Friday, July 1, 2016

Inspiration

Is it a bad thing that I start so many posts with an apology? Yeah, probably. Usually it's to all of my readers and in my monthly poetry group posts because . . . well, if you've read them you know why. Today it's to my friend Cathy of the blog Go Mama O.

I'm bad at rules. Just as bad as I am at poetry. About a month ago, on May 31st, to be exact, Cathy tagged me in one of those challenges that go around now and then. This one was her first post of a Three Day Quote Challenge. It wasn't all that complicated really, in her own words, you "just post a favorite quote for 3 consecutive days and nominate three others to do the same!" 

Easy peasy, right? Well, if you know me, you're crossing your arms, shaking your head and rolling your eyes. 

In my defense, there wasn't a time frame specified. Your bad, not mine.

But that's all I've got in my defense. So in the spirit of "better late than never" (maybe I should use that as one of my 3 quotes), I'm doing this post today. And since I can't follow the rules, I'm doing it all at once.

I tried to find quotes that spoke to me, provided inspiration and were from people I knew of. But, as always, when I'm just going through life I can think of a million of them, and when I need one . . . nada. All I could think of was "if you love someone, set them free . . ." Not only is that not the kind of inspiration I wanted to express in this post, but I'd already changed that one to fit my life and made it into a meme for my Facebook page. See:


If you love someone the college version meme | Designed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #humor #funny #parenting #college

For my first quote choice, I actually went back to one of my original blog posts, called I Apologize. It's about bullying and where I think it all starts. For that post I made this simple graphic with a quote from Eminem. He says so perfectly exactly how I feel and how I tried to raise my boys.


Eminem quote of liking others | www.BakingInATornado.com | #kindness #compassion


For my second quote choice I'm inspired by another lesson I've tried to teach my boys and something I myself grapple with, owning my mistakes. I am dismayed at what I'm seeing with frightening frequency in society; the desire to blame the victim, blame upbringing, blame society, blame anyone. Except the person really to blame:

If you could kick the person in the pants Theodore Roosevelt quote | www.BakingInATornado.com | #parenting


My third quote is less inspiration and more perspective. It's a humorous quote, it's about life, and it reminds me that no matter what's going on, to take a minute and laugh. And then prepare yourself. Because all parents know that Murphy's Law is alive and well.




Oh, and here's one I live by. Not sure who said it first but I do believe that "food is love".


Ranch Chicken and Broccoli Kabobs: Chunks of chicken and broccoli florets marinated, skewered and grilled. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #dinner
Ranch Chicken and Broccoli Kabobs
Ranch Chicken and Broccoli Kabobs: Chunks of chicken and broccoli florets marinated, skewered and grilled. | Recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #dinner


I know I'm supposed to nominate three people to take this challenge. Well, I was supposed to a month ago. With interest, that's probably about 300 people by now. Truth is, whenever I nominate people I worry about who I may have left out. So I'm just going to challenge anyone interested, either in blog posts or just in the comments below, tell me what quotes inspire you.


Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics





Ranch Chicken and Broccoli Kabobs
                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts halves, cut into bite sized pieces
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets, leaving about an inch of stem on each floret
1/2 cup ranch salad dressing
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
3 tsp balsamic vinegar
dash of salt

Directions:
*Place the broccoli florets and the chicken chunks into separate bowls or freezer bags.
*Whisk together the salad dressing, oil, Italian seasoning, balsamic vinegar and salt.
*Add the marinade to the chicken and to the broccoli. Mix to be sure everything is well coated. Refrigerate for a few hours up to a day.
*Skewer the chicken and broccoli. Skewer the broccoli carefully through the stem.
*Spray your cold grill with nonstick spray. Heat the grill to medium. 
*Place the skewers on the grill and turn every 5 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked. It should only take about 15 to 20 minutes.

13 comments:

  1. I love the one about the full schedule SO MUCH!!
    And since it's 3:30pm here I think your chicken ranch skewers would just about make for a nice snack!
    Happy July 4th weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Tamara, looking forward to sitting in the driveway watching the boys light off their firecrackers.

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  2. Love these! If late means they've had a chance to distil and get better, then it worked!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The quotes and the recipe! Delicious! LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Took me a while but I had fun doing this post.

      Delete
  4. I will accept your challenge. I will post...within the month?! LOL
    Love me some kabobs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you're taking the challenge. No time frame, I'm certainly not one to cast stones!

      Delete
  5. My favorite is the Theodore Roosevelt quote---soooo true!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Three quotes and a recipe. Not bad, and that recipe would be a great thing for grilling on a holiday weekend. My favorite is the Theodore Roosevelt quote, too, and, in addition, thank you for not nominating anyone. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great quotes tied to important lessons! Nicely done! And this challenge has no time frame, as you noticed, just a check box that it's done! Hope you had fun putting it together!

    ReplyDelete

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