I recently had the AWESOME opportunity to participate in a FUN Local Food Lion Frugal Cook-Off thanks to a couple of special NC Bloggers Jessica Lieb @BKeepsUsHonest & Rachel Withers @FitTriangleMom. The Food Lion Frugal Cook-Off took place at the Driftwood Southern Kitchen in Raleigh, NC. I am a loyal Food Lion Shopper but, I got a chance to learn more about the brand and what they offer. We were able to meet and mingle before the event. It was great to see local bloggers I have known for a while and reconnect as well as meet new bloggers to connect with. I met Melissa Vera @MMGMOM3 for the first time, who is also a local NC Blogger and we were paired together as partners. I love meeting new people and a new blogger connection was definitely made! It was so nice for the Driftwood Southern Kitchen to open up their space to us and give us full access to anything we may have needed. The chef was super nice giving us a tour, showing us where everything was and offering his support. So here’s the deal! No pun intended! Lol! We participated in this FUN Food Lion Frugal Cook-Off Challenge on the spot! Food Lion provided the cooking supplies and ingredients that we would need. There were four meats that each team would be surprised with. We then had ten minutes to plan and coordinate our meal. We also got ten minutes to go shopping in the pantry with the Food Lion ingredients on hand and we had to keep our cost below $15.00.
The meat we randomly selected was pork chops and it was time to plan a meal with sides to compliment that choice. We decided to prepare Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops with Pasta and Sautéed Spinach. The ingredients that we got out of the pantry were eggs, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, Pasta and a fresh bundle of Spinach. I also want to mention that all ingredients that we used were Food Lion branded items and we were able to keep our costs under $15.00. We had to prepare our meal and have it on plates for the judges within 45 minutes. I’ll share our recipe with you…
Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops
Makes 4 servings
Cost of meal: (not including pork chops and spices) $10.23
Cooking method: Fried on medium heat
Ingredients:
¾ cup Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 lemon
1 cup bread crumbs
3 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 lb. boneless pork chops
Directions:
Whisk eggs to blend.
Place bread crumbs on one plate, cheese on another plate.
Dip pork chops into egg and coat completely with breadcrumbs and cheese. Patting to adhere.
Sprinkle salt & pepper over chops.
Heat olive oil over medium heat.
Add pork chops and cook until golden brown (approximately 6 minutes per side).
Transfer to plate and serve with lemon wedge.
The Sautéed Spinach
Ingredients:
1 bundle of fresh Spinach or 10 oz bag of Spinach Leaves
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper (optional)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
Directions: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach to the skillet and cover; allow to cook 5 minutes. Stir in the salt and cover again for another 5 minutes; add soy sauce remove from heat. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to serve.
Spiral Egg Noodles:
Boil Water & add salt
let noodles boil for 10-15 minutes
strain the noodles
add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to keep them from sticking to each other
when plated, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to serve.
After preparing our meal we created our dish on four small skillets to present to four judges who selected the winning dish based on taste, presentation, creativity, adherence to challenge rules and affordability. Alex Butler co-host of My Carolina Today was a among the judges for the Food Lion Frugal Cook-Off. It was great to meet her and she was so fun! The winning team’s dish will be featured on the menu at the Driftwood Southern Kitchen, be at WNCN studio on November 7th for a live segment and all participants received some Food Lion Swag! Melissa and I finished cooking our meal and put it on a plate within 26 minutes. We prepared four small skillets for the judges to taste and waited patiently. Team #1 WON the challenge with their amazing Southern Surprise Turkey Burgers! I’m so happy for Malise Terrell @CarolinaMama she is awesome! I really enjoyed the chance to participate in the Food Lion Frugal Cook-Off and had a good time, met some nice people and made some great memories! It was a really fun experience and I guess that’s why I wasn’t nervous or feel pressured. In the end I was just having fun!
So, do you think you would compete in a Food Lion Frugal Cook-Off? I have an awesome giveaway for one lucky winner to receive a $100.00 Food Lion Gift Card! I think this is perfect timing with Thanksgiving right around the corner! What would you do with a $100.00 Food Lion Card? Visit the Food Lion website to learn more about their brand and find a store location near you. Good Luck!