~YAY 100 POSTS COUNTING THIS ONE! CAN YOU SAY GIVE-AWAY??~

YEP IM DOING A 100 POST GIVE AWAY! NOT JUST ONE........BUT THREE! WHAT DID SHE SAY??3???YUP I SAID *T-H-R-E-E* LOTS OF GOODIES! SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE! THIS GIVEWAY WILL BE OPEN TILL FEBRUARY 1ST! HOW CAN YOU WIN ONE OF THESE GIFTS? THERES 3 WAYS TO ENTER! FIRST WAY TO ENTER IS BY COMMENTING ABOUT WHICH RECIPE APPEALS TO YOU! YUP RIGHT DOWN THERE YOU SEE IT, SHOW ME SOME LOVE! THE SECOND WAY TO ENTER IS TO BLOG ABOUT MY GIVE AWAY COME BACK AND POST A LINK SHOWING ME THAT YOU BLOGGED ABOUT IT! AND THE THRID WAY TO ENTER IS BY BECOMING A FOLLOWER OF MY BLOG!

SO WHEN YOU DO ANY OF THESE COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW WHICH YOU HAVE DONE!

AND YOU MUST LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AS PART OF EACH OF YOUR COMMENTS! AND THEN ON FEB 1ST I WILL USE THE RANDOM GIZMO OVER AT RANDOM.ORG AND IT WILL PICK 3 WINNERS! AND I WILL POST THE 3 NAMES THE GENERATOR PICKS OUT :) I WILL ALSO SEND YOU AN EMAIL IF YOU ARE SAID WINNERS!

SO THAT IS A GRAND TOTAL OF 3 ENTRYS TO WIN ONE OF THESE FUN GIFTS!

~YOU CAN ONLY WIN ONE GIFT PACKAGE~

GOOD LUCK LADIES HERE ARE THE PACKAGES YOU'VE BEEN WAITING TO SEE!

Gift package 1

"pamper yourself"

(most of these items were either gifted to me or came out of my gift tubs for last min gift giving!)

This package includes;

a travel sized bag of MarKay's TimeWise Cellu-Shape Contouring System.

A Novel called; Un-Bridaled written by Eileen Rendahl.

Look it up on google n see what its about :)

Matching Earrings and Necklace set

(Costume jewllery nothing fancy or expensive i dont think?)

Cute pair of Earrings

(Costume jewllery like above)

2 Full sized bottles of Avon Shower Gel (Sheer Rose)

And Body Spray



Small bar of soap and small bottle of whipped body lotion "passionate rose"

ALSO pictured are 2 small bottles of Victoria Secret perfumes;

Ooh La La is the shape of the heart one and the tall bottle is Pink.

All of this comes in a cute little basket!

Gift package 2

"Recipes"

In this package you will recieve 3 items

~one being a small box of chocolates (4 choccies in total)

~one Paula Deen Recipe Book

~on easy christmas recipe book

Gift package 3

"Home Decor Stuff"

2 Packages of Potpuri from Ikea

2 Urn like containers for decoration.

1 Christmas boxed candle set

2 lots of 4 nakpin holders

4 green /4 purple

5 printed cards for framing of lavander from Ikea

~G'Day USA Happy Australia Day!~

We Celebrated the aussie way with LAMB!

OH MY GOODNESS!

it was awesome! Hubby didnt wanna talk he was to busy savoring the flavors!

I made spicey veggie noodles to go along with my marinated Lamb!

Super easy and VERY tasty marinade.

Soyasauce

Grated fresh Ginger

Minced Garlic

Chilli Powder

Honey

Apple Cider Vineagar

Works great for any kind of meat :)

~Round Two Of Meatless Mondays~

~Round Two~

Well this week turned out FANTASTIC! I had no idea what i was going to cook BUT i knew it was going to have BEANS in it so my boys would feel fuller, seeing thats what they all noticed last week after dinner....

So this morning i soaked 4 different kinds of beans you can use what ever kind of beans for this recipe i would imagine :) its not a recipe i found its one i threw together after looking at my spices and the contents of my fridge and pantry!

~What you need~

i think i measured out 4 cups of dryed beans from my jar!

Green Peppers(capsicum)

Onion (diced up thinly!)

Garlic

Dried Oregano

Ground Cumin

Ground Coriander

Sea Salt

Paprika

Chilli Powder

Tomatoe Paste

Canned Diced Tomatoes (keep the juice incase you need a lil liquid in begining)

Pasta of your choice or whatever you choose to serve this up with!

REMEMBER IF YOU ARE USING DRYED BEANS YOU NEED TO EITHER COOK THEM OR SOAK THEM BEFORE YOU START THIS DISH!

~How to throw it together~

Heat your oil in a pot when hot toss in your onions and garlic!

once they have cooked down some what start adding your spices (all to taste as per usual) so in goes the oregano,cumin,coriander,chilli powder and paprika! Stir through then add a few tablespoons of tomato paste if its to dry at this point add some juice from your canned tomatoes! This will help it out :) I also used some of the water from the beans about a couple of tablespoonfuls i believe! When the mixture has cooked a good 10 mins start adding your drained beans and mixing threw, at this point once all our beans have been added put your canned tomatoes in and let everything sit and simmer for about 15 mins.

I added the green peppers last as they were frozen :) and it melded in nicely while the pot was simmering! Taste and add salt if needed. I left the pot simmering a good hlf an hour before serving it on a bed of whole wheat thin noodles!

My hubby and son added a spoonful of sour cream to the top of theirs and loved the taste they said it was very YUMMY :)

~Beautiful Bread~

So have you ever made your own loaf of bread? From scratch? And realised just how delightful it is? After all the hard work you put into it and then taking the time to wait for it to rise then bake? I know it takes sometime but when i first started doing it i know that once i pulled out that piping hot loaf of bread out of the oven NOTHING else mattered! All that hard work was WORTH every minute specially once you slice of the first piece of bread when its still hot and you spread some butter on to it and it just oozes and melts across it! DIVINE i tell ya! It really is worth making your own bread these days because YOU know what goes into your bountiful bread! I have put so many things into my bread dough mixes its so much fun! And along with that its so much healthier for you when you do venture out and add goodies like grains and sometimes even cheeses and herbs!

This loaf pictured here is a whole wheat, wheat germ and steel cut oat sandwhich loaf! It made such beautiful slices of toast!

~Hearty Italian Soup~

This is a recipe i came up with sunday evening when i realised my son and hubby where on their way home and hey we dont have anything in the fridge they can heat up for dinner! So i ran to the fridge,freezer and pantry and here is the list of things i grabbed!

Fresh Green Beans

Garlic

Onions

Green Peppers (Capsicum)

Mushrooms

Ground Fennel

Dryed Basil

Frozen Pesto Cubes

Home Stewed Tomatoes

Homemade Tomato Juice

Homemade Stock (think it was chicken)

Heavy whipping Cream

Italian Sausage Mince or Links

Olive Oil

Water

Sour Cream and Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese for garnish!

~As per usual everything is to taste~

Remove skin from sausage if using sausages, heat pot with oil once hot and thinly diced onions and garlic saute for a few minutes then throw in your sausage, peppers and mushrooms cook until the sausage isnt pinkish anymore! Drain the mixture if you like as sauasage is pretty fatty! Once you have drained it add your fennel and basil and mix well, add a couple cups of stock at this point and mix well let the soup sit and simmer for about 15-20 mins. Now add 1-2 cups of water to your soup at this point you will want to add your green beans :) let the soup cook another 20mins stir it through out this time. Add about hlf and cup to a cup of heavy whipping cream depends how creamy you want the soup to be, keep in mind this is NOT a thick soup at all! The longer it cooks the tastier it gets :)

The bowls of soup you see pictured are garnished with sour cream and freshly grated parmesan cheese!