Review: Pillsbury Gingerbread Dough Sheets

I was at Super Walmart this past weekend and they had these on sale for $2. I figured that for $2, I would give them a try and post the review for my readers. According to the package, you get 2 dough sheets and 2 packages of icing. You provide your own cookie cutter. It says that you should be able to make 24 2" cookies.

Here is what you get when you open the package. Since it is gingerbread, used the appropriate cutter. The suggestion on the package was that you should take the extra dough that is too small to be cut and roll into balls, roll the balls in sugar, then flatten. I followed the directions fully.

I ended up getting 22 cookies. Had I planned the cutting a little better, I probably could have gotten one more gingerbread man and I could have made the rolled cookies a little smaller which would have given me the 2 dozen that the package states.

I baked the cookies for about 10 minutes. After they were cooled, I iced the cookies using the provided packs.


The icing packs were not the easiest to work with since they are small and cutting a round opening in them isn't that easy. I probably could have done a better job on the icing but it was already 9:30 on Sunday night and I wanted them done so I could go to bed.


Now for the review. For the price and the ease, these are well worth it. Granted, you could make a dough for much less, but it makes a mess and you still have to roll it out. The cookie was a bit more on the crisp side than what I prefer, but for gingerbread, it was alright. The rolled cookies were a little thicker and a bit softer and I liked those ones better. If you are one who makes gingerbread houses or ornaments, this dough would work very well for those purposes. You would probably have to buy a couple packs to get enough dough to make a decent sized house, but I think that it would be justified just for the fact that the dough sheets are a uniform thickness.

Actually, after writing that, I think I might try my hand at making a little gingerbread house this year. I haven't made one in years and that could be something to fun to do. If I make one, I'll be sure to post pictures.

Showdown: Coffemate Pumpkin Spice Creamer vs. International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice Creamer

While walking towards the dairy section at the grocery store I was happily surprised to see the Coffee-mate Pumpkin Spice Creamer on an aisle end cooler. It was there along with other seasonal favorites like eggnog, peppermint, and gingerbread. I wasn't concerned about those other flavors (at least not until after Halloween is over), all that mattered was that there was one single pumpkin spice creamer left. I quickly snagged it. I then wandered over towards where the rest of the coffee creamers are and I saw that International Delight also had a pumpkin creamer. So as not to infringe on the Coffee-mate name, International Delight has named their creamer Pumpkin Pie Spice.

Since I'm a sucker for all things pumpkin, I bought them both. Then I decided a comparison between the two would be a great addition to the blog.

The best way to begin the comparison is to take a look at the nutritional values:
Both bottles are 16oz. and have a serving size of 1 tablespoon.
The International Delight creamer has 45 calories per serving, Coffee-mate has 35.
The International Delight creamer has 2 grams of fat per serving, Coffee-mate has 1.5.
The International Delight creamer has 7 carbs per serving, Coffee-mate has 5.
On a nutritional value standpoint, Coffee-mate wins out.

Now, I'll take a look at taste: I did my best to make my cup of coffee be the same for each serving (same type of coffee, same concentration, same amount of sugar, same amount of creamer, you get the point) because I wanted to be able to make a clear comparison. In the end, I found both to very good and fulfilling my taste for pumpkin coffee; however, I found that I preferred the Coffee-mate brand more so. The Coffee-mate creamer had a "spicy-er" bite than the International Delight creamer. I brought the creamers into work to get the opinion of my coworkers and they agreed that the Coffee-mate creamer had a stronger spice flavor. One reviewer found that the Coffee-mate creamer had too much spice and would prefer the International Delight.

As for price, the two were approximately the same, but at the time of purchase the Coffee-mate brand was on sale. I paid $1.97 for the International Delight creamer and $1.50 for the Coffee-mate creamer.

In the end, Coffee-mate Pumpkin Spice was my clear winner. It had the spicey bite I was looking for and its a little better nutritionally. The International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice is good and if you couldn't find the Coffee-mate variety I would definitely recommend that you pick it up.

Banana-Corn Bread??? Hmmmmm......

I'm probably going to get yelled at by my mother for posting this, but I couldn't resist. This is what happens when a store puts the wrong mix in a box.

A few weeks ago when my parents were visiting we ran up to Trader Joes. My mom picked up a Banana Bread mix, among other things. Then the next weekend when I was visiting she decided that she would whip up the banana bread since she had some extra bananas that were about to go bad.

If I remember correctly, the rest of us were out of the house when she was putting the bread together so she didn't have anyone to give her a second opinion, but when she opened the bag from the banana bread box, she said that it sort of looked like corn bread. She saw little bits that looked almost like corn, but since it was a banana bread mix she thought that maybe they were dried banana chunks. So she proceeded with making the "banana bread" and added a couple bananas to the mix. Then when putting it into the pan to bake, she again thought that it looked a lot like corn bread, but the box was clearly banana bread.

While it was baking she filled us in on the story. I came in to verify that the box was truly banana bread, which it was.

When it came out of the oven, it was obvious that banana bread was not in the box, due to the fact that you can see bits of corn on the top.

Strangely, it wasn't half bad. It wasn't all that great, but having bananas in corn bread didn't make it terrible either.

So advice for the future: always check your mixes before adding other things to them.
And my words for Trader Joes, please put the right mix in the right box.

Kolachki from Rudy's Strudel and Bakery

Since it was a very nice night last evening, I walked to the comic book store. It wasn't that long of a walk, 15-20 minutes, and it felt good. While heading towards the shop I came across Rudy's Bakery. The bakery is right near the comic book shop and although I had seen the sign many times before, I never read the whole thing to see that it was a bakery. After buying my comics, I made a quick stop into Rudy's.

Its a small place, but very nice. They have some tables set up in case you wanted to eat your treats there and they have a few display cases showing off everything. I couldn't decide between all the choices so I opted for a variety of Kolachki. Rudy's makes kolachki in raspberry, apricot, pineapple, cheese, nut, and prune flavors. I bought a dozen (2 of each) for $2.75.

Rudy's also has a wide variety of cakes, strudels, breads, and cookies. They also make traditional polish foods like pierogies (I'll have to try them sometime) and stuffed cabbage.

I tried a few of the kolachki last night and each one was great. They were very fresh and the dough was tender and flakey. I brought the extras into work this morning to share. Everyone agreed on how good they were. I picked up a copy of their menu and I will be sure to try more of their offerings. If you are ever over in Parma on Ridge Rd. look for the maroon sign for Rudy's. I'm pretty sure you will like whatever you get.

Shrimp and Scallop Skewers

I apologize again for the lack of a picture. I was all set to take a picture of the skewers on the grill last night and quickly realized that I left my digital camera at work. If I pick more of these up, I will take a picture later.

I was at Giant Eagle the other night and while looking at the frozen shrimp section saw a package of shrimp and scallop skewers. They had 3 varieties, a plain version, a garlic/butter version, and a garlic and spice (I think) version. After looking at the nutritional stats, I picked up a bag of the plain variety. The other ones were not all that bad, but they were pretty high in sodium. I think the pack was on sale for $4.99 (but that could be the regular price, I'm not 100% sure). In the pack, there were 5 skewers which they say are 2.5 servings. From the size of the shrimp and scallops, I think 2 skewers would work as a serving.

The package had a few different cooking options, but the quickest and I think easiest of the 3 was to grill them. I had let them thaw during the day and they were ready to go by dinner. Since it was just shrimp and scallops, they took no time to cook on the grill. I think the package said 2 minutes per side.

They had a really good taste. The scallops were still tender and the shrimp was cooked perfectly. I could have used these to make a fancy plated meal, but I just pulled everything off the skewers and chowed down. These aren't bad for the price. I'm sure that I could get the shrimp and bay scallops from the fish counter and put them on my own skewers for less money, but for the convenience (and since I was only making 5 skewers), these are a great.

If you see them at the grocery store, give them a try. If you try one of the other varieties, let me know what you think of them.

Alton Brown's Protein Bars

Sorry that is no picture for this post. I didn't think about taking any pictures until after the bars all wrapped up.

Since I'm doing this muscle conditioning class at the gym and am trying to eat foods that are better for me, I was looking for a good "energy" bar that I could make myself. I had remembered seeing Alton Brown once making protein bars on Good Eats so I went to the Food Network Website and found the recipe. There were a few parts of the recipe that were unclear but after checking out the reviews on the recipe I figured everything out. Also, I remembered on the show that they gave the nutritional information, but that information isn't on the recipe page. The reviews had that info as well.

To make the bars begins with a bit of a monetary investment. Finding the protein powder, oat bran, wheat germ, and all the dried fruits in small quantities required by the recipe proved difficult. Luckily I already had protein powder and natural peanut butter on hand. The oat bran and wheat germ were not that expensive and I figured that if the bars didn't work, I could use them for other dishes. The dried fruit was the most difficult to find until my last trip to Trader Joe's where I saw a mixed dried fruit variety of raisins, blueberries, cranberries in a 1.5 cup bag. It would be perfect; I figured that cranberries would be close enough to cherries. I already had some dried apricots so I was basically ready to go.

I followed the directions as written and was a little worried once everything was combined. It didn't look the most appealing. But it had great reviews and was from Mr. Brown so I had faith that it would turn out okay. Since a specific internal temperature was stated in the recipe, I popped my digital thermometer into the batter and set the alarm for 205 F. It did take longer than the 35 minutes suggested in the recipe (I think it was about 45-50 minutes). If I wouldn't have had the thermometer the bars probably wouldn't have been fully cooked.

Once they were out of the oven, I let the bars cool completely then cut them up into the 24 servings suggested by the recipe. They cut easily and the bars stayed together.

Unlike other protein bars these have great flavor. Pretty much all you taste is the fruit and a hint of peanut butter. It's texture is similar to that of a fruit cake, but much better. I will definitely be making more of these. I want to experiment a little with different fruits or maybe no fruit at all. I also have an idea for a slightly less healthy chocolate bar. We'll see how things work out.

Trader Joe's Cranberry Almond Stuffed Chicken Breast

I took the easy way out last night and made this for dinner. Both the chicken breast and the green beans came out of the freezer. I picked up the stuffed chicken breast a few weeks ago at Trader Joe's for $2.99. If I had tried to make this from scratch I probably could have made it for less, but since I'm just cooking for myself, this is easier and more economical. The chicken with the stuffing is vacuum sealed then frozen so it looks like it would keep for a while in the freezer.

Once thawed, I cooked the chicken in the toaster oven for about 45 minutes. I used a digital thermometer to make sure that the internal temperature was over 165 F before taking it out. The package says that the chicken should only take about 25 minutes in an oven, so I think the extra time was a result of using the toaster oven and that the inside of the stuffing probably wasn't fully thawed. The green beans went directly from a box in the freezer to a bowl in the microwave. 5 minutes later, they were done.

I was a bit worried about how the chicken would turn out since I had to cook it longer than the package said, but it was still very moist. The stuffing had great flavor and was seasoned very well.

For its simplicity alone I would buy another of these stuffed chicken breasts. It had great flavor, is actually not that bad for you, and was easy to prepare. If you're out at Trader Joe's, give it a try sometime (but you might want to let it thaw in the fridge for a day, instead of doing the one hour quick thaw that is suggested on the package).

Review: Ready to Eat (Microwaved) Green Beans

So I saw in these advertised in the grocery circular and decided that I would give them a shot. It turns out that they are pretty good. The green beans are pre-washed (the bag says triple washed) and to cook them you only need to pierce the bag and microwave for 5 minutes. I added the slivered almonds and some kosher salt to mine since they were a little bland right out of the package.

The color on the beans was amazing. They remained bright green throughout the cooking process and present really well. And what's even better is that they were actually cooked the whole way through and still green. Usually at restaurants the bright green beans have only been blanched and are too crunchy for my tastes, that wasn't the case here.

All and all, they're pretty good. I grew up eating canned green beans and for the difference in price (these were on sale for $2.50 whereas you can get a can of canned beans on sale for about 50 cents) I will probably continue eating the canned ones for everyday meals, but if I'm making a fancier meal or having people over for dinner, I will pick up these ones. They look great on the plate and taste well too.

Review: Coffee-Mate Pumpkin Spice Creamer

No longer am I tied to Starbucks to get my Pumpkin Spice coffee kick since Coffee-Mate introduced their new seasonal creamers. Along with Pumpkin Spice, Coffee-Mate also offers Peppermint and Gingerbread flavors. I am only going to discuss the Pumpkin Spice today since I think its too early to be thinking about peppermint and gingerbread (check back after Halloween, I will probably be in the Christmas mood after that.)

I will admit, this is not the same as the Pumpkin Spice Latte that I usually get, but it is a close second. There is a lot of pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg flavor in the creamer. With a little sugar and a strong brewed of coffee, it makes a very nice drink. And with the fact that it was less than $2 for a bottle that has at least 15 generous servings, it is a great deal. If you like pumpkin spice coffee you need to try this creamer.

As of today Coffee-Mate does not show it on their website, so it might not have hit all the grocery stores yet. Just keep your eyes open for it. Its worth it.

Review: McCormick Skillet Paste, Teriyaki Style

As you can see from the title, this post is a review of McCormick's new skillet pastes. In the newspaper a few weeks ago there were coupons for the paste and since the grocery store had them on sale, it was practically free. I chose to go with teriyaki over the other flavors of sweet and sour, barbecue, or country herb.

I followed the 3 step instructions on the back of the paste packet (and made some rice) and came up with the meal seen above. Since the sodium counts in the paste were on the high side I used only half of the packet and I found there to be plenty of sauce.

As for flavor I thought the sauce was pretty good. It's about equal to take out quality teriyaki. My cut of beef wasn't the highest quality and the quick cooking time didn't allow for much tenderizing; so I suggest in the future to cut the beef into smaller pieces before cooking or get a more tender cut to begin with.

It was good, it was quick. I would make it again.

And yes, that is real steam in the picture.