giveaway

Maui-Style Kalbi Short Ribs

April 23, 2019

I’ve talked about my recent love of Hawaiian food two other times now on the blog, Kalua Pork and Spam Musubi, and these Maui-Style Kalbi Short Ribs from Alana Kysar‘s new cookbook Aloha Kitchen is definitely being inducted as one of my favorite all-time Hawaiian dishes. I usually order these exact ribs from the local Hawaiian restaurant down the street, the one I gushed about in the Spam Musubi post. However, I never knew that they were so easy to make at home. The hardest part is waiting for the ribs to marinate overnight. I’m not kidding. Serve them with white rice and Hawaiian macaroni salad or a simple green salad on the side and you’ll be good to go. Which by the way, if I could eat white rice and Hawaiian macaroni salad as side dishes to every meal, I would be a very happy man. This will quickly become one of your new favorite dinners, and you’ll want to add it to your menu rotation as often as possible. In honor of Alana’s new book and because I think we should all have a little bit of Island paradise at home, I’m giving away a copy of the book to one lucky reader! All you have to do is leave a comment below with what your dream vacation is (or would be) and you’ll be in the drawing! You have until Friday to enter, and it’s open to anyone and everyone. A winner will be picked at random and notified via email. It’s a wonderful book filled with must-try recipes, especially if you want to bring a little bit of Hawaii into your own kitchen without leaving your home!

…

Fried Zucchini Sliders + GIVEAWAY!

June 28, 2017

I think by now you’ve all heard me mention time and time again, maybe even to the point of annoyance, that I wrote a cookbook a while ago. You may or may not know that it’s a book all about sliders. Mini burgers always and forever. Being the self-proclaimed Slider King of the World, I still very much love this book and am very proud of it and the hard work I put into it. Today, June 28th 2017, marks the one year anniversary of the book’s release. It’s crazy to think that it’s been a full year since it was born into this world, and even crazier to know that people not only enjoy it but also enjoy cooking from it. I myself still grab it off the bookshelf, open it up, and make recipes from it often. The book has 75 recipes all dedicated to one of my favorite foods. It features meat, poultry, vegetarian and even seafood sliders, so you know there is something for everyone. There are even homemade buns and homemade sauces to play around with. I often get asked what’s my favorite slider in the book, and that without a doubt is the Fried Zucchini Sliders in the vegetarian chapter. It is one of the easiest recipes in the book, but packed with so much flavor. It’s almost silly how good it tastes. I thought that sharing the recipe on the blog would be a great way to celebrate this great occasion.

In honor of The Slider Effect’s 1st birthday, I’m giving away a copy of the book to 10 lucky winners! So if you haven’t had a chance to pick one up yet (but have been wanting to) or you just didn’t know about it, now is the time to snag a copy for yourself. All you have to do is leave a comment below letting me know which recipe first drew you to the site originally. I always love reading the comments that say “I found your site while searching for….” or “I came across your recipe for…” It’s interesting to see what drew you guys in, because they’re all so different. If that doesn’t apply to you, you could also leave a comment letting me know what’s your favorite recipe on the site that you’ve tried or have been wanting to try. I’m nosey like that. You have until next Wednesday July 5th to enter and it’s open to anyone and everyone. As always, my mamma will pick the winners at random and they’ll be notified via email. It’s her favorite thing to do. Makes her feels like Oprah. Thank you for keeping the site going. You guys humble me so much.

…

Snickers Marshmallow Treats

July 25, 2016

Snickers Marshmallow Treats. What can I say about these treats to end all treats? They don’t have actual pieces of Snickers in them or anything because that’s not the point of these, although that would’ve taken them to the next level if we’re being honest. Instead, they’re meant to taste just like a Snickers bar because we both know that sometimes plain marshmallow treats just aren’t enough. So a brown butter marshmallow treat base gets a thick caramel layer studded with peanuts and then topped off with melted chocolate. Go ahead and try to tell me that dreams don’t come true. I’ll call you a liar because these prove otherwise. These are what dreams are made of. The best of both worlds. Candy bar meets rice cereal treats.

I’d like to thank everyone who participated in last week’s giveaway, along with all of the past weeks this month! Last week brought us the best response from all of the giveaways so far! I got so many great ideas for cake flavors; I’m adding them to my must-make list. A huge congratulations to last week’s winner (you know who you are). I hope you get good use out of that grill pan. If I were you, I’d start grilling EVERYTHING in sight. Now it’s with sad news that I tell you, we’ve come to the end of the giveaways. You only have this one more chance to win (but honestly there will be more giveaways coming soon, the next one will be on Instagram to be precise). This week’s giveaway is another signed copy of my cookbook The Slider Effect, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, AND I’m happy to announce that you’ll also win a swanky Hamilton Beach Stand Mixer! It comes in a fancy red color, along with the whisk, paddle and dough hook attachment. If you’ve always wanted a stand mixer to make your life easier, now is your chance to win one! Start planning out all of the cookies and breads you’ll be making very soon. Have I mentioned how amazing a stand mixer is?! You’ll definitely want to win this one!

To enter, leave a comment below letting me know what your favorite meal has been at a restaurant. Tell me all of the details like what restaurant, what city and why you loved it so much. Really, I’m just wanting to create a good guide of restaurants around the country so I can write them down and visit them in my travels. Thanks for your help. I can’t wait to read all about them! As always, my mamma will be picking the winner at random. It’s one of her greatest pleasures in life, what can I say? I love reading all of your comments so feel free to elaborate as much or as little as you’d like. Remember, let’s keep things fair with only one entry per person, and if you win this prize (or won last prize), you can’t enter the following weeks or this week. Sorry but I want everyone to have a fair chance. You have until Friday night to enter! Good luck, I’m rooting for you!

…

Roasted Cauliflower & Red Pepper Soup + Giveaway!

May 12, 2016

It’s time for another giveaway on the blog! It’s my way of saying thank you for following along and thank you for sticking around for the ride these past four years! I say this time and time again, I would not be able to do this without any of you. I mean sure, I’d still be posting recipes up on this corner of the internet, no matter what, but you guys make it worth while. Your comments, feedback and suggestions mean so much to me. I read them all. There are so many great new cookbooks out right now, with even more on the way. It’s insane, and hard to keep with them. I’m trying my best though. The Love & Lemons Cookbook from the blog of the same name, is great if you love healthy, seasonal, produce-driven, gluten-free, and vegan recipes. It’s divided by produce beginning with apples, all the way down to zucchini! Now, I’m not at all gluten-free or vegan, I love my meat and chicken and bread, but it’s still very satisfying. This Roasted Red Pepper & Cauliflower Soup for instance, is so tasty, that I don’t even miss the meat. Plus, who doesn’t love cauliflower? I’m obsessed with it.

Just in case you’re new here and don’t know how the giveaways work, all you have to do is leave a comment below to enter, telling me what your all-time favorite vegetable is. (The last time we talked about fruits). Tell me what your favorite veggie is and what dish you like to cook or eat that features said veggie. You have until Monday night to enter, and as always, my mamma will be picking the winner at random and you’ll be notified via email! I like to keep things fair, so please only one comment per person. And anyone is welcome to enter, which is an added bonus! We love reading stories and memories, so if you can, leave more than just a one word answer, although those are okay too. But tell me everything about why you love this vegetable and/or vegetable dish. I want to know everything.

Speaking of cookbooks, if you haven’t already heard or read, my first cookbook, The Slider Effect, is up for preorder right now as we speak! For a limited time only, anyone who preorders the book will receive a free exclusive ebook with 5 recipes not featured in the cookbook (or anywhere else for that matter). All you have to do is forward your confirmation or a take a screenshot of it and send it to theslidereffect@gmail.com. Preorders are very important, so it’ll mean a lot to me if you grab yourself a copy ahead of time and tell all of your friends and family about it! Amazon has it for way less than the listed price…what a time to be alive! Take advantage of it now! Plus you get an ebook which seals the deal and makes everything right. Did I mention that the book is all about sliders?! There are four chapters on sliders (Meat, Poultry, Seafood and Vegetarian) with a chapter on homemade buns and a chapter on homemade sauces! It’ll change the way you look at sliders, I promise!

…

Pumpkin Pie Cake

September 10, 2015

I’m worse than those convenience stores that sell halloween costumes in August, or Christmas decor right after halloween. I complain about those stores all the time, and here I am already bringing pumpkin spice into the mix and it’s hotter than hot here in Los Angeles. As I type this I have the AC on full blast and it’s well into the evening. What is going on right now? I’m not about this kind of life. Summer isn’t even over yet and I’ve begun to force autumn down your throats. Sure it might not feel like fall right now and okay, maybe I am rushing things a little bit, but I have good reason to. Hopefully you’ll forgive me once you find out about what’s going on. The word GIVEAWAY will most certainly catch your attention. More so because I just capitalized it. It should catch your attention though because I myself love free things. More free things for everyone, is my motto.

I don’t host as many giveaways on here as I should, and I always tell myself, “Self, you should host more giveaways on the blog.” I then proceed to tell myself what a good idea I just had, and give myself a few pats on the back. But then I somehow forget about it, but that’s probably a good thing, because when I do remember to give stuff away, it makes it a lot more special. Don’t you agree? This giveaway happens to be special. Look mamma! I’m on the cover of a magazine! Well, not me but my work is, and that definitely still counts. That’s my big bundt (cake) right there on the cover. Isn’t it marvelous? Right there on the cover.

A few months back, way back when summer was just starting and it most certainly felt way too soon to think about, let alone talk about fall time desserts and pumpkin spice in general, I was busy brainstorming a few recipes for this magazine, “The Pumpkin Spice Handbook.” It’s the ultimate guide to the incredibly loved fall time spice blend. There’s over 100 recipes, that all use pumpkin spice in it, from savory to sweet. It’s all jam-packed into this amazing looking magazine. I myself have two recipes in it (humble brag) and I would love it if you snagged yourself a copy. Note: This Pumpkin Pie Cake isn’t one of the two recipes. This is one from the drawing board that didn’t make it in the issue. So you’ll definitely want to get the other two recipes I contributed. You won’t regret it. It’s on sale now and you can find it in Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens and most major grocery stores nationwide (basically all the stores).

Lucky for you, yes you reading this post, right at this very moment, I’m giving away a few copies to three lucky winners! Big shout out to the gracious editor, Elise Portale, for making this giveaway possible. All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me what your favorite fall dessert is (or savory dish for those without a sweet tooth). Three people will be picked at random on Saturday. My mom will pick the winners because she loves reading all of your comments anyway, so we might as well make her useful (kidding, mom). No, but really. Good luck! I’m sending you all positive vibes. I want you to win.

…