Easy Valentine's Dinner with Buitoni and Nestle

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Valentine's Day is just 13 days away. Although it's not a priority holiday for me, it is still nice to plan a delicious dinner and remind your special someone (boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/parents/siblings/friends) that you care about them. Sometimes I go all out, creating themed desserts, other times I keep it simple and fun. If you're new to cooking, or don't have much time to spend on dinner, I'm going to show you how to create a fun and delicious meals with Buitoni and Nestle products.

I went to the Garfield, NJ, Walmart Supercenter to purchase Buitoni Sauces and the Nestle Tres Leches baking kit. For whatever reason, the Buitoni fresh pastas and sauces are located at the front of the store, by produce, which I walked right by on my way in. Picture me wandering the store like a goof wondering why I couldn't find any Buitoni products. Anyway, eventually I found them and got the Alfredo sauce and a package of sweet Italian sausage tortelloni. The tres leches kits were found on the special baking display in the middle of the aisle, by the baking aisle.

For the pasta, I immediately knew I wanted to recreate a "drooling gnocchi" type of dish, only with the tortelloni. For drooling gnocchi, pasta is coated in a rich sauce made from butter, heavy cream, chicken broth, Parmesan cheese, and more cheese sprinkled on top. Alfredo sauce is practically all that, cutting down the bulk of the work.

1. Preheat oven to 450°. In a saucepan large enough to hold the cooked pasta, warm the Alfredo sauce over low heat. In another pot, cook pasta in boiling water for 7 minutes. Drain and toss in Alfredo sauce.

2. Transfer pasta to a greased 9" baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 cup Italian blend shredded cheese.

3. Bake for 15 minutes, until top is browned and sauce is bubbling.

4. Let cook for 5 minutes before serving. Serve alongside a simple spinach salad.

The finish dish tasted incredible. The sauce didn't need any extra seasoning, and I thought the pasta was delicious.

The tres leches cake kit makes a difficult cake simple. All the components (besides fresh ingredients) needed are provided in the kit.

Combine the cake mix with eggs and oil, beating until smooth. Lick beaters. Pour into prepared cake pan and bake. As cake bakes, combine the condensed and evaporated milk with whole milk. I reduced the amount of whole milk from 1 cup to 1/4 cup. After cake has baked and cooled briefly, poke surface with fork. Pour milk mixture over cake and let stand until cake absorbs all the milk. Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours.

I ran into a little trouble removing the cake from the pan. I wasn't thinking or else I'd have lined the pan with parchment. Oh well. After a little effort (banging on pan), the cake eventually loosened and came out, though not in one piece.

No matter, as the whipped cream hid my mistake.

While the cake alone is tasty, it needed an extra Valentine's Day pizazz, so I made a simple strawberry sauce. All you have to do is puree 1 cup thawed frozen sliced strawberries until smooth, pouring mixture through a sieve to remove any seeds. Add a dollop or two onto the plate.

Looks delicious, doesn't it? It was! The cake was very moist. I've never made a tres leches cake, if you can believe that, and this has inspired me to make a completely homemade one in the future. But for now, this cake mix is pretty tasty and easy.

That's all it takes to create a special meal! Let me know if you've tried these products, and what you think of them.

Duane Reade Fresh Food for The Big Game

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The big game is right around the corner, and that probably means many of you are creating a fantastic menu of gameday snacks. I know I did it one year, complete with themed desserts, complicated appetizers, and all that. But what if you're not in the mood to go all out, and you still want good food? If you live in NYC, the answer is DeLish Fresh Food from Duane Reade.

DeLish Fresh Food is prepared (you guessed it!) fresh and delivered daily to many Duane Reade stores throughout NYC. The line ranges from savory entrees, soups, sandwiches, sushi, dips, and even dessert. I've had the opportunity to taste from the line last year, and the food definitely had that vibrant flavor that freshly made food often does. 'DeLish' was the appropriate name to pick, I think.

I visited the 1350 Broadway Duane Reade to see what was available and was pleased to find many dishes that are similar to what I would have prepared for a big game menu. I picked up the Triple Cheese Mac & Cheese, noodles in a Gruyere, Parmesan, and Swiss cheese sauce, Chicken Fajiita Panini, a very delicious chicken sandwich with a southwestern flair, Homemade Olive Tapenade with Baked Pita Chips, a pureed olive dip, and a mini Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake for dessert. In retrospect, I should have picked up two mac & cheeses and cheesecakes.

I nibbled on the food as I dished it (pro tip: remove the plastic cover before microwaving the mac & cheese) and upon my first taste of my selection, my taste buds rejoiced. I added a few carrots to be healthy. It goes well with the tapenade, too.

My favorite was the chicken fajita panini. The chicken filling was very, very good, wasn't too moist (nobody likes soggy bread) and had an excellent flavor. Unlike many chicken salad-type sandwiches, the chicken here wasn't coated in a mayonnaise-based dressing. I found that very refreshing.

Or, maybe my favorite was the tapenade, since I LOVE olives. It's tough to say. And as a certain famous football player once said, you gotta have tapenade for the big game.

Mac & Cheese is just the perfect comfort food for this time of year, making it a winner. Well, the cheese makes it a winner. This dish features a trio of cheeses and is not your typical cheddar cheese pasta dish. I enjoyed it.

For dessert, I got the aforementioned mini raspberry swirl cheesecake (I promise that's not a fingerprint). There were a few other flavors, too, like a cappuccino, a flavor I would normally choose if the raspberry hadn't spoken to my soul. I should have picked up two of these because they are SO GOOD. I was thinking it would be a nice little treat to split, but that was a very silly idea.

You have to understand that cheesecake isn't my go-to dessert. It's often heavy and dense, as cheesecake is by nature. Maybe I had a change of heart, I don't know, but I thoroughly enjoyed how this tasted and the raspberry was a great flavor. I'm going to have to recreate this.

The #DRFresh line works for every occasion, really, not just the big game. For example, lunch. Or when you don't feel like making dinner, or are hanging out with friends. I don't really need a reason, to be honest, I just need to have a craving for tasty food. Check it out if you're in NYC.

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Crisp Salted Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies

Did you get hit by even more snow? The weather feels very bipolar this season, with the temperatures ranging from the 50s to the single digits. The only way I know to make sense of it all is to schedule hair appointments and bake cookies. Smitten Kitchen has a delicious oatmeal cookie recipe (from Cook's Illustrated) that isn't spiced and doesn't contain raisins. I switched the white chocolate with dark chocolate to balance the sweetness. Dark chocolate contrasts well with the salted aspect, too.

You're supposed to use whole oats -- all I had was quick oats. I don't know if this affected the finished cookie at all, I just know it tastes great. Many people who tried this cookie had an issue with the dough spreading. Mine seemed to spread more than it was supposed to as well, though it wasn't lacy thin.

The dough contains a bit of brown sugar, mostly white. Since I didn't have any fancy salt to sprinkle on top, I added a teaspoon of kosher salt to the dough. It tastes fantastic.

I got a cold last Friday, and these cookies are the only thing keeping me going (slight exaggeration). The dough tastes incredible, and the cookie is even better. I baked them up crispy, like the recipe says, though there's a bit of chew left in the center.

Am I the only one who's somewhat "scared" to try new cookie recipes? When I want a cookie, I tend to make a recipe I know I like that will satisfy the craving. No, this isn't the most dramatic recipe to take a risk on, it's just that I take my cookie cravings seriously. Orange zest would play well with the flavors, even though the fruit-chocolate combo is cliche.

Anyway, there is not much left to say. Try these cookies and you won't be disappointed.