Dream Big Little Pig - Book Review and Giveaway

Poppy is a pot-bellied pig who has big dreams - big! With the love and support of her family and friends, she aspires to become a star, but finds that making it big is not as easy as she thinks. Poppy tries ballet, singing and runway modeling before discovering what she loves most: skating.

A timeless lesson in perseverance and following your heart, this is a lovely picture book for preschoolers and up. Written by skating great, Kristi Yamaguchi and illustrated by Tim Bowers.



Leave a comment here by March 28th to be entered in the giveaway for Dream Big Little Pig!. Winner will be drawn at random.

Newman's Own Pizza Review and Give Away

This is a sponsored review by BlogHer and Newman's Own.

Because I never pass up an opportunity to get out of cooking dinner, I was more than happy to review Newman's Own Thin and Crispy pizza.

I will admit that I am more of a make-it-from-scratch kind of cook. I like to know exactly what is going into our meals. Pizza nights at our house usually involve me retrieving my old, but trusty (and dusty), bread maker from the basement. I make the crust (does using a bread maker really count as 'from scratch'?), stretch it out with my hands into a shape somewhat resembling a circle, and then add sauce, cheese, and whatever toppings I have on hand.

In other words, it is a time consuming ordeal. An ordeal of love, but, still, an ordeal.

One of the reasons I wanted to try the Newman's Own pizza, other than the picture of Paul Newman's dreamy blue eyes on the box, was because I knew the ingredients in the products are always all-natural. No modified food starch, no sodium nitrate, no modified corn starch. No artificial colors or flavors. It makes buying a frozen pizza guilt-free.

My family of four split the Margherita pizza

and the four cheese pizza

Here's the skinny...

Things we loved:

• The crust was perfectly light and crispy. Not too filling, and it held the toppings well.

• There were real, flavorful herbs and juicy tomatoes on the Margherita pizza.  It definitely didn't have that 'frozen pizza' feel.

• The cooking time was short; only about 12 minutes.

• No leftovers!

Things we didn't love:

• The size. As with most frozen pizzas, these were smaller than what you would usually get from a pizza parlor. We plowed through two easily.

All in all, a good, natural convenient food option. I served ours with a summer board of veggies and fruit, making it a pretty healthy meal. 

Do you know what else I like about Newman's own? ALL profits go to charity. Newman’s Own Foundation continues Paul Newman’s commitment to donate all profits to charity. Over $300 million has been given to thousands of charities since 1982.


Now for the fun part. I get to give away a Newman’s Own Gift Basket valued at $75. To enter, leave a comment by October 31, 2010 telling me what your favorite pizza topping is.
 

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