For anyone who is eating actual dehydrated veggies and want to count them since they are nutritionally the equivalent of fresh, I have some conversions for you. I just weighed 7 cherry tomatoes, my garden dehydrated ones which were a fairly typical size when fresh. They weighed 2 grams. 7 cherry tomatoes is considered a serving of veg. The issue is that dehydrated removes all the water content yet it doesn't change the nutritional content. Fresh, that would be 105-130 grams. Water is all that is lost. A serving of bell pepper dehydrated is just 1 tbsp because 1 cup of dehydrated bell pepper well diced creates a tbsp or 6 cups of fresh diced bell pepper makes 2/3 cup dehydrated peppers. That tbsp will be roughly 9 grams, raw that would be 125-140 grams possibly a little more depending on how packed your measuring cup was. Sigh. Metric is so much easier than imperial!!! Scallions dehydrated, 1/4 oz or 1 tbsp is the equivalent to 1 cup of fresh chopped. Dried it will weigh roughly 7 grams. 1 cup fresh is 106 grams. So if you are eating any pure, dried veg - not food additive dried franken food - you can count your serving sizes of dried to your total number of daily servings even if it doesn't help much towards the 800 gram total. But, because the only thing lost is the volume of water, you could also add the grams of what it would have been fresh to your total. For instance, my lunch salad is 1 cup spinach, 2 cups spring greens, 8 dried cherry tomatoes, 1 tbsp dried red pepper, 1 tbsp, scallions, a few chopped banana pepper rings, and 1 cup of black beans and comes to an approximate total of 550-560 grams if everything was fresh/frozen. It is also 8 servings of veg.

Absolutely. I am no contact essentially with my brother's wife because she is a dangerous person. But I maintain phone contact with him so he can stay informed on issues with our mother. I had a period of a couple weeks when I couldn't get a hold of him. He road his bike by our place one day so I hailed him down. When I told him I had had to get mom to the ER with a blood pressure issue the week before but couldn't get a hold of him, he pulled out his cell phone and sure enough my number had been blocked. He didn't do it. We both know his wife did it though he made excuses. So I really think if Pop's number is blocked, it isn't because grandma did it.

That is great. I am going to use one that holds 4 cups. I don't think I can eat more than that because I really do just get so full when I have that much leafy green, and then I end up not getting enough of the other high iron things I need. I do use spinach, but I find it a bit bitter so it can't be the bulk of the greens or I will end up being rather turned off to my salad.

Okay, so I think the thing with dehydrated veggies is that so many people do not eat true dried vegetables, which have nothing added, but instead veggie chips or straws which often are low amounts of GenZ and high amount of binding agents like corn starch, oil, etc. So I am going to "do me" and count my red pepper and scallions, plus the cherry tomatoes that I put on my salads. I am making chicken, veg, dumpling soup tonight. I think when I assemble the ingredients, onions, carrots, peas, green beans, and dried red peppers, I will weigh them all together, divide by the approximate servings in the volume of soup, and then try to count it that way. I will do the same when I make my meatless chili this week which will be two quarts of home canned tomatoes plus a can of pinto beans and a can of kidney beans, plus two cups diced carrots, and a couple of red chili peppers from my garden. I can weigh the peppers and carrots together, drain the cans of beans and weigh them together, and then add that to the 64 oz of tomatoes but convert to grams, then estimate the number of cups in the pot with one cup being a serving. Ya. I don't want to obsess because that defeats the purpose and adds stress which isn't healthy. But I am intrigued to see how close I get with my current style of cooking and food preferences. As a general rule, I was trying for a minimum of 5 servings of veg a day. I keep fruit to mostly just granny smith apples some citrus. My mom and brother are type diiabetic so I try to keep my fructose intake low. So far I have not had any high or even borderline high A1C numbers which is good.

These are really neat!!!

I am so sorry, Pop! Your parents are nasty people. I have come to understand never underestimate the low that nasty, controlling people will go. They have a game of limbo going on in their head, and regular, decent people can never imagine just how bar the low is set because they themselves would never stoop to it. Many hugs from me to you. I think Katy is right too. They could have easily blocked your number on grandma's phone without her knowing it.

Okay, so I can't weigh and add in the dehydrated red peppers, tomatoes, and scallions that I use. Bummer. I have a ton of those from my garden that I preserved for winter...of course without the water, they do not weigh much. An entire servings of red pepper would be only be a fraction of its mass fresh. Then again, I am lazy, so if I have to weigh my leafy greens, I may just make up the salad without any kind of dressing or non veg topping like boiled egg, and then weigh the whole thing because they won't add much. It is also easier than weighing carrots, then moving them to the side, weighing broccoli and then beans individually, and then assembling.

No pics yet because I am in the planning phase. But so have two pairs of pants for youngest grandson to cut out - corduroy - and then two quilt tops to figure out. One will be easy. I just need to decide what pattern I like best. However, the other is going to be entirely out of scrap batiks. So I have to take inventory of all the decent size scraps I have, measure them all, and then sit down with graph paper and colored pencils to see what I can make and have quilted by Dec. 16. I will post photos when I get it figured out.

Adorable!!

Same here. This is the time of year when I make a ton of soups and stews. I need to think about how to calculate this. Also, is this group counting legumes as veg? I eat a lot of legumes for the iron. So my lunch yesterday was a medium size Yukon gold potato roasted and then topped with an entire can of drained black beans. I think it would have been around 200-240 grams of legumes. 140ish grams for the potato, and later 2 cups of leafy greens which is only 28 grams but two servings of vegetables, and then I would need to calculate the dried tomatoes I had on it plus the carrots, scallions, and red peppers. I do have a good scale for this. I just need to remember to measure before I eat. I also had hummus at supper. Ya. I am going to need an answer on the legumes. Lentils as well. I know some folks don't think of lentils as veg.

We are done now. But we had that about a week and a half ago. I am zone 4b but also in an area with insulation from Lake Huron so quasi 5a, so there is this kind of wild oscillation sometimes. So it was 33 degrees over night and then the next day warmed up to 71, then down to 45, and then it has just been not great and rainy and gloomy. Fun times...a bit like a roller coaster.

I love the idea of Popsicles. Fun!

What about this? https://www.seabirds.org/ They have an adopt a penguin program that appears to be vouched for by the British government. So you could explain that penguins are not like parakeets and cannot live in a home environment but he can name and support his very own penguin in the wild. Then give him a stuffed penguin so he has a reminder every time he sees his stuffed pal that he is genuinely supporting a real penguin trying to live its best life in mother nature.

Dolphinsicles!

I too absolutely hate and despise such familiarity among people who are strangers or mere acquaintances. I really have to swallow my tongue when I travel down south because it is pretty disrespectful to have the guy at the McD's drive thru who has never seen me a day in his life to that point, call me "Sweetheart" when he hands me my change. I have also heard darlin' and honey. Why? It is a habit that needs to be dropped because it is inappropriate, and if those terms are also used for close, loved ones, it makes the terms meaningless. I rank it right up there with a boss/manager using that kind of terminology with me. Just don't. But, I also wouldn't say anything either, just grift my teeth and move on. So I would probably respond with "There are two study groups currently. Here are the names of their leaders. However, they are pretty full and I am not certain if they can include more people so late in the semester." Then let it drop. I get it. I also think it is worth letting go.

Marbel, I just figured there is no way a sane woman wants to manage two men and thought you picked up a wife for yourself, and if that was the case, BRAVO because that is exactly what we all need! 😁

Allegiant has a non stop to Savannah from GR, but it is listed as seasonal. So you would need to check and see if they are running it in February. They also have St. Pete year round, Orlando, and Phoenix.

Phew! So happy to hear the child is unharmed.

I managed to order a Christmas present yesterday. My mom is going to France for 3 months, leaving middle of December so she can spend Christmas with my sis and brother in law. Mom's wardrobe is old, very frumpy, and she doesn't like her clothes but also doesn't shop much and has to be conservative with her money. So every year for Christmas and birthday, I buy her a full outfit. I found an adorable blue (her favorite color) knit dress with embroidered daisies around the bottom (daisies are her favorite). It is cute and classic style, and will go very well with the beautiful cable knit pale grey cardigan I bought her last year. I purchased grey leggings to go with it since she doesn't wear dresses that fall at or above the knee without something under it. Since it will be cool on the Mediterranean (Sis is in Antibes just outside Nice/Cote d'Azur), the leggings will be a nice addition, and I got no show socks which she can wear with her walking shoes. I think she will like it. One year I bought her a black tunic dress/hundreds with flowers on it, and leggings plus a little contrasting shrug, and she was just over the moon for it. Sis said she wore it numerous times. Hopefully, I did okay with my choice. I am giving it to her right away so if it doesn't fit right or she doesn't like it, I can send it back and find something else before she leaves.

Yes. This is where my sympathies are. It is horrible for the family when someone commits suicide, and then under these circumstances it is even worse. Reading more about him made me lose my compassion for him though I really do not want to see anyone do this devastating act.

I think Savannah, GA would be nice. It should be in the 60's at that time during the day, beautiful historic districts to walk but not peak tourist season, on the water, and you should be able to shuttle, uber, or taxi to your hotel. I don't know if you can get anything direct out of G. Ford, in Grand Rapids. But I think you can fly direct out of Midway which is a pretty easy airport to use.

Ottakee, are you going to fly out of Grand Rapids or drive to O'Hare? I think DTW is just about as far away as Chicago for you. Knowing where you are originating will affect my recommendations.

I know you aren't in Michigan, but sheesh 32 or below to 70's in a heartbeat is just exactly the kind of thing we get all the time! 😱 I am frustrated with myself. I needed to pick up a bag of alfalfa pellets from the farm supply store. I only need 5-10 lbs. We won't be mowing again, but my leaf compost pile desperately needs some green matter. This was one thing a local gardener told me I could do since mowing season ended a couple weeks ago, and it rained before I could rake up glass clippings. I forgot to do it. Argh! So now I need to go back to town. 😜

Poor baby! Our cocker spaniel goes off his food and has the head tilt when his ear, yeast infection comes back. It doesn't happen often because he does allow us to use ear cleaner on him every night. But about once a year the yeast still overcomes the routine. He does seem very sick when he becomes symptomatic, yet he always bounces back quickly. I hope this little baby gets better very fast.

Jealous of your lime! Guess who is going to Home Depot early spring to look for one. I think if I keep it inside from mid September through Mid April, I might have some luck. We have plant lights to help with that. How big do you think the bush will eventually get? I have to tell my DD. She has some wonderful, huge south facing windows at the Alabama house and would only need to bring it inside for late December to late February. She will be thrilled.