Saturday, January 5, 2008

Food Looks Better on a White Plate

My Pfaltzgraff Filigree dishes looking pretty in the cupboard. After eating all the cookies, candy, sugared nuts, pie, cake, and whatever else I could get my hands on over the last month or so, it's nice to go back to some healthier choices food-wise. First of all, let me just say....I love pizza! If you do too & are looking for a good pizza crust from the grocery store that you can add toppings to, this is a good one. Mama Mary's. I found out about their products from my former company. They have a food division under the company I worked for & own several well-known smaller food products (just one part of what my company did). This is their latest acquisition from what I understood right before I left. We got in several boxes back in the fall from this company & were very happy to sample the products. They have wheat crust, regular thin crust, 7" and 12" varieties. Anyway, all that to say this...it's really good. We got more gift boxes in right before Christmas, so I brought home more. We love this pizza crust. It's not frozen, so you have to eat it pretty fast or freeze it for later. You can find it at Walmart (although one of my Walmart's didn't have it, & the other one did, but no wheat crust at all), the crust for sure, & hopefully the pizza sauce too. If you love to make pizza at home like we do, give it a try! I will definitely be buying more of their products. Side salad of baby spinach goes very well.
Here's the three 7" pizzas right out of the oven. Now you may ask if pizza is a good healthy food choice. Well, we do vegetarian, so I think it's OK. I will never get my hubby to cut out the carbs, so this is fairly healthy with olives, roasted red peppers, & mushrooms, topped with some fresh mozzarella. I think we could do worse. My favorite frozen pizza is DiGiorno, Spinach & Mushrooms, but I can see this one will be right up there too. They do a wheat crust, so that is what I'll buy most of the time. These are the 7" ones & it was plenty for both of us. Yum! Baby spinach salad and a Diet Dr. Pepper (did I mention this is my favorite soft drink...oh, yes...it is!). It doesn't get much better than this. I love pizza. In fact, we are having our friends Rick & Debbie over tonight & pizza is what I'm making.

Another recent food choice was definitely healthy. We had fish for a Sunday lunch right after the Holidays. Doesn't this look so nutricious & delicious? It was. Talapia for me & salmon for the hubby. The Holidays always seem to bring on the binge eating & we are usually craving some normal food after a short time & this year is no exception. It's back to the gym for the regular schedule & back to some healthier food! I do use Zaterain's rice mixes, they are very good.
For Christmas, I told Peter that all I wanted was another set of 4 place settings of my pretty white dishes. If you remember, these are the ones (8 piece place setting) I found at a yardsale last Fall for $10. I was able to find a brand new set of 4 on Ebay for a decent price, so now I have 12 place settings. These are by Pfaltzgraff & are called Filigree & I couldn't be happier with them. I know several of you said you had these too. I have always heard that white dishes make for the best looking food & now I'm convinced! Almost as pretty as a Southern Living spread.
Speaking of white, this is a timely post, as my good friend, Maureen, over at Penchants, Ponderings & Posies is having a giveway! It's all about winter white & your favorite pictures of that particular shade & wait til you see the beautiful white birdies that she is giving away. I really hate to send more people over there, as it will lessen my chances of winning those beauties...but, because I really, really like ya'll (& adore Maureen), go on over & check it out!

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Cherdecor said...

Rhoda, Mama Mary's Pizza Crust is my favorite also. I found it in the grocery about a year ago. (PA)

What seasonings did you put on your husband's salmon? It looks really good!

I am not a lover of fish so I don't fix a lot of it, but my husband always orders it when we go out. He really liked your Hoppin John recipe because he likes spicy food and he may like your salmon too. It looks like it has some spice on it.

I enjoy reading your blog.

nannykim said...

I love how white contrasts with bold colors. I love fish, but have trouble finding USA fish and USA packaged!! I live near the beach too!! I can find flounder, but can't find salmon except canned--from usa and packaged usa. I can't believe all the places fish come from and I do not trust China for fish or packaging!!

said...

You should try putting basil pesto on, sliced tomatoes and some mozzerella. Oh yum. So good. It's also good with broccoli but my hubby thinks I'm nuts for putting broccoli florets on a pizza. He doesn't know what's good.

My favorite frozen is Amy's Kitchen Organic Pizzas. They have THE best frozen crust, hands down.

Anonymous said...

Yummy~ I'll be right over. Happy new Years to You and Yours~ I have been missing you~ all my own fault~ Sharon

Anonymous said...

Looks good! I haven't tried making pizza from store bought crust in a while but it's nice ot be able to customize your pizza. I think food does look prettier on white plates!

Manuela

Unknown said...

Now I am really hungry! LOL The pizzas do look wonderful and so did the fish. I didn't know that about white dishes but that would make sense. You can see all the colors of the food better. Have a great weekend!

Tonja said...

No matter what you cook...there is nothing..NOTHING...as good as Diet Dr. Pepper!

Jen said...

I love white dishes too. They are so clean looking. All your meal look fabulous......

Terri Steffes said...

My husband is a gourmand and he says you are absolutely right about white plates! He won't put his food on anything else!

Esther Sunday said...

What time is dinner again? Love, Esther

Nan said...

Oh my, I just ate and you're making me hungry already. That pizza looks tasty and the fish does as well.
Hugs,
Nan

Amber Cargile said...

I think food looks best on white dishes, too. Very elegant! The pizzas look yummy! I love making homemade pizza, too. I will look for those crusts as I want to make grilled pizza outside when we entertain and the pre-baked crusts would be very easy to use for custom pizzas when entertaining.

Normally I make my own crust using a Kitchen Aid recipe and it's so fast, inexpensive and easy to customize. You put a cup of warm tap water (not hot!)in your mixer bowl, mix in 1 pkg of rapid-rise yeast w/ a whisk. Then add 3 cups of flour and a dash of olive oil and salt. If you want to add Italian seasoning or whatever, you can. Use the dough hook and beat it until it forms one ball. Cover and let rise 1 hour. That is it. I have tried it w/ whole wheat flour but prefer to go 50/50 on the flour as all whole wheat flour doesn't rise up as well. Anyway...thought you might like to try it! One of the perks of working from/at home is you can get that dough whipped up in 5 minutes and then it can be rising for an hour before you cook...time you'd usually be driving home from work and rushing around. :-)

Rosemary said...

Hi Rhoda,
Good choices!! I just read where pizza isn't as bad as one might think, as long as it is veggie.
Me being Italian, well I have to have pizza.
Love the white plates, I think they go with everything. It's so much fun to mix and match.
Have a great weekend!
Rosemary

Angela @ Cottage Magpie said...

Mmmmm....pizza. I have GOT to learn not to read blogs late at night when I'm bound to get hungry but not want to eat! Either way, your food looks SO yummy! And your dishes, too! Food really does look best on a white plate. I discovered that this summer when I bought the white plates I have now. It's amazing.
~Angela :-)

Adriann said...

Happy New Year! And yes, you are right...food looks so much better on white plates. :)

Blessings!

Francie...The Scented Cottage Studio said...

Rhoda your food would look good on any plate !
(())
Francie

Essential Oil Premier University said...

Thanks for the tip on the pizza crust. I prefer to make my own pizza too, I think it's healthier. At least I can control what goes into the pizza that way and I can add way more veggies. Sometimes I have to food process them and add them to the sauce so my 13 year old doesn't know she's eating them. Oh well, anything to get them to eat their veggies!!

Blessings,

Sher

Anonymous said...

I agree that it always looks better on a white plate. You'll be proud of me, Rhoda. I picked up 2 boxes filled with restaurant heavy white dinnerware at a garage sale 2 years ago for $10. Best find yet!

Lamp Tramp said...

Hi dear Rhoda....I'm responding to an earlier post of yours about going into interior design. YES BY ALL MEANS .. go for it. That is what I did for 4 years prior to Katrina. My business was "happy customer based" I never advertised or sought out clients. I had so much work that I could pick and choose. I think now I'm ready to start back, I've had so many people call me to work for them. ...I hope I'm ready to meet the challenge.
Your friend, Sandi

Sandy said...

Thank you for your recent visit to Quill Cottage and for your sweet comment. I too use white dishes and it is true, the food does look better. Your fish dishes look delicious!

willzmom said...

We used the Mama Mary's crust over the holiday because my son loves to make pizza. I am planning on posting about it soon. It really is good crust but I can't find the wheat ones either!

Lallee said...

Funny, I was looking at white dishes in Marshalls the other day. I need more dishes like a hole in the head. My hubby refuses to eat on a pale green plate I have in my mix because of how the food looks on it. Maybe I could say I'm buying the plates for him ;-)

Sandy said...

Hi Rhoda - I love my white dishes. If I have over 12 people I have to use a different set, otherwise I use white for everything. Love reading thru your posts. Love Sandy

Vonda said...

Girl, I've got white dishes too and I love them...you can dress them up or dress them down. And girl since you can cook so well, the food will always look good on the plate. :)

Susie Q said...

What delicious food!! A sight for the eyes as well as a treat for the tummy!

I have a set of white dishes that we use every day too. I love how food looks on them.

Just a sweet post !!!

Hugs,
Sue