Chasing MY Life WHEREVER it Leads ME – Page 584 – Chasing MY Life WHEREVER it Leads ME

I Believe!!

This email came across my screen this morning and reminded me that we all need to BELIEVE, have faith and always think positive!

A Birth Certificate shows that we were born.
A Death Certificate shows that we died.
Pictures show that we lived!
Have a seat . . . Relax . . . And read this slowly…

I Believe…
That just because two people argue, that doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. And just because they don’t argue, that doesn’t mean they do love each other.

I Believe…
That sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe…
That we don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I Believe…
That no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe…
That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I Believe…
That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I Believe…
That it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I Believe…
That you should always leave loved ones with Loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe…
That you can keep going long after you think you can’t.

I Believe…
That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe…
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe…
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe…
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe…
That my best friend and I can do anything, or nothing, and have the best time.

I Believe…
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe…
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had, and what you’ve learned from them…and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I Believe…
That it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe…
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I Believe…
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe…
That you shouldn’t be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I Believe…
Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I Believe…
That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.

I Believe…
That even when you think you have no more to give, if a friend cries out to you…you will find the strength to help.

I Believe…
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe…
That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

I Believe…
That you should send this to all of the people that you believe in. I just did.

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything. Thank you God for all the wonderful people who help us throughout the journey of life…

It’s almost time!

We’re having a Christmas party here at the OuR KrAzY kItChEn starting Thursday and you’re invited. Bring your favorite recipe, decorating idea, pictures, anecdotes and let’s have some fun together.

Do you have a special Christmas Cookie recipe?
What is your favorite holiday recipe?
Do you have a favorite fudge recipe?
Do you have special way to decorate the tree?
How about a party punch that’s perfect for a holiday party?
What is your idea of the perfect family holiday?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Cobbler

We couldn’t agree on dessert around here the other day. I wanted to make a banana cream pie and FIL wanted cobbler while hubby wanted something with chocolate and MIL wanted something with peanut butter. So, we collaborated, combined 3 different recipes and and came up with this. 3 out of 4 of us loved it! Ironically the one that wanted cobbler didn’t like it!

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE BANANA COBBLER
4 bananas, sliced
1/3 cup C&H sugar
2 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup butter
PURE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray 9×9 baking dish with PURE.
Slice bananas and layer into the bottom of the baking dish.
Sift together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa. Sprinkle over the bananas.
Slice the butter into several thin layers and dot the bananas with it.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup C&H sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 JUMBO egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup flour

Cream the butter and the peanut butter together.
Add the sugars and blend thoroughly.
Add the egg and vanilla stirring until smoothly blended.
Sift together the flour and the baking soda.
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and blend thoroughly.
Lightly drop dollops of the topping mixture over the banana mixture.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes.
Serve with whipped cream.

Next time I’m going to top it with Caramel Sauce.

Tasty Tuesday is hosted by Jen over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Tuesdays at the Table is hosted by Cole at All the Small Stuff
Tempt my Tummy Tuesday is hosted by Lisa at Blessed with Grace
Vintage Recipe Thursday is hosted by Joy at Joy of Desserts
Foodie Friday is hosted by Michael Lee at Designs by Gollum
Save Room for Dessert is hosted by Joy at OuR KrAzY KiTcHeN
What Did you Bake Today? is hosted by Kristen at OuR KrAzY KiTcHeN

Easy Holly Treats – Monday Munchies

These are another of my favorites. They are delicious and they are another quick, easy, no bake treat, and they’re so pretty to add to the cookie & candy tray aren’t they?

Cornflake Wreath/Holly Treats

1/2 cup butter
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp green food color
4 cups corn flakes
Red hot candies (or red mini M&M’s or decorate with dots of red frosting)

Melt butter, add marshmallows, stirring until all marshmallows are melted. Add extracts and food coloring; stir until it is a uniform green color. When mixture is smooth, add corn flakes; mix well but gently so as not to crush the cornflakes. Form into wreath shapes or into dollops on sheets of waxed paper, decorate, cool and store in refrigerator.

Cream of Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup & Sour Cream Biscuits

CREAM OF BROCCOLI POTATO CHEESE SOUP
2 cups frozen hash browns
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, minced
1 Vidalia Onion, chopped
1 large crown broccoli, chopped
3-4 cups boiling water (depending on desired consistency)
2 tablespoons Better Bouillon
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
salt & pepper to taste
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
3 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
dash of white pepper
3/4 cup grated aged cheddar cheese

Whisk together the 1/2 cup salted butter, minced garlic and white pepper.
Fold in grated cheese
In a large skillet cook over low heat until it all melts together.
Add frozen hash browns and saute’ until golden brown.
Add onions and celery. Cook until translucent.
In a large saucepan whisk the bouillon into the hot water.
Add the carrots, potatoes, celery, broccoli pieces and onions.
Simmer on low 1 hour until all vegetables are soft and tender.
Mash vegetables.
Add cheese and blend well.
Salt and pepper to taste.

SOUR CREAM BISCUITS
2 3/4 cups self rising flour
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven 450 degrees
Mix all ingredients together.
Drop evenly into muffin tins.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Makes 12 biscuits.

Kitchen Dreams & Wishes

All about books, cookbooks that is:

Amazon’s book description: She’s taught us every facet of Italian cooking–from traditional and regional to seasonal and contemporary. She even made us fall in love with pasta again by opening us up to lighter, healthier versions that don’t weigh us down. Now the Food Network star and bestselling author of Everyday Pasta, Giada De Laurentiis, takes us down a new path, sharing her love of food with clean, vibrant, simple flavors and bursts of bright colors that look as beautiful on the plate as they are delicious.

Yes, you will still find those fabulous recipes she remembers so fondly from family meals, but you’ll also find updated twists on classic trattoria favorites–California-inflected, hearty but not overwhelming, and with the perfect balance of healthfulness and terrific flavor. Wouldn’t you love a faster, lighter take on osso buco (here made with turkey instead of veal), a salad with real substance (like one of cantaloupe, red onion, and walnuts), and fish that gets an Italian makeover by way of lots of fresh veggies and accents such as fennel and grapefruit salsa? And let’s not forget dessert. After all, what’s not to adore about little doughnuts dipped in chocolate sauce?

Ranging from soups and snacks to easy entres and elegant dinner-party fare, Giada’s recipes are perfect for any day of the week. And for the first time, she includes a full section of dishes that the little ones will love making as much as they love eating (like mini chicken meatballs). With something to please everyone at your table, Giada’s Kitchen deliciously demonstrates why Giada De Laurentiis has become America’s best-loved Italian cook.

Italy meets California in Giada De Laurentiis’s collection of 100 new recipes. She focuses on fresh ingredients, simple preparation, and bright flavors. Anyone who wants to indulge in the pleasures of Italian food without feeling weighed down will find inspiration for delicious, hearty yet healthy weekday meals. Giada’s recipes satisfy both our desire to eat with gusto and to feel good about what we eat.

Amazon’s book description: Slow-roasted meats, marinated vegetables, surprising flavor combinations, this is not your mother’s sandwich.

With acclaimed restaurants located across the United States, and a high-profile job as head judge of the hit show Top Chef, Tom Colicchio is one of the best-known chefs and personalities in the culinary world today. His popular chain of ’wichcraft sandwich shops is known for crafting sandwiches with high-quality fresh ingredients prepared to Colicchio’s exacting standards. And since the first ’wichcraft opened in 2003, diners can’t seem to get enough.

In ’wichcraft, Colicchio shares the shops’ secrets with step-by-step recipes for all their best-loved offerings.

Amazon’s product description: Anyone who has visited Carmine’s flagship Times Square restaurant knows that Carmine’s food is the best of classic Italian cuisine—each dish prepared simply to bring out the most vibrant flavor and make anyone who tastes it smile and reach for seconds.

Carmine’s Family-Style Cookbook reveals the simple secret of Carmine’s longtime success—hearty, rich Italian food, just right for sharing, and perfect for cooking at home!

Carmine’s Family-Style Cookbook’s perfect Italian recipes include:
–Appetizers, Soups and Salads: from Chicken Wings Scarpariello-Style to Carmine’s Famous Caesar Salad
–Carmine’s Heroes: from classic Cold Italian Hero sandwiches to Italian Cheesesteak Heroes
–Pasta: from Country-style Rigatoni to Pasta Marinara
–Fish and Seafood Main Courses: from Salmon Puttanesca to Shrimp Fra Diavolo
–Meat and Poultry Main Courses: from Porterhouse Steak Contadina to Veal Parmigiana
–Side Dishes: from Spinach with Garlic and Oil to Creamy Polenta
–Carmine’s Desserts: from Chocolate Bread Pudding to the world-famous Titanic Ice Cream Sundae

Carmine’s restaurant packs them in every night in its four bustling locations, including its warm, festive Times Square flagship where over a million people from all across the country come every year to share meatballs, chicken parmigiana, linguini with clam sauce, and fried calamari. Carmine’s flavors are the tastes Americans love to cook and eat at home—fresh garlic, bubbling tomato sauce, and pasta boiled just to the perfect al dente. Try any of the recipes in Carmine’s Family-Style Cookbook and bring home that classic Italian flavor to your family.

Almost Meatless by Joy Manning

excerpt from Amazon’s review: Despite its title, almost every recipe in this book uses meat, fish or eggs. A collaboration between Manning, a former vegan, and Desmond, an unabashed meat lover, the aim is to help Americans, who they believe eat far more meat than is healthy or good for agricultural sustainability, compose meals that are both tasty and filling without having a slab of meat as the overbearing star ingredient. Instead, meat appears in smaller quantities supplemented by layers of flavor in the form of additional savory ingredients that should keep people who usually expect lots of meat from noticing the difference.

Kitchen Dreams & Wishes

All about books, cookbooks that is:

Amazon’s book description: Slow-roasted meats, marinated vegetables, surprising flavor combinations, this is not your mother’s sandwich.

In ’wichcraft, Colicchio shares the shops’ secrets with step-by-step recipes for all their best-loved offerings.

Carmine’s Family-Style Cookbook reveals the simple secret of Carmine’s longtime success—hearty, rich Italian food, just right for sharing, and perfect for cooking at home!

Almost Meatless by Joy Manning

Multi-Grain Chicken Quesadillas & Tequila Rose Fizzes

hosted by girlichef atOuR KrAzY KiTcHeN

MULTI-GRAIN CHICKEN QUESADILLAS
Multi-grain tortillas
diced green chiles
shredded Mexican cheese blend
shredded chicken
sour cream
Garden Tomato Salsa
Fresh Guacamole

Assemble, grill, enjoy – just that simple!

TEQUILA ROSE FIZZES
4 ounces Orange Juice
1 jigger Tequila Rose
4 ounces 7 up

Blend orange Juice and tequila rose together until well mixed.
Add 7up.
Enjoy.
Next time I’m going to add some rum too!

Chipotle Shrimp and Pasta – Simple Saturday

Hi, Martha from Monday Munchies here filling in for girlichef here this week – we miss you girlichef, hurry back!

This is a recipe (actually more of a throw together process than a recipe) for a delicious but quick and easy meal – Chipotle shrimp and pasta …

Put a pound of shrimp in a gallon baggie. Add about 1/4 cup of Chipotle sauce (I used a bottled sauce), add a teaspoon of cornstarch. Mix well and let marinate anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours.

Put entire contents of baggie into a large frying pan, stir fry for 3-5 minutes. Add a can of Hunts diced tomatoes with garlic and olive oil, mix and simmer an additional 3-5 minutes. Add a pound of well drained pasta – mix, simmer for a couple minutes until nice and hot.

Fruit smoothies go wonderfully with this easy semi-spicy dish! – Enjoy!

Friday Fill-Ins

Hosted by Janet

1. Good times: will be had in less than 12 days when we travel “home home” for Christmas with the family.

2. Can’t wait to be back in my own home.
3. Sleigh bells ring and yes I’m listening.
4. Give just a little more.
5. Once more I am at a loss for understanding some people’s reactions to life.
6. Is there an end in sight?

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep, tomorrow my plans include finishing up a few stray projects and Sunday, I want to go to the Whole Foods Christmas Food Taste Event, finish our Christmas shopping with hubby and watch some football!

Homemade Yellow Cupcakes – What Did You Bake Today?

As the cake mixes in my pantry get used up, I haven’t been replacing them. I have decided to make cake from scratch. This week I had a special request from my family for cupcakes. I thought it would be a good opportunity to inaugurate my plan. The result: everyone thought they were amazing and we had none left after dessert was served (yes, it made 18).

From The Good Home Cookbook

White Layer Cake (which isn’t white and became cupcakes)

2 cups flour

1 Tbls baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk

Frosting of your choice (I used a can….have to use up what I’ve got before that’s homemade, too)

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk. Divide equally into 18 greased or paper lined cupcake pans. Bake 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until done. Let sit in pan 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire wrack to cool. Frost when completely cooled.

What Did You Bake Today?

Be sure and eat your vegetables!

Dave from My Year on the Grill gave me this great new award.

The rules for the award are that I reveal 7 random facts about me… so, here goes…

I LOVE milk. I mean doesn’t everybody? But, I crave it sometimes and go through a gallon a week all by myself.
I was once an auto mechanic and then became a copy editor for auto technician manuals.
I cannot touch my toes – nope never could because I was born with a missing vertebrae in my lower back.
I don’t have any tattoos.
I’ve been in love with the same man for 25 years and we can honestly say we have never had a fight!
I love road trips and having meals in greasy diners in small towns.
I love weather! Rainstorms, wind, sunny days and snow – bring it al on. I love all the change of seasons.

I am supposed to pass this on to other bloggers. That is not an easy thing to do as I have so many favorites! To only mention a few of my favorites would be such a difficult thing to do. So in breaking all the rules and the spirit of the Christmas season I am going to pass this on to all my followers. After all it is Christmas and it is better to give than receive!