KitchenAid Archives

Cooks for the Cure – @KitchenAidUSA and Susan G Komen for the Cure Team Up

June 27, 2012 by Momstart 8 Comments

What can YOU do to help?

Sometimes I find myself wishing that I was some amazing philanthropist. It’s not that I don’t already do things for good causes, donate to charity, or think of others. It’s just that I always feel like I could… and more important SHOULD do more. It seems like we always let so much life get in the way. I’m not pointing fingers… or if I am, it’s all pointing at me! Wouldn’t it be great if there was an easy way to help out? Good news for all of us – THERE IS!

Over the past decade, the partnership between Susan G. Komen for the Cure and KitchenAid (yes the company that makes the amazing kitchen products) has raised over $8 million. These funds have been raised through culinary based fundraising, events, auctions, and the sale of pink products. Usually you see the pretty pink utensils, kitchen gadgets, and small appliances floating around every October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We all know though, that awareness has to be a year round project.

So all of this talking and I still haven’t let you know what you can do to help. While I was at BlogHer Food in Seattle earlier this month, I heard about a great program that KitchenAid was doing. It’s called Cooks for the Cure. All you have to do host a party at your house between July 20 and July 29. Instead of guests bringing housewarming items, gifts, food, or wine, you ask them to bring a small donation for the Susan G Komen for the Cure to help in the fight against breast cancer.

That sounds easy enough, right? How many of us have guests over just for the fun of it? Turn that normal friendly gathering into a fun night that goes to support a great cause. Any party host that raises $50 or more will receive a free plate designed by Jacques Pepin in the mail, and anyone who hosts a party and registers it on our website will automatically be entered to receive the ultimate "thank you" from Jacques Pepin himself!

KitchenAid provided a ton of links for me to share with you in case you wanted to check out more information of the Cooks for the Cure program.

- – Cook for the Cure Information

- – Pass the Plate Information

– http://www.kitchenaid.com/rest/a_thousand_cooks.cmd – 1,000 Cooks for the Cure Information

You can also get the following information and guides for 1,000 Cooks for the Cure:

· Invitation Template (PDF)

· Donation forms (PDF)

· Party guide (PDF)

· Recipes (PDF)

· View Logos & Images

– – KitchenAid Pink Products

Is this something you’re interested in? Would you be willing to host a party to benefit Susan G Komen for the Cure? We’d love to hear about it if you are.

Meet Ashley (Managing Editor at MomStart): Ashley is a mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, and former teacher working to navigate through the mysterious world of Mommyia. Read more about her adventures at Momicles and follow her @Momicles2010.

Bloggie Boogie $500 Cash & Cook For the Cure KitchenAid 3.5 Cup Food Chopper Giveaway

July 16, 2011 by Momstart 1,612 Comments

Welcome to the Bloggie Boogie Back 2 School Giveaway. Together with The WiC Project and Barefoot Mommies and quite a few other bloggers (see below) we’re having a giveaway party with over $2300 in prizes up for grabs! One huge prize is 500.00 Cash from Save & Make Moola. But more about that later:

First, I want to introduce you to my sponsor. I’ve been working with KitchenAid, I adore KitchenAid. Just adore them, I have a KitchenAid dishwasher, mixer, blender (that I purchased myself), love love love. Oh and I love what they do for others. Have you heard about their 1000 Cooks for the cure? Basically, they are making it so easy and fun for you and me to raise money for the Susan G Komen foundation. You throw a party, a BBQ, something where people and food are involved and raise 50.00. Of course raising even more money would be fantastic. Then after you submit the donation, KitchenAid will give you a special Villeroy & Boch “Pass the Plate” serving platter (valued at $24.95) as a thank you by mail. But the plate keeps the donations going. Each time these individually numbered plates are registered and passed along to others, KitchenAid will make a $5 donation to Komen.

It’s all part of Cook for the Cure®, a partnership between Susan G. Komen 1,000 Cooks for the Cure. For other ways to participate, visit CookfortheCure.com. KitchenAid will donate a minimum of $450,000 to Komen in 2011. Cook for the Cure® is a registered trademark of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

For the giveaway they are providing us with a KitchenAid 3.5 cup food chopper.

About the KitchenAid 3.5 food chopper:

I have the details about the KitchenAid 3.5 Cup Food Chopper:

The new KitchenAid 3.5 cup Food Chopper is a simple one tock operation of Chop & Puree. Press down on either CHOP or the PUREE button located at the top of the chopper to process foods. Once you have the desired results, simply remove hand from the device. The KitchenAid Food Chopper is ideal for single serving sizes, chopped vegetables or pureeing dressing, sauces and making baby food. The KitchenAid Chopper also includes a wet ingredient adder. The no-spill wet ingredient adder opening located on the top of the food chopper incorporates additional ingredients while in use. It’s perfect for adding oil or broth to a pureed soup in progress. Best of all, it’s dishwasher safe.

The KitchenAid 3.5 cup food chopper giveaway has ended. Congratulations to Becky M.

All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

Visit www.saveandmakemoola.com to find the latest coupon codes and deals for your favorite online stores. Find out how SAMM can help you save and make moola.

The $500.00 Bloggie Boogie Giveaway has ended. See Barefoot Mommies Grand Prize Post for more information.

Visit all of these other wonderful sites that participated in the Bloggie Boogie Back 2 School Giveaway:

Barefoot Mommies Grand Prize Post

Join KitchenAid Cook For the Cure July 15-24, 2011

June 29, 2011 by Momstart 290 Comments

KitchenAid is all about cooking, every appliance and product they make helps you out in the kitchen. From the Mixer, to the spatula all the way to the dishwasher KitchenAid has you covered and they are also interested in our health by raising money for Susan G Komen.

You’re invited to help by becoming one of 1,000 cooks hosting cook for the cure parties around the country. Support the fight against breast cancer by inviting your friends and family for a summer party and instead of asking friends to bring wine or flowers, ask them to bring a small donation.

If your party is registered at CookfortheCure.com and raises more than $50, you will receive a special Villeroy & Boch “Pass the Plate” serving platter (valued at $24.95) as a thank you by mail upon after your donation as been received. With its charming artwork by PBS cooking show host Jacques Pépin, this platter WILL tempt you to keep it for yourself. But please don’t! It was designed to be “re-gifted” again and again along with a homemade culinary creation from the giver. Each time these individually numbered plates are registered and passed along to others, KitchenAid will make a $5 donation to Komen. This way your party keeps on giving. So you’ll have to remind your friends to keep the plate and to give it away again.

If you sign up to be a cook for the cure you can enter to win 100.00 Worth of KitchenAid Products.

This giveaway has ended. Congratulations to Katherine!

Be on the lookout for another great giveaway next month with KitchenAid here at MomStart.

Upside-Down Peach Cornbread Cakes Recipe

March 19, 2011 by Momstart 23 Comments

I’m still cooking my way through the KitchenAid Recipe Collections Cookbook and last week I made the family Upside-Down Peach Cornbread Cakes for dinner. My neighbor is always asking me what I’m making for dinner and he said, “you’re making dessert for dinner!!” and at first I didn’t think so. We’ve had cornbread for dinner before, I’m just adding peaches, and uh, yeah, sugar. So I did make dessert for dinner and it was pretty good. Not my favorite recipe, but the family loved it, my husband even ate it for leftovers, which just doesn’t happen in our house unless it’s really good. This recipe has my adaptations but is definitely inspired by the KitchenAid Recipe Collection .

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons margarine/butter divided
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar divided
2 jar of Del Monte Peaches drained and rinsed
2 packages Jiffy Cornbread Mix (the Jiffy containers are just the right size)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or use applesauce)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. I got out my Wilton Easter Muffin tin, but the directions say to use 8 (1-cup) ramekins [which at the time I had no idea what they were, turns out, I do actually have some Pirex Ramekins in my cabinet (oops)]Place 1/12 teaspoons butter and 1 tablespoon brown sugar in bottom of each ramekin. Divide 1 jar of peach slices equally among ramekins.

Whisk together cornbread mix, oil, eggs and milk in a large bowl. (I forgot this step and my cornbread was really dry so don’t forget to add the second jar of peaches). Stir in the peaches. Place ramekins on baking sheet. Pour 3/4 cup batter into each ramekin. Bake 20 minutes or until golden and toothpick inserted into centers until they come out clean. Let cool 5 minutes. Run knife around edges of ramekins. Invert cakes onto serving plates.

Cinnamon French Toast Casserole Recipe

March 13, 2011 by Momstart 21 Comments

Again, my neighbor said, you’re having dessert again. Yes, we’re having dessert again for dinner. We’ll stop having dessert for dinner when I finish cooking my way through the breakfast section of the KitchenAid Recipe Collection Cookbook . I love French Toast so I was really excited to try this, but it turned out to have more of a texture like a quiche than French Toast, maybe I didn’t add the right amount of bread, I didn’t have room for all of it so I left some of the bread out. You’ll find that I’m an imperfect cook that almost always gets the recipe wrong the first time I make it, and this one, I really messed it up. It looked nothing like the photo in the book. You should go out and get this cookbook, try this recipe, and tell me how you did!! (remember, this recipe is adapted, as I couldn’t find my apple peeler)

Ingredients:

1 large loaf French bread cut into 1 1/2 slices
3 1/2 cups milk
9 eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 funny apples not peeled (get an apple corer and that’s how you make funny apples, my corer has lost it’s peeling blade)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

Place the French bread in a 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish

Whisk the milk, eggs, 1 cup granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl until well mixed. Next, pour half of the mixture over the bread. Then pull the funny apples apart, or cut them in half and it will fall apart. Places the slices you now have over the bread. Pour the remaining half of egg mixture over the apples.

Combine the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in small bowl; sprinkle over the casserole. Cover your creation and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake uncovered 1 hour or until eggs are set.

Orange Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

March 7, 2011 by Momstart 54 Comments

After enjoying a few recipes from the KitchenAid Recipe Collections Cookbook we decided to try our hand at the Orange Cinnamon Rolls Recipe. My husband made them early on Saturday morning, using the bread machine to kneed the dough, and what a perfect creation for breakfast. These Orange Cinnamon Rolls were gone in a day and a half, I’m surprised we had that much resistance as they were delicious. I hope my husband makes them again soon.

Ingredients:

Dough:

1/4 cup warm water (100 degrees to 110 degrees)
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1/2 cup fat free milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour divided

Filling:

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons orange juice

Directions:

To prepare the dough, but all of the wet ingredients including the egg into the bread machine first. Then place the flour, salt, granulated sugar in the bread machine. Next make a small indention for the yeast and set the bread machine to dough and your good to go.

If you want to make them by hand follow these directions.

Combine water and yeast in a large bowl and let stand 5 minutes, stirring until yeast dissolves.

Then whisk the milk, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and salt in medium bowl; add yeast to mixture. Add 2 1/2 cups flour and stir until soft dough forms. Then knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about eight minutes (which is why I suggest using the bread machine). Keep slowly adding flour until it is no longer sticky.

Place the dough in a large bowl sprayed with cooking spray, turn over to coat all the dough with spray. Then cover it with a towel and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.

Now you can make the filling. Combine 1/3 cup granulated sugar, orange peel and cinnamon in small bowl. Coat 2 (8 inch) round cake pans with cooking spray. Divide dough into 2 portions. Working with 1 piece at a time, roll dough into 12 x 8 inch rectangle. Then brush with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Sprinkle half of filling mixture over dough. Roll up longwise into a jelly roll. Cut into 12 1 inch slices and arrange in the cake pan. Then repeat with the other half of the dough.

Next Cover the dough and lit it rise in warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover dough and bake for 18 minutes to 20 minutes or until rolls are golden brown. Then let them stand for 5 minutes on a wire rack to cool.

Prepare the glaze by combining powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon orange juice in a medium bowl. stirring to mix. Add remaining orange juice as needed only a few drops at a time until the mixture is easy to drizzle over the orange cinnamon rolls. Serve warm.

Making Classic Fettuccine Alfredo

February 28, 2011 by Momstart 13 Comments

We’ve been craving home made Fettuccine Alfredo for a few months now, but I didn’t have a recipe for the Alfredo sauce that I was happy with until I received the KitchenAid Recipe Collections Cookbook. Once I saw their photo and looked at all the ingredients I knew it was worth trying. Making Classic Fettuccine Alfredo is more difficult than it looks. I overcooked my sauce so the cheesy sauce was on the chunkier side instead of creamier side.

Ingredients:

12 ounces uncooked fettuccine
2/3 cup whipping cream
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
Generous dash of white pepper (black will do find but white makes the sauce look nicer)
Generous dash of nutmeg (this makes the sauce in my opinion)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1) Cook your fettuccine following the directions on the box (be sure to cook it first and set aside so you can focus on the sauce, the sauce is very delicate and hard to get right the first time).

2) Heat up the cream and the butter in a large sauce pan (the KitchenAid recipe book calls it a large heavy skillet) over medium-low heat. Heat until the butter melts and it becomes bubbly, stirring frequently. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in salt, white pepper and nutmeg (it helps to have everything ready and pre-measured). Remove from heat. Gradually stir in cheese until well blended and smooth. Return to heat briefly to completely blend cheese, if necessary. (Do not let it become bubbly after adding the cheese or it will become lumpy and tough and your husband will insist that you didn’t add enough cheese)

3) Pour the sauce over pasta. Cook and stir over low heat 2 to 3 minutes or until sauce thickens and pasta is evenly coated.

I may not have gotten the sauce right but it sure did taste really good. I’m going to attempt to make it again, one of my mistakes was the I had asparagus in the oven, and the pasta was done at the same time the sauce was, so the sauce was neglected at a critical time. Ooops, live and learn!

Yoplait Smoothies With a KitchenAid Blender #Giveaway #MyBlogSpark

November 11, 2010 by Momstart 785 Comments

A few months ago we had an excellent smoothie party. Zoe and Miles invited some friends over and we all had such a great time. For some of the smoothies we used the Yoplait Smoothie mix and it was then that I knew it would be a big hit. So when MyBlogSpark asked me if I wanted to work with them and KitchenAid and do a review I thought piece of cake!

As seen on The Biggest Loser, which airs on Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC, Yoplait Frozen Smoothies are also easy to make! To whip up perfectly blended smoothies in a snap, simply empty the package containing Yoplait frozen yogurt chips and frozen fruit into your blender, add skim milk, and blend. It’s that easy! You can even use the handy Smoothie button on your new 3-speed KitchenAid^® Blender, (included in your MyBlogSpark package) which blends ingredients at optimal speeds for deliciously smooth results. In just two minutes, you can enjoy a great tasting Yoplait Frozen Smoothie as a guilt-free breakfast, dessert or snack!

How to Make A Smoothie with a KitchenAid Blender:

Just open the package and dump into the blender. Then add 1 cup of milk and use the smoothie setting. I actually like to add twice as much milk as it asks for so that it’s not quite as thick. So use the milk to make it the thickness that you enjoy.

Each package of Yoplait Frozen Smoothies contains one full serving of fruit (1/2 cup) and only 110 to 120 calories per serving. In addition to containing live and active cultures provided by Yoplait® yogurt, when prepared with skim milk and made according to package directions, Yoplait Frozen Smoothies are also a good source of calcium.

I love how easy and quick they are to make. I also love how good they are for the kids and they love to drink them. So it’s a win win for me.

Don’t forget to visit Yoplait on Facebook and Yoplait on Twitter and “Like” or “Follow” the brand to keep up with their latest and greatest products.

Enter to Win:

KitchenAid Blender

2 Free Yoplait Smoothie Product Coupons

To Enter:

Leave a comment telling me how you incorporate fruit into your diet.

Extra Entries:

Like Yoplait on Facebook

Follow Yoplait on Twitter

Tweet: Yoplait Smoothies with A KitchenAid Blender #Giveaway @MomStart http://bit.ly/94aNKT

List this giveaway on any giveaway site, dig or stumble
Blog About this Giveaway (linking to the giveaway)

Use any of the share methods listed below one entry each!

I received products listed above from MyBlogSpark on behalf of KitchenAid and General Mills.

Brands Want Bloggers To Make a Connection

May 26, 2010 by Momstart 29 Comments

I’ve been sitting on this topic since I went to the conference in Nashville, you know Blissdom. I really didn’t learn a whole lot there, but the networking was amazing and things that I already knew where impressed upon me in greater detail. It’s over three months later and I’m with P&G and Walmart and we’re discussing what they want those of us that they brought out to Portland this week to do for them. I’ll have another post with the exact details on all that and what I’m doing later, but I need to share with other bloggers what everyone in the blogging community is trying to say, what companies are trying to say; Quality Has More Value than Stats!

Brands want bloggers to tell a story; some brands, yeah, all they want are as many links on as many sites as they can get for free. So if you are a review blogger and you just want free stuff then write up a review and give them a good text link. Oh and that brings up another post entirely, do not use the word “here” and link to it.

Now, I don’t want you to think that I am a hypocrite, because I’m not. I do take on way too many reviews and host a heck of a lot of giveaways, but things are changing. Trends are changing and if you want to grow as I do, you’re going to have to change your ways. I’m going to have to change my ways. Yesterday, I read Lori’s article (she writes at A Cowboys Wife) Why I don’t read or refer your blog, and I felt like she was talking to me. 80 % of what I write is a review or giveaway. I do poor my heart and soul into all of my reviews, and they almost always include a funny family anecdote, but if you don’t get past the title “Product Review” or “Giveaway” then you aren’t going to read it, I’ll admit, I’m not reading your blog for the same reason. When I go to a blog to return a comment, if I can’t find a non-giveaway post then I feel trapped, because I don’t really want to enter your giveaway.

Just to start changing my site, I’m taking advantage of the theme and all reviews and giveaways can only be found by scrolling down to the bottom of my site or by hitting the review, giveaway button. I want my personal stories to be the first thing you find on my site and of a brand/product/company is lucky enough to be considered mostly personal then you are going to find a very endearing story to go along with it. Just recently I did a review for Lands’ End, and I labeled it personal because, I loved it so much that I shared my struggles with my weight, finding a swimsuit every year, and why I hate most swimsuits. I made a connection and more people commented on it than most of my reviews. Ultimately, this is the kind of connection that brands want from bloggers. I’m sure that the larger brands would prefer if I took on less, so their products received more of a spotlight and that everything won a personal post; all I can say is just have patience with me, change is a slow process, and your product has to actually make the cut.

I’m also working with KitchenAid, they would not work with me unless I could guarantee connections with the brand. I own my own KitchenAid, I purchased it and an attachment for it. I love it and use it all the time. It was very easy to make a personal story, because we cook as a family often. So my story was about being in the kitchen with my daughter making ice cream. You know what my daughter said to me that day, she said, “Mommy, it’s a good day!”

Make every day a good day, poor quality into your reviews and make them more about you, what your readers want to read, and connect your readers with the brand you are proud to represent. There are ways to throw in details without just listing the product details on a press release. I want to thank Lori for slapping me in the face virtually!