Savannah Hendricks's Blog, page 27

The Truth About Writers

Most of us are not story time alcoholics, but we must be sipping something
​Poorly written books piss us off
Great books motivates us
We look at everything from a story prospective (that saying, be careful or you will end up dead in a book…is true)
​Our stash of h​alf started stories that we stumble upon years later impress us or make us cringe
Procrastination and distractions are a part of the job, sometimes self-induced
Only writers truly understand the feeling a finished manuscript brings…so don’t try to understand, just jump up and down excitedly with us.

Appreciation Monday x2

Last week I missed appreciation Monday due to illness. So…

I was appreciative for

Soft Kleenex, Ricola, and yes….my baby blanket.

This Monday I am appreciative for using YES and NO and MAYBE when needed.

Let me explain.

I love to push myself to do as much as a I can. But recently, most recently with my flu I said NO to a lot of things instead YES. I am learning to use MAYBE when I actually mean it instead of in place of YES. And no I don’t mean when a girl says yes and really means no and vise versa. I mean inner voice conversations with myself and things that directly affect me and my health. Putting myself first. I have a long way to go, but learning and working on it is a huge step forward.

Weekend Health Tip

I love desserts, and I have a huge issue with snacking well after dinner. However, I find that if I brush my teeth I can’t just go and keep snacking. After dinner I will have dessert, but to keep from it being a long drawn out snack attack I will brush my teeth right away. I find this to be a great way to stop late night snacking that isn’t healthy.

Appreciation Monday

It was not until they went up (thanks to a handsome man) that I realized how the little things really do matter to me.

Knowing they do is nothing new, yet once they happen I am even more aware of how much they mean to me.

Before I moved out of my father’s house, 15 yrs ago, I had been clipping design ideas.

Once I moved out I was sorely mistaken that I would get to have what I wanted.

It has taken far to long to get something as simple as curtains that I want, as anything small was never “allowed” and places were not mine.

There was a 6-8 month time period when I got a few things that I wanted and life was good. Times like that were short lived.

But that doesn’t matter now, even if anger pops into my head, questions and trying to find reasons why I was naive still linger.

I will focus more-so everyday on the present and the future. And today I will appreciate my lovely and heart-warming curtains that make me feel good about many things.

Healthy Eating Tip for the Weekend

Don’t do it…

Don’t go to the grocery store hungry…or full.

I can’t tell you how many things I have bought both healthy and unhealthy because I went to the grocery store when I was hungry. A few days later I would open my frig up and question why I had an item that I didn’t recall the purpose for it.

*why did I buy four different kinds of potatoes?

*why do I have rice cakes?

*what was I planning to make with zucchini?

I can’t tell you how many times I have gone to the grocery store too full and didn’t buy enough food for the week. Come Wednesday I have nothing to eat and end up eating mac & cheese for two days so I don’t go to a drive-thru.

*why do I have 1 mushroom?

*why am I out of milk?

Make sure that you go grocery shopping one day before you run out of food.

I plan menus that cover Sunday through Friday night. Of course we all have nights when we go off the menu but this prevents some common downfalls we can have.

 

Appreciation Monday

I am appreciative for photos.

While memories are always nice, often times photos can capture more than just a memory. They can capture a landscape, a moment, and most importantly something you may not otherwise see.

You have heard the saying “I love how she/he looks at him/her.”

That is something that a photo can capture.

Much like the photo below, which captured how I felt (2003) after seeing a snake on a hiking trail!

 

Healthy Tip for the Weekend

While you put together your grocery list for the weekend pick out a fruit or vegetable that you have never had before and incorporate it in one of your weekly meals or snacks. Look through your local grocery ads to see what is on sale that you have never had, or leave a spot on your list to try a new veggie or fruit. It could be as simple as adding broccolini as a side dish, to switching out your gala apple for a honeycrisp apple.

Results of The 7 Day Poetry Challenge

I failed….

Failed immensely.

Turns out for me, at least, that poetry comes from moments of inspiration, thoughts and visions.

It doesn’t come from prompts given on a daily basis.

I pushed myself to write the four sentences each day, it was not easy. Even picking the pictures myself.

This challenge taught me, at least for my writing “ways” that it just has to happen. It has to build and take time. I need to be focused or surprised.

 

Appreciation Monday – Pfaumenkuchen – Part 2

I am appreciative for handed down family desserts! I used to stand in my Grandma’s kitchen in Minnesota and watch her make pfaumenkuchen, she refereed to no recipe card. I then watched my father make it, again no recipe card. Last year at this time I went from hand punching dough onto a cookie sheet to a pie crust. This year I reworked it again by changing the pie crust to a wheat pie crust. Today I share the recipe with my visitors, enjoy.

Pfaumenkuchen – (German fruit dessert)

12-15 Italian plumes/prunes (available in the last weeks of August, first weeks of September only)

1 wheat pie crust

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

6 tablespoons butter (I use 4 tablespoons of butter and/or coconut oil chilled)

****If you have a favor crumble topping you can use that recipe instead.

Slice the plums in half, remove pit, layer on the bottom of the pie crust. Once layered, cut additional plums into half then quarter. Make sure to cover a good portion of the crust.

This is how they should look when you cut them open. Slightly firm and green.

Mix the flour, sugars, cinnamon, and butter. The butter will help it brown during cooking and helps crumble stick together slightly.

Bake at 350 degrees until juices bubble, usually about 30-45 mins depending on your oven.

Healthy Tip for the Weekend

The health benefits to lemon water can fill a grocery shopping list. While it usually mentions warm lemon water, some prefer it cold (or can only drink it cold). If this is the case for you, you might like this tip.

Take an ice-cube tray and squeeze fresh lemon into the squares, takes about 3 lemons to fill an entire tray. You will only fill each square less than 1/2 an inch. Carefully fill the rest up with water. Freeze. You now have fresh lemon water along with your ice. Simple and fresh each time.

*Just remember to label the lemon-ice tray.