Giveaway / Review Ricky & Lucy's Country Greenhouse Italian Seasoning - Organic and Italian Red Sauce Recipe with Artichoke Heart Pasta

I am so excited to be doing a review and giveaway for a local Nebraska Business called Ricky & Lucy's Country Greenhouse in Sidney, NE. They were kind enough to provide me with a jar of their Famous Italian Seasoning and a beautiful package of Artichoke Hearts Linguine  (DeCio Pasta).  So, I could try a few of their products out and share with all my followers what I thought.

First of all, I want to share how excited I was and still am when I found Ricky & Lucy's Country Greenhouse online.   They opened in 2003 and specialize in Organic Herbs, Cleaning Products, and a Line of Bath and Body Products. 

Their Herbs are hand planted, picked and bottled in a loving manner.  I can testify you can SMELL and TASTE the difference in how these Herbs are taken care of from Birth to Market.  They have over 70 blends to choose from - so trust me you won't have a problem finding the perfect one or more to fit your needs.

The Herbs are grown without the use of pesticides or fertilizers, making them 100% vigorous for your well being.

I used Ricky & Lucy's Country Greenhouse Italian Seasoning to make my Homemade Italian Red Sauce.

Thanks to Giada De Laurentiis' cookbook "everyday italian" - I have come up with my own rendition of a recipe that Giada calls Marinara sauce.  I love the fact it is packed with veggies for my boys and tastes awesome.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2  28oz cans crushed tomatoes
1 28oz can tomato sauce
1 Tablespoon Ricky & Lucy's Country Greenhouse Italian Seasoning
2 dried bay leaves

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large box over medium heat.

Add onions and cook until the onions are clear, about 10 minutes.

Add the garlic, celery and carrots to the onions. Cook until all the veggies are soft, about 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, Ricky & Lucy's Country Greenhouse Italian Seasoning, and bay leaves. Simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, approximately 1 hour.

Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste.


I sometimes add sausage or pork to the simmering sauce to add more flavor and the flavorful meat can be served on the side with the pasta.
 
I am delighted at the difference Ricky and Lucy's Italian Seasoning made to my sauce - It really made it come to life!  I can't image making my sauce without it again. 
 

 
And the Artichoke pasta - it was out of this world - with a garlic background, and a hint of cayenne to finish this pasta.  It had the perfect texture and the color was beautiful.
 
 

I also make 3 or 4 batches at a time and freeze them in portions - so I always have homemade red sauce on hand.

Now on to the Giveaway--------

ONE Qualified person will win there own bottle of Ricky & Lucy's Country Greenhouse Italian Seasoning.  A $7.50 value.

Giveaway is Open to US residents only age 18 or over. You must complete the Mandatory Entry to be eligible. This giveaway will close on March 14, 2011 at 11:59pm MST Time. Please leave a separate comment with email for each entry that you complete.

Mandatory Entry - Please go over to Ricky & Lucy's Country Greenhouse's website and look around. Come back here to Fishful Thinking and let me know what product you would love to try or have tried!

Bonus Entries:

Follow Fishful Thinking Blog on Google Connect (one the right side of my blog).

Follow Ricky & Lucy's Country Greenhouse on Facebook.

Leave on Message on Facebook that Fishful Thinking sent you and which product you would like to try.

Follow Fishful Thinking on Twitter.

Follow @RickyandLucysGH on Twitter.

Join Ricky & Lucy's Country Greenhouse List via Facebook to review great monthly newsletters.

Check out Ricky & Lucy's Country Greenhouse's Blog - and tell me which post you liked best.

Write up your own post about this giveaway along with live links to Fishful Thinking Blog and to Ricky & Lucy's Country Greenhouse and post it on your blog (leave link).

Enter to win Fishful Thinking's Purex Giveaway.

Tweet about the Giveaway: You can copy and paste the following Tweet over on Twitter once per day.

Copy and Paste Tweet:

U can #win @RickyandLucysGH Organic Italian Seasoning $7.50 Value on @busch0218 blog!  http://t.co/4JLctwv Ends 03-14 11:59MST

Please leave a separate comment with email for each entry that you complete -PLEASE!

Good Luck Everyone and Thank You Ricky & Lucy.