Chatelaine has a great article in the latest issue about the importance of self-care, including several smart and do-able ways to show yourself some love on a daily, monthly and yearly basis. I’m going to make another suggestion for the monthly column: treating yourself to a health-based subscription box that’ll introduce you to all kinds of better-for-you food, beauty and lifestyle products, many of them Canadian, and delivered right to your door. Montreal’s Little Life Box is just that. The company sent me their classic box to try. What is “everyday cooking” to you? Quick, fuss-free meals using ingredients you have on hand? Hands up if that means making the same six or seven dishes again and again. This week I found fresh inspiration in Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking: 101 Entirely Plant-Based, Mostly Gluten-Free, Easy and Delicious Recipes by Dana Shultz of the wildly popular blog, Minimalist Baker. And I think you will too. Each recipe takes 30 minutes or less to prepare, has 10 ingredients or less, or uses one bowl or one pot (that last bit I really like).

These are breakfasts, appetizers, mains, desserts and drinks simple and practical to make on the regular and full of flavour and nutritious goodness.  I don’t know any magic tricks and I can’t tell a joke to save my life, but I can make a chocolate chip cookie that will dazzle and delight. It’s the cover star of Made with Love: More than 100 Sweet and Savory Plant-Based Recipes for Every Moment in Life by mother-daughter duo Kelly Childs and Erinn Weatherbie of Kelly’s Bake Shoppe and Love Lettuce Café, and it’s worth the price of the book alone. You want to bake someone happy? It’s a fantastic year for plant-tastic cookbooks, and last week saw the debut of another: Whole Bowls: Complete Gluten-Free and Vegetarian Meals to Power Your Day by Allison Day, nutritionist, food stylist, photographer and creator of the award-winning blog Yummy Beet. These are wholesome, satisfying meals and desserts you can assemble as quickly or leisurely as time allows, preparing components in advance to have at the ready or building all at once like I did (and maybe nibbling as you go).

Use Allison’s whole bowls formula to adapt the recipes to your taste and/or what you have on hand and discover the plant-iful pleasures to be had in a bowl brimming with flavour, colour and texture.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t get through the day without my snacks. Especially between lunch and dinner. You know how the kids come home from school so ravenous it’s like they haven’t eaten in a week? That’s me at 3 o’clock. And I don’t always reach for the healthiest thing either. Really if it isn’t nailed down, it’s going in my mouth. Easter chocolate (I’m doing a fine job getting through the leftovers), pretzels, cookies I’m making that day for a book review. All things that satisfy in the moment, but make me feel like curling up for a snooze soon after. But if I have a bunch of well-balanced snacks at the ready — snacks that will satisfy my cravings and (bonus!) keep my energy up, well it’s another thing altogether. So when I learned about a new Canadian snack subscription box company that would deliver all kinds of delicious goodness to my door, I jumped at the chance to try it.

And since something tells me you’d like try it too (we’re all about trying small things here, right?), well I might have a little sumthin’ sumthin’ to offer you as well.  Vinyl Floor Sealer Walmart Remember that episode of Family Ties where Mrs. and Mrs. Keaton come home early from a weekend without the kids to a houseful of strangers and a kangaroo? Homes For Sale Kitale KenyaIt was homecoming weekend in Leland and Alex had turned the house into a hotel to pay for repairs after Mallory drove the car into a telephone pole pulling out of the driveway. Moen Faucet Diverter RemovalNext thing you know, there’s a kid demanding French toast with his stay and a marsupial team mascot hopping around the living room. It’s what came to my mind last week when my eight-year-old dragged a stool across the kitchen floor to reach the cupboard with the dates and said, “You just read me the instructions mom — I’ll make the recipe all by myself.” 

If two vegans have an argument, is it still called “a beef”? What do vegan zombies say? How many vegans does it take to change a light bulb? Two: one to change it, and one to check for animal ingredients. Vegans may be the subject of many a punchline, but for anyone who’s avoided vegan food, well the joke’s on them. I tested a few of the recipes in Jessica Nadel’s vegan Superfoods 24/7 and I’m here to tell you, they’re plant-tastic! So go for the goji berries, stock up on the spinach and make no beans about beans! Let Jessica show you how to make them go-to’s in dishes you’ll love.  Thought Leader Thursday: Design Exploration versus Design Optimization It has been nearly 15 years since I first heard about topology optimization. The fluke decision to fill out my first year graduate student class schedule with a niche special topics course on structural optimization became a fateful choice in … Cerebral Aneurysm Prediction: Life Saving Potential with CFD Simulation

This guest contribution on Innovation Intelligence is written by Evan Frantz, CFD Engineer Intern at Cradle North America. SC/Tetra is available through the Altair Partner Alliance. Imagine you are a doctor. You have just received the results for your latest patient, and it … Follow Dragi: 12,500 miles this year with an all-new bike Spring has finally arrived in Michigan! Although I had many chances during this year’s rather warm winter to ride in January and February, I’m very happy the seasons are changing. I was able to get my rides in this winter … Featured Client: Weather and Sophisticated Simulations: Korea Meteorological Administration Saves Energy There are few weather sights as gorgeous as flashes of bright lightning steaking across the dark sky, promising a spectacular storm to come; green leaves swaying in the wind as strong and steady rain pelts down on them, rejuvenating the … Crash Calculations in Seconds? This guest post on Innovation Intelligence is written by Agata Abramowicz Sokoll, CEO of Impact Design Europe, developer of Crash Cad Calculate and Cross Section Creator.

CCC and CSC are available through the Altair Partner Alliance. Constantly growing crash safety … Does your car squeak and rattle? Simulation is here to help. Squeak and Rattle (S&R) noise in vehicle interiors are known to be amongst the most irritating issues for the passenger, causing dissatisfaction and perception of extremely poor build quality. For decades, OEMs and interior suppliers have been well aware of … Why We Are Doing solidThinking CONVERGE 2016 We have a great software and consulting business, a global clientele, and a track record of putting on very impactful technical conferences. It would be easy for us to continue on our regular techno-centric conference path….but we aren’t. Challenging Students to Create Cleaner, Quieter, and More Efficient Snowmobiles at 2016 SAE Clean Snowmobile Today marks the first day of April and most of us in Michigan can now say winter 2016 is almost behind us. We’re looking forward to warm weather and summer trips, but a group of dedicated students just finished competing …