Enjoy Summer Family Fun With DIGIORNO® Pizza



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One of my family's favorite summertime activities is playing board games together. We spend hours out on the deck playing, and there is always some friendly competition going on among us.

We love playing Scrabble, and there are plenty of word challenges where we have to get out the dictionary to settle things. I love this, and it makes me grateful that we can spend this time together.

All the game playing calls for some great tasting food, of course. So this weekend I bought some DIGIORNO®  pizzas for us to enjoy. The weather was gorgeous, and we had a lot of fun.

I went to Walmart to pick up my pizzas, some drinks, and some snacks. I love the DIGIORNO® RISING CRUST® Pizza. My family loves them too, so I usually pick up a few.

Since I always enjoy trying new products from brands I like, I also bought the new DIGIORNO® Design A Pizza™ Kit, and the pizzeria! from DIGIORNO®.

It saves me so much time and money when I buy these oven ready pizzas, and with so many different kinds to choose from, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

My grandson made this masterpiece from the DIGIORNO® Design A Pizza™ Kit. The kit is a fun way to get creative, and there are severable kinds to choose from.

In the middle of our game, the pizzas were ready. Yum, hot and delicious, just the way we like them!

What kids don't like pizza, and my grandchildren certainly do. I like that when I buy DIGIORNO® Pizza, I always know it's going to be family pleasing.

This Tuscan Chicken flavored pizza was my personal favorite, and one I will have to go back to Walmart and stock up on. Really delicious and flavorful, and I love chicken on my pizzas.

Our summers here in the Seattle area are unpredictable, and we do get rain at times. That makes the time that we do spend outdoors even more special.

Family time is precious to me, and I don't want to spend a lot of time cooking when we manage to get everyone together. So, great tasting, oven ready DIGIORNO® Pizza is a favorite for us.
#CollectiveBias

Look for the DIGIORNO® Design A Pizza™ Kit, DIGIORNO® RISING CRUST® Pizza, and the pizzaeria! from DIGIORNO® at Walmart.

Summer is a great time to enjoy some good old-fashioned family fun, either by playing classic board games like my family does, or creating your own way to make some fun memories.

Pick up some great tasting pizzas and lots of #summergoodies for plenty of summertime fun.

My Favorite Pasta Salad Recipe, Black Olive Italian Pasta Salad

Soon it will be officially summer, and it's time for all those delicious summer side dishes. Pasta salads, roasted corn, and macaroni and cheese are just some of my favorite foods to pair with grilled meat.

I like making a double batch of this delicious, and simple pasta salad. I can eat it for lunch, or serve it with dinner during the week.

 Either way, I hope it's as big a hit with your family as it is mine!



Recipe for Black Olive Italian Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

3 cups multi-color rotini pasta, cooked and drained
1 cup black olives, sliced
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons pesto
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1cup Italian salad dressing
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a large bowl, toss well to combine. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight to bring out flavors.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

This is a recipe that is easy, fast and super delicious. Even if the kids in the family don't like spinach, they just might eat this up like my grandchildren did, without even mentioning the veggie.

Pair it with a green salad, and warm garlic bread, and you have a meal that is great for a weeknight dinner.

This recipe is from the skinnytaste.com blog, where you can find lots of great tasting, low fat recipes.

 

Recipe for Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Ingredients:

9 lasagna noodles, cooked
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
15 oz fat free ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
salt and pepper
32 oz tomato sauce
9 tablespoons (about 3 oz) part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle 1 cup tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.
Place a piece of waxed paper on the counter and lay out noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodles. Roll carefully and place seam side down in baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.
Ladle tomato sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tablespoon mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes.

Makes 9 rolls.

Old-Fashioned Banana Cake Recipe From The Barefoot Contessa

It's almost summer, and that means there are lots of family celebrations, barbeques, and picnics coming up.

It's nice to be able to bring a cake that is moist and delicious, and everyone asks for the recipe. This cake is all three of these things, and another one of my favorite Barefoot Contessa recipes. It is from the How Easy Is that? cookbook.

Yes, I have had an Ina Garten crush for many years. She is just the most warm and gracious person on her Food Network TV show, and a fabulous cook, of course.

All of her recipes that I have tried have always come out great, and her books are always so beautiful, and filled with so much helpful information that the home cook will find useful.

So, if you need a delicious cake, filled with banana and walnut yumminess, this recipe for Old-Fashioned Banana Cake is one I really recommend making.


Barefoot Contessa Recipe for Old-Fashioned Banana Cake

Ingredients:

3 very ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
grated zest of 1 orange
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, divided to use 1/2 cup on top of cake

For Cream Cheese Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners, sugar


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 2-inch round cake pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the bananas, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on low speed until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the oil, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and orange zest. Mix until smooth.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. With mixer on low, add the dry ingredients and mix just until just combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, turn out onto a cooling rack, and cool completely.

To make the frosting, mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed until just combined. Don't whip. Add the sugar and mix until smooth.

Spread the frosting thickly on top of the cake and decorate with remaining walnuts.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

There are some desserts that make me nostalgic for my childhood. Like most women in her generation, my mother didn't work outside the home.

I was lucky enough to have good home cooked meals every night, two parents that, though they weren't perfect, made sure our home was secure, and a place I never had to worry about losing. They both worked hard, and of course, I took it all for granted as most kids do.

Both my parents have passed on, and the older I get, the more I wish I could have recognized all they did for me, and said thank you.

Family life is complicated. We all know that, and it's hard sometimes to get the words out that we want to say. Or we say the words that we wish we could take back, and sometimes they can alter the course of our lives.

So today I made my mother's Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Or at least a version of it, because I don't have her original recipe.

But this recipe is pretty fabulous, and I think she would have approved. Whenever I make this, I think of her in the kitchen, in her apron, and I'm so glad she was my Mom.

Recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake


Ingredients:

 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
grated rind from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup dark or light brown sugar
1 20-ounce can pineapple slices
1 small jar Maraschino cherries

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the oil and milk to the bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Add the vanilla, egg, lemon rind, and lemon juice, mixing just until well combined.

In a 9-10 inch round cake pan, on the stove, melt the butter over low heat. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the brown sugar around the pan. Arrange the pineapple slices and cherries on top.
Pour the batter evenly over the top, and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove cake from the oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn cake out onto a circular platter.

 Serves 6.