The Common Room

Supplements

2012-01-28T04:28:00.000-06:00

This is the ridiculous list of what I take, and why. Not all of it is specific to a low-carb diet.
Liqui-Kelp: I take this for the iodine on a chiropractor's recommendation. She is a friend from out of town who did not know about the medical tests I was going through at the same time because I'd told nobody. The same week the doctor said he was concerned about my thyroid and my heart, she gave me an adjustment and said, "You need to pay attention to your thyroid and your heart- and try and take some iodine drops.

Cal-mag-zinc: This is for restless legs, and I think it works. The bottle I am using now came from Trader Joe's.

Turmeric- this is for inflammation, recommended by a friend who is an amateur herbologist. She suggested it over a year ago, and several times since, and I ignored her until about three months ago. It really does help with aching joints.

Krill Oil : My doctor actually prescribed these, although my insurance wn't pay for them. The krill oil was a compromise because I won't consider lipitor for high cholesterol, and in fact, told the doctor I did not believe in the lipid hypothesis. There are a lot of different versions and companies and amounts out there, and you just have to do your own research and decide what fits your goals best.

A multi-vitamin- I look for what's on sale at the co-op.

When doing low-carb I also take:

Natrol L-Carnitine

And.... this borders on a bit too personal, but.... the original Atkins included many supplements that were really quite good, full of ingredients well known to those who frequent natural foods stores. they don't sell them any more, which is a shame. One of the things they used to recommend was a gentle, gentle pill which helped with regularity, which you really need when on induction. There was Atkins AM and Atkins PM.
You can replace this with any 'cleanse' type pill, but some are harsher than others and some are just laxatives. Adding two tablespoons a day of flax seed to your diet should also help.
Or, you can splurge as I did, and take Zand Candida Quick Cleanse .
I like the ingredients in this one:
Caprylic Acid (as Calcium Caprylate) 300 mg, Garlic Bulb Standardized Extract (3:1) 200 mg, Goldenseal Root 50 mg, Oregano Leaf Concentrated Extract (10:1) 50 mg, Turmeric Seed Concentrated Extract (10:1) 50 mg, Cinnamon Bark 20 mg, Cloves Bud 20 mg, FOS (Fructo-oligosaccharides) 100 mg, Cabbage Leaf 30 mg, Oat Seed Fiber 30 mg, Coptis Root 50 mg, Dong Quai Root 20 mg, Gentian Root 20 mg, Ginger Root 20 mg, Nettles Leaf 20 mg, Parsley Leaf 20 mg, Thyme Leaf 20 mg.

I take one at night when I go to bed.

I used to take a glucosomine and chondriten supplement, but I didn't replace it when I ran out, and unlike the turmeric and cal-mag-zinc, I didn't notice a distinct difference, so still haven't replaced it.

I order these from online, from my co=op. from Amazon, at the local health food store when on sale (I get a 20 percent discount as well, wherever, I can find good quality at reasonable rices, preferably using paypal.

If I lose enough weight I hope to eliminate some of them.

What about you? Are there any particular vitamins or minerals you take? Why?

Low Carb, Low Glycemic Index, Low Sugar Eating

2012-01-27T13:31:00.000-06:00

This post isn't just for dieters. It's also useful for diabetics who want to focus on foods that won't spike blood sugars, and for mommies of toddlers like my Equuschick was and like her son is now- kids who are hungry all the time. These foods will fill them up without raising their blood sugars. I'm obviously not a professional, but personally, in general for a toddler I would choose from most of these, adding nut butters, fats, dairy products (especially a good yogurt without added sweeteners other than fruit), and i would try to choose fruits like berries rather than, say, pineapple.

For myself, right now I'm still focusing on being superstrict about limiting carbs. There have been a couple lapses, mostly related to not planning well when I am away from home. I lapse and then just get back on my target diet. That target diet includes:

About one cup total of any combination of these in a day: Asparagus, avocado, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, beet greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, eggplant,jicama, kale, kohlrabi, mushrooms, okra, onions, peppers, pumpkin, rhubarb, sauerkraut, snow pea pods, spinach, string beans, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips, water chestnuts, wax beans, zucchini squash.

Two cups total of any combination of these in a day or 3 cups if I don't choose anything from the above: Celery, chicory, Chinese cabbage, chives, cucumber, endive, escarole, fennel, lettuces (especially green leafy ones), parsley, peppers, radishes, scallions, watercress.

I choose based on what is on sale/in season, what's on sale at my co-op, what my local family farm is selling (they are still taking orders online for weekly pick ups), or what I can get with 'free' money from Amazon affiliate links, swagbucks, or cashback referrals.

I buy frozen rhubarb and once in a while use it in green smoothies with Berry Liquid Stevia.

A few of these in a day: olives (green or black), pickles ( dill, and I have to read the labels because some companies add sweeteners even to dill )

Any meat or eggs I want, as long as the meat has no added sugar (you have to watch lunch meats, bacon, and ham in particular). I do eat tofu from time to time. Some people don't. Some people think it's dangerous to do this unless the tofu is fermented. Like every other diet issue, this is one where you need to do the research and make your own decisions. And in doing the research, you have to research the research. Not everything I've seen claimed for or against tofu is true.

Right now, mostly we are eating venison or ground beef. My son killed two deer this fall- the meat is pretty much gone. And we butchered two cows fed on the grass from our pasture this fall and had all the meat ground, and we will be eating that for a while. I buy something else once in a while for variety.

Most of the time our eggs come from local families with backyard flocks, but sometimes we have to buy them from the grocery store (because it's winter, the hens lay fewer eggs)

Any herbal tea I want.

Some flaxseeds or flax seed products- not a lot just yet.

Coffee with Coconut Milk and Flavored Liquid Stevia added.

Cheese- I should stick to 2 or 3 ounces a day, but I think I do more than this. I splurged again and bought some grass-fed New Zealand cheddar while at a health food store near the airport where I picked up my mom this week.

I occasionally have other coconut products - Organic Coconut Manna, unsweetened coconut in a flaxseed cookie, but I am not sure the manna is as good an idea as I hoped it was for this stage.It is a good treat for people who aren't trying something as strict as Atkins Induction. High fiber, low on the glycemic index, odd texture, but a sweet taste (unless you loathe the flavor of coconut)

For salad dressings I make my own or I buy something like Annie's Naturals Dressing, Artichoke Parmsan (I did not buy that at Amazon. I got it at a health food store when it was on sale), because it has no added sugars. Annie's has a couple other brands with no sweeteners. Bleu Cheese or Roquefort dressing also is sometimes made with no sweeteners, but you have to read the labels.

Mayo- I also make my own or I buy a brand from the health food store that has no sugar or honey or any other sweetener. Again, you have to read the labels.

Brown mustard

For fats, I use fat from my cooking other meats, butter, coconut oil, sunflower seed oil, olive oil, walnut oil (this is an outrageously expensive treat). I do not use margarine, 'cooking oil', or corn oil.Yes, they are much cheaper, and there was a time when I really didn't have any other choice. If that's where you, that's where you are. You do what you have to do and don't feel bad. It would be really good to try and save your fat for cooking and to ask the meat department at your grocery store about buying fat, lard, or tallow.
I also just bought a monstrous jar of Ghee, or Clarified Butter, but I haven't tried it yet. I'm kind of intimidated.

No grains of any sort in any form, no sweeteners but stevia or xylitol, no fruits, no milk, no soft cheeses.

I will be adding berries, nuts, and more cheese next, but I want to hit a certain weight target before I do that. No, I am not sharing that target. :-P

If you're using these low-on-the-glycemic index foods to feed a hungry toddler, you don't worry about the measurements, of course.

If you're not doing a strict Atkins type diet, just want to reduce foods that spike your blood sugar levels, consider replacing your regular beans with chana dal beans. You can read more about them here.

I do take supplements - more on that tomorrow. Most of them I was taking anyway. There are a couple I take for eating like this.

The supplements are pricey. I search for the best prices online or in my co-op. I use amazon bucks earned through affiliate links here or through my swagbucks account.

Tonight's Debate

2012-01-26T21:44:00.002-06:00

In the HG's EveryCitizen and Unexpert Opinion, Santorum and Paul came out looking much better than either Gingrich or Romney. Admittedly, Romney was more passionate and less akin to a dead fish, but the bickering Got Old. Santorum and Paul spoke more to the issues and less to personal politicking.

If you're in Florida, please vote in Tuesday's primary. Your vote matters. Just look at Iowa.

The Four Moms Answer Questions

2012-01-26T00:31:00.000-06:00

The Four Moms are:

Kim at Life in a Shoe

Kimberly at Raising Olives

Connie, at Smockity Frocks

And, of course, me.=)
Without further adieu, here are the questions:

What do you recommend for penmanship?

We use a program called A Reasong for Handwriting
The student works on parts of a different Bible verse each week and at the end of the week, does the full verse on a border sheet they can decorate and give to others.
For those who are past this and still struggle, Cursive Success will help you assess readiness and devise activities to move your young scholar toward cursive, and various books in the same series by the same author are also useful.
Write Now: The Complete Program For Better Handwriting is also good for older students however, the bottom line (barring actual problems) is they have to care. It takes time to write well, especially when one has been sloppy. Some kids feel they have better things to do.

Emily asked: How do we go about raising strong girls who know who they are amid a culture that tells them their worth comes from their looks, outside accomplishments, etc. We do plan to homeschool, and the only tv they watch are cooking shows or that kind of thing, but I still cringe when I see bits creeping in. It's the random strangers in line at the store who say, 'what a pretty princess!' or those who say 'I bet your favorite color is pink!' (not that there's anything wrong with pink, but the way that is used in our culture I feel is a way to define a certain type of feminism, not true womanhood).

That's a great question, and I just passed it on to the other three moms last night. I think we just did what we did naturally, without thinking about it that much. We read good books, when we did see things in movies come up that indicated what made a woman important were her looks or career, we mocked it. I am a strong proponent of a little gentle laughter and tart humour going a long way to repel that kind of silliness- not harsh and mean, but definitely fun-making.
We also do have a relative who has persistantly suggested that I go back to college and become a 'real' teacher, or a 'real' something or other, as though what I do is not real.The suggestions have not been subtle and they have been discussed in the home. I prefer to become real the same way the Veleveteen Rabbit did, thank-you very much.

Here's one Cindee asked a while ago, and I answered in the comments of the post where she asked, but some others who might wonder possibly missed it,:
Can you expand on why you'd like your girls to remain at home until they marry but rather that your son moved out?

Probably not. I don't think have enough mental clarity, and at any rate, it's a preference, not a conviction. I don't expect any of the girls will be here past 30 if they are still single;-D, but I could be mistaken.

I think mostly it boils down to the fact that I think it would be very bad for my son's character to stay at home, and I haven't seen signs that it would bad for the girls.

A mother of many sons told me she thought that boys who didn't have a lot of financial responsibilities when young tended to have problems later as breadwinners- they resented doing without man-toys to buy the baby new shoes, they struggled more with selfishness.

In response to this post: How do you implement the "yes, ma'am" responce? Our three year old foster son started with the "Why?" a few months ago, and now does it automatically, even if he doesn't really want to know. Then his two year old brother picked it up. It is a habit, not an actual question and I don't know how to break it. Thought perhaps the "yes, ma'am" requirement would help. Thanks.

Y'all really force me to strain my brain, you know? As I recall, we just steadfastly, consistently reminded the child- 'Stop. Remember? You need to say "Yes, Ma'am" first before we can talk about why or why not."
An alternative is something my grandfather used to say when asked a question he didn't believe required a response (like an unthinking, automatic 'why'):
"Why?"
"Oh, Cat fur to make kitten britches."
What does it mean? Nothing. That's the beauty of it.

How do you work with and train everyone and keep them all on task all at the same time. My children are 7, 6, 3 and 3, so all old enough to help but all young enough to still need constant supervision and direction (except the 7yo at some tasks). I appreciate the energy of getting everyone to work together, but by the time I've dealt first with getting everyone switched into helping mode, then making sure the 3yos aren't dropping the dishes they're clearing, the 6yo has help putting the food things he can't reach away, and the 7yo isn't flooding the floor with the dishwater, after five minutes of that I'm not just done having them help for the day, I'd rather not speak to another human being for another three hours. And that's before any attitude issues or emergency potty breaks. And then after they leave I notice all the problems that I overlooked that should have been corrected on the spot.

You don't. There is a time for busy work- for giving the smallest children a rag with some scented water on it and letting them wipe whatever they want, or their own little basket of wash clothes and rags to 'fold' while you focus on teaching and training the older kids.
Give them a little child sized broom (or the dust broom) and let them 'sweep' with that. Then you finish up later (or have one of the older kids do that.
there's also nothing wrong with setting the three year olds on the couch with books and insisting they stay there while the rest of you clean the living room.
Once the 7 and 6 year old get really proficient at a chore, the younger siblings become the apprentices- sometimes they apprentice to the older sibling, who teaches them the right way to do the task.

How do you throw a hymn sing?

1. Short answer: In our case, be part of a church with a long tradition of acapella singing in homes.=) Or get to know people who like to or want to like to sing.

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State of the New Year's Resolutions Week 3

2012-01-25T10:11:00.001-06:00

Week Two is here.

1. Five chapters from the Bible every day; Read Isaiah 20 times this year
Progress: Still binge reading at times, but I did finish Isiah and am on my second reading. How are you doing on regular Bible reading?

2. Eat more meals in the dining room at the table

Progress: no.

3. Do better, and insist that the progeny actually follow thru, at serving two veggies per meal and not letting produce rot:

Progress!! You? What are your goals for fruits and vegetables in a week? Or is your goal just to be able to afford to eat?

4. However I spent my money last year, I resolve to do better this year-

Progress: I don't think I bought anything this week. How did you do?

5. Read some of these worthwhile books. Maybe three of them?

Progress: I am still reading a good book series, but not one I would put in the above category- Fablehaven I read the fourth book this week.
I also finished the second chapter and started the third in All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes, which is on the list.
I forgot I am also reading some very worthwhile books with my youngest two children and we are going through them at a regular pace, so that's good.
What about you? What are you reading these days?

6. Low carb regimen and the Atkins induction thing for two weeks.

Progress: Hmm. Followed it very well, again until Sunday night. Sunday night I was exhausted, all the kids and grandkis were here (yes, including the newest, three week old baby), and there was pizza, and chicken pockets in crescent rolls. I did forgo the oreo cookies. However, as you may have noted, this weekly update has been delayed until Wendesday, and since Monday a.m. I have been stricter than strict. I am worried about today, though, because I will not be eating at home.
How has your eating been? Healthy? Meeting your goals? What hinders you from meeting your goals?

7. I will give my room a thorough cleaning and reorganizing this month, and my garage will be done before the end of the year.

Progress: I do not think I will finish what I want to do in my room this month. But I have managed to get something done each week and I haven't finished the week worse than when I started.
What are your goals for your living space?

8. This month, I will be in bed and ~~prone~~ supine by midnight every night. (except I won't be either).

Progress: I am thinking about crossing this one off my resolutions.

9. I will improve my sign language this year to the point that I can hold a conversation with the new deaf lady at church without finger-spelling half the words.

I do make some progress on this every week- I have actually been working on it since around mid-December some time. But last week I sort of flatlined. I was very discouraged until I remembered that this happens with the kids, too, in homeschooling. We study something, they are learning, learning, learning, they are on the sharp, bleeding edge of the knife of learning- and suddenly, the seem to plateau and nothing works.
We have reached the stage where what they know has to percolate, to steep, to have time to really take root.

So I am rewatching old ASL videos I already watched.

Is there something new you've decided to learn this year? How are you doing with that?

SOTU Transcript and other news

2012-01-25T09:48:00.000-06:00

John Cook's Skeptical Science site is rewriting history again. If the evidence is so solid, why do they need to do this so much?

On another topic that causes the media much fear, the March for Life goes on in D.C. I assume they are afraid of it, and that's why they don't want readers to know about (they have reported 'protests' of ten peopple, but not hundreds of thousands)

I got the giggles over Ed Morrisey's explanation of the pattern for SOTU speeches, no matter who is President.

Byron York reminds us what really happened in the Gingrich Ethics case:

Given all the attention to the ethics matter, it's worth asking what actually happened back in 1995, 1996, and 1997. The Gingrich case was extraordinarily complex, intensely partisan, and driven in no small way by a personal vendetta on the part of one of Gingrich's former political opponents. It received saturation coverage in the press; a database search of major media outlets revealed more than 10,000 references to Gingrich's ethics problems during the six months leading to his reprimand. It ended with a special counsel hired by the House Ethics Committee holding Gingrich to an astonishingly strict standard of behavior, after which Gingrich in essence pled guilty to two minor offenses. Afterwards, the case was referred to the Internal Revenue Service, which conducted an exhaustive investigation into the matter. And then, after it was all over and Gingrich was out of office, the IRS concluded that Gingrich did nothing wrong. After all the struggle, Gingrich was exonerated.

How do we know what we think we know, when the media is so dishonest?

Not that Newt's pure as the snow in my backyard (where the dog romps and the squirrels play), but still. He's more of a dingy gray than the dark and dirty scoundrel the media portrays.

Are we a democracy? It's an important question, and I wish more of our citizens understood the difference between a democracy and a republic.

Awwww, isn't that sweet? The Obama's gave 1% of their wealth to charity. The Greedy Mitt Romney gave 15%.

Transcript:

SOTU address

Response

As for claims that the President has been obstructed by Republicans in Congress:

The New Yorker magazine this week has posted on its website a 57-page memo that economic adviser Larry Summers wrote to Mr. Obama in December 2008. It lays out nearly his entire agenda for the "stimulus," reviving housing, the auto bailout and saving the financial industry. If anything, the memo overstates what would be needed to stabilize the financial panic, but nearly all of the stimulus spending priorities that the memo deemed "feasible" made it into law. They simply didn't work as promised.
The Pelosi Congress also passed ObamaCare, Dodd-Frank, cash for clunkers, the housing tax credit, and much more. The only Obama priority it didn't pass was cap-and-trade, which was killed by Senate Democrats.
Mr. Obama's regulators also currently have some 149 major rules underway, which are those that cost more than $100 million. The 112th Congress hasn't been able to kill a single major rule. The most it has been able to do is extend the Bush tax rates—which helped the economy by avoiding a tax shock—and slow the rate of increase in federal spending. This President has been "obstructed" less than anyone since LBJ.

Best Wardrobe Advice I've Heard This Year

2012-01-25T07:50:00.001-06:00

From my friend S.- get rid of all mirrors, except maybe one small one. Hang it in the dimmest part of the house. Apply make up in the car, using the rear view mirror so you can see only one small corner of your face at a time. Also:
"A scarf can obscure the worst of saggy chicken necks and also create a long vertical line in front, especially if worn against all black. I'm pretty sure that if you wear all black, your silhouette just fades into the background and people assume you are only as broad as your scarf. Yeah."

Signing Stuff

2012-01-24T20:53:00.000-06:00

These little sweeties are the sons of the Mom who writes the Signs of Life blog- highly recommended.

Here's a little manners tip for when communication with a deaf person via an interpreter.

And... I am a fan of a teen drama show. The sort of thing I normally scoff and mock. Except that the program features a deaf story line, with the actors who play deaf characters actually being deaf (or Deaf, and there is a difference).

Switched at Birth: Volume One

Caveats abound. There is a scene where Daphne and Wilke climb into the backseat of a car. I'd just skip it completely. There are mouthy teens. There's a spoiled brat of a wretched girl I would want nowhere near a son of mine, but I think the movie writers want viewers to love her spunk. I think she needs some spunk with an a, at least when she was younger. There are teens with gambling addictions and who knows what other problems (but you know they're coming, and vandalism and so forth and so on. But, oh, I love the signing scenes. I do wish they'd keep the camera on the signers.

Anyway, enjoy.

A Life Philosophy

2012-01-24T12:51:00.003-06:00

When making soup, the only thing to do is make a large batch.

It's just as easy to make a small batch as it is a large one. With a large one, you've got wonderful leftovers for days, and extras can be stashed in the freezer. What's not to love?

Testing

2012-01-23T18:07:00.001-06:00

Posting from my Kindle because the internet went down today about the exact moment I attempted to keep my promise to my grandson to let him watch Old Mcdonald on Youtube.
Rather tedious business, Kindle posting.
My Dad's surgery is done, and he is fine. No word on results yet.
Striderling's calcium results this week were awesomely FANTASTIC! He can skip weekly blood draws for six weeks!

Debates

2012-01-23T12:01:00.004-06:00

Obviously, a couple of weeks ago:

...submitting to 47 debates has been an egregious tactical error for ALL the candidates. All of you have been distracted from your own messages (if any of you have one), being duped into talking about whatever outlandish topics and biased, backhanded questions the leftist journalists toss out -- for example, the urgent issue of making birth control illegal. They are running your campaigns, and you are all lemmings. You have slowly, systematically bored your audience -- your potential support base -- to near death. TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR OWN DESTINY, ONE OF YOU, PLEASE, I BEG!!! But I digress...

My friend the Divine Miss S

What I think: The Real Take Away from Gingrich's Surge

2012-01-23T11:36:00.000-06:00

Constitutional Conservatives and Republicans (and they aren't the same thing) are sick and tired of the establishment, Old School, Political Class Republicans.
They are sick and tired of the Political Class Republicans anointing one of their cronies.
They are fed up with the media slanting, and in some cases imply making up, their stories to help bury the candidates they don't like and lying for and burying the flaws of the candidates they do.
They are sick to the teeth of the phony journalism that means the media ignores and buries factual stories of ongoing dirt, mud and sleaze when it comes to Democrats and digging up (and making up) dirt about events ten, twenty, thirty years ago and more when it comes to candidates they don't like.

It happened with Cain- the first response after the media came out on attack was soaring support.
It happened with Gingrich.

The public is telling the establishment, you do not get to shove your candidates down our throats, and it is telling the media, stop your lying, deceptive, slanted, lazy groupthink stories, and start doing some real journalism, making an attempt at being unbiased.

Politics As Usual

2012-01-23T10:20:00.002-06:00

1,000 days without a budget.

Former Obama staffer caught in Identity theft- it appears he used the man's identity identity in an attempt to implicate the Republican Secretary of State in a scandal.

Edwards worked for Obama in Nevada and five other states during the 2008 Democratic primary and general election campaigns.
Somebody apparently tried to erase Edwards' bio from the web, but the ever-resourceful Glenn Reynolds, who first alerted me to this story earlier today, located it in the Wayback Machine.

TSA detained Rand Paul. TSA says Rand Paul's version of the story is false, but I know for a fact that TSA lies. Rand Paul is a politician, but I don't have personal experience with him lying. The White House, for some reason, sides with the thugs at TSA.

71% of Obama's donor bundlers visited the White House and 19% of them got jobs from the White House.

41% increase in food stamps since Obama has been in office. Sounds like the Food STamp President to me.

Former CIA Agent arrested:

Kiriakou, 47, is the sixth target of a leaks-related prosecution since President Obama took office, exceeding the total number of comparable prosecutions under all previous administrations combined, legal experts said.

He was arrested for allegedly sharing classified data with the media (he helped leak the torture and water boarding stories to the media):

The surge in such prosecutions is seen as a measure of the Obama administration’s determination to root out leaks, but it may also reflect the government’s expanded ability to mine suspects’ e-mail accounts and other digital devices for incriminating evidence.
The complaint filed Monday includes numerous passages apparently taken from Kiriakou’s e-mail exchanges with reporters as well as former CIA colleagues.
Critics warn that the crackdown will erode the ability of news organizations to expose government abuses. Steven Aftergood, an expert on government secrecy issues at the Federation of American Scientists, noted that Kiriakou is accused of being a source on stories about CIA interrogation measures that Obama described as torture.

Kiriako, according to the WaPo, is a former Senate Aide,but strangely, they don't mention which party or which Senator. If you've been watching the news, you know that this means it was a Democrat. Yes, yes it was. John Kerry, in fact. You think they'd have failed to mention it if he'd been the aide for say, any Republican at all?

The President's friend, billionaire Warren Buffet, stands to benefit from Obama's decision to close the Keystone Pipeline.

What we can expect to hear all about from the media:

First ontract between Gingrich and Freddie Mac missing.

Sunday Hymn Post

2012-01-21T21:03:00.000-06:00

Thank you for the cross Lord
Thank you for the price You paid
Bearing all my sin and shame
In love You came
And gave amazing grace

Thank You for this love Lord
Thank You for the nail pierced hands
Washed me in Your cleansing flow
Now all I know
Your forgiveness and embrace

Chorus:
Worthy is the Lamb
Seated on the throne
Crown You now with many crowns
You reign victorious

High and lifted up
Jesus Son of God
The Darling of Heaven crucified
Worthy is the Lamb

Two Medical Updates, Good News and Bad

2012-01-21T12:45:00.000-06:00

Another swallow study for the Striderling has FINALLY been approved by the vampire insurance company which sucks away at his family's lives, time, and emotional energy. Or maybe the insurance company is only a Zombie with no life or will of its on, just a giant bureaucratic with but one imperative: turn the clients into drones through incessant, tedious, mind-numbing, life strangling, time sucking, paperwork, bureaucratic fumbling, poisonous paperwork and tedious telephoning to correct the same errors week after week after week after week after after week afte- wait. That is the good news. The GREAT news. Because we have high hopes that with this study the Striderling will be able to have his G-tube removed or at least work faster toward that goal and get to the point where all his nutritional needs are met by mouth soon, soon, soon.

On the other front- my mom (Granny Tea) has been in California visiting my youngest brother for a few days and she'll be back midweek. My Dad has gone back and forth from nursing home to hospital for a supposed UTI. On Monday he's undergoing exploratory surgery to see what's wrong.
Dementia and Altzheimers patients do not do well on anesthesia. It can make their confusion much worse and take them months to recover and sometimes they never return to the mental state they were in before. Of course Dad's pretty much in a complete fog anyway, so maybe it will stop his incessant wandering which drives the staff nuts, or reduce his aggression.

delete, delete, delete, delete.

So, surgery Monday. I don't even know what to pray for. I think the most important thing is that the ordeal not be frightening and harmful to my dad, and that the doctors know what they're doing (we can you long and scary stories about this hospital), and that the anesthesia not make things worse.

And, oh, ever so hopeful prayers that this is a big, big step toward Striderling getting off the G-tube.

George Orwell In Action

2012-01-20T14:07:00.000-06:00

“Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary.”
George Orwell…1984

This is what that looks like in action.

The 3G feature on the Kindle

2012-01-20T05:17:00.003-06:00

I love my Kindle Keyboard 3G, Free 3G , and have reviewed it before.
Ace just reviewed his Kindle. I also love my Kindle, and mostly agree with Ace's review, except he thinks the 3G feature is not that useful.

Totally disagree that the 3G is not that important.Partly this is because I am clearly more impulsive than Ace I have, more times than I can count, been in exactly the situation he describes as unlikely, where I:

want to read a book, and yet have had no notice at all that you should spend the twenty seconds needed to download a book at home

Seriously, more times than I can recount that's exactly where I've been, and I downloaded a book and read it on the spot.

Sometimes in church our very well read preacher will mention a book that sounds intriguing, and my impulsive and forgetful self can download the book on the spot. Previously, I'd write down the title on a scrap of paper that I subsequently lost and I'd forget all about it.

In some cases I have been there because I have found myself watching somebody else's child on the spur of the moment away from both our home, and I've downloaded a book to read to them, or a dentist visit is taking far longer than planned and I've downloaded a book for my son to read, or my foster sons are more fidgety than usual in church and I downloaded a book for them to read, or on a long car trip my 13 year old finds he did not bring enough stuff to entertain himself so I downloaded a Kindle game to play with him, etc, etc.

I was able to use my Kindle's 3G capabilities when suddenly stranded at Union train station in Chicago due to employee incompetence. My cell phone wasn't working well in the station and it was raining heavily outside. I used the Kindle to post to FB. Within minutes a network of friends had offered solutions, and I was stranded no more.

I use the 3G feature to keep up with a couple of blogs when I my news junkie self is away from home and I want to catch up with the news.

I have also used my Kindle's 3G capacity to notify the rest of the family when my oldest daughter and her minutes old son were being transported by ambulance to the NICU because it turned out my grandson had a rare and life threatening genetic disorder. My cell phone wouldn't work in the area where we were driving as we vollowed the ambulance. My husband was 40 miles away. Being able to use the Kindle allowed him to get the news of the emergency immediately rather than 30 minutes later, at a time when every minute counted because nobody knew if my grandson was going to live (Thankfully, as our regulars know, he just had his first birthday and his condition has at last been accurately identified and seems to be under control).

The NICU policies of the second hospital where my grandson spent for about 2/3 of the first 6 weeks of his life did not allow cell phone usage, nor did they allow eating in the room or dozing in the hard rocking chair next to the baby's plastic box/bed. Because my son-in-law, as a just hired employee, could not get off work immediately, I stayed with my daughter for about half of the 40 days my grandson spent in the NICU, so I could be with the baby when my daughter had to eat, nap,pump life sustaining breast milk for her baby, or fill out incessant paperwork. With my Kindle I could communicate with the rest of the family via facebook updates (not only were updates important, but it was also over Christmas, and though I am a grandma, I still have minor children at home as well and it was wonderful to be able to keep in contact whenever we wanted with the Kindle).

The 3G feature has been wonderful for me, and much used.

PS- I have used two book lights for the Kindle, and a Mighty Bright UltraThin Book Light that was given to me a long time ago by a friend, or at least, something that looks just like it. I prefer it to the Kindle lights, mainly because it is smaller, the light is more focused, and it fits nicely into small spaces.

Of the Kindle lights I used, I would prefer the Verso Clip-On Reading Light for Kindle if I hadn't used the mini book light first.

Here's my first quick review of what I love about my second hand Kindle 2 with 3G.

Kindle Games

Devotional Reading for Kindles

Can you believe it? Mother Carey's Chickens is free on the Kindle!! It's a lovely, lovely book for mothers and daughters, and quite a few sons.

how to get more free books, other than just ordering from Amazon. You can also download documents. Read the comments, too. I copied and pasted a list of the Bible class songs for the Two Little Boys and sent it to my kindle, so when tucking the in, I can sing them songs without worrying about whether or not I will forget a word in the middle.

2012-01-20T05:05:00.000-06:00

Up from poverty: a comparison of Belize and Cayman shows the recipe for success must include economic freedom combined with judicial and political integrity leads.

Students accepted into colleges based on reasons other than their academic merit academically do not perform as well as students who are accepted strictly based on their academic merit. That seems to be a controversial thing to say.

The Fed considering printing more money.
In other words, the Fed is planning to cut your spending power, a secret, and just plain nefarious way to raise taxes on the poor and middle class.

Budget woes over school pension plans

How To Organize, Shop For, and Maintain All That Clothing

2012-01-19T00:45:00.001-06:00

The Four Moms are:

Kim at Life in a Shoe

Kimberly at Raising Olives

Connie, at Smockity Frocks

Kim at Life in a Shoe

And, of course, me.=)

How to Organize:
Get one of these- Over the Door Wardrobe Rack and hang it over the door. This is what we are using now for the Cherub.

These expandable accordian racks made for hats, coats, or coffee mugs are great for other purposes as well:
I have used them for tote-bag storage, and over the years I have used totebags in closets, either on accordian racks or slipped over coathangers to store:
underwear
scarves
socks
and lots of other stuff.
Put them in closets, bathrooms, or anywhere you need them.
In fact, we did this for so many years that two of our girls were grown ups before they had a chest of drawers.

I've also used over the door hooks.One neat thing to do with these is to hang one up on your bathroom and hang up an outfit for every day of the week on them at the beginning of each week.

When we had five girls between the ages of 2 and 9, we managed to fit all the girl's clothes in a single closet by use of a second closet rod my husband installed just below the clothes hanging in the top rod.

A plan ahead options is to pick one day a week where you hang up a complete outfit for each day of the week- slip the hanger through a pair of underwear and stick a pair of socks in the pocket, or clothespin them to the outfit.

We've also done under the bed storage, which sometimes was simply some sturdy boxes (we did that by stacking the beds on paint cans.)

Whenever you are hanging up your freshly laundered clothes, hang them up, hang the hangers backward to the rest of the clothes. AT the end of the season (or even at the end of the month), get rid of all the seasonal clothes that are still facing the front. You don't wear them. (for ease, I might turn the whole closet of clothes to hang backwards) (this is something I learned from this real life friend)

Get a skirt hanger: 4 Tier Trouser Hanger

Shopping-
Write down measurements and carry a small measuring tape so at the thrift shop you don't have to rely on sizes. Sometimes the sizing is wrong, sometimes it's been snipped out. I measure the lengths of my favorite skirts. To be honest, what I more often have to do is call home and ask somebody to measure the Boy's latest inseam.

For boy's clothes, once my son turned about 6, I always bought any boy's clothes I found in his size and the next four or so up, because used boy's clothes in good condition are hard to find. I also buy myself shirts in a particular style whenever I find them because they aren't that common in my size (3/4 length sleeves).

Try to get to the thrift shop on a regular basis, especially if they have routine sales days. I scheduled music appointments to coincide with half off days at the nearby thrift shop.

I always shopped with my children. I enlisted their help- directing them to a rack of clothes and asking that they look for a blue shirt, size 4, for example.

Maintenance

A stitch in time saves nine is an old proverb for a reason. Mend buttons and tears quickly.

Set aside a couple outfits that neat, clean, and look nice. These are going to town outfits and cannot be worn elsewhere. When you get home instantly have the kids change back to play clothes and hang up the going to town clothes.

I've heard that it's a good idea to patch the inside of little boy's jeans at the knees.

Remind your kids to pick up their feet when they walk and don't be lax about scuffing. This is a fast way to ruin one of the most expensive items in their wardrobe.

Aprons or smocks should be worn while helping the kitchen. you can make great aprons by repurposing old jumper dresses. There's an adorably cute one here, but I just cut off the back of the dress and attach ties to the sides, leaving threads hanging because I'm so, um, authentic.
Authentically lazy, that is.

Have some good stain removal ideas. Here's mine. It's always worked for everything.

What are your tips?
Mind the rules, please- family friendly posts only, link to your post, not your blog (make it easier for your readers to find your wisdome), and link back to one of the four of us.

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Internet Censorship

2012-01-18T00:54:00.004-06:00

Updates will be top posted.

Allegedly corrupt former Senator Chris Dodd (D) decided not to run for re-election in 2010, promising emphatically not to become a lobbyist:

Chris Dodd’s emphatic 2010 pledge not to lobby once he finally left the Senate was prompted by widespread speculation that he spent the last two years in office blatantly shilling for corporate interests in order to ensure a prosperous post-Congress career. Particularly during the 2010 financial reform debate — when it became increasingly apparent that allegations of improper benefits from Countrywide Financial would make his re-election close to impossible — Dodd served on multiple occasions as chief spokesman for, and defender of, the interests of Wall Street and corporate America. Though sleazy and grotesque, it was therefore entirely unsurprising when it was announced last March that Dodd would “be Hollywood’s leading man in Washington, taking the most prestigious job on K Street”: Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), “whose perks include a $1.2 million-a-year salary and getting to attend the Academy Awards ceremony.”

In his capacity as lobbyist for one of the most powerful corporate interests in America, one seeking privilages of expanded power and crony capitalism, he calls those participating in the black out irresponsible and says they are abusing their power. Really!

You know the ASL videos that I've shared here? They'd all be blocked by SOPA/PIPA, and it's likely I would too, even if I only linked to them.

Lamar Smith (R, Texas) is the chief sponsor of the bill and he's not backing down. He claims that if people would only read the bill, they'd be reassured.

Not so. Brad Feld:

I sat down in a quiet space, printed out each bill, and read them carefully. If you’ve ever read a congressional bill, then you know that it’s hard work; they are written in a special version of English that only a lawyer could love (and I’m not a lawyer). As I read them, I got increasingly nauseous. I checked with a few friends who were lawyers to make sure I understood them, and when I did, was appalled....

The way I see it, SOPA / PIPA is a very simple case of a small, very powerful set of industry incumbents (in this case, certain media companies, led by organizations like the MPAA) trying to use complex legislation to slow down the disruption of their industry. Ultimately, this becomes a debate between the incumbents and the innovators, the old and the new, the disrupted and the disruptors. In such debates, the incumbents tend to prevail, and the voice of the innovators — many of whom are too busy with their companies to focus on Washington or who may not yet exist — are rarely heard.

This is nothing new. Our alleged 'representatives' have been pulling this garbage for at least a hundred years. It's just that this time they tweaked the beaks of some powerful internet forces who have the ability to make sure pretty much every American knows what it is going on.

Must See:

Some points:

Gives more power to the entertainment industry (a reminder: the entertainment industry has more members in the 1% than Wall Street does).
Corporations and goverent can force advertising contracts to cancel accounts, stopping
Any site they feel is not filtering well enough.
Ambiguous, making trail blazing websites easy targets.
Result probably will make the internet less safe, and will reduce security, making us all more vulnerable.

--------------------------------------------

Watts up with that also supports the blackout protest, and has some great links, including some fun stuff about or from the Icanhzcheezeburger founder.Both funny and informative.

-----------------------------

There's a little bit about the SOPA and PIPA bills here.

Popehat has some good stuff, but Popehat, like many other interent sites interested in defending themselves against government thuggery and censorship, is 'going dark' on the 18th, so you'll have to catch it now or Thursday. Here's an excerpt explaining that those pushing for these internet censorship bills are:

rent-seeking thugs using their political influence to push through legislation beneficial to them and detrimental to everyone else.

More here:

The idea of both, as described by their sponsors, was to stop the illegal copying of movies or music, something that Hollywood studios, music publishers and many others believe is threatening their businesses. Supporters range from the Country Music Association to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, from the Motion Picture Association of America to the AFL-CIO.

But not everyone agrees. These bills pitted Hollywood against the goals of many in Silicon Valley.

The Objections

Internet entities such as Wikipedia, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and Tumblr said the two bills would force them to be online police and hold them responsible if users of their sites link to pirated content.

The companies said the bills could require your Internet provider to block websites that are involved in digital file sharing. And search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing could be stopped from linking to them — antithetical, they argue, to the ideal of an open Internet.

the bill naturally has its defenders, too, but I don't think good intentions override unintended consquences, which, when it comes to politics, are almost never good.

The Dinosaur Digs

2012-01-17T16:44:00.005-06:00

That is truly what the house of Equuschick and Shasta ought to be called.
Here is the book that started it all.

Dinosaur Roar (Picture Puffins)

A hand-me-down book from a friend's granddaughter when the Dread Pirate was but a mere yearling, it swiftly became one of the little man's favorites. Make that his favorite.

And when The Equuschick says "favorite", she means the sort of favorite that the parents first memorize and then start hiding. But it made no difference. He never forgot it and dinosaurs have been one of his admittedly many obsessions along with fish and sheep and Noah and ducks.

He's over fish now. He likes them, that is, but he doesn't talk about them all the time. Ducks are cool, just like other farmyard animals.

But dinosaurs continue to fascinate him. He informed The Equuschick yesterday that he "doesn't like it when dinofors wide on him and also dinofors are CWAZY. Weally, weally CWAZY!"

Then he went to get his coat and was crest-fallen to discover that The Equuschick would not permit him to go outside and look for "dinofors."

However, The Equuschick assured him she was pretty sure there were some dinosaurs in the kitchen. (At the moment The Equuschick had in mind a rather daunting version of Tyrannosaurus Wrecks.) She suggested he look under the table. He looked and didn't see any, but did tell The Equushick that there might be "a vewy vewy tiny dinofor" hiding under a washcloth.

It isn't all bad. Just in the last week Shasta and The Equuschick have had particular good fortune transitioning the Dread Pirate Grasshopper into napping in his very own bedroom, with the assistance of this lovely sleeping bag purchased by the DPG's adoring grandmother on Shasta's side:
Dinosaurs Print Slumber Bag by Bazoongi

Now if only The Equuschick could find some dinosaur themed lullabies.

This.

2012-01-17T06:29:00.000-06:00

... social conservatives with a healthy respect for the separation of powers, the role of the states, and a fidelity to the Constitution are far less dangerous than progressives and big government GOP types who believe in the moral superiority of the State, and who think a combination of good intentions and the power to foist them on us is a recipe in the long run for anything other than soft tyranny.

Read on.

Quick Reflections on Tonight's GOP Debate

2012-01-16T23:23:00.004-06:00

... sooo Huntsman dropped out today and endorsed Romney. In states like South Carolina, where Huntsman was looking at a last place finish, this will not make a huge difference. In more liberal states, it could give Romney more sway (which the HG does not care for).

On to the debate, though! I thought that leaving the timers behind was a fantastic idea. Yes, they tried their mightiest to give Romney and Perry the best possible starting position (it took over twenty minutes for Ron Paul or Rick Santorum to be invited into the dialogue at all), but once all parties were engaged, the debate became much deeper and more meaningful than the soundbite ones we've been getting for quite a while.

Interestingly, Romney seemed to have a harder time in this debate than he has in the others. He doesn't seem to do as well in free discussion with political opponents as he does delivering PR messages to favorable debate moderators. Every debate I've watched him in (and I've seen quite a few) he's come out well ahead fo the pack in how he presents himself; he seemed to stumble in this one, though. Santorum was able to peg him on voting issues, he was booed at by the audience, and he seemed unprepared for a couple questions. I don't think he did badly, but he certainly was not the shining and smooth speaker he's been in other debates.

Ron Paul... I have such mixed emotions here. I am not a Paul supporter, but I *am* a supporter of the media treating candidates fairly.... and that just does not happen. Tonight was a clear example. They tried hard to minimize his input when it came to economic questions, one of the areas he's best in and where his ideas are some of the most original out there, and then they made a point of focusing on some of his weaker areas in foreign policy. Discussing those weak areas is not the problem; doing it while trying to exclude him on other areas smacks too much of the middle school trick of inviting the kid you don't like to a birthday party only so you can make fun of them.

And, seriously, both the GOP and the media are underestimating the appeal Ron Paul has these days.

Newt Gingrich... had high moments and low moments. He's really irritated about this PAC stuff (and in such, gave Romney an opportunity to have a truly shining moment: yes, it's maddening that our rights to donate to campaigns are so limited) and let it sidetrack him a bit too much. On the other hand, he's always quick witted with the debate moderators and did a great job responding to Juan Williams' question about janitorial jobs and poverty.

I think he only mentioned a connection with Reagan once. That was a noticeable difference. Before, if I had a dime for every time he allied himself with Reagan, I could buy my two-week-old and thirteen-month-old all the diapers they'll need 'til potty training time (and if that was extended to a dime for every time *any* candidate tied themselves to Reagan, we could probably buy gas for our car for the next year). There were reduced mentions of Reagan all the way around tonight, which makes me wonder if they picked up on the idea that as much conservatives love him, they also don't treat him idolatrously and were getting tired of all the tie-in attempts.

Perry was fairly subdued. And rather odd and off base in insisting that Romney release his tax information before this week's primary. He attacked Romney's time at Bain Capital by talking about the jobs that were lost in companies that Bain funded... this was also a poorly picked target, considering the fact that most Republicans want significant government downsizing by the next President, and that will necessarily entail downsizing jobs too.

So, uhm, maybe he wasn't as subdued as I thought? I do know he said a couple things I liked, but they've quickly faded from my memory.

Santorum did fairly well. He caught Romney off guard once, as previously mentioned, and got a very good PR moment there. His answers to most of the questions were good, although I still am not fond of his tax plan. After Ron Paul, his answers seemed the most passionate and least polished... this is not a commendation or criticism of delivery styles, just an observation. He totally recanted on his support for No Child Left Behind. Good to hear, but would have been nicer if he hadn't voted for it.

I wish I could write up some clever summary of the whole two hours, but considering the fact that I watched the debate while also tube feeding medication to one child, nursing another, changing two diapers, rocking a child to sleep, stopping a child from pitching a ceramic winter decoration across the room, and eating some supper, I'm just delighted I remembered all the candidates involved in the evening. ;)

Combined menu for the low-carb and non-dieting family

2012-01-16T16:55:00.006-06:00

Scroll down for a link to the shopping list and the menu with links to the recipes (and some pics!). The Low-Carb eating tips: The key to sticking to this is planning ahead- keep foods you can eat in the freezer or fridge to grab ahead and take while running errands- boiled eggs, sausages, hamburger patties, home-made meatballs, a ziplock bag lined with a paer towel and filled with dark green leafy veggies.
Keep a jar of green olives, a bag of sundried tomatoes, and a bag of pork rinds in the car.
Make a big batch of muffins, biscuits or bread for the rest of the family so you only have to do that once a week- or better yet, make somebody else responsible for the carby stuff if you can. If it's just you and the small fry, if you can afford it buy storebought breads and healthy snacks for them- bananas, fruits, and frozen veggies- my kids loved cold frozen peas when they were small. They thought the peas tasted like candy.
This menu loosely based on the Atkins Induction. You can add vegetables and nuts and seeds if you're not that strict.

For the shopping list, click here.

Breakfasts: TVP 'Oatmeal' for the low-carber.This is a Frankenfood. If you don't eat Franken foods, eat low carb leftovers, eggs, or nitrate free bacon and sausage for breakfast (if you're kosher or halal, you already know there are beef bacons and turkey sausages out there).
REgular oatmeal for the rest of the family.
Me:
Omelettes
Microwave Shirred Eggs
Bacon or sausage

The rest of the fam can also choose from one of these breakfast recipes

Lunches:

Blender Broccoli Soup, using cream or unsweetened coconut milk instead of milk, and cream cheese instead of the flour based gravy (more low-carb thickener ideas here). Seriously low carbers (think Atkins Induction) might stir in pieces of crisp bacon,or a diced hard boiled egg or have pork rinds, a few olives,or a reheated salmon patty on the side. More flexible low carb eaters might try adding cooked wild rice to their soup, and have a toasted low-carb tortilla, nuts,berries, or low-carb muffins on the side. The members of the family who are not doing low carb can: stir in a diced baked potato. Have biscuits or muffins and some fruit on the side for them.

Salmon Croquettes- serve with jicama, or ginger sesame slaw. The non-lowcarbers can have these on buns, OR salmon quesedillas for the non-lowcarbers, moderate low-carbers can use low-carb tortillas; serious low carbers could mix some mayo into the salmon filling and have the salmon salad on a stick of Bok Choy or celery.

Cauliflower soup, low carbers have it with bacon or sausage. Non-lowcarbers have it with biscuits, muffins, or cheese tortillas.

Farmer's Fry (a scrambled egg skillet meal)- Serious low-carbers could just call this a meal, or have a few olives (I prefer garlic stuffed, but man, are they expensive) on the side. Flexible low-carbers might have it with a green smoothy sweetened with stevia and made with rhubarb, raspberries, or blackberries for the fruit. Rhubarb is just about the lowest of the low when it comes to carb counts. I buy rhubarb and raspberries frozen, and I watch for them to go on sale and stock up)- you could probably add a spoonful of Orange Juice concentrate to boost the sweetening since that spoonful will be spread out over three servings for each blender batch. Strawberries, papayas, and peaches also make nice smoothies. They are in the middle range of carbs. Your non-low carbing family members can have this with toast, biscuits, or muffins on the side along with something like an apple or pear.

Leftovers twice this week.

Skillet pizza- Low carbers could slice a cherry tomato or two into thirds to sprinkle over the top, or add some snipped sun-dried tomatos.

The nonlowcarbers can have the cheese and toppings on a tortilla or an english muffin and add some pizza sauce. Have a family pizza party and everybody top their own.

Side dishes might include a green salad, for everybody, some fruit (no fruit for the low-carbers), and if you have a really hungry crowd, try the side dish the Pizza Hut in Japan always served- stirfried onions, potatoes, and bean sprouts, fried golden and seasoned well. Obvously, this is not for the low-carb eaters.

Suppers:

Crockpot chicken adobo- leave out the carrots, or not. Seriously low-carbers (as in ATkins induction) may still want to leave out the carrots, substituting Kohlrabi, celery or grated turnip. Serve with roasted Bok Choy, Ginger Sesame Slaw, or a green leafy salad. More flexible low carbers may serve over wild rice. Non low-carb family members can have it over regular brown rice and any side vegetable and/or fruit. For vegetables, the frozen Asian mix with water chestnuts, carrots and so forth would be good.

Asian Cabbage and Beef, low-carbers could serve with Miracle Noodle Shirataki Rice mixed with Chinese five spice and extra garlic. This is a product I have not tried, though I have tried the Miracle Noodle Shirataki Fettuccini. The rice is simply the noodles cut into rice sized bits. I didn't like the fettucini, mainly because of the texture. I am not a big pasta fan anyway. Lots of people do rave about the shiritaki noodles, and we do buy them for the Cherub because of her wheat and egg allergies. I wish I could like these, as they have no carbs at all. Other serving suggestions: a bit of tofu fried in sesame oil and amino acid Bragg's Liquid Aminos, something like DeLallo Mild Cauliflower with bamboo shoots. Your non-lowcarbing familiy members can have this over brown rice with nuts, coconut,or chow mein noodles on top.

Mexicali Casserole: serious low carbers leave out beans, add some shredded cabbage or jicama while baking, or add lettuce to the dish when finished. moderately low carbers add black soy beans. Everybody else can have any type of bean.
Low Carb family members: Serve with sides of salad, rice, chips, refried beans for most of the family.

Low carbers can have jicama chips (scroll down for the link, these are amazingly delicious, 1/2 avacado, or a green salad.

Chicken and Broccoli Bake (this was delicious) serve with applesauce or an apple on the side for the non-low-carbers, buttered, seasoned, and roasted radishes for low-carbers, or roasted cauliflower, or a boiled egg

Mini Meatloaves, Cauliflower 'popcorn',baked potatoes for the non-lowcarbers, babygreens salad with blue cheese dressing for others.

Tortilla soup: without the tortillas.=) Low carbers can have it with pork rinds and half an avocado on the side. Non-Low-carbers can have tortillas or corn chips, refried beans, spanish rice. Everybody could have jicama.Everybody could have avocado or guacamole, too, but that's more expensive. =)

Low-Carb Snacks

The Common Kitchen: Low-Carb Artichoke dip

The Common Kitchen: Low-Carb Flaxseed Cookie

The Common Kitchen: Pumpkin 'muffins'

The Common Kitchen: Low-Carb Midnight Snack Cheese 'crackers'

Roasted, in the shell, pumpkin seeds (read the label, some of these add some sugar)- in general nuts and seeds are not allowed on the 'induction' phase of Atkins. But 1/3 a cup of pumpkin seeds has 1 net carb.

Jicama 'chips'

If you have egg whites to use up, try:
Meringues

Almond meringue cookies, (they have 2 tablespoons of real sugar, plus splenda, to make 15 cookies)
or make this sugar free macaroon recipe

Linked at Organizing Junkie

News and Views

2012-01-16T14:07:00.001-06:00

Lucas has made a movie about the Tuskegee Airman that I would love to see. He tells Jon Stewart he can't get Hollywood companies to foot the publicity and distribution because Hollywood is racist and doesn't want to help out a movie with all black stars. But then he also says it's about the numbers- Hollywood doesn't think the movie will make enough money in this new production era when more than 60% of their profits are from overseas. Newsbusters portrays Stewart's reaction as shocked at the racism. I don't think so. I think he is dismayed that Leftwing Hollywood is acting like the corporate business that it actually is. It's kind of funny, too- Stewart, no doubt, makes most of his business decisions based on business profitability, too.

North Koreans who shed insufficient tears are hauled off to detention camps.

Axelrod et all attempting yet again to, er, whitewash the hateful bigotry of Obama's former pastor

Hostess is filing bankruptcy. you might have heard it's because of the increased focus on Americans eating healthy snacks. There's another reason.

The difference between SuperPacs and the media.

Why you should doubt the ethics of the climate scientists and the accuracy of their predictions (and the reliability of their data)

Harris is a climatologist/programmer at the CRU and his “Harry Read Me” documents his efforts to update a huge statistical database (11,000 files) of important climate data between 2006 and 2009. What’s scary is Harris admits that much of the center’s data and applications are undocumented, bug-ridden, idled with holes, missing, uncatalogued and, in short, utterly worthless. Here are some of the programmer’s comments (with the page number in the parenthesis):

- “Am I the first person to attempt to get the CRU databases in working order?!!” (47)

- “As far as I can see, this renders the (weather) station counts totally meaningless.” (57)

- “COBAR AIRPORT AWS (data from an Australian weather station) cannot start in 1962, it didn’t open until 1993!” (71)

- “What the hell is supposed to happen here? Oh yeah — there is no ’supposed,’ I can make it up. So I have : – )” (98)

- “You can’t imagine what this has cost me — to actually allow the operator to assign false WMO (World Meteorological Organization) codes!! But what else is there in such situations? Especially when dealing with a ‘Master’ database of dubious provenance …” (98)

- “So with a somewhat cynical shrug, I added the nuclear option — to match every WMO possible, and turn the rest into new stations … In other words what CRU usually do. It will allow bad databases to pass unnoticed, and good databases to become bad …” (98-9)

- “OH F— THIS. It’s Sunday evening, I’ve worked all weekend, and just when I thought it was done, I’m hitting yet another problem that’s based on the hopeless state of our databases.” (241).

- “This whole project is SUCH A MESS …” (266)

Having established some reason to doubt the accuracy of the CRU data, we turn now to the “now you see it, now you don’t” aspect. Here is my first attempt to gather data from CRU. It overlaps with Warwick’s requests. This is not in the Climategate emails, it is personal.

Much, much more here. Well worth reading.

Why I probably won't be voting for the Republican candidate, and why I don't buy that a vote for a Constitutional Libertarian who isn't running on the Republican ticket is a vote for Obama- because as long as you believe that and act on that, the establishment, old school, we are in government for the power and the money Republican party has:

no motivation whatever to change their ways.

If you enter into a negotiation with the opposition already aware that in the final analysis you will accept whatever candidate they give you (because you find the alternative, in this case, Obama, to be even worse) — that is, if you show your hand at the outset — they’ll give you who they want, relying on your resignation, your capitulation, and, ultimately, your support.

The rest is just as spot on. Read it and sigh (this is also why I am not in favor of voting to let Congress raise the debt threshold yet AGAIN).

Dublin Dr. Pepper- the Tx plant can still make soft drinks sweetened with cane sugar, but they can't call them Dr. Pepper. However, it is possible that Snapple will be making them (if I understand this right), and taking over the internet sales. Will this make the drinks less expensive?

Biometric I.D.s in India?