Dinner with ConAgra, Loblaws and #Cbias

This week I’ve been challenged by Collective Bias to shop at Loblaws for the ingredients to make a family meal. I have to make sure to purchase at least one ConAgra item to include in our meal.

ConAgra is the company which makes brands such as Healthy Choice, VH, Chef BOYARDEE, Hunt’s, Orville Redenbacher’s, PAM & Pogo. From their website:

“We make the type of food that isn’t just delicious, but also makes every day life a little bit easier. It’s quick to prepare, leaving you more time for the important things like spending time with your family and doing the laundry (if laundry is your thing, that is).”

Off to Loblaws hubby and & went, this wasn’t easy because our town doesn’t actually have a Loblaws so we timed it around a doctor’s appointment I had an hour away in the city. We found the Loblaws and were instantly impressed, this is one lovely store!

Seriously all they need to add is a few cots, wifi and a shower and I could move in!

 They have everything here, from PC Financial – beauty products – a Pharmacy – clothing – a cooking school it’s all here…oh and the ingredients for dinner are here of course! 

 Before shopping, I’d decided upon ConAgra’s VH Sauce recipes for our dinner. If you haven’t tried any of the VH Sauces, you’re missing out my friends! I’m not particularly talented in the culinary arts but these sauces make the dinners I prepare amazing.

My current favorite is VH sweet Thai Chili Sauce and this made it easy for me to choose a recipe  for dinner from the VH website. Check out their website if you’re looking for recipes, it’s very user-friendly and easy to follow.

I chose the Chicken Almond recipe, it looked simple enough for me and anything which has that sauce must make for a wonderful dinner!

Hubby is a swift shopper, I didn’t manage to take as many photos as I’d like, he just wasn’t going to appreciate my delay. Sorry folks, I have to choose my battles and I want a 2nd bathroom one day.

 Dinner prep began smoothly, I laid out all the ingredients:

Dinner Ingredients (from the VH site….my substitutions are in italics):

• 2 Eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4cup (50ml) cold water
• 1/2cup (125ml) flour plus 1/4cup (50ml) for dredging
• 1tsp (5ml) salt
• 1cup (250ml) whole blanched almonds (I used pecans, we love pecans!), toasted and chopped finely
• 1-1/2lb (681g) boneless, skinless chicken (I used chicken thighs) cut into personal nugget portions
•  2Tbsp. (30ml) VH Soya Sauce
• 1tsp (5ml) ground ginger
• 2 cups (500ml) vegetable oil
• 1 Jar VH Cherry Dipping Sauce (I used 1/2 Jar VH Sweet Thai Chili Sauce because it’s our favorite and you don’t need much)Fir

First I combined the first 4 ingredients and mixed thoroughly until it was like a batter.

Next marinated the chicken in the VH Soya Sauce for a half an hour.

Chopping the pecans finely was a pain so I enlisted my Hubby’s strong hands for this task.

These finely chopped pecans were added to the batter and I heated the oil in a skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

I dredged (dipped and covered) the chicken in the flour

Then coat each piece in the pecan batter, this part is MESSY so use tongs or you’ll be covered like I was!

Place the battered chicken into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. (I used less oil and flipped the chicken)

Remove once golden brown and place on paper towel to remove excess oil.

These are beautiful pieces of lightly fried chicken and oh so yummy! I placed them on a bed of rice and served with VH Sweet Thai Chili Sauce. This is definitely a family dinner I will be serving again!

There is nothing like a family dinner which takes 15 minutes to prep that everyone loves!

 “This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  Feel free to add any additional wording you would like such as “all opinions are my own”