In preparation of this, I went ahead and made up a big batch of pico, using stuff fresh from our garden. Of course, we all (especially the kiddos) dug straight into the goodness using Kroger's Tortilla Cupz.
Needless to say, the chips held up wonderfully. Little did the kids know that for dessert, I had whipped up a surprise using the Cupz as well. I dusted them with a touch of cinnamon, and baked them just long enough to get the cinnamon to stick. Then using a spoon I dipped a bit of fried ice cream flavored ice cream into them. I put them in the deep freeze so that the kids wouldn't see them until I pulled them out. Just for the record, they were a huge hit.
Also, the next day for lunch, I laid out a whole bunch of these things onto a cookie sheet, put in a little bit of Mexican rice, a little shredded beef roast, a touch of salsa, and some shredded cheese. I baked them at about 350 for 5-7 minutes. Finger food at its finest. The kids loved my experimentation with the Cupz. Seriously, play around with these things, they can be used for so much more than simply dipping into salsa or cheese.
We also had The Truly Awesome Pizza with pepperoni and sausage:
It was good. It's not something that will blow your mind and make you want it for every meal, but it is a good solid cook-it-in-the-oven pizza. The one thing I did love was that it has directions for those of us who hate crispy pizza. The pepperoni to sausage ratio was excellent. The toppings to sauce and cheese ratio was solid as well. The pizza is definitely worth a shot.
We tried two other things as well. Kroger's vitamin enhanced water and Kroger's frozen Fruit Bars (in Pomegranate, because mom deserves a treat too). The vitamin water was promptly grabbed out of the fridge after hours of street hockey by my little girl. Of course, by the time I realized she had grabbed it. She couldn't tell me any particular details that I love, but suffice it to say that she drank the whole thing in no time at all and I had no guilt about the nutritional level of her drink afterward. She certainly had no complaints about it.
The Fruit Bars are AMAZING (I can't stress that word enough). Now, this is a good thing and a bad thing. Of course, I love whole-fruit bars for my children. However, I intentionally got a box that I didn't imagine they would like as much. Of course, I was wrong. I guess when you raise children to be fruit and veggie eaters that they will eat things in those categories that you would prefer to keep for yourself. However, I did manage to get my hands on a single bar out of the six count box. These things are old-school popsicle big (which is great). It has a great sweet-lightly-tart flavor. It is serious grown-up childishness. Of course, my kids just think they're yummy and cold (something great with the summer we've had). Once again, my kids can eat them and I don't feel that guilt that I have when I'm letting them go overboard on the junkfood.
So, all the items we tried from Kroger were total winners for our family. Perhaps most importantly, they gave us a chance to relax together without having to worry about making dinner. Together, as a family, we munched on the chips and pico while the pizza cooked. Then we ate the pizza and watched a movie. Then we finished out the night with my surprise dessert. It made for a wonderful night (without enough dishes for mom to have to worry about).
