Winning Recipe Ideas with Libby's Fruits and Vegetables {Prize Pack Giveaway!}

With all due respect to January, I've always felt like it is one of the most disliked months of the year.

Temperatures in much of the country are freezing, daylight hours are short, credit card bills from the chaos of the holiday season are overdue, guilt over abandoned New Year's resolutions is high... it all adds up to a large number of people feeling pretty low.

Fortunately for us, January has nearly come to an end and the promise of all of the positives of February has nearly arrived. The love and caring of Valentine's Day, the shortened number of days that makes spring seem even closer, and, as a perfect kickoff to the month itself, the Super Bowl!

Whether you're a football fan or not, the aspect of getting together with family and friends to spend a day eating, drinking, cheering, booing and marveling at just how much money went into each second of the big game's commercials can bring cheer to just about anyone's life.

No matter what your plans are, it's easy to make your Super Bowl gathering better and tastier thanks to the experts and deliciousness of Libby’s Fruits and Vegetables.

As one of the nation's largest brands, Libby's Fruits and Vegetables contains over 60 different products and sizes. Including a variety of household staples such as corn, peas and green beans, they offer one of the industry's most complete lines of canned vegetables, including organic options.

At the same time, their fruit products only meet the highest standards and are created from produce hand selected at the peak of ripeness and nutrient content from the finest orchards. With such a large selection of products, it is easy to add nutritional value to any of your meals for any occasion.

And when it comes to creating delicious and affordable game day snacks, Libby's not only has the products, but they also have the recipes to give you plenty of inspiration. Peachy BBQ Pork Sliders? Black Bean and Bacon Veggie Bites? These and dozens more are available on Libby's Game Day Goodies Pinterest board and Recipes tab and are sure to score points with your guests!

While there were quite a few Libby's recipes that caught my eye, the arrival of a box of goodies from them helped narrow down my choices.

Without a doubt, I knew that the Carrot Cake Bites would surely be a winner in my house!

Ingredients

1 c all-purpose flour
¾ c whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
⅓ c vegetable oil
½ c sugar
½ c fat-free milk
2 eggs
1 can 14.5oz Libby's Sliced Carrots, drained, rinsed and mashed with a fork

Directions

Coat two mini-muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, mix together oil, sugar, milk and eggs. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and stir just until combined. Gently stir in carrots.

Spoon about 1 tablespoon of batter into each cup of mini muffin pans. Bake for 10-12 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Repeat with remainder of batter.

If desired, stir together a simple icing of 1 tablespoon orange juice, ½ teaspoon vanilla and 1 cup powdered sugar. Makes 3 dozen mini-cupcakes (or 15 regular cupcakes).

Due to only having one mini muffin pan and not wanting to have to wait for one batch to come out of the oven before putting in the second one, I opted to make regular size cupcakes that turned out absolutely delicious.

If you're a fan of carrot cake, you'll love how quick and easy these are to make! They aren't overwhelmingly carrot-flavored, but have just enough sweet, richness that is complemented with the icing. But considering that these can easily pass as muffins (Big Sister E brought them in to her class to share on her "VIP Day" last week!) there's no guilt in having a second... or third.

This Super Bowl weekend and beyond, make sure to have Libby's Fruits and Vegetables in your pantry so that you'll be prepared to pull them out for everyday meals as well as for special occasions. Because when it comes to pleasing family and friends with classic as well as creative recipes, Libby's can make the end result turn out great!

Want to share in the enthusiasm for game day entertaining? Then be sure to join Libby's at the #LibbysBigGame Twitter party at 2pm ET this Wednesday, January 29th!

And, thanks to their generosity, one person will be prepared to celebrate the end of another football season as well, because...

One lucky person will win an assortment of Libby's product and a football cutting board (total ARV $45)!

Entry-Form

A big thank you to Libby's for providing product and a cutting board for me as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.