Feed Your Good Dog

Positive Thoughts | Positive Actions | Positive Results

Butternut Squash and Chickpea Stew – Perfect for Fall!

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TGIFYGDF . . . Thank Goodness It’s Feed Your Good Dog Friday! – Chickpea and Butternut Squash Stew Recipe | Martha Stewart

Roasted Butternut SquashI had a taste for butternut squash this past week. Kroger had a nice selection, so I bought one. When I had a minute, I googled “butternut squash” for a new recipe and found Martha Stewart’s Chickpea and Butternut Squash Stew. It popped up in the google search and piqued my interest – mostly because it calls for savory Moroccan seasonings.

When it was time to make the stew, I got to work and peeled the butternut squash, cut it into irregular shaped pieces, drizzled it with olive oil, and sprinkled it with sea salt and pepper to taste. The prepped squash roasted in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for the next 40 minutes or so, and came out beautifully!

While the squash was roasting, I made the Harissa and chopped the onions, garlic, parsley stems and leaves, and carrots. Instead of cooking my own chickpeas from dried beans, which Martha Stewart recommends, I used canned chickpeas and just made sure I drained the liquid and rinsed them well. Then I combined and cooked the ingredients according to directions and my husband and I enjoyed the stew at dinner with a side salad. It was delicious and had the Moroccan flavor we anticipated.

This hearty Butternut Squash and Chickpea Stew requires quite a bit of chopping and prep. You can, however, break up the prep into smaller steps over a day or two, if your time is limited. For instance, all of the ingredients can be chopped one day and combined the next. However you do it, it is well worth the effort!

The nutritional information per serving, based on my calculations using calorie count, is: Calories 274 | Fat 13.7 g | Fiber 8.4 g | Carbs 32.8 g | Sodium 358 mg | Protein 7.2 g The butternut squash makes this dish rich in Vitamins A and C.

Martha Stewart’s Chickpea and Butternut Squash Stew Recipe is a keeper and I will definitely make it again!

One Small Act – Monday Motivational Quote

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One Small Act – Atlanta Community Food Bank

One Small Act for Atlanta Community Food BankGreat things are done by a series of small things brought together. ~Vincent Van Gogh

You cannot – ever – underestimate the power of one small act, such as casting a vote. Many, many thanks to all of you who voted and made the Atlanta Community Food Bank a top 50 winner of Walmart’s Fight Hunger Spark Change contest. In a nail biting finish and thanks to all of you, ACFB won $60,000 which will translate into over $552,000 in food distributed to hungry men, women, and children in our Atlanta area. WOW!

On Thursday night, October 2, the Atlanta Community Food Bank was 530 votes away from winning a spot on Walmart’s list of the Top 50 Feed America Food Banks in the United States. Walmart committed to donate $3 million to 50 local food banks, or $60,000 to each of the top 50 food banks voted for in their Fight Hunger Spark Change initiative. On Thursday night the Atlanta Community Food Bank was 530 votes away from being number 50 and clearly out of the running for the money!

Ricky Steele, an ACFB friend, launched a Facebook campaign of his own with a continuous shout out to his friends to vote each day until midnight of Sunday, October 5 to push ACFB up the list. Ricky’s Facebook friends made the same request of their Facebook friends and so on until last night at midnight when the contest ended the ACFB ended up in 46th place. They will now receive the $60,000 to help feed the hungry of North Georgia. Clear evidence that a small act like casting a vote makes a huge positive difference in the lives of so many.

And, remember … Feed Your Good Dog so your good dog always wins!

Source: Brainy Quote

Loriana Hernandez – 100 Day Challenge

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Loriana HernandezI don’t know Loriana Hernandez personally. I know of her through my sister, and, over this past year, have been following her personal journey to fight leukemia. She is the epitome of “Feed Your Good Dog”.

Loriana is a journalist and former news anchor for Good Day Austin, KTBC Fox 7. She is using her gifts as such to educate the rest of us about life with cancer, and how to fight back. Foremost, as one quickly sees from comments to her Facebook posts, Loriana is a devoted mother, wife, sister, daughter, and friend.

Following is Loriana’s Facebook post today where she responds to the question “How can we help?”. Her answer is the 100 Day Challenge, wherein Loriana challenges us to “100 days of new life” to correspond with “100 days of HER new life” which begins on, October 29, Day 1 of her bone marrow transplant. The 100 Day Challenge will motivate Loriana to stay strong during the arduous bone marrow transplant process and the rest of us to stay on track to better health.

I’m in . . . she had me at “how we can help”. What about you? Read on for Loriana’s thoughts on the 100 Day Challenge and how to participate.

September 30, 2014, Loriana Hernandez – 100 Day Challenge – Facebook Post

Good morning everyone!!
You asked how you can help. Here’s an idea.

Have you been putting off getting to the gym? Not motivated to lose the extra weight you need to be healthy ? Or just want to feel better and eat clean?

Why not make my first 100 days of MY NEW LIFE after my bone marrow transplant the first 100 days of YOUR new life?!! Get off the blood pressure meds, cholesterol meds, get yourself out of the pre-diabetic/diabetic danger zone. You know health and fitness are my passion and nothing would make me happier than to see more good come out of this.

The first 100 days are critical and are hell. When you are “too tired” to get up out of bed and workout let my story and pain be your motivation. You can post your success stories and it will bring happy tears and keep me going. I don’t want to let you guys down either so you will all keep me strong. I can’t give up so you can’t give up.

This all started after Aly Frisque Kerr and I spoke and she needed motivation and we came up with the 100 day challenge AND all night I thought “hey why can’t we challenge everyone?”

Aly will be blogging. She knows she can’t give up.

What do you think ? Want to join Aly?

Aly’s 100 day challenge starts DAY 1 of my transplant. Oct 29th. So you have time to throw out all that bad food. Haha.

#ArmorUp
Share and Spread the word. Let’s see how many people we can take the ‪#‎100DayChallenge‬
‪#‎NeverGIveUp‬

And, remember … Feed Your Good Dog so your good dog always wins!

Monday Motivational Quote

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Manage Anger with Prayer

manage anger with prayerIn February, 2011, my dear friend, Teresa Kamins, sent me a copy of Norman Vincent Peale’s Positive Thinking Every Day: An Inspiration For Each Day Of The Year. I look to it for inspiration to this day.

Instead of trying to destroy all your anger, snip away by prayer each annoyance that feeds your anger. In so doing you will weaken it to such a point, that presently you will have control over it. ~ Norman Vincent Peale Positive Thinking Every Day: An Inspiration For Each Day Of The Year

Every one of us experiences anger. It is how we manage anger that matters most.

Our ability to manage anger well and have control over it results in positive changes in our lives. However, when we are unable to manage anger and let it take over, we run the risk of making poor decisions which can create problems in our lives and negatively impact our relationships and even our health.

If we want to manage anger well, and create a positive change in our lives, then to properly do so, Dr. Peale encourages us to use prayer to chip away at each annoyance until our anger is weaken to a point where we can resume control. “Feed Your Good Dog” until the evil dog is no longer.

An example of a prayer . . . said with conviction . . . to lessen the annoyance to help manage anger may be:

May understanding, patience and love fill my heart. May understanding, patience and love for _________ flood my soul.

Make no mistake that this may not be easy, and it will require commitment on our part. It may take saying the prayer many many times over to reach a point where we are in control over our anger. What we need to keep in mind, however, is that to resume self-control by using prayer to, among other things, manage anger will take far less time than if we mismanaged our anger, and it will result in fewer negative consequences than if we did nothing.

And, remember . . . Feed Your Good Dog so your good dog always wins!

Sources: PBS.org | This Emotional Life references: Anger Research Consortium; American Psychological Association

Volunteer Opportunities – All For Good

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TGIFYGDF – Thank Goodness It’s Feed Your Good Dog Friday!
Volunteer Opportunities for the Weekend and Beyond!

All For Good - Volunteer OpportunitiesVolunteering can be life-changing. When you participate in volunteer opportunities you will learn new skills, make new friends, strengthen your community, spice up your resume and improve lives, often all at the same time.

So change your life for the better and make a difference in someone else’s by using the All for Good app to the right to search volunteer opportunities that suit you. Top keyword searches for volunteer opportunities include: animals, community, health, children, environment, and hunger. Simply type in a keyword that’s relevant to the type of volunteer opportunity you are interested in pursuing, and then the city and state or zipcode in which you are looking to volunteer. Click the Search button next to bring up a list of keyword focused volunteer opportunities in your designated location.

Or…from the All For Good homepage you can link to a list of volunteer opportunities in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, San Diego or San Francisco.

If you are an organization that relies on volunteers and are looking to recruit volunteers, then visit the new All for Good website to find out how they can help.

Any one of us can make a difference in the world and leave it a better place. We can not underestimate the far reaching infinite effect on the world of just one person making the choice and doing something good. So if you are looking of ways to make a difference this weekend (or any other day in the future for that matter) and affect the lives of others in a positive way, check out All for Good.

And, remember…Feed Your Good Dog so you good dog always wins!

Monday Motivational Quote

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Apollos Hester, East View Running Back“It’s an awesome feeling, when you truly believe that you’re going to be successful regardless of the situation because you put in all the time, all the effort, all the hard work, and you know it’s going to pay off.” ~ Apollos Hester, East View Running Back

Down at half-time, Apollos Hester and his teammates came back to win the football game by one point. His words and infectious attitude in an interview at the end of the game will set the tone for your week ahead! Take a listen!

And, remember, Feed Your Good Dog so your good dog always wins!