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You can be less wasteful. Guaranteed. Wasteful of what, you might ask. Lots of things. But, let’s start with food.
 

You’ve heard this before: 40% of edible food ends up in the trash. Globally, about 1.3 billion…TONS. So much…it’s hard to even imagine, but let’s try. An average elephant weighs 4 tons. That’s 325 million elephants worth of good food in the trash. Still hard to imagine. The average skyscraper weighs 222 tons. That’s 5,842 skyscrapers. Did that help, or are you still mind-boggled? It’s tempting when we see or hear something that is unsettling to just walk away from it…to try to put it out of our mind because we feel bad about it.
 

Salt & Straw is a small ice cream shop in Portland, Oregon, and they are whipping up some new flavors using food bound for the trashcan. Get inspired to be less wasteful, to find a way to use ALL of your edible food and to have nearly nothing end up in the trash.

Serves 6

2T olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2½c cooked, chilled quinoa

14oz can black beans, drained & rinsed

3lg eggs, beaten

½t fine sea salt

1/3c fresh chives, chopped

1/4c grated parmesan

1/4c goat cheese

2c gluten free bread crumbs

1T olive oil or clarified butter

1. Combine quinoa, eggs, black beans & salt in bowl

2. Lightly sautée onion & garlic in oil, DO NOT brown

3. Add onions to quinoa, stir in other ingredients (except oil/butter)

4. Form into 12, 2″ patties. Best chilled before cooking

5. Heat oil/butter in skillet, med high, sautée 3 mins per side

Serve with red onion marmalade, tomato chutney, and/or horseradish cream

Guess what leadership “interaction skill” has the most impact on a team member’s job performance…clarifies details?  Encourages involvement? Supports? Develops others’ ideas? No, no, no. And no.
 
Listens and responds with empathy.

Yep. That’s it. And it’s a bona fide superpower.
[It] is not just about being able to see things from another perspective. It’s the cornerstone of teamwork, good innovative design, and smart leadership. It’s about helping others feel heard and understood.
 
Even Albert Einstein agrees, “empathy is patiently seeing the world through the other person’s eyes. It is not learned in school; it is cultivated over a lifetime.”

Serves 8

1T olive oil

3/4c ea diced carrots & yukon potatoes

1½c ea diced eggplant & butternut squash

½c ea diced mushrooms & leek

1/4c dried cranberries, raisins or prunes

14oz can chickpeas, rinsed

14oz can diced tomatoes

1C veggie broth

2t ea cumin, coriander, paprika

1 cinnamon stick

pinch crushed red pepper, s&p

Garnishes

1/4C fresh parsley

1/4C sliced almonds

1. Sautée veggies in oil, over med heat, 8-10 mins

2. Add other ingredients (except garnishes), bring to boil

3. Reduce to simmer, cook 20-30 mins

4. Remove cinnamon stick

5. Serve over basmati rice or couscous

6. Top with fresh parsley & almonds

Note: cut veggies small dice, ½”

For a company that is wild about wildly important goals…say what?!?
 
You need a goal (or two, but not more than 3!) and it needs to be measurable. The process of identifying and agreeing upon a goal (what can be even better, cleaner, tastier, safer) brings focus…to everyone. And, by the way…”focus” is the single word to which both Warren Buffet and Bill Gates attribute their success — not determination, not smarts, not courage, not creativity — but focus.
 
BUT, to achieve your goal? Spend your time focusing on your “systems”.
 
“If you’re a coach, your goal is to win a championship. Your system is what your team does at practice each day…When you focus on the practice instead of the performance, you can enjoy the present moment and improve at the same time. None of this is to say that goals are useless…goals are good for planning your progress, while systems are good for actually making progress.”
 
So, you have a goal…pulse-check…what are your systems for achieving it and maintaining the desired result? Focus, focus and refocus on that.

12oz bacon, diced

½c onion, diced

pinch salt

3T brown sugar

2T bourbon (Maker’s Mark best)

2½c chicken stock

1T butter

1. In medium stock pot, cook bacon until it begins to crisp, 5-7 mins

2. Add onion & salt, cook 5 mins

3. Add bourbon & brown sugar, stir

4. Crank heat high, add 1 c stock, stir until liquid is almost gone, 7 mins

5. Add 1 more c stock, repeat

6. When “jammy” consistency, add last ½ c stock

7. Blend mixture in blender to smooth

8. Return to pan, cook on low 7 mins

9. Remove from heat & stir in butter

Excellent on steaks or other grilled or roasted meats