A Mann's Dinner

TGIF! Hope everyone had a wonderful week, and is planning on some fun things this weekend. Here is what I’ve been enjoying lately…

I made a dinner brought to me by Mann’s Packing Company. I have mentioned them a few times, but I made a dinner featuring 2 of their products the other night. Mann’s is a family owned company that carries fresh-cut, washed, preservative free, and ready to eat veggies. They carry a wide range of vegetables including sweet potatoes, butternut squash cubes, vegetable medleys, sugar snap peas, snacks on the go, and most importantly broccolini.

When I met them at the health and nutrition showcase, I was immediately interested in their products because I am a huge fan of healthy foods that are convenient. I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but I absolutely love veggies, but I HATE cutting them up. Their pre-cut veggies make cooking a well balanced and nutritious meal SUPER easy. Their vegetables come pre-cut, and washed in plastic bags that you can stick right in the microwave.

But with all this news going around about how dangerous it is to microwave plastic now-a-days, I made sure to ask about their packaging. I was assured that all of their products minus the leaf singles and snacks on the go can be microwaved in their bag. The packaging is a new technology that is 100% safe for the vegetables and the consumer. The plastic is also 100% BPA (BisphenolA) free. That alone made me a true believer in this company.

I decided to make the Mann’s cubed sweet potatoes, Mann’s broccolini, and barbecue salmon for dinner the other night.

Sorry for the less than stellar pictures.

This dinner was maybe one of the fastest dinners I’ve cooked, and there was practically no clean up. I marinated the salmon in All Natural BBQ sauce and grilled it on my grill pan. I sauteed the broccolini in a pan with some olive oil, hilmalayan sea salt, and fresh ground pepper. While that was cooking, I cooked the sweet potatoes in a pan with a little macadamia nut oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice. I know I could have microwaved the taters, but I wanted them crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

The sweet potatoes looked like they were a little burnt, but they didn’t taste burnt at all. They were fabulous! The broccolini was a little tough, but I’m pretty sure I don’t know how to cook it properly. And the salmon came out juicy and perfect. It was an excellent, well rounded, EASY, week night dinner. Thank you Mann’s for the samples-you have made cooking dinner so much simpler!

I’ve also been enjoying some great breakfasts.

Starbucks egg white and spinach whole wheat wrap with a chai tea.

A French Meadow Bakery Sprouted 16 grain and Seed bagel with raw almond butter and pumpkin butter. This is an oldie but goodie. I don’t know what it is about the combo of nut butter and pumpkin butter, but it is clearly my favorite. These bagels are sprouted grain so they are supposed to be extremely filling. Unfortunately, I was not too pleased with these hearty bagels because they contained 270 calories each and did not fill me up like I had hoped.

There were some other eats in there, but nothing too exciting.

What is exciting is that I picked a winner for the Chobani Cho-case giveaway! By the way, I got a lot of questions asking about my Chobani ice cream. I am going to post the ‘How- To’ recipe soon! Its such a thick and creamy treat, and I think everyone should try it.

Ok, ok..enough babble…the winner of the Chobani Cho-Case IS……

Evan Thomas of Food Makes Fun Fuel.

Congratulations Evan!!!! Please email me your address and information to eatdrinkandbehopeful@hotmail.com.

This weekend I’m attending a blogger meet up at a vegetarian restaurant I’ve been dying to try called The Great Sage. I can’t wait to meet some of the bloggers I’ve been following for soooo long. Hope you all have a GREAT one!

What are you plans for the weekend?

Tagged as: barbecue salmon, broccolini, chobani giveaway winner, french meadow bakery, Mann's packing company, pumpkin butter, Starbucks