Goya 75th Birthday and Giveaway

I'm extending the deadline to 9/10 so you still have a chance to enter! See the original post below:

----------------------------

I really love Goya. As a Latina, I grew up with Goya products because frankly Goya provides all the key ingredients needed for a variety of Latin cuisines. My mother is Dominican and she uses Sazon Goya, Goya Chicken Bouillion, Goya Sofrito, Goya Guava Jelly, Goya Beans (canned and dry in bags), Goya Olives and Capers and Goya Fideos on a regular basis. I like to buy the Goya Beans (the low sodium canned kind), their hominy, canned corn, canned tomato sauce, olives, capers, garlic powder, cinnamon sticks, frozen plaintains, corn meal, chicken bouillion and beef bouillion. Goya products are really inexpensive. I always check the Goya section first before I buy any spices, herbs, sauces, olives, capers, beans and rice before I pick up these products in another section of the store. Chances are, if they are in the Goya section they will be cheaper and better quality. I stopped using canned or boxed chicken or beef broth a long time ago. I buy a big box of the chicken bouillion packets. Each packet gives me 2 cups of chicken broth. With multiple packets in a $1.99 box, I save a lot of money and space by sticking to bouillion. I just make sure I dilute it with boiling water. Goya products take up a good amount of real estate in my pantry and I believe in their slogan, Si Es Goya, Tiene Que Ser Bueno (If it's Goya, it has to be good).

Goya is celebrating their 75th birthday this year! If you look for Goya products with the "Match Your Birthday" logo on them, buy them! Collect the wrapper or box! It'll have 1 number on it. If you collect enough that you can number out your birthday (for single digit months it works with 0X), then you can enter their contest to win $75,000. I've been keeping my canned bean wrappers but haven't been able to get my birthday or Carlos' yet. They also have various birthday contests. Find more info about it here.

Goya provided me with the opportunity to give away one of their recipe boxed sets. Each boxed set contains 6 booklets featuring a different type of Latin cuisine including: South America, Central America, the Carribean, Mexico, Spain and Latin Fusion.

Each booklet contains information about the different cuisines, a list of the staples of each as well as recipes which include some Goya products as ingredients. One side of the booklet is in English:

and the other is in Spanish! I had fun reading the Spanish version. I'm fluent but could always use an excuse to brush up on my Spanish reading skills.

To enter, just fill the form below and tell me which of Goya's products is your favorite. The contest ends SEPTEMBER 10TH! and is only available to US residents (because I have to mail this myself!). Good luck!

Full Disclosure: I love Goya. Goya contacted me about hosting this giveaway and provided me with 1 boxed set to keep and 1 to give away. I received no compensation and my love for Goya products is genuine.

Yoplait Smoothie Review and Giveaway

I saw so many other blogs reviewing and giving away this Yoplait Smoothie pack that I was upset that I didn't get the opportunity. However, Yoplait heard my Tweet of complaint and went to MyBlogSpark about it. I was snuck in at the last minute. Thank you Yoplait and MyBlogSpark! You made this smoothie-loving gal very happy.

Yoplait Smoothie packs come in your grocery's freezer section. The 7.5 oz bag contains chopped frozen fruit and frozen balls of yogurt mix. You add the contents of the bag into your blender, pour in one cup of your milk of choice (cow's milk, soy milk or almond milk) and blend blend blend. It comes in Strawberry Banana, Blueberry Pomegranate, Triple Berry and Strawberry Mango Pineapple flavors. At my local grocery store, it costs $2.89 per bag. This seemed pretty high to me but then I figured the cost of getting yogurt, fresh or frozen fruit, or even buying a prepared smoothie at my local Panera is about equal. If you wanted to make smoothies once or twice a week, this is definitely worth it. If you wanted to make smoothies every day, I would suggest buying lots of frozen fruit and a big tub of plain nonfat yogurt and making it yourself.

I tried the Strawberry Banana Smoothie thanks to both Yoplait and MyBlogSpark. Our blender didn't care for the frozen yogurt balls and I had to stir the mixture with a wooden spoon several times to get it to blend evenly. Once it was blended, it filled up one large glass to the very brim and it was absolutely delicious. Carlos and I shared the glass and we both noted how good the flavor was. The texture was really great too. I know that when I make smoothies they don't come out quite so smooth. Sometimes you chew on a bit of fruit even after you've blended it to death. This smoothie was smooth as silk!

Pros

very convenient, takes almost no time to make

only 220 calories for one smoothie, as a breakfast this is pretty light

good flavor and smooth texture

Cons

one bag = one glass of smoothie

price tag

not terribly blender friendly

Giveaway time! 

Yoplait and MyBlogSpark have provided me with the opportunity to giveaway one of these fabulous prize packs. The pack includes a drawstring backpack, a water bottle, a diet & fitness journal and 1 VIP coupon for a free bag of Yoplait Smoothie. Here's how to enter!

1. First Entry: Tell me in the comments which flavor of Yoplait Smoothie you are excited to try.
2. Second Entry: Like Thoughtful Eating on Facebook . Leave a separate comment telling me that you either liked the page or have already liked it.
3. Follow me on Twitter @thoughtfuleats . Leave a separate comment telling me you followed me or you are already one of my followers.

Contest starts today and ends March 26th. Winner will be announced on March 27th (Sunday). US participants only (sorry Canada & Sweden!).

Progresso Lemon-Pepper Panko Giveaway Winner

And the winner, chosen at random is...

Megan from This Girl Can Eat

Megan shared a recipe from Michael Chiarello's cookbook that she made herself. Red Zinfandel Spaghetti. It looks amazing!

Thank you to those who participated!

Progresso's Lemon-Pepper Panko Recipes & a Giveaway

MyBlogSpark recently gave me an opportunity to try out Progresso's new Lemon-Pepper Panko Breadcrumbs. I was really excited because it would be a great way to familiarize myself with Panko breadcrumbs (I had never used them before) and to get myself out of the Market Basket Golden Breadcrumb rut I was in. The Lemon-Pepper Panko was the perfect combination of spicy and sour. Just enough to give what dish you use it in a nice kick. They also sent me a copy of Michael Chiarello's new cookbook: Bottega: Bold Italian Flavors from the Heart of California's Wine Country. You know how they call people who read books about far away and exotic places "armchair travelers"? Well, I would be considered an "armchair cook" reading this beautiful volume of recipes and stories because it is a bit too advanced for my culinary skills. However, it's nice to imagine I can make all the lovely dishes in the book.

I developed three different recipes using Progresso's Lemon-Pepper Breadcrumbs. You can see all three results in the picture above. I don't recommend making this all into one meal as I did. You will suffer from a Panko-overdose which may result in a carb headache. Try them separately please! Consider yourself warned.

Clam and Lemon-Pepper Panko Breadcrumb Pasta

1 can of chopped clams
3 tablespoons of extra light olive oil
1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
4 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 a box of linguine cooked
1/3 cup of Progresso's Lemon-Pepper Panko Breadcrumbs

In large skillet, heat up the oil with the garlic and red pepper flakes. When the oil starts to sizzle, add the chopped clams and cook for a couple of minutes. Lower the temperature a bit so that the garlic doesn't burn. You basically just want the oil to be infused with the flavor of the red pepper flakes and garlic and for the chopped clams to be heated. Add the linguine and toss well. Then sprinkle the Lemon-Pepper Panko Breadcrumbs on top. I like to toss it a second time so that the breadcrumbs are incorporated well. Serve and enjoy.

Baked Lemon-Pepper Panko Ravioli
2 cups of cooked plain cheese ravioli, patted dry
2 eggs beaten with a teaspoon of water added
1-2 cups of Progresso's Lemon-Pepper Panko Breadcrumbs

(see instructions below)

Lemon-Pepper Panko Mozzarella Sticks

1 package of Mozzarella String Cheese
2 eggs beaten with a teaspoon of water added
1-2 cups of Progresso's Lemon-Pepper Panko Breadcrumbs

(for both the Ravioli and Mozzarella Sticks)
Heat up your oven to 375 degrees. Set up a station with the beaten eggs in one bowl and Panko Breadcrumbs. Dip the cheese sticks/ravioli in the egg mixture and then toss in the Panko. Place each cheese stick/ravioli on a baking sheet lined with non-stick aluminum foil. Once you've coated all of the cheese sticks/raviolis, place in the oven and bake until the outside is crispy. This will be about 10 minutes. If you notice the cheese sticks start to melt, pull them out of the oven and let them cool. Serve both the Mozzarella Sticks and the Baked Raviolis with a bowl of hot marinara sauce for dipping.

Giveaway has ended.

Progresso SouperYou Giveaway Winner!

And the winner of the Progresso SouperYou Giveaway is...

JONAS!

Congratulations Jonas and a special thanks to everyone who participated. Stay tuned to Thoughtful Eating for more giveaways.

Progresso SouperYou Product Reviews and Giveaway

It's time for another giveaway! This is sponsored again by Progresso and MyBlogSpark. They sent me cans of Progresso Light and 100 Calorie soups to try out and I had fun including them as part of a healthy lunch. I get bored easily, so the fact that there are so many different flavors to try out keeps my tastebuds hopping!

Progresso is also having a SouperYou promotion to market their low calorie soups. In addition to my little giveaway, you can sign up for their big sweepstakes which includes a trip to NYC from May 21st-2rd. It includes free airfaire, 2-night stay at a hotel, a makeover and a $1k shopping spree and a consultation at a major NY department store. Pretty sweet. You can't sign up for that here. Go to http://www.Progresso.com/SouperYou  to sign up. You have to sign up for that before March 15th so get to it.

Here is a sampling of the soups I tried out:

Beef Pot Roast
80 calories per serving, 2 servings
- My favorite out of the bunch! Good pieces of beef, lots of vegetables, tasty broth. It was excellent.

Chicken Barley
80 calories per serving, 2 servings
- Good nice pieces of chicken, carrots, onions, celery and peas! The barley gave the soup some substance.

French Onion
50 calories per serving, 2 servings
- Not so good on it's own. If you can't make French onion soup on your own, get this and go all out with the bread and cheese.

Southwest Style Vegetable
60 calories per serving, 2 servings
- Great Southwest flavor, the addition of black beans is very nice. Chockfull of veggies.

Traditional Manhattan Clam Chowder
100 calories per serving, 2 servings
- I'm mostly a New England Clam Chowder but I like to have occassional affairs with the Manhattan version. This tryst was delightful.

Light Italian Style Meatball
80 calories per serving, 2 servings
- This was just ok. The meatballs and the pasta were tasty but the vegetables were negligible. I would have liked more content.

Light Chicken and Dumplings
80 calories per serving, 2 servings

- Good attempt! I applaud Progresso for trying this. It's hard to package the Dumplings though so they were so-so. I'd rather take plain chicken soup in a can and add biscuit dough to it while it's heating up.

Chicken & Wild Rice
100 calories per serving, 2 servings
- You cannot go wrong with Chicken & Wild Rice soup and Progresso did well with this one. Lots of wild rice, which I enjoy and nice chunks of chicken.

Hearty Penne
80 calories per serving, 2 servings
- Take a pass on this one. It was so bland and boring. Just penne, carrots, bland broth and a few bits of celery. And one lonely kernel of corn (which I think was there in error).

*Calorie counts come from the soup cans themselves!

Now onto the giveaway! One selected candidate will win 2 cans of Progresso soup, a Progresso soup mug and a Progresso digital jump rope complete with counter and adjustable straps. Pretty swell package.

To enter the contest, tell me one clever way you try to reduce your calorie intake. For me, if given the option, I always order in small. Never in medium, large, extra-large, super-size, venti, etc. I even order Starbucks drinks in Short size. It's not on the menu, but they will serve you any hot drink that size if you request it.

Contest Rules and Guidelines:

1) In the comment form or in an e-mail to QuelleLove at gmail dot com, tell me a clever way in which you reduce your calorie intake.
2) Submit your entry by Sunday 2/21.
3) Names of participants will be written on slips of paper, to be swirled around in my trusty cloche hat and one will be picked out blindly and at random.
4) You cannot indicate which soups you want. So just know, that if you are vegetarian or have other dietary restrictions that you may end up with a soup you don't want.
5) I will announce the winner here on Monday the 22nd and will contact the winner for shipping address information to send out the Progresso SouperYou package.

Fiber One Giveaway Winner!

I wrote all thirteen entries on slips of paper, swirled them around in my trusted Cloche hat and the winner was selected.

MUMFUSA!

Congratulations Mumfusa! I'll be following up with you on the details of the contest.

As for everyone else, thank you for participating. Don't worry if you didn't win. I have another giveaway coming up very soon.

From Thoughtful Eating ~ A Food Blog

Fiber One Review and Giveaway

MyBlogSpark and FiberOne sent me a package of FiberOne's 90 Calorie Chewy Bars and a health gift pack to try out. They are also giving me an opportunity to do a fun giveaway with Thoughtful Eating readers!

FiberOne's 90 Calorie Chewy Bar in Chocolate 

My heart sang a beautiful song when I first took a bite out of one of these delicious bars. I do not exaggerate when I say these are heavenly. They are soft and chocolatey and I had to pace myself in order to savour each bite. I wasn't expecting to be blown away by a 90 calorie chewy bar considering I have had so many. Often times, you eat one of these low-cal bars and you burn some of those calories right off the bat with all the extra work your jaw puts in to gnaw through it. The FiberOne bars have a soft chew that is just delightful. They fall apart in your mouth but holds together well inthe package. The flavor is amazing. There is just the right amount of chocolate and it's good chocolate too. It doesn't have just a few chocolate chips. It's covered in chocolate. The pieces are covered in chocolate, there are small chocolate chips throughout, the whole bar is dipped in chocolate on the bottom and the top is drizzled with chocolate. Nom nom nom. I can't believe this thing is 90 calories and it has 5 grams of fiber, which is 20% of your recommended daily fiber requirement. This is a new favorite and while trying to write an honest review, I really couldn't find anything at fault with this product (I tried!). My only complaint is that I'm going to want to eat more than one bar which will outweigh the health benefits of a low-calorie snack. But hey, it wouldn't be a bad thing since I'd just be upping my fiber intake!
-----

Giveaway time!

1) Find one fact on how increasing fiber in your diet can improve your health.
2) Post the fact in the comments section or e-mail the fact to me at QuelleLove at Gmail dot com.
3) Become a friend of Thoughtful Eating on Facebook (or get a friend to join) for an extra entry. If you are already a fan, indicate that and you still qualify for the extra entry (or get a friend to join ::hint, hint::)
4) If you don't have Facebook but have Twitter, tweet about this contest for an extra entry (let me know that you do).
5) You can do both Facebook and Twitter options for two extra entries.
6) You have to do the Fiber fact! Don't work around it by doing the two extra entries!
6) Enter by Thursday February 4th, 2010.
7) Winner will be chosen at random and will be announced on February 5th, 2010.

Here is what you can win:

A box of FiberOne 90 Calorie Chewy Bars
A water bottle
A diet journal
A pedometer
A carrycase for the pedometer
A snap wrist band for the pedometer

Pretty sweet deal so sign up NOW.

Progresso's New High-Fiber Soup Review & Giveaway

I am over-the-moon-excited to be able to announce Thoughtful Eating's very first giveaway! Progresso just sent me a can of their new High Fiber Homestyle Minestrone soup to try out and review. I tried it for dinner in one of their soup mugs and with one of their soup spoons; a total Progresso experience. This new line of soups currently comes in 4 different flavors and boasts 28%

Review:

I'm very impressed with the High Fiber Homestyle Minestrone which had some good-size pieces of penne pasta, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, peas, celery, carrots, potatoes, greenbeans and spinach in a tomato broth. At first taste, it was noticeably bland. This is because the soup is low-sodium and when I added salt to taste the flavors really opened up. Soups really should come as low-sodium as possible to ensure freshness. Besides, it's healthier for you and you can add your own seasonings later. The tomato broth was really smooth and not watery at all. It has just the right flavor with no sign of acidity. The potatoes, penne pasta, peas, garbanzo beans and red kidney beans really held up. The green beans, carrots and celery were a bit mushy and could have been a bit bigger in size. I judge canned soup by the ratio of liquid to ingredients. By the time you've eaten up all of the yummy ingredients swimming around in your bowl, how much liquid is left? To me a bad soup has a higher ratio of liquid to ingredients. This particular soup had a pretty good ratio and what liquid was leftover was nice and thick and I felt like I had more soup to eat rather than more liquid to drink. The soup was filling and I think that's because of the various beans and the pasta.

I wish Progresso would tell us how they added the extra fiber. They claim that each soup has 7 grams of fiber per serving and serves as 28% of the average person's recommended fiber intake. With my stomach issues, my doctors have recommended increasing the fiber in my diet so eating these soups will be very beneficial to me. But where does that extra fiber come from?

Progresso's High-Fiber soup comes in four flavors. Creamy Tomato Basil, Hearty Vegetable and Noodles, Chicken Tuscany and Homestyle Minestrone. I would like to try all four but the only other one that calls out to me is Hearty Vegetable and Noodles.

Giveaway:

Here are the rules for the giveaway!

1) Tell me which of the four Progresso High-Fiber soups you are most interested in. You can tell me in the comments section of this post or e-mail your pick to QuelleLove at gmail dot com.

2) Get your entry in by December 29th, 2009.

3) The winner will be announced here on December 30th.

4) If you are a winner, be willing to provide me with your name, a mailing address and e-mail address. Progresso will be mailing you your winning package.

5) Although I'm asking you which flavor you are most intersted in, you cannot chose which soup you will get in the giveaway package. Progresso will pick that at random. Sorry!

Here is what you can win:

1 can of Progresso High-Fiber soup. 2 Progresso soup mugs with lovely thumb rests and 2 Progresso soup spoons.