I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Cascade. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

Mother Knows Best

Growing up, Mom would always buy Cascade for our dishwasher. Truth be told, I never paid attention as to why.

Foolishly, as a young bride on a tight budget I would always try to find a substitute. Thinking a couple bucks here and there were better spent elsewhere, but my dishes would come out half clean and all filmy- blech!

I would complain to mom and she would always say “Did you use Cascade?” Somehow moms always seem to know, don’t they?

It didn’t take me long to realize that Mother knows best and in the dish washing realm, you seriously get what you pay for… or you do them by hand.

Now, let’s be honest, mama will tell ya, housekeeping has never been my strong suit and by hand means not done at all around my house.

And nothing is worse than post-dishwasher stuck on food…

I mean dude, I did my part, but you totally didn’t do yours, what gives?

Nobody’s got time to do the dishes twice… especially if it is the aftermath of baked on baked bean sauce sent through the washer and dried to stick on even tighter.

So, I quickly became brand loyal to Cascade.

Food Blogger’s Friend

And over the years, I have fallen completely for Cascade Complete. I have two containers of it under my sink as I type this.

But between regularly food blogging and the hard water in our area, I have found myself adding an extra (very expensive) pre-rinse to my loads to get them to come out even more sparkling.

So when Cascade released their new Cascade Platinum and asked if I would like to give it a try, I was totally game.

Platinum claimed to not only make my dishes shine but also make my machine clean… which leads me to the age old question of WHY I have to clean a device that is supposed to clean? But, perhaps with Cascade Platinum I will not.

Test Drive

So, I loaded up my machine with Cascade Platinum and with a little hesitation, for the first time in forever, I left the pre-wash space empty.

Would Cris’ dishes get clean?

Would she be scrubbing them for days to come because she dropped her usual routine?

Would they sparkle?

Will Cris stop talking about herself in the third person already?

The results were fantastic. Consider me sold. Everything comes out sparkling clean without adding anything else to the wash!

My next Cascade purchase will definitely be Platinum.

Celebrity Appeal

And I am not the only one. Top Chef’s Gail Simmons is partnering up with Cascade to share her love for a “Platinum Presentation”. Check out her Panna Cotta recipe below:

#MyPlatinum Instagram Dishwasher Giveaway

Now here is the really great news. Cascade is currently holding Instagram Contests and giving away brand new dishwashers! And better yet? They are giving one lucky winner a Platinum Kitchen Makeover! Check out all the awesome details and register here so you can get to entering already

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Are you looking for an easy sweet treat? This Better Than Brownies recipe is so simple and has endless flavor combinations because it uses a basic cake mix as the base.

And, with this being Father’s Day, I only thought it appropriate that we share this recipe today because Puddie loves bacon and chocolate, so this batch we sprinkled half with bacon. Now bacon enthusiasts will love this, normal folks will look at you weird… and I don’t blame them… I like my bacon with eggs.

But Pud, he loves his bacon and chocolate and he went nuts over this recipe.The great thing is that you can split things up (especially if you use a Brownie Pan* ) to meet everyone’s flavor preference.

I can think of so many flavor combinations for this recipe in the future. Peanut Butter Chips for one… Or a Butter Pecan Cake with Butterscotch Pudding and Butterscotch Chips… Ohh or Red Velvet with white Chocolate Pudding and White Chocolate Chips…

The original recipe for Better Than Brownies can be found in Gooseberry Patch’s Rush-Hour Recipes*, one of my regular go-to books these days.

Now pardon me while I get back to baking…

*Affiliate Links are used in this post.

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Do you love the taste of lasagna but hate the mess and time it takes to put it all together? This Bow-Tie Lasagna is the perfect solution to a lasagna lovers need for speed! It is a quick and easy meal that is perfect to feed a crowd.

The original recipe can be found in Gooseberry Patch’s Garfield…Recipes with Cattitude!

I also added a can of mushrooms to the recipe because my family LOVES mushrooms.

If I were making it again, I would definitely add another jar of sauce as we are saucy folks (Note: extra can has been added to the recipe below)

This is also one of those meals that would be perfect to put half in the freezer for later in the month. I just love a good freezer meal, don’t you?

Well enough about all the things I love about this recipe, and how about the recipe already?

Affiliate links were used in this post.

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As my quest for my next smart phone continues, I am one step closer to finding true smart phone love with the Galaxy Note thanks to Verizon sending me one to try on for size.

A lover of my Kindle App, I fell in love with the large screen of this phone-tablet hybrid.

The platform is smooth and it just “gets” me.  It feels so intuitive.

And, I love the larger keyboard for my typo-prone fingers.

My inner list maker loves the stylus option.

I adore the camera and I just flat out enjoyed using the phone.

The cons for me for this phone on my quest to find smart phone true love?

Battery life… but again, the battery can be enhanced with a battery pack to make the perfect package for me.

So what is the verdict?

If I were purchasing a phone tomorrow, this would be it…with an added on battery pack.

So from now until the fall, the Note is the phone to beat.

To be continued…

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Are you planning a trip to Disney World and wondering which day is best to visit each park? Today’s post in our Planning a Magical Trip to Disney Series will help you decide which day is best for your family to visit which park.

Crowd Calendars

It seems like everyone has a theory on what days are best for each park. Many of awesome sites put together intricate crowd calendars to help give you advice on which park will be less busy. Truth be told I have had a hit and miss experience with a variety of crowd calendars.

Honestly, I think vacation seasons are changing and crowd calendars are having a hard time keeping up. So, while I definitely consult them, I do not let them dictate every part of our trip.

I usually consult them at the beginning of planning and revisit them if I am trying to decide between two parks for a certain day.

I especially pay attention to them if one park is rated particularly busier than the rest. That may indicate a special event that you will want to avoid. The good news is that if you are working with a free Disney Vacation Planner, they should be able to help you with crowd calendar knowledge as most have access to the paid services that in my opinion tend to have a higher quality.

Park Hopper Ticket

Planning becomes a lot easier and less risky when you have the more expensive park hopper ticket.  This ticket allows you to go to any park and switch parks on any day. It is especially nice when you go to one park in the morning, go back to your room for a mid-day rest then head out for dinner and a different park at night.

Park hoppers also make it so nice to really leverage the Extra Magic Hours we have access to because we stay on property. Each park has a different Extra Magic Hours day where they either open early or stay open late (sometimes really late) for resort guests only. We LOVE Extra Magic Hours. So if a park is open really late for resort guests and we don’t have park hoppers, that pretty much seals the deal for us. Park Hopper tickets make our schedule more flexible.

A luxury indeed, but not always an option for the budget. Don’t be fooled into thinking you can just buy a  less expensive 5 day ticket for a 4 day trip and just use two tickets on the same day to get into two different parks. You can’t. You will have to purchase the park hopper ticket to get into a second park or only go to the park you visit first that day.

Truth be told, we only do Park Hopper about half of the time. It is a budget luxury. It is completely doable without, but really nice when you have it.

Restaurant Reservations

If you like to make table reservations at some of Disney’s best restaurants– and also for those Character Meals that save you all kinds of time NOT having to wait in line to see characters– you will need to consider what day you can get into the restaurant so you can plan to be in the corresponding park or a close by park if the restaurant is at a resort or Downtown Disney.

Putting It All Together

So after checking and noting all of these things I then consider our preference. We usually do at least two days at Magic Kingdom and if we can two at Epcot. Then one full day at Hollywood Studios and no more than a half day at Animal Kingdom. We like to start with Magic Kingdom and leave Animal Kingdom for our last day, but we don’t always follow our preference. If we have Park Hopper,  we tend to let the crowd calendars dictate as long as we can make dinner reservations work with it. And then we circle back to any park with Extra Magic Hours at night.

If we don’t have a Park Hopper ticket then late night Extra Magic Hours pretty much dictate it for us, then reservations and then crowd calendars. Do note that a lot of resort families tend to make this same strategy and tend to make the parks during the day a bit busier. It is worth it for us though. We love the low crowds, short lines and cooler weather at night.

Stay Tuned

This post is a part of a 10 part series (gone wild… I hope to get it down to 20 parts!).

• Introduction
• Part 1: Lodging (Onsite or Off and Choosing a Disney Resort)
• Part 2: The Parks (When to Visit and Which Park Which Day)
• Part 3: The Parks ~ General Tips
• Part 4: The Parks ~ Fireworks & Parades
• Part 5: Food Options
• Part 6: Characters
• Part 7: Our Favorite Places
• Part 8: Transportation Options
• Part 9: The “Extras”
• Part 10: Apps We Love

Next up we will be talking tips and sharing how we make the most of our Fast Passes. How about you, do you have a favorite Disney tip?

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Are you looking for a fun snack for the kids that is easy to make? Look no further. The kids will not only like eating these Pizza Rolls up, they’ll like making them too!

I found the original recipe for this fun snack in Gooseberry Patch’s Garfield…Recipes with Cattitude! (Psst… have you entered to win a copy?)

I altered the original recipe to meet our tastes and make it easier for Miss Add to help. The original recipe calls for you to roll out a pack of crescent rolls and pinch the seams together and then fill up with all the pizza goodness, roll up and slice.

We decided to skip all that jazz and just roll each crescent up with the pizza fun and call it a day.

Miss Add was quite the fan… and truth be told, the Pizza Rolls tasted much better than the store-bought kind.

Pizza fans that we are, we just loved the versatility of this recipe. We aren’t big pepperoni fans, but we could easily toss in sausage or turkey sausage crumbles instead. We LOVE mushrooms and tossed in a few of those. The list goes on and on… Onion, Spinach, Green Pepper… You could even make a Hawaiian Pizza Roll By using pineapple and ham… mmm… (we are SO going to do that!).

I’m guessing these babies would even do well in the freezer for a quick reheat for snack or lunch on the go… going to have to try that as well!

So what is your favorite pizza topping? I’m totally in the mushroom camp– much to Aunt Lou’s dismay

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There are oh so many reasons I love summer. At the top of the list…fresh fruit!

One of my absolute favorite recipes for fresh strawberries…which the Amish are selling on my route to and from work everyday!…is this Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie.

Or there is this amazing Fruit Pizza from Cris.

And I can’t wait to try out her Peach-Berry Shortcake!

And last but not least on my summer must make list is Cris’ Apple & Berry Breakfast Crisp.

So what are you going to do with all the yummy fruit you will be buying this summer?

Check out other recipes that are fun with fruit over at Gooseberry Patch today!

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Today is my and Puddie’s 15th Wedding Anniversary.

I am one lucky girl.

We married when we were just kids really and we have managed by the grace of God to weather whatever has come our way.

He is dedicated, oh-so talented, has a killer work ethic and is an incredible father- incredible.

He encourages me daily. He is my best friend.

15 years is a heck of milestone for two crazy kids who had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

But amid our celebrating, we would be dishonoring our marriage if I let you believe for one second that my marriage wasn’t hard fought for… everyday.

After 15 years, we have learned a lot, but we still have a lot to learn.

Every anniversary is special of course, but this one is a little sweeter for me. Not because of the number of years, but rather because for the last 6 months we have had to work harder (than we are used to) to make it work due to a shift change that literally has turned our worlds upside down.

The easy became difficult. The schedule split itself right in two and left the two of us in a bit of a state of shock as to how to adjust.

There have been tears, frustration, laughter and exhaustion.

We have had to redefine our everyday, learn to put first things first, and above all learn to give and take a little more grace than we have been used to…

It has been painful. And truth be told at first it just felt like someone came at our marriage with a pickax. But now I see God making us stronger– like a sculptor chipping away pieces of stone, leaving something beautiful in its wake.

I am a lucky girl.

I am blessed to have a man who will stand beside me during the hard times AND the GOODe times.

Happy Anniversary Pud!

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Are you a Gooseberry Patch fan? A Garfield fan or know one? Do I have the cookbook for you! Gooseberry Patch’s Garfield…Recipes with Cattitude!

Now when I told Miss Add that Gooseberry Patch was sending us this cookbook she got all excited and then a little inquisitive… “Mommy, we aren’t going to eat Garfield are we?”

Then I told her all about how Garfield likes all kinds of yummy food like we do– like lasagna, spaghetti, sandwiches and this book is filled with all his favorite recipes…

And then I told her that Garfield was almost as big of a fan of ketchup as she was and she was sold

In all seriousness, Garfield is a fun twist on my beloved Gooseberry Patch Cookbooks playing up his shannigans on every page while dishing up yummy recipes andthe helpful tips that Gooseberry Patch is known for…

But all the antics in the world don’t do a cookbook much good unless the food is GOODe…

And the food? She be pretty darn GOODe

I have already shared with you how my family adores this Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast. It is so easy and so delicious. THIS will be one of those childhood recipes for my Add. She loves it.

Another favorite of Miss Add’s was the Pizza Rolls. It was so easy to throw these together and in the oven. They taste so much better than the store-bought kind. And, you know me, I am always looking for more ways to make Pizza!

In the category of “why didn’t I think of that” Garfield knows what he is doing by offering this quick and easy Bow-Tie Lasagna (recipe coming soon). A lot less mess and I love all-in-one assembly. Pour it all in and pop in the oven. Easy peasy– just my style.

My favorite? The Almond Coffee Cake (recipe coming soon). It doesn’t take much time in my kitchen to find out that I LOVE almond flavor. I just loved these little guys. Now my taste testers tell me they think they taste more like almond cinnamon rolls than coffee cake, but I adore them just the same (maybe even more… mmm… cinnamon rolls).

So in the next coming days I will sharing all this yumminess… but in the meantime how about we giveaway a copy of the fun new cookbook from my friends at GP?

All ya gotta do is leave a comment on the blog and tell me if you are Team Garfield or Team Odie.

Bonus entries for pinning any recipe from GOODEness Gracious (just leave a comment for each pin below)

Winner will be drawn randomly on 6/13/13 and have 48 hours to respond to notification email. Shipping address for winning book must be within the continental US.

Affiliate links were used in this post.

Check out these other Gooseberry Patch Early Bird Reviewers for more great recipes and giveaways from this book!

The Country Cook

Homesteader’s Heart

Married/Single Parent

A Well-Seasoned Life

Alarm Clock Wars

SusieQTPies Cafe

Gramma’s in the Kitchen

Threaded Together

Basilmomma

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As grills across America are firing up, why not dress up your traditional side dish a bit with this Roasted Garlic French Fries Recipe. Perfect for a crowd or for a family dinner, these fries taste like they are “fried” but are actually baked.

I just loved when I found this recipe in Rush-Hour Recipes as it fit perfectly with our On the Lighter Side series without me having to change anything except to match what I had in the pantry.

Now these fries look and feel fancy (and homemade).

And while you can certainly make your own from scratch, this mom totally appreciated the ease of just popping some house cut fries out of the freezer and baking them up.

The fancy part comes in by dressing them up with a toss in garlic infused oil.

Now if you haven’t ever infused oil, don’t be discouraged. It really couldn’t be simpler.

All you do for this recipe is take equal parts fresh minced garlic and olive oil and heat it up (while stirring) until the garlic begins to change to a golden color.

That is it.

The result is a lightly garlic flavored oil to drizzle over your fries and some crunchy garlic bits that are just delicious!

Sprinkle with some fresh (or in my case dried) parsley and Kosher salt to finish them.

And now your super market spuds are all dressed up in a way worthy of a nice restaurant table.

Affiliate links were used in this post.

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