It was great..

Keep on keeping on, thats the mantra.. Keep striving for peace in your heart and soul, the key is to delight in the Lord our God, He can give it to you.

Today, I went out and picked out the ingredients, will start the bean soaking tomorrow evening.

(..will continue, how the story unveils here – stay tuned)

OK – As this story unveils, these Boston Baked Beans was kind of a disappointment. The 1st batch I made, was a disaster, I had to actually stop in the middle, and then start the baking again, a little later. (not the recipe’s fault) I don’t recommend that.

Secondly, these beans say 5 hours, I think at the stated temp, it should be baked for more like 7-8 hours. On my second attempt, I actually brought the heat up about 30 degrees, but even then it needed at least 6 hours to bake.

In general, the recipe was much too sweet for my tastes. I think I was looking more for a BBQ smoke baked flavor..

The waiting while baking seemed like it was a lot of work too.

I love to cook as well. When I have the time, it is my peace, my calm. Cathartic and Therapeutic , hence why it’s posted in under spirituality.

And when I can cook, what I like to eat. Now that’s, a match-date worth talking about. So I will list out some of the items on my to-cook-list. I will update with pictures and posts, as I get to them.

• Ox Tail
• House of Bowl’s Jalapeno Chicken Wings
• Onion Rings
• Baked Beans
• Gumbo

Then I’d wake up, with all this stress, that I didn’t get done earlier, because I decided to nap.  While, thats all bridge under the water, at that point. In the deep recesses of my mind, I knew I needed a change. I needed more energy and I needed my brain to function better. And while on a routine trip to my local warehouse club shopping run, a supplement on the vitamins aisle, caught my eye. It was Nopalina Flax Seed Plus. I had thought I previously read Flax seed, as a brain food, and for a moderate price of $17 for a large bag, I decided to give it a try.

Then, I went home, and did some more research on it, and much to my disappointment, I did not find any sites, that said it was a good brain food. Nevertheless, all the other information, I found on it, became quite promising. In addition to having Omega 3, 6, and 9, it helped against cancer, and it’s also a boost in fiber intake. And so much more!

2 tablespoons a day, (1 tablespoon  at lunch and  1 at dinner) and it got me, regular overnight. Not only regular though, but feeling great! At lunch that next day, I was no longer lethargic, and my brain felt most competent during work and homework. I’m currently enjoying, every bit of the day. I am no longer depressed, and that bulge in my stomach, is no longer food stuck in my intestinal tract, or colon, it’s only the fat I’ve allowed to build up. Now I have a keen picture of what I actually need to work off, in my abs.  :)

I initially purchased a flax meal or milled variety, but I will look into grinding my own whole seeds, in the future, once I’m done with this pack. We’ll see where, that goes. In the meantime, you should do some of your own research, but here a link to get you started.

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/flaxinfo.htm

I don’t know much about these , I tend to prefer the Wide mouth Nalgene bottles, because they are easy to clean, and you can fit ice , into it, easily. and pour drinks into them easily as well. Although, the only draw to my Nalgene bottles, is that they are not well insulated, to keep your drink, hot or cold. (Which is one of the scales, in the ratings, in the link above.)

Either way, water bottles are good, all around. It helps reduce your carbon footprint, you save money on bottled water, and you always have water with you.

I went ahead and got one of my reports, today, and saving the other 2, to check later, in the year. I actually thought, it may be good cadence to check once every 4 months, using a different reporting agency, but I don’t know if that is bad, for your credit report? I guess I’ll find out, in time.

Nevertheless, I included this post, in the “Spirituality” category, because, this is peace of mind, when you know, what your credit looks like. In the very least, if it’s not peace of mind for you, at least you know whether or not, there are any fishy accounts, in your report, that you haven’t opened. Credit fraud is rampant, and a scary thing.

I actually have a block on my account, that any credit agencies, need to call me , to verify with me personally, before they open any new accounts. I don’t know if they just let you do that, or not, but I was able to do that , because of a previous case of identity theft.

So without further ado, here are the links to the, official free credit reports.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt156.shtm

https://www.annualcreditreport.com

Businesses are considered lean and well lubricated, when they are moving products/services, and production and compound growth is building 10-20% year after year, quarter after quarter.  Is this really sustainable?

It is actually, with the expansion of technology and new methods, machines and computers, etc , that has helped enabled production and efficiency to keep those profit margins healthy, for the most part. Unfortunately though, that process, has rendered many old jobs and roles of yesteryear obsolete, and therefore, continue to eliminate jobs. (Not to forget and mention, the exporting of jobs and cheap labor – that is for another post)

Word of advice, never stop learning, never stop thinking, never stop embracing change, never stop dreaming.

You’re not always going to be on the up and up, heed some lessons of boxers, they learn to roll with punches and drivers learn to swerve.

You don’t have to mold with the World, just make adjustments, in your own life, so that you can always be prepared for what the future may bring. Prepare your mind, Prepare your soul, Go All In, Life is Too Short!

“We”, as in, I (for the moment/period) wanted to start her up with a bit of good advice.

While some may despise, short status updates, and its nature for some, leaning closer towards, abuse and vanity, it’s sometimes useful, and I also sometimes, find these updates to be quite fun, funny and entertaining. Laughter is not only a good release for stress, but also beneficial to your health! http://bit.ly/9sJd8x

Here are my top 4 Reasons for advocating Twitter, Jaiku, Facebook, Buzz, Etc.

4.) Takes less than a few seconds to read, in this busy-ridden society, of the United States
3.) Bleeding edge of information i.e. news broadcasts/industry news/sports news/etc
2.) Nice to know (and sometimes entertaining) – what your friends and family are doing
1.) Can possibly keep you out of jail http://bit.ly/bMCPBb

Tweet On, My Friends!

I hope to have the time to update with all the good things clicking in here brain, and share some of the tips and knowledge I’ve grown to rely on. Well, after so many years of poor choices, I think you end up learning something, ..eventually. I personally like to learn by experience, and that often entails, pain.

I think the only reason why, I did so many things the way, I did – was because, the reasoning behind, all the good advice, received – just, did not make sense, to me.  So here, I will speak to those who may need, that different perspective, of reasoning, that I wished I had.

And finally, if you are anything , like me. You would not be reading this blog. So, in the end, these golden nuggets, I plan to share, may go unheard. But, I choose to live by faith, and the hope, that my efforts are not wasted. However, the time spent on this blog will be a positive and progressive use of my time, so if it doesn’t help anyone out there, it should serve me well, regardless.

Happy Palm Sunday, Everyone! Jesus is with us!

P.S. Jesus did not come to save us, by slaying all the bad people.. but by freeing us, internally and soulfully.