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Category Archives: product review

Harvest Snaps Meatballs & Marinara

06 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by Nicole Small in Beef, dairy free, gluten free, Italian, Meatballs, product review, recipe

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

dairy free, food, food blog, garlic, gluten free, harvest snaps, recipe, recipe blog, snapea crisps

Hopefully by now you have discovered Harvest Snaps, the crispiest and tastiest addition to the snack aisle. I became obsessed with these early this year when my Mom brought home a bag of the original lightly salted snaps. I’m pretty sure I ate almost the entire bag in less than a day… okay maybe like a 15 minute time frame, but who’s counting?!

Harvest Snap Pea Crisps!

After that day they became my favorite snack; I kept them in the office snack stash and in our cabinet at home, and I eventually branched out to try some of the other flavors while they were on sale (hello, Onion Thyme! Yum!). They came on every road trip and travel adventure thereafter. The best/possibly the most dangerous part about these is that they cost less than $2 per bag! Maybe my family has been known to have multiple bags of different flavors open at the same time.. but no one’s judging; my Dad loves the wasabi, my Mom likes the Onion Thyme, and although I love all of the flavors, the original lightly salted is still my favorite.

Harvest Snapea Crisps accompanied us to Maui! More than 1 bag, of course...

Harvest Snapea Crisps accompanied us to Maui! More than 1 bag, of course…

I have had a lot of luck with my Harvest Snaps love affair! First, my college friend, who is associated with the snaps marketing squad, asked me if I would share the brand with my readers. I said a hearty of course, since I already adore the snacks and would have reviewed them anyway! Then, on a whim, I entered a Harvest Snaps summer photo contest – and won!

Harvest Snaps Summer Photo Contest Winner

Harvest Snaps Summer Photo Contest Winner

They mailed goodies and a T-shirt to my house, which arrived shortly after I left for Israel so my lucky family got to enjoy the loot. Then, just recently, I took a quick survey and won snaps again! This time we get to try their limited-edition holiday Salted Caramel flavor – one special delivery that I can’t wait to bust into!

I am missing these so much while I am in Israel; I cannot wait for my sister to visit in December so she can bring me like 10 bags of them. Ok maybe just 2. I am especially excited to try the Salted Caramel flavor, and to be reunited with my favorite lightly salted original snaps. You all, I don’t know what it is about these or why they are so good, but I just can’t stop obsessing over them. Seriously.

Harvest Snap Pea Crisps!

So if you are in the grocery store and you see them, pick up a bag of the Tomato Basil or the Onion Thyme alongside your seasonal and original flavors – then you can snack on them and make these awesome meatballs at the same time. What could be better?!

Harvest Snaps Meatballs & Marinara

Harvest Snaps Meatballs & Marinara Recipe

Whoa, whoa whoa… I know, crushing up snaps in your meatballs? Isn’t that weird? No!! Think of them as super duper flavorful (and gluten free!) bread crumbs that you can snack on as you cook. Win-win 😉

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 large egg
2 tbsp chopped onion
1 minced garlic clove
3/4 cup crushed Harvest Snaps, either Onion Thyme or Tomato Basil (or both!)
1 tbsp onion soup mix
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
Sprinkle of your favorite spices – I used garlic powder, onion powder & a pinch of smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chili flakes (optional)
Olive oil, for the pan

Harvest Snaps Snapea Crisps Meatballs Recipe

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and use olive oil to lightly grease a 9×9 baking pan. Chop onion and garlic and place in a large mixing bowl. Put the snap peas in a plastic bag and go a little crazy on them with a rolling pin until they resemble the texture of bread crumbs. Mix all of the ingredients together in the large bowl. Roll the meatballs into 16 evenly sized balls and place them in the greased baking pan.

Harvest Snaps Snapea Crisps Meatballs Recipe

Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, uncover and bake until the internal temperature reaches or exceeds 165 degrees. Remove and let cool before serving alongside your favorite pasta and marinara sauce – we enjoyed ours with homemade puttanesca!

Harvest Snaps Meatballs & Marinara Recipe

Disclaimer: Although this is a sponsored post, I am really, truly loving these and would have reviewed them without being asked. They’re super delicious!

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Goodies Co. Taster’s Box Review

01 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Nicole Small in product review

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

food, food blog, food blogger, gluten free, Goodies Co, snacks

You may or may not have heard about the company Goodies Co. Starting at only $7, you can get a box every month that contains various different snacks. The goal is to help you discover new snacks that you enjoy, but it is just so fun to get a box of goodies every month filled with mystery treats! I never received anything in my boxes that I had tasted before, which made it even better. Here’s a look at my 3 months of Goodies Co. Taster’s boxes:

Month 1:

Goodies Box via Tsiporah Blog

Month 2:

Review of Goodies Box via Tsiporah Blog

Month 3:

Goodies Box Review via Tsiporah Blog

The Goodies Taster Box is a fun way to find new snacks to love, but it was hard with dietary restrictions. Luckily almost everything in my last box was gluten-free.

Here’s how Goodies Co. works:

  1. You register and pay for your first box
  2. You wait patiently for your box of goodies to be delivered
  3. Once your box is delivered, you taste all of your goodies
  4. Then, Goodies Co. sends you an email with a link where you can review the products that you received, upload pictures, etc. Each review and picture are worth a point, and once you accumulate a certain amount of points, you get rewards (like free boxes or snacks).
  5. If you liked your box, you can continue to subscribe and receive a Goodies Taster Box every month. You can also order the snacks that you loved from your box. If you didn’t like the experience then you can easily put your subscription on hold or cancel it all together.

I have to suspend my subscription since I’ll be traveling, but it was a fun experience! Happy tasting!

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Gluten Free Mediterranean Pasta with Garlic White Wine Sauce

18 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by Nicole Small in gluten free, pasta, product review, restaurant review, vegetarian/vegan

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Tags

food, food blog, food blogger, garlic, gluten free, recipe, recipe blog, recipe blogger, vegetarian

Sometimes food changes your life.

Gluten Free Mediterranean Pasta with Garlic White Wine Sauce | via Tsiporah Blog

I’ve become accustomed to low-quality gluten free options, especially at restaurants. For some reason many restaurants translate “gluten free” to “flavorless” and “bland.” Pizza doughs and dried pastas are often of low quality, leaving something to be desired. Obviously, there are always some exceptions, such as Flatbread Company’s gluten free pizza.

Very rarely do I come across a restaurant whose gluten free options blow me away. I recently had the pleasure of dining at Nick’s Italian here in Scottsdale. It was a really lovely experience and I would recommend them to anyone in the area. Everyone who I have taken there has loved it; family from afar, picky eaters, etc. Their pizzas are a really good size and everything is very fresh, they even have house-made regular pasta and pizza dough!

They have a limited GF menu so I decided to just order a regular pasta dish, subbing gluten free pasta instead of regular pasta. I chose the Farfalle Emperial which includes bowtie pasta, Shrimp, Chicken, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Onions, Feta, Kalamata Olives, Garlic White Wine Sauce. My first bite of my dish was surprising because I was convinced that they accidentally served me regular pasta. My boyfriend also tasted it and couldn’t tell, so we decided to ask the server, who assured us that it was in fact gluten free, stating “our gluten free pasta is just really good!” Um, yeah! I asked to see a package, did a little research, and here we are with this recipe.

I’m not going to say I’m a hero or anything… but you’re welcome.

gluten free pasta

This dish is way decadent, more so than I would normally make, but this is a CELEBRATION! I went to the grocery store today just to buy fancy ingredients because I knew there was a special package waiting for me at home. I chose to buy my olives at my local grocery store’s olive bar because I like the ones that are marinated with herbs and feta cheese, but this is up to you.

Gluten Free Mediterranean Pasta with Garlic White Wine Sauce

Serves: 2 people
Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

4 cloves of garlic
2 tsp diced shallots
pinch of dried chili flakes
3 tbsp olive oil, separated
2/3 cup dry white wine (I used pino grigio)
3 tbsp butter
3/4 cup sliced mushrooms
10 quartered grape or cherry tomatoes
3 tbsp assorted olives, slivered
Cubed marinated feta (however much you want, I only used about 1 tbsp)
1/2 package Le Veneziane Gluten Free Pasta
Pecorino Romano or Parmesan Remano cheese, to serve
1 tbsp slivered fresh basil, to serve

mediterranean pasta ingredients

Directions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add 1/2 package of gluten free pasta. Cook according to package directions- if you are using Le Veneziane, I cooked mine for about 10-11 minutes to al dente.

Chop onions and dice garlic and shallots; set aside separately. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Once hot, add onions and stir. Let the onions saute for 4 to 5 minutes and then add mushrooms. Cook for about 10 minutes until golden brown.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, shallots and chili flakes. Saute until garlic just starts to become golden and then add white wine. Simmer the wine until it reduces by half and then add 2 tbsp butter. Let the butter melt and simmer for a bit more to combine and remove from heat, set aside.

Once the onions and mushrooms are golden brown, add olives and tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes and then add cooked pasta and toss. Add garlic white wine sauce and stir until pasta is coated. Lastly, add the remaining tbsp of butter and once it has melted, stir in the marinated feta and serve with freshly grated cheese and slivered basil.

mediterranean pasta

pasta with olives

This dish would be awesome with shrimp or chicken as well. Enjoy!

It’s products like this pasta that make me realize that I don’t need gluten to be happy. Does that sound silly? Probably because I’m still eating this pasta so I’m just super blissful and happy and thinking this pasta could bring about world peace. Go stock up, my gluten free friends.

The best gluten free pasta | via Tsiporah Blog

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Culinary Festival & Gluten Free Expo

16 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by Nicole Small in Foodie Event, gluten free, lavender, product review, restaurant review

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

event, food, food blog, foodie, gluten free, restaurant review, Scottsdale

This past Saturday was quite eventful as far as culinary experiences are concerned. April seems to be the most popular month for festivals of all kinds in Phoenix, maybe because the weather is beautiful and sunny with the perfect breeze, the flowers are blooming and the mountains are bursting with greenery. April is the month when Arizona comes alive and everyone craves the outdoors. This past Saturday was no different; hundreds of people attended both the Phoenix Gluten Free Expo and the Scottsdale Culinary Festival. I didn’t want to miss either one, so I made them both fit in to my schedule!

Phoenix Gluten Free Expo

First, I stopped by the Phoenix Gluten Free Expo. I paid the $10 admission fee and was rewarded with a green reusable bag to fill with coupons, magazines, restaurant menus and tons of samples! My entire bag was full! Sprouts Farmers Market (my favorite grocery store ever) sponsored the event, and the line for their booth was the longest because Sprouts gave away an incredible amount of samples! Some other sponsors and booths included popular brands like Udi’s, Glutino, and Van’s, alongside lesser known brands and local restaurants which also offer gluten free options.

glutino gluten free udis gluten free

I’m so excited to use some of my restaurant coupons to discover some new locations in Phoenix and Scottsdale, and my other coupons will come in handy when I want to go buy more of my samples- I’m already in love with Pamela’s Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies and the thinkThin Crunch Coconut Chocolate bars. Also, if you’re looking for a quick and convenient breakfast fix to keep in your office, check out the Bakery on Main Maple Instant Oatmeal! Holy Yum!

gluten free review

udis gluten free

Scottsdale Culinary Festival- Great Arizona Picnic

Feeling accomplished with my goldmine of loot from the Phoenix Gluten Free Expo, I hopped in my car to meet with friends and enjoy the beautiful weather and delicious food at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival’s Great Arizona Picnic. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the flowers were astonishingly beautiful at the Scottsdale Civic Center.

Scottsdale Civic Center Culinary Festival

Scottsdale Culinary Festival GAP

We had such a blast trying foods from various valley restaurants. Our favorite was Sushi Roku’s Hanabi (spicy tuna on crispy rice), which won “Best Food” of the festival in 2012. It featured a crispy rice base that had a beautiful, satisfying flavor which is normally lacking in similar dishes. The abundance of flavor was due to a sauce or glaze on the rice that was both sweet and a bit salty, much like an eel sauce. It was topped with incredibly fresh tuna and scallions. The resulting dish was impeccably mouthwatering; the crispy rice reveals a soft interior, coupled with a tantalizing combination of sauce and luscious fresh fish. If we had to choose, they would win best food for 2013 too!

GAP sushi roku review

I also enjoyed Chicken Tiki Masala from Bombay Spice, Mango Lassi from Jewel of the Crown Cuisine of India, and a delicious shrimp ceviche (but I didn’t catch the restauran’t name).

To finish, I indulged in an icy-cool blackberry lavender popsicle from Paleta’s Betty. I’ve written briefly about my adoration for lavender, and this was no different; with sweet floral flavors alongside succulent blackberry chunks, this popsicle was divine. Paleta’s Betty is a must-visit if you are in Tempe. They feature seasonal popsicle (paleta, in Spanish) flavors and combinations that will make your mouth water. You’ll want to try them all!

paletas betty review

It was a really fun event, complete with live music and dancing. I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to go and enjoy the event with such great company, I’ll be looking forward to the 2014 Scottsdale Culinary Expo!

Scottsdale Culinary Festival live music

The littlest audience, enjoying Sugahbeat. So cute!

Scottsdale Culinary Festival review

Next Saturday: The Arizona BBQ Festival!

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All opinions are my own; this is not a sponsored post.

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