Small Stuff
I'm back to just four kids.
My little visitors went home yesterday afternoon, so now I'm back to having just my four.
So, today is our first day back to routine (thus the miscellaneous post today!)
My kids were super helpful with our visitors, especially Sonia and Zoe. In fact, I've decided that ideally, you should have two kids, then wait about 5-8 years and then have a couple more kids. That way your first crop of kids are at perfect age to play with the second crop. 😉
One fun thing about little kids: they get so excited about the small things. Like standing and waiting to see which elevator door would open first. Or pressing the buttons on the elevator.
(Actually, now that I think about it, Sonia and Zoe STILL like to press the buttons on elevators. Heh.)
People aren't sticking with meal-kit services.
I thought this article about services like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh was fascinating. Apparently, a lot of people are signing up and then dropping the service within a fairly short time frame.
It'll be interesting to see what happens to these services over the long haul. I know they're valuable for a segment of the population, but I wonder if that segment is big enough to keep these companies going.
(Why I haven't signed up with Blue Apron/Hello Fresh)
I got some better LEDs from Costco!
I returned the ones I hated for a refund and picked up a small pack of soft white LEDs. These are far warmer than the daylight bulbs I had and yet they're not too yellow.
I give them a thumbs up.
I also bought an LED bulb from Aldi yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.
I bought my last pack of breathing strips.
My nose surgery is less than 30 days away, which means this pack should be the very last one I have to buy.
Whee!
I turned on my heat today.
A week ago, we were sweating and temps were in the 80s...but this morning when I woke up, it was 33 degrees outside, and it was pretty chilly in our house too.
So, on went the heat.
We usually never make it this far into October with running the heat pump. And even though I turned it on now, I think there are still a number of days ahead in the forecast where it won't run much.
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And now I am off to drink a mug of hot tea. And probably put on a sweatshirt.
P.S. In case you were having trouble getting the Audible free trial link to work yesterday, here's a fresh link for you. (affiliate link)
(Email subscribers, you'll have to click on over to the blog to access this link.
My husband and I use Blue Apron and I was just talking to my friend (another user) about how much it's helped us. I work full time and don't have time to go grocery shopping except on the weekends. Menu planning has never been my strong suit so blue Apron has saved us money in the long run. I realize it's not for everyone but it's definitely been great for us, and we no longer waste nearly as much food (we haven't wasted a meal yet!) which was an issue previously.
I have had multiple friends tell me they wish I could just shop for them (I do know how to find the deals and menu plan around them) and then cook it all up for them because it causes so much stress in their lives. So, I can see that there are those that find value in those services. It isn't something I want or need, but the appeal seems clear to me. Especially for anyone in a time crunch.
I read an article recently about some issues Blue Apron is having with their packing and distribution center...the one in NC, I think? It was interesting. The scale of what they are doing is insane.
I know. It must be a logistical nightmare to produce all of these meals and deal with all this perishable food! I'm amazed they manage.
Do you all have Hy-Vee's where you live? I'm part of a Facebook group that gets together once a month and assembly line preps freezer meals then we swap and pay for the groceries used (no extra fees). Hy-Vee does all the shopping, most of the chopping, clean up and provides the space. It's PHENOMENAL! And I feel like it's very cost effective. I spent $120 last night for 10 meals (mostly main dish parts which I'll pair with a fresh veggie and rolls or an easy side) and some of the meals will feed my husband and I twice on nights we don't have kids (blended family). So that's about $12/meal for a family of four.
That's a pretty cool concept!
The Mormons used to do something similar with their Bishop's Pantries, but IIRC, the FDA shut them down, in part due to pressure from Big Grocery. If this Hy-Vee program is available near you, get it while the gettin's good.
So sweet of you to be able to take care of your friend's children!
I have looked into the meal subscriptions, when I see links here and there. I think they are very expensive per meal! I think that it would be great for a couple who both worked outside the home - a homemade meal without the fuss of having to think about and gather ingredients. But then, you still have to cook it. Also, as someone who tries to keep the amount of trash down, I think those boxes create a lot of trash with all their little bottles and packets and such. I don't see these businesses lasting too long, actually. Kind of like the places that popped up in the early 2000's where you could go and prepare your own freezer meals. They had all the ingredients chopped and prepared and you just had to go and assemble them. They were convenient but expensive. And the end result was something that people still had to cook at home. When a meal is just as expensive as eating out I think people will choose to eat out.
You know, I hadn't thought of those in a while, but yeah, it seems like those prep-and-take-home places have all but disappeared!
My friend, a mommy blogger wrote a post about dream dinners. She's a foodie ( worked at Food network) so she was not impressed by many of the meals( canned soup, casseroles, etc)
Blue Apron is a great option for my friend. She's a cancer survivor, needs to lose weight for her post-treatment health, likes to eat healthy, has a miniscule kitchen, and doesn't have much experience cooking. BA brings it all to her door and tells her what to do. It expands her horizons and she has healthy meals at her fingertips.
I'm sure you enjoyed your little visitors and I'm sure you also enjoyed getting back to the routine. I absolutely love it when my grandkids are here but I like being in my settled routine, too.
I work with someone who does a different service that is like Blue Apron. Sun or Sunshine something? She got it for quite a few weeks, but I haven't seen the box getting delivered lately. She had it delivered to work since she lives an hour from work and no one would be home to receive it at her apartment. As a young college graduate, she enjoyed exploring the cooking methods and new foods, but I think from some comments she's made, she's tightened her budget since summer, so she may be trying cooking and shopping all on her own, now. I'm sure it works well for some people, but since my workday lunch is always leftovers, which these meals won't always provide, and I have done a lot of my own exploratory cooking in 37 years, I don't see it having much benefit to me. I also like to support my local farmers and buy direct from several farms.
The surgery is just about a month away! Wow, let the countdown begin. Here's hoping it goes super well.
I have three boys with fairly big age gaps, 17, 10.5, and 2, and seeing the differences in what they enjoy and mimic from watching the older brother is fun to watch.
We're at the "I'll stay home", " I'll push the buttons on the elevator", and "we're going bye bye" stages. 🙂
My siblings were 11, 8, and 2 when I was born. My parents DID have one set of kids, waited a while, and then had #3 (a happy accident, I think, who is funnily enough the most wonderful kind nicest oddball of all of us), and then I think they had me to keep her company. But I'm closest to the oldest one!
I think the meal kit phenomenon is because many of these services offer big discounts on the first month's box and then charging full price on subsequent months. I think they would be more successful if they catered to a crowd concerned with affordable, healthy meals. Paying $75 a month for 3-4 meals just isn't affordable for most people.
Oh my gosh, 33 degrees? It must really feel like fall! In Texas we're still hitting the mid-80s mark, so our A/C is still on. Boo.
Is this the AC in the ~new~ house?
Any thoughts about the new mattress yet? I'm getting married in June and we are looking at mattresses and I wondered what you thought about yours. No rush though, I know those foam ones can change over time, so I don't want you to feel like you need to review it before you are ready.
We are in Glenpool, OK and used HelloFresh for several months. Not to save time, since I'm retired and my husband owns his own business and works from home quite a bit. But, we were wondering if it would save money in the long run...and it did NOT! We had the Vegetarian meals and honestly, the ingredients were not all that fresh! We eat mostly veggies, fruit, chicken and fish anyway. But...bottom line...sine it didn't save money (nor time, actually), we cancelled after a couple months.
I subscribed to (paid for) Hello Fresh on behalf of my mom and dad last year. I live 4 hours away and could not make meals to bring them. They had hit a rough patch in their health, and getting out to grocery shop was difficult. It was helpful to them for a period of ativetime, but it was a help to them. Sadly, they thought the recipes were too "yuppie" so made their own recipes with some of what was in the box.
One negative, the packaging, insulation, cold packs, and huge boxes create an enormous amount of trash! It is the opposite of environmentally friendly. They tossed all the packaging in their garage, and I helped them dispose of it when I went up to visit them, so I saw it in all its wasteful glory.
I'm glad you found some better lights! We had bought 8 LED flood lights from Home Depot (and those suckers are EXPENSIVE) and hated them--they just did not dim nearly enough. I took them back and got some from Costco instead, which worked much better. They were the same "kind" of bulb; the only difference was the Costco ones had a slightly lower lumens rating.
What a delight to read that today. Sometimes I feel sad that we've been TTC for over 4 years, and we've had nothing but miscarriages. *If* I am pregnant now (too early to test), my kids will be 7 and 10 when the baby is born. (being an optimist here...had testing done and there is "nothing" wrong with me. Supplementing with progesterone just in case that was it (I have had tests with 5 and under).
I'm glad that'll be "perfect." I know you could have easily left that part out, but maybe it was from God just for me. 🙂
Aww, I'm so sorry that you've had so much heartbreak. Sending you lots of love, and I hope a new little one is on the way for you soon, soon, soon.
A friend an I were talking yesterday about her subscription to Home Chef. She and her husband are empty nesters, don't like leftovers, and like the fact that they don't have to figure out what to make for dinner. They are enjoying their subscription and feel they'd pay much more eating out. I think she said it works out to about $8.75 per individual meal serving. I silently wondered about the packaging waste (and the cost).
More random thoughts:
Dear SD was gifted with a meal service after her first baby. It saved her from shopping, but she still had to cook the food. We were there for ten days, making over their new condo, so long hours away from their temporary quarters (and grandbaby, alas). It was amazing to come home to such delicious meals. She said it exposed her to some new things and that she would apply what she'd learned to her usual cooking once the subscription expired, but not renew. My observation was that a lot of the meals were overly elaborate, and I'm a bit of a foodie. Excellent point on the trash, too.
I volunteer at the library. I'm careful on entry/exit because I don't want to accidently deprive the littles of their much-anticipated turn to push the button to open the door. Elevators are a close second. Always adorable to watch their excitement.
I, too, used to work at Nordstrom. One day a little guy dashed into an open elevator and pushed all.the.buttons. Of course, the elevator stopped between floors and we couldn't get him out. We called the elevator company and the service guy dropped everything to get there lickety-split, because he had a little guy of his own. All ended well, but I've never forgotten the care and concern of the elevator guy.
Our utility company wastes money each month by sending out a full color statement showing you how your house compares to your neighbors. Today, it says we used 105% more than the "average" home of similar size in my neighborhood. Huh. Let's see, we live in a newer (10 years vs 50 years), better constructed home with energy-efficient appliances, didn't use the A/C once this summer, haven't succumbed to the heater's siren call this Fall and all our lights are LED's. I've decided that it's becauses we are four adult-size persons, we cook at home and are homebody-ish. Yeah, it's good to have black-belt frugality skills. I can pay the utility bill without concern because I know I'm saving money in many directions, especially by being at home, as odd as that sounds. It's concerning, but good not to have to worry about it too much.
End of brain dump.
Identical experience here with the energy thing...I figured that it's because I cook and also because we are home more than the average household, due to homeschooling!
That makes me feel so much better! Thanks, FG!
Since I am a senior citizen I use the one line shopping at HyVee. they shop and deliver for $4.95. It is a great service for me. I sometimes over shop because it is so easy to put it in my cart.