njdrake77's Profile

After eating pasture raised eggs from the same farm we get our meat, I just can't fathom going back to conventional. I would rather not eat eggs than do that. The taste and texture is just so superior I would gladly pay $6-$7 and then just not eat as many. I have 3 young children and we could easily go through a dozen eggs in 3-4 days but since we only get 2 dozen a month, we are more mindful of when and how we are eating them. If I know I will be doing some baking then I will just buy something that I can live with from the store but for eating alone I will just absorb the cost.

It depends on where you live. I lived just fine in Southern California near the beach without AC for most of my life. Now in the Midwest and East Coast I have done it and it was purely miserable. Even then we could survive without it as youngish and healthy people. For everyone else once it reaches certain temps it's actually dangerous. I am pregnant and have two young children. For us it's beyond an comfort issue. It's a serious health concern. For my 90 year old grandmother, hers went out for a few days and I actually had the HVAC guy go out there free of charge on short notice and fix it immediately without money upfront because he knew how serious it is for someone of her age to live without AC. Let's not romanticize the good ol days or pretend that living in one area is the same as everywhere else in the country.

I'm a reformer and luckily so is the husband. His family (mainly one very vocal sibling) is such a traditionalist it boggles my mind. She threw a tantrum when her mother dared to replace the standard side of creamed corn. It's CANNED! I couldn't believe she would rather someone dump some cans in a bowl and stick it in the microwave than try something new.

I'm all for tradition as long as it tastes good. No sense making jello pudding pie, that no one eats, year after year simply because it's tradition.

Pink Ladies for me although I could be persuaded to eat a Honeycrisp if I had to. My husband will only eat Empire though. He was spoiled by growing up in Upstate NY near an orchard.

Legos DO go with everything. We just had a Lego Rainbow party for my son's 5th last week. It was a hit. I love the pirate idea too.

I make a killer vegan lasagna with zuchinni as the "pasta" portion and raw cashew "cheese". Sooo amazingly delicious and filling. My hubby keeps asking for it again and he is not vegetarian or vegan.

Those floors are so beautiful I could lick them. I have 2 small children myself that would just LOVE all that open space to play and imagine.

It's amazing how you managed to make such a large space so warm and intimate. I will absolutely be coming back to look at this as we continue to restore our 100 year old brick bungalow. I think this is my favorite home tour ever.

Well homemade obviously tastes much better but there are things that I value even more. The nutritional value of homemade vs. boxed is huge and they are not comparable serving sizes. One box makes 2 servings realistically. However a full box of pasta with homemade sauce is enough for my family of 4 with leftovers for lunch the next day.

I saw this the other day too. Costco has been doing this for years and we love it. I always buy meat in bulk though and then I separate it into one meal's worth in freezer bags. I can get 3 meals (for a family of 4) out of one large package from Costco so then I just pull one bag out in the morning for that evening's dinner.

Yeah most go straight into the Goodwill bag. This was the first year (he's 4) that we didn't hide them and had to have a talk about it. We opened them and called everyone and thanked them. Then we had a talk about what is age appropriate and why it's important to be happy with less. He mostly got it and he was totally over it in about 5 min.