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What A Lost Python Teaches Us About Being Present (no snake photo) & a Free Meditation Tutorial

5/25/2017

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Hey Casey, is there a snake in there??? (Photo by Brian Johnson)

A while ago an email went out from our neighborhood association with the subject line: Lost Python. I am terrified of snakes, and I couldn't open the email for fear there would be a photo attached of said lost creature. So I did what anyone would do in a codependent marriage: I asked my husband open the email.  Brian read to me all about this particular lost python, and then about this particular breed of python, and then about how this snake was not likely or even capable of eating our dog, Casey, nor me.  He was trying to reassure me that I would be just fine on the many daily walks the dog and I enjoy together.

For the first two or three days after the email about the python was delivered, I was hyper aware of my surroundings.  I didn't listen to any podcasts or music. I simply looked for that python everywhere.  In the bushes.  In the grass.  In the trees.  All that searching was the treasured nugget for me of being terrified of the lost python: I was completely in the moment every time I walked Casey.  I noticed every sound.  I noticed every bush and tree.  I noticed every person. And the great thing about this python being lost in spring is that I was able to notice all the beautiful flowers.  I became keenly aware of how I am often not being present in my life, and I'm either dwelling on the past or fleeing into the future.

Weeks after the email notifying us about the python was sent, we received an update about the pet.  It had been hiding in its owners' pantry the entire time!

This past weekend we went camping, and we had no cell service. Once again I was thrust into being completely present because the things I used to distract myself, like addictively viewing pictures of puppies on Instagram, were not available to me.  I came home from our trip more relaxed, my mind sharper, my anxiety diminished, and my spirit uplifted.

If this is resonating with you, if you're feeling like, "Oh, hey wait a minute, I'm not present to a lot of my life either," the good news is there is a very simple meditation you can do to bring yourself back into the present moment that I want to share with you.   The meditation I'm sharing with you is one of my favorites for two reasons.  One, it gives you permission to eavesdrop.  Two, it can be done anywhere.  I've done it on airplanes, in shopping malls, at restaurants, while laying in the grass with Casey.  I call it the Tuning In Meditation.  Here's how to do it:

Tuning In Meditation
  • Find a comfortable spot to sit or lay down.
  • If you wish, set an alarm on your phone.  If you are new to meditation, try three minutes.  If you feel like challenging yourself aim for five to ten minutes. 
  • Put the ringer on silent.
  • Close your eyes.
  • Notice every sound you hear.  Every single one from people talking to the whooshing of fan blades to the clanking of glasses.
  • If your mind wanders, tune back into every sound you hear.
  • When your alarm sounds, slowly blink your eyes open and turn off your alarm.
  • Take three deep breaths.
  • Thank yourself for meditating.
  • Go on and have yourself a great morning / day / evening!

The benefits of meditation reach far beyond training your mind to be in the present moment.  It can lower your blood pressure and reduce stress to name a few.  To learn more about the health benefits of meditation, click here (quick read) and here (scientific study that proves the benefits of meditating).
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From My Culinary School Experience to Your Kitchen:  4 Tips to Help You Find Ease in the Kitchen

5/10/2017

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Graduation Day, Spring 2009
PictureDefrosting salmon fillets.
One very common frustration I hear from clients, students, friends, and complete strangers is how hard it is to cook consistently good meals.  One thing I know to be true is that to take wonderful care of yourself necessitates cooking your own food.  Your kitchen is your ally in your desire to feel good consistently.  You want to have more ease in the kitchen, and I want you to have more ease in the kitchen!  With a couple of easy tips I learned from two years in culinary school, you'll not only experience more ease, you'll be cooking like a pro in no time!  Also, I'm saving you money in culinary school loans so there's that, too.

1. Mise en Place
This literally means "everything in its place."  For cooking dinner, it means having all your ingredients on the counter, prepped (e.g. cut, diced, sliced, etc.), measured.  It means having all the tools you will need out and ready to use.  It means reading the whole recipe through twice before you begin cooking.  I've had countless swear-at-the-ceiling moments in the kitchen that could have been avoided had I just read the entire recipe before starting to cook.
​
2.  Clean as You Go
Do you dread cooking because of the clean-up after cooking?  What if you cleaned as you cooked so that when you are finished with dinner all that needs to be done is dishes put in the dishwasher, a couple of pieces of cookware hand washed, and counters wiped down? Any time you are cooking dinner and you find yourself standing around, clean something.  We used to pile everything we used to prepare dinner in the sink.  After dinner, when I was getting tired, I'd be confronted with the Mount Everest of dirty kitchen crap.  It felt awful, and I became cranky.  As a Taurus, I know cranky.  Once I started cleaning as I went, after dinner became a much more pleasant part of my day because it wasn't consumed with cleaning the kitchen.  

3.  How to Defrost Food
The first time I ever taught a meal planning class, the piece of information the students found most useful was how to defrost food.  From culinary school, I can tell you what not to do.  Do not, under any circumstances, leave frozen food on the counter to defrost overnight.  It's an invitation for a bacteria festival that may lead to your digestive distress.   One method for defrosting is to put the frozen item in the fridge the night before.  I find this method just OK.  Some of the time, the food is defrosted 24 hours later, and some of the  time it still has frozen areas.  In culinary school, we learned the safest way to quickly defrost food is to put it in a colander under running water.  That was well and good when I lived in the water plentiful wonderland which is the East Coast.  When I moved to Southern California, land of the drought, that method was no longer feasible.  Now I stick the frozen item, well-sealed, in a bowl of room temperature water for an hour or so, and that does the trick 95% of the time.  

4.  Label Your Leftovers
My favorite kitchen tools may surprise you.  Yes, I do appreciate a good, sharp chef's knife, and I use multiple cutting boards daily.  Yet, my two favorite tools are a Sharpie marker and masking tape.  Why?  In restaurant kitchens, the health department requires that everything that goes into the refrigerators, called walk-ins and low-boys, be labeled with what it is and the date.  Every single thing I produced in culinary school was labeled.  This way, you are never served food that is past its expiration date or has gone bad.  At home, how many times have you pulled leftovers out of the fridge only to wonder how long ago you made the food or worse what it actually is?  When you label your food, you'll eat it before it goes bad and you'll always know what it is.  This will lead to less food waste, which is a HUGE problem in our society.

​And there you go.  You've officially learned stuff taught in one of the best culinary schools in the country.  I'd love to hear which of these tips you found most useful.  Please let me know in the Comments below!

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    Author

    Hi friends!  I am Molly.  Welcome to my blog where I share my creations and adventures to help you create a life you love.  I am passionate about food, travel, and health! Thanks for stopping by and looking around.  All photos are taken by me unless otherwise attributed.  I develop and write all my recipes with attribution for inspiration and ideas where applicable.  All of my recipes are gluten free.  

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Photos from Brett Jordan, roseannadana