I always cook it in my rice cooker and it has a brown rice setting so it cooks a lot longer than the white. I've never had a problem with it being too hard. I don't think its a texture problem - I think they just don't like the taste. I didn't realize there were so many different types. I guess I just never paid that much attention. Next time I go to the store I will get a few different choices and try mixing it with white and see how it goes. Thanks so much for all the replies!

I voted 31-45 minutes. It would take me longer if I didn't spend Saturday doing as much of the prep work as I can. I hate to cook so I would much rather spend a Saturday afternoon washing, cooking, freezing so I can spend less time at night through the week.

Thanks. I plan on starting Vocab. from Classical Roots (or another root word vocab. program) next school year. ETA: I wanted to find a typing program for her. Does anyone know of a good one?

doesn't expect me to clean the kitchen after I've cooked :001_smile:

The girls love the Ronzoni. I keep asking for the pasta maker attachment for my KitchenAid. I hope to get it soon so I can experiment.

He told me my boyfriend was cheating on me. :lol: We had mutual friends and he decided to let the cat out of the bag. I'm so glad he did. It's been 12 years and two dds later!!

I'll try the Uncle Ben's as well. What's funny it they actually prefer the whole wheat pasta to the regular. They like my cookies / muffins / pancakes with the whole wheat flour more than with the regular. They just really don't like brown rice.

We are entering our third year of HS and I am starting to feel more comfortable. I always feel at the end of the year that we could have done more. We start back in about two weeks so I thought I would ask for some opinions. Math: CLE grade 5 Life of Fred Fractions and Decimals/Percent (def. finish fractions / partway through Dec / Perc) English: Rod & Staff 5 Logic: Building Thinking Skills Mind Benders Spelling: Rod & Staff grade 6 Reading: CLE grade 5 (plus history reading and she does a lot of reading on her own) History: Story of the World 2 Biblioplan lots of read a louds and other books for her to read on own State history study / states and capitals (doing in 5th grade so sister in 3rd grade can do at same time) Science: kits on our own "Science Saturdays" monthly animal science classes at zoo Abeka Health grade 5 Artistic Pursuits music theory with dad Is there anything else that I'm missing? I know WTM includes a language (latin) but we have tried twice and it is just not something I can / will accomplish. We have talked about her doing this online next year. Any other advice is very welcome. TIA!

I will say I'm surprised some have said white rice doesn't equal bad. We've been on quite a ride the last year trying to improve our eating habits. I've heard a lot, it seems, about white rice being bad. I'm soooo glad to hear some of you say you don't feel it's that big of a deal. I prefer white but could easily eat the brown. My dc and my dh would go to McD's before touching the brown stuff. I will try mixing the white and brown and see how that goes but if it fails I will just stick with white.

Thanks! I actually never thought of mixing the brown and white. :tongue_smilie: It's what I do with flour in some recipies so I don't know why it never crossed my mind. I will also look into the different types of brown.

My family refuses to eat brown rice. It doesn't matter how its cooked or what its paired with - they hate it. I could try to force the issue if it was just my dds, but my dh hates it as well. Is there something in between white and brown rice that I don't know about? Is there a trick? We eat rather healthy - lots of fruits and veggies (organic as much as we can) and the majority of our food is homemade. Is it really that much unhealthier to eat white instead of brown?

Hm? We did start buying the free range air chilled chickens from Whole Foods about a month ago. Maybe it's because it's a better / fresher chicken. Thanks!

I cook a chicken every Saturday to use during the week. The one I cooked today looks uncooked. The meat is falling off the bones, the juices are clear but the meat is pink. I've never had one do this to me. I just threw it in the crockpot to cook for a while longer. I know it has to be done but I've always been told not to eat pink chicken. Is this normal for some chickens? TIA!

I don't believe the teacher is really to blame. My sister teaches K and she complains all the time about how much they expect of five year olds. There is nothing she can do unless she wants to change occupations. She's been teaching for 15 years. It's not easy out there for the students or the teachers right now.

I worked with a certain company and we hired a lot of warehouse workers. I would have people come in with an obviously faked SS and I was not allowed to do anything. There were some with whiteout on them. My BIL, who works for the INS, said I could get into trouble for trying to verify. I lasted about a year before I couldn't do it anymore and quit. I felt like I was doing something wrong.

I don't know you but I am so sorry. Ten years ago my dad and brother were killed in a car accident and it is still hard but I know they are in a better place. Your post made me think of what my mom must of went through when she found out her son had died. I have no great words of wisdom ( I wish I did ) but my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. :grouphug:

I am a product of a public Texas education. I learned a lot about Thomas Jefferson but I learned nothing about John Calvin and Thomas Aquinas - so maybe they're just trying to balance things out. I find, that as an adult, I am constantly trying to fill in holes. I don't think any school / state has the perfect solution and I think they are all trying to find the best way. Just my 2 cents. :)

Do those of you who find it gross also do each person's undies seperately? If you think something bad could transfer then you wouldn't mix dh with dd, would you? The only thing I wash in hot water is the sheets and I never use bleach. If I get a decent whiff of bleach I end up in the dr's office and on pain meds because it feels like my throat and insides are on fire.

My marriage is better because we homeschool. I still have days that I'm stressed (about curr. choices, socialization, etc.) but I'm no longer stressed daily because of the poor education they were getting at the school down the street. I'm pretty happy now, and because of that so are dh and the girls. I think every family is different and if a marriage is in trouble it's not all because of homeschooling.

I voted I was for it and it hasn't changed. I feel it's necessary. The media is front and center these days. If you tailored all your decisions based upon what you hear and see the most within the media I don't think it would be an informed decision.

Does anyone here wonder about their girls and food? My dds are still young (10 and 8) but my 10 yr old eats more than my dh and me. I cannot keep her full. She is tall and skinny and I have no idea where the food goes. When I bring it up around others they just say to be happy I don't have boys. My dh is tall, skinny and a runner and he doesn't eat as much as our dd. Do boys really eat that much more? Is it unusual / weird for a girl to eat so much? I remember as a teenager that I had a huge appetite but I was made to feel weird if I wanted to eat as much as my brothers. It felt wrong. I was active and into sports - but so were they. It seemed to be ok for them to eat large all day but not ok for me (or any girl). Does anyone else here feel you have girls that eat just as much as the boys?

I had a tube put in one of my ears when I was 10 and I was awake. It was my third and the dr. told my parents they could do them now w/out anethesia. (sp?) It wasn't that bad. I felt pressure and not much more. ETA: I, too, had sinus surgery and it cleared up all problems. I had problems pretty much from birth until 13 (when they did the sinus surgery). It has made a world of difference.

I made some calls today and there is nothing we can do. There is a lot I did not know and now just have to find some peace with the decisions made. Thanks to everyone for the help and kind words!

Thanks for the links! I would rather you not share info. right now, but thanks for offering. We're still trying to find our way. I don't even know if an adoption from CA to FL is doable at this point. We just really can't stomach the idea right now that these girls will be split up and that the older girl will flow into the system.

My dh is not close to his oldest sister. We received a letter from her today that said she was losing custody of her two daughters. She has been fighting this for about two years (that we know of). The girls are 10 and 4 years old. In her letter she said they were going to be split up. She said the 10 yr old was unadoptable ( by CA standards ) due to behavior problems. What could this mean? This is weighing heavily on our hearts and it's not something we can ignore. We know his sister is not in a good place and she has had many opportunities to change but doesn't. We are considering looking into if we could possibly take them both in. We are on the opposite side of the country but he is very concerned about her knowing we might have them and showing up. I don't really know what I'm asking but any info would be appreciated. Thanks!