Be #CartonSmart This Holiday Season and Spread Some Love with Grandma's Cranberry Pecan Coffee Cake!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carton Smart for SocialSpark
All opinions are 100% mine.


We've talked to you before about shelf safe milk in Tetra Pak cartons, but did you know that milk is not the ONLY food product that comes in Tetra Paks?
What food items do you think might come in Tetra Paks? Think about that for a minute while I share more about Tetra Paks with you!

In this day and age, when we all try to be green, and conserve where and when we can, Tetra Pak cartons offer a easy to use solution for keeping down the waste in your pantry shelves! Did you know that Tetra Pak cartons are made of 70% paper? That paper is a renewable resource, made from selectively harvested, re-grown trees that are FSC-certified (Forest Stewardship Council)! AND the Tetra Pak cartons are recycleable and result in 60% less landfill waste than cans  Just call it SMART paper!
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A Tetra Pak carton also uses 1/3 of the packaging compared to cans and they are stackable! So they are not only a space saving, option for your pantry (we ALL can love that!), they are super easy to store and open (no worrying about twisting off hard twist lids or pop off lids!). 
Best reason yet to use a Tetra Pak food product?
Their unique packaging process PRESERVES the flavor and nutrients of food without the use of preservatives- yeah! We all could use LESS preservatives in our lives, especially our kids! .Product quality is exactly the way it was intended to be. And because the cartons are recloseable, you can use half, and store the left overs for a different meal/dish! 

Still trying to figure out what food products come in Tetra Paks?

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Did you guess chicken, beef and vegetable broths? You may have seen soups like Tomato, Butternut Squash, French Onion, Curried Carrot, Black bean, Vegetable and Corn Chowders! There's also black beans, pinto beans, and refried beans! There's also soy, almond, rice, hemp and hazelnut milks! And let's not forget holiday favorites like cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, and! pumpkin puree!

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So no matter what holiday dish you are making this holiday season, like pumpkin pie, green been casserole, turkey stuffing, cranberry relish, or wanting to make use of holiday leftovers, there's a Tetra Pak product to meet your needs! Can you think of one of your favorite go-to holiday dishes that you can swap one of the ingredients, with an item from a Tetra Pak carton? Can you be #CartonSmart this holiday season?

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I was sent 3 items to consider: Pacific Foods Organic Pumpkin Puree,  Pacific Foods Organic Jellied Cranberry Sauce and Pacific Foods Organic Chicken Simply Stock. We've used the chicken stock before in our dressing (that's stuffing for you Yankees, LOL), and pumpkin puree seemed sort of obvious, So I wanted to find a different way to use the cranberry puree, that would be a quick and easy dish for those late night wrapping cravings, breakfasts with the family, and just to have around to snack on!

Mom had recently brought up Grandma's Date Bar recipe and I started thinking, 
how about if we 'holidize' it?
Let's make

Grandma's Cranberry Pecan Coffee Cake


Grandma's Cranberry Pecan Coffee Cake 
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cps all-purpose flour
3/4 cp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cp whole milk
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 carton Pacific Foods Organic Jellied Cranberry Sauce
(AND the secret ingredient- you'll have to read down below for what it is)
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or oil a 9x9x2 or 8x8x2 baking pan, set aside.
2. In large mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Grandma's Cranberry Pecan Coffee Cake ingredients

3. In separate small bowl, whisk together egg, milk, vanilla and oil.
4. In large bowl, make a well in the center, and add the egg mixture into the well, and then beat it into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon, until evenly moistened.

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7. I used 3/4 of the carton, and swirled it around some- you can swirl as much as you like, we like cranberry, so I wanted it thick in spots!
8. Now go outside to your Satsuma tree and grab the secret ingredient! (or if you aren't lucky enough to have a Satsuma tree, get a tangerine or orange, as long as it's SWEET).


Grandma's Cranberry Pecan Coffee Cake with candied orange

Now cut and serve! And bask in the glory!

Now that I've got you thinking, how can you be #CartonSmart this holiday season?

Check out the Carton Smart’s social pages for great ideas and be sure to visit Pacific Foods or  becartonsmart.com for inspiration, and Follow #CartonSmart on Pinterest

  and links to on where to find more carton products.

If you're gonna Become Carton Smart this holiday season let everybody know and Tweet @CartonSmart

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