:lurk5:

Thanks everyone. I'm going to shred it all and freeze it in baggies as suggested. It will also be a bit of a timesaver later when I'm making pizza, baked pastas, etc.

Awesome!

I bought a big block of mozzarella and I need to know the best way to preserve it. I primarily use mozzarella shredded so I was thinking I could shred it all and freeze it that way. My other thought was to cut it into smaller blocks and wrap and freeze those blocks. Will one method preserve the cheese better than the other? Any other thoughts on the best way to store it? Thanks!

Thank you everyone for the ideas! For those who were wondering, here is a link to the recipe I currently use (http://www.food.com/recipe/americas-test-kitchen-beef-tacos-314504). The last time I made it I added beans, but then I think it tasted too much like chili for what I was looking for. I think I going to combine what a couple of you have posted and try cutting back/out the chili pwd., using actual tomatoes (or canned) instead of the tomato sauce, and adding in some fresh spicy peppers. I'm also intrigued by the addition of Dijon mustard that Cindy posted... I may have to try that too. Thanks!

I have a recipe from America's Test Kitchen that I currently use to make ground beef tacos. The recipe is good, but I'm looking for something better. Does anyone have a recipe for taco meat/seasoning that they love and wouldn't mind sharing? Thanks!

I know I don't drink enough water so I'll try to start drinking more. That is something I should be doing any way so I'll give it a try and see if it helps. I always shave under my arms so I would think I'd be getting enough exfoliation, but maybe I need to do more??? Thanks for the ideas!

Thanks for the suggestion. The no-soap thing is to prevent the pore clogging that can happen from washing with soap. I usually only wear cotton as well but then I get the big wet spots that are embarrassing. I actually prefer to wear sleaveless since then the evidence of the sweating isn't visible.

Is there anything I can do naturally to help stop my underarm sweating? The smell doesn't seem to be a problem, just the excessive moisture. Just for a bit of background on what I do/use now...... no soap under the arms when I shower, and all natural, homemade deodorant using coconut oil and baking soda. I've been doing this routine for probably a couple of years and like I mentioned, this really seems to do the trick as far as smell goes but it does nothing for the wetness. It is really embarrassing and I want to figure out a way to deal with it so any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

:iagree:

Where we lived in the States, I had a hard time finding tahini and when I could, it wasn't very good. But here I can easily find great, freshly ground tahini and I'm loving it. However, the only thing I know how to make with it is hummus and so I'd love ideas of other recipes that I can make using tahini. I was also hoping I may be able to use it somehow to replace peanut butter (we have allergies) and make some high-protein breakfast or snack foods..... any ideas or thoughts on using it in this way? Thanks!

That's a great idea. I was thinking something like National Geographic might work, but this would be even more personal if it was from our state. Thanks for the suggestion! Anyone else have some other suggestions? I'd like to get an assortment of a few magazines or books.

I previously asked for some advice on gifts I could give to some friends we have made here in China that would be representative of the US or be unique and appreciated. Someone mentioned magazines or other reading material in English for our language tutor. I really like this idea, but I don't read many magazines and am not sure what is out there and might be a good read and not just full of ads. I was also thinking a book that was made up of short articles or stories (just a few pages each) might be good too, but I don't know of any books like this. Anyone know of a book that might fit this criteria? ETA: Oh, and nothing political or religious in nature. Thanks!

Sparks, Do you have any information on where to find the curriculum you are talking about? We are in China, but I don't speak or read the language so I don't know which curriculum you are referring to. We have a language tutor but it is her first time teaching kids so she needs to find a curriculum to use with them. I was thinking I could pass this suggestion on to her. Thanks!

This is exactly what brought me to this question. I primarily use the yogurt in my smoothies for the extra protein. But my family likes to eat it other ways, therefore the desire for a thicker yogurt. I may have to start keeping two batches handy......one that isn't strained to put in my smoothies with all of the good stuff included and one batch strained to use for everything else and to provide a source of whey to make some of my other cooking more nutritious (ie. Baked goods, rice, etc.) I guess I want my whey and to eat it too!:lol:

I make my own yogurt and for the first time, I decided to strain off some of the whey to get a thicker yogurt. While tryying to figure out what to do with the leftover whey, I keep coming across info about what a wonderful food whey is. So my question is, by straining off the whey from my yogurt, am I losing a lot of the good stuff from my yogurt.....like the protein and the bacteria?

Thanks everyone for the feeback. The thing that caught my eye about this cover was that it didn't seem to be as obvious and intrusive as some of the others. But I guess by not being intrusive maybe that means it doesn't really provide any more coverage than nursing around clothes. When I nursed mine, I never used a cover and with my first, I had absolutely no inhibitions. But by the time I got to my 3rd, I started to feel a bit more uncomfortable with nursing in public and would have appreciated something to help hide the belly roll that had developed after giving birth to 3 babies. That is why I liked the "Coture" model, it could be used for nursing from the top or the bottom (which is what I did). I'm not worried about offending this mom or making her feel like she needs to cover up while nursing..... it would be for my sister and this is baby number 5 for her:D. She has nursed them all but doesn't especially love the idea of nursing in public. I don't think she has ever used a traditional nursing cover (too big and obvious) and as mom's of busy babies know, blankets don't really work. Mostly I was just looking for a new gift idea since she has pretty much BTDT with everything else, but I'm thinking I'll probably pass on this one. Thanks for the help!

Has anyone ever used one of these: http://babybondnursing.com/? I'm looking for a gift idea and saw this mentioned somewhere. I bf'd all 3 of mine and from the looks of it, it seems like it would have been something that would have been useful. However, I've been duped by way too many baby items that I thought were must haves and really were just all gimmick. So I thought I'd come here and see if anyone has actually used this product and if it is as good as it sounds. Thanks!

Thank you both for the feedback. I like the sound of rigorous, interesting, and fun. However, I don't know how many of the supplies I'll be able to find for the activities so that could be a major factor in how easily this program would work for us. I think I'll spend a bit more time looking through it and maybe give it a trial run over the summer if I can convince the kids it isn't "school". Thanks!

I do this type of training almost exclusively and really enjoy it. I don't do intervals with running, but rather I usually do bodyweight exercises (or sometimes kettlebells or TRX). I get a lot of my inspiration for workout ideas from http://www.bodyrock.tv or http://www.myomytv.com. Sometimes I use the workouts posted just as they are written or sometimes I make up my own workouts using similar exercises or interval styles. That is the fun with this style of training..... it is so versitile and you can change it up everyday. I had been blogging nearly daily about my workouts but since we moved, I haven't kept up. However, you can go to my blog here: http://asymptoticallyapproachingfitness.blogspot.com/ to see almost a year's worth of the workouts I have done.

Does anyone actually use the online science program MSNucleus? If so, would you mind sharing how you use it, how you like it, if you supplement, how easy is it to use, how thorough it is, and any other thoughts you have about the program? Thanks!

Thank you everyone for your help! The idea of trying to narrow the ideas down to a more regional area of the States is helpful. Maybe some piece of clothing from one of my home state's collegiate sports team. Or, I also like the idea of some type of food that is a favorite of mine or from our regional area (the midwest). Surprisingly, peanut butter and jams are readily avialable in the supermarkets here so I'll have to try to come up with a different idea. Also, I love the idea of some type of American reading material to give to our Chinese teacher. If anyone else has some more ideas I'd love to hear them.... both for kids or adults. Thanks!

We live in China and my dh will be travelling back to the U.S. this summer for a short period and I want him to bring back some gifts to give to a few friends. However, I can't seem to think of any ideas for gifts that are typically "American". For instance, when we were still in the U.S. and he'd travel to China, he'd bring back things like silk, chopsticks, jade, etc. It was easy to think of typical "Chinese" gifts that were representative of the country that people would be appreciative of receiving. But I'm stumped trying to think of the equivelent for him to bring back from the U.S. to give to some of our Chinese friends. Any ideas? Thanks!

Thanks everyone for the tips and advice. I just wanted to report back in and let you know I made it this weekend. Overall, I think it turned out okay. I had a few issues but I don't think they weren't related to the 9x13. Instead, I had to do some ingredient substitution that led to a less than wonderful crust and my oven here is pretty horrible (the crust wasn't very good even when I baked up the extra scrap pieces so that is how I now it wasn't the pan issue). The pie seemed to cook just as evenly as it does in my regular glass pie pans and since I baked the pie the night before I was to serve it, it sliced up fine and actually worked out great because people were able to pick crusts, corners, or middles according to their preferences. Thanks for all the help!

Is it possible to make an apple pie in a 9x13 glass baking dish? I was thinking of just doubling my regular recipe and baking it pretty much the same. Do you think this would work? Any tips that might make it work better? Thanks!