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

A few years ago I read an article about how to Become Carton Smart and the benefits of buying food that comes in cartons instead of plastic or cans. It was so logical and I thought I would try to purchase more products in cartons. The next time I went to the grocery store, I looked around and was bummed at how few carton options there were. I felt defeated that I couldn’t just purchase everything in cartons. The truth is, I don’t have to buy all cartons to help make a difference. Every small, positive change that you make matters. If we would ALL change to using cartons for even just a few of the items we purchase like pumpkin puree or chicken stock, we could collectively make a difference. 

I was recently sent some foods from Pacific Foods who offer natural foods in carton products. They have awesome ingredients – check out the ingredient list for the pumpkin puree – just pumpkin! Another one of them was Chicen Stock that I used for one of my favorite cold weather meals – this spicy sausage soup. 

To make you’ll need potatoes, an onion, red pepper flakes, chicken stock, sausage and milk. Most any type of sausage would taste great. Of course, there are healthier sausage options than what I used.

First, peel and cut up your potatoes and onion into small pieces. Pour your chicken stock into a pot with it and sprinkle on red pepper flakes. Add enough water to almost cover everything. You could also opt to add in more chicken stock as that would add more flavor than the water.

Most people would tell you that I burn all of the meat that I cook – I like it REALLY well done. So I opted to fry the sausage first but if you don’t like your meat overdone you could just throw it into the pot with everything else. I had link sausage so I cut it up into bite sized pieces.

Boil the mixture until the potatoes are soft and then add in about 1 cup of milk. At this point I taste the broth to test the spiciness. If its too spicy for your taste, you can add more milk to calm it down more. Enjoy!

It was neat to see how I could add in a single ingredient into my regular meal line up to make a small difference. There are several other foods from Pacific Foods and other brands that are Carton Smart that you could easily swap into your favorite dishes over the holidays to make a small difference, too.

Check out the infographic below for more information on being Carton Smart. 

Still want to learn more? Tweet @CartonSmart or Follow #CartonSmart on Pinterest to read more! How do you plan to be Carton Smart this holiday season?

Emily

Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.

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