All Aboard..... For the Magic Carpet Ride!

It's that time again. "One World, One Heart", bloggers event. Hosted by Lisa Swifka of A Whimsical Bohemian. All bloggers from around the world participate. It's a nice way to meet some fellow bloggers as well as see some great giveaways! This is the 3rd year I've participated and cant say enough about it. Thank you Lisa for hosting such a wonderful event.

For the event, I put together a "love" package. Something handmade, some store bought items and a thrifted item.

The thrifted item in this package is some gold laced ribbon and a heart tack.

For every 50 entries, I will add another "love" package to give away!

How to win!

Everyone must leave a comment to be eligible to win and they must have a way to link back to them OR leave an email address so they can be contacted if they should win.(If I can't contact you, then I will have to pick someone else). ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. I will randomly choose the winner on Feb 14th at midnight, from all comments received. If I don't hear back from the winner or winners by Friday February 19th, 2010, I will choose another name.

Thank you for stopping by for the One World One Heart Event. Hope you enjoyed your stay and hope that once it's over, you'll come back and visit.

Hearts and a Recipe.....

I've started working on some Valentine's swaps. Which consists of things handmade and store bought. I enjoy the handmade part. It's a challenge to start with a clean slate and create something that you'd think your partner will like. You go over and over in your head, how about this, how about that, what if I add this? The wheels turn and turn until something clicks and you start. The best part is the ending. Knowing that you just made

something for someone else.

Makes me happy.

Stuffed Bread Bowls

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut top of bread bowl and hollow out. Brush with olive oil, inside and top of bread.

Combine in a bowl...1.5 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese, 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 3 cloves of garlic chopped, 3 scallions chopped, 1/2 chopped green olives with pimento, 1 cup chopped hard salami, 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery, 1/2 cup mayo and 1/2 tsp oregano

Mix well and pour into bread bowl.

Wrap well with foil and bake for approx. 40-45 minutes.

Pull out of oven and let set for 10 minutes before cutting.

Cut into 4.

MMMM! Soooo good!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Soup's On!

Cutting back on junk and eating healthy has been a test for me. I love to cook and bake. I love to eat what I cook and bake. Switching what I eat during the day has helped me. I eat my big meal for lunch. Usually around 1:00. Then for dinner, it's usually what ever healthy thing I could put together. Lately, it's been soup. I love soup, especially homemade soup. I make my soup with whatever I have in the fridge. Today, I made Ravioli soup.

I started out with 2 cans of low sodium broth, threw in some onions, carrots and celery. Cooked that a bit to get the vegetables tender. Approx 10-15 minutes. Then I spotted the asparagus, had to throw that in there also. Then went in the ravioli. Cooked for approx. 10 minutes more. Done! Perfect with a salad. Light, warm and satisfying. Hit the spot.

For this week, I lost 3 more lbs. For a total of 11lbs since the beginning of January. Have some more to go. One day at a time.

A Clean Start

For the New Year. I don't know about you, but I'm still working on last year. Just finishing up packing things away. Doing a major cleaning of paperwork and such. Hoping to be all in order by the weekend. I've cleaned closets, draws, under beds. Every nook and cranny that was to be found in the house. I promised myself that I was going to start off clean for the New Year. Makes me happy to walk into a room that is spotless. And if I just pick up here and there. Things wont build up. Like paperwork! That is probably my least favorite task, going through the mail. Most of it is junk anyway. Some days, that's all it is, advertisements. Advertisements I can do without. Isn't there a number that I could call to take me off some kind of list???

I made some promises I'm hoping to keep for the 2010.

* Stick with my WW program, stay on track.
* Don't stray off my grocery list. Stick to what I need, not what I want.
* Be more patient with the kids, the older they get. The more I want to lose it!
* No more coffee drinks from the shops. If I want coffee, I will make it at home and save the $.
* Use what I have, don't go out and buy what I don't need. Spend wisely.
* More family time.
* Try and stay more organized with planning and projects.

So far, it's been going pretty good. I printed my list off and put it on the fridge and one in my wallet. I find if I start to stray, I just look at my list and remember that I've made a promise. Not going to lie, I miss my carmel latte's! But with not having them, I already saved myself a couple of bucks.

Have you made any promises for the New Year?