This sponsored review was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Cascade.
I love indulging in comfort foods. Being from the South, sweet tea and comfort foods are king, and macaroni and cheese is considered a “vegetable” in many restaurants. Because it is. Totally. But not all recipes are created equal, which is why I really love the Pioneer Woman’s version. It’s cheesy, gooey, sticks to your gut and is really hard to get off a pan. Kinda like baked on brownies. Tasty, and so worth it. But getting those pans clean afterwards is a pain in the neck. I hosted a little comfort foods tasting party for my friends, and with the help of Cascade, got those dishes clean without a pre wash.
Check out this Mac N Cheese. Blazing hot, all covered in cheddar and Colby Jack. And another comfort food I love fried chicken. Big, fat tenders with lots of dipping sauces. It’s a staple in our neck of the woods. (But just try cleaning that pan afterwards, and we’ll talk).
After all the entrees were laid out on the table, it was time to clean the dishes. Did you know that there’s a right way to load your dishwasher? Keep your big dishes and pans on the bottom rack. They stay near the sprayers and get maximum cleaning effort. More delicate dishes and cups go on the top rack, making sure never to put your glasses over the tines… just nestle them between them. It helps keep your glassware streak free! I loaded the dishwasher up with Cascade Platinum rinse aid and a pac, with no pre washing at all! (See all that cheese on the ladle? Oh yeah. NO prewashing here at all!) I was really nervous that the pans wouldn’t be clean, and the heat from the dishwasher would bake the chocolate on even more. But you know what? I’ll be darned if the Cascade Platinum not only made our dishes spotless, the dishwasher itself seemed a little cleaner, too.
Now, keep in mind that I have a LOT of fun with my friends. Not all of them wanted to get in on the picture (literally), but those that did had a great time conveying their surprise at the cleaning power onto film. Goofy faces, but the surprise was real. They didn’t think it would be that clean.
I had all of my guests share their own thoughts on the dishwasher education and Cascade performance at the party. When they went home, I loaded them up with a big pack of Cascade Platinum and the Cascade Rinse Aid to try for themselves.
Carly was a believer. She told me the next day that her dishwasher was sparkling, and she couldn’t believe that Cascade made that big of a difference. Doesn’t she look like she could take Vanna White’s job?!
I’m too afraid to put pans in the dishwasher after most of our dinners. I’ll give it a try with them on the bottom rack this week, since we use Cascade!
I always scrub pans by hand when I cook so this will be a great time saver. Maybe I can keep a manicure for more than a day if I try this.
My biggest challenge would be muffin tins! If they could clean that- I would be a true believer! Thanks for inviting us over to check out the magic cleaning pods:)
Avocado…always the avocado. That does not wash off!
Dried, baked on cheese…ugh. Also lasagna!!!
THe lasagna pan is my toughest challenge!
Baked on lasagne. ew. worst ever.
These pictures are a trip! Dried food is the worst.
Mac & cheese is totally a vegetable!! LOL. I love comfort foods and you guys down south definitely know how to do it right!
LOL! LOVE those pictures!!!! Really does get those dishes clean!
there is a right way to load the dishwasher. my kids just don’t get it though 🙂
I love Cascade, it does such a good job! Also, I love the surprised faces. Too funny.
Great tips. If you don’t load your dishwasher correctly, you won’t get clean dishes. However, if you load it right AND use Cascade, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get awesome dishes.
Yeah. My nephew thinks the correct way to load the dishwasher is to cram as much into it as physically possible while still being able to shut the door.
Your party guests are priceless in these photos. My mother in law was shocked I didn’t prerinse.
Lasagna is the worst for me..the only way i can clean it isis by soaking it first
My worst cooked on mess is dried steel cut oatmeal
Love everyone’s expressions! Anything that I cook in a casserole dish and it burns the edges can be annoying to clean
I just got a new dishwasher and am so excited to try my cascade with it. Really… how funny is it that I am excited about doing dishes. I must be getting old.
I would love to not pre wash my dishes. That would be a huge time saver!!
My toughest challenge is waiting until it’s full to run it…my hubby wants to run it when it’s only 1/4 full!
everything my husband cooks is the hardest to clean, but we always use cascade 🙂
I need to get me a dishwasher first. For now, I AM the dishwasher! 🙂
I love the photos. How to load the dishwasher in my house is always a battle. Everyone seems to have a very passionate way of doing it.
I love the shocked expressions on their faces! I’ll have to try these since no one else ever pre-washes dishes here.
My worst baked on mess is lasagna! I am always left scrubbing those pans and I hate it! I will have to try Cascade next time to see how well it does!
The hardest dish for my dishwasher to clean is the baked ziti pan. Brownies are another tough one!
Occasionally, I’ll burn something. And that is so hard to get off! I love Cascade.
I really love that you’re not supposed to rinse! I hate rinsing, if you’re going to rinse you might as well wash!
I’m so resistant to not giving a pre-rinse, but I’m gonna give it a go. I HATE scrubbing pans!
I never put my pots and pans in our dishwasher. I don’t know why. I guess I just like making more work for myself. :-/ I’m going to try this. I love the idea of being able to skip the pre-rinse.
We got to try this new Cascade out as well. Couldn’t believe how well it did on mac n cheese!
I use those tabs because I have an older dishwasher that just does not clean very well. Those tabs help out a lot when I have pans with stick-on stuff.
I love the pictures of your Cascade party! I’ll be sharing mine soon too!
Getting my stainless steel pan clean is quite the chore, especially when I make eggs!
Cleaning the lasagna pan.
Baked Lasagna Dish Is Very Messy, Cascade Can Help Me With That!