ConAgra Backyard Bash: Our Memorial Day Weekend Cookout 2012

ConAgra sent us a Backyard Bash kit to enhance our Memorial Day Weekend cookout. They supplied most of the food, recipes, Chef Boyardee Aprons and chef hat, time capsule and herb seeds. I went to the store and bought Chef Boyardee Beefaroni,. 98 percent free Hebrew National Hot Dogs, hamburger, egg beaters, hunts tomatoes, corn on the cob, strawberries, whipped cream etc. We invited over a few friends and prepared our cookout.

We decided it was important to begin the party with breakfast because the cooks needed some nutrition and energy. We took Egg Beaters, mixed them in a bowl with a few hunts tomatoes and sprinkled cheese into the mix while it was cooking. This was a taste of scrambled eggs that everybody enjoyed. During this event, we actually made our own recipe. We took the rest of the eggs and dumped a can of Beefaroni on them. The mixture was actually delicious.

The main food for the event.


We made chili with Hunts Tomato Juice, the rest of the Hunts tomatoes, ground beef, spicy chili beans and rice on the side, we cooked Hebrew National Hot Dogs, corn on the cob, baked beans, hamburgers, sirloin steak and made strawberry shortcake and chocolate chip cookies. Our friends came over to share in our cookout and brought a half gallon of chocolate chip ice-cream with them. We whipped up some chocolate chip cookies with one of the recipes we were sent from ConAgra. This is the first time I ever used Egg Beaters to make cookies and they were delicious.

The children got together with my wife and planted the herb and tomato seeds. It was fun, they got dirty and we hope we can actually grow the seeds into plants. We have fun planting seeds in this family, but we don't always have the best of luck growing the plants beyond the seedling stage. I don't believe we have green thumbs in this family.  

It was nice to learn that ConAgra foods are healthy and come from the farm. Fresh vegetables are important to good health and Egg Beaters are a heart-healthy option to shelled eggs. The egg whites are the healthy part of the egg, giving your body the nutrients it needs without all the fat, calories and cholesterol off shelled eggs. The cool thing I learned about Hunt's tomatoes are they are naturally steam peeled, without chemicals, and contain no artificial preservatives or ingredients. I already knew that the Hebrew National Hot Dogs were good for you because I have added these delicious franks to my diet years ago. I try to stay away from those hot dogs that are high in fat and have meat additives none of us want to know about.

Our family and friends put personal items into the time capsule. My children actually decided to put their small stuffed animals into the capsule. I placed some pictures of my family in the capsule. Our friends put wheat pennies and other personal things they share between them in the time capsule. We buried it in the backyard and will remove it in the future. I have never done this, so it was really cool to me. My children thought it was fun, but they are going to miss their stuffed animals.

The ConAgra Backyard Bash lasted until 11 PM, we made the Greek Pasta Salad together and everyone enjoyed it. We ate all of the deserts, chocolate chip cookies, strawberry shortcake and chocolate chip ice-cream. We all learned ConAgra foods are healthier than any of us were aware of. My children love Chef Boyardee products, so this is nice to know. The men watched an NBA playoff game, the children played games through the house and the ladies talked about life and their jobs.

This was an enjoyable and educational experience to all of us. We ate a bunch of food, spend time with our families and had a lot of fun. We want to thank all those men and women who gave their lives so we could enjoy this time with our family. Memorial Day is a day where we remember those men and women who sacrificed their lives for us. We remember the service and sacrifice of all of our Veteran's. These men and women gave their lives, so we can live in a free country and have special family moments like this.

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of ConAgra and received products to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for my participation. www.momcentral.com/mcc