Uncle Ben’s Sneaky Chef Cooking Event

So as a blogger I do get a few opportunities to review things outside of my home.  So far I have done quite a few kid events, I went to the Disney Social Media Moms Event, and I went to BlogHer last year, but last week was my first event alone with other mom bloggers.  Yes I know that sounds like no big deal, but let me say, I was nervous, intimidated, and excited all at the same time.

I was fortunate to be invited to the Uncle Bens Cooking Event at The Chopping Block in downtown Chicago.  So I drove the 30 minutes and with ease I was there and ready to mingle.  When I first walked in, I noticed there was about three tables full of ladies already talking amongst themselves, I sat down and started talking to Elizabeth (Blue Violet) from A Nut in a Nutshell.  We both were already aware of each other’s blogs and immediately hit it off.  I talked with a few other ladies and ate tons of yummy appetizers, which turned out to be what we were going to learn to cook!

After about ten minutes, Chef Dad introduced himself and explained that we were going to cook four meals and take home our creations!  We formed three groups and got cooking.  What was especially nice was everthing was already pre-measured and mostly cut up for us.  We did have to wait for the rice, but realized it would be best if we started cooking all the rice for all the meals so when we were ready for the next dish the rice would be ready.

It was so much fun!  We chatted, chopped, stirred, and waited for our food to finish.  I was excited because I am not a good rice cooker (it always sticks or I overcook it) and it was nice to see the right way to cook it and how it is important to simmer it.  After our meals were done, we got to take home lots of boxes off all the new flavors of Uncle Bens: Whole Grain White Rice:  Sweet Tomato, Taco, Broccoli Cheddar, Long Grain, and Chicken.

I have to say to that the recipes we used all had Uncle Ben’s rice in them as the Sneaky Chef created them!  I absolutely loved all of them and still cannot believe how easy it was to disguise the healthy rice in them.  The recipes we created were:  Sneaky Chef Pizza Rice Balls, BBQ Chicken Pizza on Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain White Rice Crust, Chicken Parmesan Rice Casserole, and Sneaky Chocolate Rice Pudding.  Oh I am drooling just thinking of all of them, I can’t even pick a favorite!  The BBQ Chicken Pizza though I will say is absolutely incredible how the crust is chickpeas and rice!  Don’t worry I will post all the recipes this weekend with pics!

I really though had a great time with all the other lovely bloggers and am so grateful for the Uncle Ben’s Event.  I learned to be more creative in the kitchen, that healthy meals can taste good and be sneaky, that other mom bloggers are not scary, and that Uncle Ben’s rice rocks!  I admit to buying other brands in the past, but I think I am going to stick with Uncle Ben’s going forward, especially when all these new yummy flavors hits store shelves later this summer!

Before we started and tore up the kitchen!

Me and Elizabeth from A Nut in a Nutshell

Random Picture of us prepping and cooking

All of us with Chef Dad in the middle (I am 3rd from the left hiding in back since I’m short!)

Mama’s Money Savers Disclosure:  I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Uncle Bens and received the product necessary to facilitate my candid review. In addition, I received a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.