Unilever Launches The Family Dish...A Recipe for Fun to Reconnect Families Through Cooking Together

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- In an increasingly advanced technological world, family members may spend more time looking at a screen than they do at each other.  To help bridge that gap and use those tools to inspire families to enjoy more quality time together, Unilever food brands created The Family Dish…A Recipe for Fun,  a new program encouraging moms to get their families in the kitchen cooking together.  

The Family Dish combines budget-friendly and palate-pleasing recipes made with popular pantry staples; the professional knowledge and personal experience of Unilever Consumer Kitchens' experts; and the hands-on stories and videos from trusted mom bloggers to inspire families to connect through discovering the joys of cooking together.  

Lauren DellaBella and Anna Marie Cesario, co-managers of the Unilever Consumer Test Kitchens, agree that cooking is a great creative outlet, and the simple acts of mixing and measuring together can lead to "amazing conversations and memories that last a lifetime."  Among the suggestions from Lauren and Anna Marie, both moms themselves, is only using computers or smartphones to access recipes and other cooking-related information.  "This is your chance to simply cook, connect and spend quality time together," advises Ms. DellaBella.

To help get families started, www.TheFamilyDish.com features an exclusive cookbook with easy-to-prepare, family-friendly recipes from the Unilever Consumer Test Kitchens, and tips from the trusted brands supporting the program: Ragu® Pasta Sauce, Hellmann's® / Best Foods® Mayonnaise, Knorr® Pasta and Rice Sides, Skippy® Peanut Butter, and Lipton® Recipe Secrets®.  

Our featured Mom bloggers, Linda Sellers (Short Pump Preppy), Jennifer Leet (The Dirty Shirt), Beth Davis (Plus Size Mommy), Tracy Reinhardt (Crazy Suburban Mom), Liz Latham (Hoosier Homemade), Carol Cain (NYCity Mama), April Atwater (Sweet Life in the Valley), Cheryl Sousan (Tidy Mom), Jennifer Schmidt (Beauty and Bedlam), Jill Ann Berry (Musings from Me), Lisa Douglas (Crazy Adventures in Parenting), and Heather Durdil (Domestic Extraordinaire) will post video diaries and written posts on The Family Dish website showing their hands-on experiences turning cooking dinner time into quality time with their families.  

Also fun for the whole family is a chance to win a Family Culinary Vacation to Orlando by entering "The Family Dish Contest," which asks families to share their own experiences cooking together.  From July 25 to August 30, 2010, families can enter "The Family Dish Contest" by visiting thefamilydish.com and uploading a video about their best experiences cooking as a family.  Twenty semi-finalist videos will be posted on the site for public voting to choose a winner. Public voting will take place from September 15-30, 2010. Official rules are available at www.thefamilydish.com.

The Family Dish: The Right Ingredients

"The Family Dish combines quality products and ingredients with quality time in a way that is fun and affordable for the whole family and, most of all, meaningful," said Donna Barker, Senior Marketing Director, Center of Store, at Unilever.  "As people look to do more with less, a well-stocked refrigerator and pantry that include versatile and easy-to-prepare ingredients can help make meals that stretch the family budget without sacrificing taste."

All great recipes start with quality ingredients, and Unilever food brands make a variety of family favorites that bring added taste, at a great value, to the table:  

• Moms can feel good about cooking up recipes with her family using Hellmann's® Real Mayonnaise (called Best Foods® west of the Rockies) because it's made with real, simple ingredients like eggs, oil and vinegar. For the same great taste and velvety, smooth creaminess, Hellmann's® Light has half the fat and calories and all the great taste of Real Mayonnaise, and is now made with 100% cage-free eggs.
• With Knorr®, every meal is an opportunity.  Knorr® Sides and Knorr® Sides Plus™ Veggies make it easy for families to spend time together cooking in the kitchen with one-dish meals like Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo.  Just stir in some veggies and chicken along with a Knorr® pasta or rice side and dinner is done!
• Everyone loves pasta night, right?  And moms love Ragu® Pasta Sauce because it contains a full serving of veggies in every half cup of sauce to feed the family well. Families can make hundreds of nutritious, convenient, delicious and affordable meals with Ragu®, including No Boiling Lasagna and No Frying Chicken Parmesan.
• For peanut butter lovers, Skippy® Peanut Butter has a creamy taste and plenty of varieties to fuel the fun for each member of the family. Moms love that it's naturally rich in protein and other essential nutrients.
• Whether making a tasty burger, zesty chicken fajitas or a filling stew, families can add Lipton® Recipe Secrets® to bring a little zing to their favorite dish.

For more quick tips, recipe ideas and to find out what's cooking in the Unilever Consumer Test Kitchens, follow Lauren, Anna Marie and their team on Twitter @KitchenDishin'.

About Unilever North America

Unilever works to create a better future every day.  We help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others.  Each day, around the world, we serve over two billion consumers. In the United States, Canada and the Greater Caribbean (Trinidad & Tobago, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico) the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Becel, Ben & Jerry's, Bertolli, Blue Band, Breyers, Caress, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, Hellmann's, Klondike, Knorr, Lipton, Omo, Popsicle, Promise, Q-Tips, Skippy, Slim-Fast, Suave, Sunsilk and Vaseline. All of the preceding brand names are registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies. Dedicated to serving consumers and the communities where we live, work and play, Unilever employs more than 13,000 people across North America – generating nearly $10 billion in sales in 2009.  For more information, visit www.unileverusa.com, www.unilever.ca, or www.unilevercaribbean.com.  

SOURCE Unilever