BulgingButtons

Not bad for a fat girl

Tag Archives: Food


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Daily Prompt: Imitation/Flattery (homage to Dr. Seuss)

cat-in-the-hatI love sweets and treats and sodas and pop

I eat them up and don’t want to stop

They bulge my belly and give my teeth soft spots

But they taste so good they are hard to top.

Red sweets are good,

full of their dye

cinnamon bears, twizzlers, hot tamales, cherry pie.

Chocolate is best

creamy and rich,

but if you get hives

try not to itch.

Candies and sweets

Pie, cake, and treats

all of them tasty

but too many make you pasty.

Try real food instead,

and get out of your bed.

Get off of the couch

and go work off that pouch.

Walk, ride, or run,

soon you’ll find that it’s fun

you’ll work up a sweat

and get healthier yet!

Write a post in the style of (or simply inspired by) a favorite author.


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School Lunch

At my elementary school we had options. Every day the cafeteria offered two choices of nourishing lunches. Unit one was the standard hot lunch, and unit two was soup and a sandwich. Either one could be purchased for the whopping sum of fifty-five cents. I image my mother felt like her time and effort was worth considerably more than fifty-five cents, because I don’t remember ever, even once, taking a lunch from home. For some mysterious reason we owned a lunchbox, festooned with the likes of Tony the Tiger and Snap, Crackle, & Pop, but that lunchbox never entered the halls of ERS, at least not in my hand.

Pancakes-and-Sausage-iStockphotoMrs. F was the warden of the cafeteria. Although I’m sure she had nothing to do with the menu planning or food preparation, she was the woman with the microphone, so she was dubbed “the lunch lady.”  She was a large woman who gave the impression that she power lifted and hunted small defenseless animals in her spare time. She had an assistant, a tiny birdlike woman, who would simply appear without warning when you least expected her. Mrs. F was frightening, but the bird-woman was downright creepy.

In spite of the intimidating adult company, lunch was a welcome break. We ate real food from real plates with real silverware. There was nothing frozen or prepackaged, aside from the very occasional ice cream cup, served with a wooden spoon. The pancakes were another culinary treat. They were served with sausage and maple syrup, and in my memory they were delicious. Everyone loved Pancake Day. In fact the pancakes were so popular that ERS put on a yearly pancake breakfast. The smell of the sausage alone was intoxicating. The fact that sausage was barred from our house made it taste that much better.

58552School lunches have changed a lot over the years. Trays are cardboard or Styrofoam, making them difficult to tell apart from some of the food. There are some good options, but an awful lot of bad ones too, like the food formerly known as fish-sticks, now called “trout treasures.” At least now students have salad and yogurt options, along with the round, pre-packaged, crust-less peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Schools have to be careful, though, with food allergies, religious preferences, and nutritional guidelines. These constraints sometimes lead to weird outcomes, like the pairing of cucumber slices with my own beloved pancakes. Nowadays, the sausages are either turkey or soy, the syrup is reduced sugar, and the cucumbers? Well, they’re just wrong.


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The Devil, Karma, and Frito Pie

images-1You know those little angel and devil guys from the cartoons? The ones that sit on your shoulders? Well I think I have a pair of them hanging around me lately. Not only do I think I have them, I think they’re sparring like crazy. Recently it seems like when I do something positive, there’s something negative right on its heels. Maybe life is usually like that, but I’m just noticing it more, or maybe something is afoot in the cosmos.

Let me give you an example. The other day I did a favor for someone that involved a fair amount of time and effort. It wasn’t difficult, and I didn’t really mind doing it, but it did take a chunk of time that I would have rather spent doing something else. Regardless, I did it and was kind of patting myself on the back about what a nice person I was when I discovered, hours later, that I left my phone behind. Damn. It was nobody’s fault but my own. It took another hour to remedy the situation. Again, it wasn’t difficult, but it took time and effort. It made me think of the phrase, “no good deed goes unpunished.” Which I don’t even believe!

It got me to thinking. Is the universe attempting to achieve some sort of balance, or is it just me being an idiot?

The same has been true for my approach to diet and exercise lately. I’ve been doing my workouts with enthusiasm and gradually increasing their intensity. This is a good thing. I’ve also upped my intake of fresh fruits, and gotten in the habit of taking all my meds when they’re due. I used to forget doses, but I’ve changed the way I accomplish this task, and the new method has proven successful. I know what you’re thinking. So, what’s the problem? Well, it’s just that I can’t quite work out my portion control or say no to the delicious dinners my sweetheart has prepared. Recently we’ve enjoyed meatloaf, a shrimp boil, spaghetti, and fried chicken. It’s all delicious, and I’m truly grateful that he cooks. The thing is, though, that it’s so good that I have trouble limiting my intake of these wonderful foods.

And then there was the Frito Pie.69278

Have you heard of this? I hadn’t. And no,  it’s not made of Frito’s and pie, just so you know. The recipe is simple:

1. Frito’s

2. Canned Chili

3. Cheese

Heat the chili, pour over the Frito’s, and top with as much cheese as you can grate. O. M. G. Yeah, it was that good.

Seriously, this girl does NOT need Frito Pie in her life. At all. Ever. (So says the angel on the shoulder) But, DANG, it was so yummy (the devil is enthusiastically nodding and grinning).

Maybe this whole plus minus thing is all the universe’s way of reaching for balance. I can respect that, but right now I need to shake off that devil and challenge the status quo.