In Life This Week, I went out one time in the last 7 days to go through the drive-thru at Walgreens and pick up a couple of prescriptions.
Life According To Ivy:
Ivy doesn’t deviate from her routine. She plays, she eats, she sleeps. And in between she likes to stare out the windows and watch birds flit around.
Ivy is also the bug watcher. If there’s a bug in here, Ivy will find it.
Ivy is not a snuggle-bug, unfortunately. But every evening she loves to sit in my chair with me and be combed while I stream a TV show.
During the day her favorite spots to sleep is on the couch or in my chair at the foot of the recliner.
And at night I don’t know where she sleeps unless she’s sleeping in my bedroom on the stack of quilts. Occasionally while I’m reading at night she will take a nap on the bed.
At the moment Ivy is on the living room cupboard watching out the window for birds in the bushes, one of the delights of her day.
Freshly Subscription:
I tried getting meals delivered to my door through Freshly. The meals were pretty good. But probably not as good as the cost. However, you should figure in that you don’t have to go shopping for food and someone else cooks it.
Yes, it was very convenient to get meals to my door and then just microwave them for a few minutes.
What was not convenient was that the big box the four meals came in was very heavy to carry down to the dumpster with what they had wrapped the food in to keep the meals cold.
With every step to the dumpster that box seemed to get heavier.
Freshly Review:
Were the meals tasty? They were good, but not quite what I want to pay for on a continuing basis.
Was the price per meal too high? Well, if I had to buy every ingredient for their meals, the price probably would be in line.
What was my biggest complaint? Carrying the heavy box to the dumpster.
So I canceled after one week.
I enjoyed the meals from the grocery store, but fear they were high in calories. And I sure don’t need to gain more weight.
There was a time when I cooked every night. It was when my daughters were growing up. But now they’re all grown up with families of their own.
Now at my age I want simple.
My Daily Routine:
I spend the daytime hours working on this blog. There’s always something that needs doing. Optimizing posts for SEO. Redoing old posts for SEO. Taking and editing photos. Coming up with post ideas, then writing them.
I try to keep up with what’s new in blogging, Google and their ever-changing algorithms, etc. Then you’ve got to keep up with expenses for taxes, etc.
There’s always something to do to maintain a blog on a regular basis.
I have been tempted to try some meal subscriptions. Freshly actually sounds like one I should look into for my son. He eats too much fast food while away at school. Love the pics of Ivy!
Here in Ponchatoula in Louisiana we are still without power from Ida. The heat and the upheaval have left my husband and me too exhausted to do much about cooking at all. Mostly living on sandwiches. Maybe when our electricity comes back on we will perk back up. At 78 and 83 we are just too old for hurricanes any more.
I tried one of those home delivery meal services once only because I have a friend who relies on these and she had a free coupon code to give to a friend for a week. It wasn’t for us, that’s for sure. While the chicken and the vegetables were fresh, the sauces and things that went with the dish you were supposed to cook were all full of artificial ingredients and a ton of sodium. We also eat organic meat and veggies whenever we can, and none of these items were organic. The packaging was also a huge waste and terrible for the environment. Not only was there a huge box to deal with like you mentioned, but everything was packaged in a ton of packaging material. We recycle what can be recycled, but still a huge waste, especially the stuff that couldn’t be recycled.
I don’t find it hard to cook for just the two of us, or even just myself on the evenings my husband is working. It’s easy to make simple things like chicken breasts in the Crockpot and then have it for a few meals. A meatloaf can be made and eaten for several meals, too. Homemade soups are so easy and can be frozen in individual portions. My mom is 81 and lives alone and cooks all her own meals, all very healthy. She makes stir-fries with lots of veggies or big salads or black beans mixed with veggies.
Sometimes a simple BLT sandwich or cheese and crackers with fresh fruit will do. Or a sweet potato sprinkled with nuts and a teeny bit of butter.
Have a good week!
Nice, easy going subject matter today. What is SEO?
It is search engine optimization. You want Google to find you when someone does a search. You have to optimize your content with keywords, etc., so you are on their radar. It takes awhile to do!
I happen to love sandwiches and it’s what I’ve been having in the evenings for about a week now. Can’t beat it for simplicity. I have scrambled eggs and sauted frozen veggies in the morning, broccoli, green beans, just a few little chunks of potato, onions, and red peppers, cooked with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, with a smattering of Velveeta cheese shreds. No toast because I’m saving that serving of bread for my sandwich of smoked turkey, cheese, dill pickles, mayo at night. A glass of milk would be so good with it, but except for a little cheese, can’t live without cheese, I’m staying away from dairy. If I get a craving in the afternoons I make a smoothie from almond milk, and frozen blueberries and frozen banana slices. I truly don’t spend much time thinking about what I’m going to eat and my grocery order rarely varies from one week to the next. I love good food but it seems my appetite is exceeded only by my laziness. Thank you so much for the work you put into your blog every day, Brenda. The more I see of other people’s boring blogs the more I appreciate how hard you work.
I do complain a little (well maybe a lot) about making meals, especially suppers, my husband likes fairly bland food, I don’t want anything highly spiced but I do like more taste than he does. He doesn’t mind if he eats the same meal for a week, I do, I like some variety but I don’t want to have to make two different meals. He would be happy for me to order in but I have to admit I am a very fussy eater. The meal we both love is stir fry. Onions, mushrooms, broccoli, peppers, cashews. over pasta and then smothered in a good tomato sauce, with garlic bread. I have only just discovered that there is a lot of protein in pasta which is good for us being plant based. I have decided that I might order a couple of meals in for him and then make something just for me.
Hi Wendy, what pasta are you eating that’s high in protein? Are you eating the chickpea pasta (Banza brand), by chance? That’s the only variety I’m aware of that’s actually high in protein. Regular pasta is low in protein.
Brenda, I know you put a lot of thought and time into your posts, and I enjoy reading them so. In a future post, could you talk about area rugs? I need a 5 x 7 in front of my brown couch. I have been on Amazon for days and for the life of me, I cannot narrow my choice down to one rug. I know that I need something light, like ivory or beige, since my couch is dark. I have looked at patterned rugs, sisal rugs, flat weave rugs, you name it. I saw one similar to yours but it was gray…Chester gray, I think it was. Wish they had it in cream. Anyway, hope you will consider doing a rug post in the future. Ivy is so beautiful. I can’t imagine life without a cat or dog in it. Have a great holiday!
The rug I ordered for my living room, I thought it was cream or beige, turned out it was gray too.
I haven’t tried any of the meal home delivery services. It just seems like I’m letting somebody else pick what I should be eating, and if I don’t like it (like all the spices I see advertised as coming with some meal kits), then I won’t eat it and I’ve wasted money. My tastes are simple and I mostly stick to making easy dishes for myself from chicken and ground beef and in winter hearty stews with beef tips and thick gravy that will keep well in the freezer divided into individual servings. Today is Labor Day, but no parade against this year because of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. I’m laboring, cutting the front lawn, trimming the grass with a new battery-operated clippers, deep cleaning the bathroom and kitchen. Yesterday it was the backyard. It really is true that a woman’s work is never done!
Little Ivy is so cute with her personality. Glad you have her to keep you company. Have a good holiday today.
Everything you write is interesting – whether it is about a slice of life, adventures with Ivy, or some other topic. Blogging really is a full-time job. From production to presentation a lot happens in the background. Thanks for doing this.
I always enjoyed the posts where you cooked a crockpot meal and froze the remaining for another night. It won’t be long and you will do that again to give you tasty meals at home. I understand not wanting to cook and then I go into a frenzy where I make lots to have leftovers. Today I will make a new to me taco pie recipe using crescent rolls for the base so more leftovers to nuke on busy nights.