Posts tagged with "blogger events"

Grand Opening of Earth Fare Oldsmar + Enter to Win a $25 Gift Card!

Disclosure: As part of the Tampa Bay Bloggers, I was provided with a $25 gift card and Behind-The-Scenes-Tour of Earth Fare Oldsmar in exchange for my honest opinion. Please see my disclosure policy)

I recently had the opportunity with the Tampa Bay Bloggers to attend the Grand Opening festivities of the new Earth Fare Store that opened in Oldsmar, FL. I was so excited to attend as I just love the Earth Fare Store in Seminole! This is the second store to the Tampa Bay region and is located at 3136 Tampa Rd. in Oldsmar.

Why Shop Earth Fare?

As a busy mom, I am always on the lookout for affordable and healthy options for my family. Earth Fare is known for the highest quality standards in all of their products and they pledge that all of their food is free of:

  • Added Hormones
  • Artificial Fats & Trans Fats
  • Artificial Sweeteners
  • Bleached or Bromated Flours
  • Antibiotics
  • High Fructose Corn Syrup
  • Artificial Preservatives
  • Artificial Colors or Flavors

While Earth Fare has a focus on nutrition and high quality standards, they are also committed to keeping their prices affordable. I especially love the Everyday and Weekly Deals that Earth Fare provides their customers. To take advantage of some of the great prices, you will want to sign up for the Healthy Rewards Program! This is Earth Fare’s loyalty program and is a way to get sneak peeks, exclusive offers and more! You can sign up for this Free program HERE. For even more savings, be sure to download the Earth Fare app. This app has exclusive savings and offers that you won’t want to miss out on!

A few examples of great Everyday deals that you can score at Earth Fare are whole roasted chickens for only $5, $2.99 freshly made fruit tarts, $0.99 freshly baked baugettes and much more. They also offer several weekly deals such as Take and Bake Pizzas for $7 on Saturday and Sunday, $7.99 Chicken Pot Pies on Thursday, $0.50 cooked wings on Saturday and Sunday and don’t forget Tuesday when it is $9.99 Family Pasta Night! These are just a few of the spectacular deals that you will find at Earth Fare. Be sure to head on over to your local store to check it out!

If you want a delicious and healthy salad or sandwich on your lunch break, Earth Fare has you covered! They have an organic salad bar and you can buy individual sandwiches. They also offer a soup bar as well as individual slices of their yummy pizza made with organic pizza dough and sauce from vine-ripened tomatoes. And, if you have a sweet tooth, be sure to check out the cases of delicious treats!

In addition to the great prices that Earth Fare offers its customers, I also love how they feature local vendors and their products throughout the store. You will know that these are from locals as they are featured with a Love Local sign in front of the product. Local to the Tampa Bay region are items from Eat Fresco, Blazing Bean Roasters, Mother Kombucha, Buddy Brew Coffee and much more!

Not only does Earth Fare offer delicious food products, but they also provide their customers with Natural and Organic Health, Beauty and Household-related items. In fact, Earth Fare now offers seven private label organic cleaning products with more to come!

Thanks to Earth Fare, one lucky My Sweet Savings reader is going to Win a $25 Earth Fare gift card! Entering this giveaway is simple. The first entry on the Rafflecopter is mandatory while you may gain additional entries with the other options.

 

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

#IdahoPotatoCutsClass With Famous Idaho Potatoes & #SundaySupper! (+ Roasted Garlic and Chive Au Gratin Idaho Potatoes)

Disclosure: I was invited to the Famous Idaho Potatoes VIP event and provided with promotional items. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Please see my disclosure policy)

I recently had the amazing opportunity to attend a VIP Blogger event -#IdahoPotatoCutsClass at the Epicurean Hotel Autograph Collection in Tampa with Famous Idaho Potatoes and #SundaySupper. I cannot begin to tell you the knowledge that I gained at this event and the royal treatment that we were given as social media influencers was beyond amazing!

 

One of the first things on the agenda was to learn proper knife cutting techniques from Chef Christopher Koetke. We were given Beautiful Boos Cutting Boards and chef knives from WÜSTHOF to practice with. What better way to learn than with these state-of-the-art items. I have to tell you, proper kitchen tools make all the difference in the world when you are in the kitchen. I have always heard remarkable things about both the Boos and WÜSTHOF brands, but when you use these items in person and see the results that you get while using them, you will be so amazed! AND, we got to keep the items!

When you are using a Cutting Board, make sure to always add a damp paper towel underneath to keep it steady and from slipping. This also ensures that your knife will not get away from you.

Chef Chris then taught us how to correctly dice, chop and slice. You will want to practice correct form when using your chef’s knife so that there are no accidents in the kitchen. One of the key things that I learned, “Remember that your chef’s knife is like an extension of your hand.”

Chef Dave Woolley prepared some amazing dishes for us to try! On the menu was Idaho® Potato Scalloped Au Gratin, Roasted Idaho® Potato Fingerling Salad, Idaho® Potato Risotto, and Buffalo Hasselback Idaho® Potato. If you would like to try these delicious recipes for yourself you can see them HERE. I actually made the Roasted Garlic and Chive Au Gratin Idaho® Potatoes tonight for dinner (pictured below) and they turned out Amazing! These are definitely going on my Thanksgiving Menu this year!

One of my favorite things at the end of the day was the #Hashed Competition. We were able to put to practice all of the knowledge that we learned during the day. We were placed in teams of 3-5 people and had to make a Idaho® Potato Salad Recipe with secret ingredients from the pantry. So much fun! I was teamed up with Wanda from My Sweet Zepol and Christina from Go Epicurista. We opted to make a Sexy Cuban Idaho Potato Salad and it Won First Place! Our prize was tickets to next year’s Food and Wine Conference and $100 Gift card!

I cannot begin to tell you how much fun that this day was for me. I made new friendships and walked away with tons of knowledge that will not only help me in the kitchen but also as a blogger!

(Photo Credit: My Sweet Zepol Instagram)