Aetna Healthy Food Fight

GREAT NEWS - get ready for some Twitter fun tomorrow - September 15 at 8pm EST. SheSpeaks has teamed up with the Aetna Healthy Food Fight to help spread the message of healthy living and eating in America. They'll be hosting a great party where we'll share healthy recipes, chat about health-conscious tasty foods, share tips on living well, and learn more about the Healthy Food Fight. (Plus, prizes include Dutch Ovens and gourmet cookware from Circulon donated by Meyer Corporation, U.S.)
Here's the deets:

#SSFoodFight Twitter Party Recipe Swap
When: September 15 @ 8pm EST
TweetGrid Dashboard: http://bit.ly/oy4lU9
Follow: #SSFoodFight and @shespeaksup


About Aetna:
Aetna is one of the nation's leading providers of health care, dental, pharmacy, group life, disability insurance and employee benefits. At Aetna, we believe we can help create a better health care system. This belief drives our daily decisions as one of the nation's leading health care benefits companies. We work hard to provide our members with information and resources to help them make informed decisions about their health. For more information on Aetna and the Healthy Food Fight please head to http://bit.ly/mVbfOe.

The site has some great information featuring the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and chef Bobby Flay's outstanding cooking and eating tips. I have entered the Recipe Contest and Voted - be sure to get involved, too! Health cooking and eating is everyone's responsibility...

Twitter: @shespeaksup and use the #SSFoodFight hashtag




I will receive a promotional gift from SheSpeaks and Aetna for participating in this project.

Share The Table:Delicious Meals With Barilla

Barilla Pastas and Sauces continue to be a family sanity-saver at our home! We really enjoy their delicious, light sauce recipes and wholesome pastas for our weekly pasta dinner nights. That's one of the "tricks" I incorporate into my meal planning to ensure a number of full house dinner table gatherings for us. Our schedules become hectic once school begins this fall, so I was thrilled to discover the great, innovative recipes at www.BarillaUS.com

Chef Mario Batelli really sparked my cooking imagination as I gathered the kids to help prepare a wonderfully easy and nutritious meal from his recipes available on the Barilla website. We tried the Basic Tomato Sauce with their hearty wholegrain pasta - magnifico! The sauce even has the added benefit of fresh grated carrots to help everyone get some added veggies! Serve with some fresh garlic bread and tossed salad makes for a lovely evening without stressing out the cook! Be sure to try the Barilla Whole Grain pasta and Take The Barilla Challenge - visit to learn more: www.TryBarillaWholeGrain.com
If you don't love it, you'll get a free box of your favorite Barilla Pasta.

Here are some fun tips from Mario for Sharing the Table at your home:
* Dont' begin to clear the table until everyone has finished eating - linger awhile.
* Serve dessert separately from dinner - a little later and with new place setting - so you have a reason to sit down together again.
* When conversing at the table, don't interrogate your kids - let questions come naturally.
* Linger at the table after the last bite has been eater - tell a joke or a family story.



“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Barilla and received products necessary to facilitate my candid review..”

Making Life Better For Yummy Easter Treats and Beyond!

YIKES! April 1st is here in just a couple of hours...and no April Foolin' I'll be going crazy for the next two weeks...
Cameron's birthday will be on April 10th and Easter Sunday is April 12th so there will be a houseful of guests...I need inspiration instead of perspiration~
I'm visiting www.MakingLifeBetter.com for some great recipes and ideas:


MakingLifeBetter.com has great holiday and everyday meal ideas. With a combination of trusted brands that offer great quality at affordable prices as well as plenty of recipes and tips to help make everyday life better, Moms now have an easily available resource to help with meal prep any day of the year.

Whether you're planning the perfect Passover or cooking a delicious Easter feast, keeping your pantry, refrigerator and freezer well-stocked can save you time and money. Here are some of my favorite brands and recipes:

Easter Dinner:

• Shedd's Spread Country Crock: Make your Easter main course a D-light, with this super-simple recipe for Country-Style Glazed Ham made with Shedd's Spread Country Crock Calcium plus Vitamin D. For a great holiday meal offer, check your April 5th Sunday newspaper! You can get up to $20 back on your ham or turkey purchase by mail when you buy $40 in Unilever products like these during the month of April.
• Bertolli Sauce: If you usually dine out for your Easter meal, but are trying to save money this year, serve a restaurant quality feast at your own table with Bertolli Premium Pasta Sauce. A delicious recipe for Lamb Chops a la Pizzaiola from top chef Rocco DiSpirito will have your family wondering if it came from an Italian restaurant.

Passover Meals:

• Ragú: Ragú Old World Style Pasta Sauce has a full serving of vegetables in every half-cup of sauce and is a good source of Vitamins A and C. For a family-friendly Passover dish, try Matzo Pizza with Ragú.
• Shedd's Spread Country Crock: Add a little nutrition to a Passover favorite, Matzo Brei, with Country Crock Calcium Plus Vitamin D, which provides 20% of the necessary daily value of Vitamin D in each tablespoon.
  

Everyday Ideas:

• Knorr Sides: Spend less time in the kitchen by making a quick one-dish meal in three easy steps. Simply add your favorite cooked meat or chicken to Knorr Rice and Pasta Sides to make your family a satisfying one-dish meal, like Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo.
• Recipe Secrets: Creating a Country-Style Pot Roast is as simple as combining a few ingredients in the Dutch oven to roast , including Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion Soup Mix, which provides the perfect blend of seasonings to create delicious, affordable meals and great recipes for every occasion.
• Breyers: Bring a sweet ending to your Seder with a classic Hot Fudge Sundae using delicious Breyers All Natural Vanilla Ice Cream - a family-favorite made easily (and more affordably) at home!

Healthy Ideas

Well, we're one month into 2009 and Resolution Confession Time is upon us all...
How are you doin'? I'm faring pretty well, trying to be more organized at home and work while also keeping my cholesterol demons at bay! I go for a check up this month to see if my work at lower fat and more fresh fruits/veggies is paying off!

A new feature at Stop & Shop Supermarkets nationally provides some great resources on their "Healthy Ideas" promotion.

Because the first step to making healthier choices begins in the grocery store, Stop & Shop Supermarket is launching Healthy Ideas, a new on-shelf symbol that helps customers easily identify foods that fit into a healthy lifestyle.

To take the guesswork out of making healthy food choices, Stop & Shop has placed the Healthy Ideas symbol on more than 3,000 items and shelf tags throughout its stores. The symbol highlights foods that have less fat, saturated fat and sodium. It also helps to ensure that the foods we select include a healthful amount of at least one nutrient, such as fiber, whole grains, calcium and minerals.

The power of Healthy Ideas lies in the strength of its criteria which was developed by a team of registered dietitians and reviewed by an advisory panel of physicians and nutrition experts, including Dr. George Blackburn, associate director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School. Research played a critical role in the development of the symbol, which uses the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the USDA Food Pyramid (Mypyramid.gov) and the USDA/FDA's definition of healthy as a basis for its foundation.

The website offers some great areas to explore including recipes featuring "healthy swaps" tips to create healthier meal choices... Visit them at:
http://stopandshop.com/living_well/healthy_living.htm

Let's be real: you and your family like what you like - traditional favorites. That's why Stop & Shop created Simple Swaps - recipes for meals we know and love with little changes that make a big difference.

Simple Swaps transform a meal from a not-so-great-for-you family favorite to one that earns the Healthy Ideas symbol.

Also, be sure to check out my good friends at Mom Central:

www.momcentral.com

Stacy Debroff and friends offer great insight into family living with a fun and intuitive vibe!