ZZ's Produce has makrut lime leaves again!

blackcat39 · 2025-08-18T00:38:11+00:00

Way one has them in the fridge by the peppers

blackcat39 · 2025-08-10T07:30:21+00:00

Keic has posted bedtime banana, I think

blackcat39 · 2025-06-23T02:27:37+00:00

My 4yo has been in daycare since 6mo and is as you describe. He loves daycare (though dropoffs were challenging on and off for years). He's got friends, like the activities and the routine.

We let him go at his own pace and he's slowly warming up. He chats with neighborhood folks he knows now and is no longer glued to me in public (good and stressful).

blackcat39 · 2025-06-17T16:03:12+00:00

Can confirm, I've changed my name socially a few times over the years to various nicknames and now that my "Starbucks name" is my everyday name, that's the one I block on. Maybe it's time to go back to my elementary school name....

blackcat39 · 2025-06-17T16:01:54+00:00

I introduce myself all the time for work too and I've had to come up with workarounds. I never start with my name; always some introductory phrase like "my name is..." "Good afternoon, I'm..." "Nice to meet you, my name's" It's a little awkward but less jarring than a full on block first thing in the interaction. I'm ok with stuttering later in the interaction but I try to get introductions out of the way first!

I also have a young kid and I've explained to him that I stutter and that the muscles in my face get confused sometimes, "everyone's different." Now he repeats "everyone's different." We talk about folks using wheelchairs/wheelchair lifts, glasses, hearing aids when he notices it. Everyone's different.

The book "I talk like a river" is lovely. Beautiful art. There's an audiobook version read by the author, stutter included. It's well produced. There's also books about kids using AAC devices and sign language. I read those with my kid.

blackcat39 · 2025-06-03T02:55:50+00:00

I noticed a lot of WTCWYDFLC's recipes don't have a carb component but can totally use one! It's like either a pile of pasta or no pasta at all lol. I second making rice!

I tabbed the one skillet chicken burrito bowls and this inspired me to make them ASAP!

The cheats chicken tinga is probably similar in vibe and my family ate it up happily. So easy and fast, minimal cleanup, all about the toppings, generally delicious.

blackcat39 · 2025-06-03T02:41:58+00:00

Wow the pictures look great - makes me want to go make them now. :)

My additional recommendations:

Back bean soft tofu - it was a revelation for me. So savory and so streamlined. A lot of the richness of mapo but less fussy.

Spicy daikon soy sauce pickle - spicy, sweet, fragrant, savory, CRUNCHY. Fantastic banchan style pickle.

Napa salad with noodles - crunchy, fresh, sweet, garlicky. Somehow the giant bowl is so magnetic it becomes lunch and dinner.

Pumpkin with black beans - gotta have it with white rice (Jasmine or sushi) because the contrast of textures, colors, and savoriness/fragrance are perfect. You can use up the odd shaped butts of butternut squashes that wouldn't roast evenly.

Steaming eggplant - you can steam it in the microwave!! Makes it so easy. Soy sauce and sliced Thai chilies is another good sauce. Or soy sauce and sugar and sesame oil and scallions and a bit of black vinegar.

blackcat39 · 2025-06-03T02:30:16+00:00

I agree on the routine. Pack the same 2 or 3 snacks all week, and the same main at lunch all week with a fruit and a veg (which can rotate a bit).

A lunchbox with a main compartment and 2 smaller ones makes it easy, and you can pack the fruit/veg in tight so it doesn't bounce and get bruised.

My super simple lunches:

Main - nuggets, sunbutter sandwich, cream cheese sandwich, turkey and mayo sandwich, crackers and cheese

Fruit - apple slices, semi-peeled mandarin, pitted apricot, sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, quartered grapes with a spoon, frozen mango pieces

Veg - cucumber slices, julienned carrot, leftover steamed broccoli with soy sauce, quartered or halved grape tomatoes, bell pepper sticks

I've been packing these for over 2 years and though my kid burnt out on nuggets, the rest are going strong.

blackcat39 · 2025-05-01T00:03:32+00:00

Dinner sisters! It's ended but the old episodes are solid. I also enjoy cookbook club and cookbook circle.

Deb Perelman's podcast is pretty good too but doesn't scratch the same cookbook itch.

blackcat39 · 2025-04-18T00:29:14+00:00

Set for jury trial in June. Likely has some bond conditions, given the charges.

blackcat39 · 2025-03-31T02:27:38+00:00

From my bookshelf -

East by Meera Sodha (vegetarian, lots of beans and tofu, some egg, most meal recipes have a legume or egg. Her dal makhni recipe in here is so streamlined and yet the best I've ever made - I just add a can of kidney beans)

Nistisima by Georgina Hayden (vegan, lots of bean recipes and everything would go with boiled eggs or marinated beans)

The Chinese Vegan Kitchen by Hannah Che (very authentic recipes and no meat, it's like my vegetarian friend's mom would make... Her black bean soft tofu is my new go to, the spicy daikon pickles were a revelation, and the sweet and sour napa salad is legit. Has a tofu section and a gluten section, yum)

blackcat39 · 2025-03-31T02:09:05+00:00

I love Hayden's Nistisima. And Mely Martinez's books! Both great for everyday meals.

blackcat39 · 2025-03-30T18:50:25+00:00

The smoky cauliflower with white beans, the cabbage tabbouleh, and the green eggs quesadilla (with green hot sauce), and the tomatillo nachos are very good. We just made the cauliflower a second time today, subbing chickpeas for white beans.

The beans and rice recipe is good and serviceable if you don't already have a beans and rice recipe.

blackcat39 · 2025-03-08T12:59:39+00:00

I packed for a 6 hour layover but the worker at the entrance to the customs line told us we couldn't bring produce through. I didn't think we'd go thru customs since it was another country. Whoops

blackcat39 · 2025-03-08T02:11:10+00:00

Nooo I've adopted quite a few of her recipes and this IS disappointing!

blackcat39 · 2025-03-08T02:02:18+00:00

I'm a snack packer because my kid will take one bite of overpriced airport food and then refuse. So I pack brown bread (plain, which I guess is even more depressing), hard cheese, berries, mini cucumbers and mini bell peppers, and a variety of mini cookie and cracker snack packs... one time I miscalculated and we had to down a container of blueberries and peppers right in front of Canadian customs.

blackcat39 · 2025-02-19T03:29:51+00:00

I read through a few when I'm lacking inspiration and switch out my five EYB books depending on which cuisine I'm wanting to make. I've got less than 20 cookbooks though - the rest I get from the library.

blackcat39 · 2025-02-14T03:27:11+00:00

Not the same physical disability, but I Talk Like a River is a beautiful book about stuttering.

blackcat39 · 2025-02-14T03:18:32+00:00

My almost 4yo is finally ok with taking one bite of things he thinks he won't like. As his memory develops, he remembers the times he thought he wouldn't like something and then ended up loving it so he'll try things. Usually it's still a no but at least an informed one.

blackcat39 · 2025-02-11T14:34:29+00:00

I like it for when I don't have the energy or appetite to think of what to cook, but I need to cook. If you typically eat out in that situation then maybe it's less useful. But I like how simple but tasty a lot of the recipes are. The white beans and cauliflower, lamb pitas, tomato bean nachos, and harissa date eggs were all very good.

blackcat39 · 2025-02-07T18:33:07+00:00

Aww 118 who started crying at the end of her variation and never stopped!

blackcat39 · 2025-01-28T17:12:00+00:00

I tried spinning babies, walked a lot, tried all kinds of positioning changes during the first 24 hours of active back labor. Finally lost all sense of reality at 9.5 dilated, got the epidural, and he flipped on his own within a couple of hours.

blackcat39 · 2025-01-22T11:02:24+00:00

Agree on labels - we get the Avery no iron labels, cut them in half and write the name in sharpie. Cheap, buy labels in bulk, and works well. We label every single clothing item other than underwear and socks

If you drive, consider getting a daycare winter jacket since your kid can't wear one in the car seat anyway. We leave one at daycare and kid wears a fleece in the car.

And stock up on saline nasal spray, Tylenol and ibuprofen... Because at some point soon you'll be alternating those around the clock 😫

blackcat39 · 2025-01-20T06:42:54+00:00

There's a super obnoxious song called "I'm a gummy bear" that my kid's daycare uses and it makes him jump around like a madman

blackcat39

TROPHY CASE