OMG I saw a MOTERCYCLE outside!!!!!! :) You sound like a person who needs to relax. Not only are you worried about being woke up the minute or so he would start and leave, you are worried about not getting back to sleep, and driving sleep-deprived on dangerous highways! Relax.. Doesn't sound like that big a deal to me. I live in a house and have had noisy neigbors. Right now the guy accross the street parks his truck in front of my house and blairs his truck stereo for 30+ minutes in the middle of my sleep pattern. I have learned to tune it out and fall back asleep when he leaves.

I think a lot of things are being recalled, they aren't necessarily tainted but I think it's wise to not take a chance on them. That's why Kellogg's recalled their Keebler crackers and cookies before any product was found that was a problem. I know they found a package of the Austin brand peanut butter and cheese crackers with that strain of salmonella here in Michigan in Kalamazoo. My own favorite, Peter Pan Honey Roasted was the subject of a salmonella recall a couple of years ago, but Peter Pan has issued a press release stating that they don't get any of their peanut products from the company in question, so I'm happily eating that. I don't know about Jif, Skippy, etc. I very seldom buy the prepackaged cookies, crackers, etc., but I bought some of the Keelber cheese crackers with peanut butter for Bud and Makayla and called Amanda and told her to throw them away. I'll replace them with just plain cheese crackers or something, they were for Makayla's lunches at school. Annie

I despise brown rice pasta, but corn spaghetti tastes pretty normal. However, I think the simplest way is to make some "normal" food that's rice, potatoes, or corn based. You could do soup, chili, rice noodles with peanut sauce, enchiladas (corn tortillas), shepherd's pie, rice and beans, fried rice, or polenta (I bet lasagna using rounds of crispy fried polenta would be really good). You could even just do roasted chicken legs and baked potatoes, or beef up one of the salads- Caesar with grilled chicken and egg, or something like that. I imagine learning to live without wheat is a really big adjustment- I think just adding another family style dish is the way to go. That way you give her the option of not discussing her diagnosis with the whole family. If she's got an individual serving of specialty food, she's sort of forced into explaining it to everyone. Also, gluten free products are sort of hit or miss. Surely she'll eventually want to find the ones she likes, but it would be a shame to pay out the nose for gluten free whatever and have her hate it and go hungry (and probably feel guilty about your wasted money and effort). You might include something like chips and salsa, chips and dip, or hummus and veggies with your appetizers. I can also vouch for 'rice thins' crackers, they're relatively inexpensive and I've bought all different brands and never had a bad one. If you're in the market for a dessert, the brownies below are fantastic. I used rice flour from the Asian grocery, which is marked glutinous, but does not actually contain gluten. Here is a link that might be useful: Gluten free brownies

I already do not buy it or drink it. I usually drink one weak cup of tea in the morning, but not always. I made the mistake of buying a cappuccino flavored protein drink at the grocery store once without reading on the label that it was like drinking two cups of coffee! I won't make that mistake again. I do not like caffeine. I do like the flavor or coffee, but it still upsets my stomach, even if it is decaf. I like coffee liqueur (I buy Nola brand) and I especially like coffee or mocha ice cream. I will drink coffee when I am in Italy or Hawaii, but otherwise not. I did not like the coffee in Costa Rica, but I did like the coffee in Antigua, Guatemala, although it's been more than 40 years since I was there. I did not drink coffee in Brazil, as I generally drank fruit juices there, especially pitaya, which I grow here, but not in significant enough quantity. My brother buys green coffee beans and roasts them himself because he likes a blond roast (which I definitely do not), and it is somewhat more difficult to find. He has coffee roasters in both houses, since we have been spending about three to four weeks in each location at a time. My brother also makes very weak coffee, and I have not understood that either.