I am gearing up for an incredibly busy next two weeks both work and personally and to say my head is spinning is an understatement. To help with the stress and feelings of being overwhelmed I will have my calendar and to-do list glued to my hand. Whenever I know I will be busy or I have a lot to get done I make lists and check things off as I go. The feeling of checking something off my to-do lists is one of the best feelings ever!
I am a list person and scheduler and busy weeks like I have coming up I will be sure to schedule literally everything. For work, I make appointments with myself in my calendar to keep me on task and I do the best I can to stick to it. I schedule in a block of time to get in my workouts so I know I won’t miss any training even though my days are packed. I have our meals planned out for the week, groceries bought and bulk food items prepped. Having food prepped helps for when things don’t go as planned, because that’s life, and I don’t have time to make dinner. I even go as far as scheduling in “me” time because I know myself and if I get extremely overwhelmed I tend to shut down. To make sure that doesn’t happen, I schedule small bouts of time to disconnect and do something I really enjoy that will give me a quick recharge.
Two key factors that I really pay attention to and make sure to keep on track with when extremely busy is my nutrition and sleep. The better I stick to clean eating and fueling my body for what it needs the more energy and motivation I have for my large work load. The same things goes for my sleep. If I stick to getting enough sleep each night I am always more productive the next day. What do you do to balance busy weeks?
I’ve never made artichokes before but I knew I liked them so I wanted to learn how to cook one. I went into this recipe a little blind considering I was winging it but they turned! Enjoy!
- 2 artichokes
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 slice of lemon
- 2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt to taste
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Prep the artichokes by fully removing the leaves surrounding the stem at the base of the artichoke and cutting the stem and top off of each artichoke. Then, trim the leaf tips of the outer leaves using a scissors.
- Place the artichokes in a large pot over high heat with 2 inches of water, the lemon slice and garlic cloves. Once the water starts to boil cover the pot, reduce heat to medium and let steam for 20 minutes.
- Remove the artichokes with tongs from the pot and transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tblsp of extra virgin olive oil on each artichoke, sprinkle with salt and place in oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven, break off each leaf one at a time and dig in.