Quote of the Week: Mister Rogers

Quote of the Week:  Mister Rogers

mister fred rogers

There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.

Mister Rogers


Normally I would take the time to find a witty t-shirt or a piece of art to hang on your wall to go along with whatever quote I’m feeling inspired to share with you guys, but I just don’t have it in me this morning.

I also don’t normally give you any reference to why I share the quotes that I do.  Most of them are self explanatory anyway.

My heart hurts.  I am normally a positive person.  I always look for what can be salvaged from any situation.  At the very least learn a lesson from – insert calamity here – and find a way to make our lives better from it.

Unless you live under a rock like I do most of the time you know what’s happening in our world right now.  What I’m finding the most difficult to swallow down though is people’s very casual use of the things that are happening as a political hammer.  It literally makes my stomach hurt.  And it makes me turn them off.  Which defeats the purpose of what they are doing.  Or not I suppose.  Like feeds off of like.  But if their goal is to change someones mind to their way of thinking, it is failing miserably, at least for me.  I truly believe that you get back what you put out into the world.  Which is why people who are unhappy continually reap what they sow into the world.  That’s a very blanket statement and I HATE blanket statements, so I’m sorry.  But I also believe it to be true, so I guess I’m really not.

Be kind.  Just be kind.  The only way I have ever seen anyone change their mind about something is by having an actual conversation with a person.  Not repeating a news report, or giving a stern lecture, or a from on high sermon that condescends to another human; an actual sit on the front porch conversation.  And if you feel like you didn’t change that person’s perspective at all after having a true conversation with them – shake the dust from your feet and move on.  Hitting them with your hammer may make you feel better but I highly doubt it will give you the results you want.

Having conversations that change the world is awesome in my book, but I always want to be able to take some sort of action.  If you want to feel like you are actually doing something here is a list of ways you can help the people of Afghanistan.  I haven’t vetted most of these, so you’ll need to do that first.

If you don’t want to help them, but you need another organization that is doing amazing work to contribute to, I love what Shades of Grace is doing.  They are being the literal hands and feet of Jesus in my opinion.

You don’t have to contribute money to be a help.  Our local food bank loves it when strangers show up to help.

I hope that you are well, and that you have many meaningful conversations this week.

Tracie

You can find all of the other quotes I’ve shared here.

FREE: Amazon First Reads Books for July 2021

One of the best benefits of having Amazon Prime is that each month I get a free ebook from the Amazon First Reads lineup.  These books are offered to Prime members exclusively before they are released the next month.  That’s twelve free books a year.

You will find the July pre-release books below.  To choose one of the books for free, just click on the book cover.


Thriller
The Receptionist Kindle Edition by Kate Myles (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
The Receptionist by Kate Myles

Contemporary Romance
The Magic of Found Objects: A Novel Kindle Edition by Maddie Dawson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
Then Magic of Found Objects by Maddie Dawson

Suspense

Mrs. Rochester's Ghost: A Thriller Kindle Edition by Lindsay Marcott (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost by Lindsay Marcott


Young Adult

Brown Boy Nowhere: A Novel Kindle Edition by Sheeryl Lim (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

Brown Boy Nowhere by Sheeryl Lim


Psychological Thriller
A Familiar Sight (Dr. Gretchen White Book 1) Kindle Edition by Brianna Labuskes (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
A Familiar Sight by Brianna Labuskes

Book Club Fiction
All Are Welcome: A Novel Kindle Edition by Liz Parker (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

All Are Welcome by Liz Parker


Memoir
There's a Hole in my Bucket: A Journey of Two Brothers Kindle Edition by Royd Tolkien (Author) Format: Kindle Editio

There’s a Hole in My Bucket by Road Tolkien


Women’s Fiction
The Apology Project: A Novel Kindle Edition by Jeanette Escudero (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

The Apology Project by Jeanette Escudero


International Espionage

Two Spies in Caracas: A Novel Kindle Edition by Moisés Naím (Author), Daniel Hahn (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition

Two Spies in Caracas by Moises Naim


Children’s Picture Book

Turkey Goes to School (Turkey Trouble Book 5) Kindle Edition by Wendi Silvano (Author), Lee Harper (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition

Turkey Goes to School by Wendi Silvano


Nameless By Dean Koontz | Amazon Original Stories

Which book are you going to choose this month?  I always have a tough time choosing; I want all the books as usual.


Summer Reading


Please note:  Kindle Unlimited subscribers can borrow these Kindle First books

when they are officially released next month.

You can see all of the previous months offerings here.  I hope that you find an interesting book today!

What’s for Supper? & Grocery Haul | Black Bean & Poblano Flautas, Santa Fe Pork Tacos

What’s for supper at your house this week?  

Last week we had Black Bean & Poblano Flautas, Santa Fe Pork Tacos and more.

Hello friends!  I hope that you are doing well.  We are well into summer here in Virginia already and I am lamenting the swift passing of Spring.  However we are having Florida weather, with thunderstorms every afternoon which makes Denton happy.  But it also makes for filthy floors from our resident 110 pound friend who thinks running as hard as he can through knee high mud holes is the best thing ever.  Here he is looking clean and content.

Zack

How are your temperatures right now?

Here’s what we ate last week:

Black Bean & Poblano Flautas

Black Bean and Poblano Flautas.  This was one of our Hello Fresh meals and it was fantastic.  I will definitely be making these again.Santa Fe Pork Tacos

Santa Fe Pork Tacos.  This was our second Hello Fresh meal.  Denton said that this was hands down the best meal we have eaten from these meal kits.  Now here is where everything comes down to your tastes.  Everyone else thought they were just fine.  Fine.  I actually thought they tasted sweet which was throwing me off, but Denton raved about them.  To each their own.  I think I would like to try these with beef instead of the pork to see if it cuts out that sweetness that I didn’t care for.  But the slaw was excellent on them.Grilled burgers with grilled zucchini

Denton played with his new toy and we had grilled burgers with grilled zucchini, chips and raw onions and tomatoes.  Well, that’s what you had if you are me.  Everyone else just had burgers, chips and zucchini…..sloppy joes with chips, and pickles

Sloppy joes.  When you need something to put on plates in under 20 minutes this is always a winner in my book.creamy chicken with mushrooms and rice

Creamy chicken with mushrooms and rice.  I’ve been wanting to try this after we had the Creamy chicken with spinach and artichokes, and I liked this much better.  subway sandwiches

Subway.  Sometimes I just crave this 9 grain oat bread.  I need to find a local source to buy it here, or learn to make it myself.tri tip steak sandwiches

I found a Tri Tip cut of beef at my local Food Lion and brought it home to Denton and his toy.  I had never heard of this cut of meat until we visited our family in California.  It’s really good.  I wish that this hadn’t had a sauce on it already, because I really didn’t like what Food Lion used and I know what the steak was supposed to taste like……


What did you eat last week?  What are you planning to eat this week?  You can see all of my other What’s for Supper? plans here.  If you want to see what we are eating every night before I post it here on Monday’s, you can follow me on Instagram.


Groceries

This past week I used the Walmart grocery pickup again and I still have nothing bad to say about it at all.  I pulled in, checked in with the app that I have on my phone.  A man came out within a couple of minutes, checked to see who I was and came back out in under three minutes and loaded it all in the back hatch of my Pilot.  He even asked if I wanted to put my eggs and bread up front with me.  I find this fantastic.

The only issue I’m having with this system is I can’t let go of my inner control freak and let them give me substitutions if they don’t have one of my items.  This week, I didn’t get one of the pizza’s I had put on my order and the variety pack of 32 ice creams that I had been dreaming about since I added them to my cart…..I actually didn’t need the ice creams, but I certainly wanted them.  I need to just try it and see what happens, but I do LOVE the Nature’s Own Butterbread……

I did however run into Food Lion to grab Pepsi because it was on sale 4 for $11.00 and this is when I found the Sweet and Smoky Tri Tip on sale.  Don’t buy the Sweet and Smoky version.  Just get it the way it came out of the steer.  Trust me, it tastes much better that way.

I am loving what this is doing for my grocery budget!!

June 9:  Walmart $84.55   |   Food Lion $19.09  Total for the week:  $103.64


June ~ so far:  $166.18

May $513.19 

April $643.67

March $524.80

February $547.53

January:  $485.88

Fetch: if you use my referral code QF4TJ, you’ll get 2,000 points when you sign up.

How did your grocery shopping go this week?  Did you buy something yummy?

What’s for Supper? & Grocery Haul | Sweet Potato Fajitas, Beef and Cheese Tostadas

What’s for supper at your house this week?  

Last week we had Sweet Potato Fajitas, Beef and Cheese Tostadas and more.

Hello friends!  I hope that you are doing well.  We spent the last week finishing up what we could of the deck, putting together what I’m calling Denton’s new toy, but I can’t really call it that because I know I’ll use it more than he will.  It’s a gas grill, charcoal grill and smoker in one.  Keep in mind that we went to buy me a new griddle grill and this is what we came home with.

PIT BOSS Memphis Ultimate 4-in-1 Gas & Charcoal Combo Grill with Smoker

I think its going to be a good one though.  It took us TWO days to put the thing together.  I told Denton this is why I like to buy things at thrift stores and yard sales.  You just bring it home and all of that is already done.  We bought ours at Walmart, but it’s out of stock right now at my store.  You can also buy it here, but that price is INSANE.  That’s what we’ve done all week, what have you been doing?

Here’s what we ate last week:

Sweet Potato Fajitas.  This was one of our Hello Fresh meals.  It was okay.  I like sweet potatoes.  With a lot of butter and brown sugar.  I didn’t really care for them as tacos.  Ahem.  I think this meal would have been fantastic with chicken.  I’ll try that and let you know what we think.Sweet potato fajitas

Soup beans with salmon, roasted potatoes and onions, and Mac and cheese.  My favorite meal.  Ever.Soup beans and salmon

Beef and Cheese Tostadas. This meal was our second Hello Fresh of the week.  It was REALLY good.  Hayden pointed out that it was awkward to eat.  We all finally just picked them up and ate them like a hot dog.  It worked.Beef and Cheese Tostadas

Hot dogs without my yummy chili, broccoli salad and chips.  A quick and easy meal that was yummy.Hot dogs without my yummy chili, broccoli salad and chips.

Creamy Lemon Chicken with Spinach and Artichokes with rice.  This was a recipe that I altered from Martha Stewart.  It was really good.  It was also very filling.  I’ve never had artichokes which is why I wanted to try this, and they were – okay.  I use that word a lot when I’m not sure if I actually like something.  I’m planning to alter this recipe even more and I think I would like it better.Creamy Lemon Chicken with Spinach and Artichokes with rice

Tuna sandwiches, pickles and chips.  Easy peasy and always delicious.

Chinese!  My favorite.  After spending 357 hours in the blazing heat putting the grill together I declared that we were having Chinese.  We haven’t had this meal in – I had to go look it up – since the last week of April.  I think I showed great restraint. 😕 


What did you eat last week?  What are you planning to eat this week?  You can see all of my other What’s for Supper? plans here.


Groceries

Last week I tried out our local Walmart pickup feature and I have to say:  I LOVED it.  I added things to my online list during the week as everyone added them to our whiteboard in the kitchen.  On Tuesday night before I went to bed I finalized the order and paid for it after I chose the time I wanted to pick up the entire order (Wednesday between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm), and on Wednesday I received a text at 10:45 am letting me know my order was ready.

I left my office, drove over and parked in the designated spot.  I literally put my car in park and a woman popped into my view and cheerfully asked if I was there for a pickup.  I gave her my name and she said “We’ll be right back”.  I picked up my phone to call Denton and the back hatch of my Pilot opened and two people started loading in my groceries.  The whole process took approximately 30 seconds.  Again, I loved it.

The only issue I had wasn’t really an issue and it was my doing.  I specifically asked not to have any substitutions.  I truly love Nature’s Own Butterbread and I didn’t want to chance it being replaced by something else.  Since I stated that, when they didn’t have the pizza I asked for they didn’t give me an alternative.  That isn’t the end of the world, so I may actually try the substitution thing this week.  We’ll see what happens.

After all that, I HIGHLY recommend it if they have it in your area.  I also forgot to mention that it’s free.  My favorite word.  Have you tried it yet?  How did it go?

P.S.S.  Did you happen to see how much I spent on groceries this week?  This is a good thing for my budget!

June 2:  Walmart $62.54


June ~ so far:  $62.54

May $513.19 

April $643.67

March $524.80

February $547.53

January:  $485.88

Fetch: if you use my referral code QF4TJ, you’ll get 2,000 points when you sign up.

How did your grocery shopping go this week?  Did you buy something yummy?

What’s for Supper? & Grocery Haul | Thai Ginger Curry, Trattoria Tortelloni Bake

What’s for supper at your house this week?  

Last week we had Thai Ginger Curry, Trattoria Tortelloni Bake and more.

Hello friends!  I hope that you are doing well.  We spent our weekend clearing off our very neglected deck, pressure washing and just doing general things that normal people do on a regular basis.  We however are not normal and wait until things are way beyond the point of no return to buckle down and get things done.  Sigh.  At least the nasty portion of this segment of the back porch drama is behind us.  Now onto staining and waiting, staining and waiting……

Here’s what we ate last week:

Thai Ginger Curry. Hello Fresh

We are continuing our food experiment with Hello Fresh.  This was Thai Ginger Curry.  I’ll give you an in depth review of what we thought of this meal and why, but the short answer is that I won’t be making it again. 😆 Burger and pizza

Busy, busy, and busy.  I hate that word.  I have streamlined our lives so that I can avoid saying those words most days.  I’ve learned to say the word no, kindly, but still.  I have cut out all of the chaff from our lives and still there are days that we can’t avoid being busy.  So on those days, I say a thankful prayer that I can go through a drive through and buy dinner to save our sanity. Trattoria Tortelloni Bake. Hello FreshHello Fresh:  Trattoria Tortelloni Bake.  This was yummy.  The cheap, homemade garlic bread is all mine though.  I’ll tell you all about it!

Potato soup, bacon, and biscuits.  Comfort food for my whole family.

Quick, fast and in a hurry food.  Spaghetti and garlic bread.

Our electricity was off most of the day and I didn’t get the pork loin I had planned for supper into the crock pot – that’s the next meal- so I made sausage, biscuits and gravy, with frozen hash browns and runny eggs for supper.  It was so good.

The pork loin wasn’t doomed.  I paired it with mashed potatoes, green beans and corn from a can.  And crescent rolls.  Yum.


What did you eat last week?  What are you planning to eat this week?  You can see all of my other What’s for Supper? plans here.


Groceries

This weeks grocery budget went to our local Walmart.  I think the success of my grocery budget is dependent on my just staying out of multiple stores.  I succeeded this week.  Next week I know will be a different story.

I stuck to my list and quickly hunted and gathered what I needed and wanted, and made my exit as fast as humanly possible.  Our Walmart just started grocery pickup and I’m going to give that a whirl.  Let me rephrase that:  our Walmart did a version of grocery pickup.  You could place your order and then park your car in the parking lot, walk yourself into the Walmart to a pickup area and hope that an employee had your order ready when they asked you to be there.  The last time Denton did it, they made him hike over to a storage closet and get it himself.  hahaha.  So yes, I believe that my store is just now doing what the rest of the world has been doing for a year now.  You place your order, select the time you want to pick up your order and pull into the designated spot where a Walmart employee will bring it out to you.  I am very hopeful that this goes well.  I’ll let you know!

May 26:  Walmart $69.27


May $513.19 

April $643.67

March $524.80

February $547.53

January:  $485.88

Fetch: if you use my referral code QF4TJ, you’ll get 2,000 points when you sign up.

How did your grocery shopping go this week?  Did you buy something yummy?

FREE: Amazon First Reads Books for June 2021

One of the best benefits of having Amazon Prime is that each month I get a free ebook from the Amazon First Reads lineup.  These books are offered to Prime members exclusively before they are released the next month.  That’s twelve free books a year.

You will find the June pre-release books below.  To choose one of the books for free, just click on the book cover.


Thriller
Choose Me Kindle Edition
 Choose Me by Tess Gerritsen

Memoir
I have always been me by precious Brady-davis
I Have Always Been Me by Precious Brady-Davis

Book Club Fiction

The Seven Day Switch: A Novel Kindle Edition

The Seven Day Switch by Kelly Harms


NonFiction

Sprinting Through No Man's Land: Endurance, Tragedy, and Rebirth in the 1919 Tour de France Kindle Edition

Sprinting Through No Man’s Land by Adin Dobkin


Psychological Thriller
Her Last Breath Kindle Edition
Her Last Breath by Hilary Davison

Contemporary Fiction
Have We Met?: A Novel Kindle Edition

Have We Met? by Camille Baker


Contemporary Romance
The Mixtape Kindle Edition

The Mixtape by Brittainy Cherry


Children’s Picture Book
The Caiman Kindle Edition

The Caiman by Maria Eugenia Manrique


Fantasy

Song of the Forever Rains (The Mousai Book 1) Kindle Edition

Song of the Forever Rains by E J Mellow


Which book are you going to choose this month?  I always have a tough time choosing; I want all the books as usual.


Please note:  Kindle Unlimited subscribers can borrow these Kindle First books

when they are officially released next month.

You can see all of the previous months offerings here.  I hope that you find an interesting book today!

Food Experiments: Mozzarella & Mushroom Hoagies | Garden Mushroom-Stuffed Ravioli

Food Experiments: Mozzarella & Mushroom Hoagies | Garden Mushroom-Stuffed Ravioli


Hello my friends!  I am back with week three of my food experiment with Hello Fresh.  You can read about the other weeks here.  Let’s get into it, shall we?

The Cost

This is going to sound like a complete repeat of last weeks breakdown.  But first, I need to make a correction.  I looked back over our Discover bill and discovered, haha, that I reported the wrong figures for week two.  We were charged $55.37 for week two, which breaks down as:  $27.68 for each of the meals and $6.92 per person.  Sorry for the confusion, but I want to be crystal clear on what this is actually costing us each week.  I see so many people promoting Hello Fresh, for good reason, but they never say what it actually costs.  Thanks for listening. 😀

So, for our third week the two meals cost us $69.04.  Divided by two meals for four people, that works out to $34.52 for each meal or $8.63 per person.  Again, we can’t eat at McDonald’s for that price, so we are already winning in my book.  I didn’t have to go to the grocery store for either of these meals, and the FedEx lady brought it to my front door.   Even better.

However, we usually don’t eat at McDonald’s twice a week either, so you have to factor that in to the weekly cost.

mushroom hoagies

Meal Number 1: Mozzarella & Mushroom Hoagies

This was our favorite meal, I believe, so far.  These were delicious.  I will definitely be making these again.mozzarella and mushroom hoagies I need to experiment and find out what they put in their fry seasoning.  It was really great on the roasted potato wedges.  That’s the one downfall of just using Hello Fresh’s recipes alone.  When they send you your meals, they send you everything that you would need to make it.  You can always substitute veggie stock for veggie stock, but “fry seasoning” is pretty vague.

mozzarella and mushroom hoagies

This meal was SO filling.  It was almost too much for one sitting, but there were no leftovers.garden mushroom ravioli

Meal Number 2: Garden Mushroom-Stuffed Ravioli

The Garden Mushroom Stuffed Ravioli was another hit at our house.  It was very tasty and filling.  Liv loves zucchini, but wasn’t a fan of the ribbons.  She would have preferred that the zucchini was chopped, but that’s just a texture issue, not a taste one.  It looked very pretty even though you can’t tell from my photo.garden mushroom ravioli

This is another recipe that I’ll have to do a substitution with, because I’ve never seen mushroom ravioli at my grocery stores.  But I definitely want to make this one again.  It was delicious.garden mushroom ravioli

Question:  Do you call scallions green onions?  We do.  That was a staple in my Mama and Daddy’s garden every year.  Now I need to find some green onion seed or sets……

My Final Thoughts

Our third week taught us all that we now have two new recipes to add to our meal planning repertoire.  The cost is still perplexing to me.  I have no idea how Hello Fresh calculates what they charge.  And I’m pretty certain from what I can see in the breakdown that I’m not receiving free shipping like they advertised.  The price each week is still falling into what I would budget for all four of us to eat out with, so I’m looking forward to what the remaining weeks of our trial has to offer.

If you would like to try Hello Fresh for yourself, you can use this link to get $100.00 off.  This will also give me $10.00 off too, so thanks in advance!

hello fresh

 

Have you tried Hello Fresh?  What did you think?  Did you find the value in the food or the learning experience?  I need all the details, and if you have a favorite meal from them, I would love to try that too!

 

What’s for Supper? & Grocery Haul | Mushroom Hoagies, Garden Ravioli, Copycat Chick-Fil-A

What’s for supper at your house this week?  

Last week we had Mushroom Hoagies, Garden Ravioli, Copycat Chick-Fil-A

Hello friends!  I hope that you are doing well.  We have abandoned springtime and vaulted straight into summer.  So now I am ready for fall.  Or at the very least, tomatoes.  Please.

Here’s what we ate last week:

Mozzarella & Mushroom Hoagies.  We are continuing our Hello Fresh experiment.  This supper was delicious.  I will definitely recreate this in the future.Mushroom hoagiesGarden Mushroom-Stuffed Ravioli.  This was very yummy too.  I am very glad that they include the cards; its makes it very easy to recreate the dish later.garden ravioliI have been waiting to try my hand at a copycat recipe for the Chick-Fil-A sandwich.  I don’t know why I waited this long.  This was hands down the best thing I made last week.  It was divine.  I can’t wait to make it again. copycat chick-fil-a

Taco’s with chips and salsa.  Yum! taco'sSoup beans with salmon, roasted potatoes and onions.  Delicious.  I made my homemade cornbread again this week.  It was really good.  I need to post the recipe.  

Denton has brought out his $25 yard sale find of a smoker for the summer.  Expect to see a lot more smoked meat in our rotation.  I’m definitely not going to complain.  He made ribs and a small brisket and it was delicious.  I made buttered potatoes, baked beans from a can and toast.  I think I’ll look forward to his weekly offerings.

The last meal of the week was whatever you can find.  Cereal, or….. Hot dogs on the fire.  

What did you eat last week?  What are you planning to eat this week?  You can see all of my other What’s for Supper? plans here.


Groceries

This weeks grocery budget went to our local Walmart and Food Lion again.  How much tax do you pay on your food?  Or do you pay tax on food in your state?

I completely forgot to take a photo of my buggy or the conveyor belt.  My Walmart was INSANE on Wednesday.  There were at least 12 people PER LINE when I got to the front and not one single person in the self check out.  I always use the self checkout – I’m faster, it’s one less person I need to interact with, and again, I’m faster.  And I don’t crush my bread with the mayo jar.

Anywho, after I quickly scanned everything and shoved my bags into the buggy again, an ancient little man, quickly moved his buggy into the lane behind me and asked the woman eyeing us all if she could help him to check himself out.  He was so proud!  I think that’s awesome.  It reminded me of the time I asked my Mamaw Miller if she wanted me to teach her to drive my car.  She seemed so pleased that I would ask, but she had no desire whatsoever to learn to drive.  It may have been the fact that my little 1984 Ford Escort was a stick.  The things I would give up to relive one of those days with her.

I spent $140.58 this week on things to put into our belly’s.  I am hopeful that I can whittle that number down, but we shall see.

May 19:  Food Lion $45.87 and Walmart $94.71


May $443.92 ~ so far

April $643.67

March $524.80

February $547.53

January:  $485.88

Fetch: if you use my referral code QF4TJ, you’ll get 2,000 points when you sign up.

How did your grocery shopping go this week?  Did you buy something yummy?

What I’m Reading: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

What I’m reading this week:  The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by [V. E. Schwab]

This book was recommended to me from a friend.  And then I started seeing people online review it – which I quickly escape from to avoid any spoilers – AND then I started seeing it show up in my great magazine pile.  I knew that I needed to pick it up and see what all of the brouhaha was about.

You can quickly read what the book is about in the simple synopsis below if you want; but what I want to mention is the writing.  This book is lovely.  It’s slow, sometimes plodding, but magical at the same time.  The actual story is what drew me in with this book.  Not the plot, since you know what that is from the very beginning, but Addie’s story.


The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.  via


A good story is hard to find in my opinion and this book delivers one in spades.  There are twists and turns that I didn’t see coming, and the ending was fantastic, if slightly predictable.  But the story is wonderful.  I’ll definitely reread this one and these days, there are few books that make me say that.

Have you read it?  I’d loved to know what you thought!

Vintage Retro Distressed Heartbeat Book Reader Lover Gift T-Shirt

You can find all of the other books I’ve read this year here!Ello I'm Just a Book Worm - Bookmark

What are you reading right now?  I am always looking for another great book to read.

Food Experiments: Beef & Veggie Bibimbap | Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls

Food Experiments: Beef & Veggie Bibimbap | Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls

Hello my friends!  I am back with week two of my food experiment with Hello Fresh.  You can read about the first week here.  Let’s get into it, shall we?

The Cost

For our second week the two meals cost us $69.04.  Divided by two meals for four people, that works out to $34.52 for each meal or $8.63 per person.  We can’t eat at McDonald’s for that price, so we are already winning in my book.  I didn’t have to go to the grocery store for either of these meals, and the FedEx lady brought it to my front door.   Even better.

However, we usually don’t eat at McDonald’s twice a week either, so you have to factor that in.

bibimbap bibimbap

Meal Number 1:  Beef & Veggie Bibimbap

Beef and Veggie Bibimbap was hands down a keeper.  We will definitely be making this again.  I told you in my What’s for Supper post yesterday that we have close friends that are from South Korea.  After I mentioned that we had tried Bibimbap with Hello Fresh, he immediately called home and had his MIL whip up a batch for their supper that night and brought over a huge portion for us to compare to.

Beef a& Veggie BibimbapYou have to remember that my main reason for wanting to try this food experiment was to try new things that I know are supposed to taste like what they actually are.  Kim ran a Korean restaurant for decades and I’m telling you it was very, very close to what she made us for dinner.  She is an AMAZING cook and what I made was very comparable.

Beef & Veggie Bibimbap

Another thing that I love about Hello Fresh is the portion sizes.  They send you EXACTLY the amount of everything that you need to cook the meal (with the exception of olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, etc) and the portions are spot on.  We had extra beef because I fried Liv some tofu to go with her bowl (she doesn’t eat meat), so her portion was left over.  I had thought that I would just divide it between the three of us, but I seriously did not need it.  It was perfect the way they intended and it was extremely filling.  We loved this meal!

Meal Number 2:  Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls

Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls was another matter.   I’m calling this a fail.  Not because the meal was bad, but because apparently none of us are ready for curry in our culinary journey.

Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls

I can’t actually say that with any authority, because none of us had ever had curry before.  I don’t know if it was the curry or just the mixture of SO many things in this bowl that we don’t normally eat together.  It had jasmine rice with carrots, fried kale, pickled cabbage, crunchy chickpeas – which Liv and I love, I make them quite often – with raisins sprinkled over the top and a drizzle of the curry, sour cream mixture over the top of everything.  It was A LOT of flavors mixed together.
Crunchy Curried Chickpea Bowls

We should definitely try curry again, but I think I will try to find something a little more – simple – next time.

My Final Thoughts

Our first weeks meals broke down to $5.28 per person, per meal.  Our second weeks meals were $8.63 per person, per meal.  As I said the first week, I don’t know how Hello Fresh does their math, so I’m still waiting to see what the rest of the weeks break down like.

It is still very worth it to us as a family because Number One:  we can afford to pay the cost each week, and Number Two:  it’s doing exactly what I wanted this experiment to do, which is get us out of our comfort zone, to try new things, and eat more veggies in our diet.  If you are in a financial place where the cost would make this experiment prohibitive for your family, I would HIGHLY recommend that you search their recipes and make it yourself.  So far their recipes have been quite simple and easy to follow and the meals taste delicious.  If you overlook the fact that we are apparently not very adventurous when it comes to curry. 🙂

If you would like to try Hello Fresh for yourself, you can use this link to get $100.00 off.  This will also give me $10.00 off too, so thanks in advance!

Have you tried Hello Fresh?  What did you think?  Did you find the value in the food or the learning experience?  I need all the details, and if you have a favorite meal from them, I would love to try that too!

Food Experiment Hello Fresh