Good Stuff

This is a list of some of my favorite products.  These have worked out well in recipes and I would recommend them as great short cuts when you don’t have time for homemade.

1.  Sadie’s Salsa.  I’m a New Mexico transplant surviving in Minnesota, and ordering Sadie’s by the case is a big lifeline.  This stuff is so good, whether by itself or in some guacamole or chile con queso.

2.  Buitoni Arrabiata Sauce — “An Angry Blend of Tomatoes and Spices.”  This is a great sauce for pasta or for making chicken parm.  My husband and I love spicy foods, so I prefer this to Buitoni’s Marinara, but that’s a quality sauce, too.  These fresh sauces are in the grocery store refrigerator case.  I have trouble finding the Arrabiata as often as the Marinara, so when I find it I buy a few of them and freeze them.

2.  Classico Fire Roasted Tomato and Garlic Pasta Sauce.  As far as off-the-shelf pasta sauces, this is my favorite.  You can really taste the “fire roasted” flavor in this rich, chunky sauce.  It has a lot of depth and like the Buitoni is also a good complement to chicken parmesan.

3.  Maille Cornichons.  These are little French pickles with pearl onions.  Great as a little appetizer along with a baguette, wine and cheese. I am addicted.

4.  Alexia Frozen Potatoes.  There are several great varieties to choose from.  Rosemary and Garlic Oven Fries and Sweet Potato Fries are my favorites.  Just toss them with olive oil, throw them in the oven in a pyrex dish at 450 and voila, 20 minutes later they’re ready.

5.  Take and Bake Peasant Bread.  Both Target and Cub sell this stuff — I think it might come from the same bakery under each store brand.  It’s great because you can keep it in the refrigerator for a couple days and then bake it and it’s like you bought a fresh loaf of bread that day.  Convenient.