I can’t believe that Friday, September 4 will mark my one year blog anniversary!  I have had so much fun with the blog this past year and want to thank my family for putting up with my hobby! 

In one year I’ve had:

  • 128,568 total views
  • 978 posts (wow!)
  • 9,515 comments (!)

I’ve met some wonderful people along with way too – which is just the icing on the cake!  A few blogs I still read each and every day:

Kath at KERF

Meghann at Innerworkings of a College Graduate

Ree at Pioneer Woman Cooks

Cathy at Noble Pig

Robin Sue at Big Red Kitchen

Shelley at A 40-something Weight Loss Journey

Jen at A Prior Fat Girl

The thing I love about the above-mentioned ladies is that while food is the common denominator, these women couldn’t be more different, in terms of their age, where their lives are and where they are going.  They are inspirational, funny, willing to share their joys and failures, and if you haven’t checked them out – I suggest you do! 

And I do read everyone’s blog that is on my blog roll, but because I read every word, it might take me a week to get down the list!  And rest assured even if I don’t comment on every post, I do read every word! 

But before we get to that, I had the most “non-Biz” breakfast of my life!  Banana Nut Cheerios!  I can’t even remember the last time I had cereal for breakfast!  I used soy milk that I got at Big Lot’s – it was so good and surprisingly pretty filling!   But after our 45 minute walk at lunch, I was pretty hungry!

P9010050

For lunch I decided to use leftovers and made a corn tortilla quesadilla out of my black bean and corn salad from my SIL’s bday party – with a delicious salad on the side! 

P9010059

I loved the combination of balsamic vinegar with the strawberries – it was so refreshing!

P9010058

Tony is actually out with friends tonight, and I can’t decide what to make for dinner, so I decided to just post my giveaway and figure it out.  The wait is over!

This month’s giveaway (drum roll . . . . .)

MasterCook 9.0 Recipe Software!

mastercook 9.0

A Giant Bottle of Tabasco Sauce!

tabasco sauce

And a jar of Tabasco Pepper Jelly! 

tabasco jelly

Sorry the pictures suck, but I took them off of Amazon.com! 😀

I use MasterCook all the time.  This is the newest version and here are some of the highlights!

  • It already includes 8,000 recipes, from appetizers, entrees, desserts, grill recipes – and has the NUTRITIONAL INFO for every recipe!
  • You can search by ingredient, food types, cook time – 400 recipes can be made in under 20 minutes!
  • You can scale a recipe with the click of your mouse, whether you are cooking for 5 or 50!
  • Put together a menu, click another button and it prints out your GROCERY LIST!
  • You can import recipes from anywhere on the Web
  • You can use the program to manage your entire recipe collection by entering your own recipes, recipes from magazines, etc.
  • Not only does the nutritional analysis track fats, carbs, calories, etc., but it will show you the healthier alternatives to popular ingredients, so you can see how substitutions will alter the nutritional values
  • They also have INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS so you can see how to bone a chicken, or preparing a rack of lamb!

I actually got my software from my library, and it’s version 4.0 – this updated version blows mine away!  (I think I may have to purchase one for myself too!)

How do you win?

  • Leave a comment to this post, telling me what your favorite recipe is and why (family favorite? your grandma made it special for you?.
  • Link back to this post from your blog for an extra entry.
  • The winner will be picked at dinner time on my ONE YEAR BLOGIVERSARY – Friday, September 4.

In other good news, my Panera Bread Copy Cat Broccoli Cheese Soup picture made it on TasteSpotting today!  So I am about to visit some new blogs and I hope you stop by again!  And a HUGE thank you to everyone who stops by – I really appreciate it!  

Good luck and I’ll see you tomorrow night! 😀