Monday, July 2, 2012
“The Innovative Kids of America Project”
"The Innovative Kids of America Project" provides an opportunity for kids all over the country to have an outlet for their creative ideas by teaching parents and kids how to achieve the American Dream of having their own business. Last weekend, ten kids between the ages of 3 through 18 each had their very own booth at the Sacramento County Fair. They had a few weeks before the fair to come up with what they wanted to create and/or resell. Every child made money, some more than others, but this experience was unbelievably successful for all who participated. The interaction with customers and each other was beautiful. What a great opportunity to use their academic skills, master communication with customers, and even learn about success and failure. (It was most interesting to watch the kids reinvent themselves when their product was not selling.) I had grandparents come up to me crying, “I wish I had this opportunity when I was a child; my life would have turned out differently!"
The American school system does not teach economics, and even worse, it preaches that kids have to prepare to become employees, not an employer’s! If you know anything about economics, you know that 80% of this country's economy is based on small business; they are the job creators in this country, and the lack of focus on this fact is frightening. We do not inspire kids to think like job creators anymore, we expect them to just get good grades and go to college, and then what? Get a job and work for a small business? 50% of college graduates can’t find a job! If America does not start cultivating entrepreneurs, its brilliant innovators will become extinct.
The government's anti-small business environment is deterring many Americans from becoming excited about starting a business. There will always be certain entrepreneurs who will succeed in going against the flow of this socialist-style movement, and who will remain solid and successful, but because very few Americans are offered the opportunity to realize the possibilities of being their own boss, we have so many people voting for big government. They really don’t understand that no one is always going to take care of them, and that freedom is about self-reliance not dependence.
Children are America’s great hope! Kids are natural entrepreneurs, and it only takes one entrepreneurial experience to awaken that spirit that dwells in so many of us. This opportunity to present “The Innovative Kids of America Project” to Sacramento Fair attendees proved to be the launching ground of a national movement. I plan on working with fairs all over the country to inspire kids to start their own businesses. "The Innovative Kids of America Project" changed those ten kids' lives forever, and the sky is the limit for success. This was America’s entrepreneurial spirit in action, and the parents were thrilled! Help me work some Great American Magic, and let’s create a pro-small business movement and take back our country one small business at a time!
Dianne Linderman can now be heard on Talk Radio Network on her 2 hour live syndicated national radio show. “Everything That Matters” Visit her online shopping cart.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Evil's Brilliant Recipe
But have you ever wondered about evil, and how it too makes its call, and how easily people are lead? How brilliantly it masks itself as good! How strange that evil would need to appear as good to make people its host! Why can’t evil stand on its own? We all see terrorists as evil, but after all, aren’t they just answering their calling? How did human beings allow themselves to sink so low as to believe that killing innocent people is the way to Heaven? It’s Evil’s Brilliant Recipe and I’ll explain how it works!
To be able to hitch a ride on its host person, evil needs to hide its true identity, its dark and ugly agenda of power over the powerless. If evil could show itself for what it is, there would be no willing hosts because a potential host would see it for what it is. This awareness would alert the host, and when the host is aware, evil cannot attach itself.
Let’s observe and become aware of how evil masks itself, and why it is becoming so easy to take over a nation. We’ll use food as a simplistic example. Every time you want a candy bar or those french fries or a double chocolate shake, your excuse mechanism rises up and gives you every reason to give in. The excuse comes in a voice that laughs away reason and even thoughtfulness for your own health. This is called compromise. Everyone has this weakness, but if you compromise for you own selfish purpose, you now have guilt. If you don’t want to own up to your weakness, the only way you can alleviate your guilt is to get others to compromise along with you. Now you have to protect your decisions, so you look for groups that feel that compromising principles, even if it means harming themselves or others, does not matter because all that matters is the feeling. Deep within ourselves we are all still protecting our original compromise.
Each of us has some sort of sin that if we keep excusing and then compromising, will allow us to feel good for a fleeting moment. It all seems so worth it, but it is the perfect recipe for evil because it’s not dark, it does not seem intrusive to others, it is all about self, and it is giving into something stronger than the desire to do what is right. Eating the candy bar is not the sin; it is the willingness to give up your principles and excuse away the reason not to eat the candy bar. Evil has lured you in and fooled you into giving in, and you spend the rest of your life excusing your decisions instead of owning up to wrong choices.
Look at what is going on in America: people will take up arms to protect baby seals from being killed, but will sell morning-after pills in a vending machine. (Wouldn’t it be nice if seals could help our babies?) People will riot in the streets for the right to kill the life of a baby in the womb because they would rather justify their pro-choice agenda and seek that moment of fleeting pleasure of a romp in the sack rather than having self-respect — and respect for a human life! The rights of the wrong will always be protected, but the rights of the right are being whittled away along with America.
There are many forms of terrorists; they can come in the form of cruel teachers and tainted university professors, unprincipled leaders, the entitled, and anyone who is not living by principles and is part of the cause for “fairness.” The call for fairness, which is now being perpetrated as goodness, makes their demands more powerful, stealing away your rights in the name of their rights. Fairness will always be the excuse, and most of us will stand by and allow it to happen because we have become a nation of fearful compromisers, never wanting to be the one who appears unfair. Compromise and fairness have taken on the same meaning.
The confusing call from evil has become louder and more cunning and acceptable than ever before. It masks itself as just about anything that can make a person feel. Its job is to dull awareness and to give its host a sense, a feeling, of being needed and belonging to its cause. In so many ways it takes so little to confuse the willing to see good as evil and evil as good. Evil simply creates an army of foolish souls, more like sheep following their newfound leader, by arousing hidden guilts that it can prey upon! Because of a person’s past, unresolved indiscretions and guilts, their soul is always seeking a release from guilt. By becoming a do-gooder, being more sensitive to the call of the needy, they walk arm-and-arm with other guilty souls. Now this army of sensitized people actually does the hard work for evil; they justify, excuse, and confuse and accuse decent, unsuspecting good people in order to create new followers. The rich and famous are the most guilty, and use their power to lead the way.
This army of the unprincipled cannot wake up; they are enslaved by their compromise, the unwillingness to admit they are wrong about anything! These unprincipled souls who feel that their group of defenders are their people and would rather protect a baby seal than a human life, think that they are answering their calling!
Evil is the most patient entity on earth! Its plan has been in effect from the beginning of time. It has trained the best of the worst. Most of us will never know we have been taken over, dumbed down and made to be part of the grand design! We are all in search of fairness, and acceptance, and our new army makes us feel entitled. Most of all we need the sense of belonging and purpose that Evil’s Brilliant Recipe gives us. By compromise, evil will inherit America, unless principled souls find their calling, stand up, and shine the light of awareness on the cunning efforts of Evil’s Brilliant Recipe.
Dianne Linderman can now be heard on Talk Radio Network on her 2 hour live syndicated national radio show. Find out more about Dianne on her “Everything That Matters” website.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
The Two Heads of Education
The simple question that has followed me around like a pesky fly all of my life has been, "Why did I hate school so much?" I wanted to like school, but the moment I entered kindergarten I felt like I was not allowed to be my free little self anymore. I can remember it like it was yesterday—the classroom looked fun, but only five years earlier I had been delivered into the hands of my parents, and now I was being delivered into the hands of complete strangers and expected to perform! Even when I was five years old, l knew there was something wrong with this picture, but a giant cloud of expectation had become ever present in my life. It was inescapable, and it seemed to follow not only me but my brothers and my parents.
As matter of fact, it followed everyone I knew. As a child, it felt so wrong that many of us lived under this cloud of expectation. It seemed to be the very thing that kept me from doing what I really wanted to do, especially as a child. This cloud of expectation never allowed me to see through it, to the outside of the cloud. It was ever present and kept up a fog, and that fog seemed to have a head on it with an authoritative quality. This authority had so many of us wanting so badly to please it, and because we needed its approval and acceptance, just one negative mark on our report cards could make us feel like we had failed completely. And so we then tried even harder to please this authority.
The one secret this authority has is it that it will never allow anyone to ever know that you can never make this cloud of expectation happy, and that once you buy into its power, it holds you hostage forever! Without the approval of this authority, you will always feel like a loser! Its power and hold over us makes us view people on the other side of the fog as outcasts and losers, and even entices us to feel above these so-called radical types and to look down our noses at them. If you are accepted by this powerful system, then you are part of the club of expectors. You are then paid for by entitlements. Once you find the excitement of being entitled, you are set forever, and you now have the club of expectors behind you who will protect their own at any cost.
As I grew older, I became sick of this cloud of expectation following me, so I broke out to the other side of the fog, and, guess what? You can breathe better, see better, and you can feel the excitement of ideas and dreams becoming part of you—sometimes for the very first time in your life. But still, that cloud of expectation wants us back; it does not like losing anyone, so it turns on the doubt switch that is planted in you, and you can’t really be free until you discover the key. That key is the other head of education! It is the freedom of discovery, the love of teaching yourself, and the understanding that everything you ever wanted to learn or know is within yourself. You can excel beyond the expectors' understanding and knowledge, and they no longer know how to control you because you have become an individual! You confuse the expectors, because they don’t understand what true freedom really is, so they label you a rebel, and they try to keep you from succeeding.
The other head of education is not a cloud of expectation, but a blue sky of freedom. It needs no degrees to prove its brilliance. Once you learn to believe in yourself and your own ability to learn what you love in your own time, motivated by the love of your interests, then anything and everything becomes possible. It is also possible for your children. We all must learn to believe in our children and not in the cloud of expectation that is put on them. When your child does not want to go to school, think about it—maybe they are smarter than you. Don’t allow the cloud of expectation to cloud your intuition; we are all conditioned to believe in it and not in the other head of intuitive education. Who says a child cannot teach himself? I beg to differ. Children are brilliant little beings, and they only need the trust of a parent to free them to become pure brilliance. Children have common sense and they will know when they need teaching; they also know when they don’t need to learn something they are not interested in.
The moment you stop believing in your children and start believing in the system of expectation, and that authority, you hand your beautiful, innocent children over to that system and they are no longer under your authority. Just look at our teenage population. Where are the individuals? Most kids find a peer that they can feel accepted by, because remember, you just handed them over to strangers, and they know it! These kids now feel completely abandoned and look for someone they can identify with. Most kids at school are in the same boat, but there is always going to be that one person your child will confide in and, “bam," there is almost no hope of retrieving them. They no longer trust you and become part of an even more dangerous system.
My life began the day I quit public school and started my own business at sixteen years old! My journey has taken me from a jewelry business, to becoming an award-winning author, publisher, restaurateur, writer, nationally-syndicated radio talk show host, successful entrepreneur, chef, mother, teacher, speaker, and mentor to thousands of troubled kids. And all it took to help these kids was to hold their hands through the fog to the other side where they felt the fresh air of freedom on their faces, and the rest was within each one of them. Why is it so hard to believe that real education does not need degrees or fanfare? It only requires the love of learning and the love of discovery.
Dianne Linderman can now be heard on Talk Radio Network on her 2 hour live syndicated national radio show “Everything That Matters.” Visit Dianne's online shopping cart.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Seduction of Education
It all started about four years ago when my daughter was about 10 years old. She was just like me, never really fitting into the groove of school and always behind everyone in her class. The school principal was very concerned about her future. Alexandra could barely read at 10 years old and hated school with a passion!
The principal told me that Alexandra really was just lazy and that I gave into her, and in the end I would ruin my daughter. The principal is a good friend of mine so I doubted my daughter and forced her to attend school! I could not help remembering how I hated school, and Alexandra reminded me so much of myself, but my own doubt and fear was ever present because of my so-called “uneducated” status. The almighty authority of education made me feel so insignificant, and I did not want my daughter to feel that way. I wanted her to be smart and become anything she wanted to be, so I did what was expected of me and pushed her out the door each day to attend the box.
My daughter, thank God, is a very strong person, but I hurt her very much by going against my gut instinct. Alexandra came to me one morning and laid out her own plan. She was crying, and through her tears, I felt her pain and felt like my spirit was dying all over again. So I decided to go against all authorities, pull her out of school, and homeschool her! I was told that I would destroy her chances of getting a good education, or even a good job. I thought, “Job, what the heck. I have been in my own business since I was 16 years old.” Suddenly, it came to me, “Wait one cotton pickin’ minute! Is a job or higher education that carrot that seduces us to remain planted in our chairs five days a week, 8 hours a day in the almighty box, called school?” Wow, I suddenly had an awakening. As the answer to my prayers began to unfold, it all came so clearly to me how we have been made to believe all of the rhetoric and B.S. that says without a formal education, by the system, we are all going to be just a bunch of losers, but with a formal education, we will be winners. But, what do we really win with this so-called education? Do we lose something along the way, like our own initiative, self-motivation, vision, ideas, and belief in our own ability to teach ourselves something?
The real fear I had was the thought of homeschooling her, because I was so bad at traditional education I did not even know where to start. So I panicked. Again the doubt tried to find its way in, until the next morning, when I woke up and walked into my living room and saw Alexandra drawing! I decided to just leave her alone and let her relax and come down off of all of the pressure that she was a part of for so many years. I wanted to see what she would do if I did nothing for her, so I did! After a few hours of drawing, she went out into our backyard and played with her dog, a big beautiful golden retriever. I just watched in amazement, as Alexandra trained her dog to do tricks. My husband had built her a dog cart, and she had never tried to use it, but now Winchester was pulling her all over the yard.
After a few hours of playing, Alexandra ran in and said, “Mom, I want to build a chicken coup and have chickens.” So guess what? She went online and researched chicken coups, chickens, chicken feed, what type of chicken she wanted for laying capabilities, and boom, she was in the chicken business. She was also reading, learning, and expanding her universe in a real life situation. Weeks passed, and I still did not one thing for her except free her to find her interest, and she was on fire, all of her zest was back. She felt free to become anything she wanted, teaching herself beyond my wildest expectations, and completely self-motivated.
This type of learning is called education of the highest form. I found the following definition in a dictionary: “Education derives from the verb educe, which means ‘to draw forth from within.’ The original teaching method of Socrates of drawing from within has been largely displaced by professorial deference to received scholarly authority. Students are taught how to take exams but not how to think, write or find their own path.”
This definition will never be shared by super-educated, elitist institutions. They want to hold back the brilliant kids, and keep them from thinking for themselves. This concept is like herding a bunch of sheep into a pasture, and, when it is eaten down, only then will the shepherds make the decision to move them to the next pasture.
God forbid, if one of the sheep decides to jump the fence and find a greener pasture! It will be the first one sent to the slaughterhouse because if the other sheep notice that the free-thinking sheep is outside of the enclosed pasture eating green grass, there will be mutiny. The captured sheep will begin to wake up, and this will ruin everything. The shepherd will lose control and nothing will bring the mutinous sheep back!
As long as the system of education can make people believe that they are only as good as their education, then America has no chance of prospering and remaining free. The people will continue to be enslaved by their own fear. But, if one person could be that lamb and jump to greener pastures because they want to be free, then fear not! Life begins when you rip open the box and find that self-discovery is the highest form of education. Let no one ever steal your thunder, your ideas, and your belief in your true self!
Dianne Linderman can now be heard on Talk Radio Network on her 2 hour live syndicated national radio show “Everything That Matters.” You can also visit her online shopping cart HERE.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
How Entrepreneurial Kids Can Save America
I hear it every day, “My son or daughter is running with the wrong kids,” “I have no control over them,” “They used to be good kids, now they are taking drugs and not coming home at night,” etc., etc., and it never ends! We all scratch our wooden heads and ask ourselves: Where did we go wrong? What happened to my beautiful child? Let’s reflect. From a very young age, did you give your kids everything they ever wanted? Do they have all the latest electronics and distractions, all the designer clothes, or do they have nothing but their friends, no money for anything, no direction, but find out that if they hang out with the wrong crowd, they can have it all the wrong way? Do you give your kids money when they need it? Do you know what type of people your kids hang out with? What do you see in your child—a spoiled couch potato with no interests; a lost soul wandering from person to person looking for inspiration, or a young man or woman full of ideas and dreams, and not afraid to take on the world with gusto?
In these questions are the answers to our country’s future success or failure. We have become a nation of spoiled, entitled people with only ourselves to blame. We have failed our children by allowing the system to dictate to our guilt what we should think and how we should act and feel as Americans. The system has betrayed us, and it has lulled us into a sleep that has created an epidemic of politically correct zombies—followers who act without ever truly thinking.
History shows us that we used to be a country of fearless entrepreneurs, and kids learned by becoming apprentices. We now spawn leachy, ungrateful kids who think they know everything, and even when many of them have the opportunity to go to college, they graduate without knowing how to write a check and end up flipping burgers. Strangely, they take up the quest of fighting for the government's protection so that the system's nanny-like qualities will always be there to care for these dulled, dumbed-down students who step into reality for the first time in their lives completely clueless.
I am convinced that deep down inside each and every true American is a yearning to be free and independent, whether it is planting a garden, designing and building, or creating a dream business. I truly believe that each and every American wants to be self-governed and self-reliant, but then why do we believe in the system that takes this all away? It is the system that does not inspire self-respect; the system is in the discouragement business, not the encouragement business!
I have found a secret that cures most of what is hurting our kids and, believe or not, it is beyond simple—teaching a child as young as five years old the art of entrepreneurship! Kids are already natural entrepreneurs. Just help them set up a lemonade stand and watch their innate ability to create, sell and promote their product, and the end result, self-respect. If the American school system could turn out entrepreneurs and leaders instead of employees, we would have the perfect balance of economic strength and the true American Dream!
If we inspire our youth to be self-reliant, we will spoil the plans of the enablers and grow a new country within a country. We will awake the sleeping giant of the Entrepreneurial Spirit which is the engine of the American Dream and strength.
Dianne Linderman can now be heard on Talk Radio Network on her 2 hour live syndicated national radio show “Everything That Matters.” Visit her online bookstore HERE.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Chunky Chili Salsa - Dianne's Style
Syndicated national talk show host Dianne Linderman talks about Everything That Matters, while sharing her wonderful, healthy, quick recipes that can be easily made in your own kitchen, for the whole family to enjoy around the dinner table.
Dianne loves bringing families together back to the dinner table and believes that kids are not learning how to cook anymore because everybody eats out so much! When Dianne was growing up, going out to dinner, or breakfast, or lunch once a month was a big ordeal, and nowadays many families eat out pretty much every single meal. Fast food tastes good and is inexpensive, and is easily accessible, so we all eat out... but fast food is not necessarily healthy for you!
One of the things that matters most to Dianne is healthy cooking. Dianne has battled weight her whole life, and has just recently lost 35 lbs by slowly changing the way she eats. Her recipes are healthy, yet delicious, and you can find them all in Dianne's cookbook, Everything That Matters in the Kitchen, which came out only a little over a month ago:
Here is one of Dianne Linderman's delicious salsa recipes – Chunky Chili Salsa - that is healthy, simple, fast & easy to make in a matter of minutes! Use all organic ingredients for an organic salsa:
- Roma tomatoes (use 4 or 5)
- Green chiles (boil, chop and take seeds out)
- Green onion
- Red onion
- Organic cilantro
- Lime 1 to 1.5
- 1-2 tsp garlic salt
- Add sweetener if desired
Chop in a blender for some seconds, but do not puree, and -viola!- you have just made some delicious salsa that can be used with chips, or to go along with home-made quesadillas (Dianne makes scrumptious quesadillas, too!).
Dianne owned a restaurant for 25 years, and for 10 of those years she had a restaurant on an organic farm, where she learned all about fresh vegetables and herbs. People came from everywhere to get married on that farm and have their wedding reception right there with the most incredible food that you could ever have.
This restaurant became so popular that it was written about in the Sunset Magazine, and sometimes people told Dianne that they were moving to the area for the restaurant, which was pretty incredible! The restaurant was called Country Cottage Cafe & Bakery, located in the beautiful Southern Oregon.
Today, Dianne loves to showcase her cooking at various Fairs throughout the country, and she does 3 shows per day, and presents a different recipe every single time! Dianne's cooking is very versatile – one day she is cooking up oriental foods, the next day – Mexican foods, and believes that if they are done right, they can both be very healthy. Dianne uses all fresh ingredients, such as vegetables, and preserves their natural quality throughout her cooking process. All of Dianne's recipes take 10 minutes of less to make!
Join Dianne Linderman's “Recipe of Month Club” membership at no charge – just sign up with your e-mail on Dianne's website: http://www.everythingthatmattersradio.com/contact.html .You can also hear Dianne's show on KMED.com, and read her articles on her blog: http://diannelinderman.blogspot.com/
Sunday, January 30, 2011
What is Real Leadership?
I looked at her and asked this simple question, “If I were to listen to you and not listen to myself, and not attend to the details, what do you think would happen to my company? What would happen to me as a person if you could talk me out of my own principles—principles that I have built my life and business upon? Worse yet, what would happen to you, a lazy, dishonorable person who thinks that your opinion really matters, when it is only about you and not the future of my company? Worse yet, if you want to live a life of nothingness, then you can remain a minimalist, and you will be assured a minimal existence!”
These words may seem harsh to you, but they snapped her out of her journey of tearing down success, and she now is a star employee/partner in my company. This scenario happens every minute of every day, and a real leader recognizes that people can go either way and watches and waits to see those who will not snap out of that destructive state and weeds them out. After a while, you can simply flick them off of your shoulder like a bug. However, every once in a while a person will come along who may even be well-meaning at first, but will eventually try to pull you and your whole company down into their trap.
They can be the most useful people in the world. They will do everything for you in the name of respect and for the cause. They subtly make sure you know how much they do, and cast a tiny shadow of doubt on your other staff, especially your finest, most loyal associates or family members. Sometimes they don’t even know what they are doing, compelled to undermine while looking like they are the most important, always there and willing! They are always some sort of expert in something, which is their greatest tool. I call this their separation tool which they use with pinpoint accuracy like a sword. They gradually bring down the morale of a business and even families because they are not real leaders. Trust me, I have experience with these types of people—they are so good at what they do, you want to adopt them and put them in your will. I almost lost my entire company to one of these people, but it ended up being the best awakening I have ever had.
A real leader is the perfect equalizer. Their strength is in their purpose, which is not their own. They are not always aware of why they move in a certain direction, but rarely even question, because a great leader has great faith. A real leader helps liberate a searching person from their fears and conditioning, and raises them up out of their box to see for brief moments the freedom and opportunities that real leaders see! These brief opportunities to see life lit up is all it takes for the true leader to help others out of their tangled mess. There are some that will never be blessed with vision and ideas; their job is to simply tear down morale and to complicate life for everyone.
A real leader simplifies the complicated and finds a solution for every problem, because it is their greatest joy to see what most people miss and to show them the simplicity of the solution. Many people miss the solution because they are about themselves and not the cause. A real leader never puts off until tomorrow what they know they need to do today! They move things off of their desk and conclude their tasks with ease. Most people love to work with a true leader because they feel life moves at a healthy rate, and they are inspired to dig a little deeper within themselves. A pretend leader will never understand a real leader.
I have seen that people who pretend to be leaders are somewhat like a block of cement tied to your foot. Life does not move the way it should, and there is always a lot of waiting for non-leaders to direct, whereas a real leader knows how to delegate tasks, inspiring people to not only trust in themselves, but also to have an understanding of what real trust is. You will never know what a person is made of until you trust them at least once, and maybe a few hundred more times.
A real leader does not hold back people from their potential; they see a person’s options allowing each person to see their own potential. A real leader is not always aware of their leadership qualities, but they are always aware of their effect on both good and bad people and do not use their strength to hurt or destroy a person, (people do that to themselves.) A real leader leads and does not trip people up. A real leader is born a real leader, and no matter what you do, you cannot stop them in their mission!
Dianne Linderman can be heard on Talk Radio Network on her 2 hour live syndicated national radio show- “Everything That Matters.” Visit her online shopping cart.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Dianne's Fudge Brownies
Dianne Linderman spent a lot of time creating this delicious brownie recipe! Why? Because she didn't like brownies that tasted like they were "store-bought," or “boxed.” She wanted something entirely different - brownies that were crunchy and delicious on the outside and gooey on the inside. Doesn't that sound delicious?
- 1 cup of softened butter
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla (not imitation vanilla)
- 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 2.5 cups organic brown sugar (maple sugar or maple syrup work great too)
- 6 1-oz squares of unsweetened chocolate
- 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
- organic olive oil spray (like PAM) to coat the bottom of your baking pan
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (this lower setting will make brownies turn out gooey on the inside)
- Except butter and unsweetened chocolate, place all the ingredients into a stand mixer and mix well
- Take the chocolate, add it to butter and melt it; then add into the mix
- Mix everything until smooth, and then stir by hand to make sure that you get everything from the bottom
- Coat the bottom of your baking pan with organic olive oil spray; pour the mixture into the pan
- Bake for 35-45 minutes
Top with whipped cream and enjoy!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Getting Back to Basics
It is never too late to start planning, and because I have had to find a way to survive a few financial disasters in my life, I can now look at any adversity in life as a total adventure. It’s all about your attitude and how willing you are to live with less. I call this getting back to basics. What did you do that made you money when you were a very young person? I was 16 years old when I became a silversmith. At first it was just for fun. I took my simple, plain sterling silver bands to school and sold them for a hefty profit to all my friends. After making dozens and dozens of plain bands, I had to really start thinking of new and more interesting bands, so I purchased some silver stamps, and stamped my bands to make them look unique and was able to sell my new designs to the very same friends. I moved on to setting stones on my simple bands, and, before I knew it, I was a full fledged silversmith.
I am sharing this story with you because everyone has a creative base, and even if you think you don’t have one, you can start this very moment. Jewelry is not only a craft, but it is also a passion, an investment, and, if you don’t mind sitting outside all day, it can become the perfect business for anyone with even a small amount of creativity. My favorite memories were the days at outside crafters fairs with my 14-year-old brother in the sunshine just hundreds of yards from the beach. Even then I thought, “What a way to live!” When my brother and I returned home at night, we counted our bounty, and, on a good day, at 16 years old, I pulled in hundreds of dollars, and as I told you in a previous article, on my best day ever, I made $800.
So many of us have forgotten the simple times in life, always believing that, if we could get the perfect job and make lots of money, we would be able to relax, but what most of us found out is that we spent the first half of our lives acquiring things and the second half of our lives getting rid of things. Having too much becomes a burden and then you can’t enjoy anything that you have acquired. I guess as we get older we start to appreciate the simple things in life again, and that’s where I am at. Plant a garden, rid yourself of stuff you never use, redecorate your home in things you have made or found and painted, even photos you have taken. Set up a monthly yard sale and even embellish and recycle some of your old junk. I know people who make a huge living doing this, and they are happier than they have ever been, spending days going through thrift stores and yard sales. And, once a month, they have what they call a barn sale, or even something quaint, like a garden sale. These same friends of mine used to make six-figure incomes and are so much happier being creative, treasure hunters. Some of them buy antique jewelry and add new beads and crystal to make unique, beautiful jewelry.
Getting back to basics is really about finding your original passions in life, and, before you have to, start thinking of what you could do and simply start doing it. Go to crafters fairs, flea markets, and farmers markets and even find others who have an online presence and grill them about what is effective. Learn photography; everything I have ever done in life has required some photos, and just like everything else, they represent quality. I buy hundreds of magazines, and look for ideas in decorating, colors, and even the way photos are taken. Educate yourself, and don’t be afraid to fail. If you start thinking about the basics before you need to, you will have security and will not find yourself without them.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Nancy Pelosi's Policy Gone Wild
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Iceberg Wedge Salad Recipe
This is the same type of salad that has become famous at Outback Steakhouse and Johnny Carino's.
Ingredients:
- 1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into quarters
- 1 tomato
- gorgonzola dressing
- bacon (optional)
- sunflower seeds (optional)
Dianne Linderman is a cook, entrepreneur, mother and the host of nationally syndicated talk show "Everything That Matters." Hear more recipes on her podcast "Homemade Recipes Radio".
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Balance
Life is all about balance, and when things are out of balance, nothing works: when you bake a cake and forget an ingredient, complete failure; if you forget to put a bolt in an engine, the engine dies; when two parents don’t work together in harmony, kids get out of control; eat too much and you’ll get fat, but eat too little and you’ll become skinny; too much stress makes you sick and not enough stress makes you lazy; not using enough fertilizer in your garden produces weak, slow-growing veggies, but use too much fertilizer and your veggies get burned; when husbands and wives communicate too little, they end up in divorce; too much knowledge makes a person feel inadequate, but not enough knowledge makes a person feel inadequate; too much personality makes you look needy, not enough personality makes you look needy; spend too much money and you go into debt, don’t spend enough money and it all goes to taxes. I could go on forever and give a billion out of balance scenarios, but no matter how hard you work at anything you do, nothing will ever work properly until there is a perfect balance.
Take our government: too much liberalism, the country falls into a deep hole; too much conservatism, the country becomes rigid. There is a natural balance in life and without it no administration will ever succeed. It will only push us further away from the center where the majority of most good people are! If a leader does not understand what perfect balance is, he himself is out of balance and can only lead us to failure. To find perfect balance in anything you do takes discipline, awareness and thoughtfulness, nothing more and nothing less.
Nature is a very powerful equalizer, and as our leaders try to push us out of balance the good people of America will push back in order to correct the tilt! I see only good things ahead as more people begin to realize they don’t like living on a slope. Most people are lazy and won’t move unless they are pushed. As I see it, the slope is becoming unbearable. There will always be cling-ons who hold onto the tiny morsels that are promised to them and make these morsels the center of their universe. These people live on a slant and would feel very uncomfortable if their lives were level. The frightening thought is that it seems like our President is increasingly attempting to put our country out of balance by stacking more cling-ons on the left-leaning slope, even if he has to create another country that he has basically purchased by entitlements. Buying votes in exchange for entitlements seems to be a mainstay for his administration.
The complete out of balance co-leadership of the present administration sets the agenda for what they want our country to become, and they think that if they push hard enough, we will all tumble over and grab onto the tiny morsels they throw to us. The good people of America, the brace that holds our country steady, will never tumble to the left-leaning slope. They are the steel cross bars of our country’s frame and cannot be moved or tilted, and, in fact, get stronger as the pressure on them persists. These Americans have a core that is immovable and they keep themselves thoughtfully and properly in balance in all matters of life, country, business, family, and even politics.
No matter how out of balance its leaders try to push this country, the spring back on them will be a force they do not understand and won’t know how to deal with. They are interfering with the balance of human nature, and even though they think they figured out how to manipulate the outcome, nature always wins and balance is its end result!
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Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Could Sarah Palin Really Be President?
My father has always liked the saying, “Those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach.” Education is a doubled-sided sword; we all need to be educated, but who is doing the teaching? Who taught the first teachers, and who died and made them royalty? Who questions their authority, and how do we know what they are teaching is right? The media, politicians, doctors, lawyers, and all the powerful white-collar professionals are taught the same message by the unbreakable chain of powerful, elite universities. We all buy into the belief that we all must fit into the same box, read the same books, and look, act, and spout the same type of rhetoric, and the moment an unusual, free-thinking, independent woman is introduced to our country it simply freaks out everyone who has become so comfortable in that box. Saturday, November 14, 2009
Sure Glad Cows Don't Fly
Many of us have become a society of believers in a dream. Not the American dream, but a twisted dream where you wake up and have everything you ever wanted, without working for it. I have been blown away listening to people who think that we are actually going to have free health care for all. These are the same people who sign up for every free give-away that pops up in their e-mail, buy hundreds of dollars of lotto tickets, and gamble away their life savings in slot machines never wondering whose money is jingling around inside. Drunk with visions of their own freedom through gifts and entitlements, they are betting that they will win, never believing that they will most definitely lose. They want to believe in a lie because they don’t believe in their own abilities to achieve the real American Dream. Instead of grasping onto the reins of their own horse, these people believe that the fairy godfather is going to deliver them happiness and equality without their ever having earned it.The do-gooders, who are the (mis)leaders of our country, paint such a pretty picture for their followers. These followers don’t really want the truth anyway; they love the excitement of the lie. The misleaders have been trained in engage in deceptive warfare on good Americans and with such sureness, they explain to the hopeful that the money to pay for all of the freebies will not come from taxpayers.
But these misleaders aren’t wearing their own boots because they have been bribed to wear someone else’s. In their greed and cowardice, they have chosen not to represent Americans, but to represent the special interests of those in our highest offices. They have been promised the same twisted dream that they have been asked to sell to us, and even though deep down in their toes they know the truth, they have given up any desire to stand on principal. They have been promised that their elite positions will be protected if they just all stand together. They have been told not to show fear and to charge forward no matter what the silly American people want or think.
This type of bullying can be seen in every schoolyard. Just last week my 12-year-old daughter had to stand her ground with a pushy 14-year-old who uses her personality, cuteness, and over-bearing aggression to get exactly what she wants from the whole class. She has learned that all it takes is pure irritation and an overzealous personality and the understanding that, when she gets people mad enough, she can point her finger at them as the problem and then she is in control.
My daughter was able to take her on because she did not get irritated. Instead, she spoke up with love and conviction, showing the other girl that she was actually the problem and not accepting her craziness. My daughter gave her a dose of correction, and put the controlling girl in her place and did not think another thing about it. She left that girl in a daze, because when you stand up properly, you affect the weak confusers, leaving them without a handle.
Now is not the time to get mad but to get strong. Don’t be confused by the misleadership in our country. These misleaders are betting on your anger and confusion. Try something new; confront them with conviction, strength, love of country and understanding of your rights. Never give them the upper hand by doubting your beliefs, your passion and your true love of the Red, White and Blue!
Together we stand!
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Thursday, October 29, 2009
Give A Man A Fish
No one is ever going to convince a far-left liberal to see the sense in conservatism and true capitalism. We are always going to look like evil, capitalist pigs and nothing we can do will ever change their hearts, minds or feelings about conservatism. They don’t get the simple principle, “If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.” They like this version, “If you give a man a fish, he will owe you for a day. If you promise a man fish for a lifetime, he will give you his allegiance forever.” Why do they think that it is their job to make life fair for everyone? Why don’t they think that America represents fair opportunity for all when we are left to be creative and innovative? I am beginning to put together the reasons why the left feel they owe it to feed every hungry person, build them new homes, and provide them with money, gas and a even college education instead of allowing these same people the opportunity to get all of the above for themselves. The answer is simple: It’s about pure power and elitism.Less is more with kids. They love to be independent, and they love to be self-reliant. If parents can resist trying to make their kids happy and instead trust them with their own interests and the outcome of their choices, then they will set their kids up for success instead of dependency and failure. Teaching kids how to earn money and encouraging them to believe that they can do anything they put their minds to is what real trust and love are all about. Giving irresponsibly to undeserving people and undeserving kids is the same thing as saying that you don’t trust them and they are not capable of achieving anything in life.
They begin to look to the givers for everything, and when the givers are out of resources, the dependents will turn on their masters and bite the hands that feed them, becoming the worst type of people. Through my work with troubled teenagers over the past 27 years, I have come to understand that truly helping someone in life is helping them discover self-respect and responsibility. Once a person finds he is capable of anything, he transforms into a strong person with visions and ideas of his own and, in turn, will become a more useful part of society. Some even become leaders, not leaches!
I have concluded that the left’s secret weapon is to wear the guise of caring, thoughtful, giving as they demoralize the weak and needy by confusing them with gifts and asking for their loyalty in return. It seems so innocent, but this is the perfect weapon, and it sneaks up on even the unsuspecting. The left should beware, though, because America is a nation of independent innovators full of vision and passion. Beams of light will always shine through its people. The strongest of us will survive, and what will separate the weak from the strong will be the willingness not to except the bribe!
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Saturday, October 17, 2009
THE EMPEROR'S (PRESIDENT OBAMA'S) NEW CLOTHES
A few days ago, I was teaching entrepreneurship to a class of sixth and seventh graders, and our project was to transform the school into a fair. The first lesson they needed to learn was how to run an event. I explained that they needed to choose a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. First, I asked all of the kids who were interested in being president to gather around me, and I explained what their responsibilities would entail, telling them they would have to be a good leader and direct people, as well as organize different committees, etc. Then each one stood in front of the class and spoke a few words about why they wanted to be president and what they could do. I was sure that this one young man would be chosen because he was so confident, strong, and had a lot of experience with making his own money. I just knew he was the one! Each student caste a vote on a slip of paper, and when the votes were counted, to my absolute shock, the kids had chosen a boy who was silly and had no abilities or experience, just a cute personality.
I was disappointed because I knew that this boy could not do the job, but the kids were thrilled with their decision. This boy had a few friends who had rallied the other kids in the class to vote for him, and he rose to power. After that, they voted for treasurer, and again, they voted for the weakest candidate. I was shocked again. I talked to my friend who is the headmistress of this school and asked her how this happened and why people are so invested in personality and not in character and ability? She said something that was so true, “Dianne, the kids who won the election stand for nothing; they are everyone’s friend and they are all things to all people. Even though the kids like the boy who they elected president, he will not make it past his first task!”
I had to take a step back and think. I saw what had happened in that classroom is exactly what had happened in our country’s Presidential election last fall. Candidate Obama had done nothing really clever, and he actually warned the country that he was going to make some fundamental changes that would transform America into a new nation, and we sort of heard that but disbelieved our intuitions’ warnings. We need to give a big “Thank You” to the mainstream media for leading America to believe that Obama was a middle-of-the-road Democrat. Because they had an agenda of their own, they never pointed out any of his deceptions but only his warm, charming qualities and personality. Where in the world are the principled Democrats who will tell the Obama administration that the President isn’t actually wearing clothes, only make-believe suits that many of us actually see through.
Even though the Obama administration thinks that many of us, including Sarah Palin, are dumb mobsters who want to make trouble, we are able to see the simple truth and are not going to allow him to make us, or our kids, believe that he is fully clothed! Many of our elected officials, both Republicans and Democrats, degrade us daily thinking that we are not aware of their own lack of clothing. We all see through their pretentious agendas and the backlash they are witnessing now is not going away. Americans are acting like true Americans again.
We will remind them in upcoming elections not to mess with our freedom, and, oh yeah, they had better get out of their see-through clothing and put on the uniform of freedom again with the badge of honor pinned carefully to their principles, because us multi-tasking, entrepreneurial dads and moms are about to make some changes and would like to remind our elected officials that they work for us, and they are going to be fired!
Friday, October 9, 2009
TAKING BACK AMERICA THROUGH GOOD PARENTING
We have made our police into the nannies of our sick, dark natures. Our politicians have become our mothers, comforting and never holding anyone accountable for anything. As our government officials console and create dependency, a huge segment of our country is becoming impudent. All of these are the ingredients of an explosive soup, and the good guys are being thrown into the mix and stirred along.
Who is to blame for all of the drugs being purchased from American and Mexican drug dealers? Why is it that the streets run with blood all around our country where we have our own homegrown terrorists called gangs, but the news media rarely utters a word about this? Our government, backed by the media, spends most of its time keeping hard-working entrepreneurs fighting for their businesses, pointing fingers and assigning blame while keeping us distracted from the real truth about America—our broken families.
Your kids are taking drugs, going to parties, lying to you—looking for love in all the wrong places because they do not get it at home. They look for acceptance in friends, gangs, and bad guys! Why is it that many parents don’t know or don’t care where their kids are and what they might be doing? Recently, the news stations reported that a 14-year-old girl took some nude photos of herself and e-mailed them to her boyfriend. He in turn sent them to others and needless to say they are everywhere and she is now looking at going to prison. This is the perfect example of what has gone wrong with our entire country! WHERE is the parents’ responsibility in all of this? Just 2 years ago she was a twelve-year-old child, why would her parents give her a cell phone and let her have a boyfriend? Why would her parents not know what is going on their child’s life? When does responsibility for a child end with a parent? I say never! I blame the majority of America’s problems on dysfunctional, irresponsible parents! But is the problem way too big for anyone to fix?
I believe that we can cure the virus that has spread throughout our country by waking up America’s parents and holding them accountable for their children’s actions. It will be an uphill battle because government authorities do not want parents to be responsible and have made it possible for them not to face their failed parenting skills; they want to blame society’s problems on anything but the parents.
Now is the time for parents to take America back by taking charge of our kids—always know where your kids are; don’t hand them cell phones; make them earn their own money; teach them that, as in business, freedom and success are earned by being responsible and accountable; talk to them and set boundaries; be aware of who their friends are; use reasonable punishment and follow through, (I have found the best form of punishment is grounding kids from friends and fun); share with them what is wrong with the world to help them spot the bad guys and the cons; and always be patient and not above reproach. Being a good parent can change the outcome of a child’s life. All it takes is true love!
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