Acorn squash with kale and sausage

This is a great recipe as the cooler weather starts to set in. It is easy and can be made during the week. If you would like this to be vegetarian you can sub out the sausage for anything!

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium acorn squash, halved down the middle, seeds removed
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • Olive oil cooking spray
  • 3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
  • 8 ounces hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
  • 1 large leek, white and light green parts only, halved and sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 4 cups tightly packed torn kale
  • 1/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • 2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan
  • 2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs

Meal Prep:

  1. Heat oven to 375°. Cut a thin slice off round side of each squash half to create a stable base. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and smoked paprika; coat with cooking spray.
  2. Place squash flesh side down on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil; bake until golden and tender, 30 minutes. Remove from oven; flip squash and set aside.
  3. Heat broiler. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat 1 teaspoon oil. Add sausage; cook, breaking into coarse pieces, until brown, 6 minutes; transfer to a bowl.
  4. In the same skillet, add remaining 2 teaspoons oil and leek; cook until leek is soft, 3 minutes. Add garlic; cook, 30 seconds. Add kale and toss; add broth. Cover and cook until kale is tender, 5 minutes; stir in sausage.
  5. Divide kale-sausage filling among squash. In a bowl, combine walnuts, Parmesan and panko; sprinkle evenly over squash bowls and coat with cooking spray.
  6. Broil until panko is golden, 2 minutes.

Make it the best day!

-K

Vote

The ads might have you going crazy by now. However, it is important to vote and make an informed decision.

No matter your party affiliation, go vote and make a difference.

Make it the best day!

-K

Daylight savings

Don’t forget it ends tonight!

Enjoy the extra hour of sleep.

Make it the best day!

-K

 

Emotional response

An email comes through with some not so nice things to say about a product, experience, or a recent transaction from a client. What is the first thing you do?

Most likely it is get a little irritated and want to respond with a lot of “I’m right and you’re wrong” type statements. Those might be good for grade school but in business we need to make decisions with a clear mind and separate feelings from a response.

If we responded with our emotional reaction every time, chances are we would end up in a lot of arguments and lose clients. A good way to start a response is to look at the facts and take your time. Do not respond in 5 minutes or even 30 minutes. Take a couple of hours to let your emotions come back to baseline.

Also remember, we don’t know what is going on in our clients life. They could have an extremely stressful day and you happened to take brunt of it (which is not the way to go, but that is another conversation)

Take a couple of hours to formulate a response. Remember to keep emotions out of the email and remain cordial. Use facts and offer more assistance.  The more help you offer, the more difficult it becomes for the other person to push anger towards you.

Always try to keep your emotions in check when dealing with business relationships. It will help keep client relationships strong and show you can be counted on to deliver a solid customer service experience.

Make it the best day!

-K

“Homemade” salsa

Looking for a way to add some zip to a regular jar of salsa? It only takes a few ingredients and few minutes.

Ingredients:

  • One 16oz jar of medium salsa and one jar of hot salsa (32oz total)
  • One ear of corn
  • One can of black beans, drained (no salt added variety please)
  • One white onion
  • Two Serrano peppers

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees.

On a sheet pan roast the ear of corn, onion and Serrano pepper. The pepper will roast the fastest so keep an eye out for it (5 to 10 minutes)

While the veggies roast, smash the black beans with cumin, cayenne and black pepper.

After mixing and mashing the beans and spices add it to a large bowl with the salsa.

Once the veggies have roasted, dice the onion, and shave the corn off the ear. Put all that goodness in with the salsa and bean mixture.

Stir and enjoy!

Make it the best day!

-K

Nail in your tire

A nail in your tire. Something you normally can’t fix yourself and leaves you in momentary lurch for between 20 minutes and 3 hours. (Depending on what kind of assistance service you have or when this nail decided to strike)

The tire is running flat and you need a repair. You can’t drive on it, so now, all your days plans take a backseat. This is a frustrating time. Chances are when the alarm went off you didn’t think..”How will I deal with the flat tire today?!”

This scenario plays across our daily lives more than we think. It might not be a nail in your tire to change your day, it can be a meeting cancellation, lost wallet, sudden complaint from a high priority client.

All of the above situations are curveballs we didn’t see coming when we greeted the day. How we deal with these moments will define the rest of the day and the way you feel. Find gratitude in the event that just took place. In most cases, it can always be worse. Find the positive and reflect on that. Make plans to overcome the disturbance with minimal day interruption and adjust your day the best you can. It won’t be the “perfect” day we had imagined, but how you overcome and move on will determine how you feel and act for the rest of the day.

Remain focused on gratitude and positives that you are currently experiencing. That will help make that nail in your tire just a small bump in an otherwise successful day in your great life.

Make it the best day!

-K

Find your unicorn

The one thing that makes you beyond excited to be alive.

It can be anything or any person!

Find your Unicorn, love it. Dance with it, go crazy with it!

Make it the best day!

-K

Happy Halloween

Dress up in a fun outfit and make some people laugh!

Be the house that gives out full size candy bars, because come on, we all love that!!

This can be quite the Monday if you enjoy the spirit of the day (insert ghost emoji here)

Make it the best day!

-K

Are you working enough?

Hmmm…that is an interesting question.

What constitutes enough? Is the amount you work determined by what you’re paid? Or is the amount determined by your title? Is outside perception driving how much time you work? Do you feel pressured to do more, even if you think you’re where you are supposed to be?

As stated yesterday, there is always room for improvement. However, do we always have to focus that on our work life? How about stepping back and enjoying what we are actually working for.  Understandably there are times when 50-60 hour work weeks are required based on projects or a deadline. After that deadline passes do we recover and re-calibrate our work/life balance?

In today’s age we can (and most of us do) work 7 days a week. Answering emails, going in for a couple of hours to catch up. We rarely see a separation of work and life. Hence, the reason I am writing this for Sunday. In hopes, that you are reading this with a cup of coffee, tea or juice and relaxing. Enjoying what you have worked all week and year for….your time.

Your work schedule differs from quite possibly everyone else in your life. However, finding what works for you (no pun intended) is where the magic happens.

Work/life balance is becoming lost in the shuffle of constant communication.

Do you enjoy what you’re doing? Are you satisfied with the end result? Do you find time to be with the ones you love and do the activities your enjoy?

Finish that coffee and go make it the best day!

-K

Downtime

Downtime can be relaxing, rewarding and wasted. Depending on the mood you are in or the place you are at. Make your downtime count. Complete your to-do list. Finish the book you have been reading or if it is R&R you’re after…enjoy it.

Try not to settle into wasting your precious time by scrolling through endless web pages. Make progress in an area of your life. That can be recovery, re-charging or learning.

Downtime can be hard to come by. Make the most of it.

Make it the best day!

-K