Just pour the sauce tray on top of the pasta and you’ve got a tasty pasta entrée. Shown: one cooked entrée and two packages waiting for the microwave. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.
It’s new, it’s clever and it’s a real time saver. After just 60 seconds in the microwave, you can enjoy a quality pasta entrée, thanks to Barilla’s clever Microwaveable Meals packaging.
The innovation: a pasta meal that is shelf stable (no refrigeration required), portable (toss the package into your bag and head out) and ready to eat in a minute.
At $3.29 per package (one serving), this may not be an everyday solution for many families. But when children are screaming for food, or you are extremely time strapped, it can be a godsend. The mezze penne size used in most of the varieties is good for small mouths as well as large ones.
Barilla microwaveable meals are made from the same 100% natural ingredients as Barilla dry pasta and jarred sauces. Now in select stores in the microwavable meals aisle, the choices include:
Mezze Penne with Tomato & Basil Sauce
Mezze Penne with Traditional Marinara Sauce
Mezze Penne with Spicy Marinara Sauce
Whole Grain Fusilli with Vegetable Marinara Sauce
Whole Grain Mezze Penne with Tomato & Basil Sauce
Each 9-ounce package contains one serving of pasta and sauce.
All meals provide between 9g and 11g of protein.
The pasta is an excellent* source of fiber.
The sauce is a good or excellent* source of vitamin A.
The whole grain varieties are a good* source of iron.
All meals are 320 calories or less.
The innovative packaging of Barilla microwaveable meals maintains the food’s taste, texture and freshness for a shelf life of 12 months, at room temperature. The pasta and sauce are stored in separate trays, allowing consumers to use as much or as little sauce as they like.
We enjoyed the meals, and are especially pleased that there are two whole grain varieties (if you’re going to eat high-carb pasta and bread, make them whole grain for a nutritional benefit). We have just two nits:
No grated cheese.
Sustainability: That clever packaging creates two pieces of plastic waste, in addition to the outer cardboard package and the plastic film over the food. But both trays are #5 plastic, which is recyclable in many communities.
For additional information on Barilla microwaveable meals, visit BarillaUS.com.
Find more of our favorite pastas, sauces and recipes in our Gourmet Pasta Section. *Based on the Percent Daily Values, which are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, as per the Nutrition Facts Panel.
Today, we’re passing on tips from the GreenBrideGuide.com, a resource for couples who desire an ecologically conscious wedding. The website’s cocktail and barbeque tips can also help you have a green(er) Memorial Day celebration.
Here are five ideas to make your outdoor event green or greener. It can also help to make family and friends more conscious of what can small steps can be taken to help the environment.
1. Use All Natural Charcoal
Cook with natural charcoal. One brand to look for is Lazzari natural mesquite charcoal. Made from ecologically harvested wood, it is a carbon neutral alternative that provides better flavor than briquettes. You can purchase it online. Also check out Hardwood Lump Charcoal. Here’s why it’s better than briquettes.
2. Serve Refreshing Green Drinks
Serve eco-friendly beer, and make your Mojitos from organic rum, organic limes and crushed organic mint (you can grow it in your garden, though not in time for this Memorial Day). Check out The Organic Spirits Company, which sells organic gin, rum, vodka and scotch.
Before you put a shrimp on the barbie, think of what you can do to create a more sustainable Memorial Day celebration. Photo by Atif Gulzar | SXC.
Serve drinks in recycled glass containers or reuse Mason jars as hefty, shatter-resistant drinking glasses (they can become your signature party glass). You can also get biodegradable straws (or simply buy paper instead of plastic).
3. Use Sustainable Serving Ware
Buy heavy-duty paper plates: They’re biodegradable. If you must use plastic, look for sustainable plastic plates. Susty Party Plates are made from recycled plastic and can be reused. Also check out the Bambu line of biodegradable bamboo plates. Put a “Recycle Your Utensils” bin next to the trash can so plastic flatware can be washed and used for the next party (it usually can be put it in the dishwasher).
Use paper plates and cups, not plastic. Photo courtesy Creative Converting.
4. Get Green Grilling Tools
The next time you buy grilling tools, look for greener alternatives, like this Eco BBQ Set, constructed from FDA compliant materials such as stainless steel and bamboo.
5. Bug Off With Citronella
When the sun sets, nothing ruins an outdoor party faster than mosquitoes! Try all natural citronella torches like these Big Dipper Wax Works. Made from bug repellant beeswax and soy candles with essential oils, they burn for eight hours. Then, you can pop another one into the reusable bamboo base. Beeswax is 100% natural and a renewable resource that actually cleans the air by emitting purifying negative ions.
Want to plan greener parties? Start with the best-selling The Green Bride Guide: How To Plan An Earth-Friendly Wedding On Any Budget. Any event can be made greener with its guidelines.
If you like Girl Scout Lemonade cookies—shortbread cookies stamped in the shape of a sliced lemon with a tangy lemon icing—we’ve got something even better for you:
Sara Snacker Cookie Company, an artisan baker with nostalgic-themed cookies, makes its own, far more elegant and delicious, lemonade cookie.
A round of lemony shortbread—made with real lemonade—is topped with a tart lemon icing. The sweet-and-tart effect is delightful.
Attractive white bags of 12 cookies are $8.00. Here’s a store locator; the company will sell them to you online in three-bag quantities.
The cookies are all natural, certified kosher by Star-D, and yummy. Would Dad like a bag for Father’s Day?
Whether you call it a sparkler, a spritzer or a soda, a liqueur like Kahlúa mixed with club soda is a refresher. Photo courtesy Kahlúa.
Just as you can turn wines into a spritzers by adding club soda, liqueurs are also waiting for a bit of sparkle.
Don’t let your liqueurs sit on the shelf when you can turn them into warm-weather refreshers. Simply add club soda (soda water) to create a spritzer, or adult soda.
Coffee lovers can start with a Kahlúa soda. Kahlúa liqueur blends Arabica coffee with rum for a very adult way of enjoying your java…or a sophisticated glass of coffee soda.
RECIPE: KAHLÚA SPARKLER
Ingredients Per Drink
1 part Kahlúa
3 parts club soda
Lime wedge
Preparation
1. Fill a tall glass with ice. Add the ingredients in order.
2. Stir lightly (so as not to break the bubbles). Garnish with the lime wedge.
KAHLÚA & COKE
If you enjoy a Rum & Coke, try a Kahlúa & Coke—it’s rum, coffee and coke.
Add 2 parts of Kahlúa to an ice-filled highball glass and top with 3 parts cola. Stir lightly and enjoy! HOW ABOUT ORANGE SODA?
Do the same with Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur (Combier, Gran Gala and triple sec, for example).
Take an inventory of the other liqueurs you have and plan an adult soda party. You can ask friends to bring a bottle from their collection and put together a sampling of apple soda (apple schnapps), cherry soda (kirsch), lemon soda (Limoncello), peach soda (peach schnapps) raspberry soda (framboise)—the whole soda fountain!
Adult Beverage Company, the folks who brought us the vodka-based Adult Chocolate Milk we enjoyed so much last year, has released its sophomore product. Continuing with the company’s theme of nostalgic drinks for adults, the Margarita has been conceived as “Adult Limeade.”
Adult Limeade is the only pour-and-serve Margarita that uses 100% Blue Agave Reposado Tequila. It’s a better Tequila, noteworthy for both the 100% blue agave (instead of a mix of blue agave and a less expensive agave variety) and reposado Tequila, aged 6 months to a year (instead of the unaged silver, or blanco, tequila—the different types of Tequila).
Lime juice and agave nectar are added to the Tequila to create a 40-proof drink. No refrigeration is required.
The company advises to just open the bottle and pour over ice. You can do that, but you really need a squeeze of fresh lime. The limitation with bottled Margarita mixes, no matter how fine the ingredients, is that the vibrancy of fresh lime juice is missing.
No problem: We always have a fresh lime at hand. We’ve been enjoying Adult Limeade in shot glasses with a salted rim. We squeeze in the fresh lime before adding the Adult Limeade.
Pour and serve: Adult Limeade joins sibling Adult Chocolate Milk. Photo courtesy Adult Beverage Company.
It’s a nice way to enjoy a mini-Margarita without the calories of a full-size glass.
Adult Limeade retails for $19.99 (750ml) and $23.99 (1 liter). There’s a store locator on the website.
Consider it as a gift for Father’s Day and college graduates. Bottoms up!
