Substance of Living

*** WINNER of the General Mills Giveaway announcement! *** This was such a fun contest and I enjoyed reading all of your comments.  I hope I've been able to catch up and follow each of you back.  Will you please let me know if I've missed one? Cheryl F. was our blessed winner! Cheryl F. was entry number 22 chosen by Random.org.  An email has been sent and you have until Saturday, November 9, 2013 to respond or a new winner will have to be (unfortunately/fortunately) selected.  Please send your email to substanceofliving at gmail dot com. Congratulations!  You've won a great prize and hopefully you will send us a picture of what you received and let us know how you will use your gift. Cheryl F.'s Winning Number Names of entrants and their subsequent entry numbers as they were received: Elis Brockway 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Carol Ezovski 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 1,6, 17, 18 Rachel Wooldridge Lewter 19, 20, 21 Cheryl F. 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 2...

Fall weather or cold winter days require soup.  Soup that is filling to the soul and stomach: That's what this African Spinach Coconut Soup does. I haven't physically traveled much outside the United States but through technology and cuisine I can visit any country my heart desires without having to get shots, update my passport, or visit an airport. In fact, DH and I have friends who live outside the United States and we get to talk with them on a regular basis due to the internet and mobile phones.  I mean, really, how fantastic is that?  I can be in Canada, Australia, across the United States, and in Turkey all in one day.  DH spoils me to no ends.  :-) Now, I get to visit Africa... African Spinach Coconut Soup Ingredients: 2 tablespoons Grapeseed Oil 1 cup Onion, chopped 1 tablespoon Garlic, minced 16 oz Spinach, thawed 1/4 teaspoon Pepper 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper 1 can Chopped Tomatoes 1 teaspoon Curry Powder 1 tablespoon Miso ...

Do diets work for you?  They don't work for me.  In fact, I feel like I'm. Starving. To. Death.  Take the "t" away and you have "die".  That's a bit dramatic but that's how I feel when I'm feeling punished by being on a diet. No longer do I need to feel hungry due to diets.  Many years ago, I realized diets didn't work with me.  That, or I don't do well with diets.  If I were to dig around and deep enough, I'd probably find some statistics to substantiate my feeling that diets don't work.  What I needed was a way of life.  Something that would stay with me through the years. Thankfully, Green Giant has been listening.  Not really sure if they have actually teamed up with Weight Watchers, but their frozen foods have a point system assigned to them.   Green Giant's frozen vegetables are vibrant in color and have a nice crunch that you would find with fresh veggies.  That means that we can have nice vegetables year round...

Our very first Giveaway here on Substance of Living ! We're so excited that we made a Celebration Cake in honor of You, Betty Crocker , and Publix .  We spent the first part of this year looking for the right fit to kick off our giveaways.  (DH thinks we've found the perfect fit.  Maybe that's because he gets to eat the celebration cake and banana bread.  Hmmmm.) The first time Marie had the chance to taste a Celebration Cake or otherwise known as Tres Leche Cake was about 10 years ago in Arizona.  It was heaven without the chocolate.  I know, that is really hard to believe that anything without chocolate could be included in the same sentence as heaven. It really is hard to decide which mix is our favorite.  Seriously!  We've enjoyed all but the rice flour blend only because we didn't know it was out there.  Everything else has been wonderful, so we have to guess it will be and look forward to trying it out in the near future. W...