Carrabba's Review and $100 Gift Card Giveaway!

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Carrabba's.

Giveaway now closed! Thanks!

Last week my husband and I went on a date to Carrabba's Italian Grill. I was selected to do a review of the smaller portion size servings on the menu and I totally jumped on that one! I love eating out and trying new foods. I especially love having an excuse to get a babysitter for the kids and just enjoying a night out with my husband.

This was our first time to Carrabba's. We went to the Lancaster, PA location which is about a 40 minute drive for us. We don't usually head down to Lancaster very often, but think we just found a new excuse to visit more often.


When we walked in there was an immediate relaxed and warm atmosphere. The restaurant was very open, but still cozy. There were tables that could seat larger parties and comfortable booths for smaller parties. You could see and hear the chefs cooking away in the exposed kitchen. As a hopeless foodie, I loved that.

Our server greeted us and asked if we had ever been to Carrabba's before. When she heard that it was our first time, she kind of looked shocked at first, and then she proceeded to tell us all the things we needed to know. I was impressed, as she explained the menu, that everything is made fresh. That meant that my husband, who has a violent hatred of tomatoes, could request that they be left out of a certain dish. She basically told us that we could add, omit or substitute anything on the menu. Her words were, "If we have it in our kitchen, we can do it!"

Next, our server brought out a small, warm, sliced loaf of Italian bread. You know the kind that is deliciously crusty on the outside and soft on the inside? She also brought a small plate that had a mixture of herbs, spices and garlic. I was getting excited for what was next. She drizzled some olive oil over the spice mixture and left us to experience the simple pleasure of good, basic ingredients, that combined, make magic.

Now to order. On the menu you will see that some entrees give the option of a small or regular portion. I ordered the small portion of Pollo Rosa Maria which is grilled chicken breast stuffed with fontina cheese and prosciutto, topped with mushrooms and a basil lemon butter sauce. My husband had the small portion of Pork Chop Marsala which is a center cut pork chop topped with mushrooms, prosciutto and a Lombardo Marsala wine sauce. In all there were 8 different entrees that had the small or regular portion.

The smaller portion seemed to run about $2 less than the regular serving size and the nice thing is that you still get soup or salad before your entree.

I had the Pasta Fagioli soup and my husband had the Sicilian Chicken soup. They were both excellent. The chicken in the Sicilian Chicken soup looked like it was just pulled from a whole chicken breast. The pieces were so big, my husband had to use a knife to cut it into smaller pieces. He kind of liked that they weren't skimpy with the chicken. I loved the Pasta Fagioli. It was simple and so savory. I need to find a good knockoff so I can make it at home. Carrabba's also has a Minestrone that is offered everyday.

At this point I was glad that I was ordering a smaller portion. From the bread and delicious soup, I was starting to get full!!!

Soon after we finished our soup, our entrees were served. My plate had a very generous portion of redskin mashed potatoes and one serving of the Pollo Rosa Maria. I am assuming that the regular portion has two chicken breasts. I was more than happy to savor just one portion the grilled chicken and the subtle basil lemon butter sauce with a forkful of mashed potatoes.

I know that a second portion of chicken would have gone home with me in a box for the next day's lunch. I finished feeling full, but not so stuffed that I was uncomfortable.

My husband raved about the Pork Chop Marsala. I had a bite and I must say that it was bursting with flavor. I am getting that next time! I was happy to hear him say that the small portion size was perfect for him. He was completely satisfied.

The other good thing about smaller portions is that maybe you will still have room for dessert. We didn't this time, but I am eying these Bachini, "little kisses", for next time!

I want to thank Carrabba's Italian Grill for this fun opportunity to review their smaller portion size menu options. I was so impressed by the flavors, freshness and great service. I would gladly recommend this restaurant and smaller menu potions to anyone who understands the saying that "great things come in small packages!"

For more information about Carrabba's and to browse the menu, click here.

To find a Carrabba's near you, click here.

Now for the Giveaway! The people at Carrabba's have been generous enough to offer a $100 Carrabba's gift card to one commenter on this post. All you need to do is answer this question:

“What great things come in small packages?”

For the official rules of giveaway, click here.

For 9 more chances to win a $100 Carrabba's gift card, go to the BlogHer Special Offers page.

Zester Giveaway! (CLOSED)

I was recently contacted by CSN stores. CSN has over 200 online stores that carry everything from bedroom decor to TV stands to children’s toys and furniture! Check out all their stores here!

CSN’s mission statement:

Our Mission To build a lasting organization that succeeds and grows by making online shopping rewarding for our customers, partners and employees.

CSN stores has agreed to host a giveaway from one of my favorite places, cookware.com. I am giving away a Microplane Zester so that you can easily zest oranges to make these:

Sticky Orange Rolls

Or maybe zest some lemons for some of these:


Lemon Gems

You can also use the Microplane to grate hard cheeses like Parmesan onto your pasta or salads, grate nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. The ease of use will but your box grater to shame!

All you need to do to enter the giveaway is: become a follower of "Cheat Day Cafe" at the sidebar and tell me what you would make with your new Microplane zester! This giveaway is open anyone and everyone. Just make sure I have an email address so I can contact you. :)

Giveaway will end at 10pm PST April 16th. Winner will be chosen by random draw.

Review: Werther's Sugar Free Hard Candies

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Werther's.

Most of my readers at, Cheat Day Cafe, know that I started a Biggest Loser competition at my church on March 1st. I needed a gimmick to get me motivated to eat better, exercise and lose weight. I am happy to say that in the last month, I have lost 14 pounds! It has been such a good thing for me.

The key for me has been to calm my raging sweet tooth!

You know what I realized this month? I realized that I can completely relate to a smoker or a coffee drinker who HAS to have a cigarette or a coffee after a meal. I noticed that I totally crave sweets after a meal! So this week, instead of raiding the vending machine for a candy bar, I pulled out my bag of Werther's Sugar Free Hard Candies and was completely satisfied.

I was so happy to be a reviewer for Werther's Sugar Free Hard Candies. Everybody knows that they are the best regular caramels on the market, and you just get the sense that the people at Werther's don't like being second best. So I was sure that these sugar free candies would not be a disappointment.

I was lucky enough to sample all of the Werther's Sugar Free Hard Candies. There is the Werther's Original Caramel, Caramel Mint and Caramel Coffee. Each of these recipes include real butter and fresh cream. How could that NOT be a winner? They were all delicious! I knew that my favorite would be the Caramel Mint before I even tried them. I am just a mint kind of girl!

The newest flavor that will be out at Wal-Mart in April is Caramel Cinnamon. What a yummy, warm combo that is!

I think that using sugar free candies is a great way to incorporate sweets into my diet without going completely off track.

Thanks Werther's for the delicious sugar free candy and for helping me stay on my diet. I would highly recommend your products to anyone. And if you make a sugar free Caramel Apple flavor, I'll be a fan for life!

If you could create a Werther's Sugar Free Hard Candy flavor to help you stay on track, what would it be? I'd love to hear your ideas!

To learn more about Werther's Sugar Free Hard Candies, visit the Werther's website. And don't forget to visit the BlogHer.com special offers page.

DiGiorno 200 Calorie Pizza and $200 Visa Card Giveaway!

This a compensated review from DiGiorno and BlogHer.


About a year ago, I started my food blog called "Cheat Day Cafe". I love to bake and cook (and eat), but I am also almost constantly on some sort of a diet. I've been like this for a long as I can remember. I called my blog "Cheat Day Cafe" because to keep my sanity, I would give myself one day of the week where I could eat, bake or cook whatever I wanted. A cheat day. And I have been a chronic cheater of late!

Instead of starting another diet that never works, I decided that this year I would just make healthier choices in my diet. I'll eat good things in moderation and not be obsessed with food. Well, I'm not sure if the latter will ever happen, but I have enjoyed not being focused on what I can't have and more focused on just eating what I want in moderation.

So, I was thrilled when I was selected to do a review of DiGiorno 200 Calorie Pizza. They came in 3 different varieties: Pepperoni, Cheese and Tomato and Chicken with Peppers and Onions. Each box came with 2 perfectly proportioned servings which were 200 calories each.












So here is my review:

I decided to make the pepperoni pizza and tomato and cheese pizzas with a salad for dinner. It was just me and the kids, and I knew they would love a pizza night. The servings were smaller than they were used to, but they really enjoyed the flavor of the sauce and the crispy thin crust. My son of course loved the pepperoni and my daughter surprised me when she said that she liked the cheese and tomato the most. She said that it had "pizzazz". I don't know if I spelled that correctly, but I actually agreed with her. There was a freshness to the ingredients that you rarely find in the frozen food section. And it didn't taste like 200 calories. But it was DiGiorno...so what did you expect!

The pizza was a big hit with my kids. With the problem of childhood obesity rising, it is nice to know that there is a delicious, portion controlled option that would fulfill that pizza craving and that a school kid could easily pop into the microwave.

Last but not least, I saved the chicken with peppers and onions pizza for me and me alone! It was in the freezer over the weekend and I took one of the servings to work on Monday. My husband actually begged me to take it because he had been having "to beat the kids off with a stick" to keep them away from my pizza that I need to review. Again, I was so pleased with the freshness of the ingredients and the crust....YUM! As I finished my lunch, I realized that I had eaten slowly, enjoyed the flavor and that I wasn't hungry for anything else. I can just have one piece and feel satisfied! Who knew?

So if it's not "cheat day" yet and you are looking for a single serving of a really satisfying pizza, I would highly recommend the DiGiorno 200 Calorie Pizzas found in the freezer section of your grocery store.

For more information check out DiGiorno on Facebook.

And check this out! DiGiorno is giving away a $200 gift card to one of my readers! To enter, leave me a comment below and tell me which DiGiorno pizza you would like to try - or you may leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below. The contest will begin at 1/25/2010 and will end 2/22/2010. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.

Click here for 9 more chances to enter and win. Good luck and thank you DiGiorno!

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.
• Please see the official rules
  

Giveaway News

Great opportunity to win a Kitchen aid mixer at Gourmet Mom on the Go! I want one! :)


@GourmetMom @Samsclub Win a $500 KitchenAid from Sam's club! http://www.gourmetmomonthego.com/2009/12/500-kitchen-aid-giveaway.html"

Petite Treats = Big Satisfaction

This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Pepperidge Farm.

I must say that I was thrilled to be able to do this review of Pepperidge Farm^® Petite Pirouette^® and Petite Twists^®. Pepperidge Farm cookies have been my personal favorite for many years now.

My mom and dad loved Pepperidge Farm^® Mint Milano^® cookies. I mean, hide them from the kids, loved them. Can you relate?

I'll never forget when I found my mom's secret stash of Milano cookies when I was a teenager. They were in a low cupboard, in a sauce pan with its lid on. INGENIOUS! What kid is ever going to go and look in the sauce pans? Well, I guess eventually I did, but I wonder how long she had been using that hiding spot. Moms are so smart! But those were her sweet indulgence in the day when she just needed a break.

Well, now I am a mom of three hungry kids who always want my treats. So, yes, I have resorted to a secret stash too. But sometimes you need something yummy, just for you.

What I love about the Pepperidge Farm Petite Pirouette and Petite Twists is that they look and taste like a guilty pleasure, but in reality, you don't have to feel guilty at all. Let me introduce you to these special treats.



Petite Pirouette is a delicate, crispy rolled wafer with creamy, chocolaty filling on the inside. Try either the chocolate hazelnut or chocolate crème flavor - or both! Three Petite Pirouette rolled wafers add up to 90 carefree calories!

Petite Twists puffed pastries have layers of delicate, crisp pastry swirled with sweet cinnamon or raspberry. A delightful treat with 90 calories in two treats!

Now, these petite treats are perfection by themselves, but they take one of my favorite indulgences to the next level. Ice cream! I made these sundaes in the spirit of the petite treats. They are high impact visually and on the taste buds, but very forgiving when it comes to your waistline. P.S - Sharing is optional.

Petite Pirouette Sundae


Doesn't that look good?

All I did was layer:

1/4 cup light vanilla ice cream
1 TBSP sugar-free hot fudge
thinly sliced banana

Repeat layers and top with light whipped cream and a Chocolate Crème or Chocolate Hazelnut Petite Pirouette.

When I took a bite of the Cinnamon Petite Twists, I tasted a flaky apple pie crust. Oh yum! So I decided to make an apple pie topping for reduced fat vanilla ice cream with this perfect, flaky, Cinnamon Petite Twist as the crust. Here is the recipe for the topping:


Apple Pie Ice Cream Topping

Ingredients

• 4 large apples, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons water, divided
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

• In a large skillet, combine the apples, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons water, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Cook and stir over medium heat for 4-7 minutes or until fruit is tender.
• In a small bowl, combine flour and remaining water until smooth; stir into skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Serve over ice cream. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 3 cups.

Nutrition Facts: 1/2 cup (calculated with 1/2 cup reduced-fat ice cream) equals 197 calories, 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 6 mg cholesterol, 45 mg sodium, 45 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 2 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 fruit, 1 starch.

Add some light whipped cream and a Cinnamon Petite Twist and you have a "deconstructed" guilt free apple pie for the holidays.

So guess what? Pepperidge Farm wants to give one of you a $150 Spa Gift Card! Talk about a guilt-free indulgence! Thank you Pepperidge Farm and good luck everyone!

To enter, leave me a comment below and tell me how you would spend your day if you had it all to yourself. The contest will begin at 9:00 a.m. (PST) November 2, 2009 and will end 5:00 p.m. (PST) November 30, 2009. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.

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 be 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.

Visit these Blogher Reviewers for six other chances to win a $150 Spa gift card.

Giveaway News

Check out this cute giveaway on Veater Family. You will love these cool recycled Scrabble tile necklaces. They are so adorable. This giveaway closes September 21st.