What’s for dinner?

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“What’s for dinner?” It’s a common question in households across the world. And one I am sure causes frustration and stress for those who are supposed to be preparing the dinner.  Fortunately for me, Mr Neil knows better than to ask that – thanks to this blog, he’s pretty well fed and mostly I am pretty organized in that I will know what we are having for the week to come. But not always. Some nights I arrive home completely exhausted and even though I have tons of ingredients on hand, have no inclination to cook and just want something to present itself – and fast!

So when I was asked if I would like to participate in a campaign from Knorr Canada that’s all about providing delicious meal solutions to help home cooks answer the question “What’s for Dinner?”, I was keen to see if the recipes could help me figure out what to make for dinner in a pinch, when I haven’t had much to think about what I want to cook and in fact, don’t have much time to actually cook it. Knorr Canada has recently re-launched their website with a fresh new look along with the “What’s For Dinner” Meal Ideas book  – a collection of chicken, vegetables, dairy, beef and seafood recipes.  I loved that the book comes with shopping lists to make grocery store visits (and list making on the subway on the way home) even easier.  I’m a big fan of the Knorr stocks and broths and bouillons (because let’s face it, I don’t always have time to make them myself) and generally have a few on hand. It’s such a useful ingredient.

I tried out three of the simpler dishes in the Meal Ideas book – the perfect steak rub, chicken with white wine and cream sauce and shepherd’s pie.

None of these recipes required very many ingredients and I managed to have dinner on the table in anything from 15 minutes (the steak) to an hour (the shepherd’s pie).

I was interested to try the perfect steak rub – a quick way of giving a steak a lot of flavour with not much effort.

A little bit of crumbled stock cube mixed with olive oil gave this steak a great flavour without having to marinate it for hours. A great trick that I might have to try with some other meats.

We both loved the shepherd’s pie (here, made with beef mince):

Yes, we like it a little crispy on top 🙂

The mince was mixed with onions, carrots, water, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and stock. Made for a very flavourful gravy that tasted even better the next day!  Didn’t care much for the creamed corn just under the mashed potato layer but I guess it adds another vegetable. I might use fresh corn kernels next time around.

The chicken with white wine and cream sauce is going to be a standard in our house this winter, I think…

Again, such a great depth of flavour with so few ingredients (the sauce is simply cream, wine and stock). It made for an impressive weeknight dinner with very little effort.

What I liked about the recipes was the clear layout of the recipe cards themselves (and the shopping list feature) and the fact that many of them are so quick to prepare.  Most of the ingredients are everyday items you probably already have in your house so you really WILL be able to figure out “What’s for Dinner?” in a flash.

 

What’s for Dinner – a contest for Canadians!

Canadian Knorr fans – Knorr Canada wants to see YOU rise to the challenge – simply choose one of the recipes from the Knorr What’s for Dinner recipes and post about it on your blog for a chance to win a Knorr gift basket (value $350 CAD).  To enter, leave me a comment below with a link to show me what you made.

For a second entry (or for an entry if you do not have a blog, upload a picture to the Knorr Canada Facebook Page and tag it #whatsfordinnerknorr and come back to leave me a comment letting me know you did.

Contest will run until 6pm EST Wednesday October 31st and the winner will be chosen using Random.org from the eligible comments. Open to residents of Canada only.

Edited on Wednesday October 31st at 8.30pm. Congratulations to Cindy who won the basket! I hope you enjoy it!

Disclosure: I received a gift basket containing ingredients, utensils and grocery gift cards in exchange for writing this post and hosting this contest. All opinions are my own.

Dine with a Blogger #tasteMTL

 

* Want to win a trip for two to Montreal to dine with ME during restaurant week in November? It’s easy – enter the Dine with a Blogger contest here! (US/Canadians only, sorry international friends!)

30 thoughts on “What’s for dinner?”

  2. Oh that bowl of goodness has made my mouth water. I want some crunchy bread to sop up all that sauce! 🙂

    Knorr always reminds me of my mom’s kitchen – she’s got a pantry stocked with Knorr products. 🙂

    Reply

  3. Yum, your cottage pie looks delicious (though agree creamed corn is a little odd). I like it crispy, too! And like Lindsey, I’m drooling over that chicken in wine sauce. Mmmm.

    Reply

  4. We love Knorr in this household and their sauces are wonderful. You may want to try their Roasted Garlic and Herbs for pasta….so good.

    All your food look wonderful but that chicken dish is amazing!

    Reply

  5. Hi Mardi.

    Nice to have met you here through Knorr’s Facebook Page. I am up for the Challenge and will post back with my blog link when I have done so. I also have shared your Blog link for this challenge on my Recipe Exchange on Facebook, which now has just over 300 wonderful members.

    Most kindest regards, “Just Me”

    Reply

    • I am going to try both the shepherd’s pie and the chicken in mushroom sauce ..both look delicious..!! My favorite recipe from Knorr is meatloaf using vegetable soup mix ! yummy

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  8. I put my chicken with wine/cream sauce photo up tonight. I served mine with roasted cauliflower and green beans (in photo too)

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  9. Sounds like a fantastic week night meal! But I’d have to agree the creamed corn would be overkill for me too but just the kernels s perfect amount of sweetness to the dishonor sounds like a perfect and easy flavour booster!

    Reply
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  22. I’m a huge fan for Knorr,I just can’t cook anything good without knorr bouillin or knorr stock,I don’t have a blog,but I put up a picture of two my fav recipes,chicken noodle soup,and mexican tacos:)

    Reply

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