Slam Dunk Dinner With DIGIORNO Stuffed Crust Pizza

Watching sports on TV has always been an activity that our whole family enjoys. With two sons, and two son-in-laws, you can bet there is some serious basketball games watching around here.

That calls for some serious eating too, and that's where DiGiorno Stuffed Crust Pizzas come in. We all love the great taste of DiGiorno, and the fact that we can pop as many as we need in the oven, and in 20 minutes or so, we have hot, delicious pizza without any fuss.

Since we lost our beloved basketball team here in Washington State, my family and I have been watching a lot more college games. And I have to say, I'm having a lot of fun following and cheering on our local Washington college team. Basketball is so fast paced, and exciting, that I don't want to miss a minute of it by being stuck in the kitchen.

I went to Walmart to pick up a couple of DiGiorno Stuffed Crust Pizzas because some of us were getting together to watch a game. The selection of different kinds of DiGiorno was amazing, and I always seem to pick the stuffed crust, because really, why wouldn't you??

All that super yummy cheese in the crust is irresistible to me. So I picked out a DiGiorno Stuffed Crust Buffalo-Style, and a Stuffed Crust Sausage, Peppers, and Onions pizza.
#CollectiveBias

Everyone in my family is a true pizza lover, and we love a good hearty pizza with several toppings, especially sausage.

The Stuffed Crust Sausage, Peppers and Onions was a big hit, and we sadly ran out pretty quickly. I didn't know how great this tasted, and you can bet we'll be stocking up on this.

So good!!

The Buffalo-Style Chicken pizza was fabulous tasting, too. Pizza with chicken is one of my personal favorites, and the sauce on this was tangy and flavorful.

Why spend time in the kitchen cooking, or spend all that money for delivery, when DiGiorno gives you delicious pizza so quickly, and at such a great price?

And it's so much easier to invite friends and family over to watch a game when you don't have to worry about what to serve to eat. We love being spontaneous, and it's so much fun to celebrate the season by having people over to watch the games with us.

My grandson Jayden is seven now, and he's become a big basketball fan. He loves watching it, and playing it with his friends at school.

While we were watching the game, he was showing me how good he is getting at dribbling the ball. All this while eating a piece of pizza, too!!

I like letting everyone choose the kind of pizza they want to put on their plate, so really all there is to do is just slice them. So easy, and good. My favorite way to entertain!!

Our team got beat, but we all still had a great time. Basketball season is a lot of fun, but really, for me, it's a chance to spend time with my family and good friends.

You can bet I'll be buying more of the DiGiorno Stuffed Crust Buffalo-Style Chicken, and Stuffed Crust Sausage, Peppers, and Onions pizzas on my next trip to Walmart.

These two kinds of pizzas are definitely my #NewFavorites, and I bet they'll be yours, too.

Quick Family Meals with Kraft Recipe Makers Meal Kit #KraftRecipeMakers #shop

Before I was working full time I enjoyed spending time cooking, cleaning and even folding laundry. My son would hang out playing or watch a movie while I took care of household stuff. Now as a full time working Mom I realize that its ok to have the house a bit messy and unfolded laundry. I no longer need a meal to take 2 hours to make it to feel like its a luxurious meal. Now every moment I have not at work I want it to be spent with my son. I love seeing his little sweet face when I get home from work. He always has a million things to tell me and show me about his day. For dinner I want to be able to have quick family meals that I can make and feel like I have made a quality dinner without it taking time away from being with them. I often seek out new products that are meal kits to save time on cooking. I am headed to Walmart to find a new product Kraft Recipe Makers for our pool party we are planning.

We are planning to have a little party for our family and friends at our complex pool. Our families have been taking turns cooking dinner for each other and I wanted to serve some good food for everyone on my day off of work but not take all day to do it. Since we are serving Tex Mex Chicken fajita flavors I planned the menu around a Mexican inspired theme. Living in California we have access to a lot of great Mexican food and there is a wide variety of items available at our local Walmart on the Hispanic aisle. I found some great items to add to our party to make the dinner simple and delicious. 

The Kraft Recipe Makers comes with two sauces. One to simmer the meat and veggies in and the other to finish the meal. The Tex Mex meal kit has easy to follow step by step instructions. So easy! I omitted the rice in the steps for my fajitas since I plan to serve white rice with cilantro and lime as a side dish.

I cut up the chicken breast and added the Lime Fajita simmer sauce in a saute pan. I like that I can make the whole meal in one pan. Makes it a simple clean up after dinner.

Once the chicken was cooked I added the veggies and the rest of the simmer sauce to the pan. 

Once the vegetables have cooked and absorbed the flavors of the simmer sauce I added the second sauce of Chipotle Tomato to finish the dish. I made the cilantro lime rice, cut up the cantaloupe, packed up the chips, drinks, cookies and headed down to the pool to have our party. 

The Kraft Recipe Makers Tex Mex was a big hit! Everyone enjoyed the flavors of the chicken and vegetables. I served the chicken and veggies in a hard shell taco and soft tortillas so our guest could enjoy the flavor with different textures. Guest even had seconds and the kids loved it. It was the perfect flavor combo for our outdoor fiesta! We spent the rest of the night eating the cookies, playing darts pool side and watching the meteor shower that was happening that night. A perfect day with family and friends with little time spent in the kitchen to make a great meal. I will be buying the other flavors to serve next time its our turn to cook. One neighbor said she makes an excellent chow mein noodle dish that I could pair with the Kraft Recipe Makers Sweet and Sour Chicken. #KraftRecipeMakers

You can see my shopping trip at Walmart to find Kraft Recipe Makers in my Google+ story and connect with Kraft Foods on Facebook.

Easy Recipes for Family Meals with Oatmeal from Smart and Final #ChooseSmart #shop

For my family I like to save money when we shop for groceries. I think if we can save on food we can have money for extra things and fun adventures. I look at a sales ad for a store, check my coupons and plan a weekly meal list based on the deals. This week we are shopping at Smart and Final for items on sale to make easy recipes for family meals. I see that the First Street brand has many items on sale and a $2 off offer when you buy 4 participating products. We always buy First Street items and Smart and Final so I decided to plan a day around eating Oatmeal since my son loves it and it is on sale. 

My little shopping buddy always likes to help pick out items in the store. We plan to have Fruit and Cream Oatmeal with grapes and orange juice for breakfast, Oatmeal Cookies and peanut butter cookies for lunch at the park and Oatmeal crusted chicken for dinner with friends to watch some movies. We have a very fun day planned. My son convinced me in the store well insisted is more like it that we change my plan from Oatmeal Raisin cookies to Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies with almonds. He loves chocolate!

For Breakfast we are having Blueberry Fruit and Cream Oatmeal with banana slices on top, green grapes that we got a great deal on and orange juice. A healthy and easy start to the day.

When we were in the store and my son realized we were making cookies it was all he could talk about until we made them. He always likes to help in the kitchen. Sometimes its just trying the ingredients for quality control of course. I have many First Street baking items already in my cupboards so I only needed to buy the Quick Oats and Chocolate Chips. I have always loved making cookies from scratch. As a teenager my family would ask me to make my awesome chocolate chip cookies, it always made me feel special to bake it for them. For my son I add the oatmeal for texture and the health benefits.

I made simple First Street Peanut Butter Sandwiches topped with green grapes to serve with my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip with Almonds Cookies. We had a mini picnic at the park benches in between my son playing in the splash pad and playground. We recently found this park and we love it. On the hot summer days we are able to have him play in the water. My son even shared some of our cookies with a few kids at the park. He wanted to pet their little dog and offered a cookie for a pet. He is a smart cookie!

When we got home from the park my son was exhausted from playing in the sun. While my son took a nap I planned out the dinner I was going to make for a few friends that were coming over to watch some movies. I am making Oatmeal Crusted Chicken and serving it with spinach couscous.

For my recipe I pulsed in the blender the quick oats and spices so the oatmeal would stick to the chicken and cook more evenly. My son was awake by the time I was ready to use the blender and loves to help push the button. Next I dipped the chicken in an egg wash before covering it in the oatmeal crust. I drizzled the top of the chicken with butter before going into the oven to help the oatmeal brown. You can use your favorite spice mix like I did or add the ones directly from the recipe. My spice mix contains all the spices on the ingredients list.

Oatmeal Crusted Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 cup regular oats
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
• 1/4 teaspoon dried summer savory or parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 egg
• 4 Chicken Leg Quarters
• 2 tablespoons butter or stick margarine, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Combine oats, salt, and next spice ingredients (salt through pepper) in a food processor or blender, process until oats are finely chopped. Place oat mixture in a shallow dish; place egg  in a medium bowl. Dip chicken in whisked egg, and coat in oat mixture. Place chicken in baking pan and drizzle butter over chicken. Bake at 450° for 45 minutes or until done.

We had a wonderful day spending time as a family enjoying meals, a day at the park and movie night with friends. My recipes we all planned around a simple ingredient that was on sale. Have you had a day with one ingredient as your meals inspiration?

You can see my shopping trip at Smart and Final by reading my Google+ story. Connect with Smart and Final on Facebook and Twitter.

Cowboy Dinner with Silver Spur Smoked Whole Chicken #MealsTogether

My family loves to eat chicken. We have it at least every other night. There are so many ways to cook it and many options to serve with it. Since I have started working I do not have as much time to cook whole chickens like I have in the past. There is a great flavor that comes with whole chicken that you can't get in breast or legs. I have been looking for a product that is easy to make and with great flavor for chicken. When I heard about Silver Spur Smoked Whole Chicken at Sam's Club I knew I had to try it.

Dinnertime can be more than just a time to eat, we like to have themes and make it fun. We eat everyday of course but that does not mean we cannot make it a reason to celebrate. My son LOVES cowboys, Woody the cowboy from Toy Story and horses. He has the boots, hat, toys and yells YeeHaw when he rides his stuffed giraffe around the house. He even thinks he Papa (his grandpa on my side of the family) is a cowboy since I did not know how to explain where Texas is. I told him its where the cowboys who ride horses live. So he know thinks his Papa is a cowboy and last time I was on the phone with my Dad my son asked me about Papa's horse lol.

We decide to have a Cowboy Dinner this week to make an everyday dinner a special occasion. We planned our menu around the new Silver Spur Smoked Whole Chicken. I was thrilled to be able to have a premade flavored chicken to just stick in the oven to reheat giving me time to make delicious side dishes.

For my Cowboy Dinner I will be serving:
Silver Spur Smoked Whole Chicken
Jalapeno Cornbread
Hasselback Garlic Potatoes
Ranch Beans with Sauteed Red Onion
Corn on the Cob

Jalapeno Cornbread Muffins Recipe

• 1 cup ground cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons diced jalapeno peppers (seeds removed)
• 1/3 cup corn kernels (can or fresh)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

-Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

-In a large bowl, mix together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl beat the eggs with a whisk until the yolks and whites are blended then whisk in the milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Then add the corn kernels and diced jalapeno. Pour into cupcake liners half full. Add shredded cheddar cheese to the tops of the muffins and 

bake.

-Cook for 20-25 minutes until toothpick can be placed in and come out clean. 

1. 
   
2. There is a brand of Ranch Beans is very special to me. My Mom served these all the time when I was a kid with potatoes and chicken. I absolutely love them and the flavor brings back a million memories of summer nights of BBQ and swimming. I love it when a flavor of food can make you feel sentimental. I plan to make the Silver Spur Chicken flavor one that brings back memories of fun dinners with my son.

The easiest part of the whole meal was the Silver Spur Chicken. I opened the package placed into a glass cooking dish and cooked it until it was warm. The aroma of the smoked chicken cooking filled the house, it smelled like a BBQ. My whole family loved the dinner. The chicken was delicious and I told my husband I made it myself. I let him think I had for about half of the meal but did tell him it was a premade chicken when he grew suspicious of how good it was lol.

We had a wonderful night having a cowboy dinner party. My son ate so much food he took a nap after dinner! In theme with the dinner my husband and I watched a cowboy movie, True Grit with Matt Damon. I have a celebrity crush on Matt Damon that makes my husband laugh! We plan to buy more of the Silver Spur Smoked Whole Chicken next time we are at Sam's Club. I have a few more recipes and theme dinner ideas I would love to share with family and friends.

This was so cute, he was saying MMMM and had his eyes closed. My boy loves good chicken.

If you live in CA or TX you can try Silver Spur Smoked Whole Chicken at Sam's Club today, Saturday March 9th 2013. Most Sam's Club sampling run from 1pm to 4pm. Other areas of the US will have this delicious chicken in stores soon.

You can read my Google+ Story about the Silver Spur Demo I attended at Sam's Club.

*I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and the makers of Silver Spur Chicken. #cbias #SocialFabric #MealsTogether. All opinons expressed in this post are my own.