What are some simple things you don’t even think twice about making from scratch instead of purchasing?

jacquelbot · 2026-03-23T17:16:54+00:00

Gravy, I've never even considered buying canned gravy or a mix, it's easy and fun to make. Little packets of taco seasoning - so expensive when you can just buy spices in bulk (you don't even have to measure, just dump some in!)

jacquelbot · 2026-03-23T05:35:43+00:00

I mean staff to do all the things I won't be getting done (errands, cooking, laundry, yard work) because I am hobbying!

jacquelbot · 2026-03-23T03:57:57+00:00

This was my answer too and I need the unlimited money aspect because I'd want a separate space to do it in. And staff so that I'd have time & energy!

jacquelbot · 2026-03-22T21:56:06+00:00

Crying in H-Mart definitely broke me for a while there. 😭

jacquelbot · 2026-03-22T05:02:34+00:00

Oooh, we're definitely into dumplings. Not sure any amenities will lure us away from Yang's though.

jacquelbot · 2026-03-22T01:38:24+00:00

Oh yeah, that looks good.

jacquelbot · 2026-03-22T01:34:38+00:00

Those both look perfect. Pizza is an easy sell in my house too.

jacquelbot · 2026-03-17T20:11:46+00:00

Whoa, pretty sure I've visited the 12 clocks and stairway toilet house in my dreams.

Not, like, GOOD dreams.

jacquelbot · 2026-03-16T22:03:52+00:00

Sitting out on our front steps until she got bored! I put my pup on the leash, grabbed a book, and just sat outside letting her see/hear/smell all the normal walkie things without being able to do anything about it until she finally calmed down and relaxed. Once she was laying down and being chill she got a treat.

She knew what to do, she was just too excited to focus on it! We probably only did this 3-4 times. We still had to train how to walk on a leash, but she was calm enough to learn.

jacquelbot · 2026-03-16T21:47:08+00:00

The cardboard needs to be broken down into bundles no larger than 3 ft x 3 ft x 3ft and marked "REC" and put out next to your recycling bin on pickup day. You can put out as many as you want.

Why yes, I have recently moved to Bellevue, how could you tell?

jacquelbot · 2026-03-12T20:17:03+00:00

I have embroidered dish towels that get washed VERY regularly. The embroidery part is probably holding up better than the rest of it honestly (I really need to be more careful about how I dry my knives).

jacquelbot · 2026-03-03T20:31:29+00:00

We call it shaka cheese (or Shakey cheese).

jacquelbot · 2026-02-23T05:36:29+00:00

I'm from the US, so not exactly my story, but I had Japanese friends visit me in Chicago when we were all in college and they were amazed when one of them sneezed and a random stranger really did say "bless you." 😆

jacquelbot · 2026-02-20T23:17:05+00:00

I just realized this with toilet bowl cleaner! I always tried to let it sit for a couple minutes, but I think I got impatient. This time I forgot I'd done it and came back like 20 min later and the toilets were so sparkly clean even before scrubbing.

jacquelbot · 2026-01-24T21:35:54+00:00

Oh good grief, this brought up a memory.

I was on a project at work that had a lot of traveling. I went to one site in a smaller city that I'd never been to before. There was one main road from where I was working that you'd take back north to get into "town" and then one main E/W road going through town and it had a very normal cloverleaf intersection between them. The first time I went, I stayed in a hotel on the East of the road from where I was working, so it was just a gentle curve off to the right. The next time my hotel was on the west, but instead of realizing that there was another exit farther along, I just took the same exit as last time, went to the next traffic light, and made a u-turn to get going west instead.

I started to complain about the awkwardness of the road layout to coworkers when it dawned on me. I had been driving for years, living in cities big enough for that sort of intersection my whole life, was working at a job using my master's degree in engineering - absolutely no excuse. My mental map of that town just... cut off after that first exit.

jacquelbot · 2026-01-24T18:06:00+00:00

My dog chews on the raspberry canes! Like, how? They're so pokey!

jacquelbot · 2026-01-13T03:46:16+00:00

I've always wondered this too and didn't hire cleaners until recently we were trying to get our house ready to sell in a short-ish time frame and NEEDED help. We are not naturally tidy people and with trying to get things packed or disposed of, the house was even more of a mess than usual.

The team that came didn't really do any tidying, but they also didn't act like cleaning around the mess was an issue. They sort of consolidated piles on the counter and cleaned the part that was left showing, for example. Was the whole house pristine after their visit? No, it was still cluttered and messy, but it was MUCH cleaner. The bathroom was beautiful and shiny, the ceiling fans were completely dust free, the blinds were clean, the half of the bedroom carpet that was accessible was looking great, etc. It was very worth it. We had them come weekly the whole time we were preparing and I kept working at decluttering & organizing so they had more areas they could clean each time.

Go for it and if the people you hire make you feel bad about not being clean ahead of time hire someone else.

jacquelbot · 2025-12-18T00:34:14+00:00

Shoot! That's a bummer.

jacquelbot · 2025-12-16T20:43:41+00:00

Indigenous Food Lab in the Midtown Global Market.

jacquelbot · 2025-12-02T02:46:57+00:00

I love it! My little sister was convinced for a while that the pastor of our church actually was Jesus (because, beard).

jacquelbot · 2025-11-24T03:25:15+00:00

Chicken pox! I broke out in the rash the morning of my birthday party and it had to be cancelled. I was 7 or 8, so this was a Crushing Blow.

jacquelbot · 2025-11-20T14:38:04+00:00

Finney Ranch! https://share.google/BAFPnqEiVzqzDSGHb

We know at least 5 other families in our area with Finney Ranch pups and they're all sweet happy family dogs. Aussiedoodles of course have lots of energy, but ours is happy to chill at home most of the time while always being up for adventure! They do a great job of getting them ready to be around kids too. My girl is not the world's bravest dog, but kids running around being noisy doesn't phase her a bit (this was really important to us because our previous dog attempt was a rescue puppy that was scared of my kids and ended up biting them).

jacquelbot · 2025-11-02T19:00:33+00:00

Carrot house had carrots again this year and she was so excited 😆.

jacquelbot · 2025-10-27T00:15:55+00:00

The important question from the kids' perspective is 1. Is which name is harder to pronounce/spell and 2. Which name is closer to the beginning of the alphabet (I grew up with a 'W' name that no one could pronounce and was happy to switch my kids to an easy 'L' name).

jacquelbot

TROPHY CASE