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Ultimate Party Meatballs
Last year, as I prepared our annual Christmas cocktail party, I decided to make these very simple, but yummy sounding meatballs. I bought the ingredients. There are only three. The day after the party, I realized I had forgotten to make them. I was very disappointed!
This year, I had already decided to include them in our party, when MomCentral contacted me about reviewing the Ultimate Party Meatballs recipes. This is the easiest review ever!
First, go to Ultimate Party Meatballswebsite and check out all the easy and delicious recipes they have. There's more than just the meatballs! Then, head to the grocery store-you only need three ingredients-Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce, Heinz Chili Sauce, and a 2 lb bag of pre-cooked, appetizer-sized meatballs. Don't go generic on these ingredients…First off, Ocean Spray is a fabulous company who prides themselves on quality. Second, I'm a Pittsburgh girl-when it comes to any condiments, it's got to be Heinz! Stir it together, heat it up and serve.
We ate them during our Thanksgiving Happy Hour and they were gone in minutes! Everyone raved about them and we all agreed they easily could be eaten over rice to make it a meal. You could also use turkey meatballs if you wanted to make it more healthful.
To make it even more worth your while, when you check out Ultimate Party Meatballs website and enter to win a $3,000 Ultimate Party. How cool would you be to host this party? Pretty darn cool! So check it out and make some recipes and find out how easy and delicious Heinz and Ocean Spray have made holiday entertaining!
For the simplicity and awesome flavor, this gets a
Ghirardelli Luxe Milk Chocolate
When you're asked to do a blog tour for chocolate. . . let's just say that I was probably the first responder. I'm a chocolate girl. While dark chocolate is always my first choice, I won't turn down any type of chocolate. I can't think of a single reason why one would.
I tried all five varieties of the Ghirardelli Luxe Milk Chocolate line and they don't disappoint. These chocolate bars are rich and creamy, just like the advertisements tell you. The five varieties are: Milk, Hazelnut, Almond, Crisp and Duet. The Milk variety absolutely melts in your mouth. It is a very smooth chocolate and it doesn't take much to satisfy a chocolate craving when you have even a square of this bar around.
The "Hazelnut" bar is quite yummy too, although if I had to choose a nutty chocolate bar, I'm going to choose Almond every time. The "Almond" is absolutely divine. The almonds are in just the right size and there's enough almond in every bite.
The "Crisp" bar is an upscale Krackle bar with a hefty amount of "crisp," while the "Duet" bar is an absolute genius concoction of a thin layer of dark chocolate topped with an equally thin layer of milk chocolate.
My favorites were the "Duet" and the "Almond" variety. Yes, I said "were" with good reason. Each chocolate bar is 3.0 oz. with a suggested retail price of $2.29. If you see this chocolate bar in stores, it's high time to reward yourself with one.
BBM gives the Ghirardelli Luxe Milk Chocolate bars. . .
Horizon Organic Milk
If you pack your child’s lunch, then you know that it’s next to impossible to pack milk. It’s either a juice box or they have to stand in line to buy milk. Now there’s a solution.
Horizon Organic milk offers single serving sizes, complete with a straw, just like juice boxes. They also come in a variety of flavors including vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and original. The best part about them is that they are shelf stable. You can feel confident sending one of these great flavors along with your kids to school and that they’ll have a healthy drink with their lunch.
Although I wasn’t able to taste all of the flavors (because the girls beat me to it), I must say that the vanilla one I tasted was pretty fantastic. Think vanilla milkshake but healthier.
The Horizon Organic company has a great website where you can view all of their products and even organic recipes that sound fantastic.
Because it’s about time that someone made a shelf stable milk drink that’s packed lunch friendly, BBM gives Horizon Organic milk. . .
More Strawberries, Please!
When I was pregnant with my son, one of my favorite things to eat was strawberries. I ate them, literally, by the pound. Although I don’t have allergies to them, I would still get very red in the face after eating far too many of them. I often wondered how my eating habits would manifest themselves in my son. Well, let’s just say I often have to hide the strawberries in my house. My son will eat an entire pound if I let him. He, too, gets red in the face after so many. But, hey, there are worse things he could want to eat pounds of, right?
Why bring this up? Did you know that California provides 88% of the nation’s strawberries? I had no idea! California strawberry growers are experiencing a huge harvest this year, and in my house, we think this is a good thing-a shortage in strawberries would be super bad for us.
While being such a little fruit, strawberries are great for you. I just learned that the antioxidants in strawberries aid in memory performance. This is great because, uh, what was I saying? Oh yeah, strawberries.
One of my favorite recipes to make with strawberries is a strawberry salsa. No matter where I take it, it always gets rave reviews and someone is always asking for the recipe. It’s a refreshing twist on salsa and a great way to use strawberries. You can find other recipes here.
To learn more about strawberries, play some cool interactive games, and try out some kid-friendly recipes, you can visit Strawberryville. I was having so much fun playing around on the site, I almost forgot to link to it. Parents, teachers and kids will all have fun at Strawberryville.
Because we love strawberries in our house and are glad for the bountiful harvest this year, I give this harvest, the Strawberry Commission and Strawberryville a
Ragu’s Fresh and Simple Pouches
Clip it. Pop it. Pour it.
Ragu’s Fresh and Simple Pouches have ensured a fresh taste, with a low-mess prep that is really quite cool. You’re supposed to clip the corner of the pouch, pop it in the microwave for 90 seconds, and then pour it on the pasta of your choice. We don’t follow directions very well in the BBM house, so that scenario didn’t quite happen. What I can tell you about the pouches is that they taste delicious and that even if you forget the part about microwaving it, pouring it directly on hot pasta works just fine, especially for kids who like everything lukewarm.
We tried the Tomato and Fresh Basil and the Garden Veggie pasta sauces and thought they were quite delicious. The kids had no complaints and my husband and I were wondering why we stopped buying Ragu sauces to begin with. We’ve certainly changed our minds about that. The sauce pouches boast no added sugar, additives or preservatives and when you add that to the elimination of one more pot needed to cook dinner, you’ve got a winner.
In addition to creating these no-pot-necessary sauces, Ragu has teamed up with some great Mom’s and fitness people to create an online recipe book full of great info regarding food and families. You can access these recipes here.
For the ease of use and the delicious flavor, BBM gives Ragu Fresh & Simple Pouches. . .
Getting Rave Reviews
BlogHer Review
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