I'm making Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. I've done this dozens of times. Milk is supposed to be scalded but not boiled. I looked in the pan and it was just beginning to boil and I pulled it off the burner right away. So what happens now? How will it affect the recipe? Should I throw the milk out and start over?

O.K., this is obviously only on my end. I'll see what I can figure out. Thanks for trying it out! Lisa

I'm trying to get onto myhomeschooltranscripts.com (bought a membership about a month ago) and can't access the website. Owner emailed back and said he has no problems getting on and hasn't received any other complaints. I've tried in Internet Explorer and Firefox and still can't get to the site without an error message. I also tried both my laptop and my desktop. Can anyone else try this site really quick to see if you can access it? Don't know how the problem could be on my end!

Ds14 is having a patrol party (Scouts) at our house tomorrow, and the weather looks like it won't allow them to do frisbee/catch at the park. So we're going to order pizza at home (with salad, fruit, and dessert on the side) and are trying to figure out what to do with a bunch of boys for 4 hours. Any game suggestions for large groups that don't involve complex strategy or instructions?

Just tried the pastry brush and it worked like a charm. I think I'll save my butter wrappers, too, and see how that works. Also, the napkins saved from take-out food sounds like a great idea, though we're trying to eat out less, so I don't know how successful I'll be with that one. Mainly trying to find ways to cut the grocery bill. Last month was around $950, but that's for me, hubby, and 5 boys. Hubby is 6'5, ds16 is 6'6, ds14 is 6'2, and the younger three are growing quickly. Ds16 eats for 4 all by himself, partly because he weightlifts and exercises for about 1.5 hours/day. $950 also includes all household products (dish soap, laundry, cleaners, etc...) I'm already making everything from scratch, bargain shopping, stockpiling, making my own yogurt, not buying processed foods, eating beans, brown rice, whole chicken, making my own broth, cutting sodas and juices, and bargain shopping. My goal is to get that number to $750/month, but I just don't know with food prices on the increase. And the cost of peanut butter has skyrocketed! All that's to say, if I can eliminate paper towels and other such disposable products, that would be a few more pennies. I will say that I can't do without them for straining my yogurt. I tried a couple of different varieties of cheesecloth, and couldn't get it right. I'm using Costco Paper towels for straining the whey, and it works great every time. I make yogurt using 2 gallons of whole milk/week, and for that amount I use 6 paper towels total for straining (in various colanders, since it's such a large batch. Found a splatter cover for the microwave on Amazon, but I just added it to my wishlist, so I'll wait and see if the price goes down. Thanks everyone for the great ideas!

How can I grease my cast iron pans with Crisco sans a paper towel or baggie? (Don't want to use oil because my pans always end up getting a sticky, gummy buildup from oil).

I'm wired exactly the same way. Having all boys, I was excited when hubby decided to get involved in Scouts. Now, all 4 older boys go to Scout meetings with Dad on Monday evenings. I stay home with ds 5, and that's when, no holds barred, I pop dvds in the player and let him watch to his heart's content. I'm never far away, but he gets his screen time (which is not daily) and I get my alone time, even if just for an evening. Also, once a month our troop goes on a weekend campout. Ideally, hubby and oldest 4 boys are gone for the whole weekend, which is absolutely divine when it works out. Unfortunately, 3 of the 5 of them have to stay home this weekend for one thing or another, and my hopes of a weekend alone (except for 5 year old son) were dashed. My husband is so relieved that he's going to stay home this weekend. I don't have the heart to tell him that I wish they'd all go away. It'll be at least another month before I get the opportunity again! I love them all dearly, but for me, alone time is such a valuable commodity. I think you've gotten some great advice, and I don't have any more for you that's new or different. Just commisseration.:tongue_smilie:

Hubby filled up in Dallas area at $3.57 this afternoon. Costco, a bit north of here, was $3.38. According to gasbuddy.com, Costco is consistently cheapest around here.

Our favorite: A spray bottle full of water. He usually uses this outside, but occasionally sprays it on the windows inside. A feather duster. A pile of dish towels/washcloths to fold. A small hand vac with a removable hose to suck up crumbs, etc...on the floor. I wasn't going for a theme, but I'm realizing these are all cleaning projects, ha!! I haven't done rice, like others, but have done pinto beans with measuring cups, spoons, whisks, etc... Play-doh, old-fashioned (wooden) Fisher Price little people, lite brite, Orb Factory sticker mosaics (this has kept him occupied for hours at a time!), Playmobil, marble run, Legos, sticker books (Lego Star Wars theme by Dorling Kindersley purchased at Costco), tub bath with tub tints, forts made with blankets, sofas, and chairs.

Another vote for Josiah. We have all biblical names, too. ours our Matthew David, Micah Joel, John Gabriel, Stephen Nathanael, and Josiah Samuel.

This was just the thing! Ended up purchasing instead of using the free version. Very happy for what I needed it for. Thanks!

I was the OP, and Ideal Protein was a smashing success for me this year. It took about 3 months, and I lost almost 30 lbs. I have re-gained/yo-yo'd with about 5-7 lbs, but continue eating a basically low-carb, high vegetable diet. I had originally wanted to lose around 20, but 30 put me back to my pre-marriage weight. Hovering around 5-7 lbs higher than that is all right with me, especially since having 5 babies:001_smile:. I'm not supposed to look like a 20 year old, right? I actually had some folks worried that I was too thin. Yes, it's expensive. But for me it was worth it. I need a diet plan with precise guidelines for losing weight. When I have lots of "choices" throughout the day, I don't do well. Ideal Protein was a great choice for me.

Without going into unnecessary detail, I need to put together a transcript in the next 24 hours. I have a list of classes my boys have taken (sophomore and freshman) and the grades they earned. I guess I just need to figure out how to list this in transcript format. I'm awful with things like Excel. Is there an online "fill in the blank" type template for a transcript? What's the quickest way to do this?

...what do you hang them on? Looking to save money on drying costs, but my laundry room isn't big enough for many hanging clothes. I also don't want anything unsightly stretched across my backyard. The HOA wouldn't be happy. Do you hang clothes inside our outside, and what do you use? Any product links would be very helpful. Found a couple of interested racks on Amazon, but don't know how they'd handle laundry from a family of 7. Thanks!

The class will meet 4 days/week for two hours/day. If the DE coordinator is right, that would be an additional 4 hours of homework a day in addition to the two hours of class. I'm afraid for him to take a job and get in a crisis situation with studying.

I took my two bookends (ds 16 and ds 5) shopping at Kohl's yesterday for some shorts. Ds 16 is 6'6, so I knew the only shorts long enough would be the Nike Dri-Fit basketball shorts with a 12 inch inseam. With my 30% off coupon and on sale, they were priced just "o.k." Ds 5 wanted shorts like big brother, but the Nike shorts were not well stocked, and they all looked really tiny for the size they were labeled. Plus, the price was outrageous for that little piece of fabric with the swoosh. Just as I was rounding the corner to the dressing room, I found the stand with all the Jumping Bean clothing, which I usually don't care for. But they had these great athletic shorts (seemed every bit as nice, and nicer than Nike) with a sale price of $6.00. The regular price was $17. I had my 30% coupon, so they ended up being only $4/pair, and of course for every $50 you spend, you get back $10 in Kohl's cash. Anyhow, I know it's not anywhere near a garage sale price, but I basically ended up paying $4/pair for a small handful of these. I also got a couple Sonoma elastic waist pull-on, khaki type shorts on sale and with my coupon, so ds 5 is set for shorts for the summer. Hope someone else will find this a nice price for new retail clothing.

How many hours outside of class should I expect my son to be studying during a summer session? I'm looking toward having him take a Speech class (introductory). I spoke with one professor who said in addition to the 2 hours in class, expect to spend 1 hour outside of class (if he's a good student). Then I spoke to the dual enrollment coordinator who gave me a "general rule" of two hours outside of class for every hour spent in class. That would be an additional 4 hours/day after class. I was hoping he'd be able to have at least a part time job this summer, but I don't know about that if he's going to be spending 2 hours in class, 4 hours out of class, and commute time. Any perspective would be helpful. Thanks! Lisa

Hubby is 6'5, ds16 is 6'6 and ds14 is 6'2 and growing. There are three more boys all destined for massive height behind my first two, and I'm thinking we're going to have to break the bank to clothe them all. Where and how do you find your best deals on tall men's clothing? I've shopped at Kohl's, JCPenney, Lands' End, LLBean, Big and Tall Fashions for Less (which still costs more than Kohl's and Penny's). One caveat. I don't want to sew. My mom is willing to hem pants and shorts, and when my older son said he can't find shorts with a long enough inseam (12 inches isn't long enough for a pair of basketball shorts to hit his knee) a friend suggested cutting off regular men's basketball pants and hemming them to be longer. Haven't tried this yet, but it's a possibility.) Anyhow, that's about the only sewing we'll be doing. I also don't have time (and rarely have any luck) finding tall mens clothing in very good shape or selection at thrift shops. I have shopped ebay on occasion. ETA: shoes are a problem, too. Ds16 wears a size 16. You don't exactly find those on discount very often, and I have to order them online because stores don't carry sizes that big.

Wow, I'm thrilled with all the responses! I have a running list now of new things I plan to try!

Tell me more about your bath bombs and toothpaste?

Wow! Um...are these for both "duties" in the bathroom? How do you manage that???? And the laundry?

My most recent include yogurt, chocolate syrup, shower cleaner, and facial cleanser. I'm always looking for ways to economize with groceries, household goods, etc... I'd love to hear your ideas, especially on items that might be unconventional.

I'm a timeline dropout/failure. We've *tried* to use several, the most recent being Homeschool in the Woods (which Veritas sells). We did a few weeks' worth last year and then quit.

My parents moved in with us a couple of years ago, and mom has gotten to where she frequently (2-3 times a week) leaves a flame going on the burner she uses for cooking. Sometimes the flame is wide open, other times she puts her pot/cast iron pan back on top of the flame. Either way, she leaves the kitchen for long periods of time after this, and we find the flame still going. We sometimes find the pan scorched or the food burned. Once, my hubby woke up at 3:00 a.m. and the entire house smelled strongly of gas. I ran downstairs to find the flame out on one of the burners but the gas valve open. We had to evacuate the house and call 911. The firemen said the gas in the house was at an explosive level. They couldn't believe how high it was. Is there any kind of newfangled gas range that senses when the flame has no pan after a certain amount of time, or shuts off the gas when there's no flame, or something like that????

How'd it turn out?