How to Stay Motivated When You Work For Yourself

Today’s guest post comes to you from Vanessa Bowen of Nessbow. Vanessa’s fashion blog was originally an outlet for her to share her eclectic personal style and penchant for alternative fashion but it blossomed into a site about self-exploration, self-care and thepreservation of self-worth from the self described love child of Judy Garland and David Bowie. Be friends with her on facebook and twitter! 

If you work for yourself, you’ve no doubt faced a range of productivity road-blacks. Procrastination, lethargy and burn-out are all barriers to successful self-employment. I’ve spent the last eight years either studying or blogging, and I’ve found a few ways to overcome these pitfalls.

Set daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals.
Create goals that are specific and measurable. I find that it also helps to make several smaller goals to compliment each big goal. Make a yearly or monthly goal, and then plan out what steps you could take daily or weekly to help you to work towards it.

Identify your partner in crime.
A partner in crime is a person who aids your procrastination. If you’re regularly finding yourself distracted by a particular person, it’s time the two of you had a chat. Explain to them that your work is important, and that you need to work without disruptions. Make it clear that it’s nothing personal, and plan to do something fun with them this weekend.

Take smart breaks.
Taking breaks can be tricky. It’s easy to sit down for a ten-minute break and spend the next three hours watching cat videos on Youtube. Plan at least one ten-minute break for every hour of work you do. Even if you don’t feel tired, taking a short amount of time away from your desk will refresh you and help you to work better for longer. If you don’t think that you can trust yourself to stick to your allotted break times, set an alarm for the end of your break and put it on your desk. Make sure that the sound is loud and obnoxious, so that you’ll have to walk to your desk if you want the audio-assault to end.

Be realistic about how much you can do each day.
I often set myself a mountainous to-do list and then lament over the fact that I rarely reach the bottom of it before the day is out. It’s really important to be realistic about exactly how much you can get done in one day. In the morning, choose the three most important tasks and make these your priority. Consider any extra work a bonus.

Change your surroundings.
Cabin fever can start to sink its itchy little claws into you when you’re stuck in the same spot all the time. If you can, set up a workspace in a room other than your bedroom. Also, take your work outside occasionally, to a library, a park or a café if possible.

Be tough, but not rough on yourself.
Sometimes, you might need to give yourself a swift, metaphorical kick up the backside so you can get junk done. However, there’s a difference between being tough and being rough on yourself. You’re being tough when you give yourself a shot of self-discipline for being lazy. You’re being rough when you’re punishing yourself for making a mistake, or forcing yourself to keep working when you’re exhausted. It’s good to be tough on yourself when you need it. It’s not OK to be rough on yourself. Treat yourself kindly, always.

How do you stay motivated when you’re working for yourself?

Senegal-Inspired Hibiscus Iced Tea

Alicia is one half of Humble Foodie, written by and for 2 recent college grads and AmeriCorps volunteers who love to eat but can’t afford the budget to try every new restaurant and type of cuisine. Instead of spending all our hard-earned cash paying other people to cook for us, we’re spending as frugally as possible making delicious meals at home. Be friends with both halves of Humble foodie on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest!

One of the many awe-inspiring things about studying abroad in Senegal was the amazing food. Women would spend hours thoughtfully preparing even a simple meal, from washing the rice to simmering sauce through the morning and early afternoon to produce a late lunch of succulent, tender meat. I admired the work that went into the creation of each meal. While I often drank water, Senegalese juices would provide a special treat for certain meals. My two favorites were gingembre, a beige-colored juice with a fiery ginger kick, and bissap, a sweet, refreshing juice made with hibiscus flowers and lots of vanilla sugar.

Rather than making bissap as a sweetened juice, I chose to make it as an iced tea sweetened with raw honey. The light, subtly tangy sweetness of clover honey combined with the tart flavor of hibiscus tea is divine refrigerated or served over ice. I brew the tea with a large amount of flowers to have a flavorful impact, but you could cut down for a lighter tea. It’s a great alternative to soda or sweet tea, and a refreshing beverage to enjoy on a warm day.

It took awhile for me to locate dried hibiscus flowers in the United States, but I finally found them in bulk at a local produce market. They are often sold as Flor de Jamaica, and are dark reddish purple in color. I bought 1/2 a pound for about $2.50, and 1/2 a pound goes quite a long way!

The recipe below is a bulk recipe that I used to make iced tea for Karly’s shower. Below the recipe are notes on decreasing the quantities to make this for just a couple people.

Senegal-Inspired Hibiscus Sweet Tea

3 quarts water
3 ounces dried hibiscus flowers (Flor de Jamaica), appx. 3 cups
3/4 to 1 cup honey, to taste

Pour water into a large pot and place on the stove over high heat. When water reaches a boil, remove from heat. Add flowers, stir, and cover. Steep the tea for 6-8 minutes. Be careful not to leave the flowers in for too long, or they will begin to impart a slightly bitter flavor. I suggest tasting small spoonfuls of the tea as it steeps if it is your first time making hibiscus tea.

Strain the tea into another large pot, bowl, or pitcher. Add honey to taste. I like to leave some of the natural tartness of hibiscus in the flavor, but you can add more than 3/4 cup if you prefer sweet tea. Cool and refrigerate until ready to serve. I pour tea into individual glass bottles or mason jars to take on the go during the week.

Source: This recipe is an Alicia original, but was inspired by the many versions of jus de bissap that I enjoyed while in Senegal.

Quantities: This recipe makes almost three quarts of iced tea, so it’s useful for a party (or bridal shower!) If you’re making the tea for one, I’d suggest cutting the recipe to one quart of water, 3/4-1 cup of flowers, and 1/4 to 1/3 cup honey for about four servings of iced tea.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Travelling Together As a Duo

Deborah Peniuk aka Dee/TraveliciousDee is an outside the box travel counsellor on a mission to empower people to plan travel less inside the lines & use their senses & imagination. She’s currently living in Ontario, Canada and loves yoga, mediation, and being outside. Be her friend on facebook or follow her on twitter

After many years of travelling solo…I remember my first trip travelling as partner in a relationship and learned some great lessons for future trips and a few from my other friends and travelling companions over the years! Sure the idea of heading off to an exotic local and hiking into unseen splendor, braving the weather conditions and “bathroom” facilities,otherwise known as squatter toilets and eating meals with chopsticks or your fingers seemed like the ultimate shared adventure…the real challenge of vacationing together is spending every minute together for the long periods ahead (7,14, 21 days or for some even 60 to 365 days straight). If you think your relationship is up to the test, do yourselves a favor and take some of my hard-learned and well adhered travel tips.

Before you head off on your own two week foreign trekking together, test the waters first with a much shorter trip much closer to home. If a weekend getaway somewhere not so far together to see a local destination leaves you questioning what you ever saw in each other, you might want to reconsider that African safari or the surfing trip in Waikiki.

Be sure to make the travel arrangements together whether you’re traveling just a couple hours away or heading out to more far-flung destinations, make sure you’re both taking active roles in the planning process. “Blame” and “credit” make strange bedfellows, so do yourself and your partner the grace of sharing the load and leave those two kill joys at home. Ensure you are travelling with a partner with proper travelling identification that is up to date( most countries will require you have a valid passport and some countries will require visitors to have a Visitor’s Visa/Permit). Also having a partner with a driver’s license is a blessing if you are renting a car on your travels as traveling with someone who doesn’t drive is a bit of a drag—especially if you’re not crazy about taking the wheel yourself (literally, not metaphorically).

Application for US Passport // Passport Canada  // Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative 

When it comes to eating when you are travelling together -Pack a few nutritional bars for backup! Seriously, these things can save you even if you aren’t traveling to a location where the food is questionable, chances are your schedule will be, and almost nothing kills a good time—or a romantic mood—faster than low blood sugar. So plan ahead and don’t let it! Sometimes doing things the cheap way is more fun; you see more of life and the tourists around you are younger and/or more interesting. Still, be sure to balance the low-budget buses & tours with indulgences like a nice restaurants or hotels when you can afford it. A little break from culture shock every now and then can be a good thing and luxurious is not always out of reach on a budget and can be arranged with a travel professional with a good knowledge of destinations and suppliers.

Don’t be afraid to bring stuff to entertain yourself – believe it or not, if you’re going on a longer trip together, there are going to be moments, maybe even hours, when the last thing you want to do is talk to, make-out with, or even look at your significant other. Have a good book or a pile of magazines to keep you occupied when those times arise but make sure to put the book down when that something else arises. Take the time to interact with other people -this is essential  on those longer trips, too, for obvious reasons, I hope. Hit the hotel bar and mingle, take an afternoon cruise or tour with other travelers. You don’t have to make friends for life, but the company of others for even just a few hours will save you from what is sometimes called couples’ claustrophobia.

Take initiative - sooner or later, realistically something’s going to go wrong – it more than likely isn’t catastrophic! When this happens and one of you inevitably melts under the pressure and stress of it all, it’s essential the other takes the initiative and gives into to back up Plan B. Contact your travel professional immediately as it won’t always have been the “perfect” plan and it doesn’t come down to blaming anyone but it makes the most sense— trust me on this: having your travel professional at the moment when it seems the world is crashing in will save not only your vacation, it could very well save your relationship.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to make a list of all the things you are concerned about and take them to your trusted travel professional…that is what we are here for and will be able to answer a lot of the questions you might have about your destinations of choice. But most of all – be prepared to be flexible and enjoy whatever comes your way – You can have fun in the rain or the snow!

photo by paul l dineen, cc

Alicia’s Picnic Chicken

Alicia is one half of Humble Foodie, written by and for 2 recent college grads and AmeriCorps volunteers who love to eat but can’t afford the budget to try every new restaurant and type of cuisine. Instead of spending all our hard-earned cash paying other people to cook for us, we’re spending as frugally as possible making delicious meals at home. Be friends with both halves of Humble foodie on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest!

I have had a smile on my face all weekend as the sun keeps shining and the temperatures keep rising. Seeing as the weather forecast for next week is calling for temperatures in the 60′s and maybe even 70′s, I thought it was a good time to post my go-to roast chicken recipe. The smell of sage and butter in the kitchen makes me think of summer picnics and get-togethers, whether in the backyard or by the lake. Enjoy this simply seasoned dish hot from the oven or as a cold meal packed for a picnic. It also makes excellent sandwiches when served up with tart cranberry sauce and wilted spinach.

If you are like Kerry and I at The Humble Foodie, one of your priorities is to eat well while keeping some money in your wallet. I already talked about how to make a roast, which can be done with a cheap cut of meat like pork butt or chuck roast. Another way to stick to your frugal budget is to learn to roast a whole chicken. You can buy a whole 4-pound chicken for $4-5 at Trader Joe’s, and the only special tool you need is a meat thermometer. It helps to have a baster, but you can also make use of a large spoon if you don’t have one on hand. If you don’t eat dairy, feel free to substitute additional olive oil for the butter. Roast chicken can be done many different ways, but I love this cooking method and simple seasoning.

Alicia’s Picnic Chicken – Makes one whole roast chicken (3-4 servings)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 4-lb chicken
1 1/2 lemons
8 cloves garlic
Plenty of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons grass-fed butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage or 1 tablespoon dried sage

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat the bottom of a 13×9 glass baking dish with olive oil. Prepare your ingredients now: slice each lemon in half and set aside. Peel garlic cloves and smash with the flat side of a wide knife. Set aside. In a small bowl, melt butter in the microwave (about 20 seconds). In another small bowl, combine about 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and sage. Set aside.

Remove the insides of your chicken (don’t worry! TJ’s handily bags these up for you), and rinse, inside and out, under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels and place, breast side down, in baking dish. Pour melted butter over the chicken, rubbing to make sure it covers all areas, like under the wings. Now squeeze one half lemon over the chicken and discard, then stuff another half into the cavity. Add smashed garlic cloves to the cavity as well. Add a little of your salt-pepper-sage mixture to the cavity, then sprinkle the rest liberally over the chicken. At this point, you can tie the legs together with cooking twine to hold everything in the cavity if you would like.

Cook for 30 minutes, then remove from the oven. Squeeze another lemon half over the chicken and discard. Baste the chicken with pan drippings, then return to the oven and cook for one more hour, removing to baste every 15 minutes. After the chicken has cooked for 90 minutes total, remove and check temperature at the thickest part of the leg. You’re looking for a temperature of 165. At this point, remove the chicken from the oven and let rest for 15-20 minutes. The resting is imperative, as it lets the juices circulate and keep the chicken moist–that is, particularly good for leftovers.

Source: inspired by the enormous quantity of dried sage I purchased last summer, and adapted from Elizabeth Frink’s Roast Lemon Chicken recipe, published in The Essential New York Times Cookbook(2010) by Amanda Hesser

What the Dress Code?!

Lynne DeVenny is a  senior paralegal in Winston-Salem, NC. After a time running her blog & calling it The Practical Paralegal, giving advice & promotion to the paralegal profession, Lynne noticed that her readers were more interested in budget career dressing. She changed the name of her blog to The GoodWill Hunting Paralegal and now focuses on looking professional on a budget. Be her friend on facebook & twitter! 

I’ve worked at the same small civil rights law firm for almost two decades. We’re blessed to work in a historic home, and we get soda for free. (Don’t scoff. Do you know how much soda it takes to fuel a paralegal every day?)

There’s never been a dress code in any real force or enforced. Employees have come and gone, some so tastefully and beautifully turned out, that no matter what I have on, I feel like I should definitely try harder tomorrow, or possibly the day after, or next Monday…

Then there have been the employees who really relaxed in our beautiful old house, wallowing in free soda, and on occasion, wearing blue JEANS. (If you want start a dress code brawl at your conservative place of employment, just announce, “OMG, Sue’s wearing JEANS! Those aren’t navy blue slacks, those are STRETCH DENIM!”)

So after 20 years of complete sartorial freedom, some of us in the law office were stunned speechless when our new dress code was announced last week. We are no longer allowed to wear jeans. This news was not received well by everyone. Some of the ones that weren’t rendered speechless reacted with an emphatic, “What th’…um, HEEEECCCK!!!!”

But I wasn’t mad. Maybe some of us had gotten rather relaxed or possibly just lax in our work attire. And honestly, even if the new dress code was super draconian and said we could only wear dresses (it doesn’t), I’d be good with that. Over the years (the many, many, many years) that I have dressed for work, I’ve loved looking like I did try harder – by simply dropping a flattering and comfortable dress over my head and running out the door.

After longing from afar for ages, I recently purchased my first Karina Dress. It fits all my rather stringent requirements for daily career wear. It doesn’t wrinkle, or need ironing (like I know where our iron is). It makes me look polished and beautifully turned out, as is, or with accessories. And my Karina Dress feels like jammies. Take that, new dress code!

So I’ll sit back with my free Dr. Pepper and my dress that feels like jammies, and see what happens when the covert jeans action begins. (I’m thinkin’ the first rebel jeans wearer will go jeans ala Clinton and Stacy with a dark denim, great-fitting trouser style. Add a navy blazer, and they will sneak in disguised as a suit.)

Does your place of employment have a dress code? Reasonable or draconian?
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Lynne is wearing her Karina dress with thrifted vintage MIA floral cutout boots, and re-mixing it with a thrifted Frye riding boots.

How To Stay Smart

How to Get More Wear Out of Your Wardrobe.

 Today’s guest post comes to you from Vanessa Bowen of Nessbow. Vanessa’s fashion blog was originally an outlet for her to share her eclectic personal style and penchant for alternative fashion but it blossomed into a site about self-exploration, self-care and the preservation of self-worth from the self described love child of Judy Garland and David Bowie. Be friends with her on facebook and twitter!

How many times have you stood in front of a closet full of clothing and lamented that you’ve got nothing to wear? And how often do you look at the overflowing wasteland of your wardrobe and wished that you could get more wear out of your clothes?

Apparently, the average woman only wears a third of her wardrobe on a regular basis. That’s madness when you consider the amount of money and energy that most of us invest in building our wardrobe.

I used to be guilty of owning a closetful of beautiful clothing, but only ever stepping out in jeans. Eventually I got fed up with never wearing so many of the lovely things I owned. I felt as though these precious garments were going to waste languishing in my closet. So I shook up my habits. Now, I’d say that I cycle through my wardrobe fairly regularly. Other than formal wear or seasonal items, all of the items in my wardrobe regularly see the light of day.

If you’d like to make a change and get more wear out of your clothes, here are a few practical steps you can take to make this a reality.

Have a big clear-out
Go through your wardrobe carefully and get rid of any items that no longer belong. You should cull any garments that don’t fit you, things that are no longer your style and items that are worn out. Getting all the excess baggage out of your wardrobe will make it much easier to work with.

Put your clothes on show
Organize your wardrobe in such a way that you can see everything. Utilize hanging space in your wardrobe. Use racks and hanging units to organize your shoes and accessories. Fold and stack jumpers and tee shirts. If you have everything on display, you’re much more likely to put together new and exciting outfits than if you can only see a few garments at a time.

Shop your closet
Every couple of weeks, go through your wardrobe and select five items that you haven’t worn in a while. Then, make it your mission to work each of them into an outfit over the next few weeks. This will give you a chance to cycle through your clothes more often and experiment with those items you love, but never seem to wear.

Step outside your comfort zone
Part of the reason that we don’t wear many of the things we own is that we get caught in a pattern of wearing the same few items. You don’t have to stop wearing your favourites, but you should encourage yourself to think outside the box and find new ways to style them. Tuck your favourite tee into a pencil skirt and slip on a pair of heels. Your trusty jeans can be teamed with a pretty blouse or a funky knit for a new look. Push yourself to try new things often.

Buy less stuff
Although it seems counter-intuitive, having a closet that’s bulging with sartorial options can actually hamper your ability to mix things up. While variety is a good thing, we tend to freeze when faced with too many choices. When we have a million different outfits to choose from, we’re more likely to reach for our old favourites because they’re safe and easy. If you buy fewer things, you’ll give yourself a bit of breathing space to use the items you already have. Try swearing off clothes shopping for a month or two.

Do you only wear a small portion of your clothes, or do you cycle through your wardrobe regularly?

Slice of Heaven

Today’s guest post comes from Laura Vincent of Hungry and Frozen. She’s a Wellington food blogger, cafe reviewer, sometime foodwriter, and general Food Pervert. She loves to cook and eat and feed her loved ones. Her favorite foods include Brunch, Ice cream, Cornbread, Butter, Food at family parties and Christmas leftovers. Be sure to check out her upcoming cookbook and be friends on facebook and twitter! 

When left to my own devices of a weekend I tend to start baking without even thinking. Ginger Crunch or Ginger Slice or even Ginger Crunch Slice if you want to be equal-opportunistic, is something of an example of traditional New Zealand baking and for some reason it has been top of my to-do list for a while…I guess since I last baked something. Sometimes I can be thinking about baking something but also excitedly anticipate the next thing I’ll bake after that - special, huh.

Google Ginger Crunch and you will be met with roughly the same recipe from all the usual reliable channels – Edmonds Cookbook, Alison Holst, Chelsea Sugar (who I am deeply suspicious of now that they’ve released chocolate-flavoured icing sugar – I hate the term ‘nanny state’ but that’s what, of all things, sprang to mind when I saw it on shelves) etc etc. I can now say with confident confidence, that the Ginger Slice I made yesterday improves greatly upon anything you will find on Google. I say ‘improves’ not ‘is vastly superior and practically perfect in every way’ because in all fairness, I simply added a few crucial elements to the various traditional recipes floating round everywhere and would not have come up with it in the first place were it not for what has been set in place by Edmonds et al.

Ginger Crunch Slice
Base:
250g soft butter
1/2 cup dark muscovado sugar (or brown sugar)
2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons bran (optional, I just happened to have some in the cupboard)
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Set the oven to 180 C. Grab a regular sized square or rectangular brownie/slice tin – you know the kind I’m talking about – and tip in the rolled oats. Put this tin in the oven for a couple of minutes while the oven is heating till the oats are nicely toasted but absolutely not burnt.

Using a wooden spoon or spatula or some other kind of utensil that takes your fancy, beat the butter and sugar together till light and creamy. Muscovado sugar is a little dense and crumbly so fear not if some of the sugar remains in lumps. As I said, brown sugar is fine too, and is what I generally use if I see muscovado sugar asked for in a recipe. But muscovado was cheap at the local supermarket…

Tip in the toasted oats (putting a sheet of baking paper into the now-empty brownie tin), bran, flour, ginger and baking powder. Stir together carefully till it looks like biscuit dough, soft and clumpy. Tip this mixture into the brownie tray, pressing down with the back of a spoon. Bake for 15-20 minutes till nicely golden on top.

Icing
100g butter
3 heaped tablespoons golden syrup
2-3 teaspoons ground ginger
2 1/2 cups icing sugar

This is one of the simplest and loveliest icings you can make. While the base is baking, gently melt together the butter, golden syrup and ginger in a small pan over a low heat. Once it comes together in a golden spicy puddle, remove from heat and stir in the icing sugar. As soon as the base is cooked, pour the icing over it, still warm and smooth out if necessary. Refrigerate for 1/2 an hour or so before slicing into fingers.

I lined this photo up all carefully on the benchtop and then realised that I couldn’t see into the viewfinder and that the icing was moving faster than I could take photos and this is why you see the icing being poured from a mysteriously hovering vessel with no-one apparently holding on to it. But the price is right.

Ah, the cutesy things we do with our food for the sake of our food blogs.

Anyway: this stuff is quite ridiculously amazing. Adjectives fail me.

Simplify Your Week In 7 Easy Steps

 Today’s guest post comes to you from Vanessa Bowen of Nessbow. Vanessa’s fashion blog was originally an outlet for her to share her eclectic personal style and penchant for alternative fashion but it blossomed into a site about self-exploration, self-care and the preservation of self-worth from the self described love child of Judy Garland and David Bowie. Be friends with her on facebook and twitter! 

So, what are you going to do this weekend? You could spend it lounging in front of the television, dancing with your friends or bathing in rose-scented bubbles (which are all excellent choices). Or you could devote a portion of that free time to some tasks that will make the following week a whole lot easier. Here is a list of 7 simple steps that will take some of the sting out of a busy week.

1. Do some meal prep.
When I’ve had a rough day, I barely have enough brain power left to propel me towards my couch, let alone devise and prepare a healthy meal. I’m likely to grab a fast-and-nasty takeaway meal, which only leaves me feeling more sluggish. To combat your end-of-day cooking aversion, spend a bit of time planning your meals for the week ahead. Go shopping to make sure that you have all the ingredients you need at hand. If you’re feeling really motivated, you could even cook and freeze some dinners in advance, so all you have to do each night is hurl it in the microwave and hit ‘reheat’.

2. Plan your outfits.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been late for an event because I’ve been faffing about choosing an outfit. It’s so easy to get caught up in the cycle of trying and second-guessing every item in your wardrobe. Save yourself the hassle by planning a couple of outfits in advance. Check the weather forecast for the next few days and use this to educate your decisions. Hang the outfits in your wardrobe, alongside the accessories you plan to wear with them. Now all you have to do in the morning is get dressed, minus the uhming and ahing.

3. Have a brain dump
A ‘brain dump’ is an exercise I do when I’m feeling overwhelmed with the tornado of yet-to-be- completed tasks that are swarming about in my head. Basically, you write down absolutely everything that you have to do. Write down every task, big and small. Then take out your calender or planner and start scheduling them in. It will help clear your head and you’ll feel very smug and organized.

4. Prepare to sweat.
To make sure that you get in a couple of sweat-sessions this week, jump onto Youtube and bookmark a couple of workout videos. Choose three or four that look interesting, and then paste the link to the video into your planner. Set an alarm to remind you when it’s time to work out.

5. Do a bit of cleaning.
Pop a CD into the stereo, or make yourself a playlist that is 10-12 songs long. Choose music that is fast-paced and energetic. Now, clean until the music stops. Once the playlist ends, you can pat yourself on the back and call it a job well done.

6. Pay the bills
Jump on your computer and set up a direct debit to pay your rent and utility bills. Now you don’t have to worry about actually paying your bills, it will all be done for you.

7. Do your laundry
To avoid any awkward “oh, I need nude underpants, but I only have clean black thongs” moments, spend some time sorting, washing and then ironing your dirty clothes. You can watch a movie while you do your ironing, and your house will smell like freshly laundered linens.

This weekend, pick one of the above steps and get it done. If you’re feeling really motivated, you could try to knock over a whole bunch of them. For a little bit of effort on the weekend, you’ll save yourself a mountain of stress during the week.

Do you have any tricks for simplifying your week?

Spicy Green Skillet for Breakfast, Brunch, or Brinner

Alicia is one half of Humble Foodie, written by and for 2 recent college grads and AmeriCorps volunteers who love to eat but can’t afford the budget to try every new restaurant and type of cuisine. Instead of spending all our hard-earned cash paying other people to cook for us, we’re spending as frugally as possible making delicious meals at home. Be friends with both halves of Humble foodie on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest!

You know what rules about being an adult? I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want. This has meant chocolate cake for dinner on more than one occasion…how can I resist when I can make one in the microwave in five minutes? Breakfast for dinner has become another favorite. I’m not sure why breakfast is so much more delightful when eaten at 7:00pm than 7:00am, but a stack of cocoa surprise pancakes or a heaping skillet of vegetables, chorizo, and eggs will always be go-to comfort foods.

Since I’ve committed to completing a January Whole30, a month of squeaky clean Paleo eating, my very favorite chocolate cake is neither in the cards nor on my plate. Instead, I’m redefining treats and finding joy in every meal. Ordinary ingredients become exciting when I know that the meal I am creating will keep me energized and satisfied for hours.

This heaping skillet is packed with protein, vegetables, and healthy fat to meet that very need. Chorizo is one of my favorite ingredients (see, you CAN have treats on the Whole30!) and gives a nice flavor the mix of eggs and green vegetables. The bite of sautéed jalapeños provides a contrast to the creamy inside of crackling sweet potato homefries, which I highly recommend trying as a standalone side dish in another breakfast. Once you pick your basics, swapping ingredients to match what you have on hand is a no-brainer. A spicy green skillet is a quick and easy Paleo, Whole30-friendly meal no matter what time of day you choose to indulge.

Spicy Green Skillet - 1 hearty serving (double recipe and use a larger skillet for 2+)
Total time: 20-25 minutes

1-2 tablespoons coconut oil
½ medium sweet potato, chopped into ½-in. pieces
¼ cup chopped yellow onion
¼ cup thinly sliced green onion
½ jalapeño pepper, seeds and white ribs removed, chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1 cup loosely packed baby spinach
¼ teaspoon ground oregano leaves
salt & pepper
4 ounces chorizo
2 large eggs
½ avocado, chopped into 1 in. pieces

Melt coconut oil in a 10″ cast iron skillet over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, add chopped sweet potato and cook until tender, flipping only a few times so the sweet potato forms a crunchy, caramelized outer layer, about 4-6 minutes. Remove to a plate.

Add more oil if needed, then add vegetables and season with oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook until onion is translucent, then remove to plate with sweet potatoes. Again, add a bit more oil if needed, then crumble chorizo into the skillet and saute until cooked through. Remove to plate.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until scrambled, then pour them into the skillet. When the eggs have almost finished cooking, add the rest of the cooked ingredients to the pan and scramble. The skillet is finished once the eggs have set. Add avocado and enjoy!