Category: Uncategorized

So this was inspired by my visit to the Marilyn Denis show and watching the Chef for Cafe Balou (Chef Balou) do a green cream sauce for spring… In his sauce he didn’t want it to reduce to make a lighter one, I like a good thick cream sauce and I’m eating healthy clean and keto for the time being (summer is acommin’!) so here is an amazing invention of mine – Keto Creamy Pesto and Zoodles (zucchini noodles).

This one satisfies my need for pasta and cream sauce…

Wait, What are Zoodles?

If you have never ever before heard of zoodles you really need to check out spiralizers – I have a great one – it cuts veggies super quickly and easily into noodle like shape (thick or thin) – works great with zucchini which you can eat raw or sauted. I really love them so I haven’t ventured to other veggies too much yet (other than beets – for an beet salad recipe I posted here: https://drkarenhudes.ca/index.php/2018/10/04/rice-and-beet-salad/

I hear that also awesome veggies to use are butternut squash, carrots and turnips… I promise to give these a try soon too. Here is what a spiralizer looks like and what it can do:

Ok, Enough about spiralizers and on to the recipe!

So I invented this one last night… here is a picture of today’s lunch keto creamy pesto and zoodles:

Here is a better pic added after I warmed it up for myself (in separate containers) and added some chicken for protein.

This would likely be so much better if eaten right away but it was so so good today! (really really good – I have to make it again… Nooooo, I didn’t lick the bowl I swear)

I stored the zoodles separately from the sauce because I didn’t want the sauce to take on extra water – and heated them separately too. Here is what you need:

Ingredients

What you need for Keto creamy pesto zoodles:

A large handful of basil

garlic – one or two cloves to taste

1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

a chunk of Parmesan cheese grated (about 1 inch by 1/2 inch – but to taste)

1/2 cup heavy cream

zucchini – 1 per person (the sauce makes about two servings depending on how saucy you like things!)

Best done with mortar and pestle but you can use a food processor too

Directions

Place whole basil leaves and finely chopped garlic into a mortar with some of the oil and use pestle to grind up… add shredded cheese and continue till a fine mash adding oil if it gets too thick. Pour cream into sauce pan and heat to reduce. BE CAREFUL not to burn (mine almost boiled over). Add stuff from mortar to hot cream and let cook a tiny bit until the garlic is fragrant. And Voila! The cream sauce is done! Remove from heat. Now (or before) spiralize the zuchinni and add to a saucepan or pot with a bit of olive oil and saute a minute or too – not too long as these are better a bit crisp. Combine and toss together and enjoy!

Hope you like this one – I loved it!

Ok, it’s spring – sweet right? This time of year brings sunshine, springing forward, lighter coats, less (but maybe not no) snow, lots of mud and yard work, and often the urge to do some spring cleaning.

Remember last year (or years past)? Spending the better part of the day cleaning out and getting rid of stuff, tidying up the garden and getting the garage in order for summer? Are you going to do some of that this year and maybe Marie Condo your life a bit in the meantime? Good idea. But let me help you watch your back while you are at it ok?

Why is cleaning up around the house back unfriendly?

It doesn’t really have to be but generally when we are really wanting to get stuff done we sacrifice proper technique for lifting and bending for speed. Here are some examples of what I mean:

Vacumming

If you are going to do some vacuuming with your spring cleaning make sure you don’t put undo stress on your back when you are doing it. I once got tendonitis in my thumb from vacuuming (you thought it was from work right? Nope, no way). I decided that it would be easier to show you what I mean then babble about it here so check out the video by clicking the link below:

Lifting

I think probably the lifting component with spring cleaning comes with putting the things in boxes and hauling them into the car and out of your life Marie Condo Style… though there are probably tons of little things to be lifted too… for that reason it is important to review the cardinal do’s and don’ts of lifting here:

Pay attention to holding the load as close to you as you can and don’t make it awkward – also look at the lower right hand picture above – dot round your lower back – always keep the normal lordosis in the lower back – it helps protect you from injury.

Also if you are picking up something light ans small from the floor like a pen (or socks, underwear, random Lego- you know kid things) use the golfer’s lift – it is fast and protective for your back. Check out the video below :

Gardening

Lots of gardening is about to happen too right? Best tip for gardening is to get close to the earth – either sit or kneel on it or buy a garden stool. The closer you are the better your back will do with it. Try not to twist but approach things face on – and remember the lifting tips above! Check out the pic below for more tips about gardening.

Today I went to the Marilyn Denis Show taping in the city (Toronto) with my friend Penny – we had a blast – if you live in the GTA you should check it out – the tickets are free and I came away with a huge haul of stuff: $100 gift card to Petro Canada (I won that), and everyone in the studio audience got $50 to Pet Smart, a gift certificate to Afternoon Tea at the Fairmont Royal York annnnnnnd a bag full of amazing sauces from The Spice Taylor. Also on the show was the Chef from Cafe Ballou at the four seasons doing a spring pasta with a sauce that I call a creamy green sauce that I HAVE to try…

One of the segments was the Chef from Cafe Ballou at the Four Seasons showing us how to make this amazing Green Cream Sauce for Pasta – since they are changing to their spring menu. It sounds amazing but I am back on my keto kick… guess what – if you put it on zucchini ‘pasta’ (spiralized zucchini). Sooooooo, guess what, it’s gonna be on TV tomorrow so I figure it is fair game… So here it is – I will definitely make this Creamy Green sauce this week for myself and add pictures!

First some Pictures from our visit to the Marilyn Denis Show!

P.S. I totally got in trouble for taking these pics…. but – JANN ARDEN!

For tickets to the show go here:https://www.marilyn.ca/Tickets

Creamy Green Pasta Sauce

So I will be guessing at the proportions here but I am pretty good at that… here is the list of ingredients:

1 head green leaf lettuce – green part chopped off and blanched and rest chopped into bite sized pieces and reserved

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1/2 cup heavy cream

lemon zest

water (a couple teaspoons)

1 tsp fresh mint chopped

Directions for the creamy green pasta sauce

Ok, here is what he did – take the tops of the lettuce and blanch in boiling water – a couple mins till tender not soggy and mush. Then put in blender with the rest of the items (not the water) and blend till smooth – that’s it for the sauce really!

To make an amazing Spring Pasta Dish

Chef Ballou also had cooked pasta but I will substitute spiralized zucchini for myself to make it healthier – In a hot skillet with some olive oil add “pasta” and sauce – a couple teaspoons of water to keep it smooth, a couple teaspoons of ricotta cheese and heat… not too much because you don’t want the zucchini noodles to lose their crispness.

For bonus points:

In a separate pan add cut up pieces of zucchini, green beans, the bottom white parts of the lettuce, green onion and green peas. Saute till warm and toss with pasta and sauce. Serve with a garnish on top of ricotta, green onion and lemon zest.

Here is Chef Ballou doing his thing (well setting up for it anyways) – check out his spring menu starting this week at the Cafe Ballou at the Four Seasons Hotel!

Can’t wait to try this one this week and will add pics for sure!

So a few weeks ago we did Red

Now we have Green… I loved this recipe that a patient of mine made and gave me so much I asked if it worked for Green Thai curry as well… I happen to love Green Thai curry and any time I am at a Thai restaurant that is what I order. The patient (actually the patient’s mom) told me that they tried it with the green curry paste seen below but it just wasn’t as good somehow as with the red. I was on a mission and so I think with a few small changes I figured it out… Here I present my modified recipe for Green Thai Curried Chicken! (insert trumpet sounds here)

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you will need for this Thai Green curried chicken – while some are a bit odd they are all easy to find at your local Loblaws.

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs

3 tbsp green thai curry paste (Thai Kitchen)

1 can coconut milk

Sambal Oiek (hot sauce see pic below) 1 Tbsp

Fish sauce 2 Tbsp

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Onion – one small chopped finely

4 lime leaves (see PC black label jar in picture below – can be found in herb section at Loblaws)

1 can bamboo shoots

small head broccoli and half head cauliflower broken into small florets

green pepper, oyster mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms and enoki mushrooms (most Asian grocery stores have these fresh but you can use canned too)

Directions

As with the red curry the instant pot makes this super easy and very tender and tasty though I think you could do it in a large pot on the stove or wok. Here are the directions for this Thai green curried chicken with the Instant Pot:

Place 1/2 a can of the coconut milk and half a jar of the Thai green curry paste in the instant pot and mix – Saute for 2 minutes.

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Add the rest of the coconut milk and whole chicken thighs and set to pressure cook on the highest setting for 4 minutes.

Do a quick release.

Here I took scissors and cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces without removing it from the pot.

Add the rest of the ingredients, stir and saute until the veggies are cooked to your desired amount of cooked-ness and you are done.

So easy, super fast. Really the hardest part was the chopping of veggies.

This time I served it rice-less for myself and with white rice for the hubby.

So good.

In case you want the original link to the red thai curry here it is: https://drkarenhudes.ca/index.php/2019/01/15/thai-red-curried-chicken-for-the-instant-pot/

Do your Kids love fried chicken?

So both my little kid (9 years old) and big one (46 years old) LOVE fried chicken. But, both of them know very well that it isn’t good for them… So when I asked the big kid (aka my husband) about buying an Air Fryer, he was all for it.

Now, you gotta understand… I love kitchen gadgets, and cooking. But mostly kitchen gadgets.

For the hubs to agree so quickly to a new gadget is kinda unusual. He usually gets annoyed when I get one, or at least rolls his eyes – its about lack of space really. Don’t get me wrong, I get it anyways and he tolerates my silly quirks because, well tough – right?

The motivation here is really eating healthy

Ok so we are also trying to eat really well at home. Trying to cut down drastically on sugar and cut out wheat where we can for the kiddo. Add more veggies and fruits… you know the drill. I was trying to come up with some things he can take to school when I decided to try my hand at home made chicken strips- here is a recipe I tried in the brand new air-fryer for Healthy Fried Chicken that uses no flour and only a few ingredients.

This one is kid tested and approved and is really great tasting – though the coconut flour makes the fried chicken taste a bit sweeter than “normal” fried chicken…

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients for the healthy fried chicken

1 tsp canola or avocado oil

4-8 chicken thighs (boneless skinless)

1 egg

salt

coconut flour

Spices as per your taste

Directions

Here are the simple directions for Healthy Fried Chicken

cut thighs into strips – I really just cut them lengthwise in half. Salt and pepper each side then dip in egg wash and then flour. Place in basket of air fryer and place oil in bottom of air fryer container. Set air fryer for 360F and cook for 10 minutes then stop and flip or shake and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Thats it. Hope you try it! Let me know what you think!

Ok, I know that sounds super fun but I’m serious

I like doing novel things and generally have a list of experiences I want to try – I wrote about it in one of my first blog posts … Some of the fun, silly, scary and some people think crazy things I have done include doing the polar bear dip, playing Mas in Toronto’s Caribbean Festival and Parade last year, doing the CN tower Edge Walk, getting a pie in the face, pieing someone in the face, earthing and so many more…

Most of these things ended up on my “bucket list” and my patients, friends and acquaintances know I do this and are always asking what is next. This year I do wish to continue these things for sure and I have added: eating bugs (like crickets and silk worm pupae- a Chinese delicacy), trying new foods like Korean BBQ and Ethiopian, getting dunked in a dunk tank and then… I ran out of ideas. So I am always looking for more. (If you have some please email me!)

I came up with the idea of a spa tour when I was being silly with a friend at St. Anne’s spa last year – but the more I thought about it, the more I really liked the idea. Why not incorporate new experiences with spa and try to do something different every month or every other month?

Sounds good to me

So the Spa Tour began. This week actually!

One of my patients/collegues/friends suggested late last year that she wanted to try a Russian Bathhouse for the first time and asked if I would be interested (see people know I can’t pass up a new experience).

What is a Russian Bathhouse? Well there are several around the city but we chose Banya in Mississauga on the recommendation of my friend’s friend. It has a Dry and Wet Sauna, Steam room a cold plunge and cold bucket as well as a tea room that serves authentic Russian food (so yummy) you can find out more at http://banya.ca/

Tuesday is Ladies Night so I went with 3 friends and had dinner and a sauna from around 8 till 11 pm as well as tea.

Let me tell you the food was amazing (I had beef stew) and I was super relaxed – slept amazing and was so mellow the whole next day.

My friends and I decided that we would try another one – a Korean bathhouse next. Not sure when we will do this but the whole thing inspired me to try to do some spa and self care for myself monthly. This venture wasn’t overly expensive either – the spa entry fee was $45 and dinner was $15. Pretty reasonable I thought. The place is comfortable, clean, and kitschy I really liked it and recommend it – I would totally go back.

Yay! more Spa tour!

Below are some pictures from the Russian Spa Banya

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What’s next?

Next on the agenda is a 2 hour foot and body massage at a wellness spa near my clinic – they have a special for $89 I believe – I will try to do this in February or early March and book the Korean spa with my friends after that.

Self care and relaxation is super important – what do you do to help yourself? Also if you have any suggestions for something to add to my spa tour list please let me know and I will review it!

It’s still January – want to find a way to get more greens in your diet?

So did you make a resolution to eat more healthy this year? Now it’s the end of January …. so how are you doing with that promise to yourself? Do you still need to find a way to get more green things in your diet? I find that a great way for me is to make a salad I really actually like. Just thinking about it right now is making my mouth water. The key I find is in the dressing. So here is a recipe that is super easy for Nutritional Yeast Salad Dressing (um what? – ya just bear with me a moment here).

This is my favourite salad dressing – and I don’t really like salad dressings. I have posted this before in a prior blog post as a dressing for a Beet and Rice Salad (that is also to die for) you can find it here:

https://drkarenhudes.ca/index.php/2018/10/04/rice-and-beet-salad/

I think it is worth giving this Nutritional Yeast Salad Dressing it’s own post – for three reasons: It is just that good, I want to highlight it, and when I want to find it to make myself I wont have to remember that I posted it in the Beet and Rice Salad dressing recipe to find it. (Yep, this is all about me, and so? whats’ your point?)

So getting more green things in your diet Step One

1. get more green things in your house
2. eat them

Ok I am being a bit silly but for me this is how I did it: I bought a Tower Garden. Yes this was kind of pricey but I have to say I love it – A tower garden is a hydroponic garden that waters itself on a timer and has indoor grow lights so you can grow green things in the middle of the winter in your basement or home. Here is what mine looks like – I took this picture this morning:

This thing grows greens that are so tasty and tender – best tasting salad I have ever had… if you want to order one you can here: https://kh18738.canada.juiceplus.com/

and then click on the tab that says tower garden at the top…

Now on to the recipe!

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients and directions for the Nutritional Yeast Salad Dressing – If you are still wondering what the heck nutritional yeast is – you can buy it in a bag at Whole Foods or health food stores and maybe Loblaws – it looks like this:

It is full of B vitamins and is super healthy and is a protein source for Vegans… also said to lower cholesterol, boost immunity and act as a good anti-oxidant.

This dressing was a recipe from Hollyhock which is a stunning retreat centre on Cortes Island in British Columbia, and this is their most popular salad dressing. This dark and intensely flavoured dressing is versatile and rich in B vitamins. It’s delicious on cooked grains as well as with fresh greens. Yield: about 2½ cups (625 mL) 

½ cup (125 mL) nutritional yeast flakes

⅓ cup (80 mL) water

⅓ cup (80 mL) soy sauce or tamari

⅓ cup (80 mL) apple-cider vinegar

2 tablespoons (30 mL) crushed garlic (optional)

1½ cups (250 mL) avocado oil 

Put the yeast flakes, water, soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic in a food processor and blend until thoroughly mixed. With the processor running on high, add the oil in a slow, steady stream. Add all the oil or stop when your desired consistency is reached. This dressing will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Variation: I use wheat-free tamari and less oil either extra-virgin olive oil or avocado oil. *Adapted from Hollyhock Cooks: Food to Nourish Body, Mind and Soul by Moreka Jolar and Linda Solomon, New Society Publishers, 2003, with permission from Hollyhock and Moreka Jolar.CATEGORIES

I also make half a batch and put it in a swing top bottle (read: old cleaned out beer bottle) for storage.

Happy salading!

Want a recipe that will become a staple?

This thai red curried chicken for the Instant Pot is it. I made it last night.

I ate four bowls of it and drank the sauce. That’s how good it is. Have you ever had thai red curry at a restaurant? This recipe is restaurant quality. I am super excited by the whole thing because I LOVE Thai curries and I think this one will work with the green curry too . I also have a child who is very allergic to peanuts so Thai food is really not a great idea for him in a restaurant where a staple is peanuts… With this Thai red curry recipe I can make it at home and safely.

This recipe came to me from a patient of mine who gave me permission to share it and to credit her (Thanks Taylor L!) and the amazing part is that she MADE IT UP.

She is in her early 20s and I’ve known her since she was 9. Mindblowing recipe and I am so happy she gave me the go ahead to share!

Everybody please thank Taylor for this amazing yumminess!!

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you will need for this Thai red curried chicken – while some are a bit odd they are all easy to find at your local Loblaws.

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs

3 tbsp red thai curry paste (Thai Kitchen)

1 can coconut milk

Sambal Oiek (hot sauce see pic) 1 Tbsp

Fish sauce 2 Tbsp

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp lime juice

Onion – one small chopped finely

4 lime leaves (see PC black label jar in picture below – can be found in herb section at Loblaws)

1 can bamboo shoots

small head broccoli and half head cauliflower broken into small florettes

two medium carrots and one orange or red pepper cut julienne, green beans (two handfuls) with ends removed

Directions

The instant pot makes this super easy and very tender and tasty though I think you could do it in a large pot on the stove or wok. Here are the directions for this Thai red curried chicken with the Instant Pot:

Place 1/2 a can of the coconut milk and half a jar of the Thai red curry paste in the instant pot and mix – Saute for 2 minutes.

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Add the rest of the coconut milk and whole chicken thighs and set to pressure cook on the highest setting for 4 minutes.

Do a quick release.

Here I took scissors and cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces without removing it from the pot.

Add the rest of the ingredients, stir and saute until the veggies are cooked to your desired amount of cooked-ness and you are done.

So easy, super fast. Really the hardest part was the chopping of veggies.

I served it with rice for my husband and cauliflower rice for myself to increase the keto-ness of the meal.

So good.

Just in case – here is the link to my prior curry recipe – the one where I describe how to make cauliflower rice: https://drkarenhudes.ca/index.php/2017/12/23/slow-cooker-coconut-curried-chicken-and-cauliflower-rice/

Yes I have joined the Instant Pot cult

Ya, I have. Chicken cooked in 5 minutes. I mean seriously… who can say no to that? Ok, it isn’t a total of 5 minutes. The cook time is only 5 but it takes the pot to come to pressure about 10 minutes – still super fast. And there are a ton of recipes out there for it. This one is for curried chicken – I actually went looking for a thai style curry but I got an Indian style – which was super yummy (I ate three bowls of it) and also Keto/Paleo… I served it (to myself) with cauliflower rice and rice (for my husband who thinks cauliflower rice is gross – he is crazy but whatev).

Ingredients for Curried chicken

2 tbsp coconut oil

Two whole onions minced

2 sticks of cinnamon

10 cloves (whole)

around 2.5 lbs chicken breast cut in cubes

2 tsp crushed garlic

2 tsp ginger minced

1.5 tbsp curry powder (yellow)

1 tsp garam masala (avaliable at all Indian Grocery stores or on Amazon)

Whole can diced tomatoes and liquid

1 tin full fat coconut milk separated

salt to taste

Instructions for Curried Chicken

Put instant pot on Saute and melt and heat coconut oil then add onion, cinnamon, cloves and 2-3 tbs water and saute for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the cream part of the coconut milk – reserve this for later) and stir. Cover pot and put valve on Sealing and then set on pressure cook on high for 5 minutes. Once complete allow it to vent naturally.

In the meantime prepare rice and or cauliflower rice.

Et Voila. Seriously that’s it… Super yummy.

In case you don’t have a recipe for cauliflower rice – here is one from a prior curried chicken recipe – this one is also awesome – a totally different taste..

.https://drkarenhudes.ca/index.php/2017/12/23/slow-cooker-coconut-curried-chicken-and-cauliflower-rice/

I hope you enjoy this one – let me know if you do… I know I will be adding it to my rotation 🙂

Happy New Year!

Happy January! This is my first non-recipe blog post of the new year so I thought I would talk about something that is very January appropriate – goal setting.

I mean, lots of people right around this time of year may be falling off of the wagon they jumped on at new years … the death of the resolution so to speak – Generally starts to happen week two of January or a bit longer… I stopped making ‘resolutions’ a while ago. They have always been the same really (mostly starting with lose 20 lbs but whatever…).

Last year, I did something different. And I liked it.

So much that I did it again this year – weird!

It was goal setting. Wanna know the number one reasons goal setting doesn’t work? People don’t write down their goals. Seriously, that’s it. If you write them down you are some bigger than you would thing percentage closer to actually acheiving them. Of course you have to do the work but still, just writing them down gets you that much closer so what have you really got to lose?

In this post, I will share with you a super simple goal setting method I was shown last year in a fabulous group I belonged to so that you can be well on your way too.

Sound good? Ok lets go.

Goal Setting tools

Ok so really all you need for this goal setting method is you and your honest self, a pen and a blank sheet of paper. But if you are really wanting to improve on what you accomplish off of your goal setting list this year I really recommend a daily planner. I really like this one pictured above- I had the same for 2018 and I got it recently at Indigo for $14 (it was on sale last week). More on the planner later.

Goal Setting How To

Here is all you do:

Get a blank sheet of paper and at the top write “5 Personal Goals”

Half way down write “5 Professional Goals”

Then be honest with yourself about what you want and don’t hesitate to reach a bit – even if you “don’t think it is possible to reach that goal in one year” if it occurs to you write it down. Be specific. Use numbers if it is appropirate (weight loss goals, income goals, exercise goals – use times per week etc…). The more specific you make it the better.

Once you have written 5 things in each category (it can be more if you wish) you are done the goal setting bit. Seriously that is it. Fold up the piece of paper and tape it into the front of your journal and don’t really look at it till next year.

That’s not really it though – things wont just come true if you write them down right?

so what is next?

Goal Setting Magic

So now that you have written down your goals. Here is where the planner come in to bring the magic.

Even though you aren’t looking at the goals you have written down every day or really at all till the next time you do this exercise, you know what they are in your head. So here is the magic part.

Every day do something (or several little things) that get you closer to that goal.

Here is an example of a fairly typical week from my planner last year and what this week looks like right now for me…

I find that writing down what I do during the day regarding professional and personal goals helps me accomplish more.

Overnight success after a year of work…

What do you know you have to do to accomplish the things on your goal setting list? You know what they are….. Here is a tip – do the thing you hate most first. Eat the biggest frog first so to speak. Everything from there is downhill and easy.

For me at work that is “sales calls” – what does this mean for a chiropractor? No I am not cold calling looking for patients – what I do is call businesses or groups to offer to do free lunch and learns. I speak about a variety of health related topics like stress, diet, ergonomics, lifting technique and I even run guided meditation sessions. I love doing these workshops. BUT… I hate calling random places to find places to speak. Why? I have no idea – totally mental I guess. The places I call love it and everyone I have ever called has been super nice even if not interested… None the less, I don’t like making the calls.

So I try to set a number amount of calls to do daily when I need to start booking in advance. And I try to get these calls out of the way as early in the day as I can. I am not perfect at it but by having this in my head I do it far more often than I otherwise would. This got me to accomplish the goal I set last year of having at least one speaking engagement per week.

Goal Setting Fun

Last week, I got to open my goal sheet from 2018 when I sat down to write my new one for 2019.

I couldn’t remember exactly what was on it but somehow I accomplished 3/5 personal goals and 5/6 professional ones (yep, I did 6 – overachiever to the last).

So this year when I wrote my new goals I carried over one of the 2 I still wanted to accomplish from the personal goals (the other one I decided to drop as it no longer seems important or needed to me) and the 1 professional goal I was reaching toward but didn’t quite get to yet.

All good, I will keep striving for those, and I set 4 more new goals in each category.

I would love to hear about your goals – and what you think about all of this so please leave me a comment – I hope you find this helpful and fun!

Go get ’em this year. It’s gonna be great.