It is stuff that the yeasties like, to help make the bread rise better. Here is a recipe for dough enhancer that I got from the old board. It works great! DOUGH ENHANCER 1 C nonfat dry milk 2 C wheat gluten 2 tsp powdered ginger (you will not taste it) 4 Tbsp powdered pectin (canning supplies section of the grocery store) 4 Tbsp unflavored gelatin 4 Tbsp lecithin granules (health food store) 1 Tbsp ascorbic acid crystals (Fruit Fresh - also in canning supplies) Mix together in a bowl & store in the fridge. I store mine in a mason jar in the freezer. Use 2-3 Tbsp per batch (I use 3 Tbsp for 4 loaves of fresh ground whole wheat dough)

I'm not sure about artisan bread, but I can tell you why plain old whole wheat flour doesn't work for regular kneaded bread. Bread flour has extra gluten added to it, while whole wheat flour doesn't have enough gluten to make good bread on its own. Try adding gluten to your recipe, and see if that helps. I add 3/4 cup, plus 3 Tbsp dough enhancer, to my 4-loaf whole wheat bread recipe. HTH!

Although (& because?) we would keep a vegetable garden anyway, we do flower and vegetable gardening as a 4-H project. The kids get seeds from the 4-H office, and they have to be responsible for planting, watering, mulching, weeding, and generally maintaining their gardens (everything except for turning the soil in the spring). The level of difficulty of the seeds they plant varies with age. Starting at age 5 they get radish, carrot, and leaf lettuce, and by the time they are 14 they get beets, carrot, cucumber, winter squash, pie pumpkin, corn, spinach, pole bean, onion, watermelon, cauliflower, and tomato. It is a similar program for flowers. Of course, they are expected to have some age-appropriate guidance. We also keep a small patch of those veges that we want to grow that aren't a part of one of their gardens. I work on this patch with the little kids (under 5), while the big kids work on theirs. If they finish first, the big kids come help. Like other posters have said, the little kids help with planting seeds, getting tools, and placing weeds in the wheelbarrow. They also help with harvesting some of the veges. (no, No, NO! DON'T pick the *green* tomatoes, only the red ones!! ;) )

Yep. That's the way it was when my father paid child support to my mother. He was still way better off financially than we were. My mother always struggled to make ends meet. And that's the way it is with my ex.

About raw almonds... in case you didn't know... The government changed the rules for raw almonds a year or two ago, which really stinks because we used to keep them around for a good healthy snack. The new rules require almonds to be either 1) sprayed with a known carcinogen, or 2) pasteurized to a temperature which cooks them. If you are going to cook them anyway, then it wouldn't matter if they are actually raw or cooked, but if you are buying them to eat them *raw*, which is their most healthy form, then it matters a great deal. Either way, the government allows them to be called "raw" on the label. Needless to say, we don't buy them anymore. :(

I read both threads. I found them to be funny and informative. I might have participated in one of them, but there isn't enough anonymity here. Even though I didn't participate, one thread made me feel better to know that I'm not alone and gave me some good tips on books that might help my situation. I have been a member of another message board with a separate section for topics like these. The general section of the message board was open to the public for reading without registration. The section with the topics where one might like a bit more anonymity was only open to members with a certain number of posts. Having those topics in a separate section also made it easier for members who found them offensive to keep from happening upon them. Just a thought...

We used to call it "cleaning the bedroom", although I do like the phrase "parent teacher conference" too. :D

Oh yeah! I got that one, too. Luckily (?) people don't know enough to delete all of the information about who received & sent the forwarded email, so I had about a gazillion people's email addresses to whom the lies had been spread. I sent cut and pasted the snopes file into an email, along with a scold about spreading lies, and emailed it to *all* of them. Only one person (probably the first in the chain) had the guts to email me back about how I was wrong, and we had a couple of heated exchanges. After I provided links to some writings by the founders of our Country & Constitution, she didn't reply back.

About the prom thing: Like everyone else said, I think it's partly about being normal and feeling pretty. But I think they have it all-ages because at least some of those children won't live to be old enough to attend their high school proms, and this is a way for them to have a tiny taste of it even at a very tender age. We all want our kids to experience the major joys of life. For many people (I'm not one of them), the prom is a very special time for them. I can see why they'd want their kids to have that special time too, esp in light of their serious illness.

Me! :D

Wow! That IS huge! And exciting! And congratulations to dh on his promotion!

I know that many people think you should let kids figure it out or work it out for themselves, but I honestly believe that they should be given good tools before they are allowed that freedom. If I were in your situation, I would "tomato stake" them so that they would be with me for each and every interaction they have together. This would allow me to stop each incident as it was occurring, so that we could practice good relationship skills as the incident unfolds. The good relationship skills I'm talking about are: not grabbing things from each other/learning how to take turns keeping one's body to one's self and understanding the personal space of others using words to tell someone if you don't like what they are doing listening (really listening) to someone if they are trying to tell you something, especially if it's that they don't like what you are doing and I would probably spend a lot of time verbally empathizing and having them do the same. When they have it down and can use those skills without my prompting, I would give them a little space until I'm sure they can work out problems in a pro-social way without me (allowing them to play around the corner, so I can listen in). I'm sure I'm probably forgetting something, but this is what really works for me, & my kids rarely fight.

Get a beta fish to feed them to? That's the only reason I ever hatched and kept brine shrimp, and that was BC. I kept them in a bucket in a dark place with an air bubbler, and they lasted forever.

Wow~! Thanks for that! We have a couple of small skulls in our nature science collection that have been cleaned by Mother Nature. We recently found an almost-clean deer skeleton. We tried to collect the skull, but it still had a bit of flesh on it that was quite smelly, so we moved it where someone else wouldn't collect it so that we can go back for it later. If we're lucky it'll be completely clean by now, otherwise that site will be so useful! And I never thought to bleach or spray them. How cool!

I'm sorry, for you and me. I only had $20 to buy groceries this week. But at least I was able to pay my mortgage. It'll get better, right?

I'm so sorry that you are going through this. I know firsthand how difficult it is. I am glad that you are seeking counsel (legal & otherwise). I hope you will be careful about what you give up to secure your uncontested divorce. I walked away from a lot because I only wanted my kids. Well, he came back and got more of them than I ever wanted to give up, and I was still left without what I walked away from. And I don't think it was because he really wanted them, but because he wanted to hurt me. Just be careful. I hope you can work it out.

We just started investing in the CF bulbs, so we haven't had to dispose of any yet, but this was a concern for me when we were thinking of switching over. I have heard/read that you should bring them back to the store where you got them for recycling, but I haven't verified it with Lowes or Walmart. Does anyone know if that's true?

Yes, you can do this! Especially if the wires are already there. I have gone up in my bat filled attic to run new wires to put an old fixture on an existing switch. *That* was a little hairy ;)

I just had this talk with dh last night. We were planning an off-week camping trip in August at a camping resort about 2 hours drive away in ME, but we'd have to drive two vehicles to get all our gear/family there. The week is 2/3 paid for already, but if we cancel within the next month we'll get our money back, not pay the other 1/3, and not worry about the gas to get there and back. Money is so tight right now, I can't even buy groceries this week, so cancelling our once-per-year vacation is prudent. But it really stinks! :(

We don't have any credit cards, and we like it that way.

I don't know what he does for a day job, but my dh makes time-and-a-half when he works overtime, which is way more than he'd make working at a second part time job. Maybe overtime hours and pay are available to him?

We paid $3200 for oil in the past 12 months, and $1500 for electricity. At current prices, we would pay $4500 for the same amount of oil, and who knows how much more prices will go up before next winter. We won't be able to afford the extra $1300, never mind how much more. I just spent a couple of days researching, and I think we're going to try change our heat source before winter, if we can...

My oldest ds had some anger issues when he was younger, after his father and I split up. I allowed him to show his anger by going to his room and pounding or yelling into a pillow. Going outside to run around the house until he was tired out was also an option. We did spend some time with a counselor to help him manage his feelings, and the counselor suggested giving him a big old phone book to tear up when he got really angry. He only did this a couple of times, but it was very effective. Another good outlet is pounding nails into boards. If you are concerned about kids using these techniques as a way to scare others as part of their anger, it is perfectly acceptable to have them remove themselves to another room or outside before releasing their anger. HTH!

It depends on the day. I have this lovely can of "Hot Shot Spider Killer" sitting next to me here, since I saw a spider on my desk a couple of weeks ago. It got away while I was going to get the can. Sometimes I vacuum them up. Other times my oldest son will squash them. I love testosterone!~ He isn't afraid at all!! If dh his home, he will do the dirty deed. For all other bugs, they either get vacuumed or caught in a glass and put outside. But I don't want a spider to jump on me, or find its way back into the house (they're smart, you know!). It's a good thing that the myth about people eating spiders in their sleep is actually a myth, or I don't think I'd ever sleep again!

Yes, actually, they do. And sometimes my oldest would rather have another helping of dinner than dessert. We have family meal times with a few fruit/cheese type of snacks throughout the day. The kids don't "fix" themselves food without my express permission. They don't leave the table until everyone is finished. I know what my kids eat all day, and I don't expect them to eat an unreasonable amount of food at dinner before getting a treat (dessert). The little kids would rather say they aren't hungry, when they really are/have been complaining of hunger before dinner, and then eat dessert instead of their dinner. But our rule is that if they are too full for dinner, they are too full for dessert. And sometimes they really do walk away from their meal & skip dessert too. We are willing to negotiate on the amount of food, especially on things they "don't like". We don't usually insist on a "clean plate", but they must eat at least three bites of those things they don't like. My 6yo, who "didn't like" asparagus, now claims it to be his favorite vegetable.