Chicken Sausage Pasta 1lb ground chicken 1.5 tsp salt 1.5 tsp ground fennel seed 2 tsp paprika 1.5 tsp minced garlic 1.5 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp black pepper 1 Tbsp lemon juice or red wine vinegar 1 Jar pasta sauce Angel hair or other pasta 2 Tablespoons butter (optional) Parmesan cheese to top (optional) Mix chicken and seasonings. Ideally let it sit for 12 hours in the fridge before browning, or brown right away. The cooked chicken sausage can be frozen for a quick dinner later. (I like to brown 3-4lbs at a time and freeze the extra.) To the cooked chicken, add your favorite pasta sauce and some butter if you like. Cook the pasta, drain, and combine the pasta and the sauce. (If you don't mind a small complication... it helps to undercook the pasta by 1 minute and then finish cooking it in the sauce. But that's totally not necessary.) Serve with breadsticks, and top with parmesan if you have it.

Quick question: how do you describe your job position on Facebook? I thought I could have fun with mine, but I'm in need of inspiration...

We're first-time home buyers, and I'm confused by some of the details of getting a mortgage, i.e. -- 1. Do I need to shop around for the best rates before I get pre-qualified, or can I do that later? 2. Where should I look for lenders? I'm so used to reading reviews before buying anything, but I can't find any list of reputable lenders, and besides I'm reading that the big banks aren't the best place to get a mortgage anyway. Can I trust my realtor's recommendations, or should I ask friends with mortgages, or the yellow pages, or...? 3. If we roll closing cost and/or points into our mortgage, what amount matters for calculating the 20% we need to put down in order to get the PMI discount? i.e. if we got a $100,000 house, with 1 point ($1,000, right?) and, say, $4,000 in closing costs, would we need to put down 20% of $100,000, and take a loan out for $85,000, or would we need to put down 20% of $105,000? Thanks!

Thanks! So it sounds like I should be able to make it work as a freezer-crockpot meal. Yay! The original recipe is for a whole chicken, but I am most likely going to make it with leg quarters since it's just going in the crock pot and I have learned to love dark meat.

I'm trying to adapt a favorite recipe to be a freezer/crock pot meal, and I'd like some input from some of you who are more experienced with this. So in the original recipe, you rub a dry spice mixture (salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, dried thyme, pepper, cayenne) over the chicken and cook it in the oven with carrots, potatoes, onions, and celery. What I would like to do is to prep and freeze everything but the potatoes, and on the day I want to cook it, to throw it all in the crock pot (frozen or thawed?) in the morning, adding the potatoes fresh. Will this work? All the freezer recipes I've seen seem to use marinades rather than dry spices. I'm not sure what I'm worried about, maybe clumping of the spices or deterioration of flavor in the freezer? Should I mix the spices in with some olive oil or water or something to make it a marinade, or is that unnecessary? Also, are the celery/onions/carrots okay to go in the freezer raw? Does it matter if I thaw everything out before sticking it in the crock pot?

They'll notice if they visit often, or at least I assume they will. For that reason, when I donate, I try to keep at least one thing from each gift giver. Even with that, I worry when a couple of my more sensitive family members come, because there will be plenty of things missing, and I hope they won't be offended. Of course, seeing family so often is a HUGE blessing. But it does come with some issues. I think it's the same with having so many enthusiastic gift-givers in the family... it's a blessing, but it's also not easy to deal with. In any case, it's certainly the better problem to have. :grouphug: to those of you who wish you had to deal with excessive gifts from loving family members. Some of you have it really tough. :crying: I've seen this whole topic hashed and re-hashed on multiple forums, and ultimately I think there's no good solution. Donating works for us now, but the older the kids get, the less I can just make gifts disappear after birthdays and holidays. Betraying the family members by giving the gifts away is one thing (and it makes me incredibly uncomfortable), but betraying my kids by getting rid of their things feels like it crosses a line. And yet we have a house to live in, and I do feel like as the parents, we should have some say in how much stuff can live in the house with us. Not in the sense of being controlling, but for instance, we can't keep buying new bookshelves to house all the twaddly books that the kids get. And I'm not going to let the kids pick which books to donate, ykwim? Anyway, I'm going to be dropping hints gently tomorrow, but keeping in mind the things Cat and others have said in this thread. For my part, I appreciate the "sermon" -- this is all good perspective to have going into tomorrow.

We'll have cinnamon rolls, but we're making them tomorrow (Christmas Eve) because we want to use up the leftovers before we go to MIL's.

My dad has never been healthier than he's been since he went on a diabetic diet. My mom, on the other hand, is dealing with an autoimmune disease that is making her lose weight without trying, and eating all these low-glycemic foods that are great for my dad is not helping the situation. Part of it is that she's eating the same foods that are helping him to lose weight, and part of it is that these foods aren't terribly appetizing to her (she doesn't care for 100% whole wheat pasta or brown rice, and she LOVES potatoes). He's basically avoiding any bread or pasta with less than 100% whole wheat, potatoes, and white rice. I'm wondering if some of you have ideas for heavy, appetizing meals that will work for both my mom and dad -- a couple things that work well right now are chili (can easily be made high-fat for my mom, and nothing for my dad to avoid) and beef stew (my dad just doesn't eat the potatoes). They often do a meat with some vegetables and baked white/sweet potatoes. Anyway, my mom is getting tired of having the same things over and over and would love some ideas. She's not an ambitious cook, but she does have more time now that she's on medical leave from work. It's just the two of them, so cooking separate meals isn't terribly practical.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

2,000 wigs, for multiple millions in profit per year? How much are they charging per wig!?!?!? Those numbers just don't seem reasonable...

Has anyone found one of these three sources of free e-books to have consistently better quality formatting? If the same book is available at all three, which would you use?

From my experience (which a mix of the books and the show, and not much of either) I would say they're irreverent but not anti-Christian. The only thing I've encountered that bothered me was a clip about the Christians who were fed to the lions -- to be honest, it was funny, but in a way that made me uncomfortable.

We usually cook from scratch, but when I'm pregnant I use a lot of shortcuts, especially for lunches. Here's what we've been eating for the last 9 months: -Bagel pizzas -Frozen meatballs, heated in the toaster oven or microwave, with rice and a frozen vegetable -Rotisserie chicken with rice and a frozen vegetable -Frozen pizzas -Spaghetti and meatballs or meat sauce -Swedish meatballs (made with frozen meatballs) -Real fettucini alfredo is surprisingly quick and easy... we add frozen broccoli to make it a full meal. Garlic bread or even just toasted Italian bread would be an easy addition. -Soup from a North Bay Trading Company mix. You could probably brown up some sausage to add to the soup. -Crock pot beef stew, with pre-cut stew meat, dried minced onions, and baby carrots (instead of cutting up potatoes for this, we serve it over rice... so no prep work required for the stew itself) Tastes fine with chicken stock instead of beef stock if you have homemade. -Crock pot chicken vegetable soup with grilled cheese sandwiches (the soup is just frozen vegetables, canned tomatoes, chicken stock, and shredded chicken... seasoned with salt, pepper, and a spoonful of sugar) -Loaded baked potatoes. If that's not filling enough for some in your family, top it with some chili. -Cincinnati chili (spaghetti topped with chili and shredded cheese) -Baked macaroni and cheese with a frozen vegetable, with a few frozen chicken nuggets or meatballs if everyone needs a meat. -Spaghetti pie is pretty easy, especially if you make it without meat -Baked kielbasa and yukon gold potatoes (so I don't have to peel them), served with a frozen vegetable -Hot dogs -This marinade can be used for drumsticks (just adjust the cooking time), served with rice and a frozen vegetable Since everyone in my family is pickier than me, I do sometimes buy myself something separate, like a Kashi or Amy's frozen dinner, and fix my family something less healthy that they'll eat well. :leaving:

If you're used to cast iron, you will probably like something with a heavy bottom, so look for things with triple-ply/multi-clad construction at least on the bottom, if not throughout. I have a mix of "try-me" ones from Cuisinart and Calphalon, and I like both about the same. (I also use the dishwasher all the time, and while I don't care what happens to the finish, I haven't seen any problems so far.) Stainless is a pain with eggs and cheese (and baked goods -- but we usually line with parchment paper), but with just about anything else it cleans up easy enough. I don't think there is any difference in cleanup among stainless pans.

With us it was my parents that the babies were shy around, and in contrast my MIL is really a natural with babies. My parents are louder and more intense than my in-laws -- and to be fair, I get louder and more intense around them. ;) So the kids aren't picking up on any anxiety on my part; instead, they're used to a very quiet home environment, and a home with TV or music playing loudly and loud conversation is just uncomfortable for them. My parents try to adjust the volume a bit for our babies, but it's hard for all of us when we're so excited to see each other and have so much to say. Anyway, the babies always grow out of it, and my parents do great with the preschool and older crowd!

Train of Thought is a little more cerebral but for me it seems to scratch the same itch...

Oh, I hear you -- I'm 41w1d today, and I was sure I was having my baby two weeks ago. (5min apart contractions and all.) I've been to 42w1d before, and I've had one at 40 weeks. I much prefer the 40 weeks version. :tongue_smilie: The worst for me is meal planning -- we've been eating out or heating up frozen dinners for the last week or so, because if the baby came, I didn't want to be worn out from cooking or left with a huge mess in the kitchen. But today I got fed up with everything and cooked. I'm tired, but the kitchen is clean, and there are leftovers in the fridge.

The hammock idea made me think... are any of your kids sleeping on twin beds, two to a room? You could connect up two twin beds down the road as your adult children move into other stages of life, and the younger kids could camp out in the school room (either in hammocks or on air mattresses).

What a cool idea! I agree that air mattresses tend to be more comfortable than futon or sofa bed mattresses. (I think that's what you were saying.)

Air mattresses are a great solution for young adults, but something to consider is that the next season of your children's lives might involve them visiting with a pregnant wife and/or while they're co-sleeping with a baby (if your future daughters-in-law choose to do so). During pregnancy, I find it hard to get off of a low air mattress; the higher ones would probably be fine. But I would not consider an air mattress a safe surface for co-sleeping. I have slept on a low air mattress with the baby on a crib mattress next to mine, and that worked out fine. So anyway, I would either work some of those considerations into your plan, or be prepared to work out another solution down the road. FWIW, I've had good experiences with Intex brand air mattresses -- I like the ones with the velvety tops. My grandmother has had hers for years with no leaks, and we have one now and are very happy with it. We slept on it for a month or two straight after we lost our bed in a fire.

That makes sense. I wonder, then, if it would work to have a schedule so you get to everything, but then when something comes up that the kids are curious about that's in the curriculum, to rearrange things a bit to let the topic of interest come up sooner? Or is that overly complicating things?

Both of my big kids have followed a similar pattern. 8lb 8oz at birth, and very quickly dropped in the percentiles. Head circumference went down to the teens, and weight and height settled around 30th percentile. I'm petite and my husband is skinny, average-height, so doctors haven't really worried much. With my first I was told that in the first year they transition from their birth weight percentile to a more long-term curve. Seems to be holding true with both of my kids.

What I mean is, does anyone use it as an interest-led curriculum? I.e. your kids start asking questions about magnets, and you bring out the lesson "Magnets and magnetic fields" to answer them, presumably working in any prerequisite lessons beforehand. Some moms on another forum were talking about wanting to use it this way, and I'm just wondering how well that would work. Anyone here tried using it this way?

Look up some kids songs and fingerplays online. Do you have any children's books? Or a Kindle? Or even just go online and find some folk or fairy tales to read. Look around at mainlesson.com -- there are plenty there. And The Real Mother Goose is available for free at Project Gutenberg. Queue up a ballet on Youtube -- my son and daughter both love watching the Nutcracker, at any time of year. Swan Lake is also popular with them. Or pull out a Rated G movie that doesn't have any scary parts. Honestly, when we had a teenage babysitter, I didn't expect anything more than movie-watching. Get out some blankets and chairs and make a fort. Get out an old deck of cards and play Go Fish. Play hide and seek, with an adult hiding with the 3yo if needed.

We may not count, because we have a full washer/dryer, but we also have a spin dryer. I like that the spin dryer makes clothes dry quicker in the conventional dryer, but I'm sure it's more annoying to have to hang things up after drying them in the spin dryer, rather than just throwing everything in a conventional dryer. The spin dryer does need to be filled up just so in order not to unbalance it. Seems like it would be useful to people who do a lot of laundry and don't have the space to have multiple loads hanging up at once, though. I have gotten lazy and often don't use the thing since we don't need to, and it's an extra step... so maybe I'm not the best person to sing its praises. :tongue_smilie: But anyway, it works well and gets things very nearly dry in something like 2-3 minutes.