From taco night and game day to an outdoor BBQ, nachos should always top the list of your party menu.
Elevate your fully-loaded nacho recipe with Carando Toscano ground sausage, Fontina cheese, heavy cream, fresh tomatoes, and a yummy black olive tapenade. Not only is this appetizer crunchy and cheesy, but it has everything your guests would be curious to try.
Brown the Italian sausage in a skillet, then drain on paper towels, reserve.
Preheat oven to 375ºF.
While sausage is cooking, heat a large bowl over a double boiler, add the cream, cornstarch, and fontina.
Heat the cheese mixture until hot and thickened, reserve.
Combine the tomatoes, shallots, basil, oil, and vinegar, reserve.
To assemble, heat chips in the oven until warmed through.
Transfer the chips to a large serving platter, top with cheese sauce, then sausage, then the tomato relish, then dollops of tapenade.
Serve immediately.
Tips to Stretch Your Dollar
Use left over egg roll wrappers throughout the week for creative snacks that your children will beg for. We recommended stuffing them with taco meat, beans and cheese for your next Taco Tuesday.
In need of more inspiration for your next family meal? Smithfield Foods’ large portfolio of products, including Smithfield® Bacon, Nathan’s Famous® Beef Franks and Eckrich® Smoked Sausage, can meet your household’s needs for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snack time.
Let the teachers know you appreciate all their hardwork with these thoughtful, easy teacher gifts you can snag on you next shopping list.
Teachers are pretty much our saving grace, but with the hecticness of the end of the school year (and multiple teachers to thank) it can get tricky to pull off DIY projects or not blow your budget. The secret? Pair up simple, affordable items from the grocery aisles to make extra-special teacher gifts. Just add a homemade card or note from the kids and you are good to go.
Tea & Biscuits
A beautiful box of tea is always a lovely gift, but you can one-up the package by adding a box of simple cookies in the English biscuit style: We love green tea and ginger snaps; black tea and lemon thins; chai and snickerdoodles, but there’s really no wrong pairing here!
Don't just give flowers and call it a day—the simple addition of sending them in a reusable tote makes the gift both beautiful and practical, long after the stem fades. Tote here!
A gift card is always a welcome item, but you can up the joy by pairing it with a few donuts. Who doesn't like donuts, right? Try and find a gift card for somewhere special—teachers always spend their own money on school supplies so skip the Target or Amazon cards and go for a local restaurant or coffee house where they can really treat themselves. Or give them a grocery gift card so they can spend the money on special supplies (or wine) for the holidays.
Let your kiddo's teacher know that you want them to really relax and unwind over the winter break by combining two of the world's greatest decompression tools: wine and novels. Most grocery stores have the latest paperback sensation and a bodice-ripper might not be as looked-down on as you'd think. It makes for an adorable gift pairing, that's for sure.
The whole cocoa and marshmallows thing is great, but why not up your game by adding either real, vanilla extract or the actual whole vanilla beans to the gift bag? Drop in a high-quality powdered chocolate to the gift bag, marshmallows and maybe some cinnamon sticks too.
Tip: If you slice open a vanilla bean and place in on a tray in your oven at a lower temp for 30-45 minutes, you'll get a house that smells like cookies without having to bake!
You can’t go wrong with a bottle of fancy bubble water: look for one in a glass jar to make it uber-special and then add a few fresh lemons to the mix. Paired together in a small basket, this simple gesture is cheerful and healthy at the same time.
Give the gift of celebration and recovery! Assuming your teacher partakes in a glass or two on the weekends, a nice bottle of wine or champagne is always a treat. Add box of effervescent relief of a different kind and you can make it a funny-but-practical gift, too. Warning: do not give this gift if you or your giftee do not have a sense of humor.
Whether it’s a box of chocolates or your favorite local artisan bar, give the gift of “treat yo’self” directly to your favorite teacher by pairing chocolate (or another candy) with fun magazines. Choose 3-4 of the latest issues on a couple different subjects: if you know your teacher’s hobbies you can tailor the stack or just go for general coolness (House Beautiful; Conde Naste Travel; National Geographic). Tie the magazine stack together with twine and tuck the chocolate bar inside.
Eating natural honey is said to be good for staving off illness and allergies, and the soothing properties for a teacher’s throat after a day in the classroom can’t be beat. Take this treat from sweet to indulgent by adding a nice round of goat cheese: bonus props if you can find the kind with edible wildflowers pressed in.
For a proper tea time, package a nice lemon curd or jam with traditional crumpets. If your grocery store doesn’t have crumpets, you can opt for nice basket of muffins and scones.
Help teach keep her blood sugar up in the afternoons with a sweet gift in a reusable jar! Also, gummy bears + blue Ball jar = the perfect gift. Any kind of Mason or Ball jar will do, of course. Just fill it up with colorful bulk candy such as gummies, individually wrapped caramels, Jelly Bellys, licorice, etc. You can buy a set of jars and make these gifts for all the teachers in your life.
A nice coarse sea salt is a handy kitchen item: some grocery stores sell them in bulk and include Hawaiian red clay; pink Himalayan salt and more. Choose your favorite and then snag a bottle of olive oil to go with: look for an extra-virgin and stick to a smaller bottle so you don’t break your bank.
For many teachers, coffee goes with everything (especially grading papers and report cards) but even if you didn’t have time to paint a mug in advance you can still pair a pound of coffee with something spectacular. Look in the sugar aisle for a nice raw sugar, cane sugar or turbinado sugar.
The traditional teacher gift of a shiny red apple gets an upgrade when you place a triple-cream brie in the mix. It’s a simple pairing that never goes wrong: we’re pretty sure if your teacher doesn’t like brie there’s someone in his house who does.
This one is only for a teacher you know well enough to know that they drink vodka! You don’t have to go top shelf, just make sure to steer clear of the bottom shelf. Grab some queen stuffed olives for their martini mixer and you may just become the most popular parent on campus.
You can grab this one the night before or even the morning-of gift giving because the fresher the bread the better. Choose a crusty, rich loaf and then pair with a spreadable olive tapenade. You can also look for a rich roasted red pepper version, or opt for artichokes. The point is, give them something delicious to spread on their bread that screams “special occasion” and not mayo.
Fight cold and flu season (which is year round for teachers!) with a big basket of fresh oranges. Add in a box of tissue (go for the kind with lotion infused in a fancy-patterned box) and you’ll not only give them a chuckle, you’ll actually give them something they will use. Like, right away.
There’s self-soothing, and then there is self-soothing. Put the bath salts in a beautiful jar (ahem, Mason jars to the rescue again!) with a label that says what the contents are (bath salts) for soothing weary muscles and then get a package of mini-cupcakes or bite-sized brownies. Tell your teacher to take a bath and eat a brownie, because they deserve it!
Even though Chrissy Teigen is a gorgeously famous SI swimsuit model, accomplished cookbook author and entrepreneur, she’s kind of like the rest of us mamas. Teigen recently tweeted about her recent purchase for daughter Luna’s preschool lunches—and it might sound familiar.
So your kiddo isn’t into gourmet cuisine? Their oddball preferences, such as jam on pickles or oatmeal with sweet and sour sauce, are just part of childhood. According to Teigen’s tweet, Luna’s no different.
I had to buy a bulk box of ketchup packets on amazon for her to dip her cucumbers in. 2000.
The mom recently had to buy a bulk box of 2,000 ketchup packets for her daughter to dip cucumbers into. Teigen started the Twitter thread by writing, “I’ve been looking up good lunches to put in my kid’s bento lunch box and while everyone’s lunches look cute, my kid will never eat this sh** without me bribing, in person.”
If that sounds like your fam, then the rest of Teigen’s tweet is probably pretty relatable too, “Everyone’s stuffed olive tapenade pita cat faces can suck it. Say hello to pizza bagel.”
Of course Luna isn’t the only preschooler who is totally into her own food choices. One pre-k teacher replied, “I have a kid in my preschool class whose parents pack him a container of ketchup for dipping that he just drinks, as a lunch appetizer of sorts.”