Country Crock Spread The Love Of Vegetables Review + $200 AMEX Grand Prize Giveaway – THREE WINNERS

Summer is the time where I’m constantly cooking with fresh vegetables. Even if you don’t have your own garden, you can usually buy them pretty inexpensive at farmer’s markets or the grocery stores since they are in season. Unfortunately, my children are often picky when it comes to fruits and veggies. I was thrilled when Country Crock sent us a Spread The Love Of Vegetables prize pack to get my kids excited about vegetables.

A USA Today article on April 13 stated , “Only 14% of parents say their kids eat at least five vegetables a day.” Country Crock aims to help by making vegetables even more delicious. With 70% less saturated fat than butter, Country Crock ensures your veggies are not only nutritious but also super tasty! (Butter contains 11g total fat, 7g saturated fat per serving.)

The kit included several VeggieTales products that made my kids excited to dig in. I love the message that VeggieTales conveys, so they are very familiar with the characters. Evan had to put the apron on and wore it most of the day – especially that night while “helping” me in the kitchen.

He helped me put our “Today I Ate A Rainbow” chart up on the refrigerator. I think the chart is genius. It came with enough magnets for up to four children to put their “marker magnets” on each color that they ate that day. It also came with a book and combined, they have made Evan want to eat more veggies so he can put magnets on his chart.

The coloring book and crayons were a big hit with Isabella. She has recently developed a huge love for drawing.

I absolutely adored the Vegetable Cookbook that was included! It was full of yummy recipes, information, and pictures of different techniques. I tried my own version of the Broccoli Mushroom Alfredo. Here is my version-

Ingredients:

-1 pounds fettuccine
-12-16 ounces mushrooms
-2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
-2 cloves minced garlic
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-3 tablespoon butter, divided
-2 tablespoons flour
-2 cups half and half(I used 1 cup whipping cream and 1 cup milk because I didn’t have half and half)
-6 ounces parmesan
-1tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-half a bag of frozen broccoli(about 2-3 cups)

Instructions:

Prepare Pasta
In a large pot, saute the garlic in oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Cook chicken in skillet, then add mushrooms and broccoli.
For the sauce, heat 2 tablespponsof butter in a saucepan until melted. Whisk in 2 tablesppons of flour until it fors a paste, or roux. Whisk in the half and half and continue whisking or it will burn. When it starts to bubble, add Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Toss the sauce into the large pot along with pasta, veggies, and chicken.

We are already huge fans of Country Crock and always have their products in our fridge, but I’m so glad they introduced us to these products to get my family excited to eat veggies. I was able to purchase several new vegetable plants for our garden with the AMEX gift card that they sent so I’ll have fresh ones all summer!