Sarah Reviews Marzetti Otria Greek Yogurt Veggie Dip

Mmmm. Dip.

I love chips and dip. I love vegetables in dip. To be honest, I would probably eat friend onion dip with a spoon, but that is disgusting so let's just pretend I didn't say that.

Anyway, when my friends at the Clever Girls Collective asked if I would be interested in reviewing the Marzetti Otria Greek Yogurt Veggie dip I jumped at the chance. I mean, having to review veggie dip for work pretty much rules.

It is okay if you are jealous.

The deal was that I would get a coupon for free dip and I would go get some at the store and eat it and write about it and then I would get paid for the review. What actually happened was a great deal more complicated than that.

I take full responsibility.

First I went grocery shopping and like a responsible little blogger I remembered I needed Marzetti Veggie Dip. Unfortunately, I get no cell signal in Wegmans and I forgot to buy the Otria Greek Yogurt kind. I also forgot to present my coupon at check out.

I just bought the regular Marzetti French Onion veggie dip. It was delicious. It was good on carrots and potato chips even though chips are not the intended use. I don't care. It was awesome.

But I felt stupid.

So I went and bought the Marzetti Otria Greek Yogurt. I bought the Spinach Artichoke variety.

This time I forgot to even bring the coupon.

That night my son and husband went camping with the cub scouts and my daughter and I were invited to a girls party next door. At the last minute I realized I was supposed to bring something and I grabbed the dip and a bag of baby carrots. After an hour my daughter threw a fit and we had to leave the party early.

I never even got to taste that dip.

The third time is a charm and not only did I buy the correct dip, but I remembered to bring my coupon. With the planets aligned so well I splurged and bought precut celery and tried the dip as soon as I got home. It was the Garden Herb Ranch and it was very tasty. It was light, but it still had flavor. I was also proud of myself for eating vegetables and dip for lunch instead of my usual bagel sandwich or box of crackers.

There is no method to my madness.

But about the dip...

(best segue ever)

The cool thing about the Otria Greek Yogurt Dips is that they are only 60 calories per serving. Sixty. That is the same as one Tootsie Pop.

Please don't ask how I know that.

Normally when I eat veggie dip I cancel out the vegetable goodness with the dip badness but in this case the dip is low calorie and made with greek yogurt, so is isn't even bad for you. It just tastes like it is.

Again, mmmmm dip.

* * *

I was one of the bloggers selected by T. Marzetti Company and Clever Girls Collective to host a Marzetti Otria Greek Yogurt Veggie Dip review. They provided me with product to test and compensation for my time. However, my opinions are entirely my own.

The West Wing Complete Series is on Sale

Amazon has my very favorite television drama of all time on super sale this week. You can get the complete run of "The West Wing" on DVD for only $111.99.

The West Wing: The Complete Series

And it isn't even Black Friday yet.

This show has the best pilot episode ever. I would watch it once a week if it didn't make me a creepy weirdo.

It is a Thanksgiving miracle!

* * *

Nobody paid me to say this or asked me to write about it, but that is an affiliate link so I will make money if you click that link and buy something - anything really from Amazon.

Sarah Makes Her Own Word Searches

I don't mean to go all Martha Stewart mom on you, but I found something really cool. You can make your own word search on the internet.

This morning my son asked me if I would make him a word search for his elective homework assignment.

I said yes.

Back in the day (and by back in the day, I mean back when I lived at my parents house before college and actually had leisure time) I used to make word searches for fun. Yes, I am a geek. I also think writing crostics would be awesome. Let's just accept that and move on.

What I forgot was that it was time consuming and back then I didn't have to do laundry for four people or cook dinner for anybody. I also didn't have any jobs, deadlines, pets or debilitating twitter addictions.

So I did what anyone would do. I searched for a way to make my own word search.

And lo and behold. Discovery Education totally had my back.

This may be one of the easiest things I have ever done.

Then I added all of their spelling words from school.

And there it was!

It took me more time to search for "make my own word search" than it did to make the thing.

And I impressed the children, which isn't easy to do.

My kids are still at the table working on their fancy new word search.

I bookmarked the page. We're doing this one again.

* * *

Nobody paid me anything or asked me to write about this. I just thought it was cool and a very useful tool. Hey! I'm a poet and didn't know it.

Sarah Reviews Swagbucks

You know how you end up googling things 40 times a day? Do you ever wish you got credit for all of that searching?



Swagbucks is kind of like that.

You can win "swagbucks" for searching, then you can redeem your swag bucks for actual stuff. Remember Blingo? It is sort of like Blingo except with less free iPods and more of a lot of things.

There are prizes - you can get concert tickets, electronics, games and things like that. You can spend your swag bucks in sweepstakes to try to win things or you can trade them in for money.

I almost always spend my swagbucks on Amazon gift certificates, since I spend so much money over there anyway.

I'm addicted. I've been doing it for years.

Check it out. It is free. If you don't like it you never have to do it again.

* * *

Nobody asked me to write this or paid me anything for this, but if you sign up through my link I get some sort of credit for referring you.

Why Would I Do This?

Why would ANYONE allow this?

It can post tweets, update my profile and follow new people!!!

Shame on you Unified and Windows Phone for asking.

The Pork Loin Post (With a Contest!)

In honor of National Pork Month, Costco and The Motherhood asked me to share a recipe with you.

I love eating and I love pork so I readily agreed. Then I remembered I am not much of a cook. I mean, I get by, but when I was faced with an eight pound pork tenderloin I panicked.

Then I calmed down because I immediately remembered that I married very wisely and my husband is an outstanding chef. I also remembered that we recently purchased an enormous smoker.

Do you know what is better than smoked pork?

Me neither.

So Gabe took the pork loin and last night he put in in a brine.

Brine Recipe

• water (enough to cover your pork)
• salt
• celery
• lemon
• peppercorns
• white vinegar

Bring everything to a boil. After it boils, let it cool and then submerge the pork in your brine over night.

It looks kind of gross, but this is an important step.

Then, this morning around 9:00 am he lit the fire. Yes, 9:00 am. We take our barbecuing very seriously in this house.

We take our barbecuing so seriously that we (and by we I mean Gabe) built a home for our smoker so it wouldn't get rusted out like our last one. We call it "The Shanty". I think my neighbors hate it but I secretly love it. It would be right at home in Kingston.

He got the fire to about 225 degreees and then it cooked.

And cooked.

And cooked.

And cooked.

For about seven hours.

The goal was an internal temperature of 180 degrees.

Note: In May, the USDA reduced the temperature guideline for pork loins, chops and roasts from 160 to 145 degrees F, with a three-minute rest.

Other Note: Gabe says that the 180 degrees isn't about safety (pork is safe at 145 degrees F) it is about the temperature when the connective tissue breaks down when you are slow cooking any animal. Same with beef ribs.

Now at this point Gabe says I need to tell you that he water smoked the pork loin.

I had no idea what that meant and so I asked him He says that water smoking is when you put a pan of water in the bottom of the smoker so that the water evaporates and circulates and convects moisture so that you are wet smoking the meat instead of dry smoking it.

In this case it made for a very moist, very delicious, pork loin.

Gabe served our pork loin with a mango relish. (At first he was going to do a chutney which sounded fancier, but probably wouldn't have been as good.)

Gabe's Mango Relish

• mango
• onion
• red wine vinegar
• chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste

He usually makes this relish with some spice - generally jalapeños or serranos

but since the kids were eating with us he took out all of the heat. I was worried that it would be bland, but it was absolutely delicious.

We paired it with a bottle of 2008 Ledson Legend. The Legend is a Merlot blend and it paired perfectly.

To be honest, we just got lucky with the pairing. We only had four choices and it seemed like our best bet.

I'd tell you about the chocolate flourless waffle he made for dessert, but it would just make you jealous. Also, I'm too full to talk about it.

* * *

So! You probability want to know about this contest.

Costco is giving one of my readers a $25 Costco Cash Card and a digital thermometer along with more information about pork.

To enter, please leave me a comment telling me about your favorite pork dish. The contest is open to U.S. residents only and will end on Friday, October 28, 2011 at 10:00 pm ET. Please make sure you leave me an e-mail address where I can get in touch with you. I will draw a random winner by October 30th. One entry per comment, 5 comment maximum.

For more information you can also visit:

Costco Pork Page

Pork Facebook Page
Pork on Twitter
Pork Be Inspired

* * *

I am being compensated by The Motherhood and Costco for my participation in this promotion and they are also providing the prize for the contest. All opinions and words are my own. All of the recipes are from my husband.

Be Inspired By Pork

If you are a vegetarian or keep kosher you should probably look away right now.

If you are like me, you should probably get your butt over to Costco because they are having a huge pork sale.

October is National Pork Month. To that I say mmmmmm pork.

Even if you ignore the fact that my very favorite food in the entire world is bacon there are still so many kinds of delicious pork products: sausage, pork shoulder, pork loin, ribs, pork chops, ham, pork butt, pork belly, bratwurst - I could keep going but I'm making myself hungry.

Costco wants to help us celebrate pork month by giving us a $2 off coupon (if you hurry) and a few recipe ideas.

Need more pork inspiration? Check this out.

If you are confused by the new temperature guidelines you can go here or just memorize this new mantra:

I will be back later this week with my own recipe for pork tenderloin. Ah, who am I kidding? I'll be back later this week with my husband's recipe for pork tenderloin. In the meantime have good pork.

* * *

This post is sponsored by Costco and The Motherhood. I have been compensated, but these words and opinions are my own.