Tornadoes, Life Lessons and Pistachio crusted chicken

As 95 tornadoes touched down in the Eastern Midwest on March 2nd, I was en route to a fabulous Leadership retreat for my company in the Smoky Mountains in Eastern Tennessee. Of the 225 leaders there, 10% were at the highest levels of the company. I couldn't help but wonder how easily our company could have been crippled by Mother Nature. It flashed me back to that devastating 9-11 day, where some had their entire NY office wiped out. I had never before related that moment to how someone might feel who lives in a town wiped out by a tornado.  A freaky moment, reinforced on the drive home through the ravaged towns in Kentucky and Indiana, that I had driven through 48 hours before. I think how funny it is that in life, we periodically get reminders of our gifts and blessings.  Sometimes that reminder happens after a funeral, an injury or even a crime. This time, for me it was 95 tornadoes.



After Near-Death Friday, we emerged from the basement and a day later how different life was! Fantastic training, amazing food, a couple cocktails, a hot tub and some quality time with some great friends. Life can be so hard. (Heehee). I want to share three of the many things that I took away from this training,  besides a new energy and enthusiasm for my business, and my life... 


#1 I learned that I need to hear things repeated again and again for them to soak in and that I enjoy a good reminder of a great perspective. I remembered a training at a conference where I  learned about the difference between working for someone else, and working for yourself. An Entrepreneur by definition, "is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative." Thanks Wikipedia!   Often times we are tempted to count every hour spent, and have remorse over every call not returned or product not sold. But when you have the true entrepreneurial spirit you know that experiences that sometimes are called "failures" are small stones on your path to success. 


#2 As one of our speakers, Darla Oelmann, reminded us, in life we need to constantly be improving ourselves. I will have to paraphrase her great talk, but basically... school is never out! If you want to be better in life, love and business you should be constantly looking for things you can "sponge up".   "Leadership is not built in a day - it's built daily." 


#3 And the third thing I learned that I really thought you would appreciate is that I really love Pistachio Crusted Chicken. I'm not sure if this is the exact recipe I tasted, but it sounds darn good. So enjoy your day and let me know if you have any great ideas for me on how I'm going to improve myself today!


Kathy

Pistachio Crusted Chicken - Allrecipes.com

Rated: Submitted By: Julie Photo By: Hot Chilli Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes Ready In: 30 Minutes Servings: 4

"Kids will love these quick pistachio chicken strips; adults will too! This recipe is very easy, and elegant. Anyone can make it, and everyone will enjoy it!"

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup chopped pistachios 1/2 cup bread crumbs 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons honey salt and pepper to taste 2 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch strips

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2.	Mix together pistachios and bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together Dijon mustard, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper until smooth. Dip chicken into Dijon mixture to coat, then coat with bread crumbs. Place onto prepared baking sheet.
3.	Place into preheated oven and turn the oven down to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Bake until the chicken is no longer pink and the pistachio coating is golden brown, about 20 minutes.