Today's Quote

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

~Khalil Gibran

Today's Quote

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today's Quote

We are learning, too, that the love of beauty is one of Nature's greatest healers.

~Ellsworth Huntington

Today's Quote

So oftentimes it happens that we live our lives in chains. That we never even know we have the key.

- The Eagles, "Already Gone"

Today's Quote

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.

~Maya Angelou

Today's Quote

Love is the only gold.

~Alfred Lord Tennyson

Today's Quote

“Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing
and right-doing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”

― Rumi

Today's Quote

“Every sunrise is an invitation for us to arise and brighten someone's day.”

~Richelle E. Goodrich

Today's Quote

The world always looks brighter from behind a smile.

~Author Unknown

Today's Quote

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.

~Edward Abbey

Today's Quote

The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk.

~Jacqueline Schiff.

Today's Quote

“We are mosaics - pieces of light, love, history, stars -- glued together with magic and music and words.”

~ Anita Krishan

Today's Quote

Gifts

You gain from that which you give.
Offer your heart and your spirit will flourish.
Share your time and you shall live forever.
Extend a hand that your soul may know peace.
Attempt an understanding ear and
enlightenment shall become yours.
Provide a sympathetic shoulder and all will rise.
Serve a vision so that others may desire tomorrow.
Gather strength, passion, kindness and forgiveness.
Give of these for they shall be returned.
Give of these and you quench the Earth's thirst.
Give of these and hunger will diminish.
Give of these and you possess all the world.
For these are your gifts.


~ F. Paquette

Today's Quote

Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen.

- Horace Mann - 1796-1859, Education Reformer and Politician

Today's Quote

Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.

- Mary Lou Retton - Gymnast and Olympic Gold Medalist

Today's Quote

"yours is the light by which my spirit's born:- you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars."

~ee cummings

Today's Quote

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

– Andy Warhol

Today's Quote

“The more you love your decisions, the less you need others to love them."

~Unknown

Today's Quote

Love casts out fear the way light casts out darkness. The shift from fear to love is a miracle.

~ Marianne Williamson

Copycat Applebee's Hot Artichoke and Spinach Dip

Ingredients:
1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
1 cup shredded parmesan-romano cheese mix
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
10 ounces prepared alfredo sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 ounces softened cream cheese
pepper (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine ingredients thoroughly in a bowl and spread mixture into a small baking dish (I used an 8" X 8" dish).
3. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheeses are bubbling and melted.
.4 Serve with chips or bread and enjoy.

Servings: 10-12

John Legend's Mac and Cheese

Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dish
salt and pepper, to taste
3 cups elbow pasta
2 (12-ounce) cans evaporated milk
1/3 cup skim milk
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon seasoned salt
1 clove garlic, minced (original recipe called for garlic powder)
2 (8-ounce) packages sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 (8-ounce) package Monterey Jack cheese, grated
Paprika, for sprinkling

Instructions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Generously butter a 13x9 inch glass baking dish and set aside.

2.Bring a large pot of water to a boil then add salt and pasta. Cook pasta until just under al dente. Drain and return to pot. Stir in butter until all the noodles are coated; set aside.

3.In a large bowl, whisk together evaporated milk, skim milk, and eggs. Add seasoned salt, garlic, salt and pepper; set aside.

4.Place 1/3 noodles in an even layer in the prepared baking dish; cover with 1/3 cheese. Repeat with remaining noodles and cheese. Pour milk mixture evenly over pasta. Sprinkle top lightly with paprika.

5.Bake until top layer is lightly golden, 35 to 45 minutes. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Slow-Cooker Barbecued Ribs

Ingredients
3 1/2 pounds pork loin back ribs
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons liquid smoke
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 cup cola
1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce

Directions
1 Spray inside of 4- to 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.

2 Remove inner skin from ribs. Mix brown sugar, salt, pepper, liquid smoke and garlic; rub mixture into ribs. Cut ribs into 4-inch pieces. Layers ribs and onion in slow cooker. Pour cola over ribs.

3 Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 9 hours or until tender. Remove ribs from slow cooker. Drain and discard liquid.

4 Pour barbecue sauce into shallow bowl. Dip ribs into sauce. Place ribs in slow cooker. Pour any remaining sauce over ribs. Cover and cook on low heat setting 1 hour.

Note: This recipe was tested in slow cookers with heating elements in the side and bottom of the cooker, not in cookers that stand only on a heated base. For slow cookers with just a heated base, follow the manufacturer’s directions for layering ingredients and choosing a temperature.

Today's Quote

"Acceptance is the great healer of strife, conflict and upset. It also corrects major imbalances of perception and precludes the dominance of negative feelings. Everything serves a purpose."

David R. Hawkins

Spicey Cheesburger Soup

This is a potato cheese soup with a little kick!

Serves 6-8

1-1/2 cups water
2 cups cubed, peeled potatoes
2 small carrots, grated
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbs beef bouillon granules
1/2 tsp salt
1# ground beef cooked and drained
2-1/2 cups milk, divided
3 tbs all purpose flour
8 oz Velveta, cubed
1/4 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2# sliced bacon, cooked, crumbled

In a large sauce pan, combine first nine ingredients;bring to a boil.
Recude heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Stir in beef and 2 cups of the milk, heat through.
Combine flour and remaining milk stirring until smooth; gradually stir into soup.
Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick and bubbly.
Reduce heat; stir in chees until melted.
Add cayenne if desired.
Top with bacon just before serving.

Note: When cutting or seeding hot peppers, use rubber or plastic gloves to protect your hands. Avoid touching eyes.

Looking for a Job in Sales?

A young guy from Missouri moves to Florida and goes to a big "everything under one roof" department store looking for a job.

The manager says, "Do you have any sales experience?"

The kid says, "Yeah. I was a salesman back in Missouri."

Well, the boss liked the kid and gave him the job. "You start tomorrow. I'll come down after we close and see how you did."

His first day on the job was rough, but he got through it. After the store was locked up, the boss came down.

"How many customers bought something from you today?”

The kid says, "One".

The boss says "Just one???!!!! Our sales people average 20 to 30 customers a day. How much was the sale for?"

The kid says, "$101,237.65."

The boss says, "$101,237.65? What the heck did you sell?"

The kid says, "First, I sold him a small fish hook. Then I sold him a medium fishhook. Then I sold him a larger fishhook. Then I sold him a new fishing rod. Then I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down the coast, so I told him he was going to need a boat, so we went down to the boat department and I sold him a twin engine Chris Craft. Then he said he didn't think his Honda Civic would pull it, so I took him down to the automotive department and sold him a 4x4 Expedition."

The boss said, "A guy came in here to buy a fish hook and you sold him a BOAT and a TRUCK?"

The kid said, "No, the guy came in here to buy Tampons for his wife, and I said, 'Dude, your weekend's shot, you should go fishing.'"

Bernie Sanders Shreds Rand Paul By Unmasking His Great Libertarian Fraud

Bernie Sanders exposed Sen. Paul as being the same old kind of Republican. Beneath Paul’s rhetoric about liberty and freedom is a candidate who is a pro-billionaire corporatist who believes that the wealthy are entitled to more freedom, and that the same freedoms that he talks about with such reverence don’t apply to women and gays.

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A Bridge Too Far: Crowdfunding For Killer Cop Michael Slager Falls Flat

The crowdfunding site GoFundMe rejected a campaign to raise money for Michael Slager, the police officer charged with murdering Walter Scott in South Carolina. A fundraising effort set up on a competing site, Indiegogo.com was in operation on Thursday, but money was being raised at an anemic pace. As of 2 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, the Indiegogo site had raised just 546 dollars from 24 contributors.

Read more

Allen West Says Justice System Worked So Stop All The Fuss About Walter Scott Killing

Another day, another brain dead Republican...

Former Florida Congressman Allen West wasted no time weighing in on the police officer execution of African-American Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina. Of course unlike most African-Americans, West is not as outraged by the shooting itself, as he is by the media drawing attention to the killing. West’s blog entry on his web page for April 9, 2015 begins with the sentence:


You just have to wonder how long the media and black activists will try and milk this one in a case where the justice system clearly worked.

His takeaway from the whole brutal incident is “the justice system clearly worked”.

Of course, West overlooks the fact that had it not been for a brave bystander surreptitiously capturing the incident on cell phone video, the system wouldn’t have worked at all.

Prior to the footage of the shooting surfacing, the official narrative was that Scott had fought with the officer and that the shooting was an act of self-defense. This is evident in original media accounts of the incident, such as this article from the April 4th edition of Charleston’s local newspaper, The Post and Courier:

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Today's Quote

If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees.

~Hal Borland

Today's Quote

Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter.
If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life.

~Wu Men (Hui-k’ai)

Today's Quote

"Life is amazingly good when it’s simple and amazingly simple when it’s good."

~Terri Guillemets

Today's Quote

“Never miss a good chance to shut up.”

- Will Rogers, Comedian, vaudeville performer, actor

Chicken Mozzarella Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 small jar (3-4 oz) sun-dried tomatoes in oil, or use 3-4 oz fat-free sun dried tomatoes
1 lb chicken breast tenders
salt
paprika (just a little bit)
1 cup half and half
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 oz penne pasta (for gluten free, use Tinkyada gluten free brown rice pasta)
1 tablespoon basil (if using dry basil), if using fresh basil you can add more
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (at least, add more to taste)
1/2 cup reserved cooked pasta water (or more)
salt, to taste



Instructions
1.Note: if using sun-dried tomatoes in oil (in a jar), make sure to drain sun-dried tomatoes from oil, before using them. Reserve 2 tablespoons of this drained oil for sauteing as described below:
2.In a large pan, on high heat, sautee garlic and sun-dried tomatoes (drained from oil) in 2 tablespoons of oil (reserved from the sun-dried tomatoes jar - see note above) for 1 minute until garlic is fragrant. Remove sun-dried tomatoes from the pan, leaving the oil, and add chicken tenders, salted and lightly covered in paprika (for color) and cook on high heat for 1 minute on each side. Remove from heat.
3.Cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve some cooked pasta water. Drain and rinse the pasta with cold water (to stop cooking).
4.Slice sun-dried tomatoes into smaller bits and add them back to the skillet with chicken. Add half and half and cheese to the skillet, too, and bring to a gentle boil. Immediately reduce to simmer and cook, constantly stirring, until all cheese melts and creamy sauce forms. If the sauce is too thick - don't worry - you'll be adding some cooked pasta water soon. Add cooked pasta to the skillet with the creamy sauce, and stir to combine. Add 1 tablespoon of basil, and at least 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Stir to combine.
5.Add about 1/2 cup reserved cooked pasta water because the creamy sauce will be too thick (do not add all water at once - you might need less or more of it). This will water down the thickness of the cheese sauce and make it creamier. Immediately, season the pasta with salt and more red pepper flakes, to taste, if needed. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes for flavors to combine.
6.Note: Make sure to salt the dish just enough to bring out of the flavors of basil and sun-dried tomatoes.

Easy Basic Pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, or vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Assorted toppings, such as butter, maple syrup, confectioners' sugar, honey, jams, preserves, sweetened whipped cream, or chocolate syrup

Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees; have a baking sheet or heatproof platter ready to keep cooked pancakes warm in the oven. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.


In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, butter (or oil), and egg. Add dry ingredients to milk mixture; whisk until just moistened (do not overmix; a few small lumps are fine).

Heat a large skillet (nonstick or cast-iron) or griddle over medium. Fold a sheet of paper towel in half, and moisten with oil; carefully rub skillet with oiled paper towel.

For each pancake, spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter onto skillet, using the back of the spoon to spread batter into a round (you should be able to fit 2 to 3 in a large skillet).

Cook until surface of pancakes have some bubbles and a few have burst, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet or platter; cover loosely with aluminum foil, and keep warm in oven. Continue with more oil and remaining batter. (You'll have 12 to 15 pancakes.) Serve warm, with desired toppings.

Today's Quote

“Mother Nature is our teacher—reconnecting us with Spirit, waking us up and liberating our hearts. When we can transcend our fear of the creatures of the forest, then we become one with all that is; we enter a unity of existence with our relatives—the animals, the plants and the land that sustains us.”

― Sylvia Dolson,

Funeral Sandwiches

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Serves: 8

Ingredients
•1 package (12 ct) of King's Hawaiian Rolls
•½-1 lb. ham deli meat
•Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
•½ cup butter, melted
•3 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
•2 Tbs mustard
•2 Tbs brown sugar
•dash of onion powder

Instructions
1.Cut each roll in half, lengthwise and place bottom halves on the bottom of a baking pan.

2.Layer bottom half with ham slices and cheese and place the top half back on.

3.In a bowl, Mix together the butter, Worcestershire, mustard, brown sugar and onion powder. Pour sauce over sandwiches, drenching each one. Cover tightly and marinade anywhere from 4-24 hours. Overnight works best!

4.Preheat oven to 350°. Bake for 15 minutes uncovered,or until cheese is melted and bun tops are a bit golden.

“The most irresistible beauty is the radiant glow from a kind and gentle heart.”

~Richelle E. Goodrich

Today's Quote

Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen.

- Horace Mann - 1796-1859, Education Reformer and Politician

Quick Skillet Ziti

Ground beef and pasta are a winning combination in this 4-ingredient pasta dish that is ready in minutes. One of the simplest pasta recipes that is also budget friendly, Quick Skillet Ziti is perfect for a quick weeknight dinner for two that will leave you with some leftovers for lunch the next day. Show off your legerdemain in the kitchen to your family and have dinner on the table in minutes.

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 5 min
Cooking Time: 20 min

Ingredients
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 jar (24-ounces) Prego Traditional Italian Sauce or Prego Marinara Italian Sauce
• 5 cups tube-shaped pasta (ziti), cooked and drained
• grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

Instructions
1.Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet until it's well browned, stirring often to break up the meat. Pour off any fat.

2.Stir the sauce and pasta in the skillet and heat through. Sprinkle with the cheese.

Today's Quote

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.

~Karl Barth

Today's Quote

Every artist was first an amateur.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson