Hello Monday

Hello to a Costco run for a 7 lb. bag of confectioners sugar.

Hello to mini lemon cupcakes I made for a wedding on Saturday.

Hello to mini peanut butter cupcakes too.

Hello best friends and your pretty prom hair.

Hello cute prom dates :)

Hello to living in the country where you go to the prom on a hay wagon :)

Hello high school friends and the memories you all have made together.

Hello to a beautiful evening.

Hello to volunteering for the after-prom party and staying up until 3:30 p.m.

Hello to delivering more cupcakes for a baby shower on Sunday.

Hello to a fabulous, but exhausting weekend!

Hello friends.

Thanks for sharing my weekend.

Hope yours was wonderful too :)

Linking up with Lisa Leonard and Hello Monday.

The New and Improved Food Lion & A Giveaway!

I was recently invited to participate in a Food Lion ambassador program to check out the new and improved Food Lion stores and to let my readers know what I thought. 

This program sparked my interest because I normally do not do my family grocery shopping at Food Lion. 

I've had an MVP card for years, but I rarely ever use it.  

Our grocery shopping is divided between Martin's and Wal-mart. 

I purchase fruit and produce at Martin's because they have a really nice selection of organics
and Wal-Mart for our staple items.  They seem to be less expensive for those type of items.

I was excited to receive my program package, so I could make my Food Lion comparison.

I love fun mail days :)

This is what was inside the box.

A wooden recipe box with several recipes, Food Lion Reusable Shopping Bag, spatula, oven mitt, wood cutting board, a super cute lion cookie cutter and a $150 gift card.

Let's go shopping and check them out.

The produce section was very inviting. 

I just wish they carried more organic fruits and veggies.

The cart gives the store a little farmer's market feel. 

I liked it.

The store was very clean and inviting. 

I was pleasantly surprised.

Food Lion's "my essentials" program promises you their lowest prices on the items you buy most.

I found the pricing on these items to be very competitive.

I often buy whipped topping for desserts that I make.

The Food Lion price was LOWER than Wal-mart.

Love those buy one get one free deals too :)

I always keep a jar or two of sauce in my pantry for a quick dinner, such as Skinny Chicken Parmesan.

Skinny Chicken Parmesan

4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin

olive oil

salt and pepper

italian seasoning

4 slices provolone or mozzarella cheese

parmesan cheese, if desired

1 jar marinara sauce

whole wheat pasta

Place chicken breasts on a plate.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and italian seasoning.

In a large pan, over medium heat, saute chicken breasts until done.

While chicken is cooking, place pasta in boiling water and cook until al dente.

In a glass bake dish sprayed with cooking spray add 1 cup of marinara sauce.

Place cooked chicken breasts on top of marinara sauce and add a slice of provolone cheese onto

each chicken breast.  Place under oven broiler until cheese has melted.

Spoon pasta on each plate and top with chicken and cheese.

Add additional sauce and parmesan cheese if desired.

Overall I was very impressed with the changes that Food Lion has made and will probably shop there more often, especially when I don't want to deal with the craziness of Wally World!

How would you like to win a $50 Food Lion gift card so that you can make your own comparison?

Just leave a comment on this post telling me what you would purchase from the new and improved Food Lion.  The contest is open to U.S. readers over the age of 18 and ends May 15th at 12:00 p.m. EST

Extra entries (leave a comment for each extra entry)

Like Me and My Pink Mixer on Facebook.

Follow Me and My Pink Mixer on Twitter.

Follow Me and My Pink Mixer on Google Friend Connect (sidebar)

Good luck!

This giveaway is now closed.

“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central for Food Lion. I received a gift card and product kit to facilitate my review.”

Hello Monday

Hello Cara Cara Power Oranges.

You are so tasty and refreshing each morning.

Hello to my Dad's morning McDonald's friends.

They are starting the day off right with MY cupcakes :)

Hello free little basil seedlings.

I can't wait until you have grown big enough to add to my pasta :)

Hello Number 19.

You were not scared of me and my camera at all were you?

Hello to packing my lunch for work each day.

Pretty healthy except for that Diet Coke don't ya think.

Hello senior girls.

I can not believe you all will graduate from high school in ONE month!!!

Hello sweet friends.

I hope you have a fabulous week!!!

Linking up with Lisa Leonard and Hello Monday.

Mini Oreo Cupcakes

The company I work for hosted an oreo bake-off to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the oreo cookie.

You could make anything you wanted as long as oreo cookies were the star of the recipe.

I made cupcakes because you all know what a cupcake fanatic I am :)

There were so many yummy desserts we all went into a sugar coma that afternoon!!

Aren't these ladybug oreos adorable!!

And check out these golden oreo truffles - so colorful.

I work with a bunch of talented people!

I used my pampered chef mini muffin pan to make the cupcakes.

The mini oreo cookies are usually available in the checkout aisle at Wal-Mart.

They're called Nabisco Go-Paks.  I purchased 2 containers for all of the mini cupcakes I made.

Mini Oreo Cupcakes

1 Box Devil's Food Cake Mix

4 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1/3 C canola oil

Oreo Cookies, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line mini muffin pan with paper liners (I got these a Michael's).

Place a few chopped oreo cookies into the bottom of each liner.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all cake ingredients and mix until well blended.

I use my small Pampered Chef cookie scoop to place one scoop of batter into each cup.

Bake for 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Place on a rack to cool.

Now let's make some Buttercream frosting!

Vanilla Buttercream

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 cups confectioners sugar

1 T milk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

In the bowl of your stand mixer add butter and mix for about 1 minute.

Add confectioners sugar one cup at a time.

Add milk and vanilla extract and beat until light and fluffy.

Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.  I use a Wilton 1M tip to frost mine.

Place some cookies into your food processor or magic bullet and blend until you have fine crumbs.

Sprinkle onto frosting and top with a mini oreo cookie.

Makes about 84 mini cupcakes.

Hope you have lots of friends to help you eat them :)

Enjoy!