Dillards 70: Their Behavior Is Always Pretty Weird

[Pete Pickles]

I “cooked” two Jillard recipes this week. I feel bloated and half-dead, but I took one for the team and you’re welcome. ?

First up was the creamy chicken and tortillas in the crock pot. Two cans of soup, which plopped right out of the cans. (I don’t cook with these so I wasn’t prepared for that.) I used actual cooked chicken breasts, which I then shredded. I assume “cooked and cubed” means she uses the canned chicken that appears to be cut into cubes. Bleh. Salsa verde. Sour cream.  Check. The flavor of this one wasn’t bad. I’d consider the soups to be just bulk to an otherwise scant dish. (Seriously, maybe beans or rice would make more sense and still be cheap...?) I skipped the shredded cheese. It seemed unnecessary. The soup + droopy tortilla strips made this seem like a bastardized attempt at Latin chicken and dumplings. Served with chips because it seemed too soupy to put on tortillas. Tolerable. My #besthubbyever did not go back for seconds, which says a lot because he eats A LOT. I truly didn’t mind this one if I was willing to put health and nutrition aside. 

Next I made Derick’s spaghetti pie. Again, a little tweaking was made to the recipe. I couldn’t bring myself to mix tomato paste and water and call it spaghetti-anything, so I used about half a jar of spaghetti sauce instead. (Nothing fancy, but I got all gourmet and added a few spices. Sorry, Jillard. I did skip the red wine I always add to my spaghetti sauce because I didn’t think it was true to the Duggar standard to use alcohol.) The sour cream layer didn’t make much sense. I’m not sure why it’s there. The shredded mozzarella cheese on top added a chewy dimension but otherwise it tasted like spaghetti noodles and sauce from a jar, except the noodles were all stuck together. #besthubbyever didn’t rave by any means, but went back for more and said he’d eat it again. 

I would never be able to eat this way for even a week. I’m not sure how Jill keeps her slender figure but I’m a liiiiiittle jealous, I must admit. And to have been two very different dishes, I’m surprised by how similar they tasted, which I guess is just because they were both bland. I do wonder, since Jill was one of the ones in on the “Erin can’t cook” joke, just HOW bad Erin’s cooking actually was. I also have to offer major props to Erin because when we see her cooking on BUB, it always looks tasty and nutritionally balanced, which appears to be something she has had to learn on her own and probably not in the IBLP homeschool curriculum. 

[MarblesMom]

3 hours ago, Rachel333 said:

This kind of stuff makes me really depressed about the prospect of aging as a woman.

I would be depressed, looking over my last three passport photos, but I realize THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.  We freaking age, we get age spots, we wrinkle, we have cheek folds.

Unless you are a Botox maniac, this is going to happen.  Look at pics of Grandma or Mom in her late years, if you cannot see her in person.

Who cares? We earned every wrinkle, and enjoyed the hell out of each laugh line.

[feministxtian]

6 minutes ago, MarblesMom said:

I would be depressed, looking over my last three passport photos, but I realize THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.  We freaking age, we get age spots, we wrinkle, we have cheek folds.

Unless you are a Botox maniac, this is going to happen.  Look at pics of Grandma or Mom in her late years, if you cannot see her in person.

Who cares? We earned every wrinkle, and enjoyed the hell out of each laugh line.

My most recent driver's license and military ID pictures are pretty bad. License, well, I wasn't planning on getting my license done that day but as it happened I had all the paperwork necessary. Greasy hair, ugly shirt. Military ID isn't much better. Work badge, still not great. I don't photograph well, nor does the reflection in the mirror do me any favors. I have pictures of me in high school and when my kids were small...same face, just thinner. Still not worth writing home about. My beautiful daughter claims to look just like me, just more petite...can't see it. She's GORGEOUS. But, like everyone else, she's no longer 18. I think we (me and my kids) are aging like my father...who looked pretty damn good right up until the end. The mother started falling apart at 50 or so. 

I need to pull my shit together and go color my hair, but since my graying pattern seems to be following my father's, at the forehead and temples, I can put it off and it looks, well, not too bad. 

[fluffernutter]

41 minutes ago, Pete Pickles said:

I “cooked” two Jillard recipes this week. I feel bloated and half-dead, but I took one for the team and you’re welcome. ?

First up was the creamy chicken and tortillas in the crock pot. Two cans of soup, which plopped right out of the cans. (I don’t cook with these so I wasn’t prepared for that.) I used actual cooked chicken breasts, which I then shredded. I assume “cooked and cubed” means she uses the canned chicken that appears to be cut into cubes. Bleh. Salsa verde. Sour cream.  Check. The flavor of this one wasn’t bad. I’d consider the soups to be just bulk to an otherwise scant dish. (Seriously, maybe beans or rice would make more sense and still be cheap...?) I skipped the shredded cheese. It seemed unnecessary. The soup + droopy tortilla strips made this seem like a bastardized attempt at Latin chicken and dumplings. Served with chips because it seemed too soupy to put on tortillas. Tolerable. My #besthubbyever did not go back for seconds, which says a lot because he eats A LOT. I truly didn’t mind this one if I was willing to put health and nutrition aside. 

Next I made Derick’s spaghetti pie. Again, a little tweaking was made to the recipe. I couldn’t bring myself to mix tomato paste and water and call it spaghetti-anything, so I used about half a jar of spaghetti sauce instead. (Nothing fancy, but I got all gourmet and added a few spices. Sorry, Jillard. I did skip the red wine I always add to my spaghetti sauce because I didn’t think it was true to the Duggar standard to use alcohol.) The sour cream layer didn’t make much sense. I’m not sure why it’s there. The shredded mozzarella cheese on top added a chewy dimension but otherwise it tasted like spaghetti noodles and sauce from a jar, except the noodles were all stuck together. #besthubbyever didn’t rave by any means, but went back for more and said he’d eat it again. 

I would never be able to eat this way for even a week. I’m not sure how Jill keeps her slender figure but I’m a liiiiiittle jealous, I must admit. And to have been two very different dishes, I’m surprised by how similar they tasted, which I guess is just because they were both bland. I do wonder, since Jill was one of the ones in on the “Erin can’t cook” joke, just HOW bad Erin’s cooking actually was. I also have to offer major props to Erin because when we see her cooking on BUB, it always looks tasty and nutritionally balanced, which appears to be something she has had to learn on her own and probably not in the IBLP homeschool curriculum. 

Rufus Bless you for taking one for the team and trying them out. They sound pretty much like I thought. She needs to follow some blogs or get a cookbook or something. 

[luv2laugh]

I want to change the subject back to food or something because I feel bad for projecting my own insecurities (on my frown lines) by bringing it up. 

I honestly don’t pick on Jill for her food. I don’t think her food always looks appetizing but to be honest, mine wouldn’t either. I think it’s great that her kids are getting a good meal and what she is cooking is better than cold cereal for dinner. 

I enjoy picking on Derick though. I think that Jill and Derick are on a tight budget with him in school and no longer being on the show. I feel bad for what he must put her through. Derick seems like a real shit starter and someone who enjoys stirring the pot.

I wonder what his law school classmates think about him and wish some would join here.

Also I read Derick’s Black Friday tweet. I think it’s mean-spirited and condescending.  He is making fun of families and people just having a good time for one day. It comes across as someone who’s a miserable Grinch over the prospect of people enjoying themselves and not someone who cares about how corrupted companies treat their employees.

No wonder Jill always has to say he’s the best hubby ever. He seems really ugly on the inside and I wonder if deep down, Jill thinks he is too.

Also, has anyone here tried Jill’s recipes? I actually might. Maybe I will use fresh mushrooms instead of canned though.

[bella8050]

 

On the topic of aging,..anyone here have tattoos? I have several and the first damn thing some people say about my tats is "but what about when you're 80 and wrinkly and your skin is sagging?". My response has become that if I'm lucky enough to make it 80 and am mentally present, I highly doubt I'm gonna care about my faded and possibly droopy tattoos.

That applies to wrinkles and scars as well. I had bilateral knee replacements done last year...before the surgery I was nervous about the scarring, but after dealing with rehab and everything else that went into recovery, I have no issues with the scars. I kinda love them actually because they're a sign of me getting my life back. I was rocking above the knee dresses all summer long and ready to give a lesson to anyone who had something negative to say about it. 

I still have uses with aging, for fertilty reasons and for realizing that time in general is ticking away. Besides those things I am all about age bringing more confidence/less fucks to give.

ETA: @feministxtian I think most people have less than flattering ID pics. I just renewed my license and had to go to the DMV for it because I had changed addresses, I was hoping to get a better pic out of it but nope...after 2 tries part of me wanted to say keep the old one.  

[SuperNova]

15 minutes ago, bella8050 said:

On the topic of aging,..anyone here have tattoos? I have several and the first damn thing some people say about my tats is "but what about when you're 80 and wrinkly and your skin is sagging?". My response has become that if I'm lucky enough to make it 80 and am mentally present, I highly doubt I'm gonna care about my faded and possibly droopy tattoos.

I do and I don't give a rat's hat what anyone thinks of them, not now and certainly not in another 40 years. I'm 39 and I'm already out of f*cks to give. Same with gray hair, I'm just letting it happen. I wear it to my waist and I kinda like my white streak. As Mr. Nova says, why delay the inevitable?

My mom on the other hand is incredibly vain. So much so that she cant stand me, her youngest child, getting older. She bought me 6 sessions of micro-dermabrasion and a ton of expensive creams for mothers day. I wouldn't bother on my own but since they were a gift I enjoyed every one of them. And yes, my skin looks very fresh so Mom is happy.

[PigtailHeadband]

13 minutes ago, bella8050 said:

On the topic of aging,..anyone here have tattoos? I have several and the first damn thing some people say about my tats is "but what about when you're 80 and wrinkly and your skin is sagging?". My response has become that if I'm lucky enough to make it 80 and am mentally present, I highly doubt I'm gonna care about my faded and possibly droopy tattoos.

Me, pick me! I’m 34 and just got my 6th tattoo and have this exact outlook. This is the same opinion I hear over and over...  I love them now and they’re either going to look bad ass as hell later or I’m just going to be happy to be alive 

[SuperNova]

@bella8050 and @PigtailHeadband we're gonna be the coolest seniors in the old folks home.

[mango_fandango]

I don’t like smiling for photos. The smile just looks so fake and I look awkward as fuck. Forced smiles never look great, I look better if it’s candid.

[bella8050]

Yes @SuperNova and @PigtailHeadband!! We will be the cool bad asses in the retirement home. My closest friend and I (who also has tats) have already made a pat to move into the same community when the time comes. I also have roped in my cousin who lives near by who has commissioned her niece to smuggle in wine to us. 

I'm not a mom yet but one of the things I look forward to in the future is embarassing my grandkids as the tattooed granny. 

[nastyhobbitses]

Re: Passport/ID photos: I recently had to renew my passport, and I was determined to have a really, really good photo. So I did full-on Instagram glam makeup, did my hair all nice, wore a cute dress, and went and got my photos done at a place that did US-compliant passport photos. I walked into the embassy with my glamour shots...and then they told me that my hair was covering too much of my face (bitch I have long bangs wtf do you want) and I had to redo them in the photo booth. Well, the photo booth refused to work for like 5 tries and way more money than I hoped to spend on photo booth photos, and so the final, compliant product was me with my hair slicked back (which makes me look awful because I have a Megamind five-head) and a facial expression somewhere in between Resting Bitch Face and "I am staring into the abyss", which I guess is a good enough match for how I look at the airport, but STILL, I spent all that time getting an actually good photo of me and now my passport looks terrible, and will look terrible for the next ten years. 

[luv2laugh]

35 minutes ago, SuperNova said:

My mom on the other hand is incredibly vain. So much so that she cant stand me, her youngest child, getting older. She bought me 6 sessions of micro-dermabrasion and a ton of expensive creams for mothers day. I wouldn't bother on my own but since they were a gift I enjoyed every one of them. And yes, my skin looks very fresh so Mom is happy.

Sounds like my mom. I hope to instill a great deal of confidence if I have a daughter someday. 

I was realizing how companies have been profiting off of women’s insecurites for a long time and I hope a revolution comes soon on not taking it anymore. 

[MarblesMom]

1 hour ago, luv2laugh said:

I enjoy picking on Derick though.

I really don't enjoy picking on anyone.

Some people just put so much out there, though....

[Shadoewolf]

I have 5 and so far they don't look too bad. My tribal dragon across my back is a little faded but still looks ok. Getting my Harley Quinn one removed next year though. It's not well done at all and seeing as Hubby and I are divorcing I no longer need it since we're no longer a set. (He has a Joker in the same style). And all of them have meaning or they wouldn't have been done in the first place. My newest one is only 6 months old! And I just turned 39!

[fundieundies]

4 hours ago, Pete Pickles said:

I “cooked” two Jillard recipes this week. I feel bloated and half-dead, but I took one for the team and you’re welcome. ?

First up was the creamy chicken and tortillas in the crock pot. Two cans of soup, which plopped right out of the cans. (I don’t cook with these so I wasn’t prepared for that.) I used actual cooked chicken breasts, which I then shredded. I assume “cooked and cubed” means she uses the canned chicken that appears to be cut into cubes. Bleh. Salsa verde. Sour cream.  Check. The flavor of this one wasn’t bad. I’d consider the soups to be just bulk to an otherwise scant dish. (Seriously, maybe beans or rice would make more sense and still be cheap...?) I skipped the shredded cheese. It seemed unnecessary. The soup + droopy tortilla strips made this seem like a bastardized attempt at Latin chicken and dumplings. Served with chips because it seemed too soupy to put on tortillas. Tolerable. My #besthubbyever did not go back for seconds, which says a lot because he eats A LOT. I truly didn’t mind this one if I was willing to put health and nutrition aside. 

Next I made Derick’s spaghetti pie. Again, a little tweaking was made to the recipe. I couldn’t bring myself to mix tomato paste and water and call it spaghetti-anything, so I used about half a jar of spaghetti sauce instead. (Nothing fancy, but I got all gourmet and added a few spices. Sorry, Jillard. I did skip the red wine I always add to my spaghetti sauce because I didn’t think it was true to the Duggar standard to use alcohol.) The sour cream layer didn’t make much sense. I’m not sure why it’s there. The shredded mozzarella cheese on top added a chewy dimension but otherwise it tasted like spaghetti noodles and sauce from a jar, except the noodles were all stuck together. #besthubbyever didn’t rave by any means, but went back for more and said he’d eat it again. 

I would never be able to eat this way for even a week. I’m not sure how Jill keeps her slender figure but I’m a liiiiiittle jealous, I must admit. And to have been two very different dishes, I’m surprised by how similar they tasted, which I guess is just because they were both bland. I do wonder, since Jill was one of the ones in on the “Erin can’t cook” joke, just HOW bad Erin’s cooking actually was. I also have to offer major props to Erin because when we see her cooking on BUB, it always looks tasty and nutritionally balanced, which appears to be something she has had to learn on her own and probably not in the IBLP homeschool curriculum. 

Oh boy, good for you for making them and keeping it down!! I'll be honest, I've thought of making tater tot casserole as an experiment. I've never made a casserole but I like all the ingredients separately (full discolsure: i've never had canned mushroom soup) so it shouldn't be too bad all together? It's exam time for and I've been looking for meals I can just toss together quickly and this casserole seems to do the trick. Rufus bless me as I prepare for this journey

[Rachel333]

My grandfather was heavily tattooed from his years in the navy during WWII, so tattoos have never seemed like just a young person thing to me. He did regret some of his tattoos, like one of a scantily clad woman who danced when he flexed his calf. 

[Sops2]

Why not someting like baked potatoes with either tuna filling, egg mayonnaise or coleslaw. The texture alone of some of these recipes is very cloying- Something crisp or crunchy in the way of vegetable would be good,  but then again perhaps Derick has difficulty in chewing these.

[SapphireSlytherin]

I have tattoos and plans for more.

 

Re:  Passport photos. My current passport (which I have to use for the next 7 years, unless I fill it up (which I'm working on... lol) has a HORRENDOUS photo of me. It was taken after an unfortunate hair-coloring event, following the "just cut it all one length and get it over with while I'm growing out the worst haircut ever" cut that is only marginally different than a bowl cut.

 

I've had more than one passport control person look at the passport, look at me, look at the passport, squint at me, squint at the passport, hold the passport beside my head.... It's THAT bad.

 

When I look at pics of my grandmothers or great-grandmothers when they were around 50, they're all wearing frumpy house dresses, orthopedic shoes, stockings (rolled down around the ankle), and have the super-tight blue-tinted curly old-lady hair. I think I look pretty damn good compared to them. lol

 

And I'm aging like my dad's mom - which bothers me more than it should because she was the nastiest, meanest, most hateful person.   

[Iamtheway]

In Sweden we have to take the passport photos in a special machine at the police station and I don’t know what the machine does to those photos but people come out uuuglyyy. 

My last photo was so bad I was ashamed to show it to people so I made a real effort on the new one and it is a little better but not good at all. I have no illusions about my looks (fat but fabulous on a good day, usually pretty avarage) but I know I look better then that photo. 

I take comfort in the fact that my sister, that is one of the pretties women I’ve ever met (such unfair genetics), looks like a drugged up homeless woman twice her age in hers. 

[melon]

I don't think I'm photogenic,at all. I also have the resting bitch face.Can I tell you how tiresome it is to have people say or ask"What's wrong??" "Why don't you smile etc"..no wonder I hate having my picture taken.

If I smile,I look like I'm three sheets in the wind,if I don't ,I look as if I am about to burst into tears.I can't win,either way.

I have a passport,when I was fifteen,actually it's one of the very few photos of me that isn't too bad.

[Photograph 51]

Re Black Friday: No way would I enter a store on Black Friday, and I feel sorry for anyone who works in retail on that day.  But that's because I'm on the autistic spectrum, so I would be going into one meltdown after the other from sensory overload.  I actually stocked up on everything i would need except perishables like produce before Thanksgiving, so I could avoid stores until New Year's.  It's just too stressful to go into a store during Christmas season.  Especially the stores with Salvation Army ringers.  I know it's for a good cause, but the ringringringringring makes me non-functional.  And then I feel bad, because it is for a good cause.

The Dillards may have stayed home for Thanksgiving because Derrick needed to study.  I missed every single social event while in grad school because of needing to study all the time.  No one believed my excuses (they thought I just didn't like socializing, which is true enough), but the reality is that in difficult grad programs there are no days off from studying.  Sometimes a person can't even take a whole waking hour off from studying.  This is probably a really stressful time for the Dillards- no money, no time, lots of work with no rewards.  The first semester can be particularly hard.  

[Four is Enough]

It's pronounced "pih-kahn". The center part of the pecan goes down, because it's flatter than the outer part, which is rounded. (This is my opinion, and in my house, must be obeyed. You all do as you please.)

Jill has that boho style that she can't quite pull off. I would not tolerate a side braid, but when I had long hair I worked as a nurse, and kept it up and contained in a french twist on my head. If she likes it more power to her, but it's not for me.

I've seen, in the course of nursing, MANY old tattoos. Mostly the ink loses its crisp sharp edge and migrates a bit under the skin, so they're a bit blurry. The skin does lose some elasticity, but for the most part, the image is still recognizable.

DeWreck is still obnoxious, and I suppose will continue to be.

That is all.

[Audrey2]

I used to do Black Friday, getting up early and lining up at the stores when they opened at 4 or later. I enjoyed the rush of trying to pick up some of the things I needed at discounted prices, like slippers or blankets or throws. I was never into the stand in line early to pick up expensive items in demand, but did like to get things like movies and one year I even got a new vacuum cleaner. Once the opening time started to migrate to midnight I completely lost interest in Black Friday. Now I tend to boycott the stores during the holiday season who were open, in my opinion unnecessarily, on Thanksgiving. I can understand stores like Walmart and Fred Meyer and even back in the days when they're used to be super Kmarts, because you never knew what Uncle Lou would clog the toilet, necessitating a trip to the store for some drain cleaner, or when people would arrive but their luggage wouldn't and there were no clothes they could borrow.I hate the idea though I've just shopping to shop on Thanksgiving instead of spending time with other people. I have had many Thanksgivings on my own, and even prefer to stay home on those in my family unit of 1 over trying to run out and get bargains..

[QuiverDance]

15 hours ago, singsingsing said:

Aging happens. No amount of sunscreen or not raising your eyebrows is going to stop you from getting lines on your face. I don't care what you slather yourself with or how placid you force your expression to be, you are going to age. Jill looks older now than she did at 20. Because of course she does. Because that's normal. She doesn't need to do anything at all to 'fix' that because there is nothing wrong with looking older. Also, people age differently, and different people will show different signs of aging beginning at different ages, and that is also totally normal and not something that needs to be 'fixed'.

You know what has aged me?  The Trump Presidency.  I see a definite downslide from 2016.