This is absolutely ridiculous! I am the somewhat crazy person who actually reads cookbooks as if they are one of the newest bestselling novels. I continuously search for new recipes on websites. I should have known about this recipe. I should have at least heard about it. I have begun to think that there is a conspiracy brewing about good recipes. “Shhh! Don’t let her know about this one! Hide it! Don’t mention the recipe EVER!”…so sad that my addiction to recipes has led to this disturbance! Just kidding!!!

The following is the account of how I happened upon this wonderful and easy recipe…we were at our farm last weekend and our very good friends asked us to come over for dinner. These friends are part of the large family that we have spent every Thanksgiving with for forty years! When I met my husband, they had already spent years of Thanksgivings together while they were all growing up. We honestly think that we are truly relatives.

Thanksgiving at our farm!

To understand this family and friend situation, here is the link for my Thanksgiving post…

Two Families. One Thanksgiving.

When we were asked to come over for dinner, I asked what I could bring…I was told just to bring my husband. Of course, I would bring my husband. Actually, he would be bringing me. I drive his large (well, large to me) truck so incredibly poorly that I would certainly need to alert the local authorities if I was on the road. As it turned out, their son and daughter-in-law were cooking dinner for everyone…a recipe they had been making recently and that they absolutely loved!

I am not kidding…this recipe is really, really good! If you already know about it and have been making it for 10 or 15 years…I am just not with the program!

Chicken, Green Beans and Red Potatoes…Best Ever Casserole!

Ingredients:

3 skinless chicken breasts, cut in half

2 cans green beans (French Style actually works better…chosen by our cooks the other night!)

6 large cut up red skin potatoes in quarters (or smaller if you like!)

1 package Zesty Italian dressing mix

1 stick melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place chicken breasts in the middle of a 9×13 inch pan. Place green beans on one side and the potatoes on the other side. Sprinkle the Italian dressing mix all over the top. Drizzle the entire stick of melted butter over it. Season lightly with salt, pepper, garlic if you choose.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

And that is all there is to it! Easy and quick and delicious!   

 Enjoy!!!

 I can hardly believe it…200 posts!

I was not sure that I could write even one post that anyone would want to read. I just knew that I liked to write and that I was determined to try putting together a blog!

Thank you so much for reading my blog and for being so welcoming to me during the past year!

Writing my posts has been a total joy! Plus the joy of meeting so many friends from around the world has been amazing and I realize that amazing can be a cliché word. However, amazing is how I feel about all of you.

Your heartfelt writing has inspired me and made me stop and think. Your writing has warmed my heart and has given me a much more stronger faith in the immense amount of sheer kindness existing that our world.

I am not naive or even an outlier. I realize that there are so many conflicts and controversies of large magnitude. As a result of writing my blog, I now realize that direct communication by written word is a catalyst for powerful change and/or understanding.

Thank you again!!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/outlier/

Parents are sometimes in denial on who their child will grow up to be. As a teacher, I would often  want to say to them:  “Parents…don’t you see the writing on the wall?” Actually, I did not say those actual words and they were not meant literally at all. I wanted the parents to get to truly know their child, to appreciate their child’s individuality, to be realistic about their child’s talents and to attempt to support their child thru the ups and downs of growing up. Parents need to lead their child along a path of self discovery.

What a tall order for a young parent of an early elementary age child! With each year, it seems to get more difficult to truly know your child…to let them know that you are actually “there” for them. Today your child is five or six years old…in what seems like a year or two…you are looking at a grown up replica of that five or six year old.

You simply do not have time for denial about your child! You simply do not have time for denial about your child’s personal weaknesses and strengths!

Just recently, I happened upon a children’s book that will hopefully encourage children and their parents during the early developmental years…

The Wonderful Things You Will Be

Written by Emily Winfield Martin

And then I’ll look at you and you’ll

look at me and I’ll love you, whoever

you’ve grown up to be.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/denial/

The chapel…Top of the Rock at Big Cedar Lodge…overlooking crystal clear Table Rock Lake!

Big Cedar Lodge, Top of the Rock at Big Cedar, Table Rock Lake and Branson…pictures that show some of the interesting places that cause Missouri to call us back again and again! My husband and I just returned from yet another trip to the same location where we took our last two trips. And also two trips before that! Perhaps we should try to branch out a bit…and we will, but we will still return to historic Big Cedar Lodge, all of the fun entertainment opportunities that nearby Branson offers and the soothing beauty of Table Rock Lake.

Some of my pictures from Big Cedar Lodge on Table Rock Lake and nearby Branson, Missouri…

Our cabin…nice view from the balcony!

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Some of the restaurants that we like…shown above–Devil’s Pool and Buzzard Bar at Big Cedar Lodge; shown below–Fall Creek Steak & Catfish (where the rolls are literally thrown across the room to your table) and The Great American Steak & Chicken House!

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Pretty flowers and flowering trees everywhere you look!

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Pictures taken at the Top of the Rock area of Big Cedar Lodge!

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And of course…favorite places to shop!

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The bright lights of the Branson Ferris Wheel!

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Big Cedar Lodge and Branson…FUN!!

Thank you to lifeofanangela  for nominating me for the Blogger Recognition Award! She has a wonderful and interesting blog about her life and travel adventures in New Zealand. Angela loves to write and her talent really comes out in her blog! You will enjoy visiting her blog at…

https://lifeofanangela@wordpress.com

AWARD RULES:

* Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.

* Write a post to show your blog award.

* Give a brief story about how your blog started.

* Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.

* Select 15 bloggers you want to give this award to.

* Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide a link to the post you created.

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Now to my answers…

How My Blog Started

I started writing my blog in late March, 2016. I had no idea what to expect and I was determined to put my site together all by myself. I suppose that I like challenges because it was a gigantic challenge! Do not be stubborn like me!!!

Therefore…here is my first advice to new bloggers:

1. Research and study all that WordPress offers for help when you first begin your blog! Even ask for help long after you have started your blog! Ask questions! I still ask questions and I always get a prompt answer!

Back to my blogging story! The main reason that I started my blog was because I was retiring from teaching elementary school after 18 rewarding years! I thought that blogging would be lots of fun (it is lots of fun!) and that I would have time to devote to it!

That last part about time leads me to my second piece of advice…

2. Blogging takes up a bunch more time than I first expected…way more! Since I enjoy it so much, I don’t mind at all. However, even with not teaching…I have tried (emphasis on “tried”!) to learn how to better organize my writing time. I sometimes tell friends that I have no idea how I ever found the time to teach school! In order to build up an audience, you need to reach out continuously to other blogs…to make comments and to follow them when their writing inspires you. When someone likes your posts, make certain that you visit their site.

Back to my blogging story again! My blog just recently celebrated a one year anniversary! I am so very excited to have met so many incredibly kind, bright and totally inspiring new friends. I now have had readers from over 90 countries and I can hardly believe it! What an incredible learning experience!

My Nominations for the Blogger Recognition Award:

1. https://thechickengrandma.wordpress.com

2. https://swapnaskitchen.com

3. https://settleinelpaso.com

4. https://rabbitpatchdiary.com

5. https://houstonphotojourney.wordpress.com

6. https://aquietandpeaceablelifeblog.wordpress.com

7. https://invisibleillnessesblog.wordpress.com

8. https://susieopinions.blog

9. https://estoniancuisine.com

10. https://renminds.org

11. https://lithuanianintheusa.com

12. https://mumsthewordblog.com

13. https://yadadarcyyada.com

14. https://asmileinmyshoes.com

15. https://christiangrandfather.com

Thank you again lifeofanangela for nominating me for this award!!

You can never really escape your past…no matter how far you roam or how cleverly you hide your mistakes. Sooner or later…someone will find out about any misdeeds or perhaps any triumphs. One answer might be…be careful to stay on the steady path…the lawful path, the fair and kind path, the knowledge seeking path, the rewarding path of helping the less fortunate.

If you happen to be fortunate enough to have a life full of triumphs, try to gracefully accept every compliment and attempt to stay away from boasting. I am inclined to think that bragging places you precariously on the edge of misdeeds.

It appears to me that we have heard enough bragging from politicians, news reporters and various celebrities recently. Why be one of them? Be one of you!  There are  zero people who are perfect. Not you, not me, not your co-workers, not your friends, not your congressman and not Donald Trump. Everyone has a time when they said or did something that could be described as a misdeed…whether a small or large misdeed.

Remember…sooner or later…your past will catch up with you!

“Later”…what an interesting topic for a prompt. I was reminded of a Robert Louis Stevenson quote that I read when I was in college…a quote can speak to many of us…

“Sooner or later we all sit down to a banquet of circumstances.”

What are your hidden circumstances? Your hidden agenda? Your hidden hopes? Your hidden dreams? Some other thoughts from Robert Louis Stevenson that relate to these questions…

“To forget oneself is to be happy.”

“An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding.”

“Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.”

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.”

“So long as we love to serve; so long as we are loved by others, I would almost say that we are indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend.”

“In each of us, two natures are at war– the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our own hands lies the power to choose–what we want most to be–we are.”

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It is up to us what will be on our banquet of circumstances…sooner or later. It is our individual choice.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/later/

Nacogdoches, founded in 1779, is considered to be the oldest town in Texas. Don Antonio Gil Y’Barbo is known as the founder of the town, but the earliest settlers were the Caddo Native Americans. They lived in the area well before the Spanish ever arrived. A Caddo tribe Called Nacogdoches came to East Texas around 800 A.D. Unbelievably, the Caddo continued to have a settlement in the area until 1716.

But, this is not why there are purple Lumberjacks in Nacogdoches!

Around this time, the Spanish started building missions in the area because they wanted to maintain ownership of East Texas. The French also arrived at the same time to begin an exploration of East Texas. As time moved on, more and more people arrived in Texas and conflicts were beginning to be frequent. The Spanish lost ownership of Texas and Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican Revolution. Disagreements about colonization laws and land titles among other problems were the beginning of a downward spiral in the tenuous relationship between Mexico and Texas. Their first major clash was the Battle of Nacogdoches in 1832. The Texas Revolution lasted until the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. Texas became a republic in 1836 and a state in 1845.

But, this is not why there are purple Lumberjacks in Nacogdoches!

By the 1880s, Nacogdoches was a fast growing town and the railroad lines were on the way. As the new century came along, the citizens of Nacogdoches decided to ask the state to open a teacher’s college in the town. The college, known as Stephen F. Austin Teachers College, opened in 1923. The college continued to grow and offered increasing course offerings beyond the education of teachers. Thus, Stephen F. Austin State College was born. As the student population grew by leaps and bounds, the college achieved university status in 1969. After attaining this status, Stephen F. Austin State University began the rise to educational excellence.

This is the reason why there are purple Lumberjacks in Nacogdoches!

The Lumberjacks became the school mascot and the school colors became purple with white. Stephen F. Austin (known as SFA) offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. There are 120 areas of study including a nationally recognized School of Forestry…thus The Lumberjacks mascot name! SFA athletic teams compete in Division I for all varsity sports. The football team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The Lumberjacks basketball team has made four appearances in the NCAA Division I Tournament, with two upset first-round wins in 2014 and 2016. SFA currently ranks #25 in the 2017 U.S. News report of Top Public Colleges and Universities (Regional Universities-West).

This is the real reason why there are purple Lumberjacks in Nacogdoches!

Nacogdoches is an important place to me because I graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University! My college experience was the best possible because of my outstanding experiences in the Journalism/Communications department, the opportunity for a newspaper internship, the incredibly friendly students and the wonderful location. Just a few hours from Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston, SFA has a small town atmosphere with the city not too far away!

SFA is often called the most beautiful university campus in Texas. The campus is like walking through a continuously changing park…tulips, azaleas and dogwoods are literally everywhere in the Spring. With the incredibly tall East Texas pine trees, walking across the over 400 acres is like walking under a tree canopy! I still have a warm, happy feeling when I see those wonderful trees!

And that is the totally real reason why there are purple Lumberjacks in Nacogdoches! I am proud to be one of them!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/purple/

Pigtails and Frog Legs is a “family” cookbook published in 1993 by Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas. If you ever find one in a used bookstore or on eBay, think about buying it immediately! The colorful illustrations by legendary animator-director, Jack Jones, are worth the purchase of the book. However, the recipes are simply ideal for placing children on an exciting road to enjoying good food, fun and cooking! As the dedication page in the cookbook states…

Dedicated to everyone who was a kid…who is a kid…who will always be a kid!

I had no idea that the Neiman Marcus cookbook people knew about me!

This dedication describes me exactly! And possibly it describes some of you too! Cooking in the kitchen with children is fun and messy and worthwhile… I guess that is why I am drawn to children’s cookbooks like a magnet! I obviously have a symbiotic relationship with cookbooks since I have such an essential need for them!

I bought this book at Neiman’s when the cookbook first came out. I spotted the book while taking our children to lunch at one of my favorite places…The Mermaid Bar at Neiman Marcus, NorthPark in Dallas. My mother and I always had lunch at The Mermaid Bar when we were shopping in Dallas. Described as an “enchanted eatery”, The Mermaid Bar is laid-back and as the store says…it has a “magical ambience”. Plus, they feature a kid’s menu…that even the “absolutely only chicken nuggets” child will like!

Mermaid Bar at Neiman Marcus at NorthPark, Dallas

I distinctly remember when I bought the book because our daughter shook her head back and forth and said out loud and with a sigh…”Not another cookbook! Help! Someone get us out of here!” Our son immediately said to the salesperson, “We were really supposed to buy Legos!” and I knew that I better hurry out of the store. He was sort of past the Legos age, but never really outgrew them! Just like I never outgrew children’s cookbooks!

There are so many recipes that I would like to share from this book, but the following is one that everyone likes to help make! Have fun making JAR BARS with the children who spend time at your house…your own kids, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and the children who just drop in when something good is cooking!

Jar Bars

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

1 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Break eggs into a quart jar. Cover tightly. Shake ten times. Add oil and sugar. Cover and shake 20 to 30 times. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and shake 40 times. Pour into greased 10×7 inch or 8×8 inch pan. Spread evenly. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Cut into squares when cool. Serves 6.

Bars can be iced with favorite frosting and decorated with sprinkles!!

Enjoy!!!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/symbiosis/