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greenvneck

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Posts posted by greenvneck

  1. I think it's an essential life skill. My daughters are almost 18 now, but by the time they were 12 they could construct a full meal for their younger siblings if necessary, including vegetables. My 9yo and 6yo get their own breakfasts (cereal, toast, bagels, nothing difficult). By 10, I expect kids to be able to cook pasta, cook frozen foods (like french fries), make sandwiches. I know the last seems like it should be dead easy, but if one is making a couple gluten sandwiches and one gluten-free sandwich, one has to be diligent about not double-dipping the utensil into condiments/peanut butter/jelly/etc. It could take a dozen utensils (or more!) to make sandwiches for four children, so it is a skill I oversee for a long time until I see mastery.

     

    That said....when dh and I first married, he didn't have a CLUE. He had been served from birth as the youngest child, and only son, from the day he was born. Now he is almost fully in charge of breakfast and lunch for himself and the kids on the weekend, packs his own lunches, makes his own breakfast, and when I have no obvious plan for dinner (rare, but it happens), he makes something from what we have and makes sure the kids are fed. You know, like a grownup. :lol::lol::D

  2. OP, I have been thinking the same thing as you lately. The clothing I wear regularly are the high(er :D)-end clothes for which I paid (while mentally gasping) full price because the clothes were in season. I don't know that I'm ready to spend $75 for a pair of jeans, but where I live those jeans are likely to only be worn a couple months a year. I will spend $$$$$ on shoes and bras, though, not for vanity but for quality that will last for decades.

     

    OTOH, I shop sales at discount stores each season for tees, cardigans, and tank tops, knowing that they will only last a season. Those turn into pajamas or the SAHM equivalent of "play clothes." :lol:

  3. It's all me here too which is how i prefer it. DH provides the financing :)

     

    Yep, that's how it is here, too. Dh loves that the kids are homeschooled, but he has absolutely no interest in any aspect of the actual day-to-day work of it. But all of his time not at work or tae kwon do classes is spent in full, hands-on Daddy mode, doing things that I would never do with them, like woodworking, game designing, geocaching, etc. It works for us.

  4. I actually ended my last pregnancy six pounds LESS than when I got pregnant! And delivered a 9.5 lb baby! I was overweight to begin with, so when I realized I was pregnant and immediately switched to the Bradley diet the weight started coming off. I always have intense morning (all-day) sickness, to the point where I get sick a dozen times a day for months, so that probably had something to do with it.

  5. At Target, the spiral notebooks have gone up to .20, too. Last year, I think they were still .15 each.

     

    If you have a Kroger near you, the spiral notebooks (one subject) are at $0.15 right now. I thought Staples had their 1 cent sales going on so I started filling up my cart today and then realized I wasn't seeing the usual signs. I had to put everything back on the shelves and ask an employee when the REAL sale starts. I'm glad I bought some notebooks at Kroger so that I felt like I got at least a little bit of a deal today. :tongue_smilie:

  6. Aubrey, you sound EXACTLY like me! We have been homeschooling for nine years and I STILL feel like I'm floundering. I recently discovered Scholaric, which is only $2/month. I can plan out what I'm going to do, access it on my computer, iPad, and phone, then each day I print out what each kid needs to accomplish. They like checking off the boxes and I like being able to bump forward the things we didn't get done. And, honestly, a lot of what I plan, what I think could/should get done in the time allotted, just doesn't, and I don't know how to fix that. Hopefully someone will post the perfect solution for both of us on this thread! :D

     

    Part of my problem is also trying to figure out when to accomplish all of this. Our days this fall will be so broken up from various outside-the-house activities and responsibilities that we will only have 1-3 hours at home at a time. Basic household maintenance, cooking, laundry, etc. have to happen during those times as well. And every day has a different schedule, that does NOT help!

     

    Meanwhile, I will be :bigear: and offering you :cheers2:.

  7. Are you thinking of "Nights of Rain and Stars"? I am a HUGE Maeve Binchy fan, but that's the only one I could think of where a man drowned (or did he?).

     

    ETA: Hmm. I haven't read fiction in many years, but I went to look at my bookshelves and saw that it could also be "The Glass Lake" or "Echoes." If you figure out what it is, please post!

  8. Oh great ideas!

     

    Some ideas that popped in my head as I was reading this thread over:

     

    ( we are in so cal...love mexican food! And my dc are used to having these for dinner)

     

    *Tostados ( with refried beans, avocado, lettuce, tomatos, just no cheese) or nachos with the same ( make beans in crockpot and freeze)

    *Tacos or fajitas

    *Taquitos w/ guacamole ( can make from scratch and freeze)

    *chili w/ gluten free cornbread

    *baked potatoes w/ chili on top

    *lentils of all kinds

    *homemade french fries w/ organic GF nitrate free hotdogs made into corndogs out of GF cornbread

    *homemade potato wedges w/lettuce wrapped burgers

     

     

    I think dairy is going to be harder for me to give up than gluten since i am already in atkins....now for the kids...sigh.

     

    How do you make your corndogs? Do you use a twinkie tray or fashion something out of foil? There is only one vegetarian/GF hot dog that I have found and I would LOVE to make that into a corndog. I have an amazing cornbread recipe that my family can't get enough of but in all my trials, I haven't yet discovered how to turn the (nasty, IMO) veggie dog into an edible and virtual corndog-on-a-stick. DO TELL!

  9. Here are some things we do for gluten-free lunches:

    (assume everything has veg & fruit sides!)

     

    egg salad w/ tortilla chips or GF crackers

    hummus w/ tortilla chips or GF crackers

    grilled cheese made w/ homemade GF bread or Udi's bread

    pizza bagels made w/ Udi's bagels

    leftovers

    peanut sauce w/ rice noodles

    baked sweet potato

    GF pasta w/ sauce and toppings

    nachos

    veggie burgers or veggie dogs on GF buns

    cheesy omelets + hash browns

    black beans, brown rice, crushed tortilla chips + toppings

     

    I could go on! Feel free to PM me w/ questions, I have been cooking vegetarian (vegan when it is the entire family) and GF for almost six years.

  10. My DS is GFCF (plus "many-other-foods-free" like soy, peanuts, etc.)... Here are some of the things he eats for lunch:

     

     

     

    • BLT on Vegan Oat bread (avail. at health food stores), spread with Earth Balance buttery spread (avail. at most grocery stores now), with nitrate-free bacon (Hormel brand - avail. almost everywhere), lettuce and tomato. Veggie slices on the side.

    • Ham and tomato sandwich - same bread and spread as above, with nitrate-free ham (Hormel brand). Veggie slices on the side.

    • Rice pasta with chicken and veggies - Tinkyada brand brown rice pasta (available at most health food stores and several regular grocery stores) with grilled chicken and sauteed vegetables (like sweet red peppers).

    • GFCF pizza - GFCF pizza crust (from our local GFCF bakery - but also available in some health food stores or you can make your own), spread with marinara sauce, veggies and sausage, ham, or bacon (again, we get only the healthier meats that are nitrate-free and additive-free - we buy the sausages from our health food store)

    • Big tossed veggie salad (I know - not all 8-year old boys would like this, but my DS does!) with GFCF dressing (several brands available at health food stores, or you can make your own - gluten is in a LOT of dressings, so make sure any dressing you buy says "gluten-free").

     

    HTH!

     

    Haven't read the entire thread, but I wanted to point out that oats (unless certified as so) are not gluten-free. If you have found certified GF oat bread I would LOVE to know where! I bake our GF bread for the most part, but occasionally splurge to buy the ($$$$) GF bread in a retail store.

  11. My husband convinced me to get an iPad and I can't tell him often enough how much he was RIGHT. I got the basic one, but I have an Android phone that I can turn into a mobile hotspot, so I can pretty much get connection to the internet wherever I am, including in my van on a road trip. This is how I feel about it: :thumbup::party::hurray::001_wub::thumbup:

  12. I do, however, ALWAYS offer ice water or pop (if we have it) to the people who come knocking on our door, trying to sell stuff. It is almost always kids (whose parents have told them to refuse) or middle-aged guys who have had to take whatever dead-end job they can get in this economy. One poor guy last week looked like he was going to pass out. When I invited him in, told him firmly that I wouldn't be buying what he was selling but I was happy to give him a go-cup of ice-water and as many popsicles as he wanted, he looked again like he would pass out from happiness.

  13. I guess it depends on what the work is for. If it's something that can be accomplished in a few hours, I will offer them water/ice/pop if we have it, but I would never presume to offer food. For one thing, in a gluten-free house, I can't *afford* to feed someone else; for another, the worker(s) know what their job is, they have provided themselves with the food/water that they need. I have too many kids with too many activities to busy myself providing extras to people I am already paying to do their jobs.

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