Southwestern white Chil recipe

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Good Morning Dear Ones,

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Hope this finds you feeling well today!

I am good,  still enjoying the cool weather!!

Think it is suppose to go up in the 80's today tho,

but it will cool off again tonight,  that is workable! 

Like I have any control over that anyway!!  lol

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These lovely lil berries are in my backyard,  I brought some

branches in a few weeks ago,  course, they have wilted now,

 but the berries were yellow and orange and green then,  that was

in September,   now they look like Christmas berries.

 So Pretty.............don't you just love God's creations!!

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I actually found my recipe for the white bean chili.  I was

thinking it was a Kraft foods recipe,  and tried to go there

and find it,  but I was looking under the wrong name.

It is actually called "Southwestern White Chili".

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Anyway,  a few of you said you would like the recipe

so here it is.  It is pretty easy and you will probably

want to double the recipe because it serves about

4 really.  The first time I made it I was disappointed

we had no leftovers,  so this time I made a double

batch,  and I am so glad cause it was a hit again.

Yum Yum!!

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I am just gonna put the link to Kraft foods cause

it has a picture and nutrition info and ratings,

you will see it has a 5 rating which is the best,

that is my rating as well!

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http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/southwestern-white-chili-108281.aspx

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While you are there, they might have a block on the lefthand side

that says sign up for the Kraft magazine.  If you don't get it......

you would enjoy it and it is totally free,  quite a nice lil magazine

full of recipes and cooking ideas,  and new Kraft products.

I have been getting it for about 6 years now.  I love when

it comes,  I think it is quarterly or maybe just twice a year

now,  not sure!  The reason I say it might be there is because

I  went to the site a number of times this morning and twice

it had it and 3 times it didn't,  so don't know why.  If it

isn't there you might try going to kraft foods and see if

it will lead you to it.

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Well,  I gotta get busy and do some cleaning and I am

making sour cream enchiladas for din din tonight.

That is another recipe from a good friend,

and an easy one as well.  I just love easy delicious

recipes,  don't you???

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Our Dee is coming over this evening to have dinner

with us,  so as always we are looking forward to seeing her!

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Jim got the tile caulked near the outer wall last night

and so it looks even much more finished and polished now.

Took all the cardboard out of the bottom of the shower

and vacuumed it all out again,  so we are ready for

grouting that last area whenever time permits.

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Can I say excited - We are beside ourselves

with  Joy that this project is almost done.

Hopefully soon we will be showing you some

pics of our newly renovated bath!  Yeah!!

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Well,  Sweeties,  gotta go,

The house is calling,  calling to me!! lol

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Thanks for coming by, and have a great day!!

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Blessings and Hugs,

Nellie

Heaven.....I'm in Heaven!!

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Good Monday Morning Sweet Friends,

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Hope you all had a very nice weekend,  and accomplished

some things you wanted to get done,  or had some fun

together as a couple or family,  and got some much needed

rest as well!

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I am just beside myself with Joy............for Fall has finally

arrived in Florida weatherwise!!  We have had temps in

the 50 and 60's,  and  it will be that way all week, they

do rise higher to 70-80 in the daytime,  but we have nice

cool mornings and evenings! Yippee, Yahoo,  and any

other good word I can think of to say!!

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Saturday hubby and I so enjoyed a glorious morning on

the porch,  beautiful blue skies,  refreshing breeze,  and

cool temps., good breakfast,  great time of conversing and

planning for all the festivities ahead.  I was thinking does

it get any better than this cause I feel like Heaven, I'm in heaven!

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I know,  I know...........Heaven is way better than that,  but

it is just a lil foretaste of what is to come,  we could never

wrap our mind around what it will be like anyway!!

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Might I add that my love language is Quality time,  so

I always enjoy spending one on one time with those I love,

and all our bathroom work has been cutting into some

of that time,  even tho we are working together we

aren't having those great times of conversing that we

like to have. 

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We also went for a nice 45 min. walk on Saturday

evening in the cold.  It was bliss,  I have to say!

Plus we fulfulled our exercise quotient for the week!

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I am excited to annouce that we finished grouting all the walls

of the shower this weekend, and putting in the towel bars and

soap dish, so all that is left is the shower floor,  and

caulking.  Hubby will probably caulk the wall edges

tonight,  and hopefully we will get the floor done some

time this week.

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  It is gonna be a busy week tho,  since I have my ladies

 group Wed,  and also a Social on Friday.  Glad I got

my grocery shopping out of the way on Friday.

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I finally decided what I wanted to do with the lil

window in there,  but Wally world is out of the fabric,

I want it to match what I have in my bedroom.

So am praying they get more in or that another

walmart will have it!  Want get to check until

next week probably.  I am sure the Lord will

work something out!

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Think I am gonna make some White Bean chicken

chili for tonight.  I had a really great recipe,  but

can't find it,  so got a new one online,  but sure

hope it tastes as good as the other one,  cause

we all loved it!  I just discovered it last year,

a very good dish,  I might add.

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Well, dearies,  hope you have a wonderful

week ahead and you are enjoying yourself

and the Fall weather wherever you live and love!

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Thanks so much for stopping by,
would love to hear from you and soooo appreciate
 your sweet comments.
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Sweet Blessings to you all,

Nellie

Have a Praising Sunday!

(Our Lil Sweet Surprise)

Good Sunday Morning to You!

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And Happy Belated Sweetest Day to you too!

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Just saw that on my calendar,  and it was yesterday

for you,  today for me,  cause I am writing this

Sat. Evening late!

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I have no idea what Sweetest Day is,  but I knew it

must have something to do with all you sweet friends!

Works for me,  how bout you??

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Just had to show you the precious lil surprise the Lord

had for us on Friday evening when we were out working

in the yard.  I have never seen a Moth like it before,  so

just had to get a shot.  Also looked it up online and

found out it is called a "Luna Moth".

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Aren't his or her markings just so detailed and amazing.

Outlined in brown and lil eye looking things on his wings,

one of his tail tendrils was broken off,  poor baby!!

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I put the website where you can go and read about

it if you would like,  thought it was interesting.  It

isn't very long,  and I found out that I have a "Sweet gum"

tree (the one in my blog a few days back) cause that is

what they eat among other things.

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http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/critter/insect/lunamoth.htm

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Because the wind was blowing so much,  it blew his wings up so

 I was able to get a shot of his underside.  He was sort of plump,

 and almost looked furry,  he had a lil of that on his wings as well

 right in the center.  Very neat looking !!

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It said,  they were flourescent at night,  but he flew into our garage

and we turned the lights out but he didn't look flourescent to us.

We put him in our Sweet Gum tree and watched as he crawled

and fluttered his way up the tree till we couldn't see him anymore.

They say the adults usually die within a week.  How Sad!!

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I just love these lovely little surprises!  Don't you??

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Well,  I will leave you with this verse for the day.

from Psalm 150:6

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"Let everything that has breath

praise the Lord."

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Have a great Sunday,

Praising the Lord!

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Love, Hugs and Blessings,

Nellie

Welcome to Thankful Thursday - October 15, 2009

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Hello Sweet Friends,

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How has your day been going??  Mine has been slow but good!!

We had a lil rain today,  that is because a cool front is coming thru

tomorrow!!  We are in heaven just thinking about it!!

We now think we might have temps in the 50's!!  Sorry I think I

might have told you that yesterday!!  You can't tell I am excited

or anything,  can you???

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Can't believe it is Thursday already,  and that we are already

half way through October.  Is time flying as fast for you as it is

for me???  I feel like I blink and the day is gone practically.

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Only 70 shopping days till Christmas!! 

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 Can you imagine that,  and I just love Christmas,

 but it just seems to be coming soooooo soon!!

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 Guess I had better start putting

on my thinking cap about creative gift giving again!

It is truly a joy tho, I love all the festivities of Fall and

Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I don't start  decorating

 for Christmas till the day after Thanksgiving,

but I do like to get most of my shopping done before

Thanksgiving if possible.  Then all I have to deal with

is decorating and cooking and wrapping,  and

that is enough in and of itself..

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Guess I had better hush up about all my deep

thinking (lol) today and get on with Thankful

Thursday................

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#1

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I am thankful for the fun time I had with my daughter on Monday

when I went to visit she and Rosie.

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#2

I am thankful that we finally got her wall hangings put together

and on her wall,  and that her dad was able to hang her

shelf,  and we finally finished her bedroom decorating.

It looks great and she is very happy with it.

I forgot to take the camera,  so the next time I go I will

try and get some pics to show you.

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#3

I am thankful that a young Mom,s with 3 children has realized

she has addiction problem and is going into rehab as soon

as they can find a place for her.  She is the daughter of a

old and dear friend.  So we are all rejoicing at this step.
If you should feel led please pray the rehab center will
be able to take her right away cause there is a waiting
list,  and she really needs to be there.

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#4

I am thankful that both my children are dating people

we really like and love.  That is truly a Joy!!

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#5

I am thankful that we are hearing feedback from

some of our Sunday Schools students about how this

class is impacting their lives.  That is always a joy

for teachers to hear cause that is why we do what

we do,  not to hear about it,  but to impact lives

for the better!!  

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#6

I am thankful we got all our bushes and flowers

cut back yesterday. 

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#7

I am thankful we will be doing some more grouting

this weekend,  Lord willing!!

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#8

I am thankful I was able to come up with the

Country French Chicken recipe,  we have missed

it in our menus for years now.

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#9

I am so thankful for God's Amazing Grace and

Peace in my life.  What a friend we have in Jesus!

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#10

I am thankful that a young marine, that is 25 years old
is home safe and sound from Iraq.  We saw him for

the first time last Sunday,  and he looks amazing

and so happy.  We love him very much and it

just blessed our hearts to see him looking so well

and looking so happy. He is really growing up!!

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#11

I am thankful that there are still tons and tons of

young men and women in uniform who are faithfully

loving and protecting our country,  no matter what

political correctness has to say,  they are staying

their post and proud to do it!!

God Bless them one and all.

We love you and we appreciate your service to

your country very very much!

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Well,  guess I better stop for today folks.

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Hope I struck a chord with you, and maybe you

will let me know what you are thankful for as well.

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Have a Great Evening!!

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Love,  Blessings and Hugs,

Nellie

New Recipes - "Country French Chicken", "Romaine, mandarin orange salad" and Poppy Seed Dressing"

Evening Sweet Friends,

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How are you today??  Well and happy I hope!!

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I spent time twice outside working in our front flower

bed.  The bushes needed trimming and the Lantana

needed trimming back as well.  We finally finished

it up when hubby came home,  so it looks very nice now.

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Yesterday I was looking for a recipe for something

called "Country French Chicken".

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 Years ago about 12-14 yrs. to be exact,  they used to have

a jarred sauce you could buy called Chicken Tonight.  There

was a"Chicken Cacciatore I think, and then one called

Country French Chicken.  My family loved the latter

one,  and so did I.  It was so easy to just plop some

chicken breasts in a pan pour that sauce over it and

let it cook away for about an hour,  make some rice

and a veggie to go with it,  and I was good to go!!

And it was a great and tasty meal to boot,  doesn't

get much better than that,  but for some strange reason

they took it off the market,  don't know what they

were thinking!!  Someone seriously needs to talk to

their marketing team,  whoever they were!!

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Anyway,  I was looking online to see if I could find

a recipe for it and I did find one,  but it didn't sound

like the kind of sauce it was even tho it did have some

of the ingredients that the other one had,  so I decided

to do a lil experimenting and came up with my own.

It turned out great and everyone loved it!!  So thought

I would share it with you,  so you can enjoy it too!

Country French Chicken

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4 Boneless Chicken Breasts

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1 can of cream of chicken soup

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1 soup can full of milk

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1 cup of applesauce (I used natural applesauce-
with no added sugar, in the separate lil cups.

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1 cup of White cooking wine or reg. white Wine
I use white cooking wine

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1 small onion chopped up in small pieces

(I use the food processor for the onion, carrots and celery,  much easier)

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1 large carrots or about 8-10 baby carrots,

cut the same as onion

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2 ribs of celery, cut the same as onions & carrots

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1 tsp. parsley flakes

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1/2 tsp. garlic powder or to taste

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pinch of dried thyme

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pepper to taste,  I didn't add

any salt but you might want to if

you are used to your food being a

bit more salty.

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Mix all the ingredients together in a large

bowl,  then put your chicken breasts in

a large frying pan or dutch oven,
  Mine is silverstone so I don't need to add any

oil or pam type spray.  Just put the chicken

breasts in the pan,  pour the mixture in the

bowl over it,  cover with the lid, and turn
 the burner to medium and wait for it to start
 bubbling a little, then turn it to your lowest
 setting and let it simmer for an hour or so. 
You should sort of stir it every 15 mins.
 cause it will stick to the pan if you don't.
 The chicken breasts were large so I cut
them in two pcs.  Take one out at an hour

and see how tender it is just in case.

One hour should be sufficient tho.

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Meanwhile you can be making yellow,

white or brown rice,  whatever

your preference,  I use yellow,  I think

it tastes good and makes a pretty

presentation as well.  Jasmine rice

might be good too,  if you have never

had Jasmine rice - you have to try it

sometime.  I can eat it all by itself,

it is delicious.

I also cook my rice in the microwave,  I find

that much easier,  cause you don't have

to worry about it burning,  but you do

have to stir it ocassionally.

Note: I made it with the Jasmine rice
on 10-15-2013 and it was delicious,
think this is my favorite way now.

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Once everything is ready just put rice on your

plate,  some sauce over the rice and add

your chicken breast.  The sauce is not a

thick sauce,  it is kind of like a thin gravy.

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Wish I had remembered to take a picture,

Sorry I never think about it till it too late!

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Also decided to try making a different type of salad

for a change.  I found a

Romaine and Mandarin Orange Salad

with Poppy Seed Dressing recipe.

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2  heads of romaine lettuce

torn or sliced into small pcs.

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1 10 oz. can of mandarin orange segments

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1/4 cup of chopped pecans

(the recipe called for toasted slivered almonds but I didn't have

any and I like pecans better anyway)

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McCormick bac'n pieces

(the recipe called for 6 pcs. of real bacon fried crispy and

 then crumbled - Somehow the oranges and the bacon didn't sound

good to me,  but then I decided to try the bac'n pcs. and it was

actually quite good.)

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Toss the Romaine in a large bowl with the mandarin

 oranges and the if you use the real bacon,  add it now! 

 Place lettuce mixture onto salad plates,  sprinkle with

 pecans or almonds,  and if you use the bac'n pcs.

you can sprinkle those on now.

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Poppy Seed Dressing

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1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar

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1/2 cup of sugar,

 (recipe calls for 3/4 cup but I only used the

 1/2 cup  and it was fine)

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2 tsp. dried minced onions

(recipe called for 1/2 red onion coarsely chopped

since I didn't have red onion I improvised)

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1 tablespoon of prepared mustard

(recipe called for 1/2 tsp. of dried mustard powder)

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1/4 tsp. of salt

(Which I somehow overlooked and didn't use,

and mine was just fine without it.)

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1/2 cup of vegetable oil

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1 tsp. of poppy seeds

(make sure you don't eat these in anything

if you have to take a drug test for a job,

or you will fail it.

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Place vinegar, sugar, onion, mustard and salt into

a blender,  I used my handy dandy Magic Bullet.

Cover and puree until smooth.  Add in the vegetable

oil and blend till it is creamy, then stir in the poppy seeds.

Drizzle on your lovely salad,

Eat and Enjoy!

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We all really enjoyed the PoppySeed dressing,

it was a very nice change of pace.

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Well, hope you have a very nice evening.

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Thanks for coming by and see ya tomorrow.

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Hugs and Blessings,

Nellie

Fall.................. in Florida???

(Tree in my front yard)

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Hello Sweet Friends,

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Hope your Tuesday is going well.  Mine has been good so far.
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  Thought I would show you that we do have some semblance of Fall in Florida.

Not with Temperatures tho,  course,  we are gonna go in the upper 60's this

weekend supposedly,  WOW  sub 70 temps. Scary!!  lol

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Now  Did you notice how sparse my tree is................

That would be because they have been dropping these

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Now ours do not turn a pretty color before they drop, they are just

 maybe a lil yellow with ugly brown spots or just brown when they fall,
 at least this tree anyway.

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The neighbors that gave it to us called it a Maple Tree,

and others have said it is a Sweet Gum Tree,

or maybe it should be called a Sycamore Tree,

cause it drops those torny lil ball thingies all over

the ground at certain times of the year,  winter or

early spring maybe.  I forget!  and they call those

Sycamore balls.  So who knows what kind of tree

it really is..............

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The upside is it looks beautiful and gives nice shade

 in the spring and summer,  and it is a great source of free mulch

in the Fall.  I was out there this morning  raking up leaves

and replenishing our flower beds.  We use pine bark

in the spring,  but after all the Fla. rains in the summer you

have those bare spots where all the mulch gets washed

away,  so I fill in with the leaves,  works great and sort

of refreshes our look until next spring.

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Just wanted you to know you weren't the only ones who

had to rake leaves,  us Florida folk have to do it too!

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Course,  sometimes we just let the mower eat them if

we don't need them for mulch!!   Yes,  we are still

mowing,  and tonight is the nite probably.  We are waiting

for a good cold snap so the grass stops growing so much.

Maybe soon folks,  we can always hope!!

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Course,  then we probably want be seeing these lil

beauties for too much longer.

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They are called Red Hot Hibiscus.  They are pretty small.

Had to hold it up to get a decent pic.  They are so cute,

I just love them!  The bush also has beautiful foilage as well.

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Well,  have a great Fall Day wherever you live,

This morning felt like Fall,  right now it feels just like summer!!

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Remember "To Every thing there is a Season and

a Time to Every Purpose under the  Heaven."

Ecclesiastes 3:1

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Have a Great Evening!!

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Hugs and Blessings,

Nellie

Have a Restful Sunday

(Appalachian trail in Maine)

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Good Sunday Morning Dear Friends,

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Hope this finds you smilin and joyful this Sunday Morning.

We had a fantastic day today.  We were so blessed by our

friends  surprise visit,  and fortunately I had everything

I needed to make a nice and quick dinner for us, 

 which meant they got to stay longer. 

 What sweethearts they are!  They have really gone thru

 some rough waters over the last years but their faith

and trust in the Lord is as strong as ever.  What a joy

it was to spend the day with them.

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Typically, we would have been at our Church's Fall Festival

 that we have every year.  We usually work one of the

blow up activities,  but for some reason, we just did not

feel led to sign up this year,   which we both thought

 was wierd,  cause we love doing it!

But now we know why!!

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  It is sooooo good to worship and serve a God

who knows all that is gonna happen way before we do. 

 Guess that is why one of His attributes is

 "omniscience"  or "All Knowing".

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I will leave you with Psalm 32:8

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"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you and watch over you."

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Hope you have a Very Restful Sunday!

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Hugs and Blessings,

Nellie