Categories
Everything Else Food

T Marzetti’s Simply Dressed


You can tell form the photo above that these are simply gorgeous dressings. Each one is made with all natural, fresh ingredients~ like you can look at the ingredients section & you can actually read & know what they are! There are no MSGs, trans fats, preservatives or artificial flavors. For my celiac friends, all these dressings are gluten free.

I really had a hard time choosing which one I wanted to try. I walked into the store hungry {always my down fall} & was happily overwhelmed by all the lovely Simply Dressed choices. I couldn’t narrow it down between the Strawberry Poppyseed & the Pomegrante. All the Simply Dressed were on sale last week at my local grocery store & I had the free coupon {thanks Marzetti}, so I brought both home with me.

According to my how-to-grow-big-healthy triplets book, I’m supposed to eat at least five servings of veggies now. I have a hard time getting there. Fruit though, I love! So I thought with both of these dressing options, I could fruit & veggie up salads. I’m trying to incorporate more salads at lunch, as sides with dinner or evening snacks. Because really, doesn’t a good salad dressing make you want salad more than a boring one?!

Sunday night, I took basic bag salad, added fresh mushrooms, sliced red pepper, strawberries, candied pecans & croutons & topped it with the Strawberry Poppyseed dressing. If I’d had some feta or Parmesan cheese to toss in the salad, it would have been divine, but it was a pretty amazing salad as is.

Love a super cold dressing on top of a pretty salad.

The dressing flavor is the perfect mix of tangy & sweet. Not too heavy. Not too light. Perfectly complimented the strawberries in my salad & the poppy seeds so yummy. The dressing showed up perfectly in my bowl without being overwhelming or MIA.

Of course this pregnant chick chose the dressings that stood out most to me but kinda sorta not my husband’s favorites. I think he’d have rather I’d brought home the Ranch or Blue Cheese. I think he’d have liked the Greek Feta or Caesar too. Next grocery store run I’ll try one of those as these Simply Dressed really are my new favorites.

I think the Champagne dressing would be a great way to spice up a sandwich wrap. I’d love to try the Feta one for dipping carrots. I think the Ginger one would make a great chicken marinade. What other ideas or ways do you incorporate salad dressings or Simply Dressed dressings in your meal plans?

You can read more about the other choices as well as pick up some recipe ideas on the Marzetti Simply Dressed site. You can find them in the refrigerated produce section of your local store.

I was one of the bloggers selected by T. Marzetti Company and Clever Girls Collective to host a Marzetti Simply Dressed review. They provided me with product to test myself and compensation for my time. However, my opinions are entirely my own.

Categories
Everything Else Reading

Dreams of Joy

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See was my book club’s November pick. Sadly, only one of us had finished it at our meeting last Wednesday {it wasn’t me but I was second closest since I was on page 46}. Jamie warned us that it was a little slow to start but said once we got into it, we’d have a hard time putting it down. She was so right. Even though my new bed time is 930p, I stayed up until 11 Monday & last night just so I could finish.

This book is Lisa’s follow up to Shanghai Girls. So I might be giving away spoilers  from it just talked about Dreams, but I can’t not talk about it. I actually woke up at 4a {to pee, again} & was so haunted by the climax imaginery & scenes that I tossed & turned for 45 mins.

Set in early 1960s China, Dreams following Joy & her mother Pearl’s journey finding & reconnecting with each other & the country. While I’d read some about the Great Leap Forward in school history classes, placing Pearl, Joy & the rest of the charactiers in the middle was quite a differnent way to learn & experience this time for China. I was {& still am} shocked, appalled, & troubled by what the characters {& thus real people} went through based on the leadership they had to blindly follow.

Like other books I’ve recently read, one of the main themes was motherhood. The strong binds that tie mother to daughter. What it means to be a “family”. I loved the scenes where the women were working & talking together ~ about their history, spouse & “Little Red Sister” monthly visit. I can not imagine using a pad out of leaves alone or sand wrapped in leave {makes me all the more appreciate modern day tampons, pads & momma cloth}.

I might have given away too much. But if you’veread &  Shanghai Girls & enjoyed it, or like Chinese American literachure

Categories
Everything Else Family/Travel

Holiday Comfort

This post is sponsored by Tempur-Pedic, the brand millions of owners trust to deliver their best night’s sleep every night. Enjoy our Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer now and give the gift of custom comfort to someone you love.

Holidays to me mean family. And decorating, traveling, shopping, wrapping, opening & passing gifts, laughing, drinking & eating {those come along with my family}.

This year will be different.

My Ma {my Mom’s mother} passed away last year around 2am Christmas morning. Jason & I had driven down to Charlotte that Christmas Eve day. As a family, we’d held Ma’s hands & been by her side most of the time last fall & all the time those last days. My mom, aunt & I felt drawn to my grandparents’ Christmas Eve 11p church service {Dad & my other aunt stayed by Ma’s side}. We cried, prayed & sang along with the beautiful music that night. Then we returned to the nursing home where I read Night Before Christmas {a never missed tradition} to Ma & my family before Dad, Mom & I headed to an apartment for the night. Soon after, Mom heard from her sister & our Christmas mornings will never be the same.

We celebrated “Christmas” in the food & gifts sense the following weekend with my immediate family & my Dad’s parents. That’s when I opened my DSLR & took 200+ photos that first weekend including this one of my Mom & Nana.

"Christmas" aka New Years Eve 2010

While things will be different this year, holiday comfort will still be sought & found with each other. We will once again gather in Charlotte a few days before Christmas. We’ll still over-eat though now at a buffet at my grandfather’s retirement community instead of cooking for days. But I’ll still make cookies & hopefully we can recreate Ma’s green beans.

This year, instead of Christmas green Madori martinis, I’ll be drinking water & ginger ale along with my cousin’s wife who’s also pregnant. We’ll be having our family’s first great-grands in the spring/summer.

We’ll hug & laugh & celebrate the exciting changes 2011 has brought. All the while our Ma & her sister Virg, who recently joined her in heaven, won’t be far from our thoughts & hearts.

Then my parents, my Dad’s parents, my brother & sister-in-law, Husband & I will continue the holiday together in VA. We’ll open gifts, look at wedding photos, shop & eat {I’m calling dibs on Nana’s cheese straws}.

I can only imagine the changes there will be next year as babies enter the picture. But like the changes since Christmas 2009 & 2010, holiday comfort for me will still best be found in family togetherness.

Comfort is the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday gift list, so be sure to take advantage of Tempur-Pedic’s Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

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Everything Else

Five in a Row

Saturday I helped cheer on my NCSU football team as they beat UNC for the fifth season in a row! I think there was fourteen or so of us at the tailgate. We munched on Krispy Kreme donuts, my scones & cookies, ham & turkey biscuits, veggies & dips, & Bojangle’s chicken. My friends drank beer, mimosas, & skinny firefly. I drank water. Lots of water. I took 70+ photos & wish I’d taken more. Here’s a few of my favorites.

Tailgating Fun

We came back out at halftime for a few more snacks & drinks. But we made it back before the 4th quarter & excitedly high-fived friends as we watched the Pack win!

Wolfpack Win!

Hope your team had as good of luck as mine this weekend!

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Everything Else

Lovable Labels Giveaway Winner

Congrats to Alethea! Random.org picked lucky comment number 6 & that’s you!

I’ll send you an email in a few minutes to hook you up with Lovable Labels to get your prize.