[Okraphobic ..what do you see in this stuff anyway?]

Oh, I love okra - I've never tried it raw though... I prefer fried, but have eaten it in soups/stews/gumbos, etc. as well as cooked (aka "slimy").

I grew up on it. My great-aunt in Tennessee used to make fried okra - she called them "little french fries". I asked for them every single time I saw her. :) I don't know exactly how she made them, just that they were breaded and crunchy and delicious. I've got a bag of breaded okra in my fridge, but am not up for deep frying, so I'm wondering if I could bake them instead...

nan

[The Grocery List]

Step 1) Plan out weekly menu for dinner

Step 2) Write out all necessary ingredients on separate page

Step 3) Cross out all things that are already in the house

Step 4) Re-write items remaining on list on another piece of paper

Step 5) Repeat for all lunch items

Step 6) Repeat for all breakfast items

Step 7) Scour cabinets for staples and paper goods running low

←

Hmm... perhaps I am neurotic too. I do steps 1-4, but usually don't plan anything for breakfast & lunch, except occasionally I'll figure in one recipe for me to take for lunch (Husband has a strange idea of what lunch is, and Toddler gets lunch at his daycare). Staples & paper goods are bought on a memory basis.

I'm probably the bad one about putting things back in the fridge almost empty... the annoyance I have is that Husband will get a great idea of what he wants to eat for dinner at the grocery after I've already made a plan. I try to remember for the following week, but that doesn't always happen.

nan

[Weight Watchers (Part 1)]

Southerners rejoice -- I just discovered grits are core!!! Northerners feel free to be appalled. I wonder if that makes polenta core as well (less the butter and parmagianno)...

Yep, polenta is core, thank goodness. I'm happy about the grits too - I'm going to try modifying a ham-grits casserole I tried a month or so ago to make it Core -- the only problem is the 3T of margarine. I'm thinking I may just leave it out and see what happens. In any case, I'll post the recipe once I've core-ized it. :)

I'm glad to find this thread! I'm fairly new to eGullet - I joined when Alton Brown was answering questions, and then promptly forgot to come back...

Anyway, I've been doing Weight Watchers for almost 18 months now and have lost about 60 lbs so far - 20 more to go to my official goal. I attend meetings - I don't think I could do it just online - I need that weekly meeting to keep me going. I'm just finishing my second week on core - I lost 1.4 lbs the first week, and we'll find out tonight how I did my second week - I don't expect as good of a weigh in this time because it's been a rough week.

Just wanted to post my introduction here...

nan

[Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 2)]

New here, but you can add in my 50 (not counting magazines, of course).

nan

[Teaching Children about Food]

Add me to the list of those who swore before having children that their child(ren) would not eat the standard kid fare.

My son (almost 3) is a fairly adventurous eater - he likes mussels, shrimp, grapefruit juice - things I would not have expected him to like. He likes to sample the dried spices I use in whatever I happen to be cooking that day. He's even more enthusiastic to try new things when he has helped prepare it in some fashion.

That being said, he still would live on mac & cheese (no blue box, though - we buy some other brand - Annie's I think ? especially the single serving variety) and hot dogs, both of which he was exposed to outside of our house.

I am proud to say that his only exposure to fast food was during a long drive with the extended family. Of course, it helps that my husband is not a fan of fast food.

nan