Instead of Shoppertainment

Ever heard of “Shoppertainment”? No? Well it’s when people are bored and choose shopping as their entertainment. Up until recently I believed this term to be mainly an American trend; however I’m beginning to think we are exactly the same. Being that I visit a large shopping mall about once every five years I am able to notice the difference in the amount of people shopping from one time to the next. The last time I went to a Westfield I was shocked given that Australians are forever being told that our retail sector is struggling, the place was absolutely packed!

The question I ask myself every time I go to a large shopping mall is “Why are all these people (and their families) here?”. They are there for shoppertainment. I’d rather eat fried toad than go to a large shopping mall every weekend. But apart from eating fried toad here are some other things we prefer doing over hangin' out at the mall.

Walk the dog

Go on a picnic with family or friends

Go for a hike

Go fishing

Batch cook dinner – for the nights where there is little time

Batch bake – for when unexpected guests pop over

Read a book

Gardening

Go for a run

Work on my blog

Build lego with the kids

Take the kids to the playground or bike park

Finish that job you never have time to finish

Have people over for a potluck dinner or just nibbles and a nice chat

Meditate

Play board games

Visit the museum or art gallery

Visit the library – free books people!

Visit a friend or elderly relative

Create a vegetable garden

Make terrariums or another crafty project

Help out a friend or family member in need

Yoga

Declutter

Clean the house

And there are thousands of other things we can all be doing rather than just being another mindless consumer and teaching our children to also be mindless consumers.

Comments

The Simplest and Best Chicken Broth

INGREDIENTS 1 whole chicken (free range or organic preferred) 2 carrots, chopped 4 celery stalks, chopped 1 zucchini, chopped 1 onion, chopped 4 cloves of garlic, chopped half a bunch of parsley, chopped 1 tbsp Sea Salt or Pink River Salt Pepper Olive oil METHOD Heat oil in a large saucepan and boil a full kettle. Sauté carrots, celery, zucchini, onion and garlic until lightly brown. Add chicken, parsley stalks and salt to the pan and lightly brown. Pour boiling water in the pan. When the saucepan begins to boil turn the heat down low and put lid on. Simmer for 2-3 hours then remove bones from the chicken. The best way to do this is by pulling the whole carcass out and putting in a large bowl. Then use tongs to take meat off the bone. If you want just broth then leave the chicken out and add the rest of your parsley. If you want to make chicken soup, add the chicken back to the broth. If you’re going the soup option you can add more veggies and ...

Rest, Me Time and Self-Care

With Mother’s Day just gone the topic of rest, me time and self-care are an important topic for us all to talk about. As Mother’s we are told how valuable and integral we are to our families. And that is completely true, however I think it has led us to believe that our families are unable to survive without us. Even for a couple of hours. And even though, on an intellectual level, we know that our families can survive without us temporarily, how is the guilt? Anyone not feeling it? Well I’m here to tell you that there is nothing, and I mean nothing that is more important than your health, especially your mental health! Rest, me time and self-care are absolutely essential for a Mum’s mental health. In nearly 20 years working as a Naturopath there is one word that is perceived as particularly offensive. Rest. When a person (any person) is struggling physically or emotionally, often rest will be one of the prescriptions. If only I could take photos of people’s face...

Stress and Anxiety

I recently went through a time of acute anxiety which was confusing and very scary. The reason it was confusing was because I had no real reason to be anxious, however it was there and it was very real. My heart would start to race and I’d become extremely anxious about something quite trivial, to the point of tears at times. After a few days of feeling sorry for myself and struggling on I thankfully had one logical thought “I’m going to try as many things that I know help with stress and anxiety and see how I go”. It literally came down to making a list of things that are proven to reduce stress and anxiety. And because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only who suffers from stress or anxiety I’m going to share that list here. Meditation, Breathing and Mindfulness Whether you refer to it as meditation or mindfulness, focusing on the breath for as little as 10 minutes a day can help calm the body drastically. Meditation, mindfulness and other breathing techniques have been prov...

SIMPLE HEALTHY FRUGAL

Search This Blog