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!

Her friend Madeleine did a great job pulling everything together:

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

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)

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:

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:

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.