Don't beat yourself up

Do you have days when you start the day so “mong cha cha” (or "Blur" as we like to say or "in a fog" as my husband would say)? One morning, I served coffee to my Quay Lo made from a recycled coffee cartridge. What a waste of effort and time, but worse than that, what a lousy first sip. To coffee drinkers that first sip is the most important and the most savory. I'm sure he made a face as if a kid forced to take medicine. 

If that wasn't enough, instead of putting the milk back into the refrigerator, I put it into a cabinet in my kitchen where I keep all the hardware and odds and ends like thumb tacks and twine. Had my Quay Lo not found the box of milk there, we may have spent days wondering where the sour smell came from.

I could have scolded myself and worry that I am getting old and useless. I could have felt bad and let those feelings wear on my mood. Instead I am lucky to have coaching from both my Quay Lo and my mum who feel that an exercise in self scolding or feeling bad is a waste of energy.  I have changed the way I used to feel about such mistakes and how sometimes I would lose my self esteem. Instead, when I do something silly, or fail at a task,  I think of other things to offset my mistakes. For example, I think of how clever I was to use up leftovers to make another new dish or how I prepared an elaborate surprise party for my husband's birthday. I now try to approach my mistakes positively instead of critically, remembering that each mistake is an opportunity to learn or make a change for the better. Next time, when you are about to beat yourself up over some mistake, try to change your thinking. You will immediately sense a big difference in how you feel. I think to deal with our disapppointments in a more positive light is one of the keys to happiness.


Here is a recipe you can "nail" as my Quay Lo likes to say. That means you can get it perfect, just like you are. Did you know you are perfect in every sense? Perfect for your time and  place. Perfect for yourself and perfect for others. All those little flaws and mistakes are your humanity and a part of your true beauty.  

Stuffed Cannelloni with creamed spinach and risotto with roasted capsicum and cherry tomatoes topped with sharp cheddar and parmesan cheese casserole.

The fillings:

leftover meat loaf - 1 1/2 cups (I chopped them up)

leftover creamed spinach - 2 cups (you may use other left over creamed vegetables)

leftover risotto - 2 cups

Added ingredients:

1 cup whipped cream

1 head roasted garlic 

20 Roasted cherry tomatoes

1 Roasted capsicum (chopped)

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 box Cannelloni

salt and black pepper to taste

1 tbs olive oil to oil the baking dish

Method:

Mix leftovers chopped roasted capsicum together. Oil the baking dish with olive oil. Fill each cannelloni with fillings and place into baking dish. Brush the cannelloni with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Topped with cheddar and parmasen cheese and bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees C till cheese is melted and brown. In the mean time, roast capsicum, garlic and cherry tomatoes coated with olive olive, salt and black pepper. Dish out a big portion of the baked canelloni on a serving plate and garnished with roasted vegetables and serve hot.

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