Hello Fresh Reviewed and Tips I've Learned

-Gardening tip
I had a bumper crop of garden this year.  The weather gave rain when needed and the grass stayed green well into the hot of summer. The green beans kept producing; I had more than I needed to freeze and a larger 4th picking than 1st picking.  No insect bore into the zucchini plant's main trunk and not a single tomato leaf was lost to the big ugly green tomato worms.



The basil grew three feet tall. While the tops were going to seed, I struggled to remember to snip off leaves for cooking.  I'd be in a hurry and not want to take the time to go out to the bed and get some, or it never entered my mind to add it to the dish I was making. One day I brought in more basil from the garden then I needed and decided to stick the extra stem in a shallow bowl of water by the stove.  Voilà!  No turning black or looking wilty.  I used it in my eggs in the morning.  It worked well in the fried zucchini, on top of the store bought pizza and in more creative places than I had thought to put it before.

-Fashion Tip
Always on the look out for ways to save money or be thrifty, I now buy my own nail polish and take it to the salon when I get a pedicure.  They use my bottle and  I can take it back home and do touch-up jobs to keep my toes looking good longer.

-Cooking in Vogue
How fun!  A friend gave me a free offer to Hello Fresh.  Their ads had beckoned me to try their convenience and imitate their lovely photos of food fare. I had never succumbed to the temptation, but now I had the opportunity to check out this spoil-me way of dining.

The big brown box was sitting on the porch the day it was scheduled to come.  Not knowing exactly what time of day it arrived, I wondered how well the meat survived a warmer than usual day in October. I eagerly slashed the packaging tape, opened the box and found two plastic wrapped large sheets of flexible insulation surrounding the inside contents.  My meal plan promised enough food for 3 meals for 2 people. Each meal's ingredients were in a separate bag, except for the meat.  Under the 3 meal bags was a flat cookie sheet size freezer ice pack. Under the ice pack was 3 packages of meat, exactly portioned for the recipe it went with. Under the meat, was a matching ice pack, followed by the bottom sheet of insulation.

Here's my review on the experience.

Thumbs Up to the freshness of the food, the ease of having each recipe's ingredients parceled out in the exact amounts and ready to use, the clear and easy to follow recipe instructions and how tasty everything was. It was fun to try-at least once.
Thumbs Down to the large carbon footprint this service leaves. If I allowed shipments to come weekly, which is the default frequency, I'd soon have enough insulation layers to make a mattress! And I wonder how many landfills are in overload with unfrozen ice packs rippling like white giant amebas.  My sandwich recipe ingredients included a cute little glass jar of just enough mayo to coat two buns.  And the lettuce greens came with an even cuter tiny glass jar of balsamic vinegar.  Let's count the ways I can clog the landfill. Any wonder the price is high for this convenience? Probably half of the cost is in the packaging.

Anyone else want to weigh in on a food service like this?  Does anyone use one on a weekly basis?
I'd love to get your feedback.

Good Night Tales-a review

The artwork in Good Night Tales is my favorite part of this book. The colors are bold with dark edges and the  characters are delightful. Something about the artist's style whispers mystery and playfulness. Very child-catching. (C.S. Fritz writes and illustrates this work)

Each of the 12 tales is a parable of a Bible story or reference.  I wasn't persuaded all of them readily identified the story they were meant to portray, but the discussion questions in the back of the book, make the parallels very clear and bring the stories into more focus. A few of them have no text, only pictures.

 My favorite tale is the "The Song of the Cricket".  Merton Sourwood was a good fiddle player... until Cricket came to town and outplayed him with his tiny fiddle. Jealous Merton destroys the little fiddle, only to find his playing gets worse and he does not receive the popularity he wanted.  Cricket surprises Merton by accompanying him with beautiful music Cricket plays by using his own two legs. Merton is humbled by Cricket's forgiveness and from then on they play music together.  Any guesses what passage this portrays?  It's an illustration of Phil. 2:3- Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.

While the book is beautifully done, it's full value will only be appreciated if parents or other adults will follow through with sharing the values of the Biblical perspective. This narrows the appeal of this book to Christian homes/settings that prize God's word, are constantly familiar with it and seek to apply it to all of life.

 I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.