CaliforniaHoliday's Profile

Huh. "Shoestring" must mean something different to Natalie. I sure wish my "shoestring" budget was more like hers!

My top answers would be a thick marinade, buttermilk, greek yogurt or Italian dressing. I did some chicken strips recently, and as I found out too late I had no eggs or milk in the house, I marinaded them for 20 minutes or so in greek yogurt with some seasoning. It was one of those times when I wasn't sure if I was making dinner or ruining it, but it turned out great! Also I used homemade breadcrumbs for the breading, but didn't have enough so I thinned them out with some roasted sesame seeds, and that was SO GOOD!! Really recommend it!

I'm lucky enough to live in Chico, but I haven't tried this one yet. Saw it in the store yesterday (standard price for all Sierra Nevada's beers are $6.99 for a 6-pack here) but left it for next week's shopping trip. We are blessed with many a delicious taco truck here in Chico, so I will have to take your advice and pair it with my favorite shrimp nachos from my favorite truck. I really like the label, it's a bit of a departure from their usual graphics.

re: tree farms - i live in northern california in the foothills of the sierra nevada mountains, where there are lots of tree farms. it would be an overstatement to say these are "monocultures". the folks who own and run these farms (at least the ones in my area) have been doing it for a long time, and they live in the mountains - they know about the health of the forest. they don't just clearcut and bulldoze plots of land and kill off everything but their own trees. i think some tree farms are actually helping maintain the balance of the natural mountain forest environment.

my own solution for the xmas tree issue would be to make a 2D fabric tree. i did this one year when i was in a small apartment and couldn't afford a tree - i got some green fabric (from a thrift store, i think) and cut it into the shape of a tree. i tacked it to the wall, hung lights in a zigzag across it with tacks and hung ornaments from the tacks. it didn't smell like a tree, but it did the job and i used it for several years in a row. might even still have it in my xmas decs box somewhere...

i have a teeny tiny bathroom - just about the only floor space in the room is where the door swings open! luckily there are three built-in (but shallow) shelves above the toilet, and the mirror doubles as a small medicine cabinet. ikea has been my lifesaver! my sink is wall-mounted, so I've got this under-the-sink cabinet:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90093759

which was inexpensive and works great. it seems like it would work for most pedestal sinks, too. i also have this for over the door:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50154660

which works wonders! it was affordable, the different shapes and sizes of pockets makes it really versatile, and it's pretty sturdy material so i know i'll have for years. i'm a renter, so i didn't want to spend a lot of money on storage that might not work so well in my next home.

i tried kefir for the first time a month or so ago. i enjoyed it! it's a great base for a fruit smoothie, it's nice and tart. it also lasts a long time, which is good for me - my hubs is lactose intolerant, so i'm the only milk drinker in the house. i have to agree with the other commenters though, i would never think of it as fizzy or effervescent.

@brooklynstar
"Nothing wrong with welfare"
Well said!!

I don't have kids, but I did start packing my own lunch about 6 months ago. These are a couple of blogs I've found useful, that are actually geared towards packing for kids. Some of them just have a weekly round-up of the lunches, so you might have to poke around on the site a little to find what you're looking for. Some of these parents are also dealing with similar restrictions on what they're allowed to pack.

http://www.lunchboxblues.com/
http://fedupwithlunch.com/
http://wendolonia.com/blog/
http://littleladieswholunch.com/

@mbrady - I got the idea the gloves were disposable. I agree, I wouldn't go bathroom-to-kitchen either, but the other direction seems fine.

I wanted to make some hard-boiled eggs for the week's packed lunches, so I had about 4 or 5 eggs on, boiling. Somehow I got on the phone for a few minutes, and then realized it was time to head out for my weekly crafting session with some girlfriends, and completely forgot about the eggs. Got back over 2 hours later to find the remaining bits of eggs burning to the bottom of the pot, all the water long gone. My kitchen is not in view of my front door, so the burning smell that confronted me on coming in scared the crap out of me! There were bits of exploded egg & shell all over my kitchen - honestly I think there must be some still missing, because the remnants I found only amounted to about 3 eggs! Amazingly, the pot is fine and still usable. Worst part was having to tell my fiance what I had done when he got home. Eeek!