Sabra Party and Giveaway!

This is a good one folks!

The lovely people at Sabra sent me four VIP coupons for free product!  That’s right, four.  Plus a $25 Master Card gift card.  Perfect setup for a party right? Yeah, that’s what I thought too.  I invited one of our favorite families over and put together this very easy, no-stress menu!

I chose Sabra hummus in roasted garlic, spinach and artichoke and sun dried tomato, as well as Sabra’s caponata and paired them with some home made pita chips.  I also made an easy, delicious pasta salad, (I made this one, but used tri-color rotine and added sun dried tomatoes to it to carry over from the hummus flavors).  Add a bottle of chardonnay, a sparkling wine or champagne, soda for the kids and some store bought cookies - Publix has terrific cookies in the bakery section that look and taste like you made them yourself!

Set a pretty table, turn on some music and let the fun begin!

The Sabra hummus was terrific, really fresh and delicious, but the caponata was the real star!  That was gone in a matter of minutes!

We had a great time, but the fun’s not over yet.  Sabra has graciously offered to send a party package to one of my readers!  Just leave a comment and tell me what your favorite party theme is and I’ll choose one reader at random to receive the prize package which includes 4 Coupons for a FREE Sabra product and a $25 Master Card Gift Card!

I’ll choose the winner on Monday September 28, 2009.

Good luck and happy eating!

Dreamboarding

I love to have a visual representation of the things that I’m working on.  I have a bulletin board in my bedroom and a white board in my laundry room.  I use them to write things on and pin things on. Whether it’s an article, an idea, a paint swatch, a piece of fabric, a picture clipped from a magazine or a piece of lace pulled off a garment, no longer wearable that I love and want to keep a piece of, I use these boards for my past, present and future.

I’ve been making collages for years!  I loved them when I was a child but then forgot all about them until I read Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance books.

I discovered her writing about the same time that I discovered the Franklin Covey system and I found that they worked really well together, keeping the left and right sides of my brain happy.  The creativity and the organized planning together, helped something “click” for me.

So the other day when I was running around the internet as I am wont to do while my children are finishing up their assignments, I came across a Dreamboard application available for FREE at Oprah.com.  I downloaded it and immediately started building!  It’s a lovely application, with terrific visuals and a huge library of images, but with the ability to use your own images as well. You can crop, resize, rotate, add text, it’s all very easily manipulated.  You can take snapshots of your board, to share with others as well and I am using it as my desktop background.

Click to biggerize in order to see it in all its glory!

The one caveat is that it’s a bit of a resource hog, so I found it best to just reboot when you’re done.  In all fairness I did have 7 other programs open, one of them being Photoshop, so your mileage may vary.

If you’ve never had a dreamboard this is a perfect way to get your feet wet, but even if you’re an old pro, this is a great little app to have on hand if you just feel like playing, or maybe want a little more privacy in your collaging.  Either way, I’m very glad that I found this app and hope that you enjoy it too!

Money Savvy Pig

Money Savvy Generation sent me a piggy bank.  It’s not an ordinary piggy bank, however - it’s really a learning tool.  And y’all know how I love learning tools, right?

I received it last week and like a kid at Christmas, ripped it open.  My children were intrigued and I said nothing as I unwrapped it.  I just sort of let the unwrapping draw them in.

Let me start by saying that the company states that this is for ages 4-11, but my 11 and 14 year olds were very interested and I was pretty interested myself!

We’re all familiar with piggy banks, I’m sure… but this one has a twist.

You can see in the picture that there are four areas of the bank, but it’s actually four separate compartments, each with its own slot to put money in, and each with its own “hoof” to take it out.  There’s a booklet that accompanies the bank with great ideas on saving, spending, donating and investing.  The booklet made a great jumping off point for a family discussion on setting our own goals.

In the past, I’ve found that when I’ve had conversations with my children about money, it seems so dry and well… boring.  Not so much here.  We had a great discussion and decided to use it as a “family” piggy bank.  There are stickers that you can put in the little ovals on each section for specific goals you might have, like a bike, or an ipod, a lunch, a book, the planet, etc.  There are also blank ones for drawing or writing your own idea.  There are even stickers for you piggy’s eyes!  You can choose brown, blue or green!

I think this piggy bank is a terrific idea, not only for the little kids but, if you’ve got even the slightest sense of humor, the whole family!  I wish they would have sent me the pink one, but other than that - I think this is a really smart idea and a great way to start your children on a life long journey of smart money management.

This is not for children under three, there are some small parts.

Full Disclosure:  Money Savvy Generation sent me the Money Savvy Pig to review for free.  However, the review is my own; I received no extra compensation and if I didn’t like it, I’d tell you.

Stella’s Modern Pantry

I love Ocala.  We all know that, but there are some things that are missing from my chosen home town.  One of those things is a really good gourmet shop.

Wait.  Let me rephrase that; one of those things was a really good gourmet shop, but all that has changed my friends, with the opening of Stella’s Modern Pantry.  Located just off the square in downtown Ocala, this is a treat!

I stopped in for a visit the other day and while not yet officially open, Stacey and Felicia were warm and welcoming and happy to show me around and tell me their plans for the store.  The space itself is lovely, with high ceilings and shelves stocked with the most wonderful gourmet treats, gadgets and serving pieces.  They have incredible salsas and marinades, herbs, salts, syrups, honeys… Each offering more appetizing than the last.  There’s a generous selection of very well priced wines, beautiful white table settings and terrific bar tools and cocktail shakers, aprons and utensils.  There were so many wonderful things to look at and choose from that I couldn’t possibly list them all here.

Then I saw the deli counter. There were dried meats and cured meats (real Cappy!) and prepared salads, gourmet cheeses (so many to choose from!), sun dried tomatoes and gorgeous olives. I can’t wait to see what they have now that they’ve actually opened!

Stacey directed me toward the kitchen where I met Chef Albert Barret who fed me fresh baked flat bread, straight from the oven.  So light and sweet and delicious, it was heaven!

I bought some salsa, marinated artichoke hearts (that I’m eating while I write this.. Yum!), some cheese and a couple of cream sodas for my children, who sat and waited for me (rough life, they ate the rest of the flat bread!) at one of the very inviting tables that they have set up for people who’d like to come in and have lunch from their mouth-watering menu, or maybe just a glass of wine while they make use of the wifi connection.  I think my next visit is going to involve one of their sandwiches, a glass of wine and some quality time with my laptop while I people watch.. one of my favorite past times.

I can’t wait to see what else they do at Stella’s Modern Pantry!

Stella’s Modern Pantry
20 SW Broadway Street
Ocala, FL
622-FOOD

Organic Buying Club

I’ve been toying with the idea of joining an organic buying club and the “horror kitchen” of the last house, among other things kept me from jumping in when I finally found one that I thought would be a good fit.  I kept annoying asking questions of one of the current members as well as the organizer and they were so nice about it; really answering my questions and dealing with my craziness concerns.

So when I moved at the beginning of this month, I signed up for the buying club.  Wednesday was my first pick up and I can’t tell you how pleased I am with my decision!  Look at this beautiful produce!

If you live in Florida, Annie’s Buying Club just might have a pick up in your area.  It’s definitely worth a look.

Yum!

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