Just Sayin’….

Can I just say how glad I am that the juice cleanse is over?

Can I just say that missed the act of chewing?

Can I just say that I forgot how delicious an apple is?

Can I just say that 100% cranberry juice is absolutely not the same thing as a cranberry cocktail?

Can I just say that my skin does look better?

The picture is a bit blurry, but the bumps have reduced a lot!

Can I just say that I lost 5 pounds?

Can I just say that it’s probably all water weight?

Can I just say that I’m super excited to tell you who the winners are of the Love Grown Foods giveaway?

Can I just say a huge “woo hoo” to Meagan (@vivalameaganx3) for winning the sample pack directly from Love Grown Foods giveaway?

Can I just say a mega congrats Kristina @ life as kristina for winning two (2) packages of granola in your choice (remember, no Cocoa Goodness)?

Can I just say to Meagan (@vivalameaganx3) and Kristina @ life as kristina to send me an email at oliepants [at] gmail [dot] com with your mailing address.

What do you want to say? How was your weekend?  Do anything special?

Oh, It Is LOVE! {Giveaway}

Can I just say that I have some of the nicest and most caring readers anyone could ever ask for?!  So many of you e-mailed and commented with really great advice and personal stories regarding yesterday’s (very personal) post.  I was feeling much better by the end of the day.  LOVE was truly in the (blog) air!

It’s quite amazing how people you never met could show you so much LOVE when you need it the most.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  And I truly do LOVE you all.

And I want to show you some LOVE in return.

About a month ago, LOVE came to Dallas.  LOVE by the name of Maddie and Alex.  This power couple is the brains and LOVE behind Love Grown Foods.  Love Grown Foods is really a granola movement – granola for everyone.  Love Grown Foods granola is gluten-free, refined sugar-free, trans fat-free, preservative free, and free of artificial flavors.  In addition to all this, Love Grown granola is DELICIOUS – it actually tastes like LOVE has been put into every oat cluster.  Ask Dorry and Lindsay – they know!

Despite our plans to meet up, scheduling issues kept us from meeting.  Despite this, Maddie still sent some LOVE my way.  (P.S. If you ever meet/talk to her, you’ll see – she’s quite LOVEly.)

So, in an effort to pass along the LOVE, Maddie has agreed to give some LOVE to a very lucky reader.  One lucky reader will receive the bag of their choice, along with mini bags of the remaining flavors so you can sample them all!

And, because you have been so good to me, I will send another reader TWO bags of your choice.  Now, keep in mind, I have already tore into the Cocoa Goodness so that’s out.  (Whoops!)

There are four other delicious flavors for you to choose from.

–  Apple Walnut Delight

–  Simply Oats

–  Sweet Cranberry Pecan

–  Raisin Almond Crunch

Take a look at the Love Grown Foods website and blog, the adventures of Maddie and Alex as they tour and promote their granola full of LOVE!

The following are many ways to enter for a chance to receive some LOVE yourself:

1.  Leave me a comment telling me what flavor of the Love Grown Food granola you would like to try.

2.  Leave me a comment telling me a blog post or recipe that you liked on my blog.

3.  Follow me on Twitter (@oliepants) and leave a separate comment letting me know.

4.  Tweet the following (@oliepants is giving away some @LoveGrownFoods LOVE!  http://wp.me/p16dO9-bJ ), and leave a separate comment letting me know.

5.  Mention this giveaway in a blog post and leave a separate comment letting me know.

6.  Follow @LoveGrownFoods on Twitter and leave a separate comment letting me know.

7.  “Like” LoveGrownFoods on Facebook and leave a separate comment letting me know.

Whew!  Is that a list or is that a list?!

You can comment until Friday, April 1, 2011 at 11:59 p.m.  I will announce the winner on Monday, April 7, 2011!

**This giveaway only ships to those in the U.S.!**

So, what are you waiting for?  Spread some LOVE!!

Post Gobble Gobble + Giveaway

Oh man, oh man!  What a week!  The vacation is coming up in T-3 days and I am getting very excited!!  As should you be because I’m doing my first ever giveaway! 🙂

Let’s recap the week.  Well there was Turkey Day! I won’t bore you with the food details, but let’s just say there was plenty!  The best part was that I got to celebrate with the most important people in my life!  Thanksgiving Day was a reminder of how blessed I am to have the family that I do!

If you remember, I contributed the following:  macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes, strawberry pie and apple pie, and it turned out fabulously!  Let me tell you – the roasted garlic mashed potatoes – TO DIE FOR!  It was the roasted garlic that made it.

Garlic lurve:

I will be using roasted garlic way more than ever now that I know it’s so simple!

I don’t know about you, but I cannot do after-Thanksgiving leftovers.  My MIL made a kick-a$$ turkey but I cannot eat it the next day.  Something about reheated turkey (or chicken) does not work for me.  And luckily, because we’re taking a vacation soon, everyone was less insistent on us taking a boatload of leftovers!

So, for breakfast, I tried out Amy’s breakfast burrito.

and some pears with cinnamon:

Of course pumpkin butter had to be involved

And let’s not forget the answer to the case of the sleepies! 🙂

Do I grind my coffee every time I want to drink it?  Heck yes!

And, with all the work from yesterday, I forgot to eat lunch – I never ever thought I’d hear myself saying that.  So, I do what I do best and hit up the salad bar at Jason’s Deli.  I wasn’t kidding when it came to eating color.

Perfect for me and Binks to share

You won’t find anything in this salad except veggies, hummus and some balsamic vinegar!

And, I also got started on this:

Yep!  These are good ole’ dried habaneros!  I plan on grinding them into a fine powder – the uses thereafter are endless (use a tad in some Indian dishes, Mexican dishes, throw in someone’s face, etc.)  You would be surprised how a little goes a long way – not just in spice, but in flavor.

So now for the giveaway!

I have been planning for this vacation since I got engaged to my Binks.  This vacation means more to me than all the other trips we have taken (Rome, France, Tokyo, Chicago, and the list continues)!  And, it’s finally happening!

Can you guess?  If you do, you’ll be the the lucky person to receive a special treat – trust me, it’s a “Good Thing”!

Do you trust me when I say that it’s like eating a cloud of goodness?  What is it?  It’s my all-time favorite fall cookie, an adaptation from the great, the big M herself!  And do you think I’d leave you with just a baked good?  Heck no!

So, the rules:

Leave a comment telling me where you think I’m going (random, I know), and what your all-time favorite vacation location would be.

Tweet about this giveaway, and leave a comment saying you did the same.

All entries made by 11/30/2010 5:00 p.m. CST will be considered.

Make sure you provide your e-mail as I will be e-mailing the winner!

I will annouce the Winner on 12/1/2010 and let you all know where I will be going!  Can’t wait to read your entries!

Good luck!

🙂