Slice of Life: Meal Service Anyone? 15 of 31

The pandemic certainly has us doing things we didn't foresee. Who knew we would be willing to sit out on our patios at temperatures below 50 degrees? Who could have predicted we would purchase fire pits and/or outdoor gas heaters to help heat our patios? Who knew we would be bartering for toilet paper and cleaning supplies? Who would have predicted we would be out of the gym and in our living rooms following workout routines on Instagram? Yep, there have certainly been some surprises.

For me, one of the biggest surprises came in ordering a meal service. I blame my mom. In October, she started with ordering meals and gushed about it all the time. "I don't even have to decide what to make," she bragged. "All my ingredients are shipped right to my door," she boasted. I shook my head as I listened to her stories of meal prep. Since I had mastered the art of the click list, cooking was going okay. 

Of course, months of cooking at home was growing boring. Chicken, spaghetti, tacos. It felt like we were having the same thing every day. I missed the occasional evening out and was tired of thinking about what to fix. My mom continued to ooohhh and aaahhh over her service. "The meat is so fresh," she raved. "All my ingredients are right in the box," she reminded. I rolled my eyes on the other side of the phone. Seemed like a bit of an indulgence.

October turned to November and I was beyond tired of cooking each night. It wasn't the cooking that bothered me so much, it was the constant deciding. Add to the deciding was the challenge of getting particular meats. Everything was limited at the grocery and since I was just picking up my grocery orders there was no way to make alternate decisions. Bratwurst, chicken, ground turkey. Bratwurst, chicken, ground turkey. I was running out of ideas. I turned to Pinterest to find some new recipes with whatever groceries we managed to score from week to week. I found a couple of new recipes that moved to the favorites rotation.

November turned to December and cooking was feeling like a chore. It wasn't just the cooking, it was the planning and preparing. I missed the occasional night of dining out. My mom apparently couldn't take my stubbornness any longer and shared a set of three free meals from her service. "I love the variety," she cheered. "The recipes are so easy to follow," she chimed. 

So I caved. What could it hurt to give it a try.

It is now March and I am still ordering meal delivery one or two times each month. It has broken up the monotony of our menu, and I don't have to decide all the time. 

I guess mothers always do know best. 

For those that might be wondering, I am using Every Plate. It's easy to order, change selections, and skip weeks. It's reasonable in price - and it has certainly added a little change pandemic life. It's a lot of chopping - so consider yourselves warned. If you have a service you are using, I'd love to hear about it. 

It's March and I'm diving back into the March Slice of Life Challenge!  Buckle in!  This will be my 8th year joining the community (though I must confess to a two year break).  Yep, some of the writing will be messy.  Honestly, most of it will be messy.  Thanks for stopping by.  I'm excited to dive back into the madness.  Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for hosting.