I had the WORST week last week. It was amazing how each day got worse and worse as the week went on all climaxing with Friday night and realizing I had a Urinary Track Infection- cherry on my sundae! Amazing!
I learned a valuable lesson last week- it’s tough to write a “Happy Blog” when life is kicking you when you are down. So I took a week off and now I’m back!
Last week was rough but it wasn’t all bad. I actually smiled lots last week- usually while I was at my workout or in my car during my commute. Why those two places you may ask- well these two places have something awesome in common….. LOUD MUSIC!
I love LOUD music. It makes me happy. I love singing along with loud music. I sing during my workout- I sing in my car on the way to work. It makes me happy.
My car especially becomes my own private concert stadium on my way to work. My usual song choice is really crappy, really cheesy “top 40 pop”. I love pop music. I thought at my ripe old age of 40, I would have abandoned pop music long ago but no- it’s still my favourite. On the weekends when I’m cooking I prefer 80’s music but weekdays it’s all pop all the time! I have satellite radio and I listen to the Top 40 station. My husband hates it because they overplay all the hit songs. That’s what I like about the station… they pretty much play a hit song 18 times a day, so I’m pretty much guaranteed to hear my favourites over and over- making it really easy to learn the words so I get to SING!!! If you’re feeling down, crank up the radio and unleash your inner Taylor Swift or Imagine Dragon!
Another way I beat the blues last week was switching up dinner. I abandoned my normal winters standards for a summer inspired meal. Sunday night we had BBQ steak, French fries and Kale Salad-I was instantly transported back to summer! You can’t feel blue in the summer!
I found this amazing marinade on a Pinterest. It was great!
For the Steak Marinade you will need:
1/2 c Olive Oil
1/3 c Soy Sauce
1/3 c Lemon Juice
1/4 c Worcestershire Sauce
1 T of Minced Garlic (I used Farm Boy’s Garlic Flowers)
2 T of Dried Parsley
2 T of Dried Basil
1 t of Fresh Ground Pepper
2-3 dashes of Tabasco Sauce
You can find the directions here.

Here’s a picture of the garlic flowers. It’s a great substitute for real, Canadian garlic- it’s better than using imported garlic if you are out of the good stuff!

While the steak was marinading, I sliced up the potatoes to make the fries. I love French Fries but they aren’t exactly health food! At Christmas, I was the lucky recipient of a T-fal Actifry. It’s a fryer that gives you the taste of deep fry but only uses a teaspoon of oil. My potatoes went from this to deep fried yumminess in 30 minutes!

I rounded the meal out with a Kale Salad with a Warm Bacon Vinaigrette.
You will need:
2 pounds kale, washed and thoroughly dried
1/3 cup toasted nuts (I used pecans)
6 slices bacon
2 Tablespoons minced shallots
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (I used Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother)
2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
(I also added goat cheese and dried cranberries)
You can find the directions here.

This meal plus a great soundtrack helped put a smile on my face.

Choose Happy 🙂