Tuesday Giveaways , recipes and Stimulus checks

Are you staying warm friends?I do hope so.The fireplace is working wonders this morning.What are your thoughts on the $1,000.00 Stimulus package for families next month? My thought is that it is tax time already now.A lot of people will be getting a little help at this time already,and with stimulus checks mainly going to these same anyway,WHY DO IT NOW????In other words,say a family of 4 is getting a check for several thousand dollars already,if that don't help at this time just adding a little to it won't either.Save the stimulus package let's say,for like mid summer when no one is getting a little extra income...Just does not make sense to me..Well spending millions and millions of dollars on the inauguration yesterday made no sence to me either.I am all for celebrating our new president ,but for a nation to be in the shape we are now and spending like that!WAY OVERBOARD when we are in a recession!Heck just the money blew yesterday in Washington could have funded a HUGE part of that stimulus package,,,
Anyway........I am adding a few homemade recipes below.Try them sometime and let me know how they worked out and as usual giveaways around bloggvile will be added at bottom throughout the day as i can add them.Got too get some cleaning done and clothes washed hopefully today ,good lord's will.My brother dang near took his hand off the other day with a skill saw redoing my mom's bathroom.It jumped out and went through his land hand.Tearing the meat and a big peice of bone was destoyed as well.Had to have reconstructive surgery just so he would not loose all use of hand.He work's with his hands so that would not be good at all.Say a prayer for him if you would ,he is in a lot of pain with it,swelled very bad.Don't forget to pray for our new president.

If you have not already head over to my SIMPLY SOUTHERN-giveaway post and get entered in.YOU CAN COME BACK DAILY AND GAIN SEVERAL NEW ENTRIES.some have emailed confused on this.Each day you twitter or blog it,leave me a comment and u are entered again.Each time you make a comment on any post,it is a new entry,just mention ''extra entry'' or something close...
A new item will be added today as well.. ;)

Have a great day and may God bless us all..

Betty R~Simply Southern
"Hunting Paradise in God ,GrandKids,Fireflys and Whipporwills!"





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Old Fashion Red Velvet Cake~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ingredients: Frosting:
1-1/2 cups milk
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1-1/2 cups butter, softened (or stick margarine, but no diet)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cake:
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
4 tablespoons red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

To begin frosting: Place milk in saucepan and slowly whisk in flour. Stir over medium heat until quite thick. Chill until cold. Do this step first and prepare cake while it chills.

To make cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans; set aside. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda, set aside. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat shortening, sugar, eggs and salt until fluffy. In a separate small bowl, mix cocoa and red food coloring; then add to shortening mixture and mix thoroughly. Add buttermilk alternately with cake flour; beat. Gently mix in the vanilla and reserved vinegar mixture. Pour batter into prepared cake pans. Bake 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven, cool on cake racks.

To finish frosting: Use an electric mixer to beat the sugar, butter and vanilla until very light, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the cooled flour- milk mixture. When cake layers are cool, split each layer horizontally. Place one split layer on a plate and frost with 1/4- to 1/2-inch frosting. Top with second cake layer; repeat frosting. Top with third layer, and repeat frosting. Add top layer; frost side of cake first, then frost top with remaining frosting.

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Have you been by Mommy Mandy's lately?If not you need too.she always has some super nice giveaways and welcoming post!look what givaways she has now! go enter...
Mercedes Hill Maternity Giveaway
ENDS: Jan. 22nd
High IntenCity Giveaway-WIN:
One winner will receive both the Dance Tote and the Dance 10 Piece Hair Elastics Set.
ENDS: Jan. 24th
Babylon A.D. Giveaway
ENDS: Jan. 24th
The Conception Kit Giveaway
ENDS: Jan. 30th
Bumbleride Stroller Giveaway!
ENDS: Jan. 30th
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myartisticlife-One World - One Heart Giveaway you can win a super, fabulous ARTchix Studio Complete Faux Postage Sticker Collection (retail value of $126)! You'll be spoiled with hundreds of gorgeous stickers tucked into a swell plastic binder for easy storage.
ends February 12, 2009.
PLUS, she will include this pretty handmade valentine by her (Helga Strauss).


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Not quite june cleaver
has two copies of this LOVELY book French General Home Sewn ! So SHE is giving one away! This is a beautiful book with 30 sewing projects. This is from the amazon.com website:

As the founder of the renowned crafts and notions store French General Kaari Meng scours the French countryside and Parisian flea markets for vintage treasures. Now this beloved designer has gathered her favorite patterns into a charming sourcebook sure to be coveted by crafters Francophiles and home decorators. She offers 30 simple sewing patterns for French-inspired projects~a scalloped tablecloth piles of pillows and bedding a festive party garland totes~and more. Lay-flat spiral binding and ready-to-use pattern sheets and embroidery transfers plus step-by-step directions gorgeous photographs and helpful illustrations make it easy to bring the palettes and pleasures of traditional French living into any home.wanna win it? then click above.contest ends this thursday at noon!
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monogrammedteacher is oh- so- close to her 100th post. Sarah- the famous Monogram Chick and I are teaming up to celebrate.
Being a teacher, she always carries a tote- or two- or three to school everyday. They are usually filled with papers that need to be graded, books that need copying, lessons that need to be written. I will admit that those bags SOMETIMES make it out of the car and into the house, most of the time holding down the passenger seat for me overnight in the car.
To help me celebrate, you too can have a tote-
a black tote
a very cute monogrammed black tote
So here are the rules --click above! ;) ends jan 23rd!

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couponsavingfamily is giving away cloth pads...ends jan 21
yet another way to go green!!!

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happydaisyaz
Thanks to the overwhelmingly generous offer from the folks at HomeStudio they have another giveaway to share with their blog followers!!! They heard about what wonderful readers she has and offered to send the winner a Scrabble Tile Pendant and pretty snake chain!

The best part??? The winner will get to choose the exact tile they want from over 200 tiles in their Etsy shop sign up above at happy daisy!
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mindingspot up for grabs is a great book!Evil Without a Face by Jordan Dane - GIVE-AWAY!! ends feb 8
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frugalbabytips is giving away Smashies for the kids!ends feb 3rd Today's Giveaway is three prizes of 3.2 fl. oz (90g) fruit filled pouches of Smashies: Organic Squeezy Apple Sauces for kids!
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contest /giveaways for monday in bloggville!

HAPPY WINNINGS EVERY ONE!!!Tell em Simply Southern sent you over...

Betty~Simply Southern
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Simply Southern~My First Giveaway!Enter Now-Its cold in Alabama
expires jan 31st! up to 5 prizes in the gift box!!!!!

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honestech Audio Recorder Deluxe 2.0 Review And Giveaway
With just a few clicks, convert your analog music into digital formats including MP3s and audio CDs.

Convert all of your music, including cassettes, LPs and 8-track tapes, into MP3s, WAV files, audio CDs and MP3 CDs, and listen to them on your portable music players.
All-in-one solution
Includes the MUZBOX, an RCA to USB Audio Conversion Device.
Works with most audio playback devices including cassettes, LPs and 8-track players.
Improve audio quality
Reduce unwanted noise or statics.
Control audio volume with the built-in normalizer.
Increase low volume with the digital amplifier.
Organize your music
Automatically separates multiple tracks.
Add ID3 tag for artist, song and album titles.

thedirtytshirt-enter to win it!
while you are there you may want to enter some of these as well.!!!
Seagate FreeAgent Xtreme 1 TB External Hard Drive ENDS 1/31
Bootcamp For Butts ENDS 1/21
Kooky Klicker Club Membership ENDS 1/21
SoftHands & SoftBaby ENDS 1/22
iPosture ENDS 1/22
Simply Sarah ENDS 1/25
cmarchuska ENDS 1/25
Crash Course For New Dads ENDS 1/27
Slimpressions ENDS 1/27
The Cupcakes Club ENDS 1/28
Become Beauty ENDS 1/28
Dater's ED: The Instruction Manual For Parents ENDS 1/29
1-2-3...Get Organized ENDS 1/30 dirty shirt-win it

WarmMe Mouse ENDS 1/31 dirty shirt-win it
The Baby Dipper ENDS 2/1
Hit The Ground Crawling ENDS 2/2
honestech Audio Recorder Deluxe 2.0 ENDS 2/2
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Jolly Mom 09 party!!!!enter now one Jolly Mom reader will win the Jolly Holiday Gift Set! (Retail Value $49.00!ends jan 27th,
sponsored by mommymakeup
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jollymom-your spa wish has been granted so win it!
Spa & Salon Wish wants us moms to pamper ourselves in the New Year so they have generously offered to give away ONE $100 gift certificate to one very lucky Jolly Mom reader
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Jolly mom-get in shape with baby giveaway Win It! The cool chicks from Chicks-n-Chickens have generously offered to give away the Lullaby Exercises DVD to one Jolly Mom reader!
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gograhamgo-giveaways open
Pocket Purifier, skeeda Bag, Cricket & Monkey ($96 value),
Ped Egg/Pampered Toes, See Kai Run, Preserve Jr. Toothbrush,
Playtex Sippy Cup, The Jimmies Kids CD, go,GO,GO!!!!!
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doesmommyloveit
HappyBaby Food has offered to give away 2 free trial coupons each for Baby, Bellies, Bites and Puffs; a Nutrition Guide by Dr. Sears, and our HAPPYFAMILY Recipes to one Does Mommy Love It?

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win a no snow snuggler at does mommy love it-ends feb 5th
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onceuponaqpon pet food Coupon Giveaway ends tonight! This lady always has some super useful contest and lots of help on coupon savings with links to print!!! go by and look around.
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lifestarringellieandeve
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sandierpastures-win from willow creek!
A winner will be chosen at random on 23rd January 2009.
willow creek studio-thank you
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sandierpastures
WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
One lucky winner will get a beautiful handmade Birthstone Bracelet with Swarovski Crystal, Sterling Silver and Bali Beads from Sweet Caroline’s!

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HAVE A GREAT NIGHT AND MAY GOD BLESS US AND WATCH OVER US ALL...THANKS FOR COMING BY.
BETTY~SIMPLY SOUTHERN

Lets stop it with Racism-Obama prooved it is over...except for american indians

Hello readers..

Hope you are staying warm this week!I am soooooo ready for spring.Don't forget to enter my giveaways,links are on the side...Comment,comment...

ok,,i have been watching ,or the tv is on anyway,the inauguration all day.I am adding my thoughts on this and we all have one and the great thing about america is we can speak our minds,Well most times anyway.I do believe this is just too much with our economy being the way it is.Now i know this is a great day.For some people it means more than others,BUT....we are in a recession(DEPRESSSION) now and this is overboard.The money that has been wasted here today could have bailed America out of a few of the problems we have.This is a scary way to begin the new presidency...blowing billions of dollars for a few hours!I don't care what color a man or woman is as long as they do their job.I do pray Obama can pull us out of this mess.But i think a lot of support is wagering on color alone.That is never a good thing.We are all one....United...This has proven it more than ever before.Racism is not a problem,no more than being a woman/man ...In some ways we all suffer.For one reason or another.We can't scream this anymore.We,as a nation,one voice,have voted in a black man.Awesome!Now let's get past all this stuff i continue daily to hear on tv about racism....There are going to be a few jerks anywhere..cant stop that,never will..SO LET US MOVE ON .......
If anyone is being hurt now it is still the American Indians.They are the ones we slaughtered and stole land from...They remain mainly silent...Have you been to a reservation lately?If not you should visit!!!!Most still do not have what they need to get by...expecially the young and old..Very few jobs if any besides the casinos...AND WE ALL HURT THEM...TRIED TO WIPE THEM OUT...you rarely ever hear anything about this..Do we have a national holiday for them????paid holidays????NONE!!!!!! and the reason???maybe some of you could enlighten me on that one....
Until then..i am so tired of hearing racism,,,,let us stop this...Obama prooved it is done......


Betty R~Simply Southern
Hunting Paradise in God ,GrandKids,Fireflys and Whipporwills!

Do your Kids Play Outside?Giveaway growing!

Parents Urged to Let Children Play Outside
Morning readers!
I do hope you are all entering my giveaway!Details and link are on the right of page..Please take a moment to give me your thoughts on this article as well.I do appreciate it.How do you feel about your kids being outdoors?Are they allowed too?Or is there even any ''outdoors'' where you live that is safe?That is a problem that faces a lot of children now.There is no safe play area to learn in,and the psycho predators that linger there to hurt children.Not a lot of families live in rural areas where kids are actually allowed to ''run free'' anymore.I am lucky i do live in the country.The kids are allowed to have run of the yard and billy is adventuring farther and farther out now at 6.He and kolby(3&1/2) loves climbing trees,digging holes,riding stick horses,jumping off small hills,just being boys.I do not bother trying to drees them up each day,they have more play clothes than anything.They have ''yard toys'' on one end of the yard ,that is their area.Might call it their gathering space.Everything goes here from bikes to sticks,(not meaning that they stay there.lol..)The yard certainly isn't manicured,just kid friendly and fun..What yard's use to be.
They enjoy watching wildlife,feeding pets,walking,and making mud pies. ;)
Here is a post i found this morning i wanted to share.Please leave me your thoughts on this.good and bad..remember if you mention in your comments about my giveaway you are entered again!Just make sure you go to original post to get the rules!!!!The giveaway box is growing so comment away!Here is the link to my giveaway.
Simply Southern~My First Giveaway!Enter Now-Its cold in Alabama
other giveaways added at bottom this evening.6 am and i have charlie-age 8 mos. and billy age 6 already in here with me! ;0 lol..
Have a great day!!!
Betty~Simply Southern
Hunting Paradise in God ,GrandKids,Fireflys and Whipporwills!
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American children are spending more and more of their leisure time indoors -- watching TV, playing video games and chatting with friends on line. That concerns many child development experts and others who would rather encourage them to be outside hiking, climbing trees, riding bikes and watching birds. They want to end children's alienation from nature, and what they believe are the adverse effects on child development. "I grew up in a pretty large family, having six older brothers and sisters. All I did was play outside," says Olympic gold medal soccer player Abby Wambach. "My parents helped out in that arena. They locked the door on us; they told us you couldn't come back until dinnertime. So, I pretty much spent my life outdoors."Even if playing outside doesn't lead to a gold medal, Darell Hammond says it is important for a child's physical and mental development."Playing outside helps release endorphins in your body that motivate you," he says. "It gives you sensory experiences around touch, smell and sight."Hammond is Co-Founder of KaBoom!, a non-profit that is working to build a playground within walking distance of every child in America."When walking through the woods, it actually helps your balance because it's not like walking on a sidewalk that may be 100 percent flat." Walking across "different types of land increases your heart rate," he says. When children play in nature, whether it's in a wooded park or a playground, Hammond says they tend to invent their own games and are more likely to play collectively. "When kids get outside, their activity runs wild."Unfortunately, he says, children don't play outside today as often as they did three decades ago, because "parents are busier; kids are more over scheduled." Children are spending more time after school in highly structured activities, playing organized sports or attending music and art classes. During school vacations, they are usually busy at summer camp.
http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2007-05-17-voa29.cfm?

Author Richard Louv says playing outside is the answer to childhood obesity.Musician Chuck Leavell wants children to appreciate nature Writer and outdoor advocate Richard Louv says when children have free time at home, they are more likely to stay inside, because there might not be a nearby park or even a sidewalk."Even when you have a sidewalk, for example, there is more and more traffic. That's a legitimate fear," he says. In recent decades, Louv notes, the fear that a stranger will abduct or harm a child has accelerated greatly in the United States and other countries.In his book, Last Child In The Woods, Louv says children's alienation from nature causes what he calls "nature deficit disorder," although he is careful to point out that "nature deficit disorder is not a medical diagnosis. "Perhaps it should, but it is not. It's a societal problem," he says. "It's the society that gets in the way of kids going outside and playing in nature."Louv says playing outside is the answer to America's child obesity problem as well as many other childhood disorders. "For example, studies of Attention Deficit Disorder being done in the University of Illinois show that kids with those symptoms, the symptoms get much better with just a little bit of contact with nature in kids as young as 5 years old," he says.Experiencing nature through outdoor play is also the best school for tomorrow's environmentalists, according to musician Chuck Leavell, author of the children's book, Tree Farmer. "It you ask little Johnny where the guitar comes from, he's likely to tell you from the music store," he says. "In fact the guitar comes from a resource of wood. So we want to get these young minds thinking about nature, about how bio-diversity works together. You want to plant this seed and you want to let this see grow and flourish."To get children outdoors, and back to nature, Richard Louv advocates a comprehensive approach. "Parents, grandparents, aunts,uncles and other adults, we need to take kids outdoors ourselves," he says.