Showing posts with label Giveaway. Show all posts

...Minute Rice® Ready to Serve Cups (GIVEAWAY CONTEST!)

August 22, 2015 Giveaway, Minute Rice, toddler No comments

Read on to see how you can enter to win Minute Rice^® Ready to Serve Cups!

We were at the mall a few days ago and something was different. It was the ubiquitous presence of teenagers presumably shopping for their back to school wardrobe. Even though our girl isn't old enough for school yet, I can relate to the busyness that fall brings. With the return of toddler classes, appointments and playdates, I know I'll need to find ways to streamline our everyday routine. Just the other day, I realized that I was so busy feeding S that I forgot about my lunch altogether. By this point, I was past hungry and onto hangry. Conveniently, we were sent Minute Rice^®'s Ready to Serve Cups to try and I quickly microwaved one of the Oriental Style cups and ate it with some leftover chicken. It literally took one minute to heat the rice in the microwave and it was delicious. My mom came by and noticed the boxes of Minute Rice and even she was surprised by how quickly the rice is ready and tasty even on its own. Let me just give you some background here: this is my mom, who has shunned the rice cooker and reverted to cooking rice old school on the stove and who is hard to impress when it comes to anything food related (hi mom!). So just based on this I give Minute Rice^® Ready to Serve Cups a big thumbs up.

Here are the details we were provided on Minute Rice^® Ready to Serve Cups:

Pre-portioned single serving mini-bowls of rice that are available in Basmati, Whole Grain, Oriental Style, Vegetable Medley, Long Grain & Wild Rice – Fine Herbs, Long Grain & Wild Rice – Chicken Flavour and Mexican.
The rice can be eaten straight out of the cup, as a side dish, or combined with a protein, such as chicken, beef, fish or tofu for a quick one-dish meal.
Some varieties, such as Basmati and Whole Grain, contain plain rice and can be enjoyed on their own or as a base for a meal, while others, such as Oriental Style, contain additional ingredients like peas, sweet red pepper, mushrooms and onions in a light soy-flavoured base. Vegetable Medley, blends peas, carrots and corn with long grain rice.
They are about $2.75 for a sleeve of two 125 gram microwaveable cups
Great for kids’ lunches or snacks, take-to-work lunches, or dinner.

Sometimes when you're stuck in a rut, it's hard to be imaginative with rice, so here is a recipe for you to try if you're in a pinch and have some rice on hand.

Photo courtesy of Gail Bergman PR

Minute Rice^® Chicken Vegetable Rice Crunch

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 4 min

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

4 Minute Rice^® Ready to Serve Cups – Vegetable Medley
(I would use one cup per large pita, but you may choose to use less)

Quantities of your choice of:

Cooked shredded chicken

Ranch dressing

Chopped nuts

Sliced celery

Sliced radish

Shredded lettuce

4 Pita bread pockets

Instructions:

1. Heat Minute Rice^®® Ready to Serve Cup – Vegetable Medley in microwave, per package instructions.

2. Transfer to bowl, and add cooked shredded chicken and ranch dressing.

3. Stir in chopped nuts, sliced celery, sliced radish and shredded lettuce.

4. Stuff into pita halves

ENTER TO WIN!

To enter to win 48 cups ($66 value) of Minute Rice^® Ready to Serve Cups, you must be a Canadian resident (excluding Quebec) and all you have to do is:

1. Follow us on Twitter @dcfortheloveof and Tweet: "I followed and entered @dcfortheloveof giveaway for Minute Rice Ready to Serve Cups!"

2. *Optional: Increase your chances of winning by following us on Instagram @dcfortheloveof

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just a reminder, to qualify you must follow us on Twitter!

A random winner will be selected from all the entries. The contest closes on Sept 4, 2015.

...Minute Rice with Chef John Higgins (GIVEAWAY CONTEST!)

May 04, 2015 Food Network, Giveaway, Minute Rice No comments

We're excited to hold a giveaway contest sponsored by Minute Rice. Read to the end of this post to find out how you can enter to win!

Photo courtesy of ctvnews.ca

What can I say about rice? Eat it, all day, everyday. At least that was the case growing up in a Chinese family. A proper Chinese meal is not complete with rice, as I'm sure is the case with many other Asian cuisines. These days we don't necessarily have rice everyday but it is an ingredient that is so versatile and easy to incorporate into any kind of meal, that we always have a large bin of it on hand.

Last week we were invited to watch Chef John Higgins (Director of George Brown Chef School, a judge on the Food Network’s Chopped Canada and former personal chef for the Queen Mother) cook up some Minute Rice. As someone who eats rice frequently, sometimes you can get in a recipe rut so Chef Higgins' message of experimenting with seasonings and flavour was inspiring. We typically use water to cook our rice so we're excited to use stock, spices and herbs to spice things up (pun intended). I particularly liked the idea of roasting nuts to bring out the oils and use them to cook with rice for a nutty flavour.

So what is the deal with Minute Rice? Instead of waiting 15 minutes or more for your rice to cook, Minute Rice is done in 5-10 minutes (white/brown rice dependent). Minute Rice is simply pre-cooked 100% natural, non-GMO verified rice that's dried so the cooking time is cut down by more than half. If you're a risotto lover, Chef Higgins suggests Minute Rice may be your solution to slaving over the stove for an hour waiting for the rice to cook.

Here is the display worthy Veggie Rice Lasagna Loaf Chef Higgins demonstrated for us:

Veggie Rice Lasagna

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

-2 cups (500 ml) Minute Rice^® Instant Premium Long Grain White Rice

-1/4 cup (60 ml) grated Parmesan cheese, good quality, if possible

-2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil

-2 bunches green onions, chopped

-1 pkg (10 oz/300 g) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed well to remove liquid

-2 cloves (5 g) garlic, minced

-1 1/2 cups (375 ml) light ricotta or cottage cheese

-1 cup (200 g) zucchini, sliced

-1 jar (24 oz/700 ml) prepared marinara or home-made pasta sauce

-2 cups (500 ml) shredded low fat Mozzarella cheese

-2 (145g) tomatoes, sliced

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Prepare rice according to package directions. Stir in the parmesan cheese and reserve.

2. Place 15 ml of the olive oil in a warm pan, then add the chopped green onions, followed by the spinach, and season with garlic. Cook for one minute. Add salt and pepper, then allow to cool. Mix with ricotta cheese until combined.

3. Place the rest of the olive oil in a non-stick pan. Add the sliced zucchini. Cook for 10 seconds on each side. Season to taste. Remove from the pan and place on a paper towel to absorb the oil and allow to cool.

4. Spoon ¼ cup (60 ml) of the marinara sauce into a greased 8-inch (2L) square baking dish. Gently press half of the rice into the baking dish in an even layer; sprinkle with ½ cup (125 ml) mozzarella cheese. Spread half of the spinach mixture over the cheese.

5. Top with half of the tomato and zucchini slices, overlapping as needed. Spoon half of the remaining marinara sauce over the slices. Repeat the layers, ending with the sauce.

6. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top. Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

ENTER TO WIN!

To enter to win a case of Minute Rice (12 boxes, $60 value), you must be a Canadian resident and all you have to do is:

-Enter your email address (below via Rafflecopter)

-Double your chances of winning by following us on Twitter @dcfortheloveof and tweeting:

"I followed and entered @dcfortheloveof giveaway for Minute Rice!"

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just a reminder, to qualify you must follow us on Twitter!

A random winner will be selected from all the entries. The contest closes on May 15, 2015. In the meantime, if you want to pick up a box of Minute Rice, check out this $1 off coupon!

Photos courtesy of Gail Bergman PR

...Catelli's Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains with Chef Lynn Crawford (GIVEAWAY CONTEST!)

March 19, 2015 Catelli, events, Food Network, Giveaway, Italian, Pasta No comments

We're excited to hold a giveaway contest for a year's supply of Catelli's Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains pasta ($200 value). Read to the end of this post to find out how you can enter to win!

One of my favourite foods to eat growing up was my mother's spaghetti and meat sauce. Growing up in a family where the cuisine was typically Chinese food, spaghetti and meat sauce was a change of pace. Of course, my mother found a way to cook spaghetti Chinese style using the ingredients and flavours she knows best, by stir frying vegetables and meat with a soy and oyster based sauce. Since then I've come to realize that pasta is a fantastic base for whatever flavours and ingredients you want to add.

Last week we were invited to the launch event of Catelli's Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains pasta with celebrity Chef Lynn Crawford. We jumped at the opportunity and in the end had a great time tasting and cooking with Chef Lynn, who is as animated, humorous and genuine as she is on TV. One of my favourite Chef Lynn quotes, "Did you just call me babe?" (Restaurant Makeover), is now replaced with her comment "I like vegetarians...that eat bacon, sometimes". When asked which Calgary restaurant is her favourite, she gave a shoutout to her fellow chef friends at Charcut and Rouge.

Catelli's Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains pasta will be first launched in Western Canada only. It comes in three pasta cuts: spaghetti, spaghettini and rotini. The pasta is made from a blend of quinoa, amaranth, teff, sorghum, millet and GMO-free whole wheat. Most of us know the health benefits of whole grains and ancient grains but the real question is how does it taste? There is a slight nutty flavour and firmer texture to the pasta that we really enjoyed. Here are three tips we found helpful that Chef Lynn shared with us to make the most of whole grain pasta:

-Delicate pasta shapes go well with delicate sauces and heartier, ridged shapes pair well with richer sauces and ragus.

-Whole grain pasta has the perfect texture for cold or chilled recipes and marinates well in tangy dressings. The firmness of the noodles also provides a good base for both crunchy and juicy fresh vegetables

-Whole grain pasta can take on strong and complex flavours. Ingredients that pair well include garlic, chilli, anchovies, rich pesto sauces and bitter or dark leafy greens such as kale, Swiss chard and radicchio.

We had the chance to make one of Chef Lynn's recipes- Chilled Noodle Salad with Ginger Wasabi Dressing. This tasty recipe is perfect for the upcoming warmer months and is super quick to prepare. In the time it took for us to boil the pasta we were done prepping the vegetables and ready to plate. Stay tuned for the recipe.

Group shot!

ENTER TO WIN!

To enter to win a year's supply (60 boxes, valued at $200) of Catelli's Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains pasta, you must be a Canadian resident and all you have to do is:

-Comment below with your favourite pasta dish. (Use your first name to enter, it will have to match your email sender info. Comments will be moderated.)

-Double your chances of winning by following us on Twitter @dcfortheloveof and tweeting (optional):
"I entered @dcfortheloveof giveaway for a year supply of Catelli Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains pasta! http://bit.ly/1DDlwAy"

A random winner will be selected from all the entries. The contest closes on April 1, 2015. In the meantime, if you want to pick up a box of Catelli's Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains pasta, check out this $1 off coupon!

**CONTEST CLOSED- The winner is Lisa B. from Ottawa! Congratulations!

Photos courtesy of Gail Bergman PR