- The Meal Assembly Network
I've heard of this meal assembly thing before:"A meal assembly kitchen is the ultimate partner in helping busy families get healthy, tasty dinners prepared. The typical kitchen has 12 to 16 stations that look like salad bars. Each station includes all of the ingredients necessary to put together a main entrée that serves 4 to 6. The ingredients are already chopped, sliced, and/or cut. Customers follow detailed instructions at each station and assemble the ingredients into freezer-ready bags. Buying and preparing the ingredients, as well as cleaning up the mess, is the responsibility of the meal assembly kitchen. The customer typically assembles 12 meals, and takes them home in a cooler or a laundry basket for storage in the freezer. Actual cooking happens at home."
I like the idea but I don't think I'd actually do it -- but if I had more freezer space and could clear the time it'd be good to try and put stuff together like this at home sometimes for those nights when I don't want to cook but I don't want to eat take-out. - He has your... fear of veggies | Health & Fitness | Reuters
"In a large study of identical and fraternal twins, researchers from University College London found that nearly 80 percent of children's tendency to avoid unfamiliar foods was inherited."
I was interested to hear the part about fear of new foods, and the idea of just keeping giving children a new food until it's a familiar food and then they may find it's ok, or even that they like it! I know that for me (somewhat picky eater that I am) I've gotten more able to stomach foods through forcing myself to take a few bites. My mum always used to do this with vegetables we didn't like. We had one bites worth on our plate that we had to try then we could have more if we liked, or not. It hasn't got me to like swede but I could eat it if needed! - Breakthrough in obesity battle - 25 Jul 2007 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news
"The scientists have shown that if a mother is undernourished, her children's bodies are set up to cope with a life of scarcity.
"But the energy-dense "hamburger and milkshake" diet of modern Western society is likely to result in children who are likely to become fat - unlike those from mothers who eat a balanced diet during pregnancy." - Neonatal Doc: Loss
A wonderful post from a neonatologist - a quote:"After years of seeing various types of pregnancy and newborn loss, I have decided that there are really no good words of comfort at such a time. The loss is so final, so absolute, so irrevocable, that only time can lessen the wound and even then often not completely heal it. We can express our condolences to the family and offer to do anything we can for them, but beyond that we seem relatively powerless."
Some great comments too. Made me cry, but in a good way. I'm so glad we also had wonderful staff at the hospital where our first daughter was born, and died. - Craving for junk food ‘begins in the womb’ - Times Online
- not martha - more tiny kitchen storage
a neat idea for storing utensils -- a good way to keep them out of reach from little hands! - Pattern for “Chunky Braided Scarf” « Butterfly Morning
- Bust Alteration
A handy how-to on altering sewing patterns to fit your bust size. - SO busy sewing › Red Instead BLOGFound the link for bust alteration at this blog post, there are some other handy links there too.
- Six weeks without a wash: The soapless experiment | the Daily Mail
An article about a woman who decided to try an experiment which I think was recorded for a tv show:"for 40 days and 40 nights, there has been no showering, no hair washing, no teeth cleaning and no deodorant.
"She has ditched her make-up and hair styling products, and allowed herself access to just three outfits (her running kit, a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and one summer dress)."I found this interesting; I think she went a little overboard, but still. It's good to hear what was good and what was bad about cutting all that stuff out. Clearly she felt all the chemicals she'd been putting on and in her body as part of her daily routine were not doing her a lot of favours (her IBS symptoms improved during the experiment, and her skin seemed much healthier), but at the same time). It was interesting to hear that as long as she was away from other people (and societal expectations) she felt " felt really healthy and good about [her]self" and that when she was tested at the end of the experiment she didn't show a great increase in bacteria and suchlike which confirms we probably don't need to be sanitizing our hands every five seconds!The article ends with her summing up:"the experiment worked in that I proved to myself there is no need for all these beauty products on which I've been frittering away so much money. My desire for them was all in my mind, not an actual physical need.
"It showed me that for years I've been using excessive amounts, and, at the same time, potentially putting my health at risk because of all the chemicals they contain.
"I was amazed to find that the point when my skin looked its best was after a month of not using anything at all. As a result, I've become far more moderate in what products I use and what I am prepared to spend money on.
"A bar of soap, organic shampoo and conditioner, and a basic moisturiser are all I need now. I no longer wash my hair every day and I no longer feel self-conscious if I'm not done up to the nines.
"If people didn't notice when they had me standing next to them during the experiment, I'm sure they won't be aware of small things that would once have got me down, such as a bad hair day or a minor skin outbreak." - Knitty: Fall 2006 - red herringAnother CookieA sock pattern for my to-do list -- I've been wanting to try colour work again. I'm intimidated by it because of the tension issue but love all the possibilities that would open up if I could master it.
- Choc Fudge Shortbread on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
This sounds tasty, need to make fudge first though! - eat me, delicious: Chocolate Orbit Cake
This looks so incredibly chocolaty and rich, mmmm. - Vanana Cookies (Vegan Banana Peanut Butter Cocoa Cookies) » vanesscipes
These look yummy. [I made some - posted on flickr] - Sausage-stuffed portobello mushrooms - The Boston Globe
- Creamy corn chowder with very little cream - The Boston Globe
And a couple more tasty looking recipes to try some time:
