Presidents’ Day Weekend Special: Free Shipping!
February 16th, 2012
The Pasta Shoppe is offering Free Shipping for all orders over $50 starting today thru 2/21 at 8AM CST. Take advantage of this special offer to get all you might need for March Madness, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter! Click Here to Shoppe with us!
-Megan Grehan
Recipe of the Week: Sweetheart Feast!
February 14th, 2012
Going out on Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite things to do. Personally, I am a fan of a great steak (and so is my boyfriend) but there is almost always some delicious leftovers! So, why not make a delicious second Valentine’s day dinner that uses the best part of a great night out and some or our Eat your Heart Our Pasta! Our recipe of the week can be made with a variety of ways but here is how I took some leftover veggies and delicious steak to make a Sweetheart Feast:
Step 1: Saute some red onions with salt, and pepper in olive oil. If you love garlic add some of that as well!
Step 2: Add you leftover vegetables. I had some brussels sprouts and mushrooms to enjoy but you could add asparagus, broccoli, spinach or even corn if you want!
Step 3: Add your cut up leftover steak, whether it’s sirloin, rib-eye or filet it will taste delicious. I fortunately had half a filet and half a rib-eye on hand!
Step 4: Boil water with some salt, add pasta and cook for 8 minutes or until tender and then drain pasta.
Step 5: Add 1-2 tablespoons of Pesto to your dish. I used a Pepper and Egglant Pesto by Giada De Laurentis I found at Target. But regular pesto or even an Alfredo sauce would work great!
Step 6: Mix Pasta with steak and veggies!
Step 7: Place in serving bowls and top with shredded Parmesan, salt and pepper! Enjoy!
-Megan Grehan
Weekly Recipe: Hearty Turkey Chili!
February 7th, 2012
Turkey Chili is a delicious, healthy and filling meal that is just what you need in the winter while trying to get back into your swimsuit shape. This simple and easy recipe has just several ingredients, but the key is our chili seasoning mix and the cute little heart shapes that you add as you desire.
Step 1: The Ingredients
Start with the following Ingredients: 1 package of Hearty Chili, 1 medium onion, 1 green pepper, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 15. oz can of kidney beans, black beans and pinto beans, 1 28. can of diced tomatoes, 1 lb. of turkey, 1/3 cup of ketchup, and shredded cheese and sour cream to garnish.
The next step is to start browning the turkey in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. At the same time coat a large pot with some olive oil then add the chopped onion and minced garlic. Let the onion and the garlic brown before adding the canned tomatoes and chopped green onions. (Note: I used organic, low sodium canned products to make the meal more healthy!)
Step 3: Bring the ingredients together to a boil
Stir the vegetables together and bring to a low boil before adding browned turkey and the three cans of beans. Once it is all together add the seasoning along with 1/3 cup of ketchup. Let the chili develop flavor at a low boil for at least 20 minutes. While the chili is developing you can boil water and cook your pasta!
Step 5: The longer the chili cooks, the better it tastes!
The last step is to combine the pasta with the chili and garnish as you would like! Make sure you only combine what you will eat immediately. Be sure to store pasta and chili separately in the fridge or freezer or the pasta will absorb all the moisture! I chose cheddar cheese and sour cream for garnish, but chopped green onions, bacon, oyster crackers and jalapeños go great as well! This recipe is serves 6-8 people and is ideal for a large family Valentines’ Day dinner! So, Order some Hearty Chili today for $5.99 and choose Fedex shipping to get it in time for Valentine’s Day (on the east coast only)!
Step 6: Enjoy!
-Megan Grehan
Divine Meringues Dipped in White Chocolate
February 4th, 2012
Vanilla and Key Lime Meringues Dipped in White Chocolate
We have dipped our heavenly meringues in chocolate before, but to give them a Valentine’s day kiss we created a white chocolate version with our Vanilla and Key Lime flavors. Although they are no longer 7 calories you won’t regret adding a little bit of love for a special occasion or special loved one! Please be sure to make them the day of any occasion and keep them covered! Meringues are delicate and do not like to be out in the air of too long!
Take a look at our previous blog for detailed interactions on how to dip your meringues in chocolate. Just be aware that white chocolate is more delicate when melting, so be sure to melt at a lower temperature or power lever 2 in the microwave!
White chocolate adds such a nice light and sweet flavor! Enjoy the goodies!
-Megan Grehan
Macaroni Heart Art: Perfect for Valentine’s Day
February 1st, 2012
Macaroni art is a beloved past time for many. It’s makes me nostalgic for my elementary school days. I can’t imagine what I would have done with the selection of shapes that we have here at The Pasta Shoppe. So, Anna and I embarked on this fun and easy arts and crafts project perfect for kids (and adults)! All you will need is: A bag of Eat Your Heart Out Pasta, an unfinished picture frame (only a $1.00 at Michaels), conversation hearts, paint, stickers, colorful Sharpies, glue, construction paper, scissors, a paint brush, a sponge, and newspaper to protect your table.
The first step is to lay out some newspaper to protect the surface you are working on. Next plan out your design, something you might want to say, such as ”I ♥ U” or “♥ U Forever”. The combination of heart pasta, stickers and conversation hearts opens up a whole world of “pastabilities”! We even grabbed an “I” from Iowa State pasta and a “U” from our Utah Pasta Salad. If you love horses or basketball, grab a bag of that as well and add it to your pasta art! The more shapes the more fun you can have, and the more you can eat when you are done!
Next, get to creating! It took us just over an hour to make our frames and cards. Once finished, we let them dry overnight before placing a picture in the frame. Now they are ready for our Valentine’s! What do you think?
Sometimes it is okay to play with your food!
To my Valentine Matt- Love Megan
To my Valentine and Fiancé Edgar- Love Anna
We hope you have as much fun with your Macaroni Heart Art as we did! If you make your own be sure to share it with us on Facebook!
Happy Valentine's Day from The Pasta Shoppe!
-Megan Grehan
The Pasta Shoppe Goes Gluten Free
January 24th, 2012
In our shaped pastas, gluten is a key ingredient in keeping our noodles cute and in one piece. However, there are many individuals that cannot intake gluten into their diets. We want everyone to be able to enjoy our products, so we added our Gluten Free Curly Noodles made in a gluten-free dedicated facility! These little curls have a lot to offer with 9 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein per serving! With navy beans as our gluten-free protein source, these noodles contain large amounts of vital nutrients like folate, potassium and iron. The high fiber in the navy bean aids in lowering cholesterol and preventing blood sugar levels from rising too quickly after a meal.
Navy beans are not “navy” at all! They get their name from being a staple food item in the Navy for sailors.
What is Gluten?
Gluten is a type of protein often found in grains such as rye and wheat. Although it is a component of many grains, NOT ALL GRAINS contain gluten. Wild rice, corn, oats and buckwheat are all examples of grains that do not contain gluten. The presence of gluten often aids in texture. It allows bread to rise, firms when cooked and helps bread keep its shape. In the case of Gluten Free Curly Noodles, we substitute grain with beans. Our navy beans are prepared in the best bean mills of Michigan, using a specialized process to reduce bean flavor and effects, and make the beans highly digestible.
Why Go Gluten-Free?
1. Celiac Disease: Our Curly Noodles are safe for these people. Celiac Disease is defined as a permanent intolerance to gluten that results in damage to the digestive system and is reversible by avoidance of dietary gluten.
2. Other Nutritional Reasons: Going gluten-free is not only for individuals affected by celiac disease. People with diabetes can benefit greatly from a gluten-free diet. Gluten free is also great for those who may be affected with sensitive stomachs and allergies. It is also a great choice for certain weight loss plans.
Cooking Curly Noodles!!!
Not much time to cook? No problem! Curly Noodles cook in as little as 3 minutes! There are many great recipe combinations to try with the gluten-free noodles. And rest assured, you will enjoy delicious nutrition without GMO, wheat, dairy, cholesterol, trans fats and casein. There’s NO egg, milk, peanut, seafood seed, tree nut or soy products in Curly Noodles, either. You can finally enjoy pasta guilt free and allergy free!
Don’t forget, you can cook a healthy Curly Noodle meal and finish it off with our gluten-free Divine Meringues!
Enjoy!!!
-Anna Morris
Top 5 “Foodie” Finds from the Atlanta Gift Show!
January 17th, 2012
Megan, Joann and Sheri at "The Mart"
Joann and I traveled to the Atlanta Gift show this past weekend to share our products with buyers and sales reps. It was fun and successful for The Pasta Shoppe! Our new products were a hit and everyone loved the idea of a political pasta to be released in mid-March! We’ll be releasing more information about this in the near future.
I had the opportunity to sample a wide variety of foods at the show but had the perfect Italian dinner in mind each time. Our pasta is fun and delicious, but we discovered there are many great items that can go along with it. Here are just a few of our finds from the show:
Top finds from The Atlanta Gift Show to make the perfect Italian Dinner!
Classy Delites Chips and Dips: Nothing goes better with pasta salad and sports than chips and dips! There were so many great dips featured at the show that this was a really hard decision to make, but someone had to do it! Ultimately, I thought Classy Delites had the best tasting and freshest dips at the show. Their chips are also enhanced by the nutritional benefits of the Chia seed baked right into their delicious “Tweeds” tortilla chips! To get a good sampling of their products start out the Chive and Chia Seed chips with the Black Bean Balsamic dip or the Chunky Pineapple Salsa! All their products are delicious and unique so go with whatever sounds good to you!
The Original Savory Saltine Crackers: These are another great addition to a party or even our Chicken Noodle Soup! So simple to make and just tasty!
Kinloch Plantation Pecan Oil: This oil naturally has half the saturated fat as Olive Oil and a more neutral flavor that really takes on the tastes of what you cook with it, whether that is garlic, rosemary or red pepper! I traded some pasta for a bottle so stay tuned for lots of recipes!
Flavored Salts from Salt Sisters: I have always loved salt and it always tastes great on pasta, with butter and Parmesan. With these flavored salts it is going to make a simple and delicious dish even better!
12 NtM Sparkling Beverage: This product was developed by a 5 star NY Chef who needed a beverage to cleanse and refresh his customer’s palettes between courses. They loved it so much it became an anytime drink and eventually a beautifully packaged commercial product. These drinks taste great and are a little bit more fun than sparkling water! Their website also has several cocktail recipes to give one of their two flavors a nice kick!
These are just a few of the great items I found while at the show! I hope some of them appeal to you, but be sure to pair the items with some of our pasta! We will be featuring these finds and several more with some new recipes soon!
-Megan Grehan
The BCS Championship: An SEC Showdown!
January 5th, 2012
It has been a few weeks since our last blog post due to a generous vacation during the holidays. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!
Fortunately, the BCS Championship Bowl is just around the corner! I hope you all are ready with your Alabama or LSU pasta salad. Even if either team is not “Your School” it is hard to be impartial for such a serious showdown! To celebrate the last collegiate game of the season we are having a pasta salad party on Monday in The Shoppe (with a little bit of UT for the die hard fans we have around here!) So, get ready to see some pictures on Facebook so you can celebrate with us! Or, if you are in Nashville come stop by and get some pasta of your own! They are only $5.99!
Just so you know how to make our Ultimate Collegiate Pasta Salad the recipe is below (and on the back of any collegiate pasta bag):
1 Ultimate Collegiate Pasta Salad (Serves 6-8)
1 Package of Pasta Shoppe Touchdown Vinaigrette (included in package)
1 Cucumber
1 Red Onion
1 Red or Yellow Bell Pepper (Depending on your team preference!)
1/2 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 Cup Olive of Vegetable Oil
1) Make the Vinaigrette! Combine Seasoning Packet, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil in glass bowl. Heat in microwave stirring occasionally until packet is dissolved.
2) Cook your Pasta! For 6-8 minutes in gently boiling water. Drain and rinse pasta!
3) Add your Veggies! Peel and chop the cucumber, red onion and pepper.
4) Gently Toss it all together, ENJOY and CELEBRATE! Let the best SEC Team win!
Also, if you are going down to New Orleans for the celebration let us know or even share some pictures with us! Hope you have a great time and wish we were there too! The real question is who do you think will win?
-The Pasta Shoppe
Chocolate Dipped Divine Meringues
December 12th, 2011
Meringues are some of our favorite items around here, so we decided to dip them in chocolate to make them the perfect item for a Holiday Party or Cookie Exchange (where low-calorie is not a priority). Please note that the Divine Meringues do absorb humidity, so you want to serve these within 24 hours from the time you make them and keep the final product tightly wrapped up until then!
The first step is to get the ingredients: Divine Meringues from The Pasta Shoppe, Chocolate Chips and White Chocolate Chips, Sprinkles, Sweetened Coconut and any other decorations you would like!
The ingredients!
Next, I melted my chocolate chips in the microwave on Power Level 3 stirring every 45 seconds. (Use PL-2 for White Chocolate). This keeps the chocolate from burning. You can also melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
The microwave is an easy option for melting chocolate!
Once the Chocolate is all melted get the meringues ready for dipping! Also, have a pan with parchment paper close by to let them harden and dry (I usually put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes once they are all done and decorated). Next, dip the meringue in chocolate, place it on the parchment and add sprinkles or coconut! You can also dip just the top half of the meringue for a less chocolatey cookie and roll in the coconut or other toppings! I also bought some green and white gel icing to add some more intricate decorations. The opportunities are only limited by your creativity!
Every box has 30 Meringues which allows for lots of dipping!
Please note you may need to reheat the chocolate every several dips keeping the chocolate warm enough to have just a thin layer on the meringue, but only at the low power level! Also, be sure to use a spoon for dipping (I tried to use my hands and that was too messy to even attempt a photograph!)
When all done place the Chocolate Covered Divine Meringues in the freezer for 20 minutes or let sit until they are dry and ready to plated. As soon as you can, wrap your goodies in saran wrap to keep fresh on the way to your holiday party! I promise you they will be a huge hit! Try other combinations such as Peppermint drizzled with White Chocolate or Key Lime and Dark Chocolate!
Here is our Divine Vanilla Meringues dipped in Semi-Sweet, but I will certainly be making more throughout the holidays and sharing pictures with you on Facebook! Wish I could share the real thing!
Enjoy!!
Happy Holidays and share any feedback you may have about this recipe!
-Megan Grehan
Give Thanks: Texas Style
November 21st, 2011
Gobble Gobble! Happy early Turkey Day! Put on your shorts and a lightweight shirt—no sweater needed—and come join my family in the sticky air of Houston, TX for our Thanksgiving supper. All 13 members of my small family encircle the table, holding hands, as Granddaddy Reads blesses the meal. In our family, the ladies go first. As the family’s baby girl, I’m always at the head of the line, but you’re the guest, so, of course you can go ahead.
First up, Granddaddy’s juicy tenderloin. My mouth begins to water as I select my slice of tenderloin, and Granddaddy usually sneaks up behind me, nudges me and softly teases, “Now, Begonia, I bet you don’t want any of that tenderloin. Why don’t you just leave it all for me? Now, that salad over there? Mm mm! Go ahead and get yourself some of that!” I always erupt into giggles as he slides the biggest slice onto my plate.
Next up, Dad’s turkey, fresh out of the oven, sits in two CoringWare dishes: one holds the white meat, and one holds the dark meat. “Ten hours,” I hear him saying. “I bet you’ve never had a turkey as good as the one you’re about to taste. Low heat and lots of time, now that’s how ya cook a Thanksgiving turkey.”
The gravy boat sitting next to the turkey holds Granddaddy’s sacred gravy. Growing up I was always told the gravy’s secret ingredient was a rare spice called “giblets.” Well, I guess the saying “ignorance is bliss” really is true.
Memaw’s moist stuffing sits next in the long line of dishes. My Memaw isn’t what one would call a culinary expert. One story that always has us roaring in laughter is the story of Memaw and Granddaddy’s first dinner party as newlyweds. I’ll keep the story short, but my Granddaddy’s bride was unaware of the difference between corn starch and clothing starch. Needless to say, the cake was a bit stiff.
Mom’s Holiday Cranberry-Raspberry Salad, one of my absolute favorite Thanksgiving traditions, slightly jiggles as I cut into the bunt-cake shaped salad. Three years ago I grew quite unsettled upon learning that someone had eliminated the gelatin salad from the menu. Outraged at this preposterous change in Thanksgiving tradition, I surveyed the whole family for their opinions on the matter. Within a day, the votes were in and the cranberry raspberry gelatin salad was here to stay forevermore.
The Jungmans!
Thank you so much for joining my family and me for a little, yet scrumptious taste of our Thanksgiving traditions. I wish you and your family countless reasons to give thanks! Feel free to actually taste one of our Thanksgiving traditions and try out Mom’s Holiday Cranberry-Raspberry Salad:
Holiday Cranberry-Raspberry Salad
1 large box raspberry Jello
1 10oz box Bird’s Eye Less Sugar frozen raspberries in juice
2 cups light sour cream
1 can jellied cranberry sauce (not whole berry)
1 ½ cups juice (Use juice from raspberries first, then continue to fill measuring cup with light cranberry juice until you have 1 ½ cups.)
In large saucepan, heat liquid, dissolve Jello into warm liquid, stirring slowly. When Jello is completely dissolved, remove liquid from heat. Whip cranberry sauce and sour cream together in blender. Carefully add this mixture to liquid and stir together. Gently fold in the raspberries.
Grease a medium-large mold or glass dish (9×13) very lightly with Crisco or similar shortening. Pour mixture into pan. Set for at least 8 hours in refrigerator/serve cold.
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