Mini Quiches in Review & Nancy's Product Give Away! 100

The most successful host & hostesses have an arsenal of tricks they have tucked away in their little entertaining hats. Cabinets and pantries stand at attention year-round, stocked with dinnerware, decorations and edibles. These entertaining geniuses can layout their hospitable spreads within moments of a surprise pop-in or short notice dinner party.

If you are one of these people - lucky you, you have mastered the art of snatching a mini quiche from the masters' hand ^IMDB. For those of you who aren't entertaining gurus - you have much to learn, and remain the grasshoppers ^W of social hospitality.


Photo Credit WordRidden I mentioned quiche - what is quiche? In French cuisine, a quiche (IPA: [ki:ʃ]) is a baked dish that is based on a custard made from eggs and milk or cream in a pastry crust. Usually, the pastry shell is blind baked before the other ingredients are added for a secondary baking period.^W Generally quiche are savory flavored with herbs, meats or vegetables.

O.K, entertaining grasshoppers - listen up and rejoice, have I got a trick for expanding your entertainers' hats. Frozen appetizers. Some of you out there are cringing as you read those two words - fear not, no-one will shun or chastise you for taking a shortcut every now and then.

Even caterers and other culinary professionals have shortcuts they utilize when in a pinch. Rule one is to always have a backup plan - in case a disaster happens.

Before I start the reviewing of a product, I always like to do a little background on the company.

Nancy Mueller started in the '70's making appetizers in her own kitchen. People started referring her to their friends and eventually she started small production, supplying them to local grocers in San Fransisco, Ca.

In 1977, Nancy's Specialty Foods was born, ever since they have been producing on a large scale the company has successfully established partnerships with leading grocers & warehouse clubs nationwide. Nancy's has a full product line of frozen appetizers, desserts and entrées.


The Review:

Today I am reviewing Nancy's Petite Quiche, in the Lorraine (Swiss Cheddar & Real Bacon) and Florentine (Swiss & Spinach). I served these to family, which varied in ages 2 - 62yrs of age, while we watched U of O Ducks & OSU Beavers' civil war football game.

The quiche were packed in their own plastic recyclable tray with individual cups holding each mini quiche. There are microwave (for softer crust) & oven (for flakier crust) directions. I chose to use the oven directions which asked for a preheat of 375° F. Onto a cokie sheet I placed them 1/2 " apart. They baked for 14 minutes. After cooling them a bit they went on a serving tray.

Appearance:They looked edible, the crust was a nice golden brown with hints of carmelization in the right spots , the crust didn't sag. The filling looked appetizing and you could see pieces of the spinach and bacon laced throughout.

Texture / Mouth Feel: The crust was very flaky and light, when bitten into it was thin. The quiche filling had a good texture - you couldn't distinguish whether these quiches were commercial or not just by biting into them. The bits of spinach, onion or bacon was obvious, and natural.

Taste: Both quiches had a buttery crust with just enough salt. Thin crust enough not to overpower the quiche filling. Eggy-ness did not envelope the overall flavor, each quiche had a distinct flavor profile.

Lorraine (Bacon/Swiss): Very nice flavor, the filling had minced onion but that didn't overpower the other ingredients, just aided in accentuating them. The bacon could be tasted slightly throughout with nice smokiness, but definite bacon flavor when a bit landed in my mouth. Chives punctuated the onion. The Swiss added a nice flavor note and tied everything together. Nicely seasoned, not to salty.

Florentine (Swiss Cheese & Spinach): Small bits of spinach. Had a garlicky taste throughout. Nicely seasoned.

I liked both of them, but I liked the Lorraine best. They were received well by the guests, everyone except my kids, because let's face it - quiche looks and sounds kind of funny to a 2 & 6 yr old. My mother-in law thought they tasted very flavorful. My husband didn't like the flaky crust and thought they were a bit dry and needed more flavor --- I disagree.

These were in good form and didn't taste like a frozen appetizer. I will be honest and say that I wasn't expecting these to taste very good, I figured they would have a chemical taste and be greasy and bland.

I was pleasantly surprised. I would be happy to serve these on the fly if I didn't have time to prepare anything from scratch. So give them a try and stock some in your freezer for those unexpected entertaining moments.

The Contest :

Think you have what is takes to prove you aren't an "Entertainment Grasshopper"? Got some tips in your entertaining hat that could make or break an evening? Want to educate the Grasshoppers? Share your top 2 tips in the comments - The best tips will be featured in a post with your linked site url , such as below:

Make tamales & freeze them, for easy thawing. - provided by Tamales Rock

 
I will be choosing the best 60 quick entertaining tips from this post's comments, to be featured in the post. The Best of those tips - voted by you, the readers - will win a coupon for a free Nancy's Entree (good until April 30 2010), that will be mailed via snail mail.

Make sure you link to your blogger profile or site url in the comments (please no anonymous), so I can contact you if you win.

This is a great way to get PR for your site, as well as a back link. The contest starts now December 4th 2009 and will end at 12 a.m pacific time on Tuesday, December 8th 2009.

That gives you 4 days to post your top 2 quick entertaining tips here in the comments, for a chance to win. Good Luck!

Curb Your Cravings - Not Your Enthusiasm 395

January is the month of revival, whispers all around of a better year - aspirations held for those resolutions you have either penned to paper, or kept quietly in your thoughts.

According to data published from various studies published throughout the last 5 years, every January, roughly 40% of Americans vow to change something in their lives, in the form of a resolution. One of the top 3 resolutions is to lose weight¹.

A study published in 2002 by Scranton University¹, shows statistics for the percentage of people who had made New Year's resolutions, as the resolve to keep those resolutions dwindles steadily over time:

• Resolutions held past the first week: 75%
• Resolutions held past 2 weeks: 71%
• Resolutions held after one month: 64%
• Resolutions held after 6 months: 46%

The Study gathered data on the usefulness of resolutions made in January. To gather data, 2 groups of subjects were followed over a 6 month period and interviewed. The groups were made up of:

1. People who had NOT sat down and made resolutions.
2. People who DID make the effort to create resolutions.

The Study found that after 6 months time 46% of the people who HAD made resolutions were successfully accomplishing their resolution goals - compared to only 4% success rate of those who did NOT create resolutions .

This is good news for people who have reachable aspirations this year. For those of you who are seeking to shed extra pounds this year, it may be in your favor to write down a resolution or two. By keeping your resolutions in an accessible place, you create a reviewable bookmarklet of your goals. This will help improve your willingness to keep your word, as well as serve as a constant reminder of what you are working toward.

Once you have established your basic goals for weight loss, it is time to confront the barrage of seemingly frustrating obstacles, some are - portion control, peer pressure, advertising, self esteem, cravings and lack of motivation.

One of the biggest problems dieters face is curbing cravings for high calorie foods. The salty, crunchy and mostly grease laden mass produced items like chips, are readily available via retail shelves and can be found virtually everywhere - vending machines, break rooms and parties etc.

What can be done about cravings? Deprivation - The act of denying oneself access to these treats? Well studies also reveal that denying cravings only results in more weight gain, because most dieters succumb to the internal turmoil caused by the denial, and then start the binges. Binges are mainly eating large amounts of high calorie foods for an extended period, disregarding portion control or the caloric values. This can create an ugly cycle with dieters. It can be quite disheartening.

I think one effective method to ward off cravings is to find a similar food - one that is close to the texture, and taste of that high calorie, unneeded food you might crave. The key is to find the version that is the least in calories, yet still as tasty.

Thankfully flavor technologies are starting to catch up with the science of creating and marketing low calorie products. The bland, obviously doctored tastes of diet foods past seems to have dissolved, much like the once bad after tastes.

So keeping in tune with this post, I wanted to share that I discovered something recently, that was pretty nifty. Kellogg's brand 'Special K ' has started marketing low calorie snacks as part of their pro-low calorie product line. I think by far the multi-grain crackers they just released are one of the tastiest store bought crackers I have had in a while.

The closest retail comparison I could think of is "Wheat Thins". Now I have not been a fan of "Wheat Thins", the crackers are a bit too substantial for my taste. And they have an overpowering taste that competes with anything you add to them. Plus I find that I get this odd after taste when I have had a few at a time.

But Special K's multi-grain crackers surprised me. They have a very light & airy texture with bits of whole grains - but can still hold their own when used with a thicker dip or soft cheese. The taste of the cracker comes off very pleasant, with a slight hint of onion. Very buttery.

I honestly can say they were extremely good. Something I will keep in my pantry.

There is a second variety of Special K's crackers I tasted. The flavor is Italian Tomatoes & Herb. Now if you are someone who loves the taste of tomato bisque or sun-dried tomatoes - you will appreciate this variety.

I am not a fan of tomato bisque. I love marinara sauces and sun-dried tomato but something about that kind of soup just doesn't do it for me.

I did taste the crackers enough to get a sense of their flavor. The tomato flavor is pretty heavy in these crackers. IThe crackers actually reminded me of tomato soup with an aged cheese melted into it.

My husband (who happens to be an avid tomato bisque consumer) loved these crackers. As did my 20 month old. Plus they passed the "picky eater" test with my 5 yr old.

So if you are looking for something to curb your cravings, these crackers seem like a win-win. Per serving of 17 crackers it is only 90 calories. They come in individual portion controlled .77 oz pouches, or you can purchase a box of 6 pouches, and for larger amounts, the 8 oz carton is great for parties.

You can view more about the crackers , such as the nutritional & allergy info, by clicking on the above links (which point to Kellogg's website) or visit their product pages:

Special K Multi-grain Crackers:

• http://www2.kelloggs.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=15751

Special K Italian Tomato & Herb Crackers:

• http://www2.kelloggs.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=15771

Related Posts:

• How sweet it is: The Skinny on Low Glycemic Sweeteners
• Lo-fat Recipe: Banana - Rum Napoleons
• Trace Produce : Come and Meet Your Farmer

Source::
¹Auld Lang Syne: Success predictors, change processes, and self-reported outcomes of New Year's resolvers and nonresolvers, by John C. Norcross, Marci S. Mrykalo, Matthew D. Blagys , University of Scranton. Journal of Clinical Psychology, Volume 58, Issue 4 (2002).

Product Review: See Me Read Kit - Complete 6

Have you wished there was an educational product out there - one you could add your child's pic to, that would help him/her get better at reading ? See Me Read  is a product aimed at helping early readers succeed. After seeing her success from working with her own son - Lori Albert Luke , worked with childhood literacy expert Lynette Frentte to create the See Me Read^TM kit, a program that features personalized whole-word learning tools.

See Me Read Kit
Completely customizable...

The Product Specs:

I received the complete kit. The kit includes:

1. Laminated Reader Cards (24 words)
2. Reading Books Level 1 and Level 2
3. Labels (24 words)
4. Writing Pad
5. Parent Guide on encouraging reading and
   tips for success

When you go to the See Me Read site , you
have 3 options, or kits, to choose from.
The largest kit is the complete kit.
You have the option to "Buy now,create
later" or "create now".

When you create your personalized kit,

You will be asked to choose 24 words out

of 39 words - the words are people,

objects, animals or places(such as dad,

or bathroom) . You will then be instructed

to take pictures of your child or upload

pictures you already have, that match

the what each word

describes (such as a picture of Ella stand-

ing in"Ella's room " or "Ella's cat"). These

are the words your child will be learning

to spell and read.

If you have selected the full kit you will also

need to fill out a questionnaire because the

Reading Book Level 2 has more advanced

sentences that need to be personalized to

fit your child's kit.

This process will take anywhere from

45 minutes to an hour. So prepare to have

some time freed up if you will be ordering

this complete kit.

The selected kit will then be shipped out and you

should receive it via USPS in 2 weeks.

Product Pros:

1. Flash cards are large and heavily laminated, and are put on a jump ring - this is great because I know with my kids they loose anything cards related, having these cards on a ring ends having to pull them from every which corner and crevice in our house months after the fact.
2. The Labels, Flash Cards, Reading Books 1 & 2 are all written in large print , and are not to busy or distracting, making for kids friendly reading.
3. This kit integrates learning to read into your child's environment so everything your child is reading about is familiar and welcoming - there is no instance for your child to feel overwhelmed by being in a strange environment, so the learning is natural and at your child's own pace - SO much so that your child will wake up wanting to learn more.
4. By using your own child's name and pictures on these tools, this encourages your kids to embrace themselves in a new light - one that will boost self esteem and confidence
5. The kit is designed with pre-school and kindergarten curriculum in mind
6. This kit is easy to use, and your child will practically teach him/herself.
7. The included notebook has exercises to stimulate your child's creativity and fine motor skills by encouraging your child not only to read the object but to also draw the objects she/he has been learning to spell out.

Product Cons:

1. The parent guide mentions putting the labels on the object they are describing (such as a dresser), at your child's eye level to encourage them to read wherever they are and learn through association. But I can't help but wish the labels were laminated like the flash cards.

Hint: If you purchase the kit I would recommend you take the labels into Kinko's to get them laminated - especially if you will be using with younger siblings later on.

Conclusion:

The See Me Read Kit Complete is an excellent tool to help get your little one on the right track to reading regularly. I would definitely recommend it.

Product Review : Screen, Inc's Tween Screen 2

As an eczema sufferer and a very allergy prone person, I am always weary of trying new lotions or creams - afraid of the onslaught of terrible itching a wrong ingredient will send my skin reeling from. Most of the time I loath even "sensitive skin" formulas because they usually cause even more irritation.

But I was pleasantly surprised when opening Screen Inc. The lotion was very lightly scented with a tropical smell. There are no heavy perfumes or chemical smells.

When I applied the lotion - my eczema was not even affected a little. I didn't get any hives or itchiness. This is pretty big considering my history with lotions and allergies.

A little of the Tween Screen went a long way to cover a larger area. The sunscreen when applied to skin was very light, and there was no greasiness whatsoever. The sunscreen went on smoothly and absorbed quickly into the skin - it didn't need to be worked in and massaged diligently like some major brand sunscreens.

Plus there are allot of botanical ingredients I felt were nice to see when going through the list of ingredients. Screen Inc. Sunscreens are all made in the USA.

Tween Screen is geared toward daily use on the face. It has a SPF of 16+. That SPF is pretty standard for facial sunscreens.

Higher SPFs are available and are recommended - but that day I forgot my sunscreen and this was handy in my purse.


Overall I felt this would be a sunscreen I could be comfortable recommending - especially for people with extremely sensitive skin - who are prone to eczema , and for tweens who are at that stage when they are just approaching puberty - this will not clog pores, or feel to greasy on their skin - and if has a very pleasant scent.

Screen Inc. Also has other sunscreen products such as Man screen, Chick Screen (for us women folk) and Teen Screen (for the active teen). You can even purchase the screen in bulk.