Check out these cute little scotties….perfect for tea time! {Walkers Giveaway}

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Denise

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Remember when I told you last month about my partnership with Walkers Shortbread cookies? Well this month I’m excited to show you their newest shortbread item…..the Chocolate Scottie Dog Shortbread. This adorable cookie is a follow up to the very successful pure-butter Scottie Dog shaped shortbread cookie released in early 2012 and quickly became one of the top-selling items. It contains only one extra ingredient….can you guess? Geniune Belgian chocolate. Mmm…..

I have to admit I was thrilled to get these scottie cookies in the mail because I had been seeing them pop up all over town….even Costco! Walkers Shortbread sent me both the chocolate and the pure-butter scottie shortbreads to try. I have to admit that I couldn’t wait to sample these cute shortbreads with my daily cup of tea. PERFECT!!

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Want to hear something else pretty perfect? Walkers sponsorship of the ASPCA….The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals! Following a successful partnership with the ASPCA in 2012, through which Walkers raised over $31,000 for the ASPCA, the company has committed to a second year of partnership with the humane organization. In 2013, Walkers will make a minimum donation of $50,000 which will be funded by sales of Scottie Dog shortbread cookies. For every 3.9 ounce carton sold, 10 cents per sale will be donated…and the large sizes will donate 20 cents per unit sale. Isn’t that neat?

If you’ve never tried these scottie dog shortbread cookies, let me tell you….you’re missing out! They are quite delectable and went very well with my tea. I urge you to give them a try. The fact that you’re helping out animals when you purchase a box is quite a nice bonus. I’d like to remind you that Walkers contain no genetically modified ingredients, artificial colors, flavorings or preservatives.

GIVEAWAY:

Would you like a chance to WIN a Scottie Dog Tin filled with scottie dog shortbread cookies? The kind folks at Walkers has offered one of my readers a vibrant, tartan tin filled with 18 Scottie Dog shortbread cookies. Just leave a comment below sharing with me whether you’ve heard of Walkers Shortbread, and if so….which is your favorite shortbread item?

For Extra entries:
* Each action below results in 1 additional entry. 8 possible entries total.

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This giveaway will end at midnight Friday June 28, 2013. Reader will be notified by email & have 5 days to respond with mailing address before a new winner is chosen. This giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only.

PROMO CODE for Creative Kitchen readers (that’s you!):

** Between June 17 – June 28, you can receive FREE SHIPPING on any Walkers orders of $25 or more. Additionally, when you purchase the Scottie dog cookies or tin during this time frame, Walkers will also donate an extra dollar to the ASPCA. Just purchase through this link, and use the promo code CKSCOTTIES

Disclaimer: Though Walkers Shortbread sent me these cute shortbread cookies to sample, I did not receive any compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

If you enjoyed this post or recipe, please pass it along! There are many ways you can SHARE. One of the most popular options is to PIN it on Pinterest or to LIKE it on Facebook. It really makes my day! To make sure you don’t miss a post or recipe you can either follow Creative Kitchen on Facebook or Pinterest. Or subscribe by RSS subscription or Email in the sidebar. It’s FREE! Thanks for reading….I love having company in the kitchen!

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Chicken BLT salad with avocado dressing {Secret Recipe Club}

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Denise

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Hi guys! Another recipe for the Secret Recipe Club. This month I was assigned It’s Yummy to my Tummy. Heather’s blog was so much fun to read through. As usual I had trouble narrowing down to one recipe. In fact, I actually also made her blueberry apple crisp the same day. It was so good that I’ve made it twice now. I also bookmarked a few recipes to make at a later time: Pretzel buns, Croutons and Tropical cerviche.

I ultimately decided on this chicken BLT salad with avocado dressing. Summer time just screams for crisp lettuce, salty bacon and creamy avocados. I made it for dinner, and it was a big hit with my family. I hope you take a few minutes and check out Heather’s blog and recipes. I’m sure you’ll see many things to add to your meal plan.

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Chicken BLT salad with avocado dressing {Secret Recipe Club}
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad, Salad dressings
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
  • 2-3 medium tomatoes, cut into small wedges
  • ½ pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • Shredded parmesan cheese
  • Croutons
  • 1 bunch scallions, chopped
  • 2 chicken breasts baked and sliced
  • AVOCADO DRESSING:
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 Tbsp dehydrated onion flakes
  • ½ cup milk (or as much as you need to thin out dressing)
  • 4 Tbsp sour cream
  • ½ lime, juiced
  • ½ cup cilantro leaves, minced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional ~ Add some bacon drippings from cooking the bacon
Instructions
  1. Mix up salad dressing and refrigerate. Chill for at least ½ hour before serving.
  2. Chop and prepare all toppings for salad including baking or grilling chicken and cooking bacon.
  3. Have family make own salads from toppings.

 

If you enjoyed this post or recipe, please pass it along! There are many ways you can SHARE. One of the most popular options is to PIN it on Pinterest or to LIKE it on Facebook. It really makes my day! To make sure you don’t miss a post or recipe you can either follow Creative Kitchen on Facebook or Pinterest. Or subscribe by RSS subscription or Email in the sidebar. It’s FREE! Thanks for reading….I love having company in the kitchen!

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Food Blog Forum 2013 ~ Walt Disney World Resort (part one)

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Denise

A few weeks ago my family and I had an amazing opportunity! Just like last year, Disney was again hosting Food Blog Forum, and we were blessed with the chance to go! Food Blog Forum is an intimate group of 100 or so food bloggers that come together to learn about new trends in the field, meet new friends and mingle with old and of course, EAT! With Walt Disney World hosting again we were able to stay at the Grand Floridian Resort and visit all 4 of the Disney parks with our families. Talk about a dream come true!

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We drove up bright and early that Friday morning full of anticipation. You see, I know I won’t get much sympathy, but since we live in Florida we’ve had Disney season passes several times over the years. And as with all good things….they eventually come to an end. For us….our season passes expired in early February. We told our girls it would be at least a year or 2 before we would go back to Disney. The girls were prepared for a long wait. Not just any girls….but our girls are Disney fanatics. And they were taking it very well. So when we found out we’d be attending this event….we did what all good parents do…..we kept it a secret. FOR ALMOST THREE LONG MONTHS!! Certainly tricky with a teenager in the house!

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And then when it was finally time to tell them, we gave them a secret code to crack 4 days before we left. To say that they were out of this world excited is an understatement. We were all smiles on the drive up Friday. We were instagramming with other attendees, and texting with our good friends who were also coming. My friend Michelle was finally getting her do over after all the drama of last year. I just kept praying for a safe trip and no incidences this year. Guess what? There were no mishaps. Whew!

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When we arrived at the Grand Floridian at 10 am we were surprised to find out our room was ready! Yay!! Disney pulls out all the stops. They load up all your luggage into a golf cart, drive us to our building. The room was incredible….spacious enough for a family of 5, an inviting balcony (I love this aspect of their deluxe resorts!) and my little one even found Tinkerbell hidden among the bedspread. I was in absolute heaven!

I’m a little nervous that my 5 year old will think this is standard living for us….with the Polynesian last year and now the Grand Floridian. I’m sure she’ll wonder why we can’t stay there next time we go! After getting all settled into our room, we headed over to the conference center to pick up our Disney park passes. Then hopped on the monorail to meet our friends and ride some rides. My girls were still in disbelief that we were back at Disney!

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Bottom left: My youngest on left, Michelle’s youngest on right. Bottom right: In the front seat of the flying carpet her daughter and my middle daughter on right, and in the back seat Michelle and her hubby.

After spending time in Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Adventureland…..and of course getting our Dole Whips together….it was about that time to head back to the room and start getting ready for the big opening night meet and greet for all the food bloggers. My hubby and girls were planning on spending time with our friends at the pool, while Michelle and I met up with our food blog friends!

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Bottom left: our 3 girls; Bottom right: Me (left) and my good friend Michelle (right)

I bumped into longtime friend Aggie (this is our third Food Blog Forum together) first on our walk over. I also met Liz for the first time….a food blogger similar to Aggie and I with the focus on healthy foods! As we made our way over we kept bumping into more and more friends (new and old)……I was excited to finally meet Sommer of A Spicy Perspective. Her blog is a longtime read of mine, she’s based in Asheville, NC and area near and dear to my heart where I have family and always has a wealth of incredible recipes! So many people to meet….so little time. It all went by so fast!

20130610-000529.jpgUnfortunately, I have very limited pictures of that first night because we were all so busy catching up, meeting new people, and eating all the amazing food the Disney chefs prepared. I’ll be linking to friend’s recaps so you won’t miss out on the action! But as usual Disney did not disappoint, and I made a lot of new friends! It’s great when you finally meet someone in “real” life after only being friends online….like Amy of The Nifty Foodie….I’ve been following her inspiring weight loss journey on Instagram. I’m bummed I didn’t get pictures with my friends that night, but will make up for it in part two.

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After our food blogger fun, I went back to the room and changed out of my wedges (definitely NOT park shoes! lol) and headed over to the monorail to meet up with my family. After swimming and dinner they’d gone back to Magic Kingdom to get in some more rides…or course! When I got there they’d just finished up Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain and we headed over to ride one of my favorite rides….Pirates of the Carribean. Then we rode Jungle Cruise…always FUN at night! We caught the fireworks, but I’m still kicking myself that we didn’t monorail back before they started and watch them from the beach at the Grand Floridian.

As you can see from my new snazzy Fitbit Zip (pedometer) above, I got in over 22,000 steps that day! Yay! I have so much more to share with you about our trip, so stay tuned for part two at some point. We’re headed out for a family wedding next week and also our family reunion in North Carolina so bare with me…it might be awhile.

I do have Secret Recipe Club coming up Monday with a great new healthy recipe so make sure to stop back by!

Visit my friend’s recaps of Food Blog Forum:

 

If you enjoyed this post or recipe, please pass it along! There are many ways you can SHARE. One of the most popular options is to PIN it on Pinterest or to LIKE it on Facebook. It really makes my day! To make sure you don’t miss a post or recipe you can either follow Creative Kitchen on Facebook or Pinterest. Or subscribe by RSS subscription or Email in the sidebar. It’s FREE! Thanks for reading….I love having company in the kitchen!

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Pigs in blankets…..a childhood favorite!

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Denise

Pigs in blankets

I know this hardly qualifies as a recipe post, but I can’t resist sharing them with you. It was quite by accident I discovered making these at home because I usually don’t buy crescent roll dough. I try to make as much from scratch as possible, and it never occurred to me to try making pigs in blankets with pizza dough. Maybe you’ve thought of it….I know simple, right?….and I’m just late to the game, but when I came up with these this past winter I was super excited! And my kids were too!

For one…I love pigs in blankets. Who doesn’t? It’s a childhood favorite, and just like when I was a kid….my girls love them too. The times I’ve tried the pre-made pigs in blankets at parties, I’ve come away feeling disappointed. Actually, if I’m being completely honest, I didn’t like the taste AT ALL. There was a wierd aftertaste. Is it just me??

So as I’ve said…super easy! Just buy your favorite hot dogs…I happen to LOVE Applegate Farms because I try to go as natural and humane as possible. We could get into the whole “hot dogs are definitely processed food” conversation, but I happen to love the taste of the Applegate Farms ALL beef hot dogs….and the fact they are only 70 calories each is a huge bonus. Every package I’ve looked at lately has most hot dogs anywhere between 150-170 calories each.

Applegate Farms beef hot dogs

Many of you know I got hooked on Chicago Dogs this past October, and so these Applegate Farms hot dogs are a staple in my fridge. I just can’t help myself! So back to the pigs…..I cook up the package of hotdogs in a skillet on the stove (or you could throw them on the grill). After they are done and cooled…I cut each hot dog in half and then cut each half into half….think quarters. Each quarter dog I wrapped a small segment of pizza dough around. A fun activity to get your kids involved if you want. Then bake for about 20 minutes or so at 400 until the dough is all puffy and golden and toasted. You’ll know when they’re done!

Eat them plain or try them with ketchup, mustard or any variety of dipping sauces that you like to make. I lean toward the plain old ketchup route. Nothing like the tang of good ketchup, right? I hope you buy the kind without the high fructose corn syrup added….if not, try to become a purist. It’s much more common on the grocery store shelves now, and tastes so much better. Even our local Publix has a store brand without it. Your taste buds will thank you!

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post by Applegate Farms, just sharing with you all my love of the Applegate Farms products. All items were purchased by me.

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The end of an era {The Office} & pizza bites

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Denise

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We reached the end of an era a couple Thursdays ago! We were late to the ballgame when it came to watching “The Office,” but picked it up in season 4 I think. I’m pretty sure it was 2009, so whatever season that was. I know I watched all the seasons through netflix, and was hooked….which is rare for me since I’m not a big tv watcher. The first few episodes in season 1 weren’t overly funny, but I also knew they were laying the groundwork for character development. A few months later when I was trying to convince my mom to watch, I told her, “Make sure you watch all of season 1 (only 6 episodes), and watch the first few of season 2 before you decide it’s not for you.” As I predicted…she was hooked too!

If you watch “The Office” I don’t have to tell you how funny it is, or how the vibe between Jim and Pam stirs something deep inside us. I don’t have to tell you that Dwight’s character is over the top bizarre or that Michael is someone you’d love to hate, but end up just feeling sorry for. My favorite season is season 2, closely followed by season 4. Season 2 is full of hilarious episodes like “The Injury” “E-mail Surveillance” “The Dundies” and “Drug Testing.” I could watch those episodes over and over again.

We are such big fans that we own most of the seasons on dvd, and have watched and listened to them over and over again. We’ve even been known to watch/listen to them on long roadtrips. Trivia wise…we know a lot! I’m sad they’ll be no more future episodes, but was happy how they tied up all the loose ends. SPOILER – We were thrilled that Michael returned for the last episode because though we felt it was right to finally see him happy and settled, we didn’t know we’d be so lucky.

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As we settled in to watch the final episode of the final season, we munched on these Pizza Bites I made. They were something I just threw together…..which is normal for me, and a big reason I created this blog. I want to hurry up and get them out here to you before I forget how I made them, and because they are just that good! The only one that didn’t like them was my non-mushroom eater (age 10). They are nothing unusual, but they sure did taste good.

Okay Office fans….don’t let me down….I want to hear from you! Are you a fan of The Office? If so, what’s your favorite season? Favorite episode?

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The end of an era {The Office} & pizza bites
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer, Snack
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 5
 
Ingredients
  • Baguette
  • Butter
  • Garlic salt
  • Mushrooms
  • Spaghetti sauce
  • Pepperoni cheese
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • Crushed red pepper, optional
Instructions
  1. Slice baguette on the diagonal into thin slices.
  2. Spread melted butter onto each slice and sprinkle with garlic salt.
  3. Wash, slice and saute mushrooms until browned. Add in spaghetti sauce of choice and stir well.
  4. Spoon mushroom and sauce onto each garlic toast.
  5. Slice applegate farms pepperoni into six triangles.
  6. Place slices of pepperoni onto each garlic toast.
  7. Top each with a small amount of mozzarella cheese.
  8. Place in toaster oven or regular oven on broil just until cheese is melted. Watch carefully to make sure they don't overcook.

If you enjoyed this post or recipe, please pass it along! There are many ways you can SHARE. One of the most popular options is to PIN it on Pinterest or to LIKE it on Facebook. It really makes my day! To make sure you don’t miss a post or recipe you can either follow Creative Kitchen on Facebook or Pinterest. Or subscribe by RSS subscription or Email in the sidebar. It’s FREE! Thanks for reading….I love having company in the kitchen!

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