Chef Boyardee Celebrates Families Cooking Together

OMAHA, Neb., Oct. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- For more than 85 years, kids and adults alike have enjoyed Chef Boyardee®, a brand of ConAgra Foods, from ravioli at slumber parties to Beefaroni at grandma's house. And with last year's introduction of recipes that feature the iconic brand as an ingredient, adults have been reliving those fun memories with meals the whole family can enjoy. Enjoying dinnertime together is only half the fun, which is why this year Chef Boyardee is celebrating the fun of families cooking together through the launch of its "The Little Chefs Project" virtual cookbook and a six-part online cook-along series.

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"We know our consumers love to cook with their kids because the kitchen is the perfect place to create fun memories and teachable moments," says Mike Buick, Chef Boyardee brand director. "And with the launch of more than a dozen new, quick and easy Chef Boyardee recipes, what better way to celebrate these moments than with a food that truly makes you feel like a kid again?" says Mike Buick.

The Little Chefs Project – Virtual Cookbook and Cook-along series

To shed light on the fun of cooking with kids, Chef Boyardee is proud to partner with real moms from the blogging community, TheMotherhood.com to create "The Little Chefs Project," the first crowd-sourced cooking with kids e-book. With real stories written by real women, the free, downloadable book is composed of six chapters of tips, tricks and recipes from teachable moments in the kitchen, to ways to get little Chefs involved. The bloggers' content will then come to life through a six-part virtual Cook-along web series that brings together the bloggers and their readers to cook a recipe together in real time while sharing stories, anecdotes and ideas to ensure family fun in the kitchen. The e-book and cook-along topics will include:

• Feel Like a Kid Again – Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. EDT
• Teachable Kitchen Moments – Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. EDT
• Everyday Fun in the Kitchen – Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. EDT
• Family Time – Nov. 1 at 2 p.m. EDT
• Fun with Flavors – Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. EST
• Family Traditions – Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. EST

"We were thrilled at the opportunity to partner with Chef Boyardee to create 'The Little Chefs Project' and inspire a family love of cooking and important traditions that start in the kitchen," says Cooper Munroe, co-founder of TheMotherhood.com. "Our bloggers loved contributing toward this book because they know that cooking together extends far beyond the kitchen table, and it enabled them to share their real life experiences in a fun and interesting way."

Get Cookin' with the Chef
Interested in cooking one of the recipes with the Chef himself? Now you can! To get fans even more excited about Chef Boyardee's new recipes, the brand recently launched the bilingual Chef Boyardee ME! Recipe Card, a fun and interactive customizable electronic card that allows users to select and share a Chef Boyardee recipe while showing off their cooking skills and busting a move in kitchen with Hector Boiardi himself.

The recipes feature some of the latest additions to the Chef's recipe book including Pepperoni Spaghetti Bake, Beef Ravioli Pizza Cups, Mini Ravioli Taco Bake and Pasta Fagioli. To create and share the Chef Boyardee ME! Recipe Card, visit Facebook.com/ChefBoyardee.

Hungry for more Chef?
Join the creative minds who helped craft "The Little Chefs Project" and share your ideas for family fun in the kitchen during a Twitter Party December 6, follow the conversation using the #LittleChefsProject hashtag, and catch all six taped cook-alongs on TheMotherhood.com if you're unable to join live. Visit ChefBoyardee.com for more information including the latest recipes from the Chef Boyardee kitchen.

Real Great Food from a Real Great Chef
More than 85 years ago, Hector Boiardi created the Chef Boyardee brand after patrons at his Cleveland, Ohio restaurant asked for his sauce and pasta to be jarred so they could bring it home to enjoy. Today, Chef Hector's tradition of innovation continues sharing delicious meals made with real ingredients, no preservatives and authentic recipes featuring Chef Boyardee as the star of the dish. Chef Boyardee is committed to creating delicious memories and helping moms deliver an affordable, simple and wholesome meal the whole family will love.

ABOUT CONAGRA FOODS
ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE: CAG), is one of North America's leading food companies.  With brands in 97 percent of American households, ConAgra Foods provides some of America's long-time favorites. Consumers can find Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Hebrew National, Hunt's Tomato Sauces and Ketchup, Marie Callender's, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim Meat Sticks and Beef Jerky and many other ConAgra Foods brands in grocery, prepared, mass merchandise and club stores. ConAgra Foods operates ReadySetEat.com, an interactive recipe website that provides consumers with Easy Dinner Recipes and more. ConAgra Foods also has a strong business-to-business presence, supplying frozen potato and sweet potato products as well as other vegetable, spice and grain products to a variety of well-known restaurants, foodservice operators and commercial customers. For more information, please visit us at www.conagrafoods.com.

SOURCE ConAgra Foods, Inc.