Do you have any idea how long you can keep cooked meat in the fridge?

I think a main problem is that vegetables are definitely an afterthought and my main focus is on the protein. I also really need more ideas for protein. My family likes chicken but I've run out of ideas of ways to make it that are healthy. Our typical menu would be some kind of chicken a few nights, cheese and meat ravioli and sauce, tacos, maybe some kind of casserole and then pizza over the weekend usually Friday.

We don't eat fish. We usually have some sort of chicken, pasta or occasionally something with hamburger but aren't opposed to any beef or pork. I'm just not a good cook so I don't do much in the way of roasts etc For vegetables we are pretty limited. Right now it's mostly peas, carrots, beans and broccoli. My husband doesn't like broccoli but I'm getting to the point since my kids now will eat it that I'm going to include it in meals. I think they are willing to try some new vegetables but I don't like onions (onion flavoring is fine. I just don't like chunks) and any kind of peppers. None of us like asparagus, cabbage or beets. The other type of beans is fine (black beans etc) but I don't have a lot of recipes for them.

We have eaten way too much processed food over the holidays. I want to start making some healthier meals especially since we are going on vacation in less than 2 weeks and will be eating out. Unfortunately even before the holidays our meals weren't great. Nothing awful but I have severe chronic pain so it's hard for me to make complex meals. Any ideas for healthy, tasty but easy meals? My family (all adults) are somewhat picky eaters and don't like too many vegetables but I need to figure out something healthier than I have been serviing. I have an insta pot but haven't really used it too much for meals yet. Any suggestions?

I had mono as a teen. I was out of school for 2 months. I had to quit ice skating. I had no energy for at least 6 months. I have auto immune issues now I've seen some research that says they are related. My daughter had mono last year in college right before finals of course. She had an unusual case as her throat did not hurt horribly at first. She could not keep food down for several days and was very lethargic. She survived on crackers and Gatorade until she came home for break. The doctors at the campus clinic didn't even test her and basically blew it off saying it was a virus. When she got home she started getting a horrible sore throat and high fever. Sure enough she had mono. She spent her whole break recovering but unfortunately it was too late for her finals. She did not do well on finals and since they said it was "just a virus" she could not get a doctor's note and couldn't postpone finals. (The poor girl got a concussion a few weeks before finals this time) She is a hockey player and refused to stop playing, which worried me a lot but she was 20 so I couldn't force her. I worried about her spleen. Luckily she did have 3 weeks to recover at home but I honestly don't think she fully recovered for several months.

We would not feel comfortable having the boyfriend go with us. We have never met him and they have only been dating for a few months (long distance) so actually she has only spent 5 days in total with him, although she knew him as a casual acquaintance 3 years ago. I would feel more comfortable if this was a longer term relationship or if we at least have met him before vacationing with us. It really isn't an issue anyway since she has to work when we are going on the trip. She will get back from seeing him the day before. She pays no rent. We offered to let her live rent free for a year so she could pay off a chunk of college loans. She pays for her expenses (car, phone, school loan). She does absolutely nothing around the house. She says she is just too busy. It has been a source of tension since she leaves a mess everywhere. I love her dearly but it is definitively time for her to move out. I just wish we handled the trip differently. We planned it so last minute since my husband had also been out of town. We literally made all of our plans the day she was returning. I didn't want to call her on her last day there while she was most likely heading to the airport to tell her that we were going. We knew it wasn't possible for her to go. She is a teacher and had already used up all of her personal days and had just missed a whole week of work due to having the flu. I felt bad telling her when she got back but now I feel worse keeping it from her.

I edited my post because I tend to have a problem with oversharing but yep you are right. Even though she hasn't necessarily been acting like an adult (not involving the boyfriend but in a lot of other areas) the bottom line is she is an adult. I am also having a hard time with some of her decisions, which at times we felt were unsafe. She has the right to do what she wants and it's part of being an adult. It's just hard to watch sometimes and she has some emotional issues to complicate things. She also has been very difficult at home refusing to clean up her messes and being inconsiderate. So there has been a lot of tension around the house. Again there it is more involved then this but the bottom line is I need to realize that regardless of what she is doing she is an adult. I just fear that going on this trip will make things worse with our relationship. Lately I can't do anything right in her eyes. My dh never had any pause when we planned the trip but I'm just feeling a bit bad now.

I really don't know when we should tell her. This really was a spur of the moment decision that originated when my dh talked about a business trip. The trip location changed but it was definitely last minute and based on us all wanting to get out of the cold and me just really needing a break. It's been a rough year medically and emotionally for me It may seem like a counter attack. Honestly we didn't have any problem her going last week. As far as her going over break I do think it's completely reasonable. Again it's more complicated than I can type out here. I just mean that she doesn't seem to care about spending much time with family (again pretty normal for her age) but on the other hand then I feel she shouldn't be upset with us doing something without her. If this was last year and she was still in college and not working she definitely would have been included (or given the option to but she would have wanted to.) I'm over analyzing this because everything I do lately is wrong in her eyes. I really don't want to hurt her feelings or make our relationship even worse since things aren't going well lately. . Honestly I wish we just casually told her when we booked the trip last week but she was out of town at the time and I was trying to give her space. She had a stressful week and there wasn't a good time to bring it up. Now I don't know when or how to bring it up.

There is definitely more going on. Yes she should make decisions herself. I won't go into it all here but it's not about her going on these trips There is a lot more going on regarding her initial time she went down there. The additional trips are fine I'm just saying she has had a lot of time to travel too. I know this sounds confusing. I'm just saying that she wants to be treated like an adult without any input from us or any consideration around the home. I'm not holding it against her but I think she may take it that way. She has some emotional problems which make this more difficult as far as the way she processes things but sometimes she uses her problems as an excuse.

My 24 year old dd has a newish boyfriend in Florida. She has seen him once in October and again last week and is flying down again over New Years Eve. She will be moving in with him in June. (A whole other story) We've had a rough transition with her living at home after graduating from college last year. I realize she is 24 and an adult but she feels this means she has no responsibility to us either helping out around the house or listening at all to our advice. I don't mean necessarily that she shouldn't make decisions at her age but she has made it very clear that she is doing what she wants and doesn't care how it affects anyone else. Like I said she will be going to Florida over New Years and therefore spending most of her time off with him. (She is a teacher). Again her decision but again has made it clear that she would rather be with him than us. So my dh had mentioned that he might be going to Phoenix in January for a business meeting. I half kiddingly said that I wanted to go too. He said ok and then I said that I would feel bad for my other 2 kids being stuck in the cold weather. He said they could come too. Long story short but we discovered cheap fares to Cancun instead. My other two "kids" are thrilled and so am I. I desparately want a vacation and especially somewhere warm. I have chronic pain and the cold makes it worse. The problem is I'm feeling like a bad mom since my oldest dd won't be going. We are leaving the day after she gets back from Florida but then she has to work. This was a last minute decision. The only reason we are going are because of the cheap fares and being able to go after the holiday. We really didn't want to go over New Years anyway due to the higher fares but she made her plans without telling us. Again her decision but she probably would have picked seeing him anyway. We have not told her yet since we aren't sure how she is going to handle it. She may not care or she may be very upset but we want to enjoy Christmas since she is moving. This will be our first major vacation without her and I'm sure she would have loved to go to Cancun but there is no way she can take more time off from work. We made plans while she was in Orlando last week. It's not like she isn't going anywhere and will have been to Orlando 3 times in 3 months. So am I being a bad mom? I guess it's just a natural thing to happen since she is moving on with her life. I'm just afraid she will feel like we did this to spite her since things have not been going well. It's just the way it worked out. She hasn't treated any of us very well lately so my husband and other kids say I shouldn't feel bad. That didn't figure into our decision but it may seem that way.

Good news! She just got it back about 20 minutes ago! Thank goodness. Thanks for the tips though

My dd just got back from a weekend trip and the airline lost her luggage. She filed a claim but how does that work? First of all if by chance they find it will she have to go to the airport or will they get it to her? If it's truly lost how can she get reimbursed? Everything I see online says she needs receipts. She doesn't have any receipts. I doubt she even knows exactly everything that was in the suitcase. She is 24 and in a "learn the hard way" part of her life right now. She packed her eyeglasses and prescription meds in her checked luggage. I've told her before when she was younger never to do this but for some reason she did. I'm hoping she can get her doc to fill her meds tomorrow but I'm not sure if she can be reimbursed for her glasses. Any other tips?

We are going to take our 2 younger college kids and get out of the frigid temps for a short vacation right after the first of the year (cheap flights). We were just going to join dh on a business trip to Phoenix but he now says he is open to other possibilities. He has brought up the possibility of San Diego and Palm Springs. It looks like the weather is about the same in all 3 areas. Florida is a possibility but the kids wanted to try something new. My ds is leaning towards San Diego. My dd is leaning towards Phoenix. I just want warm weather. We could see a hockey game in Phoenix so that is a plus. I'm limited and cannot do a lot of physical activity so hiking is out of the question. I can go for short spurts of site seeing. We will want some activities to occupy our time since it won't be pool weather like I had hoped. Which would you choose or any other recommendations?

I asked my college dd what she wants for xmas and one suggestion was a nerdy science book. I don't want anything super heavy but something that a college student would like. She especially likes things like plants, genetics, fun things like mold etc lol. I think she would like something with interesting facts. I'm clueless about this stuff and can only find fun books for kids.

Yes thank you. Unfortunately my cousin almost died from an accidental Tylenol overdose. She had been taking it in two medications at the same time and didn't know it. She had to have a liver transplant. My daughter is alternating between the Ibuprofen and Motrin that has Tylenol in it. I think it's a great idea to altenate between meds I'm just a little confused as to whether or not Naproxen can be taken soon after Ibuprofen. I saw a few places online that say they shouldn't be taken within something like 6 hours of each other but it seems like some people can take it without any problems. Actually tonight I'm going to suggest that she try the Aleve and then alternate it with Midol if needed. She is currently bleeding so I don't think it is a cyst but that is definitely something I will mention to her to ask the doctor. I actually had to have one removed myself since it was causing a lot of pain and wouldn't go away. Unfortunately she may have inherited my trouble with painful periods. I had an endometrial ablation 5 years back and it helped so much but of course she is too young for that.

Thanks everyone. It's settled down a bit. Taking the Pamprin that has Tylenol in it alternating with Motrin has helped a bit. We have Aleve which is Naproxen but I was concerned about taking that at the same time (alternating) with Tylenol. I'm going to suggest the magnesium. I'm hoping I can convince her to see the gyn sometime this month to make sure she doesn't have something like endometriosis. I think she is just terrified due to her bad experience with her first exam. It was so painful since she was on her period.

Does it hurt your stomach taking all of those? I never thought you could take Aleve along with Ibuprofen. Thanks for the suggestion.

My 24 year old dd is having very severe menstrual cramps. She gets cramps every cycle and they are often pretty painful but usually taking Ibuprofen or Midol and using a heating pad helps. Some months aren't too bad. This morning she was vomiting from the pain. She had just taken Ibuprofen so I gave her a Midol which contains Tylenol instead of Ibuprofen as well as a few other ingredients. She also took a Xanax. She takes it for anxiety but I thought it would help. She also has one of those heat pads on her abdomen (the type that stick to the skin). Right now we are trying to decide if she should go to the ER. Is there anything dangerous that could be causing severe cramps that they would help in the ER? A few years back she has something similar and she went to the Ob/gyn. They did an internal (extremely painful and she was crying uncontrollably). Other than that they just had her take Naproxen. If we go to the ER it will be a minimum 1-2 hour wait but we've had to wait as long as 5-6 hours. During that time she will be miserable having to wait sitting in a chair and also if she has to vomit again. She also just got over a flu like illnesss so I hate to expose her to any new germs since I'm sure her resistance is down. I'm sure they would do another internal but other than that I doubt they would do more than give her something like Naproxen and then tell her to follow-up with her on/gyn. I'm going to try to convince her to go see one soon to be checked for endometriosis but she has resisted. The last time she had an internal (her first and only one) was so painful so she refuses to go back and at 24 it's up to her. In the meantime I want to know if it would be good to go to the ER or if that would just make things worse. We are also about to get a lot of snow after getting several inches last night so that is an issue too but of course her health is most important. Is there anything else I can give her at home that will help her pain?

My college dd needs some warm waterproof snow boots asap. She wants ones that are slightly taller than a hiking boot so that snow can't get in. She bought some last year but the upper isn't as warm or waterproof as she thought they would be. She will be at school until the 21st so I'd like to ship some to her if possible but I would as least like to get some here before the selection runs out. Amazon would be great but I feel like I never know the quality buying from there. She tried to get some last Christmas break and there was a very limited selection. I'm hoping to keep the price around $100. Of course less would be great but I doubt I could find some quality ones for that price. I would even be willing to go up to $150 since we live in a place that gets a lot of snow and the same is true for her college campus.

You are right to some degree. We are having a tough transition. She is making some choices that we don't agree with and has treated us poorly lately. Honestly though this isn't a decision based on that. I realize that OCD does play some part but it's hard to explain just how much stuff she has and her refusal over the past several summers to go through her stuff. I would never get rid of stuff I know she really cares about. I'm talking about such a large amount of stuff that it is taking up quite a bit of room in our storage and basement. It's not a matter of her asking us to hold on to a handful of boxes but she doesn't want to sort though anything. When she used to leave for college after summer she would leave a huge mess in her room and bathroom. I just don't think we should have to hold onto everything and have her pretty much leave stuff a big mess. She expects to leave clothes in closets including the coat closet. She wants us to literally hang on to at least 100 books and things like that. She is always welcome at home and will always have a roof over her head. When I moved out when I was her age I took everything with me and my husband did the same thing. I was just curious if it was the same for other people. Again I'm not talking about a few boxes or certain furniture they want to keep. She is moving out of state and doesn't plan to come back.

Yes I don't mind keeping a handful of boxes. I'm talking 20+ boxes and miscellaneous stuff. For instance when she moved out of her apartment when she graduated in May she just kept most of her stuff in boxes and never unpacked. When she moved out she haphazardly threw everything in boxes so I'm talking everything from dollar store knick knacks, small office supplies, kitchen miscellaneous to shower curtain hooks. Probably 1/2 is garbage but she won't take the time to go through it and I don't want to just throw it away since some of it is probably more sentimental. She literally wants to just take the clothes she thinks she will use and a few small items since she will be sharing an apartment with 5 people. She wants to leave her room like she did when she left for college.

When your adult children move out do you let them keep their bedroom? Do you store their stuff? My dd is 24 and moving out permanently out of state yet expects us to keep her room and store her stuff. I want to make sure I'm not being as unreasonable as she thinks I am. We expect her to take everything or find storage. She has boxes full of stuff everywhere from her childhood as well as her time away at college.

I am also looking for ways to provide room for 20 people to sleep. My daughter's college hockey team is stopping on the way to an out of state game. They will only be here for about 10 hours. Two can fit on the sofa sleeper and probably another one on the chaise lounge connected to the sofa sleeper. Then we have two more couches and a love seat so that will provide spaces for 3 more. Other than that I have a cot, a queen size air mattress and a twin size air mattress. That leaves me with 10 to figure out. A few girls supposedly have air mattresses but I'm not sure how many. I am willing to buy a few more air mattresses or some kind of sleeping pad but it needs to be inexpensive. Any ideas?

She was diagnosed with depression and anxiety and Possibly OCD at 14. Really we didn't see much compulsive behavior until more recently. Since she is an adult and won't share with me so I don't know what they are doing in therapy. I'm pretty sure she hasn't been very honest with her therapist as she has also changed the story with other people I know. She is making people think that she has known this boyfriend for 2 years when in fact they were very casual coworkers 2 years ago (never hung out or anything and rarely had the same shift). They kept in very casual contact on Facebook and only started talking in late September. She is telling people that they have been good friends for 2 years. She flew out to see him for 3 days in October and now has decided to move in with him. She hates her current job and misses college life (she just graduated in May). Grass is always greener and all that. I'm just worried that her OCD is not allowing her to think clear and he is also 6 years older than her.