“Don’t forget – my friend’s mom is picking me up from school and taking us to that play tonight,” my daughter said this morning as she slammed my car door shut.
I had forgotten. And now that she mentioned it, I realized that with my husband out of town this week, I am going to be alone until late tonight. What should I do about dinner?
And then I remembered that I have a stash of Healthy Choice meals in my freezer. I’m kind of laughing about this: When I was young and single, I lived on this stuff for dinner most nights. (Maybe that’s why I didn’t have to worry as much about my weight back then.)
These meals have come a long way since the 1980’s: they’re tastier, feature more natural ingredients and make use of new materials and processes. For instance, Healthy Choice’s line of Baked Taste entrees are packaged in a tray that’s designed to cook more evenly in the microwave, meaning fewer burnt bits on the edges.
My favorite food is pasta, so I guess it’s no wonder that weight is an issue for me now that I’m at an age where my body has trouble metabolizing the carbs. I mean, there is nothing easier to cook — but I have a major problem with portion control, especially if I’m the only one eating it. That’s why heating up one of these Healthy Choice Baked meals works for me on a night like this.
I really like the Healthy Choice Italian Sausage Bake and the Ravioli Marinara Bake. I especially like the fact that the pasta in the former Baked Taste entree is the more nutritious and better-to-metabolize whole grain type, and the Ravioli Baked Taste entree is a vegetarian choice. Both weigh in at fewer than 300 calories.
Tonight, I am thinking I’d like to switch it up from the pasta. Maybe I’ll try the Healthy Choice Chicken and Rice Cheddar Bake, featuring a blend of brown and wild rice (which isn’t rice at all, but more of a grass — and so a cup will have way fewer carbs to digest). Or perhaps the Slow Roasted Turkey Bake, made with roasted potatoes, butternut squash and green beans (in a gravy, topped with crispy onions). That one sounds like a little Thanksgiving preview; perfect for this time of year.
Which ever meal I choose, I know it will be fast, easy — and nice to my waistline. Maybe I’ll engage in some of my other “single girl behavior,” like dancing — in front of the TV. Because I may be temporarily single, but I need a lot more motivation to leave the house on a cold night.
I’ve been even busier than usual this week: There have been conference calls and meetings and I have spent the last couple of days working on a new WordPress website. These are the kind of tasks that make me do the impossible: Forget to eat. I mean, almost forget to eat — because eventually, I realize I am hungry and that’s when my diet is in the most trouble, as I’m prone to go into a feeding frenzy. This would not be so bad if it meant grabbing slices of apples and cucumbers. But for me, deferred hunger usually translates into cookies and chips.
I’m pretty sure that’s why you find an aisle of junk food in the checkout line of techie supermart Fry’s: all those programmers and IT people who sit in front of a computer screen into the wee hours of the morning lose track of time and just want to munch on something they can grab with ease. This is a recipe for diet disaster, and it’s why I try to shop strategically for easy-to-prepare lunches that are healthy as well as convenient.
And so today, I managed to avoid one of those calorie-laden frenzies because I had filled my freezer with Healthy Choice’s new line of 100% Naturals Cafe Steamers.
These are different: For one thing, these entrees are vegetarian! (Although not vegan, so I don’t have get to share them with my husband.)
They come packed with a separate little steamer tray that allows the vegetables and pasta to steam without getting bogged down in the cooking liquid, while ensuring that the pasta is cooked to a chewy al dente texture. And they are simply delicious!
Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Cook in Their Own Steamer Basket.
So a half hour ago, I decided to take a few minutes away from the computer to cook up a lovely autumn dish of Pumpkin Squash Ravioli, with crunchy green beans, butternut squash, apples in just the right amount of yummy butter-sage sauce. It was as good as it looks.
Healthy Choice 100% Naturals Cafe Steamers Pumpkin Squash Ravioli. It tastes as good as it looks.
So far, the Pumpkin Squash Ravioli is my favorite. But yesterday, that title belonged to the Portabella Marsala Pasta (whole wheat pasta and mushrooms in a Marsala sauce, topped with fontina). And the day before, I was loving the Asian Potstickers, which are steamed in a sweet and spicy sauce with a kick of spice.
I haven’t yet tried the Portabella Spinach Parmesan or Tortellini Primavera Pasta — but I’ve got the weekend for those.
And because it’s Healthy Choice, I know it’s a lunch I can indulge in without feeling any guilt — unlike the cookies that are supposed to be for my daughter.
Brighter offers Southern Californians a simple, free dental insurance alternative – giving you access to discount cleaning, whitening and even orthodontia. This is something you should care about, because you don’t want to turn out like me.
If you’ve read my blog for any bit of time (or just follow me on Twitter), you have probably seen me complain of being in “dental hell.” I’ve been cursed with soft enamel and a mouth that’s really good at creating mass quantities of tartar. I’ve been through so many torturous dental procedures that I’m pretty sure I could write a pretty convincing horror movie about it.
The sad thing is, much of my dental torment was self-inflicted: I once went three years without visiting the dentist. This had more to do with my fear of traffic near his downtown office than it did with his dental practice. But there was fear involved, too – a fear of starting over with some other dentist who did not know me or my history or who might inflict more pain on me than necessary.
Avoiding the dentist isn’t something anyone should do, because tooth decay isn’t something that just stops on its own. And scraping tartar off your own teeth isn’t advisable, either. Eventually, you WILL need to make the time for that dental visit and if you delay for too long, I guarantee that your experience will be WORSE. I should know: because by the time I accepted the fact that I simply needed to find a dental office close to my home, I needed a lot of new work done. A lot of expensive, somewhat painful, expensive work.
Did I mention that skipping your dental checkup can be expensive?
Here’s where Brighter comes in. Their network of certified dentists are making dental care affordable for everyone – even if you don’t currently carry dental insurance.
Their website touts low-priced check-up and cleaning services, fillings, in-office teeth whitening … and even deals on some of those tortuous services I alluded to above: Periodontal deep cleaning, root canals and crowns at the same prices you would pay with dental insurance.
Of course, if you go in for your regular affordable checkups you probably won’t need any of the scary stuff (let me tell you: “deep cleaning” is a great idea for your bathroom. NOT something you want to have to do on your teeth.)
Brighter’s pre-screened, certified dentists are committed to helping patients understand what your treatment options are and spelling out exactly what your costs would be… ultimately helping you maintain better dental health (thus avoiding the dreaded deep cleaning). And working with them is super-easy: just go to Brighter.com and enter your zip code. The website will give you a list of certified Brighter dentists in your area, along with their price for a check-up and cleaning. You can even schedule your appointment right there on the site.
What I really like about Brighter is how there are no premiums, co-pays, waiting periods, exclusions or plan maximums. Just pre-negotiated reduced rates that allow you to manage and save money on your own dental care.
If you live in Los Angeles and have been putting off a visit to the dentist, I hope you learn from MY mistakes. Make an appointment. NOW. And check out the low-cost rates at Brighter. Your mouth will thank you.
I have been on a self-improvement kick for… well, my entire adult life. And since I hit middle age, that has meant focusing on weight control and eating a healthy diet.
Those two directives are not always the same thing. I lost 56 pounds a few years ago on an extremely restrictive diet that may actually have resulted in doing more damage to my metabolism than it was already suffering through menopause. This is hard to explain to friends who have never had to struggle with their weight, so I’ve stopped trying. I just go about my business and like any other junkie (and yes, I think my love of good food makes me an addict), I try to take it one day … one meal… and one snack at a time. That means lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, fewer starchy carbs and a lot more cooking from scratch.
But there are days when that isn’t possible. And that’s why I also keep a stash on hand of healthy convenience foods.
#ad The Vanilla Bean was my favorite Healthy Choice Frozen Greek Yogurt flavor. But only because I couldn’t find any of the chocolate swirl!
During our recent heat wave, I discovered the new line of Greek Frozen Yogurt from Healthy Choice. Non-fat Greek yogurt has really taken off in the last few years, undoubtedly due to its protein content and thick, rich texture — which makes you think you’re eating something a lot more indulgent. It turns out that healthy frozen Greek yogurt desserts from Healthy Choice have the same affect. I discovered that any yen I might have for ice cream could be nipped in the bud with one of these babies.
And since I have a problem with portion control (especially if I’m eating something as luscious as a frozen dessert), I appreciated the fact that Healthy Choice’s Greek Frozen Yogurt comes in perfectly apportioned 100 calorie tubs, with 4g of protein in every serving. They look really small, but they pack a big punch — I found them really filling.
#ad Healthy Choice Greek Frozen Yogurt Flavors
My favorite grocery store stocked four flavors and I tried all of them: Strawberry, Raspberry, Blueberry (all blended with real fruit) and my favorite – Vanilla Bean (with real flecks of vanilla bean that you can actually see). But I have a feeling I would also like the Honey and Chocolate Swirl flavors, too (the latter was the winner of Shape magazine’s 2013 Snack Awards for “Best Night Bite,” as a healthy fix for a late night craving for chocolate).
My only complaint about Healthy Choice’s Greek Frozen Yogurt is that it is packaged with just three tubs in a box. Maybe they can come out with an assortment featuring two samples of each. I would definitely be up for that.
Healthy Choice wants you to try their new line of Greek Frozen Yogurt so badly that they’ve got an online offer for you on their website, which will get you $1.00 off on the flavor of your choice. Check it out.
When it comes to this blog, there are two things I cannot resist: (1) Los Angeles events and attractions that lend themselves to photo ops and (2) photo ops with celebrities. The invitation to visit San Pedro’s annual LobsterFest at Ports O’Call Village (for a demonstration of Mohawk’s new stain resistant carpet with Hallmark Channel’s Better Show star JD Roberto) satisfied both of those irresistible urges.
Welcome to LobsterFest! #shop #LicensetoSpill #cbias
San Pedro’s Ports O’Call Village sits on a bank of the nation’s busiest cargo port. The collection of restaurants and shops has been a tourist destination for about 50 years (which sounds about right, because I remember visiting when I was a kid). Ports O’Call has been the home to LobsterFest (the world’s largest! according to their website) since 1999. The festival has something for everybody: carnival rides and games, ongoing musical performances, a wide variety of booths featuring everything from crafts to cars to (yes!) carpet… and a full lobster meal for just $20. This is the reason why my husband decided to tag along after me on Saturday. He was flabbergasted at the claim that they were cooking up 2,000 crustaceans every hour!
#shop This was the Main Attraction at LobsterFest
I happen to be allergic to lobster, so I let my husband enjoy his meal while I hunted up the Mohawk Carpet License to Spill booth. That’s where I met up with JD Roberto, who was very gracious about my desire to get that photo op.
#shop JD Roberto and me at Mohawk Carpet’s License to Spill display.
I then introduced myself to Mohawk Carpet representative Mollie Suratt, who showed me exactly how stain resistant their new SmartStrand carpet actually is. She bombarded a carpet sample with all kinds of staining agents — including red wine. And then she removed it all easily… simply by spraying it with water (for a tough, dried-in stain, all you need to add is a little dish soap).
The difference is that the stain resistance is woven right into the fiber (not topically applied, which is what you’re getting with other stain resistant flooring products) — and it lasts for the life of the carpet. I have to say — I wish I had seen this demonstration four years ago when I was shopping for carpet in my living room. (I know the retailer I used carries Mohawk – it’s the world’s largest flooring manufacturer, and this carpet has been rating #1 in consumer satisfaction.)
If SmartStrand had been available then, I could have saved a bundle in twice-yearly cleaning costs AND the carpet would be in better condition now.
#shop Samples of Mohawk’s SmartStrand Carpet
You would think that there would be fewer spills in my house now that the kid is in high school. But the drink spiller in our family is my husband. If we had Mohawk SmartStrand carpet in our house, I wouldn’t cringe every time he pours a glass of red.
But this has to be seen to be believed, so here’s the video I shot of the demo:
At the time, I told her the myTouch was just a trial (there’s no contract involved, so we can cancel service any time we want). We kept her old number on her old phone, but if she liked the new one, we would switch the number over. I guessed that was what we would end up doing, but you never know. My kid can be stubborn (she inherited a double dose of it from both her dad and me), and she easily could have decided that she didn’t need a phone that would allow her to get directions, retrieve her email, check her grades, play music or download and play games.
So I actually wasn’t sure until a week ago, when the first monthly payment was due.
“Before I pay this: Are we keeping the phone?” I asked.
She shot me a look that could only be interpreted as saying “DUH!”
I really should not have wondered. It didn’t take her long to find apps she enjoyed, like Netflix and the one that allows her to use the phone as an FM radio. We haven’t tried streaming audio or video apps on 3G, even though Walmart Family Mobile gives her unlimited data (in addition to unlimited talk and text). This amounts to 5 GB on T-Mobile’s powerful network (if she manages to exceed 5 GB then she will continue to receive data at lower speed). At $40 per month, I think this is an excellent value.
A funny thing regarding the network: The plan officially says she’s on the 3G network, but according to the phone, she’s been connecting on 4G. Either way, the browsing and downloading is FAST.
We were told we would get 5MB of 3G service, but our actual connection has been to the fast 4G network.
So far, the phone has been useful in her first month of school. She can fire up the browser for research, or locate supplies she needs to purchase for class. I should probably mention here that my daughter is a high school senior who has been carrying a cellphone for several years and has demonstrated herself as a responsible phone user. So we are past the age where I would feel the need to take advantage of the parental controls that Walmart has built into their Family Mobile service. But I like knowing that if I need it, I can set up her phone to block certain kinds of messages and content, exclude certain numbers and keep her from calling 411 (which costs money).
#FamilyMobileSaves You Money on Your Teen’s Smartphone #shop See more photos here.
Walmart Family Mobile informed us that our first month to month payment was due via a text message. This was a surprise to me. I learned later by logging onto my account at MyFamilyMobile.com that foregoing the cost of printing and mailing bills is one of the ways Walmart is keeping the cost of this phone service down. You may also choose to receive your bills via email.
Taking care of the payment was easy as pie: I dialed 611 from the phone. But I can also pay it online at MyFamilyMobile.com. You can use any valid credit or debit card to pay, or set it up for automatic payments. This is also where I can review my daughter’s usage or set up some of those blocking functions.
Screenshot of Walmart Family Mobile’s online account management.
All in all, my daughter is happy with her new phone, and that makes me happy too.
I have a MOM confession to make: I am a TV addict. OK, maybe that’s not much of a secret. It’s not even something I am all that ashamed of. I guess it’s not that much of a confession, is it?
Now that the Fall season is imminent, I will soon be lost to my family, as I immerse myself in all the networks’ new offerings. I have purchased a hard copy edition of TV Guide and am circling around the ones I hope will be my next go-to programs for laughs and entertainment.
One of the shows I have the highest hopes for is a little sitcom called MOM, produced by Chuck Lorre and starring Anna Faris and one of my favorite actors, Allison Janney, who play a mother and daughter (also a mom) who are both recovering alcoholics, which one might expect complicates their relationship a little. Actually, a lot.
Lorre, of course, is well known as the creator of The Big Bang Theory (which I love) and Two and a Half Men (which I don’t). But this new series sounds a little bit more like two shows Lorre produced during the 90s, Cybill and Grace Under Fire.
As a part of this campaign, I was asked to make a secret Mom confession, the more irreverent the better. Since my penchant for watching television doesn’t really count, I thought I’d try again here:
That’s as irreverent as I get. I know, if you are looking for outrageous, you’re probably not going to spend a lot of time watching ME. But THIS has potential to be really funny:
MOM premieres Monday, Sept. 23, 2013, on the CBS Television Network.
Decorator details at Villa Metro, Valencia. Photo copyright 2013 Donna Schwartz Mills
View of the Great Room in one model at Villa Metro, Valencia. Photo copyright 2013 Donna Schwartz Mills
The last time I went house hunting was 17 years ago, when our daughter was an infant. I fell madly in lust with several lovely models in brand new communities in Valencia, just north of here in the Santa Clarita Valley.
But I worked just outside downtown Los Angeles back then, in the Wilshire district — and the traffic between there and our Sherman Oaks apartment was making me want to pull out my hair. Commuting from Santa Clarita and back each night sounded like something that would downright kill me. We lowered our expectations and focused on older homes in established communities in the San Fernando Valley, and ended up in the house we live in now.
We have some beautiful memories here, but as you would expect from a house that’s 52 years old, it needs things. Expensive things. And so my fantasies center on winning the lottery to pay for a complete renovation… while we all move into a spanking new house in another neighborhood.
Decorator details at Villa Metro, Valencia. Photo copyright 2013 Donna Schwartz Mills
I wonder if we would have settled here if Villa Metro had been built back then. For one thing, it is practically across the street from the Santa Clarita Metrolink station, so there would be no teeth-gnashing crawl along the 101 and 405 two times a day. The development has design touches that are reminiscent of Europe — and that’s no accident, according to Joan Marcus-Colvin, who oversees sales, marketing and design at builders, The New Home Company.
“We wanted the community to have a village feel,” she says.
That is one way to describe the proximity of the homes to one another, and it was interesting to learn that the land was originally slated for a 470-home condo development. The New Home Company actually reduced the number of homes to a manageable 315 — with the three different neighborhoods opening this weekend consisting of all single family, detached houses.
A greenbelt at Villa Metro in Valencia. Photo copyright 2013 Donna Schwartz Mills
I was part of a blogger group invited to preview the models before they open to the public. Everywhere we turned, there were workers frantically putting in the finishing touches on the landscaping, and cleaning crews polishing counters and floors to a pristine shine. It was like being on the set for a glossy magazine shoot; Pinterest-friendly decorator porn in-real-life. And it was beautiful.
Square footage ranges from 1,081 to 1,998 and all feel remarkably roomy — even the smaller models. That can be attributed to the designers’ decision to build in high ceilings and plenty of windows for natural light, with awesome views of the nearby mountains. Throw in the lovely interior design and spacious kitchens, and you’ve got a half dozen bloggy women ooh-ing and aah-ing and wishing they could move in right now.
Kitchen at Villa Metro, Valencia. Photo copyright 2013 Donna Schwartz Mills #ad
The landscaping is one of the ways the developers hope to turn the three Villa Metro sections into a village. None of these homes will have an expansive backyard, but all will share common green areas, a good sized recreation room that residents will be able to reserve for parties, what looks like an Olympic sized pool plus kiddie pool and spa and even space for a community garden. The final piece of the Villa Metro puzzle will be its Main Street: 22 “live-work” lofts that will line the entrance to the development, which will allow residents to live above their own light professional personal office or retail space.
Villa Metro is opening Saturday with a street festival, live music, food and prizes. If you’re in the area, the folks at The New Home Company hope you’ll stop by and see their Mediterranean inspired homes.
I often marvel that I was able to get through the first 35 years of my life without owning a cell phone. Mind you, these amazing communication devices were neither widely available nor affordable until then. My first handset was bulky, expensive and only good for making calls. Today, I use my smartphone so much it’s essential to be on the lowest price rate plan I can find (while still giving me the coverage and service I need). This can add up to a nice chunk of change when you factor in an entire family.
Which brings me to my daughter. She’s a good kid: she’s really conscious of the fact that we’re not made of money. She’s been carrying around the same basic mobile phone since middle school, and it doesn’t do a lot more than that clunky old phone I bought 20 years ago. She can make calls and text. That’s it.
This is my daughter’s five-year-old, not-so-smart phone.
I had wanted to replace it for a while. She’s ridiculously responsible and has proven she has the maturity to handle having easy access to the Internet — but she has always insisted that she was fine with the phone she had, and to be honest, I let it drop because I wasn’t too keen on adding yet another data account to our family plan.
But it’s getting to the point where carrying around a “dumbphone” is — well, dumb. She borrowed my car a lot over the summer so she could visit friends — and since she goes to a magnet school, those friends are scattered all over the Valley… and she often once got lost, which had me wishing she had a smartphone with Google Maps, which now includes excellent turn-by-turn navigation.
When she receives a check, I often end up having to make the deposit for her because she doesn’t have the time. It would be so much easier for her to use one of those banking apps were deposits were as simple as taking a photo of the check with your phone.
Having a smartphone in your pocket means you also have a notebook, calculator, calendar, camera, voice recorder and more, at your fingertips.
She wasn’t interested. All I could do was wait it out. She’s had that phone for five years — nothing electronic lasts that long, right?
So I’ve been on cell phone death watch — until this week, when the folks at #cbias Social Fabric gave me the opportunity to try out a new MyTouch Android smartphone through Walmart’s Family Mobile service.
Walmart offers its own cell phone service? Who knew? And how could I be sure that the quality of the service was any good?
Those quality questions were put to rest when I learned that Walmart Family Mobile uses the 3G network from T-Mobile, which has been our family’s cell carrier for the last ten years. They have always given us good coverage in our neighborhood and in most of the areas we frequent here in Los Angeles. And when I’ve compared the cost of their wireless plans, I’ve always felt reassured that we would have a hard time finding anything cheaper.
But a cheap wireless plan from Walmart could be a game changer. I decided to do a little research.
Comparison Shopping for Best Wireless Deal: #FamilyMobileSaves
Some of the phones offered by Walmart Family Mobile.
We currently pay just under $140 per month for our family’s three phones. This breaks down to $80 for talk and text for all three handsets, plus $10 per month for unlimited data on the two smartphones my husband and I use. Additionally, we are making payments of $20 per month for my Apple iPhone, acquired a few months ago. The rest is for fees and taxes.
Adding another smartphone line to our plan will cost an additional $10 per month plus the cost of the phone. The myTouch model for sale at T-Mobile stores is $264. If I choose, I could pay for it over time at $20 a month for 24 months. Let’s say that’s what I do: This will make my monthly bill go up to $170 per month.
Our local Walmart carries a different version of the myTouch phone. The ones at T-Mobile have a slide-out keyboard, and the ones at Walmart do not. But the Walmart phones are just $129.88 right now, which is half the price. New customers also need to purchase a $25 starter kit to activate each line (this is a one-time fee). The monthly cost for the first line is $29.88, if all you want is unlimited talk and text, and $39.88 for unlimited talk, text and web.
Less than $40 a month for unlimited data is CHEAP, and this is a choice I would suggest to my niece and nephew who are no longer on their parents’ family plan.
Additional lines on the Walmart Family Mobile are $34.88 per month. So if all three of us were using Walmart Family Mobile, our pre-tax monthly bill would be a mere $109.64.
Because the third line on our current plan is only $10, this turns out to be comparable to what we would be paying on our current family plan if we did not have to make payments on the iPhone. But I wondered how Walmart Family Mobile stacked up against the prices other major companies were charging for their no-contract plans in my area.
If you look at individual service plans only:
Sprint is the only other major company that offers you unlimited talk, text and data without a contract. But their price for that is $70 per month. That’s more than DOUBLE what Walmart Family Mobile charges.
Verizon offers unlimited talk and text on a month-to-month basis, but not data. You’ll pay $60 per month for 2 GB of data and $70 for 4 GB.
AT&T has a similar plan, with $60 per month for 2 GB of data and $70 for 3 GB.
The Walmart Family Mobile Shopping Experience
You can choose to activate your phone in-store or at home with the $25 Walmart Family Mobile Starter Kit.
Purchasing the myTouch and setting up service at Walmart was super easy. Service is month-to-month, so there’s no need for the credit check required for the major carriers’ contract plans. All you have to do is choose your handset and purchase the additional $25 starter kit to activate service. I opted to do this in-store, but you can also assemble your phone, insert your SIM and activate it yourself at MyFamilyMobile.com.
This is also where you can manage your account. I will receive my first month’s bill via text in 16-18 days from when I activated the service with the first monthly payment due a couple of weeks after that. You have the option of visiting MyFamilyMobile.com to make your payments or to authorize AutoPay with a credit card.
The Walmart associate who helped me set up my new account was friendly and knowledgeable. One of the reasons we stay with GSM type mobile service is so we can use our phones when we visit my husband’s family in the UK. We own prepaid SIM cards from British carriers for each of our lines — this allows us to communicate with our family and each other over there without getting hit with international roaming fees. But most phones sold in the United States are locked so they only work on one carrier’s network.
T-Mobile has always helped us by unlocking our phones for international travel. My Walmart associate assured me I could do that with the new Walmart Family Mobile phone, too. All I have to do is dial 611 and I would receive the same customer service I already enjoy at T-Mobile.
Great Apps Are a Back to School Essential
My daughter shows off her NEW myTouch Smartphone.
While I was busy setting up our new Walmart Family Mobile account, my daughter was finishing up the last of her back to school shopping. We met outside the store and I handed her the phone. I repeated the advice of the sales associate: The equipment gets charged at the factory, so it’s still got some juice when you take it out of the box. She could use it right away, but should probably give it an hour or two in the charger once we got home.
She began exploring it. “This says 3G!”
Yes, I told her. You’ve got high speed data on this phone.
“I can get email on it? And Facebook?”
Yes, I told her. And when you need a quick answer on the Internet, you can use it to browse. You can also access Google Play for an entire library’s worth of apps: from alarm clocks to dictionaries to weather forecasting to photo editing… That’s one of the reasons smartphones are so smart.
“How much extra will that cost us?”
Nothing, I said. You’ve got an unlimited data plan.
A few hours after returning home, she let me know: “I’m kind of liking this new phone.”
And then I remembered that I have a stash of Healthy Choice meals in my freezer. I’m kind of laughing about this: When I was young and single, I lived on this stuff for dinner most nights. (Maybe that’s why I didn’t have to worry as much about my weight back then.)
Tonight, I am thinking I’d like to switch it up from the pasta. Maybe I’ll try the Healthy Choice Chicken and Rice Cheddar Bake, featuring a blend of brown and wild rice (which isn’t rice at all, but more of a grass — and so a cup will have way fewer carbs to digest). Or perhaps the Slow Roasted Turkey Bake, made with roasted potatoes, butternut squash and green beans (in a gravy, topped with crispy onions). That one sounds like a little Thanksgiving preview; perfect for this time of year.
