Welcome to The Ultimate Christmas Giveaway Event! You have a chance to win the Wilton Ultimate Decorating Set worth $199.99! If bought separately, the items in the kit would cost $250! The Ultimate Decorating Set contains the following: 9-inch & 11-inch Straight Black Handle Spatulas, 9-inch & 13-inch Angled Black Handle Spatulas, 10-inch Featherweight [...]
Apr 202012
As you all know, we went Paleo back in October which means that as a general rule, we don’t eat grains. The kids are STILL being difficult so we do still feed them things that aren’t Paleo.
One of our favorite companies to purchase from is Annie’s Homegrown. The kids absolutely love the little bunny crackers, and when they want mac & cheese, the only thing that I’ll feed them is Annie’s. So when Moms Meet asked me to review Annie’s pizza, I jumped at the chance. Madilyn and Styles LOVE pizza, and most of the families that I know who are not Ancestral Eaters, love pizza as well. It’s often difficult to find a pizza product that you can feel good about feeding to your children so I knew that several of my mommy friends would be excited to sample this with me.
The Workaholic even paused to enjoy some pizza on his way out the door.
In lieu of hosting a giveaway here at Banana Hammocks & Tutus, I held a party for some local mommies and I served Annie’s Organic Frozen Pizza to get their take on it. Plus, I wanted to treat them because the vouchers for the pizza were for Whole Foods and we don’t have a Whole Foods in Savannah! As it were, I traveled to Orlando, FL last weekend and was able to visit my old Whole Foods to pick the pizza up and bring it home with me. (I found out at my party that Savannah is getting a Whole Foods – FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
ANYways…Some of my friends gathered today to taste this culinary symphony of flavors. I never have high expectations for frozen pizza, but I always have high expectations for Annie’s products. You can see how this leaves me in a bit of a lurch!
The pizzas looked a little small to me, they are 11.5″ in diameter, but they had rising crusts so I was hoping that they would puff up a little bit once they were cooked. The Whole Foods that I went to only had the Organic Uncured Pepperoni and Organic Spinach & Mushroom pizzas so I got one Uncured Pep and 2 Organic Spinach and Mushroom.
I hadn’t even considered the fact that the spinach pizza would have a cream based sauce but when it came out of the oven, it was garlicky-and delicious smelling. The pepperoni also smelled delicious. The crust had puffed up nicely and had a beautiful brown tint.
I sliced the pizza and stuck them on the table for all to eat.
After cooling off for about 10 minutes, we were finally able to chow down.
I was floored at how smooth the crust was. Does that sound strange? It was velvety and smooth and the toppings were delicious. I never expect many toppings on a frozen pizza but the toppings were definitely generous. The cream sauce on the Spinach Mushroom pizza was smooth and flavorful but didn’t overpower the tomato, spinach, and mushroom on the pizza. The Pepperoni pizza was phenomenal. My kids LOVED it and the uncured pepperoni was very obviously of a superior quality. Now, I don’t know about your children but mine never, EVER eat pizza crust. Well…they didn’t eat pizza crust until today. They killed this pizza, crust and all. I couldn’t believe it.
The other moms at my shindig agreed. The quality was obviously really high, the crust was delicious, the toppings were generous, it was what we all expected out of an Annie’s product. I enjoyed it much more than most delivery pizzas and I can honestly say that I’ve never tasted a frozen pizza as good as these.
I don’t think I’m the only mom from today who will be recommending Annie’s Organic Frozen Pizza to her friends.
Disclaimer: I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meet program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer of the product.
Dec 122011
I love renting movies to watch with my kids when Kyle is working late. This weekend, Styles, Madilyn, and I went to Walmart then Publix to do some pretty hefty shopping. The kids were all really good so I decided to treat them to a movie that Styles has been begging to see. We went to Blockbuster Express at Publix and sorted through the movies. I love that I can get fresh-to-DVD movies there. It was unanimous: Mr. Popper’s Penguins. I get two votes, one for me and one for Grady.
It was $3 to rent and we have the movie until 9pm the next day. If it’s late, it’s only another $3/day until we get it returned. I have a horrendous track record with Blockbuster. I paid so much in late movie fees that I quit renting and started buying movies years ago. The thing that I LOVE about Blockbuster Express, is that it’s in the grocery store. I am literally at the store almost every day getting fresh fruits, veggies, and meat for dinner. I don’t have to go out of my way to go inside a second store because it’s already there. I really think it’s ingenious. The prices are great too! Blockbuster Express also has several $1 movies to choose from, in addition to the latest releases that rent for either $3 or $2.
Mr. Popper’s Penguins had been at the top of Styles’ list since it was in theaters. Kyle also really wanted to see it because he is an enormous Jim Carey fan. People often say that he looks like Jim Carey. What do you think?
There have been few Jim Carey movies that I have seen that I didn’t love, and because it’s been a little chilly outside, I thought Mr. Popper’s Penguins was oddly appropriate.
Madilyn is now at the age where she will watch an entire movie if she is interested in it. I wasn’t sure how it would work with her because it isn’t a cartoon but she surprised me! Madilyn sat and watched the entire movie while we ate dinner and before her bedtime. My eldest, Styles, thought it was hilarious and woke up this morning quoting lines from the movie. I also thought that it was super cute. SO much so, that I’m watching it again this morning with Kyle.
Image Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox Film
The synopsis:
Tom Popper is the product of a loving but absent traveling father. He inevitably grows up to become the same sort of father to his children. He is a power professional on the fast-track to super success when his father passes away and leaves a Penguin to him.
In true Jim Carey fashion, things take an interesting turn when he tries to return the penguin to its homeland, and instead inadvertently orders 5 more penguins.
To tug at your heartstrings, Tom’s kids come over on his son’s birthday to discover the penguins. His son believes that they are his birthday present and becomes overwhelmingly excited to spend more time with his penguin parenting parental unit. His icy daughter even warms up when she meets the penguins and sees how her dad interacts with them.
The villain in the movie is an overzealous Zoo Keeper who is intent on taking the penguins to use for the zoo’s animal trading abilities. While he doesn’t have a strong presence in the movie, it is just enough of a plot line to keep the movie rolling along.
Tom also has to decide between his keeping and advancing his career, or his children and the penguins.
It is a funny movie with just enough humor thrown in. I laughed heartily several times and honestly enjoyed the movie. It is a feel-good movie without the typical Jim Carey crazy faces and obnoxious physical humor. Styles also laughed a whole lot and Madilyn loved the penguins.
As far as family friendliness I give the movie 5 bananas out of 5. There was nothing inappropriate, crude, or questionable that I can think of and I’ve seen the movie twice in less than 24 hours now.
I would absolutely watch this movie over and over with my kids. I enjoyed the story line, the character progression, and the conclusion of the movie.
Now head out to Blockbuster Express and rent Mr. Popper’s Penguins to peep this pleasant picture personally.
This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions about the movie and Jim Carey look-alike husbands are my own and were not influenced in any way.
Mr. Banana Hammocks & Tutus has wanted to have a voice here for quite some time. Well, he finally has his chance. Please welcome my handsome hubby, Kyle to the writing forum! Now without further ado:
I’ve been after my wife for some time now to “man up” her blog post once and while and see if any of her mommy followers would actually make their husbands read . This may be a surprise to some because I am more of a watcher than a writer. I’ve never been much of a writer and I’m sure this blog will show signs of this, but when my darling wife approached me about reviewing STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment, I said “heck, let’s see what I’ve got”. So, here goes nothing….
Prior to marriage and kids, my car was a top priority. I cared for her so much that I named her “Blue Bethany”. It makes it easier to take care of her if I give her a name. Weekly washing, vacuuming, detailing, engine maintenance, etc…were the norm. NOW, I’m lucky if I remember to clean out the week old banana peel my lovely daughter thought would be amusing to hide underneath the seat! I’m a Toyota guy and will probably always be. I currently cruise around town in my 2008 Toyota Yaris (I know, super chick magnet, just ask my wife!) So far, maintenance on my Yaris has been pretty good when you factor in the reality that I work on average 70 to 80 hours a week. Hence me sitting in the dark at 2am writing this review after working a twelve hour shift. Regardless, cars have this great way of not caring about things like this and seem to want to act up at the perfect time. The past two times I have taken my Yaris into the shop for maintenance I’ve been hit with the suggestion of fuel injection treatments and blah, blah, blah. I stop listening after the guy says “for only $129″. What’s the big deal? My car has run just fine for three years and I get great gas mileage (36mpg). I finally asked the guy once exactly what they do for the engine/motor treatment part and he basically told me they pour a container a motor treatment in the fuel tank to clean and enhance the injection of fuel. $129 for that when I can go to the store and pick up some STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment for less than $8 and do it myself. And, that’s exactly what I did. I even made it a family affair, with the wife and two of the three kids in hand, we headed off to Wal-Mart to get daddy’s little cruiser some much needed medicine.
Not only was it easy to find, STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment was super easy to use. After carefully reading the instructions on the back of the can, I simply added the appropriate amount of solution into the car’s gas tank. This was the only real maintenance I had planned on performing because i could tell my gas mileage had been fluctuating the past couple of weeks. After sealing the remaining contents and placing them in a safe place, I started my Yaris and waited. I’m very impatient so this didn’t last for long. I wanted to experience a change in my engine performance immediately. So, I drove off into the brisk afternoon sun and drove the 22 miles to work in silence trying to see if I could hear the difference. I even kept looking at my gas gauge to see how much it was going to fluctuate, if any. I must say, with even just the drive to and from work under the belt, I must say I do feel a difference in my car’s performance.
STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment is definitely something I will continue to use in the near future, in terms of a way to treat my precious car to some medicine. Forget $129, I could buy about 16 STP Multipurpose Motor Treatments, which would essentially last me 32 fill ups.
Well, I’m going to leave it at that, hopefully I was able to keep your attention long enough being this is my first time writing openly on the world wide web. Now, I will leave it to the professional….
“This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All opinions, experiences, and handsome husbands are my very own.
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