Join The Spring 7-Day Real Food Challenge!

I am thrilled to introduce you to Roxanne, the Holistic Mama, who will be heading up a Spring 7-Day Real Food Challenge on April 21st - 27th!

Plus, I am on the support team with 28 other bloggers. A friend referred me to Roxanne and she personally invited me to join her & 28 other bloggers to help head this up.

I am super excited... especially because the focus will be on paleo/primal foods. I've been wanting to learn how to move more towards that and this is a great group to start!

Please read on and I really hope you will join me!

Do you think you can eat only real food for 7 days straight?
To some of you this might sound nearly impossible and some of you may be thinking – I already do.

This challenge is designed to help those of you who really want to live the real food lifestyle but might need a little guidance to get started. This challenge is also for all of you who have already figured it out, but you have fallen off the bandwagon. Sometimes life gets hectic and our diets seem to suffer. It's never too late to get back into the healthy food routine!

So, What is the 7 Day Real Food Challenge?
There is a big group of us following this challenge. Everyone who joins this challenge is making a pact to eat only real food for 7 days – specifically on April 21st - 27th. Already there are 29 bloggers who have committed to this challenge and are here as a support team for everyone who joins us. Here is your support team:

Todd Dosenberry from Primal Toad
Amanda from Natural Living Mama
Erin Odom from The Humbled Homemaker
Janey McKeever from Consistantly Sporadic
Jaime Reid from Jaime Reids Kitchen
Anne Simpson from Authentic Simplicity
Laura Broach from Mama Making Changes
Mike Lamitola from MikeLamitola.com
Alix from Blessed in Homemaking
Stacy Karen from A Delightful Home
Nina Nelson from Shalom Mama
Melissa Joulwan from Well Fed
Kimball Young from Heavy on Wholesome
Laura Prevost from Head over heels in Health
Victoria Moore from Yogi Mami
Carol Lovett from Ditch the Wheat
Katie Stanley from Nourishing Simplicity
Jami Leigh from Young Wifes Guide
Andrea from Homemade for Elle
Sarah Warren from Unorthadox Momma
Amanda Anderson from Chef Amanda Anderson.com
Sara Roylance from Sara Roylance.com
Sara Shay from Your Thriving family
Jennifer from Hybrid Rasta Mama
Marillyn Beard from Just Making Noise (yay! that's me!)
Nichi from My Healthy Beginning
Michelle Elnycky from The Crooked House Blog

So for those of you who think this might be way too hard to do – you have all these experts (including me!) here to back you up and help you meet the challenge. It’s not only these bloggers that will be doing the challenge but many of our readers will be following along.

We will have a special Facebook group for discussions about the challenge and a place to reach out to everyone for help and support.

There are two ways you can participate in the challenge:

Option # 1 (Free)
Join us and make the commitment to eat only real food for 7 days starting on April 21 – April 27, 2013. You will receive:

• An e-guidebook on “What is Real Food?”
• A chance to win one of our fabulous real food prizes

To enter this challenge for free click here

Option # 2 ($29)
If you want to get really serious about this challenge and take full advantage of the support you can get from this group – this is for you.

Making a big lifestyle change can be difficult on your own but with a huge group of people doing it along with you it is a lot easier – and a lot more fun! As a member of this challenge you will receive:

• An e-guidebook on “What is Real Food?”
• A full real food Paleo meal plan for 7 days – three meals a day and snacks
• Recipes for all of the items in the meal plan (37 Delicious recipes!!)
• A shopping list to help you prepare for the challenge
• Tips on how to prepare your kitchen for this event
• Membership to our private Facebook group which is a place to reach out for help and ask questions
• A chance to win one of our fabulous real food prizes - worth over $600+

PLUS these fabulous Bonuses (worth over $40+) for everyone who buys this package...

• A copy of "Your Grocery Budget Toolbox eBook" ($7.99 value). This eBook is the perfect guide for anyone new to eating healthy, learn how to save time and money with a few simple strategies. Follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest
• A copy of Health Coach, Mike Lamitola's music album, "Fitting Out," ($7.00 value). Mike's music is inspired by real life experiences, dreams and some very random thoughts. Follow Mike on Facebook
• A 20% discount to Natural Living Mama's Product shop. Natural Living Mamma offers herbal body and skin care, salves, and teas made from only natural ingredients. Click here to visit her shop or follow her on Facebook
• A copy of The Holistic Mama's Audio Class,"How to Eat Real Food on a Budget" ($29.00 value) Follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest
• A 15% discount to Blessed in Homemaking Etsy shop. Blessed In Homemaking offers organic and all natural body care products, gentle baby care products, herbal products, crocheted items, and more, for your healthy lifestyle. Follow on Facebook

The meal plan for this challenge is a Paleo menu! This means that all the recipes are grain-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free.

If you have ever thought about trying the Paleo / Primal diet and thought it was too hard... this is the perfect chance to try it out. All of these done for you planning items and the built in support are designed to make this challenge much less of a challenge to complete.

What do you think – are you ready to take the 7 Day Real Food Challenge?

Click here to join us and get the plan, recipes, and support now!

The plan and recipes require basic kitchen tools. A good set of knives is the best thing you can splurge on in my opinion - even better you may win some in the giveaways that go along with this challenge!

Speaking of giveaways...Don’t forget about all of the fabulous prizes from our amazing sponsors!!

We are giving away $600 worth of products...

Ergo Chef Knife Company, makers of ergonomically-designed professional chef knives, is giving one participant of our challenge their Pro-Series 7” Santoku knife, Come Apart Kitchen Shears and a 9” & 12” Duo Tongs (Retail value $132) Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube  





Taza Chocolate company, makers of traditional stone ground Mexican Chocolate, is giving one of our participants a package of their salted almond discs, their chipotle chili discs, a jar of chocolate covered hazelnuts and their 87% chocolate bar. Taza chocolate has a direct trade cacao program that cultivates face-to-face relationships with farmers. (Retail value $ 30.47) Follow them on Facebook and Twitter 



Kaya Foods, superfoods for delicious living, is giving one participant 5 bags of their delicious Kale and Veggie Chips, great for healthy snacking and a few $1.00 coupons (Retail value $ 10) Follow them on Facebook 






Yogi Tea, products inspired by Ayurveda is giving one participant of our challenge 4 boxes of a variety of our top selling teas and a Yogi tea mug. (Retail value $40)Yogi tea is committed to providing healthy, natural teas that are accessible to as many people as possible. Follow them on Facebook.





Applegate, Organic & Natural Meats, is giving away a gift pack of products. (Retail value $ 25) Applegate meats are free of anti-biotics, growth hormones, nitrates, artificial ingredients and fillers which makes them far surpass the quality of conventional sliced sandwich meats. When buying Applegate products you can be confident you are eating a high quality product. Follow them on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter



Trilight Health, makers of fast-acting, great tasting liquid herbal supplements, is giving one participant a $50 gift certificate to order products on their website! For over 20 years now, TriLight Health have supplied their customers nationwide with their high quality line of liquid herbal products. They specialize in great tasting, alcohol and sugar free, liquid herbal formulas for pregnancy, children, and the family. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter  



Eco Lunch Gear, eco friendly reusable lunch gear, is giving one participant a a reusable sandwich wrap (Retail value $10.50). Eco Lunch Gear was started by a Mom who saw a need for an alternative to plastic and aluminum foil, her products can be washed and reused over and over to save money and our environment. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.    

Erin Odom from The Humbled Homemaker and creator of Real Food, Real Easy the eBook is giving one participant a copy of her eBook to help you continue with your Real Food journey (Retail value $$9.95) Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

 

Health Coach, Mike Lamitola, is giving one participant free entry to his Tele-seminar on Cravings. Do you have a sugar habit you've been trying to beat? In this tele-seminar, Mike will explain how. (Retail value $25.00) Follow Mike on Facebook and Twitter    

Alix from Blessed In Homemaking offers organic and all natural body care products, gentle baby care products, herbal products, crocheted items, and more, for your healthy lifestyle in her Etsy Shop. She is giving two participants a one ounce bag of loose chamomile tea (Retail value $8.00) Follow her on Facebook

 

Stacy Karen from A Delightful Home is giving one participant of this challenge a copy of her eBook, Simple Scrubs to Make and Give. Start making your own scrubs at home for yourself and others (Retail value $3.99) Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

 

Nina Nelson of Shalom Mama, is giving one participant of the challenge a healing balm and lavender mint lip balm from her etsy shop (Retail value $19.50) Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

 

Melissa Joulwan from The Clothes Make the Girl, is giving one participant a copy of her Paleo eBook called Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Like to Eat (Retail value $14.95). This is a great resource for anyone interested in Paleo diet, whether you are just getting started or you are just looking for some new recipes to try. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter

Health Coach, Laura Prevost is giving 10 lucky participants one of her Dynamite Coaching sessions. If you are looking for some support around breaking a bad habit, or getting yourself motivated, Laura will work through it with you in this session (Retail value $20.00/session) Follow Laura on Facebook or Twitter

Jami from Young Wife's Guide, is giving one participant a copy of her eBook, Apartment Gardening, which is a great resource for getting started growing food in small spaces (Retail value $2.99) Follow Jami on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

 

Jennifer from Hybrid Rasta Mama has also offered to give away two copies of her eBook, Cooking with Coconut Oil (Retail value $19.95). The 68 recipes in this eBook are all simple to make and the ingredients in the recipes are all readily available. This eBook is a great way to start getting more coconut oil in your diet to get all the amazing health benefits. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

You will have the chance to win all of these prizes by joining is the challenge with either Option # 1 or Option # 2 detailed above!

Do you have questions about this event? Please feel free to comment on this post with any questions or concerns. Hope I see you join this group and looking forward to learning some new things with my new friends!

* I have affiliate links on this post... I earn a small commission through your purchase (no charge to you!). Thank you for supporting my family!

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Celebration GIVEAWAY: Bones & Fat Cookbooks

Well, today we are celebrating my little man's birthday! I know every mom says this, but... I seriously can not believe he is already 1 year old. Time just flies faster and faster with each kid!

It is my goal to share the birth story later today in honor of Tobias' birthday. I have to tell you! It is an amazing story of faith, trust and... well, I get to that later  :o)


Before I get to the giveaway... let me share a few highlights of Tobias' first year of life.


Everybody fell in love with this little guy... my girls are especially crazy about him. How can they not be?! I am SO grateful that there has been no jealousy issues between my girls and this little guy. None at all.


He has proven to be a very strong-will little guy... my third strong-will child *sigh*. Life is sure very loud and noisy in the Beard household! All 3 of my kids have very strong spirits and lungs. People often ask me if it is hard for me to hear them... my answer is always, "Ha! No, God has blessed me with very loud children. If I think they are loud... can't imagine how loud they are to you!"

He began to crawl around 9 months old, but started walking before he was 10 months old! He loves following my girls around and doesn't let them push him around. Almost everyday I often see him do things and say, "He is SUCH a BOY!". Seriously, after having two girls... I am amazed just how different Tobi is and it sometimes feels like he is my first child.


Tobi has had more bumps, bruises & cuts on his head and face then both my girls combined when they were babies! Thankfully he isn't much of a crier and gets right back in the action after a few minutes in mama's arms  ;o)


It has been an awesome year with this little man and I am so blessed! Thank you Lord! Happy Birthday Tobias!


Now, the second giveaway!

To one winner, I am giving away 2 delicious & savory cookbooks:

 

These two cookbooks are deliciously amazing... just reading through the recipes and look at the pictures make me feel nourished and well-fed! LOL!

Jennifer McLagan has done a wonderful job of explaining everything you need to know to appreciate the benefits of eating wholesome bones and fat. I love her witty sense of humor thrown in at just the right places. You can read Jennifer's bio here.

These two books are vital in my kitchen these days! I just love how there is so much you can learn and do with just bones and fat.... and still thrive in good health. Here's a simple write up on Fat cookbook (taken from Amazon.com): 

For all of history, minus the last thirty years, fat has been at the center of human diets and cultures. When scientists theorized a link between saturated fat and heart disease, industry, media, and government joined forces to label fat a greasy killer, best avoided. But according to Jennifer McLagan, not only is our fat phobia overwrought, it also hasn’t benefited us in any way. Instead it has driven us into the arms of trans fats and refined carbohydrates, and fostered punitive, dreary attitudes toward food–that wellspring of life and pleasure.


In Fat, McLagan sets out with equal parts passion, scholarship, and appetite to win us back to a healthy relationship with animal fats. She starts by defusing fat’s bad rap, both reminding us of what we already know–that fat is fundamental to the flavor of our food–and enlightening us with the many ways fat (yes, even animal fat) is indispensable to our health.


Mostly, though, Fat is about pleasures–the satisfactions of handling good ingredients skillfully, learning the cultural associations of these primal foodstuffs, recollecting and creating personal memories of beloved dishes, and gratifying the palate and the soul with fat’s irreplaceable savor. Fat lavishes the reader with more than 100 recipes from simple to intricate, classic to contemporary, including:


• Butter-Poached Scallops • Homemade Butter • Carnitas • Duck Confit • Sautéed Foie Gras with Gingered Vanilla Quince • Prosciutto-Wrapped Halibut with Sage Butter • Steak and Kidney Pie • Lamb Fat and Spinach Chapati • Bacon Spice • Cookies • Salted Butter Tart 


Observing that though we now know everything about olive oil, we may not know what to do with lard or bone marrow, McLagan offers extensive guidance on sourcing, rendering, flavoring, using, and storing animal fats, whether butter or bacon, schmaltz or suet. Stories, lore, quotations, and tips touching on fat’s place in the kitchen and in the larger culture round out this rich and unapologetic celebration of food at its very best.

The one thing I learned from her Fat cookbook is chicken fat is delicious used for frying up corn tortillas! Oh my!


Next is the Bones cookbook (again, taken from Amazon.com):

Top food stylist and food writer Jennifer McLagan has a bone to pick: too often, people opt for boneless chicken breasts, fish fillets, and cutlets, when good cooks know that anything cooked on the bone has more flavor -- from chicken or spareribs to a rib roast or a whole fish. In Bones, Jennifer offers a collection of recipes for cooking beef, veal, pork, lamb, poultry, fish, and game on their bones.


Chicken, steak, and fish all taste better when cooked on the bone, but we've sacrificed flavor for speed and convenience, forgetting how bones can enhance the taste, texture, and presentation of good food -- think of rack of lamb, T-bone steak, chicken noodle soup, and baked ham. In her simple, bare-bones style, Jennifer teaches home cooks the secrets to cooking with bones.


Each chapter of Bones includes stocks, soups, ribs, legs, and extremities (except for whole fish -- they don't have any). Many of the recipes are simple, with the inherent flavors of the bones doing most of the work. There are traditional, elegant dishes, such as Roasted Marrow Bones with Parsley Salad, Olive-Crusted Lamb Racks, and Crown Roast of Pork, as well as new takes on homestyle favorites, such as Maple Tomato Glazed Ribs, Coconut Chicken Curry, and Halibut Steaks with Orange Cream Sauce. Stunning, full-color photographs of dishes like Rabbit in Saffron Sauce with Spring Vegetables; Grilled Quail with Sage Butter; and Duck Legs with Cumin, Turnips, and Green Olives are sure to inspire. 


In addition to the recipes, Bones includes a wealth of information on a wide range of bone-related topics, including the differences among cuts of meat, as well as the history and lore of bones.


Pretty awesome, huh? Now, she recently released a new cookbook called "Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal". I've got my eye on that and will most likely get a copy soon!


The one think I've grown to appreciate about living in Central America is how much people here appreciate the WHOLE animal. They use everything! Tongue, stomach, heart, hoof, head, tail and so on. I love grinding heart in with my ground beef... adds such a nice flavor. Oh and tongue is simply delicious... once you get past the weird feeling that you are "french kissing" the cow. LOL!! Using calf's hoof in my homemade beef broth has made a big difference in flavor... so rich!


There are a few butchers in the town next to us that often hang a whole cow in their station and will not close down until every piece of that cow has sold. Nothing goes to waste... talk about being frugal and smart!


How to Enter

Just leave a comment below sharing your favorite Christmas memory! (1 entry)

To maximize your odds of winning, you can leave a comment every day! (one comment per day strictly enforced)

3 bonus entries:

Follow Jennifer's blog (1 entry)

Follow my blog (1 entry)

'Like' Just Making Noise on Babble (1 entry)

So, you can have a total of 4 entries today and one everyday until December 31st January 14th! This giveaway is only open to US residents and the winner will be selected via random.org at the end of this month. Winner will be contacted in January.

Also, don't forget you can purchase Just Making Ice Cream for a suggested donation of $8 through this month! That is $4 off the original suggested donation.

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DPP 2011 > English Muffin Addiction

Made a double batch of sourdough english muffins today! We love these muffins and I try to make them least once a week. I always make a double or triple batch... they are delicious and go fast!


What are you favorites way to enjoy english muffins? Ours it with lots of butter and raw honey, but we also like have salmon or egg salads, mini-pizzas, melted cheese on top (and then topped with raspberry jam - yum!), egg & avocado sandwiches and hamburgers.


My girls and I have started a habit... we like to sit down with some english muffins (still warm!) topped with lots of butter and raw honey after we finish. Brew up some rooibos tea to go along with it... perfect!


If you haven't... go check out the fantastic GNOWFGLINS eCourses (that's where I learned how to make my Honduran Sourdough!). They are running specials until New Year. When you purchase eBooks, join a class OR sign up for their weekly menus... you will receive some pretty awesome videos - FREE!


Check it out: DPP 2009 Picture

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