Merry Christmas...have some potatoes

[Mice]

And research points to poor nutrient leads to kids that have harder time learning.

See this is the beauty of her plan right? Kids not being able to learn because they are undernourished isn't a bug - it's a feature! Her kids don't need to learn - they only need to obey! No thought required!

Her kids don't need to be healthy - better to be undernourished and thin because thin means beautiful and as we all know - beautiful means God Loves You Best!

See it really it all does work for the Glory of God.

:angry-banghead:

[formergothardite]

What does her husband do? And how is he surviving on such sparse meals? He must eat while he is at work.

[emiliawasframed]

I saw a FB link on 100 crock-pot meals that use minimally processed (if any) ingredients. I didn't look too closely but it's from a frugal homemaking blog. It's so easy to find inexpensive, healthy, no-fuss meal plans online. Given all the pics she takes and posts, she could easily use that time to do some quick searches. :think:

Thanks for that recommendation. I've been in a bit of a crock-pot rut, and this Minnesota winter is set to last through April as usual :) That page looks great!

[fullmetalheart]

Thanks for that recommendation. I've been in a bit of a crock-pot rut, and this Minnesota winter is set to last through April as usual :) That page looks great!

It's a brutal winter even by Minnesota standards! :lol:

We sometimes did the "hot dog casserole" to make meals stretch. More often though, we'd add tuna and peas to our mac and cheese as it would feed us and usually left leftovers.

If she's shopping at Aldi, they don't sell meat for that much. I make a homemade chicken noodle soup in my crockpot that's fairly cheap (it's more expensive for me because I'm gluten free, but they don't have that problem) and feeds me for 3-4 meals. It's just a personal size crockpot but if you used a regular one? You could get many more meals out of that. Stews, chilis, etc are also not that expensive to make.

[bettertomarry]

I get the feeling that money isn't that tight for them right now, but she's determined to be Quiverfull and she's preparing to raise eleventy billion children on one income. I think she's frugal now mostly to show off her 'meal planning' and so she can buy cute kids' clothing.

[nausicaa]

I get the feeling that money isn't that tight for them right now, but she's determined to be Quiverfull and she's preparing to raise eleventy billion children on one income. I think she's frugal now mostly to show off her 'meal planning' and so she can buy cute kids' clothing.

Agreed. I couldn't find out what her husband does, but it seemed like her money saving techniques were more to get mroe money into the bank, not to make very little money stretch. She also talks about how they got a Dave Ramsey book and are reading it together. I suspect they are trying to pay off their mortgage and save up an emergency fund (something I actually respect them for, but I don't think your children should have to suffer through Depression-style rations for it. Beans and rice and some steamed brocolli seems like it would be pretty cheap and also nutritious).

[bookiewookie]

I was reading through her post on things to buy when you're expecting a baby and in it she mentions that she bought the kids' carseat on consignment and that it wasn't new. I don't have kids, so I might be totally wrong on this, but isn't the number one rule of carseats that you NEVER, EVER buy them used, particularly if you don't know the seller?

littlehouseinthehills.blogspot.ca/2013/12/expecting-baby-youll-probably-need.html

[bettertomarry]

Agreed. I couldn't find out what her husband does, but it seemed like her money saving techniques were more to get mroe money into the bank, not to make very little money stretch. She also talks about how they got a Dave Ramsey book and are reading it together. I suspect they are trying to pay off their mortgage and save up an emergency fund (something I actually respect them for, but I don't think your children should have to suffer through Depression-style rations for it. Beans and rice and some steamed brocolli seems like it would be pretty cheap and also nutritious).

To be fair she does write about cooking and eating beans for a lot of meals. She has terrible ideas about nutrition.

[formergothardite]

I was reading through her post on things to buy when you're expecting a baby and in it she mentions that she bought the kids' carseat on consignment and that it wasn't new. I don't have kids, so I might be totally wrong on this, but isn't the number one rule of carseats that you NEVER, EVER buy them used, particularly if you don't know the seller?

littlehouseinthehills.blogspot.ca/2013/12/expecting-baby-youll-probably-need.html

Yes it is. But it appears she isn't even sticking her girls in booster seats anymore so I don't think safety is a big priority for her.

[bettertomarry]

I don't think safety is a huge concern for her. But she did post (possibly after posters here mentioned it) that they weren't driving when the girls' were in the third-row seats and that the car seats were all in the 2nd rows.

littlehouseinthehills.blogspot.com/2013/12/merry-christmas-sunday.html

[formergothardite]

I don't think safety is a huge concern for her. But she did post (possibly after posters here mentioned it) that they weren't driving when the girls' were in the third-row seats and that the car seats were all in the 2nd rows.

littlehouseinthehills.blogspot.com/2013/12/merry-christmas-sunday.html

She must have read the concerns here and added that. The original way she worded it along with the picture made it seem like they were driving around like that. But since she obviously does read here hopefully she will stop buying used carseats from strangers.

[bettertomarry]

She must have read the concerns here and added that. The original way she worded it along with the picture made it seem like they were driving around like that. But since she obviously does read here hopefully she will stop buying used carseats from strangers.

I agree that she was alerted to concerns. She's also just posted that she has started recieving numerous Anonymous comments and that she will no longer be responding to them.

[Katydid]

What are tinned tomatoes? Canned? You don't put sugar in sauce. Between the meat and length of cooking time, it will be naturally sweet. I never heard of vinegar in sauce.

You add a pinch of sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. Not enough for the sauce to taste sweet, but enough for the acidity of the tomatoes to be slightly less noticeable.

[Katydid]

It's usually cut up hot dogs mixed with Mac and cheese. Which I've never gotten, why not just make hot dogs?

We ate that during our poorest days growing up. That or mac n cheese with spam. To be fair, my dad tried, but he didn't know how to cook. When we had more money, he had us eating baked chicken thighs, boiled potatoes or rice, and canned green beans almost every day. Not exactly high on variety, but there was a starch, protein, and vegetable at every meal. But when you could get mac n cheese for fifty cents a box and hot dogs for extremely cheap, and it would feed all of us, that's what he went with when there was very little money.

Honestly, as unhealthy as it is, it's still one of my favorite comfort meals. I hardly ever eat it, though.

[freethemall]

What are tinned tomatoes? Canned? You don't put sugar in sauce. Between the meat and length of cooking time, it will be naturally sweet. I never heard of vinegar in sauce.

Have you never had BBQ sauce before? I think the majority of sauces have vinegar and some kind of sugar in them, it's less for flavor and more for consistency. Nicer sauces use wine instead of vinegar, but it basically does the same thing.

She was most definitely alerted in that Christmas post, someone asked if she'd like to know she was being made fun of and she said she would like to know that. If you're reading Tricia, know that we're not talking about you to make fun of you, but because we're concerned both for the personal choices you are forcing onto your children and for the very problematic culture those choices are rooted in. You are not just a source of fun and entertainment here, in fact most of us see very serious issues with your blog that are taken lightly.

[Evil Feminist]

Okay, I just started reading this thread, but looking at the picture in her Post Christmas Post... UMMM THAT FREEZER IS FREAKING EMPTY!! Jeez! I kept my freezer full even when I was single living in my apartment. I ate out of it regularly, lots of veggie stir frys, cheap and healthy, fast and easy!! Not hard to add some chicken or beans for protein.

[Koala]

In one of the Christmas pictures they have some boots sitting directly in the baby's carseat. NASTY. There is no freaking telling what those things have stepped in.

[bookiewookie]

Isn't it amusing that the feminists here who she most likely claims wouldn't know anything about child raising and meal planning because we are off stealing jobs from the poor men could actually give her good advice on how to feed, dress and care for children on a budget? She is doing a hell of a bad job of it. Her priorities seem to be that her children are dressed in cute clothes(that are in style! She mentions that several times.) not that they are fed a balanced diet. Reading her menu makes me feel sad for her children. I did notice that they eat with her parents a lot. So hopefully the kids are getting a real meal there.

She talks about staying up really late buying stuff from Children's Place and then getting up the next morning and buying more stuff. This woman really has a shopping addiction. Just a week or so before she had gone to a consignment and spent $120 buying stuff. This isn't normal behavior especially from someone who can't afford to give her children seconds when it comes to meals.

THIS. If you read through her posts labelled feminism (littlehouseinthehills.blogspot.ca/search/label/feminism), she claims that she spent the years when she could have been in college learning how to be a housewife...apparently she was a pretty poor student if she spent four years doing nothing but that and still can't cook/serve nutritious meals/budget properly.

I'm one of those liberal, educated, feminists that she so disparages and I was already able to cook, clean, sew, knit, and balance a budget when I was half her age. Part of those skills I learned from my (atheist) parents, who believed that every child (regardless of gender) should be able to cook nutritious meals (every family member would cook at least one night a week), properly clean a house (we'd all pitch in every Saturday), mend clothing, and perform basic house maintenance tasks like changing a fuse or a car tire, among other things. Other skills, like managing a budget, balancing a checkbook, meal planning, knitting, sewing, embroidery, etc. I learned in public school. Yep, that's right, good old "ebil" public school taught me those important life skills.

One of the great things about college is that it allows young people to learn how to be independent and figure out how to be fully functional adults before they have to be responsible for kids. Fundies, on the other hand, rush straight from living with their parents to getting married and instantly starting a family and so they experience this learning curve at the expense of their children.

For instance, some college/grad students might live on nothing but Ramen for a year or two due to budgetary restrictions or dietary preferences,* but eventually grow out of this phase...it's not ideal, healthwise, but this action is only affecting themselves. Tricia, on the other hand, feeds herself and her kids nothing but carbs all day long (cream of wheat and Bisquick, anyone?) because she hasn't had time to grow out of this phase before kids came along. Not only is this affecting her health, but it is also impacting the health of her children - definitely not good considering that early childhood nutrition has long-term health and developmental impacts.

*I used to joke that I could have written my MA on pasta and cheese since I spent so much time eating it during the dissertation-writing process.

[TrueRebel1]

Has anyone read her new flouncy post, "Story Of My Life: An Explanation"? ;)

[fullmetalheart]

That was special.

[lizziesmom]

It kills me that these bloggers put themselves out there but have such thin skin. If you're going to post on the internet you're going to get criticism. That's who we are as a country. As Harry Truman said "If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen."

[formergothardite]

Has anyone read her new flouncy post, "Story Of My Life: An Explanation"? ;)

No one criticized her here for doing anything biblical. Spending tons of money on clothing while limiting food isn't godly. And really, if you are going to take the time to write out a menu to show people what you eat, then why would you leave out the protein, the veggies and the fruit? Not even throw in a little star that says, *We eat a form of protein, fresh fruits and veggies each day but I didn't list them? I think it is because she really did serve her kids half a serving of cream of wheat for breakfast, biscuits and orange slices for lunch and pancakes and orange slices for dinner. I don't think she gave them any sort of protein or veggies along with that.