Yeah, I like product reviews: Philadelphia cooking creme

Every now and then, the grocery store I work at will receive new products and put them on SUPER SALE. This item, Philadelphia cooking creme, was no exception. It sounded good and with a coupon, it only cost $1.50 ($2.50 normally). It even came with a recipe on the can, so my mom and I decided to give it a shot. We purchased the Italian Cheese and Herb variant and took it home. Mind you, this was a few weeks ago. I was worried that it would be bad by the time we found a good night to use it, but it has a surprisingly long shelf life. 

I decided to keep things simple and just mix it up with some chicken. I steamed some vegetables, cut up some boneless skinless chicken breasts and cooked them up in a cast iron skillet with a little olive oil. I didn't add any seasoning because of the creme. Once the chicken was fully cooked, I added in the vegetables and spooned in the creme. It was much thicker than I anticipated, but thinned once it was mixed in. I mixed everything thoroughly, and made a quick pot of rice in my handy-dandy rice cooker. 


Keeping things rather light, I served the meal with the chicken-creme-veggie mixture over rice. A little salt and pepper, and it was delicious. This was so much easier than trying to make a sauce on my own. It's also just as simple as one of those meal in a bag deals, without the hefty price. I managed to make the cooking creme dish feed seven people, with enough left over that my sister could take it for lunch the next day. Even the pickiest eater enjoyed the meal. This is definitely a product I am interested in buying again. 


Including prep time and cooking time, this meal did take a bit longer to cook. Easy ways to shorten cooking time would be to use fresh vegetables as to cut out the steaming time and boost nutrients. The recipe actually called for veggies of the stir-fry variety, but all I had on hand was a bag of frozen California mix. Pre-cooked chicken would work just as well, I would only worry about the seasoning and sodium being high. Another issue with the cooking creme was the high fat content. One serving of the creme contains 1/4 of an adult's daily saturated fat intake. But like I said, this cooking creme made more than 4 servings, so the fat intake is cut down. Using fresh vegetables and a different protein such as fish, as well as using wild rice, would make this dish quite healthy. Butter and other fattening flavor enhancers are not needed. 


At one point, I did feel the need to mix things up a bit, so I put in a bit of Sriracha. I swear, it tasted so much like curry. It didn't need it, but you know me. Sriracha on everything. 


All in all, this meal was satisfying and delicious. Using the cooking creme kept things simple and mess to a minimum. I look forward to experimenting with this product!


Flavor: 5/5, will appeal to all levels of picky


Cost: 4/5, without the coupon, I don't think I would have tried it at first. However, I can now see myself paying $2.50 for it. 


Usefulness: 5/5, the product was straightforward and even came with a recipe. Nothing complicated; non-martha-stewarts like me will love it. 


Overall Score: 5/5! would buy again. 

Yeah, I don't like celery

I really don't. I've tried it tons of times tons of ways, and it always comes across as this strange peppery thing. Soup is the only way I've ever been able to tolerate it.


One of the problems with celery is that it is a key ingredient in most variations of chicken salad. I like chicken salad, and it's a staple at weddings and baby showers and all kinds of parties where they put it in fancy croissants. I like the idea of a smooth chicken salad, but once you put that celery in there, it's gone. And then some whackos put limp lettuce and onions and relish and walnuts and God knows what else and then it's ruined and I'm left to survive this 4 hour long wedding reception with nothing but raw carrots and cocktail weenies dripping in barbecue sauce. But I digress.


So this past Easter I was put through the same celery salad ordeal and decided to take matters into my own hands. It took about 10 minutes to make, but I had already cooked the chicken earlier today so that doesn't really count. All of the ingredients used were leftovers from our Easter party, but none of them are so out of the ordinary that you would have to go anywhere special to get them. These days, even Sriracha is carried by most major grocery chains. Also, as a special note: when cooking with chicken, wash down EVERYTHING with hot, soapy water. No one wants salmonella.


Spicy Chicken Salad
Prep/Cooking time: 15 minutes
Putting together time: 10 minutes


2 chicken tenders or 1 chicken breast, skinless/boneless
2 Tbsp mayo
1/2 tsp Sriracha chili sauce
1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 cup Mandarin oranges
1 handful fresh baby spinach
1 croissant, or 2 slices of your favorite bread


1. Cook the chicken. Mine was frozen, so I just popped it in the microwave to thaw, diced it, then cooked it in a skillet on medium heat with a bit of olive oil. It doesn't matter how you cook it, just make sure that you cook it thoroughly.


2. Let the chicken cool, then chop it as finely as you prefer. I left a few chunks, but for the most part my chicken was shredded.


3. Mix the mayo and Sriracha. IMPORTANT: make sure that the two are completely mixed. You don't want a drop of concentrated Sriracha anywhere. That would not be good.


4. Destroy the walnuts. I did this by placing them in a plastic bag and pounding them with a hammer into dust. This way, I got the nutty flavor without finding huge chunks of wood in my sandwich. I mean, really. Nuts are like chewing rocks.


5. Mix the chicken and the walnut dust with the Sriracha/mayo mixture.


6. Spoon the chicken salad onto the bread. Place Mandarin orange slices (if desired) on the mix. Top with baby spinach. The oranges provide a hint of sweetness to offset the heat of the Sriracha and the blandness of the mayo, while the spinach provides a nice bit of crispness.


7. EAT IT. It's really good, I promise. I ate my sandwich by itself, but I'm sure it would be nicely complemented by some kettle fried chips or more oranges or something.


All in all, this recipe is pretty simple. It doesn't take long, and it's incredibly satisfying. Plus, I'm sure it could hold its own against some cocktail weenies.


Please tell me what you like, don't like, or if you have any suggestions at all!

Yeah, I like cooking

Ever since I got my first Easy-Bake oven, I knew I was made to cook stuff. Even though my dad never put a light bulb in it, I still ripped open those packets of powder and stirred my little heart out. I kept waiting for that light bulb until I forgot that there was a pan full of yellow cake batter in the oven, and we put the Easy-Bake in storage. Once we cleaned out the shed and found the pan, now encrusted with bugs and moss, we threw the oven away. The Easy-Bake may have never been lit, but the spirit of cookery was kindled! And so now I spend my days trying to find the flavors I want with as little pain involved as possible.

I realized as I grew up that there were flavors I wanted that came with textures I didn't. Tomatoes, onions, pickles, nuts; all of these things were bothersome but tasty. Even worse, they are things that my parents like to eat. High school brought along a flavor that I don't think I can ever do without - Sriracha. Those who have had it know how it works; once taste and you're hooked. Better than ketchup. There are also things I see all the time that I want to try, but having picky siblings, I haven't had the chance to. Working at a grocery store has not only given me a paycheck, but also the experience to find products that I never knew existed.

My goal with this blog is to achieve three things: create recipes that have good taste, recipes that use Sriracha, and to review products and promote those that are excellent but unheard of. I hope you enjoy!