10 Things You Think Will Make You Happy – But Won't (Repost!)

I found this article this morning while perusing msn.com and having my morning coffee at work.
Each of the ten points below really resonated with me.  I believe that the best things in life are the simplest pleasures.  I'm amazed about how much people care about stuff, I find people will more easily ask you a question about shopping than a heartfelt, "How are you?"

actual article

Avoid the impulses below, says scholar-healer Matthieu Ricard, and you'll be primed for lifelong happiness.
(non bold by me!)

1. Becoming rich, powerful and famous. (powerful and famous- ehh, no thanks.  to own a great house to have all your family gather, I have to daydream about that!)

2. Treating the universe as if it were a mail-order catalog by expecting it to gratify our every desire. (It's true, roll up your sleeves and get to work- nothing worth it comes easy)

3. Yearning for the "freedom" to achieve every last wish. This is not freedom, but being the slave of your own thoughts. 

4. Seeking too much pleasure. Pleasurable sensations soon become dull, and often become unpleasant.
(this is true, there is a Coldstone that DELIVERS right near me- I need to blog that, but it's unappealing to me now)

5. Maliciously taking revenge on someone who has hurt you. By doing so, you become like them and poison your own mind.  (move forward, don't dwell- let the happy experiences set you free)

6. Assuming that any one thing will make you happy. Such predictions usually don't turn out to be true.

7. Expecting all praise and no criticism. Without criticism, you won't progress. (I've gotten better at receiving criticism, but I could get better- its a great skill to have to just be open on ways to self improve).

8. To vanquish all your enemies. Animosity never brings happiness.  (very true, people make mistake and time changes people- forgiveness brings happiness)

9. To never face adversity. Refraining from doing so will make you weak and vulnerable. (I can't comment on this because growing up in New York City- I face adversity just commuting and you can't become a hermit because the rent is so high)

10. Expending all your effort on taking care of yourself alone. Altruism and compassion are the roots of genuine happiness. (Giving will make you happy, I feel the best about myself on days that  helped, that I went out of my way to be a good daughter, neighbor, direction giver, listener, caretaker...)

Editor's Note: Former geneticist Matthieu Ricard is a Buddhist monk, humanitarian and international bestselling author. His new book, Why Meditate: Working with Thoughts and Emotions, was just published by Hay House. Visit him on the web at matthieuricard.org.

Anatomy of Mermaids

I loved mermaids as a child.  My mermaid obsession was only furthered by Splash, which played constantly on TV in the late 1980's and of course the The Little Mermaid.  Mermaids just have an ethereal and secretive quality that I love.  They also seem to have the same anatomy...with the exception of femurs, gracilis muscles and all of my tarsals, metatarsals and phalanges (and oh.. 3 foot long hair) I'm sort of a mermaid too.

My grandmother took me to see this movie when I was in eighth grade, a movie about an Irish folklore where people shed their skins and become people.  If this is on netflix and its a snowy/rainy day, you should watch it.

mini meatloafs.

I've been doing Atkins, by "been doing", I mean I've made it this whole day without carbs.  My goal is to make it to Valentine's Day which might result in some massive raid of a Duane Reade holiday aisle.. or I could wait until the next day and do it all at 75% off. 

I want to come up with healthy low card recipes that are also low in fat, I can't make Atkins my excuse to live off of bacon.  I stopped into the health food store today and combed the aisles looking for a bread crumb alternative for making chicken parmigan, I was almost ready to give up when I stumbled on this: 

This is Textured Vegetable Protein by Red Mill.  It actually worked really well and I was very impressed, its also pretty inexpensive at under $3.00.

Today I made mini turkey meatloaves and I think they turned out excellently.  Below is the recipes and some pictures:

Mini Turkey Meatloaf:

Ingredients:
1/4 of a cup of Textured Vegetable Protein (read the directions and make sure you reconstitute it)
One package of thawed frozen spinach
One package of 99% fat free ground turkey
1/8 of an onion chopped
1/2 green pepper
2 tsps crushed garlic
4 tsps parmingan cheese


Directions:
These are the easiest directions, put it all in a bowl and mush it together.  I then took out a cupcake pan and made a little patty and put it in each cup.  This could be done without a cupcake pan on a regular pan, or if you were having a party you could even use cupcake wrappers to serve as h'orderves. 

here is a pre-cooked picture:

too bad I don't know how to rotate it.... anyway, cook for 15 minutes and this is what you have:

Grate some sharp cheddar over it, even better if its a cheese with jalapenos- put it on a slider bun (miss you carbs) or just eat as is.

ENJOY!

Baby it's cold outside...

There are a few appliances that make me feel like I'd be ready to be on any reality cooking show.  Not only do they save so much time but they also allow me to be creative with cooking in ways I would not have otherwise.

The first appliance is the NINJA BLENDER.  I got sucked in one night upon seeing the infomercial, that involved a man putting anything and everything into a blender (I think, he put a soccer ball in there!)  I found this blender on ebay and bought it.  At first I was annoyed because it was too tall to stay on the counter all the time, but soon I saw the error of my ways! The Ninja is not fancy, it has three settings (the fancy lies in the blade which you MUST be careful when you wash). I would describe the settings as: food processing, smoothie, and soup.


The second appliance is my steam cooker from Bed, Bath and Beyond.  I asked my grandma to buy this for me for a birthday in 2007, and its great!  Clean up is ridiculously easy.  This can steam, slow cook or make rice.  You can expect several entries in the future exclaiming the need for every busy woman to have a steam cooker... you can throw ANY ingredients in and through the magic of heat, time and lack of your presence it can become the most fantastic meal.  Here is the SLOW COOKER I have
 
Tonight it was so cold, I grabbed a few things at the farmer's market and ran upstairs.  When I got upstairs I saw these things didn't necessarily go together, so I used the ingredients, with some in the fridge and my magical appliances and this is what I made:


Sunday Night Broccoli and Feta Soup (yes feta, didn't I mention I live in Astoria?)

Ingredients:

Two bunches of broccoli
One cucumber
1/4 of an onion
Olive Oil
Garlic
Sofrito


Steps:

1)  Steam the broccoli bunches in your slow cooker, along with 1/4 of an onion chopped up.

2)  After the broccoli is done steaming (which should be about 15 minutes), put into your blender.
Add two cups of water.  1/4 of a cup of olive oil.  BLEND.

3)  Skin a cucumber, and cut it into sections, add this.  Add 4 cloves of garlic.  BLEND.

4) I buy Goya's Sofrito, I can't say enough good things about this (with the exception that it is relatively high in sodium if you use it too generously)  I added in 4 tsp's of this at the same time that I dropped in a piece of fat free feta cheese that was about 4 ounces.

5) Blend again, for about a 30- 60 seconds and serve is a great bowl.  Add some crumbled cheese to the top for artful look!

inspiration sandwich

I like to cook.  I would even say love, but our current apartment doesn't have a dishwasher or a spacious kitchen so my enjoyment is (sometimes) hampered by lengthy clean ups and side stepping.  But actually, I do love to cook.  I like to go rogue, without a recipe, throw things together and hope someone's face lights up.   Sometimes even making the simplest meal, like a sandwich, can feel like the only bit of creativity I get during the day between a job at a hospital and nursing school classes.  Lucky for me, I'm marrying a sandwich enthusiast.  

This morning we woke up to the first snow, which commenced one of the laziest days we've had in a long time.  I made this sandwich for my enthusiasts, and the reviews were very positive.  Below is the recipe and a picture of my creation.

Lazy Day Chicken Parm:

Ingredients:

Chicken

Breadcrumbs

Egg Whites

Mozzarella 

Avocado

Onion

Jar of Red Peppers

Olive Oil

Butter

Semolina Bread

Garlic

Steps:

1.  Heat a pan with about 1/2 cup of olive oil.  Slice the chicken cutlet in half.  Dip the uncooked chicken first in the egg whites and then in the bread crumbs, then place to fry in the pan with oil.  Repeat this for as much chicken you have, take chicken out when it looks crisp (but not burnt) then place in the over for about 15 minutes on 350 degrees.

2.  You can buy garlic bread from the store or you can make it.  If you make it, cut the bread lengthwise, melt the butter and the rub some garlic in there and also stick in the stove. (but I would only make the garlic bread if I bought some delicious bread from the baker's.. you choice though).

3.  Chop 1/4 of an onion and caramelize it on the stove top.  Should take about 10 minutes.

4.  Once the bread and the chicken is finish, take a piece of aluminum foil and lay it out.  You should have enough to go around the circumference of the sandwich.  Open the bread, place on best piece of chicken on one side.  

5.  Smush avocado on the other piece of bread, add a little salt.  Add caramelized onions on top of the avocado and take a piece of the jarred red roasted pepper and place on top.  On the other side of the sandwich add your mozzarella cheese on top of the cutlet.

6.  Quickly put the two pieces together.  Roll them tightly together with the aluminum foil and place back in the oven for 5 minutes.

7.  Put on a plate and cut on the diagonal.  

In retrospect, I think this would be great with some chips or sweet potato fries. 

Happy First Snow!

Lits