Egg in the Hole

I thought I was being so clever the first time I made this. Use a biscuit cutter to cut a perfect circle in a slice of bread and then fry an egg in it. Ha--as it turns out, people have been doing this forever. Of course, it's called different things, depending on what area of the world you're in. Egg in the Hole, Toad in the Hole---I don't know what else. It's so simple, I actually felt a little weird about posting it, until I saw that The Pioneer Woman posted it and had over 1400 comments. People like stuff like this. Reminds them of their youth, I think.

Today, I had some eggs to try. As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received coupons for some free Land O Lakes® Eggs. With the holidays at hand, those coupons came at a great time.

First, I had to find the eggs. They looked a little fancy to me, what with the packaging and the Omega 3 claims, so I was looking at the high-end grocery stores at first. As it happens, I found them at my usual grocery store. I would have known this if I had used their store locator. Duh.

Of course, I knew that Land O Lakes® had a quality product. I use their butter all of the time and I love it, not only for the superior flavor, but for the packaging. Each butter quarter is wrapped in a flavor sealed wrapper, so the butter doesn't absorb all of those other smells in your fridge. Really, who wants onion flavored butter? The egg packaging was interesting--the plastic outer cover (and inner cover) certainly protected the eggs, but I wondered about all of the plastic on a "natural" product. No worries, however. Land O Lakes® is all over it ---beginning in January 2012, all Land O Lakes® eggs will be packaged in a new pulp carton made from 100% recycled material.

The Omega 3 claim confused me at first, but it simply means that the hens are fed a natural, vegetarian diet that includes flax seed. This means that these eggs have an additional 160 mg of ALA omega-3 fatty acids per egg. You can read all about it on the Land O Lakes® website.  You can also choose to buy the eggs in the Natural, Cage Free, or Organic varieties.

Back to our recipe: 

I chose a Tuscan bread...just make sure your slices are big enough for your biscuit cutter.

Put plenty of butter in your skillet. You want the bread to absorb it and get nice and toasty brown. Don't forget to fry your "circles". They make good dippers.

Oops. I fried the first two a little too long. The yolks weren't runny enough. I gave these to my husband. :)

Much better. I love me a runny yolk.

Disclaimer: While I was given free product in order to make a review, all opinions are my own.

Newtons Fruit Thins....A Review

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastmaker program, I was sent a package of the new Newtons Fruit Thins.

 I love trying new things, don't you? It's especially nice when it's delivered to your door. These cookies were waiting for me when I came home the other day...on the day that the temperature in the Twin Cities was a record 103 degrees. Yikes. No way was I going to turn on the oven and bake anything. Perfect timing.

Of course I had to haul out some ice cream--actually some Culver's Frozen Custard--to try with them.

I had actually tried these cookies a couple of weeks ago...the Chocolate Raspberry....and I liked them. In fact, I was going to pick up another package. Pete didn't like the Chocolate Raspberry flavor, so I had the whole package to myself. Too bad, he likes the Fig and Honey.

These are crispy cookies. Says so right on the package.

One of the reasons I like these cookies (besides the fact that they are tasty), is because I can portion them out nicely when I'm counting my calories. They aren't diet food, nor do they advertise themselves to be. But, I don't really do diet food...I just like to be aware of how much is much. Three of these cookies count up to 140 calories. Not bad. Plus I get 2 grams of fiber out them. That beats a glazed donut.

They come in a nice resealable package. I had to quickly open them myself. Why am I the only one around here who can open a package the right way? You can't reseal it if it isn't opened right. Sheesh.

So what do they taste like? This particular flavor, Fig and Honey, tastes like a cross between a fancy graham cracker and an oatmeal cookie. There are figs in there...little pieces...and some raisins. I couldn't discern between the two of them, but does it matter?

Crumbled on ice cream. Good suggestion.

The Newton Fruit Thins come in four flavors. Besides the Chocolate Raspberry and the Fig and Honey, there are the Cranberry Citrus Oat and the Blueberry Brown Sugar (my next try). They all have the little bits of chewy fruit in them and they are all crispy. I'll say it again...I like them.

Wendy's New Natural Cut Fries with Sea Salt

To say that I love French fries may be an understatement. I loooove French fries! So when Foodbuzz and Wendy's offered me a gift card to try out Wendy's new fries, I jumped at the chance. Oh, before I forget--my official disclosure: "As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a Wendy's gift card to try out Wendy's new Natural Cut French Fries with Sea Salt " .

I first heard about Wendy's new version of French fries a couple of weeks ago, and since my husband and I both share a love of the fried potato, we set out to find them. The first few tries were futile, but we did manage to get our fill of Wendy's chili (that's one recipe I hope they don't monkey with). We finally did find them, but, keeping in mind that this was before I received my free-trial gift card, I didn't pay much attention to the detail. They did seem a little salty.

Along with my gift card, came a time and place that I should use it. My window of fry tasting opportunity was pretty small--this Friday or next, between 2-6 PM. Since I'm out of town next week, this Friday won the draw. Unfortunately, when I left work at 4:30, the weather decided to take a turn for the worse---it was snowing. The commute to my designated Wendy's, normally a 20 minute drive, took 1 1/4 hours. Yikes. The things I do for French fries.

 

Before I left on my great French fry adventure, I googled the new fries to see what kind of buzz was out there. The opinions were divided. There is a whole group of people out there who loved the old fries. Nothing but the old version would make these people happy....they are now boycotting. The other group didn't care for the old fries...too soggy, they said. These people welcomed the change with open mouths. And everyone compared them to the mother of all fast food fries, the McDonald French fry....amazingly popular even after Mickey D's changed things up drastically twenty years ago, doing away with frying them in beef tallow. It must have to do with the flavor additives.

So what did I think? I like them. I know the sea salt thing is a gimmick....sodium is, after all, sodium. The "sprinkling" of sea salt actually makes the fries seem less salty, which makes me question the salty taste I got on my first visit. I'm thinking an employee was a little heavy-handed with the salt at that location. The fries themselves were crispier than the old version, and the skins left on gave them a more natural potato taste. Even after I took all of my pictures and the fries were no longer hot, they remained crispy. That is a good thing.

Check out the potato skins on these fries. To me, it made them a little tastier...more potatoey, if you will.

Of course, I've always loved the burgers at Wendy's...the meat seems fresher. They are going for the same impression with the fries.

I certainly wasn't having any trouble finishing my fries.

Check out all the French fry advertising. This is a big deal for Wendy's.

Not a crumb left.....

And back out into the cold...

In conclusion, I think the change is good. If the different locations can make the fries a little more consistently, I think they will be successful. Good luck, Wendy's.

Too Hot to Cook? Kellogg's™ Has Some New Products!

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I am, on occasion, sent samples of new products to try. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard that I would be receiving a sample of Eggo's™ Fruit Pizza....somehow, I thought it would be a waffle with fruit. And, I was certain that I would get a coupon for it. So, imagine my surprise when I came home from work all hot, grumpy and sweaty, to find a huge box on my doorstep. Inside, were two (small in relationship to the box) fruit pizzas.....no waffles at all....and a big pile of dry ice to keep it all frozen. One pizza was topped with mixed berries and one with strawberries, and the fruit (yes, it was real fruit) was mixed with granola and was on top of a berry flavored yogurt and a cinnamon/maple flavored crust. Now, I know this product is intended for breakfast, but keep in mind that I had come home all hot and grumpy. This was going to be a nice little snack.

Check out the pretty frozen blueberries...I almost ate this with out heating it up. The description told of  a nice, warm toasted granola, however, so I gave in...and popped it in the microwave.

I'm glad I heated it...the fruit was much better all warm and juicy. Next time, I might try baking it in the oven to get a crispier crust...the microwave left this one a bit rubbery. It was a tasty, little snack, however, and at 390 calories, it wouldn't make a bad breakfast. Unfortunately, the strawberry version mysteriously disappeared from the freezer when I wasn't looking......

The next package to arrive contained two boxes of Kellogg's™ FiberPlus™ Antioxidants Cereals:

Who doesn't need extra fiber, right? Well, maybe my husband, but we won't go there....

This I did save for breakfast, although I have been known to eat cold cereal for dinner.

This cereal has gotten some flack for having a few artificial ingredients (OK, a lot of artificial ingredients), but the good news is that the first ingredient is a whole grain (we won't mention that the second ingredient is sugar). I liked it, regardless. The product has 40 % of my daily requirements for fiber...and tastes a heck of a lot better than a bowl of twigs. At 160 calories, I'm not going to get fat from it, and it has a nice list of vitamins (I know, I know...synthetic vitamins, but vitamins, nonetheless). In my opinion, it is lot better choice than a starchy bagel or carb-laden sweet roll.

I tried the Berry Yogurt Crunch, and my husband had the Cinnamon Oat Crunch. I liked the flavor of mine (a slight aftertaste, from some of the artificial flavorings, no doubt) and Pete liked his, too. I snuck a taste of his...it reminded me of Apple Jacks.

In the end, I will definitely buy the cereal. I may or may not buy the fruit pizza...as good as it is, I have a hard time with the rubbery crust...but it may be worth a try in the oven once the weather cools down. If you are interested, I believe you will find them in the frozen section with the other breakfast foods. :)