My leukemia's back.

[N F C]

Yeah, I see how sorry you feel about it, LOL.

 

[donrae]

Yeah, and you can see how upset Grampa is at having his computer co-opted

.

 

[Blooie]

Yeah, pooor Ken! He's such a grampa's grampa - dotes on everyone of them, still talks about and misses Austin, and is so proud of the 2 great grandkids. He's one in million. Jamie loves him so much he followed in his footsteps, became a submarine sailor, and gave his son grampa's middle name. Little Diane had him walk her down the aisle. Katie calls him every time she learns something new because he gets so excited for her. Evan thinks grampa hung the moon and stars. And Kendra....she just wants to be wherever he is. I am so blessed, and well do I know it!

 

[hbhoffman]

Wow! Amazing about Kendra playing the piano app! It may become her "voice"... never know.
Missing an awesome son is both poignant and awesome. May you guys figure out the electronics and he do well!
Rachel, one food extender for us has been homemade bread from a bread maker and leftover soup (as in anything leftover goes into the soup)! And believe it or not smoothies! They are made with ice. Low calorie, frozen fruit or veggies, ice with a hand blender. Mine can do it on their own in a large cup or mason jar. Another has been french toast and scrambled/fried eggs. Open season on the eggs when we have plenty!
One friend of mine with 4 voracious boys switched completely to soups for dinner every night. She said it filled everyone up and saved her budget! She switched other things around to serve with it like cornbread, jello, puddings, salads etc. to help round it out. Does that help to get you thinking?

I vote more dogs AND chicks!

 

[donrae]

I'm definitely going with soups (according to the weather). They're filling and use up veggies well. Plus, it's not like my guys are going to eat barley on a plate

. But beefy barley shroom soup is gobbled down like crazy, and that barley is filling. One bowl of split pea soup can fill up even the emptiest belly.

One challenge is my Honey. He's diabetic and follows a low carb diet. He's lost a ton of weight and gotten off two diabetes meds, avoided going on insulin. I lean more toward a low-carb lifestyle, but understand boys need carbs (and I love them!). but, to be respectful of Honey I try not to bake or have the house smelling like things he can't eat, and fresh bread is a biggie for him. Store bought bread in the pantry doesn't bother him a bit, neither does potatoes/rice/noodles for a side dish for us for dinner. But fresh bread, breadsticks, biscuits etc I think may be too much for him and I'd feel horrible. That's just some thing I have to work around. When he starts working, he'll be on PM shift (2-10pm), so we'll have more flexibility for dinner.

Devilled eggs seem to go a long way!

I had brought in our blender (stored in the garage) to start making smoothies, and that afternoon was when I got sick and wound up in the hospital. The blender made it's way back out to the garage and hasn't come back inside, but I've been thinking of that. With my oral issues going on, smoothies will probably be a way to go for me, also. A few summers ago we were really into them and I was adding raw eggs for a protein boost, that's something to think of also. Course, that was before the leukemia when I was also buying raw milk and making my own yogurt. How life's changed!

 

[lazy gardener]

You can still make your own yogurt with pasteurized milk. To add extra protein, you can add dry milk powder to it. Super easy. I just use a tablespoon of regular yogurt from the store (I have yet to find one that DOESN'T have live culture) 1 Tbsp makes a qt of yogurt. From there, you just save a bit for each consecutive batch. You can use that blender to hide LOTS of veggies in your spaghetti sauce. I love to hide carrot and zucchini. Veggie muffins would be good to grab and go. As would home made granola bars. When my son was in Costa Rica, they often had "baked oatmeal" for breakfast. Tasty, filling, packed with nutrition for growing teens. I'll have to see if I can find the recipe. It was like a very soft semi-sweet cake. Chili! My diabetic hubby is the worst offender in the family as far as sweet tooth goes. That's a frustration for me... but I try not to dwell on it too much! Put a big bowl of fruit on the table. Encourage everybody to reach for the fruit before reaching for the high carb snacks. Soups ! Gotta love soups!!! During the cold weather, I keep a casserole dish in the fridge, and add the left overs to it every night. It doesn't take long to have a never the same base for an almost ready to eat delectable soup. And, all from stuff that the average family tosses in the trash. Quiche: Look up a recipe for Impossible quiche. It's crustless, substituting 1/2 cup of bisquick mixed right in with the eggs. I cut way back on the butter that the recipe calls for. A bit of ham, or even some diced pepperoni dresses it up for the discriminating teen. I'm too cheap to buy bisquick, make my own master mix... or just calculate how much baking powder/soda would be required for 1/2 cup, and mix it right in the blender with the flour. English muffin pizzas would be a quick grab and go meal for the teens. Meat loaf one night, followed by (meat loaf) Shepherd's pie the next night.

 

[donrae]

LG, so funny you brought up quiche, I've got a good story for that...

The boys and I were watching the next Food Network Star, and they had this cowboy Lenny. He'd been a chuckwagon cook and was talking about serving quiche once--none of the cowboys would eat it. A few days later he served "Breakfast Pie" and they scarfed it down. Big Boy paused the show (Netflix) and I had all these accusing eyes looking at me...."Is that what you've been serving us? Is it really quiche?"

I came up with "breakfast pie" a good 10 years ago, cause I knew none of my guys would eat quiche. But pie for breakfast? Oh yeah! So....busted by a tv show lol.

I didn't really think about making milk from pasteurized. I knew it was possible, just spaced it I guess. That may become a staple again, depending on how the mouth does.

I have an ethical issue with hiding veggies, sorry. I think kids should just eat their **** vegetables when they're served. My siblings and I did, my kids do, I just don't see what the big deal is.
story about that, too (I'm in story mode today I guess)...

when Sugar Monkey was about 10 he had a friend over when I made zucchini bread. SM cut them each a slice, buttered it and they were sitting down eating. The friend started picking through the bread and there was furtive whispering to SM. SM gave him an odd look and said in a normal voice "She's not hiding anything. It's zucchini bread. I like zucchini. Besides, she puts chocolate chips in it. If you don't want it, I'll eat yours". Apparently this kiddo's mom was a veggie hider and he'd learned to pick the food apart to find the hidden green stuff.

Thanks for reminding me about hm granola bars. Oatmeal, not so much around here ( I love it, the guys don't) but I used to make granola bars and they were a great treat.

My poor Honey has the biggest sweet tooth also. I like sweets, but am more of a savory. What I really, really like is crispy/crunchy, and guess what hurts the mouth the most?

 

[lazy gardener]

Thanks for the stories! Loved them. Yeah, it's interesting when a friend of one of your kids comes to visit! Definitely different family styles, huh?

Here's a story coming back at ya: My GD was with us for the last week. She lived with us up until last January, but now lives with her mother. So, on Saturday, she had a friend from down the street: similar situation. That little girl had spent a lot of her life living with her Meme, sometimes with her mom there, sometimes not, but now she lives with her mom. So, she came in, and made it a point to find my hubby and tell him: "My Meme lets me do what ever I want to do". (which is pretty true... the kid is spoiled rotten by her Meme) "And, so I just want you to know that." So, they went out to visit the baby chicks, and I had to give several reprimands about her chasing one of the pullets that was out, and getting too close to the fence where the rest of the flock was. No sense getting the roo riled up. After a bit, I let Mama broody and chicks out of the tractor, and the girls had a grand time following them around and watching their antics. When it was time for this little girl to go home, my GD walked her home. Well, 10 minutes later, her Meme comes knocking on our door. Meme looked pretty perturbed. Little girl looked pretty sad. Meme had a painted metal box that belonged to my GD. Conversation went something like this: "Did your GD give this box to my GD?"
"I don't know."
"Well, that's their story, but that's not why I'm upset. I'm upset b/c I've been lied to. She said it was just a box, but then I looked inside... and this is what I found!"
She then opened up the box to display a bunch of grass, and a piece of paper wadded up around... an egg! It seems that the little girl had found an egg sitting all by it's lonesome on the counter, and she thought she could take it home and hatch it out under her bed!
So we went on with an explanation that the egg couldn't hatch unless GD bought a very expensive incubator, or had a mama hen. I told GD that she could take the egg home and have it for breakfast, but she doesn't like eggs, and Meme didn't want an egg for breakfast either! So, egg and box stayed with us!

Now, you all can imagine the outcome if that box had gone under the bed and been forgotten for a few weeks... months!

 

[N F C]

LG, your mention of shepherd's pie reminded me of our take on it. We don't buy a lot of beef but do get chicken when it's on sale, turkey too. I bake the chicken or turkey along with mashed potatoes, gravy and vegetables. Once that dinner is done, I remove whatever meat is left, toss it with some vegetables and gravy. Put that mix in a baking dish, top with leftover mashed potatoes and bake that up for our "pecker pie". Sometimes there is enough of the chicken/veggie mix to make up two pies, so 1 goes in the freezer for a future meal. We like our pecker pie as much if not better than the beef version of shepherds pie.

 

[hbhoffman]

NFC, What veggies do you add to your Packer Pie?? I have part of a leftover roast chicken in my frig. needing to be used up. Hmmm....
Rachel, will yours eat granola? It can be packed with sunflower seeds, peanuts, almonds, dried fruit and bran.
I don't hide veggies in my sauce but I do add them. Carrots, zucchini and onions add needed flavor and nutrition. I didn't think my guys would go for it but surprisingly they did-especially when I told them they didn't have to eat extra veggies- just the ones in the sauce. Win for me-less cooking, prep and clean up. Win for them-no extra veggies to eat or fuss over & Better tasting. This may sound funny but at times I will buy a watermelon and tell mine this has to be gone by tomorrow so have at it! Lol. The grins and amounts they eat are pretty amazing. My dd can eat about 1/3 of a XL one. Have you made breakfast burritos? Those are good to have the fixings ready to go and easy for teens to assemble and microwave. And mine love pizza. The dough is pretty cheap to make (and freeze) and easy to assemble. Mine will also go for making their own French bread pizza.
Love the stories. The stolen egg... that would have been funny!
Need to go get my day going. Slept in until 9 as my nerve pain was up yesterday. Be a blessing today, not a curse.