You are browsing the Blog for spon.

← Previous Entries
Next Entries →

Spring Projects with Home Depot

April 3, 2013 in spon

I have an exciting project that I am getting ready to start and I am excited to share it with y’all! This spring I’ll be working with Home Depot to revamp my backyard. It’s something I have been meaning to do since we moved here but between deployment and just being frustrated by the harsh sun here, I’ve never really given it much of a go.

When we first moved here, we actually bought a bunch of plants and I managed to keep some tomatoes and rosemary alive for a good portion of the summer but after awhile I got lazy and stopped watering them multiple times a day. And if you have ever been to Colorado, you know how bad the sun can be here. So I am excited to really go for it this year and make our backyard beautiful.

This is the state of our yard now:

Yeah.

Dirt, dirt, and more dirt.

I’m not entirely sure what we are going to do yet but this seed starter project looks like a lot of fun and simple for someone like me, who hasn’t had a lot of experience growing things.

If you are interested in getting started revamping your yard, or just adding to your already beautiful yard, definitely check out the Home Depot Garden Club where you can get over $300 in savings each year, new product sneak peeks, and garden ideas and tips catered to your region. You will also receive $5 off a $50 purchase as soon as you sign up.

I look forward to sharing my experiences with you guys and I’m hoping y’all won’t make too much fun of my (lack of) outdoorsy skills. At least I have my husband here to help, right? There is hope! Hopefully I’ll finally have the veggie garden I always wanted! Make sure you check back soon for my first official post – I really can’t wait to get started! If you have any tips for me, please leave them! I need all the help I can get!

It’s home improvement time, and The Home Depot has everything you need for spring. No matter what projects you want to tackle, The Home Depot has you covered and can help you #DigIn to Spring.

Spring is the perfect time for all your outdoor home renovations. Shop The Home Depot for terrific values on new patio furniture, landscape supplies such as fertilizer and potting soil and outdoor grills. Keep your lawn and garden looking great, too, with the huge selection of lawn mowers, edgers and trimmers, and garden tools.

Visit The Home Depot Garden Club for product ideas from kick-starting your Spring with seed starter kits to building a window birdfeeder. 

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

Submit to StumbleUpon

1 Comment »

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

March 27, 2013 in chicken, spon

Ranch is one of my favorite things in the entire universe. I like it with on salads, with chicken nuggets, with french fries, and especially with buffalo wings. 

When I was asked to create a recipe using Hidden Valley Ranch, my mind went immediately to buffalo! I didn’t really feel like frying wings so meatballs seemed like a good compromise. 

These turned out super delicious. I put some of the Hidden Valley Ranch mix into the meatballs and then served it with extra ranch on the side. I was in ranch heaven. The meatballs themselves are nice and juicy and have so much flavor going on. My kids don’t really love spicy things so I left the sauce off their portions (there’s still sauce in the meatballs) and they ate them up! Definitely a winner around here! 

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 1 stalk celery, finely diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 3/4 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tablespoons Hidden Valley Ranch powdered salad dressing mix
  • 3 tablespoons buffalo wing sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce
  • Hidden Valley Ranch, for serving

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with oil. 
Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies are soft. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds or until fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Put ground chicken, bread crumbs, egg, Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing mix, 3 tablespoons buffalo wing sauce, salt, and pepper in a mixing add. Once veggies are cool, add those as well. Combine with either a wooden spoon or your hands. Shape into 1-inch balls and place in prepared pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.
While they are baking, heat the 3 tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce over low heat until butter is melted. Stir to combine. 
Once the meatballs are baked, place a heatproof bowl and pour the butter/buffalo sauce mixture over top. Toss gently to make sure the meatballs are covered. 
Serve with Hidden Valley Ranch and celery sticks.

 

Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Salad Dressing and Seasoning Mix is a simple way to add a flavorful kick to a classic recipe.Click hereto find more classic recipes remixed with Hidden Valley Ranch.  Also check out the Ranch Remix contest for your chance to win great prizes!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hidden Valley Ranch Remix. The opinions and text are all mine.

Submit to StumbleUpon

Tags: , , ,
No Comments »

Country Herb Rolls

March 25, 2013 in breads, spon

Funny story about these rolls: they are so good that the angry husky couldn’t wait for them to bake. She ate 6 (!) of them as they sat on the counter to rise. Yes, she got sick. Yes, she says she’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Anyway.

Easter is next weekend! My husband hasn’t been home for the past 2 Easters so it’s kind of a big deal around here. I’m excited to do a big Easter lunch with ham and cheesy casseroles and maybe even a vegetable or 2. And these rolls, of course.

These rolls would be the perfect savory addition to your holiday meal. They’re loaded with dried minced onion (which I’m obsessed with), garlic salt, and Italian seasoning. I was standing in my backyard as these baked thinking “Who’s making pizza?!” but it was these rolls. My house smelled just like a pizzeria as they baked. And they taste just as good as they smell!

One year ago: Hot Cross Buns
Two years ago: Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce
Three years ago: Blueberry Muffins

Print
Country Herb Rolls

Ingredients

3 tablespoons oil or melted butter
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active-dry yeast
1 egg
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Instructions

  1. In large pot over medium heat, add oil (or butter), water and milk. Heat until 110°-115°F. remove from heat.
  2. Add sugar and egg; stir in Yeast. Whisk until mixture is smooth.
  3. Add flour, cornmeal, onion, salt and seasoning. Stir with heavy wooden spoon. If necessary, work in a little additional flour with your hands until the dough is no longer sticky. Knead 2 to 3 minutes. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and turn to grease top. Cover; let rise until dough tests ripe.
  4. Punch down, cover and let rest 10 minutes. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 24 portions. To shape, roll each piece into a 6 inch long rope. Tie in loose knot. Place rolls into greased 9 x 13-inch pan. Cover and let rise until indentation remains after lightly touching.
  5. Preheat oven to 375F. Brush tops with 2 tbsp melted butter or oil. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.
http://fakeginger.com/2013/03/25/country-herb-rolls/

This post sponsored by Red Star Yeast.

Submit to StumbleUpon

Tags: , ,
8 Comments »

Green Giant Veggie Chips

March 1, 2013 in spon

One of my favorite snacks in the world is veggie chips. I love them so much. But the problem I have is some of them are just AWFUL. It seems like for every decent kind I find, I also find one that is barely edible.

I was pretty excited to hear that Green Giant has a big surprise in store: Veggie Chips! They are great tasting chips that snackers can feel good about! I love the Green Giant brand to begin with (HUGE veggie fan here) so it was pretty much a given that I was going to love these new chips.

I was sent a couple different kinds to try out but as you can see I only have photos of one. Because that bag of sweet potato chips they sent along? Didn’t last an hour in my house.  They are so delicious! They’re also made with real sweet potatoes and 14 grams of whole grain. Plus, they contain a whopping 40% less fat than regular potato chips! I can’t even tell you how good they are. I can’t wait until my store starts carrying them!

The Green Giant™ Roasted Veggie Tortilla Chips in Zesty Cheddar Flavor were my kids’ favorite. They look quite similar to those other cheddar, triangular-shaped chips but they’re so much healthier. They are made with real veggies, contain 17 grams of whole grains per serving, and are naturally flavored. My kids went nuts over them and I had zero guilt over letting them have some.

To go along with the surprise Green Giant has for us, they’ve been on the hunt for surprise talents. Go see the video of what they’ve unearthed and then you can share your own talent on their Facebook page. You can see even more surprise talents on the Green Giant Youtube channel.

 
Thank you to The Green Giant™ for being a sponsor. Show the Giant your surprise talent at www.facebook.com/greengiant

Submit to StumbleUpon

2 Comments »

Salmon with Orange Basil Butter

February 20, 2013 in spon

I have been so sick the past few days. So sick! My husband has been whining about “fighing something” for weeks now and I guess I finally got whatever he had. And he’s still not sick, of course. Because he has a super immune system and I have the world’s worst. But anyway, he’s also been out in the field the past couple days which means I’m sick and alone with 3 kids. It hasn’t been the best week of my life.

But this post couldn’t have come at a better time. Land O’Lakes asked me to share some tips for simplifying in the kitchen and normally  I am the absolute WORST when it comes to simplifying in the kitchen – I seriously will use every pan in my house to make macaroni and cheese. From a box. But since I’m sick and really, really tired right now, I’m all about simplifying the cooking process.

So here are some of my favorite tips for keeping things simple:

1. Never underestimate the power of a one-pot meal.
2. If a recipe calls for half an onion, chop all of it and store half in the fridge. You’ll be so happy the next time you need chopped onion.
3. Keep the ingredients for all your simple, go-to meals on hand at all times for days you don’t feel like doing much.
4. Clean as you go! Because no one wants to spend an hour doing dishes after eating dinner.
5. Have ingredients measured or at least have the bottles/boxes out so you aren’t running circles in the kitchen.

Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil is another great way to simplify in the kitchen. It is made with only three simple ingredients: sweet cream, canola oil and salt. Other spread products contain up to 15 ingredients. Butter with Canola Oil only contains three simple ingredients, which results in a creamy, delicious, spreadable texture. It’s spreadable right from the refrigerator which makes it perfect for buttering bread or, like I did here, making a buttery topping for fish.

This salmon was so yummy and really simple since you don’t even have to melt the butter before you brush it on the fish. And then once the fish was hot, I just dolloped some butter on top and it got all melty and delicious. I’m actually looking forward to having a salad for lunch so I can put a piece of leftover fish on top!

Print
Salmon with Orange Basil Butter

Ingredients

6 tablespoons Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil leaves*
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
1 tablespoon garlic pepper
3 (12-ounce) fresh salmon fillets, each cut crosswise into 2 pieces
6 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted, if desired
Basil leaves, if desired

Instructions

  1. Preheat broiler and move oven rack to the top.
  2. Use a fork to mash together the Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil, orange juice, chopped basil leaves and orange zest in small bowl; reserve 3 tablespoons butter mixture. Brush remaining butter mixture onto fish; sprinkle with garlic pepper.
  3. Broil the salmon for about 10 minutes or until cooked through.
  4. To serve, top the hot fish with some of the reserve butter mixture. Sprinkle with almonds and basil leaves, if desired.
http://fakeginger.com/2013/02/20/salmon-with-orange-basil-butter/

The author was compensated by Land O’Lakes for this post. All opinions are my own.

Submit to StumbleUpon

Tags:
2 Comments »

← Previous Entries
Next Entries →

Switch to our mobile site