RACKS and Mooby: June 2012

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

New Pillsbury Baguette Chips Review and a GIVEAWAY!

*This post is sponsored by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

*GIVEAWAY CLOSED*

Source: General Mills via MyBlogSpark

As first mentioned HERE, I am a member of the online communicaty, "MyBlogSpark" through which I have the opportunity to "connect, share, and discuss" my thoughts on various products. Recently, I was asked to try out a new treat from Pillsbury called "Baguette Chips". Since they sounded so yummy, I said "why not?!" so they sent me a gift pack that included 3 bags of Pillsbury Baguette Chips in Italian Cheese & Herb and 3 bags in Cheddar Sundried Tomato.

Source: General Mills via MyBlogSpark

They arrived last week and we've been sampling away. Now before I give you my opinion on these chips, I'll share some stock information on the product:

"Looking for ways to spice up your snacking routines? Pillsbury knows just how you feel and wants to awaken your taste buds with their new Pillsbury Baguette Chips! These hearty chips are sliced from oven baked bread and topped with savory seasonings bringing the unique and contemporary flavors of Italian Cheese & Herb and Cheddar Sun-dried Tomato to gourmet snack chips. The delicious flavors and perfect texture of these crispy chips can help you round out any recipe.

Enjoy Pillsbury Baguette Chips for a wide range of occasions: eat them alone, add a bit more flavor to your favorite dip, spice up soup, or add some crunch to your salad!

With 130 calories per serving (21 baguette chips), and 50% less fat than regular potato chips*, Pillsbury Baguette Chips are delicious snack chips that you can feel good about eating.

*Pillsbury Baguette Chips (5g fat per 29g serving); regular potato chips (11g fat per 29g serving). See nutrition information for sodium content."

As mentioned, I was sent 3 bags of each flavor for sampling. Here is a photo of the Italian Cheese & Herb variety right out of the bag...

My first impression was "Wow! They're a lot smaller than I expected!". I placed them next to a dime for these photos to give you an idea of the size.

And here is a photo of the Cheddar Sun-dried Tomato variety...

Straight out of the bag and completely plain I have to say that I really liked the taste of these chips. They were really crunchy and had good flavor. And although the small size initially surprised me, it didn't detract from the yummy taste. Personally, I preferred the Cheddar Sun-Dried Tomato. I really liked the Italian Herb ones too, but found they were not as consistent in the amount of flavor on each chip. The Heela (my husband) had a hard time choosing for the same reason I just stated and ultimately said he also preferred the Cheddar Sun-Dried Tomato. Unfortunately, my 4 and 5 year old girls refused to try either one. *sigh*.

I decided to try them with a little cream cheese to offset the "crunch" with some "smooth" and was really pleased with how nice the contrast worked.

After eating a few more, I found that I actually really liked the smaller size of these chips. It made them more appropriate in my mind for a snack as oposed to other baguette 'chips' I've seen before that are more appetizer-sized. They are thinner too which made them more enjoyable, in my opinion. I think they are a nice alternative to regular chips and would definitely recommend trying them if you're looking for something a little different.

To download a printable coupon for $0.75 off one package, visit http://bit.ly/PBCcoupon today!

Now for the fun stuff...

~GIVEAWAY TIME!~

One lucky RACKS and Mooby reader will receive (3) Bags of Pillsbury Baguette Chips in Italian Cheese & Herb and (3) Bags of Pillsbury Baguette Chips in Cheddar Sundried Tomato (you'll receive 6 bags total!). To enter this giveaway, in the comment section below, let me know which flavor you’d like to see Pillsbury Baguette Chips come out with next?

**Giveaway Closed - winner has been contacted by email (congrats Lisa!)**

~~This giveaway will end on July 2 at 5 pm EST.~~ Winners will be contacted by email so please be sure to provide it in your comment (if not already linked to your profile).

Note: Giveaway is limited to US residents only.

For more information feel free to visit:
Pillsbury Website: http://goo.gl/fL5Fa
Pillsbury Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/pad9ru
Pillsbury Twitter Page: http://bit.ly/q8CoIm

Disclosure: As part of my participation in this Spark from MyBlogSpark, I was provided (3) Bags of Pillsbury Baguette Chips in Italian Cheese & Herb and (3) Bags of Pillsbury Baguette Chips in Cheddar Sundried Tomato. The opinions expressed herein are my own and have not been influenced by the receipt of the chips. The product, gift pack, information in quotes above, and additional sample have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Re-Generate your Green Onions? It's true!

Several months ago I saw an idea on Pinterest that claimed you could re-generate green onions simply by placing the cut off stems in a cup of water. Ummmmm. Really? I mean, REALLY??? OK, I gotta admit, I was pretty skeptical. In fact, I didn't even repin it to any of my boards as I wasn't sure I was buying it.

Well, I happened to have a bundle of green onions on hand the other day for a recipe. So, I decided to give the old idea a try. I mean, it was worth a try, right? Well... follow me this way...

First I cut off the green stems and left the white roots strapped together by a rubber band.

How to re-generate green onions

Then I dropped the bundle into a small tupperware container, added some water and placed it on the ~~pathetic~~ ~~miniscule~~ ~~just plain old sad excuse of a~~ window ledge in the kitchen.

re-grow your green onions

Then I waited.

But not long.

Because...

By Day 3, my stubs looked like this...

And by Day 5, we were here...

And just ONE day later we already had this!

On to Day 8...

And here we are at Day 15. So it took about 2 weeks to get to this point. A not-quite-so-perfect, but damn-good-enough batch of green onions! WOW!

Regenerated Green Onions

What do you know?? It actually worked! Go figure! I will never buy green onions again! OK, well, that may not be true. To be honest, my re-growth isn't quite as "hardy" as a new batch of onions from the grocery store would be. But they'll work! And I can't say if these will re-generate again after I cut off those new green stems. BUT, I defintiely plan to give it a try! :) And I'll be sure to come back and update ya!

In the meantime, I highly recommend this trick at least once!

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Kitchen Fun with my 3 sons

Monday, June 4, 2012

DIY Sidewalk Chalk Paint {fun kid activity!}

The Heela typically has to work 1 weekend a month. Both days. In addition to working all week. From 7am to 7pm. And, no, he doesn't get paid anything extra for it. Raw deal, huh?

Yeah, well, not only is it hard on him, but I admit that it is often a little challenging for me too on those weekend when he works because I not only have to get all of our "normal" weekend responsibilities done {by myself} that don't get done during the week since we both work full-time, but I also have to take care of {and entertain} those 2 pesky preschoolers known as SweetPea and Boogey. WHAT??? The horror!!! ;)

Just kidding. They're not THAT pesky.Just a little annoying with having to eat 3 meals a day plus 2 snacks and drinks. Greedy little boogers! AND they want to be kept busy for 12 hours straight. Geesh! Where was THAT in the manual??!! I'm not sure I recall signing up for that part of parenthood!

OK... I kid, I kid. They're fabulous! And I do a damn good job as Mommy, thank you very much. But I dare any of you to tell me it isn't hard work! ;)

Anyway.... on weekends like this we usually spend the first half of the day running around doing errands (after a quick stop at the park. Ever been to the playground at 8am? It is pleasantly empty. I highly recommend!). It usually involves a trip to the grocery store and/or Target or some other necessary (but terribly boring for a 4 and 5 year old) task. So I like to try and do something a little more fun/creative in the afternoons. After all, these kids usually spend 10 hours a day at pre-school during the week where they are constantly being entertained or, at least, doing some sort of educational activity so they are used to being kept busy! So Momma gotta deliver! And I can only convince them that scrubbing the tile floors is fun so many times, ya know? ;)

So this past month, I decided to try out one of the activities from my "Kid's Crafts Ideas" Pinterest board. (of course I went and accidentally deleted the pin and now I can't remember where I found this idea originally, but it is all over blogland in various forms)

DIY Sidewalk Chalk Paint

The recipe for this 'paint' is so easy it is barely worth listing out, but I'll do it anyway because it gives me something more to write about. [haha]. Basically, you want to combine 1 part water to 1 part cornstarch and then add a touch of food coloring. You can make your batches of each color paint as big or small as you want, but as long as you keep that one-to-one ratio, you'll be good to go. Here is what we did...

What you need (per color):

1/4 Cup Cornstarch

1/4 Cup Water

A few drops of food coloring (I used Wilton gels)

Ingredients needed for DIY Sidewalk Chalk Paint

What to do:

The mixing and storing method is up to you, but here is what we did...

In a plastic cup, dump in 1/4 cup cornstarch.

Next, add 1/4 cup water.

Add 1 part water to 1 part corn starch

Stir well. Be sure to get all those globs out!

Stir well

Add a few drops of food coloring and stir well again.

Repeat in a new cup for each color desired.

Paint!

(See, this isn't rocket science people! ;)

[note: The cornstarch will settle a bit as time passes so just be sure to stir up the paint before you use it each time]

We transferred our paints to a muffin tin so there was less chance of a cup tipping over and then headed outside with our paint brushes in hand. Here you go...

DIY Sidewalk Chalk Paint

I have to say that the effect of the 'paint' was pretty cool and really did look like chalk once the water had evaporated. We did this activity on a warm day so the water evaporated almost instantly which gave us instant gratification. All the better! We had more success seeing the different colors on the white sidewalk than we did on the black driveway (which was no surprise) so keep that in mind when choosing your "canvas". We also noted that some colors showed up better than others for us, but that didn't detract from the fun in any way. My girls really enjoyed this activity and I will definitely do it again!

Be advised that this is a messy activity (assuming your kids are normal) so be prepared with some baby wipes/towels/a hose for clean up before going back in the house!

The carnage

And since you're already so messy, you might as well follow this activity up with some juicy watermelon. :)

Now get out there and have some ~FUN~!!!

*UPDATE* Since a few people have asked... We did not have any problems with stains on clothes (or kids!) but I will caveat that by saying my girls are 4 and 5 and managed to keep their clothes relatively clean. They really got more of the “paint” on their legs, arms and hands, but no color remained after a quick washing up. But, to be safe, I don’t let my kids do messy crafts in their “sunday best” anyway. In terms of the pavement, we actually had rain that very night and, much to the girls dismay, the “paint” was completely washed away with no evidence of the fun time the day before. But, I’ll add the disclaimer, of course, that your experience may vary so use your own judgment.

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