Join me and several other Udi’s Gluten Free Community Leaders - Sarah, Jo-Lynne, Toni and Rachel - for a Celebrating Springtime and Easter live daytime chat this Thursday March 21 at 9 am PST/noon EST! We’ll be discussing celebrating springtime and Easter with gluten free recipes, favorite family traditions, Easter egg hunts, spring gardening, and more!

We’ll also be giving away some Udi’s gluten Free goodies! Hope you can join us here or in the chat box below.

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Disclosure: As an Udi's Gluten Free Community Leader I'm compensated for my time and efforts on their behalf.

Join us for a #glutenfree springtime Easter chat on Thursday at noon EST! #gfcommunity is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Are you throwing a party for the big Movie Awards Ceremony? If so, join me and the Udi’s Gluten Free Community tomorrow at 8 PM EST for a chat about the best gluten free appetizers and drinks to serve your gluten sensitivite guests while you watch the celebrities walk down the red carpet. We’ll also be chatting about gluten free celebrities, movie themed foods, and more.

We’ll also be announcing our own winners – by giving away some Udi’s Gluten Free goodies that is! We’ll be giving the following Udi’s Gluten Free Prize Pack to FIVE lucky winners:

• 1 package of Udi’s Gluten Free Pizza Crust
• 1 package of Udi’s Gluten Free Classic Hamburger Buns
• 1 package of Udi’s Gluten Free chocolate chip cookies
• 1 package of Udi’s Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Brownie bites
• 1 package of Udi’s Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins
• 1 Udi’s Gluten Free dry erase board

You can follow the chat here or in the embedded discussion box below. Hope you can join us!

Disclosure: As an Udi's Gluten Free Community Leader I'm compensated for my time and efforts on their behalf.

Join me and Udi’s Gluten-Free for a Movie Awards chat this Tuesday at 8 PM EST is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Last year, I shared with you a few recipes using blueberries from Chile – Salmon, Fresh Blueberries and Lemon Salad with Chive Vinaigrette and  Fresh Chilean Blueberry and Cranberry Relish along with a recipe that featured their grapes -  Chilean Grape and Wild Rice Dressing. While I’m all about sustainability and supporting local farmers,  I like the convenience of having fresh foods year round – especially for holiday cooking. That’s why I don’t mind buying produce from Chile, since their foods are in season when US harvests are done, so they don’t compete with locally produced foods.

Sustainability and food safety

When it comes to carbon emissions, 90% of Chile’s exports are sent by ship with an estimated arrival of 10 days from grower to store. This efficiency is 3.2 times greater than ground transport used in other countries, leaving fewer emissions.

As far as food safety, Chile’s international treaties and trade arrangements with the US, Asia and EU enforce Chile to comply with sustainable development. Growers are GlobalGAP-certified and practice modern production and handling, have state-of-the-art packaging and storage facilities, and put the emphasis on worker hygiene and sanitation. They also practice strict control of pesticide use and monitor residue levels. Finally, all pallets of Chilean fresh fruit are shipped with barcodes that identify country of origin, species/variety, packing date, name of producer and province.

Chile is all about variety

Besides fruits and vegetables, did you know that Chile exports trout, mussels, salmon, wine, olive oil, almonds, nuts and chicken? They also grow apples in almost every fruit-producing region of Chile. Varieties include Braeburn, Fuji, Granny Smith, Jona Gold, Red Delicious, Royal gala, among others.

You can see the Chilean food calendar here at the bottom of the page.

Are you America’s Next Top Food and Travel Writer?

Foods From Chile is hosting a month-long blogger contest on Facebook to send one lucky winner to Chile, all expenses paid! The contest will consist of two rounds of submissions:

Round 1: Write a 250 word blog post about Chile’s unique agriculture and its amazing foods. (This can be a new or existing blog post.)

Round 2: 10 Semi-finalists will submit a 30-second to 1-minute video that answers the question: “Why are you the right blogger for this Chilean Culinary Adventure?”

Judging and Winner selection Process

Round 1: 10 semi-finalists will be selected using a combination of Foods From Chile judging and a calculation of the greatest number of votes each blog entry receives by the public.

Round 2: Video submissions, blog posts, and blogger portfolios will be judged by award-winning journalists and bloggers and choose the winner.

Judges: Ryan D’Agostino,  Editor at Esquire magazine; Paul Brady, Travel Editor at Huffington Post; and a well-known food blogger (TBD).

Prizes

Winner: An all expenses paid guided culinary tour of Chile from April 10-13, 2013.

Semi-Finalists: Gift bag with a variety of foods from Chile including a tote bag, a snack size box of almonds, walnuts, and prunes, a mini jar of jam, can of mussels, bottle of merken, magnet with healthy tips, two recipe cards, Chilean extra virgin olive oil, and 100% pressed Chilean blueberry juice.

Click here for details and to enter.

Join us #TicketToChile Twitter Party on Tuesday, January 29, 7 PM EST

Join me, Kitchen PLAY, Foods From Chile, and some of my favorite food bloggers for a Twitter Party celebrating the variety of delicious Foods From Chile. We’ll discuss Foods from Chile’s blogger contest where they’re be sending one lucky winner to Chile, all expenses paid!

We’ll also have a treasure hunt to win one of six Foods From Chile Gift Bags featuring: a snack size box of almonds, walnuts, and prunes, a mini jar of jam, can of mussels, bottle of merken, magnet with healthy tips,two2 recipe cards, Chilean extra virgin olive oil, and 100% pressed Chilean blueberry juice.

Follow the hashtag #TicketToChile and RSVP here for the Twitter party. Don’t forget to follow Foods From Chile on Facebook and Twitter, too!

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Disclosure: I was compensated for my time and efforts on behalf of Foods from Chile. All opinions and experiences are my own.

Learn more about Foods from Chile and their blogger contest #TicketToChile is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Last month, I attended the  Buick Encore Lifestyle Event in Atlanta as the “plus one” of my friend, Eileen Calandro, the Chief Mom Connector of Mom Central. She was invited to test drive the new Buick Encore before it hits dealerships in February, 2013.

I was looking forward to spending time with Eileen while driving a luxurious crossover around the Atlanta metro area including a stop at a local Toys “R” Us to shop for the Toys for Tots program. However, I was just about out of my mind that we would meet celebrity chef and Top Chef Season 10 judge, Hugh Acheson at his restaurant, Empire State South, and tour the Love is Love urban farm. Have fork will travel!

Love is Love Farm at Gaia Gardens

Driving through suburban Decatur, Georgia, you’d never know the Love is Love Farm at Gaia Gardens is there. Yet over 15 years ago, the housing development East Lake Commons was built to include a working, organic farm. The farm grows a surprisingly wide diversity of crops, enough to accommodate a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

Our Buick Encore Lifestyle group met with farmer, Joe Reynolds, who showed us around while explaining how the farm manages planting, irrigation, composting, and crop rotation. Joe also told us that the Love is Love farm has a close relationship with many Atlanta restaurants that provide the vegetable scraps for their impressive composting piles. In turn, the farm sells them organic, hyper-local produce, big bags of which we loaded into our Buick Encores to be cooked up for our dinner at Empire State South.

The farm tour was fascinating and I loved Joe’s passion for local, sustainable organic farming. It made me wish I lived closer so I could take advantage of their CSA.

Dinner at Empire State South

After a quick stop back at Twelve Atlantic Station at our gorgeous suite (complete with a full kitchen), Eileen and I were driven in one of the Buick Encores to Empire State South for dinner. Our group hit the bar for cocktails, appetizers and charcuterie. I had two unique cocktails, Orchard Punch, a bourbon drink, and Death on the Moon, made with absinthe. The charcuterie was marvelous, and I’d order it again as a meal, along with a glass of red wine.

Then it was off to a private dining room for a cooking demonstration from Hugh Acheson! He was as funny, personable and down to earth as he appears on Top Chef. He told us a story about appearing on a food panel with Paula Dean. While he likes Paula a lot, he doesn’t agree with her that Southern cooking means fried foods and tons of butter and sugar. Instead, his philosophy is cooking with traditional foods grown in the South, in a modern, sophisticated way.

While he demonstrated his Turnips and Their Greens Risotto (recipe included below), Hugh told us about the Southern goodness of Carolina Gold rice and making your own chicken stock in the slow cooker. (Loved that tip!) We sampled the risotto along with our dinner.

First course was Local Lettuces with roasted Brussels leaves, beets, pickled carrots, ESS fromage blanc, and served with a crisp sourdough. Second course was a choice of Roasted Georgia Trout, Chicken Roulade, or Prime Ribeye. (I had the rib eye, which was served rare with celery root and bread gratin, roasted kale with shiitakes, and a shoyu vinaigrette.) For dessert, we had Meyer Lemon Parfait clementine, bergamot brioche, candied cranberry, and sweet potato sorbet.

Eileen and I agreed it was a fabulous meal. I can’t wait to go back to Empire State South with my husband!

Turnips and Their Greens Risotto

Serves four as a lighter supper

Ingredients:

• 3 small hakurei turnips
• 2 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1/2 cup minced yellow onion
• 1 cup Caroline Gold Middland's broken kernel rice
• 4 cups homemade chicken stock
• 2 cups finely chopped turnip greens
• 1/2 cup finely grated (rasp) Parmagiano
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon finely cut bias cut onion top for garnish

Directions:

Very thinly slice the turnips. Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt and set aside. These will finish the risotto.

Warm your chicken stock in a pot and place a ladle in it. Keep this on the back of the stove. Place a good pot on the stove over medium to medium high heat and add the remaining olive oil. Add the minced onion bulb and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon until the onion is translucent but not charred at all, about five minutes.

Add the rice and lightly glaze the rice. From the moment the rice goes in, the is about 17 minutes to completion, so keep an eye on the clock. You should be stirring a lot but no need to stir all the time.

Start adding the stock, about a cup at a time and stir and cook until the stock is absorbed. Then add more. Repeat. After a while you will see this luxurious, starchy liquid surround those little rice kernels. This is good. After about 15 minutes taste your rice. it should have a slight crunchiness to it but you have to soothsay what it will taste like after two to three more minutes as it sits in the bowl before consumption.

Let's finish this up. Add the butter and the parmesan - and stir well to fold those beautiful finishes into the risotto. Then add the turnip greens to wilt them into the risotto. It's done. When it gets in that bowl it will set up well. Spoon into shallow bowls and garnish with the raw turnips and some more Parmagiano.

EAT.

More about the Buick Encore Lifestyle Event

Eileen posted about the Buick Encore and our Toys “R” Us shopping spree for Toys for Tots at Luxurious, Affordable Design with the New Buick Encore at Mom Central’s blog. If you love cars and auto design, you'll love her post.

Don't forget to check out the Buick Encore, too! My favorite color is Ruby Red with the Saddle interior. What’s yours?

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Disclosure: I was invited to an all expenses paid editor’s trip by Buick. I also received a signed copy of Hugh Acheson’s cookbook, A New Turn in the South, and some promotional items. All photos except for the Empire State South collage were provided by Buick. All experiences and opinions are my own.

Getting foodie at the Buick Encore Lifestyle Event is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Will you be throwing a party for the Big Game and wondering what you’ll make for your gluten free guests – or yourself? If so, join me, Wendy at La Phemme Phoodie, Alta at Tasty Eats at Home, Sommer at A Spicy Perspective, and Toni at Boulder Locavore on the Udi’s Gluten Free Community website on Wednesday, January 23 at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT to discuss gluten free entertaining and cooking for the Big Game!

We’ll be sharing our favorite appetizer, drink and party dish recipes along with tips on how to entertain gluten free. In addition, we’ll be giving away Udi’s Gluten Free prize packs! And if all you want to discuss is who you think will win or what Beyonce will wear, we’re happy to chat about that, too!

You can join the conversation in the discussion widget below or here on the Udi’s Gluten Free Community. Hope to chat with you then!

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Disclosure: As an Udi’s Gluten Free Community Leader I’m compensated for my time and efforts on their behalf.

Are you ready for some football…chat that is? Join us at the Udi’s Gluten Free Community on 1/23 at 8 pm ET! #gfcommunity is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Have you been watching Top Chef Season 10? It’s one of my favorite shows, even more so because two of my favorite celebrity chefs – Emeril Lagasse and Hugh Acheson – have been judges this season. Plus, Top Chef has been highlighting Seattle, a terrific and beautiful food town.

To help you decide who gets another chance to be crowned Top Chef, I’m excited to announce that I’ll be hosting the First Top Chef Twitter Chat of 2013! The chat will be on Tuesday, January 8th at 1 pm ET. You can follow me at @amnichols and follow the chat by searching on the #TopChef hashtag. @BravoTopChef will be joining us as well and we’ll  be giving away away two Top Chef goodies – an apron and a cookbook.

Top Chef airs every Wednesday at 10/9c on Bravo, November 7, 2012 to March 6, 2013. (Click here for the Top Chef Episode Guide.)

Tweet to save the Chef!

Who Stays? Who Goes? You Decide! In addition to discussing the show, we’ll be chatting about two new Top Chef competitions that YOU can participate in this season:

• Last Chance Kitchen Competition (LCK) is a bravotv.com digital video series where eliminated cheftestants compete against each other for a chance to get back in the Top Chef Season 10 finale. The webisodes air on Wednesdays at 11:01 pm.
• With the Save a Chef Competition (SAC), fans can save one of their favorite cheftestants who has been eliminated from the show and LCK. A head to head weekly Twitter vote will feature the most recently eliminated chef from Last Chance Kitchen versus the previous week’s highest vote earner. 

This week’s chefs who are up for elimination are Chef Kuniko (#savechefkuniko) and Chef John (#savechefjohn). Hope you’ll join us and let use know who’ll you be voting for by tweeting their hashtag!

Tweet to win!

Anyone who tweets this before the chat is eligible to win some Top Chef swag – a Top Chef apron or cookbook: Join @amnichols + @BravoTopChef for the SAC Twitter chat on Tues. Jan 8th at 1pm EST. #TopChef #winTopChefswag

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Disclosure: I’m required to disclose a relationship between my site and Bravo. This could include the Bravo providing me with content, product, access or other forms of payment.

Join me for a Top Chef Twitter Chat on Jan 8th at 1 pm ET and #WinTopChefSwag from @BravoTopChef #TopChef is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Please join me and the rest of the Udi’s Gluten Free Community Leaders next week on Wednesday, January 9th at 9 pm ET for a live chat about our New Year’s Resolutions and Fitness and Health Goals! We hope this will motive and provide support as you start on your resolutions for 2013.

Also, we’ll be giving away the following Udi’s Gluten Free prize packs of Udi’s Gluten Free products to help motivate your to eat healthy and gluten free resolutions:

PRIZE PACK #1

• 1 bag cranberry granola
• 1 bag original granola
• 1 loaf whole grain bread
• 1 pack pizza crust

PRIZE PACK #2

• 1 bag cranberry granola
• 1 bag orginal granola
• 1 loaf whole grain bread
• 1 bag mighty bagels

PRIZE PACK #3

• 1 bag cranberry granola
• 1 bag orginal granola
• 1 loaf omega flax & fiber
• 1 loaf millet chia

PRIZE PACK #4

• 1 loaf omega flax & fiber
• 1 loaf millet chia
• 1 pack pizza crust
• 1 bag mighty bagels

You can join us here or via the widget below!

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Disclosure: As an Udi’s Gluten Free Community Leader I’m compensated for my time and efforts on their behalf.

Join us on January 9 for a chat on New Year’s Resolutions and Fitness and Health Goals #gfcommunity is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2013!

Picture courtesy of The Texas Collection, Baylor University on Flickr.

Happy New Year! is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

I adore Thanksgiving, but it’s a challenging time of year for anyone who’s gluten free or has food sensitivities or allergies to things likes nuts or dairy. First, you don’ t know what to make to fit everyone’s dietary needs. Second, you have to deal with those relatives who just don’t “get it” and tell you that eating gluten free is a fad or that there are no such things as food allergies!

To help you cope, several of the Udi’s Gluten Free Community Leaders  and I are holding a chat on the Udi’s Gluten Free dkafdkja;sdlkj community website this Wednesday, November 7 at 8 pm EST | 5 pm PST to discuss how to cope with Thanksgiving. We’ll be sharing recipes, cooking tips, and how to deal with Aunt Mary’s pumpkin pie. We’ll also be giving away lots of Udi’s Gluten Free goodies to serve at Thanksgiving or with leftovers.

You can join us here or below in the embedded discussion area. Hope you can join us!

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Disclosure: As a Udi’s Gluten Free Community Leader I’m compensated for my time and efforts on their behalf.

Join us for a Gluten Free Thanksgiving Chat on November 7 at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT #gfcommunity is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Join me and @MomCentral  for the #PlainKitchen Twitter Party TODAY from 3-4 PM EST. We’ll be chatting with celebrity chef Bobby Flay about how to make every meal extraordinary, your favorite yogurt recipes, and the FAGE Total Plain Kitchen recipe contest!

I’ll be co-hosting along with @StacyDeBroff, @DadCentral, @MomCentralChat along with special guests @FAGEUSA and @bflay. You can use the Tweet Grid at http://bit.ly/S7z8GF.

Not only will it be a fun chat, but you’ll have a chance to win a prize pack consisting of a $25 AMEX gift card and $25 voucher redeemable for FAGE Total. Also, if you tweet this from now until the #PlainKitchen Twitter Party, you’ll be eligible to win one of the FAGE prize packs, too!

Hope to see you soon!

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Disclosure: I received a promotional item to thank me for my participating in the chat.

Join me TODAY at 3 PM ET for a FAGE #PlainKitchen Twitter Party is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!