Meet November’s Freebie Winner!

It’s cold.  I always try to do my part by warming your heart with a gift every month with my First Friday Freebie.  This month my freebie didn’t have to work too much because it traveled to a much warmer home.

Let’s meet the winner  –

Sally from Chino Valley, Arizona. 

Congratulations, Sally!  I hope that, as the freebie says, you are “happy and blessed” by it.  The embossed metal sign expressing gratitude was a great find at Hobby Lobby.

Sally commented as directed on my post on the first Friday of the month.  That is all any subscriber needs to do to enter to win.  If you’d like to see other past winners and their gifts check it out here on my Freebies! page.

You can see what Sally won here. 

Not yet a subscriber to Midwest Storyteller?  Hopefully, my Freebies, not to mention the stories, recipes and other great content, will entice you to become one – freebies are for email subscribers only.

NOTE:  Subscribe with an email you intend to keep and check the week after the drawings.  This is my only means of notifying winners.  If it isn’t up to date, you may not get your gift!

Computers, tablets, smartphones – they each give this blog a different appearance, but you can easily find the subscription area in the menu under “CONTACT”.  Confirm your subscription when the email arrives.  If you’ve don’t receive a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com – it seems that from time to time, a subscription will get “stuck”. 

Subscribers get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.

Comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win. 

Freebies help me reach more people.  I need you to help me share all the fun with your friends and family.  When you share on MeWe, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also.  Subscribing is free.  Freebies are free.  Let’s be clear – Smuffy is spoken for, but his stories are free.  Does it get any better than this?

Coming up on December 2nd, you’ll see the new Freebie.  Enter to win that day.  A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight.  Then, check your email in the days following. 

Smartphone reminders help.

Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.

Subscribers, be ready to enter to win on Friday, December 2nd, 2022.

As I mentioned last month, I have taken a bold step.  I have asked God to help me see the beauty in winter.  Aside from thinking that falling snow is pretty, I’ve pretty much failed at this for a very long time.  There will be the same amount of frozen precipitation whichever mood I’m in and no amount of silent disgust on my part will move the thermometer, so I’m trying to make friends with it.  However, my past failures have shown me that I’ll be needing help of a Divine nature.  Either that, or I’m going to have to go visit Sally and stay for four months!

Lil’ Snookie’s Favorite Autumn Soup  (a simple THM “E” recipe)

Lil' Snookie's Favorite Autumn Soup www.midweststoryteller.com

I fully disclose that as a Certified Lifestyle Coach I do, at times, receive monetary compensation as such. See The Fine Print on the “About Me” page of this blog.

We eat soup year-round at our house.  We’re just soup lovers.  This one has always been a favorite, but it has made it BIG with the toddler at the table!  Originally, I started with a recipe from an old Betty Crocker cookbook, but I can’t find it in the newer cookbooks, nor can I find the recipe online anymore. I’ll just give credit to “Betty” for its origins though I have done my own tweaks over the years and so have had to do very little to make it Trim Healthy Mama plan-friendly.

Food Freedom with Coach Barb www.midweststoryteller.com

The name?  Well, when my Lil’ Snookie, who is here for lunch almost every day, graduated to solid foods and could manage it, I was sure to chop the veggies small in this soup so I could feed it to him.  He was one to talk early and often and as soon as he figured out how, he was calling out “Soup!” and we all knew exactly which soup he meant.  Even on his way home at night, when Pookie would tell him they were going home to have some supper, he would shout from the carseat, “Make soup!” and this was the one he wanted.

So, as these autumn days march on and prepare to turn into winter ones, I thought I’d share the soup with you. 

Personally, I feel that my “Creamy Leek Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potatoes”, found here, is the best soup ever invented by me or anyone else (and it’s a repeat contest winner), but I’m not going to start an argument with Lil’ Snookie over it.

I’m offering you a free printable recipe so that you can jump right in and make the soup and beside it, you’ll find some encouraging thoughts you may also want to include as a page in your recipe binder to lift you up on “those days” when you are blessed to be cooking for your family.  Just click on the banner below and both will print on one sheet.

Lil' Snookie's Favorite Autumn Soup www.midweststoryteller.com

Lil’ Snookie’s Favorite Autumn Soup       “E”

1 pound 96% lean ground beef or venison  (see notes)

1 cup chopped onion

4 cups water

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped celery (make these small)

1 cup cubed to 1/2″ Yukon Gold or purple potatoes

2-3 teaspoons applewood smoked sea salt or mineral salt and add a dash of liquid smoke  (see notes)

1 teaspoon bottled brown bouquet sauce

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

6 tomatoes (peeled fresh and chopped, frozen from your garden or two 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes)

Instructions

  1. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, cook and stir meat until brown.  Drain off any fat and if you did not use the super lean meat, place in a strainer and pour hot water over it.
  2. Add onions.  Cook and stir with meat until they’re  tender, about 5 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients except for the tomatoes.  Heat to boiling and reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  
  3. Add tomatoes.  Cover and simmer 5-10 minutes longer.  Remove the bay leaf and serve.  

NOTES:  You could also try using lean ground turkey.  Salt the soup to taste, remembering that canned tomatoes already have salt and your garden ones will need more seasoning.  Don’t be tempted to use more veggies in this soup.  I tried and this not only raises the carbs too much but also just doesn’t taste right.  If you prep meat by browning ahead of time, this recipe goes fast.  Double or triple to have in the freezer or pressure can it!

YIELD:  6 servings.

Don’t forget to round out your meal with a nice green salad with a “FP” or “E” dressing and then maybe even sip on a nice collagen trimmy. Enjoy!

If you need support in your journey to better health and weight loss, head to the Contact page and let me know.  I’ll give you all the info on group sessions which I conduct locally in person on a weekly basis.  Private coaching can be done in person or by phone.  Share with friends and let’s see how many are ready to get Trim & Healthy!

The Trim Healthy Mama Plan is a great way to boost your immune system and we all need that right now, don’t we?  Leave a comment and let me know how you like the soup and tell me what your “go to” soup is for the fall and winter months.

It’s a joyous season ahead, and we can all enjoy it in a healthier way if we are willing to learn and try new and better things. 

Be Blessed with a First Friday Freebie!

Oh, that November could hold on just as it is, I say as I sit here at the computer at night with the windows open.  That’s right – and I’m not even wearing a sweater.  This is my idea of fall.

I lingered outdoors with Phoebe June, but finally had to come in and finish this post so you could have a First Friday Freebie!  Don’t take it personally, but she hissed when I nudged her out of her dusky spying lair under the backyard swing. I don’t think she thought giving you a freebie was half as important as exercising her pouncabilities. Let’s take a look –

Gather, Rest, be happy & BLESSED www.midweststoryteller.com

This embossed metal sign carries the message that our hearts long for.  Smuffy has so often said, “This year, I’m going to take a long winter’s nap.”  (Then, he has a million indoor projects and never really gets one.)  We feel things beginning to slow a bit around here even though there is still much to be done to this old house.  To “gather, rest, be happy and blessed” is, I believe, what God wants for us in winter.  I couldn’t resist giving you this freebie as a wish that you’d experience a time of enjoying your loved ones, resting and relaxing and counting your blessings, realizing that they are truly new every morning.

The sign measures 8” square and its neutral gray color fades at the edges to look just a bit worn.  It also features a rope hanger should you want to hang it on a wall rather than prop it on a shelf or easel (or on a tree as I did). This was a Hobby Lobby find that I hope you enjoy.  The words remind me of the Scripture in Hebrews 4: 10-11, where we are told,  “For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter His rest.”  Throughout Scripture, we are told to fear not, fret not, and worry not.  There seems to be just this one area in which God tells us to strive and make effort and that is to rest.  You have His permission!

To enter to win the “Gather, Rest…” metal sign, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “I’m ready to be blessed with rest.”  You’ll need to leave your comment before midnight TONIGHT, November 4th, 2022.

NOTE:  An occasional problem occurs with subscribers not receiving confirmation emails.  Should this happen, email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com so that I can report it and have the issue resolved.

If you are new to Midwest Storyteller and haven’t subscribed, you’ll need to do that before entering to win.  Head to the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can fill in your email address and then watch for your confirmation email.

No one will get to enjoy all the great things here on the blog unless you share it with your friends and family through all your social media, so if you like an idea, recipe or story you see here, be sure to share and if you save things on Pinterest like I do, hover over the photo and “pin it”.  Help me get the word out!

On the “Freebies” page, you can see what readers have been winning every month.

A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, November 4th, by leaving a comment which says, “I’m ready to be blessed with rest!” 

For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here.

Enjoy enjoy every minute of these fleeting beautiful days.

Be sure to take a look at my latest soup recipe – it’s Lil’ Snookie’s favorite!

October’s Freebie Winner!

I’ve spent most of my days lately taking Lil’ Snookie to the park as we try to relish every bit of warmth and sunshine before it’s all over.  I’ve checked both versions of the almanac and they both assure me that come the end of this month, it’s all over.  I did take time to get my First Friday Freebie to its new home, though.

Let’s take a look at the winner  –

October's Freebie Winner www.midweststoryteller.com

Ruby from Boonville, Missouri. 

Congratulations, Ruby!  I know you love to decorate and you also have fun kiddos around, so it won’t be long before you have some fun décor or a great photo to slip into the holder at the top of this wood block.  It was a great find at Hobby Lobby.

Ruby won by commenting as directed on my post on the first Friday of the month.  If you’d like to see other past winners and their gifts check it out here on my Freebies! page.

You can see the original freebie offer here

Not yet a subscriber to Midwest Storyteller?  Hopefully, my Freebies, not to mention the stories, recipes and other great content, will entice you to become one – freebies are for email subscribers only.

NOTE:  Subscribe with an email you intend to keep and check the week after the drawings.  This is my only means of notifying winners.  If it isn’t up to date, you may not get your gift!

Computers, tablets, smartphones – they each give this blog a different appearance, but you can easily find the subscription area in the menu under “CONTACT”.  Confirm your subscription when the email arrives.  If you’ve don’t receive a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com – it seems that from time to time, a subscription will get “stuck”. 

Subscribers get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.

Comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win. 

Freebies help me reach more people.  I need you to help me share all the fun with your friends and family.  When you share on MeWe, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also.  Subscribing is free.  Freebies are free.  Let’s be clear – Smuffy is spoken for, but his stories are free.  Does it get any better than this?

On November 4th, you’ll see the new Freebie.  Enter to win that day.  A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight.  Then, check your email in the days following. 

Smartphone reminders help.

Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.

Subscribers, be ready to enter to win on Friday, November 4th, 2022.

November has managed to stay on my good side so far.  Warm days with temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s and glorious color all around draw me outside and away from indoor chores (and from writing to you dear readers if I’m honest).  I may have to take a firm line with this month if it suddenly decides to disappoint me, but I may be wasting my energies there.  Today I did ask the Lord to perform a miracle in my life by requesting that He help me see the beauty in winter.  Perhaps being open to that notion is the first baby-step for a person like me.