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photo credit: iStock/Kristen Prahl

A beautiful table sets the mood for a holiday gathering. A breathtaking tabletop arrangement means little else needs to be done to decorate and helps your guests feel swept up in the festivities. But a good tablescape can be difficult to put together if you’re not decor-minded. Here are some simple tips to pull together a beautiful table that will “wow” your guests and create a festive ambiance for your Easter brunch or dinner.

Decide on a color scheme. Do you want to go with bright spring shades? Classic pastels? Rustic naturals? Decide on your desired look and feel before designing your tablescape to avoid getting overwhelmed with options.

Add a table runner. A table runner on top of your solid tablecloth is an easy way to add visual interest.

Go natural. Nothing is more beautiful than nature! Flowers, palm fronds, tree branches, and potted grass are beautiful additions to an Easter tabletop.

Focus on the food. Food is gorgeous and enticing! You don’t need to go overboard with decor when you have bright and colorful salads, fruits, veggies, and meats on display. {And don’t get us started on how simply displaying colorful desserts or dyed eggs could effectively serve as your only decor.} Plan ahead and display your food on beautiful serveware; if you don’t have enough pieces, visit your local thrift store for some fun and budget-friendly pieces.

Watch the height. A high centerpiece has a dramatic effect, but can act as a visual barrier between cross-table guests while eating. If you choose to include towering flower arrangements on your table, consider removing them when you sit down for your meal. If you opt for a lower-height tablescape, use bud vases, elongated dough bowls, wood rounds, tiered trays, or decorated serving platters.

Decorate individual place settings. Simply decorating individual place settings with coordinating placemats, chargers, napkins, and napkin rings can take your tablescape to the next level.

Less is more. If you’re torn between over- or under-decorating, always lean toward less. The bright colors of spring will speak for themselves, and the beauty of the food you set out will make up for any perceived “lack.”

Don’t be afraid to use other table displays as inspo. Struggling to coordinate individual pieces? Don’t have time to piece together the perfect tablescape? Simply recreate an in-store display! No shame in the replica game; you’re guaranteed to have a beautiful and effortless Easter tabletop!

Ready to plan your Easter menu? Isernio’s offers some of the freshest and highest-quality products around. Check out our collection of Easter Brunch Ideas, show-stopping alternatives to the traditional Easter ham, and a dish-by-dish breakdown of a traditional Italian Easter dinner.

Find Isernio’s products in a store near you!

photo credit: iStock/pinkomelet

The pace of life picks up this time of year; it pays to have some quick meals in your arsenal to make dinnertime simple on busy evenings. But having easy meals at the ready doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice quality. We’ve rounded up five fast & fresh dinner ideas to fuel your lifestyle on even the most hectic of days!

1. Skillet Orange Chicken: Our Isernio’s ground chicken requires no advanced prep and cooks up in minutes, which means this restaurant-quality dish comes together in less time than it takes to grab take-out.

2. Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wraps: Our lean ground chicken is cooked with fresh Asian-inspired flavors and peppers for a little bit of heat. Serve it in lettuce wraps or endive cups!

3. Baja Chicken Tacos: Who doesn’t love Taco Night? Skip the seasoning packet and use this fresh-flavored blend of spices instead. Prep your slaw topping in advance to make this weeknight wonder come together even faster!

4. Skillet Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta: This one-pot meal gives you all the traditional flavors of lasagna with a fraction of the work. Using Isernio’s Garlic & Herb Chicken Sausage Meal Starter and fresh, high-quality ingredients means you need very little in the way of extra seasonings so this dish comes together in a flash!

5. Vietnamese-Style Noodle Bowls: The prep on this one can be a little more time-consuming, but this made the cut because it’s best served cold. So make this in advance, pop it in the fridge, and pull it out whenever you need a lightning-fast meal on the go!

Ready to whip up a fantastic weeknight meal? Our ground chicken cooks up in minutes, and our meal starters are pre-seasoned, making dinnertime even easier. Find them in a store near you!

The National Institutes of Health has declared February “American Heart Month.” Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women, but there are lots of things you can do to protect your heart and stay healthy.

One of the best things you can do to promote heart health is to eat a heart-healthy diet which includes lean meats, minimally processed foods, and foods low in saturated and trans fats. Isernio’s ground chicken, ground chicken breast, and chicken sausage products are great options to include in your diet for many reasons, including:

• Isernio’s Ground Chicken is 96% lean.
• Isernio’s Ground Chicken Breast is 98% lean.
• Isernio’s Ground Chicken is minimally processed and made only from whole muscle skinless chicken with no fillers.
• Isernio’s Chicken Sausage is low in saturated fats and contains no trans fats.
• Isernio’s Chicken Sausage contains no fillers or preservatives and is extra lean, containing 82% less fat than traditional pork sausage.
• A standard 4-ounce serving of Isernio’s ground chicken is lower in fat and calories than ground turkey, and has just as much protein as ground beef.

Start making heart-healthy swaps this month by choosing Isernio’s lean chicken products and pairing them with other heart-healthy veggies, fruits, and whole grains. Use our product locator to find them in a store near you!

Are you new to meal prepping? This popular practice involves carving out time to prepare and portion out several meals in advance. It’s commonly used by health-conscious individuals to plan out their meals and keep their nutrition on track, but it’s also helpful for the budget-conscious person who wants to cut down on restaurant or take-out expenses, or the time-strapped individual who wants grab-and-go meals at their fingertips.

Isernio’s protein-packed products make them well-suited for any meal prep recipe. Our pork and chicken sausages and lean ground chicken options deliver flavor-packed nutrition and stand up well to reheating. Plus, our commitment to filler-free recipes mean they fit perfectly into a clean-eating diet.

Ready to get started? Here’s what you need to know about living the meal prep lifestyle.

1. Have the right containers. You’ll need a good supply of right-sized containers with leak-proof lids for easy travel. It’s ideal if you have stackable containers for easy fridge storage. If you plan to take items like salads, make sure you have smaller containers for salad dressing and other toppings.

2. Choose the right recipes. Not every recipe is well-suited for meal prep. Grains, beans, nuts, hearty vegetables, and most types of meat work well. So do casseroles and soups. Soft fruits and vegetables that may become mushy while stored aren’t the best choice. Neither are crunchy or crispy items like croutons, fried foods, or chips/crackers. These should always be packaged and stored separately.

3. Consider reheating. If you’re taking an item that needs reheating, remember that all items in your meal prep container will be reheated together and for the same amount of time. You may want to undercook steamed vegetables by a minute or two to account for the additional cook time during the reheating process.

Recipe Ideas for Meal Prep

Ready to get cooking? Here are some of our favorite Isernio’s recipes to use for meal prep.

• Skillet Orange Chicken
• Egg Roll in a Bowl
• Chicken Taco Salad
• Chicken and Black Bean Quinoa Taco Skillet
• Vietnamese-Style Noodle Bowls
• White Bean Chili
• Simple Stuffed Peppers
• Italian Sausage Stew with Farro and Broccolini
• Anytime Chicken Meatballs
• Lentils with Sausage

Check out our complete product line to find nutrition information on individual items and identify the products that best fit your macros or other dietary needs. Use our product locator to find them in a store near you, and enjoy the variety of delicious and healthy meal-prepped dishes you’ll make!

Ready for an exciting new product announcement? Isernio’s now offers meatballs!

This family favorite is now easier than ever. Simply place them on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven.

They come in two varieties: Spicy Italian Pork and Parmesan Italian Pork.

They’re great for traditional uses like spaghetti and meatballs, but since they’re so simple to prepare you can get creative with them! Make meatball subs, meatball lasagna, put them on pizza, use them as appetizers…the possibilities are endless!

The new Isernio’s meatballs are currently available in Safeway stores throughout Washington and Alaska. Look for them near you!

How will you serve them?

We had the opportunity to spend an afternoon at the Bonney Lake Food Bank.

They named their food pantry “The Market” because it looks like any Metropolitan Market and operates according to a grocery-store choice model. Customers can choose from a variety of nutritional food including fresh fruits & vegetables, meat, dairy, and nonperishable items.

We set up a booth and did what we do best – grilled up sausages for everyone to enjoy! We called it a mini-Oktoberfest.

A great day was had by all and we met some of the best human beings we’ve ever had the privilege of working with. We’re so glad they’re here to serve our community! Learn more about the work they do (and how you can help support them) here.

Isernio’s has a tradition of sponsoring youth sports teams.

This year we attended a game, grilled up some sausages, and handed out samples.

What could be more fun than that? These kiddos are adorable!

We’re love supporting our community’s littlest athletes.

Fall is officially here, and that means we’re ready for CROCK-TOBER! That’s right, it’s time to dig out that slow cooker, throw in your ingredients, set it & forget it, and come home to an enticing aroma that permeates your home and warms your soul. Here are a few we can’t wait to try.

Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Peppers from Whole Lotta Yum – This classic Italian dish requires just ten minutes of prep time – then it’s completely hands-off!

Crock-Pot Tuscan Soup from Eatwell 101 – This hearty soup is naturally gluten-free and so rich and satisfying!

Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup with Italian Sausage and Pesto from The Food Charlatan – So colorful, flavorful, and comforting.

Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup from Damn Delicious – All the flavors you love with a fraction of the work.

Slow Cooker Biscuits and Gravy from Mostly Homemade Mom – Three ingredients will give you a delicious brunch or breakfast-for-dinner.

Crock Pot Queso with Beef & Sausage from Shaken Together – Hosting a get-together? This will be the hit of the party!

Crock Pot Italian Sausage Rigatoni from Eating on a Dime – Want something besides soup? This hearty casserole will warm you up from the inside out.

Overnight Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole from Real Housemoms – No time to cook breakfast? No problem! Waking up to this in the morning will get you out of bed in no time.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Chili from Whitney Bond – This low-calorie but flavor-packed chili fits into a number of eating plans including low-carb and Whole 30.

Crockpot Stuffed Peppers from Well Plated – Think outside the traditional chilis, soups, and stews. Use your slow cooker to make stuffed peppers!

A great recipe starts with great ingredients. Choose from Isernio’s collection of ground chicken, pork sausage, chicken sausage, or pre-seasoned meal starters to take your recipes to the next level and create healthy, delicious, and effortless recipes using your slow cooker.

What’s your favorite slow cooker recipe?