Friday Food Frenzy 13

I'm so excited to be back in full force. I didn't do heavy duty cooking this week but am working on next week already... I did manage to come up with a few items to share this week though...

While walking through my local Target (having no intentions of doing any "grocery shopping"), I noticed at the end of one of their aisles that they were spotlighting a new product: Kraft Recipe Makers. Each box contains two sauces for you to make a meal --- you just need the ingredients on the box to get going! The "Recipe Maker" that caught my eye first: New England Pot Roast. Having just returned home from an extended time away, I wanted to make something quick and easy for dinner. This "magical box" allowed me to pick up a chuck roast, potatoes, carrots, and an onion... throw them in my slow cooker with one of these sauces... let it cook all day, then 15 minutes before it was done, I added the finishing sauce... and voila! 

Photo Credit: Kraft

I must admit, I was skeptical. We don't (yet) own a grill so I try new beef recipes from time to time and with the exception of recipes that call for ground beef, I haven't found anything I love. Until now! Many pot roast recipes I've found online for the slow cooker want you to brown the meat first, and I've got to be honest... I'm lazy! This was so easy, and it was actually delicious! I'm a steak snob so I'm picky when it comes to meats, but this was a big hit in my house and I will definitely be trying this again. Using a 2.5lb piece of meat, the box notes that it will yield 7 servings at 390 calories per serving. Not too bad! I think next time I make this, I may try adding some green beans to the slow cooker too.

Interested in what other Recipe Makers they sell? Hickory Beef BBQ; Tex-Mex Chicken Fajita; Three-Cheese Chicken Florentine; Sweet and Sour Chicken; and Verde Chicken Enchilada. They aren't all slow cooker meals (I don't believe) but I certainly would like to try more of these soon... or at least keep them on hand for my lazy days.

Another yummy find at the grocery store this week that was purely accidental: Marzetti has a new line of dips called Otria. They are dips made with Greek Yogurt (several of which are gluten free). I tried the Spinach and Artichoke with carrots for a snack this week and it was quite yummy (only 60 calories per2 tablespoons). Otria also has a line of Hummus and Fruit drips --- several of which I'm anxious to try (Sweet Vanilla Cinnamon Fruit Dip, anyone?!) I noticed on their Otria website, they offer a coupon to save 75 cents, so if you want to give it a try, at least you can save some money.

Bon Appetit! See you next week!

~ Aly