How to be happy in an instant

In his book The As If Principle, Richard Wisemen provides method acting instructions that, if you follow them, really will make you feel happier.

1. Sit in front of a mirror. (Note: I tried it without the mirror and it worked fine.)


2. Relax the muscles in your forehead and cheeks, and let your mouth drop slightly open.


3. Contract the muscles near the corners of your mouth by drawing them back toward your ears. Make the resulting smile as wide as possible and try to ensure that the movement of the cheeks produces wrinkling around the base of your eyes. Finally, extend your eyebrow muscles slightly upward and hold the resulting expression for about twenty seconds.


4. Let the expression drop from your face and think about how you feel.

The first time I tried it, I suddenly found it very funny that I was holding my face in such an odd position.

poblanos stuffed with lemony couscous

I made Corn Risotto-Stuffed Poblanos from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. While they are yummy, there's a bit too much cheese for my lactose intolerant body. However, it did remind me of my stuffed poblanos recipe.

I stuff the poblanos with couscous. The couscous recipe, adapted from Cleveland Clinic Health Heart: Lifestyle Guide and Cookbook, is provided below.  The poblanos are then topped with salsa verde – easy to find a recipe online – and just enough cheese to make tastebuds dance for joy. Then bake.

Lemony Couscous

• 1 cup couscous


• 1 cup broth


• 3 tablespoons lemon juice


• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest


• 1 tablespoon dried basil


• 1 tablespoon lightly toasted flax seeds, ground (optional)

In a pan, add the couscous, broth, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the basil and flax seeds. Cover for 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork.

Sadly since the temp is now up in the 90's, I won't be making these again until the weather cools down in the fall.  ;-(