For several years, we've had Amazon Prime. But this year when they said they were going raise the annual fee by 20%, we found ourselves questioning the decision. Did the fee justify how much use we were getting out of it?
Music... we prefer Apple Music and don't use Prime Music.
Movies/TV... we have cable that we can watch on the internet as easily as Prime.
Shipping... This is the big one. Being able to order one item and have it ship for free in two days is the big attraction about Amazon Prime.
But, over the past year, we've had many items not arrive in two days. In fact, they even took a week for several things we ordered and one time the item was pushed off by several months until I finally cancelled it, went to Barnes and Noble and purchased it that day. I realize that the biggest convenience of Prime is not having to leave my home and still purchase items that we want or need.
So, we decided to cancel our Prime Membership and see if we could live without it. I went through the process and cancelled it. But, then I discovered that Amazon still automatically renewed it at the old rate. Hmm... I was faced with a choice to let it continue for a year or not. It bothered me that they would renew it against my wishes. I never like it when companies do that. (I had Hallmark's HMNow online service charge me for a year membership even though I wasn't getting the service earlier this year.)
So, I went through the process to cancel again and this time it took. Thankfully.
I was curious to see how this would affect what we bought and how much we would still use Amazon. We like to purchased used books most of the time anyways, so Prime never saved us money on those. The amount of purchases we've made through Amazon has severely dropped off by probably 95%. I don't feel deprived. I can still make purchases that I really need to that are over $25 and get free shipping. It may take a week, but if I really need something now I can just go to a store.
Amazon is huge. I realize this. It was interesting to hear this week about the Prime Day crash on the site. I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. I haven't bought anything on Prime Day the past few years. I'm glad that we have been able to forgo needing to have Prime!
Do you have Prime? Do you think about quitting Prime?
Friday, July 20, 2018
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Shrimp 'n Grits
My anniversary was this weekend and so I made a special brunch dish for my husband. I decided on Shrimp and Grits. I looked for a recipe and then used it as a base and in the end what I made didn't look much like what the original recipe prescribed, but we loved it! So, here goes...
Shrimp 'n Grits
1 pound of raw frozen shrimp, medium size works well
Defrost shrimp in a colander in the sink by running cold water over it.
6 slices of bacon
Start cooking 6 slices of bacon in a skillet. I place the bacon in the pan first and then turn it on to medium low heat so that it will cook slowly and not burn. Turn the bacon over frequently so that it won't burn.
Once the bacon is under control, start the grits...
4 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Bring water to boil. Add salt and pepper and 1 cup of quick cooking grits. Stir till mixed and lower the stove to medium or low-medium heat. Stir every 30 seconds or so. Cook grits until they're thickened and then taste to see if they're soft enough. They should take about 5-8 minutes or so depending on how soft you want them.
1 cup shredded jack cheese
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. lime juice, optional
When grits are cooked, remove from heat and stir in jack cheese and butter (and lime juice). Put a lid on the pan to keep them warm and set aside.
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
Once the bacon is cooked through, set it on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the grease. Set the kitchen burner to medium high heat and add in the garlic. Layer the shrimp in one layer in the pan. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side until the shrimp are pink. Then you know they're cooked! Let the shrimp cool just a little bit and then pull off the shells. Then chop them into larger chunks.
1/3 cup julienned red bell pepper
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
3 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp. lime juice
Crumble the bacon and toss into the pan over low heat with the cilantro, lime juice, green onions, red bell pepper, and shrimp. Toss thoroughly to mix the flavors!
Ladle a portion of grits into a dish and top with the shrimp and bacon mixture! Service some sliced limes on the side if you prefer!
This version of shrimp 'n grits turned out really well for me! If you try it, I hope you'll enjoy it!
Shrimp 'n Grits
1 pound of raw frozen shrimp, medium size works well
Defrost shrimp in a colander in the sink by running cold water over it.
6 slices of bacon
Start cooking 6 slices of bacon in a skillet. I place the bacon in the pan first and then turn it on to medium low heat so that it will cook slowly and not burn. Turn the bacon over frequently so that it won't burn.
Once the bacon is under control, start the grits...
4 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Bring water to boil. Add salt and pepper and 1 cup of quick cooking grits. Stir till mixed and lower the stove to medium or low-medium heat. Stir every 30 seconds or so. Cook grits until they're thickened and then taste to see if they're soft enough. They should take about 5-8 minutes or so depending on how soft you want them.
1 cup shredded jack cheese
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. lime juice, optional
When grits are cooked, remove from heat and stir in jack cheese and butter (and lime juice). Put a lid on the pan to keep them warm and set aside.
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
Once the bacon is cooked through, set it on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the grease. Set the kitchen burner to medium high heat and add in the garlic. Layer the shrimp in one layer in the pan. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side until the shrimp are pink. Then you know they're cooked! Let the shrimp cool just a little bit and then pull off the shells. Then chop them into larger chunks.
1/3 cup julienned red bell pepper
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
3 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp. lime juice
Crumble the bacon and toss into the pan over low heat with the cilantro, lime juice, green onions, red bell pepper, and shrimp. Toss thoroughly to mix the flavors!
Ladle a portion of grits into a dish and top with the shrimp and bacon mixture! Service some sliced limes on the side if you prefer!
This version of shrimp 'n grits turned out really well for me! If you try it, I hope you'll enjoy it!
Making Chips Stretch
We had some friends over for lunch today after church and as I was getting the food ready to accompany the bratwurst we had on the menu, I realized I had only one bag of chips and it wasn't a big bag. But, I also had some pretzels, so I thought I would spruce them up to make them a bit more appealing and they were a hit!
Here's the recipe I made...
Sweet + Salty Pretzels
5 cups pretzels (I used thin stick pretzels)
Put in mixing bowl.
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1-2 tsp. hot sauce (I used Tapatio--mild but tangy), adjust to taste
Mix butter and hot sauce and toss pretzels with butter mixture.
5 tsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
Mix together and then sprinkle over pretzels. Taste to see if they are sweet/salty/cinnamony enough for your taste.
Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.
The original recipe can be found Here on Amanda's Cookin' site. I decreased the amounts of different ingredients and didn't use coconut oil. But, these were well loved by my family and my son has already asked that I make another batch tomorrow! Our guests loved them too and they helped the chips stretch to be enough which was exactly what I had hoped for!
Here's the recipe I made...
Sweet + Salty Pretzels
5 cups pretzels (I used thin stick pretzels)
Put in mixing bowl.
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1-2 tsp. hot sauce (I used Tapatio--mild but tangy), adjust to taste
Mix butter and hot sauce and toss pretzels with butter mixture.
5 tsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
Mix together and then sprinkle over pretzels. Taste to see if they are sweet/salty/cinnamony enough for your taste.
Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.
The original recipe can be found Here on Amanda's Cookin' site. I decreased the amounts of different ingredients and didn't use coconut oil. But, these were well loved by my family and my son has already asked that I make another batch tomorrow! Our guests loved them too and they helped the chips stretch to be enough which was exactly what I had hoped for!
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