Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2023 i Real Simple

I LOVE THIS MAGAZINE. Since it launched, almost 23 years ago, it has stood out from the pack for its intense practicality and unabashed smartness—no pandering, no dumbing down, just genius ideas and advice to improve your life, packaged in a pretty, clean, calming design. Someone else who’s been a fan from the get-go? Our first-ever cover star, Kristen Bell, who started subscribing in college and never looked back. She’s also, to me, quintessentially REAL SIMPLE—smart, funny, down to earth, and exceedingly capable. From her earliest days in the spotlight, she’s been intentional and open, sharing her mental health struggles and trials as a parent (while fiercely protecting her children’s privacy) and publicly supporting her husband through addiction recovery. She embodies the brand’s ethos and the theme of this…

My HappyLight therapy lamp, which I sit in front of for 20 minutes every morning October through March. It chases away the winter blues. (Exercise also helps!) @CALAMITYCHRISSY Rice cooker, rice cooker, rice cooker! My medium-size one can make large quantities and small portions, and it even makes porridge. The best feature? It switches itself off—so I don’t burn down the house—but still keeps the rice warm. @GGAILYNCH80 I have a few to nominate: A Roku player for each TV in the house. The NordicTrack treadmill we bought during the pandemic. And a steam shower is on the wish list. @SHAWNBURGER Blackout curtains in the bedroom and a few other rooms—for sleep reasons, but also to keep the temperature down in the summer. @_JENNIFERGREENE_ My Kindle Paperwhite. I love to…

Get the Look Crackle Glaze Ceramic Vase, $70; westelm.com Plot Small Planter, $250, and Not for Nothing Large Shelf, $395; bludot.com Modern Colored Wine Glasses, $74 for 4; food52.com Emerald Interior Latex Paint in Smoky Blue; sherwin-williams.com for info Porter Loveseat, $1,399; roveconcepts.com ON TREND Jute Reboot Natural-fiber rugs now come in all sorts of colors and graphic patterns. MISTAKES YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE MAKING Interior Painting Lisa Moon, professional painter and co-owner of Paper Moon Painting in central Texas, offers tips for brushing with greatness. Or rolling. You’re Not Taping Properly “As you tape, press down firmly to help prevent paint from bleeding through,” Moon says. Go inch by inch. Carefully remove the tape before your last coat has dried so the paint doesn’t come off along…

THESE DAYS, you can’t read the news without seeing the words “recession” and “inflation.” The economy feels as predictable as a toddler’s tantrum schedule, the housing market is in a slump, and the prices of, well, pretty much everything are rising, so it’s no wonder many people are on edge right now. According to the American Psychiatric Association, 87 percent of people surveyed last year were anxious about how much more things were costing. And that’s just inflation-fueled worry! Unfortunately, there’s not a lot we can do to steady the stormy macroeconomic waters. We can, however, manage how we think about our money during these taxing times. Here are three ways to start. Focus on One Goal at a Time You hear it again and again: Build an emergency…

It happens every once in a while: You’re on Insta and you come across a space that stops you midscroll. You see it, you love it, and you can’t double-tap fast enough. Others do the same, and the pic goes viral. Before you know it, it’s flooding your feed. In the spirit of this issue’s theme (game changers, remember?), we spoke with the designers behind some of social media’s most paradigm-shifting rooms. The common thread: The bigger the risk, the bigger the payoff. ♥ A BOLD MIX Natalie Papier @hom_ec_op THE POST The paint color on these built-ins? Hyper Blue by Sherwin-Williams. Put a thrifted orange-red sofa in front of it and you have the polar opposite of the abundant beige that filled Natalie’s Charlotte, North Carolina, home when she…

ACTIVE TIME 25 MINUTES TOTAL TIME 25 MINUTES SERVES 6 3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided1 lb. mushrooms (such as portobello, cremini, shiitake, or a mix), trimmed and sliced¾ tsp. kosher salt, divided1 Tbsp. soy sauce2 Tbsp. tomato paste2 cloves garlic, minced1 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed2 large eggs½ cup panko½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese⅓ cup mayonnaise2 tsp. sriracha6 burger buns, toastedButter lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and pickles, for topping (optional) HEAT 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and liquid is released, about 10 minutes. Add ½ teaspoon salt, soy sauce, tomato paste, and garlic; cook, stirring, until tomato paste darkens, 1 to 2 minutes. MEANWHILE, place beans in a bowl and mash with a fork or potato…

ACTIVE TIME 30 MINUTES TOTAL TIME 2 HOURS, 25 MINUTES MAKES 10 PIES 1 16-oz. pkg. frozen strawberries⅓ cup granulated sugar1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice2 tsp. cornstarchAll-purpose flour, for work surface1 14.1-oz. pkg. refrigerated piecrusts (2 crusts)1 large egg, beatenTurbinado sugar, for sprinklingCooking spray1 cup confectioners’ sugar1½ Tbsp. milk½ tsp. pure vanilla extract¼ cup freeze-dried strawberries, crushed COOK frozen strawberries and granulated sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high, stirring often, until berries begin to break down, about 8 minutes. Whisk lemon juice and cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir into berry mixture. Cook, stirring, until thickened, about 4 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. ROLL each piecrust into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured work surface. Cut 4 (5-inch) rounds from each crust. Roll scraps and cut 2…

IN NO TIME AT ALL, spring will have sprung, giving us extra hours of light at the end of the day, warmer temps, green shoots poking from the ground—reminders that we can cast off our parkas and rejoice in the season of renewal. Or at least we could, if we weren’t so tired. As any posthibernation bear would tell you, spring is not the best for rest. “We’re wired to sleep when it’s cool and dark,” says Abhinav Singh, MD, medical director of the Indiana Sleep Center in Greenwood, Indiana, and author of the upcoming book Sleep to Heal. “When spring comes, it’s brighter, it starts warming up, and people generally find it harder to stay asleep.” One 2021 study revealed that people across the United States tended to wake…

The Innovative Titan of Industry When Mary Barra was getting her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at General Motors Institute (now called Kettering University), she had no idea she’d one day be CEO of the company. To pay for her education, Mary got a job inspecting fenders at GM, and she worked her way up, eventually becoming the first woman to lead one of the big three U.S. automakers, in 2014. She still sits at the head of the table, and holds the fourth slot on Forbes’s 2022 list of the 100 most powerful women in the world—just after Vice President Kamala Harris. What is it about Mary? Simply put, she gets things done. Change can be slow-moving at a 100-plus-year-old company stuck in its ways. That isn’t the case…

RECIPES FOR REAL LIFE True story: You can’t spell “fungi” without “fun.” There are lots of varieties of mushrooms in grocery stores and thousands of edible species in nature. They’re packed with B vitamins and antioxidants, and they bring on the flavor. So make room for shrooms! SHOP Look for firm, dry mushrooms with stems intact. STORE Keep in a paper bag in the fridge for up to a week. PREP Wipe clean with a dry cloth. Rinse extra-dirty ones, but don’t soak them or they’ll get soggy. COOK Sauté in butter and thyme and add to sandwiches and pasta, or replace half the beef in burgers or meatloaf for bonus veggies.…

Your computer setup (or lack thereof) could be responsible. If your eyes feel strained and your vision is blurred, you might have computer vision syndrome, says Adam Ramsey, an optometrist in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. His suggestions to prevent it: Make sure you sit upright with your feet on the floor, and keep your screen at or beneath eye level (because looking up puts strain on the eyes). And follow the 20-20-20 rule. “Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This helps your eyes relax,” he says. If symptoms persist, see your eye doc. WHAT’S UP WITH… Pandemic Periods The last few years threw our schedules out of whack, right down to our menstrual cycles. In a study in the Journal of Obstetrics &…

1 USE IT OR LOSE IT Start with a purge. Take everything out, and ditch products that are expired or no longer suit you. (Haven’t had an acne flare-up in ages? We envy you. Toss the zit cream.) For the future: “When an expiration date is listed on the disposable box, write it on the bottle with a permanent marker,” Rosenthal says. 2 ESTABLISH ORDER Your daily tools should be front and center, Rosenthal says. Line up your morning and nighttime products in the order you use them. That will help you get out the door (or under the covers) faster—plus, you may be more likely to stick to your routine. Group everything else by product type, like hair or nails. 3 REHOME SOME STUFF This is precious real estate we’re talking about!…

Why Does My Dog Run Around With the Zoomies? Bust out this fun fact at your next visit to the dog park: Zoomies are technically called frenetic random-activity patterns, or FRAPs (not to be confused with the icy coffee drinks). And they’re generally a good thing. “The vast majority of dogs are in a positive emotional state when they engage in this kind of explosive scooting with rapid starts and stops,” says Christopher Pachel, DVM, a veterinary behaviorist and the owner of the Animal Behavior Clinic in Portland, Oregon. To release pent-up energy, your dog might get the zoomies when you come home from work or after a very satisfying poop. Your pup may also get them after stressful situations, like a bath, and that’s OK. If it happens…

Q SUSAN ASKS… My next-door neighbor makes a habit of parking in front of my house and doesn’t move her car for days on end. A few years ago, I wrote a note letting her know that the front of my house is not her designated spot. I recently found out that my town has an ordinance against leaving cars on the street for more than 72 hours. I made a copy of it and sent it to her. Nothing gets through to her. What should I do? Ugh, Susan. I’m so sorry this is happening to you. Maybe try talking to her face-to-face. If that doesn’t work, then you’ve done everything possible. And that’s when you call 311 or your town’s parking authorities. You get an official person to…

#1 / Orzo with Shrimp and Olives ACTIVE TIME 30 MINUTES TOTAL TIME 30 MINUTES SERVES 4 ✓ Quick Cooking 1 cup orzo½ tsp. kosher salt, plus more for cooking orzo1 cup sliced sweet mini peppers¼ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped1 lb. peeled, deveined raw jumbo shrimp½ cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano2 tsp. lemon zest plus 3 Tbsp. fresh juice, divided1 cup store-bought tzatziki BRING a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil over high. Cook orzo until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain; rinse under cold water for about 30 seconds to stop cooking. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in salt. MEANWHILE, preheat broiler with oven rack 5 inches from heat. Place peppers,…

Readers Say… Uh, Yeah! “Dishes need to be lined up facing the same direction, utensils go in with the handles down, and nothing can be crammed in.” @LISASTONEREALTOR “If all the cutlery is facing the same direction and the plates are in descending order of size, it cuts down on unloading time.” @TIFF.BY.DESIGN “I’ve had ‘dishwasher loading optimization’ on my LinkedIn profile for about 10 years.” CHRIS, ONTARIO, CANADA Meh, Doesn’t Matter “When I don’t have to load it and, more importantly, unload it, it’s the right way, whatever way that is.” @LANAS_COACHING “Putting dishes in the dishwasher is the right way. Leaving them in the sink is the wrong way. After that, it’s all artistic expression.” MARIN, NEW JERSEY “There is no right way. But there are many, many…