Friday, July 13, 2012

Pasta Salad & Pizza Giveaway

Baby & bridal showers and weddings…my summer is FULL of them! I actually really enjoy showers- especially baby showers. Seeing all the cute baby clothes and the adorable mama’s to be? I can’t get enough! Recently, I attended my friend Lindsay’s shower. You may remember her, as she used to be a blogger!

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Her friend Madeleine did a great job pulling everything together:

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I contributed two items, Paula Deen’s spinach salad (I subbed sunflower seeds and slivered almonds for the pecans):

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and my friend Jordan’s pasta salad. Jordan and I were friends in college. After college, he and Josh moved in together…and then I moved in. Jordan was a good sport about having me around… and he shared with me the best pasta salad recipe. Its not super healthy…but it is super delicious:

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup white vinegar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 package, Good Seasons pack of dry Italian dressing mix
  • 3/4 box pasta, cooked according to package directions
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped,
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • cheese (your choice on type and quantity), cut into cubes
  • salami (your choice on type and quantity), cut into cubes

Directions:

Mix together white vinegar, sugar, vegetable oil and dressing mix. Stir in all other ingredients. Let mixture chill in the fridge for a few hours and serve (mix before serving)

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On a side note, DiGiorno recently gave me coupons to try out their new pizzas (disclaimer: I received these coupons for free). According to DiGiorno:

  • New DIGIORNO Pizza Dipping Strips are a great-tasting shareable take on the celebrated pizza experience. They feature the delicious combination of a DIGIORNO thick crust pizza, in twelve easy pull-apart strips, and two dipping sauces – zesty marinara and creamy garlic. DIGIORNO Pizza Dipping Strips are available in three varieties – DiGiorno Pepperoni Pizza Dipping Strips, DiGiorno Three Meat Pizza Dipping Strips, and DiGiorno Four Cheese Pizza Dipping Strips
  • New DIGIORNO Italian Style Favorites deliver a collection of three Italian-inspired, premium varieties on a rising crust with a touch of olive oil and herbs. DIGIORNO Pizza Italian Style Favorites are available in three varieties – DiGiorno Italian Style Favorites Meatball Marinara pizza, DiGiorno Italian Style Favorites Chicken Parmesan pizza, and DiGiorno Italian Style Favorites Meat Trio pizza.

Unfortunately…my store was out of both! So, I picked up two of their rising crust pizzas to test out:

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Both pizzas cooked up in about 20 minutes. We had a friend over to taste test with us and served the pizzas with a side of fruit:

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While I normally prefer a thin crust pizza, the crust on this pizza was fluffy and delicious! We preferred the cheese over the peperoni, but both were good. Want to try DiGiorno?? I have four coupons to giveaway to four winners! To enter, tell me your favorite pizza topping. The winners will be randomly selected (you do not have to be a blogger to enter). The contest will be open until Monday, July 16 at noon.

32 comments:

Kerr said...

As someone who ate digorno Monday night I would love to win this. I love onion and pineapple on my pizza. Like Hawaiian but no ham. Or I also like it loaded with veggies. Just no olives!

Em said...

I love green peppers on pizza, yum! :)

Sarah Keil said...

Bell peppers on pizza are the best!

Averie Cooks said...

fave topping = cheese + pineapple

MegLIBTF said...

I'm not always impressed with frozen pizzas but DiGoirno is pretty good. Anything with cheese on it is a winner in my book!


My favorite topping is caramelized onions. Yum.

Simply Lief said...

faovrite toppings are artichokes and tomatoes!

Madeline Ko said...

I really like mushrooms and artichokes!

Ally said...

My favorite topping is chopped ham - I know that sounds weird, but it is!

Amy Beth Marantino said...

pepperoni is my favorite

Maureen said...

I LOVE your pasta salad!! I can't wait to try it. I thought I made the best one but maybe I was wrong. :)

Katie said...

I love feta on my pizza!

delia said...

mushrooms

julie! said...

that pizza looks HUGE! nothing beats a big fat NY pizza though - i can't lie about that. (don't enter me) but i totally agree i LOVE showers haha everyone is just so happy and its fun to see the cute things people put together - plus it's great girlfrand chitchat time! we're going to my cousins bridal shower next weekend in Maryland! Woop woop girls trip! Have a fab weekend lady xoxo

tempesst said...

i love to put parmesan cheese on my pizza!

Brittany Dahn said...

Greg and I LOVE DiGiorno pizzas! My favorite pizza toppings would be Hawaiian style with pineapple and ham! Mmmmm. Good thing pizza is already on the menu for dinner tonight :)

Kerstin said...

What a fun shower! I really love any kind of pizza, but it's always a bonus when goat cheese is involved :)

Liz said...

I love baby showers... but then it makes me want more babies. So it's dangerous for me to attend! :) My favorite pizza is a Margherita Pizza when it is prepared right. LOVE fresh basil and fresh mozzarella.

Heather said...

Lindsay's having a babyyyyyyyyyyy???!! OMG, so exciting!!
Ricotta is my #1 pizza topping. Bring on the cheeseeeeeeeeeeeee. :)

Stephanie said...

I love any type of veggies on my pizza but mushrooms are a definite fave!!! Hope you had a wonderful weekend :)

Faith said...

OMG, that's so funny! Yesterday I went shopping and randomly picked up the DiGiorno 4 Cheese Pizza for the first time! (I'm having my niece over for dinner later this week and thought that this pizza and some raw veggies would be a good meal for when she's here.) I'm glad you liked it -- I'm excited to try it now! :)

melissa said...

not to be gross..... but i love onions! LOL

NewWeighofLife said...

My favorite pizza topping is Parmesan cheese....yum!

Biz said...

If I am ever too lazy to make pizza, DiGiorno is actually the only frozen pizza I buy - I think its really good! And I have to say, not sure I've ever had sugar added to a pasta salad, but it must work! Happy Monday!

itzyskitchen said...

Not gross at all! I love onions :)

itzyskitchen said...

yup!!!! SO excited for her- a little girl

itzyskitchen said...

I think you'll enjoy it! Its very good!

Kelly said...

Pasta salad is always a winner in my book!!

Candice said...

that salad looks SO good!
Fun shower! I feel like ALL of my friends are having babies AGAIN...
My favorite topping on pizza is tomatoes!

Bridget said...

I love showers too!! And you know, tha pizza actually looks reallly good right now!! :)

June L said...

Green Chili is My favorite topping :0)

Kitchen Belleicious said...

okay loving Dijornio pizza, so glad to see a post from you and those salads look amazing!

Lynn Chen said...

ah darn i'm late on this! i've actually always been so curious about digiorno after all their ads!