It Takes a Village

Remember Hillary Clinton's speech 'It Takes A Village'? She ended up making it into a book a few years ago. And I personally don't know why I recall this today. But I was thinking of the overused phrase It Takes A Village to Raise a Child. Personally, I was thinking that it takes a Village for me to cope with life sometimes. I have a group of people, that I know I can go to , no matter how trivial or major my problems may be. Even though I am a grown adult, I'm glad that I have my tribe :). To my friends and my grandmother, who listen to me when I am frustrated, stressed out, tired, crying...or need a shoulder or a place to stay...I love you so much! And I hope I can be apart of the 'tribe' of your life, as you are the 'tribe' to mine.

Sharing Time- BYU Mint Brownies!

The Mint Brownie...ahhh. First time I ever had one was at Education Week. Oh, they are so good. As I was searching for my adobo recipe, I stumbled across this gem in cyberspace. Oh happy day! This post is for me for later...not that I need to bake these, but I can dream. My brownie making track record is just as bad as frying. Practice makes perfect right? Maybe I'll whip a batch up for St. Patty's Day. If you have never ate a mint brownie, try this recipe. It may be Cindyproof...and maybe not, because Cindy hasn't made these yet! ;)

BYU Mint Brownies- Courtesy of BYU Magazine

Makes a 9x13 pan

Prep and Cook 90 minutes Cool time: 1 hr

1 c. margarine

1/2 c. cocoa

2 tbsp honey

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 3/4 c. flour

1/2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 c. chopped walnuts

12 oz chocolate icing ( use your own recipe, or buy the storebought)

Mint Icing

5 tbsp margarine

dash of salt

3 tbsp milk

1 tbsp light corn syrup

2 1/3 c . powdered sugar

1/2 tsp mint extract

1-2 drops of green food coloring

Directions

1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well and add nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes and cool.

2. Prepare Mint Icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than the frosting.

3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully spread the chocolate icing!

The original site, has also a 3x5 or 4x6 version. But for my purposes, just the generic recipe is good for me. Happy Valentine's Day to you, and happy baking. If you try this, please let me know if it turned out. I'm a little frightened, LOL.

Sharing Time- What to do with my Chipotle Peppers from Bountiful Basket?

I ordered my first Bountiful Basket over a month ago. What is Bountiful Basket? Bascially its in western U.S. and its a food co-op of local farmers that provide fresh fruit and veggies, at a low cost. Half of the fun of the basket is that you don't know what your going to get in that weeks basket, case in point...the chipotle pepper. So its been almost a month and i still hadn't figured out what I would try. But I googled chipotle, and saw a couple recipes that I might try and thought to share.

The first recipe is for homeade adobo. I remember the first time I picked up a can of canned chili's in adobo sauce. Me and my roomate about died, they were so darn hot! Seriously like for 5 minutes we had tears in our eyes. So I'm a little skittish....but it involves a crockpot. And I love crockpot cooking, so I'm in. This recipe says it will freeze well. I intend to use it in the next recipe for grilled fish tacos. If you haven't tried fish tacos...you must. They are so good. Really.

Chipotles in Adobo Sauce- from www.dinaskitchen.com

7-10 dried chipotle peppers stemmed and split lenghtwise (I took the seeds out. I'm a chicken)

1/3 cup onion cut in 1/2 " slices ( for the next recipe, i'm pureeing this, doesn't matter)

5 tbsp Cider Vinegar

2 cloves of Garlic sliced

1/4 c of ketchup, and a teaspoon of salt.

3 c water

Over stove, combine ingredients and cook over low heat for an hour and a half. Until chili's are very soft and the liquid reduces to 1 cup. I am experimenting with the crock pot. I don't see why it won't work. I shall see. It keeps several weeks in the fridge, but you can freeze it. Look for recipes like chicken adobo, I guess. But for my purposes...I will need a 1/2 cup in the blender to puree for the marinade for grilled fish tacos.

Grilled Fish Tacos with Chipotle Lime Dressing by Mabcat www.allrecipes.com

Marinade for Fish:

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp distilled white vinegar

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tsp lime zest

1 1/2 tsp honey

2 cloves garlic minced

1/2 tsp Cumin and Chili Powder

1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp hot sauce or to taste

1 lb of tilapia fillets cut into chunks

Dressing

1 8 oz container light sour cream

1/2 c adobo sauce

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tsp lime zest

1/4 tsp cumin and chili powder

1/2 tsp old bay seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

Toppings

1 10 oz pkg tortillas (corn or flour)

3 ripe tomatoes seeded and diced

1 bunch cilantro chopped

1 sm head of cabbage cored and shredded (i'll use coleslaw mix?)

2 limes cut in wedges

Make your Marinade:

Whisk together all the marinade ingredients. Pour over tilapia fillets in shallow bowl and marinate for 6-8 hrs.

Make the Dressing:

Combine the sour cream and the 1/2 c of adobo sauce. Stir in the lime juice and zest and other seasonings. Refridgerate until ready to use.

Grill the Marinated Fish:

I will use my grill pan, but if you have never grilled fish. Fish is usually done when it flakes I believe! Cook over 9 minutes, turning once. Have fun grilling outside.

Assemble Tacos:

Place fish in center of tortilla, top with cabbage, tomatoes, cilantro...drizzle with dressing. Another short cut would be use pico de gallo instead of cutting up tomatoes and cilantro..etc. I'm all about a shortcut.

Enjoy!

Calming the Baby Beast.- This will put a smile on your face! =)

This is fantastic, I think we all have our Happy Dance song. Its so cute. Although the safety clip shoud be raised higher.

Devils & Angels - pause my playlist to hear. Its so funny!

Sharing Time- Texas Caviar!

Have you tried some caviar? From Texas that is! I am a snacker, I LOVE this recipe. Its so pretty and healthy for you too. Super easy to make! Its good with chips, or triscuits..or even by itself. I've eaten it over salad. Enjoy, and to good health!

4 regular size tomatoes, or beefsteak tomatoes diced.
1 can of black eyed peas rinsed and drained ( I gotta feeling.... )
1 can green giant shoepeg corn ( Its white and yellow corn, hard to find..but if you can't regular corn works) drained
1 can chopped black olives
1 bunch of green onions chopped
1 bunch of cilantro chopped
1-2 cloves of minced garlic, depending on how much garlic you like!
1-2 avocados diced, squeezed with lemon juice
1 green bell pepper diced
1 8oz bottle of Wishbone italian dressing (Do NOT substitute, trust me!)
Salt and Pepper...and sugar to taste

Combine all ingredients into pretty bowl, add dressing. Mix gently. The longer it sits in the fridge, the better it is. If you wish, you can add 1-2 tsp of sugar to whither down the vinegar taste. But I never have. You're gonna love it! PS...makes alot, at least 4 cups!

Have you ever ?

Have you ever felt like in the Doghouse? I did this week.

Have you gotten to drop a tray of food...no make that two on the floor? Yup...I did that too last night. It was a good ice breaker, and I was laughing so hard, trying to clean the floor with the mini broom and a towel. And smearing the chocolate cake on the floor, I feel like Cinderella... haha. Waitressing won't be in my future, i'm bad at it.

If there is a silver lining, its that tomorrow is Friday. Unfortunately for me...

Its exam time, ugh!! I hope I'm ready.

But I will dance my cares away....Zumba anyone?!! Its the best. To those people that don't have a care in the world..enjoy being carefree, while you can. To those that do have cares... " The sun will come out....tomorrow!"

My Bucket List : 33 for 33

I watched a movie last weekend called The Bucket List. If you haven't seen it, you definetly should..great movie. Got me to thinking about my own list. I nicknamed it 33 for 33...why because, well you know...figure it out. I might put some life changing things on there..but also maybe some super easy, why didn't I do this sooner type of things. Will I accomplish all on my list? I can tell you now, probably not. This is list isn't intended to be finished this year. And that is just fine...its all apart of my journey! :)

Don't forget the Sunscreen!

Wear Sunscreen
By Mary Schmich of The Chicago Tribune

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Class of '98: Wear Sunscreen. If I could give you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh never mind. You will not understand the beauty and power of your youth, until they've faded. But trust me in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes your ahead, sometimes your behind. The race is long and in the end, its only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succceed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40 -year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40. Maybe you'll dance the funky chicken at your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it everyway you can. Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it. Its the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, Prices were reasonable, Politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trustfund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair. or by the time your 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those that supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than its worth.

But trust me, on the sunscreen.

When I first heard this played as a song on the radio, I thought how weird is this? I don't get it. Now, fast forward twelve years, and it reasonates with me more now than when it first came out as a popular speech to the Class of '98.

A Note to Myself....

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill.
When the funds are low, and the debts are high,
When you want to smile, but you have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must. But don't you quit!
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won, had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow.
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out.
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
You never can tell how close you are,
It may be near, when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you are hardest hit.
Its when things seem worst...THAT YOU MUST NOT QUIT!!
~Author C.W. Longenecker?? (There were different authors...to annonymous. Whatever)

And some words from my Dad....

"You have made us proud in everthing that you do. Set your goals high in everything that you do. You will succeed and don't ever lose your smile."- Love, Mom and Dad

Thanks Mom and Dad. I love you and will take your words to heart!

Have you read this? If not, you should!

"SEVENTEEN SECONDS can change a life-forever. This is what Rex Connor learned one summer afternoon in 1970 when his gaze was diverted for just seventeen seconds and tragedy occured. Forty years later the waves of that day still ripple through the lives of many people, including Rex's son Cole."

This book is amazing! I'm giving it five stars...but I will admit something. For whatever reason, I couldn't quickly get through this book, not until about halfway through the book. It has a great message, which I can describe simply as this...the main story plot, which you will have to read to find out....is the basis of the seventeen second fraternity. What do we do in seventeen seconds? Do we make an impact? Do we stop and take the time to notice the seventeen second miracles that take place everyday? I just love Jason Wright. He wrote Christmas Jars and Recovering Charles. Both great books bytheway. It leaves you thinking...and thinking for the greater good. Get your Kleenex!