12
Dec, 2011

I always like to eat, but eating during the holidays is one of my favorite things. I allow myself to let loose in the food department and the belt department and reflect on the year that has passed and the year to come whilst stuffing my face. 


And I like it all – savory, sweet, sugary, meaty, fruity, chocolatey, liquory and my most favorite of all… BUTTERY.

The fine folks of Fresh And Easy (my FAVORITE grocery store on the planet) invited me down to a Holiday face stuffing extravaganza last week which was awesome within itself, but the venue was amazing as well – The Queen Mary Verandah Grill. It was my first time on the QM and it was a beautiful night to gorge oneself on a ship.

I LOVE Fresh And Easy and their holiday specialities this year are amazing! Grab one of their Holiday Guides or view it online, and go to town. You can even order an entire fresh cooked holiday meal for 8 of turkey, ham or beef roast from between $45-$65!! Just be sure to order by December 18 if you would like to have it for Christmas.

The San Fernando Valley Ninja Moms – We are STEALTH! (BTW, I just made that name up. We’re not really ninjas.)

There’s a lot to choose from and lots of it is seasonal so don’t wait or it will be gone. Some of the items we sampled were the…

Cheeses, meats, veggies, nuts and dried fruits, crackers, salad and shrimp cocktail…

Petite Quiche (come in 3-cheese and Florentine, frozen section),

Sweet sausage and yam skewers (YAY Chef Cindy!!),

Pie bites (apple raspberry & chocolate caramel, frozen section) & mini eclairs, pumpkin cheesecake pie, holiday cookies… And of course, we all left with a giant bag of holiday goodies to sample and share with friends:

Aubrey and Bob Barker are ready for the holidays!

Belgian Biscuits, Dark Chocolate Nut & cranberry Squares,  Pumpkin Bread Mix, Orange Spice Granola, Napa Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Organic Cinnamon Flavored Coffee, Peppermint Hot Cocoa Mix, Panettone, Peppermint Bark, Swiss Dark & Milk Chocolate Truffles, Vermont Maple Syrup With Vanilla Bean

Aubrey is in love with the peppermint hot cocoa and we munched some of those truffles in the movie theater over the weekend. Shhh… don’t tell. That’s what the “mom purse” is for after all. Tonight I’m going to bring the wine and biscuits over to a friend’s house to share and the rest is MINE!! ALL MINE!!!! Mwahahaha! I’ll be cracking open the rest over the holiday week at home with Aubrey. I especially can’t wait try the vanilla bean maple syrup on my homemade pancakes 🙂


Food makes a great holiday gift and I haven’t tired a single thing from Fresh And Easy that I haven’t liked yet. Great prices, amazing natural products with no corn syrup, no artificial colors or flavors and minimal use of preservatives. Stop by and pick up a gift – even if it’s just for you!


Happy Holiday Eating everyone and thank you, Fresh And Easy, for a fantastic kick off to the holiday party season!

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Tags: Amy Anderson • candy • Christmas • cookies • Fresh and Easy • gifts • holiday cooking • holiday entertaining • holiday meals • holiday planning • pie

15
Mar, 2011

Marsha (@Sweatpantsmom) and I get to tasting!

Fresh and Easy is my FAVORITE grocery store and now there is yet another reason to sing their praises – NEW WINE!!


F & E has added 27 new varieties of proprietary brand wines from our very own delicious California grapes and some of us lucky local bloggers, foodies and Tweeters were invited to a tasting party at the Smog Shoppe in Culver City.


The Smog Shoppe was the perfect and coolest venue for this event. An actual former automobile smog-check garage, it was converted into an eco-friendly, indoor/outdoor event center. I’m telling you – it is one of the best kept secrets in Culver City! You can get married there, screen your newest cinematic masterpiece or have a party and eat and drink like pigs. I’ll give you one guess which one we did.


We were treated to a tasting of four of the new Cali wines:
Open Field Pinot Gris
Cloud Valley Chardonnay
Open Field Pinot Noir
Barrel Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon


I think the general consensus of the night was that pinot noir was the favorite. While many people I talked to really liked the pino gris, I have to admit that the white wines weren’t too awesome tasting to me, but I was like, “rock on with the reds, dude” (I’m trying to give a California-ny description). 


All 27 of the new wines are offered at affordable prices with the most expensive bottles being $19.99 and the bargain bottle being only $3.99! Quality drinking at recession prices. I like.

Bernadette (@Bernadette923) and I enjoying some great F & E appetizers

We also enjoyed a full belly of Fresh and Easy fare ranging from cheeses and fruit, to ceviche, to stuffed artichoke hearts to lobster ravioli to cookies and chocolate cupcakes. There was even more and I’m getting hungry just remembering everything we consumed that night.


Get to your local Fresh and Easy store and dig in! There is so much to enjoy there and now you have 27 more reasons to go.  :0)

Ceviche and skewers = Party!

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Tags: Amy Anderson • Fresh and Easy • Smog Shoppe • wine

03
Nov, 2010

The good people at Fresh and Easy have come up with a new line of foods called, the GOODNESS line. Why? Because it’s just that and to help get the word out I teamed up with Fresh and Easy (my favorite grocery store on the planet, btw) to throw a Goodness party at my house.

Mmmmm… food…

We even had Fresh and Easy Balloons!

The whole point of the Goodness line is to give parents/child caregivers nutritious, easy and affordable options when picking foods for kids. The line includes breakfast cereals, animal shaped mac & cheese, prepackaged fruit, baked chips, kettle corn and more and most importantly they contain no artificial colors, sweetners, flavors or preservatives, no added trans fats or caffeine and no high fructose corn syrup. This is real food your kids will love and many of the items are grab-and-go ready for snacks and lunch bags.

Aubrey & her friend get busy cooking up some more food for the party!

We tested the Goodness products out on my daughter, 3 year old Aubrey, and some of our friends and it was thumbs up all around. The mac and cheese was especially a hit and Aubrey loves the cereals for breakfast or an after school snack. Not gonna lie, so do I.

The happy Goodness testers

School season is in full swing, so if you’re a busy mom, make your life a little easier and check out the products. Now go pack that lunch, guilt-free, and eat the rest of the Halloween candy before the kids come home from school. Oh come on, I’m not the only one… right?


Fresh and Easy stores can be found in California, Nevada and Arizona. If you’re one of the lucky people to live in these states, here’s a link to find a Fresh and Easy near you!

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Tags: Amy Anderson • children’s health • Fresh and Easy • Goodness • grocery stores • school lunch