Jen's Chili Cheese Corn Salad

This creamy, cheesy, savory corn salad is the perfect side dish to bring to your next picnic or potluck this summer!

Happy First Day of Summer and Happy National Dairy Month everyone!  One of my favorite things to eat during the summer is salads - side salads, pasta salads, egg salads, taco salads, and meat salads.  And after I made this salad for a family gathering over Memorial Day weekend I knew I needed to share the recipe on the blog.  So you can thank several of my family members for requesting the recipe. 😉

This Chili Cheese Corn Salad was a recipe that my friend Jen always brought to potlucks and gatherings.  Whenever I make it, it always makes me think of her and brings a smile to my face.  Jen always had a big smile and an infectious laugh.  She is actually the person that encouraged My Farmer and I to get more involved with the Young Farmer Program around ten years ago.  We have gained so many experiences, knowledge and friendships from the program, and that is in part thanks to her support. 😊

I know you'll love this corn salad as much as Jen did and we do!  It is quick - which is always a plus during busy summers, and it is delicious!  The corn and cheese make the perfect savory combination, and the red onion and crunched up corn chips on top give the salad that little added bite and crunch.

Jen's Chili Cheese Corn Salad

2 cans corn, drained
1 cup mayo
2 cups cheddar cheese, finally shredded
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 cups chili cheese corn chips, crushed

Mix the corn, mayo, cheese and onion together and chill in refrigerator for 2+ hours.

Just before serving, stir around salad and add crushed corn chips.

*Chef's note - if you don't plan on eating the entire salad in one setting, you can add the chips to individual servings rather than the entire bowl.

What are some of your favorite salads to make and eat during the summer?  Remember to Comment for a Cause and check out the other #dairymonth posts!

A Visit to Ol' McGrandpa's Farm by Cooking With Carlee  
Alfredo Sauce with Cream Cheese from Feeding Big
Chili Cheese Corn Salad by Corn, Beans, Pigs and Kids
Chipotle Cheddar Patty Melt by Jolene's Recipe Journal
Breakfast Egg Bites by Family Around the Table
Gluten Free Rotini with Cabot Cheddar, Chorizo and Saffron by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Grilled Peaches with Ice Cream by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Homemade Fudgesicles by From Gate to Plate
How to Make Labneh from Caroline's Cooking
Skillet Jalapeno Popper Dip from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
Southern Style Pimento with Bacon Mac and Cheese by Tip Garden
Zucchini Tots with Jalapeno, Cheddar and Bacon by Palatable Pastime

Breakfast Battle Celebrates National Food Check-Out Week

Some of you may know that last week, February 17-23, was National Food Check-Out Week.  National Food Check-Out Week represents the short time-frame that it takes for the average American family to pay for their groceries in a year.  I am the PR chair for my local Franklin County Farm Bureau and this year we recognized Food Check-Out Week by hosting the 2nd Annual Breakfast Battle at our local Fareway grocery store in Hampton, Iowa on February 27 (It was originally on February 22 but due to snow got postponed to this past Wednesday).

This event not only raised knowledge of National Food Check-Out Week, it also increased awareness of finding solutions to eating healthy on a stretched budget by having twelve teams race around the grocery store finding breakfast, dinner and supper for a family of four between $45 and $50.

Members of the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and
First National Bank teams racing in the dairy and frozen sections

The Breakfast Battle included two races; the first was a competition between nine businesses and the second was a battle between two Tall Corn FFA chapter teams and a Fareway team.  Teams consisted of three members each.  Team members drew menus for breakfast, dinner and supper Wednesday morning and then raced around the grocery store getting all their recipe ingredients, plus adding in optional food and drinks for a day’s worth of meals to get their cart total between $45 and $50.  Teams were timed from the moment they left the cart area till they reached the checkout lane.  Time bonuses were given to those that answered agriculture and Farm Bureau trivia questions correctly before the race and there was a time bonus for the team having the most votes on the Franklin County Farm Bureau’s Facebook “Fan Favorite” team poll.  Time penalties were given for every dollar over or under the $45 to $50 cart total range.  Following the race, twelve Franklin County families that utilize the Franklin County Food Pantry in Hampton and the Immanuel UCC Food Pantry in Latimer received the bags of groceries, which included both perishable and non-perishable items.  Donations were also collected for both food pantries.

“We feel like everyone was a winner!” said Brook Boehmler, Executive Director of the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, who had a team in the business race.  “All nine teams (in the business race) are Chamber members and the food collected in the battle went to families who need it.  All the teams had a good time, and we really look forward to being a part of it next year.”

Members and Supporters of the
1st Place Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce team

In the business battle, the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce came in first place with a final time of 2:55.  Second place went to CellTech with a final time of 3:32 and third place went to Franklin County Extension with a final time of 3:36.  Other business teams that competed were Latham Hi-Tech Seeds, First National Bank, ABCM/Rehabilitation Center of Hampton, Farm Bureau Al Menning Insurance, United Bank & Trust and Immanuel UCC.

I had so much fun being a part of this event.  Did you celebrate National Food Check-Out Week?  If so, what did you do in your community?

Fair Time Favorites

Last week my family and I kept busy because our local Franklin County Fair was being held.  There was only one day last week that between My Farmer and I, we didn't have to be at the fair - We joked around that we can only imagine what are fair schedule will be like when we have kids in 4-H!  Overall we had a great time and the weather was great for it.  Here is my Top Five Franklin County Fair Favorites:

• Promote Our Commodities - I've been lucky the last couple of years to have be asked to judge the 4-H Promote Our Commodities contest.  This is a cooking and baking contest where 4-Hers bring dishes that feature beef, pork, lamb, dairy or soy.  It is always fun to try all the fun recipes the 4-Hers bring and to talk to them about Iowa's top commodities.  I hope I continue to be asked to judge this event!

LP helping me judge 4-Her Abby's Oatmeal Cranberry Soy Cookies - very delicious!

• Farm Bureau Burger Feed - Every year the Franklin County Farm Bureau (which both My Farmer and I serve on) sponsors a day at the fair.  One thing the Farm Bureau does as a part of that sponsored day is that we have a burger feed.  We pass out 1,000 pork burger and hamburgers.  It is great way to promote pork, beef and Farm Bureau.

My Farmer on the left, with a couple other Farm Bureau board members grilling pork burgers
at the burger feed.  You can see part of the burger feed line behind them.

• Entertainment - Our County Fair does a great job with an Entertainment line-up every year.  This year we really enjoyed going to the Oak Ridge Boys concert, Rodney Atkins concert and the Monster Truck Rally.  My personal favorite was the Oak Ridge Boys concert.  My Farmer, LP and I brought my Mom and Grandma along with us to the concert.  My Grandma, who will be 80 at the end of the month, is a huge Oak Ridge Boys fan.  She had a great time at the concert which made me enjoy it that much more!  She stood up near the stage for the concert and got high-fives from the whole band at the end of the night.  They played for over an hour and a half and had the entire crowd on their feet.  Their final song was Amazing Grace which was dedicated to those in Aurora, Colorado.

My Grandma is the one with white shoulder length hair in the bottom right of this photo.
You can see how close she got to the stage!

• Food - You can't talk about the Fair and not talk about FOOD!  Every year at our County Fair I have to eat at the 4-H Food Stand and get a taco salad and a slice of homemade pie, I have to get a chicken wrap from the Smoke & Crome stand, and I have to get homemade ice cream from Pleasant Hill.  This year my new favorite food I tried was fried cookie dough on a stick!  The food at the County Fair makes me excited for food at the State Fair next month!

My Farmer and LP after eating some homemade ice cream at Pleasant Hill

• Family Time - We had a blast as a family at the fair this year.  LP is only 16 months old but he had so much fun at the fair!  He enjoyed just people watching, to singing and dancing at the concerts, to cheering on the Monster Trucks.  It was fun to do things as a family all week long.

LP loved putting his hands up in the air and cheering at the concerts.
Here we all are cheering for the Oak Ridge Boys.

I always love hearing from readers.  What is your favorite thing to do at the Fair?

Farm Friday

Today is a very exciting day for us on the farm.

#1 - LP turned one year old today!  What fun and exciting things does LP see in his future?  

• His birthday party with family on Sunday.  (I'm planning on posting some photos from that afterwards.)
• His first haircut.
• His first happy meal.

Rise and Shine!  I am now 1 year old!

#2 - I helped plan and lead our county Farm Bureau's National Food Checkout Week event this morning.  In the past our county went to our local grocery store gave people back the farmer's share of their grocery bill.  This was a nice event and made people aware that only 12 cents out of every dollar of food was earned by farmers.  But we decided it was time to try something new, create more awareness for National Food Checkout Week and help those less fortunate than others.  So we had our first annual "Breakfast Battle - Taking a Morning Break to Provide Meals for Franklin County Families."

We had 10 business teams and 3 FFA chapter teams of three members each race around the store to find breakfast, dinner and supper for a family ranging between $45 and $50 in the fastest amount of time.  Each team created their own menu and when they got to the checkout if they had over $50 worth of groceries, they had to take something out of their cart.  And vice versa, if they didn't have $45 worth of groceries, they had to go back into the store and collect something more to go with their menu.  Teams were given a chance to take 10 seconds off their time by answering Food Check-Out Week trivia correctly or by being our Facebook poll "Fan Favorite" winner.  We worked with the two food pantries in the county and had all 13 day's worth of meals delivered to families in the need that morning, that way the teams could get perishable items such as dairy, meat and produce.

The event was a lot of fun and created a lot of awareness for National Food Check-Out Week, as well as the need that our food pantries have all year long.  Our county Farm Bureau also collected food and monetary donations throughout the week for the food pantries.  We had a great time this morning at the event and look forward to making this an annual event.  Can't wait for the 2nd Annual Breakfast Battle in 2013!  If you want to check out more about the Franklin County Farm Bureau's Breakfast Battle check out our Facebook page or read the article in the Mason City Globe Gazette.

    

    

    

    

    

Dairy, Sheep, Tootsie Rolls, Ethanol...

You might wonder how a post can cover Dairy, Sheep, Tootsie Rolls and Ethanol - well, the answer is that earlier today LP and I headed into our local school to help with Ag in the Classroom.

In our area, our Ag in the Classroom program is unique.  It is a 501(c)3 organization with three part-time employees who go out to schools in six counties to deliver the programs, develop the curriculum, and work on grants and sponsorship for the program.  All six counties' Farm Bureau boards are sponsors of the organization.  In the last school year the program visited nearly 7,000 students in over 20 school districts.

At our school visit today we visited students grades Kindergarten through 5th grade.  Ag in the Classroom has been visiting our local school for the last six years and I was impressed with how much information the students retained from previous years' programs.  In Iowa two of our main commodities are corn and soybeans.  Each classroom visit starts with reviewing what field corn and soybeans are used for.  All the kids remembered that the top purpose for both of these is that they are fed to animals.  Then they talk how they consume the products (high fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, soy lecithin, etc.) and how the commodities are used for fuels (ethanol and biodiesel).

LP helping with the 4th grade "Where did my supper come from?" activity

Here is a quick list of the programs we did today.  If you are interested in learning anymore about any of these curriculums, contact the North Central Iowa Ag in the Classroom organization.

Kindergarten:  Dairy - The students learned the story of a dairy cow and the production of milk.  They also made their own butter.
1st Grade:  My Farm Connection - The students matched up products that came from several commodities.
2nd Grade:  Sheep - The students read a book about sheep and making wool.  Then they carded their own sample of wool and died it with Kool-Aid.
3rd Grade:  What's in my Tootsie Roll? - The students learned about the production of cocoa and the creation of chocolate.  They also learned about reading food labels.
4th Grade:  Where did my supper come from? - The students first identified on a map worksheet the top producing states of many ag commodities.  Then they received different supper menus and had to decide what ingredients were used in their supper, along with what state(s) those ingredients would have come from.
5th Grade:  Ethanol - The students made their own "ethanol" by crushing up animal crackers (corn and sugars), added yeast and hot water and then watched a "chemical reaction" occur.  They also walked through the process of an ethanol plant.

What a Weekend!

My Farmer and I attended the Iowa Farm Bureau Young Farmer Conference this past weekend in Des Moines along with 325 other young farmers from across the state.  We had a great time learning new things, meeting up with old friends and making new ones.  A bittersweet note to this year's conference for us was that it was my Farmer's and my last conference serving on the state Young Farmer Advisory Committee.  We've had a great time serving with this group the last three year.  A fun highlight from the conference was that this year our county had nine members attend; a new record attendance from our county.

Franklin County Young Farmers (My Farmer and I are in the blue shirts)

Trent Loos

There was a great line-up of speakers for the weekend.  Trent Loos, a rancher and radio host from Nebraska, spoke the first night and the next day during a break-out session about bridging the gap between agriculture producers and consumers, as well as how to speak out for agriculture.  He did this by providing a lot of great information, facts and figures.  Later in the week I'll be sharing more about one of those facts that My Farmer and I can't wait to share with others!

Aaron Thomas

Another great speaker at the conference was Aaron Thomas, the Athletic Director at Aplington-Parkersburg High School.  Aaron's message didn't have an agriculture focus to it, but yet it really hit deep with me.  He talked about courage, passion, and overcoming the odds.  Aaron's family has been through a lot.  His father Ed Thomas was a well known football coach who rallied the town of Parkersburg after a deadly tornado hit the town.  Then just a year leader, Ed Thomas was murdered by a past football player who was mentally insane.  Aaron talked about what decisions he and his family made that made a difference on how the situation was handled (Click Here to watch a video on Aaron and Ed's story).  One of Aaron's messages that made an impact on me was the focus of having quality time with your loved ones and not just quantity.  I am home with LP all day, so I have a lot of quantity time with him but do I always make that quality time...  Another message the resonated with me was how do I impact others.  Have I made a difference in other people's lives?

Overall I had a great time at the conference and I came back with lot of new information and ideas from not only Trent and Aaron, but from all of the other speakers too.