Finlandia Review and Free Cheese! (Closed)

A while back I was contacted by the people at Finlandia cheese. They sent me a few good looking recipes for their cheese and said they'd like for me to blog about them, the only problem was I didn't have any of their cheese! So they sent me a couple coupons for Finlandia cheese and they sent a couple for you too! Continue reading the rest of this post to find out how you can win some Finlandia cheese.

Before I tell you about this recipe, I wanted to tell you about Finlandia. They did not ask me to make any specific recipe, nor did they ask me glorify their product. But I do find it necessary to tell you a bit about their product, because I believe it is unique from other cheese makers. Finlandia cheese is the #1 imported cheese in the country. And because they care what goes into the cheese you consume, Finlandia's line of cheeses are also natural, lactose-free and hormone free. Read more here and here. Can you say that about your cheese?

To compliment the Finlandia Gouda cheese, I made a spicy chipotle chicken breast and topped it off with smoky bacon and a slice of Gouda. I got inspiration for the chicken from Maranda of Jolts & Jollies, but I changed things up a bit. It was the tiniest bit sweet, but smoky, spicy and delicious. It paired perfectly with the Gouda, which tasted like a cross between Swiss and Cheddar and the slightest bit sharp. I baked the chicken, but if you'd prefer to grill it or pan fry it or use bone-in chicken, just make the marinade and prepare it the way you wish. To win some Finlandia cheese, scroll down!

 Chipotle BBQ Chicken w/ Bacon and Gouda from Monica H inspired by Jolts & Jollies
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• 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 small tomato, cut into quarters
• 1-2 Tablespoons chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
• 2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In the blender or a food processor, combine the lemon juice, soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, tomato and chipotle peppers and pulse til uniformly blended.

In a bowl or ziploc bag, add chicken and half of the marinade, coating the chicken thoroughly. Allow to stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Place marinated chicken in greased Pyrex pan; discarding used marinade.

Bake chicken at 375 degrees F for 35-40 minutes, basting with fresh marinade every 10-15 minutes. Bake til internal temperature reads 160 degrees on a meat thermometer.

The last 5 minutes of cooking, add cooked bacon slices and Finlandia Gouda or Cheddar cheese to the top of the chicken breasts. Bake til cheese is melted. Remove from oven.

Allow chicken to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

I have two coupons for free cheese from Finlandia. If you're interested in trying out their natural, lactose and hormone-free cheese, then please visit their website and then leave me a comment on this post telling me what cheese you'd like to try and what you'd make using their cheese!

Open to US residents only. I will pick two winners later in the week so be sure to leave me your contact info or you can't win!

Thanks Finlandia!

I'm a breast and buns girl

As soon as I saw this recipe from Lissaloo at One Step At A Time, I knew I had to make it. It was far too simple not to make it, it only has 2 ingredients and it's made in a crockpot! It takes quite a bit of time to cook so you need to plan ahead, but it can be done over night and ready for lunch the next day.

It was delicious and made a ton! I made this with 4 chicken breasts because I wanted leftovers and we ended up eating it for a couple days afterwards. I would allot 1/2 a breast per person per meal next time. This was clearly enough for 8 people to have sandwiches! And that's the beauty of this recipe, it can feed a lot or a little without much effort.

We ate ours on homemade hamburger buns and when I ran out we ate them on toasted sesame seed buns, with potato salad and pickles. Yum!

Pulled BBQ Chicken from Lissaloo

• 4 frozen chicken breasts (boneless skinless)
• 1- 18 oz. bottle bbq sauce (or more if desired)

Put chicken in crockpot and cover with bbq sauce. Cook on low for several hours. I cooked mine about 10 hours, Lissaloo lets hers cook for 12, overnight. Just cook until tender and shreddable otherwise it will be dry. 8 hours should be enough, but I let mine go longer because my low setting doesn't work very well.

Take chicken out of pot and let cool just a bit before shredding. With two forks pull chicken apart and return back to crockpot to simmer for a couple more hours.

Sandwich between two pieces of bread or a bun and enjoy!

NOTE: Your chicken will only be as good as your sauce so use your favorite BBQ sauce. If you like it peppery add pepper or sweet, add a little honey. But be cautious when adding salt the sauce is ually loaded with it.

Lissaloo uses 1-2 bottles of sauce per 5 breasts. Adjust accordingly.

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A special thank you to Amber of When Amber Cooks, Roz of La Bella Vita and Amanda of Faith, Food and Family for this lovely award. I appreciate it so very much ladies.

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Also don't forget to enter your photos in the Best Foodie Foto Contest this week at Laura's blog. You can enter pictures from this week starting with Sunday through Saturday. But you have to email her your entries. Go to her blog for more details!