Happy Almost Easter Weekend!

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With Easter only a few days away everyone at Passanante’s Home Food Service has started to get excited as we look forward to a fun weekend filled with family, friends and food! Whether you’re baking a turkey, smoking a ham, or grilling out some unbeatable brisket burgers we figured you might be interested in trying out a couple of really simple ways to add that lovely spring time twist to your table.

Pastel Deviled Eggs

Think you’re ready for an Easter inspired twist on deviled eggs? Once boiled and peeled, halved and yoke removed, drop egg halves into cups of water with about three drops of your favorite easter food coloring shades and a teaspoon of cider vinegar. Allow the eggs to soak just like when you’re dying the shells and allow them to dry on a paper towel before filling with your favorite deviled egg mixture. This springy version of a classic Easter food will be a fast favorite, especially if you have children!

Tip: Adding 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the water while boiling eggs will help the shell come right off. We recommend not using farm fresh eggs as they are notoriously more difficult to peel.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Carrots

Wish chocolate covered strawberries weren’t so Valentine’s Day-esk? Get the same great taste and a funny bunny twist with Easter “Carrots.” Just swap the standard chocolate for Wilton orange colored melting chocolate or white melting chocolate with a few drops of orange food coloring. Dip your strawberries into the melted orange chocolate, before gently placing them on wax paper to dry. Before the chocolate is fully hardened, use a marinade brush to add texture to the “carrots” and enjoy!

Easter Candy Bark

For a colorful and incredibly easy sweet, grab just TWO ingredients at the store and whip up some Easter candy bark. Simply microwave 16 oz. of vanilla almond bark, uncovered, in a large microwave-safe dish for about 2 minutes, stirring after every 30 seconds. Immediately pour the melted bark onto a sheet of parchment paper and top with pastel jelly beans or m&m’s. Cool overnight and break into bite-sized pieces. So easy. So tasty.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend and happy eating!

Three Detoxifying Foods Your Liver Loves

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Artichoke | Detox Food

Even with all of the tasty organic veggies and hormone-free meats you could want at your fingertips (that is, if you’re a Passanante’s customer :),) resisting the urge to indulge in the not-so-good-for-you foods and drinks during holidays, world-travels and weekends can sometimes be futile. But hey, we’re only humans so there’s no reason to beat yourself up after a little bit of fun!

At Passanante’s Home Food Service we believe in balance. It’s no secret that staying in and preparing organic vegetables and hormone-free meat meals at home is a healthier alternative to eating out, but sometimes you have to live a little — and that’s where detox foods come in.  As you embark on a new work week following St. Patrick’s Day weekend, you may feel a little more bloated, foggy, or sluggish than usual as your body tries to filter through the foods and drinks from your weekend celebrations. No problem! There are dozens of great detoxifying foods out there that you should try to incorporate into your diet to help get you feeling like your old self.

Check out these three detoxifying foods that your liver loves and help kickstart your cleansing process by working these into your meals this week.

1. Garlic – The allicin and selenium found in garlic are two natural compounds that aid in liver cleansing. Also, The sulphuric compounds found in garlic make this tasty ingredient a powerful antiviral, antiseptic and antibiotic which can help the body purge free radicals and improve liver function.

2. Artichoke – The cynarin found in artichokes is known to help prevent indigestion, assist the digestion process, increase bile production, and purify the liver and gallbladder. Additionally, artichokes work as a mild diuretic for the kidneys, which helps to remove toxins from the body once the liver has filtered them out of your system.

3. Organic Cabbage – Believed by the American Cancer Society to reduce the risk of cancer, organic cabbage is an incredibly powerful detoxifier. Packed full of vitamins A, B, C and E, cabbage has all of the necessary nutrients to help effectively cleanse the liver.

Warm Your Bones Beef Stew

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Beef Stew
Burr! It’s cold outside and the only way we know to warm up is with tasty comfort foods like this recipe for “Warm Your Bones Beef Stew.” This one has a few more ingredients than we usually post, but it’s definitely worth it. The best part? You can tweak this recipe with any amount of your other favorites like peas and corn and you’re only going to make it even better — that’s the beauty of stews! We announced earlier this year that we’ve got a wide variety of new items coming to our food delivery service, and we’re genuinely looking forward to hearing your feedback on them. At Passanante’s Home Food Service we’re always looking for new ways to impress you, and we hope our new products and weekly recipes become some of your favorites!
What You’ll Need for “Warm Your Bones Beef Stew”:
  • 3 lbs stew meat
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 1/2 cup red wine (dry)
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 2 carrots peeled and chopped
  • 2 celery stalks chopped
  • 2 red potatoes peeled and cubed
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 4 1/2 cups beef broth
  • 1 teaspoon thyme

Instructions:

  1. Flour the meat by shaking in a brown paper bag filled with flour and brown it in a skillet with olive oil
  2. Transfer browned stew meat to soup pot with beef broth and boil with other ingredients.
  3. Simmer, simmer, simmer – it will cook down. Add water as needed, and always have enough water to keep it covered. (Remember this is a soup so don’t worry about adding water 🙂 )
  4. Thicken with a rue of water and flour mixed together (about 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup flour will made it more of a liquid than a paste, which is what you want. You can also substitute the flour for cornstarch if you prefer.)
  5. Serve with warm flaky biscuits (the pillsbury ones in the can are our favorite!)

Want access to more great recipes? “Like” us on Facebook to connect with other Passanante’s food delivery customers and find out what they like to whip up at dinner time!

Featured Recipe: Herb Roasted Chicken

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Herb Roasted Chicken

If you don’t receive the Passanante’s Home Food Service email updates you’re missing out on exciting announcements about new menu items, contests, and some incredibly simple recipes that you and your family would love! This recipe for Herb Roasted Chicken is one of our favorites because it only had a few simple ingredients and it’s ready in five easy steps. Such a great recipe to have on hand for those busy days!

Ingredients:

  • 1 Roasting Chicken, about 4 to 5 pounds
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 Small onion, peeled and quartered
  • 1 Rib celery, cut in large chunks
  • 1/4 Tsp dried rosemary
  • 1/2 Tsp dried leaf thyme
  • 3 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh parsley
  • 4 Tbsp melted butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Rub inside of chicken with lemon juice; sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Add the onion quarters, celery, dried herbs, and parsley to chicken cavity.

4. Place chicken in a shallow roasting pan and roast at 350° for about 20 minutes per pound.

5. Baste with melted butter several times. Internal temperature should register at least 165° on a meat thermometer inserted into the meaty part of the thigh.

Are you a fan of us on Facebook? We’re excited to announce a new contest that we’d love you to participate in. All you have to do is take a picture of your meal at your favorite restaurant and submit it to our Facebook contest app for a chance to win a $100 gift card to that restaurant ($50 for second place)!  It’s so easy to enter and we’d love for you to share some great grub-spots with your fellow Passanante’s customers. 🙂

Happy Eating!

What’s In Your Burger?

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Hamburger Meat

The recent reports of Burger King selling Whoppers contaminated with horse meat in the U.K. has got everyone’s stomach churching, but with Oklahoma’s recent push to reopen horse slaughterhouses this problem may not be as far away from home as we’d like to think.

Since the closing of U.S. horse slaughterhouses in 2007, rural lawmakers have been lobbying to lift the ban on selling and producing horse meat, which has been in effect in Oklahoma since 1963. Why? The argument is simple, as a result of extreme drought the U.S. cattle herd is the smallest its been in six decades and for states like Oklahoma which depend on the cattle industry this is bad news. With the knowledge that over 140,000 horses are shipped from the U.S. to Mexico and Canada for slaughter to be sold in Japan and the European Union, coupled with the 45,000 mustangs being kept in long-term pins in Oklahoma at the expense of taxpayers, state Senator Mark Allen among others sees this as an opportunity to capitalize on an increasingly popular trade.

So what does this have to do with you? If you’re a burger-lover the answer is a lot.  U.S. horses are some of the most highly medicated in the world and are frequently treated with drugs banned by the FDA for use in any food animals. An example of one of these drugs is known human carcinogen, Phenylbutazone.

The average burger is composed of a mixture of various edible scraps of meat from multiple cows, from multiple plants, and even from multiple countries combined with some additional fat and additives for flavor. Unfortunately for people who aren’t interested in eat horse meat in their burgers, this production process is not without it’s flaws which explains how horse meat found it’s way into Burger King’s Whoppers.

Luckily for all of the Passanante’s food delivery customers, the passing of the Oklahoma bill will not in any way impact the burgers you enjoy, but the same cannot be said for our friends who still depend on large corporate meat companies for their favorite foods. Passanante’s Home Food Service prides itself on delivering the highest quality organic veggies and meats and we look forward to continuing to impress you and your family with our 100% product guarantee.