Back in late winter, I tried Butcher Box for the first time and was thrilled. (You can find all the details in this post.) My family was loving the meat and I was loving the ease of having it sent to my door for no more money than what I was paying at Whole Foods.

Then the warm months arrived and things started to get a little tricky. Some of my meat was arriving partially thawed. After many attempts, I finally received a response from customer service assuring me the meat was safe to eat. I have always heard that you should not thaw meat and refreeze, which is what I was doing with this meat. I just made sure to cook everything thoroughly, which is not ideal for steaks and pork tenderloins, but it’s what I felt I had to do to be safe.

I received a couple comments on my YouTube unboxing video about people having a similar experience. I contacted customer service again – or should I say, tried to contact customer service. I called many times and NEVER got anyone to answer the phone or call me back. I would always receive an email that was entirely automated, or so it seemed to me. There was nothing in these emails that seemed personal to the messages I had left for them.

Many people watched that YouTube unboxing or read my post here and used my referral link to order their own shipment. That gave me credits to use and I really, really appreciated it! Because I had those credits to use, I felt compelled to keep giving Butcher Box another chance to get it right.

After receiving a third shipment where the meat was thawed – each one had more and more meat that was (in my opinion) not safe to eat, I decided it was time to call it quits with Butcher Box. I gave them lots of chances. Not only did they not respond appropriately, or respond at all, to my concerns, they didn’t fix the problems. They actually got worse.

At first, all shipments came in a large box with the meat in a reusable “insulated” bag. The last two shipments did not include the bag. If you put frozen chunks of meat with dry ice, making them super cold, in a really big box with nothing to keep them from flying around in there during shipment, those chunks of frozen meat are going to bang against each other. The result: the plastic packaging cracks. In my second to last shipment, every single package was damaged to the point that I had to repackage everything for the freezer and be extra careful when I thawed the meat for cooking so I didn’t end up with meat juice all over my fridge.

I assumed this shipment was a fluke and someone new just packed my box and forgot the bag. But then my last shipment came the exact same way. That was the last straw. There is always a comment card in the box with instructions on how to leave them feedback. I immediately went online and filled out the form expressing my displeasure with their shipping methods. NO response. None. A company that doesn’t care about customer service is not a company that I want to represent or one to whom I want to give my money.

I’ve been receiving shipments from Thrive Market for years and they have shipping down pat. They are champs at this. Butcher Box needs to take some lessons from Thrive. I have actually never seen such amazing shipping and packaging materials as Thrive uses – and they are sending only non-perishable items. Butcher Box is cutting corners and it is unacceptable.

So I’m sorry if you have purchased a Butcher Box on my recommendation. I certainly hope you have not had as bad of an experience as I have. I can no longer recommend Butcher Box and I will no longer order from them myself. I have purchased from US Wellness Meats in the past and had good success, so I will be trying them again. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Hi friend! I have five things I want to share with you today. These are things that have made my life better in some way or just made me smile when I needed it. I hope you find some joy or inspiration here today and I hope your weekend is full of fun and rest!

(PS. the cover photo for this post really doesn’t have anything to do with the particular favorites listed here, but hugs from my people are always a favorite. 😊 )

1. Jicama

Jicama is root vegetable native to Mexico. It is usually eaten raw and has a texture that is sort of a cross between a potato and an apple and in my opinion, the flavor is like that as well. It has a pretty neutral flavor, but provides a great crunch.

This unusual root veggie is full of lots of nutrients including vitamin C, folate, potassium and magnesium (which many of us are deficient in). You’ve probably been hearing a lot about probiotics and prebiotics because all of a sudden, the microbiome is cool. Well, you need prebiotics to feed the good bugs in your gut and veggies with lots of fiber like jicama, provide tons of prebiotics.

My favorite way to eat jicama is either chopped very small and added to salads or sliced into discs and used as a dipper for guacamole. Add it to your next veggie tray!

2. N’Oatmeal Cookies

So when we first “went paleo” I baked a ton because I wanted my family on board. This was a great strategy if I do say so myself and I don’t regret it one bit. But as the years have gone by and I’ve realized I need to limit my sugar intake, natural or not, I have all but quit baking. Well, lately, I’ve been bringing the baking back. It makes my family happy and it makes me happy to know they are eating a healthy-er treat. I would much rather feed them one of these cookies full of nuts and seeds and maple syrup, which are providing lots of micronutrients, than have them eat some gluten free cookies from the store. Of course, I don’t have to feed them any cookies, but baking is one of my love languages, so I just can’t help it.

These particular cookies are quick and easy to put together. If you are a lover of all things pumpkin spice, you can add some cloves, ginger, cardamom, allspice, etc. to the cinnamon in the recipe and turn them into pumpkin spice n’oatmeal cookies. I think everyone will love you!

I even made a video of the prep to show you how simple they are. Check it out on my YouTube channel here.

3. This song: “I’m No Longer A Slave to Fear”

I discovered this song through one of Ann Voskamp’s Mulitvitamins for your Weekend posts a long time ago. It moves me every time I hear it. If you are feeling overwhelmed or burdened, not just by fear, but by anything, I hope you’ll listen to this song and find some reassurance.

Those Multivitamin for your Weekend posts are actually a bonus favorite. I have a regular Bible study time every morning, but on Sundays, I read this post from Ann. They’re full of funny and inspirational stories, songs, and lessons. I always learn something and I always smile. Check it out if you haven’t already.

4. Bang Bang Shrimp

We came back from the beach this year with five pounds of fresh shrimp. I started this “tradition” just last year, but I hope to continue it forever. The shrimp are so cheap down there and they couldn’t be any more fresh. So when we got home, I set out to plan a bunch of meals using those yummy shrimp. Wanting something new, I checked with my dear friend, Google, who bought me this recipe from 40aprons.com.

The only major tweak I made to the recipe was to use Frank’s Red Hot Sauce instead of her homemade siracha.

My son, the sauce hater, would not eat the sauce, but he loved the shrimp as is. The rest of us loved it all. I served the shrimp with cauliflower rice and a bunch of sautéed mixed veggies.

5. Overnight Resurfacing Peel

I try real hard to not make these favorites posts a sales ad. I’m not really trying to sell you anything, but I am trying to share what has worked for me and my family and I just could not keep from sharing about this peel. It’s one of Beautycounter’s newest products and has very quickly become a best seller. And for good reason.

My skin is the perfect example of what this product does. At the end of the summer, after I’ve been outside for months, we go to the beach for a week, where I’m outside constantly. I wear a hat and sunscreen religiously, but my skin is prone to melasma, splotchy hyper pigmentation, and no matter how hard I try to prevent it, when we get home from that trip, my skin looks awful. I used to use a prescription cream that was very harsh, but would basically bleach my face back to mostly normal. This year, I had the peel, which is made up of 15 botanically-derived acids, not some harsh chemicals. We are three weeks past that trip and my skin looks better than it did before we left.

I couldn’t find a good “before” picture, but this close-up shows (I hope) how my skin isn’t super splotchy anymore. I have tons of freckles and they are particularly highlighted in the photograph, but before the peel, my cheeks, around my eyes and along my jawline were very dark. Huge patches of brown. That has totally evened out now. One of the best things about this peel is that you can use it everyday if you need to. I have used it almost everyday since returning from the beach. Now that my skin tone has improved, I’ll go back to using it just 2-3 times/week.

I really think everyone needs this peel in their arsenal. I will even ship you a sample if you want to give it a try. I think you’ll love it.

I’m linking up to some of my other Friday Favorites bloggers here. 

And that’s it! I’m determined to have a great weekend and I sincerely hope you do too! ❤️