Whew!! Well, let's just all agreed that food is a HOT TOPIC these days, something that instills so much passion in many of us! I think it's time to get this blog back to the basics, food, fun, exercise, smiles, etc etc. I recently downloaded a book to my Kindle called "How Full is your Bucket." I can't say whether it's a good book or not, being that I haven't read it. Unfortunately it's not at the front of my queue either. I've got quite a few to get through, but amazon sent me a link after downloading it saying that I had an "activation code" to take the "Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment." I had no clue what this assessment is, but apparently they talk about it in the book.

It was 4:45am (more on that later) and I was looking for something to do so I clicked on it. The test took like 35 minutes and you answer like 150 questions (don't quote me on the number) and at the end it spit out your "Signature Themes." Each one had a little explanation and I have to say, mine were erie. So totally spot on. I could just hand them to someone and say, "This is me."

Do you know what #1 is? Any guesses??

Positivity

Hahah!!! If you knew me 10 years ago this would not have made my top 10, but if I've learned anything these past years it's that seeing the world around you as a bright place full of possibilities for yourself and others results in nothing but good stuff. It said:

"You are generous with praise, quick to smile, and always on the lookout for the positive in the situation. Some call you lighthearted. Others just wish that their glass were as full as yours seems to be"

---Clifton StrengthsFinder

After reading the comments on yesterdays blog I can definitely say that you all see that in me too. I really thank you for all the kind words. I don't "offload" too often, and I appreciate your reactions to my last post. Okay, ONWARDS!

So, sleep. My athlete Danielle, who I love a ton, and whom lives on Nantucket, emailed me yesterday. She is an X-night-owl turned morning-person and she emailed me some tips. They are the bomb and I'm going to share them.

1. She said I'm not waking up early enough! WHAT?!!! She said that 6:30 is not early enough to turn me into a morning person and that instead of going to bed early, I needed to focus on my wake up time and the bed time would take care of itself. She said 4:30-5:00am is when I need to get up. So last night, I set the alarm for 4:30am. It was horrible and I kinda twiddled my thumbs and ambled around the house from 4:30-6:30am, but I could see how this could be a game changer. But for now....it's horrible.

2. No more electronics 1/2 hour before bed. This is a tip that is everywhere, so Danielle isn't exactly inventing the wheel here, but having her reiterate it gave it a bit more clout with me. She said a nice solid real book before bed that is light in content is ideal.

3. Lastly, she also told me that bed is for two things....sleep and the other "S" word that is going to get me lots of comment spam if I repeat it. You know what I mean. So no electronics in or near the bed. But what about my cool little sleep app??!! No, says Danielle.

So, here's to trying to use an early wake up time to help reset my bedtime. I'm going to give it a go, because the bed time thing isn't really working as of now. Even when I get in bed early, the brain is racing and I feel rushed and pressured.

Breakfast today, at the ripe time of 5:30am was my normal sweet potato hash, 2 eggs and 1/2 avocado. I don't think you all need another photo of that one, and I forgot to take one because it was so flipping early in the morning.

Lunch was yummy! I took the sweet potato hash and I put it IN the Chocolate Chili from Well Fed. Then topped with avocado. Let me tell you...total game changer! Really super tasty! Like it will make you forget that you ever used to put Fritos in your chili kind of good! I had some veggies on the side and also some toasted coconut.

Also, there was some stress eating today. I ate an entire pomegranate in about 3 minutes. Like got out a spoon and just scooped the aerials into my mouth. Definitely not the wisest decision, but I still turn to food when I get stressed. It's a fact of my life, I'm working on it.

Oh, have you seen the trick of beating a pomegranate with a wooden spoon? If you love them, but hate to peel them, check this out, it works like a charm. It works so good it's almost sad to me, and it doesn't require a bowl of water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ7dk9nDR-k

Dinner: Okay friends, let me just tell you. We had am amazing dinner. In Well Fed 2 there is a recipe for "Tod Mun Chicken Cakes with Cucumber Relish." You can actually get a freed download of the recipe here on NomNomPaleo, just keep scanning to the bottom for the free PDF.

These were amazing, totally kid approved, Annie had 3 of them. The cucumber relish was really great too, so don't skip that when you make it. My photo is not the best and they really didn't last much longer than 3 minutes. I had seconds. One of the best things I've ever eaten.

Last thing I want to mention. The Avocado Saver....can I please just elaborate on the avocado saver. Where has it been all my life. I love kitchen gadgets but not silly ones that you can just use your knife instead (says the girl who owns a vitamix, a food processor, a kitchen aid, and is begging for a mandolin and an emersion blender...but I digress). However at a grand total of $7.43 this baby is a real gem. It took me a second to figure it out, kinda had a blond moment, but you keep the side with the pit, it has a hole for the pit, and then it has a seatbelt to keep it safe while riding in the fridge.

It's genius, and I love it. No more brown avocados. It really works.

Here is my video blog for the day. Probably my favorite one so far!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0pGmkEOamI