Compliment Someone You Care About!

Some of us don’t often make it a practice to tell our loved ones how we really feel about them. This video by SoulPancake is an inspiring reminder of how a few thoughtful words of praise and appreciation can make an impact on someone’s day.

You can do good simply by reminding someone why you appreciate them! Check out more creative and inspirational videos on SoulPancake’s website.

Good Happens.

Pay it Forward!

Live Your Life for You

We love this picture, but don’t know the original source– if you do, please let us know so we can give credit! 

“Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep alone under the stars. Learn how to drive stick shift.  Go so far away that you stop being afraid of not coming back. Say no whenever you don’t want to do something. Say yes if your instincts are strong, even if everyone around you disagrees. Decide whether you want to be like or admired. Decide if fitting in is more important that finding out what you’re doing here. Believe in kissing.”

–Eve Ensler (Author of The Vagina Monologues and founder of V-Day)

Good Happens.

Pay it Forward!

Look with the Heart

“But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart…”

-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (The Little Prince)

Photo originally posted by giosolARTE

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Pay it Forward!

Love is Active

“Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.”

- Fred Rogers (The World According to Mister Rogers)

Photo originally posted by Mac A Doodle

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Pay it Forward!

Letter Writing in the Age of Technology

Hannah Brencher, founder of a global initiative, The World Needs More Love Letters, shares how the art of writing letters can help someone who might be suffering from depression or loneliness. Writing letters to her mother was a way of finding solace in Hannah’s own time of hardship and depression. When she moved to New York City, she began tucking letters for strangers – just like the kinds that her mother used to write to her – all over the city in cafes, libraries, and even the U.N. She began blogging about her letters and soon received responses from readers, some of whom were going through rough times, requesting that she write them letters as well. This was the beginning of her organization, The World Needs More Love Letters.

“These are the kinds of stories that convinced me that letter-writing will never again need to flip back her hair and talk about efficiency, because she is an art form now, all the parts of her, the signing, the scripting, the mailing, the doodles in the margins.”

Be inspired by this video and take the time to write a letter to a loved one today!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

The Little Things

“A little consideration, a little thought for others makes all the difference.”

- Eeyore (Winnie the Pooh)

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Peace Grl Out!

Where’s My Romeo

Abbas Kiarostami‘s short film, Where’s My Romeo, shows the universal power of film, art, and poetry across cultures. It depicts Iranian women watching the final scene of Zeffirilli’s Romeo and Juliet . The film is part of “Chacun Son Cinéma” (To Each His Own Cinema), a collective film of 33 shorts directed by different directors about their feeling about Cinema.

Live peace by learning about other cultures and art around the world!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Meatless Monday: Avocado Mac and Cheese

Happy Monday! Start off the week with a healthy choice for you and environment with this recipe!

Meat intake doesn’t just affect out bodies; there are environmental consequences. According to Youth and Environment Europe, tropical forests are cleared in order to expand acreage for livestock use. “The burning of the forests contributes 20% of all greenhouse gases, which is more than from transportation. Roughly 1,000 species a year become extinct because of the destruction of the rainforests.

Avocado Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

10 ounces dry elbow macaroni
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 avocados, peeled and pitted
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh avocado chunks, for garnish, if desired

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Salt the water and add in macaroni. Stir and cook until Al Dente, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. While the pasta is cooking, make the avocado sauce by placing the garlic, avocados, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper into a food processor or blender. Process until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

3. To make the cheese sauce, place butter in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. When butter is melted, whisk in flour to create a paste. Whisk in milk until smooth. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sauce starts to thicken. Add in Pepper Jack cheese and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is creamy.

4. Place macaroni in a large bowl. Pour the avocado sauce over the macaroni and stir until well coated. Add the cheese sauce and stir until macaroni is coated and creamy. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve warm. Garnish with fresh avocado chunks, if desired.

Note-the lime juice keeps the avocado from browning. The mac and cheese is best eaten the first day, but it is still good the second day. The pasta may turn slightly brown, but not bad. If you want a milder flavor, you can use Monterey Jack or White Cheddar Cheese.

Recipe originally posted on two peas and their pod

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out! 

Meatless Mondays: Jeweled Brown Rice with Orange Zest and Mint

It’s time to begin the week with our Meatless Monday recipe and statistic!

It takes about 12,000 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat while it only takes 565 gallons of water to produce a pound of potatoes, wheat, corn, and rice. Why not try reducing your water consumption by consuming this delicious recipe?

Jeweled Brown Rice with Orange Zest and Mint

Ingredients:

• 2 cups brown basmati rice, rinsed (if you can, soak the rice for up to 8 hours)
• Pinch saffron
• 2 small yellow onions or shallots
• 2 medium carrots
• Zest of 1 organic orange
• Ghee or coconut oil
• ½ Tbsp. cumin seeds
• ½ tsp. turmeric
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ½ cup mixed dried fruit (dates, apricots, raisins)
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• ½ cup packed mint leaves
• ½ cup packed chives
• 1 small pomegranate
• ½ cup nuts (almonds, pistachios)
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges, for serving

 Preparation:

1. In a small glass of hot water (3-4 Tbsp.), add a pinch of saffron and let steep into a “tea” while you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Dice onion. Grate carrots. Slice off the outer edge of the orange rind, removing as little white pith as possible. Then slice into matchstick-sized strips. Set aside.
3. Heat a knob of ghee or coconut oil in a pot. Add cumin seeds and cook until fragrant, 1 minute, then add turmeric, bay leaves, and the cinnamon stick, stir to coat with oil and fry for another minute until fragrant. Next add onion, carrots, orange rind, and dried fruit. Cook until the onion softens, about 5 minutes.
4. Drain rice and add it to the pot with 4 cups of water, the saffron “tea,” and salt. Cover with a lid, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for 45 minutes, or until the water has evaporated.
5. While the rice is cooking, wash and chop the herbs. Remove the seeds from the pomegranate. Gently roast the nuts in a dry skillet until fragrant and golden.
6. When the rice is finished cooking, remove form heat. Scoop rice out onto a baking sheet to cool slightly and to prevent the grains from sticking together. After a few minutes, sprinkle with herbs, nuts, and pomegranate seeds. Fold to incorporate. Season to taste (you will likely need to add more salt at this stage).
7. Serve rice with a drizzle of good olive oil and lemon wedge. Although the lemon may seem like an afterthought, it is an essential element of the dish, rounding out the flavours and adding a zesty kick. Enjoy!

Recipe originally posted on Whole Living Daily.

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Living Peace Series Speaking Event with Queen Noor

What a whirlwind couple of weeks it’s been here at Center for Living Peace! We were so lucky to have Her Majesty come and spend time with us– we had so much fun! The weeks just flew by. We hope you’ve enjoyed seeing photos from the VIP fundraiser and the Living Peace Projects service day. We wanted to share some photos with you from the speaking event on May 2nd, 2012.

Here is a behind-the-scenes photo from the green room at UCI! UCI’s Chancellor Michael Drake, Her Majesty Queen Noor, CLP’s Kelly Thornton Smith and UCI’s 2011-2012 XIV Dalai Lama Scholar Armaan Ahmed Rowther gathered together before the speaking event for a few quick photos.

Isn’t the Queen stunning?! And check out her bracelet! It’s from our very own Live Peace store!

The speaking event was moderated by Armaan Ahmed Rowther. He is the current Dalai Lama scholar at UCI.The Queen spoke about how she feels education is fundamental to the process of interfaith, and how she believes reaching out to one another is an incredibly grand gesture of peace, that is sometimes over looked. She explained that instead of branding people of other faiths with the idea of “other,” we need to make them a part of us. So inspiring!

Before leaving the stage, Her Majesty gave Kelly a hug…

Such a great image. What an amazing event it was! If you missed the speaking event, you can watch it in it’s entirety here. An edited, and better quality version of the video will also be on our site in the next few days!

 

A giant, special shout out to our lovely photographers: Alex Abercrombie, Ashely Strong Photography and Jason Niedle. We also wanted to thank UCI, all the students, staff and faculty that came out to the speaking event, helped set eveerything up to make the event possible, Apples & Oranges for filming the speaking event and Orange County Films for streaming the event for us! We are so grateful to have such an amazing team of individuals helping us make peace real!

 

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out.