How to start a cold plunge practice

The first thing is to start.

There are a few ways to ease into it and I highly recomend doing any of these. You don’t get any points deducted and all of these have beneficial qualities, some just might have more than others.

1. Splash your face with cold water.

2. The last 30 seconds of your shower make it cold.

3. 2-3 minute cold shower. I have had the most success with this easing into it, meaning start with the water barely touching my feet, then get closer so the water is on my legs and last my face and head. This allows your body to acclimate to what is happening and you are able to keep the cadence of your breath smooth and therefore have a more successful, less jarring experience.

4. Full on cold plunge.

This is what we do here at the house on a regular basis. We average about 3 dips a week. Both cold plunge and sauna are very trendy at the moment, that said, I don’t think they will be going away in the near future, one main reason being, they work.

Straight up contrast therapy makes a difference in how I feel, physically, mentally and emotionally. There are lots of studies being done on both sauna and cold plunge but also using both in one session. That is what we do here at the house and I cannot recommend both of them enough.

If you want to try cold plunging this spring and summer and don’t want to break the bank you can start with a horse trough. This is how we started and it worked really well. Buy the trough and then you will fill with water and about 120 lbs of ice.

We ended upgrading because we use the thing so often we were breaking the bank on ice.

Once you get the water and ice all set up its time to get in.

Don’t over think it. You can do a few prepatory breaths and then as you get in exhale. Get as much of your body in the water as possible right from the start.

When your breath catches focus on the exhale. This will help offput the Co2 and help your brain know its ok to stay.

Work on breathing in for a count of 2 and out for a count of 4.

I stay in for 3 mins. The fella I have studied with say benefits peak at 3 mins.

When you get out wait for a few seconds out of the water before you grab your towel. Feel your body.

Deconstructed lasagna

This is a go to recipe for me, especially in the cold and dreary months. That said, its pretty much a crowd pleaser anytime I serve it up! Grab a few things from your pantry that I listed in my Winter Pantry post a little bit ago and let’s make some din din.

What you will need:

• Onion

• Olive oil, butter or avocado oil

• Ground turkey, beef or elk

• Large can of Crushed tomatoes

• Tomato paste (2-4 Tablespoons)

• 1 box of Chicken, Beef, Vegetable or Elk broth (4 cups)

• Sundried tomatoes (handful or however may you like)

• Marinated artichoke hearts (5-10 quarters, or the whole jar)

• Parmesan cheese (grated and added to your liking)

• Ricotta cheese (medium size container)

• Mozzarella (couple handfuls)

• Salt and Pepper

• Pasta of your choice. We like Pappardelle.

  Optional:

• Grecian Style Eggplant and Tomatoes from Trader Joes

• Garlic

• Cured egg yolk

How to make it happen:

1. Dice the onion and brown in a large pan with a bit of olive oil.

2. Add in the ground meat. Sautee until brown.

3. Add in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, Grecian style tomatoes and eggplant, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes and broth. Let simmer while you cook the pasta.

4. Once pasta is done. Add parmesan, mozzarella and ricotta to sauce.

5. Serve.

Starting Micro Greens

Microgreens are an easy way to start growing things if you have a hankering for gardening but don’t have enough space, time, or maybe even you think you don’t have a green thumb.

Here is a step-by-step guide to get micros on your plate in 7-10 days.

Things you will need:

1. Grow tray

2. Water tray

3. Soil

4. Seeds

5. Brick or something heavy

6. Water sprayer

7. Window sill or table near a window

How to make it happen:

1. Pour enough water in your soil to make it wet but not soaking, this will do two things, it iwll make it easier to work with but also start the seeds off with all the water they will need for the next 4 days.

2. Fill the soil tray with soil to be flat with the edge of the tray.

3. Sprinkle the seeds evenly over the top of the soil.

4. Cover with the water tray. Place a brick on top and place in a dark place for 4 days.

5. After 4 days, take the greens out of the dark place and put them in a place that gets plenty of sunlight. They will look sort of yellow and crazy at first but by the end of the day they will look green and happy. You can underwater and or spray the plants daily. Depending on your sun exposure placement and the amount of greens you are growing you need to balance how often and how much you water. At least once a day if not twice a day typically.

6. Keep watering and watching them over the course of the next 3-5 days. You can start harvesting them around day 7-10 and they will keep growing and be good to eat until around day 14-18in my experience.

Let's start some seeds!

It is that time of year here in Salt Lake City!

I have shared with you guys the things that you will need to get your seeds started at home. You can find the link to those items here.

I have also shared some of my favorite places to purchase seeds. Link here.

Here are the quick steps to start seeds inside:

1. Set up the grow lights.

2. Set up the heat mats.

3. Get your soil, water, trays, seeds, labels, pen and spray bottle together.

4. Wet your soil and place it into cells. Fill to the top.

5. Place seeds in soil. (Half as deep as the seed is wide.)

6. Gently cover with soil.

7. Label.

8. Spray top of soil with water. I spray the top of the soil until the seed germinates and then I start under watering.

9. Let the magic happen.

Here are a few things to think about.:

1. Reverse planning is the key to success here. What I mean by that is that you need to think about how big the adult plant will be, where it is going to go and what the spacing is for things around it. That may sound really complicated but we can simplify. Most all of your seed packages it will tell you spacing, it will say 12” or 24” or something like that. You want to work with that, so think, 12” on center, you are going to have a plant every 1’. If your bed is 6’ you are going to have 6 plants. This is helpful when starting new baby seeds.

2. Plant what you need and just a few more. I am terrible at this, I over start my babies EVERYTIME. You don’t need to plant all of the seeds in the packet, honestly if you do you will end up with WAY too many plants. I always end up with too many and then have to thin, throw out or give plants away. With limited space this is very important to adhere to.

3. Plant your seeds plant them half as deep as they are wide or long. Most of the seeds I am starting at this point need very little soil coverage on top.

Update: One week in this is what the babies look like. We have some black swan poppies, bunny’s tails, cleosia and foxglove popping up!!

Paris Part Deux

Paris day 2 went like this…

We started with a less than mediocre breakfast at a restaurant near our apartment. It was the only really NOT good meal we had the entire time we were there. The day proceeded to get more and more magical from there……

I had a little surprise for Poppy as it was her birthday. We walked from breakfast to queue in line at Officine Universelle Buly

The Buly is a perfume store with beautiful, functional keepsakes. It feels like you time travel back in time. I imagine this is where Fleur from Harry Potter shopped for her brushes, combs, lip balm, candles and things before heading off to boarding school.

A line does for before they open at 11:00am. We were second in line and made friends with the lady in front of us. She had been there before and assured us it was worth the wait.

If you have someone special back home who you want to get something truly unique from Paris be sure to stop here, take your time and pick just the right item.

You get individual service everyone speaks English and they are all lovely and more than willing to answer questions so you get just what you want.

From there we met up with Brian and Penelope at the Seine. We walked across the bridge to the Lourve. It was perfect timing to get in line for our pre-purchased time slot.

Once inside we grabbed a map and made a plan. We buzzed around at the speed of light saw a few things, Napoleons apartment, the room of statues, Mona(obvs) and then high tailed it outta there. It was crowded and we were hungry.

After a crappy breakfast I really didn’t want to have a yucky lunch. So I took a few minutes and did some research. We ended up at Cafe La Coupe D'Or and had an awesome duck confit. 10/10. Still drooling from that meal.

One regular brought his dog who I guess sits on the table and is somewhat of a local icon.

From lunch we grabbed a few pasteries at Sebastien Gaudard and headed to the Tuileries for a little while. People watching and resting our walking feet was priority.

Brian and I had a surprise for each of the girls in the afternoon and we knew we would need a bit of a recharge without having to go back to the apartment.

From the Tuileries we caught the metro to the grocery store. Not just any grocery store La Grande Epicerie.

We picked out some yummy things to enjoy as a picnic under the Eiffel Tower.

We sang Poppy happy birthday!

Next we were headed to the Paris St. Germain soccer game. We had a blast cheering with the locals trying to keep up with all of the enthusiastic chants and songs. It was a BLAST.

We metro’d home and grabbed a crepe to cap off the perfect Paris day.

Winter Pantry Must Haves

I love a quick meal and a key to making that happen is to be prepared ahead of time. One thing that helps me a ton is to have some key go-to ingredients in my pantry. A bunch of these items can be used in different recipes for instance I use the canned eggplant, tomato and onion in both my spaghetti sauce and to elevate a pot roast.

I’ll be sharing more of my go to meals soon in the meantime here’s a list to have on the ready and might spark some ideas for yo to create as well.

Trader Joe’s Go-To List:

Pappardelle Pasta

Canned Tomatoes

Black Beans

Hot and Sweet Jalapenos

Artichoke hearts

Green Goddess Spice

Eggplant with Tomatoes and Onion

Tomato paste

Chicken Broth

Organic Coconut Milk

Orzo

Tricolor Quinoa

Canned Corn

Vanilla Bean Paste

---

Fresh things

Onions

Sweet potatoes/White yams

Broccoli

Spinach/Kale

Apples

Bananas

Spaghetti squash

Trader Joe’s Frozen Zone:

Chocolate Croissant

Veggie Birds Nest

Chicken Soup Dumplings

Chicken Tikka Masala

Vegetable Fried Rice

Lava Cakes

Hashbrowns

Bulgolgi Rice

---

Everyday Must-Haves

Pancetta

Parmesan

Olive Oil

Flour

Honey

Chicken Thighs

Ground Beef/Elf/Bison

Ground Turkey

Trager Seasonings

Eggs

Milk

Yeast

Sundried Tomatoes

---

Recipes coming soon:

Pot Roast

Beef Ragu

Turkey and Sweet Potato Morning Hash

Chicken Thighs and Rice

Salmon my way

Roasted Veg

Tuna salad

Spaghetti squash spaghetti

How to buy artwork from me.

About 90% of my work is custom commissions so it is standard for people to come to me with questions about how to start the process of getting a piece that is perfect for them. I absolutely love shedding light on how to make it happen! People are usually coming to have a conversation about purchasing a piece of art after having seen a piece that they like but there is something that they would like to have different, it could be the size, color way or bird/butterflies.

Here is how easy it is

1. Space: Do you have a naked wall? Do you know where you want the piece to go? You might have a few spots to choose from. I typically have collectors send a picture of the room, the wall, and any important fabrics, other artwork, etc that we want to compliment.

2. Size: Do you know the size? If you need help sizing a piece for a certain area I can help with that. I either come to you, if you are local, or we facetime and talk through sizing. I recommend getting blue tape and test sizing on the wall before you send the deposit.

3. Colorway: 9/10 times people know exactly what colorway they would like. Every now and then I send photo samples of past work to narrow down colors and very quickly people get back with their final request.

4. Birds or Butterflies: Everyone that I have created a piece for is very clear about if they would like birds or butterflies, there has never been hesitation or question.

5. Maps: You get to choose the map locations that the birds or butterflies are made from. Depending on the size of the piece you can choose a bunch of different locations. Typically people choose around 4-5 the most has been 12 or 13 locations. You send the list of locations, Brian and I source the maps and take care of the rest.

6. Deposit: Once all the above is decided on I take 50% deposit to hold you pleace in the queue and begin the process of sourcing maps, fabricating your wood panel and soon after that working on the painting.

7. Delivery: If you are local once the piece is finish we coordinate delivery. If you live out of the Salt Lake City area then I call my shipping guys to come pick the piece up. They then pack, insure and ship to you. Shipping is not included in the price of the piece.

8. Final payment: Local I take the final payment at time of delivery. If shipping I take final payment once my shippers have given me the quote for the piece and it is in the queue to be packed and shipped to you.

9. Installation: If you live local to Salt Lake City installation can be arranged and is not included in the price of the piece. I can quote installation separately if requested.

10. Timeline: At this time lead time is about 6-8 weeks from time of deposit.

Avgolemono- Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

This one is a Lantzy family favorite and we have definitely done it our own way. This is a great go to soul warming soup that I typically have everything on hand to whip up real quick. I will be sharing my winter pantry go to’s soon!

Ingredients

- Whole chicken or 6 chicken thighs

- 4 Carrots

- 4 Celery stalks

- 1 Onion

- 2 Lemons

- 8 cups chicken stock or broth

Recipe

1. Option 1: To keep it super easy you can pick up a whole rotisserie chicken. Option 2: Raw whole chicken. Option 3: Chicken thighs. If you chose something raw I suggest baking it in the oven for an hour seasoned with your favorite seasoning. Lately I have been using Traegar veggie seasoning on nearly everything.

2. Chop and saute carrots, celery, onions.

3. Add the chicken and veggies into one pot with chicken broth. Zest two lemons into pot. Along with the juice of at least one lemon maybe two, you can always add more later.

4. Let simmer for a while.

5. In a separate pot boil rice, orzo or whatever you have on hand.

6. Serve together maybe with some extra salt and lemon on top.

Here are my additional thoughts on the chicken and broth part of the recipe. If you have a raw chicken you can actually just make your own broth. If I have time I like to bake my chicken before, then throw it in a pot with a bunch of water, onion, carrot and celery. Let is boil/simmer for a few hours then use that chicken and that broth to make the soup. You can use the rotisserie chicken the same way you just don’t have to bake it.

Italian Wedding Soup... my way

This is a quick &easy super delicious soup for winter sniffles and beyond.

Ingredients

For the rest:

- 1 onion

- 4 stalks celery

- 4 carrots

- 8 cups Chicken, beef or elk broth or stock

- Orzo

For meatballs:

- 1lb ground pork

- 1lb ground meat

- Bread Crumbs

- 2 eggs

- Seasoning (I use Trader Joe’s Green Goddess)

- Beef tallow, butter or olive oil

- *2 Tbs Matzo Ball powder Not necessary

and I used it this time and it made the meatballs next level.

Recipe

1. Start by combining all of the ingredients for the meatballs. Make into balls and brown in a pot or pan. I prefer to use the pot I will be making the soup because I want to keep all of the flavor in the same place. If that means you have to brown them in batches, do that and set aside.

2. Chop and sauté the carrots, celery and onions (you can use garlic here as well, my husband just has a sensitivity so we never use garlic).

3. Add carrots, celery, onions, meatballs and stock or broth together.

4. In a separate pot boil the orzo. If you don’t have orzo use whatever pasta you have on hand, we didn’t have orzo so I used filini, it was cute. You can also use rice in a pinch.

5. Simmer for however long you can stand it. I simmered for about 30 mins and then served. We had a bunch left over and it got better over time.

6. Serve in the same bowl, soup over pasta.
   
   

Let’s plan a garden!

Ok, it’s about that time!! ………Let’s start planning our garden!

A few things before you start buying seeds.

1. What zone do you live in? You can use this tool to find out.

2. How much space do you have?

3. What is your garden’s exposure to the sun?

4. What would you like to grow, flowers, herbs, veggies?

I always like to have a rough idea of my goal for the spring. I always, and I mean ALWAYS, buy too many seeds. That said I also plan on succession planting and trying new things every year. The good news is, seeds don’t go bad for at least 2 years.

Below you will find some of the places I use to purchase seeds, bulbs and tubers. I have had amazing luck with purchases from each of these companies.

Johnny’s: This place is great for microgreen seeds, veggie seeds, and flowers as well.

https://www.johnnyseeds.com

Burpee’s: Similar to Johnny’s. I tend to purchase from Johnny’s more than Burpee.

https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/

RARE seeds: This is a really fun resource for seeds. We purchase a lot of our greens and tomato seeds from these guys.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Bring Your Garden to Life

Dahlias: If you are in an area where you can grow dahlias, do it! They are my favorite flower to grow. They are the most satisfying thing I grow (other than my tomatoes). I am absolutely obsessed with them and secretly (not actually a secret) hope to one day be able to grow so many I can sell them.

Dahlias grow by seed and tuber. I will be sharing more about what I have learned about dahlias in the near future. For now what you need to know is if you want your bloom to be predictable then invest in tubers, if you like a surprise then purchase seeds and see what happens. The only way to get a predictable flower is by tuber. After the blooming season you can pull up the tubers, store them and replant them next year. They also multiply so, if you do it right you can expand your tubers year over year.

There are a bunch of different places to purchase tubers. Here are a few I have had good success with. I have also purchased from places and the tubers didn’t thrive. Huge bummer and its one reason why I purchase from a few different places each year and stick to the ones that work.

Eden Brother’s

Coseytown

Dahlias by Julie

Floret: The owner of Floret is a wealth of knowledge. She has stopped selling dahlias and seeds for the moment however, her website and books are super helpful resources.

Sunflower Steve

Seeds UK

Rananculs

Favorite Things- Everyday Kitchen Things

These are a few of my favorite everyday kitchen items.  We very rarely eat out so all of our kitchen things get well-loved. 

Wooden Spatula

I love the feel of a perfect wooden spoon or spatula when cooking. 

Metal Spatula

I have used one of these since I started following The Pioneer Woman almost 20 years ago. How crazy is that?  We have 2 of these in the kitchen and one for camping.

Hexclad

These are approved of by Gordon Ramsey and me both.  These pans are lovely to cook on and super easy to clean.

Hand Towels

I love finding a sturdy, absorbent, attractive hand towel for the kitchen.

Maldon Salt

This is the perfect way to elevate any dish, from scrambled eggs to elk ragu.

Stackable Metal Bowls

I wish I would have known about these sooner in my cooking career, Sugar agrees.  These stackable metal bowls make cooking and baking and clean up so much easier.  We aren’t lugging around big glass bowls anymore.

Favorite Things- Seed Start Edition

Seed Start Preparation.  All of my favorite things to get your baby seeds started in a few weeks.

It is the middle of winter, and I am totally starting the planning process for this spring and summer.  For there to be a gorgeous garden in the spring and summer I need to do some proper planning in the winter. I will be sharing the entire process with you guys.  Here are a few of my favorite gardening tools we will be using.

Seed Start Trays

Perfect for seed starts.

Lower Tray

These are necessary for under-watering which you will do after the seeds have sprouted.

Grow Lights

These lights are super light weight and work great to give the seedlings the extra light indoors they need to get a head start.

Water Sprayer

I like to keep the top of the soil a bit wet, especially while they are germinating.  This sprayer works great to get a good amount of water over the top of the soil.

Plant Tags

You will need to keep track of what seeds you planted where.  This will help.

Jiffy Seed Start Soil

The best seed start soil.  I have tried a few different brands.  This one has given me the best results. If you are only starting a few plants.  If you are starting a bunch of plants you can make your own seed start soil or purchase a larger bag from your local nursery.

Book Recommendations

Breath by James Nestor

This book will completely change your life. It is the book I read as I really dove into my breathwork, cold plunge curiosity. I immediately purchased mouth tape and the rest is history. James does an awesome job of using himself as the test subject, combining real-life experiments with scientific and historical studies to back up what he himself is living and noticing. If you are at all curious about the power of your breath and how to optimize your breathing apparatus, start here. Spoiler alert: You will want to purchase some mouth tape too.

Good Energy by Casey and Calley Means

Another mind blowing read. We say food is fuel but Casey and Calley really break down what that actually means. It is super dense with scientific data backing up theories and thoughts. Casey says a lot of things I have been thinking for a long time. My family uses many modalities to heal, eastern mixed with western. I will continue to share more but the idea is that we are a whole system and western doctors tend to treat just on piece of the massive and intricate puzzle.

Discovering Dahlias by Erin Benzakein

I will be sharing more about getting you garden ready to spring and summer. This is a great resource for getting dahlias going in your yard. Erin’s husband Chris took all of the photos the are absolute inspirations!

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

If you love a good fantasy love story with witches and vampires who time travel then this is for you! Don’t watch the tv show… it is terribly miscast and I can’t even make it through the first episode. That said this is a trilogy and is such a fun and entertaining read.

Chilly GOAT- Cold Plunge

I get lots of questions about the cold plunge we use here at the house. We have the Alpine a Chilly Goat by Master Spas. We absolutely love the thing.

Here are my top 5 reasons:

1. Set it and forget it.

2. Ease of maintenance.

3. Aesthetic appeal.

4. Large enough for 2 at once.

5. Depth and length.

It was delivered on time and carried by delivery guys to its location in the back yard. The instructions were easy to follow and we had it up and going a few days after arrival.

Daily or weekly maintenance is minimal. A little test set is included and enough pool chemicals to get you going. (We haven’t had to purchase any additional chemicals yet.) It is worth noting that the chlorine levels are very low in a pool this cold. I find very few chemicals are needed to keep the water crystal clear.

We have replaced the water and filter twice. We have had the cold plunge for over a year. The process of draining, changing the filter and refilling the tub is user friendly.

I would recommend purchasing this pool sucker thing to get any dirt, leaves and debris out of the tub.

Brian and I have been cold plunging for a few years now. We initially started with a horse trough and ice. It works especially as you get going and work towards making it a more regular part of your routine. That said if you plan on plunging often it is definitely worth investing in a proper self regulating tub. What I have found most is that I end up dipping more often with this set up in my back yard. It make success much more attainable.

If you guys have more questions about the Chilly Goat please don’t hesitate to reach out via email: deedeelantzy@gmail.com

If you just want to send it and get yourself one be sure to use this code and get a few hundo off: DEEDEE

Then tag me when yours arrives! @deedee.lantzy

Creative Process

I have been asked about my creative process. I have a lot to say about this, not in the way an artist would stand in front of her painting talking about the inspiration for her latest work, no not like that. Instead, in way that I talk to my girls about creativity.

There seems to be limits we put on who is creative and who isn’t. I was talking about this recently with both girls. Both are immensely creative and in totally separate ways. A friend was asking how to get started with her own artwork. I was in the process of answering her when she wrote back, I just need to start don’t I?

Absolutely, exactly. Start.

And also celebrate how you work, how are you creative? For instance, if you don’t pick up a pencil and sketch but are amazing at puzzles, if you don’t throw clay on a wheel, but you are an incredible mechanic. I think we need to open up our minds about what defines creativity and who is anointed creative enough.

I have embraced that my creativity comes in spurts, bursts and waves. I also have a handful of ways I express my creativity, the garden, my artwork, the kitchen, and logistics. Feel where you are putting limits on yourself, practice releasing the notion that your creativity needs to look a certain way or happen at a given time.

If you have something you want to try, go for it! You don’t have to have it all figured out to start. Just START!

Healing Soups + Juice Reset

If you are following along on Instagram chances are you have seen me talk about this book, Healing Herbal Soups. I will start sharing more and more of the alternative layers to healing we use in our family. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is one of them. This book is based on TCM principles and practices. Rose and Genevieve have organized the recipes by season, they have outlined what each ingredient brings to the table and the overall intention of each soup. For instance, if you are getting over a cold and have a lingering cough, there is a soup for that.

I have made a handful of the recipes during various times of the year. I tend to make more of the fall and winter ones as that is soup season in my opinion. However, I have tried some of the summer and spring recipes and they are delicious as well.

All of the recipes are very very easy to make. The most complicated part of the equation is the ingredients and the authors have made it super easy for you. The store on the website has all the herbs you need for each recipe, then all you have to purchase locally are the fresh meats and produce which are usually fairly easy to find. If not, substitutions are available in case your local grocery store is fresh out of black chicken or ox shank.

…Juice Cleanse Incoming…

Brian and I have juiced on and off for years. Usually, we purchase our produce and juice it every morning. I decided (or rather Instagram decided for me) that I needed to try a premade juice cleanse this New Year season. I am super excited to receive my 2 day cleanse tomorrow. I will keep you guys updated on Instagram with how it goes.

A few things that helped me click add to cart about RAW juicery. One, the juices are 100% organic, two, they are delivered straight to my doorstep, three this company adds extras to the juices. For instance, the evening juice has Ashwaganda and Schisandra two potent adaptogens to enhance and deepen the healing value of the juices.

New Year Journal Prompt

I have heard mixed reviews from people whether they like setting goals or resolutions once the clock strikes midnight. I think there is power in taking a pause and evaluating how things are really going. I think too often we get caught up in the inertia of life. It is a potent and valuable practice to take inventory and keep, eliminate, prioritize, limit, expand, shift various different attributes of life. A course correction of sorts to ensure you are actually living the life you indeed want to live.

Below you will find the prompt I walk through each year, you can do it digitally OR if you are like me and like to tangibly write things down I have created a printable version.

Here are a few queues to walk through to set you up

Right off the top what are three things you want to get rid of?  This could be anything, a habit, person, job, quality or trait within yourself. The important thing here is to recognize something that is holding you back, impeding your growth, movement, and ability to fully be yourself.  I start with this one because generally speaking we can all jump to something we know if holding us back. 

1.

2.

3.

Second item of the process is to close your eyes… well not yet, but right after you read this.  You are going to take 2 mins (at least, if you don’t mediate and find it difficult to close your eyes and visualize 2 minutes is a great place to start, if you can go longer, do that!) you are going to imagine yourself in one year from this exact moment.  You are going to get very specific with the visualization, who is there, what are you doing, where exactly are you, in a house, a car, are you in a different state, what are you wearing, what activity are you doing or preparing to do.  I really want you to get vivid with this visualization and also I want you to be courageous.  I want you to release any need or hankering to cap your visual or edit or amend because of some constraint.  This is an opportunity to dream, imagine and let your heart to the work, not your logical mind.  After the 2 minutes (or more) I want you to write down what you saw.

Vision writing.

From that vision can you write down three goals. 

One small:

One medium:

One large:

Bonus if you have a JUMBO goal based off your vision.

Now from that vision and these three goals I want you to write down three things you can do in the next 30 days to get closer to your goals.

1.

2.

3.

Set an alarm in your phone calendar right now to check in on yourself, your goals and the tasks you have set out in front of you over the next 30 days.

Here is what I have learned from my goal setting work I have done in the past.  There have been times when I set a goal and march off in the direction of achieving that goal and have blinders on, I can only see the singular goal.  I have noticed if I align myself to a goal and then take action to begin achieving the goal then magic happens.  Along the way I have found new opportunities I didn’t know were even a possibility.  I will give you an example, about 10 years ago I set 3 goals for myself: 1. To be able to do the splits. 2. Do 1 pull up and 3. Hold a handstand. When I started thinking about how I could achieve these goals I looked up a few yoga classes in the area.  I thought to myself that would be a good place to begin the process of getting strong again after I had be super focused on being pregnant and breast feeding for the years previous.  I signed up for a few classes and absolutely felt amazing not only in my body but in mind and spirit as well.  Now this is not to sell you on hot yoga, but rather to share a cookie crumb that I received from setting these goals and taking action to go achieve them.  Soon after I started practicing I decided I wanted to teach, I signed up for yoga teacher training and went to New York for training.  It was a huge deal for me at the time, Poppy was 8 months old and I was still breast feeding, I pumped enough milk to leave for her and pumped the entire time through training.  This was the most fit I have ever been.  I came back from teacher training and immediately started teaching yoga.  Very soon after I started teaching I decided I wanted to own a yoga studio.  A friend of mine and I decided to go for it.  We came up with a name, did some branding, and opened the doors.  By the end of that year I was able to do the splits, one pull up and hold a handstand for a breath or two.  Yes, I had achieved my goals but along the way my eyes were open to new and different portals, passage ways and cookie crumb trails.  Allowing myself the freedom to explore different routes to get to the goals opened up entire new areas of my life I didn’t know existed. Goals beyond my wildest dreams from one year before.

I tell you all of this because the initial goal might be exactly where you need to end up and consider along the way there might be new and even better ways to elevate your life and set new goals you never have dreamed of before.

Always allow space for magic.

Honey Bread

This bread is my weekly go to. Everyone who tries it loves it.Follow this recipe to be a bread making hero!

Things you will need:

- Large bowl - Pastry scraper

- Plastic wrap - Parchment paper

(2) Proving baskets - Scale

1 (or 2) Dutch ovens with lid

Lame (dough knife)

Ingredients:

- 1000g Flour

- 1 tsp Yeast

- 720 g Warm Water

- 125g Honey

- 1 Tbsp Salt

Directions

Prep Time: 4-6 hours depending on rise time

Bake Time: 40 minutes total. 20 mins covered and 20 mins uncovered
Here is how to make it happen!

1. Mix with your hand to combine all of the ingredients

2. Mix until incorporated and shaggy.

3. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for 20 minutes.

5. Dough should look like this. Cover. Let sit for another 20 mins.

4. Stretch and fold a few times around until dough looks like this.

6. Stretch and fold again.

7. Cover, let rise and let it double in size.

8. Exact times will vary depending on temperature of your kitchen. I place mine in a cabinet that has a heat vent near it so it acts as a proving cabinet.

9. Sprinkle some flour on a cutting board or counter. Pour out dough. Cut parchment and place in proving baskets.

10. Cut in half

11. Stretch dough in to a rectangle

12. Do the envelope fold top to middle, bottom to middle, left to middle, right to middle.

fold…..

fold…..

fold….

13. Turn over and pull around until all seams are tucked under

14. Place into proving basket. Repeat same steps for send half. Cover and let rise for about an hour. Preheat oven to 450° and Put Dutch oven(s) into oven to heat up.

15. Once dough is puffy and gorgeous place dough with parchment into Dutch oven.

16. Cut top design. Place lid on Dutch oven and at 450° for 20mins with lid on.

17. Bake at 400° with lid off for 20 mins.

18. Do not cut your bread right out of the oven you will ruin it. You can cut it when it is a bit warm but not hot. This is the hardest part… resisting eating the bread fresh out of the oven.

19. ENJOY!

5 tips for managing stress through the holidays

Actual photo of my kitchen a few days ago… mid upgrade. It turned out gorgeous and I am grateful for Brian just going for it and making it happen.

Let’s be honest… we are all in the throes of busyness, chaos, slammed schedules, and on the brink of stress eating a whole loaf of honey bread. I by NO means have the answers to a 100% stress free holiday and I have found these 5 tips have helped all of us here in the Lantzy household have a more enjoyable time together which really is what it is all about.

5 tips for managing stress through the holidays

1. Know when to say no . There is real power in saying no to things. It really makes you prioritize what a yes is and why you are doing certain things.

2. Know when to pause. Similar to a no and yet different. There may be times during the holidays where you need to wave a white flag and let your loved ones know, I need a minute. I purposely schedule a facial or massage for myself in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mandatory self care time, no cancellation.

3. Know when to say yes. There are so many parties, activities, outings, expectations and things to do during the holidays. Understand what you are saying yes to and why. Saying yes to things, people and activities that you actually enjoy will in turn relieve stress.

4. Know when to send it. Properly plan your absolute send it moments so that on the other side you have a minute to recoup and regroup.

5. Do one thing every day that sparks joy for you. It could be a long walk with your dogs, a workout class with a friend or family member, it could be an hour of reading, wrapping presents or baking cookies.

6. Keep your body moving. Yoga. Walk. Run. Take a friend. Try something new. Don’t wait until the New Year to start something new, begin a workout regimine or go to a class you have been wanting to try. I just had 2 friends join me in hot yoga who had never been before. I know both of them have jam packed schedules juggling family, work, life and preparing for Christmas. We had an absolute blast and will hopefully be back for more soon!!

7. Eat good food. You’ll of course eat some junk and maybe even a lot junk. And when you can eat high quality while foods. Keep meals for yourself and your family simple, protein, veg, salad, and some homemade honey bread of course. I will be sharing a few of my super simple totally obvious and completely delicious go to meals in the New Year.

8. Create traditions that are a fit for your family. About 8 years ago Brian and I decided to stay put for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We had reached a limit. We realized the holidays were draining us and we wanted to feel recharged after time off not depleted. It also was the time in life where are kiddos were getting sick nearly every holiday, one or both would either get sick while we were away or they would get sick immediately when we got home. It occurred to me that we don’t HAVE to do it this way. It was one of the best decisions we made. Each side of our family knows they are invited to join us here whenever fits their holiday plans. Our holidays are now filled with puzzles and cooking, naps and movie watching, pick up basketball games, learning to knit and other soul filling, rejuvenating activities.

Part One……Paris is always a good idea!!

We had an opportunity a few months ago to take a trip to Paris. We had 4 days in Paris and we didn’t want to waste a moment. I had 6 days to plan the trip and I want to share with you all the things we did that were amazing and also a few things that didn’t work.

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Planning…

We have learned a bunch from traveling with the girls over the past few years. One, we have to have destinations, its one thing as an adult to just let the world take you. There is actually a term for that in French, flaneur, I love it. You just wake up and let the city show you where to go next. As an adult, I absolutely love doing that in a big city, or anywhere for that matter, however, for now that doesn’t work the best for the girls. Totally fine. We will get there. So, destinations each day are a must.

The other thing we have learned traveling with kids is that meals need to be predictable yet adaptable. For this trip I had some places I knew we absolutely wanted to make happen and then a bunch of places that would be great options if we ended up in that neighborhood hungry.

I planned all of the days to have a one major stop with a few other options. The girls are old enough to start making decisions about which way we want to take an adventure. I find in travel but also in life allowing the girls to weigh in on what happens with the family promotes their positive attitude about whatever it is we are doing. Also what’s cool is that when things don’t go to plan they are more interested in helping be a part of the solution.

Planes, trains and more trains…

We flew standby from SLC. This was our first test for adapting and overcoming on this particular trip. We got bumped off of our direct flight to Paris and had to pivot with a plan quickly. I worked with the most lovely Delta help desk attendant who got us on the direct flight to London, in business class no less!!

After landing in London we caught the train to St. Pancras. We grabbed an awesome juice and smoothie at Joe & The Juice and a terrible sandwich across the hall in the train station and boarded the EuroStar to Paris. We took the metro from the Gare du Nord to our stop at St. Germain des Pres.

While in Paris we traveled either by metro or by foot. I love the accessibility of the metro and think its important to teach the girls how to use different modes of transportation. They have a blast figuring out our route and leading the way through the metro. It is also a great way for me to keep my head up and eyes on them while they look at the map route. We learned this a few years ago traveling in NYC. I was finding myself looking down at the phone while the girls were walking behind me. It didn’t feel right. Penelope was old enough to take the phone and lead the way. It was a safer and more empowering way for all of us to move through out the city. Now it is our go to. They take the phone or map and I check in and make sure we are headed in the right direction and keep my eyes on potential hazards or concerns.

First evening walk about

4 Days of Magic…

After checking into our Airbnb our first stop was La Creperie des Cannettes. These crepes are delicious. The service was awesome. I could have eaten here every day.

The crepes gave us the fuel we needed to take a walk to the Seine and see some of the city.

We walked into the plaza at the Louvre just in time for sunset, it was like a scene out of a movie, La vie en rose was playing and it was pure magic.

We initially had planned to go to Le Relais de l'Entrecôte but the line was way too long for how hungry we were when we first landed. On our way back from our walk we passed by and made the decision to wait in the line to try it. The experience was funny in that we were supposed to be headed to bed and had just eaten crepes not too long before this but it ended up being one of the best meals we had and definitely a memory making moment. Vacation is an amazing time to do spontaneous things that are out of the norm for you or your family but in the moment just make so much sense. The girls got a kick out of the entire thing.

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First full day in Paris

Our main event this day was the Arc de Triomphe. (Click the link to buy tickets.) We woke up and caught the metro to the Arc.

Get tickets online. When you get to the base you don’t have to wait in the long line. Find the check in and tell them what time slot you have. You will then go through security. You walk up the stairs inside the Arc so have your walking shoes on. This is a great spot to see the city from above. We could see where we were headed next and then when we got there we could look back and see where we had been.

Our next stop was Galeries Lafayette and big gorgeous shopping mall near the Opera. We walked to the Galeries and were sure to make it to the roof top. C

A bit of shopping later we were on the move, a walk past the Opera (Clink the link to get tickets to go inside) and a stop for gelato (this spot was good and had a few locations around town) and boba (we have this place in Salt Lake City, I think its fun sometimes to get something familiar from home in a foreign country, the juxtaposition is kind of cute) each kiddo.

We had our eye and bellies set on the next main stop, a place I had been reading about inline for a while a stop I knew was not going to disappoint. But we had a bit of time to spare so we hopped into Palais Royal (click the link for a bit of history) and then into the Tuilleries, (hit the link for a little history of the Tuileries) the grass and garden area just outside the Louvre for a rest and some high quality people watching.

We walked over to Les Enfants Du Marche (click the link for hours) an absolutely delicious outdoor restaurant tucked away in an open air market. We had the ears and hoves, don’t let the name fool you, be courageous!!! We also tapped into some snails. Everything was insane. I would go back to this place every time I visit. If you don’t believe me check the Conde Nast review, we had a very similar experience.

After dinner(ish) we stopped by a fresh fruit and veggie stand for some goodies to have at the Airbnb. A lovely and disheveled couple was running the place, you could tell that everyone had just come through on their way home from work to grab whatever they were making for dinner that night. There were boxes on the floor and packaging pieces strewn about. When traveling I love to combine the touristy stuff with glimpses and tastes of how real people in the area live.

It was a gorgeous evening so we decided to walk our way down to Notre Dame on our way back to the Airbnb. The rebuild was just finishing up and I think it will be neat for the girls to see the difference the next time we go to Paris.

Walk from the Arc de Triomphe to Galeries Lafayette to Tuileries to Les Enfants du Marche to Notre Dame

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Top spots and pro tips:

Pop and I catching some sunset light outside the Louvre

Louvre:

Get tickets online. Schedule ahead of time.   You will have an online ticket and time.  When you get to the great big plaza with the giant pyramid there are people holding signs with times.  Go find your time and stand in the line. It could be long it goes fast once the time slot opens.  This is also an amazing time to people watch.  I have heard that you can go across the street to an alternate entrance.  We didn’t try it this time but I might try it next time.  The line was insane but went so fast once the slot opened up.  It is helpful to have a route to take when headed into the Lourve.  If you have some things you definatelt want to see it map it our ahead of time, get inside and get your bearings and hit it. If you don’t have a plan no worries, grab a map once you get inside and step to the side and see which way you want to head. The Mona Lisa is the most popular, you can just follow the crowd to see that… Naploeon’s apartment is super popular… my favorites are the sculpture rooms within the atrium. We were a little hungry and not fully in the mood for the crowds so we buzzed through. 

Saint Chapelle:

Get tickets online. We had plans to go check this out and it was actually top of Brian’s list of must see things, however, because of the flight change we missed our ticketed spot and there were no other spots available during our stay. This Chapelle is divine and right across the street from Notre Dame, it is a great alternative to the big lady if you can’t get in to see her.
Eiffel Tower:

There are certain parts of the tower you can explore for free and others, higher, you need tickets. Be aware of your surroundings here. This is one area where unfortunately we were very much aware of pickpockets and urchin like vibes in certain areas around the base of the tower.

At night the tower starts to sparkle at 8pm then continues for 5 mins top of every hour until 11pm in the winter.

Sacre Coeur:

From Pink Mamma walk to French Bastards and grab some pastries for later. Then shop your way to the Love Wall you’ll end up at Sacre Coeur.

Walk or tram up the stairs. Once at the top take a look around. Definitely go inside, it’s free and gorgeous.

In part two I will map out the rest of the trip and include some of the shops we found along the way…..