Wanna win a $500 Gift Certificate to cooking.com?

Cooking.com is giving one away!  If you look to the left you will find a poll with a pretty picture of Paula Deen. Vote for one of the options and enter to win a $500 shopping spree!  But while you are at it head over to cooking.com to see the new recipes & celebrity chef section.   Especially Guy Fieri's section.  He will forever have a very special place in my heart because he visited the hospital that Baby Sam was at undergoing chemo. (Speaking of Sam, here is a GREAT update!  But grab a hankie...you will need it!)

But Guy's visit to Sam really got me thinking about how foodtv (or as Jill at BabyRabies calls it - PFPW/Porn For Pregnant Women) has changed the way we think and approach food.  I know it has for me!  But then again I still remember when the Food Channel first came to cable tv here in MN.  It was over 10 years ago and I remember watching Ready, Set, Cook and thinking that it was corny but way too much fun.  I also fell in love with Sara Moulton, a woman who still inspires me every day.  I think of how much I learned and how inspired I was to get into the kitchen and really create!

And now look at what has happened.  The shows have come a long way since those Ready, Set, Cook and the early days of the FoodNetwork.  Shows like Top Chef on Bravo  and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC are changing the way we think about food.  We have movies like Food Inc and Supersize Me that are making us examine our food sources and how we use food as both nourishment and entertainment.  Chefs really are celebrities now.  Personally, I love it!  I love when people talk about food, think about food and get in the kitchen to work with and play with food.

So what better way to think and play with food than to have $500 to spend on fun cooking items?  You can cook like your favorite celebrity and outfit your kitchen with everything from silly salts and pepper grinders to fancy schmancy serving dishes.  And if you win you HAVE to get a Le Creuset.  Anything from them.  Because they rock.  Whatever you might dream of or need, cooking.com has.

So register.  Enter.  Today.  And tomorrow too.  Because you can enter everyday until they pick a winner.  And it would make me very, very happy if someone I knew won. :)

Lazy Day & Giveaways

No new recipes today.  My back is kicked up hard core so the only thing I'll be doing today is resting and making one more batch of the new low sugar jam I'm working on for the Rhubarb Festival.  I'm also making some fresh, hot, fluffy white flour bread for my mom.  She really hates the whole wheat stuff I make and this is part of her Mother's Day gift so I think fluffy flour is appropriate.  Thank God for my KitchenAid mixer.  Best Christmas present my husband has ever bought me.

Yesterday I posted a new Reduced Allergen Lactation Cookie that new moms that can't have some of the ingredients in the original Lactation Cookie recipe. The dairy, gluten, soy and egg free version is every bit as good as the original and to celebrate we've got an awesome giveaway.  Make sure you enter if you are or know any nursing mommas.

Also, my very good friend Amanda is having a wonderful Mother's Day Event on her blog, The Eco-Friendly Family Blog.  With over $1,000 in gifts to giveaway it has to be one of the best blog events I've been witness too.  Ergo, Naturpedic,  Medela, Solana...and so many more name brand baby must haves for mommas.  Enter each day with week and share the info with others to get more entries.

Have a great day, enjoy some of life's little luxuries like homemade bread and make sure to enter to win great prizes.

Cookies My Kids Can Eat (aka Reduced Allergen Cookies/Lactation Cookies) AND Milk Maid Giveaway!

How's that for a title? ;)

This week has been another roller coaster/wild ride at our house.  To start, both of my kids tested positive for some pretty tough food allergies.  This was just the first round of testing and they will both be going to an allergist to get more information.  In the meantime, you can expect to see more gluten free (GF), dairy free (DF), egg free (EF) & soy free (SF) recipes posted here on RITK.  Also, all the recipes that have any of these in their description have now been marked and you can now search by these labels as well.

One of my most popular and requested recipes is for my Lactation Cookies.  Not only do they taste really, really good, they are a healthier cookie to serve to your family and they have an added bonus of providing good fats, minerals and extra calories to nursing mommas when they need them most.  And honestly...who doesn't love a good chocolate chip cookie.  So when I was faced with having to change the way my family eats my friend Jennifer (The Glad Kitchen) told me I was not only going to be fine...that I was going to excel at it.  She also challenged me to turn my lactation cookies into a recipe that my kids could eat and any momma who is nursing and on a restricted diet could also eat.

I told her that I would accept that challenge and we set up a plan.  As soon as the recipe was ready and posted we would also do a giveaway.  You see, Jennifer is also the maker of the very popular Milk Maids!  Milk Maids are reusable nursing pads that are super soft and luxurious but most important, they work great.  Jennifer has donated one pair of her hard to get Milk Maids for a giveaway here on RITK!

I am happy to say that the recipe turned out great!  The cookies are free of the 4 major allergens and they taste good enough to fool my kids into thinking they were eating my regular cookies.  They set up just like my original recipe too.  I hope you like them as much as the original.  Enjoy!

Here is how to enter!

This entry is mandatory if you want to win! Follow RITK and post a comment here saying that you follow the blog. Also, you must include your e-mail address if it's not already in your profile! These two things are uber important and if you do not do these then all entries of yours will be invalid and I don't want to have to do that.

For more entries...

1. Like RITK on FB and leave a comment in this post.
2. Grab the new RITK Blog Badge (again, a Greenspired Design) from the right hand side of the blog and add it to your blog. This is worth 2 entries so leave 2 comments with links to your blog in both!
3. Share this giveaway with any social media (message boards, Facebook, etc!). Leave a comment with a link. You may do this each day for multiple entries.
4. Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following "RITK is giving away AFFF Milk Maids @Rumble_Kitchen http://bit.ly/9aV3hs" Leave a comment with a link to your status.

Winner will be chosen on Friday, May 14th.

P.S.  Happy Mother's Day to everyone.  I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing day full of happiness, family and fabulous food! 


We have a winner!  Random.org gave me #12...which is Rebecca!  Congrats to the best friend and doula that a girl could ask for.

We have a winner in the Spruce Up Your Blog Give A Way!

The winner was Chrystal with lucky number 14!  Congrats and you will receive your e-mail soon.

Thanks to everyone who entered and stay tuned...we have another give a way coming up very soon.  Like...maybe Mother's Day. ;)

It's been a busy day here at RITK!

Wow. What a day. For very good reason I am blogging from bed, resting with my feet elevated and an ice pack on my back. Today has been long but wonderful and I can't wait to share the good news with all of you. Some I can share now...and some has to wait. ;) But I promise that some things really are worth waiting for.

I started my very busy day by throwing a pot roast in the crock pot because I knew I was going to be pretty much out of commission by dinner. And I was right...but we still ate great. I have perfected a recipe for Brown Ale Pot Roast and will be sharing it on RITK soon. I had to make it at least 6 times to make sure that it really was that easy and that good. And it was.

But why was I going to be done for the night early? Because for the third year in a row I have shared a wonderful Sunday morning and mid afternoon with my friend Kathy at the MN Living Green Expo. It was wonderful. We got to walk around and talk to so many different people and vendors. I was able to talk with a number of different farmers and can't wait to do a post on CSAs. There were so many great food items and vendors who are looking forward to sharing their green living products here on the blog. Stay tuned because I've got so many yummy things coming soon! And the heartburn from the amazing jerk chicken from West Indies Soul Food...man oh man was it totally worth it. We ate there last year and had to go back this year and my taste buds and my tummy might have been burning but the flavors were amazing, complex and worth it! And I must crack their sweet potato pie recipe. Must.

But then the day got better. :) I got home and got a phone call from my friend Stephanie Digby and she offered to bring over some extra rhubarb that she had. YAY! Which cemented my idea that I had last night that I should do a week of rhubarb recipes here as a kind of on-line rhubarb festival. So if you have a favorite rhubarb recipe to share please share it with me. I am especially looking for a savory recipe to try out.

When I finally got to sit down and check my e-mail I got even better news! Some is a super secret that I will share as soon as I can (all I can say is I screamed I was so excited!) and some I can share now. Please look to your left.

See that pretty new badge? It looks kinda like this:

Click that and vote for RITK! :) You can also click on this pretty little linky thingy. I know, sounds cheesy, but it's a pretty cool thing and I'm excited to be included. It was the perfect ending to a spectacular day. I'm excited, sore, achy, tired and overwhelmed at all the good that came from today. I am so lucky to have the friends and loved ones that I do and am thankful for the encouragement and connections they have brought into my life. Exciting things are happening here at RITK and I hope you will all enjoy.

And now finally, sweet dreams and goodnight.

Giveaway Time! Spruce Up Your Blog with Greenspired Designs Custom Blog Icons.

Yesterday I bragged about how much I love the custom blog design I received and now it's your turn to fall in love with Greenspired Designs. She has custom contact icons and has offered a custom icon set (3) - Twitter, Facebook & RSS to one lucky winner.

Here is how to enter!

This entry is mandatory if you want to win! Head over to Greenspired Designs and tell me your favorite design or favorite things you like about her design aesthetic. You must also include your e-mail address! These two things are uber important and if you do not do these then all entries of yours will be invalid and I don't want to have to do that.

For more entries...

1. Follow RITK and post a comment here saying that you follow the blog.
2. Look through past RITK blog posts and tell me what your favorite recipe/post is with a comment here on this post.
3. Like RITK on FB and leave a comment in this post.
4. Grab the new RITK Blog Badge (again, a Greenspired Design) from the right hand side of the blog and add it to your blog. This is worth 2 entries so leave 2 comments with links to your blog in both!
5. Share this giveaway with any social media (message boards, Facebook, etc!). Leave a comment with a link.
6. Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following "Spruce Up Your Blog Giveaway @Rumble_Kitchen & @effblog http://bit.ly/bjyz26". Leave a comment with a link to your status.

Winner will be drawn and announced the morning of May 6th!

And the winner is...

DieselMonkey!

Congrats and check your e-mail for more details!

The Many Faces of Chocolate Cake

And a GIVE A WAY!

So my Ultimate Fast Chocolate Fix (aka The Better Chocolate Cake In A Mug) seems to be a hit. And the best part is that I keep hearing about different variations that people are trying. So many cool ideas that I can't even keep them all straight.

So please respond here. Review the cake and let me know if you tried any different variation. And for every review/variation you will get entered into a drawing for a FREE GIFT! The winner will get to pick from a bag of Diaper Dust, Diva Dust or Clean Freak from my Etsy Shop.

You will receive one entry for each of the following:
1. Posting a review in this entry.
2. Posting a variation that you have tried.
3. Sharing the recipe with someone else (they need to say in a comment that you referred them)
4. Linking the contest somewhere else (message board, blog, Face Book, Twitter ~ you just need to give me the link in a message on this thread)
5. Go to hippy.etsy.com and add the Pay It Forward Recipe to your favorite items and then leave a note here.

Thanks and Enjoy!