MCW2009's Profile

Martha Stewart has a Cooking School program on PBS that shows you the basics of cooking. You can view the program segments online as well at http://www.marthastewart.com/939759/martha-stewarts-cooking-school On iTunes, Martha Stewart has a video podcast with recipies, cooking skills, etc. It's a free download.

Look into cooking classes in your new neighborhood. Community centers and adult education centers usually have cooking classes and many other classes on a variety of topics.

Watch some tv shows on Food Network and The Cooking Channel. Download cooking shows /apps onto your iPad/tablet/phone.

Go to the local library and check out some cookbooks. I don't think it's necessary to buy a cookbook when you're just starting out. Many libraries have cookbooks aimed at beginners.

Pasta is a pretty easy thing to learn how to cook. Boil water in a pot, add in pasta, cook according to the directions on the package, then drain.

Scrambled, boiled, and fried eggs are also easy.

You don't necessarily need to buy a stainless steel litter box from a pet store. It's basically a large stainless steel "hotel pan". You can buy a hotel pan for a lot less than a litter box. Or you might be able to find a used one for cheap or free on FreeCycle or Craigs List. Just be sure to get a full sized deep enough hotel pan.

I like this recipie: Bean and Chicken Saugsage Stew but with my own tweaks to it. The original recipie has way too much sodium in it so I swapped out/omitted some ingredients. Instead of chicken sausage, I used boneless/skinless chicken thighs and tenderloins (what I happened to have on hand that day). I omitted the canned tomatoes since I don't like tomatoes. I added in rehydrated shitake mushrooms. SInce low sodium chicken broth was used, I didn't add any additional salt to the dish. A little pepper was enough to help with the overall taste of the dish. A local newspaper had a svery similar recipie but with Italian sauasge.

I've made the Anelletti Pasta with Sausage and Greens recpie before. It's like Spaghettios :)

It depends on what I'm cooking. If I'm just making rice in the rice cooker and reheating Mom's leftovers in the rice cooker's steaming basket, it's about 40 minutes. If I'm following a recipie, it takes anywhere from half an hour to an hour plus, including prep time. Supposedly "quick" recipies takes me at least twice as long from start to finish. Part of it is because I'm slow at prep work and part of it is because I have an electric stove/oven which takes forever to heat anything up even on high heat :-o).

Any suggestions for non-sandwich/wrap/rolls/etc or salad lunches? I really don't like sandwiches/etc much and salads are never really filling. My usual daily lunches are either rice with leftovers from dinner, noodles or pasta, or cooked pre-packaged frozen Asian dumplings. Sometimes I'll have (canned) soup. If I go to Chinatown, I'll buy a bunch of sticky rice wrapped in leaves and freeze them and reheat one when I need something a little more interesting for lunch. Any ideas for something easy to make the night before?

There are some companies that do make bare wood cat trees. Mountain Cat Trees is one. I remember seeing a show on Animal Planet that featured a man who makes bare wood cat trees using non-toxic fallen trees and branches from his yard. He leaves the bark on to appeal to a cat's natural instinct to claw at trees. Etsy.com has bare wood cat trees pretty often. Bare wood trees are pricey but worth the price since they last longer than a carpeted tree. I've heard of people making their own bare wood cat trees for pretty cheap.

A cardboard box makes a great toy for most cats :) You can make your own "tree" with a couple of large sturdy boxes, cutting out entry/exit holes and windows and securing the boxes together with glue or other method.

Re: Martha Stewart cat toys - Many ARE NOT SAFE for cats to play with!! ALL of the mouse toys with bells attached to the tail are unsafe. The small bell is attached by a simple overhand knot which a cat can quickly unknot and potentially ingest the bell. For your cat's safety, you MUST remove the bell.The wicker balls with the bell inside also poses a safety hazard. The small bell can easily slip through the wicker strands and be ingeseted. The felt details on many of the MS toys are simply glued on and are not even on securely. They easily come off and can be ingested by a cat.

@ Pi: Depending on the type of pet, one can buy a heated bed or blanket, microwavable pad, heat lamp, tank heat mat, etc to keep the pet warm. Some people even share the bed with the dog or cat. I imagine a large dog has a lot of body heat to share :)

A programmable thermostat works great to get the house warm before you get out of bed.

Lol about the ladder :D If you click on the link for the House Tour, you'll see where the ladder goes. It goes to a loft area that looks like it's used as an office space.

Have you tried looking on Amazon.com's Canadian web site? http://www.amazon.ca/

You can give your cat homemade treats of plain cooked chicken or turkey :) I gently poach chicken breast in plain water until just cooked. Then I cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and feed to my cats. Extras can be frozen along with the cooking water (it turns into broth) and used later. Raw chicken and turkey can also be fed. Some cats like small chunks of raw meat.

I also agree with what Iridium said.