Sarah's Super Swell Spectacularly Sensational Sauté Express House Party

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Guest welcome sign and our festive autumn wreath

I am a fan of parties, though I don't host many.  I am also a big fan of alliteration, as well as the word swell.  Today, I did, in fact, host a rather swell party, though the alliteration was merely just for this post.

The official and free party pack from HouseParty.com

I joined a site called HouseParty.com at the beginning of the summer.  Name brands partner with this site to get the word out about their products.  You apply, & if selected to host, you receive a free party pack to help you in hosting a great party.  

I've applied several times, but last month was selected to host the Land O' Lakes Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starter House Party.  When my free party pack arrived it contained instructions, tips, and hints.  A navy blue Sauté Express apron, bamboo cooking spoon, and two coupons for two free Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starter packages.  Also ten accordian style booklets with official Sauté Express recipes and a $1 off coupon for the guests.  


The free contents of my HouseParty.come party pack

My agreement, in hosting the party, was to host the party on a designated day and time, invite at least ten guests, give them their booklets, make a dish using at least one flavour of the various meal starters, & take a group photo.  Anything else was all up to me.  As long as that company and their product come out shining you can be as creative as you want, basically.  But you have to do the minimum requirements which I was perfectly fine with.

Guests eating and having a great time

I decided that not only would the guests recieve their allotted recipe card and coupon booklet, but that they'd each also get four cards with the pizza recipes from the party on them, as well as a cube of the Seasoned Meal Starter of their choice (I got two boxes free, why not share the love, right?).  I also decided to have a drawing for the apron.  I don't want to toot my own horn, but that's pretty awesome, right?  Yes.

Winner of the apron drawing wearing his spoils (his wife was also super excited!)

After my party pack arrived, they had more guideline tips, which I couldn't follow.  They wanted me to basically have a cooking class.  Allowing all the guests to make their own dishes & then have the guests write their own recipe cards out for the dishes that were created.  That could be really fun... if you have that type of guest.  Most of my guests, however, wouldn't want to make their own food nor write their own cards, besides the fact that I do not have the kitchen space for that.

Guests goofing around, posing with product

So I stayed on board with my original plan, which was to make five different pizza's all showcasing the five flavours of the Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starters.  Sadly, Lemon Pepper couldn't be found (after multiple stores), so the Chicken Tikka Masala Pizza went out the window.  But I was still on for four different pizza's.  I was thinking gourmet, yet easy, and that's what I found.


Guests at the hors d'oeuvre, drink, and apron drawing table


I cobbled recipes together to make my own.  I started with part of an official Sauté Express pizza recipe, where it says to sauté the meat in the meal starter & use the drippings as the base.  Only instead of using the drippings (because I did prep work the previous night), I used an entire cube of a meal starter to spread onto the pizza crust to use as my base. Then I just searched for recipes using the tag names of the various flavours I was using; Garlic & Herb, Italian Herb, Teriyaki, Southwest & then took the best parts of recipes that I found, as well as my own additions to come up with actual recipes.


Hawaiian-Teriyaki Pizza 


All four pizza's were a great success.  They were also gorgeous to look at (though sadly I only got a photo of one), were easy to make, and were extremely delicious.  So, I'm going to share them here, in order of Guest Favourites.

*I used store bought crust for these pizza's and just followed the cooking directions on the package.  Your baking times and temperature will vary depending on what you use, so I won't supply those.

*Also any of the first three pizza's can easily be made vegetarian by either sautéing the veggies in the meal starter or simply using the one meal starter cube as a base.  And as with any pizza recipe, go ahead and tweak it to your personal tastes.


Pulled Pork Taco Pizza

2 cubes Southwest Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starter
1 boneless pork fillet (diced)
black beans
red onion (sliced)
tomatoes (diced)
Fiesta Blend cheese (shredded)
cilantro (fresh, chopped)
juice from half a lime

01.  Sauté pork in 1 cube of Southwest Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starter.
02.  Use 1 cube of Southwest Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starter as the pizza base by spreading all over crust to the edges.
03.  Top pizza with the pork, onions, tomatoes, & cheese.
04.  Bake according to crust directions.
05.  Once out of the oven, top with cilantro and squirt with the lime juice.

Showing off lime wedges (also there's the waiting to be cooked 3 cheese on the counter)


The next two pizzas were equally liked by all guests, so are sort of tied for 2nd place.  The name for the Italian Herb Meatza Pizza came from a bloggers recipe.  Great name.  

Hawaiian-Teriyaki Pizza

2 cubes Teriyaki Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starter
1 chicken breast (diced)
red onion (sliced)
pineapple (fresh, chopped)
mozarella cheese (shredded)
cilantro (fresh, chopped)

01.  Sauté chicken in 1 cube of Teriyaki Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starter
02.  Use 1 cube of Teriyaki Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starter as the pizza base by spreading all over crust to edges.
03.  Top pizza with chicken, onions, pineapple, & mozarella cheese.
04.  Bake according to crust directions.
05.  Once out of oven, top with cilantro.


Italian Herb Meatza Pizza

1 cube Italian Herb Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starter
pepperoni
Canadian bacon (chopped)
link sausage (large, sliced)
onion (sliced)
bellpepper (sliced)
black olives (sliced)
mozarella cheese (shredded)
basil (fresh, chopped)

01.  Cook sausage & bacon.
02.  Use cube of Italian Herb Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starter as the pizza base by spreading all over crust to edges.
03.  Top pizza with pepperoni, sausage, bacon, onions, peppers, olives, & cheese.
04.  Bake according to crust directions.
05.  Once out of oven, top with basil.

The last pizza was really good, but tasted more like cheesy garlic bread, and since my guests were fans of meat, this ranked last.  The idea for the herbed ricotta as a base was found in Rachel Ray's recipe.

three of the four flavours used at the party


Garlic & Herb Three Cheese Pizza

1 cube Garlic & Herb Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starter
ricotta cheese
mozzarella cheese (shredded)
cheddar cheese (shredded)
parsley (fresh, chopped)

01.  Mix 1 cube of Garlic & Herb Sauté Express Seasoned Meal Starter with enough ricotta cheese to make a pizza base; spread over crust to edges.
02.  Top pizza with mozarella and cheddar cheeses.
03.  Bake according to crust directions.
04.  Once out of the oven, top with parsley.


HouseParty decides, based on your first partry, if they will select you to host in the future.  I'm not sure I met those requirements, considering that two of my ten guests in attendence were small children, I forgot to take a group shot (though supplied them with a collage photo of all the guests), and most of the guests invited did not officially RSVP through the site.  While I (and my guests) thoroughly enjoyed this party, and I would like the chance to host a future one, if it doesn't happen it simply doesn't happen.  But I'm glad for the time spent with friends and family today, the good food and the excuse to have a party, so it was all worth it.

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