The Sensible Mom

Food, DIY, Chicago Mom Blogger

meatless

The Best Store Bought Pesto I’ve Ever Tried: Barilla Creamy Genovese Pesto

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Thanks to Moms Meet for sponsoring this blog post for Barilla Creamy Genovese Pesto. It’s so delicious.

The best store bought pesto

Do you like pesto? If you’re reading this blog post, you probably do and maybe you’re even looking for the best store bought pesto on the market.

Well, while I can’t say I’ve tried them all because, honestly, pesto really wasn’t a food on my radar until this past year when my husband started eating it, I can tell you that the best pesto I’ve tried thus far and loved is the Barilla Creamy Genovese Pesto.

It’s creamy, flavorful and just delicious. It’s everything you want in a pesto and it can be combined with so many foods, it’s not even funny. You can add pesto to pasta, rice, veggies, salads and sandwiches.

Pesto makes mealtime more exciting!

best store bought pesto

My favorite way to enjoy pesto is with pasta and we eat lots of pasta. 😀

My son, David, will ask for pesto to be mixed into his pasta. He’s probably the most adventurous eater of our five kids, and I like that he isn’t afraid to try new foods to see if he likes them. When he tried pesto for the first time, he gave it a thumbs up and it’s now a food that he can eat with pasta when he doesn’t feel like having sauce.

I also like the Barilla Creamy Genovese pesto mixed into a bowl of peas, and if you watch my YouTube hauls, you know that I love peas and eat a CRAZY amount of them. Peas are one of my favorite foods.

Yes, I’m weird like that. 🤪

barilla pasta with pesto

Because Barilla Creamy Genovese Pesto is so versatile and doesn’t need to be heated before using, you can even use it as a dip for veggies or pita chips but I haven’t tried that because I’m afraid if I did, I’d eat the whole jar in one sitting. LOL

But when you’re mixing pesto into a bowl of pasta, grains, veggies or having it on a sandwich, a little bit truly goes a long way. I find myself only using a teaspoon or two on my food and being happy with the flavor.

In case you’re wondering, Barilla Creamy Genovese Pesto is made with fragrant Italian basil and freshly grated Italian cheese. I think if you give it a try, you’ll love it, too. I can see this pesto becoming a staple in our kitchen because it adds a little more variety to our meals.

Now that we’re eating more plant-based, I look for new ways to infuse flavor into our meatless meals and this pesto hits the spot!

Do you like pesto? What’s your favorite way to eat it?


Transform and Filter Tap Water at Home with a Vitapod Machine!

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Thanks to Moms Meet for sponsoring this blog post for the Vitapod machine.

Transform and Filter Tap Water at Home with a Vitapod Machine

Do you want to filter tap water at home into a drink that tastes clean and refreshing? What about actually transforming your tap water? Would you like to do that?

If the answer to those questions is “yes!” then I think I can help you. 🙂

Enter the Vitapod machine…

Transform and Filter Tap Water at Home with a Vitapod Machine

How to Use the Vitapod Machine

My family and I have been using the Vitapod to not only filter water but also transform it into various flavored water drinks that we can enjoy. The Vitapod machine makes it easy to do this and I’ll quickly explain how so that you can understand how to use the Vitapod in case you’d like to try it for yourself.

First, you fill the Vitapod’s water tank with water from your tap and the Vitapod’s multipass filtration system purifies the water better than other market leaders. The water we filtered through the Vitapod actually tastes GOOD and my family is picky about our water (lol!).

But we like Vitapod’s water and you could literally just drink the filtered water plain without adding in any flavor at all and be completely satisfied if that’s how you like to drink your water.

But this post is about transforming your water so the next step is to place a pod into the chamber on top of the machine.

Transform and Filter Tap Water at Home with a Vitapod Machine

All eleven pod flavors are made of 100% natural ingredients and while I haven’t been able to try ALL of them, pictured below are 5 of them. These are the ones we currently have at home.

As you can see, we have a nice variety. My favorite so far is pineapple coconut but my daughter, Elisabeth, likes cotton candy. By the way, these pods contain vitamins, minerals, and plant-based antioxidants which makes you feel good about drinking them.

Transform and Filter Tap Water at Home with a Vitapod Machine

Next, Vitapod’s mixing chamber blends the pod with water at 690 RPMs, which in case you didn’t know is faster than the blades of a helicopter! 😮

It’s actually fun to watch but don’t look away because it’ll be done mixing before you know it. It’s quite fast!

Transform and Filter Tap Water at Home with a Vitapod Machine

And that’s it. Your drink is done and I want to mention that the Vitapod machine cools the water to the optimal temperature for hydration, allowing the body to absorb water quicker than water that’s too hot or cold. Who knew?

However, if you like very cold water (like we do), you can add ice cubes to the water tank or simply add them to the cup ahead of time.

Personally, I think it’s easier just to add ice to the cup so that’s what I do.

Transform and Filter Tap Water at Home with a Vitapod Machine

And finally, you can choose from 3 different drink sizes depending upon your preference.

For example, I like to drink the more diluted “large” size while my daughter likes the “medium” size. We haven’t tried the smallest size in any flavor yet but we’ll probably experiment and try that size in the near future.

Transform and Filter Tap Water at Home with a Vitapod Machine

Oh, and the magnetic tray is insanely easy to adjust for the different drink sizes. You simply slide it up or down and you’re good to go.

Final Thoughts

So, overall, I recommend the Vitapod machine if you like tasty filtered or flavored water and I almost forgot to mention that clean-up is a breeze! That’s super important, right?

It only takes minutes to wash and wipe down a few pieces and then it’s ready for another spin. 🙂

GET A DISCOUNT: Save $15 on a Vitapod Machine or Vitapod Machine Starter Pack at vitapodworld.com when you use code: MOM15. This code expires 9/30/2021.

Would you try the Vitapod? What’s your favorite way to drink water?


3 Delicious Plant-Based Puddings (Vanilla, Butterscotch and Chocolate Flavors!)

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Thanks to Moms Meet for sponsoring this blog post for WayFare plant-based puddings.

Plant-Based Puddings

This year my family decided that we’re going to go back to eating a more whole-food plant-based diet. We used to eat this way years ago, but we slowly let the meat and dairy products creep back into our diet and our health wasn’t the best because of it.

Since February, though, we’ve been transitioning to eating more plant-based foods and less meat and dairy. The results have been wonderful. 🙂

I’m FINALLY losing weight and was able to get out of the 190s, which I’ve been struggling to do for years. My last recorded weight was 173.8 lbs. and I’m still slowly losing as I continue to eat healthy, delicious, satisfying foods like potatoes, beans, whole grains, vegetables, and fruit.

I’m one happy camper! I love the food I’m eating, and I’m thrilled to finally be shedding pounds. It’s a slow weight loss,  but that’s okay. I’ll take it!

My kids are also enjoying our new way of eating, and they’re fully on board with it. One plant-based treat my kids like eating are WayFare plant-based puddings. My son, Isaac, especially loves these puddings and has been eating one just about every day lately.

The folks from Moms Meet sent us 3 packs of pudding in vanilla, chocolate, and butterscotch flavors, and we went through those rather quickly. In the last few weeks, I’ve purchased at least 9 packs more!

I found these puddings at our local Woodman’s grocery store, but other grocery stores carry them as well.

To find WayFare Pudding in your area, visit WayFare’s website for the full list of locations. Also, WayFare ships their puddings nationwide.

Plant-Based Puddings flavors in Vanilla, Butterscotch and Chocolate

Isaac’s favorite flavors are vanilla and butterscotch. My daughter, Elisabeth, said the vanilla pudding tasted like frosting, and I have to agree. It does! It’s not an overpowering frosting flavor, though. My favorite flavors are butterscotch and chocolate.

Overall, the WayFare puddings have a smooth, creamy texture and, of course, they’re dairy-free and vegan. They’re also free of the top 10 allergens and made of plant-based ingredients, including a base of organic butter beans and organic oats.

I love that even though we’ve changed our diet, we can still enjoy treats like pudding but in a plant-based way. And, actually, all this pudding talk makes me want some right now.

I think I’ll go grab a chocolate one. Mmmm…. 🙂

GET A DISCOUNT: Save 20% on any product on wayfarefoods.com with code shareWF20. This code expires 4/26/2022.

Have you tried plant-based pudding? What’s your favorite flavor?


How to Make Delicious Mexican Rice (Perfectly Cooked Easy Restaurant Style Mexican Rice Recipe)

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Today, I’m sharing a Mexican rice recipe that I think you’ll love. This Mexican rice is perfectly cooked easy restaurant-style Mexican rice that’s sure to please. I filmed this video for how to make Mexican rice last year but never got around to sharing it here on my blog until today.

I hope you enjoy it and thanks for watching! 🙂

P.S. Please feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel as I publish videos there before they make it on the blog. Oh, and I share about food, family, and more in my Instagram Stories, so you may want to follow me there as well.