Ever live with someone with road rage? It is very, frighteningly enlightening. The rager rails against traffic the self-same annoyances and infractions he commits. Beware the rager driving beside you. Know how to spot a road rager? Print this. Make notes in the margins.
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Saturday Evening Post
You have two ears and one mouth for a reason.”
Who was the first woman to ever tell you that? Chances are, you heard it from a woman who was trying to explain to you why you were wrong. How do I know it was a woman? When women quit listening, men stop talking.
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First, you talk. Then, I talk.
Let’s face it. In the generation of text messaging and emoticons, the art of conversation is going the path of Latin. One would think with more cell phones more conversations would be taking place. They well might be, but how many of them are functional?
If a tree falls in the forest, …
If conversation is about what you can say, you may as well talk to yourself. You absolutely need to hear the response of your partner. From that response, you should form your next statement or question.
The survey says…
Humans are impatient. We only listen to the first four words before we begin formulating our response. Can you make your point in four words or less? Really?
Image by Loving Earth via Flickr
Where’s the fire?
Your partner is trying to tell you something. There is a strong likelihood before the end of the paragraph, the message applies to you. Wonder why your mate is not telling this to someone else?
The top reasons partners give for not listening to the end are:
- No time for conversation
- Not interested (based on the introduction…read four words)
- Not in the mood to talk
- Not interested in subject
- Already talked about this
1. Politely say this is not a good time and schedule a time to discuss it later. Your partner will not feel like you are blowing it off.
2. Listen to the end of the paragraph. The rules do not say you have to start speaking the moment your partner stops speaking. Take a moment to decide what to say.
3. Did you consider your partner may just need to talk and not need your input? You may not have to say a thing. It just may be…not about you.
4. Speak up. Simply put: If you have not told your mate you are not interested, you will hear about this topic again and again and again.
5. Listen. If your mate is telling you something for the second, third or eighth time, odds are you are behaving as though you were absent for the preceding seven.
Image by Larry He's So Fine via Flickr
Dear Abby:
When you are looking for advice, do you turn to your partner? In healthy relationships, partners seek each other’s input, opinion, perspective and advice. Remember that when your partner comes to you with something which does not fit in your cup of tea.
2 more cents,
Red.
PS Comments to this post will determine the course of an upcoming series. Please share your thoughts and opinions openly.
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(c) Ann Marie Dwyer 2011
Reblogging of this or any other post on Momma’s Money Matters is expressly forbidden.
Copyright and Privacy Policy available in The Office.
Posted by Red on November 19, 2011
https://mommasmoneymatters.com/relationships-communication/
Don’t Put That In Your Mouth
If you knew what was in it, you would not put it in your mouth.” ~Neida Graham
Fact of the matter is, we do, and we eat it anyway! Want to make a healthy choice rather than a cholesterol- and calorie-laden one?
I have ways of making you…
My late husband, professed pasta and meat man, ate spinach. Yay, Popeye! Forget every other stinking, healthy vegetable on the menu. With cholesterol readings off the Richter scale, I devised some pretty savvy ways of infusing my picky eater with vegetables. Behold! My top 10 ways of introducing vegetables into everyday foods for the family who would starve before succumbing to a floret of broccoli.
Image via Wikipedia
One: Spaghetti & Pasta
My husband likened eating whole wheat pasta to chewing ground glass. Ironically, spinach and carrot pasta (usually rotini) always met with approval. Durham pasta’s triglycerides are the #2 American culprit for high cholesterol. If you cannot stomach whole wheat, change from Durham to veggie.
2. Sauce
The secret compartment for hiding vegetables! I must confess: I got caught. I was avidly chopping carrots into oblivion when hubs found the kitchen. After three blissful years of never having a clue, he discovered what I had been doing.
Your crew can use more beta carotene. Add tiny pieces of carrot (beet is better) to the sauce at the beginning. The bits dissolve. You are the wiser, and, blind to your tactics, they see better.
Don’t stop there. Mangle a mushroom.
Iron does a body good. Cut into matchstick pieces, the mushrooms pieces which do not dissolve resemble (and taste) like meat in the sauce. Toadstool shaped pieces are picked out with the Jagermeister face, but tiny pieces are devoured in the bliss of ignorance. Use portabello when you can find fresh ones, buttons when you can’t and shiitake every time.
Have you noticed pizza has sauce on it? Veggie pizza gets all thumbs down, doesn’t it? (Cue evil laughter.)
Three: Meatballs
Hide the spinach! Fresh, finely chopped spinach looks like parsley. Don’t tell, and no one will ever know its not parsley. Toss in some crushed carrot or two ounces of pure carrot juice in place of a bit of the tomato sauce. Pass the peppers, too. Bell and banana peppers don’t add heat, but add vital nutrients (loaded with vitamin C) to every dish. Throw in some olive bits (black and green)…more vitamins.
4. Chili
Do I need to repeat the carrot chorus? Fold in oddly-shaped pumpkin pieces or stir in a cup of packaged (not spiced) pumpkin. Without sweetening, you have added a layer of depth to the sauce. Render fresh chopped onion. Better flavor is a bonus to the added iron. More disguised toadstools add a power boost.
Five: Chicken Casserole
Do they pick out the vegetables to feed the dog under the table? Make them invisible. Cauliflower: Use a potato masher to smash it into a paste with chicken broth. Add it to canned cream soup. My children swear they have never eaten cauliflower. (Bwahahaha!)
Image via Wikipedia
6. Pesto
Green is difficult to hide in lots of dishes. Squeeze peas into pesto when you slip in the fresh spinach (See three). Peas will sweeten the pesto slightly, spinach will not. Arrugala takes away the sweet, if you find fresh. Better still are beet greens. With a peppery taste and a hint of sweetness, they hide well in pesto.
Seven: Salad
They eat salad? You have won the first skirmish. Win the coup.
- Spoon-scrape the flowers off broccoli florets. They are too tiny to pick out of salad dressing.
- Add different greens: mustard greens, spinach, beet greens, Romaine hearts, arrugala, red cabbage, kale.
- Stop buying iceberg lettuce. Really.
- Chop, chop. Smaller pieces mean more eaten without being able to remove the goodness.
- Use the tips outlined above to beef up the salad.
8. Guacamole
Holy moly, what you can hide in guacamole! This is not for hiding leafy veggies, but crush some lima beans. I am not crazy (Hey, you, in the peanut gallery, pipe down): This works. Limas have the same texture beneath the skin as avocado and are equally receptive to spices. Did you notice they are the same color?
Nine: Juice
Add juice to any dish (instead of water) to add vitamins. Adding juice to juice makes more sense. My house is convinced I like carrot juice: Silly rabbits! Carrot juice is for children! An half or whole cup added to powdered drinks (Kool-Aid, Flavorade or Gatorade) never raises the troops’ radar.
10. Nectar
Find the nectars in your juice aisle. They come in aluminum cans or juice boxes. Substitute these whole fruits in dishes you would sweeten to add healthy calories instead of empty, white, sugary ones.
And?
So, it is sneaky. I got these ideas when I had the eyes installed in the back of my head. (Insert Sargeant Schultz accent) I have ways of making you eat your vegetables!
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NEXT: Sushi Basics
Last chance at the vacation poll. Have you voted? Look on the left!
What did you sneak into a dish for your spouse or your child?
Did they find out?
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(c) Ann Marie Dwyer 2011
Reblogging of this or any other post on Momma’s Money Matters is expressly forbidden.
Copyright and Privacy Policy available in The Office.
Posted by Red on November 19, 2011
https://mommasmoneymatters.com/healthy-cooking-vegetables/
What is your name again?
More employees are asking this question to the “under new management” crowd.
Image via Wikipedia
Climate Control
The middle-management revolving door will keep the office cool on the thermostat, but searing with pressure.
Job Security = Not folding under the pressure
Who’s on first?
When your bosses disappear into the magical cave of down-sizing or the abyss of incompetence, do your job. The “open sesame” to tenure is always doing what is expected in your job description.
If it happens to be “change on a daily basis”, knowing your boss’s boss is probably a job-saving idea. Instead of getting the work your new boss either does not know how to or want to complete, you will have current assignments.
Let’s make a deal.
If the new boss behind door number two needs some training (read never been inside an office before), lend a hand. You have the corporate culture in your back pocket she is lacking. Love this, since it serves a dual purpose:
- Your new boss may actually last more than one pay period.
- Your new boss may note your assistance is above and beyond the call of duty on your next evaluation.
Image by masukomi via Flickr
Respect for the Dead
Do not teach your new boss how to do his job by making a foolish example of your last one. Denigrating his predecessor will only make him leery of your personal and corporate loyalty.
Is she setting me up to take my job?”
The truth is the truth is the truth. Amen.
The truest corporate truth is:
The only constant is change.”
Managers come and go, but the employees who are the company’s backbone, heart and guts will remain. They are the foot soldiers marching to the company drum which beats for the day.
The best offense is a good defense.
Do you job everyday to the best of your ability. Every manager, new and old, wants and needs to have employees just like you.
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(c) Ann Marie Dwyer 2011
Reblogging of this or any other post on Momma’s Money Matters is expressly forbidden.
Copyright and Privacy Policy available in The Office.
Posted by Red on November 18, 2011
https://mommasmoneymatters.com/management-turnover/
Stirred, Never Shaken
Part IV of the Good Food Series. Start here, if you missed a segment.
Why is stir-fried food healthier than other cooking options?”
It is all in the “not”s.
Stir-fried food is healthier not only for the fresh ingredients in the recipe but also for the things it is not. There is a positive side to the negatives.
Image via Wikipedia
~ Not overcooked
Stir-frying is a very quick way to cook. Since nutrients are lost through the cooking process, quick cooking preserves the most vitamins and minerals. More nutrients is always healthier.
~ Not boiled
Stir-frying requires no pre-cooking. Boiling reduces nutrients by at least 50%. Double cooking (parboiling, then baking, grilling, roasting or frying) increases the exposure to fat, on top of reducing nutrients. More Nutrients + Less Fat = Healthier.
~ Not over-exposed to fats
Stir-frying require little or no fat. Lower fat is always healthier. Traditional stir-fry uses peanut, safflower or soybean oil. All three are healthier than their fat-laden, high calorie animal equivalents.
~ Not sugary white
Typical stir-fry glazes use fruit juices (lemon, pineapple and orange) and brown sugar for sweetness. The natural choice of juice is the healthiest. Brown sugar is healthier than white sugar, every day.
~ Not over-salted
Stir-fry is made with pungent spices, like garlic and ginger: Both are heart healthy. Adding onions, chives or shallots, red pepper flakes and/or vinegar eliminates the need for salt. Less salt is always healthier.
Image by chooyutshing via Flickr
~ Not a by-product
Stir-fry’s star ingredients are vegetables. Nature’s fruit is healthiest by far. Stir-fried meats are lean cuts. Vegetarians often substitute tofu in place of the meats, lowering the fat even more. Less Fat = Healthier.
Showcase some great veggies without loading them with salt and fat. Toss in some pungent spices for flavor. Reap the benefits of a lot of “not”s.
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NEXT: Are you sure you want to eat that?
What is your favorite type of stir-fry?
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(c) Ann Marie Dwyer 2011
Reblogging of this or any other post on Momma’s Money Matters is expressly forbidden.
Copyright and Privacy Policy available in The Office.
Posted by Red on November 18, 2011
https://mommasmoneymatters.com/stir-fry/
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