Friday, August 02, 2019

Daily Notes- August 2


As summer heats up my appetite for stronger colors grows stronger.  So far, just making this little stack has been enough.  My eyes are "sticky" and I need lubricating drops and the drops make me feel the need to close my eyes and nap.  So not much is getting done.

We had sweet corn for dinner yesterday.  Very sweet and delicious.  I am going out today to buy more.  I think it's local and fresh.  Not trucked in from Florida or Georgia.  I often wonder why it's never trucked in from New Jersey.  So much closer and Jersey corn is wonderful.

I have a question for anyone Reading this blog.  Have you ever gotten one of the meals in a box that they show on tv?  Where everything you need to make a preselected (by you) meal is sent to you with cooking instruction, portion control etc.  I am not enthused by grocery shopping.  I sort of just want to get the three or four things on the list and get out.  I stand and look at the seafood and meat and just can't think of cooking any of it.  Too many decisions.

What I think I would really like making is mussels.  When we go to restaurants I always order them. In California the bowl of mussels came with a bowl of thin crispy french fries.  Which I never ate.

Well, Riley is feeling much more like "himself" this morning and is venting his displeasure --first with me and now with G.  We slept too long.  We are eating breakfast too slow.  He wants to go for his walk.  Or at least he wants me to go water the tomatoes so he can roll around on the lawn.  I am going to be done with the post right now and take him out to inspect the tomatoes and water them.  Then we'll go look at the peach trees.  And then I'll water the back deck plants.  I was working on cleaning spotted leaves off the tomatoes yesterday. Quite a few tomatoes but very dark green.  So it will be a long time before they are ready to eat.  You would think with the size of them and the heat we have had--that they would be way ahead of schedule.  You would think that.

3 comments:

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

i love reading along now with the image of YOU and your tomato plants to
go along with your thoughts....somehow, it's like i am standing behind
you are you type away, or as you go out to give water or say things to
Riley. It's a whole different experience somehow. Not sure how to
describe it.

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

as you type away

Diane Perin said...

Hi, Joanne! Yes, I do the meal in a box thing. I use Home Chef and really love it. (I tried Blue Apron but found that I just wasn’t crazy about the meals.). Here are the things I like about Home Chef:
* you can select how many and which meals you want for the week about 5-6 weeks ahead, and then change as needed up to about 5 days before your delivery date. You can get as many or as few meals per week as you want and it can be different every week.
* you can skip any week or week multiples or cancel any time, no long term commitment at all
* Meal options are more mainstream, basic food but different twists. Lots of Asian inspired stir fries and bowls which my daughter and I love. Some companies feature more unusual things, so depends on one’s taste I guess.
* produce is good quality, although the tomatoes are typical grocery store types — ie hard and not very ripe. I’ve never had them send wilted or veggies going bad.
* the preparations are simple, usually 30 min or less. They have caused me to cook differently than I usually have, which is a good thing. They have sometimes provided items I’ve never cooked before like different types of peppers.
* i love that you get just the amount you need of an ingredient... so no buying a big bottle of rice vinegar when you just need 3 tablespoons.
* I love opening the fridge and picking a bag. Deciding what to do for dinner is easy and you know you have everything you need. I do far less grocery shopping, which means I don’t find myself buying the impulse purchase items either.
* I know this doesn’t apply to you, but this has been FABULOUS for getting my daughter cooking. She now cooks one or more nights a week and I just say “pick a bag and make it”. She has Aspergers, I think you know, and has some odd anxieties about cooking. But this has gotten her past them... I think because she can look at the pictures, read the instructions and just follow. And some nights she just wants to be Sous chef and do the chopping and prep which makes the actual cooking a breeze for me.
* I like that there are vegetarian options and also quick options for really easy lunches and dinners, too.

Cons:
* there is a lot of packaging to deal with, almost all is recyclable, but it’s a lot of little containers and bags. A lot of things come in plastic bottles and jars which are great for storing craft supplies like paint, glitter, etc. BTW they pack well in ice, with more during hot weather.

Other info: I have twice had occasion to contact them with a problem... once, the protein item was totally missing, and another time the packet of shrimp was slightly torn (although securely in another outer plastic bag) so I was concerned it was spoiled or contaminated. Both times they unhesitatingly refunded the price of that full meal.

If you want to give it a try, I can have a discount coupon sent to you.
a friend of mine uses Sunbasket and it has many more vegetarian/vegan options. She loves it.