As I mentioned, I recently came back from a great trip in Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado. At one point I was having dinner, smiling, and laughing with seven other people: friends from high school, friends of Dan, friends from college, new found friendships, and old rekindled ones. It was amazing because there was tons of my favorite thing… laughing.
Laughing, now that is therapy. If you’ve read my About pages (About L&L and About Me) you know that I’m passionate about mindfulness. Mindfulness skills can change your life in such a positive way. Implementing them will not only reduce feelings of stress, anxiety and depression, but they will allow you to live a full, robust, satisfying life. And that is how you reach the ultimate… happiness. Real, true, genuine happiness.
One of my favorite mindfulness skills is participating. Participating is a skill where you completely let go, and you’re 100% fully immersed in just what you’re doing. You’re not thinking about what you’re doing next, what you’re going to have for dinner, what time you have to be off work, or what’s on your To Do List. When you’re participating, you are only aware of exactly what you are doing. The best example of participating that everyone can relate to is… laughing. Think about a time when you were howling laughing. Maybe laughing and crying at the same time. At that moment, were you doing anything else but being just where you were in that moment? Did you care what you looked like? Or what someone thought of you? No. You were participating. And chances are, you were happy. The next time you find yourself feeling stressed, think about participating and see how it helps!
Here’s a recipe that was a big hit, enjoyed during our dinner in Fort Collins. It was so good, we made it again the next night and added in some diced raw bacon before tossing it in the oven. Prepared with or without the bacon, I could have eaten just this dish for dinner.
- ¾ lb brussels sprouts
- 1 small acorn squash
- 4-6 fresh sage leaves, chopped
- 2 T olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Cut off the stem ends of the brussels sprouts. Slice each sprout in half.
- Prepare the acorn squash by slicing it in half (from stem to end). Scoop out and discard the seeds and stringy pulp. Dice the squash into cubes, similar in size to the halved sprouts.
- On a baking sheet combine squash, brussels sprouts, sage, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to combine.
- If the baking sheet is too crowded, the veggies will steam instead of brown. If your veggies are overcrowded and/or didn't fit in one flat layer onto one sheet, place half the mixture onto a second sheet.
- Place the baking sheet(s) into the oven. Cook for 20 minutes. Stir. Cook for 20 more minutes, then serve.
Serving suggestion: make this dish alongside the Moroccan Meatballs (http://laughterandlemonade.com/moroccan-meatballs-with-apple-sage-butter/) for a killer meal!
We made this for dinner tonight! Great recipe!
That’s awesome, Melissa! So glad you made it and enjoyed it. Did you make it as photographed without the bacon or did you try it adding bacon? Either way it’s a winner 🙂
We didn’t do the bacon this time. But we will definitely be making this again, so we will have to try it!! And I just made your thyme broiled asparagus for lunch! So good!! You are definitely my new go-to for recipes!
Added some beets and sweet potato because I needed to use them – GREAT side! Thank you! YUM!
Yummy sounding additions, Kathy!