The Nifty Foodie

Thanks so much for the comments! I loved reading them, and I really appreciate your ideas on what you’d like to see on The Nifty Foodie in the future!

Ok, so you wanna know who won the Blogiversary giveaways?

Blogiversary Giveaway #1:
Jenn, who said “I would get an ice cream maker!”

Blogiversary Giveaway #2:
Lindsay Tjarks, who said “I’m guessing an apron!”

Blogiversary Giveaway #3:

Amanda, who said “I loved your tomato paste entry which I thought was so smart because I rarely need a whole can. So, I’d love more “nifty tips” and Louisiana dishes would be great as well.”

Congrats y’all!

If you won, please contact me at niftyfoodie@gmail.com to claim your prizes!

I hope everyone has had an awesome week!  I’ve had a blast reading your comments for giveaway #1 and giveaway #2 (both of which you can still enter). Giveaway #2, especially, because y’all are giving me handmade ideas for future giveaways.

This last giveaway is actually a request from a couple of you. Last year, I held a similar giveaway, because I know that some of y’all aren’t able to find some ingredients that I consider staples in our Louisiana kitchen. It was probably the most comments I’ve ever received from a giveaway, which to me, shows that y’all want some Louisiana staples in your kitchen, for sure! (Can’t say I don’t blame you!)

So, here it is folks. Quite a few of these are things we use in our home regularly. The crawfish boil makes for some AMAZING mashed potatoes (and of course, boiled seafood). Tony Chachere’s seasoning is like the salt & pepper in the house, especially for my husband, who loves things WAY spicier than I do. Community Coffee with Chicory is a CRAZY strong coffee. While we don’t make coffee in our house regularly, I do get this stuff at the local coffee shop. This is NOT your typical Starbucks-like coffee. Gumbo File is an ingredient that is a must-have for making gumbo. My friend in NYC said this stuff was no where to be found, so here it is..up for grabs. And of course, Zatarain’s Jambalaya, Gumbo and Pastalaya mixes for easy peasy weeknight dinners.

Here’s the deets:

All you have to do to enter is comment telling me, what would you like to see more of on The Nifty Foodie?

For an additional giveaway entry, post this on your Twitter and comment back with the Twitter link: “I just entered @niftyfoodie’s Blogiversary Giveaway: Louisiana Staples for the Kitchen. Enter here! http://bit.ly/eyaKt3“

You have until Monday, January, 24th at 11:59pm to comment.

Just a note: Only continental US readers can enter this giveaway.

FTC Disclosure: These prizes are provided by The Nifty Foodie.

Thanks so much for reading this blog for the past three years. I’ve had so much fun sharing my kitchen adventures with you, and best of luck with the giveaways!

I absolutely love reading your comments from the CSN store giveaway! Some of y’all are making me think I actually may ::need:: more kitchen gadgets.

Speaking of gadgets, giveaway #2 is ALL about gadgets. A book written by my favorite Food Network chef: Alton Brown!

Source

My friend actually introduced me to this particular book, and after skimming it at the bookstore, I was hooked! I knew I had to offer it to y’all as a giveaway!

Source

If you watch Alton’s show, you’ll love this book. He shows you the essentials in your kitchen, and also tells you what you don’t really need. I kind of wish I had this book back in the engaged days (when we made our registry). I really think y’all would enjoy it!

Also, as an added surprise, this giveaway includes a kitchen related surprise from my craft room. The winner is going to get something handmade from me that you will LOVE having in your kitchen, but shh….that prize is a secret!

All you have to do to enter is comment telling me, what do you think the handmade surprise will be?

For an additional giveaway entry, post this on your Twitter and comment back with the Twitter link: “I just entered @niftyfoodie’s Blogiversary Giveaway: a book by Alton Brown & a handmade kitchen surprise. Enter here! http://bit.ly/gqfvSE“

You have until Saturday, January, 22nd at 11:59pm to comment.

Just a note: Only continental US readers can enter this giveaway.

FTC Disclosure: These prizes are provided by The Nifty Foodie.

I can’t wait to read what your guesses will be! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s final giveaway….it will definitely make you hungry!

I hope y’all had a great weekend! For us, it was a pretty long, 3-day weekend that resulted in getting a good bit of housework done. I’m ashamed to admit that the kitchen was basically closed most of the weekend (we ate out…a lot.), but hey, it’s ok to take a cooking/baking break every once in a while!

I’m sure you want me to stop rambling and get to the good stuff.

The first of the blogiversary giveaways is for a $20 credit to CSN stores! I actually really never knew about them until a few blogger friends held giveaways, and after winning one myself, I was able to see if they are a good online store or not. I ended up not buying anything food related, since I have WAY too many kitchen gadgets as it is!

I was actually first looking at their luggage stores for a few upcoming trips I’m taking, but I ended up purchasing something for crafting (typical). I’m happy to say that I got my order within a week, which is pretty awesome since I didn’t pay extra for shipping.

So, when CSN reached out to have a giveaway at The Nifty Foodie, I knew I couldn’t say no! Free moolah? Why not go for this?!

All you have to do to enter is comment telling me, what you would buy from CSN stores with the credit.

For an additional giveaway entry, post this on your Twitter and comment back with the Twitter link: “I just entered @niftyfoodie’s Blogiversary Giveaway: $20 credit to @csnstores. Enter here! http://bit.ly/hRWZB2“

You have until Friday, January, 21st at 11:59pm to comment.

Just a note: only US/Canada readers can enter this giveaway. (Just as an FYI to Canadian readers, CSN’s shipping may cost more due to international shipping charges.)

FTC Disclosure: This prize is provided by CSN Stores.

Best of luck! Oh, and stay tuned….tomorrow’s giveaway is going to feature my FAVORITE guy from Food Network!  

Three years ago, I sat in my parents’ kitchen trying to figure out a way to surprise them with dinner. My skills were limited to scrambled eggs, boiling hot dogs and reheating Chef Boyardee. I was feeling ambitious, so I went to the store and bought the ingredients to make Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs.

I can’t tell you how intimidating it was to cook a real meal, but after fleeing from the kitchen fighting onion tears, washing my hands multiple times because raw meat scares me, making sure to take pictures of something (since I wanted to start a blog) and meticulously measuring each individual ingredient, the meatballs were in the oven. It was all up to the oven to make sure that my meatballs actually came out….and they did. Oh, and they were YUMMY!

I love to look back on my old posts. This was my very first blog post. Unorganized, full of small, awkward pictures, but I love it. Those were my first real kitchen successes, and they were all delicious!

In fact, one of those recipes from my first post is actually now a family tradition during the holidays: the white chocolate cranberry pistachio biscotti.

So, here I am 3 years later. An identity crisis solved since, well, I’m not the perfect dieter. I’m still learning how to cook/bake, and I’m loving it. I love sharing my cooking adventures with y’all too! As lame as this may sound, I still get butterflies in my stomach when y’all leave comments. I love it!

Since you guys have been super awesome, I want to thank you. I want to thank you for every year that you’ve been around. So, there will be 3 giveaways next week! That’s right…3! I hope y’all don’t mind.

Thanks again for reading! Here’s to another yummy year!