A Little Nosh

31 Bags Lunch Tote Giveaway!

2013-04-15T14:14:44Z

If you work outside of the home, what do you do for lunch? Do you bring leftovers? Make a sandwich? Eat a frozen meal? And how do you bring your lunch to work?

For me, before a few weeks ago I’d have answered that I bring my lunch to work in a Safeway plastic bag. Because I’m ghetto like that. But then opportunity reared its head and my friend asked me if I’d like to review one of the 31 Bags lunch totes, I jumped at the chance. Yes please!

My only concern about the bag was whether it would be big enough to hold everything. In case you were out of the loop, I’m 8.5 months pregnant so I’m eating a LOT. (Spoiler alert: It was totally big enough, with room to spare!)

When I first got the bag, besides the really cute print (it’s “Woodblock Floral”), the first thing I noticed and loved was that it’s insulated. We have a gazillion ice packs in our freezer because apparently an ice pack and a bandaid heals all 5-year-old troubles. You can’t use an ice pack in a Safeway bag so this was the first selling point to me.

See inside? The shiny metal looking part is the insulation and the ice pack’s under the orange-topped container. Look how much room is in there!

I was able to fit all of the below and could have put way more. Love that. Below you’ll see my morning snack (the Life cereal), breakfast (chocolate banana muffins and a banana), lunch, and afternoon snack (yogurt and apple).

Funny little side story about this bag. We went to see The Croods a few weeks ago and I hate spending $20 on the junk that tries to pass as food at the movie theater. So, since this bag sort of looks like a purse I filled it up with cheese sticks, cereal bars, Triscuits, and applesauce squeezers to eat during the movie. Can’t do that with a Safeway bag (without getting caught) either! LOL

Here’s where the exciting part comes in. One of you will win this tote (in whatever pattern you choose)! Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below and a winner will be chosen on May 1st.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you want to buy a 31 Bag but don’t want a lunch tote, there are some specials running that you might be interested in. The special for April is for every $35 spent, you can get a Pro Duffle for $25 (regularly $80) or a Jr. Rec Duffle for $10 (regularly $35). These bags are ONLY available in the month of April and from what I hear they’re roomy and awesome.

Disclosure: I was gifted the featured lunch tote in exchange for this review and giveaway. I have not been otherwise compensated and all opinions are my own. My 31 Bags consultant just happens to be my best friend, but that did not sway my opinions. Pinky swear!

This post is listed at http://www.online-sweepstakes.com.

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Meatball-Stuffed Buns

2013-04-02T01:08:30Z

Do you guys read Pintester? She cracks me up, and rarely does one of her experiments turn out. So when she made this recipe from Menu Musings of a Modern American Mom and said it was great, I knew I had to try it. It’s full of all sorts of processed food, but I’m sure you could tailor it to be more homemade. I just don’t have the energy for that madness.

It’s 3 ingredients and takes just minutes to put together and cook. To me, that’s a great weeknight meal. Serve it up with some pasta sauce on the side, and a salad or a veg, and you’re good to go.

Ingredients:

1 can Pillsbury golden layers biscuits – each pulled into 2 layers
10 frozen fully cooked turkey meatballs – thawed and cut in half
2 sticks string cheese – cut each into 10 pieces
dried basil
dried oregano
garlic powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cut string cheese sticks into 4 pieces each until you have 1/4 of a stick for each biscuit half (about 16).
On a cookie sheet, place each biscuit half on parchment paper. Place a 1/2 meatball with the flat side UP, and then put a piece of cheese on top. Wrap the dough around it, being sure to pinch any openings closed. Place seam-side down.
Sprinkle each bun with seasonings and bake until golden brown (about 8-10 minutes).

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No time to cook?

2013-03-27T23:49:41Z

Tuesday nights are tough. Carter has TaeKwonDo class until 6:50 so by the time we get home it’s a huge rush to get some dinner in him before he has to go to bed. Sometimes we’ll give him a treat and run through the drive-through, sometimes we’ll have leftovers, and sometimes we’ll do a frozen meal.

One might wonder if a frozen meal is really good choice, given the reputation for tasting like cardboard, and being boring or uninspired. But truly, frozen meals have come a long way. Companies like Healthy Choice makes better-for-you decisions like using a splash of red wine for flavor, instead of adding more salt (not a bad idea for your homemade foods too!).

Frozen meals like these are a great choice for last-minutes meals, desserts (have you tried the Marie Callender’s Pies????), and even side dishes. You can use them to supplement a homemade meal, or serve them on their own with a salad to round it out.

This past week I picked up a Healthy Choice meal. It was turkey with stuffing and gravy and green beans, and even had a cherry/blueberry dessert. It was yum!

Check out this video. Kinda cool to see what the future of shopping might be like. My favorite part is the mapping of the grocery list. It maps out where in the store all your stuff is, and then tells you an approximate shopping time. Love that. It’s great for those of us that tend to buy at least 5 things each trip that aren’t on the list. A marketer’s dream, I am.

ConAgra Foods frozen meals give families access to real ingredients like crunchy, freshly cut vegetables, homemade pasta and ripe fruit year-round. Just like most people blanch veggies before freezing them – ConAgra Foods does too – to help preserve color, texture and keep them fresh!

Give it a try sometime! Marie Callender’s hearty pot pies are filled with tender meat, freshly cut vegetables and Marie’s authentic golden, flaky crust. And Healthy Choice recipes use chef-inspired ingredients like, apples instead of sugar for tart sweetness and a splash of red wine for a punch of flavor instead of added salt.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of ConAgra Foods.

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My truth

2013-03-26T10:55:12Z

Please tell me I’m not the only one whose kitchen looks like this at the end of the day. The worst part is that dinner was boxed pasta, frozen meatballs, and jarred sauce. That hardly warrants a mess!

Of course I also made crockpot lentil soup so that’s why the food processor parts are in there. But still. This is ridiculous.

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Fried Matzah (Matzo Brei)

2013-03-25T00:20:22Z

However you spell it (matzah, matzo, matza, matzoh), it’s all the same. That big practically-tasteless cracker we eat every year during the 8 days of Passover. My favorite way to eat matzah is basically like French toast. You soak the matzah in an egg mixture and then fry it up, top it with sugar, and eat eat eat.

Oh, that’s just me. I can’t get enough of fried matzah, and I’m blaming it on the baby. It’s just so freaking good.

Your best bet is to give yourself about 1/4 of this recipe, and supplement with some fruit. Otherwise you’ll be like me and eat your weight in matzah and feel like a lead ball’s in your stomach for hours.

Ingredients:

4 matzah crackers
3 eggs
splash milk (maybe 2 Tbsp?)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
sugar, for topping

Directions:

Combine eggs, milk and salt in a large bowl and whisk together (like you’re making scrambled eggs).
One at a time, run a matzah cracker under running water briefly and then break up into small pieces. Put the small pieces in the egg mixture. Once all matzah crackers are broken and soaking in the eggs, preheat your skillet over medium heat.
While the skillet’s heating up, stir the matzah/egg mixture every minute or so to make sure all the pieces get enough egg to soak in.
Put butter in the skillet and spread all around. Add matzah mixture. Stir frequently. The matzah is done when all the egg is cooked.
Top with sugar. Enjoy!

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