3 Boys And A Dog » Meals / Menus

The Barilla Family Dinner Project

Momof3boys — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:56:52 +0000

I am always super busy, as are many families today. We have sports, work, hobbies, music, doctor visits, etc. It seems everyone is always going in different directions and it is HARD to eat dinner together.

Barilla, like many widely-recognized food brands, is trying to get families back to the dinner table. They have started the Share The Table program to help families make meal times more meaningful.

I LOVE the Share the Table site! It has many things you can do to help meal planning easier and more fun:

Sweepstakes – If you join the site, you could win Barilla Pasta Fridays pasta and pasta sauce
Contests – The Mealtime Moments Contest allows families that commit to making mealtimes great a chance to win prizes through the summer like a month’s worth of groceries!
Donations – For every person that becomes a fan of Meaningful Meals at Share The Table, Barilla will donate 1 dollar to Meals on Wheels.
Meal Planning – The dinner calendar makes it easy to meal plan and when you are ready you can print a shopping list directly from the site! They even have pre-made menu plans!
Recipes – With many meal options like Healthy, Kid Friendly, Make Ahead, and Vegetarian, you should have no problem finding something you like. Find a recipe you want to try and save it to your very own recipe box!

To help our family “Share The Table,” we were sent a wonderful package full of all the things we needed to create a meal for the family. We love pastas and are partial to tomato based ones. We make spaghetti, girl scout stew, Taco Bake, Crock Pot Pizza, and love trying new things. For this review, I tried the Three Layer Lasagna. Can you say, “YUM!”

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Barilla and received products necessary to facilitate my review..”

GIVEAWAY: Allens SteamSupreme Vegetable Sides

Momof3boys — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:03:11 +0000

I have a busy life and only get to the grocery store about once a month. That means that without Allens, my kids wouldn’t get much in the way of vegetables! We live by the SteamSupreme items, but I am not very open to spending my hard earned money on something I am not sure we will like. I think that is what I love the most about reviewing products! I can see if we like them before buying. Plus, with giveaways, I can give you that option!

Allens just launched several new varieties of their SteamSupreme line, which make delicious ready to go side dishes in minutes. Some of the new flavors include:

Perfect for busy families, these new varieties go from freezer to table in minutes, but your family would never know they aren’t homemade.

We really liked the Rice and Vegetables with Savory Chicken Sauce, but the Allens products that stay in our freezer are:

I use all of it for everything from stir fry to just a regular side-dish. I don’t even always steam them. I will just open the bag and add a few to whatever dish I am making.

5 (yes, FIVE) of my fabulous readers will each win 5 Allens coupons giveaways!

Allens can be bought at most grocery stores including Walmart! The rules are pretty simple:

REQUIRED: Leave me a comment saying how you try to get veggies into your kids.

BONUS: Follow AllensVeggies on Twitter and Tweet about this contest. The easiest way to tweet it is to push the green RT button at the top of this post.

Other bonus entries:

#1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, twitter, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)

#2. Follow my blog.

#3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.

#4. Follow me on Twitter

#5. Fan Me on FaceBook

#6. Put my button on your blog.

#7. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.

CONTEST ENDS: August 1st at midnight CST

OPEN TO: USA Only

*Disclaimer – Allens provided the products to facilitate my review and are providing the coupons for the giveaway winners. Any opinions stated are strictly my own.

REVIEW: Tasty Bite Indian and Pan-Asian Food

Momof3boys — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:57:55 +0000

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All the meals in the Tasty Bite Line can be cooked in 90 seconds or less and each can be purchased for less than three dollars! Did I mention that they are healthy, vegetarian, and use all-natural ingredients?

For example, the rices are all-natural, preservative free, while the meal inspirations include some of the best meatless protein sources available, such as chickpeas, lentils and nuts, which help fulfill the USDA’s recommended 5-6 ounces of protein a day.

Overall, each Tasty Bite product is carefully ‘designed’ to ensure that the nutrition values help consumers make healthy choices –fat and sodium are kept at lowered levels and the ingredients are chosen to enhance the good nutrients.

Most of the products are also gluten-free! IN fact, you can buy a selection of 48 of their Gluten-Free products! In addition to being gluten-free their products also do not contain MSG or preservatives, and are a healthy choice because they contain a wide array of vegetables that are very nutritious.

Mom Says: The simmer sauces are to die for! Although we are not vegetarian, we do have sides to every meat dish. LOL! The brown rice was great and didn’t have to be cooked forEVER as my brown rice recipe does.

For More Information:

Menu Plan Monday: SUPER Busy Week

Momof3boys — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:49:19 +0000

Yep, I have another super busy week. Where am I going to find the time to get everything done that needs to be done so that I can go out of town? Yes, I am going out of town AGAIN. This time, though, it is just me. Mom and I are taking her exchange student on a girls’ weekend. It will be fun, but in the meantime, I am stressed. In addition to trying to get some blog posts scheduled, ending the giveaways, contacting winners, wading through my overflowing inboxes, I have to be at the airport several days this week to meet arriving exchange students!

Anyway, enough about all the crazy things I have allowed to go on my schedule. LOL! Let’s get down to my menu plan. I am so ready for school to start! I function so much better when my family is on a schedule!

Monday – Kelli’s Spaghetti

Tuesday – Italian Meatloaf (didn’t get to it last week) and Potatoes and Cheese

Wednesday – Zesty Stir Fry

Thursday – Girl Scout Stew

Friday – Leftovers (between the spaghetti, meatloaf, and girl scout stew; the boys should have plenty to fill them up)

Be sure to visit Org Junkie for hundreds more Menu Plans!

GIVEAWAY: Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook

Momof3boys — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:28:43 +0000

*QUICK NOTE: We are getting closer to the end of my In The Kitchen With Kelli Series and gearing up for my new Back 2 School Blog Hop Bash (yeah, I said HOP! Oh it is going to be great, but more on that later). I still have several items to tell y’all about for the series and also have some new items in that aren’t Kitchen related. So, just be prepared for more days like yesterday coming up! You know, days with up to 3 posts! Are you excited? Don’t forget, I have a ton of giveaways running.

With a clip-out calorie chart, six-week meal plans, free foods list, portion size chart, and “under 100 calorie” snack ideas (plus recipes) losing weight never tasted so good!

I have mentioned it a few times on here and on Twitter, my husband and I are trying to lose some weight. The older we get, the more the pounds stick! This cookbook shows us how we can enjoy our yummy, southern, comfort foods and still be healthy! In fact, there are 433 recipes to help us do just that!

Personally, I love cookbooks that are more than just recipes and this Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook fits the bill! Although, it would have been nicer if it would have been spiral bound. I like spiral-bound cookbooks because they fit better on my counter when I’m trying to cook from them.

Table of Contents:

8 – Comfort Food Diet Basics
13 – Balancing Your Diet
17 – Portion Size Chart
20 – Water, It’s Simply the Best
24 – Lighten Up Your Favorites
34 – Choose to Move
44 – Free Foods Chart
46 – Six-Week Meal Planner
70 – Snacks
84 – Breakfasts
118 – Lunches
158 – Dinners
240 – Side Dishes
266 – Desserts (oh my the 41 calorie marshmallow fudge looks DEVINE!)
292 – Meal Plan Worksheets
296 – Indexes

With the purchase of this cookbook (or if you win it) you also get:

Full-color photos and access to exclusive web material
Access to Online Dietician and healthy resources
Free subscription to Taste of Home Healthy Cooking Magazine!(a $23.94 value!)

Did you ever know that spending 17.95 would give you so much value!? This is why I love Taste of Home.

So, one lucky ready will win their very own Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook.

REQUIRED COMMENT: Visit the Taste of Home website, look around, then come back and tell me something you learned, liked, want to purchase, or want to try.

BONUS #1: Follow 3 Boys and a Dog on Twitter and Taste of Home on Twitter and RT this contest. The easiest way is to click the green RT button at the top of this page.

BONUS #2: Like Taste of Home on FaceBook

Other bonus entries:

#1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, twitter, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)

#2. Follow my blog.

#3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.

#4. Follow me on Twitter

#5. Fan Me on FaceBook

#6. Put my button on your blog.

#7. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.

CONTEST ENDS: July 29th at Midnight CST

OPEN TO: USA and CANADA

MENU PLAN MONDAY: Busy Week After Vacation

Momof3boys — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:34:40 +0000

Yep, I am home! We had a great time on vacation even if our time on Biloxi beach was very sad! BP makes it seem like the beaches are clean, unfortunately that isn’t true! If you just look at the sugar white beaches, they look really nice. But, if you spend a little time there, you see that it is all cosmetic! We seemed to be the only people on the longest man-made beach… well, aside from “clean-up” crews.

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Picture 1 – I tried several times but just couldn’t get a good picture. That is Ricky’s hand with oil splotches all over it from just swimming! You couldn’t see oil on the water, but it was there! Yeah, there was no sheen on the top like you see on the news that is supposedly gone. This oil was on the floor of the Gulf!

Picture 2 – That is a Seagull with oil all over his head! I have tons of pictures of him cleaning and cleaning trying to get it off him! I also have quite a few pictures of the other birds with oil streaks on them. No crabs biting our toes, very few jumping fish, no shrimp boats out in the water, no vacationers, NOTHING but workers “cleaning up”. Or rather, HIDING evidence of the spill!

Picture 3 – This is a tar ball! The kids were playing in the sand and this is just one of about a dozen tar balls buried about 5 inches down in the sand! If you dig down, there is an orange colored line of oily sand… they are simply covering up the oil. So, if a hurricane comes all that covered oil is going to be right back on the beaches. Regardless, it is still messing with the eco system!

GULF COAST BEACHES: COVERED UP, NOT CLEAN!

Ok, enough griping. I have no idea what we are going to eat this week. My husband is going to be out of the the first of the week (leaving today) and I have zero groceries. Plus, I have a meeting Thursday night. I am going to just wing it, but I am not promising to actually stick to this menu plan. LOL! Yeah, the whole week is a bit crazy.

Monday: BBQ Chicken, Cheesy Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli

Tuesday: Beef Stroganoff

Wednesday: Girl Scout Stew

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Italian Meatloaf, Potato Salad, Corn

Easy-peasy.

For hundreds more menu plans be sure to visit Org Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday: Giveaway Target Style

Momof3boys — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Did everyone have a good Independence Day? We did! We are at the cabin again this summer and we managed to get it during 4th of July weekend! We invited the family over and had a really good time with lots of good food. The campground owners did an hour long fireworks show! Really nice way to PARTY. Nice, clean, relaxing, family fun.

Anyway, since we are at the cabin this week, my menu is a bit different PLUS, I have a giveaway for you. Ok, it isn’t that much different, but it is VERY simple. Since we are on a vacation, all 3 meals are on the plan. We made our menu plan before we left the house and shopped from our pantry and fridge. Why it is that you will leave eggs in your fridge for a week if you are going to be home but if you aren’t you think those eggs need to be eaten ASAP? LOL!

Monday:

Breakfast – Cinnamon Rolls
Lunch – Leftovers from July 4th
Supper – More leftovers We had fried chicken, potato salad, baked beans, and green beans. Plus, the night before I made Crock pot pizza and we still have some of it left.

Tuesday:

Breakfast – Donuts
Lunch – Something at the beach. We are hoping to spend the day at Biloxi Beach, but we aren’t sure with the oil spill and all.
Supper – Tacos

Wednesday:

Breakfast – Pop Tarts (yeah, real healthy aren’t they LOL!)
Lunch – Sandwiches
Supper – Pizza

Thursday:

Breakfast – Eggs, Bacon, Toast
Lunch – Roman Noodles (maybe! depends on what is still in the fridge)
Supper – Frito Pie

Friday: Nothing on the menu or Friday because it is out last full day and we aren’t sure what will still be in the fridge.

Now, on to the giveaway!

One reader will win one of each item- a sauce, pasta, coffee and vinaigrette!

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Target recently launched a line of food and cookware products with Food Network chef, Giada De Laurentiis. Giada’s food line has been a great success amongst busy moms who want to throw together a quick, yet delicious meal! I don’t know about you, but I would LOVE the stainless steel mixing bowls. Oh, I LOVE them. In fact, I am hoping someone in my family reads my blog this one time and I find them under the tree this coming Christmas.

Anyway, we had spaghetti last week from the Giada sauce and pasta that I was sent to review. Although I typically make my own sauce, the reviews have really spoiled me. We all enjoyed the spaghetti. I didn’t add a thing to it, but next time I might add some more chopped onion and bell pepper.

So, you want to win? Here’s how:

REQUIRED: Go to the Target site, look around, and tell me which Giada item you are looking forward to trying.

BONUS #1: LIKE Target on Facebook

BONUS #2: Follow Target on Twitter then hit that green button at the top of my post to RT this post.

Other bonus entries:

#1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, twitter, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)

#2. Follow my blog.

#3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.

#4. Follow me on Twitter

#5. Fan Me on FaceBook

#6. Put my button on your blog.

#7. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.

CONTEST ENDS: July 18th at Midnight CST

OPEN TO: USA only due to the nature of the giveaway.

Disclaimer: Target supplied the products for my review and the giveaway. Any opinions stated are strictly my own!

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GIVEAWAY: Taste What’s New and Delicious for Kraft Foods

Momof3boys — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 14:11:51 +0000

Kraft Foods has six new products out this spring. I think they are yummy and easily fit into my budget. During summer months, I am all about fast and easy and these new products fit well for me! My kids and husband approved this entire thing. Ricky’s favorite are the RITZ CRACKERFULS Filled Crackers. In fact, we received some through Bzz Agent back at Mother’s Day and when my new set came in from Kraft Foods, Ricky started begging to open the pack before I ever got it totally out of the box.

The New and Delicious Products included in my review (and in the giveaway) include:

New KRAFT HOMESTYLE DELUXE Macaroni and Cheese Dinner. Delivers homemade taste in every bite. Its rich and creamy cheese sauce finished with a crunchy breadcrumb topping will make it a family favorite.

New KOOL-AID Fun Fizz Drink Drops. A fun and delicious way to get kids to drink water. Plus, it’s just 5 calories. Each drink drop dissolves into a fizz kids will love to watch and then drink! Drop it! Watch it! Drink it!

RITZ CRACKERFULS Filled Crackers. Snack on real food. Made with real cheese and 6 grams of whole grain per serving. It’s the snack that helps keep you satisfied until your next meal. Natural flavor with other natural flavor.

New DIGIORNO Pizza and Breadsticks. Fresh-baked taste with big juicy toppings plus cheesy breadsticks along with delicious marinara sauce – all in one box!

OSCAR MAYER Deli Fresh Shaved Meats. Sliced, packed, and sealed at the peak at freshness. New KRAFT 100 CALORIE PACKS CHEESE BITES. Lets you savor cheese bites with big flavor in perfectly satisfying, 100 calorie portions. Enjoy this wholesome snack anywhere, anytime.

These new items can be found at more grocery stores including Walmart and Target!

So, who wants to win their own basket of new Kraft Foods goodies?

REQUIRED: Leave a comment letting me know which of the above you would like to try first.

BONUS: Hit the green retweet button at the top of this post, then leave a comment to your direct tweet.

Other bonus entries:

#1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, twitter, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)

#2. Follow my blog.

#3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.

#4. Follow me on Twitter

#5. Fan Me on FaceBook

#6. Put my button on your blog.

#7. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.

CONTEST ENDS: JUNE 30th at midnight CST!

THE COUPONS FOR FREE PRODUCTS EXPIRE ON JULY 31st, SO THIS GIVEAWAY HAS TO BE DONE PRETTY QUICKLY!

DISCLAIMER: Kraft Foods has generously provided 1 gift basket filled with samples of New KOOL-AID FUN FIZZ Drink Drops, New KRAFT HOMESTYLE DELUXE Macaroni & Cheese and RITZ CRACKERFULS Filled Crackers along with gratuity coupons for New DIGIORNO Pizza & Breadsticks, OSCAR MAYER Deli Fresh Shaved Meats and New KRAFT 100 CALORIE PACKS CHEESE BITES. This promotion is not linked to Kraft Foods, and Kraft Foods is not responsible for conducting the promotion or for selecting the recipient.

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Menu Plan Monday: Oster Electric Skillet Giveaway

Momof3boys — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:09:46 +0000

As you know, I am all about quick and easy meal plans. What you don’t know is that in the summer, I HATE to cook! My house gets all hot and I have to spend play time cleaning up. This Oster Skillet solves the “hot kitchen” dilemma. Plus, this stylish Oster Electric Skillet offers a 12″ non-stick cooking surface and lifts to drain excess grease for healthier cooking. The high dome lid allows for larger volume and easy monitoring. The adjustable temperature control offers cooking versatility and has a quick release latch for convenience. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? The Oster Electric Skillet is available at Sobongo for a sale price of $30.99!

On to my menu plan:

Monday: Leftover Soup

Tuesday: Tuna Fish Gravy (StarKist)

Wednesday: Zesty Italian Stir Fry (Kraft)

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Hamburgers

One lucky reader will win their very own 12” Oster Electric Skillet from Sobongo! Retails for approximately $39.99!

To buy you one on sale and save 9 dollars, be sure to visit Sobongo!

REQUIRED: Visit Sobongo, look around, then come back and tell me something you would like to buy!

BONUS #1: Follow 3 Boys and a Dog and Sobongo on Twitter and tweet the following:

RT @momof3boys3702 and @ShopSobongo are giving me a chance to win a 12” Oster Electric Skillet! #giveaway

Other bonus entries:

#1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, twitter, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)

#2. Follow my blog.

#3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.

#4. Follow me on Twitter

#5. Fan Me on FaceBook

#6. Put my button on your blog.

#7. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.

CONTEST ENDS: JUNE 28 at MIDNIGHT CST

Open to USA and CANADA

Technorati Tags: Menu, Plan, Oster, Electric, Skillet, Giveaway, meal, plans, HATE, Oyster, dilemma, Plus, dome, temperature, latch, convenience, Sobongo, sale, Leftover, Soup, Tuna, Fish, Gravy, StarKist, Italian, Stir, Kraft, Leftovers, Hamburgers, reader, Visit, BONUS, Twitter, ShopSobongo, Spread, word, Digg, Subscribe, FaceBook, Leave, CONTEST, ENDS, JUNE, Open, CANADA, forums, giveaways, blog

Find hundred’s more Menu Plans at Org Junkie!

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Weight Watchers Eat! Move! Play! Cookbook Review and Giveaway

Momof3boys — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:44:50 +0000

This is not just a cookbook! “Eat! Move! Play!” is weight watchers cookbook’s complete Parent’s Guide to Raising Healthy, Happy Kids!

Times are different now than they were when we were kids. The nearly unlimited options for fast (read: unhealthy) food choices make it easy to feed our kids, just not necessarily healthy! Besides, have you driven through a neighborhood lately? How many kids did you count playing outside? The last one I went through was about a week ago around 2 in the afternoon (school has been out for summer for a couple weeks now, BTW) I saw ZERO kids. Not a single person was playing on the sidewalks or on the lush lawns. NOT ONE! Yet, many of us wonder why obesity is so high…

Weight Watchers cookbook wants to remedy that with their new, common sense blueprint that will help all families optimize a healthy, nutritious lifestyle! Weight Watchers Eat! Move! Play! breaks down challenges that both children and parents face and offers suggestions on how to combat the obstacles. Simply follow their Five Simple Rules to help your children learn and understand the importance of smart food choices and a love of physical activity.

Focus on wholesome, nutritious foods. You know, as opposed to JUNK!
Ensure that reasonably portioned treats are part of your children’s eating habits. No one wants to take the treats away from the kids, but check the serving sizes and don’t exceed that!
Limit the amount of time you and your kids are spending in front of the screen. With the multitude of games and movies out there, you could really get sucked into the television these days… that doesn’t even take into account the internet!
Make sure you are all getting at least one hour of physical activity. How hard is this really? Biking, hiking, swimming, rough-housing, cleaning house, etc. How can YOU get physical?
Apply these rules to everyone in the house. Teach by example!

I have already used a couple of these recipes from Weight Watchers Cookbook in my menu plan. I love them, they are easy, yummy, and healthy! I have been given permission to share a couple recipes with you guys, so keep your eyes open for them during my In The Kitchen With Kelli Series!

About Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers International, Inc. is the world’s leading provider of weight management services, operating globally through a network of Company-owned and franchise operations. Weight Watchers holds almost 50,000 meetings each week where members receive group support and learn about healthy eating patterns, behavior modification and physical activity.

One lucky reader will win their very own copy of Weight Watchers Eat! Move! Play!

REQUIRED COMMENT: Leave me a comment telling me a simple way you get yourself and your kids active.

Other bonus entries:

#1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, twitter, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)

#2. Follow my blog.

#3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.

#4. Follow me on Twitter

#5. Fan Me on FaceBook

#6. Put my button on your blog.

#7. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.

CONTEST ENDS: June 24 at Midnight CST

Open to USA and CANADA

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