CWillows's Profile

As someone who has suffered due to allergies to most meats for over 11 years I know what it's like to take seperate items with me and I've found that usually with a little mention to the host they're usually quite thankful that they aren't being burdened to create another dish to satisfy my needs.

In fact this afternoon I'm going to be preparing the quinoa stuffed squash that I discovered on the website last year and I'll just pop it in the oven tomorrow to reheat before the Christmas feast! http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/vegetable/recipe-quinoa-stuffed-sweet-dumpling-squash-072643

Don't be ashamed but just be well prepared and I'm sure the evening will go off without a hitch!

I should also mention that Xylitol doesn't taste artificial... It has just more intense/deep sugar flavour that I and everyone around me who has tried really liked more than regular sugar.

I was on the candida cleanse earlier this year to help get myself back on top of things and although tough it does help a great deal and I found the best thing was knowing about Xylitol, it's a corn husk and/or berry derived sugar which is safe for diabetics and those doing a candida cleanse because it is a sugar alcohol and your body doesn't absorb it and it tastes better than sugar... nothing synthetic and gross like Splenda and Steevia etc.

Try it! It's found a health food stores and it just tastes a little richer than regular sugar almost malty...everyone I've lent it to LOVES it and they use it all throughout Europe so it's known to be the healthiest alternative to white sugar. I would often make hot cocoa using cocoa and Xylitol and skim milk, tastes great and fools you into thinking you can have your cake and eat it too!

In my efforts to cut the budget in order that my husband and I can live more fulfilling lives away from a desk we've agreed to make more of our food from scratch.

Both of us prefer the feeling of having worked hard to prepare a meal from scratch but there are occasional fall backs on things we know we can make ie: perogies!

We've ordered a form to make 18 at once and so it won't be such a daunting task and then freezing them up we'll have a stock for the rest of winter and maybe beyond.

I know this also brings us much closer in the kitchen which is never a bad thing!

It's interesting to see how people are cutting back. I'm a Canadian but my husband and I lived off one income for most of this past year however once I got a job, he lost his as his company went into crisis mode. It's been a welcomed change, though it has it's challenges and we've always been hard at work saving money but the first thing we did was to cut the cable (even basic!) and we got the cheapest cell phone plan possible opting to E-mail wherever possible and we cooked at home a lot more and had friends over to make meals together.

Despite the crisis, it's nice to see how we get "back to our roots" when crisis happens and we enjoy the little things like game nights (as EastVillageAmy was saying) and company for dinner. Maybe we need a little push in the right direction.

I was in my last year of high school and I live on the west coast and my family wakes up really early so I remember in shock looking at the television as it was breaking, watching in real time as the second one happened and then thinking how crazy it all was but how in all likeliness no one would have heard at school. They all had, and we sat in our first period history class and were all just stunned and in disbelief.

Sadly I also have stark memories of when they started bombing too..

Oh I'm so glad to hear about this! For the last months a few friends and I have been planning a "virgin party" for a friend who is unable to drink for another year until her health is all back to normal again. So all the girls will be getting together (marrieds and singles) and coming up with some virgin cocktails so that she feels a little more included since we usually go for the "boozy cousins"

Please keep the ideas coming!

My worry is when on rare occasions things stick to the pan, this could be just horrible to get an egg or a pancake off. Most of the time it'd be great, but I think it'd be difficult on occasion, but as a veg, I love the idea of my own marked pan, it was always difficult to keep my pan free and clear of meat.

I'm curious if anyone has a recipe without any yeast and preferably with an alternate to white flour. I'm thinking something along the lines of Rye or Spelt.

My brother and sister-in-law have an industrial washer and drying in their washroom and I think that would be a great place if it had to be in one of the main rooms of the house. If I had to the kitchen would be alright, but I prefer all my dirty clothes away from the food-prep area.