Very much this! They came out and suddenly everyone had one. Now there are shelves of them at second hand stores. People either tired of them or went back to eating out or whatever other reason. It isn’t something like cookie sheets were you can easily have 2-6 of them and use them somewhat frequently. One air fryer or insta pot or bread maker, etc, is usually enough. I do now have two slow cookers. Years ago, I got rid of my older, small one as we needed a bigger one with more mouths to feed in the house. I have a tiny kitchen with very little storage. (And I have a huge weakness for vintage dishes, so 1/2 of my cabinet space is devoted to those. I do use them daily so they warrant the space.) But then as an empty nester, I again wanted a smaller slow cooker and kicked myself for getting rid one two decades ago. I didn’t want to get rid of the larger one because I do still need it if I am making a big batch of soup to freeze. One is now in the hallway closet, along with the seldom used waffle iron and ice cream maker. I didn’t buy an air fryer or insta pot because I have zero space for one on the counter.

I have owned/worn Birk professional clogs for gardening for 25+ years. Back when I worked in the horticulture world, it was widely known/said that people with high arches love Birks, those without a high arch say they are uncomfortable. I don’t know how true that is, but the staff where I worked was split 50/50, exactly by arches.

Pyrex needs to do a retro line… not exact duplicates of their amazing vintage pieces, but similar, to capture a new market.

All of the areas I love have some issues making them a No. Ames, Iowa (too cold in winter) Upstate NY (too cold in winter) Tybee Island, Georgia, or Galveston, Texas (morally, I wouldn’t buy land on a barrier island) Austin, Texas (Texas politics, high housing costs, low annual rainfall) I want to live in an area that is known for great gardening, is somewhat quirky or unique, liberal, historic, etc.

That is what we keep saying. They basically kept a baby alive for 40 days! (11 months old?)

I made a fabulous “three bean” salad. I harvested quite a few green beans yesterday, some yellow, some green. Lightly blanched them. Tossed with several types of peppers from the garden, red onion, kidney beans and lemon vinegar and apple cider vinegar, Italian herbs. It was yummy. Also had steamed zucchini from the garden and honeydew for dessert. breakfast and lunch were standards - oatmeal before my morning walk, hummus and veggies mid afternoon.

I love James Avery for higher end earrings. Kohl’s and JCPenney carry some good brands. I also love to buy earrings on Etsy, as you can find some amazing and unique pieces.in fact, I just got two pair in the mail today. I have had my ears double pierced forever, but wanted to add two more to each ear for a long time. I just went to a tattoo/piercing place a few weeks ago. It was such a wonderful experience! I asked several people that had multiple piercings and they all said the same guy.

My MIL was the generation that smoked while pregnant. She is also a firm believer in homemade formula from canned milk and corn syrup. That is what she fed her kids and that is what she tried to get me to do. Thank you for mentioning Dr Fuhrman’s website. We watched his dvd series, which was excellent, and I remember much of the cancer one, because I have been following somewhat similar for my Parkinson’s, but this prompted me to go back and specifically look at his recommendations again. DH was suppose to have surgery this week to remove the tumor and first round of chemo but now he has Covid. We aren’t sure yet what the oncologist will want to do and are going in to the week in limbo. I did a huge grocery trip on Saturday to get multiples of pantry items, oatmeal, nuts, dried fruit, etc. I made two vegan bean soups today, with half going in to freezer in individual servings and half in fridge for easy meals. I used dried beans for both, omitted oil, etc. In the black bean one, I omitted sugar, used fresh corn and skipped the adobo and rice… We had that one for supper tonight and it was really good. https://dorastable.com/tomatillo-poblano-white-beans-in-the-instant-pot/ https://midwestfoodieblog.com/spicy-black-bean-soup-vegan/ I have been trying to reign in my eating, esp stress eating, by sticking to the basics. Oatmeal for breakfast. Hummus with carrots, cauliflower and bell pepper for lunch. Big salad for supper with homemade oil free dressing for supper. Today I made a vegan protein smoothie as midday snack. I am also trying to get back in to heavy workout schedule and I was starving an hour after lunch. I am always so inspired by everyone’s meals!

That is great to read. I hope they can find more treatment options for ALS. I have Parkinson’s but was not able to take that medication due to side effects.

Hm. Within my original sibling group, my siblings told me for years I was holding a grudge. I would tell them I was setting healthy boundaries. They didn’t agree and we had several heated discussions over the years because I wouldn’t bow to our parents’ demands. We were raised in a very dysfunctional, abusive home. I moved as far away as possible at 18. The other siblings remained in our hometown, near our parents. Then one of my siblings divorced and remarried and that new spouse eventually made my sibling go to therapy where - yup - now they are sayin, “Oh, yes, I see that now, I didn’t realize that wasn’t normal behavior.” My siblings could always joke about one of our parents drinking too much but when I would point out that they were an alcoholic, I was the horrible offspring for saying that. Said parent had surgery a while back and developed alcoholic psychosis and - yup - “Did you know they were an alcoholic? We didn’t!” Um. Yes, you did. I told you they were, you wouldn’t believe me, the evidence was not hidden. One of my siblings was purchasing alcohol for said parent during the lockdown time. They very much knew how much the parent was drinking. All that to say - I think it can very much be perception and not an identifiable line.

Thank you. I am trying to be thankful for all the blessings in our life, but DH’s diagnosis really feels unfair, just too much. He wasn’t at high risk for this form of cancer so his family doctor initially didn’t even think that. She sent him for a Ct scan, thinking something else entirely. lt does - for us - drive home the issue of growing up in a farming community, with constant exposure to industrial chemical fertilizers and herbicides, that now both of us have diseases known to be caused by toxins. As much as we have tried to live “clean” adult lives, our bodies likely still carry that toxic load from our childhood. My swollen gland has cleared up, but I have been struggling with very low blood pressure ever since, most likely from the strong antibiotics I was on. The gland issue started in mid March. Just the past few days, I have not had any severe dips in bp. i hope you enjoy Hippie Foods. I loved it and found it very fascinating. I need to read more by Campbell. My DH is onboard. He has loved my wfpb meals, but didn’t eat that way when we dined out or when he needed to get/make his own food. thank you again. I have enjoyed following this thread so much.

Beautiful salad! I need to get back to following this thread. And watching my nutrition better. It has taken me forever to get back on my feet after my health fiasco in March, then DH was diagnosed with cancer. He has surgery next week and I need to pack a hospital bag of healthy foods for myself, fully stock pantry and fridge/freezer with healthy foods, etc. (Also planning to stock up on some awesome vegan chocolate!) One of DH’s siblings will be staying with us during this, so I need to figure out some easy basic meals. I would like to make some soups to freeze over the weekend. We aren’t sure the prognosis or treatment plan yet and won’t until the surgery. This has been very sobering and odd. DH has always been very healthy. For the past few years, we have been so focused on getting me healthy, while also making long term care plans for me.

I reversed mine by going Whole Foods, plant based. According to my rheumatologist, I grew a new liver. All of my liver issues reversed themselves within about 16 months. I had HELLP syndrome while pregnant and that damaged my liver. I was overweight, but not horribly so, prior to going wfpb.

I read the article this morning and was thinking about it while gardening this afternoon. I thought it was interesting that it was one of the lead stories this morning and focused on just one family. We were secular homeschoolers, in the middle of two huge sides to homeschooling - both sides of the spectrum. I never felt like we fit in, as we sort of kept to the center. I am very thankful that we homeschooled and we have no regrets in that regard, but I now have strong opinions about regulations. I am bothered by what I have seen, especially in the past five to ten years. I know so many young adults adrift now, with no real education. I do think, as in that article, that homeschooling - and parenting - in that manner backfires badly.

I am so sorry. My heart hurts for you and for your family.

I feel much the same. I miss the homeschool connections/community and can’t seem to figure out how to find my new tribe. I did join the senior center recently, but the activities I have gone to make me feel lonelier.

I had thought of that earlier today. I think I will also include a photo of the area she painted. Thank you so much. I have never attached a photo on here, will try that later. I am on Instagram under my real name, where I post a lot of garden photos. If anyone is interested, I can message them my name.

My garden was part of a tour recently, the first time in many years that I had opened it on that scale for visitors. My gardens are my life’s passion and purpose. When I was very sick several years ago, the gardens really suffered and I was devastated that I was unable to garden for a few seasons. Thanks to medication and a change in diet, my inflammation is better managed and - last year - I was able to resume gardening on a large scale. I spent all of last year doing a near total garden restoration / transformation. A few days after the tour, I received an envelope in the mail. I recognized the name right away as someone who had toured my garden. (Unusual name, it stuck out to me.) As I was opening it, I was thinking, Oh, how sweet, she sent me a thank you note. No. She had painted a picture of a section of my garden. I immediately burst in to tears. It is honestly the sweetest gift I have ever received. I am still in awe of the painting and cannot wait to frame it and hang it somewhere that I will see it daily. And now I have to send her a thank you note for her thank you note!

I did something crazy today, too! I got my ears pierced so they both now have four each ear. I maybe should have done something crazy like you did. Sounds much more practical and my DH probably would appreciate it more. LOL

I am in the path of totality. I have one cousin that wants to visit from several states away. I hope he does.

I had my six month rheumatology appt last week and the doctor said she wanted to go ahead and run Sjogren’s labs now, before I had a chance to ask her about it. They came back negative. So we still don’t know why the parotid gland became infected. I am still horribly scared about the chance of a recurrence, as it has been so hard to recover. I am still experiencing increased joint pain and really bad dizzy spells. I really wanted to thank everyone again for the comments and feedback. It meant a lot to me.

I would be nervous about it as well. I live very close to an elementary, middle and high school - our suburb’s three main schools are lined up along the road that runs perpendicular to my street. We have lived here forever and I have to admit, when school lets out early and I don’t know that, I can hear loud, excited school children’s voices and my heart has skipped a beat more than once, out of fear that something has happened. I was working out in the garden one day, many years ago, and heard a lot of emergency sirens. Then heard/saw the CareFlight helicopter coming in. There had been a bad fatality car accident, high school students leaving school, lost control of the car about a mile from here. I still remember that day vividly and that was well before school shootings. Today, if I heard a lot of emergency vehicles and a CareFlight, I would likely think the worse.

I have been feeling extremely isolated for the past few years, mainly due to my health issues and also newly empty nest/past the homeschool activities. I can’t drive very far because of my health, so that further limits me. I am involved in a hobby club, but have to be very careful about not taking on too much - again, because of my health. I can’t just sign up for activities because I never know which brain/body I am waking up with. It is so frustrating. I go days now without talking to anyone besides DH and a few people in passing at the gym or grocery store. I had a psych appointment earlier this week and she expressed concern about my isolation. I am trying, though. I decided to try our library’s book club again, though a different group than I previously went to. (There was a group of women in the book club I previously went to that were extremely cold and judgmental, including one book we read on mental health/suicide and another on childhood cancer. After three months in a row of them railroading all discussions, I couldn’t take it anymore.) I also joined our town’s senior center, which equally bothers me and amuses me. LOL I signed up to take a jewelry making class next week and am looking forward to some of their field trips. I don’t know if I will be one of the younger ones there, but I am old enough to join and it was only $10 a year.

That has been my experience, too. I have been wfpb for two years now. I love eating this way. I have had a few people tell me this is too restrictive, but I feel the opposite. There are so many fruits and vegetables available and when you branch out and try new items, it just opens up so many healthy, healing food options. The majority of people are only eating a few basic vegetables and fruits, like carrots, potatoes, apples and bananas. Ex: my DH eats a gala apple almost every morning for breakfast. He was working from home recently and asked if I minded if he ate one of my apples. It was a pink lady apple. He was shocked at how different it tasted from a gala and he was seriously swooning over it. I love exploring different items. I have also found that eating this way simplifies menu planning and meals. I plan to eat at least one large salad a day, so that is a constant. I rotate out the greens, beans and toppings. One day i might add grated carrots or roasted beets another day, etc. No two salads are ever the same so I don’t tire of them. I generally don’t worry about protein. I do eat nuts, beans, seeds daily. Occasionally I might make a smoothie with vegan protein powder, though I haven’t noticed any difference in how I feel when I do smoothies on a regular basis.

I buy as much produce as I can from a local farmer’s market that requires all items be grown within 50 miles of its location. The remainder of our food comes from Whole Foods. I love them! I am disappointed to hear about rude shoppers and drivers, that is so not my experience. In fact, it isn’t unusual to end up in a conversation with another shopper or to have someone ask me if I can reach an item for them, etc. Every so often, I price compare to Target and have always found that WF has better price and better quality, esp for organic berries. As far as Whole Paycheck - I think it depends on what you are buying. Their store brand spaghetti sauce is amazingly cheap and really good. (I recently read an article that rated marinara sauces and WF store brand came in 2nd place.) Yes, you can buy a $12 jar of marinara sauce, but why when you can buy a good one for $2.50? Same with their store brand olive oil. It is good and a great price. I should add that I eat Whole Foods, Plant Based, gluten free, almost zero processed foods. I am not buying premade foods, meat, cheese, etc, though I did buy those items at WF before changing my nutrition. Right now WF has mangoes 5 for $4.50. I normally buy 10 at a time when they are that price. I look for what is on sale and that is what I eat for the week. (I switched menu planning when I started shopping at the farmer’s market. I buy what is in season, then go home and decide what to make with those items, instead of making a menu then going to store to get the needed items. So much easier, less decisions!) I love their frozen fruits and organic greens. My DH stops by a regular grocery store on his way to work on Mondays so he can buy frozen meals and apples for meals at the office. He has been commenting lately that WF organic gala apples are cheaper than the conventional apples at the regular grocery and much fresher tasting.