Thursday Thirteen - a month of give-aways from Woman’s Day magazine
visit more Thursday Thirteeners here
An exciting Thursday Thirteen this week ! (there’s more than thirteen but let’s not nit pick, okay? After all, I am sort of diluting my chances to win by sharing the opportunity…)
Woman’s Day magazine is offering a month of way cool giveaways exclusively to their website visitors. Here’s a list of prizes you could win!
1. a six-day, five-night vacation for two to Los Cabos, Mexico.
2. Jiffy Commercial Home Model J-2000 garment steamer.
3. a five-day, four-night vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
4. an Oral-B Triumph with SmartGuide.
5. a Face Lift in a Bag from Frownies.
6. a Flip Video Ultra Camcorder.
7. a fa pair of Traveller Nordic Walking Poles.
8. four packages of WallPOPS.
9. a Michael McDonald CD.
10. a tote by Eco-Bags Products, Inc.
11. a two-night stay for two at Hidden Meadow Ranch.
12. a two-night stay for two at Boston’s historic Park Plaza Hotel & Towers.
13. a copy of the YogaXoga Demystified DVD.
How about a whole bunch more?
-$1,000 towards kitchen improvements!
-a three-night stay for two in a lush one-bedroom suite with a resort-pool view at the new Resort at Singer Island in Palm Beach, Florida. The winner will also enjoy a 50-minute massage at SiSpa, the resort’s global seas-themed oasis of wellness.
- a two-night stay on the female-only floor at Atlanta’s newest boutique hotel, The Ellis Hotel, with dinner for two at the chic E Street Grille and Bar.
-a three-night, four-day trip for two to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, enjoying accommodations in a beautiful mountainside cabin from Jackson Mountain Homes.
And there are still a dozen more contests to enter and prizes to win! Visit the Woman’s Day website for your chance to win by following this link.
If you win the trip to Myrtle beach, I think it would be a nice gesture to invite me. I can be a real party type gal!
Okay, no, I probably can’t. But I try to be pleasant and I love the beach!
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Look what I found! The recipe for our favorite soup at Olive Garden!
We like to visit the Olive Garden restaurant late on a Saturday afternoon, in time to catch the end of their lunch offering of unlimited soup, salad and bread-sticks. Soooo Good! We try to sample each variety of soup, but our favorite is always the creamy Toscana with sliced red potato and bits of crumbled sausage.
In our local paper this week, one of the readers sent the soup recipe into the Food Day column. Lucky Day! She said she found it in an issue of the Ladies Home Journal years ago. It’s definitely the same soup found at the restaurant - she’s sure and I believe her!
Toscana Soup
3 links Italian sausage
3/4 cup chopped onions
1 slice bacon, diced
1 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1 can (13 3/4 or 14 1/2 ounce) chicken broth
2 cups water
2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 cups thinly sliced fresh kale
1/3 cup heavy or whipping cream
> Heat oven to 300 degrees. Bake 3 links Italian sausage on jelly-roll pan 15 to 20 minutes. Drain on paper towels; cool. Cut into 1/4 inch thick slices.
> Cook 3/4 cup chopped onions and 1 slice bacon, diced, in saucepan over medium heat three to four minutes. Stir in 1 1/4 teaspoons minced garlic and cook one minute. Add 1 can (13 3/4 or 14 1/2 ounce) chicken broth, 2 cups water, and 2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer 25 minutes until potatoes are tender.
> Stir in 2 cups thinly sliced fresh kale, 1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream, and sausage; cook five minutes. Makes six (delicious) servings.
And yes - you could certainly prepare a healthy and hearty soup that would be very tasty and not quite so guilt laden as this one with its bacon and sausage and heavy cream.
So … what? This is Real Good Soup!
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It’s another great carnival - Make It From Scratch!
I haven’t yet finished reading all of the entries from yesterday’s carnival - Learning in the Great Outdoors at 10,000 birds. Now here is the weekly Make It From Scratch carnival hosted at It’s all for the best. Honestly? I think it’s one of the best MIFS carnivals I’ve seen in quite a while. Lots of fun craft and activity ideas - my favorite part of any carnival. I intend to spend the rest of this evening enjoying both of these carnivals - lots of reading to do tonight … won’t you join me?
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Learning in the Great Outdoors
This month’s edition of the blog carnival Learning in the Great Outdoors is up and running at host site 10,000 Birds. I’ve only had time to read about half of the entries - reading the rest is on the top of my tomorrow’s to-do list. This is one fabulous carnival! Please stop by and take a look at all that is offered. Here’s one lead - the eagle cam will thrill you in a way you have not experienced before now. I watched with tears in my eyes.
Go. Read. Then Outside with you!
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On Mother’s day - don’t forget Mother Nature!
from my National Wildlife Federation Newsletter -
4 Special Things You Can Do For Mother Nature
*Create your own Certified Wildlife Habitat
Just provide four essential elements to make your garden space wildlife-friendly— food, water, cover and places to raise young— then watch as beautiful butterflies, birds and other small animals flock to your habitat. Over 100,000 wildlife enthusiasts have certified their gardens and are helping wildlife every day. Join them by certifying your yard today!
* New Video - Mom the Scientist
Help protect our children’s future by urging your Senators to vote for the Climate Security Act. We all can do things to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but we need our leaders to pass strong legislation to stop the worst impacts of global warming. Click the image above to watch our Mother’s Day video and find out what you can do to make a real difference.
*Become an official Good Neighbor
Take the Good Neighbor Pledge and help cool the planet. Just take some simple actions in your home such as switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, recycling, and adjusting your thermostat and you’ll become part of the solution to reduce global warming! Receive great benefits when you become a Good Neighbor. Get started now.
*Adopt an imperiled animal
Make a symbolic wildlife adoption today and help protect imperiled animals across America! You’ll get an adorable plush as a keepsake of your adoption—choose from one of many animals including a polar bear, moose, desert tortoise, Canada lynx, grizzly bear or gray wolf.
Thank Your Mom and Mother Nature this Mother’s Day!
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