Veggies and Dip With a Kick

The veggie platter is my favorite part of any appetizer spread. I love raw veggies, and I love dip! When I was strictly vegetarian, one of the things I missed the most was buffalo wings. Really though, it wasn't the chicken I was craving, it was the kick of the buffalo sauce! This dip is the best of both worlds, and like all of Country Gourmet Home's mixes, it's super easy to make.

All you need is 2 cups of sour cream. Have you ever looked at the ingredients in sour cream? Some brands have a ton of fillers and additives that take away from the real flavor. My favorite brand?

Shoprite (of course) 

You may not live near a Shoprite, but before you buy sour cream, look at the ingredients. It should say milk, cream, and enzymes, and that's it!

Anyway, measure out 2 cups of sour cream.

Pour in the mix and combine.

Arrange on a platter with fresh, chopped veggies. Make it pretty!

If you want to make a meal out of veggies and dip, add some cheese and crackers to your platter, and pair with a Riesling to balance the heat of the dip. 

Interested to see what else Country Gourmet Home has to offer? Visit the website and get ready for the re-launch!

Taco Night

There's really never not a good night for tacos. It's perfect for a busy weeknight dinner, and also for a fun Friday night meal. Kids love putting together their own tacos....so do adults for that matter.
Check out our most recent taco night!

Step 1: Combine water and seasoning packet to create the taco sauce.

Step 2: Spray a pan with cooking spray. (If you haven't yet, you will soon learn about my deep, abiding love for Shop Rite. I have a problem, I know!)

Step 3: Brown your meat. I used ground turkey, but you can use ground beef, chicken, or even make it vegetarian friendly with veggie crumbles.

Step 4: Combine the sauce with the meat and stir to combine.

Step 5: Cover and simmer for 5 minutes to soak in all that taco-y goodness.

Step 6: Serve with your favorite taco toppings! Now really make the night festive by opening up a bottle of Spanish Garnacha wine!

To learn more about Country Gourmet Home click here. And stay tuned for the re-launch of CGH to order up your own taco night!

It's Soup Weather!

I love summer. The beach, not having to put on a billion layers before going outside, the long days, not freezing my tush off when I get out of the shower, all aces in my book. There are a few things I like about cooler weather, and soup is one of them. I love soup, but just don't like having it when it's hot outside.

It's finally not a million degrees here in NJ, so I broke out a packet of my favorite Country Gourmet Home soup mix for dinner the other night.

Wild rice in anything is good, and this soup is seriously easy to cook and get on the table before your toddler can start hollering that he's hungry! Well....almost.

Step 1: Combine soup mix and 4 and a half cups of water in a pot, and bring to a boil.

Step 2: Cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, assure the toddler lurking in the background that dinner will be ready soon.

Step 3: Serve! That's it! You're eating already! This soup goes great with a hunk of crusty Italian bread, and a glass of Pinot Noir. Then again, just about anything goes well with bread and wine.

Be sure to put this on you CGH wish list! They will be up and running and ready to take orders very soon! In the meantime, check out the website here.

Country Gourmet Home

So my beloved Country Gourmet Home will be going on a brief hiatus. Starting Tuesday, September 27th, the company will not be taking orders for about 2 weeks, possibly a little longer. While we hope  they will re-open for business sooner rather than later, the bit of good news is that you still have time to order your favorite items to tide you over. They will accept orders until tomorrow, Monday, September 26th, 5 pm mountain time. Visit my CGH website to get your orders in. In the meantime, be sure to keep coming back to this blog for everything food related!

Pancakes For Lunch

I suck at making pancakes. I've tried many recipes from scratch, I've made absolutely positively sure I follow the directions to the letter, and I end up with flat, gooey, heaps of semi fried batter, and a whole lot of broken dreams. Now I know pancakes are supposed to be flat, but mine actually occupy negative space, if that's possible.

Enter Country Gourmet Home's Buttermilk Pancake Mix. I seriously go through withdrawal when I run out. I felt like pancakes for lunch the other day, so I whipped up a batch for me and my toddler, and my pancake dreams remained intact!

It's so simple, it's almost criminal!

Step 1: Measure out 1 cup of mix, and mix with 1/2 cup of water. (instructions for larger batches are on the back of the package)

Heat and grease a skillet (I like Shop Rite's Olive Oil spray). When it is hot, pour the batter using a 1/4 cup measure into the skillet. Be sure to wait until it's hot! I set my stove top to the hottest setting. When the pan is nice and hot, then I reduce it to medium.

When the pancakes start to bubble, flip, and cook for another minute or two on the other side.

Super simple and makes the perfect lunch....or breakfast.....or dinner for that matter.

If you love pancakes as much as I do, you'll want to head over to Country Gourmet Home, click "shop online" and scroll down to "pancake mixes". Besides buttermilk, they have a huge variety of flavors, from the traditional faves like blueberry and chocolate chip, to unique flavors like lemon lavender blueberry.

Goulash!

Before Country Gourmet Home, I didn't know what goulash was. Actually, I still don't really know, but I do know one thing: it's really good!

It's super easy to make, takes only about 20 minutes, is healthy, and will most likely please even your picky eaters, aka, the perfect meal!

Here's how:

Step 1: Coat a pot with olive oil (go Greek!) and brown your meat. I used 1 lb of ground turkey, but you could use beef, chicken, or even make it vegetarian with veggie crumbles!

I sprinkled a little Adobo Seasoning on the meat as it cooked. It's like powdered gold in this house!

Step 2: After the meat is cooked, add 4 cups of water, the pasta, and seasoning packet.

Stir well, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until pasta is ready. The mixture will thicken as it simmers.

Step 4: Plate your goulash, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, and serve!

One of my favorite things about this mix is that it only has 5 ingredients, and I know what they all are!

Put this in your regular rotation for easy weeknight cooking. Head over to Country Gourmet Home, click on "shop online", then scroll down to "pasta mixes" to get yours!

Eat Your Veggies

There are two things I love. Actually there are a lot of things I love, but today I'm going to write about 2 of them. My slow cooker, and vegetables. I love digging into a steamy plate of vegetables, and I love having dinner ready at 6 without having to rush around in the evening to get it done. Country Gourmet Home's Farmer's Market Medley is an awesome slow cooker mix that seasons your veggies while they cook, and makes your house smell amazing all day. I throw this one in the slow cooker while my little one is napping, and 4 to 6 hours later it's ready when we are!

Now you would think since I live in the country, I must have an expansive garden full of fresh vegetables to choose from when I make this meal, and you're right! My Mr. put a lot of time and effort into planting us a garden this year. Unfortunately the friend in the picture below took care of most of what was left in the garden before I could get to it.

We did manage to get a few green peppers before he had his feast, so I used those along with 2 bags of frozen veggies I had on hand.

Step 1: Wash, chop and prepare your veggies, toss in a bowl with a bit of olive oil, and the contents of the small seasoning packet.

Step 2: Put half the veggies in your slow cooker, top with half a can of diced tomatoes, and half of the bread crumbs from the mix.

Now repeat those layers one more time. Don't stir!

Step 3: Cover your slow cooker, set to low, and cook for 4 to 6 hours. I did 6 this time, and the veggies came out very tender. Next time I'd probably do closer to 4 to keep a little crispness.

Step 4: Open your slow cooker and inhale the aroma!

I served this over rice, with a little Bragg's Liquid Aminos drizzled on top. It's a like soy sauce, but minus the excessive sodium!

And that's it! A tasty, hearty, healthy, and easy meal. Visit Country Gourmet Home, click "shop online" and scroll down to slow cooker mixes to get yours before farmer's market season is over!

Like Mulled Cider? Try Spiced Cider Punch

Every year I swear I'm going to make gallons of hot mulled cider. I'd actually drink gallons of it if I could. But then by the time winter rolls around, I realize I haven't made one single drop. Going to the store, buying apple cider, mulling spices (So expensive!), an infuser ball (I should really have one of those!) just never happens, and I end the fall season mulled cider-less.

Enter Country Gourmet Home's Spiced Cider Punch. I can make myself a cup in the time it takes to heat the water, and it is so good there has to be some black magic involved somewhere.

Before you get your hands on a packet, take a look at how easy it is to make.

Step 1: Measure out 1 or 2 tablespoons.

Step 2: Pour hot water over mix.

Step 3: Stir!

Step 4: Now put your feet up and enjoy while reading a good book. I'm reading "A People's History of the Revolutionary War" What are you reading?

If you are in the mood for  a little kick in the pants with your hot cider, you could always splash in a bit of dark rum fora hard variation!

Are you ready to get some of this appley goodness in your life? Visit Country Gourmet Home, click on Shop Online, and scroll down to Hot Beverages.

Let me know what you think!

Dinner in 10!

The other night I absolutely needed to get dinner on the table fast, with no mess to clean up. I was hungry, my toddler was hungry, and we had to eat and leave to get somewhere. I tried Country Gourmet Home's Bruschetta Pasta Dinner Mix for the first time, and before we knew it we were chowing down.

Here is how seriously easy it is to make this meal:

Step 1: Cook the pasta (See, easy already!)

Step 2: Blend the seasoning packet with olive oil. As a side note, did you know you should always look for Greek olive oil? I'm not just saying that because I'm Greek! Apparently olive oil from other regions is a diluted blend of better quality oils mixed with lower quality. Go Greek!

Step 3: Drain the pasta, return it to the pot and toss with the seasoning.

Step 4: Serve! I splashed on a little pomegranate infused balsamic vinegar because I was feeling fancy, and topped with grated cheese.

I love it when my meal looks pretty!

And of course some for my little guy. He gobbled it up before I could blink!

Four steps to delish! Want to try it for yourself? Visit Country Gourmet Home, click the shop button and scroll down to pasta mixes. Let me know how yours turned out!