by Wicked Healthy

We're all about melding ease of preparation with great flavors. These dirty little roots are no exception and can accompany almost any meal or hold the stage on their own.

They're good for your eyes, they'll help you grow up big and strong. Eat your dang carrots! Mum always said. (Love you mum.) These are so wicked easy, sweet and delicious! We'll often cook up a big batch and have the extras in the fridge to snack on.

Preheating your cast iron skillet helps give these orange beauties a nice caramelization while fresh mint brightens everything up. You can also dirt roast, shred or just admire these pieces of orange candies, and so much more. Butchering these root veggies in different ways makes them versatile for use in soups, slaws and pot pies but you already knew that.

Don't have a cast iron skillet? Maybe it's time! Cast iron skillets are ideal for developing a good muscle and an excellent sear, holds heat evenly better than anything we've used for cooking (and it doubles as a great background for capturing whatever you're cooking on instagram.) Plus, since they're considerably heavier than most pans, we consider them an exercise tool for our kitchen crossfit routines … more on that soon. But don't take our word for it, try them out for yourself.

A few tips on maintenance and care of Cast Iron Skillet:

To clean, scrub it down with hot water and dry well to avoid rusting then coat with a small layer of oil to preserve. To loosen any stuck on bits, use salt instead of abrasive pads, and keep any acidic liquids off the surface of the pan to avoid damaging it.

Some cast iron pans come pre-seasoned, but check out this method on how to season or maintain a seasoned cast iron pan if you need to do that.

by Dr. David B. Hawkins

Have you wondered about the health of your marriage? Have you wondered whether your marriage is healthy, or if it is in need of significant assistance? Most have wondered about their marriage at one time or another, hoping to gauge whether they needed serious help or not.

While there are many questionnaires available to assess your marriage, and they are worthy of your time and attention, I have a much simpler method for determining whether or not you need immediate help. It is, perhaps, overly simplistic and may appear, at first, too simplistic. However, I challenge you and your mate to rate your marriage using the following, very basic, criteria:

One a scale of 1-10, with 1 equaling "never," 5 equaling "sometimes," and 10 equaling "always," rate your marriage on the following statement:

I am completely confident that I can approach my mate with any concern and be assured they will care about my problem and help me find a solution.

Most couples coming to see me at The Marriage Recovery Center rate themselves very low on this statement. The vast majority look stunned when answering this statement, knowing that the statement has revealed something deep and critically important about the state of their marriage.

One such couple, Jarrad and Cecelia, came to me as most couples come--very wounded and defensive. I asked them to answer the above statement and, not surprisingly, both rated their marriage as "never" when it came to feeling confident in approaching their mate with a concern.

Cecelia is a 35-year-old, athletically built woman who was spoke with an edge that hinted at her underlying annoyance with her husband.

"I can't say anything to him without a huge reaction," Cecelia said, glaring at her husband. "I can't approach him with a problem without him overreacting and taking it personally. Whatever I say I can count on coming back at me."

Jarrad, a tall man with a thick, black beard and balding head, looked away, as if to avoid the blow.

Turning slowly back he countered, "I can't say you're any better. I don't come to you with my problems. I try to share but you only criticize me."

"I'm not criticizing Jarrad," she said. "I'm trying to tell you things that need to be addressed in our marriage."

Jarrad shrugged.

I decided to jump in.

"So, neither of you feel free to go to your mate seeking an answer to your problems. I can sense that both of you feel defensive when the other one offers information," I said. "It will be very important that I help you both learn how to say things so that your mate will listen. It is critical that you learn to listen to each other and attend to concerns the other has about you."

"That would be nice," Cecelia said sarcastically. "I can't wait for that to happen."

Jarrad shrugged again, muttering under his breath.

"I want to give you some suggestions about how to talk to each other. Would you both agree, however, that it is critical to create a safe environment to really listen to each other?"

Both nodded their heads. I offered them the following suggestions and offer them to you as well:

First, agree that you MUST be available emotionally for your mate.

This is not optional. You must be available to listen to your mate, non-defensively, caring about their concern and readying yourself to offer assistance. If you don't provide a soft, listening ear, someone else will.

Proverbs offers, "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." (Proverbs 16:24) We are all hungry for a soft ear and soft words when we are in distress.

Second, agree that you must be able to give and receive feedback.

It is absolutely imperative to have the kind of relationship where you feel safe and free to offer information to your mate. You must be able to share critical feedback as well as to give it, but done in a way that conveys caring for your mate.

Third, create safety for giving and receiving feedback.

Let your mate know you wish to have a connection with them and want to hear what they have to say. In fact, you must convey an eagerness to hear them and have a warm, life-giving conversation. Reach out to them. Even if you are initially rebuffed, don't let that deter you from doing your part to make positive contact. Again, be the first to reach out.

Fourth, share only necessary information useful for healing the relationship.

You are engaging in an emotional dance, and any harsh, misstep can throw the dance off. Again and again, throughout the conversation, you must do your part to create and maintain safety. If you do not, your mate will most certainly back away, either by fighting, flighting or freezing. You want to stay in emotionally connected flow.

Fifth, heed information given to you and respond accordingly.

You must convey to your mate that you are receptive to their words of encouragement or challenge. You must, in short, receive what they have to say. Check any temptation to respond defensively. Check any tendency to offer critically feedback. Just listen, hear and heed what they say.

Finally, maintain safety going forward.

This connection is fragile. If you want your mate to continue coming close, you must make it safe for them to do so. Welcome feedback. Welcome any approach to you, even if their words have a sting. Listen for the kernel of truth in their words.

How did you score in the one question you need to rate the health of your marriage? Hopefully these questions helped you isolate strengths and weaknesses that need attention. What has worked in your marriage to restore connection?

"My time has not yet come." John 2:4

I (jcd) once attended a wedding in a beautiful garden setting. After the minister told the groom to kiss the bride, about 150 colorful, helium‐filled balloons were released into the blue sky. Within a few seconds the balloons were scattered, some rising hundreds of feet overhead and others cruising toward the horizon. A few balloons struggled to clear the upper branches of the trees, while the showoffs became mere pinpoints of color in the sky.

Like balloons, some boys and girls are born with more helium than others. They soar effortlessly to the heights, while others wobble dangerously close to the trees. Their frantic folks run along underneath, huffing and puffing to keep them airborne.

Are you a parent of a low‐flying child? Over the years, I've worked with hundreds of families whose children were struggling in one way or another. Based on what I've seen, let me pass along a word of encouragement to worried parents: Sometimes the child who has the most trouble getting off the ground eventually reaches the greatest height!

Just between us…

What kinds of balloons do our kids most resemble?
Do we tend to panic when our low‐fliers drift in the wrong direction?
Do we love them any less than those who soar?
How can we avoid prematurely judging how a child will turn out?
How can we pump more "helium" into our relationship with our low‐flier?

Heavenly Father, tonight we ask for wisdom and patience as we raise our children. We let go of our own requirements and timelines for their lives. We trust Your providence and grace. Every day, help us obey You in this great calling of being a parent. Amen.

Some two years later, this child lay dead in one of the poor tenement buildings and the parents called for the kind hearted pastor, who had befriended their daughter, to handle the final arrangements.

As her poor little body was being moved, a worn and crumpled purse was found which seemed to have been rummaged from some trash dump. Inside was found 57 cents and a note scribbled in childish handwriting which read, "This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday school."

For two years she had saved for this offering of love. When the pastor tearfully read that note, he knew instantly what he would do. Carrying this note and the cracked, red pocketbook to the pulpit, he told the story of her unselfish love and devotion. He challenged his deacons to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building.

But the story does not end there! A newspaper learned of the story and published it. It was read by a Realtor who offered them a parcel of land worth many thousands. When told that the church could not pay so much, he offered it for 57 cents. Church members made large donations. Cheques came from far and wide.

Within five years the little girl's gift had increased to $250,000.00--a huge sum for that time (near the turn of the century). Her unselfish love had paid large dividends.

When you are in the city of Philadelphia, look up Temple Baptist Church, with a seating capacity of 3,300 and Temple University, where hundreds of students are trained. Have a look, too, at the Good Samaritan Hospital and at a Sunday School building which houses hundreds of Sunday school children, so that no child in the area will ever need to be left outside during Sunday school time. In one of the rooms of this building may be seen the picture of the sweet face of the little girl whose 57 cents, so sacrificially saved, made such remarkable history. Alongside of it is a portrait of her kind pastor, Dr. Russell H. Conwell, author of the book, Acres of Diamonds.

A true story, which goes to show WHAT GOD, CAN DO with 57 cents. Please forward this to those friends who would receive a blessing from reading this true story.

By Craig Ballantyne

"Anything you do to improve your talents and make yourself more valuable will get paid off in terms of appropriate real purchasing power. Anything you invest in yourself, you get back tenfold, and nobody can tax it away or steal it from you."
- Warren Buffett​

Years ago a research study revealed the "pet effect," proving that if you want to lower your resting blood pressure and heart rate, all you have to do is pet a dog.

When I heard that, my first reaction was, "Great, something to do when I'm an old man."

Turns out my old man days would come sooner than I thought.

On a morning in March 2006, I woke up with a sense my world was not right. I was coming off another long weekend of late nights spent in big city bars and early mornings with my personal training clients in the gym (where I suffered through a hypocritical hangover). As a result I was anxious, and both physically and mentally exhausted.

Mid-morning the fire alarm went off in my apartment. Exiting the building, I made my way across the street and sat on a park bench in the sunshine. The alarm had made things worse. I tried to inhale slowly and deeply, but could barely catch my breath. My body was seizing up. This would be my prison for the next three months.

I tried everything to escape the tightness in my chest, the tingling that ran from the top of my skull to the end of my fingertips, and the worry racing through my mind. Sleep came in fitful four-hour bursts, and always with strange dreams, before anxiety would wake me up in the middle of the night.

I started attending weekly Qi Gong sessions (a type of standing meditation, like Tai Chi). I hired a yoga instructor. I tried - and failed - to take up meditation. I began listening to classical musical. And one day, remembering what those scientists had found in their research study, I bought a dog.

One of my clients, an animal lover, helped me find a breeder north of the city.

"You better hurry," the gruff old breeder said when I called him on Thursday morning, "We only have two pups left, and there's another family coming on Saturday afternoon."

That weekend I made the two-hour drive to a small country home tucked into a small forest. Behind the house was a large kennel filled with beautiful dogs, including the patriarch, prize-winning "George." Weighing 80 pounds and with paws the size of my face, George sprawled out like a lion on the grass, surveying his brood.

True to his word, the breeder showed me the last two puppies left in the litter. Scampering around the lawn clumsily, a little brown puppy caught my eye, and he made his way over to me.

He sniffed my leg. He peed near my foot.

"He'll do," I thought, "He'll do just fine."

"What do you want to name him?" the breeder asked as we filled out paperwork.

"Bally," I replied. "Bally the Dog."

Finally, I thought, a furry little savior that would deliver me from hell on earth.

Let's just say this didn't go as planned.

For the first weeks, he did nothing but raise my blood pressure and add to my anxiety. So much for the "pet effect." Stubborn as could be, he refused to go for walks, preferring to park himself in the middle of the sidewalk where strangers stopped to adore him. He wouldn't play fetch either.

Each night he'd cry when put in his crate, so I slept on the floor beside him. It was a pain in the neck, literally. After three nights I gave up and let him sleep on a mat beside my bed. When I left him alone, even for 10 minutes, he barked so much my neighbors left angry notes on my door.

No, this was not going as expected.

Eventually, I overcame my anxiety by using the systems outlined in The Perfect Day Formula... but that's another story for another day.

Since then old Bally the Dog has been one of my greatest mentors in life. Today I want to share with you the 3 greatest life and love lessons the little guy has taught me.

Lesson #1 - You Can't Control Others

Bally is never going to be invited to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the annual televised spectacle that takes place at Madison Square Garden. He's simply not the best-behaved dog. Of course, that's entirely my fault. His master did not train him well.

His canine instincts dictate his behavior. When I lived in the big city of Toronto, he lunged at half-eaten chicken wings discarded on the sidewalk. He chased every feral cat that ran down the alley. Now that we live out in the country, he chases skunks, rabbits, and even deer, ignoring my commands to "stay."

It's not his fault. It's mine. He's just doing what a dog does. I can't control him, just like you can't control the people around you, just as you can't control the weather or the traffic. When your boss gets in a bad mood, you can't change it, you can only cope with it. If your relatives are rude, you can't change them, you can only control your reaction and your attitude.

Understanding what I can't control, and having the wisdom to focus on what I can control, have made a big difference in my life. I'm less stressed, more forgiving, and frankly, spend far less energy on the drama that can fill my days.

Oh, and I also learned to keep Bally on a tighter leash on garbage days.

Lesson #2 - Time is 700% More Important Than You Think

Everyone knows that one human year is about seven dog years. Even though Bally was born in late 2005, he and I were around the same biological age in 2010. Today he would be eligible for the Senior's Discount at Denny's. I don't know if dogs go to heaven, although it would be hard for even St. Peter to deny Bally entrance once he looked in those big puppy eyes.

Owning a dog is a harsh reminder that our lives are passing even faster than you think.

This has inspired me to focus, to concentrate on what counts, and to make the most of my days and our minutes together. Let this be a lesson to you to identify what matters, both at work and at home. You've only got one life here on earth, and you better make it count in the short time you have.

Lesson #3 - I've Learned to Love a Lot More

The first time my dog met his "Grandma" (my mother), I thought he was going to die. He was just 12 weeks old when she visited us at my small apartment in Toronto. For Bally, it was love at first sight. I literally thought his little puppy heart was going to burst with joy. It was a ridiculous thought, I know. Your heart doesn't explode because you're in love, but I had never seen any dog, let alone a person, so happy. Every time she spoke to him he became more and more excited.

Over the years I've watched Bally greet everyone he meets with unconditional love.

He and I couldn't be much more different. Growing up I was skeptical of other people, and closed off to strangers, always looking for that one thing 'wrong' with them that would allow me to disqualify their friendship.

This served me well in college, where being critical of research studies allowed me to expose fitness myths and create a better weight loss system. But beyond that, my cynicism handcuffed my relationships and slowed my personal - and professional - growth.

My dog has taught me to live and love with an open heart.

He taught me to forgive quickly, to love unconditionally, and to welcome people warmly.

The heart of a dog knows no limits. Now I know that mine has none, either. And neither does yours. So, take these lessons from my dog to heart. Love more, forgive more, and make more of the time you have with the people you love.

About the Author:

Craig Ballantyne is the founder of EarlyToRise University and the author of The Perfect Day Formula. His straightforward, sometimes "politically-incorrect" advice has helped millions of people transform their lives both physically and financially. Craig's secret weapons for success include his personal commandments, his 5 pillars, and his Perfect Life vision.