You may remember that one time I flew to LA to meet Tiffani Amber Thiessen (aka Kelly Kapowski) when I was invited to Safeway’s Signature Brands launch event last spring. Well I had another incredible opportunity to attend an event in Chicago with 30 other bloggers to introduce you all to Safeway’s exciting new line O Organics!
You guys these products are LEGIT and I’m obsessed with how many there are! Over 300 different products to be exact (with another 100 new products in the works) including some of my favorites like balsamic vinegar, coconut oil, creamy peanut butter, delicious pasta sauces, and even several different flavors of kombucha! You’ll literally find everything from fresh fruits and veggies, to wholesome dairy and meats, cereals, snacks and so MUCH more. The best part is you can find all these quality items locally at super affordable prices! Since I live in the Washington, D.C. area, I personally shop for all these products at my local Safeway, but you can also find them at ALL Albertsons’ grocery stores, including Albertsons, ACME Markets, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Pavilions and Star Market.
Most families want to go all organic in their household, but it can get pretty expensive especially if you have a large amount of people to feed. O Organics makes it so easy for families to shop for their favorite ingredients at low prices to make everyday meals they know that their family will love! In fact this Spicy Sausage and Kale Soup I’m sharing was made almost entirely of O Organics products. It’s hearty, healthy and literally takes just 5 minutes to throw together in a pot or your slow cooker. It’s also the perfect fall recipe for families who may not have a lot of time on their hands, but want to make a delicious, wholesome dinner on a busy weeknight OR want to enjoy something cooking all day in their crock pot.
Trust me, your house will smell amazing!
Just look at the wide variety of ingredients that can easily be used to make this delicious soup! I’ll have the recipe below for my Spicy Sausage and Kale Soup, but first I want to tell you all about this awesome event I attended with Safeway!
The O Organics ‘Organic for All’ event was held at the Kendall College of Culinary Arts located in Chicago which was such a treat because this was my first time visiting the city and the area was just beautiful! It was such a joy to be around so many talented people in this industry ranging from food bloggers, to trained chefs, nutritionists and even culinary students who really went above and beyond to make us some pretty amazing food.
We kicked off the event with a fully stocked overnight oats breakfast bar which offered several different flavors such as strawberry, mocha and mmmm, my personal favorite, PB&J oats! There was also a gorgeous assortment of various toppings including fresh berries, chia seeds, maple syrup, coconut flakes and even chocolate chips (this is just naming a few). Everything featured was a part of the O Organics line and I can honestly tell you we devoured it all! The best part is this is something I could totally make myself at home!
And you better believe I plan on doing that.
We also had the honor of meeting the gorgeous Annessa Chumbley, R.D. who is a nutritionist and recipe developer for the Albertsons Companies and literally one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met! She invited us into the kitchen for a fun cooking demonstration where she showed us how to make her healthy peanut butter pancakes, easy muffin tin meatloaves, and yummy penne pasta. She also shared with us several tips and tricks on how easy it truly is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. She even showed us how to make your own oat flour at home!
One helpful tip she gave us that I just loved was on how we should be using our freezer more often. I mean did you know that it’s one of the most under-utilized health tools?? Don’t get me wrong, I love my weekly meal prep, but I definitely don’t prepare freezer meals as much as I should and this is something I plan on doing more often in the future – thanks Anessa!
After our cooking demonstration with Anessa it was time for us bloggers to get into the kitchen and get our own hands dirty! We learned some pretty cool knife skills and even had the chance to create our own recipes. It was so fun having such a wide variety of fresh O Organics ingredients to choose from along with all the professional culinary tools at our disposal to cook with. I simply loved this team activity because not only did we get an awesome hands-on experience with all the incredible products, but it was really great getting to know each other better!
After photographing all of our mouthwatering creations (I mean that’s what us bloggers do best, right??) we were then served a delicious taco bar lunch complete with decadent chocolate desserts. Umm I literally have NO words. Let’s just say I wanted to sneak back and snag a second one because they were just THAT good….I am seriously dying for the recipe!
And YES look at all that kombucha! #heaven
To wrap up the Organic for All event, we all did a little light yoga with an instructor to stretch and relieve some stress that was much-needed after our busy day. We then had an opportunity to do some shopping! As I said before, O Organics has such a HUGE variety of products, but please check your local Albertsons family store to see what’s available in your area.
Now let’s get to this recipe!
As I stated above, this entire recipe was completely inspired by the O Organics line and I really wanted to show you how easy it is to create a healthy, hearty meal at home with just a few simple ingredients. I used a mixture of beef broth, diced tomatoes and salsa (yes a whole 16 oz jar!) along with onion, bell peppers, frozen veggies and kale. If you like a lot of heat then you’ll definitely want to use a hot sausage along with a spicy salsa, but for those of you who prefer a milder taste you could simply just use regular sausage and a mild to medium salsa. The great thing about this soup is you really can’t go wrong and you can totally make this your own!
For this recipe I used a spicy ground Italian sausage because it’s my hubby’s personal favorite, but you could of course substitute chicken or turkey sausage to make it even healthier. I also chose to use a medley of veggies such as corn, green beans, and carrots, but again feel free to choose your favorite vegetables and throw them on in! I promise you can’t mess this recipe up.
I mean does that not look like comfort food at its finest??
This soup is literally one of the easiest meals to prepare and takes just 30 minutes on the stove OR can cook all day in your slow cooker if you prefer. It really is such a versatile recipe that can be modified to your own personal taste and is perfect to cook ahead of time to last you the whole week. This not only saves you time in the kitchen on those busy weeknights, but it also saves you money and makes clean up such a breeze because everything cooks in one pot!
- 1 Tbsp O Organics Extra Virgin olive oil
- 1 lb. hot (or regular) Italian ground sausage
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 bell peppers, chopped (I used red and green)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups O Organics beef broth
- 1 (15 oz) can O Organics diced tomatoes
- 1 (16 oz) jar O Organics chunky salsa
- 1 (12 oz) bag O Organics mixed frozen vegetables (corn, green beans, carrots)
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp. O Organics Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 cups O Organics baby kale leaves
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat and cook the sausage, crumbling with a spoon, until browned. Mix in the onion, bell peppers and garlic, cooking about 2 to 3 minutes, until translucent.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the kale, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover, allowing soup to simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Add kale and simmer for an additional 10 minutes, serve and enjoy!
- NOTE: If you want to cook this in a crock pot, simply follow step 1 then add all your ingredients (except kale), cover and place on high for 3 to 4 hours or low 6 to 8 hours. Add kale, cover and cook an additional 10 minutes.
This was honestly such an incredible experience and I was so honored to meet some pretty talented bloggers! Thanks again Safeway for this amazing opportunity and make sure to head to your local Albertsons’ grocery store so you too can save money and stock up on these delicious O Organics products! I mean why pay more for something when you can easily pay less and get the same, if not better, quality?!
This post is sponsored by Safeway. As always all opinions are 100% my own.
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