Olivia’s Croutons Giveaway + Traditional Bread Stuffing Recipe
Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 12:29PM in Giveaways, Product Reviews, Side Dish, baking, bread, holidays, opinion, recipes, snack Yep, you guys already know that we’re big salad eaters in my house. I talk about it all the time! We also love croutons on our salads, but truthfully, as easy as they are to make, I don’t always feel like making them. Especially in the summer, when making ice cold salad to beat the heat and avoid turning the oven on. Why would you want to heat up the house to make croutons when it’s hot? Counterproductive.
Don’t even mention buying those croutons you find in the grocery stores. You know the ones--bread cubes dusted with artificial flavors and chemicals. Yuck! Why ruin a good salad by topping it with chemically treated bread? It makes no sense.
So that’s where Olivia’s Croutons enters the picture! All natural croutons with all natural ingredients. You can feel good about adding these to your salad, because they’re made with the natural ingredients that you know and love. (And can pronounce!) Olivia’s Croutons started out in Francie’s (Olivia’s mom) home kitchen in 1991. They grew by leaps and bounds and had to keep upgrading their workspace! They now happily make croutons and bread stuffing in their renovated 1912 dairy barn, situated on their 50 acre homestead in New Haven, Vermont. They even grow wheat for the croutons right on their farm! Amazing, isn’t it? What an inspiring success story. I encourage you to read their About Us page.
I was contacted by Tom from Olivia’s a while ago, and he asked if I’d like to try their croutons and stuffing.* Obviously, since we’re such salad lovers, I said yes. My 15 year old daughter would live on bread stuffing if I let her, so yes--the stuffing was a fun bonus!
Here are the five crouton flavors they offer:
- Organic Garlic and Herb
- Butter and Garlic
- Parmesan Pepper
- Vermont Cheddar and Dill
- Multigrain with Garlic
Plus they offer two types of stuffing base--Traditional, and Cornbread. All you need to do is add the extras.
So, what did I think of the croutons and stuffings? They’re fabulous! The only problem with the croutons, is saving enough for your salads--because once you open a box, it’s hard to stop eating them! They’re perfectly seasoned and all toasty--great for just snacking on. Your salads may never actually see a single crouton if you just can’t stop eating them right out of the box. It’s all about restraint, and apparently, I have a problem with that. But heck yes--they’re great on salad, of course!
Also? I used about a box and a half of croutons and whizzed them through the food processor. I then took those crouton crumbs and used them in a stuffing for stuffed mushrooms, which I unfortunately didn’t get any photos of, but the taste was great!
Read on to see how you can get your own Olivia’s Croutons!
The Traditional Stuffing was put to good use on a run through for Thanksgiving recipes. I usually make a fully loaded stuffing with sausage, nuts, cranberries, and apples, among other things. It’s my favorite. But my daughter, who I mentioned could live on stuffing? She likes a simpler, more traditional stuffing. So I came up with this one with her in mind. She gave it two thumbs up, which is great in my book, because she’s very particular about stuffing.
Traditional Bread Stuffing
Makes an 11x7 pan full
5 cups Olivia's Traditional Stuffing (1 box)
2 small diced onions, finely diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp butter
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme
2 cups chicken broth
3-4 tbsp butter
about 1/2 cup fresh cranberries (See note)
1 medium crisp apple (I used a Jonathan), peeled and chopped into approx 1/2 inch cubes
Heat oven to 325, lightly grease an 11x7 baking dish. Add your dry stuffing to a large mixing bowl--set aside. If your bread cubes are on the large side, go ahead and break them up a little if you like.
Heat the 2 tbsp of olive oil and the 1 tbsp of butter in a sauté pan set over medium high heat. Sauté the onions, celery and garlic until tender--10 minutes or so.
Stir in the pepper, poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, broth, butter and cranberries, and simmer for about 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes, remove from heat and pour over the dried stuffing. Stir, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes so the broth can soften the bread cubes. Stir in the apple.
Pour into the greased baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for about 25 minutes. Remove the foil, and bake for 5 minutes more. Remove from oven and serve.
NOTE: I had the Trader Joe's frozen, sliced, sugared cranberries on hand. If you don't have these, you can just toss your fresh cranberries in a small bit of sugar for the same effect.
Also, a note about salt: You'll notice I left it out. I actually added 1/2 teaspoon of salt to my stuffing. I bought a new poultry seasoning recently, and I'm not sure if it's a bit more salty than usual, but my stuffing (before baking) was on the salty side. This is why I added the apple--for a bit more sweetness.
My advice to you, is to leave salt out until you've got it ready to go in the baking dish. Taste it then and adjust seasoning. I'd also still go ahead and add the apple, since it's always a great add in for bread stuffing.
Giveaway is now closed, and commenter Rachel is the lucky winner.
Just in time for the holidays Bonus!
The generous folks at Olivia’s Croutons have offered to give a case (6 boxes) of croutons to one of you! How great is that? With the holidays coming up, you’ll have a fresh supply of croutons. Don’t feel limited to salad, either! You can process some of the croutons into bread crumbs to use in your favorite recipes, like I did with the stuffed mushrooms. You can use them to bread chicken or fish, use them in a meatloaf or burgers--whatever you wish!
One winner (US only) will receive a case of 6 assorted crouton varieties, delivered to their door, straight from Olivia’s Croutons.
How to enter?
1. Follow Olivia’s Croutons on Twitter. (One comment for one entry.)
2. Follow Olivia’s Croutons on Facebook. (One comment for one additional entry.)
3. Check out the list of crouton flavors on their site, and tell me which one you can’t wait to try. (One comment for one additional entry.)
4. If you want to retweet this giveaway, you may do so once per day. (One comment per day for a retweet.)
That’s 4 ways to enter!
That’s it! I’ll run the contest for one week, so the winner will be chosen on Thursday, October 21st.
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If you just can’t wait to get your hands on some of these croutons, check out their ordering page, and you can order some right away!
*Disclaimer: I received the stuffing and croutons from Olivia’s Croutons at no charge, and was not paid for my opinion.
Reader Comments (38)
Following Olivia's Croutons on twitter :) (@rachelcurrier)
'liked' Olivia's on FB
The parm/pepper is calling to me. I love peppered items.
RT the post and giveaway :)
Jeff refuses to eat salad unless it comes with croutons. I am not so picky but yea it sure helps!
These look so so so good! Esp the Dill! YUM!
Following Olivia's Croutons on Twitter @DragonesPlumas
I "liked" Olivia's Croutons on Facebook.
I can's wait to try Vermont Cheddar and Dill!
mmmmm, croutons!! "like" on FB!
I retweeted on Twitter. @DragonesPlumas
I don't want to be considered for the giveaway since I've had the opportunity to sample their products but I just wanted to say how much I love Olivia's Croutons!
The garlic & herb look wonderful!
I'm now following Olivia's on twitter
I also tweeted about the giveaway {@aat77}
I'd like to try butter and garlic - can't go wrong with a classic!
Garlic and Butter, ooh la la! ;)
Butter and garlic sound good to me! Of course, they all sound good to me! :)
I'm following them on Twitter.
I *like* them on Facebook!
Multigrain with garlic sounds yummy! My daughter loves croutons and eats them by the handful as a snack sometimes.
I would love to try the Vermont Cheddar and Dill! I love dill, but the garlic and herb ones also sound great, never too much garlic.
We have the stuffing dilemma in our house too, Matt wants to put sausage & all sorts of stuff in it & I like it with just onions & celery.
I would love to try the garlic and herb.
Oh man these look fabulous! I'd love to try the Vermont Cheddar and Dill. We have family coming for Thanksgiving and this prize would definitely be fun to give us some new things to try. Stuffed mushrooms, DEFINITELY!
Do you know what retail locations these are available in? I looked on their site, but unless I missed it, I didn't see any mention of it.
I'm following Olivia's Croutons on Twitter (ps152).
I tweeted about this giveaway. http://twitter.com/ps152/status/27504750636
I would love to try the Vermont Cheddar and Dill croutons.
I would love try the multigrain with garlic.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
My favorite is butter and garlic
Now I'm hungry....and I am going to have to make my own croutons now (which will not be as good as the one's you describe). :-P
I love croutons and I clicked liked on facebook for olivias croutons and also I can not get to your american chop suey recipe it says page not found can you help?
Hi Wendy--here's the link you're looking for: http://ellesnewenglandkitchen.squarespace.com/blog/2008/5/15/going-old-school-for-the-tastes-to-remember-blogging-event.html
Enjoy!
I am now following Olivia's Croutons on Twitter.
@NavyLady6894
I liked Olivia's Croutons on Facebook too
The organic garlic and herb sound super yummy!
I must admit...I give the *side eye* to people who don't like croutons! :) Love them. But, I also love traditional stuffings. I don't think I will ever get use to the "dressing" down here. Doesn't hold a candle to bread stuffings.
"liked" them on Facebook!
The Vermon Cheddar and dill sounds good as long as the dill isn't over powering. And who could resist the Butter and Garlic. Thanks for the chance for such a nice give away.