Family Pizza Night with Rustic Crust Pizza

Disclosure- I received the below in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own and honest. All photos are my own, taken in my real house, with no crazy staging or photoboxes- and there are no filters, wild edits, or photoshopping done. They have been (size) cropped to fit into the post. This is real life- you know, how it is when you actually use things- because authenticity matters.
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I’m not sure what the list of top meals in your house is, one of the meals my family likes most is pizza.  Pizza has been a touchy subject until recently with my son.  The only ‘real pizza’ is pizzeria pizza, home made just doesn’t qualify.  Even home made crust and custom toppings pizza don’t hold a candle to that you order from a pizzeria.  Until recently that is.  Since our trip to Italy, where pizza comes in many shapes, sizes, crust types, and more- the food known as pizza has expanded to include all crust, cheese, and sauce combinations including the ones made from scratch and ones made with prepared dough.

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So we are now pizza experts, and enjoy all things pizza.  One such product line we have enjoyed recently was Rustic Crust Pizza.  Rustic Crust is a line of pizza products that give you a big advantage when making pizza at home.  Rustic Crust products contain all natural produce, herbs, and whole grains for a simple and healthy flavor.  The crusts are also convenient and open up whole new food creations.  The possibilities are only limited by your creativity.  My son loves meats, so his favorites involve plenty of it, with only a little sauce and a hefty helping of cheese.  Mom enjoys white pizza with broccoli or spinich, creamy ricotta cheese, and mozzarella.  This cousin to a plain pizza is a delicious alternative.  Dad loves odd things, like tossing left overs on pizza dough- such as pulled pork and coleslaw, or maybe Chinese lo mien and fresh tomatoes.  By making your pizza at home with Rustic Crust, everyone can have a say in dinner without breaking the bank.  The other nice thing is, the pizza will be done cooking well before a pizza could be delivered, way less then 45 minutes.

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Be sure to check out your local grocery store for Rustic Crust today.  Also available is a pizza sauce which is both good and an easy way to get the necessities of pizza at your fingertips and also knowing that the best ingredients are going into your pizza as well.

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Win Balance Bar Prize Pack

Disclosure- I received the below in order to facilitate this review. I am a Balance Bar Ambassador and received information from them. All opinions are my own and honest.

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According to a recent survey by Balance Bar, 43% of Americans feel most balanced during the summer! As we’re approaching June 21st, it’s the perfect time to get outside, enjoy the beautiful weather and start feeling more balanced. To help your readers feel good inside and out this summer, Balance Bar is sharing Gabby Reece’s tips for staying active and smart eating.

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Check out these tips from The Balance Project guide, Gabby Reece as you get ready for summer.

• Make it your own: There is not one right way to get it done. There is the right way that works for you. When it comes to eating healthy, find the foods you like and implement those into your daily diet. The same goes for exercise. If you hate the gym then find something outside that is manageable for you. This is not about torture; this is about creating a lifestyle that you can do week after week.

  • Watch the calendar: Use summer for motivation to shape up but don’t wait for June 21st. If you wait until summer actually starts, you’ll feel rushed and end up crash dieting or doing a crazy workout schedule. I personally like to keep a calendar in my kitchen and cross off the days as I countdown to bikini weather. The visual reminder – right where you eat – is helpful in keeping you on track.
  • Sign up a friend: We tend to be more successful at accomplishing some type of exercise if we have an accountability partner. Solicit a friend and maybe use this as your time to connect. You can train for a 5k together or join an outdoor boot camp; there are a lot more options now that the weather is improving.
  • Plan to snack: Take snacks (like fruit, nuts or a Balance Bar®) wherever you go to prevent mindless eating. If I have an afternoon or early evening workout planned, I make sure to have one of these handy an hour or so before so that I have plenty of energy to get in a good workout.
  • Variety is key: Make as many meals as you can at home so you can control your nutrition. These are some of my favorite recipes,– fresh and full of veggies for springtime! To keep things interesting and fresh at my house, I try to rotate foods. One night I may go for something heavier with veggies and grains, and then the next night focus on proteins. I really try to change up the food and create a great deal of variety.
  • Each day is a new chance and it’s never too late: If you fall out of your summer shape up routine one day, don’t sweat it. Forgive yourself and move on – and just keep moving!
    To see some of Gabby’s favorite fitness moves, go to http://bit.ly/1HL3eO8and for more of Gabby’s tips for balancing fitness and a busy schedule go to http://bit.ly/1Qj0pYC.

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One of you can win Balance bare bars and a Balance Bar headband just in time for that summer slimdown.  Good luck! Ends 6/20/15
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Seven Spoons Easy Meals for Two

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Trying new dishes or cooking styles can be difficult some times, often requiring a different type of spice profile, like curries and pickling spices, or even a new cooking apparatus like a wok or a smoker.  Either way, there are quite a few reasons one could use to not eat more adventurously.  I say these are simply excuses, broaden your cooking and eating horizons! and with meals by Seven Spoons there is no excuse not to try more kinds of foods at home. How easy can it get?  You just grab a bag from your grocer’s freezer and cook it.

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We had the pleasure in trying Quinioa Vegetable Biryani, Chicken Biryani, Thai Green Curry, and Moroccan Chickpea Tagine,  all of which were quite good, being good presenters of their cultural dishes and their backgrounds.  Each dish made with fresh ingredients with a smell that will fill your entire home and have everyone coming down to see what that incredible smell is.  You can taste the Asian heat in the biryani while the Thai green curry is spicy and sweet, the Moroccan Chickpea Tagine is smokey and hearty.
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Goya Foods – Yucca

We are adventurous eaters in this house.  We love to experiment with new foods, cooking techniques, and flavors.  But most of all, we love new ingredients.  You never know what will spice up those chicken cutlets or even a roasted chicken without trying new things.  One such new ingredient we recently experimented with was Yucca.  For those who do not know, yucca is a fibrous tuber, think 90% potato, 10% celery.  It is like a fibrous potato, but when cooked the texture is unique, not stringy,  and can complement many main dishes.

03 02 2015 cannon 065We tried a few recipes with our frozen yucca from Goya.  Of them the two stand outs were oven fried yucca fries and mashed garlic yucca, both of which are easy to make.  When preping the yucca, be sure to boil it until it is soft as your first step, then take out the tough inner core.  On some pieces, the core was already removed, but most had a bit of it left.  You may not understand what this core is, but when you see it you will know.  It is a shade darker then the rest of the flesh and is easy to distinguish as visibly more fibrous as well.  Below is our recipe for oven fried yucca fries followed by mashed yucca with garlic sauce, enjoy.

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Oven Fried Yucca Fries:

1 bag (24 oz.) frozen GOYA® Yuca

½ cup GOYA® Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 tbsp. GOYA® Minced Garlic, or 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 tbsp. GOYA® lite Adobo spice Mix

First boil the yucca as described above, then remove the core of the yucca.  As the yucca is boiling, grab a plastic zipper bag and put in the Adobo, garlic, and olive oil.  Shake up gently mixing the oil and spices.  After this, slice the yucca into french fry shapes- long stripes.  After cutting up approximately 3 yucca toss them into the oil and spice mixture, zip, and shake.  Once properly coated, transfer the yucca to a cookie sheet for baking.  Set the oven to 350 degrees and start baking.  The yucca are done when they are slightly brown.  These are not the same brown as french fries, so be sure to keep an eye on them.
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Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh for those Crazy Days

Disclosure- I am being compensated by Kraft for this post for sharing my thoughts.  All opinions are my own.

You know those days when everything seems to be a chore?  The kids are being pests, your stove is on the fritz, the internet is going haywire, and your spouse is running late?  We all have them.  OscarMayer (jokingly) created funny tarot cards to give moms a “peek” into their future to help them prepare for the chaos ahead as part of their new Deli Fresh Sanewich campaign. You can think of it a little like a HORRORscope. Get it?  Kidding.  Life with kids is never a horror, is it?  (Cue corney music.)

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What’s up with “Sanewich”?  Oscar Mayer developed this campaign because they noticed so many things in the world are unnecessarily complicated. In these situations, it’s good to know that Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh can keep it simple and provide deli quality lunch meats anytime.  Like, you know, those dinners when you have exactly 11 seconds to get it together?  Perfect for those.

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Trying to call the ice cream man on his walkie talkie. Without batteries. (And laughing because I pointed that out.)


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Entenmann’s French Toast Soft’ees Donuts

NEW from Entenmann’s® are the French Toast Soft’ees –perfect for those on-the-go mornings or sleep-in Sundays. They are available now.

My husband smelled them through the box, and tore right into them.  He, my son, and his friend ate literally the whole box in one sitting- I never even saw a donut, lol. They were that intoxicating- and I kid you not- the whole box was devoured by the three of them.  Men, I swear, lol.
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CELEBRATE SPRING at IHOP with Two New Dishes

Some nights, we just get too busy to make dinner.  We get caught up in work, activities, what have you- and we eat out or order in.  Hey, it happens to the best of us now and again, right?  On busy weeknights, where to go?  We recently went to the local IHOP to try out some of the new flavors and food options they put out- we are fans of breakfast for dinner around this house.

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Another cool thing about IHOP is that kids eat free after 4 pm- I would check your local restuaunt before assuming that, but it seems to be everywhere.   My son loves the pancakes- of course, the bear shaped chocolate chip ones, so they are super healthy, LOL- but once in a while they won’t kill anyone, right?  Covered in whipped cream and maraschino cherries, they are more like a dessert, which is what I think this 7 year old loves best about them (along with the shape, of course).

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My husband tried the chicken and waffles, which he liked.  Salty and sweet, to satisfy both cravings.

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IHOP® Restaurants created a new guest favorite when they introduced their delicious Brioche French Toast two years ago.  Since then, guests have looked forward to sitting down with their friends and families, ordering every new variety introduced, and enjoying how the different tangy and sweet fruit toppings heighten the flavor of these indulgent treats.
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Applesauce And Fruit And Celery Oh My!

DISCLOSURE

This blog post is sponsored by Mott’s and SocialMoms. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own.

Family life can be an interesting adventure. One of the most interesting is packing lunch for my son. He can be quite the unique individual. He is one of the few people I know who doesn’t like sandwiches. In the past we could sneak a peanut butter or jelly sandwich through, but only once a week and only when cut into a silly shape with no crust. The ritual was annoying, and he whined anyway so early morning lunch making was quite difficult. Considering options for packed lunches can be limited, what to give him? We found that cold cut roll ups were good, as were cheese bites (cubed cheddar cheese). This forced us to be creative with lunch, but luckily he likes soup, fruits, and vegetables. I don’t have time to play on Pinterest for 3 hours a day to make him sushi snack bunnies, so we’re creative – not artistic.

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