Disclaimer:  This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Ragu.

Dinnertime in the Del Bueno household is kind of a nightmare.  Okay, I’ll just be honest. It’s a total nightmare.  Lily is mostly plant-like and survives on water and air and occasional sunlight.  Arden has a slightly better appetite, but her preferences change by the moment. One day she might eat ham, the next you’d think I’d put a plate of live cockroaches in front of her (when it’s really just more ham). 

I was lucky enough to experiment with using Ragu to feed my family . . . fully expecting my kids to complain and tell me all the reasons they hated the food.  I got my big box of Ragu, opened it up and went to work picking a recipe that could work for all four of us.

I’m sort of a pasta sauce snob.  I’m married to an Italian with very specific ideas about how sauce should taste and what should be in it.  Ragu isn’t something we normally buy, but the recipes looked pretty tasty and very easy.  I’ve been doing Weight Watchers since March, so my intial complaint was that the majority of the recipes were not WW-friendly - even if I tried to adapt them.  Of course, that could have been mostly because the recipes I chose were geared toward food the kids would eat.

Recipe 1:  Upside-Down Deep Dish Pizza

Super-easy to make and really quite tasty.  Totally not diet friendly, but Arden and Lily both loved dunking the pizza crust into the sauce.  It only took me about 40 minutes from start to finish. It certainly wasn’t the prettiest thing once you cut into it, but as Arden shouted, “This is deeeeee-licious!” 

Del Bueno Family votes:

Mike:  2 thumbs up
Arden: 1 thumb up (covered in tomato sauce)
Cristina:  1 thumb up, diet thumb down
Lily: It’s not air and water, therefore I don’t like it.

For my second recipe, Mike requested Chicken Parmesan Alfredo.  He loves alfredo, so I figured I’d give it a shot. 

Much as the girls complain, they do love it when it appears I have cooked a meal from scratch (shhh, don’t tell them).  By “love it”, I mean they always complain and tell me that McDonald’s tastes better.  Sigh.  However, this recipe was a hit with 3 out of 4 (guess who the fourth was?) and that’s about the best stats I can expect on a regular evening.

Mike:  2 thumbs up, grunt with mouth full of food.
Arden:  Why is it white?  Yummy.
Lily:  It’s not air or water, so I’m not eating it.
Cristina:  If I work out for 3 hours tomorrow, I should be able to burn off all the fat and calories.  Maybe. 

Recipe 3:  Easy Homemade Pizza

Finally, a recipe I could get Lily to eat!  She likes pizza - without sauce.  Clever me. I rolled out the dough and left a big section of it naked and sauceless, then covered it with mozzarella.  I snuck in some low-fat mozzarella because, well, because I could.  No one seemed to notice:

I batted 4 for 4 on this one. 

Mike:  Muffled moans and chewing.
Arden:  Mommy! Look, I made finger paints from the sauce!
Lily:  I like mine without sauce.  I will eat this.
Cristina:  Thank god everyone is eating.  (Grabs slice and runs from kitchen)

All of the recipes I tried (not accidental, I might add) took less than 45 minutes each to make and usually were made from ingredients I had in the house.  While I am still not a fan of Ragu on plain pasta, it’s pretty tasty when mixed with other ingredients.  Using refrigerated pizza dough is a quick and easy way to make a warm meal that most of my family will eat.  As for that sticky 4th person, well, maybe I’ll have to start adding Miracle-Gro to her diet.

Now onto the good stuff: one commenter will be chosen at random to win a $100 Visa gift card.  To enter, leave me a comment below and tell me how you feed your kids well (and if you have a secret formula for feeding a plant girl, tell me that too) - or you may leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below.  The contest will begin at 10/1/2009 and will end 11/11/2009.  Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct or I’ll be kinda cranky.
Rules:
• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US residents, aged 18 and older.
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

I use the Random Number Generator. 

Check out the rest of the BlogHer Reviewers’ Ragu meals - you have 10 chance to win a $100 Visa gift card.

For kid-friendly recipes, healthy tips and more, be sure to visit Ragu.com.
     

Comment #142 - Karen B!

Karen said: 

“I am also watching fats and I use the Wishbone dressings to dress up my tuna or canned chicken.  It adds a different flavor and less fat than mayo.”

Congratulations, Karen!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers: 142
Timestamp: 2009-07-01 13:36:36 UTC

This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Wish-Bone.

BlogHer has great review programs, and when I found out Wish-Bone was offering bloggers a chance to use their dressings and new recipe website, I was all over it.  Most of you are probably sick to death of hearing me talk about my weight loss endeavors, but I’m going to talk about it - and this time, if you listen, you might be lucky enough to win a $100 grocery gift card AND a Wish-Bone gift pack valued at over $45. 

I’ll be honest - prior to this review, I associated Wish-Bone with salad dressing. Period.  This means my imagination was limited to what boring greens would be adorned with my dressing of choice.  Imagine my surprise when last week, I got a huge box from the folks at Wish-Bone, filled with these goodies:

After flipping through the recipe book, I had an epiphany. Perhaps thinking of dressings as merely topping for salad was a bit, well, short-sighted.  I immediately went to the Wish-Bone site to check out more of the recipes offered online.  Fortunately, many of the recipes are low-fat and low-calorie and fit perfectly with my Weight Watchers plan.  The website even allows you to filter the recipes based on ingredients or things like “Smart Choices” for those of us, a-hem, watching our waistlines. 

I get so bored with the usual recipes I make, toned down in the fat and calorie department.  I was inordinately excited when I realized I had a ton of new recipes to try, and they actually sounded GOOD even though they were healthy.  My problem was narrowing the recipes down to three. 

The first one I tried was the Asian Grilled Steak.  First, a note about my husband.  Any recipe with the word “Asian” in it immediately sends him running for McDonald’s, but slowly I’ve been working on him.  He’s actually, dare I say it?  starting to ENJOY certain recipes with the word “Asian” in them.  I’m using Wish-Bone’s pictures since theirs are so much prettier than my presentation, and my kids currently hate everything I cook for them and spent their dinner time grilling me (pun intended) about every ingredient in the recipe. 

The verdict? De-licious.  Best of all, prep time is 5 minutes.  Let me repeat that. FIVE MINUTES.  I made the marinade the night before we served it, and let it sit overnight.  The recipe states that you marinate it for 5 hours, but in my world, more is always better. The meat was tender and juicy, and I had no guilt because I used the low-fat Italian dressing.  The girls, of course, turned their noses up, but don’t be offended, Wish-Bone people.  If it isn’t macaroni and cheese or chicken nuggets, all food is dead to them. 

Then, because I was dying to try the light Asian Sesame Ginger dressing, I made the Asian Chicken Sesame Salad.  Mike said no thanks to this one, but I give it two thumbs up (and a toe).  Again, the prep was easy - 20 minutes - and the total Weight Watchers points for a good-sized serving is a mere 6!  Wa-hooooo! 

Finally, I tried something I knew Mike would love, and the girls would possibly tolerate.  I made the Fajita Chicken Salad.  I knew the girls wouldn’t eat the lettucey, green bits, but the chicken sounded delicious.  Lo and behold, they actually ate some of it - and Mike and I ate the rest! 

I loved how easy everything was to prepare, and how tasty they all were.  Best of all, many of the recipes fit with my healthy eating plan.  I’ve been craving food that has taste, and the three recipes I chose were all winners and have been added to my favorites.  Next up is the Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce - can’t wait! 

Now for the good stuff - the part that involves YOU.  Not only do you have a chance to win here, but there are 10 chances total to win! 
Check out the other BlogHer Reviewer’s Wish-Bone recipes successes and enter for an additional chance to win a $100 Grocery Gift Card and Wish-Bone prize back at the BlogHer Special Offers Page.

In case you want to see for yourself how awesome the recipes are, you can visit the Wish-Bone site for great recipe ideas for your family.

To enter this fabulous giveaway, leave me a comment below and let me know how you would incorporate Wish-Bone dressings in your quest for a healthier you. You may also leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below.  The contest will begin at May 18, 2009, 9:00 a.m. PST and will end June 30, 2009, 5:00 p.m. PST.  Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct. 

Official Rules:
• No duplicate comments. (Seriously, no duplicate comments - I do check, and I do delete dupes. Please give my Excel-spreadsheet-dupe-checking nerdiness a break this round and don’t bother posting more than one comment)
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments. (Not to mention Twitter is totally awesome, as long as you don’t start adding “tw-” before every word)
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US residents; 18 and over
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• Please see the official rules here: http://www.blogher.com/wish-bone-official-sweepstakes-rules

Random draw done using the Random Number Generator because I’m fair like that. 

We have a winner - drawn randomly - turned out to be commentor #304.  I have contacted the lucky person.  If they don’t respond within 48 hours, I’ll draw a new name . . . thanks to everyone for playing and commenting! It was a lot of fun. 

I know many of you out there in the world wide interweb struggle with weight, dieting, starving, gorging, and trying to strike a balance between all of them.  I KNOW I’m not the only one who will work out for an hour so I can eat a brownie . . .right???  Right?  (insert crickets chirping here) . . . That being said, when M&M Premiums offered some bloggers a chance to try their new product, and then talk about it - I was all over it.  Chocolate and writing?  What could be better?  And when they told me that one lucky reader (and commenter) would win a prize pack of M&M Premiums . . . well, I knew you wouldn’t want me to pass this up. 

A couple of weeks ago, a huge box landed on my doorstep.  Inside it was a veritable treasure chest of chocolate goodness.  Is it crude to say that it also coincided with some heinous PMS?  At first I thought they had sent me the prize pack - then, I realized it was all for ME ME ME!  My Catholic guilt kicked in when I also realized I was having a bunch of friends in for the weekend.  This meant I only hogged the chocolate almond variety to myself. I shared everything else (see picture below for proof!).  Here’s the thing:  though I may be watching what I eat, and focusing on health, a girl has got to have a little bit of chocolate.  At least occasionally.  M&M Premiums are the perfect size and texture to kill off that chocolate craving without destroying your healthy eating.  Since I had never had the Premiums before, I had no idea what to expect.  Well folks, they are sure a world away from the good old M&M.  Instead of a hard candy shell, the outside is colorful and slightly crunchy.  Inside is delicious chocolate and whatever flavor you wish.  My personal favorites are the Mint Chocolate, Raspberry Almond, and Chocolate Almond.  I also really liked the packaging. Some of my favorite candy gets stale very quickly.  The inside sleeve of the Premiums is resealable, and the carton has a tab closure for extra special freshness.  Best of all, a serving size is a substantial 1/4 cup and has about 240 calories.  I contained myself and would eat closer to 1/8 cup, which was just enough to kill my chocolate craving but not enough to ruin my diet. 

I also walked away from the entire taste and review experience giggling.  Mike, the husband, tried one.  His comment?  “These aren’t anything like M&Ms.  There isn’t even a candy shell!”  Ummm, yeah.  That’s why they are called something different.  Don’t let the M&M brand name fool you (or, if you’re a guy, confuse you).  If you like M&Ms, great - you’ll probably like these too. If you don’t like M&Ms, try these. You’ll like them.  Comprendes?  Okay. 

Helena particularly enjoyed the Chocolate Mint (and yes, her shirt matches!!!).  I wanted to fight her for them, but I realized fist fighting over chocolate really wasn’t setting a good example for my kids.  And frankly, I think Helena could take me.

Between 6 women, we finished off all but 1/2 box.  Everyone had their favorite.  Aren’t you dying to know what your favorite will be?  This is where you come in. Leave me a comment, telling me how you could use M&M Premiums to help you not feel deprived.  Tell me how you could use this little luxury in your daily life.  Don’t be ashamed to admit you aren’t going to share it with the kids.  Heck, I hide mine in the bread machine!  (Helpful hint:  I tell the kids that my candy is “diet” and doesn’t taste good.  Works every time . . .)  Share your story in the comments section, or you may leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below.  The contest will begin at 12:00 a.m. (PST) on Monday, February 2nd, and will end Sunday, February 8th at 11:59 p.m (PST).  Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct. (Of course I won’t sell or give your email address to anyone - duh!)  Even better, there are 7 more chances to win if you don’t win here . . . see who else is participating by checking out the special offers page (linked below). 

If you win, you’ll receive:

1 carton of M&M’S® Premiums Raspberry Almond        
1 carton of M&M’S® Premiums Chocolate Almond        
1 carton of M&M’S® Premiums Mocha        
1 carton of M&M’S® Premiums Triple Chocolate
1 carton of M&M’S® Premiums Mint Chocolate        
4 M&M’S® Brand Martini Glasses        
1 pack of M&M’S® Premiums Wine Charms

Rules:
• No duplicate comments.
• This giveaway is open to U.S. residents.
• Winners will be selected via random draw (using Random Number Generator), and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me.  If you don’t, someone else will totally snag your chocolate prize pack and no amount of tears will get it back. 
• See the official rules for details.  You can also check out the Blogher Review and Giveaway Roundup Page here. 

For more information on M&M Premiums, click here.  For more reading on things to make you hungry, you can see specific M&M Product information here.