*drool*  You must read more……………

Okay, so apparently beer is not a popular ingredient these days! I listened to all your feedback and have changed a few things up. I really appreciate every comment, suggestion, and even criticism because it helps me make things like this challenge more fun, easier, and just plain better.  So with that, here are two changes I’m making.

1) There will either only be one required ingredient or a theme each month.   Because I am completely uncreative, I completely understand when you tell me that you can’t think of something that uses all the ingredients.  I get it.

2) No voting.  There will be a judge who will pick the grand prize winner.  I hate voting contests and should have known better so thank you for speaking up and reminding me of it.

3) And finally, this post is the last one that will have all the rules and fine print. Future food challenges will focus on the ingredient/them and the entries and will link back to the rules and such. I realize it’s a lot to read and who has time to look through it every time right?

Thanks for the feedback y’all! Now that we got that out of the way, let’s get this thing started!

**You DO NOT have to be a blogger to enter. There will be a form that non-bloggers can fill out to enter their recipe so everyone is welcomed to join in!  I really want ot see everyone participate!

ABOUT THE FOOD CHALLENGE

Participants will be asked to create an original recipe using the required ingredient/theme in the current month’s challenge.  Participants will need to follow all the rules below.

FEBRUARY’S FOOD CHALLENGE

There is only one ingredient for February’s challenge and that is SUGAR!

DEADLINE

Recipe submission deadline is February 28th, 2011 at 12pm CST.

THE RULES

• You must use the required ingredient (or theme) given in the challenge with any other ingredients you want.
• A photo is required of the final dish.
• Would love for all bloggers  participating to provide a link back to the homepage or to the Food Challenge post.  Grab code is available for you to use if you like.  All bloggers will need to leave their entry link in the linky below.
• Standard Giveaway rules do not apply to any of the food challenges.  These are the rules for this.

Winner will be announced win the next Food Challenge begins!

THE PRIZE & SPONSOR

The winner of the Food Challenge for February wins  a $100 eGift Card from Cooking.com

If you would like to sponsor a Food Challenge month, you can email me at sponsor@mywoodenspoon.com with food challenge in the subject.

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*NONBLOGGERS -If you do not have a blog but want to participate, you may submit your recipe here if you don’t have a place to upload your photo (or know how).  Flickr and Photobucket are great thought if you do want to have your own place to upload photos. Then you can just upload, write the recipe with your photo and grab the URL and add to the linky.  Either way, I’ll help you all I can.

*BLOGGERS -Leave the url to your recipe in the linky below.

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Good luck to all who enter! Can’t wait to see your recipe creations!

I reserve the right to cancel if there are less than 10 entries.

The New Year always brings a fresh start doesn’t it?  This year, I’ve vowed to get fit and while I’ll still be enjoying all of my favorite food items (with portion control), I’ll be adding a few healthier alternatives to the mix as well.

I have no clue how that ice cream got in there but it’s totally not for me;)  As you can see, I’m adding Cheerios, Special K, Yoplait yogurt in yummy flavors for little man and Dannon Activia for myself.  Also bought, Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, and Extra Fruit Sensations Gum.  WOOHOO!!!  I truly believe every small change helps and that is my goal for the year, baby steps to a healthier me.

On my personal blog, I shared my weight loss fitness goals and you can’t have one without the other so I’ll be sharing my food goals here with you guys.  I’ll be using a Food Tracker to get a better of idea of what I’m eating and soaking in every single healthy eating tip I can.

First thing in the morning, I’ll be starting with Cheerios.

What will you be having for breakfast? And do you have any eating changes planned for this year?

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our ideas and tips for a healthier you! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

I get tons of traffic during the holidays because of everyone searching for food to cook during the holidays.  I thought I’d round a few of my most popular ones for reference for everyone.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!!

THE BEST DINNER ROLLS EVER!

HOMEMADE BANANA PUDDING

HOMEMADE PANCAKES

BACON WRAPPED STUFFED WITH CREAM CHEESE JALAPENOS

BEST OATMEAL CAKE EVER

HOMEMADE CREAMED CORN

TOMATO CUCUMBER SALAD

CHOCOLATE SHEET CAKE

PEA SALAD

Best Homemade Fudge EVER!!!

What are you guys making for the holidays??

I have a recipe for handmade flour tortillas but I’m asked on many occasions if I could make a video to show how I do it.  Sometimes seeing the procedure in action will help someone “get it” more than photos can.  Enjoy!

Do you make tortillas from scratch? And if so, how often?

When you live out on the ranch and miles away from town, having fresh food isn’t usually feasible unless you’re growing your own garden or making everything from scratch and while I’d like to do both, my green thumb is black and I don’t have time do to homemade all the time.

I had actually seen the Marketside products many many times at Walmart but had only bought the large 16″ pizzas. We loved those a great deal but I had never really considered buying anything else. Don’t ask me why, cause I really don’t know.

On Tuesday, we actually had the pizzas but different styles and in thin crust. I’m normally not a fan of thin crust but me and the boys thought it was really good and we didn’t feel so full at the end that we were gonna bust our jeans, like you do with thick crust! lol We added the ceasar salad to have a little balance in the meal and oh.my.gosh. Those croutons were so buttery and fresh tasting!!!! I wish you could taste one right now. My husband who always eats croutons even took notice and he’s a quite man when it comes to food. Truett loved the lettuce so much that he actually ate more salad than pizza!! I must be doing something right in that boy’s raising!

On Wednesday we had the Marketside Soups, Fresh Artisan bread, and threw in more salad.   I fell in LOVE with the Loaded Bake Potato Soup and the Chicken Tortilla Soup.  TO DIE FOR!   I love bread so much.  The bread was really good and fresh.  Slice it up and add a dab of butter and your in heaven. One of the things I noticed every time I opened the soup up, even before being heated up, was the smell of the ingredients.  You can literally smell the herbs and all.  SO fresh.  The soups are my favorite by far!

On Thursday, we had Marketside’s Fresh Pasta and veges.  Wow…the three cheese tortelloni was amazing!!! And the Spinach Ravioli was sooo good!!  The sauces were a perfect match but those steamed vegetables really knocked my socks off.  I had the ravioli with a dash of Parmesan Cheese (I use Great Value) and it was a very filling and delicious meal.

On Friday, ate some of the Marketside dips. Probably the fave around here was the Chipotle Ranch Dip. My boys really liked it. I thought the Buttermilk Ranch Dip was good too but I’m not a big fan of ranch…just my guys are.  We also decided to just have a salad and went Southwestern!  The salads come complete with toppings and dressing. You only need to buy the bag and you’re ready to eat!

Overall, all the food was really great. I’ll definitely be buying the soups, bread, salads and pasta…pizza.  The dips were good but I think that we’d only buy those during football or when hosting a get-together.  We are just not big dip eaters.

I have to say, it really did all taste VERY fresh.  Sometimes you hear fresh and wonder but when I could smell separate ingredients….it was just awesome. And even in that Southerwestern Salad, you could smell whatever seasoning was in those strips.  We added tomatoes to all the salads except the Caesar.  One of the salads did have tomatoes but they weren’t just wonderful. They were ok.

Other than that, I give the Marketside brand two thumbs up for holding it’s reputation for being fresh.  Tons of flavor going on everywhere.

Have you tried any of the Marketside products? At our Walmart, they are by the Deli section!

Disclosure: Compensation and product has been provided by Walmart for my time and efforts to review the Marketside products. All opinions are my own, always have been, always will be. WE LOVE FOOD!  Check out what my fellow Walmart Moms have to say about them if you get a chance!

Oh man, I was completely uncreative with list of ingredients for this week’s Meal Solutions.  And the thing that irks me most, is that once I just decided to cook it like normal, I realized what I should have made!  If I could go back and change it up, I would have made Chicken Spaghetti.  <–Now THAT is good stuff y’all! My mom makes the best. I did see this Spaghetti with Calamari that my husband would probably LOVE to eat!

Don’t forget to check out my previous Meal Solution ideas where I was a bit more creative!

The ingredient list for this week’s Meal Solution was:

• Ragu Traditional Sauce (26 oz) $1.75
• Great Value Spaghetti (16 oz) $0.89
• Great Value Grated Parmesan (8 oz) $2.73
• Great Value Mushroom Pieces/Stems (4 oz) $0.55
• Great Value Cut Green Beans (14.5 oz) $0.50
• Great Value Whole Kernel Corn (14.5 oz) $0.50
• Sara Lee Garlic Bread $3.22

It’s your basic Spaghetti ingredients and as you can see, very budget friendly.

WHAT I USED

I basically only used the Ragu, Spaghetti, Grated Parmesan, Corn, and Mushrooms. I could not find the Sara Lee Garlic Bread at our store and they were out of the other Texas Toast I normally buy so I ended up not using any bread.  Corn is our second pick for spaghetti. We usually use a bag of great value cauliflower.

MY MEAL SOLUTION

All I did was add ground beef. I know, so original right. ugh. I hate that I didn’t think to do Chicken Spaghetti first!!! Nevertheless, it was tasty and the boys scarfed it down.  Truett loves to eat spaghetti and insists on teaching us all how to suck in each strand of spaghetti the correct way.  All I can say about that is that at least he was  only wearing underwear because he was covered and went straight to the bath tub!

I’d love to know what YOUR meal solution would be. Do you have a great chicken spaghetti recipe? What would you do to change it up, or would you just leave it the same?

If you want to see how other Walmart Moms put a twist on their meal solutions, check out Denise from Wholesome Mommy,  Jenn at Frugal Upstate, and Heather at Domestic Diva.

Disclosure: Walmart has provided me with compensation and a gift card in return for this post. Participation in this program is voluntary.  All opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.  Read my full disclosure and blogging ethics. There will be more meal solution posts to come so be on the lookout!

I know from experience how chaotic & busy life can be and trying to find something to make for supper should be at least one thing you don’t have to worry about.   Walmart wants to help with their new Meal Solutions and as a Walmart Mom, I’m here to give you my take and spin on the meal solution that works for our family.   Having such a diverse group of friends and readers, I’ve learned that there are a million different things you can to do to recreate a meal.

First off, the list of foods that Walmart gave for this particular meal solution are:

• Manwich Original Sloppy Joes 26.5 oz for $2.12
• Lipton (Knorr) Rice Sides, Cheddar Broccoli 5.4 oz for $1.00
• Great Value Hamburger Buns 12 oz $1.06
• Lipton (Knorr) Rice Sides, Chicken 5.45 oz for $1.00
• Kraft Velveeta Shells & Cheese 12 oz $1.75
• Bush’s Original Baked Beans 16 oz $.94

Now by just looking at the ingredients, you can clearly see that there isn’t any vegetables involved (aside from the bits of broccoli in the Rice Sides & beans–are beans a vegetable? hehe), which is a problem for us. I always have a good helping of vegetables in every single meal I make so I needed to find a way to incorporate those.  I also see that if I choose to pick the Cheddar & Broccoli Rice Side, then I probably don’t need another helping of Velveeta Shells & Cheese.

PRODUCTS I’M OMITTING

For my meal solution, I will be not using the Kraft Velveeta Shells & Cheese or the Lipton Rice Sides, Chicken.

I will be using the Manwich, the Great Value Buns, the Lipton Rice Sides-Cheddar Broccoli, and the Bush’s Beans.  We have NEVER had Manwich to be honest.  We’ve always made our sloppy joes with ketchup and mustard with a little salt & pepper and seems to be quite popular here in the Falcon home so I wanted to not mess with our sloppy joe tradition so I found a new way to use the Manwich.

MY MEAL SOLUTION

SLOPPY JOES with ROAST

Ingredients

• Can of Manwich
• Roast (we use a 5lb roast)
• Water and Salt & Pepper
• Great Value Hamburger Buns
• Butter

Directions

1. Add a roast to a crock pot.  I used a 5lb roast to have plenty for leftovers.  Add the can of Manwich, some water to cover, and a little salt & pepper. Cover and cook on low or high until done.  We wanted it for lunch the next day so started it late at night, placed on high and cooked overnight.
2. Right before you are ready to serve the roast, butter & toast the Great Value Hamburger Buns on both sides.  (I sprayed with Smart Butter)

Serve your sloppy joe roast on the toasted buns.

LIPTON RICE SIDES, CHEDDAR & BROCCOLI and CAULIFLOWER

Ingredients

• Lipton Rice Sides, Cheddar & Broccoli
• A bag of frozen broccoli or broccoli & cauliflower mix.

1. Cook the Lipton Rice Sides just like the directions call for except add more broccoli.  I chose to add Great Value’s Broccoli & Cauliflower mix to it.  For two bags of Rice & Sides, I added a whole 16 oz. bag.

You can see the added vegetables. It’s a great way to sneak a few more in and since it’s mixed with rice & cheese, the kids won’t even notice.

Serve both with Bush’s Baked Beans, warmed.

So as you can see, I still used the ingredients they provided for their meal solution but added a couple of twists to the actual sloppy joes and the Rice Sides.

I’d love to know what YOUR meal solution would be. What would you do to change it up?

If you want to see how other Walmart Moms put a twist on their meal solutions, check out Denise from Wholesome Mommy,  Jenn at Frugal Upstate, and Heather at Domestic Diva.

Disclosure: Walmart has provided me with compensation and a gift card in return for this post. Participation in this program is voluntary.  All opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.  Read my full disclosure and blogging ethics. There will be more meal solution posts to come so be on the lookout!

With football season in full bloom, your home has now become the stomping grounds for Sunday Football.  Food is huge component of that celebration and around here, we like finger foods vs. a meal.   I am a dedicated football fan so the last thing I want to do is cook all day. I want to be sitting on the couch, yelling at the TV and jumping up and down when a touchdown is scored so I try to come up with super easy appetizer like food for everyone to grab during game time.

This time around, I decided to let my crew have a say in what I fixed. I asked each of them what they wanted for an afternoon of football and they each had an answer.  Now to get all of that at a good price.  THAT is the challenge!  I headed to Walmart of course with my list in hand.  Items bought were:

• 1 Family size of Fritos
• 1 smaller Great Value bag of Fritos
• 1 lb of jalapenos
• 1 big can of Wold Brand Chili
• 1 can of Rotel
• 1 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew
• 2 lb of Oscar Mayer Bun Length Franks
• 1 sour cream
• 1 package of lil smokies
• 2 packages of Kraft Phildelphia Cream Cheese
• 1 package of Velveeta Slices
• 2 packages of Pillsbury Butter Crescents
• 2 packages of JM/Rath Bacon
• 1 box of Capri Sun
• 1 gallon of sweet tea
• 6 pack of Dr. Pepper
• 2 packages of Great Value Hot Dog Buns

Total price for all was $41.82! I kept it under $50!  Not too bad considering how much my guys can eat! Plus, there’s plenty for their friends that they invite over for the game!  That also leaves me a tad over $8 bucks to play with.

Stay tuned to see how I put it all together, including links to creative invitation ideas, the best football movies ever, halftime games,  and more!   Be sure to check out Walmart’s Game Time Kids Crafts! I love the homemade pennants!

What are some of your favorite football foods and who’s your favorite team?

*Disclosure: I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program. Walmart has provided me with compensation and a gift card in return for this post. Participation in this program is voluntary. All opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

I’m super busy at the moment so for now, you get to see fabulous finds from other food blogs!  Enjoy and have a great day!

My favorite is Cat’s Cake…I think Wilton would be proud don’t ya think? You MUST go read the entire post.  Great stuff!

Up next is Shaina’s Grilled Artichokes.  I remember the first time I had artichokes…I just knew I’d gag but ended up LOVING them.  Fan for life now.  Never thought about grilling them.

I LOVE these Baseball Foods-Babe Ruth Bars and Baseball Cupcakes, found over at Hoosier Homemade!!!  Too fun!

And my girl Jill is always making delicious food. This Corn and Quinoa Salad with Lemony Mint Dressing is perfect for Summer time!

Finally we have Gluten Free Blueberry Cobbler!  YUM!  I know there are lots of requests for gluten free recipes and this is your blog to go to for that!

enjoy!