Did They Eat It? The Velveeta Challenge Edition

The nice people from Velveeta, well not really Velveeta, Velveeta's People contacted me (I know! Velveeta has People!) and asked if they could hire me to develop my own recipe using Velveeta, make it, photograph it, share the recipe and feed it to my family. My final recipe would also be put in a competition with other blogger's Velveeta Creations.

Since I'm a fan of making things that might kill my children to eat, I said, "Sure!"

Stipulations were: it had to be a casserole, all the ingredients needed to cost less than $20, it had to serve 8 people, it had to be made in a 9x13 pan and it had to have at least 8oz of Velveeta in it.

My friend Chrissy makes this really oddly satisfying thing called Spamarama. It's grated Spam mixed with grated Velveeta stuffed into hot dog rolls, wrapped in aluminum foil and warmed up.

I admit, I'll put almost anything in my mouth [insert crude joke here] but yeah, I liked them. I'd eat them at a tail gate or maybe over a campfire. Too bad I couldn't enter it in the contest because it's not a casserole. Logan and Madison say, "Thank You Velveeta's People For Preventing Her From Serving Us Spam!"

Besides Spamarama our experience with Velveeta has been limited to shells and cheese and that delicious cheese queso you can make with Ro-Tel and Velveeta all melted up together. This is something Logan made for me when we first started dating and I remember being very impressed with his Tex-Mex cooking skills. He had just moved back to Michigan from Houston after all. Then again, I felt sophisticated drinking Lambrusco back then so you might say I was a little...I don't know, unsophisticated.

Three-quarters of our family likes this dip, so that's the direction I went with our recipe.

After a few miserable failures: Rubbery toasted corn tortillas? Check! Too much sweet corn? Check!

I finally settled on Queso Chicken with Black Beans and Rice. Of course I used black beans, I include black beans in everything I eat.

I can't share my recipe quite yet and I can't tell you if they ate it until you've seen the recipe. I will as soon as I can. Voting for recipes will begin on October 30th, I'll have my recipe posted before then.

The other bloggers participating in this challenge are:

Confessions of An Apron Queen
Livin' With Me!
Miss Zoot
My Wooden Spoon

And after looking over all the sites, I'm afraid my limited kitchen skills are no match for these ladies. I'm in trouble.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek at my entry with it's crispy tortilla chip topping.

Comments

[Guru]

It looks tasty!

[melissa]

oh! i want to eat this.
i also prefer to put black beans in "everything." can't wait until you post the recipe.

[mpotter]

how cool. good luck!
i don't know if that's good luck for winning or good luck for your family eating (and liking) it.

i, myself, am a picky eater. so i love when you do these posts. sadly, i'd probably be like everyone else and say ewwwwww. (tho i'm not rude, so i wouldn't say it out loud)

[Olly]

I'm not an overly picky eater, but spam and velveeta? No.... The casserol looks interesting though!

[lousoz]

I was ok with having to go dairy free for my baby until I saw that picture. I miss cheese. I want to eat lots of things with cheese. Especially things made with "fake" cheese and tortilla chips.
I can't wait to hear the outcome, and get the recipe to use at a future date.

[Meg]

Looks good! And it sounds good too. I love black beans. Last month, my grocery store had a 4/$1.00 sale on black beans. I'm getting very creative with them.

[Erin]

Thoughtful Velveeta. Wicked (as in awesome) looking photo of cheesy goodness!! Can't wait for the recipe.
By the way-I was just mocking the weird lady who felt threatened by the naked lady glass. I'm not actually her.

[Alice]

Cooking with Velveeta? Hope you updated your will at the same time. That stuff is all processed crap and chemicals. Blech...

[patois]

Boy, I'm kind of intimidated by the previous commenter. What the hell, I'll still say that I think it looks pretty good.

[melissaS]

Everything in moderation is my motto.

[The Apron Queen]

Checking out the competition! :) Looks wonderful.

Being nosy too & I read you were part of the Moms drinking wine at playdates hoopla. I laughed out loud! I remember when that happened. Funny thing is I just wrote a post that basically boils down to my husband & I "locking the kids in the house" and we drink wine out by the pool! I'm all for a little wine. Or maybe a lot, depends on the type of day I've had.

Anyway, good luck and had to say Hi.

http://anapronaday.blogspot.com/2008/10/fruit-olive-and-cheese-platter-for-date.html

[Pants]

looks good to me!

[zandor]

That looks really good

[Molly]

Yeah, chemicals and processed stuff be damnned, that looks seriously tasty. Although, I have to tell you that the ad that popped up right below that post was for prescription antacids. Hilarious.

[HeatherK]

Velveeta is my secret indulgence/quick nacho treat. The one I make when the kids are napping so I don't have to share! Looks tasty!

[kris]

well i for one am a lover of "stuff is all processed crap and chemicals".... i mean really, buck up and learn to cope! velvetta is the nectar of the gods... realy, it is. i make a great veggie casserole with it. no one has died eating it yet... i think...

[mm]

Velveeta, it does a body ... um... special.

[Lauren]

Um... I don't think the Velveeta people would appreciate you bashing their product. It might kill your children? I'm pretty sure that's not what they had in mind when they asked you to join the contest.

[Michelle]

Those stipulations would equal a pan of lasagna in my house. Which is basically giant hunks of Velveeta rolled up lasagna noodles, with a little mushroom sauce on top.

[melissaS]

My goodness, so crabby Lauren. Everything I make might kill my children, especially my daughter. It's a long running joke in the Did They Eat It Series.

Thanks for reading!

[A Cowboy's Wife]

Hey dear:) I can't wait to see what you came up with! This is such an exciting opportunity.

Oh, and I got the joke;)