Write an article based on this "Cut or chop your ingredients before you start cooking. Cut food into smaller pieces. Grate your butter so you don't have to wait for it to soften. Prep food for several meals at once. Plan the cooking order for a meal. Preheat your oven while you prep the food."
article: If you're new to following recipes, get out all of the ingredients you'll need and prepare them. If a recipe calls for dicing, mincing, or slicing ingredients, for instance, do all of the prep work first so you can start making the food. If you already feel comfortable doing prep work while you cook food, read through the recipe to see when to do specific prep. For example, if you're caramelizing onions, they'll probably take a long time. Get them cooking and then prep the rest of the ingredients while they're caramelizing. Instead of roasting large chunks of vegetables or boiling entire potatoes, chop them into smaller pieces than you usually do. Vegetables that are 12 to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5cm) in size will cook much faster than 2 to 3in (51 to 76mm) pieces. If you're really short on time, try dicing or grating the food. For example, instead of cooking chunks of home fries, grate the potatoes to make hashbrowns. You can even cut meat and seafood into smaller pieces. Slice a large roast or fillet into smaller and thinner pieces to cut down on cooking time. A lot of cooking and baking recipes direct you to use softened butter instead of cold butter from the fridge or freezer. Although you could warm the butter in the microwave, you might accidentally melt it. Try grating the butter against the coarse side of a box grater before using it in the recipe. This works best if the butter is very cold or frozen. Try this trick the next time you're baking biscuits or scones. It's much easier than rubbing or cutting chunks of butter into the dry mixture! The time you spend washing, chopping, and preparing ingredients adds up if you're cooking every day. To save on some of this prep time, consider what you'll be cooking for the week and prep the ingredients at the same time. Then, you can just pull what you need out of the refrigerator when you're ready to cook. For example, if you need diced onion for 2 meals, chop the onion and store them in separate containers in the refrigerator. If you're making rice for dinner and you also plan to serve it in a few days, make a double batch and refrigerate half of it. If you're making a few different things to serve, think about which dishes take the longest to cook and which can be prepared right before serving. If it helps you stay organized, write down a timeline of when to prep and cook each dish. Your list might look like this: Marinate chicken for 3 hours Start the grill 30 minutes before dinner time Remove the chicken and thread it onto skewers Put the chicken skewers on the grill Bring a pot of water to boil and cook rice noodles Remove the chicken from the grill Make a tossed salad to serve with the chicken and rice noodles Your food will cook evenly if the oven is already at the recommended temperature when you put the food in. If you put food into a cold oven while it's heating up, it will take longer to cook and the bottom or outside of the food could overcook before the center is done. For example, if you toss a frozen pizza into a cold oven that's heating up, the bottom may burn while the center only becomes warm. If you put it into a hot oven, the whole pizza will cook within the recommended time.

Write an article based on this "Practice moving on and being in the present. Focus on the person's negative characteristics when you think about them. Put yourself first. Stay busy through distractions."
article: Whenever you catch yourself reflecting on the past or thinking about the person you're trying to avoid, refocus and think about your present and future. This will help motivate you to move on and set new goals for yourself. Set goals such as getting in shape, learning a new skill, or advancing in your career. Think about the things that are currently going well in your life, such as your job, social life, academics, or personal health. When you love someone, it's easy to only think about their positive attributes, or the qualities that you love about them. By reminding yourself that they have flaws, it'll help shift your outlook and make it easier for you to stay away from them. For example, the person may be very kind, but maybe they also are always showing up late, have trouble keeping promises, or are a bit lazy. Put aside any thoughts you have about the person you love and are trying to avoid, and instead start focusing on yourself. Evaluate your own needs and spend some time reflecting on how you can make yourself happier, healthier, and more content. Set aside time each day just for you, whether it's through reading each morning, doing yoga, or reflecting in a journal. Try out a new activity like boxing, cooking, or swimming. Try to fill your time with activities and goals, no matter how big or small. The busier you are, the less time you'll have to think about the person you love, making it even easier to avoid them. For example, start a daily routine of going to the gym, reading, going to work, gardening, and then cooking a new recipe. Try to choose distractions that get you out of the house and moving, such as going on bike rides, thrift shopping with friends, or volunteering.

Write an article based on this "Stand up for yourself in the moment. Document negative behaviors at work or school. Talk to the person about their behavior calmly. Bring in an outside authority figure."
article:
Sometimes, an annoying person may cross a line to the point you feel uncomfortable or threatened. In these scenarios, it's okay to stand up for yourself in the moment. Be assertive and address the situation. Calmly tell the person they crossed a line. Let them know you do not tolerate this type of behavior. For example, "Don't talk to me like that. I don't need unsolicited advice." If you feel uncomfortable because of an annoying person at work or school, document this. You want to make sure you have information to give to a higher authority if it comes to that. Each time the person gets on your case, briefly jot down what was said, who saw it, and the date and time. If you ever need to raise a formal complaint, you'll have a lot of information from which to pull. If someone is consistently annoying you, it's okay to calmly address the behavior. Wait until you can get a moment alone with the person and calmly and collectively explain what they are doing wrong. For example, "I know you don't mean anything by it, but I don't love getting teased about my outfits." Let the person know how the behavior makes you feel. "It makes me feel uncomfortable at work, because people are always pointing out my looks now." Lastly, tell the person where to go from here. For example, you can say, "I really don't want you to make comments like that anymore. Do you understand?" Instead of criticizing the person, tell them what types of actions you won't tolerate. This will help prevent conflict. Instead of saying, "You're so annoying," you might say, "I really need quiet time to get my work done." If someone's behavior does not improve after a direct confrontation, call in a higher authority. If you're in school, let a teacher or principal know. If you're at work, talk to someone in the HR department. You have a right to feel comfortable at your place of work or your school.