As a Foodbuzz Tastemaker, I recently had the opportunity to try out a new Buitoni product – their Buitoni Riserva Wild Mushroom Agnolotti made with 100% natural ingredients.
From the web site:
A blend of earthy mushrooms, including sweet, rustic portobellos and delicate criminis, creates an impeccable pairing with fresh-roasted garlic and imported grana padano and parmesan cheeses, wrapped inside thin layers of stone-ground semolina pasta.
I decided to do a play on a Giada recipe I like, Giada’s Ravioli with Creamy Tomato Sauce, except I started my dish by sauteing some sun-dried tomatoes in the oil they’re packaged in.
Then, I added 2 small jars of Trader Joe’s marinara sauce and heated the sauce through.
When the sauce was hot, I added some ricotta – just a couple tablespoons – I didn’t really follow the recipe but more so the idea.
Then, I mixed, mixed, mixed!
Meanwhile, I cooked the Buitoni pasta.
When the pasta was done cooking, I added a bit of the pasta water to my sauce and then moved the cooked pasta directly from the pasta pot to the sauce pot using a strainer. I tossed everything together, and then it was time to eat.
Hubby topped my pasta with some fresh-grated parmesan cheese.
We had some salads with organic lettuce, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes to go with the meal.
All together now.
Hubby and I really enjoyed the pasta, which surprised both of us a bit, I think, because neither of us like mushrooms! I am working on growing my palate to enjoy them more, but like them or not, we both thought the ravioli was quite good. Hubby actually said the pasta was one of the best raviolis he’s had and he actually preferred it over cheese and meat-filled ones.
I think I may actually prefer this pasta over the meat and cheese-filled ones, myself. The flavor was simple but nice and the pasta was certainly convenient. We kept it in the refrigerator till we were ready to eat and when we finally were, dinner was ready in under 30 minutes. The new Buitoni pasta seems like a winner, and I look forward to seeing it in stores soon.
Thanks Foodbuzz and Buitoni for this delicious tasting opportunity!
One of hubby’s classmates is having a baby soon. To celebrate, they had a couples baby shower on Saturday evening and we were more than happy to attend.
A Minnie Mouse balloon tied to the mailbox marked the event location.
Inside, they had adorable baby pink decorations everywhere themed for the baby girl our friends are expecting.
Diaper “cake”
Snacks
Drinks – I didn’t partake. I had a cup of Coca-Cola (regular) since I was the designated driver for the evening.
Decorations
Bubbles
Hanging out on the hosts’ huge deck.
Outside area.
More drinks and snacks
Towards the end of the night, the dad-to-be finally cut into the cake.
Passing out cake.
The humidity of the evening got the cake a little melty, but it still tasted delicious. I was so glad to get a piece of the cake before we had to head home to take care of Bails…the cake is the best part of a party’s eats, no?
All in all, we had a blast at the baby shower and we can’t wait to meet their little one very soon. Congrats Wes + Amy!
I know…the title sounds like a bizarre combo, but that’s how Saturday started out…
Donuts
Hubby and I headed out to a local bakery that makes my fave-ever donuts to pick up some breakfast. I ate 2 of these amazing glazed donuts…they are just so good.
Dogs
We walked around the shopping center where the bakery is located and tried to go into the pet boutique in the center but they were closed for Petapalooza . We had totally forgotten about Petapalooza! We went home to look up the info for the event and realized since it was 11:30 am, we had already missed most of the event. We decided to make a last-minute effort to attend the last couple events and to get Bailey some fresh air and headed over.
Petapalooza was set up at a local park. There were dogs of all sizes everywhere.
There were also tons of booths set up with vendors selling dog treats and pet-related business pimping out their businesses.
We wandered around the booths with Bailey and picked up some information.
By the time we got to the end of the booths, it was time for the last event – an agility demonstration.
We headed over to the demonstration area.
There was a guy running a demonstration with dogs and frisbees flying everywhere.
Look how high up that dog jumped!
Aww…
The demo went on, but my camera battery died, so I couldn’t take any more pictures. We didn’t stay out too much longer because it was soooo hot outside! We stayed through the end of the demo and then walked Bailey around a bit longer before heading home.
Bailey got a special frozen dog treat before we left the park. Lucky little guy!
Light Lunch
Since breakfast had been so decadent, I decided to balance my eats out with a healthier lunch – edamame and Barney Butter toast on Great Harvest Flax Oat Bran bread.
I love having edamame around for snacking because it’s so convenient – you just leave it in the freezer till you’re ready – boil water, added beans, cook, drain, sprinkle with salt…done and done.
I enjoyed lunch whilst catching up on my DVR’ed Food TV shows. Ina Garten made a lovely zinger tea on one of the episodes, which reminded me that I had some zinger tea in my pantry.
Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger Green Tea proved to be a nice post-lunch beverage to enjoy with my Food TV shows. I just wish I had some of the standard zinger teas on hand…hmm…mental note – pick up zinger tea at the grocery store.
So, I’m a bit behind, but I’ll try to catch up today.
Friday kicked off with a new kinda breakfast…for me at least. I’m usually running so late in the morning, I don’t take time to make anything I’m not already programmed to make (i.e. oatmeal or AB toast), but on Friday, I decided to try the waffles hubby brought home last week. I was surprised to see he picked these out since he usually opts for the more familiar options (like Eggos) when it comes to shopping, but I was proud of him for trying something new and healthier.
He bought us some Nature’s Path Organic Flax Plus Waffles.
I decided to do a bit of a sampling and made 2 waffles – 1 covered in Barney Butter and the other dowsed with Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup. I also added a MorningStar Sausage Pattie for a savory balance.
I thought the waffles were really good – they didn’t even taste that “healthy” to me – just like regular waffles. I preferred the maple syrup topping over the AB, but it was worth trying. I think I’ll stick with AB on my toast and maple syrup on my waffles.
After work, I had a very special event – an 80′s zumba party!
I actually busted out some leggings and a leotard that I used to wear all the time when I had ice skating practice! All I had to add were the leg warmers and the off-the-shoulder tee, complete with side-knot, of course. Class was a blast, but I was soooo hot in those silly leg warmers!
After class I headed home to see what Hubby was up to – he said he wanted to do dinner Friday night.
I was greeted by Bailey in a tie. Hubby said Bailey was going to be our server for the evening. (Don’t worry, we didn’t leave the tie on Bailey)
Hubby had the table set up so cute.
Pretty flowers b/c he knows how much I adore fresh flowers.
He even picked up some Trader Joe’s Coastal wine for the evening.
Hubby asked if I knew what we were having for dinner with the wine being a clue.
I tried guessing over salad.
But, I didn’t figure it out. Turns out hubby had hidden our slow cooker behind our coffee machine in the kitchen. I didn’t go in the kitchen, so I never saw it.
Inside was a yummy-smelling pot roast. Although I have a recipe I typically use (click to view), Hubby said he used a Tyler Florence recipe, but I’m not sure exactly which one he used. I tried searching for it briefly this AM, but there were quite a few options.
I thought it was so cute how hubby even got out our serving platter to serve dinner.
I had a nice serving of pot roast with some onion, carrots, and red potatoes – the flavor was awesome – especially with all those fresh herbs hubby used. I think I’ll have to try adding some of those to my standard pot roast next time.
Dessert was simply some of those irresistible TJ’s chocolate chip cookies.
They were a sweet way to end a great day.
