Friday, January 29, 2010

What about 2nd Breakfast?

**The winner of the cereal coupons is Amy Valle! Amy, please email me your address and I will send you your free coupons! Congratulations!!**

Any of you Lord of the Rings fans out there? Well, that is where I got the title of this blogpost. You can watch the clip of the movie scene here. Anyway, there actually is a such thing as a "second breakfast" that is eaten between breakfast and lunch and is traditional in Poland and Bavaria. Here is some more info about it.


Some of us do not even have our first breakfast, let alone second breakfast. We should be ashamed of ourselves! Don't we know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? We should be eating a healthy, nutritious breakfast every morning to get our day going...and I don't mean coffee and doughnuts, a Snickers bar and a Mountain Dew, or a Pop Tart and hot cocoa. I am guilty of this myself (actually, I haven't even had my breakfast yet this morning!), but have been doing better lately. For example, this week I have been eating egg sandwiches with juice and homemade Fruit-n-Yogurt parfaits (recipe at the bottom of this post).

So while some of us don't even make time for breakfast, others of us stick to the cereal routine, maybe adding some juice and toast on the side. This is actually a good breakfast for you, depending on the type of cereal, that is. In fact, according to My Blog Spark and General Mills, "ready-to-eat cereal eaters consume less fat, less cholesterol and more fiber than non-cereal eaters." Many of us became cereal eaters at a young age and it just carried on throughout our adult years. We may have different tastes now than we did as children -- some of us may prefer Fiber One over Trix and so forth. General Mills has recently announced a commitment to further reduce sugar in cereals advertised to kids under 12 to single digit grams of sugar per serving, making cereal even better today than 20 years ago. The company has also produced a report on the Benefits of Cereal. It is very interesting, I suggest you check it out!

General Mills, along with My Blog Spark, sent me 4 coupons for four free boxes of cereal. How awesome is that!? Although they have not yet been released, I cannot wait to try these new and improved cereals....and I would love for you to try them too! That is why I have decided to give away two of my coupons. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me either your favorite cereal, your favorite breakfast, or what you normally eat for breakfast every morning (or all three if you want!). The winner will receive two coupons for 2 free boxes of General Mills cereal. Free things are always good in my book!

Okay, now for the recipe I promised. You are going to love these!

Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits

1 container vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup mixed berries (if frozen, thaw them a little first)
1/4 cup granola

Layer the vanilla yogurt, then berries, then yogurt, then berries and so forth. Top with granola. It's that easy! You can also use peaches, strawberries, or any of your favorite fruit in place of the mixed berries. Enjoy!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Crescent Tartlets....and the winner of the Pillsbury Giveaway!!

My "twist" on the Crescent Bacon-Cheese Tartlets wasn't really a twist. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to substitute, so I went totally a different route. I decided to make "Pizza Bites" instead! These are yummy and super-super easy. Here is what you need:

1 can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (or Pillsbury Crescent Roll Dough)
1 cup pizza sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll the can of crescent rolls and press seams together. Using a biscuit cutter or small glass, cut out twelve circles from the dough (you will have some dough left over if you want to make a few more). Press each circle into a mini muffin pan to form a small cup-shape. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Using a spoon or this awesome little gadget from Pampered Chef, Push the middle of the crescent cups down. Put about a teaspoon of pizza sauce in each cup and top with shredded cheese. Put back in the oven for about 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted (you can also turn the broiler on for a couple of minutes to melt the cheese better). Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before popping them out of the pan. Enjoy!!


**For variation, you can add pepperoni, bacon, sausage, or veggies to these and they would be even better!

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Okay, for the moment you have been waiting for....the winner of the Pillsbury Giveaway!! Thank you to all who left comments and recipes, I am definitely going to have to try them all! :) And now, the winner of the Pillsbury Crescent Creations Gift Pack (selected by random integer) is...

#4 -- Jessica Risner

Congratulations Jessica! You will be receiving the giveaway package from Pillsbury soon! Just email me with your address so I can send it on to MyBlogSpark and you can receive your goodies!!

Thanks to all who participated in the giveaway. There will be another awesome giveaway in the near future so be on the lookout!!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Pillsbury Giveaway!

So I decided to put my "twist" on the Crescent Bacon-Cheese Tartlets. I think I may serve these as an appetizer for our Super Bowl Party this year. So easy, yet so delicious! I will post the recipe in the next couple of days, but for now.....a GiVeAwAy!!

Pillsbury, in conjunction with MyBlogSpark, has made this giveaway possible. Thanks to both!! I think you will enjoy the prize. All you have to do is leave me a comment with your favorite appetizer using Pillsbury crescent rolls/dough and even the recipe, if you'd like. I love getting your recipes! Here is the Crescent Creations Gift Package that one winner will receive: Good luck! I look forward to your recipes!


*2 free coupons for Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dough
*3 white oval-shaped platters to serve your favorite
appetizers to your guests

Good luck! I look forward to your recipes!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Merry...uh...Happy....uh...GO TEAM!!

Okay, so I have been a lazy blogger lately. The truth is I have not been lazy at all, but eXtReMely busy. Amidst the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping, parties, traveling to see relatives, and celebrating the birth of Christ Himself; I have been busy packing boxes and moving, unpacking boxes and cleaning. Oh yeah, I did take a little break to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve, but that's about it.

Anyway....since I have been so busy I have not even had the chance to open up my blog, much less write anything in this open space. But today, I have finally cleared a path in my house and have found the sofa, so I decided to sit down and write a few words. Actually, I think you may like these words because they will eventually lead to a giveaway. :)

The day before we left to visit our family for Christmas, I received another "goodie box" from MyBlogSpark. (You will get to see what is in the box in the next "giveaway" post.) For this "spark" I am supposed to put my own twist on one of three holiday treats using crescent roll dough. The only problem is that the holidays are over (hence the Merry..uh...Happy...uh. title). So the next best occasion would be the Super Bowl of course! It is a tradition at our house to host a Super Bowl party every year, so I am excited to be able to make some new snacks. :) I do need your help, though. I would like for you to choose which one of the following recipes you would like me to make. The recipe with the most votes will be the one I put my personal twist on. Here are the recipes:




3) Crescent Holiday Tree (or in this case, I could make a football! )


Don't these look/sound yummy? Oh, another thing about these recipes....they only take 20 minutes to prepare! Now is that easy or what? I am very thankful to Pillsbury for providing the coupons for free crescent rolls, the recipe information, and the free gifts through MyBlogSpark. I cannot wait to recreate whichever one you choose!


Stay tuned for the next post....that's where you will find out what is inside the "goody box" you could receive if you are the giveaway winner!