Tag Archives: personal growth

3 ingredient low calorie  bread

I’ve been bitten by the cooking from scratch bug in recent weeks. There have seen many recipes i have had a want to create over the years and have tried recipes from various regions of the country and a few overseas.  I have decided to take on a challenge in the kitchen of which I’ve never undertaken: making bread. This was a beginner friendly bread that I created using a few simple ingredients: bread flour, rapid rise yeast, and pink hymilayan sea salt.

To start, you will want to heat 1 and a half cups of water on the stove. Next, you will need 3 and a half cups of bread flower to go into a large bowl. Once this has been placed in the bowl, you will need to add a table spoon of rapid rise yeast and half of a tablespoon of pink Himalayan sea salt

Dry ingredients ready to rock and roll

Once the dry ingredients are done the water should be nice and hot. Pour the water into the bowl and mix around until the flour is fully incorporated into the mix and form it into a ball.

I’m having a great time.  A ball if you will

Once this is shaped into a ball, cover it and place it somewhere warm and let it sit for an hour to build up in size. Once that is done put it into a bread pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray and form it into the pan and let it sit for another hour.

Two hours later

Once the hour has passed, put your oven on 450. Once the oven is heated bake the bread for 20 minutes to completion and remove to cool.

Bonus tip: I forgot that scoring the bread helps the bread expand more.

Once the bread has cooled, you will have a nice loaf of low calorie bread. I let a piece of this sit, but this bread lasted me about 5 days before it started to turn. I would recommend eating this right away while it is fresh.

Even without scoring the first time the bread looked great.

This was a wonderful first take on making a new dish. I realized this was rather small but I am looking to make it into larger loafs for the next time. This makes a very good peanut butter sandwich and with no preservatives, it was the most  guilt free pb&j that I have had in a while. Until the next time, dear readers, excelsior!

Adding a little spice

This month I want to take a brief detour into another personal development skill: cooking. I enjoy it thoroughly and i find it therapeutic to be able to create new dishes in the kitchen. My latest culinary adventure has led me to a nutritious and flavorful low calorie meal: creole shrimp.

For this recipe you will need the following: 1/2 cup of chopped onion, 1/2 cup of chopped green pepper, 4 chopped mushrooms (I had chopped a good two handfuls of pre sliced mushrooms), 1 cup of canned tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon of oregano, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of pepper, 1 pound of shrimp peeled and deveined. Outside of this original combination for the recipe I also added 1 teaspoon of old bay seasoning, 1 teaspoon of Mrs. Dash original blend seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika. 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder to spice things up. I also forgot to get bell pepper so I substituted this for asparagus.

To get things started, combine all of the vegetables and spices in a large saucepan. Cook the veggies and spices for 10 minites over medium heat. In the meantime, cook the shrimp over medium heat for the same time with the seasoning blend from above. Once the shrimp has been cooked and the vegetables are nice and tender combine all ingredients in the saucepan and stir. After 5 minites remove the saucepan from the heat and serve!

Soups on!

Cooking is a vital skill all need to keep in their repertoire. This meal is a quick, healthy and nutrient dense meal that is low calorie and it absolutely delicious. Until the next time dear readers, excelsior!

Personal Accountability

Today’s times allow for a lot of things to be given to us quickly and efficiently. The food we order is fast, the internet used for work or home is high speed, and text or email messages can be received in seconds. There is one thing that isn’t quick to be taken up in recent years: personal accountability.

Today there is constant finger pointing and blaming for various issues. While there are many catalysts for different events, there is still the ability to ensure that your own contributions to the world around you are positive. Being accountable for ones actions and words helps make the lives of everyone involved in your life better.

How often do we leave a matter unattended for the next person to attend to? How much do we defer trivial matters to others and complain when things are not done to our specifications? How often do shift the blame to others and not realize that when one finger points to a target that there three pointing back at ourselves.

I attended a class known as QBQ (the question behind the question) several years ago and this class helped me identify where I as an individual could help in improving my own situation. It helped shift my thinking from “what are you doing to help this situation?” To “how can I help better this situation?” The most important aspect that I took away from this class was a more heightened sense of personal accountability in my work and my professional life.

Today’s times have shown that we can’t always wait for a change to happen in our lives. Waiting for proper windows of opportunity is an important thing but true change also begins with you. Be the change in the world you wish to see. Find ways to make a situation better for yourself by asking questions such as “how can I take ownership of this issue and solve it?” “How can I improve my situation?” Oftentimes we tend to let our circumstances dictate our outlook but we must be able to shape our outlook to better our circumstances. Once we take ownership of the situation and make ourselves accountable and put forth our best efforts in whatever the situation might be, there will be more positive results and an expanded way of thinking for future problems.

Taking personal accountability and ownership in life is key to success in business, in life and it helps shape your mindset in terms of how to deal with issues that arise in life. When we put off or pass the buck of responsibility we merely defer a situation until it gets worse. From putting off a budget, neglecting a project that your group had been working for several months and no one is getting ahead, changing careers because of minor interpersonal drama. Personal accountability and ownership will help shape your mind to ask the deeper questions and get to a solution rather than letting it sit. Until the next time dear readers. Excelsior!

A year in review

Goodbye 2020 Funny Illustration - Vector Download
Photo credit Vexels

As this year comes to a close let’s look back at the past year. Look at the world around us and the current circumstances. Look at your situation. Look at the road ahead. We live in an uncertain time with a plethora of things that can happen. Life comes hard and fast, but we cannot let things that are important to slip by in the rapidly accelerating stream of time. Things such as family and friends, your goals and dreams, your finances and future.

This year I made several posts on personal finance, taking a departure from personal development topics, in an attempt to raise awareness and education on financial topics that are often not taught and/or oftentimes neglected. Personal finance is an important topic that is not meant to be taken lightly. It is something that has been in our past, working in our present and shaping our future. This year I have shared my expertise and knowledge of finance from my education and expertise working in the finance sector for the past few years now.

I encourage you, dear reader, to read my past posts on personal finance if you have not already. These are very insightful topics that will help with gaining more understanding on this topic. It has been a delight to bring such material to a wider audience and gain more readers. I will be uploading more regular content in the upcoming year for personal finance as well as bringing back more personal development content for your reading pleasure.

Before this year draws to a close, I will share one last lesson for the year. And that is the importance of the emergency fund. In a previous post of mine, I mentioned the importance of establishing emergency savings. This year is the prime example of why everyone can benefit from an emergency fund. If one would not believe me look at the current state that we are in as a country and as a civilization worldwide. We live in an uncertain time and we must make decisions and investments and goals to help us out when we need it the most. From your insurance to your warranty, to your very own shoebox under the mattress if need be. Everyone needs their ace in hand at the ready because you will never know when it is time to use it. Stay healthy and safe dear reader. Happy holidays and I wish you a happy new year. Here is to a better year and a better road ahead through taking control of one’s financial future. Excelsior!