EggsAvocados Bacon (found it nitrate and nitrite free for a great price through a wholesale co-op) Butter on everything Make mayonnaise from rice bran oil (going to try the bacon fat though!) Coconut oil (cook my eggs in it) Heavy whipping cream (coffee, sauces for meats and veggies) STAY AWAY FROM SOYBEAN OIL! (most mayonnaises and salad dressings) Also, stay away from corn oil. One of the lchf books I read made the statement that when farmers are fattening up pigs and cattle for auction, they feed them........soybeans and corn! And when scientists want to induce obesity in rats, they feed them.....soybeans and corn. Obviously we are not going to consume them in these excessive quantities but there is something in them that does produce fat and rather quickly. And agreeing with the pp that since I have started eating this way, I am almost never hungry. Very satisfied and can go 6 or more hours in between meals, even if all I have had was a salmon burger (no bun, just a smear of mayo) and 5 fresh green beans (sautéed in butter, of course) ;) Just had bloodwork done and my triglyceride level was under 45, HDL, LDL and VLDL were all excellent so obviously, at least for me, eating saturated fat has been fabulous my overall health.

I have done a search on here and, short of reading every thread on 5 pages, can someone tell me which is more effective: Thorne Laboratories Pharma GABA or Twin Labs GABA Plus? I have spent hours on the computer today trying to figure it out and have come up with nothing helpful. Pharma GABA is apparently the only non-synthetic GABA out there and, at least according to the info I can find, the only type that studies show evidence of effectiveness (vs. synthetic GABA). GABA plus, however, has inositol and niacinimide added, which is supposed to work synergistically for maximum effectiveness. I am going nuts trying to decide. Neither one is cheap, which won't matter if it actually works. Help! Please and thank you :)

Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana 1 lb Italian sausage 2 large russet baking potatoes, sliced in half, and then in 1/4 inch slice 1/4 cup bacon bit (optional) 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 cups kale, chopped 2 (8 ounce) cans chicken broth 1 quart water 1 cup heavy whipping cream Directions: 1 Chop or slice uncooked sausage into small pieces. 2 Brown sausage in your soup pot. 3 Add chicken broth and water to pot and stir. 4 Place onions, potatoes, and garlic in pot. 5 Cook on medium heat until potatoes are done. 6 Add sausage and bacon. 7 Salt and pepper to taste. 8 Simmer for another 10 minutes. 9 Turn to low heat. 10 Add kale and cream

Are we neighbors? :) Eta: Nope, but close (sorta)

So funny! But here's the thing: I love our weather here! Although, we live in the mountain/high desert so it's also very sunny and dry here. We went camping this weekend and it was 45 one day, 58, and sunny and 65 when we left today. I feel so bad reading those threads of the " 1000 degree heat where you live?" threads.

This is a great idea. We have had the opposite experience where we have invited one of ds's friends over for a sleepover and the parents sent the younger brother along. Just showed up with him. And every time we invite older brother, little brother comes too, even if invitation was made only to older brother. We aren't sure what to do BC ds and this friend are great friends and it feels so rude to say, "Only you can come, not your brother." But we would really like to foster the friendship with the older brother. The younger brother is fine, not a bother, but it definitely affects the dynamics of the older boys' friendship. So, my mama bear side totally gets feeling sad for your younger dd but I think the idea to let her have a friend come over and have her own special time is a great compromise. ETA: I realize this is a different scenario in that you are not planning to have your younger dd just "show up" without the parents' knowledge. My point was simply that if there is a friendship the family is trying to foster, but not trying to hurt younger dd, it does make it hard when the younger sibling is always a part as well. As homeschoolers, our kids have ALWAYS done mixed-age friendships. They haven't know anything but that. As they are getting older, however, they are both really wanting some same-age friendships and I am totally fine with that.

To the OP, I totally agree with you. In that situation (not stuck on a plane, train, subway, bus, etc..), there is no excuse for it. About the CIO comments, they were appropriate for a thread about a child who was crying through out an event. Nobody knows what the mom's parenting style is exactly but there is at least some indication that she is ok letting a child cry for hours. SKL's comments were at least relevant, regardless of your opinion of them.

Oregon $7/gal (grass fed, organic as possible) Weekly 18 miles one way (but my dh usually picks it up after work so it's only a few miles out of his way)

Ah, I never considered the vinegar would affect the taste...thanks for this. I will try red wine or rice wine and see how that goes. And as an aside, I am really curious why store-bought mayo is sooo white? Mine turns out very, very yellow BC of the yolks, right? How is store-bought not yellow if it is made with yolks???

Absolutely agree with both of these! I have the reverse going on in my world: my mom is not fit and I am consistently trying to find ways of saying it nicely. But I have gotten to the place where her health is more important to me than being nice...so we occasionally have difficult discussions about it. But I don't care anymore because I love her and want to do everything within my sphere of influence to speak truth into her life. ....About being healthy, not skinny. Your fil is loving your family in his bluntness.

That was an excellent article...thanks for posting. I also agree that it's carbs and hidden sugars that are probably stalling your efforts. Up the proteins and good fats (coconut oil, rice bran oil, organic butter), reduce the carbs and other sugars should help considerably.

OOOHHH, cayenne...that sounds great! We have used half olive, half rice bran oil. Didn't care for it much. Then we tried half coconut oil, half rice bran oil. Didn't care for it much. Then tried all rice bran oil. LOVE IT! It is soooo much better than store bought. We, too, hate ditching soybean oil and because we eat a ton of mayonnaise, I figure I have to do this. Also, I use it to make all our salad dressings now (because they are full of soybean oil as well). Holy moose, are they good.

My iPad is not letting me multi-quote for some reason so I will just lump everything into one post :) Thanks for all the info...I will definitely try my immersion blender. Also, yes, my cuisinart is a food processor and I do use the little chute thingy...how do you keep the oil from dribbling all over you while you pour it in there? Clearly, I am doing this wrong :) Also, what type of spices are you using besides salt and pepper? I saw vinegar, lemon juice and mustard..anything else you like? Remudamom, I love the idea of the ketchup bottle...that sounds like it may actually prevent my oil bath! Thanks again..all very helpful

(eta: autocorrect made that *whom* instead of *who* for some weird reason) Any tricks to make is easier? By the time I am done adding my oil, I have it EVERYWHERE! All over my hands, the counter, the measuring cup, the cuisinart, my paper towel that I use to catch the dripping oil... I keep thinking if I had a measuring cup with a really long spout, maybe that would help? Any other tips?

I remember when my ds had just barely started walking and we were at a playground. A girl, maybe a year older than ds, kept pushing ds down...Every time he would struggle to get up, as soon as he was up, she would push him down again. I waited to see if this girl's mom would intervene but realized her mom was busy talking to another woman and not paying any attention at all to this. Finally, little girl did it again and the mama bear in me took over...I was suddenly in the girl's face, giving her a stern lecture on how to treat other kids. Then I told her to go find her mom...and I was not pleasant. Afterwards, it was like some unseen force had taken over...I can't actually remember moving from where I was sitting to where they were...it felt surreal. When I was relaying the story to dh that night, I told him that I wonder what I would do if someone really was hurting ds because the reaction I had over this minor, silly incident made me realize I would probably lose all rational control if it were something serious. This dad did exactly what he should have. And he witnessed it. It's not like his dd or a friend came to him after the fact and relayed the story to him and he went out and hunted this guy down based on hearsay. He SAW this going on....completely justified. And another thought: either way, she's going to have to process this. Better for her to have to work through the trauma of watching her dad accidentally kill someone in her defense than the trauma of being molested...

I just started making my own Creamy Gorgonzola Dressing and now I just look for things to eat it on :) It is delicious on everything. Next would be Zesty Cauliflower ( cauliflower baked in a mayo/spicy brown mustard dressing and covered in cheese). In the sweet department, eith frozen homemade Puppy Chow made with Wheat Chex or Cookie Dough Cheesecake.

Pears and watermelon...gross, watery, sandy texture. Yuck.

That is awesome :) This is interesting that you would post this today because I am going through a sort of personal "epiphany" or philosophy re-think thing right now about this very thing. My dh's mom just passed away 6 weeks ago and at her memorial service and as her kids reminisced about her life, one of the most significant things about her was that she was a "yes" mom. Dh's sister said that her most common response when they would ask her if they could do (fill in the blank: craft, sport, ec activity, experiment, baking, etc, etc, etc...) was, "Let's do it; what do we need?". I was talking to my dh about it, as I know we can have a rose-colored view of our memories sometimes and he says it was true: she was always game for -- and quite frequently, the initiator of -- above mentioned fill-in-the-blank activities. And this particular thing is what stood out for them out of all the great things about her. It really hit me that this is something I wish i could say about my own mom and I also want my kids to say about me....so I am purposefully making changes to be a "Let's-do-it-what-do-we-need" mom. As I have been making those changes the past several weeks, it has been interesting to see my dc respond to it, especially my dd. I feel like it makes us closer when I jump into her "project" with excitement and encouragement. And I feel different too: less punitive, negative and more relaxed, connected. I don't know if this is making any sense but I just wanted to affirm your ice-cream-for-breakfast adventure....your kids will probably always remember it with a smile :)

I know, right?! I erased my first comment which was wondering if he was 20, for that very reason: even my 13 and 11 year olds would never do something like that. I can not fathom how a grown man who holds down a job can be this irresponsible. It has bugged me all day...

That makes me sick and boiling mad; it is just unconscionable that someone could do that. How old is he??? Because he can not be an adult, holding down a job. Truly, it boggles the mind....

Oh man, these stories just make me crazy. They are strapping a system that takes away from those WHO ACTUALLY NEED HELP!!! I really shouldn't read these threads because few things chap my hide like people who will not work when they can. OP, ranting with you ;)

So with you! I hate summer. We live in the high/alpine desert and I just love it....temperate during the day, and although it can get into the 90's in August, it is a dry heat and it cools down to 40's, sometimes 50's, in the evenings. I can get through the day if I know we will be cold at night.

Not.at.all. As a matter of fact, I tell dc all the time that they have to pick a college in a state I like BC I am coming with them :). Seriously, though, I hope my kids stick around at least because I actually enjoy being around them...

Had it and stopped it. Terrible connection, static, sometimes would pick up messages, sometimes not. We have friends who have it and I HATE talking to them on the phone BC of this. My dh just bought Ooma Telo yesterday, though, so we are thinking it will be better. I will let you know.

'Nother great non-fiction: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang. It is the author's memoir of her grandmother and mother and their lives as they lived them in all the changes that China has gone through over the last 100 years. The story starts around 1909 with her grandmother who was a concubine, works its way through the Mao years, when her mother was very involved in Mao's army, and then ends with the author's life coming into modern day China. Sooo fascinating.