Check out some of the delicious holiday offerings.

• Holiday Dinners – Place your orders for our holiday meals.  Prepared using only the finest ingredients, Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods Holiday Dinners are the perfect way to enjoy a relaxed family dinner during the Christmas Holiday.   Dinners include your choice of Roasted or Cajun Fried Turkeys, Spiral Sliced Honey Cured Ham or Herb Roasted Pork Loin Dinners with a selection of ready to heat and eat sides.  Full dinners range from $65.99-$69.99.  Additional sides may also be ordered.  Order online at Martin’s, call (804) 340-3003 or place your order in the deli department.
• Buche de Noel – a traditional Christmas holiday treat that is handcrafted with premium ingredients.  Enjoy this decadent chocolate cake with raspberry filling.  Makes a beautiful centerpiece and is perfect for holiday parties and celebrations.  Order at least one week in advance at your local MARTIN’S bakery.
• Frittatas – Enjoy our roasted vegetable with Fontina cheese or our Sausage, Bacon and Cheddar Frittatas available through the end of the month at MARTIN’S.
• Christmas Tree Coffee Cakes – Delicious Christmas Tree Coffee Cakes have become a Richmond tradition!
• Christmas Message Cookie – Chocolate chip message cookies come adorned with a beautiful icing wreath detail.  Have a MARTIN’S bakery associate add a special message for your loved ones!

And who can resist their delicious, White House rolls or incredible pecan and coconut pies? Visit the website to see more or stop by a local Martin’s store to pick up some delicious treats. Be sure and place your special holiday orders in time and then sit back, relax, and enjoy the festivities.

Just like always, Ukrop’s makes holidays special.

RhondaDay

Rhonda Day is a wife, mother and grandmother. She enjoys a full-time freelance career as a Writer, Editor, and Marketing Consultant. In addition to Richmondmom.com, she also writes for a variety of local and national websites, and is a ghost-writer for clients.

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Meal Idea Cards make it easy to prepare nutritious snacks and meals.

Martin’s is giving Richmond moms a chance to win a gift card for $50 while teaching kids how delicious, nutritious and fun it is to eat healthy produce of all kinds. The Produce for Kids Fall Campaign  runs through October 11, 2011 and you can help raise money for PBS Kids by purchasing fresh produce at your local Martin’s.

Win a $50 Gift Card

Here’s how it works.

You can win a $50 gift card to Martin’s and it’s easy. Simply visit the Ideal Meals page  and leave a comment on our Richmondmom.com website below with your favorite Ideal Meal.  Random selection will choose a lucky winner from all entrants and we’ll send you your gift card.

Shop Martin’s, get delicious produce, educate children, feed your family healthy meals, and help PBS all at one time. A donation will be made to support PBS KIDS programming with every purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables sponsored by the program. Martin’s has Produce for Kids Ideal Meals card displays as part of this event to make it easy to choose nutritious foods.

The purchase of the following items during the promotion at all Martin’s stores will benefit PBS KIDS^®:  Del Monte Gold® Extra Sweet Pineapples NatureSweet® Vine Ripened Cherry Tomatoes, SUNSET® Sweet Bell Peppers, Modern Farms® Mushrooms, Wonderful® Pistachios, RealSweet® Sweet Onions, and Thomas Colace Company™ Tomatoes. In addition, these foods are featured in the Ideal Meals™ recipes found in the stores.

The Ideal Meals cards are chef-created, nutritionist-approved meals for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. They’re a great way to stay focused on healthy eating.

Produce for Kids

Help your kids visit the Produce for Kids website where kids can have fun coloring their very own MyPlate and entering a contest to win even more great prizes. There are five $100 grocery store gift cards, ten $50 grocery store gift cards, and  and lots of PBS Kids Shop Merchandise for the winners. The website is filled with interactive activities, information, and educational resources for kids and adults.

Produce for Kids is a website that is fun and educational for kids as they learn how to eat a healthy, nutritious meal based on the U.S. Government’s MyPlate recommendations.

Teaching children about nutritious foods with the help of Produce for Kids has never been more fun!

Don’t forget to leave your comments below on our website by October 8, 2011 to be eligible to win the $50 gift card!

Kate Hall

Kate Hall is the Founder & CEO of RichmondMom.com and author of Richmond Rocks ,a history book for kids. She has three children and a cup that overfloweth. She is truly appreciative of the 100,000 + visitors who visit the blog every year, and for the amazing team of writers who create unique, valuable content. Kate is thrilled to fulfill her dream of having a cool place for Richmond, VA parents to learn, grow, and share while supporting local charities.

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Football season is already underway, and it’s a great time for families to gather around the gridiron.  Watching sports with your family can be an enjoyable experience as you cheer for your favorite teams, learn about historic moments in sports and spend quality time together!  It’s no secret that sports and food go great together, but watching a game doesn’t mean that you have to be on junk-food overload.

Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods prepares or makes a variety of great appetizers for small viewing parties with just the family—to big gatherings with friends and neighbors during major events.

Spice up your routine and add some of our great game-day “starters!”

• Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Enjoy a dip that’s a blend of spinach and artichokes combined with cheddar, Monterrey Jack and Parmesan cheeses.  Goes great with fresh pita, pita chips or water crackers; for an added touch serve it in hollowed-out artisan bread.  Chop the bread into cubes and watch it disappear!

•  Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods Buffalo Chicken Dip

Get your chicken fix without messy bones to clean up!  Our great-tasting buffalo chicken dip is made with all white meat chicken, cream cheese, ranch dressing and flavorful spices!  We’ve kicked it up with hot sauce and topped it with cheddar cheese!  Serve with fresh veggies!

•  Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods 7 Layer Dip

We’ve taken the guess work out with our hearty dip made with refried beans, guacamole, sour cream, black olives, shredded cheese and more!  It’s as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Heat
2. Eat
3. Serve

It’s great with salsa and tortilla chips!

Find these items are your local MARTIN’S store in our convenient pans that can be heated in the oven or the microwave!

RhondaDay

Rhonda Day is a wife, mother and grandmother. She enjoys a full-time freelance career as a Writer, Editor, and Marketing Consultant. In addition to Richmondmom.com, she also writes for a variety of local and national websites, and is a ghost-writer for clients.

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Ukrop's Bakery has cupcakes for all occasions.

Pinkalicious Cupcakes and Hello Kitty Cupcakes by Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods are a wonderful option for a little girl’s party. MARTIN’s Grocery has them all, including new custom themed cupcakes. Ordering online or in the store is quick and easy.

For perfectly pink parties, plan to host a Hello Kitty collectible party and feature their pink/white custom Hello Kitty Cupcakes!

Invite guests to come dressed in pink, ask them to bring their favorite Hello Kitty themed item, and serve the cupcakes, strawberry flavored ice cream and pink lemonade!  Each cupcake comes with a great party favor already included to add to their collection!

Fans of the popular Pinkalicious children’s book series can also think pink by ordering our custom

Hello Kitty cupcakes by Ukrop's Bakery

Pinkalicious cupcakes!  Invite guests to bring their books and have a round robin storytime or arrange a book swap!

Are you headed to a party and want to leave a perfectly pink impression?  Order a set of cupcakes and gift them to the host!

RhondaDay

Rhonda Day is a wife, mother and grandmother. She enjoys a full-time freelance career as a Writer, Editor, and Marketing Consultant. In addition to Richmondmom.com, she also writes for a variety of local and national websites, and is a ghost-writer for clients.

Website - More Posts

yup, Ukrop's Homestyle Foods bakes up more than just your average birthday cake.

Who doesn’t love a Ukrop’s cake? We’re back at the Gather ‘Round blog at Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods talking about how sweet it is.

Kate Hall

Kate Hall is the Founder & CEO of RichmondMom.com and author of Richmond Rocks ,a history book for kids. She has three children and a cup that overfloweth. She is truly appreciative of the 100,000 + visitors who visit the blog every year, and for the amazing team of writers who create unique, valuable content. Kate is thrilled to fulfill her dream of having a cool place for Richmond, VA parents to learn, grow, and share while supporting local charities.

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Are apples really healthy?

At this point in my life, and after more than 25 years in the field of healthcare and chronic disease management with a focus on lifestyle management, I feel that I have learned a lot about living a healthier life. That doesn’t mean I always make the healthiest choices — but I do know how!

Recently, I’ve begun to question my own knowledge of living and being healthy though.  And I realized that my confusion comes from — the experts!

Why?

Starting here – my doctor tells me to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. He says they will help me be healthier and feel better. He says to eat fruit or fruit juice between meals to help me through those times.  He says to stay away from red meats as much as possible and stick with chicken, fish and protein from other sources and eat fruit between meals.

Okay.

Weight Watchers tells everyone to eat whatever they want to eat and focus on the US food pyramid as a guide for proportions from each food category. Just manage portion size and eat sensibly. Weight Watchers includes sweets, red meat, fruits, fruit juice, fats and oils, and other elements to your diet. They emphasize the value of fresh fruits several times a day — but they do say to avoid fruit juice and focus on fresh fruits instead.

Okay.

The US Food Pyramid and nutritional experts say to increase vegetables and fruit intake, choose lower sodium foods, and don’t add salt to foods. The experts say to eat fresh fruit or 100% fruit juice as part of the fruit group. The Food Pyramid suggests at least 2 cups of fruit every day, which can include fruit juice.

Okay.

Today, I talked with a friend who has engaged a professional fitness trainer to help her manage her weight and she said that she was told to limit fruits to no more than 1 per day. That’s 1 serving per day. And it’s not a bad idea to avoid fruits altogether because of the high sugar content she says. Even a small apple has lots of sugar.

Okay.

My 86-year-old mother-in-law has been in excellent health her entire life. Until the past two years when dementia has started to take a toll on her, she has been unusually physically fit and still is. She still works in her garden, walks outside most every day, and has a lot of strength for a woman of her age. She has never taken any type of medication for anything — even to this day!

When asked how she’s stayed so healthy for so long, she says, “I just work hard, eat a lot of fruit, fresh vegetables, juice, and fried chicken and fried fish. I love fried food.  I’ve always enjoyed red meat and eat it several times a week along with sausage and bacon for breakfast – I love breakfast foods. I raised three boys so I always cooked a pot roast on Sunday with gravy and biscuits. I love sweets but I limit myself to only two each day and I usually only drink sweet tea or one soft drink each day. And I started walking 4-5 days a week when I retired 25 years ago to get some exercise, although I can’t walk as far as I used to and can’t get out as much in cold weather.”

Okay.

So armed with all of this conflicting information above from the experts, I have to decide the healthiest way to eat. No wonder people are so confused.

Hmmmmm.…..now that I’ve heard what all of these people have to say, maybe I need to listen a little bit closer to my mother-in-law and what she has to say. I never thought of listening to her about anything before.

Who knew?

RhondaDay

Rhonda Day is a wife, mother and grandmother. She enjoys a full-time freelance career as a Writer, Editor, and Marketing Consultant. In addition to Richmondmom.com, she also writes for a variety of local and national websites, and is a ghost-writer for clients.

Website - More Posts

Richmond moms have long-savored Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods, back when Ukrop’s Grocery Stores were a weekly visit for many of us! We miss our Ukrop’s but thankfully we still have Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods!

Ukrop’s is giving you a chance to win a cake.  Simply go to their blog, Ukrop’s Gather Around - Ukrop’s Cakes are a Celebration, and enter for a chance to win a free cake ($25 value)!

Here are a few of our blogposts that you may enjoy:

• Valentine’s Day Treat for Your Sweet
• Fan Favorites
• Super Bowl 2011 Party Ideas with Richmond Families
• The Ultimate Groom’s Cake from Ukrop’s Bakery
• Win a Holiday Meal!
• Ukrop’s Holiday Memory by Richmondmom.com Kate Hall
• Ukrop’s Holiday Memory – The Semp Family
• Fall Back on Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods
• Delicious Dinner in the Dark
• Last Minute Halloween Happenings
• Terrifyingly Tasty Treats
• October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
• Dinnertime Rush
• A Fresh Start
• Back to School Not Back to Boring
• Back to School with Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods
• Our Recipe for 4th of July Picnic Perfection
• Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods, Keeping a Tradition Alive

This page sponsored by Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods

Kate Hall

Kate Hall is the Founder & CEO of RichmondMom.com and author of Richmond Rocks ,a history book for kids. She has three children and a cup that overfloweth. She is truly appreciative of the 100,000 + visitors who visit the blog every year, and for the amazing team of writers who create unique, valuable content. Kate is thrilled to fulfill her dream of having a cool place for Richmond, VA parents to learn, grow, and share while supporting local charities.

Website - More Posts