Restaurant Review: Mike and Ronda's The Place in Phoenix, Arizona

Wow, life has certainly been busy since we got back from our fabulous vacation in August!  I can't believe I haven't had time to share some of the fabulous food we enjoyed while we were away... but, now I'm going to begin getting caught up!

The first leg of our trip was to Phoenix, where we were visiting family AND I finally got the chance to meet Janet who writes LaDue and Crew in person!  We've been chatting via Facebook, Twitter and text messages for so long it was inevitable that we would meet when we made our plans to travel to Phoenix. 

Of course, what do food bloggers who are going to meet for the first time do?  Well, in this case we went out for breakfast with our families!  Soon as Janet and I were in the same room, it was like being with a friend we had known forever.  We didn't stop talking long enough to get a photo of us together!  Next time, we'll change that for sure!  Janet is one of the most genuinely sweet people I've met and it's no wonder we hit it off so well before eve meeting in person.  I can't wait until the next time we are in Phoenix so we can spend time together again... this time maybe she can show me some cake decorating tricks (hint! hint!)!

Bacon Chedder Cheese Bread (Secret Recipe Club: Eat Laugh Love)

It's time for my 2nd month of participating with the Secret Recipe Club!  If you haven't seen the posts before, it's a group where everyone is assigned a blog to secretly search through the archives and find a recipe to prepare and share on a designated date.  I'm finding so many fabulous blogs every month!

This month, I was assigned Eat Laugh Love.  Denise is also a working mom who loves to cook, and her recipes would appeal to anyone looking for ideas to feed their family.  Denise and her family just finished a hunger challenge where they could only spend $4 a day per person in the family on food.  I found her posts on this challenge interesting and definitely something to think about when we are feeding our own family. 

As I was perusing her blog, I hit upon a few different recipes that sounded delicious, but I kept going back to her post on Bacon Chedder Cheese Bread. 

Sun-Bird Seasonings Sweepstakes $500 Spa Getaway

School finally started here last week.  I've barely had a moment to catch my breath since soccer and fall baseball has also started!  We've got practices, games, homework and a million other things going on these days.

I don't know about you, but I'm already looking back to our recent summer vacation (more posts coming soon about that!) and wishing I could take a break again! 

I'm going to be working with Sun-Bird Seasonings to share some quick and easy meal ideas over the coming months.  I'll be sharing some new meal ideas and a few other surprises along the way.  So stay tuned!

In the meantime, you will want to head over to the Sun-Bird Seaonings Facebook page and "like" it for a chance to win a $500 Spa Getaway!  We could all use a little pampering after the hectic start to the school year, right? 

The Sun-Bird Seasonings Sweepstakes runs through October 11, 2011 - and there will be 2 winners!  Head on over there and "like" their page for a chance at your very own break from the routine!

Disclaimer:  I have been invited to be a blogger advocate for Sun-Bird Seasonings.  While this is a compensated post, all opinions are my own.

Please note that all photos and content belong to Patsy Kreitman, unless otherwise noted. If you want to use something please ask first
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Wordless Wednesday: Sights from My Hometown, Kansas City (Missouri)

Today, I'm joining in on Wordless Wednesday to share some of the sights I captured with my camera while we were visiting in Kansas City.  There is plenty more to say, but I'm just going to let you enjoy the sights of the city where I grew up and go back to visit family and friends.

Chunky Salsa (My New Favorite!)

We got back last week from what I've been calling our "around the country" vacation.  We flew from New Jersey to Phoenix for several days to visit family.  From there we flew to Kansas City (Missiouri) to see some friends before driving to Branson and Eureka Springs to spend more time with family.  This is what happens when you live too far from family to visit for a few hours every few weeks... you spend 11 days fitting in long-overdue visits!

Phoenix was a visit to My Husband's sister and her family.  We were waaaaaaay overdue for this visit and we had a fabulous time!  Of course, any visit is always filled with food that is hard to resist... we got our fill of amazing Mexican food, but also cooked in at home a few nights.

One of the days we stayed in, My Sis-in-Law made what I think is the best homemade salsa I've tasted.