Lead the life that will make you kindly and friendly to everyone about you, and you will be surprised what a happy life you will lead. ~ Charles M. Schwab

I am generally a kind and friendly person to everyone.  People I meet are generally nice to me.  I am working hard on learning not to pre-judge people as part of my business and hope that others could be the same.  Some can overcome things and others cannot.  Some people will always judge a book by it's cover.  Some book covers are pretty messed up while others are shiny and new.  You may get a book that is pretty messed up because it was such a good book that it was handed down for many people to read.  You may be given a book that is shiny and new but it may be pretty boring and has sat on some one's shelf for many years.

I don't know about you, but I want to be the book that everyone knows about and likes very much because I help them out not the unread one that has sat on some one's shelf for decoration for many years.  Of course, we went out again today and took a lot of pictures.  The annual rose festival is this coming Saturday in Glendale and we took pictures of all the roses in the garden.  Some were absolutely beautiful.  Still others were very pretty but my favorites are the lavender roses.  Always beautiful.  We visited with some of our really good friends while there and then had lunch with them.

Wonderful day spent talking business and fun over soup and salad.  I also took some pictures of bees on flowers -- I didn't know bees had toes ~ I guess I just assumed that they only had feet and no toes.  I should have known that God would take care of ALL the details there too. : )

I'm sorry about missing you all yesterday -- I had computer issues and didn't get it done so today you will get two recipes : ) -- One for the people wanting the WW points and recipes and one for the people who just want everything.

Summer is coming quickly -- enjoy!

Charlene


Junior Mint Brownies

3 Points Per Serving

Cooking spray
1/4 cup butter
32 (about 3 ounces) creamy, small-size mints in pure chocolate (such as Junior Mints)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 large egg
1 large egg white
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
Combine butter and mints in a 2 cup glass measure; microwave at HIGH 30 seconds or until soft. Stir until smooth, and set aside.
Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
Combine sugar, cocoa, egg and egg white in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Add mint mixture; beat well. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean; cool completely on a wire rack.
NOTE: Two large (1.5 ounce) mints or 6 miniature chocolate-covered peppermint patties (such as York) may be substituted for 32 junior mints.
Makes 16.
Serving size: 1 brownie
Per serving: 121 Calories, 2.1 g Protein, 0.2 g Total Fiber, 3.9 g Total Fat, 19.5 g Carbohydrate, 81 mg Sodium, 14 mg Cholesterol

Beef Stew

Pam Spray
2 pounds stew meat
3 tablespoons flour
1 packet McCormick's Beef Stew Mix
3 cups water
5 cups assorted stew vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions or whatever else you like)
Spray bottom of pressure cooker with Pam. Put stew meat in pan. Coat meat with flour. Stir and cook over medium heat until meat browns. Stir in beef stew packet and water. Close cooker. Bring up pressure in pressure cooker and cook with slowly rocking pressure. Cook meat 15 minutes.
Release pressure under running water.
While the meat is cooking, cut up the vegetables. When pressure is released, stir in vegetables. Close cooker. Bring pressure back up and cook with the gauge slowly rocking for 10 minutes. Release pressure under running water. Serve immediately.

Only those who are willing to still learn will survive.

No matter what your industry, you must be willing to adapt to every situation and learn new things to survive in this economy.  If you are in construction, you really need to be at the top of your game and that requires knowing where you business is at anytime.  Continuously learning and thinking out side the box will keep you going in this market.

You will always have your gold diggers who will hang in when things are easy - however, the ones that survive these times are the ones to trust.  I try really hard to not deal with your fair weather contractors or storm chasers.  They are not around when you need them.

If you are going to be in business, be the best you can be.  Be fair to everyone.  Never promise more than you can do and always deal honestly.  Your reputation is all you have to market.  Marketing is very important to your business and you don't want to have to try to explain bad things.  People will understand a bump or two but 8 or 10 will not be ok.  Keep your word and your reputation forth coming - it may be all you have but at least it is good.

This is from a few days ago when we were out -  I love waterfalls and fountains.  This was in a gated community that we happened into with lots of nice things to see and enjoy : )

How about something easy for today?  I like things easy when I get home from working and have made this dish before.  I am not a fan of asparagus (what the recipe calls for usually - I changed it) so I use broccoli florets and really like it.  This is easy and quick for weeknights and not really heavy.

Hope you are enjoying this blog - and please keep the requests coming.

Enjoy,

Charlene

Bow-Ties with Chicken and Broccoli

INGREDIENTS:
4 cups uncooked bow-tie (farfalle) pasta (8 oz)
1 lb fresh broccoli florets
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
Salt, if desired
1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese (1 oz)

DIRECTIONS:
Cook and drain pasta as directed on package, omitting salt.
Meanwhile, trim and cut broccoli into bite sized pieces. Wash broccoli.
In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in broccoli and garlic. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink in center and vegetables are tender.
In small bowl, gradually stir broth into cornstarch. Stir in onions and basil. Stir cornstarch mixture into chicken mixture. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Season with salt. Toss with pasta. Sprinkle with cheese.

He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life. ~ William Law

Prayer can sure make a difference in your life.  Right now I have a few very specific prayer requests that I have put before our Lord for consideration.  Still also remembering my friends - some still in Japan - others here.  We still have a lot of things happening in Japan.  They still need prayers for safety and salvation.

We had a wonderful time yesterday at church worship services.  In our last service, we saw the other half of the slides from Israel where one of our members went on vacation.  They were amazing to see.  In two weeks, we saw about 250 slides or more.  It was very interesting to see how things are there and what people think about where Jesus lived and walked and died. 

We had our spaghetti dinner yesterday and I've been deciding what to make for dessert all week.  I finally decided on a layered chocolate and peanut butter dessert and made a double batch -- none came home with me : )  It was good and a lot of people asked me for the recipe.  I promised to post it here today so here it is:

Enjoy !

Charlene


Four Layer Peanut Butter Cup Dessert

First Layer:

2 cups finely chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds
1 stick of real butter

Mix in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.  Bake for 15 min at 350 degrees.  Let cool completely before adding next layers.

Second Layer:

1 ~ 8 oz pkg cream cheese - softened
1 ~ 8 oz container of cool whip - thawed
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter

Mix altogether until creamy -- DON'T eat this now !  Add 1 up of chopped peanut butter cups, chocolate chips and/or pecans, walnuts, almonds or butterfinger (PB cups or butterfinger is my favorite)

Third Layer:

1 lg box of chocolate fudge pudding made according to package directions for pie filling

Let the pudding set before adding the next layer.

Fourth Layer:

1 - 8 oz container Cool Whip

Top it off with chocolate curls or chocolate shavings.  Shavings are really easy -- just chill a chocolate bar and take a potato peeler to it : )  curls are harder.

You can serve anytime - doesn't need to set up or chill overnight either.  You're probably safer not leaving it in the fridge overnight - midnight snack people might take it : )

Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the Me for the We. ~ Phil Jackson

Very true in sports and in a company.  I tell people this all the time in consulting.  Stop with the 'me' and let's get to the 'we'.  You can of course do things yourself and may prefer to, but in a company everyone has to be playing in the same direction for the same common goal.  You cannot have a successful team if no one  or only one person) knows what the expected outcome will be.  If you are in charge of directing your team, they must know the goal of the company.

Your position is such that you need to think outside the box.  Do you think players only show up on the court and run around and dribble and throw the ball?  You must be kidding !  They practice for hours with a "COACH" who tells them they want to win.  The Coach coaches them in the directions they need to take to obtain that goal.  It must be a common goal among the team members also.  Everyone playing on that team must want to win.  Winning requires everyone to know the who, what, where, how and why.

Your life can be no different.  You must be working towards a goal.  The who could be just you or your family.  The what is your expected end result ~ money for vacation?  The where is where you will be working towards this goal ~ a yard sale to make money to go on vacation?  The how ~ clear out your garage : ).  The why is so that you can relax on that vacation and not have to figure out where the money is being squeezed from in your already tight budget.

Everything is feasible when you put your mind to it.  Recently I discussed survival with a client. We discussed looking around your 'already existing world' to see where you can put your company to work for you.  And you know it is funny, you look at the world around you completely different when you have a plan in mind.

Today, figure out what your goal or goals are and start working your plan to achieve them.  If this means adding people to your team, then start looking - Get it done !

Enjoy your day and what's left of the weekend.

Charlene


Chile Con Queso
INGREDIENTS:
1½ lbs cheddar cheese, shredded
1½ lbs Monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 can (27 oz) green chilies, diced
1½ cups sour cream
1 cup flour
3 tbsp crushed red peppers
2 tbsp black pepper
½ tbsp salt
1 cup yellow onion, diced

DIRECTIONS:
Combine all ingredients into mixing bowl and mix until well incorporated.
Melt in 350°F oven.
Serve with tostada chips.