Cupcakes: Why baking before an exam may help your stress level

Lately, I've been studying for a board exam. Why is it that the more important the exam, the harder it is to get motivated to study for it?

My anxiety level always peaks about a week before an exam. Thoughts race through my mind: "I haven't studied enough", "I haven't even covered 50 topics yet!", "Everyone else is probably studying so much harder than me right now, I'm so behind".... it goes on and on...

Why do we do this to ourselves? We let the part of our mind called our "Observer Self" run amuck and fill our heads with negative thoughts. Everyone has experienced this phenomenon at some point - the negative commentary going on: questioning what we are doing, how we are doing it, and telling us why what we are doing isn't good enough. Giving in to these unproductive, negative thoughts plays havoc with our concentration, anxiety levels and ultimately, our productivity. 

What if we had ways to push these thoughts away? In my experience, when you are able to take control of your Observer Self, you can better control your mood, emotions, energy and efficacy.

Among the hundreds of different techniques to reduce anxiety (hundreds of books have been written on this topic!), here are a few ways that I personally find helpful to control my Observer Self, and therefore my anxiety.

1. The "STOP" sign. 

When I'm feeling really anxious, (eg. worrying about a test I wrote and all the "answers I got wrong", ruminating about how the future will look if I fail, concentrating about all the little things that I have forgotten or missed), I find the only thing that will break my cycle of negative thoughts is to envision the word STOP written on my palm, and I envision it right in front of my eyes. It may help to even place your palm up to your face for the first few times, until you can really visualize it.

This may seem silly, but it actually works. What it does is it makes you realize that your Observer Self has taken over. It breaks the cycle, and allows you to think of something else. Now you just have to turn your thoughts around - think of something positive, think of something you have done right. Then move on, try to get on with your work.

2. Deep Breathing or Meditation. 

This is also a way to control that inner self. The purpose of deep breathing if to focus on your breathing to break the cycle of negative thoughts. With meditation, the purpose is gradually control your thoughts to the point where you can have a second (even just one!) where you have no thoughts at all. The process is long, but people who have mastered it have nothing but good things to say about it. They report lower anxiety, better control of negative thoughts and even less migraines.

If you want to start with breathing exercises, try visualizing a hill. Imaging the numbers 1 to 4 going up the hill, and then 1 to 4 going down the hill. You should concentrate on these numbers while you breath in and out. Count and visualize 1 to 4 while breathing in, then 1 to 4 while you breath out. Do this a few times, until you feel calmer. Again, this might take some practice.

3. Distraction 

When my anxiety gets the best of me, and the STOP and breathing don't help, another thing that works well is Distraction. This is when you stop what you are doing, and do another activity completely unrelated to what is causing anxiety. This may seem counter-productive, but in the long term, it is better to get your thoughts in order, out of the negative cycle, and then get back to work once your anxiety level settles down.

This is the same technique that is used for people who stay up, lying in bed all night worrying about things, whose brains can't seem to shut off. It's best to get up, do something else, then get back in to bed once until you have gotten that "Observer Self" under control. 

Distractions can be anything: watching a TV program, reading a book you enjoy, baking, working on a craft project, exercise (maybe not before bed!), taking a bath... Anything that you enjoy doing, that will help focus your thoughts and break that negative cycle. If you can focus your mind enough to read a book and enjoy it, then ultimately, you have successfully distracted your Observer Self.

Reading Harry Potter, Baking Cupcakes and watching British period dramas always help bring me back to reality.

Cupcakes are also a great way to reward yourself after you are productive. Read a couple of chapters - eat a cupcake! Win-Win?

Back to studying...

Cara xox

[Of course, these are only a few tips to reduce anxiety. If you are having persistent symptoms of anxiety and find that your anxiety is having a negative impact on your personal, social or work functioning, please see your doctor.]

Crock Pot Prime Rib - an Experimental Thanksgiving Dinner for Two!

This thanksgiving, as my husband was On Call at the hospital, we had a quiet dinner for two... but enough food for about 8!

I'm currently studying for an exam, so I knew I wouldn't have time to do a big meal, nevermind a turkey. Still wanting to do something special to celebrate the holiday, I decided to make a crock pot roast (we already had a large Prime Rib in the freezer - a gift from Mom and Dad - Thanks!)

I was a little hesitant to make this in the crock pot, but it actually was DELICIOUS! If you are particular about your prime rib being rare, this is not the recipe for you. If, however, you don't mind it being cooked thoroughly, but still juicy and tender - give this a whirl if you are short on time! The texture is so tender, it is almost like a brisket!

Prep Time: Just under an hour (I'm a slow chopper)
Cooking time: 7-8 hours

You will need:
2 tbsp Vegetable oil
Prime Rib roast
1-2 White Onions
Salt and pepper (I use coarse sea salt)
Approx 1 box  Beef Broth (800-900mls)
Butter
1 Garlic bulb
Mushrooms and/or Carrots and/or Potatoes and/or parsnips, etc.
2 tbsp All Purpose Flour
Herb de Provence (Or thyme/rosemary)
Red wine
+/- Cornstarch

Instructions:
1. If your prime rib is frozen - thaw it at least one day in advance. You don't want any nasty surprises come cooking day (has happened to me before!)

2. Season your meat in salt and pepper.

3. Sear your roast. I used about 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large frying pan. When oil is hot (medium high heat), place your roast in the oil. You want to sear every aspect of the meat, all angles and sides - this is important for locking in all the flavour of the beef.

4. Once completed, transfer hunk of beef into crock pot.

5. Slice 1.5 large white onions in chunks. Add to the now-empty frying pan, with 1 tbsp butter. Add salt and pepper to season. Cook on medium heat until onions are brown, stirring often. The darker (aka more caramelized), the better - but don't over do it.

6. Add a few full garlic cloves to centre of frying pan. (If you don't like garlic, omit this step. I LOVE garlic, so I used an entire garlic bulb) Add a tbsp of butter directly over the garlic cloves, add some salt to help break it down. Sautee in butter for 30sec, then mix in with the onions.

Left - onions before cooking.
Top Right: onions and garlic, mid - caramelization.
Bottom Right - Roast after searing.

7. Add beef stock to your onions/garlic cloves. This is used to clean off the bottom of the frying pan to get all the left over meat pieces, and good stuff that is stuck to the bottom. You don't need to add a lot, maybe 1/2 a cup, depends on how large your frying pan is.

8. Add your onions, garlic and beef broth to the crock pot.

9. Decide what other veggies you want to add to the roast. I used mushrooms only, as my crock pot wasn't large enough for other veggies! (I roasted them in the oven separately) Mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, parsnips and sweet potato would all work very well!

10. Add 1/2 cup to 1.5 cups of beef broth to your crock pot - the amount will depend on the size of your crock pot and how full it is. There will be liquid generated upon cooking, so don't add so much that it will overflow!

11. If you like your veggies on the firmer side, they recommend that you cook on "High" for 30 minutes, then drop it down to "Low" for 8 hours. I'm lazy, so I just cooked it on low the whole time. Also, since I only had mushrooms in my crock pot, it didn't really matter that they wouldn't be firm.

Prior to Cooking

After 6.5 hours

After 8 hours, I removed my roast and put it in the oven for 5 minutes under the broiler for a nice finish on the top of the meat. This is optional.

To Make a Delicious Gravy:
1. Add equal parts butter and flour into a small sauce pan (I used 2tbsp of each). Heat on medium heat, while stirring constantly. If you burn it, you have to start again, so watch it carefully. The purpose is to cook the flour, so it should change from yellow (because of the butter) to an only SLIGHTLY more "tanned" yellow.

2. Use a turkey baster to collect some of the juices from your roast. (I collected about a 3/4 cup, and still had plenty left over!) If you have time, you can let it sit for a few minutes and remove the top layer of oil, leaving behind only the juices. Or, you can use one of those fancy gravy separators - I don't have one.
Add 1/4 cup of juice to your flour/butter combo - this should make a thick paste.
Add another 1/4 cup of juices. It should get lumpy. Use a spatula or whisk to remove all the lumps. You can add more juice to make it more liquid. Put aside until roast is done.

3. Flavour gravy with Herb de Provence (1-3 tsp, depending on your taste), and cracked pepper. I didn't have Herb de Provence - I used Thyme and Rosemary, just a little bit of each.

4. Once the roast is done, remove all juices and set aside. Remove top layer of oil. Use sieve to remove bits of meat and veggies. Slowly add juice to gravy - use as much as you need/have.

5. Add red wine to taste (mine is ~ 1/4 cup). Allow to reduce, while stirring often.
If you are like me (impatient), you can add cornstarch to speed things up. Just remember - always add gravy to cornstarch (small bowl on the side). Add just one spoon full, then blend. Keep adding a spoonful of gravy at a time, then once very liquidy, add to the original pot of gravy. This way you avoid clumps!

6. Salt and pepper to taste. Add more herbs if desired.

7. Pour over meat, potatoes, etc!

I served it with:
 - Hot Horseradish
 - Onion Soup Potatoes
 - Green Beans with dried cranberries, toasted almonds, roasted pecans (maple and dijon vinaigrette)
 - Roasted Carrots
 - Roasted Garlic Cloves
 - Sparkling Jacob's Creek (a Chardonnay and Pinot Noir blend), and Hecula Monastrell (2012) - Red wine

And FINALLY - Sit down and ENJOY!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians out there!

Cara xox

Have you visited the Pumpkin Patch yet??

What could be better on a beautiful Friday afternoon than frolicking through rows upon rows of Pumpkins and gourds?

My hubby, Kyle, and I took a trip to Abbey Hill Farms, just outside of Manotick this week. What a fantastic way to spend the afternoon- they have so many pumpkins, it is hard to choose only a few!

They also sell fresh fruits and veggies, including delicious apple cider (we picked up 2 jugs!).

Pumpkins are sold by the pound (30 cents/lb), and smaller gourds/pumpkins are 1$- 2$ each (depending on size).

So pack on the flannel and enjoy a day on the Farm! Perfect activity for the whole family!

Time to study!

Cara xox

Sprucing Up The Office

Nothing is better than studying in an space that you love. Today, I finished up a project I'd been putting off for a week or two... so I'm excited to share it!

If you are like me, you have tons of small pieces of paper lying around that need to be sorted. What could be better than a beautiful, giant cork board!?

My project - make a cork board to fit my new office theme - Whites, pinks and gold accents.

Here is the finished product:

How to Make your own Fabric Covered Cork Board:

1. Find the perfect frame. Mine is from Homesense. Unfortunately, they only had the frame in black, so first I had to paint it. This is the paint I used (no added colour). It is Pure White.

2. Find Cork to suit the dept of your pins. I bought my cork squares from Dollarama (2 squares for 2$, and used 6 squares).

    I mounted my cork squares on Dollarama Art Board - slightly spongy, more sturdy. I wanted to be able to change the fabric if I got tired of it.

I used a glue gun to secure the cork squares to the art board. Then I trimmed the extra cork off with an Exact-o knife. Make sure your Art-board-Cork complex fits perfectly into your frame before you attach the fabric!

3. Use the glue gun to attach your fabric onto the back of the Art board. I steamed the fabric first to ensure there were no creases. Place fabric down on work surface, then place cork side down. Pull on edges of fabric as you glue it down to make it taut, and eliminate wrinkles from the fabric.

4. To allow myself to change the fabric, I use Command Strips to secure the finished board in place within the frame.

All that is left to do is to mount it to the wall and decorate it with papers and your favourite images!

Hope yours turned out well! Pinterest Win!

More Photos of the updated Office to come - Happy Studying,

Cara xox

Christmas preview...

I know it's only October... but I have begun my Christmas preparation already!

Going to transform these little guys into something new.

Hopefully we will have another Pinterest Win!

Happy Wednesday,

Cara xox