Fun Pasta!

I was given a box of pasta goodies from The Pasta Shoppe to review. All opinions are my own and there is a surprise at the end of the post!

First I let Sweet Son which he wanted to start with. He picked the Down on the Farm easy cheesy pasta.

There were chickens, cows, and barns mixed together in three different colors. That alone amused my kids. However, I will say it really was a 10 minute meal and the ingredients were much better than typical mac and cheese. It is made with real cheese and I was thrilled to see they didn't use any Red Dye #40 (Sweet Son breaks out in hives if he eat it). 

The next surprise was discovering a coloring sheet on the inside of the packaging. This kept my kids entertained while I cooked the quick meal. This seems like such a simple idea, but really helped me get the meal on the table quickly.

The next day Sweet Daughter selected the Cat Lovers pasta. This included cat faces and paws. It was not an entire meal so I served it with our favorite sauces. This was another hit with my family. The pasta is good quality and the shapes just make you smile while you are eating.

This was my choice to try. I love the idea of pasta nests, but have never seen them done this way. I was concerned about how they would hold up to boiling. There were two different sets of directions - one for maintaining the nest shape and one for making typical angel hair pasta.

The nests held up remarkably well. Here they were served with meatball eggs and sauce. My kids both commented on how cute this meal was. This was the only pasta I was slightly disappointed in the flavor of. It was ok, but it wasn't up to the same standards as the shaped pastas.

Next up was the Texas Longhorn pasta salad. (My alma mater hasn't released the licensing rights.) They have an entire line of collegiate pasta salads. They also state that they do use food dyes in these in order to get the college colors perfect. These are all officially licensed.

You can clearly see the shapes even after cooking. The pasta salad only takes 15 minutes to make and comes with 3 different recipes. The shapes and colors were accurate, but I wasn't a fan of the recipe I selected. That was my fault though for trying something new - my family isn't great about new sauces on pasta.

The Pasta Shoppe doesn't just sell pasta. They also sent us some of these meringues to try. At only 7 calories per serving they were amazingly sweet and filling. They also sell chili, formaggio, gluten free pasta, and soup. 

I highly recommend trying their pasta, but it's always better to share with friends. They have a fundraising program that is perfect for schools, church groups, and other organizations. The organization will make 40-50% of the profits. If that isn't impressive enough, they offer free brochures and order forms so the start up cost of doing the fundraiser is 0! They allow for selling online to out-of-town family and friends, increasing your potential market. If anyone has ever done a cookie dough fundraiser (and haven't we all), you will love that this fundraiser requires no freezer space. It also helps support better nutrition goals among students. With prices starting at only $5.50, this is a great way to support your community.

I'm guessing at this point you are hungry and can't wait to try some Pasta with Personality. They have agreed to let me giveaway a box of fun pastas ($30 value)!

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