Don't believe all the "provides 60 trace elements" hype. Do you know how many you actually need? Do you know how many you get in home made compost? I saw one claim of over 70- does that mean that you will have an inferior garden with 60? What happens if you only get 45 of them- do you really know? Look at what grows in the soil around you. It sits there and mines trace elements that it needs. Compost it, and you'll get all that you need in the garden unless you live in an area with some strange deficiency of something weird. Now, I go to the beach on occasion and pick up seaweeed while I'm there- because it's a free compostable while I walk my dogs. However- my garden never suffered without it before I started collecting it. Folks that live near the beach and use it- well- that's using what's around you. Just saying that people are growing fantastic gardens without spending lots of (or any) money. Advertisers tell us how incredible this stuff is until we think that we can't garden without it- which is patently false.

Thanks for the kind words and great ideas everyone! It was a very exciting game, particularly the 2nd half. It looked like the Jets were really coming back there for a bit. The Jets had a great season, for my husband's sake, I hope they do as well next year. This week is nuts for us, so I think I'm tabling the dinner until next week. But, I believe the menu is going to be: tossed salad with homemade dressing, roast chicken with root vegetables, mashed potatoes, broccoli and fresh (bread machine) bread. Brownies from a mix for dessert. That will be an impressive dinner for my guy! And his buddy who was here skating will be invited also since he was cheering on the Black and Gold with me. I'll take pictures :) AM

When my MIL was in her last years, what appealed most to her was soup. And the dietitician at the returement facility said that very often the elderly have a lack of saliva and lots of foods seem dry to them. Lots of creamed soups...potato soup was a particular favorite...made with real cream!..Cream of chicken soup, cream of spinach, home made cream of mushroom....and things like creamed eggs on toast. A very creamy rice pudding would be good as well as bread pudding with dried fruits. Breakfast doesn't always have to be eggs, toast and pancakes... and meals out don't always have to be non healthy. I had dinner out last night and I had a piece of fish...I could have had broiled salmon, but i chose fried flounder and a roll and a side of a huge portion of what they call "Normandy" which is steamed veggies, broccoli, cauliflower carrots and squash. There are lots of good things to eat at a restraunt...grilled meat, baked potato, salad with dressing on the side, a burger with slaw, soups...pasta. Just tell them to stay away from things like fries and the fish I had!...but it was good! Linda C

Hi I don't have any specific recipes to share, but all I can say is calories, calories, calories!! My ex had a broken jaw, and had to eat with a syringe type thing in the beginning, and then moved on to a straw. I fed him every type of food you could imagine (pureed of course), and he still lost massive amounts of weight. In the end, we found that it was helpful to feed him drinks like Ensure, etc every hour or two to help get more calories into him. Good luck!!