euphrasyne

Happy belated birthday!

I keep reusable bags in the back of my van because I shop at places like Aldi and BJs. I also use boxes (mine or from the store) I have a big panara catering bag that I keep all the other bags in and I Keep a D clamp on it and use that to hang it off the shopping cart. I do the same with my purse and diaper bag. Baby in top, bags hanging under the handle beside her legs. Lots more room that way. Also I have a baby wagon that I use with the baby when we go places like parks or the zoo or aquarium. I use it to haul purchases from the van to the house. I can hold 300lbs. We've been using it about a year now and it is great. It does seem to have gone way up in price since we bought ours. We paid 119.75 and it is now over 150.00 Amazon.com : Mac Sports Utility Wagon Outdoor Heavy Duty Folding Cart Push Pull Collapsible with All Terrain Wheels and Handle Portable Lightweight Adjustable Folded Cart Landscape Wagon (Denim Blue) : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Everything has a downside.

We were considering going to NC. Its only a 20 minute drive from there to here so it would be within work distance for DH.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insinuate that earlier ends could not happen to innocent people. I was thinking about people I know who did dumb things that ended badly. My grandmother isn't the best person, but she is not currently in good health and I think about how much I am like her. What will I do to get by over the years? Age comes with a lot of decisions and I just think we need to respect the stress that brings.

We as a society are too focused on youth. I do not want to be younger. I'm proud of how long I've lived and I think we need to respect the elderly more. My grandmother is in her late 80s and I sent her a 100 rose bouquet when she came home from the hospital last week. Being old is a blessing, not a curse and I wish society as a whole would appreciate that. Idiots die young. Those who learn how to survive die old. My late 80s grandmother came home from the hospital last week and I sent her 100 roses because she loves roses and has never see that many in her life.

awesome video! I loved the perspective and background.

Soybeans make tofu. Any bean can be made into a tofu-equivalent. You just puree it with hot water, cook it down, and allow it to set up. The noodles are usually made by either making it into tofu and cutting up or else making the beans into a powder and using it as the 'flour' for the noodles. If you are using the type that starts as been flour, then it will never reheat correctly again if you boiled them in liquid. Instead, only cook what you need and freeze or chill any noodles not needed for that meal. Red or green dahl (lentils) are one of the more common ones used, but any bean incl black, pinto, kidney, garbanzo, etc. will work for either the noodles or the tofu. Garbanzo works well if you do the flour method (Besan flour.) Red dhal works better by cutting down the 'tofu' method. Typically Besan will reheat better than others, but it will still be a bit soggy. If you want carbs (beans have carbs) but not gluten, you can use rice or rice noodles wherever. It goes just fine with marinara. I'm typing this while munching on leftover Shahi Paneer (basically a cheese/ tofu made out of goat milk) and Samosa Chaat which was made with chickpeas over a Besan flour wanton like item. The chickpeas were just left whole and unprocessed and I'm using them as my rice/noodle substitute to carry the sauce.

We are cleaning. I have a sink full of simple green and water mixed 1:1 so I can get all the dirt off the tile. I am taking a small break to cool down and check email. DD14 is going to see Hamilton tonight with her friends. DH will drop them off and pick them up. They are all sleeping here so I'll have a house full. Apparently the twins have low life skills and called DD14 to ask what the white crystals were on ice cream. She told them about freezer burn. Also, they have never had Chinese so we are having that for dinner. It looks to be an eventful night. Last night DH and I went out to see the new Dungeons & Dragons Honor among Thieves movie. It was amazing. There was a huge rolly-polly fat dragon in it. We had a late dinner next door to the theater at Rajput Indian afterwards. I learned that I pronounce my favorite dish wrong and now I can say it right! Shahi Paneer is pronounced with the ending sound he not hi so Shah-he.

We do have a Fresnel lens, but it is somewhere in DH's ship check bag. (The MOLLE backpack he carries when he travels for a ship check--measuring the inside of military boats for work.) I would never have thought about doing multiple solar cookers. I would just make my meal something simple that cooks as a casserole or at the same pace. Great idea about the multiple slow cookers! ex-MIL used to wrap hotdogs in aluminum foil and place them in the front window of the car on long road trips. They were done by lunch time with no extra stuff needed. Your hijack was just the info I was hoping someone would add. Thanks!

Losing computer stuff can feel traumatic and extremely stressful. I had a virus back in 2016 that wiped out everything. Around 2019? or so I had a hard drive fail, but I managed to save it by putting it in the freezer for a few hours then scraping as much out of it as I could. I think I only lost like 2 ebooks in that one. I'm glad to have Annarchy's posts back. These things happen, and I doubt anyone will be mad/upset. It is a good reminder for digital prepping. Back any data onto other places and don't keep all your stuff on the same location or hard drive. Some older computers need to be defragmented, but the newer ones don't. I'll start a computer prepping thread this weekend. We're about to go out for the night. Fist time leaving the house in months for me.

I don't know. Both of my parents were horrible, verbally & physically abusive, and my step dad literally threw me out of the house when I was 16. He ripped my door off the hinges, grabbed me up and tossed me out the front door--because I told him "act your age, not your IQ" at dinner. It was a quote button on my jean jacket. I had my car keys, but no shoes. I'd saved up and bought that car outright from my job so it was mine. I was exposed to alcohol, drugs, and was hit on by men when I was 13/14 because aunt would use me as a prop so she could go out. 'I'm taking Euph out, it will be fine. What are we going to do with a tween? I think I turned out pretty good. All parents should be good parents if they want to have kids, but when they grow up, the choices are firmly on them. I've never excused an adult's behavior by saying 'oh but he had a rough childhood.' I'll feel sorry for them, but each person chooses how they will live. Goodness knows if I can be a good person, anyone can. I'm crazy as a loon, but still a good person. That being said, bad parents abound and what is considered bad parenting changes every 5 years. Mine are so spaced that everything we did with 1 kid was wrong for the next one.

No worries, I'm not upset. I mean when she realized on Friday a week ago, if something was said then, we could have been saving as we went along. Its really not an issue, just prevention. Ie) "Hey something happened and we may be resetting site to a previous time. Save anything you do or want that was recent." My husband does some of the IT in his code and he will tell people that all the time. "hey they will probably reset you. save anything important elsewhere for the next few days."

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act § 55.1-1200. Definitions "Tenant" means a person entitled only under the terms of a rental agreement to occupy a dwelling unit to the exclusion of others and includes a roomer. "Tenant" does not include (i) an authorized occupant, (ii) a guest or invitee, or (iii) any person who guarantees or cosigns the payment of the financial obligations of a rental agreement but has no right to occupy a dwelling unit.

I forgot I have an electric waffle maker. I also rounded up a few other things I could use in a pinch: hundreds of candles heat gun (craft tool for embossing, drying paint, etc. hair dryer X3 Curling iron x2 straightening iron x2 The instant pot is the name brand one and it also sautés and slow cooks. I could easily rig a solar cooker out of cardboard boxes, aluminum foil, and a pane of glass. I have all those on hand as well as enough tape/glue for an army. I'm not the sort of person who ever runs out of tape or glue. When I get 'low' (which is plenty by most people's standards,) I order another case. I haven't been to Nag's Head, but my MIL loves it and used to go often. DH and I are pale, freckly read heads and we do not like the sun or sand. We are more mountain than beach people. I'll take a forest lake or river any day over salt water.

My favorite conversations are ones that meander and reveal fond memories.

No worries. My only suggestion is that if it happens again, maybe let people know as soon as possible so we can save posts/threads before the delete.

It doesn't matter how you raise them, people will do what they want to do and sometimes they need to face consequences so they can be responsible. It is good for them in the long run.

The van I had in the early 2000s didn't have anything fancy like my current one does. We would remove the right middle seat for more floor space and only had 1 kid for most of that time. She would go in the left middle and we could take turns sleeping on the back row. She could play on the floor during stops or the really bad traffic back-up by Hoover dam. (It took us 3 hours of traffic to go 2 miles). We just packed everything into a cooler. I'd make extra ice for days at the house and put it in old bread bags until I had enough to put in the cooler so we could save on store ice. PB sandwiches, bananas, and chips didn't require any refrigeration, and lunchmeat, eggs, cheese, and strawberries usually lasted fine in the cooler. Spaghetti was an easy meal to cook in a coffee pot and the noodles and sauce were shelf stable. Chicken nuggets were easy to heat on an iron after thawing in the cooler and could be added to the spaghetti to make chicken parmesan or chicken parmesan sandwiches. Lots of homemade granola and trail mix to tide us over too. Those were the days.

I'm making a thread here so as to not hijack the what are you doing today thread. I dated my first husband a year, engaged a year, then married 12 years. He was very bad with money no matter what I did. I worked the first 6 years we were together, one of which he was unemployed and I supported us. Then kid19 came along, was sick in the hospital constantly, so I quit working and stayed home with them--who was never sick again. Right choice. Because money was so tight, I had to do everything on a very tiny budget. If we went to visit family (which we did several times a year) we drove for hours or days (we did a 27 hour straight van trip from Vicksburg to Vegas to see my Mom and steps). I would pack a picnic for car meals and snacks. If we needed to get a hotel, we stayed somewhere inexpensive and I was creative with the meal plan and we cooked with what was available. I'd pack the food and a can opener as well as a few dishes which I'd wash in the bathroom. I finally left him because he cheated on me so many times that it was obvious forgiveness had become permission. I'm lucky that I'm in a much better situation now. Dated DH 2 years, married 9 years anniversary in less than 2 weeks. He works hard, I mostly control the finances, and everyone is super happy. I no longer have to do weird things to get by since we are in a very good place now, but I enjoy the creativity of food preparation and I still do some things for novelty, fun, or learning experiences. Things I have that I can cook in currently: (when i say cook, I mean make chicken or rice) Double oven (stand alone not wall, the top is just 1 rack the bottom 2 racks, but I can heat them at different temperatures) Gas stove attached to oven Microwave Double coffee pot that makes single cups on one side and a carafe on the other 2 round crock pots 1 oval crock pot 1 mini crockpot (2 cups for dips or appetizers) 1 giant turkey roaster (basically an enormous metal crockpot. ) Instant pot (electric pressure cooker) Deep Fryer 2 Gas fireplaces 3 showers that run very hot water. Dishwasher on high heat Washing machine on sanitary cycle Dryer on high heat. (bread rises great in a dryer that has been run and emptied. ) portable heater (I'd probably only use this to heat sandwiches or melt cheese, no meat.) Sterno cans for chafing dishes. (again I may heat things but I'd start with tinned chicken instead of raw.) Lots of lighters, matches and fire starters to set things ablaze to cook with. Perhaps some of those Amazon boxes as fuel. 1 plastic crockpot for paraffin. It goes up to 300F. Bottle warmer (it will heat water which will poach whatever or put a jar of premade food or soup in it. ) Mid sized blowtorch (it belongs to the husband) Extra large gas grill with a side burner for pots. Metal fire pit for roasting weenies and smores Metal burn barrel with hole in bottom so it gets HOT. Just set a grate over the top and it is a rocket stove. Around 20 huge trees to provide various types of wood, though I think 2 of them are poisonous and I'd not use them. Car engine Car dashboard (this is basically a solar oven. Use aluminum foil. Standard and usb plugs in van to plug any of the above in. Car converter to run car battery to a plug that any of the above can plug into. Works as long as the car is on. I could probably come up with more, but I haven't had my caffeine yet. I have been looking at hot plates vs tabletop grills with hotpots. I want to have fondue night once a month and do Korean hotpot/ BBQ at home. With a hot plate, I could just put any of my pots or cast iron griddles on it. The electric grill are set up for multiple people though. It is a hard decision and I keep wavering. I'll probably make a decision by my birthday or Christmas and get one then. If I get a hotpot, I was looking at something similar to one of these: SEAAN Electric Hot Pot Grill Removable Shabu-shabu Pot Grill Detachable Barbecue Grill with Large Capacity Baking Tray Non-Stick BBQ Pan Adjustable Temperature Double Flavor Hot Pot 110V (amazon.com) Amazon.com: Hot Pot with Grill, 2000W 2 in 1 Electric Hot Pot Grill Cooker with Dual Temperature Control for 1-8 People, Multi-function Smokeless Shabu Korean BBQ Grill for Simmer, Boil, Fry, Roast (Black) : Home & Kitchen *I forgot to add in the toaster oven. Its the flat rack type, not the pop up type. Pop tarts, toast, leftover pizza, etc.

I was born and raised in Pearl for over 20 years. I lived in South Jackson for a bit and Vicksburg for a decade. My immediate family is still clustered in Pearl/Brandon and Vicksburg. I think my uncle is in Brookhaven. Ironically we live about 20/30 minutes from the beach here and never go because we hate the beach.

homemade yogurt, sour cream, quark Salad dressing like ranch Soup (cheese & milk with meat and veggies) pudding, custard, flan pudding pops (make pudding, freeze it in paper cups, ice cube trays, popsicle molds, or silicone muffin pans.) Ice cream Fudge Scalloped/ Au gratin Potatoes, macaroni and cheese Rice Pudding or various savory rice dishes using milk (mostly Thai) Cornbread or regular bread pancakes, waffles, french toast chocolate or strawberry milk, milkshake, smoothie, in coffee or tea Milk or sausage gravy, alfredo or bechamel sauce You can turn milk into SCM by adding sugar 1/4c sugar per 1c milk and cooking it slowly for about an hour. Evaporated is to double the milk and cook it down. Then you would have the ratio for the pie you like. Fat makes things creamy so that is the reason why 2% isn't. To make 2% full fat, 1T melted butter and milk to make 1c. Half and half is 2T butter per cup 2% or 1T per whole milk. If you have cream, you can do 1/4c cream to 3/4c whole milk to make half and half. So to use cream and 2% to get whole, you would need to do more like 2T cream and 2% milk to make a cup to get whole milk or 6T cream and milk to make a cup for half and half. Using these substitutes, you can make whatever you want. To incorporate the melted, cooled butter into the milk, use a stick blender or a regular blender. I usually do a stick blender in a wide mouth mason jar for ease of use.

MS is on the Gulf coast also. hehe. I've been to FL to visit relatives during various seasons, and I'd take a FL summer over a MS summer any day. I'd take either of them over VA because I'm freezing my tukus off.

Heh! I have cans of Ravioli and SpaghettiOs here as well as lots of ramen. I have teens and we eat redneck at least once a week. If you are sick of microwave, here are some alternatives: 1. Cold food like sandwiches and salad 2. Your coffeepot is basically a see through crock pot. Wrap a towel around it, put some water in it, turn it on and poach chicken, fish, or whatever. You may need to run the cycle a few times if it doesn't stay on to 'warm'. If you don't want to poach it in water, then make a casserole with lots of sauce. Cream soup, canned chicken, veggies, seasoning do well in a coffee pot. I've done this on vacation. 3. Your iron is a grill. Do not leave it unattended ever. Turn it on, balance it hot side up in something metal where it will not move--like a pot or a metal drying rack or something metal. Place a skillet on top of it. Ta-da. Cook whatever you want in the skillet. You can even dutch oven bread this way but it uses a lot of electricity and you have to watch it the entire time because of fire hazard. 4. Buy a hot plate. Its temporary so it doesn't need to be fancy or long term. Amazon says I can get a cheap one by Thursday for $16.99. You can make anything on this and a deep cast iron pot (dutch oven) really does act as an 'oven' to bake things. Use camping recipes if going that route. Vayepro Electric hot plate, Single Coil Burner, Portable Hot Plate 1200W, Kitchen Cooktop with Non-Slip Rubber Feet - Perfect for Outdoor Cooking (amazon.com) If you want specific cooking or food category recipes you can make in a hotel room, let me know. The most delicious shelf ramen ever: Take 1 ramen cup, add the packets and water ( I usually use spicey or kimchi flavor ramen). Add in a tablespoon dehydrated mixed veggie soup or veggies--whatever you have. Microwave 3 minutes. Cut up 2 hot pickled okra and add to the cup. Roll up 3 slices thinly sliced lunchmeat and use scissors to cut strips. Add to cup. Let sit 3 minutes. Yum. Very spicey but delicious. Sometimes I omit the dehydrated veggies and add some fermented kimchi with or instead of the okra. Texas Pete or Mt. Olive are my go-to brands. Mostly because that is all I can buy in this unspiced Yankee-ridden place. All in love. I irritate the stew out of DH by calling him a Yankee. I'm not an (expletive) Yankee! he screams back. Then he tells me I wont like how hot it gets in Florida. A) I've been to FL, I've been to TX, NV and CA and all the states between MS and CA by car in summer multiple times, so I know how hot it gets. and B ) I'm from MS for decades. 98F with 120% humidity--it doesn't get hotter. Anyone who thinks the humidity cannot go over 100% has never been to Mississippi. Also the 4 seasons there are Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, and Christmas. My roses used to still bloom in December. I'm over here freezing on the East Coast. My only issues here are the lack of food seasoning and the cold weather, otherwise I love VA and we will be here at a bare minimum until DH retires from the Department of the Navy. DH is amazing at his job and they hand out awards when they go 'above and beyond.' He got a $1K (6 to 10X the usual award) award yesterday and came home telling me he bought himself a happy that was around $160. We usually talk about purchases over $100, and he was worried I'd be upset. I was not. He is such a sweetie. I am so proud of him.

That is a good idea to clean fabric. I need to try that on some of my pillows. Thanks.