May I Interrupt?

I am still in the middle of my Love Dare however I wanted to share this with you:

I am a member of BzzAgent.  With BzzAgent I am able to test products and give reviews.  I have been able to test many different products and it’s been great.

Last night, my family and I were treated with a special dinner.  We were able to test some of Chili’s Guiltless Grill menu items.  Let me be the first to say YUMMY!!!

We got 4 free certificates, two of which we used last night.  We tried the Grilled Salmon and the Carne Asada.  Both entrees came with veggies.  The steak was extra flavorful!!!  I am not a big fish eater but everyone else is and they thought is was very tasty. 

Since I love veggies, I would have liked a bigger selection of vegetables.  There was only broccoli and shredded carrots on what we were served.  I did like that they were clean (no extra sauces and butter to add to the calories).

It was so nice to be able to have a dinner out that you didn’t feel bad about eating.  And the service was terrific!!!

I hope you get a chance to try them.  I would highly recommend the Steak!!!!

Have a “Yummy” Day!

 

More Skin and Bones Please!

Please tell me you don’t fall for the scam, do you?  You know the over priced chicken at the store labeled boneless skinless chicken breasts.  High way robbery!  I know, I know, you found a sale.  But I have to tell you keep that skin and bones. 

You want proof:

1) Bake the whole chicken or just the chicken breasts with skin and bones and you will save cash first and formost.  For great fall off the bone chicken, take them and throw them in a casserole dish, cover with broth-homemade and covered in foil,  bake at 325 degrees for about 2 hours or until the temp gets to about 175.  YUMMY!

2) Now you will have bones to make our own chicken broth.  EASY!  Take parts of veggies that were gonna go (tops of washed carrots and celery, etc), throw in the bones and such, fill with seasonings and water and tada you have your own broth.  The broth is perfect in the freezer for when you need it.

3) Finally, you have better tasting chicken and you saved some cashola!  The skin helps protect you from the dredded dry chicken dinners we all know about.

So, just say no to boneless, skinless chicken and reach for the cheap pack.  I guarantee, money back, that this is super easy!

Have a “Skin and Bones” Day!

Don’t try to return the chicken breasts that you already have in the fridge.  Supermarkets don’t do well with returns 🙂 hahahaha.  Use them up and say goodbye!

 

Contest – Tate’s Bake Shop…YUMMY!

When I first started this contest I wanted to pick products that I believed in such as: homemade, enviornmentaly safe, mom made, belief centered, etc.  I picked some dream products and Tate’s was one of them.  I never thought I could Tate’s Bake Shop as I thought they would have too many requests and I would just be a drop in the water.  Well they pulled through and went above and beyond for me!!! 

Tate’s not only is offering a Cookie Gift Pack for the winner, but they sent me a whole one as well to sample!!!!  Can you believe it?  I enjoyed my sample, as did my family!  YUMMY!!!  There is a reason they get so much press!  And you can see it here (we are talking Rachel Ray, Newsweek, The Washington Post, ETC) http://tatesbakeshop.com/store/TatesBakeShopPublicity.asp?s=6e46Yc105595&

From my taste buds, these are quality ingredient cookies.  They tasted wonderful and held up longer than anticipated.  When most cookies last a couple of days, and then don’t taste fresh, these taste the same and I don’t know how!  Although, you usually don’t have them around very long!

Whoever wins these is going to have a tasty treat!!!!

They also have a recipe of the month on their website and you can order their products there as well.

http://tatesbakeshop.com/store/

To the winner goes a Cookie Gift Pack:

Three 7-oz. boxes, one each of chocolate chip, white chocolate macadamia nut, and oatmeal raisin. Approximately 14 cookies in each 7-oz. box.

What a perfect way to entertain over the holidays!

Have a “Cookielicious” Day!

 

Contest – The Simple Wife

But I don’t think she’s very simple.  She is a respected blogger, an accomplished author, speaker, crafter, a wife, and a Mom.  And I am sure that’s just the tip of the iceburg.  I don’t remember how I found her blog but have loved going there for great info, mom journal entries, and biblical posts (and to look at her cute charm braclet..I LOVE charm braclets!).

Since today is my actual birthday I couldn’t be happier than to introduce her, if you don’t already know her.  You can find her blog below and a bio from her hubby.  Isn’t that great?  Proverbs 31!

http://thesimplewife.typepad.com/the_simple_wife/

Biography

Joanne’s Biography,
by her husband Toben Heim

When it comes to Joanne I am biased. After all, we have spent literally half of our lives together. Having met and dated in high school and married during our junior year of college, we have spent a lot of time together and I have known Joanne through a lot of different seasons and circumstances of life.

Some of those seasons include:

Joanne as a beautiful, smart, hard-working high school student who took a lot of AP classes and held down a part-time job at a Christian bookstore after school.

Joanne as a college student, working on two majors, helping to pay her tuition by working as a graphic designer.

Joanne as a publicist and copywriter for a publishing company, and later becoming an editor and author of a number of really good books (including her latest, Living Simply).

Joanne as a young mom, looking after two little ones and still making the time to keep a home that was always open to anyone needing a good friend and a good meal.

But this season is the best—Joanne is living out the fullness of her gifting. She is a Girl Scout leader, a Bible study leader, and a student of Scripture. She continues to develop as a writer and is an avid blogger. She is a crafty girl, spending hours in her “mad workshop” sewing and knitting and making all sorts of cool things. She is a great cook and gracious hostess.

But more than what she does, there is who she is: a great friend to her friends, a loving daughter to her parents, a doting aunt to her niece and nephew, a caring and thoughtful sister, a devoted and committed mother, and a loving and supportive wife. Of course if you already know Joanne, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Interests

Reading, knitting, writing, decorating, collecting antique treasures, ballet

Now you want to get one of her books don’t you?  She is going to give away her book Living Simply and one of her small homemade Zippy’s.

                              

and here is a picture of her small sippy purses:

Here’s how to win:

1) Answer the question below in my comments.  One entry is all I need.  You DO NOT need to comment everyday to be eligible…just once. 

2) POST about my contest on your blog (but not your answer to my question-I am looking for links to my contest for others to participate too).  I will need the direct link on my blog showing the post on your site. 

3) That’s it!!!!  Just wait to see if you are a winner of a week’s bounty of prizes.  Isn’t the EASY????

 Question for Week 3 – Since this is my Birthday week tell me something that you have done on someone else’s birthday that was really special.  Did you make a cake when you usually buy one?  Or what about making a scrapbook for 6 months?

Have a “Simple” Day!

 

CONTEST CONTINUES…

If you want to participate in my month long contest, it’s easy, here’s how:

CONTEST ALERT:

Do you wanna participate in my month long contest (with weekly drawings)?  Of course you do.  Here are the rules:

1) Answer the weekly question in my comments below.  One entry is all I need.  You DO NOT need to comment everyday to be eligible…just once. 

2) POST about my contest on your blog.  I will need the direct link on my blog showing the post on your site. 

3) That’s it!!!!  Just wait to see if you are a winner of a week’s bounty of prizes.  Isn’t the EASY????

Let’s meet BrainScan Coffee (these names are so great from these ETSY shop owners).

Here’s her BIO:

I’m Alex Wrekk. I’m a 31 year old kid who is into all things DIY from making zines, roasting coffee & refinishing wood floors, to brewing beer and making treasures out of trash. I call myself DIY by Default because it feels like creating things and figuring out how to make things myself comes naturally to me. I’d like to thank my mother for instilling those values in me.

I have been making custom buttons since 2000. I used to work for Microcosm Publishing and through them I had the opportunity to make buttons for such people as The Bangles, The Dandy Warhols, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and more. I now run my own little button business called Small World Buttons (http://www.smallworldbuttons.com) where I make custom buttons as well as my own catalog designs, making custom buttons on Etsy is basically a small extension of that.

I started roasting my own coffee in 2005. I started roasting for myself and giving some to friends… the friends started to offer to buy my coffee… then strangers offered to buy my coffee and it has grown from there. I roast the coffee the way that I like it and I hope you do to. I support Organic and Fair Trade coffee farms and I enjoy light roasts that really show the bean origin in flavor.

I make lots of other stuff too but most of it I don’t try to sell to folks like my beer or my food that everyone seems to like. I also make envelopes, hand bound books and notebooks, patches, stickers, and tea. My currents household project is working on planning my hummingbird garden for this spring and trying to tame my jungle of a yard!

I have very strong ethics regarding our planet and try to reuse materials or use recylced materials when possible. As for pricing items, I try to keep my affordable so that a person like myself would be able to purchase my items and hoefully love them as I have, “Priced for peers” is what I like to call it.

So up for grabs in the package for this week we will add some coffee to wake you up. And be sure to check out her ETSY store: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=33977&section_id=5164527 and also here: www.MerriBee.etsy.com

Question for Week 2 – Tell me about a random act of kindness in the last year that you have done or someone has done for you?  Please share about it in the comments and don’t forget to link the contest on your blog.

Have a “Brainy” Day!

 

Nothin’ Beats Nana’s Cooking!

Do you have one of those days where only comfort food will do?  You need to check out Nanas Comfort Foods over at ETSY: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6150180

nanascomfortfoods’s Profile

Bio

I retired from my day job for many reasons, but one reason was to spend more time with my grandchildren. I began to stir up spices to create great tasting dips. Many times my grandchildren, Alexsis, Drew and Ashtyn were in the kitchen with me when I conducted my experiments, so I thought it was perfect to name my business Nana’s Comfort Foods!!! I have had great success at craft fairs for the past year and in May branched out to become licenced by the State to sell in retail businesses.

So the winner of my contest will get a dip mix from Nana along with all the prizes for this week.  YUMMY!

 

To win:

You will need to answer the question in the comments and post/link my contest on your blog.  Please leave me your link that directly shows the post/link for my contest on your blog.  And remember there is only one entry per day.

Question for Week 1 – Tell me something that you do/done, individually or as a family, that really shows it is better to give than to receive.  Do you give food to the food bank every month?  Have you adopted a “grandma or grandpa”?  Tell me about it.

Here are the prizes so far for this week:

     

        

    

How about that?  Can you believe it?  And there is more to come.  Blessed winner if you ask me!!!!!

Have a “Diplishous” Day!

 

You Must Be Kidding!

Actually, I am not!  What am I talking about?  Well it’s BIG!!!  Are you sure you are ready?

Ok, I warned you!

For the ENTIRE MONTH OF NOVEMBER I will be hosting a contest.  There will be more prizes than you will know what to do with.  Each week, during the month, I will showcase some wonderful products.  At the end of the week you will have a chance to win all of the ones from that week!!!  Can you believe it?

Here is a glimpse of what’s to come:

Headbands

Fabric Grocery Bag

KeyChains

Soaps and Lotions

Non-Toxic Detergent

Body Butter

Books !!!!!

CD

Jewelery

Wall Graphics

Kids Items

Holiday Items

Coffee

Cookies!

ETC, ETC, ETC!!!!

I can’t wait.

This contest will be “Tis Better To Give Than Receive”.  It’s my birthday month, Thanksgiving, and the start of the entire Holiday season.  I thought what better way to showcase it by giving away terrific items.  So make sure to come by and be ready to let me know what ways you give back this season.

And just think, if you win you will have a huge dent done in your holiday shopping list 🙂

Have a “Giving” Day

Debbie aka The Real World Martha

 

I’ll have a large cheese with cinnamon, please.

Have you heard that cinnamon is a great fat burner?  It is a wonderful way to add flavor and has the added benefit of helping the body process sugar more effectively and lowering blood sugar.  If you have high blood sugar you store more fat.

So the next time you order a pizza, ask for an extra dash of cinnamon 🙂

Have a “Fat Burning” Day!

 

Summer Fruit, Wouldn’t be Summer Without Them…

…Tast’em and see.  Does anyone remember that jingle?

I have wanted to write this post for awhile, but the problem was I couldn’t keep any summer fruit around long enough to take a picture.  I LOVE MY SUMMER FRUIT!!

But really, if you have trouble picking out fruit then I would like to help.  After all this is part of my election campaign “Eat More Fruit!”. 

Here is a picture of my favorite fruit – The Nectarine!!! 

 

(Sorry, I am not the best photographer in the world.  Note to self – Work on that!)

This is the white nectarine so the skin is just a little lighter, at times, but what you want is a fruit that is heavy for it’s size, color at the stem, and you want them to look the opposite of your skin:  very dark and with tons of sun spots.  This can not be replicated by machines and coloring so you know they were on a tree getting nice and sweet.

If you love summer fruit, get it now before it’s gone. 

*****ACT NOW!!!  You only have a limited amount of time before they are gone.  And if you call within the next thirtly minutes, I will throw in a good dose of Vitamins.  Call  1-888-YUMMMY!******

Have a “Fruity” Day! (Hey, am I what I eat?)

 

Antioxidants

We talk about this all the time, but could you explain it????

 

If not, go to : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antioxidants.  That should make it clear as mud unless you have a degree in chemistry or would it be biology?????  🙂

 

Have a “Disease Prevention” Day!