In the Beginning...

Our life is frittered away by detail ... simplify, simplify. ~Henry David Thoreau

Every year I teach Transcendentalism in English class. During this unit I challenge students to live simply for one week. No TV, or video games, or internet, or cell phone, or iPod. They can choose any or all of these things to give up. The goal is for them to spend time outside, in nature, just Being.

I don't know if it does anything for them, but it really does something for me. I realize that I take a lot of things for granted and that when I get back what I gave away, I am amazed at how wonderful, new, and fresh those things are.

In the spirit of simplifying, of making my life better in some way, I've decided to start the For-Granted Diet. Simplifying eating. Taking away all I take for granted--the desserts, the meat, the luscious delicacies I live for but eat faster than you can blink.

It's not really a diet for losing weight. It's a diet for simplifying and appreciating what we in the United States are so used to taking for granted. It's a diet that will allow me to look at my life, and my food, in a new, fresh, exciting way.

If you're a vegetarian, this could be the place for you; though I am definitely not one.

If you're sick of your menu, this could be the place for you; I definitely am sick of mine. The mac-n-cheese for the boys, meat and potatoes for me...

If you're tired of snacking on junk and not being able to stop, this could be the place for you; it's definitely the place for me.

I'm not promising answers. Heck, I'm looking for them myself. What I can promise is a journey. Maybe a journey of self-discovery, maybe a journey of new, interesting foods. Whatever it is, it will be a journey, of that I can offer a guarantee.