The Snow is Coming...

*information for this post was in part supplied by Hormel Foods through their Hormel Extended Family Blogger program. No compensation was received for this post.

or that is what the forecast says. Fortunately for us, it is a quiet Saturday evening at home. We have had a busy weekend already with working out, a couple of soccer games, a trip to the grocery store (before the storm rush), and continued work on organizing the house.

One of the 'projects' that I am continuing to work on is clearing out the freezer. At the end of December, I had succeeded in reducing the freezer contents so that I could move the items from the deep freeze into our refrigerator freezer. Now, I have started to restock the freezer through sales, but continue to work on eating those items that had been in the deep freeze - to help ensure proper rotation and that the food doesn't get old.

Today was the unplanned day in my menu plan. Looking in the freezer, I saw that I had some popcorn chicken on hand. My son is a huge fan of Chicken Bacon Ranch (anything), so I suggested that they have Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwiches for dinner tonight. They are tasty and satisfying.

We took some sausage rolls that we had left from Philly Cheese Steaks earlier this week, filled them first with the popcorn chicken, added some ranch and topped with some Hormel Black Label Bacon.

The kids enjoyed the Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches, but I went for a grown up grilled cheese. Two slices of crusty bread, provolone cheese, bacon and a slice of tomato. Toast it up in the oven for an amazing grilled cheese.

Whether you prefer a meaty sandwich or a gooey cheesy sandwich, you can't go wrong with having bacon in your dinner on a cold winter's night.
No compensation was received for this post. Product samples and thought starters are provided by Hormel through the Hormel Extended Family Blogger program, in which I participate. All opinions are my own or that of my family.

Lloyd's Barbeque - Giveaway!

*information for this post was in part supplied by Hormel Foods through their Hormel Extended Family Blogger program. No compensation was received for this post.

A few weeks ago, we took a family vacation to Walt Disney World (I really do mean to share the insights, tips and tricks, but I never seem to have the time). We timed our trip this year to hit the end of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. My son, who as of late seems to be becoming quite a little foodie, wanted to try food at all the stations. We didn't get to all of them, but did hit quite a few of them. One of the first things that we tried was a Pork Slider at the Hawaii station. It was pork, a pineapple chutney, a spicy mayonnaise on a slider roll.

As I was exploring the Lloyd's page on Hormel.com, I found a recipe for a Barbeque Pineapple and Chicken sandwich.

I am certain this dish is not quite the same, I was thinking of starting with this recipe, swapping in Pork for the Chicken, omitting the cheese and adding a spiced up mayo to see how close we could get to the sandwich we all enjoyed at Epcot.

Giveaway!
As a Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger, I have been invited to share with my readers 10 coupons for Lloyd's BBQ. You could try the recipe I mention above or any number of recipes featured on the Lloyd's page or simply enjoy them as sandwiches (also good just served up 'open-face' on crackers).

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Giveaway will remain open through December 5th. Winners will be selected through Rafflecopter. The winner will have 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected. Coupons are only good until 12/31/14 and will be mailed to the winners. A Busy Mom of Two is not responsible for lost or misdirected mail.


No compensation was received for this post. All opinions expressed are mine or those of my family. I am completing this post as a participant in the Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger program. Hormel Foods provided some product and some of the information and images for this post.

Qrunch Burgers Review and Giveaway!

No compensation was received for this post. The manufacturer provided the coupons for the giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.

A few months ago, on a week where my husband was doing the grocery shopping, he came home with a new product that he had tried and a few coupons from the demo stand. The product was Qrunch burgers. As recently as a year ago, I would have been surprised that he had bought some, but lately he seems to be more open to new foods. We don't have any dietary restrictions or try to eat a certain way, other than just an overall balanced, healthy diet with reasonable portions (at least most of the time).

Qrunch burgers are made with Quinoa and other vegetables/beans depending on the variety. The products are Gluten-free, Soy-free, Wheat-free, Nut-free, Egg-free, Dairy-free, Corn-free, Animal-free, Light Sodium and use Ancient Grains (Quinoa). Looking at a list like that might make you wonder about the flavor, which by the way is great. Not only are they flavorful, they have a nice crunch when prepared too.

The product is so easy to prepare. You can make them in your toaster. Put it through two cycles in your standard toaster and your Qrunch burger is ready to eat. We eat them like a burger, placing them on a bun and topping with tomatoes, lettuce, mustard, ketchup, etc.

There are five varieties of Qrunch burgers - Original, Spicy Italian, Green Chile, Sweet Curry and a new one that I am going to have to find - Saucy Buffalo. We have tried the first four flavors. The family favorite is the Spicy Italian, but my husband also likes the Original and the Green Chile. I am sure that when we find Saucy Buffalo, that will be a favorite too.

At just about 200 calories per Qrunch burger, varies slightly by variety, we find that they fit well in our diet.

Have you tried Qrunch burgers? What did you think?

Giveaway!
Courtesy of Qrunch Foods, I have several $1.00 off coupons that I can giveaway to A Busy Mom of Two readers. The coupons are good through the end of the year.


a Rafflecopter giveaway




Giveaway will remain open through December 1st. Winners will be selected through Rafflecopter. The winner will have 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected. Coupons are only good until 12/31/14 and will be mailed to the winners. A Busy Mom of Two is not responsible for lost or misdirected mail.
No compensation was received for this post. The manufacturer provided the coupons for the giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.

Getting Creative with Leftovers - Hamburger Buns

I love to host parties and gatherings. I think that it all started as a child, where I would watch my parents host an annual Christmas party and regularly host friends for cards. Of course, the biggest part of any party or gathering is the food. I love making and serving a variety of foods. Frequently, parties are my only chance to make many of the foods that I love and can only prep when I have a large gathering to help me eat them (otherwise, I would seriously over-indulge on many of my favorites).

One of the challenges of hosting a party is having the right amount of food. I frequently find myself with leftovers. I don't want to waste food, so I find myself looking for creative solutions for eating the leftovers without feeling like you are eating the same thing over and over again.

My son's birthday party was last week (I'll have to share the cake) and we did a cook-out. We bought extra buns and had extra meat to go with them until a grill fire resulted in a loss of some heavily sooted/smoked meat. The net outcome was a large amount of buns remaining.

So, my weekly menu moved into creativity mode. How could I use up a number of buns and not feel like the meals were the same every night?

Generally, when I am doing the weekly meal plan and trying to come up with ideas for dinner, sandwiches are not something that comes to mind. I enjoy sandwiches - sloppy joes, cheesesteak, hamburgers, and such. Typically, if I'm having a sandwich for dinner, I definitely want for it to be a warm sandwich - cold cuts are for lunch. But, if you take that same cold cut sandwich and turn it into a Panini - that is dinner! Did you know that August is National Panini Month? I'm thinking it is something about having a warm meal without heating up the kitchen - but that is just my theory.

If you don't have a Panini maker or press, you can actually just double up with a skillet or frying pan to make your panini. Simply prepare your cooking skillet with a bit of oil or spray and put it over medium heat. Add your sandwich and top with the other skillet. Add some weight to your skillet - a can would work. Cook for a couple of minutes, turn and repeat.

I actually have had a grill pan for a while and recently bought a panini press from Pampered Chef. I like that I get the fun grill lines that way. Plus, it is a great way to cook chicken faster.

The great thing about having paninis for dinner is that everyone can customize their sandwich to their likes. I like making mine a bit more fancy, but the kids like theirs more simple - and I can accomplish that without feeling like I am making several meals.

Tonight was panini night. We had the following options to choose from: chicken, pepperoni - regular sliced and turkey minis, provolone cheese, hot pepper cheese, spaghetti sauce, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, roasted red peppers, and mayonnaise. We served the paninis with red pepper strips, potato chips and homemade onion dip.

My son decided to have a bit of chicken and pepperoni with hot pepper cheese for his sandwich, with banana peppers on the side. My daughter chose simply pepperoni and provolone for her panini. My husband chose pepperoni, hot pepper cheese, jalapeno peppers, and tomato sauce. I went with chicken, provolone, roasted red peppers and mayonnaise.

With my grill pan, I could do two sandwiches at a time, making a total of six sandwiches (the hamburger buns make reasonably small sandwiches). I like how the cheese is just barely melted and the sandwich is warm throughout.

I think that next time, I'd like to use some chicken, cucumber, red pepper strips, tomatoes and a bit of hummus on my panini. Just thinking about the combination of the crunch and the warm, juiciness of the tomato (I love warm tomatoes on a sandwich) is making my mouth water.

What would you put on your panini? You can find some recipe inspiration for paninis like Bacon and Spinach Panini and Turkey Red Pepper Panini on Hormel's website.

(In case you were wondering, we used buns four nights this week - the first night we turned them into garlic bread as a side for our pasta, the second night I made them into personal pizzas, the third night we had egg, cheese and bacon sandwiches, and of course, paninis tonight. We even toasted up a couple one night for a snack with butter and jelly. It was fun finding creative ways to use them.)


No compensation was received for this post. All opinions expressed are mine or those of my family. I am completing this post as a participant in the Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger program. Hormel Foods provided a thought starter and some of the information for this post.