Product Reviews

When the heatwaves hit the first I thing I do is turn off my stove and oven. I want pretty much nothing to do with heated cooking – give me something cold, please!

I’ve been working on this fun project with Philadelphia Cooking Creme all spring and summer and have really been getting in to using it. So far I’ve made a lot of hot recipes like enchiladas, hot salads, and creamy pastas. This week I took a new route and made a cold meal with it, this Luscious Grape Salad.

As you can see here, it is the perfect accompaniment to a cold summer sandwich or a with a light grilled chicken breast. It would event be terrific to take to a beach picnic or on a boat ride. The interesting thing about the salad is that it is light and summery without being too sweet. The grapes and brown sugar add a subtle sweetness, while the crunchy almonds and tangy cream give it the perfect savory flavor.

When you are trying to come up with new ideas for a great potluck salad or something for your family look no further than this awesome fruity salad. Your family will adore thank you!

10 ounces Philadelphia Original Cooking Crème

¼ cup packed brown sugar

4 cups each of seedless green and red grapes, halved

2 cups fresh pineapple chunks

1. Mix the cooking crème and the sugar in a large bowl, stir in the ingredients and enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is part of a compensated review program with Philadelphia Cooking Creme but the opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Photo: Philadelphia Cooking Creme

Last week I told you about how I love to organize my recipes in binders to thin out my life. Today I am going to tell you how I love to make easy wraps with these new ultra thin cheeses to thin out my recipes. You see, we adore beach picnics so I am always packing sandwiches for things for our trips. My daughter loves simple cheese sandwiches but I love more involved vegetable wraps. I usually fill them up with all the vegetables I have in the fridge, it is a great way to make a healthy sandwich and use them all up!

I agreed to participate in this great “Thin to Win” Campaign with Sargento this month because I am a big fan of decluttering and thinning out lifestyles. It may be the Virgo in me, but I am always a huge fan of cleaning, filing, and generally keeping things neat and tidy. One of the ways I do this is my own life is by keep my recipes organized in a neat binder. I recently had to expand my binder from one to two because the dessert section got so big! Oops!

I’ve been working on a fun project with Country Crock this spring and one of the things they are celebrating is the launch of their new book, A Very Veggie World, with Clare Crespo. It is all about cooking with vegetables and, of course, Country Crock! I missed the book launch because I was out of town for the book tour, but we were able to chat a little bit about her book afterward. It sounds so great, you all should check it out!

1) What is your favorite recipe in the book?

I love the Fall for Them Leaves recipe. Roasting is my favorite way to cook root vegetables and it is great that the theme (fall) is actually when these veggies are especially tasty.

2) Did you ever have to teach yourself to learn any kind of vegetable? (I had to teach myself to like a few!)

I am not sure what my mom did when I was a kid, but I really love all vegetables. There a few vegetables I thought I didn’t like but I have learned that I just don’t like the canned version of those vegetables!  For example, a canned beet is a lot different than a fresh beet!

Congratulations to Jennifer Arnold11, the winner of the Dinnertising Lawry’s giveaway!

I recently had the pleasure of developing a recipe for Plum Organics, the awesome organic baby food company. They weren’t around when my daughter was little, but I wish they had been! For my contribution to their new recipe box I made some yummy fruit and yogurt pops. I added some Meyer lemon zest to creamy Greek yogurt and layered it with some of their most delicious fruit and vegetable baby food!

Welcome to the third episode of The Naptime Chef Cooking Show! This series of three cooking shows is made possible with support from OXO and features recipes from my new book. My first show featured my recipe for Couscous with Tomatoes & Arugula and my second episode featured my Artichoke-Lemon Pesto.. The final episode showcases my awesome recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Bread (yum!) and features OXO measuring cups and the new OXO handheld grater.

Welcome to the second episode of The Naptime Chef Cooking Show!! This series of three cooking shows is made possible with support from OXO and features recipes from my new book. My first show featured my recipe for Couscous with Tomatoes & Arugula. This episode features my Artichoke-Lemon Pesto from my Side Dishes & Salads section and features the awesome OXO measuring cups, a great OXO citrus juice, and a handheld mandoline. The final cooking show in this series will be rolled out in two weeks will each have more giveaways for awesome OXO tools and my book. We’re also going to be having fun Facebook contests and Twitter parties so stayed tuned!

To enter to win your very own Measuring Cups, Citrus Juicer, Handheld Mandoline and SIGNED copy of my book see below:

1) Leave a comment sharing your favorite dish with artichokes!

2) Like The Naptime Chef on Facebook.

3) Like OXO on Facebook.

4) Sign up for The Naptime Chef newsletter on the upper right hand side of my website.

5) Contest runs from Tuesday, March 27th at 7:00am ET through Tuesday, April 3rd at 7:00am ET. Winner will be announced Wednesday, April 4th at 7:00am ET.

6) Winner will be chosen by Random.org. Winner has 48 hours to claim her prize before another person is chosen.

This is the latest installment of my Powernap column. The series where I share quick, easy food that can be made for all kinds of situations. Powernaps are short and sweet, and so are these recipes. These are the things I make in a jiffy when I need a quick snack, am in the mood for a recipe experiment, or simply need to clean out the pantry.

Right before I left from Thailand I was invited to work on a great new project for Philadelphia Cooking Creme. Given that I was concentrating on quick recipes for a few nights before I left I knew it would be the perfect time to use the new creme. I picked it up at our local shop and was thrilled to find the version I was looking for in a low-fat variety. For dinner that night I whipped up this simple savory pasta bake with meat sauce and we all feasted on the delicious, quick meal.

I am popping in today with a quick holiday hello and some crafting ideas to kick off the holiday season. Before I begin I need to offer full disclosure and tell you I am not a heavy duty crafter. I like to decorate things here and there, but I’ve never once made anything truly worth displaying. That said, when I was invited to craft with the Martha Stewart Family Room Blog team I jumped at the chance since I knew it would be a chance for me to finally learn how to set-up some great holiday crafts I could do with my daughter. I view crafting together as the same bonding activity as us cooking together, and the more I know about it the more fun it will be for both of us.

I am excited to be working with Costco to celebrate National Pork Month! Throughout the month Costco is featuring all kinds of awesome deals on pork products as well as fantastic family-friendly recipes everyone can make. To kick things off, this week Costco is celebrating by knocking $2.00 off a package of Boneless Sirloin Tip Roast. An intensely flavorful pork cut available only through Costco, the sirloin tip roast is ideal for feeding a crowd on a dime. I use this particular cut all the time in the winter and on Friday I’ll be sharing an awesome recipe using this cut in the slow-cooker. That’s right – it is slow-cooker season (yeah!)

I’ll also be celebrating the Friday post with a $25 Costco cash giveaway so you can go pick up a boneless sirloin tip roast of your own so be sure to stay tuned for that. In the mean time, here are some more great recipes and tips for you to read up on!

• Costco’s “In The Warehouse” website provides flavorful recipes and tips for preparing each week’s featured cut of pork. Check back weekly for fun, new information on Costco’s featured cuts!
• Another great resource for pork recipes is PorkBeInspired.com. They feature recipes for all kinds of pork cuts, including the boneless sirloin tip that is featured this week!
• Don’t forget the temperature Update:  In May, the USDA reduced the temperature guideline for pork loins, chops and roasts from 160 to 145 degrees F, with a three-minute rest. This will yield a juicy, flavorful product that may be pinker in color than most home cooks are used to. Ground pork, like all ground meat, should be cooked to 160 degrees.