Archive for the ‘Writing Prompts’ Category

What’s In My Pantry?

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

I’m trying to make a shift in the eating habits of my family (self included). We’ve given up on the sugary juice packs, that have no juice in them, and switched to bottled water and sugar free alternatives. I’ve replaced the fruit cups they enjoy in their lunches with fresh bananas and grapes. I’m sneaking whole grains in where I can with the waffles they enjoy from the toaster at breakfast and the bread that I make The Boy’s prerequisite peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with.

What I’ve learned from this shift, other than it’s about as easy as turning the Titanic around, is that it’s 1) more expensive to eat healthily and 2) there aren’t as many healthier choices out there as you’d imagine. With my own changes in diet, I’m eating less processed foods and frozen entrees and more lean proteins and fresh vegetables. Chicken isn’t cheap. Neither is enough broccoli & string beans for a week. Since I’ve cut back on the garbage and increased the good stuff, my grocery bill has nearly doubled. This seems wrong in so many ways. It’s like I’m being punished for trying to feed my family healthy meals.

It is mildly encouraging that I’m beginning to see more and more healthy alternatives available to those looking to cut back on sugar and looking to add more whole grains. But I wish someone could tell me why the food producers don’t just leave the crappy stuff off the cart and only provide what’s best for us. It drives me nuts that they get away with pumping us full of preservatives & additives that we don’t need and aren’t doing any of us any good. It drives me even more insane to admit that those same additives make that Pop Tart taste soooo much better than it’s healthier alternative. It’s almost like a scavenger hunt each week in the grocery store trying to seek out the best choices without sacrificing too much in flavor.

But I’m not giving up. I’ll continue to hunt and seek out the best deals on the best foods for my family. I want them to learn that they can make better choices and still enjoy all that is out there available to them. My boy asks me things like, “Is macaroni & cheese bad for you?” I tell him it’s bad if that’s all you eat for dinner every single day but that it’s ok to have every now and then. Ditto for ice cream (the no sugar added variety!) and the occasional piece of candy. Everything in moderation.

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Posted in Daily Life, Parenting, Writing Prompts |

Writing From Prompts

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

There was a time when I would write daily about nearly anything that crossed my mind. It could have been something as silly as shopping for shoes or as serious as a trip to the emergency room with my son. I wrote because it was simply what I did, and I enjoyed it even when it was mundane.

Lately though it seems I’ve started to self-censor what I write. I’m shying away from the heavy stuff yet also holding back on the trivial daily life entries as well. The middle ground I find myself in has started to feel watered down and absent of oompfh (for lack of a better word).

Some nights I sit in bed with the laptop perched on my legs and just stare at the blank screen, willing some inspired thought to leak out through my finger tips. I may tap out a few sentences then decide I’m too tired or it would take to long to fully flesh out the thought so I give up and shut the computer off.

A while back I participated in NaBloPoMo where you’re encouraged to write something every day for an entire month. They give optional themes for each month but by no means are you required to follow them. Just write something. Every day. For a whole month. Yeah, that got old after about the 14th day. Overall the exercise was good because it really made me more aware of the thoughts that float around in my head all day long, which ones could be forgotten in an instant, and those that were jotted down on paper for a blog post later on.

While writing something every day would be a bit ambitious for me at this time, I do want to get back in the habit of writing more frequently that I currently am. I don’t remember how I stumbled up on Plinky, but I am excited that I did. Plinky gives a different prompt every day. Some will end up as a silly, short, mundane post, but after checking out their archive, I’m sure others will stump me and have me scratching my head, dazed at how I plan to answer it coherently.

My first prompt will go up tomorrow or the next day (again – not forcing myself every day, just more often) and hopefully will continue every other day or so. How long will it last? Who knows. Maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe until I am feeling a bit more inspired and can come up with more interesting topics on my own. And as those topics come up – then Plinky will go away as needed. To help me sort the entries, I’ll tag them as “writing prompts.”

Now then…my first prompt: What’s In Your Pantry?

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Posted in Daily Life, Writing Prompts |