Zutano and Vermont Creamery: Vermont's Best | Recipe, Review, and Giveaway

We are really excited to be sharing this simple, healthy recipe with a special ingredient with you as well as giving one of you a chance to win a $75 Zutano gift card and a basket of Vermont Creamery goat cheese products! 

A package arrived at our doorstep and the kids proceeded to dismantle it, Baby T and Baby E were most excited about the sensory experience of packing peanuts. I just let them go at it, clean up wasn't nearly as bad as sand everywhere after a trip to the beach. The package contained some delicious goodies from Vermont Creamery, which I was really excited to try. I know that goat's milk products are extremely healthy, but I had a bad experience in the past (wasn't fresh) and wanted to give it another chance. These products arrived still cold even on a hot day! Here is what was in the package:

While my kids tried on the fabulous, comfy Zutano outfits we were sent for the review, I was brainstorming in my head what I could make with the goat cheese. Of course my first thought was open-this-thing-and-devour-it-now! But then I thought of something really simple and something that would make the flavor of the goat cheese really stand out. It was a hot summer day and perfect for some refreshing salad. So here is what we did, after Baby E posed with the goat cheese for me!

Avocado Beet Goat Cheese Salad

15-20 minutes
This recipe serves 4 people (photo shows one serving) 

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber
6 small steamed beets (or 3 large ones)
2 ripe avocados
8 oz of Vermont Creamery Classic Chevre Goat Cheese (2 packages)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 or more kids dressed in cute Zutano outfits  ツ

Directions: 

1. Dice or slice cucumber into small matchsticks. This will be the bottom layer of the salad.

2. Dice steamed beets into small cubes (I buy my beets vacuum packed at Trader Joe's) and layer on top of cucumbers.
3. Dice the ripe avocados, layer on top of beets.
4. Generously layer the goat cheese on top of avocados. 
5. Sprinkle with green onions and serve to some hungry kids!

This is when the kids first saw what they will be tasting. I didn't realize until I was in the middle of this photo shoot that food photography paired with children's photography together are really challenging! You have to snap away fast before something crazy happens!

Baby T just wanted to grab the salad and devour it, we were trying to get him to pace himself. Ha! Not something easily done with a 20 month old. In case you are wondering, our girl is wearing the Fishies Short Sleeve Toddler Viola Top with Pool Toddler Bike Shorts and our boy is wearing the 3 Fishies Toddler Polo Shirt and Apple Toddler French Terry Shorts. Baby E also received the Primary Stripe Puff Pocket Dress (photo bottom of post) and Baby T got the Fishies Sunhat and Bib. (By the way, Zutano has a store on Amazon too, a great way to use any gift cards!)

They started tasting it, bite after bite. Who needs utensils when you have hands?! Baby T really, really loved the goat cheese. He was ready to dump the whole thing in his mouth! He attempted to just bypass using his hands and went straight for the goat cheese with his mouth. 

Goat cheese is very nutritious and gives your kids a good dose of calcium for their body. It is less allergenic and easier to digest than cow's milk. When Baby E was diagnosed with a milk protein intolerance at just two weeks old, eventually we reintroduced dairy and we were advised to start with goat's milk, not cow's milk. My kids love the taste and it is so easy to incorporate into any recipe. Vermont Creamery has some amazing, tantalizing goat cheese recipes on their website!  

Primary Stripe Puff Pocket Dress

We love Zutano clothing and the few pieces we have are our favorites. For Baby E, comfort is at the top of the list when it comes to clothing, so she loves to wear Zutano. Though she will be 5 in half a year and their clothing only goes up to size 4T! That makes me a little sad, but Baby T can still wear some Zutano and if we have any more babies, they'll be wearing it too. I appreciate the great quality of their clothing that can be passed on from one sibling to the next!

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One of you will win a $75 Zutano Gift Card and a basket of Vermont Creamery goat cheese products! 

(Open to U.S. residents, ends 8/16/13, 11:59 pm)

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