Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Review: Freschetta By the Slice

10:01 AM 3 Comments

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of FRESCHETTA®. All opinions are 100% mine.

As some of you may know, my goal for this year is simplicity.  For me, that's a manner of going back to basics. It means cooking from scratch and avoiding microwave meals. However, there are times when that just isn't possible. For those times, I'm always looking for something that I can pull from the freezer and pop into the microwave. Enter FRESCHETTA® By the Slice.  This brand new product from Freschetta can be found in your freezer section.

Around here, it retails for about $2.88 and cooks up in about 2.5 minutes. I believe it says it's ready in 4 minutes on the box but may be due to it sitting or something like that. In our case, we picked up one of the BBQ Recipe Chicken (one of 4 options: BBQ Recipe Chicken, Vegetable Medley, Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom and Six Cheese Medley). Since it was something that I wanted to see if the family would enjoy, I microwaved up the piece and cut it into 3 slices.  

So, what's the rating?

Roger: 5 star but he wanted more. Of course, he only got 1/3 of a slice so I think him wanting more is a good sign the liked it.

Ben: 5 stars. 

Mom: 4 stars.

The general consensus was that the toppings, sauce and crust were all delicious. I especially appreciated that the crust didn't get soggy. I do wish that it hadn't stuck quite as much to the container you microwave it in. Other than that, I think we'll be putting this on the shopping list for the nights where mom is just too dang tired to cook. Plus, I think I'm going to be following @FreschettaPizza on Twitter and I'm going to go check out their Facebook page as well.

So, how would you like to win your very own free piece of Freschetta Pizza by the Slice? It just so happens that I've been given a coupon to share with one of my lucky readers! Entry is going to be super easy. Are you ready for this? Leave a comment below telling me which of the 4 styles you'll try if you win. That's it. No following the blog (I hope you do anyway!), no tweeting. Just leave me a comment. Winner will be chosen using random.org one week after this post goes live. The winner will be notified via email so please make sure that I can contact to you. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond or another winner will be drawn.

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Monday, April 18, 2011

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Book Review: The Daughter's Walk

6:50 PM 1 Comments
I cannot begin to recommend this book highly enough. Based upon a true story, this book takes you back to a time and place in history that very few of us probably think about. Back before women had the right to vote and skirts never showed a bit of ankle, a mother takes her daughter on a walk from one side of the country to another. She does this for the promise of enough money to pay off their farm. Sadly, they miss the deadline by mere weeks because the daughter gets ill along the way. When they finally make it back to their farm, two of the children have died and the father forbids them to ever speak of it. In the end, it chases the daughter out and this story tells of her life.

There were times as I read this book that I laughed and others when I cried. It's one of those books that makes me realize just how far we've come as a society and in some ways, just how far we still need to go. It's written in a language that even a young teen girl could understand so please don't think this is one of those adults only type of books. It's not. The best part is that it is based upon the real life of the daughter. Pick it up and you might find yourself learning something while you fall in love with the characters.

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I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Village People in Branson!

10:01 AM 1 Comments

This post brought to you by Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

Ahhh! The Village People are coming to Branson! Come on, you know the second I said Village People, y'all started dancing with their songs buzzing through your head. I know it happened. You cannot deny it to me! I know my readers! You're all as crazy as I am and I happen to be attempting to do the YMCA while typing this and let me tell you, that takes some serious blogging skill. 

Now, if you happen to be wanting to head to Branson, which I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to (young man...), make sure that you check out the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing. They're running a special concert package that includes two 70's Supershow tickets and a one-night stay at the hotel. Packages start at only $219 for two people. 

Plus, did I mention that after the concert you can Boogie, Oogie, Oogie around the venue and collect autographs from the stars of the show! Isn't that fun? You know it is! You don't even have to be In the Navy or a Macho Man to stay at the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel

As if that's not enough excitement, you can check out the Imax or the zip line! Seriously, Branson has tons of fun stuff to do! You really ought to consider it for a vacation destination. Citizens of the West, I encourage you to Go West (if you live in the East, that is!) 

Plus, if you leave me a comment here telling me your favorite Village People song, I Wanna Shake Your Hand.

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Thursday, April 7, 2011

Recipe: Taco Chicken

2:27 PM 4 Comments
It's been a while since I posted a recipe here and after mentioning this dish on Twitter, I told a friend that I would post it here for him. (waves to her new friend Joe!)

Now, I have to tell you that I didn't take this picture. I actually found it online and weirdly the recipe attached was nearly the same as mine. I guess great minds think alike!

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salsa
low fat shredded cheese (taco blend is nice but any type will work)
red potatoes (at least 1 per person)
sour cream (optional)
taco seasoning (optional)
Pam

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Slice potatoes into thin to medium sized slices.
3. Tear off 4 sheets of tinfoil. This needs to be large enough that you can create a packet around your chicken.
4. Spray each sheet with Pam.
5. Divide your potato slices between the 4 sheets and place a chicken breast on top. At this point, if you want, sprinkle the chicken with taco seasoning (I leave it off.)
6. Pour desired amount of salsa over top and sprinkle with cheese.
7. Wrap foil around creating a packet. Place your packets on a baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
9. Open packets, plate and serve with optional sour cream!
10. Eat and go yum, yum, yum!

Print Recipe | Printable grocery list

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