AMDG AMDG is an acronym for Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam which means "for the greater glory of God." Besides being (a slight abbreviation of) the motto of the Jesuits, many Catholics will type or write it first in a letter or document. People do it for all kinds of reasons including reminding themselves to only say those things which are for the greater glory -- and not mean, snarky, sarcastic, et c. Of course, I'm not saying that *I* need reminding . . .! ;) When I google it, I get tons of pertinent hits but maybe my Google remembers me and knows what to look for?

AMDG I also got that recipe. I liked it in the crockpot but prefer it in the oven. I now follow the cooks illustrated recipe for oven brown rice. I double the recipe by using one measure of rice and one of french green lentils and add taco season to equal 2 pkts. A texture more to my liking.

AMDG Yeah, ,I do think that is true of beans and fiber in general. We do not notice this problem but we eat beans often and always have. I think if you're new to legumes or any kind of high fiber food, you must work your way up just as Rosie said.

AMDG I definitely did not grow up poor and we had that a lot for special breakfasts. It was and is one of my favorites. But I never even heard of powdered milk till I was an adult. We didnt use that.

AMDG I really considered that filofax. There are some cute ones out there. I even read a woman's blog about how she and several ppl (maybe daughter and dauhter-in-law?) Set up and use theirs; each very different. Ohhh, it was close.

AMDG Yes! This is what I have done for the past several years and then I spent last year struggling with trying to use my phone and computer linked. Now I'm ready for a preprinted book. Come on, New Year, I'm ready for you!

AMDG Awww, I got a no-big-deal plain old thing from Staples. The big deal for me is that it is a page-per-day planner and the way I plan to use it and the lofty goals I plan to achieve with it. ; ) I'm just ready to get started with . . . Stuff.

AMDGYes! I have noticed. I cringe and hate it but am still thankful that I'm not paying meat prices. I've never purchased in huge quantity before but with as much as we eat, I really should. Storage is a concern, too. Also, I'd need several huge quantities b/c I'd want some variety. Natural Grocers has geat big bags but I've never checked the price. Hmmmm . . . I'll be checking into that Azure site, too. I've never heard of it b/f. Thx!

A Year of Slow Cooking has a ton of recipes and for most, I think, she puts a not at the bottom with her family's response. I think it's crockpot365.com or so. Also, there are a lot of (meat) recipes for stocking bags for the freezer and then onky having to put it from the freezer bag into the crockpot. I keep meaning to come up with a bunch of veggie recipes like that but haven't yet. If that sounds good google "freezer to crockpot meals" or something like that. . . . And then there's pintrest. Good luck learning! The thing that helps me most with time crunches, though, is cooking for the week in one day and using the delay timer on my oven.

AMDG just so you can start your new planner?

AMDG We have eggs for supper on Mondays/shopping day. Somehow, after tidying the pantry/fridge, making the menu and list, and shopping/schlepping home the food, I don't want to cook much that day. So, Mondays is always something eggs and sometimes, just eggs and toast. We all love eggs in a nest. Also, we like to bake our delicious tortillas into taco shells and have egg tacos.

AMDG My people don't want them every night and when we do have them several times per week, they definitely do not want them to be the same way each time. I try to always cook as deliciously as possible with lots of herb, et c and they like my cooking. I almost never get complaints but, we are a small family and I find it easy to accommodate our tastes. My kiddo hates raw onions, steamed zucchini, boiled broccoli (who doesn't) and heavy, hot spices so, either I don't serve them or I serve them separately. On the spice, for example, I fix a milder version of chili than I like and add spice to mine. For Israeli salad, I just make it without onion and have a green onion with mine if I want. That way, everyone is happy. I really don't get many complaints but if I served just plain rice and beans every single night, I would. The same beans, dressed differently over the course of several nights in the week but not all, keeps everyone happy. Also, canned beans adds up the cost. Make your own from dried is more frugal by far and home canning your own, if you already have the equipment, is far less expensive than purchasing canned.

AMDG THAT! Beans and rice is the easy part. Inexpensive veggies requires more creativity. For fruits, I prefer variety and have it but in a bind, there is always a banana! If there were actually coupons for fruits/veggies, I'd bother to clip.

AMDG As pretty frugal vegetarians, we eat rice and beans at least once per week and often as many as three times or more. I often make a pot of beans on Tuesday to use in several different ways over the course of the week. For example: Tuesday, beans with cornbread and greens something else on Wednesday Thursday, rice and beans (maybe chickpeas on rice topped with isreali salad and labneh, or black beans/rice topped with lettuce/cilantro/tomato/lime dressing and avocado, et c) Friday, something else Saturday, Soup with beans as an ingredient. It depends on the week and the beans we made. Also, sometimes we don't have the soup on Saturday but for lunches . . . whatever. Black beans makes quesadillas, beans and rice like above, black bean soup, a bean salad to top polenta, et c. Chick peas makes beans and rice like above, chick pea stew (with tomatoes, spinach, dill, sometimes rice, lemon squeezed on at the end), hummus with tomato/cuke/lemon salad on pita, et c Pinto makes rice and beans with some kind of salad on top, zuppa de pasta e fagioli (Itallian pasta and bean soup), beans/cornbread/greens, There are tons more combinations . . . anything you can think of.

AMDG 1. They aren't as adhesive. As a result, they don't pick up as much hair in one go so it takes more squares per job. 2. They aren't as adhesive. As a result, when you're in a hurry and run the thing across your garment, you'll roll out 16 squares b/f you get you realize it b/c it's just adhesive enough to stick to your garment and not itself and not hair . . . and when you try to wrangle them back on, you just get mad. It isn't worth the frustration.

AMDG How about resuming? I started a "diet" in January and my plan was to stick with losing till June, maintain for that month, resume till October and maintain till Jan again. Well, I met my October goal by June so that was very exciting. Then I really did maintain in June (2 birthdays, Father's day, trip) and actually lost a tiny bit. I continued to lose -- and by lose I mean a pound or two per week -- till October. I did maintain in October. But in November and December, just two little months, I've gained 7 pounds! My plan is just to return to normal in January. By diet, I just mean portion control. That's it; the secret magic. I started by counting calories and really had to stick with it a few months to get the hang of it. That exercise helped me to be better able to eyeball an appropriate portion and by daily use, I knew which foods were reasonable and which foods were crazy calories. When I had my own birthday coming up and a couple of other things, I counted calories for the whole week just to keep myself on track. Also, when trying a new recipe I'd run it through the recipe analyzer to get an idea of how much I could eat of it in a reasonable amount of calories. So, January 1, per the plan all along, I'll go back to counting calories for at least Jan, Feb, March (that will cover a few holy/feast days that can add up and my own birthday). Then at the end of March, if I show myself that I've been staying on track, I'll drop the logging and go back to only number crunching in more challenging times. Before, I began the Holiday Gain, I was so near my goal. I'm quite frustrated with myself for not maintaining.

AMDG I'm not sure why it took me this long to figure it out but this was the first time I ever really did a lot of prep work in the kitchen BEFORE Christmas day. My daughter and I really enjoyed the relaxed pace of preparation and non-school mother/daughter camaraderie. On Christmas we all enjoyed a Christmas day as I've always felt it should be: enjoying each other and not stressing in the kitchen and then eating too late when everyone is ravenously eyeing each other. So, yeah, I'm definitely doing that again next year . . . and every year.

AMDG Oh.my.word! Isn't that the truth! It really was precious. And we have it recorded . . . for all posterity . . . or till I accidentally drop my phone in a cup of hot chocolate, which ever comes first.

AMDG My daughter wept with gratitude over her Christmas gift (voice lessons). Wept, I tell you. I expected her to be very, very, happy but the sobbing and hugging . . . I was so surprised. So, I guess that was my gift.

AMDG Ha! Thanks, SparklyUnicorn! I had no idea!

AMDG Or, at least I'd like to know . . . Does frozen meat suffer damage when roughly handled? Say, for example, that you had a frozen turkey and not quite threw but tossed and let it fall very heavily on a table or counter or something. Would it hurt the turkey or ham or whatever? Would there be a bad spot there? And now that I've asked I'm wondering more . . . What about not frozen meat? A thawed or never-before-frozen turkey or chicken or something . . .? If I dropped a dried bean, I just wouldn't worry. However, I treat my produce much more gingerly. Where does meat fall in that continuum? And it's okay to laugh; I'm chuckling at my own ignorance here.

AMDG Oh my! In that case, I'm in! I joined BaW I think the first year ya'll did it and dropped out by the end of january! Honestly, I blush to confess, I thought that either everyone had full-time jobs just reading or they had just given up on every other responsibility. Or they were counting board books or something. So . . . yeah, I'm in for the 2014 version. Yay! Anyone reading The Great Books?

AMDG Cookbooks! Me, too!

AMDG Oh, my! Joining everyone else in a RIOTOUS round of YES! if you'd like her to have something new you coukd always buy a book you know she likes and another by the same author. Or next I the series if there are any of those.

AMDG Season tickets to the ballet (well, the remainder of the season: 4 shows) Some clothing and clothing store gift cards Voice lessons