When TV was young the moms depicted on the shows would wear pearls and dresses while cleaning house, then cook a complicated meal while dolling advice to the kids. That wasn’t just on TV, it was a reflection of real life. But the 21st century world is one of amazing technology and lives that are much more fast paced. Everyone’s on the look out for easy fast dinner recipes that give TV mom results without all the work. The Pilgrims didn’t have a good source for such simplicity in food, but they didn’t have the Internet either. There are a lot of sources on line to provide help to the busy family looking for a quality meal.
One steak can go a long way. Change the sides for different meal experiences. Change the spices for a trip around the world of food. Begin the adventure with a super large flank steak. For Monday add roasted potatoes and a tossed salad. Make Fajitas on Tuesday with some salsa and hot spices. On Wednesday make it Asian with some Teriyaki sauce, rice and vegetables. Thursday go back to the steak and salad, this time with mashed potatoes and asparagus on the side. Friday is the day for some pita bread and Greek spices. That’s right, Gyros. That’s one meat for five meals.
What, there’s even more to do with the steak? OK, get the plates and forks ready. Do southwestern steak with black bean wraps, or lentil and orzo salad with flank steak smothered in feta cheese . Now add another meat, and the variety is even more endless. Pork can be a roast, or ribs, or chops. The possibilities are endless.
With a little clever planning all the meals for the week can be cooked on the weekend, then heated and served in minutes. Plan an entire menu for a month then buy all the necessities for some good savings too. The children can learn about cooking too. Put them in charge for a week. Rotate days amongst the family.
And you thought easy fast dinner recipes were hard.
Hai Friends! Click Here To Cook Like a Five Star Chef
kalidas
One of the very best gifts to give for the holiday season is one that not only comes from the heart, but is creative and truly meaningful. With many of us on budgets this holiday season, we are searching for gifts that not only fit the budget but will have a long-lasting impact and benefit to the recipient. In addition, so many of us are watching what we eat and focusing on our health. How can you address all of those challenges in one gift?!
Jet-Chef.com has the perfect gift-giving solution: Cooking Classes! The Jet-Chef.com directory has a fantastic directory full of diverse caterers and personal chefs who can offer the perfect holiday gift to you and your loved ones!
1. Cooking classes are an amazing gift to give to a beloved spouse, significant other or other loved one. You can choose a cooking class that they can enjoy for themselves, but even more importantly, you can choose a class that you can share with your spouse or significant other. In this way, you can both savor not only the food that you will create as a loving team, but also savor the togetherness of the experience! Think of the many romantic evenings in the years ahead that can benefit from learning how to cook some fantastic meals!
2. Cooking classes can be set up for larger groups as well. Cooking classes for a larger group is a way to get friends and family together. Ring in the New Year by learning a new cuisine to enjoy with friends! Getting the family together can be complicated with so many busy family schedules. This is the perfect opportunity to slow down, get a special date on the calendar and have the entire family together for cooking fun! This is a perfect gift solution for executives and their executive teams. What better way to build team-work and morale than to prepare and cook a meal together!
3. Cooking classes can be planned for and with kids. What better gift to give to your children or grandchildren than learning the love of cooking? Cooking is fun, it is creative, and it is a great way to spend precious time together. An added benefit is your ability to sneak in some healthy eating in all of that fun and helping to teach your kids health eating habits early on!
In addition, your not-so-young kids will benefit! Cooking classes are a perfect gift for college students, or young adults transitioning into the real world. They need not survive off of their microwave; they can learn how to create healthy, innovative meals that not only address their budgets but also their desire to eat a variety of foods!
4. Cooking classes are a great way to introduce new cuisines to your kitchen, to your table, and to your palette. Using different spices, cooking with foods that are unfamiliar, or discovering locally grown, organic elements would make for amazing culinary lessons. Does your loved one have food allergies, food sensitivities, or special dietary needs? Cooking classes can help them find creative ways to make wonderful meals while adhering to dietary considerations!
5. Cooking classes help you to learn how to do something that you find intimidating in the kitchen. Learning how to bake that killer crusty bread, how to make the perfect pie crust, how to make dumplings for that chicken soup recipe your grandmother passed down to you…what is it that you find daunting? You will find the perfect cooking class to overcome your fear of the paella pan or how to get that perfect frosting on your next cake!
For these reasons, and so many more, cooking classes are the ideal gift, and visit Jet-Chef.com today to find the caterer, personal chef or other service provider that will work with you. Cooking classes are truly the gift that keep on giving, and a personal gift that people will enjoy and cherish for a lifetime.
Are you interested in being a part of the Jet-Chef.com success story? Log on to Jet-Chef.com today and get your listing started, or contact us for more information. Visit the Jet-Chef.com Blog, email Jet-Chef.com at info@jet-chef.com, or call us toll-free at 1-877-774-1255!
Kelly Alvarez Mace
I know there is some old saying to do with the first half of your life you are looked after by your parents and the second half you your life you look after your parents. Well I’ve been looking after my mother my whole life especially on occasions when my father isn’t around and she goes into complete competency melt down. The first time my dad went on a business trip abroad, she managed (and don’t ask me how) to put her hand in the bottom of the lawn mower whilst it was still running. I can still see, and will forever have imprinted in to my brain the moment when she shoved her hand in a sink full of water which instantaneously turned a deep shade of red, a bit like in the movie ‘Jaws’. Duggan women aren’t of a strong stomached nature and on my mother passing out, my sister ran out of the room with the good intension of phoning a family friend from down the road for help, only to pass out on the way due to “sight of blood”. So you are left with nine year old Alice running between relations with wet towels and sugar water trying to revive both. Needless to say I was rewarded on my Dad’s return from Hong Kong with a big bag of Haribo for being ‘daddy’s brave little girl’ and my mother was never allowed to mow the lawn again.
So this gives you an idea of the mental status of Mrs Duggan when embarking on a journey in to the depths of the Caribbean with her least responsible daughter, without the only man in the world that can salvage any situation no mater how dire. I’d like to say I was sympathetic towards this but in honesty if I see weakness in some one I kinda play on it? “You’ve got the passports right?”, “Flight IS from Gatwick not Heathrow right?” etc.. Cruel really, but highly amusing. Anyhow the joke was on me on arriving at Gatwick at 4.30am to find that our 07.55am flight to Havana with Cubana airways was not anywhere to be seen on the board, and after half an hour frantic running around to discover that the plane on which we were meant to be flying on (that was meant to arrive in the UK at 6.20am from Havana) had not even left Cuba yet. Another half an hour later it was revealed that the plane was faulty and another plane was being shipped in from Madrid and due to leave at 2.30pm. Marvellous. Anybody got any great suggestions how to spend 9 hours in Gatwick airport departures? No me either. Reading maybe – well I cleverly packed all my nice easy going books in my main luggage and was carrying only Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls, trying to embrace the whole Cuba thing, which is not the easiest read to pass time, believe me. So giving in I bought a puzzler, plugged my ipod in and watched the weird and wonderful existence of the airport departure lounge inhabitant (and it is no wonder they make so many tv shows about them!)
Well the plane didn’t go at 2.30, it went at 4.30 and you’d think maybe after the hell my now extended family of Cubana airways victims had been through, we would be treated like movie stars, pampered with drinks and nibbles, checked on at ever available moment. Well you would think wrong and must be alerted to the fact that the communist regime demands Cubans all work, for more or less the same wage, and are in no danger of losing there jobs…..so where is the incentive to do their job well, especially when surrounded by hundreds of high maintenance tourists?! Anyways the plane had no entertainment, seating was a free for all, the staff were rude to the point of disbelief, there was a fucking annoying group of school kids among which were two blossoming lovers sat in front of me who snogged for the WHOLE 11 hour journey, and, as I had banished any hope of a vegetarian meal, no food. Gosh I sound like my grandma moaning. Still I console myself in the fact that the money spent on the flights went in to the Cuban economy and the not the pocket of that cunt Branson.
Anyways with plenty of time on my hand I though it was about time I tackled the lonely planets guide “A brief history of Cuba”. And so the obsession began…..
Hands up, I knew very little about the Cuban culture/history before I went (“They’re communists, right?”) and generally have no interest in learning about history of places. A few years back I spent a month travelling in Japan with two of my bestest friends, one who was living out there for a few years. We had a great time, however both being History(ish) students I can imagine my “You’ve seen one temple you’ve seen them all, lets go do Karaoke again” mentality grated a bit. I figured I would be the same in Cuba… “yes yes very nice now lets go dance salsa and drink rum!” Unfortunately, I don’t know if I’m getting older and this is what happens, but I’m absolutely fascinated by the whole shebang.
So as I say all I knew was they were communists and that recently some dude called Castro had stepped down. I was concerned that this may cause mayhem and riots but was assured by work colleagues that caribbeaners(?!) are far to busy drinking rum and smoking cigars to get all worked up about stuff, and as long as the yanks stayed away there was unlikely to be any civil unrest (and I would hope that the yanks had f*cked up enough countries in the last few years to stay away, at least until I had got a sun tan).
Reading the guide helped set the scene for me so I jotted down a little summary of events as I saw them:
-Native Cubans all lived happily
-Natives of another Caribbean island arrive, kill all the native Cubans and live happily
-Spanish turn up and fuck things up – killing loads and using the rest for slaves
-400 years later Jose Marti leads a revolution to get freed from the Spaniards and the USA step in last minute and steal the glory
-USA REALLY fuck things up
-A group of rude boys (inc. Castro and Che Guavara) plot to over throw the Americans and some dick Batista, and trampled them freeing Cuban residents giving them the ‘ideal’ existence
-To piss of the US, Russia keep Cuba alive by buying lots of sugar and cigars
- Russia (or I should say the USSR) fucks up (greedy bastards) and Cuba gets screwed over and people are starving
- They start letting in lots of snappy happy tourists (such as myself) to take all their money so they can eat again.
So you can see why I gave up history at the 1st available moment!
Anyways back to the long gruelling flight…..we eventually got off that blasted craft about 1am Cuban time (5am English) due to a rather extended drop off in Holguin, and rushed through visa check and baggage which took us in to arrivals about 2am….
So first thought is will our transfer be there seeing we were meant to arrive at 4pm? On first inspection no, but after half an hour panic we deduced that our company we booked with has two names – how fucking stupid of us! So we taxied off in to Havana praying our hotel had 24hr reception. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see much of the city on the drive as planned being 3am but at least we were on our way. Getting closer to the hotel I started getting a nauseous feeling which is far too familiar with me now being in a city at night, stemming from a nasty incident in Barcelona a few years back (and yes the story gets more elaborate each time it is told – they had knives you know, did I say knives? I meant guns). So I wasn’t all best pleased when I found out our taxi couldn’t drive down the street our hotel was on and intended to leave us at the end of it. A few pesos (I’ll explain money later) encouraged him to wait while mother dear (entirely unfazed by this) ran up the road to check it was open. Halle-fucking-lujah it was. Almost kissing the cab driver I popped on my backpack and headed up the road to the lovely “Beltran de Santa Cruz” Hotel.
So being greeted with a smile by the receptionist he then blurts out “There is a bit of a problem with your room, the plumbing has broken and we have had to relocate you to another hotel, it is only just 5 minutes round the corner across the square”
What point would you snap? Honestly? I snapped here. “Look buddy, We’ve been up for 30 hours, 13 of these spend in fucking Gatwick airport, 13 on a fucking aeroplane fresh out of Bedrock and the rest in transit between these places, we haven’t eaten, we haven’t changed out underwear, we haven’t cleaned our teeth, and we smell like dead fucking rats and you are trying to tell me that you are going to make 2 poor helpless women lug there baggage across a city unknown to them at 4am in the morning to go to a hotel because you have a fucking plumbing problem?”
At least that is what was being said in my head…what I actually said, in a very weak and feeble whine “Please will you come with us, I’m scared”. And bless his cottons he did.
Eventually my head touched a pillow at 5.30am Cuba time (9.30am English) after dealing with the final disaster of the night that on opening my rucksack I found my suncream had exploded all over my stuff. A perfect start to a holiday wouldn’t you agree? Things could only get better.
I guess maybe I should actually tell you something about my trip instead of my script from “Holidays from hell”.
This was my first and most definitely not last trip to the Caribbean. I think I was about 8 when I bought “100% reggae” and decided that I would spend my honeymoon in Jamaica, so I hope I will again reach these shores, given I can find someone who will marry me. Plus there are so many other places to visit, St Lucia, Barbados, Antigua, Bahamas etc etc…Lets hope this future husband is rich! Cuba, however seems to have something different to the rest and walking out in to the sunny streets of Havana that first morning confirmed this. The Cubana airways big day out suddenly seemed a distant memory. Breath taking architecture ranging from the Spanish colonial style buildings in old Havana, (many completely derelict, but in a funky way!), to neo classical in the vedado district and art deco American influence in central Havana. Diversity that I have never seen in any city, and with the added benefit that unlike most cities they have avoided shoving eyesore 1970s tower blocks dead in the centre of some beautiful area. Any run down ugly buildings just added to the character.
It isn’t a cliché that there are bands playing at every restaurant, on every street corner with people singing and dancing around. Its true, I was there. The first pit stop was at il Patio restaurant in Cathedral square (possibly my favourite mojito of the whole holiday, though there were many and the 1st is bound to taste best!). There was a little 3 piece band playing (guitar, sax and bass) while some nut case woman danced around (mum said she had been there 2 years ago when her and my sister had gone!). They were awesome, I just couldn’t get enough of it! Then this guy from the crowd (Italian I think) just waltzed up, asked to have a go on the sax and just wiped the floor with some improvisation which put anything I ever managed when I played in to a remedial category. That wouldn’t happen anywhere else in the world and the punters went mad for it!
So the first day was mostly spent getting a feel for the place. Walking around getting lost, stopping for mojitos every now and again taking several thousand of photos at every new street at every possible angle. In the afternoon we did (on recommendation by some friends) a ferry trip across to the other side of the water to climb up to a fort (and a MASSIVE statue of Jesus). It was really fun actually as this clearly wasn’t a main tourist attraction and the ferry seemed to be literally the locals bus to and from work. We stuck out like sore thumbs! Also at the top of our little trek we discovered not only amazing views of Havana but also a mini museum of Che Guavara’s house where he lived post revolution and pre him running off to help Bolivia and get himself killed. Here I discovered he had asthma, just like me, which briefly inspired me to go and start a revolution, but I soon got over it.
Food in Cuba is shit, I mean really shit. I don’t actually understand how they can get it so wrong, but they do and especially as a vegetarian we were screwed. You get eggs, lots of eggs, so many eggs that the word is still making me feel physically sick. Mother, having been here before knew all this so had packed a kettle and a big bag of cous cous to help us in dire situations, but had also brilliantly worked out the whereabouts of the only Italian restaurant (possibly in the whole of Cuba) so in Havana at least we managed to get half decent meals! So after munching our way through a big margarita and one more quick mojito we scooted off to bed pretty early, still kinda fucked from the previous days monstrosities.
The second day was one massive lecture on politics and history for me. Though normally this concept would make me shudder with fear and despair, as I said before I’m utterly gripped by the fact that this teeny little spec on the earth’s surface has contributed so much to the history of the human race. We had a bit of fun first though getting a taxi ride to the Plaza de la Revolucion in a classic, bright purple (my favourite!) 1950s Buick with a rather bemused driver being made to pose for many a cheesy snap! The Plaza is kinda bare unfortunately with only 2 things to see. Firstly the Jose Marti memorial statue in front of the massive lookout, which we went up to get some awesome views across the city and watch lots of scary turkey vultures circle around it. And secondly my favourite bit – the huge Che image on the side of the government building with ‘Hasta la Victoria Siempre’ (Forever Onwards Towards Victory) written along side. I have a bit of a Che obsession to be honest, is it weird to think he was hot? Anyways bare as it was it felt pretty cool to be standing where so many political rallies and addresses from Castro and other revolutionaries has taken place.
After this we got a bug taxi (look at pics) to the hotel nationale (very posh!). It was so funny watching so many people turn up in mercs and swish cars and we turn up in a little yellow blob! Here we had a mojito looking out across the water to where we had been the previous day and then set off on quite a bit walk down the sea front where we finally ended up at the Museum of the Revolution. Here contained everything you would ever need to know about Cuba from the dawn of time. At some point it was really quite bizarre how much detail they added – “Here is the spoon Castro used whilst hiding in Argentina” – no joke! But it was fascinating. I won’t bother saying much about it (as I’ve already given you my brief history of Cuba) but one of the highlights was the “Wall of Cretins” thanking various political idiots for their input in causing/consolidating the revolution. They really don’t give a shit who they insult!
The next day we had rather a stressful bus journey (6 hours – 1 toilet stop) to a supposed beautiful, friendly colonial town though on first impressions this didn’t seem to be the case. The bus ride in showed some really quite nasty, run down areas lacking in the Havana charm, and on arrival into the bus station crowds of people were literally being restrained from mobbing us. They were advertising there “casas” – equivalent to hostelling in Cuba is to stay in casas with a Cuban family who cook and provide for you, but it all seemed all to threatening for me. So we jumped in a cab and headed for our hotel ‘Las Cuevas’ (the caves). Any doubts about the next few days in this place were soon dissolved when we saw how lush where we were staying was!! We dumped our luggage and were straight to poolside sampling the local delicacies – mojitos, pina colladas, and rather bizarre red, orange and blue drinks called Trinidad Colonials, which I took a liking to. We managed to befriend a group of locals in no time who were feeding us more rum and nibbles and giving us salsa lessons. I was pretty pro already after my set of classes I went to in my “I’m sad, lonely and desperate and need to learn salsa to meet more sad lonely and desperate people phase”, but I did learn a new step which was nice. Plus got a chance to laugh at my completely uncoordinated mother. Then at about 5pm, in a matter of 3 minutes the sky was covered in thick black clouds and the heavens opened. I’ve never been in a tropical storm before and I just found it absolutely hilarious – the whole area was flooded after 2 mins of rain, yet it is still bloody boiling and people were still dancing and in the pool! I asked my new best friend Tiago how long these storms usually last to which he replied “That is up to St Peter” – can’t argue with that!
For our first full day in Trinidad we got up bright and early and put on our sexy walking gear and headed off into the mountains on a hike with another unfairly beautiful couple from the hotel and our lovely little tour guide Jordan, who kinda sounded like Borat when he talked which was a tad off putting but you got used to it!
The first part was walking through Trinidad centre which was a lot nicer than it had seemed from the bus the day before – lovely and colourful, with people all going about there everyday business or hanging about in there door ways, playing the guitar or selling fresh fruit. The second bit took us across some fields in to the national park in the thick jungle like mountains. We hiked for about two hours ending up eventually at a gorgeous waterfall and water reserve where Cuban kids were jumping in and playing. I abstained as always when is comes to water that may contain living things. Though I did dip my feet in and noticed a huge lobster like nasty thing crawling around on the bottom and concluded that I had made the right decision.
The hike back was not as fun. The midday heat had really hit in and Trinidad town is located on top of a hill and our hotel on top of a hill on that hill and energy levels were most definitely low by the end. Still we had an afternoon once again of cocktails by the pool and salsa dancing so can’t complain! This evening after dinner (hotel buffet slop) we were treated to an Afro-Caribbean traditional show. 4 uber hot black dudes pranced around stage doing crazy things like eating hot coal and picking up tables with their teeth. It was rather erotic and I may have left a little puddle on my seat.
Next day was our last day in Trinidad town as we were heading that evening to the Ancon Peninsula, about 30 mins south of Trinidad on the coast. Still we made the most of the morning in the hotel. It was actually called Las Cuevas for a reason and (as you probably guessed) this is because it was situated above a group of caves. One of which is open for tours during the day and very funkily becomes a night club by night (though we never went to this unfortunately). So my little buddy Tiago took us on a tour of it which was just amazing! Stalagmites and stalactites to your hearts content – could just imaging people salsaing around them! He he!
After this it was a bit more pool but, as seemed to be the pattern here, late afternoon St Peter pissed on us so we decided we may as well transfer to the new place while the weather was crappy. So off we went through town (which at this point resembled a river) and down to the coast for a few days of sunbathing and chilling. Arriving at the place it seemed nice enough but being an all-inclusive had a rather different clientele, namely idiotic, drunk, burnt Brits. Well I only saw one of these to be honest, a 50ish year old fat northerner who was being rude to a bar man, but it just really got me annoyed. I just don’t understand these people who just want to go on holiday to not actually experience anything of the country, treat the staff like slaves, and abuse the unlimited available alcohol. Anyways we checked in and had an explore and felt pretty disappointed to find that the ‘beach’ didn’t actually really exist– well there was a patch of sand but it didn’t extend to the sea. Compared to our last place it just all seemed a bit, well seedy. The sun wasn’t quite back out so we camped at the pool bar and had a few drinks. My mum, sensing that it wasn’t quite perfect, and of a far too sensitive nature decided to drink a few to many pinas and start really getting on my tits by being over enthusiastic about the place “I’m really warming to this place Alice, I’m really warming to it. Yes, I’m definitely warming to this place”…..then declared she wanted to swim in the ocean before dinner. So in a drastic mother/daughter roll reversal I was trying my best to, in the least patronising way possible explain that to throw herself off a small cliff edge to get to the sea when she was pissed as a fart was possibly not the best idea. Needless to say a combination of her being drunk and over emotional, and me still being a bit wound up and beginning to feel a bit ill culminated in us having our only argument of the holiday involving lots of “I’m just an embarrassment to you” and “I’ve booked us a rubbish holiday I bet you wish you were with your friends” comments……not enjoyable. Especially not enjoyable as the me beginning to feel sick actually turned out to be food poisoning and I spent the next 12 hours on the loo simultaneously pissing out of my arsehole and vomiting. Not the highlight of my holiday.
But a new day dawned. Feeling rather weakened from my night in the shitter I abstained from breakfast (if I saw a plate of eggs I don’t know what would have happened) but walking around I suddenly realised what an over reaction the previous day had been. The place was gorgeous. There wasn’t any drunk English people at all – just that one who was only kicking off because they refused to serve him (quite rightly so – the cunt) and even better than that we found the proper beach! A gorgeous little practically deserted beach with a tiny bar behind it and a semi circle of rocks about 100m out where, according to mum, was the best collection of tropical fish she had ever seen. It was perfect for me to whack my ipod on, indulge in a brilliant book (not Hemingway!) and recuperate from my traumatic night, whilst my overly excitable mother swam, and befriended any body who came within 10 feet of us. Much better!
The next day we took advantage of the hotel free bikes and went on a bike ride down through the peninsula. I haven’t been on a bike ride since I was about 10 and after this I just don’t know why?! It was such fun! Admittedly a bike ride surrounded by sea on both sides on a road lined with palm trees is a lot more appealing than cycling down the A413 but it really should be done more often!! We stopped off on the tip of the peninsula where there was a hotel and mum jetted off on a boat trip to do some snorkelling on the reef (I obviously didn’t – I’m not going to go in to my fear of the sea here – you’ll only mock me) and I had a chance to improve on my ‘getting stupid now’ tan (apparently those last 2 years working in suncare hasn’t really changed my opinion on skin cancer).
We had one more morning on the beach after this before our transfer back to Havana which I was actually ready for by this point. Anyone who knows me knows how obsessed I am with being sun tanned but this whole “culture” malarkey had really got to me and I was itching to get back to Havana and learn more! At the end of the day I could get a sun tan in Lanzagrotty if I wanted for a tenth of the price (with the added benefit of picking up a few STIs), and my tan was pretty much perfect by then anyway (if I don’t mind being incredibly arrogant!)
The bus journey back was even more of a fucking nightmare than the way there. 2 hours longer than it should have been, over booked (so people were standing), road closures etc etc. Plus when we got to Havana we were so late that there were no taxis at the bus station to take us to a hotel, and it was bloody raining again! After pretty much every other person on the bus had managed to hail a cab (we need to be more pushy!) we eventually got back to the lovely Beltran and had a gourmet meal of cous cous prepared en suite and settled down to bed ready to make the most of our last day.
The next morning Havana all of a sudden seemed 100 times more amazing than it was when I was there 9 days prior (and it was a pretty amazing then). Just mooching around I suddenly got that horrible “By 5pm this evening this is all going to be over” feeling. And I wasn’t ready for it. Trying not to let it detract, we walked through the beautiful streets of old Havana through cathedral square where we had that first life changing mojito, and on to the sea front where we decided it was time to tackle the hustle and bustle of the markets and buy some pressies and tacky souveniers, a Che Guavara beret being the most important, of course. Then we went on to find firstly a new discovery which was a street which appeared in ALL the paintings of Havana which were on sale in the market. This was a street with a sign hanging down saying “La Bodeguito del Medio” which turned out to be a tiny little bar where Hemingway used to hang out and it seemed many other celebs had been there too as the wall was covered in pictures and signatures. This took us on nicely to our next planned point of call. The Ambos Mundos Hotel, where Hemingway stayed when he was visiting. They have preserved his room exactly how he had it when he stayed and you can look round it. Also the roof of this hotel has a bar so we went up there and whiled away the rest of our afternoon having a few drinks up there, soaking up the city sunshine with fabulous views and lovely company.
On our walk back to the hotel to catch our transfer something occurred to me. These were streets of a capital city and there were people sitting in there doorways nattering, people playing guitars and others dancing and singing around, kids playing baseball, women hanging their washing out there windows. This wouldn’t happen anywhere else, ever. Can you imagine walking through London chatting to people, dancing with them, children playing? I bet 99% of Londoners don’t even know there next door neighbour’s names! And this was communism – everyone equal, everyone working as a team, no greed, no corruption, a real community. And I thought ‘I could do this’ – I could live in an ‘ideal’ world possibly I’d prefer the countryside – where the houses each have a chicken and a plot of land to grow veg. But I could really live like that. I’ve always been against people earning more money than is conceivable doing satanic jobs, effectively only making money by screwing other people over – bankers, lawyers etc. And I’ve been against the situation you are born in to reflecting how far you can make it in life (I know it isn’t meant to be like this but it is). And I love the ideal. Everyone gets the same, provided they work, whatever they do and as a benefit receive a perfect education system, perfect national health service, a perfect everything government run and a complete sense of patriotism. Real patriotism – not just beating up other nation’s football fans patriotism.
I started thinking about England and wondering why I wanted to stay living here. A country where our so called “left wing” prime minister (who apparently is Gordon Brown now, not Tony Blair anymore) spends £2000 of the British tax payers money per year on cleaners for his stupid amount of houses also paid for by the state. And where white trash Vicky Pollards with 10 babies leak money out of the welfare state whilst moaning about the “bloody asians and poles – they come over here taking our jobs and tax money”. They fucking pay tax so why shouldn’t they be entitled to it? I’d rather they got it than the fat arse Keith Millers of the world. It is disgusting really and I don’t want to be a part of it.
But of course Cuba doesn’t have the ideal. The dream is there and I think it probably worked before the eastern block dissolved, but then again if they can’t really support themselves as a single unit then communism fails doesn’t it.
Personally I think one of the major problems as to why things aren’t working as well as they should stems from tourism. Admittedly it saved the country from starvation but it has created no end of issues and seemingly split the people in to two personality types. Type one are mainly the older generation, still very much pro-Castro. These remember and appreciate that they lived well post revolution, pre special period (between the fall of the eastern block and start of tourism), and also appreciate that the tourists saved their arses when things were looking pretty bleak. These people hence treat tourists with gratitude, respect and kindness. The second type, what I’m calling the ‘next’ generation of Cubans, seem to be much more cynical and unsure what they get is really ‘fair’. These people are really quite resentful of tourists often to the point they are just plain rude (turning their backs, shooing away etc). I think the problem is as they are unaware of what life was like before. All they see is these rich idiots, with their snazzy clothes, flash digital cameras and disposable cash to throw about, travelling around seeing all different cultures and places. Everything they can’t have and what they could have if things were different. I suppose it would piss me off.
Another massive problem with letting tourists in is the discrepancy in what people earn depending on whether they work in the tourist industry or not. Money is a bit complex but Cuba has two currencies – local pesos and convertible pesos. Tourists are only eligible to use convertible pesos and each convertible peso is actually worth 10 Cuban pesos. So effectively if I were to go in to a shop and buy a bottle of water – this would cost me say 1cp (around 50p) and a cuban 1p (i.e around 5p). So effectively they are charging tourists ten times for everything which still always seems reasonable to us (2 mojitos tended to be around 5cp – £2.50 – not bad!). This means when you tip someone in a bar, say 1cp – they are getting about £5.00 worth out of it yet it is only costing you 50p. I think this is absolutely genius and I can’t see why other countries haven’t caught on. In Thailand why not charge £5.00 for a meal instead of 50p?! Tourists will still pay £5.00! However the people in tourist industry, with their tips, get much more disposable cash than anyone else which brings about inequality in the people – everything communism isn’t. Take for example the scenario of the hiking trip we did in to the mountains in Trinidad. The cost of this was 7cp each so 14cp in total and seeing as our guide stayed with us from 9am-2pm in the blistering heat enthusiastically talking all the time, we had a 20cp note and told him to keep the change. So he got 6cp – £3 to us, worth £30. This makes you feel great as a tourist. Giving a tip of not that much value to you makes a huge different to the local’s life. In fact their monthly salary is 300p so we actually tipped him a 5th of what he would earn in a month. Crazy really. However you think of all the doctors and teachers etc who slave their arses off and don’t see anything of the sort coming their way. Where is the incentive to work then? This isn’t fair and is where the system really breaks down. You could definitely feel a certain civil unrest and I reckon especially now as Castro has stepped down, big changes are afoot. I guess if you were thinking of going I’d recommend going asap. (Hark at me making political predictions when 2 weeks ago I didn’t even know what communism really meant!)
Anyways enough politics and back to reality. Damn I wish I could but I’m hooked! Six months ago, to spend all my time googling Che Guavara and ‘communism for dummies’ or writing ridiculously long blogs that no-one will read (except maybe Sam – and even he will probably have got bored by now), would have been fine as I had nout better else to do. However right now I do, like revise for these bastard exams, and this new found obsession is greatly reducing the productivity stakes!
All in all the holiday (which is what it was at the end of the day) was a big success. I’d love to go back there and see and do more of it, and like so many places I’ve been I say I will one day. But then I realise that to go back to somewhere I have already been means sacrificing going somewhere new which I can get momentarily obsessed with until the next place…..etc etc.
Alice
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/cubana-na-na-na-na-salsa-415287.html
It is a known fact that there are more overweight kids now than about 50 years ago. Naturally, some of those overweight kids carry their weight problems all the way to their teenage years, and even to adulthood. If your kid is in this situation, here are some tips for quick weight loss for teens, without having to resort to drastic measures like invasive surgery or even getting him or her on diet pills or enrolling your kid under an expensive gym membership.
Quick weight loss for teens # 1
Good nutrition always starts at home. You have to keep this in mind. Instead of keeping in check or even limiting severely what your kid eats, take a good, hard and honest look at what the entire family is eating. Teens develop their eating habits from what you teach them. So if you are a family of potato chip eaters, you need to wean the entire family from the chips and go for healthier options like fresh fruit and vegetables. Try not to create a meal plan only for your overweight teenager, while the rest of the family chows down on the unhealthy stuff. Your kid will only resent this and may sneak in meals outside your home.
Quick weight loss for teens # 2
Speaking of meals, try to ditch all the processed food you have at home – and that includes the frozen dinners and the “diet food” that you have been stocking up. These are loaded with extenders, preservatives and sugar in order to become palatable. Unfortunately, these are the same “low calorie” food that triggers hunger pangs which will subsequently make your kid eat more. Go for the fresh produce instead. This does not mean that you limit your kid’s diet to raw fruits and raw vegetables. You could try buying fresh meat from the grocery, use sea salt as marinade and cook this with fresh (not canned) vegetables or even fruits. You kid will learn how to prepare healthy food in the process.
Quick weight loss for teens # 3
Forcing your teen to exercise when he or she does not want to, can be a vicious fight. Why not engage him or her into an activity that you know your kid will like – and you will know this by simply asking them what they would like to do. If your teenager wants to learn skateboarding, then let them do so, even if you have misgivings about possible accidents. If he or she wants to learn to dance or learn how to play the drums, then let them do so. Try not to force your kid into activities without even consulting him or her. This makes your teenager more resentful of the fact that you did not ask in the first place.
Quick weight loss for teens # 3
Encourage your teen to drink more water or freshly made juice as a substitute for unhealthy snacks. You can do this by buying a juicing machine and even increasing your weekly supply of bottled water (which they can take to school.) Freshly made juice (without sugar) satiates hunger pangs without adding too much calories. Try to discourage the entire family from making protein shake smoothies, but go for the fresh fruits or vegetable juices instead. Water helps flush out more toxins from the body.
Jennifer T.
To reach the top, personally and professionally, you must act like the people who are already at the top. Top CEOs like Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump, no matter how different their approaches, have one key quality in common: they are enterprising. Enterprising CEOs manage life from the driver’s seat. They choose their destination, make their own road rules and cash the big checks.
Reward doesn’t have to appear as dollars in the bank, but an enterprising CEO does expect a payoff. What ultimate reward will you receive from rising to the top as an entrepreneur? A new Porsche? An Italian villa? An exotic vacation to Poughkeepsie? A promotion? Or simply making a difference in the world? Getting in touch with that payoff, knowing the “why” in the “want” sustains your commitment to follow through, rise to the top and reap the payoff you desire.
When you think about it, life is the grandest enterprise of all – and you’re in charge. Top CEOs know they are not only CEOs of their companies, but enterprising CEOs of their lives. You manage your personal development, finances, public relations, transportation, commissary, entertainment, janitorial services and even human resources. You’re already the CEO of the business of running your life, fully vested in the payoff, so why not act the part and take on your next exhilarating enterprise as a consultant or small business owner?
I bellied up to this concept in 1982 when I decided it was time to act like the CEO of my life and career instead of acting like an employee. I discovered the enterprising secrets of top CEOs, left my hospital job as a registered nurse earning $28,000/yr, and launched what is today a multimillion-dollar business.
I used my 12 CEO Secrets of Enterprise to launch my business and grow it annually for 26 years. These same secrets will help you rise to the top as CEO of your business.
CEO Secret 1: Everything Is Marketing
The old saying among entrepreneurs, that nothing happens in business until “somebody sells something,” is equally true in life. From the moment you were old enough to realize that a smile could “sell” your parents on giving you another cookie, you’ve been marketing your ideas.
- Getting a promotion or pay raise means selling your supervisor on your abilities, attitude and experience. That’s marketing.
- Convincing your spouse it’s okay to leave the dishes and cuddle up for some intimacy may require charm and persuasion. That’s marketing.
- Convincing your property owners’ association to resurface the tennis courts might require a benefit analysis and presentation. That’s marketing.
- Corralling a widely separated extended family for a reunion will mean selling the idea, date and place to all family members. That’s marketing.
When I received my master’s degree in nursing, I learned the hard way that this valuable asset had no value unless I marketed it. No one at the hospital said, “Thank you for pursuing higher education, Vickie. Here’s the pay raise you deserve.” I attempted to market that idea to my manager, but she didn’t buy in, so I marched my asset out the door to start my own business.
I had a new idea, legal nurse consulting. I learned very quickly the best idea goes nowhere without strong, innovative marketing behind it. Starting your business means selling you and your expertise.
Marketing has three simple parts: First, find a need. Second, fill that need. Third, convince people to buy in. As CEO, start viewing everything you do from this three-part marketing perspective.
Envision your bold enterprise. Visualize your venture and answer the question, “What will this do for me?” Write down in detail the payoff you desire – more money, more free time, more happiness or all three. Embellish your vision with sensory detail. See, hear, taste and feel it. The more real it is to you, the more you’ll believe in your ability to make it happen.
Communicate your enterprising idea with energy and confidence. You have a story to tell about your new business, and you have to make it interesting, believable and irresistible. Is your story intriguing? Does it highlight your knowledge and expertise?
- Be authentic. Your message must be not only interesting but also real. “Own” your message. Build the core of your presentation around the concept of filling a need. Demonstrate how your expertise will benefit your clients, then prove why you’re the right match for that client.
- Connect with your audience. Companies we call “super brands” make customers feel special just for buying their product and smart for owning it. Make sure you connect with prospects in a way that allows them to trust you and your expertise. Reinforce your message in everything you do. More than “service with a smile,” give “service with bold competency.” Make businesses want to seek you out to work with you again.
- Repeat your story often. Not everyone will get it, not everyone will buy in. But every aspect of your life is a marketing opportunity. Keep polishing your presentation and spreading the word.
CEO Secret 2: Be Your Own Number One Fan
CEOs promote their company and their achievements. They know that buyers don’t want to purchase from losers. Announcing your achievements may feel boastful, but can you imagine Oprah or Donald being shy about broadcasting their triumphs?
With humility, let your target market know any time you score – whether it’s finishing a high-profile project, winning a relevant award or expanding your services. Who you know is important, but even more important is who knows you. Achievements are your resume and expand your credibility. Announcing your achievements also validates the choices people have made on your behalf – the business who hired you or the client who recommended you wants to know he bet on a winner.
- Write a note. Send newsworthy communications to your clients, friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances. Be concise, stir in a little humor, and people will look forward to receiving your news.
- Roll out a news flash. Craft a short, punchy message and tack it onto your voice mail message or place a hyperlinked tagline under your email signature to take recipients to your website.
CEO Secret 3: Expect Icebergs
No enterprise is unsinkable; the Titanic sank its first time out. Plenty of entrepreneurs have made and lost millions on their rise to the top. But when you act like a CEO, you’ll create such a solid foundation and framework for your business that only an enormous iceberg could knock you off course.
- Assess your strengths and challenges. The stability of your business comes not only from how you handle day-to-day routines, but more importantly, from how you engage your strengths when an iceberg pops up unexpectedly. Challenges may involve limited expertise, competition or getting along with a difficult client. By knowing what you have in reserve and frequently reassessing the waters ahead of you, you can maneuver with confidence. Be honest with yourself. A fair, honest assessment will help you develop the necessary strengths or marshal the outside resources you’ll need.
- Be willing to risk hitting icebergs. You have to sail before you can fail. You can maneuver around icebergs, but if you never leave the dock, you’ll never have an enterprise to keep afloat. If you’re not out there in a big way, you won’t risk but you also won’t win. Often it’s not hitting the iceberg but the fear of hitting it that drowns you. How many people resist changing jobs or leaving a bad marriage only to realize after they do that it was the best decision they ever made? Jane Austen, the famous English novelist, chose not to marry out of her poor background but to pursue her dream of writing – in a time when women writers were considered “scandalous.” She braved the iceberg. Soon she’d written six of history’s most important works of English literature. If she’d married any of her suitors, she might have lived a more comfortable, but less fulfilling life.
- Have a rescue plan. Knowing and planning for the worst contingency alleviates the worry that can prevent you from making bold choices. When I started my legal nurse consulting business, I simply wanted to match my modest nursing salary. What did I have to lose? Any time I needed extra money to keep my enterprise afloat, I could work a few shifts at a hospital. Knowing I wouldn’t sink entirely gave me courage.
Write your rescue plan. Look at your savings, your earnings and how long you’ll need to float your business before it generates adequate income. You’re probably in better shape than you suspect. If not, you have two choices:
- Go all in anyway; or
- Set a reasonable time period to succeed, then engage your rescue plan. Just don’t bail out too early or too easily.
Either way, at least you’ve launched your ship.
CEO Secret 4: Solve Problems Quickly and Decisively
Top CEOs move so quickly they exhaust the people working with them, but speed is one of their success secrets. Not haphazard, as some might believe, fast-moving CEOs are constantly developing the concepts and principles that guide their rapid decision making as they continuously strengthen the foundation of their enterprise.
Act like a CEO: Put the fundamentals in place so you can implement creative and effective decisions. Then apply this problem-solving template and you’ll leave people around you scratching their heads:
- Define the situation. Define why it’s important, the relevant facts, your goal in solving the problem and the strategies you’ve already implemented.
- List the people. Include family, consultants, peers, your housekeeper, your son’s basketball coach – everyone who can help you solve the problem.
- Sleep on it. The moments between sleep and consciousness are fertile ground for creative problem solving. When you awake, the solution will often be waiting for you. Meditate on the issue or think about it while you exercise. I’ve often had to unwind from a yoga pose and pop out of the class to jot down a solution after having an “ah-ha” moment. When your conscious mind is quiet, your subconscious can work its magic.
- Identify the necessary actions. Identify any actions you will personally take to resolve the problem. Look to your past successes and acknowledge that you have the inherent strengths. Identify the actions you will delegate. You don’t have to do it all yourself – even if you are a one-person business. Top CEOs delegate extensively.
- Evaluate the results. Apply what you learn to the next challenge that comes. Healthcare mistakes can be deadly, so as nurses when an incident occurred, we always asked ourselves, “What did we do wrong? What did we do right?” Evaluate each problem you solve and ask, “What can I learn that will help me in the future?”
An enterprising CEO never allows problems to thwart momentum. Resolve negative situations promptly and seek inventive ways to turn them into opportunities. As CEO, you’re responsible for making decisions. No one can move or decide as quickly as you can. Accept that responsibility and keep the forward momentum going.
CEO Secret 5: Don’t Be a Commodity
Top CEOs build businesses that are not easily duplicated. Ease of duplication creates commodities, and a commodity business is the kiss of death. Water used to be a commodity until companies like Fiji and Perrier changed our perception. Then Coca-Cola and PepsiCo got involved, and today, water, available just about everywhere for free, outsells almost every other bottled drink at a high price.
My company sells an educational experience. We don’t sell seminars, DVDs or CDs, although those are the media we employ. Instead, we sell a lifelong relationship that includes mentoring and the fact that our students are learning from the pioneer and leader in the industry. Our ideas are often duplicated, but no one can duplicate our relationships, our knowledge or our 26-year advantage.
No matter what you do or what your enterprising idea is, don’t be a commodity. If you turn your business into a commodity, you’ll go bankrupt.
To avoid becoming a commodity:
- Build relationships. Be interested in others. Create genuine connections built on trust and caring. Quietly persuade the prospect that no one else can duplicate your exceptional service and work product, and you’ll never be a commodity because you can never be duplicated. In return you will receive and keep business from the best clients
- Demonstrate trust. Trust has to be earned. Never promise what you can’t deliver or you might not get a second chance. Instead, promise small and deliver big.
- Go all in. Don’t shrink into your chair and become invisible. Clients pay you to speak up even when that means disagreeing about significant issues.
- Strive to stand out. Demonstrate your ability to bring new ideas to the table. While you don’t want to have “verbal diarrhea,” you do want your client and other members of their team to notice you and your contributions. It’s easy to stand out when you pay attention and speak up.
CEO Secret 6: Don’t Underprice Yourself
Top CEOs reject the common thinking that “if you drop your price – you’ll get the job” or “lower price equals higher sales.”
- Place a high value on everything you know. In the information age, education doesn’t come cheap and wisdom is gold.
- Place a high value on everything you do. Outsource whatever you can. My first job every morning is to make sure my staff is doing as much of my work as I can delegate. That frees me to develop new tools, skills and strategies for moving forward.
You may need to give up something to pursue your enterprise. Get your spouse to help with the dishes, the dinner and the carpool. Stop chairing every volunteer committee. Your time is one of your most precious assets. You only get 24 hours a day – choose to spend them wisely. If a project isn’t supporting your enterprise, ask yourself how to drop it, delegate it or find another way to accomplish it.
- Become irreplaceable. Give the client what she wants and more. Ultimately, no one is irreplaceable. You render yourself “irreplaceable” by making the client think of you first for any case and feel they will profit measurably from your input and enterprising ideas.
- Be original. Stamp your performance with originality so that you are not easily duplicated by a cheaper hire. Clerical assistants are commodities. Clerical assistants with the ability to organize, handle customers, keep a CEO on-target and stay calm in the face of a crisis become executive assistants. A nurse is a commodity. A Certified Legal Nurse Consultant who understands the legal nurse consulting process at its most complex and deepest level is a highly paid and valued consultant to the litigation team.
- Quote high fees. My executive assistant quoted one of the highest salary requests I have ever encountered for that position. I weeded out the candidates who underpriced themselves, assuming they wouldn’t work at the level I expected, and hired her at her asking price. It turned out she was worth it (but don’t tell her I said that).
CEOs drive luxury cars, stay in luxury hotels and dine at fine restaurants for a reason beyond personal gratification. They always present themselves and their work in a style that demonstrates value, and others see them as priceless.
CEO Secret 7: Don’t Overrate Networking
Sometimes I joke that time spent networking is time spent “NOT working.” Enterprising CEOs are selective about where and with whom they network. You won’t find them at your breakfast club meeting. CEOs research what they need, locate the source and ask. They create a network of colleagues, clients, consultants, vendors and acquaintances they can depend on to deliver anything from information to referrals.
Networking clubs can absorb time while distracting us from what we really need to accomplish. It’s easy to convince yourself that heavy networking is productive when it’s not. And you could be taking advice from people who mean well but are not qualified to give it.
I built my business on selective networking. I’m always asking people I trust and respect, “Who do you know who…?” I’ve gotten our company’s marketing director, investment counselor, graphic design firm and health insurance provider this way, not by trading business cards at a mixer.
- Cast your net selectively. Don’t confuse networking with socializing. Choose opportunities that put you in the middle of people who are even more successful than you are. Cultivate your network using your relationship skills to include successful entrepreneurs in other industries.
- Don’t just hang around waiting to be introduced. After being named one of Inc.’s Top 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America I attended the Inc. Conference, I mixed with CEOs and representatives from some of the country’s top corporations. You can bet I had formulated different introductions for each of the different situations in which I found myself. Networking is sometimes a “once in your lifetime” opportunity – be prepared to make it pay off. Don’t be a wallflower. If you don’t feel comfortable introducing yourself to people, role-play with a friend and practice until you do. You have to step out to step up.
- Give generously and demand reciprocation. Expect high performance from your network and reward performance. Say “thank you” with a note, flowers, a bottle of wine or a nice lunch. Also, don’t hesitate to cull out any person, business or organization that repeatedly fails to perform.
- Stay connected. Send handwritten notes, emails and other thoughtful communications to create a lasting bond with clients, coworkers and all members of your network. Something as simple as a “happy birthday” jotted on a card or a handwritten “thank you” instead of an email will go far.
- Strategically widen your net. Get in the habit of passing along names – your hair stylist, your plumber, your lawyer, your banker – not to just anyone but selectively and with high praise. Their time is valuable too. They’ll appreciate the selectivity as you would.
CEO Secret 8: Invest in Win-Win Relationships
Top CEOs make sure they’re not the only ones gaining from their initiatives.
- Initiate alignment. When building your business, look at what’s in it for everyone – clients, family and vendors. You’ll get better participation and results when everyone benefits.
- Initiate alliances. Create strategic alliances with people who can advance your business while you advance a goal of theirs. You never know how you can help out a friend or colleague until you ask. People will appreciate your offer of help even if they refuse it. In the business world, it never pays to alienate anyone. Ripples spread wide from rocks thrown in the lake. You never know who is aligned with whom. Never gossip and don’t hesitate to say you’re sorry. Treat everyone as an ally, even those who can’t advance you. Never be condescending. Practice integrity with everyone at every level. It’s always better to have allies than enemies.
- Stay cool and clean. Avoid whiners, complainers and the wrong crowd. Although the wrong crowd might appear popular, it won’t be popular among the people who count – successful business owners. Keep your hands and your nose clean – it’ll pay off in the end.
CEO Secret 9: Compete Only with Yourself
Mushing a loaded dogsled across an Alaskan snowfield, I learned firsthand that it’s true – if you’re not the lead dog, the view from the rear never changes. And the rear is exactly where you’ll be if you compete only with others.
To excel as an enterprising CEO, you must be aware of competition, but don’t allow that awareness to veer you off course. If you focus on your competition (someone brighter, richer or better looking), you’ll always be one step behind them. If you focus on your own enterprise and compete with your own best performance, you’ll be the lead dog your competitors imitate, leaving them in the rear.
- Be an innovator, not an imitator. Top CEOs know what works today won’t work tomorrow. That’s why they focus on innovation. If you copy your competition today, you’re already a step behind because she’s already working on tomorrow.
- Continually improve your education and skills. The world doesn’t stand still, and neither can you. The only way to stay ahead in this fast-paced era is to learn something new every day. Research what you don’t know. Hire other consultants to fill in the gaps in your expertise until you either have time to learn it. If you try to learn it all, you won’t have time to do anything else. Hire specialists, consultants and sharp employees.
- Make advancements every year. Every CEO knows that a company advances, declines or stagnates according to the expectations of its management team. When you expect to grow and you put a growth plan in action, you’ll see results. Greet each new year with an attainable, detailed growth plan that includes goals, strategies and target dates.
- Keep physically fit. Being a CEO is demanding. Life is demanding. To live life at its fullest and create an enterprise that makes you love getting out of bed every day, you have to feel your physical best. Your health is your most important asset. Put fitness at the top of your priorities. Schedule time at the gym. If you’re physically fit, then you’re more likely to be mentally fit. Schedule some quiet time. Innovative ideas emerge from silence.
- Keep financially fit. A competitor once commented sarcastically that my clients pay for my big house, my big vacations and my big smile. Of course they do. Any enterprise is profitable or it isn’t an enterprise – it’s a charity. The word profit stems from a Latin word meaning “advancement or improvement.” As CEO, you must expect to profit from every investment.
Create an income and spending plan. Make a budget and stick to it. Keep the cash flow positive. You owe it to yourself and your family to be financially fit, and being free from financial worry allows you to pursue your enterprise with passion.
CEO Secret 10: Get Your Hands Dirty
I joke that I’m a working CEO, the kind who makes things happen. Successful CEOs get their hands dirty. All great chefs start by working in the kitchen. You can’t cook from behind your desk, so get up, get out and chop some onions.
The best leaders lead by example. If you get down in the trenches, instead of always standing on the sidelines giving orders, it is easier to convince others to fall in with you. And you’ll demonstrate the results you expect. You don’t have to organize every medical record, mail every invoice or empty the trash every day. Be in the space; demonstrate that you understand the job that each subcontractor or employee is doing. Ask questions and listen to the answers. Be willing to work.
In teaching and mentoring nurses for 26 years, I’ve observed that for many the vision is the easy part. Committing to the dirty details that convert that vision into reality is tough. This often involves early mornings, late nights, working weekends and carrying out the trash. If you don’t do the dirty work or have someone do it for you, your enterprise will fail.
- Clean the kitchen. In my company, everybody takes a turn at kitchen duty. In my household, everybody is expected to clean up their own messes and pitch in at meals. As CEO, you have to set the example – then demand that everyone follow it. You’re responsible for your gains and your mistakes. Responsible people gain respect, so clean up your own messes and be responsible.
- Make the coffee. The first one in makes the coffee, right? That’s responsibility on a small scale. A CEO shoulders responsibility for getting many projects started. You show how it’s done, set the pace, then offload some of that responsibility so you can pioneer the next project. Just remember to check in and have a cup of coffee now and then to make sure your standard is being upheld.
- Turn off the lights. The last person out locks up. Someone has to sign off that a project is finalized with all the T’s crossed. Enterprising CEOs don’t take this for granted. The best ideas can bomb when final details are overlooked. It’s your name on the door – so be sure the right people are focused on those details.
CEO Secret 11: Make Perpetual Lists
CEOs have assistants to remind them what to do. Like executive assistants, lists can save you hours of fumbling and head-scratching. Lists keep you organized and prevent wasted time going back for an item you forgot.
I maintain a perpetual grocery list on my computer, which I simply update and print out when it’s time to shop. I keep a list of travel items to pack no matter where I’m going. I also keep a list of future business ideas so I won’t forget them. Which of your routines would benefit from being perpetualized on a grab-it-and-go list, freeing you to work on your business?
- List the steps. Anything you do repeatedly that requires specific steps – from shopping for the kids’ school supplies to publishing an electronic newsletter – can benefit from a checklist. Break the job down into the smallest steps. Update your lists as you go – adding, deleting and recategorizing items as necessary.
- List the people skills. How can you possibly remember all the aptitudes and expertise of every person in your network? It’s easy when you have a list. List everybody you know alphabetically. Beside each name, write down what they do professionally, the organizations they belong to, their pastime interests and any other skills, abilities and talents they have. Every time you learn something new about a person, add it to your list. What a priceless resource you’ll have!
- List the essentials. For any situation that requires take-alongs, such as meetings with clients, list every item necessary or even desirable to make the event successful. You can always elect to eliminate something on the list, but if it’s listed, at least you have the option before you go rather than when it’s too late.
CEO Secret 12: Put Systems to Work for You
CEOs like to spend their time creating, so they’re adept at systemizing routine tasks. Anything you do repeatedly can be systemized so others can do it. Systemize everything, and don’t reinvent the wheel every day (only on the days you really, really need a new wheel).
- Ask “How can I do it faster?” Write down all the steps you take to accomplish a routine task. Don’t cheat; put in absolutely everything. Now look at all that work. Which steps can you eliminate or reduce and get the same result? If you can systemize a task so that it’s reproducible, you can delegate it, which means you have more time to do more important things.
- Ask “How can I do it easier?” What tools would facilitate this task? When you have to pound a lot of nails, you want a heavy hammer. Better yet, a pneumatic nail gun. Or would a staple gun work better? The right tools can smooth any process.
- Ask “How can I do it cheaper?” A CEO’s time is the most costly in the entire company. I’ve known business owners who claim it’s faster to do things themselves rather than delegate and train. Using their high-dollar time on tasks that should be delegated is costly to the success of their business. What can you effectively systemize and delegate that would result in a better allocation of your time and resources?
- Create templates. Emails, letters, forms and other documents that must be created or updated frequently can be systemized. For any new document, first review what already exists. Then copy, adapt and pull from previous efforts.
- Automate online processes. Use the tools that make your Internet use faster and easier. Beyond bookmarking your favorite sites, rent a web-savvy geek for a day to show you how to automate searches, postings, news you need and email. Make it a habit to look for ways to systemize processes. As CEO, you can accomplish more in less time with less stress by using available systems or creating your own. If you systemize one process a week, think of all the vacation time you’ll earn, or the time you’ll have for other parts of your business.
Take the Driver’s Seat
You can be successful at many endeavors. Even though we all have to do things that are not our top favorites, successful self-development lies in selecting and focusing on the enterprising activities you like to do and continually improving what you do well. People often think I go after all kinds of ideas, and I’ll admit to constantly aiming for higher levels, but over the years I’ve rejected many ideas because they didn’t meet my criteria for an enterprising life, a life of choice.
Top CEOs like Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump are masters of selection and masters of enterprise. Use my 12 CEO Secrets to apply the CEO strength of enterprise to whatever you want to accomplish, and you’ll always be in the driver’s seat. You’ll choose your own destination, make the road rules and cash the big checks. Everyone will yearn to discover your secrets and replicate your success.
Life, the grandest enterprise of all, is as thrilling a ride as you want to make it – and you’re the CEO in charge. So act like it today and you’ll rise to the top tomorrow.
Vickie L. Milazzo, Rn, Msn, Jd
A lot of families today are looking for a way to reconnect with their children. A great way to disconnect from the wear and tear of daily life is to pull up stakes, pack some tents and a cooler and head out camping. The break from electronics and the letting go of pressures to run free in the outdoors is a fantastic gift to give your children, and camping will most likely leave an impression of fond memories with your kids for years to come.
Camping is a simple, natural way of providing this quality time for your children. The fast-paced action of television and the video games that are played for hours at a time are gone, left well behind at home and replaced with the great outdoors, trees and sometimes even a lake or beach. The novelty of having absolute freedom a camping trip provides can often be exhilarating for kids, and more often than not, parents won’t hear much complaint as the camping site and its surroundings are scoped out and explored.
Changing environments changes behaviours and you’ll probably be surprised to see a different attitude from your children once the camping trip begins. Usually, kids are pretty thrilled to pitch in with daily chores and simple tasks they would have normally turned their noses up at home.
It’s amazing how we take things like dishwashers for granted and washing cutlery in a plastic pan with water hauled over in a bucket can become a novel experience for kids. Not only that, they’ll be learning that they certainly can make do without most of today’s luxuries.
Another thing that’s amazing about camping is that you’ll find your kids enthusiastic to visit places and scope out attractions. Walks in the woods become amazingly important, and trips to the grocery store a focused affair as kids try to help choose what would be interesting to cook for supper.
Your children will also learn new skills as you model practical independence by building a small campfire at night and make hot chocolate before their very eyes with water heated from hot cinders. They’ll be able to discover that not having electrical appliances isn’t the end of the world and that bed hair and no makeup is perfectly acceptable attire.
While camping, your children will discover facets of their parents they never knew of, and parents will also see that their children, away from home and in the fresh air and sun of the outdoors, really aren’t video-addicted creatures with no more motivation than the newest Xbox game or latest DVD out on store shelves. Camping trips can strip away the craziness of a fast-paced, throwaway society, revealing good natured people enjoying life and each other’s company just because they can.
John Edmond
http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/camping-is-quality-family-time-126903.html
With our day to day affairs going helter-skelter, spending time together as a family becomes even more essential. And when could there be a better time for enjoying by yourselves than the dinner table? You can bet that families that take meals together do help youngsters to be positive and have solid personalities. Another upside to being complete at the dining table is that people get to open up to each other, something that totally helps to brighten up homes. Now, what are the ways to perk up family dinners so as to make everybody actually look forward to them? I listed below some tips which I think would especially help those families with kids aged six and twelve. Watch your little tots engage the grown-ups in these games! And it doesn’t stop with just fun laughter, since they also might just pick up a few things in the process.
Where did it come from?
If you have a few condiment bottles on your dining table, then this is perfect. This activity starts with somebody choosing a bottle and encourage everyone to take turns guessing the state from which the bottle originated (the correct answer is of course on the label). Anybody who gets to say the correct state then faces a new question of guessing what is that state’s capital.
Make a list
Someone starts the game by saying out loud the category and naming something which belongs there, like for example, the name of a taste, house pet or a garden plant. The game goes on with each person round the table adding to the list in turn. Anybody who can’t add to the list is out and the last person who keeps on adding names until the end is the winner.
Who would you invite to dinner?
History games blend right in to meals, whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner. Each family member take turns describing someone from the past that they’d most like bring to dinner. Each person does his or her best to say as much as they know about the person under a time limit. After one cycle, the game pauses so that everybody can comment or share something interesting they know about that important figure.
Learn about a new country: a modified cooking game
Well, its not yet actually a cooking game but a food game. Once in a while, cook a traditional recipe from another country. Have each family member do a little research about that particular country and present what they learned to the rest of the family at dinner while everyone enjoys the delicious food. Through this activity, the kids get to appreciate foreign cultures, even if from the taste buds for now.
Cooking games
This has something to do with food, yet its actually outside a meal! Actual kitchen cooking activities are, of course, the all time solution to those dragging days. But free Internet cooking games through a desktop or laptop and a good web connection can be wake-uppers too. Unfortunately we will need another article if we will talk about kids who are fussy eaters, but it’s clear that helping out in cooking is something kids feel magnetized to. So naturally, it was not hard getting web-savvy kids to patronize free cooking games online. In any case, your kids are bound to pick up many things while playing these games, whether its because they copy the cooking steps seen online, or its because they imitate your style at the kitchen. Don’t forget that supervised kids get to have the most fun out of surfing. Moreover, you can achieve quality time plus learning in just one go.
Cookie Jeans
Bring some history into your kitchen. Get the kids in the kitchen to help you bake some cherry treats. As you work together, talk to them about the early history of our country and our first President George Washington. This can lead to even more talks about our history. Don’t leave it to the schools to teach your children the history of their country. Unfortunately, many of today’s textbook don’t even have the correct information in them. Let your kids learn from you as you build up our country in their eyes. Most kids like to bake cookies and these Chocolate Cherry Cookies would be a good project for you as they are simple and made from a cake mix. And they are diabetic friendly so even the diabetic children (of all ages) can enjoy them. Or you can use a regular chocolate cake mix for regular cookies. Tiny Cherry Cheesecakes are also a delicious choice and they are also diabetic friendly. However they, too, can be made regular by replacing the Equal with sugar. These tiny cheesecakes have a chocolate crust and who doesn’t love chocolate and cherries together? And speaking of chocolate, how about some Oh-So-Easy Cherry Brownies?
CHOCOLATE CHERRY COOKIES
1 (8 oz) pkg sugar-free chocolate cake mix
3 tbsp skim milk
1/2 tsp almond extract
10 maraschino cherries, rinsed, drained and halved
2 tbsp white chocolate chips
1/2 tsp canola oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat cake mix, milk and extract with an electric mixer at low speed. When mixture looks crumbly, increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes or until smooth dough forms. (Dough will be very sticky.) Coat hands with cooking spray and shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls 2 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Flatten each ball slightly. Place cherry half in center of each cookie. Bake 8-10 minutes or until cookies losse their shine and tops begin to crack. DO NOT OVERBAKE OR COOKIES WILL BE HARD WHEN COOLED. Remove to wire racks and cool completely.
Place chips and oil in a small microwave-safe bowl and cook a few seconds at a time, removing and stirring until chips are melted. Drizzle over cooled cookies. Allow drizzle to set before serving.
TINY CHERRY CHEESECAKES
Crust: 1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Equal-Lite
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup cold butter
2 tbsp cold water
Filling:
6 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup Equal-Lite
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 can sugar-free or lite cherry pie filling
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 24 mini-muffins cups and set aside.To make crust: In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, Equal and cocoa. Cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add water, mixing with a fork until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough and shape into 24 balls. Place in prepared miniature muffin tins and press dough onto the bottom and up sides of each muffin cup.
To make filling: In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and Equal until smooth. Beat in milk and vanilla. Add egg; beat on low just until combined. Spoon approximately 1 tablespoonful into each muffin cup. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Carefully remove from pans to cool completely. Top each cake with a dab of pie filling before serving. Store in refrigerator.
OH-SO-EASY CHERRY BROWNIES
If you are a fan of Black Forest Cake, you will love these cherry brownies.
1 pkg. (21.5 oz) brownie mix
1 cup cherry pie filling
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
Combine brownie mix, pie filling, oil, and eggs together and mix well. Grease bottom only of a 13″ x 9″ baking pan. Pour batter into pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes until done. After removing from oven, sprinkle with the chocolate chips and spread when they melt. Cool and cut into squares. To make a tasty and pretty serving, top brownie square with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a spoonful of the leftover pie filling.
Enjoy!
Linda Wilson
http://www.articlesbase.com/desserts-articles/cherry-recipes-in-honor-of-our-first-president-george-washington-736475.html
Some kids like to help you cook in the kitchen but they don’t understand the ingredients, especially the herbs. At first, a kid learning to cook is all about learning to follow directions and doing each step in order. They’re figuring out how to be organized and hopefully how to clean up after themselves. Along the way they also pick up what words like “sift” and “simmer” mean. Plus they learn skills like how to drain noodles through a colander or how to knead bread dough.
It seems like one of the last things they learn is how the ingredients all work together and when they can deviate from the recipe a little. An excellent way for your kids to experiment is with herbs. For more details please go to www.chef-123.com. Herbs can make a dish go from so-so to wonderful and if your chef learns about them when they’re young, there’s no telling what great meals they’ll cook for you through the years.
Here are some ideas for getting your kids to play with herbs:
1. Fresh mint is a wonderful herb for kids because it smells so good and there are many different things they can do with it. They can simply put a few sprigs in a glass of water, iced tea, or lemonade for a hint of mint taste. They can chop it up small and put it in their yogurt or ice cream, or include it in muffin batter. Probably the funniest for kids is to make mint ice cubes. They just put small leaves of mint into the ice cube tray, add water, and freeze.
Take your children to a plant nursery in spring and let them smell all the different kinds of mint. It’s a really easy herb to grow – but plant it in a pot because otherwise it will spread through your garden like crazy.
2. Your kids can make herb butter. Put 2 sticks of butter out in a bowl at room temperature to soften. Then add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, cut up parsley, and some minced garlic cloves. Let the kids mash it all together and then stick it in the fridge. It can be cut into squares and served with warm bread or hot pasta.
The kids can experiment with other herbs in the butter if they smell like they go together and don’t have too strong a smell. You can also login on to www.cat-head-biscuit.com. Rosemary probably wouldn’t be a good candidate as it has a very strong smell.
3. A good place for rosemary is in bread dough, along with sage and parsley. Adding herbs to the bread dough and then kneading it is a fun hands-on experience for kids, and they really get the full effect of the herbs when the bread is baking because the smells are intensified. Ask your kids to tell you which of the herbs they smell from the baking bread.
AMITA DEVI
From a very early age, kids show enormous interest in the many things they see adults too: cleaning the house, doing laundry, fixing furniture and room accessories, and of course—cooking. Kids will always try to make do with objects they see around, trying to come up with their own set of pots and pans and making imaginary burgers and ice cream cones for their parents and playmates. But why inhibit your child’s imagination? Once you see their interest in kitchen activities, encourage them by getting a kitchen play set. This will give parents an opportunity to not only make their children have fun while learning kitchen activities but also teach their children safety measures in the kitchen department.
KidKraft Kitchen toys are recognized as the best selling kitchen play sets in the market today. They have an impressive selection of kitchen play sets and kitchen toys themselves. The kid-sized kitchens are designed brightly, capturing a child’s interest in colors and varied themes. KidKraft Kitchen sets are “Big and Bright” and they come in several themes: wood, retro, pastel, prairie, girly, and many other designs. Some designs even cater to a specific holiday perspective such as the KidKraft Rosh Hashanah Set.
The cookware play sets and baking sets are also available in bright colors. The kitchen play sets are usually composed of blender sets, toaster sets, primary cookware sets, birthday cake sets, coffee sets, smoothie sets, as well as kettle and tea sets. These toys are made to look so much like the real things, only in miniature and in funky colors that will surely attract your child’s attention. The toys are, of course, designed not only for the entertainment and education of your children but also for their safety. So you really do not have to worry about your kids getting injured while they are playing, trying to make you a pot of invisible coffee to be eaten with an imagined piece of toasted bread.
Large KidKraft Kitchens usually come with a refrigerator with freezer, a sink, an oven, and cabinets with functional doors. Parents are particularly partial to these products due to their ease in assembly and affordability. KidKraft Kitchen play sets are not best-selling for nothing! They are reasonably priced, with the large kitchen play sets ranging from $130 to $220. Kitchen appliance sets usually cost around $110, and individual cookware sets such as the toaster and baking set can be as low as $11 and as much as $30.
To learn more about the Kitchen Toys that KidKraft offers, you may want to check out their online product catalog where they have a comprehensive list of product descriptions including item weight, dimensions, product details, where to buy, and assembly instructions. Should you already have the Kitchen play set but you only lost a few parts, you can order those from their website.
For a considerably small amount, you can get your children the dream kitchen they would want to learn cooking in. Inspire your kids to learn how to cook and be responsible in the kitchen. Who knows? By starting with a KidKraft Kitchen set, you just might be tapping into the potential of the next world-class chef!
Rachel Nunez