Lots of people are vegetarian for health reasons so I can see why the mimics are attractive. They can be a good stepping stone to from here to there.

I was just going to start a post asking if cotija cheese can be frozen! I can only get it here is quantities much too large to use before it spoils. I'm glad I always hit the "would you eat this" threads! Any tips for freezing? Crumbled or not?

Wait, does this mean celery salt in general should be avoided? Like in coleslaw or whatever?

Oh, thank goodness someone knows what I am walking about! Bubblegum meat is exactly it! I have had similar experiences with cheap bubblegum as an adult. It gets tougher and bigger and I start to FREAK OUT because it brings me back to sitting in a dark kitchen staring down the plate of meat that I cannot bring myself to finish because the first bite took 30 minutes to chew and swallow. We did not have a dog, sadly, and napkins were somehow not a thing in my family. We also had many things made into jello, including cabbage and MAYO! Who does that?!?!? Why?!?!? At least your "curry" was cooked in the oven. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING we ate was nuked into goo or leather. The invention of the microwave nearly killed me. I do not have one now because I just can't. At 14 I got an after school job. I wanted one anyway but I made sure to get one that conflicted with dinner. My life was so much easier after that. Most weeknights, I'd make myself a peanut butter sandwich after work and call it good. I tried to make every weekend plan to be gone at dinner. Luckily there was a rule in my family that nothing could be microwaved more than once so if you missed dinner, you were on your own. Thank goodness.

Ugh. Me too. Until I was 14, I was required to drink a glass of milk with dinner. Sometimes powdered. I always hated milk and I always had stomach problems. Turns out I am extremely lactose intolerant. I would have to pinch my nose to get it down. It was not a choice. We would also be required to eat some minimum amount of each thing served....hence the meat. My parents grew up very poor and just could not fathom being "picky." Ironically, I am not picky at all. I will eat almost anything non-meat. I was an adult before I learned that veggies taste great when not microwaved into goo, salads can be more than sad iceberg lettuce, and that there was a whole world of spices outside of salt and pepper. My parenting did still emphasize not wasting food but I also never required anyone to eat anything they did not like.

Yes! My dd, who is a life long vegetarian never had trouble with anemia, until she moved into the dorms. Not only was she no longer getting iron-rich foods in general.....because dorm food sucks....but it was also not being cooked on iron like almost everything at home was.

There is no question that the preparation was bad. It's just weird to me that it seemed to get bigger as I chewed until I would almost choke. I can vividly remember the terrible feeling 40 years later.

Yeah, this was most common in steak, pot roast, and pork chops. My jaw would get tired, the flavor dissipated, and it somehow expanded in size.

I just got THREE new vegetarian grill cookbooks and I have been having a lot of fun with them. The best new thing I have made is grilled chickpeas. You take cooked or canned chickpeas and toss with olive oil, smoked paprika, and salt. Throw them in a grill basket and close the lid. Open and shake every 3 minutes until they are slightly charred. They make a great wrap or addition to salad. We love them just as a super healthy snack. So easy! Our old standards are grilled veggies of any kind. One thing that is fun it to marinade some zucchini, eggplant, red peppers, and onions, grill them all up, chop and toss with pasta. Reserve some marinade to toss in as a dressing. Eat hot or cold. Another is to wrap beets in heavy duty foil and bury in the coals while cooking other things. Cook until you can poke a fork through the foil into the center. Then chop and add to salad or quinoa or pasta or whatever and dress with a balsamic or tahini based dressing. I'm getting hungry.....

I hated eating meat as a kid! I had this weird thing where I would chew meat, usually beef or pork, and it would be bigger and tougher in my mouth, and I could not bring myself to swallow it. Chicken was just stringy and icky to me. And fish was an absolute no go right off the bat. I realize now that much of that was poor preparation.......what kind of a MONSTER just microwaves the crap out of a slab of ham and serves it as "food?" I spent many a childhood evening sitting at the kitchen table with a plate of congealed meat in front of me until bedtime because I just could not force myself to eat it. Shortly after I left home, I became vegetarian and have not looked back. I have never ever craved it or missed it in any way with the single exception of real Texas BBQ.....which I do remember fondly. Does anyone else know what I am talking about with the chewing, getting bigger and tougher thing? I feel like I am somehow making this up in my head or something. I am sure it was also exasperated by my attempts to get rid of the meat faster by taking too-big bites. I also don't really enjoy the fake meats but do find myself eating them occasionally when that is the only vegetarian thing on the menu or when a well-meaning host serves it. I *do* enjoy a homemade veggie burger that is not trying to taste like meat because, darn it, I want to have something fun to eat at a cookout just like everyone else. Mine are lentil and walnut based and taste nothing like meat. I am not nor have I ever been anemic.

Yes! Save yourself!

We are considering a Nespresso for travel....... I do not recommend anyone go down this path! LOL! I mourn the days when I was happy with Mr. Coffee. Life was so much simpler!

We call ours Coffee Robot and I'm pretty sure it is the first thing I would grab in a fire, after the cats. It has completely ruined us. I *almost* tried to bring it camping last weekend. Instead I had to settle for french press.

Our espresso maker is worth more than one of our cars. That gives you an idea of our priorities. And we do NEED it!

Thanks. It is both a rural and economic issue. I have also noted that the ones who stay are good, but even they are starting to leave due to staffing shortages and Covid-rage in the community. It is a scary situation. I know many a potential new hire in other local industries has been scared off by lack of available medical care. It is routine now for people here to travel 4-8 hours to access specialists. We had to drive two hours to even see the closest orthodontist! If anyone in my household had special medical needs, I think we would have no choice but to move.

I did explain it to her. Her "just let me know" really did mean make another appointment and come in. That is what she expected me to do. I explained that would cost me $200. We came to the compromise of her just writing me a prescription for Y that I could fill on my own if X did not work and that I promised to send a message through the portal if I filled it so it would be in my record. I think there is also a wide assumption amongst the providers I have been to that people are in PPO type insurance plans so a visit is just a small copay to the patient. That's a little nuts since the largest employer in the area (which happens to be mine) is high deductible only.

To the OP, I totally understand your situation! We are in an underserved area and the turnover for doctors is unreal, so we have had to switch family doctors many times. Several times we have not even been formally handed off to a new provider.....I find out ours is gone by calling the number and being told, "oh so-and-so left 6 months ago...." We never used a pediatrician but all of our family doctors have been very inaccessible. Getting an appointment is usually not a problem but any sort of follow up is blocked by gatekeepers. I actually snorted during my last appointment when my new doctor, who I like, said, "Just let me know if X does not work and I can prescribe Y." Let you know HOW? The only way to do that is to make another appointment. We have high deductible insurance so that is $200 out of pocket to "let her know" something. There is a patient portal and I have tried this MANY times. All I get is a follow-up call from a scheduler to make an appointment. If I call to leave a message to "let her know," again, I get a follow-up call to make an appointment. We are lucky in that none of us has ever had a big enough medical issue that could not just be dropped, but I totally understand the problem and in many places, like mine, switching providers will not solve the problem. There are ZERO private practices in my area so anyone I go to is governed by one of two medical groups that use the same tactics/systems. I have often wondered if the doctors even know there is no "letting them know" anything! I mean, THEY go to doctors, right? Surely they have seen this in action?

I thought of another one. Our current house is 130+ yo, so it has "quirks." Lots of them. The attic space is unfinished and we only use it for storage. There was wiring and lights up there but we searched the entire attic and the floor below and could never find a light switch for them. But they would sometimes be on and sometimes off! One time they were on for weeks and we could only shut them off by removing the bulbs (as other needed things were on the same circuit). Of course, I would screw them in to look for something up there, they would not come on, and I would forget to unscrew them....then days/weeks later they would be on again! I assumed ghosts (naturally) or some seriously bad electrical problems. Dd was toddler at that time and she never napped so we had daily "quiet time" where she spent 30 minutes in her room. One day, I came up to check on her and she was inside her closet playing with something tucked into the wall out of sight from the accordion doors. A light switch! The two-year mystery had been solved! Doh!

Back in college, I was grocery shopping. When I came outside, my car was GONE! But, another car in the lot was the same year, model, and color. I called the cops and they called the owner of the car that remained. 10 minutes later, an older gentleman sheepishly drove up and returned by car. He never even noticed that he had the wrong car! He was able to start it with his key. Neither car was locked.

This was a long time ago but I once had to pick up a dc from a summer camp that was far FAR away and involved a ferry ride to shave 7 hours off the drive. I left having two hours to spare to catch the ONLY ferry for the day. I was cruising along, feeling like I was making pretty good time so I stopped at a cute cafe for an unplanned lunch. Later, when I crossed the time zone border, I realized I had calculated the time change in the opposite (WRONG) direction and even if I drove at top speed, I likely would not be able to catch the ferry! I panicked and stepped on the gas while calling the ferry line to warn them that I would (might) be coming in hot assuming I even made it. I drove so fast, it was insane! The whole time, all I can think about is how heartbroken dc would be that I missed their final performance and that they would have to sit around for hours waiting of me to drive around a giant lake. I made it by literally seconds. I now triple check my time zone math then have someone ELSE check it for me again!

I just had Covid and am still suffering the aftereffects, but I would not have taken it if it was an option (it was not). The risk of extended isolation and the side effects are concerning for me. I had a "mild" case but am still dealing with annoying, but not debilitating, aftereffects and I am under 60, triple vexed, and in good health, so I am guessing it would not have made much difference. If this turns into long covid, I will be singing a different tune.

I have been insatiably thirsty the whole time so getting enough fluids has been easy. But I have been trying to drink mostly hot tea because anything not hot makes me cough.

Thanks all. I'll try to hit on everything in this post. I did try a nasal spray, Sinex, last night and this morning. That did make a notable improvement! Certainly not "normal" but much less annoying. I don't normally have seasonal allergies but these last two weeks are peak for allergens so that could be a factor. Do sinus infections clear up on their own, without antibiotics? I am trying to weigh what is worse, the stomach problem from taking antibiotics or the possible sinus infection. I am willing to skip the half marathon if I'm not ready. I will try running again today but just take it even easier to see how it goes. My worry is if this Covid thing is here to stay and we are all going to be getting it every three months, I cannot just stop exercising for 4-6 weeks every time.....if only for my sanity alone. I was walking/hiking only up until yesterday and did not find that difficult in any way. That felt pretty normal. Putting Mucinex on the shopping list......

As someone who is recovering from Covid after an international flight, I agree with others about the airport being the real risk. I don't know exactly where I got it, obviously, but I masked 100% of the time in the airport and on the plane. But they had us stacked up on top each other in the boarding holding cell and we also had to ride in very crowded trams through the airport. And here's the other thing....they did not ask for proof of negative test at either end of our return flight. I am seriously irritated that I spent $65 per person and the STRESS of waiting for results for the "required" testing that was never asked for. I would focus on masking and anything preventative you can do to bolster your immune system.

Yes! I was sad when I learned that my dd would not be moving back home after her first year of college but also relieved after surviving Christmas break (barely). However, the got-neater part does not apply in our case which is why that break nearly killed us all. I grieve for her housemates. She used to be a neat nick. I have no idea what happened.