HEALTHY & WHOLESOME LUNCHES are essential to fueling your body and keeping concentration and energy levels up throughout the afternoon. We found these ten healthy, make-ahead SANDWICH ideas – all UNDER 300 CALORIES, and thought we’d share with our Circulon friends. http://bit.ly/tWWY9D

What’s your “go-to” healthy sandwich recipe?

Tami’s post to the Circulon Facebook page received 77 likes and 68 unique comments. Congratulations, Tami!

And our 2^nd and 3^rd place winners are:

2^nd – Natalie J. Vandenberghe – Circulon Symmetry Chocolate 5.5 Qt. Covered Casserole

3^rd – Jill Hayes – Circulon Symmetry Chocolate Skillet Twin Pack 8” and 10” Skillets

They weren’t the only winners this time around. The first 40 people who entered the contest AND posted a special coupon to their Facebook page also won a Circulon Contempo 9” Skillet!

Contestants were asked to submit their favorite December Holiday Party Dish on the Circulon Facebook wall, tell us about it, and then spread the word to get the most likes and comments on their post.

We had so many fabulous entries to choose from. If you would like to see what was offered up, check out all the entries on the Circulon fanpage, and maybe get an idea or two of your own for your next holiday party.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!

Tami’s Entry

“My ‘can’t go wrong recipe’ for the season is Peanut Butter Pie. There are a few reasons this passed down recipe is my recipe of choice for any holiday or celebration throughout the year….#1. I love peanut butter. #2. It is easy. #3. There are NEVER any leftovers!”

We had a great time during the 2^nd Circulon Expert Hour with Marge Perry, talking about planning a holiday menu that you and everyone else will love. A big thanks to everyone who participated with their holiday meal questions, and thanks to Marge for her fun, thoughtful and informative answers.

We also had several trivia question winners during the hour – congratulations to everyone who won a great new piece of Circulon cookware!

There were a number of recipes thrown onto the wall during the hour. Not to worry, we’ve collected most of them here to help make your holiday easier to plan and enjoy. And stay tuned, because we’ll do this again in 2012!

IF YOU DIDN’T GET THE PRIZE YOUR WERE HOPING FOR, THEN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF 25% OFF CIRCULON COOKWARE! VISIT CIRCULON.COM AND ENTER PROMO CODE ‘CIRCLELOVE’!!!

RECIPES

• Circulon.com – Delicious Recipes – Fish and Seafood Stew – www.circulon.com
• Herb Roasted Turkey: How to Make Turkey that is Moist, Tender and Juicy (Not Dry!) – asweetandsavorylife.com

SIDE DISHES

• Easy Thanksgiving Side Dish: Parsnip Puree with Caramelized Onion and Fried Sage Leaves – asweetandsavorylife.com
• Roasted Cauliflower Gratin – asweetandsavorylife.com

APPETIZERS

• Cheesy Spinach-Artichoke Dip- www.myrecipes.com
• Bacon Popcorn – asweetandsavorylife.com
• Citrus Marinated Olives – asweetandsavorylife.com

COOKING WITH KIDS

“Cooking with kids helps them make healthier choices and expand their repertoire of what they will eat. One fun thing to do is make a dip for vegetables; and cookies are always a favorite. Also, you can have them roll out a simple pizza crust and put the toppings on– they can also make a design on a dessert pizza crust with colorful fruit and a little drizzle of chocolate sauce.” – Marge Perry

SERVING A PLATED DINNER TO A CROWD

“I suggest you put your first course out on the table (soup, salad or whatever it is) then call everyone to sit down. When the host picks up his or her fork, it signals to everyone else to eat, so be sure YOU sit down and begin when you want others to.” – Marge Perry

MAKING THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF FOOD

“But better to have too much than to run out of food. But too much should be just enough leftover to give your family and friends– not a crazy wasteful amount. If you make one meat dish, figure about 8 ounces per person. If it is a roast on the bone, you often double that.” – Marge Perry

SUGAR-FREE DESSERTS

“There are lots of lower calorie desserts that may or may not use a little sugar. You can serve a fruit compote over biscuits, like a wintery Strawberry shortcake. Drained yogurt (overnight, in cheesecloth) makes a cheese-like creamy base for fruit and a drizzle of honey.” – Marge Perry

PREPARING GUESTS FOR WHAT TO BRING

“My pet peeve is when people bring dishes that need lots of last minute attention– and platters, serving utensils, etc. Try to be specific when people ask what they can bring, and tell them you won’t have any place to heat a dish up, so if she/he can bring it on a platter at room temp, that would be great.” – Marge Perry

Circulon Facebook page. We’ll be chatting about Cooking for Everyone – Planning a menu that you and everyone else will love.

Marge is an award-winning food writer, whose credits include: Ask The Expert daily blogger for MyRecipes.com, Cooking Light, Newsday, Self, Better Homes & Gardens, Prevention, New York Times, Parenting, publisher of the blog A Sweet and Savory Life, and many others. She loves to write about food and cooking as they relate to lifestyle issues – such as timely and simple meal solutions.

In addition to Dinner Tonight, the cookbook based on her Newsday column, she has contributed to more than 20 books. Marge makes guest appearances on morning news programs, local television news, a weekly radio program, and her recipes have aired on the Food Network.

Marge is a cooking instructor at Institute of Culinary Education. She is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, Society of Professional Journalists, and Association of Food Journalists. Marge was awarded the Libby Hillman Award for Culinary Excellence and the Food Writers’ Symposium scholarship.

So, join us on the Circulon Facebook page with Marge Perry for an hour of fabulous food chat, as Marge gives us insights into how to set up a menu that you and all your guests will love.

Event details
When: Wednesday, December 14, 1-2pm PST
Where: http://www.facebook.com/Circulon

Who: Food expert and blogger Marge Perry
What: Answering all of your holiday meal prep questions, offering simple solutions to menu and planning a party that you and everyone else will love.

Prizes announced during the Expert Hour

Along with our December Holiday Party Dishes contest, we’re offering an added bonus to those who enter the contest AND help spread the word about 25% OFF all of our products on Circulon.com.  The first 40 people to enter the contest AND share our “Circulon 25% OFF all items discount code” on THEIR Facebook wall, will win a Circulon Contempo 9” Skillet!

Remember, to win this skillet:

1. Post your entry to our December Holiday Party Dishes Contest on Circulon’s Facebook wall, AND

2. Share our 25% Off discount code to YOUR Facebook wall. Oh, and let us know you did it. Here’s the discount code link to share on your wall – http://circulon.posterous.com/share-the-love-25-off-circulon-gourmet-cookwa. Just copy and post this link on your Facebook wall.

* First 40 entrants, only!

**Free Shipping ends Dec. 13, 2011, but 25% OFF runs through January2012!

Enter the promo code CIRCLELOVE at checkout for the 25% OFF all items!

What is your favorite dish for a December holiday party? Do you try to keep it on the healthy side or do you figure it’s the holidays and calories don’t count?

Tell us your favorite December Holiday Party Dish to make for – or bring to – a December party for a chance to win a beautiful set of Circulon Symmetry Chocolate cookware.

All you need to do to enter is visit the Circulon Facebook page, and post your favorite December Holiday Party dish (and the recipe, if you can) onto the Facebook wall like this:

• Short write up, 75 – 200 words, describing the holiday dish and the story behind it. For example, how did you find the recipe? When did you first make it? Have you changed the recipe over the years? Tell us whatever you’d like to share about why it’s your annual December party favorite!
• (OPTIONAL) Recipe – ingredients and directions, if possible. If it is your original recipe and you are willing to share it, please do. Or, you can share the recipe name and where it came from originally. Please only share what you have permission to share – it’s only polite!
• (OPTIONAL) A picture of the completed dish.

Also…

• Make sure to spread the word. The post with the most “likes” and “comments” wins. Submissions can be shared on your own profile, but only likes and comments on the Circulon wall will count toward the contest.
• All entries need to be in by midnight, Monday, December 19, 2011
• Winners will be announced Tuesday, December 20, 2011 on the Circulon Facebook Wall
• U.S. addresses ONLY
• Employees of Meyer Corporation are not eligible to enter

WINNERS: There’s more than one winner! Check out our Grand, 2^nd and 3^rd place prize prizes:

Grand Prize:
Circulon Symmetry Chocolate 11 Piece Cookware Set

2^nd Place Prize:
Circulon Symmetry Chocolate 5.5 Qt. Covered Casserole

3^rd Place Prize:
Circulon Symmetry Chocolate Skillet Twin Pack 8” and 10” Skillets

Plus, there’s MORE! Check out our “Share Prize“

The first 40 people to enter the contest AND share the link above that leads to our “Circulon 25% Off all items discount code” on THEIR wall, will win a Circulon Contempo 9” Skillet!

Remember, to win this skillet:

1. Post your entry to our December Holiday Party Dishes Contest on Circulon’s Facebook wall, AND
2. Share our 25% Off discount code to YOUR Facebook wall. Oh, and let us know you did it. This is the link to share to your Facebook wall:  http://circulon.posterous.com/share-the-love-25-off-circulon-gourmet-cookwa

First 40 entrants, only, for the Share Prize – those are all the skillets we have for this part of the contest!

We hope you enjoyed our 1^st Circulon Expert Hour last week with guest, Chef Sally James. We had great questions and discussions all around the subject of Thanksgiving holiday meal preparations with a healthy twist.

We also had a number of winners from our trivia questions at the middle and bottom of the hour, with several people winning new Circulon pans and others, a copy of Sally’s new book, the Little Penguin Cookbook about food and wine pairing.

Below we’ve put together a few of the standout recommendations and recipes that were offered up from Sally and our participants.

Enjoy – and get your Christmas recipes and questions ready because we’re doing this again next month!

On Preparing for Thanksgiving

“My secret is to pre-prepare as much as you can the day before, such as parcooking the vegetables, making the stuffing and having it ready to go in the oven. Also, it helps to step back for a minute and decide what the priorities are – you being fresh and feeling like you’re not too exhausted to enjoy your guests, and needing to have all the traditional accompaniments. Think through everything you wanted to prepare and decide, ‘Do we really need this?’ Makes fewer leftovers to deal with” – Sally James

The Perfect Thanksgiving Dessert

“Lots of ideas – how about some filo pasty fruit parcels. Brush every 2-3 sheets of filo with a light spread of butter or oil, about 6 sheets, then fill with some berries tossed with a touch of brown sugar or apple and pear. Wrap up and fold in edges, then brush with melted butter and bake until golden. Hot fruit soup is really special and flavorsome. Heat red wine and cranberry juice with a cinnamon stick and some cloves until a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes. Just before serving, place chopped fruit such as berries, pear, apple in parfait glasses or cups and pour over the liquid. Top with a dollop of gelato or frozen yogurt. Bon Appetit!” – Sally James

Making those Garlic Mashed Potatoes Lighter

“I have to answer as an Australian as mashed potato to us doesn’t have cream in it and we LOVE it. Try this for a yummy healthy idea. Cook the potatoes, while they’re cooking, heat some olive oil on low, add chopped garlic and heat on low for flavors to infuse and garlic to soften – about 10 minutes. Mash potatoes, and fold flavored oil through, then add buttermilk to bring to desired consistency. I like it with a touch of Parmesan too. Hope that inspires too!” – Sally James

Making Gravy without Turkey Drippings

“I’d suggest buying just some wings or cheap turkey parts, and browning in a pan to get some juices going then proceed as normal. You can also get a demiglace in stores that makes a great gravy – bit expensive but wonderful flavor. I actually now make a wine reduction and throw in some good quality stock and some Worcestershire sauce for my sauce. Hope one works for you.” – Sally James

Drinks for the Evening other than Wine

“I have a favorite that I always serve before a meal where you know you are going to have a fair bit with the meal. It’s refreshing, palate-cleansing and ‘the drink you have when you’re not having a drink.’ Lemon Lime and Bitters – Soda or Mineral Water, with a dash of Rosa Lime and a few drops Angostura bitters, over ice.” – Sally James

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Circulon friends!

Anna’s post to the Circulon Facebook page garnered 100 likes and 71 comments.

And our 2^nd and 3^rd place winners are:

Ben Lutman (2^nd) – Ben wins a Circulon Symmetry 12-Inch Covered Essential Pan

Chris Gagnon (3^rd) – Chris wins a Circulon Symmetry 8.5-inch Open Skillet

Entrants to the contest were asked to submit a healthy alternative to a traditional Thanksgiving dish, and then spread the word to get the most likes and comments on their post. You can find the rest of the entries on our Facebook fanpage. Thanks to everyone for their great participation. We wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving with all of your family and friends!

Also, take a gander at Anna’s delicious and healthful stuffing recipe, and maybe add it to your own table this year.

Healthy Harvest Stuffing

Ingredients

• 8 slices of toasted, cubed, whole-grain bread
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup peeled and finely chopped butternut squash
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup chopped water chestnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped apple
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1 tbs fresh parsley, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large skillet, heat the chicken broth over medium heat. Add the butternut squash, celery and onion and sauté until the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Mix the bread cubes, cranberries, water chestnuts, apples, parsley and tarragon in a separate bowl. Add the butternut squash, onion and celery mixture into it and mix evenly.
4. Spoon stuffing into the baking dish. Cover it with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes. Sprinkle with pecans. Enjoy!

Join in a Live Chat with Chef Sally James, today, Wednesday 11/16, from 1-2pm PST for a live online Chef’s Expert Hour on the Circulon Facebook page.

Author and international wine expert, Chef Sally will field all of your holiday meal prep questions and offer ideas about how to give a healthy twist to traditional Thanksgiving recipes.

Throughout her career, Sally has demonstrated her talent for marrying flavorful food with health. She has been a guest chef and lecturer for the American Heart Association, the Culinary Institute of America, Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, Draeger’s and Publix Markets, the American Institute of Food and Wine, and Johnson & Wales Universities across the United States.

She has been a guest presenter on the Food Network and UPN Networks, and has been featured in magazines including Cooking Light, Wine Spectator, Fitness, Family Circle, New York Times’ Savor Wine Country and Healthy Cooking.

Her show Slow Living Radio show can be heard coast-to-coast through the CRN Digital Talk Affiliate Network or online at web radio CRNTalk.com.

Sally is the author of eighteen books, including her best-selling Simply Healthy—winner of the prestigious World Cookbook Awards, Versailles, France, 1999 for Best Health Cookbook, Fresh and Healthy-Winner of the 2001 IACP International Cookbook Award in the Health category, Simply Sensational, a finalist for the IACP Award in 2003, and the Australian Heart Foundation Cookbook.

So join us at Circulon Gourmet Cookware and Sally James for an hour of fabulous food with a healthy focus, as Sally gives us insights into how to give traditional recipes a healthy twist – sometimes in secret ways.

With so many things to be thankful for at this time of year, good food and good health are two of the big ones. Your Thanksgiving guests will be none the wiser, and your feast can reveal that good eating can have a healthy focus and still be both accessible and enjoyable.

Event details
When: Wednesday, November 16, 1-2 pm PST
Where: http://www.facebook.com/Circulon
Who: Chef Sally James
What: Answering all of your Thanksgiving holiday meal prep questions, offering healthy alternatives to traditional dishes.

The prizes for tomorrow will be:

• Circulon Symmetry (2) Circulon Symmetry 8.5″ Open Skillet
• Circulon Symmetry 2 Qt Covered Straining Saucepan

Winners will also receive Sally James’ book The Little Penguin – a wine and food pairing book for foods to go with Little Penguin Wines!

“Congratulations to Geane McDaniels, the winner of the Teen Battle Chef Circulon Cookware Challenge!! Thank you to everyone for playing, and to Circulon especially for generously donating the fabulous prize!” – Teen Battle Chef

Geane is a long time fan of the Circulon brand and now has a full Circulon Contempo Red cookware set to show for it.

Thanks to everyone for spreading the word and telling others about FamilyCook Productions & Teen Battle Chef! Make sure to visit Teen Battle Chef on Facebook and give them a big old like.

Teen Battle Chef is a great nationwide youth development program, empowering youth to challenge themselves on cooking skills and  to adopt a preference for cooking and eating healthy food.

Young people develop leadership, teamwork, and culinary skills as well as gain nutrition knowledge and a new appreciation for diverse, healthy and sustainably-produced food. In addition, they learn about the food system and how they can play a role to help their friends and family make healthier food choices to prevent unhealthy weight and associated disease.

Visit the Teen Battle Chef Facebook fanpage to learn more about future events and how you can support them.