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!

Win It

Country Crock wants to spread the love to THREE of my readers. They will get a Veggie Party Kit of their own OR a Grand Prize $200 American Express Gift Card to buy healthy groceries. (3 prizes in total: 2 Veggie Party Kits (estimated value $100 per kit) and Grand Prize AMEX Gift Card valued at $200).

“Veggie Party Kits” include:
-Country Crock samples
-Re-usable eco-friendly grocery tote
-“Today I Ate a Rainbow” kids’ calendar
-Vegetable chopper
-Kids’ aprons
-Gardening how-to kit
-Vegetable cookbook

To enter, visit Country Crock on facebook and browse around the page, then come back and comment on what recipe you like or what your favorite part of the page was. This is required and must be done before the extra entries count!

Extra Entries

You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do.

1- For TWO extra entries, subscribe to my blog via email.

2- Follow my blog via google friend.

3- For THREE extra entries, blog about this giveaway and link it back to this post and Country Crock.

4- Follow twoofakind AND Country Crock on twitter and tweet about this giveaway. You can Tweet once a day for an extra entry every day! You can copy and paste: WIN a @CountryCrock Veggie Prize Pack w/ $200 AMEX Gift Card Grand Prize @twofoakind http://tinyurl.com/65gakfz #giveaway has THREE WINNERS
Leave a link to your tweet in a comment.

5- Place my Surviving Summer Event Button on your blog(only one entry - even if you had it on there before the event started).

6- Vote For me on Picket Fence Blogs. You can do either or both daily for an extra entry each day.

7- Include a link to this post in your facebook status letting your friends know you entered this giveaway. Leave your first and last name(or initial) in a comment below. If you tag me (@Dee Twofakind or @Two Of A Kind, Working On A Full House), I can actually see your status on facebook. You can do this 1x per day for an extra entry each day.

8- Follow me on Networked Blogs.

9- Enter any of my current giveaways - leave a comment for each that you enter.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on May 23rd when I will draw a winner at random. PLEASE leave your email address if it is not visible on your profile. I will notify the winner and they will have 24 hours to respond!

Open to US Only.

This was not a paid post and honest opinions were used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others. Thank you to the company and/or pr agency who supplied the product for review and giveaway.