Doesn’t this look delicious?

Would you believe me if I told you in took me ten minutes to make?

Bertolli challenged bloggers to make a weeknight meal special and sent two coupons for their new Bertolli Meal Soups so we could try them out. Like most working parents, getting a meal on the table is hard enough, making it special seems impossible. But weeknights are usually the only time all four of us sit down together to eat dinner together so I had motivation to accept. They gave us an hour prep time limit but I was actually able to shop, put the meal together, and have it on the table in under an hour. Awesome eh?

I took my coupons to the store and checked out the selection (you can find the Bertolli Meal Soups in the ready made dinner section right next to their pasta meals; to locate a store that carries them pick Bertolli Meal Soups on their product locator.) Since my husband has blood pressure issues, I am always careful to note the sodium on any product. The Bertolli Meal Soups obviously have a higher sodium count than homemade soups and stews but the milligrams were lower than the frozen pizzas we often resort to.

For our dinner, I selected the Chicken Minestrone, which is their lowest sodium soup, and the Tuscan Style Beef and Vegetables. To go with them I made easy cheese twists, which literally cook in the time it takes the soup to heat up. They make the perfect pairing soups and are super simple since they use low fat. You can check out how I make them in this You Tube video.

Overall, we gave four thumbs up to the soups. The big winner was the chicken minestrone soup. My husband may have mentioned something about it being better than my homemade version but surely I misheard that right? Okay, I admit. It was better and took way less time. Though we really liked the flavor of the Tuscan Style Beef and Tomato (the broth is out of this world), I wasn’t a fan of the toughness of the beef. It’s so hard to get stew beef right and I am a tiny bit happy that even powerhouses like Bertolli have trouble with it.

We will definitely be giving these a try on those nights when we want something special to sit down to together when we are short on time. Going the extra step to make a side dish and get the table set was totally worth it. And since it took me such a short amount of time I sat down completely relaxed. That may have been the most important element!

Thank you to Bertolli for giving me a chance to try their new line and for compensating me for my time. Betolli can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and of course their website.

Can you believe Valentine’s Day is barely two weeks away? I admit that we are not big Valentine’s Day people, no fancy gifts in our household. Our celebrating is usually limited to a decorated breakfast table and a picnic dinner at home. And oh, lots and lots of chocolate eating.

Chocolate, how I love it. But as I have gotten older my taste buds have gotten snobby and decided that the regular old drugstore candy bar just won’t do. Luckily gourmet chocolate has gone mainstream and there are tons of options to please my picky taste buds. In honor of Valentine’s day I thought I would share some of my finds with you.

First off, Angell Organic candy bars. I received some of these to review in December and planned to share them with visiting family. The only problem was, I couldn’t stop myself from scarfing them down. But really, can you blame me. I mean they are almost healthy really. They only have 5-7 ingredients per bar, all of which you can actually pronounce. And there’s no GMO products or corn syrup. Best part? There’s less than 200 calories per bar. And no guilty conscience: Angell candy bars are fair trade.

All flavors are kosher and the Angell Crisp is gluten free and the Dark Angell is vegan. You can find them at a store near you as well as online. They are around $2 each.