I make a prime rib roast in the slow cooker every year. I typically brown it first on the stove top about 5 minutes each side and place it on a bed of sliced onions and a couple of those muschroom mixtures. I usually soak that puppy a day before in a shot each of scotch, rum, bourbon, pepper blend, and a little sea…

Peppers and onions can be purchased in the frozen variety and added to a meal rather than wasting fresh. I've done the same with berries as they can be pretty delicate. We would puree, add a bit of stevia some times, and a dash of vanilla and cinnamon. Pop the puree into individual containers or ice trays and then pop…

My friends and I cooked weekly with a budget of $45 -$55 which would include 3 meals and 2 snacks and one free option. This included our pantry of seasonings and herbs, a mix of fresh and frozen, meat/fish/seafood, veggies, and a grain like quinoa. One week one of the girls had a donation from her sister of healthy…

Interesting list. I always try to tip in cash. People over the years who work and get tips have told me there are a variety of rules depending on the establishment from pooling of tips by all staff, pooling by waitstaff and then sharing with the busser, the house taking a cut of tips including those put on credit,…

Quite a few in my area, the food court is right near the service desk and you pay with cash or a gift card so you can call ahead for whole pizzas, pay at pickup and go. They didn't even stop folks during football season :-)

We forget broccoli can be turned into something delicious with the right amount of seasoning, cooking method, or creative chef. The same with reading. There's so much out there in so many forms as kids become exposed it's much easier to tolerate the requirements from the classroom.

Interesting. I'm older so reading was more practical when I was younger. My mom would have me read daily stock quote, weather, something from sports (I later found out she liked no sports), and something I considered strange. This was an every morning occurrence so I'd learn to how to spell things, find things,…

Maybe it's all the extra work the liver has to do as we age. There's so much other crap in the foods and beverages it's gotta do a lot more work than when we were younger. I was just reading an article on gmos as components of beers and grain alcohols or added in the finishing process because they're cheap. I'm with…

All I know is that the darker the hard liquor or more sugar which the darker ones seem to have the more likely I am to have a hangover the next day. If I stick with a dry wine or drink with little to no mixer or dark alcohol, I'm fine. I was always told to have one glass of water for every drink. Back in college I…

you can't be the prices on the flowers or plants.

It's paid off by sharing the membership. My mom, bff, and myself usually split the fee and we can share the cost of groceries over the year. I'm in a 2 person household, my mom in a single, and my bff is a family of 4. She can find things for her large family's gatherings in one place, gas up in the neighboring state…

Just looking at this...thinking my mom would love it. She only uses these few features on her phone and it's a droid eris by htc. She doesn't even want to change it to something new.

Heard such nightmares but the best piece of advice I got was to never, ever file taxes together (with or without children) if you don't know absolutely everything. One buddy had her entire payroll check snatched by the government because her husband had unpaid student loans. She had no idea and he never thought it was…

A friend only deals with the finance manager. She said ultimately he's the only one empowered to get that vehicle off the lot and into your hands no matter the deal versus the middleman salesman. She said if they want to use the gatekeeper, she simply walks out. It's the way she's bought the last 3 vehicles over the…

Totally if you save and budget for it. I usually do it for the holidays. I can be out doing what I need to do getting groceries for the angry hoardes, with relatives and friends that are seldom in town, and get the luxury of a clean home. Very relaxing and they do a deep clean not a 15 minute spiff up. Yes some of us…

For margaritas, I keep it simple...fresh lime juice, ice, tequila, and a few dashes of stevia to sweeten. No hangover. No digestion issues. No loopy after syrup sip feeling. Otherwise I like an occasional Magners, a nice malbec, or vodka with club soda and a slice of lemon, lime, and orange. My friend carries those…

Phytates, saponins (may have misspelled that one), and nutritional enhancement in terms of digestion and vitamins/minerals is increased with soaking or sprouting. There's nothing like steel cut oats soaked overnight versus cooked straight out the box. Soaking does make a time difference.

Home owners can contact state and local agencies for help as well. In Illinois there's NACA https://www.naca.com NACA Home Save Program, NHS of Chicago www.nhschicago.org/, Illinois Hardest Hit Fund (may be closed by now) and Illinois Foreclosure Prevention Network by visiting www.keepyourhomeillinois.org or calling…

My friends all say they tire of the war stories approach rather than helpful advice. So for instance one friend says be sure to check with your doc on how he does the cuts for the c-section since you'll want to pick your baby up right away and that cut can determine how you heal and next time delivery. This is ok. Not…

The behemoth that's FB made Social Fixer remove a few things like the unfriending piece which was cool...sometimes folks unfriend you and sometimes folks just turn off their profile for a while. It's still a good one man attempt to make order out of chaos and limit crap you don't care to see.