The Lucky Winner is...

So I finally tried out this random number generator thingy that people have been telling me about. It definitely makes for not as cute of a post, but I only have two kids home right now and one has pink eye. Not a cute picture. And TGB would eat the ballots. See... not very cooperative.

So Random Number Generator it is.

And my buddy RNG picked...

Number 30!! Which after counting 400 times to make sure I counted correctly, seems to be...

My dear friend Gwen Turner! Gwen's blog is very inspiring by the way, and I am lucky to have been buds with her since we were freshman in high school!!

If you did not win but DID enter this contest, you can still purchase these at 10% off and free shipping through the end of the day TOMORROW. I just need an email to Hungrymomontherun@gmail.com if you are interested!

Hope you had a wonderful day filled with lots of love yesterday! Superman gave his girl-buddy Ava some flowers... I think they went over way better than a laundry basket. :)

I Love My...

Last night as I tucked the wee people into their beds, Superman, in an effort to stall bedtime, announced, "Mom, I know what I'm going to get everyone for Heart Day."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"I'm going to get Ava a new doll. And I'm going to get my baby sister a new doll too. And you know what I'm going to get you, Mom?? A new laundry basket. A shiny green one."

Hm. It makes me laugh to think of how he preceives me. The thing is... I'd actually love a shiny new green laundry basket. All of our laundry baskets are broken from me dropping them over the upstairs bannister into the foyer with clothes in them (self-made laundry chute... it's faster that way). His innocence just makes me smile. If my husband gave me a shiny new laundry basket for Valentine's Day I would not be smiling. But from your kid... well its just darn cute. And I love that.

So, in a similar less romantic fashion, I want to give one of you one of my favorite things this Valentine's Day. My friend Katie, long ago, gave these the name of "The Chicken Choppers," although they are formally known as Salad Choppers. I use them ALL the time on this blog to shred/chop chicken. And you probably hate me big time when I do because it is so much faster then chopping, or heaven forbid the laborious task of two-fork shredding.

Its actual purpose on earth was to put whole salad ingredients into a bowl (a head of lettuce, a tomato, an onion, a cucumber) and then just go at it with the salad choppers in the bowl as opposed to chopping them all on a cutting board. Even cooler than that, I love using them to make salsa in one bowl in 5 minutes (just throw whole tomatoes, onion, jalapeno and cilantro in a bowl, and chop away). Perfect for a quick appetizer or one of my summer faves, Classic Salsa Pizza.

Same goes for bruschetta!

I use them to mash up old bananas for banana bread. I use them to chop up a can of whole tomatoes straight in the crock pot. I use them to cut up pasta for the kids right in the pot. And I can do it all with one hand, which is crucial when I need to free up my other hand for helping the kids. Okay or more realistically for my glass of wine. I often daydream about carrying them in my purse and whipping them out to cut up my salads at restaurants (like McDonalds, and the other fine establishments we frequent these days). Seriously, is it that difficult for them to cut my cherry tomato in half, chop the chicken, or give me a cucumber smaller than the size of a coaster?

I digress. Anyway, for the technical stuff... it's dishwasher safe, and has two parallel blades with micro-serrated edges so it's actually sharpening itself everytime its being used. It is amazing and definitely one of my favorite little kitchen gadgets. If you already own one, don't let that stop you from entering. I'm sure you can think of someone you know who would love to take it off your hands!

Giveaway Details

1. You must be a follower on this blog (not facebook)

2. leave a comment on this post that starts with "I Love My..." and tell me what your favorite, can't live without kitchen gadget is.

3. I will pick a winner on Valentine's Day. Okay more realistically, the day after Valentine's Day. Because I'll probably be really busy with my shiny new Laundry Basket. I know, that is not very long from now, but I procrastinated on getting this post up and I like to keep contests short and sweet :) So enter now or run the risk of two-fork shredding your chicken forever.

4. If you enter the giveaway and do NOT win, but think you really can't live without some salad choppers like I can't, shoot me an email and I will help you get it for 10% off and free shipping.

5. OH! And I forgot to mention I am picking the winner at RANDOM like I normally do. The "I Love My ..." is purely for my entertainment value. If it was a subjective contest however, Whitney's answer would totally win.

Good Luck!

No-Bake Cookies and a Giveway!

I've mentioned before that I'm not a baker. Most people I know will either classify themselves as more of a cook OR a baker, but usually not both. Unless you're super talented :) Well, baking blows my mind. For me, it's a horrifying thought that forgetting an 1/8 teaspoon of an ingredient, or using butter that's not exactly the right temperature, could make a baking recipe totally fail.

Christmas cookie season scares me half to death. I'm always looking for something super quick and fool-proof that I can bring to cookie exchanges or give to teachers and neighbors. These are right up my alley... quick, no-bake, and no-fail. Thanks Judy for reminding me about these 2-ingredient wonders! (She has many more amazing cookie recipes on her site if you're looking!!)

Oreo Truffles

1 Package of Oreos (I used TJ's Candy Cane ones!)

1 8 oz package of cream cheese (softened)

Optional* melted chocolate for dipping or sprinkles for decorating

A food chopper and a small scoop should basically be ingredients.

Put your softened cream cheese in a bowl

Chop Oreos. I lined the cutting board with stacks of two then just moved my way down and chopped them up. If you don't have a food chopper or a food processor try putting them in a big ziplock bag and then crush them with a meat tenderizer.

Then I got smart and chopped them on a flexible cutting mat so that I could just dump them straight in the bowl without spilling.

I ended up using 2 sleeves of the Oreos. One whole row left for me to munch on this week :)

Mix the Oreos and the cream cheese up well!

Now...here is the GIVEAWAY part...

I love Pampered Chef's Small Scoop!! It is stainless steel so it goes straight in the dishwasher when you're done and will NOT rust. I use this to fill my mini-muffin tin, and keep my hands clean while making evenly-sized cookies or meatballs. I even use it to portion off homemade baby food before sticking in the freezer in lieu of an ice cube tray. I thought this would be the perfect Christmas giveaway since everyone is making a lot of cookies this time of year! If you already have one... well it would look super cute in someone else's stocking!

*Details on entering at end of post*

So I used the scoop to shape the mixture into evenly sized little balls

Lined them on parchment paper on a cookie sheet

1 package of cream cheese and 2 sleeves of Oreos = exactly 31 Truffles

Then I decided to put some festive sprinkles on them... my girlfriend Kelly dips these in melted chocolate and they are amazing! She used orange food coloring in melted white chocolate to make some super cute truffles for Halloween. So cute, but I was just trying to get these out the door, so I skipped that step!

Stick them in the fridge for about an hour... tell me these aren't cute

To enter the Small Scoop giveaway, simply leave a comment on THIS post (not facebook).

You must be a "Follower" to be eligible to win.

The contest will end quick this time! I (with the help of my fellow superheroes) will pick and announce a winner on Sunday, December 12th!

If you ENTER this contest, but do NOT win, you will still be eligible for 10% off this item!!!

Simply email me your interest at Hungrymomontherun@gmail.com on Sunday!

A Winner - Recipe

With the hustle and bustle of Halloween in the 'burbs... Thursday through Sunday was pretty crazy over here. Who would have known the massive amounts of effort it takes to get little people in costume and out the door??

So this morning, after Superman had chocolate for breakfast (great Mom over here), he donned a Batman mask to choose a winner for the Cut N Seal Givewaway. Batman was still sleeping soundly, surely hungover from his Halloween Sugar Rush, so Superman was happy to step in.

Names in the bowl...



Hi "Batman" ... make sure you hold onto this mask, it might come in handy if you ever want to rob a bank one day

The winner is....

Oops turn that around... Heather! From "The Crazy World of a Running Mom!"

Congrats Heather! Send me an email at HungryMomontheRun@gmail.com with your address so I can ship it over to you! Also, if you didn't win and would still like one, send me an email and I'll let you know how.

Well Heather's not the only winner around here. Laurie sent me a recipe this week for Enchilada Dip, I changed it around a bit based on what I had in the pantry, but it was DEVOURED in minutes. I brought it to a few Halloween get togethers this weekend and it was EASY and AWESOME. Healthy? Not so much. Addictive? YES. I made an extra large batch the second night and saved it to stuff in Enchiladas later this week one night for dinner.

Chicken Enchilada Dip

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded/chopped

16 oz of softened cream cheese

Enchilada sauce (Green enchilada sauce rocks, but who knew? Target is actually one of the only places you can find it. This particular time I only had red enchilada sauce, so I went with that)

1 can of Rotel

1 Jalapeno

Shredded Cheddar/Mexican Blend

Chop the jalapeno really small

Throw it in with the enchilada sauce, cream cheese and rotel

Mix it in with the chicken

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, then top with some cheese

Don't eat the whole thing by yourself!

And the winner is...

In go the names...



As promised, Superman was able to sneak away from very important superhero duties like destroying the toy room and tormenting his little brother, just long enough to make an appearance for the big drawing.

Batman officiated, to ensure there was no cheating.

And Superman chose...

a little closer...

Sadie's mommy! You win. Shoot me an email at hungrymomontherun@gmail.com so I can help you to redeem your $45 gift card toward any one of CSN's stores!

If you didn't win, don't be bummed! CSN emailed me about another giveaway opportunity and I'll be announcing my own Pampered Chef giveaway next week! Batman will be doing the draw next time, so maybe he'll bring you better luck :)

Crazy and Yummy Week Ahead...

Fall is in full swing and there is way too much going on. I need to get better about my meal plans again now that time is of the essence!

What's Up This Week for Hungry Mom...

Monday

Enchilada Frittata (tell me that's not fun to say)

Tuesday

Chicken/Spaghetti Squash (one of my faves, can't wait to post this)

Wednesday

Bringing dinner to two new moms, so I'm making a TON of this to feed three families

(mine included)

Thursday

Red Thai Veggie Curry (Trader Joe's sauce plus leftover veggies, its the easiest and the tastiest. Last night of track workouts so I want to come home to something delicious!!)

Friday

Trader Joe's Pizza Dough night

Saturday

Appetizer: Buffalo Chicken Bites for a Tailgate Party

(an Elina creation...can't wait to post these too, they rock)

What are you making this week??? Share! Don't forget to check back Thursday to see who Superman picked to win the CSN giveaway!

My First Giveaway!

So imagine my excitement when I recieved an email from CSN Stores requesting that I do a giveaway on my blog?? I was shocked that this humble little blog, which I started as a way to catalog recipes for myself, was even a blip on their radar. In fact, when I first saw the email I almost immediately deleted it as spam! But after doing a bit of research, it seems that CSN is actually more than legit... they are enormous. They run over 150 "niche" stores on the internet and are one of the fastest growing online internet retailers in the country! So basically with this $45 giftcard I'm giving away, you can buy just about any little thing your heart desires. Seriously, from a bistro set, like the one I'm sitting at right now with my cup o' Joe, to a yoga mat, to dog food!

It's pretty awesome that they are giving me the opportunity to share more with you than just recipes... now I can give you some free mula!! And who doesn't like free mula.

SO here are the THREE things you'll need to do to enter the giveaway for $45 to a CSN online store...

1. Become a follower of this blog
2. Leave a comment on THIS posting that you are entering the contest and that you are a follower of this blog
3. Kiss your computer screen for luck. This is very important

Thats it. Very simple. The contest will end 3 WEEKS from now, on the last day of the month. The winner will be chosen at random... ie, superman picking your name out of a bowl.

Good luck!!