Vegetable Curry Recipe

There is nothing better than a nice, hearty meal on a cold winter's night. Today it is my pleasure to share an absolute YUMMO curry recipe with you.

Ingredients

• 15 ml oil, canola, olive or avocado (1 T)
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 20 ml masala curry mix (powder) (1 T + 1 t)
• 2.5 ml dried chilli flakes or powder (1/2 t)
• 2.5 ml ground cumin (1/2 t)
• 2.5 ml ground coriander (1/2 t)
• 2.5 ml ground turmeric (1/2 t)
• 10 ml fresh ginger root, grated (2 t) or 2.5 ml ground ginger (1/2 t)
• 20 ml fresh crushed garlic (4 t) or 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 apple or firm yellow peach, peeled and grated
• 4 courgettes / baby marrows, cut into thick slices
• 250 ml broccoli florets (1 c)
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin slices
• 2 yellow or red peppers, cut into strips
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 250 ml water (1 c)
• 410 g baked beans (or butterbeans or chickpeas) (1 x 410g tin)
• 5 ml salt (1 t)
• 20 g fresh coriander leaves, optional

 Method

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan with a lid, and sauté the chopped onions until just transparent.
• Add the masala powder, chilli, cumin, coriander, turmeric, fresh ginger and garlic and stir fry to bring out the curry flavours.
• Add the grated apple or peach and stir fry long enough to coat the fruit with the curry spices.
• Add the chopped vegetables, and stir fry to coat with the spices.
• Add 250 ml water.
• Add the drained tinned butterbeans or chickpeas. (No need to drain baked beans).
• Simmer for another 10 – 15 minutes to cook the vegetables. Do not overcook.
• Check the flavour of the curry and season with the salt, as required.
• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
• Serve the vegetable curry on rice or cooked barley and sambals such as chopped tomato and onion, cucumber in fat- free plain yoghurt, some sliced banana in lemon juice and a little chutney.

Notes

Nutrients per serving (390 g)
Energy: 944 kJ
Protein: 9.0 g
Carbohydrates: 34.0 g
Total sugars: 14.0 g
Added sugar: 4.6 g (in the baked beans)
Fat: 4.8 g
Saturated fat: 0.7 g
Fibre: 12.9 g
Sodium: 856 mg

Happy cooking!!

How to Winter Well

“Last week I hit a bit of a wall. The great irony of it is that despite being a coach and being fairly adapt at spotting these things in other people I really didn’t see it coming at all.” Let’s read on to hear what business coach Zaidha Roscoe has to say about “being” during the winter months.

“It occurred to me that I had spent the last few months trying to run on spring’s energy long after it had run out and whilst my body had been trying to give me gentle warnings, I’d just been patting it on the head and ignoring it.

But I was listening now, and I knew something radically different was needed; something that, when I really sat back and thought about it, I hadn’t allowed myself to do for a very long time.

Just like the natural world of which we are all an intrinsic part, I needed to winter.

But how do we even begin to winter well?

Maybe that’s the problem, the whole ‘well’ness of it all, the idea that all things need to be toiled for, perfected or at the very least ‘done’ well.

Maybe wintering well isn’t about that. In fact, maybe it’s about the complete opposite. Maybe it’s about letting go of ‘doing’ well and — like the trees let go of their leaves which in the summer are their crowning glory but now must be shed in a final spectacular display of beauty before they begin to weigh them down — maybe it’s the constant ‘striving’, ‘achieving’ and ‘doing’ well we need to shed in order to pull back, conserve and restore.

Maybe it’s simply the ‘being’ well and not the ‘doing’ well we need to focus on. Resting, conserving and pausing to take stock. Listening to the natural rhythms of the earth to which we are all inextricably linked, reflected in our own breathing and our own bodies and really tuning in and learning to listen to what that still quiet voice within is trying to tell us if only we’d slow down long enough and turn the volume down low enough, to hear it.

Perhaps it would whisper “Slow down, listen, stop, breathe. Let go. You will be richly blessed in the future with a spring, it will come, it always does. You don’t need to hold on to anything so tight, there will be more growth, more blooming, I promise, but your striving now is pointless.

You have done enough for now. Now is the time to rest, reset, fill back up, conserve your energy.

“Rest, rest, rest hunker down for a while, cozy up, you have the reserves from the harvest, it won’t run out, and when spring comes you will be ready, you will be healed, re-energized and ready. Ready, ready, ready to go again and to grow again.

“But now is the time to rest. Re-fill, restore, reserve and re-serve yourself just for a little while. The world can wait a bit, it will all still be there when you are ready and have the energy to put forth small green shoots again, when you are ready to tentatively stir again and stretch again and grow again and explore all the wonders of a new season.”

Maybe winter’s gift is not in the growth, perhaps that is for spring to give you. Nor is it in the rich bloom of summer, nor is it in the gathering of autumn’s bountiful harvest and colourful celebration of all that’s been. Maybe winter’s gift is in the freedom of letting go, the shedding of all that has gone before and the gentle resting, resetting, rethinking, refilling and restoring of every part of your being.

To truly winter well, perhaps we only need to allow ourselves to accept the gift, allowing ourselves to ‘be’ well or even simply just ‘be’, breathe, let go and rest and, come the spring we will be ready to grow again as before.” 

 

Get Back on Track With Your Financial Resolutions

It’s that time of year again, my friends. Right about now is when so many of us have lost the resolve and momentum to stick with a financial goal we made part of our New Year’s resolutions.

 

Please hear me loud and clear: Don’t you dare give up.  You didn’t fail. Nor is the damage permanent.

 

If you have stopped pursuing one of your 2024 financial goals, or haven’t yet found the energy to get started, you have two months of important learning to analyze.

 

All that has happened is that you’ve learned what doesn’t work for you in terms of goal-setting and goal-working. That just means you need to fine tune your approach. 

 

Why you stopped short or didn’t get started is highly personal. But at the same time, there are some universal tips that may help you launch into a more sustained stretch of working on a goal.

Get a buddy.

 

If you’re trying to work on something hard all by yourself, you’ve just made it that much harder. Sharing your goal with someone is going to help you. Even better is finding a friend, colleague, or family member who just might want to work on the same financial goal. Or a different financial goal. You can hold each other accountable. And celebrate the wins together. And when one of you is losing steam, the other is right there to cheerlead you to keep at it.

 

Think small.

 

Quite often the problem is that we start with the best of intentions, but we set the bar too high, which causes us to give up. Whatever your initial goal was, consider breaking it down into a smaller bite. Maybe instead of a monthly goal, you will respond better to a daily or weekly goal. Maybe instead of saving $50 a week, it’s $25 a week that is sustainable.

 

Go against your grain. 

 

Some interesting research a while back found that people who tend to be very detail-oriented actually did better when their financial goal was less detailed. And people who are more big-picture did better if they made their financial goal very specific. It seems when we shake things up a bit, it can help us focus and be more persistent. For example, if you’re a detail-oriented person, you might have told yourself: “I will save $200 every month.” If that didn’t work, try telling yourself, “I will look for ways throughout the month to save money.”  If you’re the big-picture person who might have had some hazy-ish goal of “saving more” consider getting specific. Ex: tell yourself you will save $200 a month (or whatever you want your specific goal to be.) 

 

 Celebrate like crazy.

 

One reason I recommend creating smaller/shorter goals is that it gives you frequent milestones that when you reach them you can celebrate. This isn’t silly, or indulgent. It is how we remind ourselves that we have the power to build the financial security we crave. The only thing stopping you is hitting the reset button. What are you waiting for?

'Hack' your money psychology

Spending too much money? Tempted by sales? These money psychology hacks’ can help.

After every big event like Christmas, Easter, a wedding, big anniversary, etc., there is a post-event sales period. Kids going back to school for example, your kids getting married or even study fees has left your wallet gasping for breath, while everything else just keeps getting more expensive.

If you haven't already seen your spending go up, the possibility is looming – and you probably have some concerns about spending your money wisely. Furthermore, shopping can be a harrowing experience, and our attitudes towards money are tied up in all kinds of feelings.

Based on psychology, here are three tips to improve the way you spend your hard-earned cash these days.

Before the purchase: Patience is your friend.

One of the amazing features of the human mind is that we can mentally time travel: we can imagine what the future is going to feel like. Scientists call this 'affective forecasting'.

Thinking about a future trip – imagining the warm sun, the sand between your toes, finding yourself smiling – is an example of such mental time travel.

However, it turns out that we're not very good at effective forecasting. We get wrong not only the emotions we will experience, but also their intensity and duration. Lottery winners are a classic example. Contrary to expectations, many are not happy, or not happy for long.

More importantly, you can derive happiness from just anticipating future experiences. For example, one study measured the happiness of 974 people going on a trip compared with 556 people not going on a trip. As you might expect, the holiday-makers were relatively happier but only before the trip.

So, how can we take advantage of our capacity to mentally time travel?

Tip 1: Pay now, consume later.

These days, fueled by the rise of 'buy now, pay later' options (we all know PayFlex, Pay-Just-No, right?)  we get to consume what we want immediately. However, this instant gratification deprives us of a key source of happiness: anticipation. Side-stepping the anticipation while saving for something big, is the price we pay for instant gratification.

A better strategy is to commit to buy something... and then wait a while before actually consuming it.

At the point of purchase: Notice that you're paying

An inevitability of every purchase is spending money. This represents a cost, both in terms of the monetary value as well as the opportunity to buy other things.

Costs are a form of loss, and we don't like losing things. For that reason, it psychologically hurts to spend money. Scientists call this the 'pain of paying'.

According to one theory of shopping, we decide to buy after making a mental calculation: is the anticipated pleasure of consuming higher than the anticipated pain of buying?

This calculus is even represented in the brain. For example, one study looking at people's brains with MRI while they purchased food found neural activity in areas linked to higher-order, affective pain processing, which correlated with how high the price was.

How did you pay for your last meal? Did you have to dig into your wallet or purse trying to extract the appropriate combination of notes and coins? Maybe you simply pulled out a plastic card and tapped it on the reader? Or perhaps you absentmindedly touched your smartphone to the machine.

It turns out that your method of payment changes how much pain you feel. In one study, researchers asked some university employees if they would like to buy a mug at a discounted price. Half were only allowed to pay in cash, whereas the other half had to use a debit or credit card. Those who paid in cash self-reported more pain of paying.

So, how can you use this to your advantage?

Tip 2: Ramp up the pain.

If you're worried about overspending, ramp up the pain of paying. You can do this by using cash or receiving a notification each time money leaves your account.

After the purchase: Stop chasing rainbows

A fundamental feature of human beings is that we are adaptive-we easily get used to the new normal. This applies to our purchases, too. Scientists call it 'hedonic adaptation": over time, consumption of the same thing brings decreasing happiness.

Remember the day you got your smartphone? You may have felt joy as you caressed the smooth aluminium back and watched light glint off the unblemished glass. Now look at your phone. What happened to the joy?

It's normal to experience hedonic adaptation. However, one problem is that we don't anticipate it.

Remember affective forecasting? Since satisfaction is a function of expectations relative to performance, when we fail to adjust our expectations in light of the inevitable hedonic adaptation, we end up dissatisfied.

The second problem with hedonic adaptation is that the obvious solution appears to be buying something new. Maybe you need a new smartphone to replace your slightly scratched-up old one?

If this is your thinking, you've just hopped onto the hedonic treadmill. Now the only way to maintain your happiness is to spend more and more money to get better and better versions of everything.

So, how can you get off this treadmill?

Tip 3: Buy experiences, not things.

It turns out that people end up happier when they buy experiences rather than things.

For example, a study that tracked how older adults spent their money found that only one category of spending was related to happiness: leisure purchases, such as going on trips, seeing a movie at the cinema, and cheering at sporting events.

One reason for this is that we adapt to purchases of experiences more slowly than purchases of material things.

So, the next time you're tossing up between buying tickets to a festival or getting the latest gadget, pick up your scratched-up smartphone and pre-purchase some festival tickets for you and your friends.

8 ways to discover your ‘why’

 

Let your passions and values signpost your sense of purpose, and be the catalyst for lasting change. Heidi Scrimgeour explores…

Have you ever tried to adopt a new habit by force of will, only to feel like a failure when you later accept that you haven’t followed through? It’s an all-too-familiar pattern to me, and one that often follows a declaration of intention to create change in our lives. It’s why costly gym memberships often go unused, and why so many New Year’s resolutions fade before January is even over. But a process commonly called ‘finding your why’ can reportedly help to turn resolutions into habits, and turn habits into life transformation.

‘Your why is basically the reason you do what you do – why you get up in the morning, why you work to earn money, why you keep trying when things look hopeless,’ explains psychologist Nova Cobban. ‘Your why is your internal motivation, and it is tied to your values and your identity.’

With any goal, keep asking the question ‘why’ until you can go no further, advises Georgie Shears. ‘This technique can help break through surface-level motivations and get right to the heart of why you really want to achieve that goal’

Here are eight ways to discover exactly what it is that fuels you. 

1. Notice what you’re naturally good at

Everyone has something they seem to be great at without even trying. Recognising these things is a great guide to what you easily flow with. Not only will this give you a lovely confidence boost, but it will also guide you in a direction that could lead to really fulfilling work and a meaningful life.

2. Get Outside

Go for walks, runs, dog walks or bike rides. Moving our bodies in the calm and quiet can be surprisingly revealing. Being out in nature helps you to shift stale, stagnant energy and shed daily stressors, helping you to reconnect with your inner self and making it much easier to tap into your why.

 3. Recall times of joy

Think back to some of your most joyful memories. What were you doing? Why was it so joyful? These are the activities and experiences that obviously resonate with your inner self, and they can really help point you toward your why.

4. Visualise success

Imagine a future where you feel successful and content. What are you doing? Who are you with? What impact are you making? These visions are an incredibly reliable guide to your deeper goals and aspirations.

 5. Define your values

Get clear on what’s most important to you in life. Whether it’s honesty, creativity, or connection, understanding your values is a big step in aligning your life with your personal truth, anchoring to your why.

6. Consider your legacy

Think about the mark you want to leave on the world. How do you want to be remembered? This will provide a clear view of what truly matters to you.

 7. Ask big questions

Take the time for some honest soul-searching. What would you do if you weren’t afraid of the ‘what ifs’? What would you do if money, time, or any other resources were no obstacle? 

 8. Reflect on pivotal life moments

Really look into any pivotal points in your life. What choices did you make, and why? Understanding your past decisions during times of change can be really informative.