You can pick up UGC from Starbucks, and whenever I go shopping, I clean up the empty carboard boxes from the shelves. I don't feed my worms too much UCG because I don't like the smell of old/stale coffee in the house. I don't shred the cardboard boxes since it is very hard on the shredder. I cut them into bigger pieces managable to put into a pail and pour water (works faster w. hot water) over it and let it sit. I don't want to use too much water, that's why I let it sit for a while. It will then be very easy to rip them to smaller pieces. I also have an old box with corn starch. Mix some w. water and cooked it into a thicker (not too thick though) slimy glob. Feed them some and put the rest in the fridge. I have started to feed it to them by putting about 1 or 2 spoonful in a corner. The worms can go away if they don't like it but so far everything seem to be OK. Depending how fast it disappears, I will increase the amount. I think any flour will do. Some people feed the worms corn meal. I just don't have corn meal at hand. Otis.

Does anyone have any good ideas? I have already plumbed for a sink (that I used during my kitchen remodel). Does it have to be stainless? Is there anyone who makes conponent in another, less expensive, material? All I really need is a sink cabinet, trash container and a liitle bit of storage.

I've used the Money Maze/Bilz Box several times (I may not have kids of my own but I've often had quite a few around with their sticky little hands out ;-)) and it always goes over well - meaning the recipient swears a lot at me while they try to solve the puzzle. *evil grin* If one doesn't take a hammer to it ;-) and hangs onto the outside box, it recloses nicely so it can be reused for someone else. Only six boxes, Mareda? ;-) Someone dear to me once did that with over twenty boxes, starting with a washing machine box and ending with a tiny box with a pair of diamond earrings (which were promptly stolen from my dorm room - people can really suck). You can keep the momentum rolling for a youngster, who might get discouraged, by taping a dollar bill to one of the inside boxes every so often. One year when DH and I were especially flush we gave my little brother - high schooler at the time - cash folded up very tiny and stuck into a walnut shell (which I admit I bought from Michaels, not being successful in getting a walnut to open nicely myself) which I painted gold and hung from a ribbon. I think I put something like "for my favorite nut" on the tag? Mom said he looked rather crestfallen thinking that stupid little walnut was his present - I think the painted walnut shell was an "in" craft that year - but she was in on it and told him to break it open. He just about croaked. Someone in the household has to be in on the joke, or perhaps in another little box you could wrap up a dollar-store nutcracker as a hint. I've use cash as a bookmark in a favorite book - I once bought a book in a used bookstore with a $50 bill stuck in the middle where you wouldn't find it unless you read the entire book! I don't do that, I leave it sticking a tiny bit out of the top. (I called the bookstore to see if they had a record of who had turned it in for credit, but they didn't, so I split the $50 with the local animal shelter.) I think that would be an especially great thing to do with a book on money management for teens/young adults.

My father wouldn't eat "leftovers" with any regularity. He had no problems with things made out of leftovers, but he didn't want to see warmed over whatever. I learned from my mother how to make stuff from leftovers, and I don't know if I can describe since it's kind of instinctive. Like Rob's speaking fridge. My father would name it different things because no one knew what it was going to be until it was done. Regular names were "refrigerator stew" and "ragout" or occasionally "goulash". Whatever it was, it had to be a true main dish. No "tapas" or "smörgåsbord", which is what he sister would do. With those, one could remember, "that was Monday", "that was yesterday". Not to be! Depending on what there was, it really could be a stew, or a casserole, or a paella, or whatever shape it seemed to work for. Left over cheese filling could become a cheese soufflé. Left over sliced tomatoes and peppers would become a toping for baked omelette. Leftover kebabs often went into paella. So, I've done things like savory bread pudding, and similar outré inventions, as well as the basic casseroles, or whatever I think my father would eat if he were here. Spiralized veg make a nice alternative to pasta as a base for "goulash". I don't like them sauced like pasta, but good as a nest for something goopy. The trick is not to try to use only leftovers. Dump bits and pieces in, sure, and clean the fridge out, but if you have to make rice or add some peas or whatever, don't hesitate to add something new. BTW, my lasagna is good cold out of the fridge and holds up well to zapping, but you can dump a little extra sauce and cheese on top and reheat in the oven, too, and it'll be good. Not that a lasagna sandwich doesn't have it's own appeal, especially if you'd eat bread with it anyway. :D