Con Agra's The Dish: Curing the Food Blogger Blahs

As bloggers, we all get writer’s block from time to time, right? It’s usually when I haven’t done anything “blog-worthy” in awhile, I get the blog blahs and it leads to no pictures and no good content. My craft table lies untouched, my camera collects dust, my cookbooks stay put on their shelves. When I’m not feeling the inspiration, you know what would be helpful? A website aimed at bloggers, filled to the brim with ideas for our choosing. How about a website offering to send us products to try?

Well guess what? ConAgra, the giant company that is home to some of your favorite brands, has launched a website that will do all that and more. The website is called The Dish and it gives bloggers easy access to recipes, cooking advice, kitchen tips, and exclusive content. Its focus is for food bloggers as well as us mom/décor/recipe/crafty type bloggers that don’t fit into any one category.

Since we all love free stuff, I’m pretty sure you’ll be into my favorite part, the First Look, First Taste section of the site. Once you sign up, using your blog’s URL, you’ll be able to browse the current promotions and request samples to be sent to your home. In the past they’ve offered RO*TEL (which I’ve never had but as a Mexican food lover, I know I should!), PAM Cooking Spray and new varieties of Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn. No obligation, no nothing! Just free product sent to you as a blogger with hopes that you’ll enjoy it and let all your readers know about it. You can’t beat it!

You’ll also find other sections on The Dish like Seasonal Spotlight, which right now inspires you to write about all things summer like grilling, going on picnics and growing your own garden herbs. All of the articles are written by a panel of experts for The Dish, including professional marketers, editors, bloggers and even a supermarket guru! Plus, celebrity chef George Duran, who you’ve surely seen all over Food Network and TLC, lends his expertise in the kitchen with video demonstrations using the products you’re reading about. You can even contact any of The Dish team members in the Ask Our Team section at any time to get answers to your burning questions.

Finally, what would a website like this be without all of the recipes? The Recipes Resource section gathers all of the highly-rated recipes from their Ready-Set-Eat website in one place, giving you all of the access without all of the searching. This is ideal for me because every month, when I’m trying to compile the next month’s menu plan, I don’t want to link up the same recipes my readers have already seen floating around the internet. I want fresh, new menu ideas that are easy to make and are easy on my budget.

So next time you’re having a slow week blog-wise, log on to The Dish and start browsing all of the inspiring content. Next thing you know, you’ll have a new recipe to make and share with all of your readers. Who knows, you might write the next viral blog post!

One lucky reader will receive a $50 Visa gift card! To be entered for a chance to win, just let me know which section of The Dish seems the most useful.

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion with hash tag #sweepstakes and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.The Official Rules are available here. This sweepstakes runs from 8/22/2012-9/8/2012. Be sure to visit ConAgra Foods' brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!