Bertolli, Occupy My Kitchen

I love to cook! It actually relaxes me. The idea that I can put love into food and nourish those around me does something to my heart. Perhaps this is genetically passed down from papi who is the self-pronounced chef in my family. Here's the only problem: who has the time? Even though I work from home, my slate isn't any less empty than before. On the contrary. And I am not one of those "let me whip something up with the mayo, noodles and tofu that I have in my pantry" person. I can't make that kind of magic in the kitchen. I'm creative in many different ways but, as I've told you before, this isn't one of them.

So, when I heard that Bertolli had Meal Soups I wanted to see what it was all about. I love their pasta sauces but didn't realize they were in the soup-making business.  While the frog princess has been known to be finicky about eating on certain days, the one thing she almost never turns down is sopa.

It seemed as if the stars had aligned for me to check out what these Bertolli Meal Soups were all about.  It is my first day back from Blissdom. I didn't make it home until past midnight on this morning and to say I had missed my baby girl is an understatement.  With me trying to balance spending time with her, all of the follow ups from the conference, the projects that were already on my plate, figuring out how in the world Blue the plush got painted pink and picking up plastic foods from every corner in the house, you can imagine dinner planning is the last thing on my mind.

Enter Bertolli who, for today (and probably many days in the future), is occupying my kitchen.  Our meal also coincided with a little rain out. The bad thing was that we weren't going to be able to have our dinner in the gazebo as I'd originally planned. But the good thing? Soup on a rainy day. Perfection.

I picked up some Tomato Florentine & Tortellini with Chicken Soup, some Texas toast and brownies & ice cream (because really, what's dinner without dessert?).  I popped the bread in the oven while the soup simmered. While all of that cooked, we created some place mats for the special occasion and set about to have us a fun girl's night in.

 

I was surprised at how good the soup smelled when I opened the package. It made me want to lick the frozen pieces of soup (shhh, don't tell anyone).

The secret fabulosity of this meal is simple: this took me less than an hour to put together! I think my trip to get groceries took longer than cooking. I don't know about you but, this is always a plus in my world. I love the idea that I can pick up a couple of these while I'm out grocery shopping and on those days when I don't feel like or have time for creating meals that are time consuming (not counting whatever time it will take me to head to the grocery store and grab the needed items), I can simply cook a yummy, comforting meal that I know the frog princess will eat.

I didn't take any pictures while I was cooking because I really wanted to see how long it would take me to cook this if I wasn't writing this up (read: I forgot to take pics).  I also don't have a recipe to share with you.  All you have to do is throw it in a pot with a cup of water, bring to a boil then simmer for 5 minutes. I don't have a long list for you to shop for.  Instead, I have this:

1. Plan for the days when you don't want to have to plan. Keep something easy in your freezer like Bertolli's Meal Soup
2. Have at least one fun dinner a week! Let the kids create place mats out of paper or set the table and enjoy each other. If you don't have kids, create your own place mats anyway. I don't know about you but, I've loved coloring since before I became a mami
3. Enjoy!

The soup was hearty and delicious.  And, true to her usual, the frog princess cleaned her plate. Two of her favorite things in one dish: soup and pasta. She kept using the word deyicious and so, I have to pass that on to you. It really was.  I already have another package in the fridge ready to be used whenever I need it.  Up next? Chicken Minestrone!

So, when are you going to let Bertolli occupy your kitchen?

Disclosure: While I was provided the above item to review and compensated by Bertolli to participate in the Weeknight Meal Special Challenge, ya'll know that if I didn't like it, I would tell you that too.

PS: while I was writing this post, I ended up with a soup bandit. My aunt. She felt the need to accost the soup I'd set aside for seconds and ate all of it. And since she knew I was writing this up, she felt the need to start reviewing the soup for me as well.  She liked it to but, needless to say, we'll be having words about this at a later date. No soup for you, tia! Guess I'll have to eat those brownies later on instead.