Buca di Beppo Makes Your Thanksgiving EASY!

By Meg Hodson

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Buca di Beppo® for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

I actually love to cook on Thanksgiving. I have a big family and we get together for a fun, joy-filled day. But I will be honest, as I see more and more friends sharing that they are either ordering pre-made meals or going out for Thanksgiving dinner, I am curious.....and tempted. Would dining out on Thanksgiving be a welcome option?

It might be that I have had some memorable Thanksgiving mishaps over the years. The most memorable was a Thanksgiving where our extended family gathered at my Mother's house. Since she was hosting, it seemed logical that she be the one to cook the turkey. My Mother is a fantastic cook and has prepared turkey many times. Well, for some reason (I am still not sure why), my Mother's oven shut off about one hour into cooking the turkey! Yep, we didn't realize it for several hours. I think she was more panicked about the turkey having e.coli then the fact that we weren't going to eat until 10 o'clock at night. As she is frantically dialing Butterball to get an answer if the turkey is edible, the rest of the family is trying to punt and see if we needed to come up with a "Plan B". We can laugh about it now, but at the time, it was a bit chaotic.

Makes you want things hassle free this year, right? You might want to try Buca di Beppo and their easy-peasy, don't-even-think-about-it answer for Thanksgiving dinner. You have the choice to either order to go (with easy curbside pick-up in most locations!) or dine in in their eclectic, vintage setting. They are even taking Thanksgiving reservations, so you can pick the exact time you would like to dine. Even better, you can make your reservation online by clicking here. No dishes to do, just the time to enjoy Thanksgiving and your time with your family. Honestly, that sounds awesome to me.

They have traditional favorites like turkey and gravy, Italian sausage stuffing, and even pumpkin pie. Not in the mood for the bird (I am in that camp as I am a vegetarian)? Buca di Beppo's entire regular menu will also be available on Thanksgiving. So, you don't have to worry about fixing numerous dishes, trying to please everyone's tastes and food preferences. Dining at Buca di Beppo for Thanksgiving takes the hassle and fuss of juggling all of those food choices. 

I know my husband and my two oldest children would choose the traditional Thanksgiving feast. All three of them are HUGE turkey fans and look forward to it every Thanksgiving. My husband would have an incomplete Thanksgiving if he didn't have green beans. I know my kids would devour the stuffing and mashed potatoes. Pumpkin pie is probably one of their favorite desserts. 

But for myself and my youngest son (who I think is a budding vegetarian, but he just doesn't know it yet!), we would go for Buca di Beppo's regular menu items. Italian food is probably one of my favorite cuisines and being a vegetarian, it's usually pretty easy to find an entree that I would be able to enjoy. For me, it's a toss up between the cheese manicotti and baked ziti for Thanksgiving dinner. My youngest would be happy beyond belief with the pizza margherita. It pretty much would be the coolest Thanksgiving ever if that is what he got to eat!

Here's to a fun, seamless, stress-free Thanksgiving this year!

Fun Recipe Friday: French Bread Pizza

By Meg Hodson

To be honest, I fixed this for the first time only a month ago!  I was in a pinch for a Meatless Monday meal and had the ingredients to make this recipe happen.  I had, of course, made homemade pizza with traditional dough, but that takes extra time.  What I LOVE about this recipe is that it's fast, easy, and surprisingly healthy.  

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 loaf French bread of choice

1 can tomato paste

1/2 cup cauliflower, steamed and pureed in a blender or food processor

8 oz. grated mozzarella cheese

4 oz. crumbled goat cheese

Toppings (choose your faves):  Fresh spinach leaves, sliced black olives, sliced mushrooms, chopped onions, finely chopped red pepper, salami, pepperoni

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. basil

Grated parmesan cheese for garnish

Prepare the pizza sauce:  Combine the tomato paste, pureed cauliflower, and all spices in a small bowl. Set aside.

Slice the loaf of French bread down the center, then cut the two halves in half.  If you would like to reduce the "carb load", feel free to slice off the top of each piece to create a thinner crust.  Generously spread the pizza sauce on each piece of bread.  If using goat cheese or onions, I like to press them into the sauce. Then, add mozzarella cheese, meats, spinach, mushrooms, and olives.  Press down all toppings gently and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 16-18 minutes

Fun Recipe Friday: Arroz Con Pollo Y Frijoles

No, I don't speak Spanish!  I'm leaving this recipe up to someone else this week.  I'd like to introduce my guest recipe blogger this week, James Puisis.  He does recipe creating for Con-Agra foods and is sharing this delicious recipe with my readers today. Enjoy!

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Four Ways to Come Up with a Great Summer Meal

                It’s not uncommon to struggle with creating a new recipe for your next meal. If you’re like me you want to have things planned out because you have a family to feed. So how does one come up with ideas for the next meal? Here are four ways to come up with ideas for your next meal.

1.       Use Seasonal Ingredients – Different seasons offer different foods to form the basis of your next recipe. Using seasonal ingredients helps to keep your food fresh and spurs creativity. For instance there are a number of great tomato recipes that can be made with fresh in season tomatoes.         There is much evidence to support the idea that using seasonal ingredients in your meals actually makes you feel better during each season. When coming up with a new meal first ask yourself what ingredients you will use.

2.       How Many are You Feeding – Before making a recipe always make sure you have a sense of how many people you will be feeding. The size and potions that you will need to feed a group certainly determines what sort of recipe that you should make. Different recipes fit different audiences and audience sizes. Build your meal around the how many people you are feeding.

3.       Listen to Your Taste Buds – Let your taste buds be your guide. Once you have a sense of seasonal ingredients and how many people you are feeding, your taste buds are actually a really good source for leading you in the right direction with your next your recipe. Listen to what sounds good to you for your next meal.

4.       Research and Experiment – In order to come up with new ideas sometimes it is best to gets some inspiration from other sources. Do research and find new ways of coming up with recipes. Eventually these ideas will start to form your own. Also experiment around on your own. Experimentation helps you practice and gives you expose to new ideas for your next meal.

Here is a recipe for your next meal:

Arroz con Pollo y Frijoles

Ingredients

·         2-1/2 pounds chicken thighs

·         1 teaspoon garlic salt

·         1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

·         PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray

·         1 cup long-grain rice, uncooked

·         2 cans (10 oz each) Ro*Tel® Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained

·         1 can (14 oz each) reduced-sodium chicken broth

·         1 can (16 oz each) Rosarita® No Fat Traditional Refried Beans

·         1/2 cup shredded Oaxaca, Chihauhau or Mexican blend cheese (1/2 cup = 2 oz)

Directions:

1.       Season chicken with garlic salt and pepper. Spray large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Place chicken, skin side down, in skillet. Cook 7 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove chicken from skillet.

2.       Add rice to skillet. Brown rice in pan drippings over medium heat about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add undrained tomatoes and broth; blend well. Place chicken on top of rice. Bring to a boil.

3.       Reduce heat; cover and simmer 20 minutes or until rice is tender and chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken from skillet; keep warm. Drop beans by tablespoons onto rice; sprinkle with cheese. Heat an additional 5 minutes or until beans are hot a

This post is written on behalf of Ro*Tel. For more easy summer recipes visit www.ro-tel.com. 

If you like what you're reading, I invite you to follow my blog.  Cheers!

Meal Planning Made Simple With eMeals

We are bombarded with recipes and cooking everyday!  Whether it is through websites, Pinterest, the labels on the food we buy, cooking shows, or magazines, it is overwhelming to think of the amount of cooking ideas there are out there.  If many of you are trying to do more "cooking from scratch" and healthier cooking, the task of tackling recipes, organizing the ingredients needed, and making it is a lot of work.

That's where eMeals comes in.  It is the PERFECT solution for people who strive to make home-cooked meals for their family, but want to use their time wisely to do so.  

When you sign up for eMeals, the meal planning is done for you.  Based on the plan you choose (subject areas include "Classic Meals", "Lowfat", etc.), your dinners are planned out for you each week.  Each recipe comes with detailed, easy-to-read instructions.  What I love is the grocery list that comes with each week's meal plan.  It precisely maps out what you will need to purchase and have on hand to produce that week's recipes.  This makes it so easy because let's face it, making lists does take a lot of time as you are going through numerous recipes for one week.

What's also a nice perk is that you always have access to the past week's meal plan.  So, if time gets away from you and you still want to reference what was offered the previous week, you can.  

Here's just a sampling of some of the recipe titles I had this week (I am on the natural and organic plan): Barley Risotto With Corn & Basil, Thai Chicken Pizza, Spaghetti With Grilled Veggies and Ricotta, and Chicken Mole Sandwiches.  

Finally, I will leave you with a sample recipe from the program.  I chose a casserole.  I fix casseroles a lot for my family because they are easy to put together, yet still have home-cooked goodness!  

Creamy Chicken Casserole

: eMeals

: Entree, Main

:  30 mins

:  30 mins

Ingredients

• 2 (10 ¾ oz) cans cream of chicken soup
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 ¾ c milk, divided
• 6 – 8 c diced cooked chicken
• 1 t salt
• ½ t pepper
• ¾ c biscuit baking mix (Bisquick®)
• ¼ c cornmeal
• 1 egg
• 8 oz shredded Cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, combine soup, sour cream & 1 c milk; mix well.
2. Stir in chicken, salt & pepper. Pour into a 9×13” baking dish.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together baking mix, cornmeal, egg & remaining ¾ c milk; spoon over chicken mixture & sprinkle w/ cheese.
4. Bake 30-35 min, or until edges are golden & casserole is hot.

If you are interested in becoming a member of eMeals, please click below.

If you like what you're reading, I invite you to follow my blog.  Cheers!