LEGO KidsFest 2014

Do your kids love LEGOS(R) like mine do? Then if you are within driving distance to Indianapolis, you won't want to miss this...


I haven't told the boys yet but we are going to load up and drive to Indy for this giant traveling LEGO(R) expo at the Indianapolis Convention Center. It features MILLIONS of LEGO(R) bricks with construction zones, life-sized models and displays. Some of the sets featured include the popular Friends, Chima and Star Wars collections. There will even be live Master Builders. The entire event spans 3 ACRES of space!

They are going to be as excited as when I told them we were going to Disney and I can't wait to spill the beans!!!

Tickets are just $20 for kids and $22 for adults. They sell out quickly for all sessions so don't delay! For more information and to purchase tickets, visit http://www.legokidsfest.com/indianapolis/indes.html.

FUN FACTS

• More than 400 billion LEGO bricks have been produced since 1949.
• The LEGO minifigure represents the world's largest population of people! More than four billion minifigures have been produced in the last 30 years. This is almost 12 times the population of the United States!
• LEGO minifigures are out of this world, literally. The two Mars Rovers have an image of the LEGO minifigure etched into their front grill.
• Approximately seven LEGO sets are sold each second.
• There are about 62 LEGO bricks for every one of the world's six billion inhabitants.
• Laid end to end, the number of LEGO bricks sold in a year would reach more than five times around the world.
• There are 915 million ways to combine six eight-stud LEGO bricks.
• Children around the world spend five billion hours a year playing with LEGO bricks.
• With a production of about 306 million tires produced a year, the LEGO group is the largest producer of tires in the world.
• LEGO is the contraction of two Danish words, "leg godt" which means "play well".
• There are about 62 LEGO bricks for every one of the world's six billion inhabitants.
• 19 billion LEGO elements are produced every year. 2.16 million LEGO elements are molded every hour, or 36,000 per minute.

SlowCooker Recipes with Red Gold Tomatoes #RGrecipes

So the other day someone asked me to represent their brand by using their products to make a crockpot recipe and then share the recipe and review on my blog and then also on my local news stations Sunday morning show. I had to laugh because, well, if you know me, you know that would be...ridiculous. I hate to cook. I do it, but do I enjoy it? Not usually.

I get various requests like these from time to time and I tend to only choose ones that make sense and would be valuable to my particular audience. Before I committed, I double checked that they had indeed sent their request to the right person. They assured me they had visited More Skees Please and thought that as a busy mom of 4 kids, I would be a good fit for using Red Gold products to make quick and easy crock-pot meals.

Ahhh - yes, that does make sense. I do use my crock-pot quite a bit. Especially this time of year. Since I no longer felt like a fraud...I said yes!

When I received my package, I was pleased (and surprised) with the variety they included. I don't think I had ever noticed that you could buy Petite Diced Tomatoes flavored with Lime Juice & Cilantro or Garlic & Olive Oil. Yum! And while the recipe I chose didn't call for either one of those, I'm definitely going to find a way to try those out in one of my old standby's (tacos and/or baked chicken).

So, on to the recipe. I chose to make their Spicy Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese (although since I was having my kids try it, I omitted the "spice" of the diced tomatoes with green chilies and substituted the regular diced tomatoes instead).

Have you ever had Outback's mac and cheese? You guys, this was better. Nevermind the fact that it probably has a zillion calories, this is comfort food at its finest...and with a twist. Adding the tomatoes gave it great flavor and Aiden loved it! Ethan on the other hand? Well, lets just focus on the the positive: the Red Gold diced tomatoes are large enough to pick out if you have a picky eater like I do!

Here is the recipe:

SPICY SLOW COOKER MACARONI AND CHEESE

Ingredients:
2 cups pasta of choice, uncooked
3 tbsp butter
8 oz American processed cheese, cubed
8 oz cream cheese, cubed
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 cup low fat milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
1 (14.5 oz) can RED GOLD PETITE DICED TOMATOES with GREEN CHILIES

Directions:
1. Place the uncooked pasta in the bottom of a 3.5-qt. crock pot that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Add the remaining ingredients, except RED GOLD PETITE DICED TOMATOES with GREEN CHILIES, to the slow cooker and stir until well combined. Cook on LOW for 4 hours.
2. Just before serving add RED GOLD PETITE DICED TOMATOES with GREEN CHILIES; stir to combine.

I am going to throw out there that while it didn't end up looking that great, it tasted phenomenal!

Now, the television segment. I had a blast but it was quite a bit of work. Not to mention that it was for their 6:00 AM show, so I had to be up by 4:30 to shower and get to the studio on time. Not exactly what a sleep-deprived mom of an 8-month old who JUST STARTED SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT (ugh) wants to do. But...if you know me, you also know I won't pass up an opportunity to be on TV :) And because I truly believed in the quality of the recipe and products, again, I felt it was a good fit.


Remember how I said it didn't end up looking that great? Well, reheated leftovers look even worse. In fact, one of the show's producers came in, looked at my "presentation" dish and said "What'd you make? Scrambled eggs?"

UH-OH

I laughed nervously and said, well, no, actually it is mac n cheese. Tasting is believing! He complimented my setup for the segment and also said: "Hey, you managed to make mac n cheese look nothing like mac n cheese. Congratulations!"

Well, what can I say. This is in typical Taryn fashion when it comes to all things cooking. We all had a good laugh which got out any lingering nerves before the live segment began.

Overall I think it went really well. I was able to talk about the fact that Red Gold products are made from tomatoes grown right here in the midwest in the Ohio, Indiana and Michigan regions. If you want to learn more about how the company seeks to accomplish their mission of "producing the freshest, best-tasting products in the world", visit their website at: http://redgold.com.

Also, Red Gold is giving away two slow cookers a day on its Facebook page. The promotion runs until October 8th! Just go to https://www.facebook.com/RedGold to enter.

Finally, I have a super cute red apron and a brand new wooden spoon that I would love to giveaway to one luck reader. All you have to do is comment below and tell me which of the following recipes (which can be found on Red Gold's website) sound the tastiest:

1. Slow Cooker Spicy Macaroni and Cheese
2. Black Bean & Pumpkin Chili
3. Rustic Italian Chicken
4. Homestyle Beef Stew
5. Sausage & Sweet Potato Chili
6. Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

I will randomly choose one person to win on Wednesday, October 8th.

Good luck!