Hass Avocados Recipe Contest (win a free trip!)

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hass Avocado Board featuring Hass Avocados for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I've been given the opportunity to share something AWESOME with you guys!  Well, that is if you think round trip airfare, hotel accommodations, participation in a Rose Bowl Game®  Welcome Reception, admission to a "behind-the-scene" Rose Bowl Game®  decoration site, sightseeing tour of Pasadena, admission to THE Rose Bowl Game®        on  onojon   on January 2, 2012, plus more, all for FREE is AWESOME.  Clearly, I'm excited!

How is this possible?  Well, the great folks at Hass Avocados are hosting a fabulous Kick Off with Hass Avocados Recipe Contest!  There are TWO ways to participate - there will be a weekly sweepstakes where a box of avocados is being given away each week for 14 consecutive weeks, and there is a Recipe Contest where the winner will win a trip (for 4 people!) to the Rose Bowl Game® !!!  How cool is that?!

You may notice that there are not a lot of avocado recipes at Mo'Betta.  I know, it's sad.  However, I hope to remedy that very soon.  See, I have spent all these years in the dark, not knowing the creamy goodness that is the avocado.  Then I saw the light!  My sister raved about how delicious guacamole was, and how she liked to put avocado on sandwiches, and I was intrigued.  Maybe I should give the little green I-don't-know-if-I'm-a-veggie-or-a-fruit a chance.  So I bought one....

 

Whipped up some guacamole...

  

And my love affair with the avocado was born :)  Did you know that avocados have only 50 calories per ounce (about a fifth of a medium avocado) and contribute almost 20 vitamins and minerals?! Talk about a nutrient dense food choice.  They are also full of good fats (yes, there IS such a thing!). Over 75% of the fat in avocados is UNsaturated (mono- and polyunsaturated fats), and with the creamy, delicious texture, they are a great substitute for high saturated fat foods.  Saturated=BAD; Unsaturated=GOOD.  Mo'Betta's nutrition lesson for the day ;)

So, back to the Recipe Contest!  A few details:  30 finalists will be selected and judged based on (1) the use of Hass Avocados in the recipe -25% (2) Photo quality and image appeal - 25% (3) Creativity - 25% (4) Relevance - 25%; the finalists recipes will be voted on by the public; and the Grand Prize (the trip!) winner will be awarded based on the recipe that receives the greatest number of votes!  

That means, get those avocado recipes ready, enter at http://sports.avocadocentral.com/contest, and tell all your family and friends to head over and give you a vote!  I know you guys have lots of tailgating tips and recipes, and click on the link for lots more!  You can also sign up to receive free emails with recipe ideas, along with the nutrition info, that you will receive once a month.  That's right, you will never be at a loss as to what to prepare for game day!

As for me, I'm so hungry after looking through recipes I'm going to go have lunch - 

        

Yes, there is a nice helping of nutrient dense guacamole on top :D

What are your favorite game day recipes? Your favorite way to eat an avocado?