spar for the spurtle #2 - steel cut oatmeal tabbouleh

Last year, I entered the first ever "Spar for the Spurtle" contest for Bob's Red Mill. The challenge was to create an innovative recipe featuring their steel cut oatmeal in less than 30 minutes. I whipped up a very delicious bowl of oatmeal with wild rice and organic blueberries. Maybe it was a little too run of the mill, so I took a different route this year.

For my entry for Bob's Red Mill "Spar for the Spurtle 2" I created a super fresh steel cut oatmeal tabbouleh, featuring Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oatmeal, that is served on top of a bed of ultra creamy hummus, and topped off with lots of local produce purchased at my local farmers market or picked straight out of the garden. Pita wedges, carrot sticks, cucumbers and bell peppers make the perfect vessels for transporting this vibrant dip from the platter to your mouth!



Check out the video! I had a great time creating this with my very talented art director of a husband, and shot on location (!!) at the Washington Farmers Market at in our backyard.

Be sure to "like" the video on YouTube to help my chances of winning a trip to Portland, Oregon to compete in the top three, and then help me on my way to Scotland to represent Bob's Red Mill at the World Porridge Making Championships!

brand loyalty

This time of year, I bet a lot of you get excited to see the UPS/FedEx man/woman pull up to your house and drop a package off on your doorstep.

I dread it.

I get a lot of deliveries for work and lately it has been non-stop, much to Nic's chagrin. Our basement it quickly filling up with 2012 Relay For Life materials, awards, gifts, you name it, I have it.

Today though - the box was too small for any work stuff. So my mind instantly went to our massive Amazon.com holiday order. I was expecting a gift for my brother's girlfriend first, and I was stocked to see it in person.

So I was a little surprised when I opened the box and found this: 


 

A nice package from Bob's Red Mill!


It is not all that often that you come across a company that you absolutely can stand behind and feel good about purchasing any of their products.

Since Nic and I have been eating a much cleaner diet (is not that term just used far too much, "eating clean"?? Can't we just call it eating real food?), we have run across a handful of companies that have captured our loyalty. One of these brands is Bob's Red Mill.

I first fell in love with their steel cut oats (and even entered their Spar For the Spurtle contest back in July) and buy them in bulk. Like B-U-L-K. Can you say 25 pounds of deliciousness?! For the record, a 25 pound bag of steel cut oats looks like a sack of animal feed.

We continue to ask our HyVee store to stock their shelves with new Bob's Red Mill products and they are very happy to oblige.


Thanks Bob! What a great gift on a rainy December afternoon.

Even though it sounds like it, Bob's Red Mill did not ask my to write this post. I was just generally excited to receive such a thoughtful package.

spar for the spurtle - steel cut oats with wild rice and dried blueberries

Okay everyone, I have a confession to make.

I LOVE steel cut oatmeal.

In fact, I love it so much that I had my manager at Hy-Vee order me a 25 pound bag of Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats.

Crazy?

For sure.

But I seriously love the stuff. I eat it every morning for breakfast and enjoy a huge bowl of it before all of my long runs and races.

Plus, when you order in bulk like that, you can share it with your friends and get a super duper good deal.

So, when I heard about Bob's Red Mill Spar For the Spurtle contest, I knew I had to enter. The rules, create a dish using Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut oat and post a short video detailing how to make it. Scary, right! A video...of me talking?! By doing so, I was taking a step out of my comfort zone, but it was fun and funny...

Just see for yourself...



This dish I created featured Minnesota's own, wild rice and I must say, I was quite pleased with the end result. This is a quick dish (30 minutes or less!) that you could whip on on a Saturday morning and impress your friends and family. Who knew oatmeal could be so good?!



The prizes are awesome for winning this contest. Bob's Red Mill will select three finalist to go to Portland to compete in a live cook-off and the winner of that will travel on to Scotland with the Bob's Red Mill team to compete.

So, watch the video, laugh at {and with} me, but most of all, make sure you "LIKE" the video on YouTube. The more "likes" I get, the better the chances I have.

Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top like me!!

And if you were to share this and tell all of your friends to like the video too, I would be so very appreciative.

You could even tweet this - "I just "liked" @KierInIowa's submission for #sparforthespurtle and you should too! http://youtu.be/c94ZcbTvDrc"