ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Change...Your Habits

Updated on July 6, 2017

Habits are Unconscious Behaviours

You've all heard the story about the housewife who always cut the end off the roast before she put it into the oven. When her daughter asked her why, she replied that her mother always did it that way, and that was what she'd learned. So, when Grandma came to visit, and they were having roast, this happened again. When the granddaughter asked why she had taught this to her mom, Grandma said, "Well, my roasting pan was pretty small, so I always cut the end off the roast so it would fit. I guess I never explained that to your mom!"

Habits - we even inherit them!


Habits Can be Changed

I realized today, as I was making my favorite potato salad, that I have been a victim of habit. For more years than I care to remember (I'm a Nana, after all), I always cut the potatoes in half before I boiled them for potato salad. Just like you'd do for making mashed potatoes.

Then, after they were cooked, I'd have to juggle them in my hand to peel them and cut them into cubes. None of this pre-cooled stuff - I was a working mother who just had an hour to throw dinner together. I'd juggle, and peel, juggle and cube, and yell, and have the cold water ready to soothe my singed fingers.

The other day, I saw the light.

I cut the potatoes into small cubes BEFORE I cooked them!

What an innovation! What a brilliant Nana!

Forget the mayo - use healthy oil and tasty vinegars for the best-ever potato salads.
Forget the mayo - use healthy oil and tasty vinegars for the best-ever potato salads. | Source

Easy Potato Salad

And now, here's my recipe for what my husband calls the BEST potato salad. (Well, he likes my neighbor Ingrid's, too).

Cut up enough potatoes for the salad (depends on how many you're feeding, and whether you like left-overs) into cubes or chunks about 3/4 of an inch in size. No need to be picky and regular. If they're new, no need to peel them.

While they cook in salted water, cut up celery, peppers (all colors), cucumber (the long English ones) and green onions (including the green parts) or red onions. Again, quantity depends on how many you're feeding.

Use about half as many veggies as you do potatoes. Coarsely chop some fresh parsley, coriander leaves, fresh dill or fresh basil and oregano. Dried herbs just won't do!

When the potatoes are just cooked, drain them, and immediately add extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar and a touch of balsamic vinegar. Mix, so that these permeate the hot potatoes.You don't want the potatoes to be swimming in the oil and vinegar, but you also don't want them to be too dry. Experiment!

Now, mix the veggies into the hot potato mixture, add salt and pepper to season, and either serve warm (my favorite) or chill in the fridge before serving.

We love this version of potato salad and with the extra vegetables and olive oil instead of mayo, it has the benefit of being a lot healthier.

Try this potato salad recipe next time you have a craving for potato salad. I'll bet you'll never go back.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)