Tim Hawkins just never gets old!  He is hilarious!  This time he’s back with his outrageous descriptions of the candy we all remember.:)  “Weekends were made for snickeloaf, you know what I’m talkin’ about?”  LOL  Enjoy!

For more Friday Funnies, visit Kim at Homesteader’s Heart.

1American Heart Association, 2008
2Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol and rich in fruits, vegetables, and grain products that contain some types of dietary fiber, particularly soluble fiber, may reduce the risk of heart disease, a disease associated with many factors.

Heart disease is something that I’m all too familiar with, not because I have it, but because I used to see the faces of heart disease every day in my job as a nurse at a busy cardiology clinic.  It’s something that is affecting younger people, as well as old.  Just lately, I’ve heard of a few people in their 30′s/40′s who have had heart attacks, in some cases, fatal heart attacks.  It definitely hit home for me when I attended Blogher ’10 and had the free heart health screen with cholesterol check.  My LDL (bad cholesterol) was fine, but my HDL (good cholesterol) was a bit low….however, this is something I can change with exercise and even my diet.

It’s important to watch the foods we eat.  Lowering sodium intake can significantly reduce the risk.  Progresso has come out with a line of reduced sodium soups that are both healthy and delicious.  We had the opportunity to try their Chicken Gumbo soup and their Tomato Parmesan soup.  The Chicken Gumbo soup had a little bit of a kick to it, but it had really good flavor, even with the reduced sodium.  It had chicken and rice and vegetables, along with a spicy broth.  The Tomato Parmesan soup was more like a chunky tomato soup with spices, although it wasn’t spicy at all.  I could definitely notice a difference with it, as it didn’t seem to have quite as much flavor (without the sodium).  It still tasted good, but it tasted more natural.  Both soups were super easy to cook, as we just poured them into a pan and cooked, without even adding water.  It only took a few minutes, and we served them with a bit of cheddar cheese and French bread.

You can purchase Progresso Reduced Sodium soups at your local supermarket.  They come in a variety of different flavors, including Chicken & Wild Rice, Garden Vegetable, Minestrone, Beef & Vegetable, Chicken Noodle, and Italian-Style Wedding.  You can also find a ton of recipe ideas on Progresso’s website.  By looking for the “May Help Lower Cholesterol”2 banner and the Heart Healthy2 logo on certain varieties of Reduced Sodium soups, Progresso makes it even easier for you to stick to a heart healthy diet. Five Progresso Reduced Sodium favorites – Italian Style Wedding, Minestrone, Garden Vegetable, Beef and Vegetable, and Chicken Gumbo – contain hearty vegetables and legumes to provide 1g of heart healthy soluble fiber in every bowl.

Now another product that came in my Progresso Pack was an Everlast Exercise Ball (with DVD & Pump), as well as a Progresso soup bowl, which I love!   The exercise ball is great for doing all sorts of exercises; I happen to like situps on the ball because it works my abs, which definitely need work right now.  My soup bowl feels like a type of crockery, and it’s very heavy duty with a handle, so I don’t get burnt.  It’s deep and holds a large amount of soup, as well.  My husband and I argue over who gets to use it.:)The great news is that you can enter to win your own Progresso Healthier You Prize Pack! You can enter to win by doing one or more of the following; just be sure to leave a separate comment for each way that you enter.  I’ll draw the winner, via random.org, on Thursday, November 18.  This giveaway is open to U.S. only.  Good luck, and have a wonderful day!

1. How do you try to lower cholesterol/eat heart healthy with your food choice?  Let me know via comment.
2. Which variety of Progresso Reduced Sodium Soup are you most thinking you’d like to try?  Let me know via comment.
3. Like Progresso on Facebook.
4. Follow Real Heart Prints, or subscribe to my posts.
5. Follow @mamabzz on Twitter.
6. Tweet about this giveaway; in fact, you can tweet daily to earn extra entries.
7. Blog about this giveaway, being sure to link back to Real Heart Prints.
8. Share your exercise regimen, or even if you do or don’t have one, via comment.

(Disclosure: Progresso provided me with the product, information, and prize packs, free of charge, through MyBlogSpark.)

If you still think it’s not here, that it won’t affect your family….please just listen to this mother in California….

Spread the word, and save a child’s life.

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a homeschool edition, so it’s long overdue.  Enjoy the links, and be sure to link up your giveaways below!  Have a wonderful Tuesday!

This first post might not be totally geared toward homeschooling, but there is so much wisdom that can be applied in our everyday lives as homeschool mamas in Wisdom from Relevant from 1+1+1=1.

Lindsay from Passionate Homemaking shares a wonderful bounty of resources in Christian Literature for Kids Ages 0-8.

On HomeschoolBuzz.com, you’ll find tons of news, homeschool blogs, and resources.  This is a site to be bookmarked.

Jan Brett is another great resource; I especially love the Activities section.

Flat Stanley is an awesome way to promote literacy amongst our young students.:)

Finally, I can’t let you leave without a recipe, or should I say, a bucket full of recipes for this fall season!  I came across Recipe Girl today, and I was thrilled to see so many delicious recipes; I printed out a few to try myself.:)

Link  up your giveaways!  Thanks for stopping by!:)