Every Tuesday, I meet with this diabolical amazing Coach to work one-on-one on my weightlifting skills and other assorted Crossfit movements. While the work we do on Tuesdays is usually pretty intense, as a former figure skater, spending a few hours perfecting movement patterns is pretty much right up my ally. The fact that my Coach is absolutely fantastic at what he does and has a way of motivating me / making our sessions rewarding (fun) doesn’t hurt either. But I digress.
A busy weekend, too little sleep, and possibly a drink or two more than I would normally consume, left me a little lacking in the energy department for my session with the Coach today. Despite that, we did get in some good work . . . all of which seemed to keep coming back to the concept of “Delay”.
A while ago, I read a really good blog post about The Power of Delay that has stuck with me ever since (actually, a lot of the posts on Zen Habits are fantastic and have stuck with me; you should definitely check out his blog). And as I worked on the concept of delaying my movements in the gym in order to obtain maximal power, I was reminded of aforementioned post (sorry Coach, I was thinking about things other than just my lifts). Yes, forcing ourselves to delay the thrill of instant gratification can be a wonderful way to break bad habits and cement new ones. But as mulled it over, it came to me: We do not gain power in/over our lives when we allow ourselves to respond with knee-jerk reactions. Rather, it is in the delay and mindful approach to the situations life throws at us, that we can achieve maximal power in our lives.
So, while I could run out and avoid dealing with my feelings of disappointment over not being 100% “there” in the gym, and distract myself by trying to maniacally tick things off my to-do list, I’m going to delay. And spend some time in my happy place . . . the kitchen.
Up first, I’m going to make some kale chips as a snack for the kids for when the get home from camp. Yeah, I realize how ridiculous that sounds. What kid actually likes kale chips; and good god, what mother makes them as a TREAT for their kids????? Fact is, my kids can be picky eaters but for whatever reason, they love these chips. I love that they eat them but don’t necessarily love the green dust that gets left on my kitchen floor when they’re done eating. Anyway, see if your little ones like them . . . or maybe, if you like them. I think they’re pretty good myself and even the Husband can’t seem to get enough of them . . .
My Version of Kale Chips
Ingredients
1-2 bunches of Kale
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 250 and line 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper/tin foil/silpats
- Wash the kale and pat dry.
- Cut out the big stems from the centre of each kale leaf and tear or chop the remaining part of the leaf into bit-sized pieces
- I throw all my kale into a big bowl and drizzle 2-3tbs of olive oil over it. Use your hands, get messy (my kids LOVE to do this part) and mix up the kale and oil so that all the kale is nicely coated with oil. Depending on how much kale you use, you might want to add a little more oil.
- Spread the kale onto the baking sheets; try to make sure that the leaves don’t overlap much and that they are all in a single layer. Again, you may need more cookie sheets depending on how much kale you used.
- Sprinkle the kale with salt and put them in the oven.
- They are done when they are crispy to the touch. Much like the theme of this post, it is best to delay and not try to increase the temperature of the oven to get them to cook faster if it seems like things are moving slowly. I find it takes about 1/2 an hour in my oven, but it took about 45mins to get them nice and crispy in the oven at the cottage last week, so the cooking time may vary!
nancyhotson 
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