Kick off Your Summer with Kraft! {Giveaway}

Summer just seems like it’s the best time of year for entertaining, even here in Texas where it gets SO hot SO fast. It just feels like a slower time of year, and having friends over for a laid-back evening of good food and games is one of our favorite things to do.

As a Kraft Delicious Bytes blogger, I got sent a fun summer kit recently to help us start our summer off right:

We decided it would be fun to try a lot of these out by having my brother and his girlfriend over for dinner, and it was really easy to put together a great meal!

It’s not summer entertaining without nice cold drinks, right? We made the strawberry kiwi Kool-Aid and used our Rubbermaid Carafe for some Country Time Half & Half. Both were great! The Half & Half is truly just that – we were trying to decide if it tasted more like lemonade with tea in it, or tea with lemons… but it’s really a perfect blend of both, and an ideal summer drink.

I had seen these Sizzling Salad kits before but I had no clue that they were more than just a one-time-use kind of thing. You only use 1-2 tablespoons of the sauce and dressing, so they’re great for several meals! Everyone LOVED the chicken and it was so easy to make! I cut it up into bite-sized pieces so it’d be easy to scatter over salad, and easy for the kids to eat.

Then I made a salad with baby greens, cucumbers and carrots and put it in the awesome Chill Salad Bowl we received in our kit. I’ve gotta say, this salad bowl is genius. It has a removable ice pack in the base of the bowl so it’s easy to take salads or other cold dishes and keep them cold while you’re out somewhere. Anyway, we all tried out the salad dressing and agreed it was paired really well with the sauce for the chicken. The BBQ ranch was slightly sweet, which balanced really well with the flavors of the zesty fajita sauce.

For dessert I used the HONEY MAID Lil’ Squares Honey Grahams to make mini-s’mores. SUCH a fun idea for a summer dessert, by the way. My brother brought some mini-marshmallows and chocolate bars – I just broke each chocolate bar into tiny pieces and topped each cracker with chocolate and one marshmallow, microwave for 10 seconds or so, and voila! Bite-sized s’mores that are delicious, but also easy to eat without making a giant mess.

The crackers on their own are really good too, though. I snacked on some while I was prepping the s’mores and told Brian we were definitely going to have to get more of these SOON (and I’m pregnant, so I can use the baby as an excuse for needing them, ha).

Tonight we decided to grill out burgers for another fun summer meal, and I decided to try the Velveeta Queso Blanco slices on my burger.

The cheese melts really easily and gave a great flavor to the burger (I’d also like to try this in queso… guess that’ll be next!). We served our food on the fun Colorwheel Serving Tray and it really goes to show that good serving pieces can really add to the ambiance of a meal!

By the way, if you’re looking for a recipe to spice up the standard burger, Kraft was nice enough to provide a recipe for me to share that you might just want to try for yourself:

Prep Time: 30 min. | Makes: 4 servings.

What You Need:

• 2 Tbsp. KRAFT SANDWICH SHOP Chipotle Flavored Reduced Fat Mayonnaise
• 1 plum tomato, seeded, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped red onions
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 4 VELVEETA Slices
• 4 hamburger buns

Make It:

1. HEAT grill to medium heat.
2. COMBINE first 4 ingredients.
3. SHAPE meat into 4 (1/2-inch-thick) patties. Grill 7 to 9 min. on each side or until done
4. (160ºF). Top with VELVEETA; grill 1 min. or until melted.
5. FILL buns with cheeseburgers and mayonnaise mixture.

Serving Suggestion:
For added color and texture, serve with a mixed green salad.
How to Turn Hamburgers:
When cooking ground beef patties, turn them over with a spatula. Do not flatten the patties during the cooking process since that will cause the juices to escape, resulting in dry cooked burgers.

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Are you feeling all summery and ready to entertain? I hope so! And if you still need an extra boost, you might just want to enter the Kraft Summer Prize Pack giveaway to get your own kit like the one pictured above. You’ll get all the food & drink products and great serving items I just wrote about! This contest is open to all U.S. residents aged 18+. Entries will be accepted until the end of the day (midnight Central) Thursday, June 14. By entering this giveaway you agree to the Official Rules.

Mandatory Entry: Comment on this post telling me your favorite thing to serve when entertaining during the summer – main course, drink, dessert… whatever you like best!

(Only valid after the required entry has been completed)

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Note: As a Kraft Delicious Byte blogger I received package photographed above. All opinions are honest and are mine and my family’s. I was not compensated monetarily for this post. This program is not administered or sponsored by Kraft Foods or its affiliates. The prize package will be fulfilled by Kraft Foods or its agency.