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Easy Cioppino Recipe!
Published April 25, 2012 | 
I found this incredible seafood mixture at Costco a couple weeks ago that was screaming make me into a killer Cioppino! After searching for and taking information from about 5 different recipes here is my finished product. I knew this was a hit when hubby asked when I would be making it again… 
- 2 – 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 2 cup dry white wine
- 1 Jar Clam Juice
- 1 cup organic vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 (35-ounce) can whole tomatoes with basil, rinsed, drained, and coarsely chopped
- 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 “Fresh” frozen package seafood from Costco (Mussels, Calamari, Scallops & Shrimp)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Garlic bread for dipping
Preparation
1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 1 minute. Add garlic; reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Add wine and next 5 ingredients (through tomatoes); cover. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 15 ~ 20 minutes.
2. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add remaining 1 – 2 tablespoons of oil; swirl to coat. Add frozen seafood mixture to broth mixture. Cover and cook 15 ++ minutes or until all seafood looks cooked. Stir in parsley and lemon juice.
Just in time for summer …
Published April 12, 2012 | 
Tired of cracked and dry heels?
… I know of something that works like nothing else I’ve found. Sandal Essence is something I swear by and it’s truly one of my favorite products. My friend Kristen at Dine and Dish is hosting a give-away today for it. I’m shouting it from the roof-tops because I know just how good it is.
Seriously … you NEED to win this product. You will LOVE it as much as me after one week of use.
It’s easy to win too … they are all things you will do in about a min. CHECK IT OUT!
You will thank me later!
You can check out Sandal Essence online here:
Their website: SandalEssence.com
15 Things to Make you Happier
Published April 5, 2012 | 
My girlfriend sent this to me and I cannot tell you how so many of these struck a very deep cord! WOW when I read through them I felt like I was being smacked upside the head and well truthfully I needed these “in your face” reminders. Hope they help you as much as they helped me
Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. Not anymore. Starting today say to yourself “I” will give up on all those things that no longer serve me, and “I” will embrace change. Ready? Here we go:
1. Give up your need to always be right. There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?” Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?
2. Give up your need for control. Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.
“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.”Lao Tzu
3. Give up on blame. Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.
4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk. Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.
“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle
5. Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!
“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind”Elly Roselle
6. Give up complaining. Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.
7. Give up the luxury of criticism. Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.
8. Give up your need to impress others. Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take of all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.
9. Give up your resistance to change. Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell
10. Give up labels. Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer
11. Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
12. Give up your excuses. Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.
13. Give up the past. I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.
14. Give up attachment. This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.
15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations. Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.
Spinach Artichoke Florentine Dip
Published March 5, 2012 | 
This incredible and easy Dip comes was inspired by a wonderful chef Rosie! She made her version for a group gathering and I swear I turned my back for 10 minutes and it was gone! I recently found her recipe tucked away in a very safe place and thought it was time to resurrect. I made it this past Friday night for Girls Poker night and while my cards were very cold this dip was HOT!! Hope you enjoy~
Spinach Artichoke Florentine Dip
2-8oz pkg cream cheese- softened
1/2 c mayonnaise
2-3Tbsp Fresh lemon juice
1c grated parmesan cheese
1 c Shredded Mozzarella
3 cloves garlic, minced
1- pkg frozen chopped spinach- thawed, drained & squeezed dry
1-14oz can artichoke hearts- drained & chopped
- Preheated the oven to 375º
- In a mixing bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients until blended
- Stir in the spinach and artichoke hearts
- Spread into a baking dish and cover with foil
- Bake for 20 minutes
- Remove the foil and bake for another 5-7 minutes
- Serve warm with crackers or pita chips and enjoy!!
- Yields approximately 16+ servings
2012 Practical Financial Tips
Published February 22, 2012 | 2012 arrived with a bang!! I for one am glad that it is here as 2011 for myself as for many was an OK year but still far from the financial glory days of years past. Granted there were some wonderful things that happened I still had a heavy heart last year because so many of us were struggling.
Luckily from a very young age my Dad taught me a few things about finances and I believe that if it were not for those lessons I too would have been caught up in the credit / financial crisis that so many people are in.
Here are a few things that I learned very early and many things that he taught me as I got older.
Pay Cash… My Dad never had a credit card in his pocket if he could not pay for something right then and there he did not buy it. Of course that did not apply for big ticket items like cars or the house. I really stick to that today, while I don’t carry around a wad of cash with me I make sure there is enough in the bank to to cover the purchase.
Pay yourself first. Dad was a big fan of this one. He told me to try to take the first 10% and sock it away in a savings account. It is not always easy I must say but I do try to put something away for a rainy day every month. Sure makes the unexpected expenses that always come up much easier to deal with.
Try to kick the daily habits and make them a treat. Dad is a big big coffee guy so what he did is well simple make it yourself (hehe) believe it or not as simple as that sounds the $$ you can save over the course of the year will buy you one helluva treat!! This holds true with whatever your personal poison is!!
Pay off The Credit Cards right away… In the few instances I do use my credit card that is not attached to my bank account I make sure that I can cover the expense right when the statement comes in. I never never never carry a balance as I do not want what was a simple purchase to end of costing a lot more than it should.
Ask for discounts or specials… Every January I call some of the utility companies to see if over the past year they changed or revised some of their plans. Sometimes Yes sometimes No but it never hurts to ask. Even a few bucks a month can add up and it never hurts to ask and believe me these days they are used to it and DO NOT want to lose you as a customer.
Some have suggested shopping your home or auto… I am happy to do that then go back to my agent with what I have found but this is one area at least to me where the relationship matters. If there is a claim I want my agent to go to bat for me.
Contribute more to your 401K…If you are one of the lucky ones that still has a 401K try to boost the contribution as far as you are comfortable doing. There is nothing better than putting away those Pre-tax $$!! Of course get some advice from a certified financial person…
Take Care of YOU!!!! My Dad was a big fan of this one! He always told me to find a balance between being responsible and being extreme. He always felt is was so important to take care of YOU! Pay your bills and take care of your financial obligations but you cannot take it with you so enjoy (with in reason).
What other advice can you share!! We would love to hear your Financial Fit tips for 2012
Posted in Check This Out, The Root of All Evil | 
Budget, Economy, Financial fitness, money, Spending | 
Leave a commentAvocado Goat Cheese Dip w/ homemade pita chips
Published February 20, 2012 | 
Avocado Goat Cheese Dip - DAMN tasty
This incredibly easy and DAMN good recipe is from Paula Dean. This recipe was on her Food Network Show, Paula’s Home Cooking Show ~ The Garden Get Together Episode. It could not have been more perfect for my Dad’s Birthday outdoor extravaganza party. By the end of the night there was nothing left of this other than an empty bowl!! It was a hit and personally I liked it with the Toasted pita chips.
- Avocado Goat Cheese Dip – DAMN tasty
- 1 Bag Tortilla Chips or Toasted Pita Chips
- 3 ripe avocados, peeled pitted and cut into chunks
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more, if needed
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 4 ounces goat cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Pita Chip recipe: I use pita bread from Trader Joe’s and cut into triangles
Spread pita triangles on a sheet tray ~ Coat with olive oil and salt to taste. Bake in the oven until crisp and slightly toasted. Chips will need to be rotated a couple times while baking.
In a bowl combine avocados, garlic, cumin and salt. Use an electric hand mixer to mix ingredients together. Add lime juice, cream cheese and goat cheese pulsing until smooth and blended well. Add a bit more salt, if necessary.
** we doubled this recipe for the party **
Posted in Feeding A Food Obsession | appetizer, appetizers, avocado, Dip, Dips, goat cheese dip, great dip, Paula Dean, Pita Chips, Trader Joes | 2 Comments
Yummy Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Published February 13, 2012 | 
This was one of those recipes where it was love at first site. I came across this in the Bristol Farms Real Food Magazine and knew this one would be a winner. Not only was I intrigued by the unique flavor combination but I also loved how simple this was. I wanted to especially give this one a try to decide whether it was worthy of sharing with the peeps and well it was for sure! I will make this one again and again!!
The following recipe serves about 6 – 8 if they do not go back for seconds or thirds {{LOL}} they will…
3 lbs of Sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ dice / cubes
1/2 Cup of UN-Salted Butter
3 Tablespoons Minced Garlic
1/3 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
4 oz Cream Cheese , room temperature and diced
2 Tablespoons Chipotle Chile’s in adobo sauce, Chopped fine
To Season: Kosher or Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper
Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water (20 plus minutes). Drain well. Return potatoes to pot and cook, stirring for a minute over medium heat to “dry out” the potatoes.
While the potatoes are cooking or “drying out”, warm butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until lightly browned (a couple minutes) Stir in the cream to heat through.
Crush with a potato masher until smooth. Add cheddar cheese, cream cheese, chipotles and cream mixture. Stir to blend well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve warm and Enjoy.
An Open Letter to the Occupiers from Generation X
Published January 23, 2012 | I am very fascinated with the occupy movement and love hearing all the different viewpoints ~ explanations for why they are feeling this way…
Here is another interesting perspective on the Occupy Movement this time from a Generation X’er… Do you agree with her thoughts or disagree??
This article follows another post that we did on the occupy movement from a Mother Perspective http://www.wheresmydamnanswer.com/WP02/occupy-movement-from-a-mothers-perspective/
To the Occupy movement:
I know some of you mean well. I even share some of your concerns. The dismal economy has made it difficult to find a good job with benefits. Meanwhile, the government is bailing out the wealthy banks and mortgage lenders that helped precipitate this depressed economy.
I hear your frustrations about student loan debt. Generation X has a lot of student loan debt too, with little relief available. The older generations have indebted our generations for years down the road, and with the rising costs of school tuition, we have double the amount of debt. Social Security is expected to be insolvent by the time my generation reaches retirement age. We have been warned not to rely upon it. We are in the same boat as you. In some ways we are even worse off. Most of us have families, children and mortgages now. Losing a job hurts us much more than when we were 25 and single.
But where you are off base is demanding too much. There isn’t enough money to go around for government to solve all your problems. We live in the wealthiest nation in the world. We are overindulged, not deprived. Americans are fat – one-third are now obese – and suffering from an increasing number of illnesses because we live a sedentary lifestyle too lazy to cook, subsisting on unhealthy processed fast food as we drive instead of walk everywhere.
Your generation has been raised by helicopter parents who catered to your every whine, and praised you constantly in order to get you to be quiet instead of teaching you discipline. You have grown up thinking you are more accomplished than you really are. You expect to have it all at age 25 – what my generation has worked for 10-20 years longer to achieve. My generation worked in fast food restaurants and low-level jobs in high school, college and shortly thereafter when we were your age. Most of us didn’t have benefits and we didn’t complain, we were just grateful not to work hard labor in the fields.
Author of this article Rachel Alexander who is the editor of the Intellectual Conservative.
Filling your brain | What are you a student of?
Published January 11, 2012 | 
Over the holidays I took some time to fill my brain with good movies, books and of course basketball 
. In the evenings Ron, Zac and I have been snuggling up on the couch with blankets and popcorn to watch movies with hot cups of tea. That’s been awesome.
I believe that we are all students of something. There is something that interests us enough that we just can’t get enough of it. Sometimes it’s not present 100% of the time, but then it will show up again and pull our attention from everything else. It will make us want to have the emails, phone calls and text messages stop coming at us furiously so that we can just study … take in every bit of it … get lost in it.
Zac has been recording College Basketball games and I hear the constant drone of shoes on the floor, crowds chanting and then him pausing and rewinding to study a move that someone in the game performed. Then he tells me to watch as he performs it and adds it to his repertoire. He does this for hours at a time sometimes.
He is a student of the game of basketball … that’s for sure. he LOVES it and has high aspirations in it. (Which I believe he will achieve.)
I, on the other hand, am a student of people, learning and figuring things out. I love learning about people – why they do what they do … who they are … how they got that way. I do this in person, in reading books and in movies. I study life!
Over the holidays, I read two books about mental management that were awesome and made SO much sense to me. They specialize more in sports, but can easily transition over to business and life. I flew through those reading one completely over Christmas day in the car out loud to Ron and Zac on our marathon of driving.
The other book is a guilty pleasure that I decided to dive into. I haven’t read a fictional novel since early last year when I finished Steig Larsson’s trilogy of novels. I enjoyed those so much that I didn’t know what could possibly replace them in my mind – haha. I’ve been looking at books and wanted to find another series that I could try. Stumbled upon Hunger Games before Christmas and tried to buy it on iBooks, but they didn’t have it. I asked for an Amazon card so I could get it through the Kindle app. I started it less than a week ago and I’m already over 50% done with it. I know there is a movie coming out about it and as I turn each page, I can see how it would make a great movie. I truly hope they do it justice. So now I’m hooked and will read all three of the books in this series. Each morning I am trying to chisel out an hour (at least) to read more of this story. I find myself loving the words on the page and savoring them because I know that I’m already half way through the book and I don’t want it to truly end … but I do want to know what happens.
… so … my DAMN Question for you today is …
What are YOU a student of?
What makes you tune everything else out and just study it … practice it?
The meaning of the “Care Package” to those that serve…
Published January 11, 2012 | As most of you know, and for those that don’t know, I’m a vet of the USAF…proudly served my country during Desert Storm as an Air Defense Controller, but that’s a whole other Oprah. I endured a lot during those few years overseas – a lot of ups and downs with my comrades, colleagues and “family”.
Some of the things that I most enjoyed, outside of the travel, the different cultures and cuisines of other countries, were the care packages from home.
While I was stationed at my first duty station – NAS Keflavik, Iceland – I shared a dormitory with the 960 AWACS crews – so basically I lived with about 300 (only 8 other women in total) aircraft mechanics, crew chiefs, flight ops guys and a few other fancy technical types….with this many people in one living arrangement, someone was bound to have a birthday….that is to say that, boxes from home would arrive sometimes a few times a week, housing socks, underwear (THANKS MOM), other toiletries and 99% of the time, some type of baked good OR prepackaged treat from home. We were in HEAVEN…And during the holidays, at least once a day, someone would run into the Dayroom, ripping open a box, stuffed to the brim with potato chips, confections and goodies from the good ol’ US of A.
Just to give you an idea what it’s like to be stationed on what is considered a Remote Duty Station, as is a lot of the APO’s/FPO’s that are in the Middle East and Afghanistan, let me explain a few things to you….
We actually had a ration card that we had to carry and use at the PX/BX for “luxury” type items such as liquor, beer and the likes. Most people would barter or pay for rations that they hadn’t used by the end of the month. Funny stories ensue with these scenarios – trust me.
Fresh produce was only shipped in once a week for our base supplies…and with the number of active duty members on base….this didn’t always last….so we ate a lot of weird and wonderous combinations whether cooked in the dorms or at the base chow hall – which by the way, was run by Icelandic cooks. Because I worked with the F-15 Fighter Interception Squadron, I would sometimes sneak out to the FIS and eat at a normal chow hall – (read: USAF chow hall, specifically for the pilots) – always a treat, in more ways than one. You could nosh over great, hot food and recount that days scramble and intercept with the guys you talked to daily over the radio.
We didn’t have the luxury to have a lot of American type snacks – the comforts of home, so to speak – all the time either. You *could* buy these things in Reykjavik – however, you’d pay dearly for anything snack-like. A friend of mine paid $10.00 for a pack of M&M’s once off base….true story.
Again, if that weekly supply plane couldn’t get through due to weather, well, you were eating what you could for the time being….
Having said that – we always had food – it wasn’t that we were destitute or without….but just without the creature comforts of home. And you don’t always realize how much you love your crunchy Cheetos until you can’t get your hands on them.
The Marines – who usually don’t socialize so well in all situations (mix with booze, fueled by competition and really truly an elite group) – had their own little gig that would serve grilled cheese sandwiches, chili, burgers and the likes in their dorm – basement of their barracks. Great cheap, drunk food if you felt like you could deal with the jarheads for a few hours. Always comical.
The USO had a fish fry every Friday night – cheap plate of local fried Icelandic þorskur (Cod) and all the trimmings, which probably was tinned coleslaw that even my Grandpa Flood had eaten in the late 50′s while he was stationed there. And if I wasn’t working a 12-14 hour midshift, I would usually hit the USO.
But nothing says home more than brownies, cookies and the likes…it really does make you feel like you’re experiencing home, even if just for a few minutes, you can close your eyes and pretend you’re at your local church bake sale or school’s cake walk….you can almost smell it being baked….and you can definitely taste home, even if it is someone else’s family fudge or chocolate chip cookies. Until, you’re called into action for something nutso on base…and you’re back in the thick of it.
This happened at every single duty station and I can tell you….it is SO APPRECIATED…I don’t think you can ever know how hard some days are out there, when a lot of times all you see is destruction and sadness.
Having said that, PLEASE, join in for a HUGE cause for JUST THAT….Valentines For Soldiers – January 16th, 6:00-9:00 PM
A friend of mine and highly notable food blogger, Nishta Mehra, began this as a smaller scaled project about 5 years ago and I can’t tell you how much it means to me personally, as I know how much it will mean to all the soldiers receiving these care packages. The goodies are a huge treat, but the little hand made notes and valentines, I can assure you, will put more than one smile on someone’s face that day….
With a $10 donation, you can join in to craft Valentines, sample treats from a pay-what-you-can bake sale, enjoy locally-brewed beer, and take a Saint Arnold souvenir glass home!
If you’d like to participate - PLEASE check out this link for more information….you can stop by St. Arnold’s Brewery on Monday, January 16th to participate in the bake sale, making valentines, dropping off goodies/non-perishables….this is all for a GREAT cause. All unused proceeds will also be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project.
p.s. One day, I’d like to explain how I smuggled 6 dozen, partial cooked Quarter Pounders & Big Macs into country in my luggage to share with my comrades…
Please Note: I joke about the other branches of service, but I would stand up for every single man and woman that I served alongside….period.
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