By Lisa Cherry, on February 3rd, 2012%
Ingredients:
300g oats
100g sliced almonds
25g walnuts, coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
50g dried cranberries
50g other dried fruit of choice, finely chopped
Preheat oven to 180 with rack in the middle.
Oil a 4-sided sheet pan or line with parchment paper.
Stir together oats, almonds, and walnuts in a large bowl.
Heat oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan over low heat until heated through. Stir into oat mixture.
Spread evenly in sheet pan and bake, stirring once, until golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
Cool granola completely in pan (it will crisp as it cools), then stir in fruit.
Serve with yoghurt for a scrummy breakfast…Gorgeous!
. . . → Read More: Maple Syrup and Almond Granola
By Lisa Cherry, on December 3rd, 2011%
In February 2010, with two months gardening leave, the emotional recovery of my marriage ending only 9 months earlier still in full swing, two children, a mortgage and my ever so slightly feisty attitude, I walked out of my job. I worked in the Public Sector and the contract was always going to end and the inevitable fight for another job that failed to satisfy would be due to take place soon and I just couldn’t face it anymore.
I left behind a slightly startled Manager, six weeks paid leave, sick pay, mileage allowance and a respectable salary. It wasn’t enough for me on any level and single parenting with a full time job based an hour away, is a comprehensively difficult task for reasons that shouldn’t need detailing.
As I head towards two years of self-employment, I have learnt more than I could ever have imagined. The very process of getting up each and day and having to take responsibility for your earnings, ensuring that the children have food and warmth, is character building to say the least. I regularly meet people who are setting up in business who want as much information as possible as to how you can actually make this happen. So what can I tell you?
- Get used to having only what you need. When you strip away most of what you spend your money on, much of it only serves to make you feel better about the unsatisfying life you lead. We actually need very little. Strip it right down. Now. And hope that you have lovely friends who pretend to employ you for bits of work that need doing.
- When you first start in business, days off and work/life balance are luxuries spoken of by employed people or people supported by a partner. If it’s just you, prepare to work all day and all night, managing the basics of sleep, food and conversations with your children (if you have them) that are in the very least, done face to face. I absolutely promise that life will not stay like this. I have at least one day off a week now and I balance my life through the days that I do work by working hours that fit around my family and my social life.
- Know this, you will become unemployable fairly quickly. The thirst for making a success of your business will be a driving force that most employers don’t really want in their workplace. No longer limited by other people’s needs and expectations, you can reach as high up to the stars as your wish. Also, taking lunch, starting work and finishing work, will all become time frames that you wish for no-one else to ever interfere with again. In short, once you start on this journey, you’re likely to have to stay on this journey!
- Connect with as many people as you can from which you can then find people to form your support group or your team. These are the people that you will learn from and that you will teach, that you will have coffee with and cry with. These are the people that you will grow with and you will form a Network with whereby you recommend each other businesses forming a thriving business community that then connects with other thriving communities.
- You are now several departments. You are Marketing, Personnel, Payroll, Health and Safety, Book Keeper, Social Media Strategist, Communications and, of course, you complete the job itself. It is possible that you have not ever learnt so much information before.
- Being Self-employed is a little like life before children…you really can’t explain it to someone until they’ve done it. It’s hard, it’s amazing, it’s frustrating, it’s fulfilling. Like parenting, it is every emotion and it takes you right through the sleepless nights to that look of love you have on your face as you gaze down at your full diary in a doting fashion and think “I made you”.
 So there we are, a very short introduction to my life in Business with more posts to follow. This is my own story and I have learnt that I have quite a high propensity to risk taking behaviour (although I think that has lessened somewhat over the years) and this attitude has helped. Running your business is not about certainty or safety or security, even if these are future goals. But it is definitely about excitement, learning, empowerment, creativity and an overwhelming sense of achievement that I don’t recall feeling since I put myself through my degree while working full time back in the early 1990’s. If I have any regrets, it’s that I didn’t do it sooner!
. . . → Read More: The Business of Starting A Business…
By Lisa Cherry, on November 10th, 2011%
What I love about this recipe, is that it is cheap and it is wholesome. It allows me to feel like I’m back in Covent Garden in the early 1990′s in Cranks eating gorgeous wholesome veggie food always served with a crisp green salad on the side. This would serve 2/3 people depending on whether you were having a large meal or not….
Basically I just chuck it all in! Fry an onion on a medium to high heat in a couple of tablespoons of Olive Oil until soft and then add a good handful of broccoli florets, some cauliflower, some carrot chunks (whatever vegetables you have in the fridge that you like) and stir well making sure the oil is covering everything and slightly sizzling away, just for a few minutes.
Now add some spice! A tsp pf chilli powder, a tsp of curry powder a shake of some Turmeric, salt and pepper. The key is to add what you like, that best meets your taste buds. If you like it hot, add a chopped chilli or a tsp of lazy chillis. You may need to cook this a couple of times to get it right for you. Keep stirring it all around so you don’t burn the bottom of the pan…maybe for around 5 minutes. When all of the flavours are nicely infused, add 400g tin of tomatoes, a tin of chickpeas and a handful of sultanas or raisons (if you like them). Stir stir stir.
Now turn down the heat with the lid slightly off the pan to a simmer for about 20 minutes….
Sprinkle with almonds (if you like them) and serve on a bed of rice.
Easy peasy and very cheap. Good for detoxing, uses up all your veg and fills you up! Yum!
. . . → Read More: Chickpea Curry
By Lisa Cherry, on November 1st, 2011%
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qQ5V1ICXI8″>Katherine
The clocks have made their way back an hour, the evenings are now dark and I’m starting to notice people catching colds, feeling rough and coughing their way through conversations. As a self employed, single parent, being ill isn’t really an option for me so I have learnt over the years how to make sure that I am strong and healthy and able to cope with what life sends me.
So how can you look after yourself during this time? Or more importantly, how do you maintain a healthy and robust immune system, because that is essentially what will protect you from illness?
Poor diet, lack of self-care and nurturing, not listening to your body when it’s tired, stress and emotional angst, will all leave you open to picking up colds and flu.
These are my practical top tips for looking after yourself this Winter:
- At least once a week, and certainly if you feel symptoms coming on such as headaches, aches in general, sore throat and sniffles, drink some Manuka Honey and lemon in hot water with a splash of Ginger and a smidgen of chilli. Katherine Jenkins swears by it and always drinks her own concoction before she sings to nurture her vocal chords and stave off illness.
- Wash your hands. Simple but true as germs linger on all the door handles and escalators and stair rails.
- Go to bed by 10pm at least twice a week and rest your body and soul. The importance of sleep cannot be underestimated.
- Make time for yourself. Whether that’s your monthly Massage Treatment, reading a book or spending some time alone with your own thoughts. This is true all through the year, but Winter is a time filled with stressful situations. The uncontrollable weather, the memory of a bereavement from the Winter months gone by and with Xmas and all of those prolonged family engagements, this can all prove very stressful to manage.
- Understand the rhythm of Winter. It’s a calm time, a time to do projects that you wouldn’t entertain at any other time of the year. Sorting out your photo’s, making a scarf (wish I was good enough to make a jumper!), cleaning out your cupboards or learning to paint. This is the stuff of Winter.
- I asked Natali Knibbs, Qualified and Certified Nutritionist, what we can do from a Nutritional perspective and she suggests the following:
Immune supportive diet:
- High in colour-the power of phytonutrients
- Oily fish and EFAs
- Quality protein
- Low in sugar, sat fats , alcohol etc
Garlic: Include raw fresh garlic in your daily cooking.
- Anti-bacterial, anti-viral, antifungal
- Potent anti-oxidant
- Try use 4 cloves daily to fight infections
Reishi & Shiitake Mushrooms
- Potent anti-oxidant
- Help immune system to recognise and attack harmful invaders
Supplementation:
Echinacea
Echinacea can help prevent and treat colds and flu, but don’t use it for longer than 2 weeks at a time – always have a break of at least 2 weeks between. Echinacea doesn’t actually kill the bugs, but improves the ability of our immune systems to defend itself against attack.
Goldenseal: Strengthens the mucous membranes and great taken together with Echinacea. It’s a powerful immune boosting herb, with the potential to target viruses and bacteria directly.
Good multi-vitamin with Anti-oxidants and Vits A, C, the B- complex and selenium
Fish oils: Fish oils are a good source of Omega 3 fatty acids, which are important for all aspects of health including immunity. Oily fish such as mackerel and sardines are the best sources of omega 3’s. Sadly not many of us consume enough of these foods and therefore supplementation with fish oils is helpful.
******
Rather disturbed by the News this morning regarding the amount of deaths that occur in the elderly population during the Winter and how fuel poverty will increase the numbers dramatically, it’s also a time of year to think about how you can be helpful in your local community. It’s well known that kindness, thinking of others and helping other people makes us feel good and that’s’ got to be the best boost of all!
Make this the Winter that you don’t have to feel rubbish. Taking some simple steps will ensure you have a healthy immune system, a healthy Winter and a lovely time. Enjoy!
. . . → Read More: Avoiding Winter Flu…
By Lisa Cherry, on October 20th, 2011%
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIqLsGT2wbQ”>
As I become more mindful through actively seeking to do so and the passing of the years bringing a more conscious connection with myself and my environment, I have become deeply aware of the Emotions of The Seasons. I’m sure we all feel this in different ways as we reflect on the moment and I find each season brings with it a whole heap of emotional baggage, hope, and excitement in equal measure.
In Spring, I love the newness, the flowers bursting open, life almost tentatively creeping out from behind the trees craving to have some time in the light. I love that feeling of gaining an extra day in every day as the evenings become filled with activity in the light again when the clocks change. If this season had a soundtrack, it would be Jimmy Cliff singing I Can See Clearly Now….
Summer’s soundtrack would be Long Hot Summer by The Style Council with it’s sense of being free and young and warm and barefoot and kissing a boy called Graham in Battersea Park. Memories and anticipation of fun and happiness and beaches and BBQs and flowers and trees in abundance all gently swirl around my presence.
Intrinsically linked to the commencing of the school year, Autumn’s September has a sense of knuckling down, crisp new books, reading lists and focus. I loved being a student and I loved getting a new reading list as the new year began, believing with every bone in my body that I would in fact go and get all of the books, reading each one crisp page by crisp page. It was such a feeling of utter engagement that would barely make it to the first half term. I almost yearn for the gorgeous colours of the leaves in Autumn, singing and dancing their way off the trees in a cool breeze making the statement that they make every single year providing comfort in the predictability of a yearly ritual. My favourite memory of this time is the sun low, piercing it’s way through the windscreen, with my music playing and the heating on driving to work in the morning (even though I have long since finished commuting into a workplace). The soundtrack of Autumn goes to Van Morrison, Moondance.
But Winter….If all the seasons bring memories of different points in my life, Winter seems to have the saddest emotional memories than any other season.
Watching people scraping ice off the car this morning I remember that sound from childhood. I remember the first time my ex-husband did it for me and I was dismayed that anyone would stand in the cold and clear my car for me. A lovely memory tinged with the sadness of what followed. Christmas looming and that feeling of being squeezed of everything , the TV placing images of life that I cannot connect with. The elderly being cold, my Gran dying and being broke in January all spring to mind. I think of break ups and make-ups and dishing out food to the freezing homeless on The Strand thrown out by supermarkets on Xmas Eve. Working as a social worker with young people who have left care knowing that they spent Christmas Day staring at the TV alone, almost banging down our door on the first working day back looking for money for food and desperately needing human contact and reassurance that this living hell would soon be over, the first sale advert being a Xmas gift unashamedly stating, it’s over. Normality will be resumed shortly.
For me, this is not a time of year to think of yourself aside from a short burst of reflection from time to time against the backdrop of a cosy night in. This is a time to think about being useful and helpful. I think more and more people will suffer the Winter harshly this year with the current economic situation and there are so many people for whom this is the season to ‘get through’ somehow.
My biggest tool this season is knowledge. I have learnt that self-pity and gratitude cannot sit side by side each other. It’s just impossible. I know that by focusing on what I can do for other people stops the self-absorption that this season brings and all of the dis-ease that comes with it. My soundtrack for Winter is Queen, A Winter’s Tale.
While writing, I thought I could have A Little Competition. Do you struggle with Winter? How do you get through this time? In the spirit of the season, I will offer a FREE one hour treatment here in Witney, to the best suggestion/top tip/story ….please comment below. x
. . . → Read More: Seasonal Emotions….
By Lisa Cherry, on September 27th, 2011%
Wish I’d had this years ago but here it is…
– written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s –
Not “Found in Old St. Paul’s Church”! — see below
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
. . . → Read More: A Rule Book for Living…
By Lisa Cherry, on September 22nd, 2011%
The overwhelming sensation of feeling overwhelmed, sometimes creeps up from behind us when we’re not looking and getting on with all the things that we find overwhelming. I’ve had a day with people, lots of people. In fact all my work is about being with people which is probably why I take some solace in taking photographs and writing because I do those things alone.
Running two businesses with their accounting, blogging, tweeting, marketing, customer engagement, paperwork, banking, book keeping, appointment making, business planning, forward thinking, strategising, etc. and the actual work itself (lest we not forget!) leaves me feeling overwhelmed, not surprisingly. Throw in two teenagers, one lying on the floor covered in their own hair bemoaning “I hate my life” and the other one in a continuous state of adapting his ‘look’ and sidestepping sex, drugs and alcohol while wanting to have all of them, and I can feel positively unable. Oh, and of course there is the lovely dog that needs two walks a day, the house that will not stay clean for more than four and half minutes and a fridge that seems to eat its own food.
When I feel like this, a mere ‘how are you’ can lead to an embarrassingly wordy answer with a tearful undertone that leaves people wanting to hug me or run away for fear of having to hug me!
So what are we to do when we get like this…because I know we all do. Running families, houses, businesses, while trying to fit in friends, creativity, exercise, nutritional suppers and the odd film makes 24 hours available in the day seem like a like a cheap joke that has left someone having a very good chuckle at our expense!
I have a bag of tools for these times. They go something like (and in no particular order):
- Chocolate
- Long hot bath
- Photography
- Music
- Writing
- Mindful Meditation
- A long chat with the Universe/The Divine/God
- My armchair, blanket and a hot cup of tea
- Breathing…slowly, thoughtfully breathing
What’s in your bag of tools? You may have something I can add to mine….
. . . → Read More: Overwhelming overwhelmingness!
By Lisa Cherry, on September 3rd, 2011%
The emotional issue that is food came up this morning on my Facebook page after I posted the findings of a study regarding take away food and the high presence of sugar, fat and colourings. I can’t imagine that what they discovered is news to people. So is it about education or is it about the choices we make and the responsibility we take for our own health? The NHS is in melt down trying to manage obesity, heart disease and diabetes. I personally find it very uncomfortable that we continue to ‘fix’ people in a medical model, paid for by the tax payer, rather than ensuring people take responsibility for their health and wellbeing and make different choices. While I do think that there is a role for the Government whereby ‘good’ food could be subsidised making it cheaper and a high tax be put on ‘bad’ food making it more expensive, I essentially believe that you have one life, and that you are your own responsibility….and life should be lived well and lived long!
I became interested in food when I put down the drink in 1990 after my first AA meeting and it wasn’t long before I realised that I had a whole heap of other addictions to deal with; food and cigarettes mainly. I learned quite early on in my recovery that eating three meals a day at regular intervals, with fruit and nuts as a snack if I was desperate, stabilised my weight, managed my sugar levels (which were shot through from living off alcohol) and improved the condition of my hair, skin, etc. And the cigarettes went a number of years later (that was a hard one!)
I am certainly not obsessive, I adore chocolate (high quality dark chocolate), I eat out without any fuss and I love my food. The main areas that I focus on are portion control (we don’t need massive plates of food piled high with carbs), whether or not something is of a high quality, ie. not laden with fats and sugar and salt to keep it cheaper, organic where possible and also not factory made. I remember a friend of my son’s coming round once and he was shocked that I was baking a cake and some bread and I asked him “Where did you think cake came from?” He replied “Tesco Metro!” So I showed him how to cook a cake and with the four or five ingredients that are needed. When I was next in the Supermarket, I looked at a cake’s ingredients and there were about 25 things in there most of which I couldn’t even pronounce! So I avoid food made in a factory as much as possible and cook it all myself.
I really couldn’t live without my organic box of vegetables delivered weekly to my door! There are so many benefits to this: it is local produce that is in season, lots of recipes are provided so you can try new things, you develop your taste buds with food you’ve never heard of and you are eating organically. Also, if you use Abel and Cole, you have a section whereby you can tick what you dislike so you won’t be sent anything you really can’t stand (beetroot, yuk!).
When you’ve got vegetables left over and you don’t know what to do with them, make a Curry or a Biryani. All my recipes are easy, quick and flexible depending on what’s in the fridge! They need to be….I’m a very busy woman! Just have some staples in the cupboard…always. Rice, pasta and noodles alongside tins of tomatoes and lots of spices, should always be available to you. That way you can cook up a supper quickly, cheaply and without wasting anything. Also, invest in a hand blender. They’re very cheap and will keep you in soup all through the winter.
I’ve given you a couple of recipes to try. If you like them please let me know and I’ll post up some more or if you have ingredients that you love, let me know and I’ll see what I can come up with. Happy cooking…
All views expressed are mine. I do not make any medical claims nor am I judging individuals choices or advocating that the medical system should not be used. I am merely sharing my story and my take on the subject matter as I see it.
For further information about food see a Qualified Nutritionist.
. . . → Read More: The Personal Responsibility of Food!
By Lisa Cherry, on September 1st, 2011%
One of the first things I ask my clients is “what do you need today?” Such an important question that a lot of people don’t know how to answer. Such a simple question that in itself, can be very enlightening as to how a person is feeling in their life. They might not know what they need. They may not have ever thought about what they need. Some people are uncomfortable with the thought that they need anything at all. We all have needs and we all need to stop and rebalance ourselves sometimes because there are areas in our lives that have become unbalanced.
If you are coming to see me, you have a need that you have identified. Whether that need is for a better feeling of health and well-being, to improve poor sleeping patterns, or you are over tired needing an hour of self-focus. You may have stiff shoulders, or you are just plain old worn out with everything because life feels to much, we can work it out together.
This working with all areas of a person is known as an Integrative approach that looks at every aspect of ourselves. By undergoing this exploration we often find that the symptom is not the cause! Within this process, you have an opportunity to think about where you are, a chance to reflect upon what’s going on for you in all areas of your life. By asking you what you might need, I can then create a bespoke treatment that will ultimately give the biggest benefits and results that continue for far longer than the hour we spend together.
We can explore what oils I might use dependent on whether you need to relax, be calmed and soothed or be invigorated. We can look at your emotional needs and establish whether you need to talk, be silent, or be in a deep state of relaxation.
We might do Reflexology to get the body back into a state of balance or a massage with all of it’s healing, soothing, and/or invigorating abilities with endless benefits in it’s own right. We can maybe use some Reiki in the treatment if the deepest relaxation and healing is needed. Or maybe Hot stones which are fantastic for loosening up stiff muscles with the heat itself being very comforting. The treatment incorporates whatever is right for you on the day you come and see me.
So spend some time thinking about what you need today. Whether it’s to make sure you get your appointment with me in the diary, or it’s 10 minutes reading or walking or doing a breathing mediation. Maybe you need to cook your favourite meal or see your best friend for an overdue catch up. Whatever it is, do it! Because if you come and see me for a treatment, I’ll only give you something lovely to do for yourself for Homework anyway!
. . . → Read More: What Do You Need?
By Lisa Cherry, on July 23rd, 2011%
I am in the business of personal development, self-development, self-awareness, recovery, whatever you want to call it, this is how I choose to live and it is also how I choose to make a living. We had an amazing day running a Get back Your Mojo return workshop where we have the privilege of seeing the distance that people have travelled since they attended the first workshop. It is humbling, empowering, learning and fills me with positivity and hope.
I got into this business of personal growth through my alcoholism, a double edged vehicle that takes us to wherever it takes us and it carted me right into an AA meeting over 20 years ago. I not only haven’t had a drink or drug since, but I was lucky enough to be so completely destroyed by it all that I had to break my entire self down into little pieces and start all over again.
Today I arrived home to the news of Amy Winehouse, a woman who I distinctly remember saying to my son that if she carried on her path of addiction and continued to say no no no to rehab, she would be dead within a few years – that was a few months ago, and at the age of 27, she was today found dead on the floor of her flat, alone.
I cry for her as I have cried for everyone that I have lost through alcohol and drug addiction. When you go to AA, death from drinking and drugging unfortunately becomes something that inevitably happens, whether it’s suicide because life is to just unbearable for some or liver failure, it’s all the same thing. The unbearable pain of life numbed through addiction, oblivion and behaviour that justifies the madness.
As a Social Worker, I lost three young people I worked closely with to drug overdoses in one form or another across a five year span. I cry for them too. As a friend, I lost someone I got sober with at the beginning of my recovery because he was so drunk, he thought he could dive from a cliff, except there was barely any water for him to jump in to. I cry for him.
It’s always so much more tragic I think watching someone publicly destroy themselves, watching someone want to die and show the world their pain through the eyes of a glass bottle. I loved Amy singing, I especially loved her singing on Jools Holland singing with Paul Weller, I heard It through The Grapevine.
Our modern day Billie Holiday maybe? I’m not sure that we can compare, but she was nevertheless in pain, unable to do ‘this thing called life’ like Billie who was heavily addicted to heroin but somehow made it to 44 years old. But as with a lot of public destructions that lie in front of us, baring all for us to see, we are left with something. Amy left us with some beautiful music. Thank you for dropping by this life and leaving us something special Amy and may you rest peacefully and safely….
. . . → Read More: A tribute to Amy…
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