Be Amazed at What You Can Do

photo by brionv

1. Start your day earlier.
   There are numerous benefits to arriving at work early. For me it all comes down to being mentally prepared and starting my day peacefully, well-fed, and fully awake.
2. Plan your weekly menu around Superfoods.
   These so-called Superfoods are believed to lower your cholesterol, ward off disease, improve your appearance and even make you feel better. When I’m creating my grocery list I make it a point to get as many of these as I can: Beans, Blueberries, Broccoli, Oats, Oranges, Pumpkin, Salmon, Soy, Spinach, Tea, Tomatoes, Turkey, Walnuts, Yogurt. These are all delicious (in my opinion) and it’s not at all difficult to plan meals around them. You could plan a menu for one day that contains every one if you so desired:

   Breakfast: oatmeal, yogurt with blueberries, and a cup of tea.
   Lunch: a turkey sandwich with fresh spinach and tomatoes, a cup of bean soup, followed by an orange.
   Snack: a handful of walnuts with a glass of soy milk.
   Dinner: grilled salmon with steamed broccoli and pumpkin pie for dessert.

3. Remove a money drain.
   Identify one thing you buy regularly that you don’t really need and live without it for a week. It might be Starbucks, going out to lunch, renting movies, or clothes shopping. Add up how much you saved at the end of the week and put it in your savings account or envelope for a rainy day.
4. Re-establish contact with an old friend.
   In the fast-paced, individualistic world in which we live it’s very easy to fall out of touch with friends whose paths have diverged from our own. Give someone a call or email and let the friend know that you’re still around and interested.
5. Get Ready for Memory Month.
   I’m writing articles like mad. Are you ready? 30 days, 30 articles on remembering names, faces, phone numbers, playing cards, grocery lists, and just about anything else you need to recall. And there are still a few days to get in on the book giveaway.

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Peeling eggs, potatoes, and onions can be time-consuming, difficult to do without wasting food, and even dangerous. Here are three videos of fast and efficient techniques for peeling.

Peeling an egg in 5 seconds

Peeling a potato quickly and safely

Peeling an onion without the tears

Cut An Onion Without Crying - Click here for more free videos

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Love to cook but can’t find the time? Know how to make toast but want to learn how to bake bread? Or do you cook every day but want to find new tricks to make your job easier? Here are a few fun tips:

• Cooking by Numbers - check off what’s in your fridge and cupboard and the engine will find recipes!
• What Spices to Use - use that spice rack to its fullest potential
• 23 Cooking Tips - Avoid sticky rice, cut an onion without crying, retain the color of an eggplant when cooking, and more…
• One Pot Meals - The bachelor’s best friend
• 20 Lessons to Kick Start Your Cooking Skill - Learn the basic skills used by every cook
• 100+ Quick and Easy Healthy Foods - A collection of simple meals to try
• Kitchen Myths - Some common kitchen myths busted
• The 29 Healthiest Foods on the Planet - Try to incorporate more of these in your diet. Hey, they’re delicious, too.
• Top 25 Food Hacks - The Geekier side of cooking
• What Does 200 Calories Look Like? - Photographs of 200 Calories worth of various foods.
• Sin City Breakfast Tacos (video) - I’m salivating just thinking about them.

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Mark Jurey has fantastic instructions for building a penny alcohol backpacking stove using two Heineken cans, a soda can, metal hanger, wire, and heavy foil.

If you don’t want to make it yourself, you can order one for $29.95 from The A.C. Aircraft Company. Here’s what he has to say about the stove:

For years I have been developing a homemade ultralight backpacking stove that heats faster, burns longer, uses less fuel, and is easier to use and build. Most alcohols stoves will heat two cups of water, but when I camp, I may want to sterilize four cups fast. Or, bake some scones, slow cook a pot of brown rice or grains on 2/3 oz. of fuel. Or, boil two cups for tea on 1/2 oz..

The penny pressure regulator and simmer ring combination let it function as two stoves. It can prime and boil a quart of water just 20 seconds slower than a gas cook-top, or, simmer at max efficiently for up to 40 min. Web reviews from around the World show that it “performed like a champ” with a wind chill of -9° and “great” at the top of Mt. Whitney - 14,491 ft..

~ Mark Jurey

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I’m always looking for time-savers and these lunches are about as quick as they come. Grab one on the way out the door or keep them at your desk until you’re ready to eat.

no can opener needed

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