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Whole30 Lemon Pepper Salmon and Lemon Thyme Roasted Cauliflower
In my recent reading, I have been made ever increasingly aware of how much we tend to stick with what’s familiar or what we know. Much of this is entirely subconscious and affects us in ways which are imperceptible even to ourselves. We tend to make sense of things and experience the world through our own lens based on what we have a basis of understanding or framework for and we often rely on heuristics or mental shortcuts in our daily judgments and decision making. However, more obviously, the tendency towards the familiar not only applies to our subconscious thought patterns and biases, but also to the overt choices and…
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The Precious Resource of Time and a Whole30 Slow Cook Tuscan Chicken Dinner
Today is my turn to pose one of those infamous hypothetical questions: what do you value more highly – time or money? I generally tend to overanalyze this type of proposition with thoughts of all the many tradeoffs to consider. If I had more time without money, what would I do and would it bring as much satisfaction as other activities, events or hobbies which do require some type of financial investment (travel, theatre, shopping, dining out with friends, etc.)? Conversely, if I had more time, could I use it to find new or better ways to generate additional income? Of course I don’t want to end up with more…
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Silly Questions and Whole30 Spaghetti Puttanesca
A few years ago, I remember going out for lunch with my sister and the youngest of my brothers, who at the time was probably about 10 or 11 years old. Sam has always been quite chatty and inquisitive by nature and LOVES to ask relatively random hypothetical questions. We might be folding laundry together and he decides he must know whether you would prefer to be blind or deaf. We could be packing our bags to head out for one of his soccer practices when he asks if I think it’d be better to know how to fly or to be invisible. Once he and I drove 6 hours…
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Heuristics and Healthy Fish and Chips
When you think about “healthy food” what comes to mind? The thought might conjure up particular words like organic, raw, kale, superfood, or vegan, or perhaps images of bland steamed vegetables with boiled chicken or a #saddesksalad pop up in your head. Although there are nearly as many different definitions and opinions of what actually constitutes “healthy” as there are people out there, we all have some construct or idea what “healthy” looks like. The majority of people may not know how they learned or exactly why spinach is more healthy than a Boston Crème Doughnut, but somehow they know. This is possible because we have we have established what…
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Stress-Free Buffalo Egg Muffins
This week on the blog you’ll notice a special theme because I am celebrating my two year wedding anniversary! I can’t believe how time quickly time has flown by and what a unique experience it has been. Jon and I were happily dating and living in Boston when all of a sudden, he was presented with a career development opportunity which entailed an up to 18 month position in Cork, Ireland (now extended to 3 years). As we weighed the pros and cons of this major relocation, it became clear to us that that there was one thing that we still wanted to do while we were in Boston, which…
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Celebrate “Treat YO Self Day” with an Autumn in Mason Jar Salad Picnic in the Park
I mentioned recently that for the month of October, one of my resolutions is to abstain from absolutely all non-essential purchases (i.e. food and coffee). I have become increasingly lax in my budget management over the past few months and have found myself frequently indulging and accumulating more things which I do not actually need (although it is hard for an athleisure addict to admit, I do have plenty of leggings). This approach might not work for everyone, but for me, as an abstainer (as opposed to a moderator), it’s easier and better for me to give something up completely than to allow for a little bit here and there.…
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The Value of Being Versatile (as Demonstrated by Cashew Nut Butter)
Versatile – to be able to adapt or be adapted to a many different functions or activities. See also: adaptable, flexible, all-around, multifaceted, multitalented, resourceful, protean; adjustable, variable, convertible, alterable, modifiable, multipurpose. It is interesting to me how particular values, traits or qualities become more or less in vogue throughout the passage of time. Today it seems that concepts like gratitude, mindfulness, balance, and versatility are highly prized in the media and society at large around many parts of the world. Although often the rise in popularity of such buzzwords can end up translating loosely to nothing tangible (and can be a bit excessive or annoying at times), they do…
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The Power of Connectedness and Lemon Baked Haddock
For the most part, I work from home. This of course does not include the time that I am teaching at the studio, but alas, I do have an additional, regular, full time position as a business consultant which involves a lot of time at my computer or on the phone. When I explain this, it is confusing to many people, conjuring up a variety of misconceptions or delusions, ranging from “oh wow – that is awesome, working in your pajamas everyday or taking the afternoons off right?” to “yeahhhh right, you don’t really do very much work do you?” or “that must be really hard to stay focused and…
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The Strategy of Convenience and Whole 30 Coconut Crusted Chicken Fingers with “Honey” Mustard Dipping Sauce
Let’s get one thing straight – I have not always been a super healthy eater. While I have always liked my veggies and fruits, I also liked my fast food, sweets, and prepackaged convenience foods. When I was younger, I was all about what was easy and “tasted good” and not too concerned about the health (or lack thereof) in the foods that I was eating, plus I lived down the street from a Steak and Shake. According to Google, there are some Steak and Shake locations in the EU, but none in Ireland, so for those who may not know, it is a fast food diner type restaurant with…
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Adventures in Brainstorming and the “A Team Salad”
Throughout my studies in both psychology and business and my professional life thus far, I have been fortunate enough to participate in many ongoing learning, training and certification opportunities. Some have been quite niche or nuanced and others more broad and generic. Topics have ranged from leadership development to time management and goal setting techniques; from interpersonal skills like conflict resolution or negotiation to project management and so on. And a lot of these programs or protocols, especially my Six Sigma training, have emphasized brainstorming as an invaluable and critical first step to problem solving and identification of root causes as well as potential solutions. And to be honest, I…
