Shrimp Scampi Recipe and Review

It has been a crazy January! We thought surely after Christmas, January would be a bit more docile. Not so. I went back to work and am not working a full half-time which is lovely. Babysteps! I also began a second maternity leave in the afternoon at the same school doing the same job. What a blessing that has been!

We just bought a Jeep Patroit as well. My Stratus was such a fantastic car that served me well for so, so many years. It was time, though, as oncoming repairs would cost far more than the car was worth. We picked my new Jeep up on Friday and I've been enjoying it ever since! I've always wanted a Jeep.

It was perfect timing, too, as this January has been the coldest and snowiest on record. We've already had 5 snowdays, today being one of them. The weather has been so chilly and there has been so much snow, it's even too blizzardy to snowmobile up north! So it's quite canceled most people's plans.


John left this Monday for Kapuskasing, Canada despite the weather to do some extreme car testing. With him gone, I've been cooking up some delicious seafood creations! I have a freezer full of beef and chicken but also of shrimp, salmon, catfish, sole, crab, and lobster. NomNom!

I was given the awesome opportunity through Crowdtap by Campbell's to test some delicious products and host a party! I was compensated for a Campbell's Skillet and a Campbell's SlowCooker Sauce. There were a few snags I had. Between the weather, my party kit not arriving on time, and all sorts of snow issues, my party was thrown on a weekday evening with a few coworkers.

The dish was easy enough to make!

I used 4 ingredients:
1 Pouch Campbell's Skillet Sauces: Scampi
1 lb raw frozen peeled, deveined shrimp, tail off.
1 package pasta I used gluten free multigrain with quinoa
1 tbs oil

Optional:
Pepper to taste
Lemon to taste
Basil to taste

To begin, heat oil in a skilled. Add shrimp and cook until pink.

While shrimp is cooking, prep pasta by boiling water and cooking until al dente. Drain.

When shrimp are slightly pink, add the pouch of Campbell's Skillet Sauce and boil. Simmer until shrimp are thoroughly cooked, about 5 minutes.

Serve pasta with shrimp and sauce. I added seasonal veggies on the side.

Some of our thoughts:

The scampi sauce seemed a bit watery. Usually, my homemade scampi is thicker and more creamy. It didn't quite look like the package and wasn't as buttery as scampi sauce usually is, either. However, it was quite savory and blended very well with the shrimp and pasta. The dish was extremely easy to make and took very little time. For lunch, it served about 4 portions. There is no need to add excess salt as the sauce itself is rather salty. However, I did add a fair amount of pepper, lemon, and a bit of basil.

Want to join Crowdtap and participate in shaping brands through surveys, discussions, and exclusive samplings? Join through my referral link!

All opinions expressed in this blog are those of my own, not of Campbell's, Crowdtap, or any other company affiliated with them, or the products.
I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” 

Hershey's Spreads... Oh My! And a peek at my classroom!

Hershey's Spreads Review

So recently, I had the opportunity to try some Hershey's Spreads! It's a new product by Hershey's which is similar to Nutella- only there are other flavors as well, like chocolate and almond and plain chocolate. I received the chocolate with hazelnut flavor so it was very similar to the Nutella I'm used to.
If you know me, you know that chocolate is one of my favorite foods and I could just eat it all day long, so I was especially excited for this Sample and Share. Additionally, it came RIGHT before the massive Polar Vortex smothered Michigan and my neighborhood with two and a half feet of snow. I was able to enjoy HERSHEY'S Spreads all to myself, though I wasn't able to share it with as many friends as I would have liked as I couldn't leave the house!
I loved the texture of the spread- I thought it was firm enough to work as a dip but fluid enough to spread onto toast. It goes with almost anything sweet or salty :) I ever ate some with blueberries for a sweet and sour twist- it was delicious!! While I love nuts, I'm not nuts about hazelnut. I feel I would have enjoyed the Chocolate with Almond more than the Hazelnut. The hazelnut seemed to add even more sweetness to the already sweet chocolate, thus masking a lot of the other delicious notes with, well, sweet.
My favorite pairings were using the spread in a parfait with fruit and pretzels as well as with my oatmeal in the morning and dipped shortbread cookies.
I would CERTAINLY recommend HERSHEY'S Spreads to a friend! I myself am excited to try the Chocolate with Almond flavor.

In other news, my new job is just fantastic! It's a dream job, only part time. Elementary students are just my favorites to work with! Every grade has it's ups and downs, and I loved working with high schoolers, but an elementary setting just feels right.

Here's a little pic of my desk in my classroom. It's about half the size of a regular classroom with tables, a few computers, and some filing cabinets (OK, TONS!) I just adore Dr. Seuss, so I created a Dr. Seuss bulletin board with revolving quotes :) (I also added black behind the quote... talk about a headache!)

Want to join Crowdtap and participate in shaping brands through surveys, discussions, and exclusive samplings? Join through my referral link!

All opinions expressed in this blog are those of my own, not of Hershey's, Crowdtap, or any other company affiliated with them, or the products.
I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”