Goat cheese is definitely a type of cheese that had never made it to our table in 18+ years, until the end of 2011.  Chavrie, the #1 go-to folks for America’s freshest goat cheese, sent my family some to try and I have to say, I didn’t expect me or my bunch to like it all, but 3 of out 5 of us did.  Truett wasn’t a fan but he’s 5 and he has lots of time to acquire a taste for new foods.  The other was Toby, who is probably as picky as I am but the main reason he wasn’t a fan was because of the pecans.  I should have taken that into consideration when I made it.

While I would consider goat cheese a food for the refined, I convinced myself not to be intimidated by it.  I looked in my fridge and pantry, thinking about how I could incorporate Chavrie authentically into our ranch style, family friendly menu.  I considered many things but decided on a finger food that I could serve up during holidays, get-togethers, and even for our Sunday Super Bowl party.    This really is very easy, very few ingredients, but there is a couple of things I’d change.

1) Instead of plopping a huge spoonful of the goat cheese spread on each slice of pretzel roll, I’d spread a thinner layer.

and

2) I’d probably bake for even longer to allow the pretzel roll slices to crust up a bit.  Although, I’m not sure how that would effect the goat cheese spread.

With that said, here is how I decided to use the Chavrie goat cheese.

I took the Chavrie Original 5.3oz package, mixed with honey and a few finely chopped pecans, and spread over slices of pretzel rolls.  I just baked until the roll slices were warm.  I used Sister Shubert’s Pretzel Rolls and sliced them into 4 pieces. Don’t ask me amounts because to be quite honest, I didn’t measure the honey at all. I just poured

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

This is a fantastic giveaway that includes lovely Crate and Barrel items and Chavrie Goat Cheese goodies.

This list is as followed:

• Crate and Barrel Sweets Pedestal $24.95
• Crate and Barrel 5-piece Mixing Bowl Set $34.96
• Crate and Barrel French Wire Wisk $10.95
• Crate and Barrel Set of 4 Magnetic Measuring Cups $9.95
• Crate and Barrel Set of 4 Magnetic Measuring Spoons $7.95
• Chavrie Fresh Goat Cheese Coupons
• Chavrie Dessert Recipes
• For the Love of Goat Cheese Cookbooks

———->To enter this giveaway, you simply need to answer the following question (this is required to be entered):

Which recipe would you make if you won this fabulous prize package?

Be sure to pay the kind sponsor of the giveaway a visit too!

Chavrie’s website

Chavrie’s Facebook page  They have a coupon on there too!

Chavrie’s Twitter page

This giveaway ends on February 9th, about 4pm CST.  In full disclosure, Chavrie sent me the same prize package, as well as, sponsored this giveaway.  All opinions are my own.

The other day I was in Subway getting a footlong Subway Club for Toby when I look up and see BBQ Pulled Pork!! I knew instantly that this was gonna be something my cowboys would LOVE and was thrilled to try it out. It was FABULOUS and I had it put on flat bread which was heaven! If you haven’t tried it, you should.

Subway wants to know your personality! Are you spicy? Saucy? or a Wiener?  HAHHAHAHA..okay, that was last one was mine!  Right now, you can go find our your BBQ personality and be entered to win a Subway catered BBQ party for you and your friends. How awesome would that be?!

WIN A SUBWAY PRIZE PACK!

The Prize:

• $200 Subway Card
• Cameron Stovetop Smoker
• A sample pack of the most popular flavors of hardwood chips

One winner will win the above prize package and here’s how!

HOW TO ENTER

Required Entry: Head on over to the Subway Facebook page to see what your BBQ personality is.  Come back to this post and tell me what your personality was!

Additional optional entries, leaving all in separate comments to count:

• Join the My Wooden Spoon’s Facebook Community.  I’m always giving freebies like ecookbooks over there!
• Follow @ACowboysWife on Twitter and tweet this giveaway with the URL to this post! (DAILY ENTRY)
• Subscribe to my feed via RSS or email. You must confirm your email subscription for it to be a valid entry! Coming soon, there will be special giveaways JUST for email subscribers! If you’re already a subscriber, simply leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve already subscribed.

This giveaway ends at 6:00 p.m. CST on 8/13/2011 and is open to all U.S. residents.

Disclosure: Subway sent me the same prize package for my efforts to create this post and providing the prize so that I can share the goodies with some of you!  As always, my opinions are my own. 

Can you imagine cake and ice cream all in one?  Well yeah, if you’ve bought an ice cream cake then perhaps you can, but I can’t store those things in my fridge so when I learned that Blue Bunny & Chef Duff Goldman partnered up to create FABULOUS cake ice cream, I knew it was meant for me.  You can see their commercial for it here.

If you happen to live in a closet and don’t know who Chef Duff is, well, he’s the man from the awesome Ace of Cakes.   When I saw the flavors, I was drooling already.

The four flavors are:

Red Carpet Red Velvet Cake
Red velvet cake flavored ice cream swirled with cream cheese frosting flavored ice cream and red velvet cake pieces.

Chocolate Lovers Triple Chocolate Cake
Decadent chocolate ice cream served up with fudgy chocolate cake pieces and dressed in ribbons of thick, chocolate frosting.

I Do! I Do! Wedding Cake
Celebrate the marriage of sweet buttercream frosting ice cream and white cake pieces all wrapped up in delicate ribbons of raspberry sauce.

Strawberries are Forever Shortcake
The sweet taste of strawberry ice cream and real strawberries mixed with pound cake pieces and swirls of whipped cream frosting.

We gathered the fixins’ and Truett went wild!! All I could hear was him saying “mmm, mmmm, mom this is good, mmmmm, mmmm”  LOL  It was really cute!  When he was done, he rubbed his belly with happiness.  Blue Bunny sent me the ice cream flavors, the ice cream scoop and the napkins.  I got the Blue Bunny bowls from a blogger conference I attended one year.  When you put ice cream in them, they change colors! It makes it really fun for kiddos!

OH MY GOSH…AMAZING!!!!  We started with the Red Carpet Red Velvet Cake and man was it wonderful!!!!  Tasted exactly like a perfectly baked red velvet cake…only it was cold.  HEAVEN!  You got bits of cake in just about every bite. SOOOOO GOOD Y’ALL!!

So far all 3 flavors I’ve tried have been so dang delicious.  I haven’t tried the wedding cake but oh my goodness, can you just imagine how divine that will be?    I’m absolutely looking forward to that moment.

WANNA WIN SOME BLUE BUNNY BUCKS?!!

5 winners will receive a couple of Blue Bunny Bucks.  Bunny Bucks are a certificate for free Blue Bunny product at any retailer.   This will allow you to try the product and fall in love with it.

HOW TO ENTER

Required: Leave a comment telling me which one you want to try!!  I would absolutely LOVE to see a Pineapple Upside Down Cake creation!!!

Additional, optional entry methods, leaving each one in a separate comment to count:

• Join the My Wooden Spoon’s Facebook Community.  I’m always giving freebies like ecookbooks over there!
• Follow @ACowboysWife on Twitter and tweet this giveaway with the URL to this post! (DAILY ENTRY)
• Subscribe to my feed via RSS or email. You must confirm your email subscription for it to be a valid entry! If you’re already a subscriber, simply leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve already subscribed.

This giveaway ends at 6:00 p.m. CST on 6/21 and is open to all U.S. residents 18 years or older.  You can read rules here and visit the winner’s page here.

Disclosure: Blue Bunny sent me the ice cream for review, as always, my opinions are my own.  They are also providing the prize so that I can share the goodies with some of you!

With Father’s Day around the corner, I wanted to offer you guys a chance to win a $50 gift card from Dick’s Sporting Goods!  There’s a whole bunch of things that a fella would want from exercise gear to fishing supplies to NFL goodies.  Last I heard, there were closing the deal on the NFL so maybe we’ll have a season after all.

HOW TO ENTER:

Required: Leave a comment telling me what you’d pick out yourself from Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Additional, optional entry methods, leaving each one in a separate comment to count:

• Join the My Wooden Spoon’s Facebook Community.  I’m always giving freebies like ecookbooks over there!
• Follow @ACowboysWife on Twitter and tweet this giveaway!
• Subscribe to my feed via RSS or email. You must confirm your email subscription for it to be a valid entry! If you’re already a subscriber, simply leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve already subscribed.

This giveaway ends at 6:00 p.m. CST on 6/17 and is open to all U.S. residents 18 years or older.  You can read rules here and visit the winner’s page here.

I’ve talked about Propel for a long time and when Propel Zero came out, I was even more excited because this one contained the same natural fruit flavor, full of vitamins, but has NO calories!  And when you’re like me, drinking it in place of anything else, those 0 calories make a big difference.  I’m excited share their current sweepstakes with you where you can win a year’s supply of Propel Zero and also host a giveaway for a gift kit!  Read on y’all!

For 2011, Propel Zero is giving away 3 million samples in Walmart stores across the country from March 19th to April 24th in conjunction with a sweepstakes to win a year’s supply of Propel Zero. To enter that particular sweepstakes:

1. Attend a Walmart sampling date at your local store.
2. Snap a photo of yourself with your favorite Propel Zero flavor at a sampling event (or wherever you happen to be).
3. “Like” Propel Zero on Facebook.
4. Upload your photo to the Propel Zero Facebook wall and answer the question: “I stay active by… ” (running, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, taking my dog for a walk, etc.).
5. Fill out the sampling form and let them know A Cowboy’s Wife sent you.
6. Check back to find out who won April 29th!

MY PROPEL ZERO GIFT KIT GIVEAWAY

In the mean time, you can also enter MY giveaway here at My Wooden Spoon for a chance to win a Propel Zero Gift Kit.  There will be 10 winners!!!!  WOOHOO!  Gift Kits include (and is featured in the photo above):

• (2) 20-oz. bottles of Propel Zero
• Propel Zero t-shirt
• (3) FREE Single-Serve Propel Zero coupons
• Drawstring Backpack

TO ENTER

Required entry: Leave a comment here on this post telling me how YOU stay active.  Are you a runner?  Do you workout regularly? Play Sports?  What do you do?

Additional, optional entry options, leaving each one you’ve done in a separate comment to count:

• Join the Propel Zero Facebook Community and  My Wooden Spoon’s Facebook Community.
• Follow @ACowboysWife and @nowpropelled on Twitter and tweet the following. You may do this daily!

Enter to win 1 of 10 @nowpropelledGift Kits from @ACowboysWife: http://mywoodenspoon.com/propel-zero-gift-kits-giveaway-10-winners/

• Subscribe to my feed via RSS or email. You must confirm your email subscription for it to be a valid entry! If you’re already a subscriber, simply leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve already subscribed.

This giveaway ends at 6:00 p.m. CST on 4/24 and is open to all U.S. residents 18 years or older.  You can read rules here and visit the winner’s page here.

Do y’all remember when I talked about New West KnifeWorks last?  I was making my MIL’s squash goulash and slicing up the squash with them.  Let me tell you, these are beautiful knives and MAN are super sharp!!  And if the title didn’t get your attention, I want to stress “Made in the USA” because I know that sustainability and buying things made here in our homeland is very important to many of you.

New West KnifeWorks recently moved manufacturing from Japan to Shelburne Falls, Massachussetts. Prior to the move, the handle materials were produced in Vermont, shipped to Japan, and the finished product shipped to Wyoming. Now, the ‘Fusionwood’ is sustainably harvested and crafted in Vermont, then shipped 103 miles to Shelburne Falls. The move has reduced New West’s carbon footprint by 90%.

I personally think it’s an awesome move for New West KnifeWorks and I don’t know about you, but I love buying things that are made here in our great USA!  If you wanna a chance at winning a knife, scroll on down for my giveaway or sign up for the New West KnifeWorks newsletter before May 25th and you’ll be entered.

You know what I love about this Santoku knife?  First of all, the craftsmanship of the handle is just beautiful.  I love seeing all the rich colors blend together to make this gorgeous “rainbow” colored handle.  And talk about sharp….good lord these knives are sharp.  I always find slicing rings of onions difficult because no knife is ever sharp enough but all my New West KnifeWorks knives have handled the task extremely well. Truett wanted an orange so I cut up one for him.  That was like slicing butter.

Since my husband often builds bits, buckles, and spurs with steel, I’ve learned the differences between good and great steel.  These are outstanding.  You can see obvious visual differences when comparing the blade of this knife to other brands and there is absolutely no contest.   New West KnifeWorks wins hands down.

WIN YOUR OWN CHOPPER KNIFE!

Required Entry: Visit the New West KnifeWorks website, come back here and leave a comment on this post telling me which knife tickles your fancy.

Additional, optional entries, leaving each one in a separate comment:

• Answer this question:  Does the “Made in the USA” and sustainable factors matter to you? Why or why not? Leave your answer in a comment.
• “Like” New West KnifeWorks on Facebook. Come back here and tell me that you did (and your username).
• If you signed up for their newsletter, let me know what name you signed up under.
• Share via social networks like Twitter and Facebook.  Come back here and share your username.  You can do this DAILY PER SOCIAL NETWORK.

Giveaway ends on March 27th at about 10pm CST.  Good luck!

With two strong teens and a pre-k’r, we go through a lot of milk. My boys love nothing more than a tall glass of milk in the evening after a long day.  You know what I love? That it’s good for them. With all the hustle and bustle of school, athletics, chores, running around, and working, you know that kids aren’t getting all the nutrients they need.  It’s great to know that milk fills that gap and with just one more serving, they are filling that nutrient void.  You can read more about the study and facts here.

Here are some ways to get that extra serving!

• Pouring a glass of lowfat milk with every meal
• Pouring milk on your cereal or oatmeal in the morning
• Enjoying a skim latte
• Whipping up a smoothie made with lowfat milk and fruit

WIN FREE MILK FOR A YEAR!

Thanks to fine folks of ‘got milk?’, one winner will have the chance to win free milk for a year in the form of 52 coupons.   But that’s not all.  I will also be awarding 3 winners their own Pour One More Bowl and Tumbler set!  That’s a total of 4 winners!

TO ENTER

Required entry: In a comment below, share one way that you’ll fit that extra serving of milk into the everyday happenings.

Additional, optional entries, leaving each one in a separate comment to count please:

• Take 1 minute to ‘Pass a Glass‘.  $1 goes to the Feeding America organization and trust me, every single $1 counts!  Come back here and tell me that you did this.  You can do this DAILY!
• Share via Twitter or Facebook.  Come back here and tell me what you did.  You may share once per day, per social network.

Giveaway ends on March 20th at about 10pm CST.  Good luck and thanks for entering.

Time savers and convenience go hand in hand these days don’t they?  Dreyer’s ice cream has made things a little easier for you with their  Edy’s Shakes & Smoothies in a cup.  All you need is a 1/3 cup of milk and a spoon to stir!  You should know that this product is exclusive to Walmart.

This is a great fix and alternative to dragging out the blender to make a shake.  I found the portion size absolutely perfect and the whole a process a breeze.

Peel off foil and have your 1/3 cup of milk ready.

Pour milk in and stir…

Creamy chocolate shake!

Little cowboy enjoying chocolate shake!

The best part of all, is there’s really no cleanup. Toss and wash your spoon and viola!  The shakes come in Chocolate, Vanilla, and Cookies-n-Cream and the smoothies come in Strawberry Banana, Mixed Berry, and Tropical.  YUM!!

GIVEAWAY

One winner will receive a $100 Walmart gift card!  WOOT!

HOW TO ENTER

Required Entry: Leave a comment on this post telling me whether you prefer shakes or smoothies!

Additional, optional entries, leaving each one in a separate comment to count please:

• Share on twitter or facebook and come back here and tell me.  (2 per day)
• Upload a photo of you with the Edy’s (Dreyer’s) Shakes and Smoothies and I’ll give you a whopping 10 bonus entries!!  You can only do this once per person.  Upload your photo and add to the linky below. Remember, this is optional and no purchase is necessary.

This giveaway ends on February 21st, 2011 at about 10pm CST.  Good luck!

Disclosure: Compensated was provided for my time and efforts to create this post. All opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.  duh.

Update: Giveaway is over but please check out the app!  Thanks!

Truett is finally getting to the age where he can help in the kitchen more and with the help of an iPad food app and some kid friendly recipes, we are sure to create some memories!

Celebrity Chef Marcus Samuelsson has added to the already large selection of recipes by creating exclusive recipe content for the fantastic iPad app, Big Fork Little Fork. It’s an Apple iPad app that provides tools for kids to get them excited about food and help create family meals. I personally love every single thing about this app. They did a great job with it and not only does it capture my eye, my son loves the photos and game. He likes to pick different recipes and just look at them and he loves the game.

I created a video to give you a quick look at it but some of the things that I love are:

• Big photos
• Clear, bold steps and ingredient list
• Fun games to engage the kiddo and learn about food
• Shopping List
• Search
• Extremely user friendly
• Cool menu with photo icons
• EASY recipes with nutritional information
• Very cool videos (love the peeling vegetables one!!)

WIN AN IPAD!

To celebrate his efforts in creating these fabulous recipes, I’m giving away an iPad!  Thanks to Kraft Foods, I get to give you the chance to own one of the coolest gadgets around!  One winner will receive an Apple iPad 16GB, Wifi.

One lucky winner will win this fabulous iPad. I love mine and have no doubt that you will too!

TO ENTER:

Main Entry - Leave a comment below telling me what your ideal recipe/food app would be like?

Additional, optional entries, leaving each one in separate comment to count:

• What is your favorite thing about this Big Fork Little Fork food/recipe iPad app?  Leave a comment telling me below.
• Share on a social network like Twitter or Facebook and leave a comment telling me where, preferably with the link to it.  **DAILY ENTRY**
• Follow and/or “Like” Kraft Foods on Twitter and Kraft Foods on Facebook. come back here and tell me which one you did. If you did both, leave each one in a separate comment. (if you’re up to it, feel free to follow me on twitter and like My Wooden Spoon on Facebook)
• finally, go check out my recipe I submitted and if you like it, click “Like” it!  Thanks!  DAILY ENTRY

Giveaways ends on December 14th at about 10pm CST.   Good luck!

Have you seen the new Jimmy Dean Hearty Sausage Crumbles?  You know what it would be perfect in?  CHEESE DIP! And perfect for football!!

If you have your own original recipe idea using the Jimmy Dean Hearty Sausage Crumbles, then you might just win yourself a trip to New York City to see a live taping of Rachael Ray.   The winner will receive airfare and accommodations for two, as will one of the bloggers who are hosting this contest (there are 10 of us!!).  How? Because the blogger who brought in the winning recipe, will also win the same prize!!

I can think of a million ways to use this so I cannot wait to see who comes up with what!!! Jimmy Dean Hearty Sausage Crumbles are fully cooked and low carb! A great alternative to say…donuts? hehe

HOW TO ENTER:

1. You are to submit TWO recipes using the Jimmy Dean Hearty Sausage Crumbles.  One MUST be a breakfast recipe and the other recipe can be whatever you come up with!
2. Email your two recipes to crumblerumble@mww.com along with your contact information AND–>please mention that you saw this contest on My Wooden Spoon (it might help me win a trip to NYC too!!).

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN SUBMITTING

• Appeal: Does it sound good? Will it make readers want to try the recipe?
• Originality: Is the recipe itself new and/or creative? Does the recipe stand out?
• Use of Crumbles: Is it an appropriate use of the product? Do they use the sausage well or in an innovative way in the recipe?
• Simplicity and Ease: Is the recipe easy to follow? Is the prep time reasonable? Ease of prep. Are the ingredients easy to find? Is the ingredient list reasonable?
• Clarity and accuracy: Accuracy of the recipe. Clarity in the ingredient list (i.e. if onions are listed, state whether they are red, yellow, pearl, green, white that are called for in the recipe); clarity in the production steps (i.e. if something is cut, approximately
• what size: roughly chopped, minced, small dice, etc.); Steps written and/or numbered in a logical sequence.

Entry is open from 10/25 – 11/26 and judging by Sara Lee chefs and the winner will be notified by 12/3/10

I’d love to hear your ideas and thoughts about the Jimmy Dean Crumbles but remember, official entries must be emailed to count.  Good luck y’all!!  I can’t wait to see the winning recipe!

Jimmy Dean on Facebook where by the way, if you “Like” them, you can get a coupon for $1 off any Jimmy Dean Product!!!  AWESOME!

Official Rules