Hi, guys! I’m sharing a Trader Joe’s Haul today! This is my first grocery haul video, and I hope you enjoy it. π
Healthy Eating
Behind-The-Scenes Look at Deliciously Fresh Wendy’s Salads
I could eat salad every day.
And, someday, maybe I will. Like when my kids are older, and I have the extra time to chop, slice, and dice fruits and vegetables without the added responsibility of actually having to feed all of the other people in my family. Maybe then I can eat salad every day. π
But until then, I’m glad that I can pick up a freshly prepared salad at my local Wendy’s whenever I want one, but don’t have the time or all of the ingredients to put it together at home.
How Wendy’s Makes Their Salads
And you know, it’s true –Β Wendy’s salads are made fresh on a daily basis. And when I say, “fresh,” I mean that they use real, fresh produce just like the produce you buy at the grocery store. Then they prep that produce in-house on the same day that those salads are served to customers.
I know this because I recently got a behind-the-scenes look at how Wendy’s salads are created. I watched as the Wendy’s employee removed the ugly parts of the lettuce (just like we do at home), washed the lettuce, chopped it, and then ran it through a huge, orange salad spinner.
In every Wendy’s restaurant, employees freshly chop vegetables every day, starting with full heads of iceberg and romaine lettuces and other veggies like cucumbers and tomatoes.
For more insight into the ingredients that Wendy’s uses in their salads, check out the short Romaine Lettuce Journey video on their YouTube channel.
As I continued to watch the Wendy’s employee slice tomatoes and dice red peppers to use in the salads, I kept thinking to myself that the whole process is so similar to what I do in my own kitchen.
The difference is that Wendy’sΒ employees have to use heavy-duty kitchen gadgets to get the job done, because they’re making around 200 salads a day. That’s a lot of salad!
Once each salad is prepped to a certain point, a lid is placed on top of it. Then the salad is properly labeled and refrigerated.
At the time that a customer orders a Wendy’s salad, premium white meat chicken breasts are grilled and subsequently placed warm on their salad.
So as you can see, Wendy’s salads are truly made fresh every single day. There’s no pre-packaged lettuce being used here! π
My favorite salad so far is the apple pecan chicken salad. I tried that salad for the first time during my visit to Wendy’s and loved it.
I’m looking forward to trying the asian cashew chicken salad next! It looks really good!
Did you know that Wendy’s salads were made so fresh?
P.S. I took all of these photographs at the Wendy’s restaurant that I visited, so you can see the high quality of the salads right after they’ve been made. No additional styling necessary. π
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Fun, Easy and Delicious Mango Snacks (and Mango Tips!)
This is a sponsored collaboration with The Motherhood and the National Mango Board. #MakeItMango
I love mango.
It’s the one fruit that brings up fond childhood memories almost every time I eat it. Growing up, I remember eating it often during the summers I spent in Mexico. There, mangos were about a two-minute walk to the nearest neighborhood store.
Or, my family and I would buy pre-sliced and (literally) ready-to-eat mangos from someone selling them at the market, and we’d eat them as we walked, talked, and shopped.
I treasure those memories.
Making Mango Memories with My Kids
My children have never been to Mexico, but I share my stories with them. I’ve told them about how mangos are sold right on the street, and how people buy them to eat right then and there. It’s all very wonderful. π
And I recently had a chance to make lasting ‘mango memories’ with my kids at a Kids in the Kitchen cooking class at The Chopping Block in Chicago.
Mango Class at The Chopping Block
The class was awesome!
I took Breanna, Isaac, David, and Elisabeth with me (I’m pretty sure I was the only mom there with four kids. π ), and we had a great time even though Isaac and David didn’t end up liking all of the mango recipes.
The kids learned about different varieties of mangos, how to properly cut a mango, when a mango is ready to eat, and, of course, a few easy snack recipes.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Mangos are the worldβs most popular fruit and are available year-round, so you can always get your hands on a perfect mango.
- Six varieties of mango make up most of what is available in the U.S. Because each variety comes into season at a different time of year, youβll always find a mango in your produce aisle.
Isaac’s favorite part of any meal is dessert, so he loved the frozen yogurt dipped mango pops.
Elisabeth is like me and loves mango, so she was more than willing to give the different mango snacks a try. π
Mango and Banana Smoothie
We left the class at The Chopping Block happy and excited about eating more mango! The first recipe that we learned in class and tried at home was the mango and banana smoothie.
This smoothie is so delicious and healthy. We used a recipe we brought home from the mango class and only changed one ingredient. Instead of using low-fat milk like the original recipe called for, we used rice milk with fantasticΒ results.
I’ll definitely be making this smoothie again, and I’m looking forward to exploring even more smoothie combinations using mangos!
Vlog of Our Kids in the Kitchen Mango Class Experience
Since I’ve started vlogging twice a week, I decided to vlog about our trip to Chicago for the mango class. It’s a fun family vlog, and if you start watching it here, you can find out exactly how to properly cut a mango! π
Visit mango.org for additional information on mango varieties, availability and recipes.
What’s your favorite way to enjoy mangos?
Door to Door Organics Review and Giveaway! (Three Winners)
Thanks to Door to Door Organics for partnering with me on this review and giveaway.
These days, I could definitely be classified as a homebody.
I like being at home and not leaving the house unless I have to or unless we have some fun family adventure planned, which doesn’t happen too often. I’ve really always been the type of person who enjoys just being at home, but now much more so because of everything that’s happened with David and the desire to protect him as his immune system continues to recover since his transplant.
So, since it takes a crowbar to pry me away from home these daysΒ in light of this, I was very excited when the opportunity came up for our family to try a food delivery service called Door to Door Organics.
It’s a service that allows you to have organic fruits and vegetables delivered right to your front door. For us, our “front door” is technically my in-laws’ front door because our house is just out of range of the delivery area.
With our last move, we traded closeness to shopping centers for a backyard and a single-family detached home to accommodate our family of seven. That means we had to move a little “further out” to find a home within our budget.
But anyway, my husband simply stops and picks up the box (or boxes) on his way home from work or while out running errands.
Click here and enter your zip code to find out if Door to Door Organics delivers to your area. If they don’t, see if they deliver to a friend or family member, and perhaps you can arrange to pick up your box of healthy goodness from their home.
More Than Just Fruits and Vegetables
Not only does Door to Door Organics deliver high-quality, organic fruits and vegetables, but they also offer lots of other grocery options that can be dropped off along with your produce. When I placed my very first order, I took my time and shopped around (online) for other items my family either uses regularly or would enjoy trying.
I was pleasantly surprised at the huge selection of other grocery items that we could choose from. There’s even a sale section!
Ruben and I both added several items to the online shopping cart, and among them were almond milk, which we use all the time, and organic salted caramel coffee syrup, which I thought I’d try. π
What My Kids Think
To tell you the truth,Β my three younger kids don’t understand why daddy brings home a box full of fruits and vegetables every week, but they do know that it’s full of good stuff. And they’re super excitedΒ to eat what’s inside! They love the apples, oranges, grapes, and bananas.
My two older kids have enjoyed more of the vegetables, and Breanna, my 12-year-old daughter, likedΒ the pomegranates in our last two boxes.
Would you like to try Door to Door Organics? When you go through my referral link (or any of the Door to Door Organics links in this post), first time customers get $10 off their order.
What I Think
Overall, after using the service for three straight weeks, I can say that I love it! And I’ve been very impressed with the quality of the produce. Very impressed!
And Now… an Opportunity to Win a $50 Gift Certificate!
Now that you know about Door to Door OrganicsΒ and how wonderful and convenient it is, how about the chanceΒ to win a $50 Gift Certificate?! π
That’s right! THREE of my fabulous readers will win a $50 Gift CertificateΒ to use on fresh fruits and vegetables delivered byΒ Door to Door Organics!
How to Enter the Giveaway
Simply enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. Iβve included options for extra entries, too!
This giveaway will run from now until November 7th, 2014 at 12:00am. The giveaway is open to U.S. Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. The winners will be randomly chosen. I will promptly send the winners an email notifying them that theyβve won, and the winners must respond within 48hrs. of the giveawayβs end. Otherwise, I will have to draw a new winner(s).
Enter Below
a Rafflecopter giveaway
P.S. Stay tuned for my next post where I’ll be sharing a delightful and sweet pumpkin pie recipe.
Connect with Door to Door Organics: You can get social with DTD Organics on Facebook, Twitter,Β Pinterest, and Instagram.
