Sock Monkey Party....

I love Sock Monkeys! Tonight I came across a blog called The Cake Blog who found a darling Sock Monkey Party filled with all kinds of fun decorations, treats, take home prizes and more. This party would be so much fun for everyone:

Baby Showers

Preschool Parties

Just for Fun

Summer Time Parties

or even:

Celebrate Sock Monkey's Day

(ok, I made that one up)

and Best of All?

For Me!

For instructions and more ideas on hosting my next birthday

party Click Here

Hellmann's & The "Chicken Change Up"

Chicken again?

Hellmann's has a new promotion this spring that is geared toward families. Every two weeks Hellmann's and Celebrity Chef Tim Love will share NEW recipes and tips on how to shake up your dinner routine, make it easier, crispier, more delicious and Oh, So Very Tasty!

The "Chicken Change Up" will provide recipe-based solutions to every day dinnertime challenges, like:

• Cooking dinner on a time crunch
• Making budget friendly meals
• Satisfying picky eaters at the dinner table
• Putting a twist on a classic dish

These solutions are accessible to everyone since it is based on Hellmann's FB page - featuring videos from Chef Tim where he shares how he tackles these challenges in his own home. Click the Like button to "like" the Hellmann's FB page (go ahead, click it):

As an added bonus ~

Visit the Hellmann’s® page on Facebook and enter for a chance to win a $5000 grocery store gift card or other daily prizes!

Would you please consider sharing a tweet or two.... Thanks!

Enter the @Hellmanns #chickenchangeup 4 a chance 2 win daily prizes & a $5000 grocery store gift card! @familyliteracy http://bit.ly/zbZm1D

and

Less than 20 mins to cook tonight? Try @Hellmanns #chickenchangeup recipe 4 Parmesan Crusted Chicken: @familyliteracy http://bit.ly/zbZm1D

Disclosure: I was entered into a drawing for a gift card for posting this.  All opinions are mine.

Recipes I need to try....

Cornmeal Crackers
found here

1 cup cold water

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or sunflower oil)

1 cup whole rye flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

In a bowl, mix the flours, cornmeal, fine sea salt and red pepper flakes. Add the water and oil and mix thoroughly with an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, but just until the dough comes together. On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into a thick rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. (You can leave the dough in the fridge overnight, just leave it at room temperature 10 minutes before rolling).

Preheat the oven to 250˚C.

Cut the dough into 2 equal pieces. working with one piece of dough at a time, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a very thin (around 2 mm) rectangle. If the dough is sticky, sprinkle it with flour, as well as the rolling pin. cut the dough in the size of a large cookie sheet (mine is 32 x 39 cm) and transfer it over the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Poke the dough thoroughly with a fork. mist the dough with water and sprinkle with the coarse sea salt.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the dough is set. Flip the dough over and bake until browned, another 4 minutes. The sides brown faster than the middle, but they were the tastier part and thay stayed crunchy after a week. the crackers from the middle became a little tough after a few days.

Repeat with the other piece of dough. Cool completely before breaking the sheets into irregular shaped crackers. store in an airtight container.

Soft Pretzels - 12 bun:

Click here for original

1 package dry yeast

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon sugar

1 cup hot water

3 cups flour senamensko

1/8 teaspoon red pepper

2 tablespoons butter, softened at room temperature

1/3 cup baking soda

1 yolk + 1 tablespoon water

1-2 tablespoons sesame seeds, flax seeds or coarse salt

In small bowl mix yeast, sugar, salt and warm water and let them stand 5 minutes. In a large bowl, mix the flour and pepper, add butter and mix with fingers to connect with flour. Slowly pour the water with the yeast and stir with a fork, then begin to bake the dough with hands on the table sprinkled with flour or vanglata as you is appropriate, as the dough becomes smooth and stop sticking. Then leave the dough to rise in vanglata covered with a cloth or bag about 30 minutes.

Cut dough into 12 equal pieces (mine are not so equal) and roll each into a ball between the palms of your hands. Then roll ball on surface forming into a roll with slightly tapered ends. transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. let rise 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 240 ° C. in a large pot, combine 10 cups of water with baking soda and bring to a boil. Boil rolls in batches until puffy about 45 seconds per side. transfer to wire rack to drain. Return to baking sheet, brush with egg yolk wash, sprinkle with salt or seeds and lightly score with a sharp knife.

bake until golden to dark brown, 13-15 minutes

Bake for about 13-15 minutes.

Homemade crunchy granola - click here

This is a fantastic recipe for a delicious granola you can eat in oats, with fruit yogurt or just as a snack.

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup roughly chopped almonds (or walnuts or hazelnuts)

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

2 tablespoons honey (warm the jar a bit to make the honey more liquid)

2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

a bit of vanilla

6 tablespoons apple juice

a handful raisins or dry cranberries

Optional: 1 tablespoon each of pumpkin, sunflower and flax seeds

In a large bowl mix all of the dry ingredients. Add all of the wet ingredients and mix well. Spray a metal baking pan with a bit of oil and spread the granola mix on it. The layer of granola cannot be too thick or it will steam rather than crunch up. Bake in a preheated oven at 300 F degrees for about 25 min. Mix the granola couple of times while baking to avoid burning. Once baked, transfer to a large tray or another pan to cool completely before storing in a clean jar or plastic container at room temprature. It will be good for a month or two, but I bet it won't last that long once you taste it. Enjoy with fruit yogurt, milk or sprinkled on oatmeal!

Win a Flat Screen TV! #FanJamSG-Shawn Gallaway Giveaway -ends 3/15

Twitter Party! March 2nd @ 9 pm

Fan Jam 2012 and Shawn Gallaway #fanjamSG  Twitter party details

When: March 2nd, Who: You and your friends! Time: 9pm EST

Hashtag: #fanjamSG

Customized Tweetgrid: Go here

Or use Tweetchat : http://tweetchat.com/room/fanjamSG

Party Hosts: @momblogsociety444444444444, @pamelamaynard

Special Guests: @ichooselovecdShawn Gallaway! and @gigidelugo of Tropic Heat Studios

Panelist: @kenziesKozies,  @jewellzz_70  @PowerbyMomBlog & @KatrinaMoody

Sponsors: @itsfreeatlast

Visit Shawn on FB: http://www.facebook.com/ichooselove

___________________________________________

Hosted by: Mom Blog Society, Mom Does Reviews 

& Tropic Heat Studios

Shawn Gallaway, The Singing Sage, is a singer songwriter, visual artist, author, ceremonial healer, workshop facilitator, energy worker and Certified Lifeline Practitioner. He has traveled throughout the world sharing his message of healing through the arts, branding Conscious Music a movement calling attention to the significance and to the consequences choice has in our lives. Recently, Shawn shared the stage with authors Gregg Braden, Bruce Lipton, Robert Holden and with rock and pop masters Orleans and Friends. He also had the high honor of being present for the showing of his I Choose Love music video during the presentation of a Freedom Award by the Civil Right’s Museum in Memphis, Tennessee to his Holiness the Dahlia Llama.

As a workshop facilitator and a ceremonial healer, Shawn has assisted and blessed many over the years with his keen insight and his ability to bring a sense of humor to the healing process. He is also a screenwriter whose current passion is producing and combining all his gifts into a multimedia theater production and film called The Choice. The Choice can best be described as a healing experience that can enlighten and inspire the masses into loving action in the world through the use of the arts. The Choice chronicles the healing journey of eight brave men and women who together choose Love and walk the path of the heart, transforming their fears into love in service to humanity and the earth.

Currently,Shawn resides in Nashville, Tennessee and continues to tour and share his passion for healing through the arts and through conscious music, calling attention to the impact our choices have all over the world.

The Giveaway: 7 Winners!

Grandprize: 1 Flat Screen TV

3 lucky winners will get this autographed Shawn Gallaway CD:

3 lucky winners will get Shawn's Infinite Love and Gratitude Artwork:

Giveaway starts March 2, 2012 and ends March 15, 2012

Open to US only.

ENTER HERE FOR RC 1 and 2

Wanna WIN a Kindle Fire?

I have several ChicoBag products and love them all. They are sturdy, wad up into a great little ball & have their own little storage bag inside them. The designs are really cute - and the colors (especially the plum color) so pretty. They just released new Spring products and are giving away a Kindle Fire to one lucky customer! (No purchase necessary tho - just read the small print on this page for the details on how to enter w/ out a purchase).

ChicoBag is Giving Away a Kindle Fire in March!

ChicoBag recently released new products for Spring 2012 and they are  celebrating with a Kindle Fire Giveaway!

There are 2 ways to enter:

1) Purchase one (or more) of the new Spring products @ www.chicobag.com using the coupon code: FIRE12 or FBFIRE12. One entry per person - view spring products here.

2) Handprint your first/last name, email address, birthdate, phone number & address on a postcard and mail it to (read the details on this page): 

ChicoBag Company

Attn: Sweepstakes

13434 Browns Valley Dr

Chico, CA 95973

Extreme Flash Giveaway is ON!!

Welcome to the Extreme Flash Giveaway! We will be giving away 3 Amazon gift certificates in this flash giveaway -- but you only have 3 days to claim as many entries as possible.

So be sure to bookmark this page and keep your fingers crossed when we announce the winners on March 3rd. It might just be you!

Giveaway starts on Feb. 29th and ends on Mar. 2nd at 11:59 PM EST.

Good luck!

Note: Be sure to list *** GivingNSharing *** as the blog who referred you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Celtic Woman ~ Believe (Review & Giveaway)

Several years ago I stumbled across a broadcast on PBS for the Celtic Woman group. The group is an all-female singing group featuring vocalists Chloë Agnew, Lisa Kelly, Lisa Lambe and Celtic violinist Máiréad Nesbitt.  They perform classic Irish songs (“Green Grow the Rushes"), timeless pop anthems (“Bridge Over Troubled Water"), and inspirational songs (“Ave Maria”) with their signature Celtic Woman twist. Their music is slow, romantic and restful.

Celtic Woman ~ Believe Live Tour

CD/DVD Review & Giveaway

On January 24th they released their newest CD "Believe" along with a new live concert DVD which includes a 20 piece orchestra, 7 piece Celtic Woman Band, 16 piece Atlanta Bag Pipe Band; lush vocal harmonies from a 10 piece Aontas Choir, 30 member children’s choir and featuring a world champion Irish dancer formerly a lead performer in Riverdance all serving as the backdrop to the grace and beauty of Celtic Woman.

My thoughts:

I was listening to the DVD on my drive home this weekend ~ and thoroughly enjoyed Ave Maria and Bridge Over Troubled Water. I've heard both several times from other singers - but I think Celtic Woman does the prettiest rendition of both that I've ever heard. Another song I really enjoyed because of the rhythm and movement of the lyrics and instrumentals was Teir Abhaile Riu which is a FUN combination of English & Gaelic. This is a beautiful cd that I'm sure you will enjoy this spring and summer. =D It would make a great gift for a friend, mother's day & kids that are really into music.

Order BELIEVE CD now! and Order BELIEVE DVD now!

The North American Tour has already started! It's not to late to get tickets - you can see the tour schedule here and if they're in your area - maybe your honey can get tickets for your Birthday or Mother's Day surprise! (alright don't tell him I told you to go ahead and get your tickets now!) Click here

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Helping sister move

I appreciate the guest post, Jamie Guy

My sister just bought her first house and I have been helping her with everything she asks. I don’t mind and to be honest it has been great to feel needed. She has done a lot of the hard work on her own, but had a lot of questions about some of the minor things. She needed my opinion on paint colors for all the walls. It was actually pretty easy to help her with that because of the new Martha Stewart line at Home Depot. They help match all of the paint, so it coordinates together. I then had to help her with the utilities. Again, it was an easy job because of texaselectricityproviders.com. It only took me a second to show her. I have been so proud of her and so excited. She has wanted a house for a long time and is finally getting one. She has worked hard and deserves to be happy. I am just glad I have been able to help in any and every small way possible.