provide nutritious, ready to eat, delicious snacks that compliment a healthy lifestyle.

Almondina – The Delicious Cookie without the Guilt !

You can’t imagine my pleasure at biting into a ‘healthy’ cookie and being so blown away by the flavor and texture ! These cookies are incredibly good. And with no added fat or salt, no preservatives, and no cholesterol, you just can’t find a reason to say ‘no’. Believe me, that’s a good thing.

Almondina
Almondina

The first thing you notice when you bite into these great cookies is the perfect texture. Not so hard like a traditional biscotti that you break your teeth if you don’t dunk them, yet not soft or crumbly. These are perfect. They are much like a thin cross section piece of a traditional biscotti. But I believe the texture and the flavor are superior.

These thin, light, crunchy cookies come in many flavors – one is better than the next. They are great for entertaining. But there is no reason to not ‘indulge’ (and I put that in quotes because you can barely consider this an indulgence considering there is no guilt!) all the time – no cholesterol, all natural and ONLY 99 CALORIES for 3 cookies (original and bran).

Almondina
Almondina

Like all the best recipes, this one was Grandma’s secret recipe until the end of her life. We are so glad Zaliouk has made them available for us all. Try all the great flavors – original, sesame, cinnaroma, bran treats, gingerspice, pumpkin spice, choconut and chocolate cherry. Each is packed with nuts and full of flavor. I think my favorite is chocolate cherry, though the original keep calling me back to the package 🙂

Get your ALMONDINA biscuits (named after Grandma Dina) now ! You can order online or they are available locally in most areas (I’ll be getting mine at Whole Foods and Trader Joes). Head on over to almondina.com for more information.

I am so addicted !!

Almondina
Almondina

Poundcake with Cinnamon Sauce

Did someone say poundcake ? Did someone say cinnamon sauce? Add the 2 together and you get QUITE the dessert. And, of course, it’s available from Plentiful Pantry ! Just add this to their growing list of mixes that get you out of the kitchen in no time flat.

Poundcake with Cinnamon Sauce
Poundcake with Cinnamon Sauce

As usual with the mixes from Plentiful Pantry, the dish had the guests OOOing and AHHHing as they bit into the most moist poundcake they had ever had (and that was before I even added the sauce !). All I did was add butter and water – how great is that !?!?

Check out the full line of desserts over at Plentiful Pantry. They have so many different ones to choose from and they all turn out perfect dishes full of homemade taste.

Hawaiian Pasta Salad

Looking for something a little different for lunch? Instead of regular old pasta salad, how about some Hawaiian pasta salad? Plentiful Pantry makes it so easy and it is such a refreshing change of pace.

Hawaiian Pasta Salad
Hawaiian Pasta Salad

8 servings
180 calories per serving

Their mix basically handles the noodles and the dressing spices – you just add some cooked chicken (I used leftover Thanksgiving turkey and it was great !), pineapple tidbits, mandarin oranges, onion and avocado. The mixture of noodles (colors and shapes) makes for such a fun salad! And their poppy seed dressing is so special – sweet without being too sweet and just a little tart with the mustard in the dressing and the vinegar bite. Just whisk up the dressing and pout over the fruits, meat and cooked pasta. Chill a bit and presto…LUNCH IS SERVED !

Hawaiian Pasta Salad
Hawaiian Pasta Salad

Plentiful Pantry does such a great job of getting you out of the kitchen fast providing mixes that are tasty and easy to put together. I have tried several of their products and I find them all to turn out very good food.

Check out our reviews of other Plentiful Pantry products:

Blondies and Maple Sauce
Key Lime Cheesecake Bars
Roasted Tomato Parmesan Bisque

Pumpkin Cobbler

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with Gingerbread Cookie Crust

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE MIX IS NOW ‘BUY 2, GET 1 FREE’ !! HEAD ON OVER TO PLENTIFUL PANTRY AND ORDER SOME TODAY.

Take the creaminess of the best of cheesecakes, add just the right amount of pumpkin flavoring – then put it all in a delicious gingerbread crust. All the greatest flavors of the season in one stunning dessert !

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Pumpkin Cheesecake

16 servings
110 calories per serving

To make this rich, creamy dessert, all you do is grab a Pumpkin Cheesecake mix from Plentiful Pantry and add a few ingredients from home – some water, some cream cheese and some butter. It just couldn’t be any easier to put together and the results are stunning. The dessert is so creamy and has just the right amount of pumpkin flavoring. Just before serving, drizzle with some caramel sauce for a mouthwatering dessert that you can prepare in a snap.

Between the Pumpkin Cobbler and the Pumpkin Cheesecake available at Plentiful Pantry, your Thanksgiving baking is DONE ! And you’ll be out of the kitchen in 2 shakes of a lamb’s tail.

Check out our reviews of other Plentiful Pantry products:

Blondies and Maple Sauce
Key Lime Cheesecake Bars
Roasted Tomato Parmesan Bisque

Pumpkin Cobbler

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Saute of Chicken in Pom Reduction

What a fun way to make chicken – the Pom reduction gives this dish a very distinctive flavor.

Saute of Chicken in Pom Reduction
Saute of Chicken in Pom Reduction

4 servings
233 calories per serving

4 4 oz. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 T oil
½ t garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 t oil
1 shallot, sliced thinly
½ c sliced green onions
1 13.25 oz. can sliced mushrooms
1 c Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice
1 t Kitchen Bouquet (browning sauce)
4 T pomegranate seeds for garnish

Heat 1 T oil in skillet. Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder and sauté 4 minutes each side or until browned and chicken is done. Set aside and keep warm. Add 1 t oil to skillet and sauté shallots and onions 5 minutes. If the onions get too dry, add a teaspoon or so of hot water to the pan. Add mushrooms and sauté another 3 minutes. Add Pom Wonderful and Kitchen Bouquet and bring to a boil the reduce heat and simmer 5-7 minutes to thicken sauce. Serve mushroom sauce over chicken and garnish with pomegranate seeds.

Pom Granita

A granita is a frozen dessert with very much the same consistency of a ‘slushie’. It is a great refreshing dessert. This one uses Pom juice and just a hint of simple syrup to add a bit of sweetener. This is so good for you; it is packed with antioxidants. But the better part is just how wonderful it is – it’s POM WONDERFUL !

Pom Granita
Pom Granita

2 servings
98 calories per serving

8 oz. Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice
1 T simple syrup (or 1 T of Starbucks Classic Syrup)

Place a metal bowl in the freezer to chill. Combine ingredients and pour into the bowl and place in the freezer for 30 – 60 minutes. When ice crystals form on the edges, stir with a fork being sure to pull away all the frozen pieces around the edges and freeze another 2-3 hours stirring every ½ hour. Best to serve right after the initial freeze time, but if f you let it sit overnight, be sure to defrost for 15 minutes or so before serving.

Pom Cranberry Relish

Fresh fruit, tons of antioxidants, low cal – this is the perfect sweet side dish. Serve with fish, chicken, next to a sandwich, as a snack….just eat it up before your kid eats the whole bowl on you !!

Pom Cranberry Relish
Pom Cranberry Relish


8 servings
70 calories per 1/2 c serving

The addition of Pom juice to an already incredibly fresh cranberry relish … I’d call it a stroke of genius. You have to try it to believe how good it is !!

1 bag cranberries
3/4 c Splenda
1 granny smith apple, cored and in quarters
1 seedless oranges (peel and all !), in quarters
8 oz. Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice

Rinse the cranberries and pick out any bad ones. Place in a food processor and process until they are in small pieces. Remove to a bowl. Place apples in processor and blend until small pieces. Remove to bowl with cranberries. Place oranges in processor and process until all skin is in small pieces. Remove to bowl with cranberries and apples. Add Splenda and juice and mix well. Refrigerate at least 4 hours so flavors blend.

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