Campbell's Go Soup

Happy Spring, everyone!

I'm anxiously awaiting its actual arrival.  It may say Spring on the calendar, but in Northeast Pennsylvania, the snow is still falling.  Even as I type this blog.

And what's better than a warm bowl of soup on a snowy day?

Usually I'd show you all how to make your own soup from scratch, but this week I decided to do a product review!  My husband and I are gearing up for a trip to visit family in Florida, so I'm doing multiple things at once.  And since this is my first time trying this product, I figured now would be a great time to do my first product review.

To be honest, I wouldn't normally buy this product.  I'm very frugal and at our local supermarket, Campbell's Go Soup retails at $2.79 per pouch.  I'll usually get whatever is on sale:  Progresso cans at 4/$5 (with a $1 off coupon), Campbell's Condensed Soup at 10/$10 (with two $1 off 5 cans coupons), or I skip the aisle all together.  And besides, the packaging is different and therefore...a little off-putting.  Or at least intimidating.

But here's what happened:  I belong to Coupons.com, and this week they featured $1 off of 1 pouch coupons.  I printed two.  None of the other soups were on sale this week so I decided, what the heck.  Let's try it.



I picked up the Creamy Red Pepper with Smoked Gouda and the Spicy Chorizo & Pulled Chicken with Black Beans.  Definitely not the typical soup flavors!  I'll normally grab for chicken noodle, chicken & rice, cream of chicken.  Chicken Chicken Chicken!  I need some variety!

Today, I chose the Creamy Red Pepper with Smoked Gouda.  I vented the pouch on one side and placed it directly into the microwave as instructed.  The liquid in the package popped and sizzled as it cooked, but didn't overflow.  After letting it sit for a minute, I pulled the pouch out of the microwave, holding the Cool Touch handles that are labeled on each side of the packaging.  Then I poured it right into my bowl and gave it a quick stir.




Doesn't look too fancy, right?  It resembles Progresso's Tomato Basil soup.  So the proof is in the taste.

Long story short, I'm licking the bowl clean in between sentences.  The Gouda is very subtle, not at all overpowering.  There are chunks of pepper and visible spices throughout, and several times I bit into pepper seeds, which makes the soup even more enjoyable.  The portions were appropriate, although this particular soup had WAY more fat content than I prefer (15g per serving, 2 servings per pouch).

Giving Campbell's Go Soup a shot has made me a little more comfortable with "pouched" foods.  It seems like the grocery industry is slowly moving in this direction, and I should be open-minded about it.  This is a great example about how a food shouldn't be judged by its packaging.

If you'd like to give it a try, head over to http://www.coupons.com and print out a few coupons!  There are currently 6 different flavors available:

• Moroccan Style Chicken with Chickpeas
• Golden Lentil with Madras Curry
• Coconut Curry with Chicken & Shiitake Mushrooms
• Chicken & Quinoa with Poblano Chiles
• Creamy Red Pepper with Smoked Gouda
• Spicy Chorizo & Pulled Chicken with Black Beans

You can also check out the Campbell's Go Website for Nutritional information:  http://www.campbellsgo.com/tagged/gonutritional

Next week, we'll be in Florida.  But the week after that, look for my New England Clam Chowder recipe!  Made from scratch, pretty simple and less expensive than you'd probably expect!

The Bananas Foster

I know it has only been a day or so since my last post, but I figured I owed you all a little extra after my absence!

I like to keep things simple.  Not many people have the time necessary to complete an Iron Chef challenge when they make their meals, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy 5-star food!

This dessert is an excellent example of a quick and easy luxury.  It'll take 15 minutes or less to make and you'll end up wanting to lick the bowl clean.  There is NO shame in that.  Trust me!  I've been there.  Last night.

What you'll need:

• 1 stick of salted or unsalted butter, both work well
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar, light or dark, doesn't matter
• 2 bananas
• 1/4 cup of dark rum
• 1 shot of any flaming liqueur, I use 99 Bananas
• Vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt

You MUST make this is a stainless skillet.  Do NOT use nonstick pans.  Not sure about cast iron, but...yeah, no, just use a stainless skillet.  It works!

Start by preparing the bananas.  Once you get the butter/sugar mixture going, you won't be able to step away safely.  Peel each banana and cut them in half.  Then split each half lengthwise.  Kinda difficult to describe properly, but they'll look like this:



Honestly, you can cut them up however you want, but the smaller the pieces, the faster they'll cook.  Not necessarily the best thing.  You'll end up with alcoholic baby food if you cook the bananas too long.

Next, melt the butter in the skillet over medium-high heat.  Once the butter has completely melted, add the brown sugar and stir to break up any clumps.  You should keep stirring to prevent the mixture from overflowing, since it will bubble and foam.



Add the sliced bananas and make sure they lay flat.  Spoon the sauce over the top as they cook.  Cook about 2 minutes on each side, continuing to spoon the sauce over the bananas.  They'll start looking crusty as the caramelized sugar will cling to the bananas.




And now here's the fun part!  Pour in about 1/4 cup of dark rum and a shot of flaming liqueur.

IF YOU'RE COOKING ON A GAS RANGE, TURN IT OFF NOW!

I completely forgot to turn off my stove last night...and consequently, I have no cool "look at the flames" picture for this blog.  And I finished off my bottle of 99 Bananas with this batch, so I couldn't make an extra batch just for effect.

With a kitchen match or grill lighter, set the mixture on fire.  Hold the pan with an oven mitt and gently shake the pan to help the flame eat up all the alcohol, and the flame will go out on its own.  If you see a sheen of blue in the pan, keep gently shaking, that's fire.

If you happen to forget to turn off the gas when you do this, your flame will NOT go out and will probably end up scorching anything 2-3 feet above the pan.  Like a vent.  Or a cabinet.  Or your eyebrows.

Immediately spoon the bananas and sauce over a bowl of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt!



And there you have it, one of my favorite guilty pleasure desserts.  Quick and easy and oh so delicious!

I...have no clue what I'll be cooking next.  So I've decided to take suggestions or requests!  Feel free to comment on my blog and tell me what you want to see me cook--especially if you have that certain dish that's causing you problems!

The Hummus

What a long, horrible, lonely month it has been!  Our neighbors decided to stop being so generous with their WiFi and put their internet on lock-down.  So we had to pull some strings and cut through a lot of red tape, but we're back online!

Thirty days of no internet kept me surprisingly busy.  I spent the majority of my time going through a very large box of recipes that I've clipped from newspapers, magazines and various food packages.  I've also been able to cook a bit more than usual.  I won't lie, I got inventive.

As promised, I decided to share my hummus (and pita chips!) recipe with you all.  I made this several times since my last blog and have found a few variations that are sure to fit your taste preferences (assuming you like hummus and pita chips, that is).



Starting with the pita chips, preheat your oven to 425°F and line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil.  Spray each foil-lined cookie sheet with cookie spray and set aside.

I usually make 2 full batches (1 batch is a pack of 4 pita bread).  Cut each pita into 8 wedges as shown in the picture below:



Arrange the wedges evenly on the cookie sheet so that they're not overlapping at all.  Set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil (I didn't have olive oil, corn oil worked just as well), 2 tablespoons dried basil and about 1 tablespoon garlic salt.



Brush the spiced oil over the top of each wedge on the cookie sheet.  Pop the first sheet into the oven and leave in for about 7 minutes (7 is my magic number with this recipe, but I learned I can only do one sheet at a time or else the chips don't come out very crispy).



After 7 minutes, remove the cookie sheet and replace with the next batch. Continue rotating the sheets in this manner. The chips don't need to cool on the cookie sheet, they can be removed immediately to a large bowl.  I store mine in gallon Ziploc baggies.  Experiment with different flavors by getting whole wheat pitas or adding Parmesan cheese to the oil mixture.

Next up, make the hummus.  This is by far the easiest part of the whole post.



To make a single batch of hummus, you'll need one 15 ounce can of Garbanzo Beans (also known as chickpeas), 1 large clove of garlic, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic salt and oregano.  I made Tom an extra special batch with sun dried tomatoes, which is just an extra ingredient to the original recipe.


In a blender container, dump in the whole can of garbanzo beans.  It seems watery in the end, but it will thicken up in the fridge.  Peel and slice the garlic and throw it in the blender.  Add lemon juice, oil, garlic salt and oregano and blend until creamy.  Pour into a Tupperware container and refrigerate for at least an hour.

So, some Frugalista math:
If you go to the grocery store, you can get a 10 ounce container of  hummus for $2.50 on sale.  A bag of pita chips goes for $4 or more.

My hummus came out to cost me $1.50 for 30 ounces, the pita chips $3 for the equivalent of 4 bags of Stacy's or Athenos' brand.

The only difference between mine and theirs?  I don't use tahini, or sesame seed paste.  And I really can't tell much of a difference in taste.  And I saved over $20!  A very low fat solution to mid-day munchies.

Next week I'm going to teach you all how to make one of my favorite desserts:  Bananas Foster.  Such a simple recipe that utilizes ingredients you probably have laying around your kitchen!