A GIVE AWAY...because it's my one year anniversary...and the meal plan, of course.

So I sat down just now to plan my three meals for this week. Only three because we're leaving on Thursday for our annual Fall pilgrimage to our Indiana homeland. Home sweet home. Every year, I take the girls back in October and spend half a week on my parent's Northern Indiana farm and another half a week at my husband's parents Central Indiana home so that the girls can do all of the fun fall things that we love to do, like visit the pumpkin patch and go apple picking with their grandparents and cousins. There is a hidden agenda here too...with all of those babysitters around I am free venture out and have coffee with an old friend or attend a football tailgate at my beloved Purdue University. Completely kid-free. Woo Hoo! Gotta love grandparents!

As I was saying, I was planning our next three meals by skimming back through the Krista's Kitchen archives to find quick and easy recipes that I'd like to make again. While paging down through the 303 posts that I've accumulated since I began writing this blog, I finally hit the very first one. The date caught my eye. I looked a little closer. "Is that right?!" I thought to myself. I grabbed for my cell phone to double check today's date. Oh my goodness! Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of Krista's Kitchen! Hello! I can hardly believe it. I really need to pay more attention to "these things". Hey, it's not like I forgot my wedding anniversary or a child's birthday...but this blog has become pretty important to me. For one whole year I've been posting my meal plans and recipes and taking pictures of most of the food that we eat. I definitely have to thank my family for their patience as I snap last minute pictures of dinner before we can all sit down together to eat. Looking back, my contribution to the blogosphere over the last year includes some of my favorite recipes, some kitchen tips and tricks, a weekly meal plan, and occasionally a semi-original idea.

Now let's look at what I've gained from one whole year of blogging about our family's meals. It's a good deal more than I ever imagined I might take away from blogging about food. I got into it because I thought it would be easier than returning phone calls or emails from friends and family requesting recipes or asking for cooking/meal planning advice. I thought, "I'll just put it all in one place and let them find it." It may be hard to believe, but when I first began Krista's Kitchen I'd only seen one other cooking blog, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Maybe you've heard of it? Ree is one busy and talented lady and seeing her blog inspired me to start my very own. Little did I know, there's a whole world of food bloggers out there. I've enjoyed getting to know some of you. Reading about your lives and kitchen adventures. Drooling over your delicious creations. And I've enjoyed reading all of the supportive comments, compliments, and suggestions on each of my posts. I look forward to them every day. As a result of all of this I've improved upon my cooking skills, writing skills, and even my photography has gotten better (there was a lot of room for improvement). It makes me smile to look back on those first posts, the ones that only my family and closest friends were reading, and see how different they look from what I'm posting today.

Now that I've realized that tomorrow is my blogoversary, I know the drill. I need to give something away in celebration. Like when I was in grade school and took treats to the whole class on my birthday. But, what do I have that any of you might want? I was wracking my brain for a few minutes. I'm not ready to part with any of my cookbooks. I don't have an extra magazine subscription just sitting around. I wish that I had cute cupcake wrappers or a rare spice to offer, but I don't. And then it hit me. I do have something that you might not have.

I have a jar of grass-fed Indiana beef. Excellent in a variety of recipes, it cooks up perfectly tender and delicious every time.



I have home made, home canned, fresh-from-my-grandma's-garden salsa. You can specify hot or mild if you win.



I have these gorgeous Michigan Red Haven Peaches. Eat em' right out of the jar or transform them into cobbler, pie, muffins, or whatever makes you happy.



And finally, I have 1 pound of premium pecan halves.




I will package all of these items into one happy little care package, shipped directly to your address (Continental U.S. only please) if you are the winner of this prize.

How to enter:

1. Just leave a comment on this post stating your favorite post or recipe from
Krista's Kitchen.

2.For a second entry "follow me" and post a comment letting me know that you are now following me. If you're already a follower and you'd like to enter, just let me know in your comment and you automatically get an additional entry. Thanks for hanging with me. : )

3. For a third entry, mention and link back to this contest on your blog, facebook page, or tweet about it, then leave a comment here letting me know that you've linked to this post.

All entries must be in by 11 pm EST, this Thursday, October 15th. The winner will be selected in a random drawing and announced on Friday October 16th. Good luck everyone!

Oh shoot, I almost forgot the meal plan. With the distraction of figuring out prizes for the giveaway, I didn't have time to make a grocery list. It's getting awfully late here. So, here's what we're having for dinner this week....without the grocery list.

Monday, October 12th

Potato Soup
Oven baked Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday, October 13th

Chili Pie

Wednesday October 14th

Spicy Tuna Linguine with Garlic and Pine Nuts

Have a wonderful week!