What are YOU fueling up for? Kellogg's Vector #Giveaway!

Happy Summer Everyone!  

I sure hope that summer is treating you and your loved ones as good as it is treating us.  

We've been enjoying amazing weather (though a few too many forest fires) - and I have been so lucky to be home with our kids all summer. We've been camping, hiking, biking, golfing, beaching, road-tripping, wine tasting...it's been wonderful. And - we still have just under 5 more weeks until school starts.  Super-duper awesomeness!

So, how do you fuel up in the summer?  When we are outdoors, in addition to the mandatory water, we are always carrying extra snacks for our family.  Our go-to snacks are granola bars - especially ones with protein.  We love the convenience on the bars.  We've also got our favourite post-activity snacks - such as yogurt with fruit and granola - our kids just eat that up (I'm also a big yogurt and granola fan for breakfast).

Speaking of granola, did you know that Kellogg's has recently launched new Vector Granola Honey Almond Flavour?  They have, and it's good.  With 20g of protein per serving, 5g of fibre and 10 vitamins and minerals.  We were fortunate to have been given a sample to try - and while my almond-allergic hubby couldn't have any, the kids and I really enjoyed it with our yogurt and fresh strawberries from our garden!

Now for the best part...YOU have the chance to WIN a Kellogg's Vector Prize pack ($50 value!) - just like the one in the picture in this post.  Lucky you!  Enter below via the Rafflecopter.  Thanks so much...and watch for new recipe posts coming to Addicted to Recipes soon!  Despite our busy summer, we still need to eat, and I have been testing new recipes that will get posted soon!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Summertime Pasta with Tomato & Basil

My most favourite cookbook series is the Whitewater Cooks series.  A very dear friend introduced the series to me, and she has given me two of the books as gifts.  My husband bought me the other.  The recipes are great, the photos are lovely, and the books are just beautiful.  The author is from British Columbia (the province where I live) and she uses ingredients that we can easily find, even people who are from smaller towns.  It's great! 

Last summer we had an abundance of tomatoes in our garden.  Last year was a stellar tomato crop, our little garden gave us over 1500 cherry tomatoes (4 different varieties)...I stopped counting at 1500 (yes...I counted, I couldn't believe our crop!).  Everyone had a gazillion tomatoes, so I wasn't able to share our bounty as much as I would have liked.  I turned some into salsa (YUM!) and we ate a lot of salads with tomatoes.  Then I found the recipe for Summertime Pasta in the Whitewater Cooks book.  And it became an instant favourite!  Here is the recipe (it is SO EASY):

½ cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced or minced (or more if you love garlic)
2 cups cherry tomatoes cut in half
Sea salt (to taste)
Fresh pepper (to taste)
Fresh basil, chopped (to taste)
1 cup asiago cheese
1 package spaghetti or other thin pasta

In the morning, cut cherry tomatoes and chop basil, put into a large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste (we use Epicure’s Chili Garlic Sea Salt and the 4 Pepper Blend). In a frying pan over medium low heat, heat olive oil. Add garlic to the olive oil. Cook for about a minute, just long enough to infuse the garlic and oil. Transfer oil and garlic to the bowl of tomatoes. Cover with plastic wrap and let the mixture sit at room temperature all day.

At dinnertime, cook and drain your pasta. Add the pasta to the tomato mixture and toss to combine. Serve with freshly grated asiago cheese. If you find asiago cheese too strong, try a different cheese, such as parmesan or mozzarella.

We usually serve the pasta with a grilled chicken, makes for all around nice, healthy meal.

VERDICT:
This dish is a HUGE hit in our house, and I can see it being made regularly over the next while with the tomatoes being harvested.  And it is so easy to make - start it in the morning, let it sit all day, cook up some pasta and grill some meat and dinner is done, just like that!

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