A Half Cup » Food Matters

Holiday Snacking – Healthy and Cheap

Siiri Sampson — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:30:51 +0000

Not that the following pictures have anything to do with smart holiday snacking, except that the nephew pictured, Riley, is big on snacking (as any 3yr old should be), and this was taken at Thanksgiving just last week. You’ll see he’s enjoying the first snack on the list – a crisp apple – thanks to his Nonna (my mom).

Riley, his apple and his Nonna (bad camera phone pictures, sorry!)

Riley and his mommy, my older sister, Kate.

Funny Faces

Seriously, could we BE more related?!

Riley with his Chewie (that's me)

EW, GROSS!

Now that you’ve indulged in massive amounts of cuteness, here’s a great short list put together recently by REAL SIMPLE, that I got in my email. They’ve rounded up the perfect snacks to take on the go this time of year. Great for those days you have to do holiday shopping after work, or a Saturday morning you find yourself running errands all over town. Rather than stopping somewhere to stuff your face full of greasy, fatty burgers (which I’ll admit, sound amazingly good, and I’ve had a few in as many months recently), pack these budget-friendly items suggested by Madonna Behen to keep your energy up when you’re away from the roost.

Apples. Though tasty, peaches, pears, and oranges can be messy to eat, and bananas get mushy. Apples can withstand a lot more abuse.
Protein-rich raw, unsalted nuts, such as almonds, sunflower seeds, and walnuts. Tote these for their sheer indestructibility and relative indifference to air exposure.
Dried fruit. To keep the sugars in fruits like raisins from crystallizing, empty a few handfuls into resealable bags. (Toss the less airtight boxes.) For items like mangoes and apples, seek out those with no added sugar, to keep calories down and crunchiness at bay.
Vacuum-sealed tuna packets or tuna-salad kits (complete with mayo and crackers). Like Lunchables, but for grown-ups.
Celery sticks, baby carrots, olives, cherry tomatoes. These veggies can withstand a fair amount of jostling and time away from the refrigerator.
Packets of plain instant oatmeal. Empty one into a travel mug before a flight, ask an attendant for boiling water, and you have a quick breakfast with no cup necessary.
Drinkable yogurt or single-serving containers of applesauce. Punch a straw through the foil and it’s a spillproof, no-utensil healthy snack.
Dried ginger. A sweet snack that can also help keep motion sickness at bay.

Great, all-natural snacks like fruits, nuts and protein-packed tuna will prevent the 3pm splurge at the drive-thru, while keeping your daily calorie count in check, not to mention your wallet! Thanks to the REAL SIMPLE crew for keeping us on track this holiday season!

…And I Thought I Liked Coffee?!? Fonte Does it RIGHT!

Siiri Sampson — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:00:51 +0000

Being a Seattle native, I probably take the coffee (and it’s inherently perceived greatness) for granted. I’ve been around a billion coffee shops basically my whole life. It’s a part of every day for me, and I really just like everything about coffee – the way it warms you (or cools you over ice on a hot day), the way it wakes you up, and the way it just makes you feel good, like an old friend.

Here is Seattle, there are really three camps of coffee: low brow fast food or quick serve coffee you get on the go, major chain mass market shops that focus on consistency and broad availability, and then the specialty shops. Each have their place in my life, and I’m not the kind of person (or food fiend) that snubs my nose up at any one genre of coffee. I am, however, the kind of person that will spit the steaming hot mouthful of crap water back into the cup, or on the ground, if it tastes like a dog took a bath in a tub full of wet cardboard. Just because it’s coffee, doesn’t mean I’m going to drink it.

(click through to read the rest of my amazing revelation about specialty coffee!)

As a little girl, I recall going to Uptown Espresso in lower Queen Anne with my dad, right by the Space Needle, and I got a special drink – an “Almond Moo” (steamed milk with almond syrup in it, still just as good!). And as a college student, I looked for my moments of widsom at the bottom of a mug of French Press from the original Stumptown location in Portland, near my school (Reed) campus. Those days I took my coffee black, black, black. Maybe I thought the blacker it was, the more potential brain juice was in it? I dunno. But that was then…..this is now. Nowadays, the best cup of coffee is shared with close friends and loved ones, at home, in your morning jammies, just catching up on life. For me and my fabulous apartment, it’s curling up on the couch with that special someone, a cup of perfectly roasted brew and an incredible view of Mt. Rainier (which I luckily have every day it’s sunny).

I really thought I liked coffee, and I do! It’s been around me my whole life. But my level of like is nowhere NEAR a couple of guys I met the other day during a crazy cupping (that’s what the gurus call it when you taste a bunch at once) at a special place down on 1st Ave called Fonte.

DISCLAIMER: Before we go any further, let me just say this: if you are not a coffee fanatic, or you just want a latte and that’s all you care about – FANTASTIC. You can still go to Fonte for your coffee, and leave the rest of the details to the food nerds like me that want to know every detail down to what the farmer ate for breakfast the day he harvested the beans, okay?

If you’ve never heard of Fonte before, fear not, I also was not familiar till very recently. But now I know, and I can recommence with regular life knowing it’s a bit better with this resource.

Fonté Coffee Roaster is one of Seattle’s premium coffee roaster’s providing specialty coffee and tea for coffee retailers, restaurants and hotels. In ’92, they set out to create the most exquisite coffee blends in the world. Fonté’s Master Roaster manages a rigorous roast-to-order production process that involves shipping coffee on the same day of roasting, ensuring to-the-minute freshness to all customers.

They are hard core – they source, blend, roast by hand, sell and serve – all with meticulous attention to detail. You can check them out online visit www.fontecoffee.com, or head down and try some in person: 1321 First Ave.

Not only did I learn how to truly taste the value and flavor in a cup of coffee – and remember how to appreciate good coffee black, I found out there’s only a bajillion steps and important key factors that dictate the worlds best coffee. The guys at Fonte know it like the back of their hand, but what I found more impressive was the way in which they could explain it to me. I understood what they meant, I was able to start tasting flavors as well – once I was following along, and I actually enjoyed it!

So here’s the crazy of how this works:

Fonte literally gets to test the beans before they buy, and the purchasing happens via auction.
They get a bundle of sample beans before the auction. They roast and test them, rank them and then decide what they’d like to bid on.
Then, they hit up the auction site on the right day for those beans (check out the auction site here: http://www.cupofexcellence.org/CountryPrograms/Nicaragua/2011Program/tabid/720/Default.aspx)
And here is an example of the results from an auction: http://www.cupofexcellence.org/CountryPrograms/Nicaragua/2011Program/AuctionResults/tabid/739/Default.aspx
Then they get the beans in, locally around Seattle, and they get to work on building their blends and roasting so they can fill their orders, some of which ship the same day as they roast. THAT is freshness people.

I have never had a sneak peek into how this specialty coffee world works, but now that I know, I’m totally hooked. I think Steve, the “big roaster man” as I call him, has a lot to do that. He’s a patient teacher and a wealth of information, and best of all, he’s excited to share that with everyone he meets.

That’s Steve, hard at work!

And here are some auctions that are still coming up this fall (you’ll see a couple just happened, which means Fonte may have some awesome new beans to try out – if you’re close by and into it – or if you want to look online! They fill orders all over!)

CoE Guatemala   07/07/11
CoE Honduras    07/12/11
CoE Rwanda            10/13/11
Carmo Coffees   10/25/11
CoE Brasil            01/12/11

And if that weren’t enough, now they’re starting this amazing new option called “The Vault”.

“The Coffee Vault”
Registered members can source limited quantity, high quality single origin beans.

Beginning July 18, Fonté Coffee will launch a new program called “The Coffee Vault”. These hand-selected, extremely limited small lot coffees vary in price from $20 a pound and up depending on the bean origin. Fonté will source and purchase a specified amount of single origin beans which will be sent to the roasting plant and placed in a zero oxygen environment to preserve freshness. These rare, unroasted beans will be stored separately so each registered client can call or email Fonté Coffee with their weekly order. Steve will roast-to-order a one pound minimum of the reserved micro-lot coffee, shipping the following day.

If you want more information on this, you can contact Lara Jones at ljones@fontecoffee.com.

So, really, whether or not you want to sniff a cup of coffee for 5 minutes before slurping and spitting a sip to get a feel for how quality it is, or you just want to get in, grab a cup and go (or stay for dinner in their precious cafe and people watch – SAM is across the street) Fonte is worth a shot (HA! Shot, get it? sorry)

I don’t go out of my way often to get something “special”, but what I’ve realized now is that I really don’t have to. Steve and Paul (the knowledgeable and gracious owner), make it insanely easy to know as much, or as little, as you want while still enjoying the simplest thing of all – the coffee.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Snoqualmie Creamery – This Saturday!

Siiri Sampson — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:01:17 +0000

FREE ICE CREAM & MUSIC

Did that get your attention? I hope so, because this weekend you can drive to Maltby, just 30-40 minutes North of Seattle and insert your face into a truckload of free ice cream, hot dogs and more with the Snoqualmie Ice Creamery.

Snoqualmie Ice Cream Announces First Annual Ice Cream-O-Rama
June 25th, 11:00am – 4:00pm
FREE ICE CREAM – LIVE MUSIC – ICE CREAMERY TOURS

Here’s the skinny (which I won’t be after I eat all the ice cream), they are NOT paying me to say this, in fact, I’m getting nothing whatsoever. I have loved this company for the past 5 years, after I first discovered their honey lavender (now French Lavender) in a little stand behind a cheese counter and next to a Chinese tchotke stand in the Pike Place market. It. CHANGED. MY. LIFE. True story.

Get this, they’re also adding a sustainable farm. That’s right, they started with ice cream, and now they’ll have a FARM. I love these people. Proof you can do multiple things really well, right?

Here’s a sketch of the upcoming farm. Here’s a bit more info on that if you’re interested, or you can scroll down to find out who is going to be entertianing you while you lick a million licks of ice cream:

The addition of the onsite sustainable farm is just one more step toward the company’s goal of being as sustainable as possible while crafting the most perfect ice cream imaginable. When the Bettinger’s built their new Ice Creamery in 2005 they set out to be as environmentally responsible as possible. The custom build factory was the first certified sustainable building in Snohomish County and incorporates green designs including the solar panels that help run the plant and the demonstration bioswale built to collect rain water runoff. As a result of these efforts, Snoqualmie Ice Cream uses up to 50% less energy and generates zero rain water runoff while producing some of the best ice cream possible.

WHO’S COMING WITH ME?!?!?!?!?! I’ll be there sometime between 2-4pm, so if you’re coming too, you can tweet me or use: #SnoQuoIceCream in your tweets!

You can also find Snoqualmie Ice Cream in a handful of grocery stores. Here in Seattle I’ve found it in QFC and can barely keep my hands off it! (and I am not even a sweets person!)

For more information visit www.snoqualmieicecream.com

Get the scoop on Snoqualmie Ice Cream news and events on Facebook and Twitter.

++++++

MALTBY, WA—June 17, 2011— Snoqualmie Ice Cream, the Pacific Northwest’s top ice cream producer, is set to kick off ice cream month (July) a little early with its first annual ICE-CREAM-O-RAMA at the company’s Ice Creamery and Café in Maltby, WA on Saturday, June 25th. The free event will feature live music, free ice cream and hot dogs, tours of the company’s Ice Creamery, and the unveiling of the company’s new 1.5 acre sustainable farm where they will soon produce many of their key ingredients right on site – the farm will produce everything from fresh honey and eggs to lavender and blackberries for the company’s 700+ flavors of ice cream, gelato, custard and sorbet.

The event will run from 11:00am – 4:00pm and will kick-off with a short dedication for the sustainable farm which will be followed by a full day of fun including live musical performances throughout the day by some of Pike Place Market’s top performers and a special performance at 2:00 p.m. by the Presidents of the United States’ Chris Ballew as Casper Babypants.

Snoqualmie Ice Cream, based in Maltby, is owned by Barry and Shahnaz Bettinger who have made all-natural hand-crafted ice cream, gelato, custards and sorbets for the past 14 years. In addition to selling nearly 700,000 pints annually at major grocery stores throughout Washington, Oregon, California and Texas, the company also operates an on-site Café where visitors can try some of the company’s 700 custom flavors as well as homemade soups and sandwiches. Additionally, the company supplies the ice cream base for many of the region’s most popular ice cream shops as well as custom ice cream flavors to many top restaurants, resorts and food service providers throughout the Northwest.

In addition to unveiling the new onsite farm, Snoqualmie Ice Cream has a lot to celebrate at the 2011 Ice Cream-O-Rama. With sales growing steadily, the company recently expanded sales into Texas and launched a fresh new package design and web site: www.snoqualmieicecream.com. However, even with some new changes the one thing that has remained constant year after year and keeps customers coming back is the passion that Snoqualmie Ice Cream puts into each and every pint.

Warm New Potato Salad with Grainy Mustard

Siiri Sampson — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:30:13 +0000

The amazing CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that I get my home delivery organic produce from, New Roots Organics, always lists some great recipes to help eat up all the yummy fruits and veggies they bring their clients.

This week the recipe is “Warm New Potato Salad with Grainy Mustard”, and you can guess we’re getting a batch of new potatoes in our bin this week?!

source: NewRootsOrganics.com

I’m excited to give this recipe a try! Head over to New Roots Organics website to see all the other recipes they have up (and no, I’m not getting paid, or anything for free from them, I’m just excited, darn it!!!!) (click through for the recipe, and don’t forget you can always sub out for any other potato or root veggie in a pinch!)

Warm New Potato Salad with Grainy Mustard (Serves 4)

via New Roots Organisc, courtesy of Gourmet Magazine

New potatoes are simply young spuds of any variety that haven’t converted all their sugar to starch. We like them because they are small enough to be cooked whole and are excellent boiled or pan-roasted. The potatoes in the bin this week are not technically “new potatoes” but rather freshly dug heirloom yellow potatoes that are some of the best I have ever tasted! They are so fresh, and thin skinned, they will be great however you decide to enjoy them!

Ingredients
2 lb small (1- to 1 1/2-inch) potatoes, preferably new potatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (Use good salt, not the white refined table salt which contains tons of sodium) you will actually need less if you do
Finely chopped spring onion (or slice thin and add to salad instead of dresing)
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Method

Cover potatoes with water by 1 inch in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan, then bring to a boil with 1 teaspoon salt. Simmer, partially covered, until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes, then drain.
Whisk together onions, mustards, vinegar, pepper, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl, then add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified.
When potatoes are just cool enough to handle, halve them, then add to vinaigrette along with parsley and toss to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Food Frame Friday: Shnoo for you.

Siiri Sampson — Fri, 27 May 2011 21:59:31 +0000

There’s an AWESOME fro yo joint in Renton (near Seattle) and I know they have other locations (at least one I think in the Bellevue area?). Who cares, what matters is this:

Mixed Berry NONFAT fro yo with white chocolate chips and brownie chunks? YES

Well, hello there, precious coconut flavored mochi bits!

Mango fro yo, fresh mango chunks and baby mochi bites. I DIE!

Cheese Rules!!! As it happens…

Siiri Sampson — Thu, 26 May 2011 02:44:41 +0000

I’m at this rad cheese event and you get to see my live notes about cheese and same, wine and spirits pairings.

Sake #1: Junmaiginjo Jokigen. (Taste slightly of pears)

Note from Barrie: jump off the cliff, go for it!!!

Tasting note: Satori cheese, paired with Sato’s Rice Label sake. The cheese is a asiago cows milk from Winsconsin. The cheese smells of tomato and rye before you eat it.

Pairing #2:

Drink: A rum out of Martinique from a family joint.
Note: a slice of lime rather than a wedge for the drink to prevent sourness.

Espresso rinded cheese with rum??? DUHHHH, THAT'S A YES! www.TheCheeseImpresario.com

Barrie note: “Just like a relationship,1+1 should always = more than 1. Put each other on a pedestal.”

And here are some of the pictures I tweeted while there last night:

Getting ready for a delicious evening of cheese, spirits, friends and food lessons with The Cheese Impresario, Barrie!

Okay, so I ended up doing more talking, sampling and “mmmmmmm!”ing than note taking, but my phone battery was dying and can you really blame me anyway?! Everything was amazing and Barrie blew my mind, what an amazing ability to sense the best of each ingredient and think outside the box! I hope she does another event soon, and for the larger public, because it would be REALLY fun to have a group of friends go to this together and learn, eat and have a blast!

A HUGE thank you to my girl, Keren, (www.FranticFoodie.com) for putting this together and inviting to me come along for the ride. An equally HUGE thank you to Barrie Lynn, (www.TheCheeseImpresario.com) for being so fabulous and wonderful and letting us all experience what she’s known for years: CHEESE RULES!

Check out Barrie’s series, Cheese Rules, on Small Screen: http://www.smallscreennetwork.com/cheeserules

Truffles, Caviar and Gourmet Salts – Wholesale Food Porn

Siiri Sampson — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:45:21 +0000

I don’t know how I didn’t know about this place before, but thanks to the ladies at Dollar Store Crafts I just found out about Marky’s. Their tagline is “Caviar, Smoked Salmon, Foie Gras, Truffles”. Yes, yes, yes and yes.

French Summer Black Truffles from Marky's

If you like salt, and by “like” I mean you (like me) have a salt lick next to your bed, and dream about your cupboard being stocked full of a rainbow presentation of worldly salts, then this place is for you.

Of course this place would be in Miami. But thanks to the wonderous series of tubes formerly known as the Interwebulars, you and I can buy the best the world has to offer in 000 caviar and $200/lb truffles that some pig snorted up on the French countryside. Thanks pigs. We owe you one.

So let’s cut to the chase, here’s some succulent food porn from Marky’s to whet your appetite.

Got $360 laying around? Splurge on some Kaluga Caviar. (picture via Marky's. click to go through)

Caviar isn’t usually my first option when it comes to food indulgences, but that’s because I’m too poor to even entertain the idea. I usually go for something greezy and cheap, like that guy I dated during college….*shudder*

They also have 10, yes 10, different classifications of Foie. That includes their own brand, which is – big surprise – sold out.

Block of Goose Foie Gras for $125? Sure! I'll bring the wine, thanks Marky!

And this is just the tip of the iceburg. Here’s a list of all the other departments they have online:

Deli Meats & Pate
· Basturma · Bresaola · Chorizo
· Duck Breast · Prosciutto Ham
· Salami · Sausages · Serrano
· Canadian · Italian · Spanish

Butter & Creme Fraiche
· British · French · Normandy
· Devon · Echire · Isigny
· Salted · Unsalted · Goat
· Creme Fraiche · Fromage Frais

Cheese
· Danish · Dutch · English
· French · German · Italian
· Norwegian · Spanish · Swiss
· Blue · Brie · Fondue · Smoked
· Buffalo · Cow · Goat · Sheep

Olive Oil and Gourmet Oils
· Almond · Argan · Avocado
· Grapeseed · Hazelnut · Olive
· Pinenut · Pistachio · Pumpkin
· Safflower · Truffle · Walnut
· French · Italian · Spanish

Vinegars
· Aged Balsamic · Apple Cider
· Banyuls · Champagne · Fig
· Red & White Wine · Sherry
· French · Italian · Modena

Belgian Leonidas Chocolates
· Dark · White · Ganache · Milk
· Candy · Marzipan · Pralines
· Solid · Truffles · w/Liquor

Gourmet Tea Forte
· Black · Green · Herbal · Oolong
· Loose Tea · Samplers · White
· Tea Gifts & Accesories

Kosher Deli
· Butter · Caviar · Cheese
· Mustard · Smoked Salmon

Accoutrements de la Table
· Knives · Servers · Spoons
· Mother of Pearl Plates

Disposable Tableware
· Cups · Cutlery · Mini Dishes
· Plates · Skewers · Trays

Molecular Gastronomy

Oh, and of course top that off with specific sections of the site for their Russian, Spanish and French goods. OY!

Stumptown Coffee: Loving me back

Siiri Sampson — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:30:56 +0000

There’s no good, humble way to say this, so I’m just gonna come out with it:

Today was a pretty big day for me, press wise. Why? Two things happened:

1. I had my first published article come out in the print version of Seattle Weekly.

I haven’t seen it yet, because I was at work all day, but my first stop on the way into work tomorrow will be at a paper box (the Weekly is FREE to pick up, so keep your eyes open for those paper boxes on city street corners and outside restaurants) to pick up a few copies to send to my parents, Paul and keep for myself.

(Side note: I also found my Dinner and a Movie article from the Weekly syndicated over at RealBeer.com, which I had no idea existed till now….)

2. I found this little gem on the Interwebulars tonight while I was surfing:

Thanks for returning the favor, guys!

I noticed that Stumptown added my Top 5 Lattes listing from my Seattle Weekly article to their “In the Press” archives. I consider this to be an honor because I really admire the work they do – how seriously they take their coffee, so that we the drinkers, don’t have to! We just get to enjoy our cup of liquid happiness. So, thank you, Stumptown, for putting me “In the Press” and letting people know how a true local feels. I’ve loved your coffee since I took my first sip in the original Division St. garage joint during my college days.

And to top it off, I got all the grocery shopping done for the wedding shower I’m hosting this weekend, then I came home and had an awesome green pepper, tofu Indian dish and finished off the night with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

CLASSYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Eating your feelings – the healthy way

Siiri Sampson — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:15:57 +0000

Today is the first day of 2011 that I will spend alone. Paul has left for Indonesia. For the next six months. It is both a sad and happy day indeed. Sad he’s gone again, but happy I have a whole year of cooking, creating, growing and learning ahead of me.

So, I sort of feel like this woman above. But we all know that’s not helping! I can’t just sit and stare out the window, even if I do have one of the best views in the city. What else can I do? Yes, I can eat. But instead of filling my face with fatty foods that will consistently fall short of filling that void, I’ll plan some recipes to make and share.

We’ll start with ‘MAKE’:

BREAD PUDDING

Credit: Hazel "Petite Gourmand" T via www.yelp.com

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh, okay, maybe one fatty recipe to get things going, okay? I’ll eat it with others, so it’s not as bad…

Bread Pudding Recipe

Yield: Serves 6-8

Ingredients
3 cups sandwich bread (white or wheat) cut into cubes
1-cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place bread crumbs in a 1-1/2 quart baking dish that has been greased or prepared with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Scald milk with butter until butter is melted.
4. Combine with sugar, salt, eggs, cinnamon and nutmeg.
5. Pour over bread cubes.
6. Place baking dish on a pan of hot tap water about 1-inch deep.
7. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until a knife inserted in at least 1-inch from the edge comes out clean.

And ‘SHARE’? I have a few specific folks in mind:

These two culprits: Ashley (left) and Marissa (right)

HA! Vintage Siiri and Rachel! Couldn't help myself, this is about six and a half years ago...

Why does my mouth look really weird here? Ah, yes, because I have braces and I’m embarassed! Oh, college!

My number one Halfy, Emily!

And of course, where would I be without my most faaaabulous poodle:

My poodle, Adam, at Magnolia's Discovery Park this past summer, on an impromptu picnic dinner.

I know there’s more to be made than just bread pudding, but I can only bake so fast! Many more picnics, baby and wedding showers to throw, dinner parties, girls’ nights, sister trips and hopefully some international Ren dez vous involving food and these two:

Hey! That's us!

Thanks to everyone out there that sticks with me and my little blog adventure! I’ve got more than a few tricks up my sleeve for 2011, please keep come along for the ride! (Or, am I really all alone out here???? Hellooooooo?????)

DIY Dinner: Hunt’s Brings prizes AND recipes to the table!

Siiri Sampson — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:15:54 +0000

I was entering this fun little contest today, for a chance to Host the Ultimate Chef Party with Celebrity chef George Duran and after I didn’t win, they gave me a fun little recipe. I was actually pretty impressed, because even though I didn’t win, the recipe they gave me (above, for Pizza Pockets) is super easy!

Not only did this remind me that I LOVE pita pockets, it also reminded me of when my mom would make me tuna pockets for lunch (not gross, even though it probably sounds like it).

The ingredients are super easy to pick up, and if you’re a parent with NO time to cook, you can take the above and turn it into your own, fun dinner night! Just put all the ingredients on the table, add a can of black olives, a can of pineapple, some canned mushrooms, or whatever your family loves on their pizza.

Everyone makes their OWN pizza pocket, so they can have exactly what they want! Plus, you spend more time with your family, less time busting your hump in front of stove, and if you have kids, they will certainly look forward to doing this again – over and OVER for years to come. When we had “do-it-your-own-self-roll-ups” night at my house as a kid, it was hands down our most favorite meal.

Let me know if you and your family have/had any dish/meal like this. I’d love to build a bigger list!