Contest Time!! THREE GIVEAWAYS!!

I haven’t had a contest for far too long so I’ve decided to have THREE contests. Giving something away is gangs of fun and I’m overdue for gangs of fun. Life has been alternately frustrating, painful, maddening, overwhelming, and generally ticking me off. I could give you details (and you KNOW I will) but I’d rather give you gifts for now, especially bread. So that’s where we’ll start.

Bread is good therapy. When you smell it wafting through the air it makes you feel as though all is right with the world. Maybe I’ll start my own Bread Therapy Group. I bet it would catch on. We won’t talk about any problems - we’ll just eat bread until we’re stupefied and then we’ll wander off into the night. And I’ll charge people for this. Yes, I feel I have entrepreneur written all over me. But at least I’ll actually FEED them with THE most delicious bread ever created. I know this to be true. I’m there nearly every Saturday. “THERE” is Great Harvest Bread Company.

They make warm and squishy and delectable things like this:

And this (which lasted for four seconds after this photo was shot):

Here’s one of their bakeries:

If you’ve been hanging around here very long, you know that I believe in REAL FOOD. I define that as food made from real ingredients, organic if possible, unprocessed or lightly processed, knowing the people who grow your food, buying locally, and buying fresh. It’s being in touch with what you eat.

Great Harvest Bread Company exemplifies the values that are important to me. They do business with small farmers, many of whom they’ve known and worked with for many years. Bread is made fresh daily, wheat is being ground into flour regularly, and customers are treated to samples that are generous.

But here’s something that’s really important to know:

They truly care about our communities. Kate Ord, Director of Marketing states, “At the core of our mission statement is ‘give generously to others.’ We donate more than 4 tons of whole grain bread to children and families in need.” They also take part in life-changing projects like this Habitat For Humanity home:

They get to know their customers with a Farmers’ Market presence in selected locales:

And they know what they’re buying and what they feed us. It matters. It’s at the heart of everything they do.

The company was recently named “Best Place To Work” by Outside Magazine and “Most Democratic Workplace” by Worldblu. They’ve also recently started a blog you can link to HERE.

I so love this company that I contacted them to find out more about who they are. I was fortunate enough to meet the lovely Ms. Kate Ord. We became fast friends and when I told her I wanted to introduce my blogging buds to Great Harvest, she did what they do: jumped in to help. And this is where our contest begins.

Great Harvest has offered to give one lucky winner a $50 certificate for your choice of fresh, lovely, squishy, delicious bread products from a bakery near you. And just in case you don’t yet have one of these wonderful places, they will send you a basket of mixes to create your own fresh-baked treats in your kitchen. (Fresh bread wouldn’t be all that fresh by the time they shipped it to you so making your own is the next best thing!) And here’s the kicker: They’ll send this basket to you WHEREVER you are. That means my international friends can enter, too! I’m officially jazzed.

This contest will be for my BLOGGING FRIENDS. You will be entered if you follow me and BLOG about the contest. It can be as simple as, “Hey, Robynn’s Ravings is having a contest for these items (and then list them). Go see her at http://www.robynnsravings.blogspot.com/ !! Or you can write a book, but whichever you choose, click the follow button to the right with all the photos and then leave me a comment with your blog link and I’ll head on over to your place.

The next items are for ANY followers and you tell me which contest you want to be entered into. One is from Chipotle. You may remember Chipotle from me blogging about them or you may have seen them featured on “Nightline.” Chipotle is a fantastic restaurant that makes every effort to purchase its meat and food from growers who raise their animals and grow their crops in healthy, sustainable ways. And the flavor of their food is proof positive. If you already follow me (or decide to) and you want “Burritos For Two including gourmet burritos, fresh chips with guacamole, and drinks,” then leave me a comment and include the words “Following” and “Chipotle” somewhere in the comment.

However, not everyone lives within a convenient distance of this food paradise so you may want to select an alternate prize. Therefore, I offer you this:

A brand spankin’ new DVD of the most fascinating look at why it’s important to eat REAL FOOD. This could change your life, your health, and your mind. I think everyone should see it. And my kids even loved it though I included a trip to see it in their homeschooling curriculum.

Again, just click that “follow” icon over there on the right. (If you’re following me on a feed or through a reader, please click anyway just so I know about you!) Then type in “following” and “Food, Inc.” somewhere in your comment and I’ll put you in for this one.

So there you have it. Lots o’ loot and fabulous reasons to eat good food and REAL FOOD! I hope this brings you out of the woodwork if you’ve been lurking and I hope it spreads the word about GREAT HARVEST BREAD COMPANY! This is the first time I’ve featured them.

The contest will end at midnight PST, Monday, May 10, 2010. Winners will be announced Tuesday. Good luck!

©Copyright 2010 – Photos Courtesy of Great Harvest Bread Company and internet sources unless otherwise marked.

Debbie's Big Giveaway - Now THIS is SUMthin!

Debbie at Jadehollow is the dearest, kindest person and THIS, my friends, is a GREAT giveaway: a gift basket worth over $125.00! If you don't know her or follow her you will definitely want to head over and see what you're missing. She happens to celebrate her wedding anniversary, birthday, and her daughter's 16th birthday all in the same week - THIS week! But she's doing the giving. Take the time to visit. I'm confident you will fall in love with her writing, genuine heart, and sweet spirit. She plays the best music, too. :-)

Time for a Giveaway!

I am overdue.

For a giveaway, not for a baby, although by the looks of my stomach some might be planning a shower. If you are, please cancel and just send the money you would have invested. I'll put it to good use. Maybe I'll buy more aprons to dress my stomach in. OR maybe I'll pay for gas to haul it over to the gym and sweat and work it into submission. That's what I did last night. I'm going again today. Is two times to the gym enough or am I gonna have to keep this up?

I am allergic to working out. I have an anaphylactic reaction. Every time I think about 30 minutes on the StairMaster I can't breathe. Then 20 minutes in the sauna to sweat out the impurities. Do you know how impure I AM? I think you'd need to leave me in there for a couple of months.

The only good part is the jacuzzi. I don't get all the way in because I'm not putting on a bathing suit in front of ANYone but my family and God, and I apologize to God. My family - well, we all have to put up with each other and torture builds character. We're a bunch of characters so I figure we've tortured each other a lot. But, as I was saying, I don't get in the jacuzzi all the way. I just put my feet and legs in to try and help with the nerve damage. There is a sign, though, and it says, "No Shaving Your Legs." If this sign is necessary because people actually do this, then there are GREAT and COMPELLING reasons to not immerse your body in there and they far supersede bathing suit reluctance.

I'm also writing down everything I eat now. It's the only thing that works for me - writer's cramp. When my hands freeze into gnarled claws then I can't feed myself. I think it's effective.

So is this book. (I took the picture in my garden because I really need to get outside more or I might be nominated for a Vampire award next.)




And I'm giving away three (3) brand new copies, one of which is autographed (I'll draw among the three for that one)*. It's by the same author who wrote "The Maker's Diet" which some of you might be familiar with. I had a chance to meet Jordan Rubin when I was working for a raw milk company. He came through last year on the kick-off of his campaign, "Perfect Weight America" and started out with a seminar at the dairy. He gave us some extra books if we promised to give them to people who would really use them. I gave out a couple but the other friends had already purchased them at Costco. So, here they are and they should go to anyone interested in eating for optimum health and the right weight for your body. Like ANYthing, they only work if you put the principles into practice. That's where my breakdown is.

I do try to eat organically and buy locally. And we are still raw milk drinkers. But I also love my sugar and sweets and loathe the exercising thing. BUTT (yes, I MEANT to use the extra "T" so I will remember yet more reasons I can't ignore certain facts), I need to quit pretending all is well and make myself do the right things.

If you need a similar kick in the pants or just good information on optimizing your health, then I believe you would enjoy this book.

Jordan Rubin is a guy who, as a young man in college, nearly died from health complications no one could address. His parents spent huge amounts of money trying to save his life. He addresses this in "The Maker's Diet" and also (to a limited degree) in "Perfect Weight." He is definitely inspiring.

So, here's what you do: Signing up to FOLLOW (see the little button over the follower pictures? Just click that) will automatically give you two entries. If you are already one of my wonderful followers I THANK YOU and, you can get two entries by leaving me a comment (FOR MY BODY'S SAKE) offering any tips you might have about your own journey in the weight wars. (If you never struggle and have a perfect body, please do not tell me this. Just recite poetry or quote a line from your favorite book about plumbing and drywall repair.) If you blog about this contest (with a link) simply leave a comment saying so and you get five extra entries.

*I apologize to my international friends but shipping is SO expensive on this OVERWEIGHT book, I will have to limit this to shipping in the U.S. only. I promise to give away an Amazon.com e-gift card next time so it can go anywhere!

DRAWING WILL BE HELD: Friday, May 22nd. Contest closes at midnight on that day, Pacific Standard Time.

News of the Day and Tidying Up

Dognap Alert:

I have been beseeched by Libby, at Neas Nuttiness, to help bring home her pooch. It would seem his little plastic canine self has been dognapped! To frighten the criminals with fiercesome threats go to: http://www.cliffdevries.blogspot.com/

There, you will see photos of poor Percy and his perils. And you'll be able to leave a message on behalf of his release and Lib's request that they also recompense her with bagels and cheesecake. Really, it's the least they can do.

And this just in.........

I visited Humor Bloggers, a small little group, and decided to try and join. I have been rejected. Apparently, I am not funny when compared to their scintillating wit. I encourage you to go here http://www.humorbloggers.com/ to decide whether I should be dejected or delighted. Then please advise and I will emote accordingly.

Lastly........

Please check out the new button to your right - 5 Minutes for Giveaways - to give you an opportunity to enter great contests. I do not make anything for your clicks but I thought it was such a fun idea to have this quick link. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!