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Vegan Chili

Prep Time: 30 mins | Cook Time: 1 hr 45 mins | Servings: 8 to 10 servings | Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. cooked pinto beans
  • 12 ounce bag Boca Meatless Ground
  • 2 tbsp Earth Balance Buttery Spread
  • 1 large onions, chopped
  • 1 tbsp chopped garlic
  • 2 3/4 tbsp oregano
  • 1 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 6 ounce can tomato paste
  • 1 cans tomatoes, in blender
  • 1/2 tbsp salt
  • 1/2 tbsp black pepper
  • 4 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tbsp sugar

Directions:

Cook onions and garlic in buttery spread until onions are clear. Then put in pinto beans and veggie crumbles. Put in other seasonings and tomatoes and cook slowly after bringing to a boil. Cook about 1 1/2 or 2 hours. Add enough water so it won’t stick. Slow simmer with lid on.

NWCC Game

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A Match Made in Photo Heaven

LOCNow this is what we have been waiting for…big organizations partnering with Flickr. This is a great idea IMHO.

it is so exciting to let people know about the launch of a brand-new pilot project the Library of Congress is undertaking with Flickr, the enormously popular photo-sharing site that has been a Web 2.0 innovator. If all goes according to plan, the project will help address at least two major challenges: how to ensure better and better access to our collections, and how to ensure that we have the best possible information about those collections for the benefit of researchers and posterity.

Library of Congress Blog

Buckeye Balls

  • 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup butter softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar

Coating

  • 1 pound chocolate flavored candy coating
  • 2 tablespoons shortening

Combine peanut butter , butter, vanilla and salt in large bowl. Beat at low speed of electric mixer until blended. Add 2 cups sugar. Beat until blended. Continue adding sugar 1/2 cup at a time until mixture shaped into ball will hold together on toothpick. Shape into 3/4 inch balls. Place on waxed paper-lined tray. Refrigerate.

For coating, combine candy coating and shortening in microwave safe bowl. Microwave at 50% (medium) for 30 seconds. Stir, repeat until mixture is smooth.

Insert toothpick into candy ball. Dip 3/4 ball into melted coating. Scrape off excess. Place on waxed paper lined tray. Remove toothpick and smooth over holes. Refrigerate until coating is firm; Remove from paper. Store at room temperature in covered container.

Mock Peanut Brittle Christmas Wreath Cookies

These are easy no bake cookies that are quick and fun to make.

  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 1 Cup Light Corn Syrup
  • 1 (12 oz) jar of Peanut Butter
  • 6 Cups of Corn Flakes
  • Green Food coloring

Combine sugar and syrup in pan. Heat and bring to a hard boil. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter. Add green food coloring. Mix in corn flakes and stir until all are coated with syrup mixture. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper and shape into wreaths. Add red hot candies while wreaths are still warm.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

  • 2 Cups of Sugar
  • 1 Stick of Butter
  • 1/2 Cup of Milk
  • 2 Tablespoons of Cocoa

Combine and boil the above ingredients for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the following ingredients. You must move fast because the mixture begins to harden quickly.

  • 1 Cup of Peanut Butter
  • 2 1/2 to 3 Cups of Quick Cooking Oatmeal
    (the oats must be quick cooking and don’t put too much or the cookies will be dry)
  • 1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla

Drop by spoonfuls on wax paper to cool.

Some Ways to Reduce Stress

Maybe you will find one or two of these helpful.

  1. Pray
  2. Go to bed on time.
  3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
  4. Say No to projects that won’t fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.
  5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
  6. Simplify and unclutter your life.
  7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)
  8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.
  9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don’t lump the hard things all together.
  10. Take one day at a time. Continue reading →

Paint Buddy to the Rescue!

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This was a school project of Holden’s. He had to invent something and then make a commercial about it. His invention was a paint brush with a paint key built into the handle. Patent Pending

Those Who Can, Code; Those Who Can’t, Architect

A friend of mine sent me this email and it sent chills up my spine.

“At the moment there seems to be an extremely unhealthy obsession in software with the concept of architecture. A colleague of mine, a recent graduate, told me he wished to become a software architect. He was drawn to the glamour of being able to come up with grandiose ideas – sweeping generalized designs, creating presentations to audiences of acronym addicts, writing esoteric academic papers, speaking at conferences attended by headless engineers on company expense accounts hungrily seeking out this year’s grail, and creating e-mails with huge cc lists from people whose signature footer is more interesting than the content. I tried to re-orient him into actually doing some coding, to join a team that has a good product and keen users both of whom are pushing requirements forward, to no avail. Somehow the lure of being an architecture astronaut was too strong and I lost him to the dark side. Continue reading →