Thanks for the encouragement Sherry. My body is still hanging on to weight like grim death. It's certainly not coming off as quickly as the first 10 did. I've been lifting weights aggressively 3x a week, so I'm certain it's muscle gain. I'm paying less attention to the scale now, and more attention to my measurements, which continue to reduce, so that's more important than the scale. dedtired, what's up? Are you taking a break, or throwing in the towel completely? I hope it's not frustration that's making you throw in the towel. Or if you fell off the wagon, because you can get right back up there again. I made a dozen cupcakes with buttercream frosting, for DS's birthday on Sunday. I'm so proud that I only ate one. But there have been 3 leftover ones sitting under the cake dome since Sunday and I'm tempted to throw them in the trash so that I don't have to look at them any longer. I made some lovely beef vegetable soup with bulgur last night. We had leftover rib steaks from the weekend, and they made a wonderful soup. So filling, and less than 200 calories a bowl. The last of the leftover steak went into my egg white omelette this morning, with red peppers and onions, and filled with 2 tablespoons of Annie's salsa. Huge breakfast for less than 300 calories. Who said dieting had to be hard? :-)

To the tune of "On Top Of Old Smokey"... All together now! On top of spaghetti, All covered with cheese, I lost my poor meatball, When somebody sneezed. It rolled off the table, And on to the floor, And then my poor meatball, Rolled out of the door. It rolled in the garden, And under a bush, And then my poor meatball, Was nothing but mush. The mush was as tasty As tasty could be, And then the next summer, It grew into a tree. The tree was all covered, All covered with moss, And on it grew meatballs, And to - ma - to sauce. So if you eat spaghetti, All covered with cheese, Hold on to your meatball, Whenever you sneeze. /tricia

Grainlady, as always, I'm so impressed by all the information you have shared here. You have taught me a great deal over the years that I have been reading your posts, and I'm grateful that you take the time to share information with all of us. I am one of those persons who is frugal but not because I have to be, though that wasn't the case when I first started my "journey into frugality". It is, however, the reason I don't have to worry about money now. It is a way of life for me. Money is a resource and I do not believe in squandering it unnecessarily just because I have it. We all, however, have our priorities and I accept that some folks have different ones than I do. I sure wish you'd talk more about Food Saver vacuum jar lids. I'm not sure I understand how they work. As I understand it, there's a hole in the special jar lids that the vacuum pump snaps onto, to remove the air. And then the hole has some kind of baffle, I guess, to keep the vacuum? I have priced vacuum lids and they seem to be pretty expensive. Can you point me in the right direction and give some tips on this? I have a dehydrator and I want to make some of my own zucchini chips per your recommendation on another thread. Plus I'd like to try dehydrating cabbage because it doesn't can well unless it's made into sauerkraut, and it takes up a LOT of room in the freezer. I have been kind of afraid to store dehydrated foods in ziplock bags unless I freeze them, because of the bug infestation that caused me to lose several gallon bags of dried banana slices several years ago. I've been buying half-gallon sized jars that take a regular-sized canning jar lid at garage sales in preparation for dried food storage. I know that light is an issue so do you do something to combat that? Would covering the outside of the jar work, such as a coat of dark paint or a cloth cover with a drawstring around the neck or maybe a section of black leaf bag taped around it? Or do you just have a dark cabinet that you keep your dried food jars in? I never knew that about using citric acid in sprouting. I tried to sprout some mung beans and no matter how many times I rinsed, there was still that spoiled smell so that eventually I just gave up and put them in the compost. You use citric acid in your whole wheat bread recipe too. Do you have a good, reasonably priced source for citric acid? Once again, thanks for sharing with us. You have many fans and I am one. Keep up the good work and know there are many of us who are interested in what you have to say.

If your team continues to lose year after year to the Patriots in the run up to the Superbowl then you tend to not be that enthusiastic about them. That does not mean that you "hate" them. Just because you dis them and are not a fan does not mean you hate them. That's sports. I root for my alma mater in college sports and might trash talk other teams but I really don't care enough to hate them, and my indifference to a team could turn to love depending on how the game goes. I tend to like teams that have some kind of Cinderella story behind them and I also have certain teams that I know people affiliated with so I like them. Indifference, boredom or lack of rooting for a team does not equal hate. You can admire and respect the talents of a team but still wish your team had beat them!