February 21, 2013

Thursday Giveaway: Whole Foods Organic Meals & $25 Gift Card

whole foods gnocchi

Today I am thrilled to be offering up a Whole Foods Market Gift Card as a giveaway. The reason? I recently had the pleasure of enjoying their new Whole Foods Organic Frozen meals and I think you all need to go out and try some yourself. I usually don’t buy tons of frozen foods, but I am not opposed to a shortcut here and there. I love the general Whole Foods philosophy of cooking with real ingredients so if I do take shortcuts it is usually from that store. Of course, there is no better time for a shortcut then with a new baby in the house. It made perfect sense to give some of their easy to prepare frozen meals a try this month. Here is what we tried and liked:

Classic Margherita Pizza: Pizza is one of our favorites! The nice thing about the Whole Foods pizza is that there were real tomatoes on top. The cheese was also true shredded mozzarella. I know this because it melted and bubbled up in the oven. I find so many cheeses on frozen pizzas don’t really melt (fake!), but this cheese did. It is the perfect size for one adult or two children. I even baked it on the same sheet as the spanikopita – a bonus since it is so convenient to prepare two things at once. This pizza crisped up beautifully in our oven. I would highly recommend it for an easy lunch or light dinner. It is also great for kids.

Gnocchi Sorrentino: This awesome gnocchi dish came in a freezer bag. To cook it I simply heated it the skillet for ten minutes. The gnocchi was chewy and light. The marinara tasted incredibly fresh and it made the perfect lunch for two.

Chicken & Vegetable Potstickers: I find potstickers tricky since I try to stay away from heavily fried foods. A lot of frozen potstickers require reheating in vats of oil, or being steamed through which causes them to fall apart. However, the whole package of frozen potstickers only required two teaspoons of oil for cooking on the stovetop. I let them warm over low heat so that the skins crisped up and the filling heated through. We were thrilled that they didn’t come apart one bit and were hot all the way to the very center. I served them with a simple dish of warm low-sodium soy sauce for dipping. I can envision serving these as appetizers at small gatherings or to accompany a dinner of Asian-inspired foods.

WFM_Fried_Rice_Chicken_20oz

Chicken Fried Rice: Once again – I so rarely eat fried rice because the take-out version is so oily and fatty. I was even hesitant to pick-up the Whole Foods version since I was fairly certain it would not be the best food to help me toward my pregnancy weight-loss goal. However, the directions said it only required one tablespoon or less of light cooking oil to prepare so I decided to give it a shot. Luckily, as the package stated, it really was a cinch to prepare in the skillet and it was not at all oily or fatty. The rice cooked through beautifully and it was filled with fresh carrots, peas, chicken, and scrambled egg. Next time I need to itch my fried rice craving I am reaching for this – not dialing take-out!

Spanakopita: I almost didn’t select these to try since, well, aren’t they the quintessential frozen appetizer that are never as good as you want them to be? However, since my husband loves them I bought them anyway and am so glad I did. They are stuffed full of fresh spinach and the blend of cheese inside are rich and creamy. The filo stayed nice and crisp in the oven – there was not a oily sheet in sight! We also found them to be a nice size for an appetizer. All too often I find Spanakopita to be enormous or way too small with only a single measly leaf of spinach inside.  These were just the right two-bite size. I can honestly say these are the only frozen Spanakopita I will ever buy again.

Whole_Foods_Chocolate_Chip_Lava_Cookies_2pk_8oz

Chocolate Chip Cookie Lava Cakes: What kind of person would I be if I didn’t test out the desserts?! Given to that I am a bit of a lava cake feign I decided to try these first. They were fully baked to begin with, I just needed to reheat them in the oven for 10 minutes to warm them up. We loved how the cookie truly tasted fresh baked and there was not a hint of anything artificial. The molten chocolate in the center was perfectly melted and spilled out onto our plates when the cake was cut in half. We served ours with vanilla ice cream to cut the richness of the cake. It made a wonderfully decadent dessert. I can see serving these at casual dinner parties or to kids for a special treat!

Whole Foods Gift Card

To enter to win a $25 gift card to Whole Foods so you can try these foods yourself!:

1) Leave a comment telling me which one of their new frozen foods you would like to try.

2) Contest runs from February 21st at 7:00am ET through February 28th at 7:00am ET. Winner will be announced in the March 1st newsletter! (be sure to subscribe!)

85 Responses to “Thursday Giveaway: Whole Foods Organic Meals & $25 Gift Card”

  1. Hannah Muellenmeister says:

    I wanna try their strawberries!

  2. Melinda Ott says:

    Can I choose more than one? I’d love to try the gnocchi, the potstickers and lava cakes…yum!!

  3. I would like to try the Spanakopita
    kellywcu8888ATgmailDOTcom

  4. Heather Hicks says:

    I would like to try the Classic Margherita Pizza.

  5. Joaquín's Mommy says:

    I would love to try the Chicken Fried Rice! It’s been ages since I’ve ordered it at a restaurant. I too am trying to lose baby weight. It would make a really nice treat! I think my adventurous eater would love it too!!!

  6. Elena says:

    Classic Margherita Pizza
    elena150980 at yahoo dot com

  7. Amanda says:

    At first I really wanted to try the Chicken Fried Rice, but then I scrolled down and saw the chocolate lava cookie and that is a no brainer. I would love to serve it for dessert.

  8. Gnocchi Sorrentino. I’m a sucker for gnocchi

  9. Julie says:

    I’d like to try the lava cookie, spanakopita and pizza.

  10. Kerri says:

    Mmmmmmmm, how about them all!

  11. Veggievangelist says:

    I would like to try the Chicken Fried Rice. I love fried rice, but I agree with you that it can be very greasy.

  12. Allygolden says:

    Potstickers!

  13. Amanda Higgs says:

    Um, is it bad that I want those lava cookies more than anything? 😉

  14. Kira says:

    The chocolate chip lava cookie!

  15. NicM says:

    I’m a huge spanikopita fan so that would be my pick. And I like that you say they are just the right size.

  16. Would love to try the chicken fried rice!

  17. Shannon says:

    I would love to try the lava cookie!!

  18. Connie says:

    I just took a look through some of their frozen foods but ended up passing. Your reviews are helpful…makes me want to try the fried rice & lava cookies!

  19. SaraMama says:

    chocolate lava chip cookies for sure!

  20. JessieC says:

    I’d like to try Chicken Fried Rice

  21. Nicole C says:

    My first thought was to go for the gnocchi but then the potstickers started screaming my name 🙂

  22. Dee says:

    I would love to try the gnocchi or spanakopita! 🙂

  23. Casey Rose says:

    I would love to try the gnoochi, I recently froze some of my own but it wasn’t good when I cooked it the second time.

  24. rachel says:

    My husband would vote for the chicken and vegetable dumplings, but I’d want the lava cakes!

  25. Shanna says:

    I would love to try the gnocchi!

  26. Bekah says:

    Chicken and Vegetable potstickers… I love the TJ’s version and would love to try Whole Food’s version… I LOVE whole foods and I love your recipes and reviews!

  27. Maya Meeks says:

    I would love to try the pot stickers. My son loves these in his lunch box. Yummy.

  28. Brooke D. says:

    I want to try all of them! 🙂 Potstickers & gnocchi top the list.

  29. Sheila K. says:

    I’d like to try the chicken friend rice!

  30. The chicken and vegetable potstickers for me! The reason – my husband will cook them and I just have to wait until they are ready to eat!

  31. Laura Scott says:

    The gnocchi looks delicious!

  32. lisamac says:

    I would love to try the fried rice and the lava cakes.

  33. Kathleen Conner says:

    I love gnocchi, so I’d choose that.

  34. Penelope says:

    The lava cakes for sure! I have a terrible sweet tooth.

  35. Marcia Goss says:

    I would love to try the Chicken Fried Rice.

  36. Ashley Hosey says:

    Lava cakes! That sounds delicious!

  37. Definitely the potstickers!

  38. Audrey says:

    I would like to try the vegan lasagna.

  39. Jacqui says:

    It’s a tough choice between the Spanakopita and Chocolate Chip Cookie Lava Cakes, both sound so good!! I guess I’d go with the lava cakes since I have a major sweet tooth 🙂

  40. chika says:

    I would love to try their potstickers!

  41. KK says:

    Oh, the Chocolate Chip Cookie Lava cakes for sure!

  42. Jess says:

    I would love to try the potstickers!

  43. The Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies for me!

  44. Nicole says:

    Spanikopita

  45. Karen A says:

    Gnocchi Sorrentino

  46. Kristin says:

    The chicken fried rice sounds like something my very picky kids would eat! As a new mom myself (our 4th), I’m so glad to hear that there are new frozen meals at whole foods. I can’t wait to try them all!!

  47. Alice Mizer says:

    gnocchi has been on my radar lately so it has to be the gnocchi! 🙂

  48. AnnaZed says:

    Chicken & Vegetable Potstickers

    margueritecore [at] gmail [dot] com

  49. AlaskaTeacher says:

    I just made my own gnocchi for the first time last night, so I’d love to try theirs and see how it compares.

  50. dlhaley says:

    The Chicken Fried Rice sounds good to me.

  51. VivianS says:

    Chicken and veg potstickers

  52. miranda says:

    The lava cakes sound delish

  53. john billiris says:

    I like the chicken fried rice

  54. ReedieTeacher says:

    I seem to be one of the few – Spanakopita!

  55. latanya t says:

    Classic Margherita Pizza

  56. Sarah Cook says:

    The chicken friend rice sounds yummy!

  57. Karen Lynch says:

    Chicken and vegetable potstickers.

  58. cmh512 says:

    The “Lava Cookies!”
    Many thanks, Cindi
    jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

  59. Angie says:

    Would definitely want to try the Lava cookies!

  60. Ngoc says:

    Yum! Potstickers take a lot of work to make and the frozen ones usually aren’t great, so I’d love to try those!

  61. Robin says:

    I would especially love to try the Gnocchi Sorrentino!!

  62. April V says:

    I would LOVE to try that chicken fried rice!

  63. Erin Cochrane says:

    lava cookies! yum!

  64. Stephanie says:

    I look forward to trying the Chicken & Vegetable Potstickers.

  65. Kathie says:

    The gnocchi. Always had a soft spot for this pasta dish, but never make it at home.

  66. Amanda says:

    Oh gosh, I’d love to try the gnocchi!

  67. Emely says:

    What a wonderful giveaway! Oh, I would like to try chocolate chip cookie lava cake for sure 🙂

  68. amy says:

    The gnocci sounds good,but so do the pot stickers!

  69. Beth says:

    Oh, those gnocchi look heavenly!

  70. Those Chocolate Chip Cookie Lava Cakes look amazing. Do you think anyone would notice if I bought a box and had them for breakfast this morning? 🙂

  71. monica says:

    spanakopita! definitely! thanks!

  72. Domestic Diva says:

    The chicken and vegetable potstickers look great.

  73. memoma says:

    I would pick the chocolate chip cookie lava cake

  74. Kim Porter says:

    I would have to pick the chocolate chip lava cake! Looks so good!

  75. The Vegetable Pot Stickers sound delicious 🙂

  76. Tracy says:

    I think the chicken fried rice sounds amazing as an alternative to restaurant style!

  77. Wendy Rozema says:

    Chicken Fried Rice!

  78. pclvorgmommy says:

    I love gnocchi so I would love to try Gnocchi Sorrentino. Yum 🙂

  79. Kim says:

    The chicken fried rice sounds sooo yummy!

  80. Leslie says:

    The Chicken & Vegetable Potstickers sound delicious! Thanks for the opportunity. elleb at inbox dot com

  81. Erin Powell says:

    I’d like to try the chicken fried rice.

  82. Darlene says:

    Spanakopita. For those of you who do not know what it is, I looked it up. It’s a Greek savory pastry, similar to spinach pie. Here’s the link I read up on it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanakopita

  83. of course lava cake!!

  84. Melissa says:

    Chicken Fried Rice!