A cheap source of protein is chicken livers. Here's how I make them most often: CHICKEN LIVERS AND RICE - 2 to 3 servings 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/ 2 inch slices 1 lb. chicken livers, trimmed and quartered 1/ 4 cup flour 1/ 2 tsp. salt 1/ 4 tsp. pepper 1/ 2 cup chopped onion 1/ 2 cup uncooked rice 1/ 2 tsp. dried basil, crumbled 1 whole bay leaf 1 1/ 4 cups chicken broth 2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley (do not omit) Cook bacon until crisp in large skillet. Combine flour, salt and pepper and dredge chicken livers in it. Remove bacon and reserve. Brown livers in bacon grease. Remove and reserve. Saute onion over medium heat in same skillet (add 1 Tbs. olive oil of needed.) Stir in rice, broth, basil, and bay leaf. Heat to boiling; then turn heat to low. Stir mixture thoroughly, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet. Cover. Simmer 20 minutes without lifting lid. Spoon reserved livers over rice but don't stir. Put lid back on and simmer for another 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove bay leaf. Sprinkle with bacon and chopped parsley. Healthy? Yes, in many ways except for cholesterol. Since our numbers are good, I'd rather occasionally have the shot of iron and vitamins. Here is a link that might be useful: Chicken Liver nutrition This post was edited by ruthanna on Wed, Feb 26, 14 at 17:37

Standard doors are 6" - are you suggesting not to upgrade to 8" ? We felt higher the door height, the easier it is to move furniture and stuff, of-course the width of the door isn't changing. I wouldn't bother with this. How often do you move "furniture and stuff" that's taller than 7'? Extended Lanai: Oh, I thought it'd be a deeper lanai ... I'd be less inclined to pay for a wider lanai. Wider isn't all that useful, and it means more rooms are shaded /have less natural light. Vent Hood/Microwave to Outside - If we don't choose, the smoke will stay indoors - the builder should have included this in the base price but it is what it is. I am really surprised that this isn't standard. I would do the oak riser steps instead of carpet. Yes overpriced but probably better now. Yes, if you don't do the oak risers now, you probably won't be able to do them later ... at all. If they do carpet stairs, they're going to use plywood /paint quality stuff under that carpet; thus, it won't be a matter of pulling up carpet later and staining /painting. It is easy to say walk away and build a custom home, but not everyone can afford to do that, nor does everyone want to go that route (even if they can afford to). True. Tara we all have to make compromises. For ourselves it's been a 2 year journey building our custom home, plus the hours and hours spent researching and finding even the smallest details. So I understand where you're coming from. Yup, no matter your circumstances, you're going to "give" somewhere. For us, we're taking the same route as CP describes above: The place where we're "giving" is time and personal effort.

I've no idea whether has to do with tipping, just my subjective spontaneous thoughts I was cleaning houses too in my youth(interesting how all these random jobs enrich one's experience), I know what a hard labor it is, and I forgive my cleaning lady driving me nuts with coming whenever she pleases, etc, because she's a nice person and a good cleaning lady and we grew attached. And of course I give her/her helpers Christmas gift and Easter gift yet a great stylist-it's a level or artistry there. it's rarer. I embarrassed myself once by kissing a hand of my previous hair stylist in NYC(the one who recommended the current salon)...I don't know what I was thinking, I was just so happy and grateful to him I took his hand and kissed it. He looked very touched but very overwhelmed. The public was slightly puzzled)) I like my cleaning lady but I'm not kissing her hand when overcame by emotion)) Her hands have less of this magic power of transformation. I had several great stylists in my life-I lost them only when either they moved or I moved away, and life taught me to ask for their reference on the next stylist wherever I go, in within their powers of course to give me that info. In NYC I had to take a train and then subway to get to my stylist Here, it's an hour drive without traffic and minimum two hours with. It's very tiresome to even to go there, to that salon of theirs. Yet I go(much rarer than I should, because far away, and to save money), and I tip, and as you already know- I sometimes do silly things like kissing a stylist's hand in public)) It's not like I'm crazy to tip, of course, it's a lot of money. And they're much more affluent folks, these salon owners, than I could ever be. Like, they don't need this tip to survive. At all. Not on this top of the mountain they were able to get to. But they're special kind of artists. That's how it is. Great stylist-whole different level. It's a very hard and often ungrateful job that takes years and passion to master and there's huge talent involved, in their case, a talent I was lucky to meet and am not about to loose until it depends on me It's customarily to tip here-okay then I'll tip It's not customarily to kiss one's hand)) especially-not for a woman to kiss a man's hand. In public. lol. I'm just chanelling my appreciation in a culture-appropriate way)))

I'd like to second the recommendation for a home energy assessment. Here, it's a $50 co-pay and the service is funded through fees charged on everyone's electric bill. While the visit was a bit underwhelming, the blower door test was worth the whole visit. It came as a complete surprise that the draft created sucked in the most air along the top trim of all the windows. The contractors applied a bead of clear caulk over many (60+ windows, so it will be addressed when painting is done). I learned that the attic air sealing can make a big difference but it's often a sizable project to do it completely. You should really remove the insulation to get at all the areas. A big benefit in my location is that the assessment qualifies you to have a significant discount for insulation work. If NC has a similar program you may get that crawl spaced addressed for very little cost. In addition to insulation, vapor barriers may help on the basement/crawl ceiling. If your attic is a pull down hatch, it should have an insulation 'box' that fits over the hatch opening. Attic vents and exhaust fans should be checked for proper operation to let that heat out. Any lights cut into the ceiling can have a cap put over the opening in the attic. Vents in the ceiling (bath) should be sealed in the attic around the cut out. In addition to a blower door test, thermal imaging might be helpful. I think you can rent the infrared scanning equipment to identify hot and cool spots. If you're lucky, the energy audit will include that service. Regarding the windows: many new windows will have an R value of 3. Consider that in light of R-30 or higher wall insulation. If the old ones are solid and properly installed and insulated, new ones will not help much. One of the most energy efficient window treatments is the honeycomb cellular shade and the double cells are more insulative. I'm not enamored of them but they sort of disappear when not in use. Other cheap stuff: weather stripping, more caulking inside and out, thin foam insulation pieces that go behind wall switches and plugs on outside walls - plus baby safe outlet covers (shocking how much cold air comes through those unused plugs in winter), well controlled use of expandable foam not just at pipes but also (very carefully done) around electrical boxes on outside walls. link Home Energy Checklist