Erika Shupe *leer smirk* Large Families on Purpose Part 6

[princessmahina]

5 hours ago, sawasdee said:

That recipe sounds absolutely disgusting .

And does Campbell's sponsor a fundie cookbook?

Angel Chicken isn't a fundie recipe. I read this food blog often (and not because the recipes look good) and it's not fundie- it has a recipe for the same thing, as well as some other truly horrendous looking things. Like a pea casserole. 

[Chelio93]

On March 29, 2016 at 6:40 PM, Hisey said:

SNIP

Erika, in contrast, gives her kids the bare minimum and doesn't seem to feel bad at all. Meanwhile, she claims the best things for herself. She takes the best bedroom in the house for her and Bob. She eats Olive Garden while convincing herself the kids prefer popcorn. Her children look pinched and hungry because food is not a priority for her. When Erika cares about an issue, however, she is a big spender. Her teens get expensive hair products, for example, because looks are important to Erika. She buys a dog (I doubt Happy is a pound puppy) because having a purebred Shitzu was important to her. What's important to Spencer, Tyler and Anna Maria, however, is barely on her radar.

This is what irritates me.  The last gift giving holiday was Christmas.  In three months, there was not a single thing that her children needed or maybe even wanted?

I am frugal and do not purchase anything that is not on sale without some kind of coupon or online code.  If my kids need something and it is not an "emergency" item, I buy it on sale and will hold it back to give as a gift or put in an Easter basket.  It may not be the most exciting gift ever but it is personalized.

It is not about how much I spent but that I recognize my children as individuals.

[Hera]

6 hours ago, sawasdee said:

That recipe sounds absolutely disgusting .

And does Campbell's sponsor a fundie cookbook?

Mushroom soup, cream cheese, chives, Italian seasoning (presumably, oregano, parsley, basil)? I can't imagine how that tastes. Again, as is often the case with these disgusting recipes, you could just combine the chicken, homemade tomato sauce or jarred spaghetti sauce and some fresh oregano, basil, parsley and red pepper and let it cook. Serve over pasta and top with mozarella and it's chicken parm in the same amount of time. Less sodium, less fat, less goo, still with cheese and still quick and easy.

[desertvixen]

@Hisey, I think you hit it exactly.

Quote

Erika, in contrast, gives her kids the bare minimum and doesn't seem to feel bad at all. Meanwhile, she claims the best things for herself. She takes the best bedroom in the house for her and Bob. She eats Olive Garden while convincing herself the kids prefer popcorn.

Is it because these people's parents did the same thing?  I mean, I treat myself quite a bit, but there is nothing my daughter NEEDS that she doesn't have.

[anjulibai]

Erika's mother used to make Easter baskets for all of her grandchildren. Pretty nice ones, too. I imagine she gave individual baskets to her own children. So Erika likely got way more from her own mother than she gives her own children. 

[older than allosaurs]

7 hours ago, THERetroGamerNY said:

Beer flavored jellybeans?? You basically are consuming Satan's liquid damnation in bean form, AND violating the draconian Shupe jellybean law!

I volunteer at the food bank, and a couple years ago we got a big donation, many many boxes, of craft-beer infused chocolate caramels. Someone put a lot of work into this--dark chocolate with a Belgian style fruity beer, semisweet chocolate with IPA, I forget what else. We can't distribute anything with alcohol to the clients, so we volunteers could take as many as we wanted home. Pretty much everyone who knows me in real life got beer chocolates that Christmas.

They were definitely beery. They didn't taste bad exactly, but there was some definite tastebud dissonance going on with them.

[Apricot]

10 hours ago, anjulibai said:

Erika's mother used to make Easter baskets for all of her grandchildren. Pretty nice ones, too. I imagine she gave individual baskets to her own children. So Erika likely got way more from her own mother than she gives her own children. 

That's what really annoys me about Erika and a lot of fundies actually.  They had good experiences and things that their own children are being deprived of.  When I think back to my childhood, I want to give my children everything I had and more.  We had a few wonderful traditions - easter egg hunt being one of them and I would never want my kids to miss out on that.  The thrill of finding eggs, excitement at trying to get more than my siblings and then the counting at the end to see who had the most.  It was wonderful, no one felt hard done by for getting less because we weren't deprived of chocolate so were all quite happy to share most of it once we'd had our very favourite thing!

[TShirtsLongSkirts]

6 minutes ago, Apricot said:

That's what really annoys me about Erika and a lot of fundies actually.  They had good experiences and things that their own children are being deprived of.  [snip]

This makes me think, does Erika's mum read her blog? Does she approve? 

[princessmahina]

1 hour ago, TShirtsLongSkirts said:

This makes me think, does Erika's mum read her blog? Does she approve? 

If she doesn't, I bet she keeps it to herself. I doubt she wants to go the way of Bob's parents. 

12 hours ago, Hera said:

Mushroom soup, cream cheese, chives, Italian seasoning (presumably, oregano, parsley, basil)? I can't imagine how that tastes. Again, as is often the case with these disgusting recipes, you could just combine the chicken, homemade tomato sauce or jarred spaghetti sauce and some fresh oregano, basil, parsley and red pepper and let it cook. Serve over pasta and top with mozarella and it's chicken parm in the same amount of time. Less sodium, less fat, less goo, still with cheese and still quick and easy.

But why would you do that when it doesn't involve canned soup?? I'm pretty sure that's a food group for these people.

[Zola]

20 hours ago, Koala said:

The beer Jelly Bellys made me think of this game:

http://www.amazon.com/Jelly-Belly-Boozled-Spinner-3-5oz/dp/B002QGLFXM/ref=sr_1_1_s_it?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1459365708&sr=1-1&keywords=bean+boozled+jelly+beans

I hope posting that link is okay. 

A family friend gave that game to my son for his birthday, and I joined in for a round. I never got the jelly bean that tasted good - it was baby wipes instead of coconut, boogers instead of pear, and toothpaste instead of berry blue. It was a really big hit with the kids, though, and they truly delighted in making each other take another turn. 

[mango_fandango]

8 hours ago, Apricot said:

That's what really annoys me about Erika and a lot of fundies actually.  They had good experiences and things that their own children are being deprived of.  When I think back to my childhood, I want to give my children everything I had and more.  We had a few wonderful traditions - easter egg hunt being one of them and I would never want my kids to miss out on that.  The thrill of finding eggs, excitement at trying to get more than my siblings and then the counting at the end to see who had the most.  It was wonderful, no one felt hard done by for getting less because we weren't deprived of chocolate so were all quite happy to share most of it once we'd had our very favourite thing!

It just makes me wonder what the hell happened to make these people (eg Erika, DQ etc) to abandon their old lifestyles and go completely crazy. There are things we do in our family I can totally see doing with my own future kids. What the hell happens to these people to fall for fundieism? It's not such a problem for men, but women... I don't get it.

[feministxtian]

3 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

It just makes me wonder what the hell happened to make these people (eg Erika, DQ etc) to abandon their old lifestyles and go completely crazy. There are things we do in our family I can totally see doing with my own future kids. What the hell happens to these people to fall for fundieism? It's not such a problem for men, but women... I don't get it.

I think fundie-ism appeals to people who can't deal with grey areas in life. Everything is divided into good/bad, black/white. Some may do it because that box provides them with structure and they feel that without it they'd be out of control (Erika). When you feel out of control, the easiest way to deal with it is to attempt to control more and more. 

I don't really understand it. I couldn't do it. I can't do it. I prefer my sort of free-form faith. Yes, I'm a Christian but I don't like a helluva lot of rules or bullshit...

[mango_fandango]

13 minutes ago, feministxtian said:

I think fundie-ism appeals to people who can't deal with grey areas in life. Everything is divided into good/bad, black/white. Some may do it because that box provides them with structure and they feel that without it they'd be out of control (Erika). When you feel out of control, the easiest way to deal with it is to attempt to control more and more. 

I don't really understand it. I couldn't do it. I can't do it. I prefer my sort of free-form faith. Yes, I'm a Christian but I don't like a helluva lot of rules or bullshit...

That's true. Erika says in her blog bio that she is "very black and white in most things". It's just a bit sad, really. Especially because Erika had a job and a degree. It sounds as though Bob and her were already religious when they married (she mentions courting, not dating Bob) but just decided to ramp things up, like they wore pants until fairly recently (until Tyler was born which was only seven years ago).

[16strong]

42 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

That's true. Erika says in her blog bio that she is "very black and white in most things". It's just a bit sad, really. Especially because Erika had a job and a degree. It sounds as though Bob and her were already religious when they married (she mentions courting, not dating Bob) but just decided to ramp things up, like they wore pants until fairly recently (until Tyler was born which was only seven years ago).

And she didn't switch to skirts-only until finding the girls loose-enough pants became a hassle for her. It had nothing to do with religion. She herself said she didn't see anything in the bible to support skirts-only. Once again, if it inconveniences Erika, it must go. Black=inconvenience to Erika. White= pleasing to Erika. The only time God factors in is when she doesn't have a good enough excuse and needs someone to back her up. Thanks for being such a faithful servant and always agreeing with Erika, God.

[feministxtian]

1 hour ago, mango_fandango said:

Erika says in her blog bio that she is "very black and white in most things

So am I...I LIKE the idea of black and white...but it's not realistic. Too many grey areas. I tend to be very logical and literal (thank Saint Asperger's). But...I cannot force my mind into that much of a box...even WITH medication.

[THERetroGamerNY]

I noticed when I was a kid I had a very black and white attitude towards most things. Mostly because I was just repeating what my parents told me... Took me a long time to break out of that.

World is fairly gray to me now.

[princessmahina]

Black and white thinking is easy. It's either right or it isn't. Grey complicates things. Fundies like Erika don't want complications, they want things to be easy and straightforward. Grey makes you think, which is something else they don't want. 

[feministxtian]

5 hours ago, princessmahina said:

Black and white thinking is easy. It's either right or it isn't. Grey complicates things. Fundies like Erika don't want complications, they want things to be easy and straightforward. Grey makes you think, which is something else they don't want. 

Yes...grey makes for complications. Admittedly, life was easier when I lived in the cocoon of "traditional Catholicism" but then shit happened and the little cocoon didn't work anymore. Leaving it was hard...but worth it. 

[Eternalbluepearl]

It looks like the Shupes have never treated easter like spring christmas. It's just candy in a basket and then an Easter egg hunt later in the day. Which I guess is fine considering some familied don't do Easter at all. We have seen that Erika goes to Value Village weekly and picks stuff up the family needs then. Buying everything at a thrift store isn't my thing, but thank the Lord above, there aren't 11 people plus pets in my family. 

[teachergirl]

and the hell that the Shupe kids live in continues...she had to ask her readers if the "Little Rascals" was family friendly and suitable????

. Dear lord, I can't imagine living that way in which every aspect of your life has to be screened, anaylzed, controlled....Free the Shupe 9!!!!

[mango_fandango]

"review sights" Oh Erika...

And she's given her final verdict:

Quote

 It was full of kissing and flirting with kindergartners, full of pranks on other people, full of foolish behavior, the entire movie treating boys and girls as yucky to one another... Ya. Not for us.

 

Get the hell over yourself. She asked for reviews and even thanked people for recommendations but then was all like "well I didn't have time to check what you recommended". Why ask, then? Plus, if you're gonna get a movie like "Little Rascals", it does not sound like the kind of thing Erika would like. Pranks, kissing... if she doesn't like the kind of stuff, why buy a movie called "Little Rascals"??

[refugee]

On 3/29/2016 at 7:13 AM, crawfishgirl said:

I actually bought most of my kids' Easter candy after Valentine's Day when it was 50% off.  I didn't buy anything with hearts on it, but they were wrapped in red and pink instead of pastel colors.  My kids didn't notice the colors.  I supplemented it with some chocolate eggs and bunnies, so it still looked holiday-appropriate.

Well, I went out and splurged and spent too much on $1 baskets at Michaels and a bunch of stuff to fill them -- it adds up... And then while in search of chocolate bunnies to put in each basket (why couldn't I find them at my usual stores? I looked and looked, and I found scads of them *after* easter but none a week before), I wandered into See's Candies and saw they had the cutest easter "baskets" and bought one of those for each kid, with the *good* chocolate and none of that PGPR crap that you get in bags of commercial chocolate these days. (Even Hershey's kisses now, I think.) And I picked up cute little cuddly bunnies (plushies), one for each.

They loved them. Was going to sneak them into their rooms and leave them by their bedsides for them to wake up to a surprise, but the dog kept stealing the bunnies and they woke up to me scolding the dog and putting the bunnies back (yes, this happened in two different bedrooms -- when I took away one bunny and returned it, the dog went to another bedroom to steal another bunny. never a dull moment around here.)

So we are re-purposing the full-price candy I bought, putting it in the candy dishes that I keep out for our high-metabolism people who seem to need to eat 5,000 calories a day just not to lose weight. I am not one of them.

On 3/31/2016 at 6:34 PM, princessmahina said:

Angel Chicken isn't a fundie recipe. I read this food blog often (and not because the recipes look good) and it's not fundie- it has a recipe for the same thing, as well as some other truly horrendous looking things. Like a pea casserole. 

One of my teens said wistfully the other day, the only thing the teen misses about the old church is the cheesy potato dish that appeared at potlucks. It was basically cream of cheddar soup, cream of something else (celery?), hashbrowns, shredded cheddar, and sour cream.

I recreated it as best I could (substituting "scratch" ingredients for canned soup), but it doesn't quite have the same processed-food panache.

[sawasdee]

 

13 minutes ago, refugee said:

Well, I went out and splurged and spent too much on $1 baskets at Michaels and a bunch of stuff to fill them -- it adds up... And then while in search of chocolate bunnies to put in each basket (why couldn't I find them at my usual stores? I looked and looked, and I found scads of them *after* easter but none a week before), I wandered into See's Candies and saw they had the cutest easter "baskets" and bought one of those for each kid, with the *good* chocolate and none of that PGPR crap that you get in bags of commercial chocolate these days. (Even Hershey's kisses now, I think.) And I picked up cute little cuddly bunnies (plushies), one for each.

They loved them. Was going to sneak them into their rooms and leave them by their bedsides for them to wake up to a surprise, but the dog kept stealing the bunnies and they woke up to me scolding the dog and putting the bunnies back (yes, this happened in two different bedrooms -- when I took away one bunny and returned it, the dog went to another bedroom to steal another bunny. never a dull moment around here.)

So we are re-purposing the full-price candy I bought, putting it in the candy dishes that I keep out for our high-metabolism people who seem to need to eat 5,000 calories a day just not to lose weight. I am not one of them.

One of my teens said wistfully the other day, the only thing the teen misses about the old church is the cheesy potato dish that appeared at potlucks. It was basically cream of cheddar soup, cream of something else (celery?), hashbrowns, shredded cheddar, and sour cream.

I recreated it as best I could (substituting "scratch" ingredients for canned soup), but it doesn't quite have the same processed-food panache.

I am SO GLAD you did this - no matter your age, stockings and baskets are great!

And as for the bolded....my arteries and blood pressure are screaming in terror just having read that

[refugee]

On 3/31/2016 at 3:03 PM, feministxtian said:

I think fundie-ism appeals to people who can't deal with grey areas in life. Everything is divided into good/bad, black/white. Some may do it because that box provides them with structure and they feel that without it they'd be out of control (Erika). When you feel out of control, the easiest way to deal with it is to attempt to control more and more. 

I don't really understand it. I couldn't do it. I can't do it. I prefer my sort of free-form faith. Yes, I'm a Christian but I don't like a helluva lot of rules or bullshit...

I think I fell into it because my parents were such control freaks. I needed structure, and independent adult life was incredibly difficult for someone with little to no training in decision making.

I think of the few bright spots from my childhood (the christmas stockings, the easter basket hunt, halloween trick-or-treating) that fundiedom denied my children, and I grieve. Yet they also got a whole lot more affection and less controlling behavior from me than I experienced, growing up (I was hands-off to a fault, I think, but they seemed to have turned out okay), so I guess that's something.

[mango_fandango]

3 hours ago, sawasdee said:

 

I am SO GLAD you did this - no matter your age, stockings and baskets are great!

And as for the bolded....my arteries and blood pressure are screaming in terror just having read that

Hell yeah! I still get Christmas stockings. Maybe I'll get the future Mr Mango Fandango some kind of stocking thing, filled with mini aftershaves or whatever plus silly novelty gifts.