Thursday is almost Friday, right?

I don't know why some weeks feel so much longer than others.  This week should feel short since I worked from home Monday, Wednesday, and tomorrow...but no, it feels long.  And I don't know why I can't get to bed before 11pm these days.  I do know actually.  Evan.  Yup, I am blaming it on my son.  Ever since we moved he has had serious problems falling asleep and even when I know he's exhausted, it still takes him at least 30 minutes before he's asleep.  And since I stay with him until he falls asleep, that means for at least 30 minutes I am with him and not doing night time chores.  I decided a long time ago that I didn't want to let him cry himself to sleep and I believe that he shouldn't ever have to fall asleep alone (if he doesn't want to).  So, I realize that this is a consequence of that decision and I'm not complaining about it, I am just saying that he used to fall asleep in five minutes and now he doesn't.  I don't know if it was the trauma of moving or the confusion of vacation or what, but I hope our bedtime routine shortens soon!  And that he starts going to bed a bit earlier...instead of 9pm.  I really need more than 5.5 hours of sleep a night.

Yesterday he was obsessed with these prongs - he sat in this chair and played with them for longer than you would expect!

Yesterday was super busy at work and then I had a coffee date with a good friend.  Remember one of my 2014 commitments was to be a better friend?  Well, I started by calling some friends I hadn't seen for ages and making plans with them.  My friend Heather was first on that list.  I hadn't seen her for almost 9 months or so.  She was one of my best friends in high school and there is no reason we should have gone so long without seeing each other.  Coffee was fun, although Evan made it a bit of a challenge, and it was nice catching up.

It did mean that I didn't get my run in though.  I was going to go between work and coffee but I ran out of time.  So that means I am going today and tomorrow and Sunday if I want to get my runs in.  I think I am doing 4 today, so nothing too scary I hope.  I am running with my coworker and I think I've just about convinced two other coworkers to join us in the future.  We'll see if that ever happens!

You might be wondering what that is.  That is my favorite Christmas cookie, the candy bar cookie.  My mom sent me home with a few extras after Christmas and that was my last one.  It's a sad day when you eat the last Christmas cookie.  A sad day indeed.  I had to document the yumminess of that cookie and give it the respect it deserves.  Cookie, you will be missed.

And since this post is full of random bits of information, I will continue down the random path.  Yesterday I made a Hello Fresh meal.  I hadn't ordered a box in a while and then I forgot to pause my orders after Christmas so they sent me a box, but they sent it to the wrong address so I cancelled, but it was too late so they refunded my money and the box was shipped to my old address (that is an prime example of a run-on sentence).  I wasn't sure I would get it , but I did.  It wasn't the best box of food this time around, but it was ok.  On Monday I made a spicy shrimp with rice and that was good; however on Saturday I made a beef stroganoff that had no taste whatsoever.  Yesterday I made chicken kabobs with creamy leek risotto.  The kabobs where really good, they were marinated in a honey-olive-oil-spices mixture that turned out to be really good.  The leek risotto was interesting and not entirely delicious.  However, somehow the leeks permeated everything so all my clothes and bags smell like that risotto.  Not pleasant.  Go away leek smell!

Ok, that is all and I am tired...so adios!

Hope you have a great Thursday!!

Hello Fresh and some depressing news

Let's start with the depressing news.  It's not my depressing news and it's not even my business.  But I wanted to say something brief about it anyway.  One of my favorite bloggers is getting divorced.  I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, especially since I don't even know her, but I was taken by such surprise that I can't help but mention it.  The worst thing is, they seemed so happy.  The perfect couple.  It just reminded me that you have no idea what is going on in other people's lives.  Yeah, I only knew her through blogging and you can easily share only the best aspects of you life, so no one has any idea about the bad stuff.  However you can do that in real life too.  Do we really know what is going on in the lives of our friends and family? Who seems perfectly happy but really is walking around in a state of depression?  It's just another reminder to not covet the lives of others.  Even though our life may seem like a huge struggle at times, everyone struggles.  Even if they don't show it.  We have to trust that we are living the best life for ourselves.  And no one's life is perfect.

Ok, enough of the serious talk.

I now want to talk about something completely different.  A meal service.  A few weeks ago there was a Groupon for a meal delivery service calls Hello Fresh.  It was $35 for three meals a weeks for two people.  It sounded fun so I signed up.  And it turns out I love it!  My first meal box came on Wednesday and this is what it looked like.

It was left on my doorstep and had this bright green sticker on it.  When I opened it up I was excited to see the fun stuff inside.  On top were three beautiful recipe cards (so I could make the recipes on my own if I wanted).  The cards are large and very easy to read and follow.

Inside the "cooler" part of the box were all the ingredients divided by the meal.  Each meal had a bag and inside were the produce and spices needed to make each recipe.  Everything was labeled and already portioned out, for the most part.  There were some things, like onions, where they gave you the entire onion and you only needed to chop half of it.  Not a big deal though.

If you get the regular box, there are five meal options and you can pick three.  Usually it's three different types of protein, like fish, chicken, and steak.  They also have a vegetarian option, but they only have three meals for that each week so you don't get to choose.  The recipes always sound good, so it's probably not a big deal.  This week I got Oven-Fried Chicken, Pan-Seared Citrus Salmon, and Ginger Sesame Steak.  

Here is the salmon I cooked on Sunday night (I know I already showed this picture but I wanted to point it out again).

The thing I really like about this service is that you get complete meals.  I am not really great at fixing complete meals.  I tend to spend so much time on my main item that I don't have time/energy for side dishes.  So we'll have spaghettei or chicken curry with rice - but rarely do we have a protein, carb, and vegetable.  And with these meals, it's super easy.  They include the main item plus ingredients for side dishes.  And it's not too horrible to try and cook them all.  When I made the oven-fried chicken it came with  sauteed mushrooms and kale.  I NEVER would have ever made that (I hate mushrooms and kale), but I cooked it and ate it and it wasn't half bad.  The salmon came with a summer salad that included arugala, red onions, tomatoes, and green beans with a citrus dressing (which you made from fresh oranges and limes).  It was very delicous.  Even Ivan commented on the salmon and the dressing (he only ate the tomatoes).

So, what are the negatives?  The price.  I got my week on Groupon, but a regular week for two people costs $59.  It's not too pricey when you think you get three meals for two people (and they are good portions, the chicken breasts were large enough for both of us, and Ivan eats a lot), but it's a lot to pay.  I tend to spend about $120 a week at the grocery store and even if three of my meals are already paid for, it's still hard to make it out of there for much less.  If I used half of my grocery budget on Hello Fresh, I would only have $60 left for regular stuff.  Plus, there aren't usually left-overs from the Hello Fresh meals and that means I have to figure something else out for lunches.  Not the end of the world, but not the cheapest route.

The good thing is you can pause your shipments and not get them every week. I think I might still get them every once in a while, because they are good and make mealtimes more interesting.  It's a fun way to find new recipes and try new things...and the meals are healthy and quick. 

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Do you ever buy anything from Groupon?

Would you ever do a meal service?



P.S. I wasn't paid to do this review, it's just my own experience.