House-Autry Mills Giveaway!!! (and a Coupon)

Good morning everyone! I hope you had a terrific weekend and that you're ready for a great week! If you're not quite ready, I think I may have just the thing to take a bit of the sting out of this Monday morning! How about a giveaway !? Maybe a basket of wonderful mixes and kitchen items like this...



Not too long ago the lovely Christy from Southern Plate asked if I would like to be a part of this amazing giveaway and I am so glad I said yes! I'd never used House-Autry Mills products before now, but I tell you I am hardily impressed with everything I've tried so far.



The first product I tried was the "Pork Breader." I used it to deep fry some very lean boneless pork chops and it was delicious. The breading is light and flavorful. It was delightfully seasoned, not heavy... you could still tell it was pork that you were eating and the coating helped to keep those lean chops nice and moist. Some of the breading products available in the market are so heavily seasoned that it over takes the flavor of the meat. The House-Autry breader enhanced the flavor of the pork just beautifully.

I know that some folks won't want to deep fry their food, so I'm happy to let you know that House-Autry also makes a line of breaders that are made for oven use! Personally, I think a little deep fried food is good for the soul on occasion! Just in moderation :)



The other House-Autry product I tried was their hushpuppy with onion mix. Oh my word! So good! I served them with the fried pork chops, some mashed potatoes and fresh sautéed green beans and we were in heaven. I love hushpuppies but I just never think to make them. Now that I know there is such a simple and quick way to make them, I'm sure I'll be making them more often. I'm dreaming up some new recipes for those "puppies" already :)

I know you want to enter to win this delicious basket... so here's everything you need to know to enter:

Contest ends July 5th, 2010 @ 5:00 pm EST. Winner will be randomly drawn and announced here on July 6th, 2010!

Leave a comment on this post with what House-Autry Mills product you would like to try.

For 2 Extra Entries:

* Post a link to this contest on your Facebook or website/blog and and let me know by leaving a comment here where I can find your post.

* Post the following on Twitter: Win a HUGE gift basket from @HouseAutryMills and @kitchengirljo http://foodurl.info/xo46 #giveaway

This giveaway is a special one. I'm not the only blogger giving away one of these awesome gift baskets! You can enter at each of the blogs listed below and follow their directions for even more chances to win! How great is that?

Southern Plate

The Post-It Place

Deep South Dish

Mommy’s Kitchen

Southern Beauty

I hope you'll take a look at the blogs I've listed above, not only to increase your chances to win a basket... but because I think you'll love the recipes and articles you'll find at each and everyone of them! :)

Finally, House-Autry Mills has made sure we all walk away winners from this giveaway! Here's the link for a great coupon to try out House-Autry Mills products for yourself. I'll bet your family enjoys them as much as my family has.

Click for Coupon

Disclosure: House-Autry Mills provided me with a gift basket of the products described, both for me to try and to give away to one reader. As always, any thoughts and opinions given on "The Adventures of Kitchen Girl" are my own.

Ice Cream Grasshoppers

Not long ago I tried making grasshopper cocktails in my new ice cream maker and they worked out really well. Of course, you could make them in the blender with already made ice cream but this was kind of fun and worked well since we had the ingredients to make vanilla ice cream on hand, but none ready made.

I used my standard, non-custard vanilla ice cream recipe and simply added my liquors to the machine in the last 5 minutes of churning.

Verrry Vanilla Ice Cream w/ grasshopper variation

Yield: Approximately 2 Quarts (or 6 large dessert sized cocktails)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups whole milk
3/4 Cup granulated sugar
3 Cups heavy cream
2 Tablespoons good quality pure vanilla extract


Method:
In a mixing bowl, combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Pour this mixture into the ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturer's directions. Serve immediately or freeze.

To make Grasshoppers:
Start out making your vanilla ice cream using the recipe above. During the last 5 minutes of churn time add the following ingredients:

1/2 cup Crème de menthe
1/2 cup white Crème de cacao

Give the mixture a final stir by hand and serve immediately in frosty highball glass with a straw. If you'd like a thicker consistency you can place the mixture into the freezer for a couple hours. Stir well before serving.

Very Vanilla Cookie Crumble Ice Cream

Recently, I was gifted with an electric ice cream maker... an appliance I've never worked with before. The last time I made fresh ice cream it was with one of those old fashioned hand crank machines that used rock salt and ice. Sure, it worked... but it took a good bit of elbow grease and preparation, so it wasn't something I did very often. It was just too much hassle. This little electric beauty is a whole different animal though and I've made several different batches of ice cream already. I love it! I expect I'll be posting quite a few frozen sweet treats over the summer! And I'll be doing a review of my particular maker soon, too.

This is a very basic ice cream recipe. It uses no eggs and there is no precooking required so it can be made when ever the mood strikes. I expected it to be less creamy because its not custard based but I was pleasantly surprised at the lovely creamy texture. I hope you'll try it and that you enjoy it as much as we did!

This recipe can be made in an electric or manual ice cream maker... just follow your manufacturer's directions.

Also, this basic vanilla recipe could be used with many different add-ins... candy, other cookies, fruit puree. Just keep the add-ins to no more than 1 cup total and you'll be golden!

Very Vanilla Cookie Crumble Ice Cream
Yield: Approximately 2 Quarts

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups whole milk
3/4 Cup granulated sugar
3 Cups heavy cream
2 Tablespoons good quality pure vanilla extract
1 Cup Crushed chocolate (Oreo) sandwich cookies (approx. 10 whole cookies)

Method:
In a mixing bowl, combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Pour this mixture into the ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturer's directions. Add the crushed cookies during the last 5 minutes of churning. Serve immediately or freeze.

And the winner...

...of the "Shrek-tacular Savings Giveaway!" is....

Comment #11 kjmills!

Congratulations! I will be contacting you shortly!

Thank you for entering!

Shrek-tacular Savings Giveaway!

This giveaway has now ended!!! Thank you for entering!

I've got a wonderful giveaway for you today!

General Mills is celebrating the May 21st release of Shrek Forever After, the final chapter of the Shrek films. Look for Shrek-tacular savings in the grocery store on your favorite General Mills brands like Go-GURT, Pillsbury, Fruit Roll-Ups, Bisquick, Green Giant and more. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for specially-marked packages of Big G cereals, in which you can find collectible water squirters and markers, which are shaped like your favorite Shrek characters.

To save even more green, visit www.everydaysaver.com/events/shrek to download coupons today. While you’re there you and your little prince or princess can get in the mood to see Shrek Forever After by taking a peek at the movie trailer.

This giveaway prize pack includes: A Shrek-tacular tote bag filled with participating products including Big G cereals, Fruit Roll-Ups Minis snacks and Betty Crocker Brownie Mix or Muffin Mix. The prize pack will also include a $10 Shrek-tacular Savings coupon book with fun Shrek trivia, a Shrek water squirter, a Shrek highlighter and a $25 gift card that you can use to purchase tickets to see the new Shrek Forever After film.

You have from now until Tuesday June 2nd, 2010 to enter this giveaway! To enter, leave a comment on this post with your name and an email address where I can reach you, should you be the lucky winner!

You can receive up to 3 additional entries to win this prize pack by posting a link to this post on your Twitter/Facebook/Blog. If you chose to enter the giveaway with these extra options, please leave a comment on this post with links to the places you've posted to. On twitter you can send your link to me directly @kitchengirljo

The giveaway ends Tuesday June 2nd, 2010 @ 11:59pm EST. I will announce the winner here on my blog on Wednesday morning!

Thank you for entering and GOOD LUCK!!!

******
Disclaimer: General Mills provided me with the product, information, and prize packs through MyBlogSpark.