Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Each Tuesday, Joyce from This Side of the Pond, posts questions and bloggers can answer them. Thanks, Joyce! I need all the blog topic help I can get!

1. Do you feel older or younger than your age? Elaborate. 

Joyce, are you trying to get us to state our age? Ha!

I am 52.

I feel younger. I think it’s because I’m a high school teacher and the kids really do keep you young. Sometimes I’m with adults and use teen slang and feel very weird when I realize what I just said.

I don’t think my face or my body look younger, but I think I have a younger style, maybe? I do like Chico’s, though. I have gotten some great basics there.

Also, I am a Surfer Nephew this summer, so they are pretty young.

I keep up with trends and pop culture, too.

2. What’s one thing you should toss right now, but just can’t? 

I’m really not having any trouble tossing things this summer so far. I have a project going where I work on a tiny space at a time or a very specific category.

Here is my list:

I’ve done a few more than I have crossed off in this photo. I guess anything of my kids’ childhoods would be hard. I have a Rubbermaid tote for each of them but I need more space now, probably. Also, it’s not super organized.

3. Have you visited many of the 63 National Parks in the US of A? You’ll find a list here. Do you have a favorite? What National Park that you haven’t seen do you most want to see? 

I didn’t think I had, but I realized I have gone to more than I thought!

Grand Canyon, Hot Springs, Dry Tortugas, Everglades, Yellowstone, Indiana Dunes, Mammoth Cave, Gateway Arch, Great Smoky, Badlands, New River Gorge, Grand Teton, Glacier National, and I feel like I might be missing one or two from Utah and one from Washington State. I took two pretty amazing trips that knocked many of them out. One was when I was 12 and my family took an Amtrak from Chicago to Seattle stopping at Glacier National on the way and then going through Grand Canyon on the way home. Another was a church trip where we took a converted bus that we slept on all the way to California stopping at lots of places like Grand Teton on the way and on the way back.

4. How often do you get take out? What’s your favorite? 

We have been Door Dashing way too much this summer. I guess it only amounts to once or twice a week, but it’s just so easy. I do currently have a 25% off the next two orders (and already used it on one) so that’s good. It’s terribly expensive, but it’s so convenient. I am cooking a lot so when I need a break, it’s nice to order.

Our favorite as a family is Shiraz Mediterranean. We can order two meals and have enough for all four of us.

I would say once a week is the general rule but we go in spurts where we rarely get it.

5. Do you have many (or any) subscriptions? Not necessarily magazines, but thinking more along the lines of boxes or products that companies offer, and you can sign up to receive on a regular basis. Could be weekly, monthly, quarterly, even daily. Tell us about them. 

No, we do not. We don’t have anything on subscribe and save on Amazon. I cancelled my Ipsy subscription because I was accumulating too many products and not loving all of them. It was fun for a while, though!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I’m out of meal ideas! Help! What have you cooked lately? Bonus points if you link a recipe. I feel like I have done all the basics tacos, spaghetti, BLTs to death. I have one kid who is dabbling in vegetarian life and that has also made it challenging.

A recent sun dried tomato shrimp dish that people were meh about. I kept the shrimp off for the one kid.

Happy Hump Day,

Amy

29 thoughts on “Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce”

  1. I feel younger than I am too and I do think it’s partly from hanging around with my boys and their friends. I am impressed at that list of National Parks! I have made it a goal to visit nearly all of them but since I just made that goal a few years ago we’ve only crossed a handful or so of them off the list. Surprisingly with all the travelling I did with my grandparents we never went to any of the national parks! I too have been stuck in a rut cooking wise… in fact our menu plan for the month is blank from today on and I just don’t know what to fill it with. I’m thinking pancakes and scrambled eggs tonight since Alec should be able to eat those…

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    1. Totally! I know – I went to most before age 18. That’s ok! If you go out west, you can knock several off probably.
      Gosh, I’m glad I’m not the only one. I hope I get some inspo today. It’s getting bad around here. Plus, I feel like I always need groceries.

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  2. I had to google surfer nephew lol. We don’t have Door Dash on the lake which is unfortunate but probably a good thing too. We do lots of dinners with friends and impromptu dock meals with people here so I’m not cooking every night. We eat out some, but less than we used to. We recently made a fabulous pasta (no meat)…here’s the link. It’s in Italian but there is a translate option there too…it’s an instagram link, so let me know if it doesn’t work. https://www.instagram.com/p/C6bwOoDOWn_/?hl=en Also, I saw your email message about my girls enjoying my blog…both my daughters blog too (sporadically these days as they have littles) but it’s been a really fun thing to share with them. I love reading theirs and how they see the world. They are linked on my sidebar. Have a great day!

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  3. I, too, feel younger than I am and it is because I am with younger people often. I came for Hodgepodge but read your next post, too. I am a mom of fraternal twins (boy/girl) and my husband is an identical twin . . .and my roommates (40 years ago) at the time I met and married Mark were identical twins. Our kids both chose Auburn for their education – our son even got his Masters there and our daughter came home and went to UAB for her Masters. Our goal was to help them get out of college without debt which we were able to do and they have thanked us many times over the years. I think your blog post will be very helpful to other parents!

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    1. Yes! Me too! That young energy! You really have a lot of twins around you. I hope someone finds it helpful. My best friend has a girl going into junior year at Auburn. She loves it!

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  4. At 56 I feel younger than I did and when I look back at photos I think (sometimes) that I look younger – ha!! It’s probably all in my head but I used to think that when I was in my 50’s I’d feel and look way different.

    xo,

    Kellyann

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    1. I think so, too! You look great! I know – I keep wondering at what age will I not care about being on trend – somewhat? When will I not want to be a Surfer Nephew?

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  5. I am dying at the “Surfer Nephew”- ha!! I think the easiest thing in the summer for meals is to just throw something on the grill and whip up a side or salad- don’t overthink it or work too hard 🙂

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    1. Right? We don’t have a grill right now and if I tried to be in and out with pup right now probably not easy. Our grill died and we have waited for a good sale on a new one.

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  7. That’s an impressive list of national parks you’ve visited. We’re on a sushi cup roll (no pun intended lol) right now – nori in a muffin pan, then sushi rice, then salmon or shrimp (marinated), cooked in the oven, then drizzled with some sauce that Vic concocted, kind of like a teriyaki one night, then a sriracha-type another night. Quick and easy and delicious!

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    1. It was an adventure! My mom made us wear navy slacks and we called them our “train pants”. She thought they would hide the dirt. Funny what we remember.
      So true!

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  9. From my perspective 52 is very young indeed! I’m glad you feel young, too. That is a lot of parks and what unique ways to visit so many of them. We don’t have door dash where we live or I’d order to often, too. Well we had chicken pot pie last night using store bought pie crusts that I dumped on top of the chicken mixture. I used Costco chicken.

    https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/classic-chicken-pot-pie/1401d418-ac0b-4b50-ad09-c6f1243fb992

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    1. It is and it isn’t, I guess. There will always be someone older and younger!
      It is!
      You aren’t missing anything with no DD. It’s way overpriced.
      Nice! My hub loves pot pie.

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  10. Those were some epic trips you took! Yes, hanging out with younger people do keep us feeling young, doesn’t it? You are doing great at tossing things this summer! The one meal I cooked this week was a homemade pita. We stuffed it with a mix of shredded chicken, pesto sauce, and mozzarella cheese. I then browned them in the skillet and they were delicious. You could also use pre-made pitas and slice them to put the mixture inside of it. I might make a new chicken orzo recipe tomorrow. If it turns out, I will share it here.

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    1. Yes! My mom was always planning something! It really does. I have stagnated in my declutter. I am going to try to get motivated again. Homemade pita – wow! That sounds so good. I am on an orzo kick this summer, too.

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  11. Hello,

    Love your blog. I love how you meet up with friends, go outside to read and have a cute EO. I have a vegan brother and saw this recipe and am going to try it. Chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, add Parmesan cheese if not vegan, then olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and salt and pepper. Sounds great for summer. Chickpeas are popular, quinoa as some protein. Jackfruit is good too. Trader Joe’s has some. I also love how you do pool time. I am doing this as inspired by you!

    Just read Modern Lovers and liked it and now reading This American Ex-Wife and good. Still going through a divorce, though my husband is in a stuck stage. I find it interesting to think he thinks I want to stay married to him. I found out he and the younger boyfriend went to Fort Lauderdale together in April. He had told me in January “they broke up.” He struggles understanding commitment, faithful, broken up. Oh, well.

    I am trying to not buy more of the Target tees you love as even cheaper this week. Also I love consignment shopping and don’t think I will order anything from Nordstrom sale this year. Just not feeling it. Kind of depressed this week. Holidays are just tough.

    I love the cookbook Thug Kitchen. Friends gave it to us and it is very sweary and great vegetarian/vegan cookbook. Is he going to eat eggs? When my brother quits those it gets difficult. My mom so struggles and has a huge garden! I need to learn to cook with tofu more. I make tofu chocolate pudding and it just takes longer to chill. I have made a chocolate pie too. Usually have to give it a day in the fridge to set up. I like it. I am not a huge dairy person though love good cheese and ice cream. I haven’t drank milk for a while though froth half and half in my coffee. Love my frother too.

    Debating going to hear live music tonight about 20 minutes away. It exhausts me to try and make plans and going alone to things is not always fun either.

    Slow down summer!

    Christa

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    1. Thank you so much!
      Thank you for all the meal ideas – I need to use chickpeas more, for sure.
      I really don’t love tofu. I can handle a bit in my chicken pad thai, though. Lol.
      I will pray that things get easier for you. Have you thought about an online way to meet friends to hang out with that might be in similar situation?

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  12. I feel much younger than my age on most days. I think spending so many years with 9 & 10 year olds erased some years, right? But, then there are days my knees remind me of my almost 7 decades! I love riding Amtrak. We took a trip from Chicago to Seattle to LA to New Orleans and back to Chicago. We also took Amtrak to the Grand Canyon. As soon as my husband heals from both hips being replaced, we are going to be on a train! Sorry, I’m no help with recipes…except for this one. I take a bag of coleslaw mix (just the cabbage, carrots, etc), cut up squash and zucchini, toss with olive oil and season to taste, then place on the Blackstone until the cabbage is slightly charred. We sometimes add shrimp to it, too. But, it could be a start for you son who’s leaning toward vegetarianism.

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. That’s great! Yes! Ha! What a trip! Oh, that’s great! I appreciate that recipe because – I have a bag of slaw and peanut sauce and I was going to add chicken to it. My friend is giving me zucchini today. Here’s the big problem with vegetarian kid – he is also super picky! I think I am going to send him to the store to pick stuff out.

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  13. I think the high school students are definitely keeping you hip and happening. Keep the trends and pop culture things coming on the blog so I can stay current. 🙂 The train trip sounds like such an incredible experience.

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  14. You have been to quite a few national parks. We were just talking about how being around kids keeps you younger. My parents and in-laws have both said that a 55 and older community would be nice for the amenities, but they would really miss having kids around. I am struggling with dinner recipes, too. We’ve eaten shredded chicken with Trader Joe’s citrus garlic seasoning in the crock pot and turned it into BBQ chicken, chicken salad, and chicken on a salad. The vegetarian tendencies do make it a little trickier. Also, I love your surfer nephew outfits!

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    1. Wonderful! I need to do more! Totally! That is so true. I have really enjoyed having younger friends in my life, too. I bet they feel that way, too. Those are some good ideas. I think you can get meal inspo just going in Trader Joe’s and seeing what they have that is easy to put together.
      Ha – Surfer Nephew!

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  15. FIrst of all, I need to go back and go more slowly through your posts…I was scrolling to get to the hodge podge and was like, “oh, cute outfits, oh, yummy food….ooooo books”…haha! I’ve never heard of a surfer nephew…haha. I have heard of the 40 bags list. Haven’t done it though. I sometimes feel a slump with meals…pinterest saves me often. I love trying new things and have made several yummy things.

    These Thai peanut noodles are a favorite and pretty quick.
    https://carlsbadcravings.com/peanut-noodles/

    this is good and hearty
    https://therealfooddietitians.com/how-to-make-the-jennifer-aniston-salad/

    This pot roast was divine. I served it over polenta
    https://themodernproper.com/italian-pot-roast

    I have lots of yummy and easy recipes on my blog too. I have some meatless dishes and some vegan ones as well

    Chicken and veggie tacos are unique but really good
    https://troyerslovinglife.blogspot.com/2008/05/chicken-and-vegetable-tacos.html

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