Jessa, Ben and Their Brood: Making a (Diaper) Mountain out of a Mold House

[Loves2Dance]

15 hours ago, Wishing Well said:

Guys - I did the onion soup method for years until I discovered how easy it was to make it from scratch---holy balls was it a world of difference.

Cast iron pot - sear the roast and pull it out, brown big chunks of carrots and celery and the remove. Slow cook onions with a bit of sugar and salt for 20 minutes until caramelized.  Add in the veggies, lots of crushed garlic cloves, and a squeeze of tomato paste.  Tie a bouquet of thyme, rosemary, and perhaps some other herbs if you like.  Pour in a glass of red wine, top with beef broth after adding the beef.  Seal the cast iron pot and put it in the oven for 2 hours.  AMAZING. 

I had a 20 year old coworker who cooked like the Duggars did, since he and his wife were sheltered and always taken care of by their wealthy families.  He married her two weeks out of high school and they were very religious.  I'll never forget the day I walked in on him eating a literal Tupperware full of just ground beef.  Nothing else but ground beef with salt, pepper, and ketchup. 

That is one thing I have not mastered---cast iron cooking. 

Truly my husband is way better at cooking than I am as far as being creative. I'm a recipes girl but I may try this. 

I think every Duggar girl who gets married should be gifted a subscription to Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, Sun Basket or something like that, as a wedding gift. Even a child could follow their directions and the food is like real---not from a box, and may spark some ideas. And, the boxes are manageable for a family of 2 so you avoid the confusion of cooking for a large family to 2 people. Seriously JB and Chelle---get on it! 

Edited February 6, 2018 by Loves2Dance

[cdp73]

Anyone who can read and follow directions should be able to cook simple meals.  My mom didn't really teach me to cook (taught me what not to do!) and in my HomeEc classes, we made biscuit pizzas and Kool-Aid.  What I know now is based on reading, following directions, and watching Food Network (I love Alton Brown's Good Eats). 

[Obsidian]

2 hours ago, Natalie68 said:

This kind of stuff doesn't bug me on a message board.  I see these places as somewhat casual but do it in a professional environment!  

True. Harking back to the shaps lesson, if we're giving educated adults a pass in an informal environment, we should also give children a pass in an informal environment, and a game is informal. Adults don't always bother with accuracy, and while children might not think of it like that, they are busy thinking about what they're doing (playing) rather than concentrating on counting sides and spelling very non-phonemic words like circle and square.

[Natalie68]

16 minutes ago, Obsidian said:

True. Harking back to the shaps lesson, if we're giving educated adults a pass in an informal environment, we should also give children a pass in an informal environment, and a game is informal. Adults don't always bother with accuracy, and while children might not think of it like that, they are busy thinking about what they're doing (playing) rather than concentrating on counting sides and spelling very non-phonemic words like circle and square.

Exactly.  Frankly, how many adults misspell easy words?  These were little kids.  Now if as an adult the kids are still spelling it shaps and don't know it's wrong (or you tell me Jackson wrote that?)?  It's a problem.  Gotta say, I am kinda paranoid about the apostrophe thing now!

[zoomama]

saw that today is henry's birthday.   maybe now she will spill the beans....

[Loves2Dance]

1 hour ago, zoomama said:

saw that today is henry's birthday.   maybe now she will spill the beans....

Nah, Joyless hasn't revealed yet. 

[Vaysh]

On 2/5/2018 at 8:17 PM, MyPeopleAreNordic said:

EWWWWW.  Tuna spaghetti sounds awful! Was it tuna in marinara sauce? Gross!

Done right it is actually quite nice. It's about the exact opposite of fine dining but still a decent weekday dinner. I usually make it either with a curry sauce or with a sun-dried tomato pesto sauce, sometimes with added mushrooms. Add some vegetables and you've got a very affordable yet nutritious meal. It's kind of dependent on one liking tuna of course. ;)

I am curious about the daily dinners Jessa makes. Whenever either of them is asked about what they eat they seem to have to reach quite a bit. Like... yeah we eat a lot of yoghurt... and sometimes couscous because it's cheap... (couscous and what?), and of course we saw that odd sweet potato and ground beef thing. And now roast apparently. 

[Catlyn]

5 hours ago, cdp73 said:

Anyone who can read and follow directions should be able to cook simple meals.  My mom didn't really teach me to cook (taught me what not to do!) and in my HomeEc classes, we made biscuit pizzas and Kool-Aid.  What I know now is based on reading, following directions, and watching Food Network (I love Alton Brown's Good Eats). 

That's what started my brother out with baking and ended up with the four of us kids trying out do each other with dinner. My eldest brother was asking why Mom didn't bake any cookies while she was in a super cleaning mood. She stopped looked him in the eye and told him everything he needed was in the kitchen along with the cook books and if he wanted cookies, he was welcome to make them. All of us started reading the cook books trying to decide on the cookies and got carried away from there.  There was at least four nights a week when Mom didn't have to cook. (She never had to do dishes as that was our job, rotating between the four of us washing and drying. At the time, I think my brother was around 14, so I must have been at least 9.  I mean there

are cookbooks that tell you everything you need to know. My sister swore by the Joy of Cooking.  Doesn't Jessa have any?

[Arwen Evenstar]

47 minutes ago, Vaysh said:

Done right it is actually quite nice. It's about the exact opposite of fine dining but still a decent weekday dinner. I usually make it either with a curry sauce or with a sun-dried tomato pesto sauce, sometimes with added mushrooms. Add some vegetables and you've got a very affordable yet nutritious meal. It's kind of dependent on one liking tuna of course. ;)

I never thought about a tuna vindaloo, but it seems it could be pretty good. I love Indian and Thai food.  Haven’t had any spicy food lately because chemo.?

[Lady Edith]

On 2/5/2018 at 1:54 PM, lookeyloo said:

It inspired me to make a roast in the Instant Pot last night which turned out delicious!!

Ahhhhhh a fellow Pothead!  ?  What the heck did I feed my family  on weeknights before I had my Instant Pot?!?  

Maybe Blessa could ask her leg humpers for one. She could make chickenetti in a quarter of the time!

[Churchhoney]

1 hour ago, Catlyn said:

 I mean there

are cookbooks that tell you everything you need to know. My sister swore by the Joy of Cooking.  Doesn't Jessa have any?

See, now you're demanding both cooking and reading. (and following directions -- directions with numbers in them).  We have to remember these are Duggars we're talking about. 

Edited February 7, 2018 by Churchhoney

[lookeyloo]

53 minutes ago, Lady Edith said:

Ahhhhhh a fellow Pothead!  ?  What the heck did I feed my family  on weeknights before I had my Instant Pot?!?  

Maybe Blessa could ask her leg humpers for one. She could make chickenetti in a quarter of the time!

I love my 3 Instant Pots. Mr lookeyloo loves what comes out of them and I dont mind cooking with them. Yes it would be a good thing for all the Duggarlings.  For the smaller families they could make that fall off the bone chicken in no time. 

[queenanne]

10 hours ago, cdp73 said:

Anyone who can read and follow directions should be able to cook simple meals.  My mom didn't really teach me to cook (taught me what not to do!) and in my HomeEc classes, we made biscuit pizzas and Kool-Aid.  What I know now is based on reading, following directions, and watching Food Network (I love Alton Brown's Good Eats). 

Haven't many schools ditched the likes of Home Ec, and even recess and gym?  I feel like someone famously told me that Home Ec has been phased out.  I remember an instant pudding-based pie which involved scratch crust, and also the proper way to do a hand wash-up after meals (fill sink with hot soapy water; wash big items like mixing bowls first which didn't go near anyone's mouth, and leave "mouthed" items like silverware for last, on the theory that germed-up stuff should soak the longest in the hot soapy germ-killing basin).  I also feel I've heard there are courses for homeschoolers on the topic.

[GeeGolly]

11 hours ago, Natalie68 said:

Exactly.  Frankly, how many adults misspell easy words?  These were little kids.  Now if as an adult the kids are still spelling it shaps and don't know it's wrong (or you tell me Jackson wrote that?)?  It's a problem.  Gotta say, I am kinda paranoid about the apostrophe thing now!

Yup. I was too when I first starting posting on here. But I'm not concerned anymore. I post on here for fun, usually during early morning or after a long day of work. I'm not trying to prove my intelligence or grammar prowess to anyone. It's or Its, I'm guessing everyone can still figure out what I'm trying to get across, and if they snark on me for poor grammar or a misspelled word I'm okay with that. I have a Master's degree and passed a licensure test on the first try when many take two or three tries (no snark there). The word licensure is underlined in red as I type so this spellcheck doesn't even get it correct all the time.

And even if someone's not good with grammar or spelling or qualify for Mensa they're still entitled to snark on here.

[floridamom]

My father made a spectacular 'spaghetti al tonno'...that's a dish with spaghetti and tuna with a light tomato sauce. I don't eat fish or seafood, but I understand Italians love that dish.

[Catfin]

8 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

I love my 3 Instant Pots. Mr lookeyloo loves what comes out of them and I dont mind cooking with them. Yes it would be a good thing for all the Duggarlings.  For the smaller families they could make that fall off the bone chicken in no time. 

Recipe? Any IP sites you recommend? I've yet to find an Instant Poy blog I like. They're either warmed up jarred food or too obscure with ingredients. 

[lookeyloo]

16 minutes ago, Catfin said:

Recipe? Any IP sites you recommend? I've yet to find an Instant Poy blog I like. They're either warmed up jarred food or too obscure with ingredients. 

Probably off topic?  Start with thisoldgal.com.   Once you get a technique and some cooking times and use thin liquid for steam you can play with ingredients. Leave out what you don’t like and add what you do. Google Instant Pot recipe for “fill in blank”and see if some appeal. Jessa could do this if she had an Instant Pot. Really a lazy person way to cook. No pot stirring. Let’s send her one!

[queenanne]

4 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

Yup. I was too when I first starting posting on here. But I'm not concerned anymore. I post on here for fun, usually during early morning or after a long day of work. I'm not trying to prove my intelligence or grammar prowess to anyone. It's or Its, I'm guessing everyone can still figure out what I'm trying to get across, and if they snark on me for poor grammar or a misspelled word I'm okay with that. I have a Master's degree and passed a licensure test on the first try when many take two or three tries (no snark there). The word licensure is underlined in red as I type so this spellcheck doesn't even get it correct all the time.

And even if someone's not good with grammar or spelling or qualify for Mensa they're still entitled to snark on here.

My Word spellcheck still tries to convince me that ‘some time’ is incorrect.  Constantly.  Word doesn’t understand ‘take sometime’ is incorrect.  I swear I never marked the compound version as incorrect.

[bythelake]

6 hours ago, queenanne said:

Haven't many schools ditched the likes of Home Ec, and even recess and gym?  I feel like someone famously told me that Home Ec has been phased out.  I remember an instant pudding-based pie which involved scratch crust, and also the proper way to do a hand wash-up after meals (fill sink with hot soapy water; wash big items like mixing bowls first which didn't go near anyone's mouth, and leave "mouthed" items like silverware for last, on the theory that germed-up stuff should soak the longest in the hot soapy germ-killing basin).  I also feel I've heard there are courses for homeschoolers on the topic.

Our high school now calls it consumer science. About every 6 wks.,they have a luncheon for senior citizens along with a program. (Last month it was a ballet performance by two talented students). The kids cook the food and the menu usually contains a variety of a heart attack Inducing items. Among the foods served were  5 different pasta salads (yes,5), quiche, pancakes, hot dogs in crescent rolls, brownies and ice cream. But you pick and choose, and we have lots of laughs.. My only hope is that the kids have washed their hands.

[zoomama]

16 hours ago, Loves2Dance said:

Nah, Joyless hasn't revealed yet. 

no no, i meant maybe now jessa will copp to being preggers.

[jennblevins]

4 hours ago, Catfin said:

Recipe? Any IP sites you recommend? I've yet to find an Instant Poy blog I like. They're either warmed up jarred food or too obscure with ingredients. 

Neither of these are solely Instant Pot blogs, but my two favorites are Budget Bytes and Gimme Some Oven.  (Since they’re not solely Instant Pot blogs, if a different cooking method is better suited, they’ll use that instead.)  I also second @lookeyloo ‘s recommendation of This Old Gal, although in general I find her choice of recipes less appealing (just personal taste).

Topic?  Uh, I had a major Instant Pot Fail yesterday and ended up with vaguely Thai-flavored (but mostly bland) mush. Therefore, I agree that Jessa could use one, to cook mushy baby food if nothing else.

Although, to be honest, the thing that I find best about the Instant Pot is that it has the “set and forget” aspect of the slow cooker without having to plan quite so far ahead of time — and that seems very much like something that a Duggar might appreciate. 

Okay, that turned into a manifesto ...

[lookeyloo]

Even Jessa could type into google "Instant Pot Roast"   or "Instant Pot Chicken" and come up with tons of recipes, many of which have been tried by lots of folks.  We haven't had a fail yet.  Some things better than others, but all good.

[Portia]

Okay, I'm the a-hole who started the apostrophe talk.  I was just snarking on what seemed to me to be misplaced priorities--people criticizing the Dullards for neglecting certain academic skills while apparently disregarding what I consider to be more foundational skills. Personally I think grammar and punctuation are more important than cursive writing and envelope addressing. But then again, I'm a college English teacher . . . and, as I've already mentioned, a bit of an a-hole.  ;-) And yeah, we're all here to have fun. My writing style is anything but formal on these forums, and I've broken several "rules" in this very post.

Edited to add:  crap! Did I post this on the wrong thread? Didn't the apostrophe stuff start on the Dullard thread? I'm so confused.

Edited February 7, 2018 by Portia

[kokapetl]

English is a bitch to write. 

[Portia]

2 minutes ago, Kokapetl said:

English is a bitch to write. 

My ESL students would agree with this statement 1000%! 

[bigskygirl]

I took a writing and beginning Spanish class in the same semester at the local community college. Talk about hard especially the Spanish class. It was hard enough to learn to write proper English for my psychology and other classes I was going to take in the future. I got a B in the Spanish class which brought my grade point average down, but I was happy to finally finish the class. I left school with a 3.86 grade point average, and I was hoping to continue in order to get a degree in Addiction Counseling and a minor in Criminal Justice, but time and money along with being sick put an end to that dream.

[Loves2Dance]

2 hours ago, zoomama said:

no no, i meant maybe now jessa will copp to being preggers.

I knew what you meant. I don't think she'll announce until Joyless has her baby---Jessa likes to steal thunder for herself. If she tells now, then Joyless steals her thunder instead. 

[zoomama]

44 minutes ago, Loves2Dance said:

I knew what you meant. I don't think she'll announce until Joyless has her baby---Jessa likes to steal thunder for herself. If she tells now, then Joyless steals her thunder instead. 

ok, i hadn't thought that way. good point!

[FakeJoshDuggar]

1 hour ago, Loves2Dance said:

I knew what you meant. I don't think she'll announce until Joyless has her baby---Jessa likes to steal thunder for herself. If she tells now, then Joyless steals her thunder instead. 

Jessa is a thunderjacker. Sort of like people who are carjackers but with thunder. 

[xwordfanatik]

4 hours ago, Kokapetl said:

English is a bitch to write. 

And to read, if one is dyslexic, as Mr. Xword is.  

I've snarked on pronunciation of words myself, but I am sure my grammar skills leave a lot to be desired.  We are here to have fun, and I'm not offended if someone corrects me (which doesn't happen often.)  My excuse is being old, and leaving (was it 7th or 8th grade English class?) far behind.  

[Celia Rubenstein]

14 hours ago, FakeJoshDuggar said:

Jessa is a thunderjacker. Sort of like people who are carjackers but with thunder. 

Thunderjacker, lol. I think I know a few. 

I am adding this word to my vocabulary, both as a noun and a verb (as in "I can't believe how that bitch just totally thunderjacked you!"). 

Thanks FakeJoshDuggar!

[Lady Edith]

On 2/7/2018 at 7:47 AM, Catfin said:

Recipe? Any IP sites you recommend? I've yet to find an Instant Poy blog I like. They're either warmed up jarred food or too obscure with ingredients. 

Moving this to the prayer closet...lots of great stuff out there. 

[kokapetl]

aww

[Arwen Evenstar]

Yeah, pets and kids are so stankin’ cute that it’s hard to stay mad for long.

[Almost 3000]

Jessa might just be getting the hang of writing a cute, funny and entertaining post. The smaller boy is even safely strapped in, I checked. Good for her.

[lascuba]

I'm calling it now...Jessa is going to what that Kardashian girl--the ugly one who got all that plastic surgery as a teen--did and not announce her pregnancy until after the baby is born. 

[RedheadZombie]

7 hours ago, Arwen Evenstar said:

Yeah, pets and kids are so stankin’ cute that it’s hard to stay mad for long.

Particularly when it's dad's fault for leaving the phone where Spurg can get it.

[questionfear]

8 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

Particularly when it's dad's fault for leaving the phone where Spurg can get it.

To be fair, my kiddo managed to drown two iPhones in the span of 3 weeks. Kids are ninjas of destruction.

[Marigold]

Jessa looks messy many times but the boys always look sharp!

(I'm jessa's twin sadly. I'm messy and my kids are dressed well)

[Lunera]

So did Henry's bday double as a baby announcement? 

[JoanArc]

Quote

So did Henry's bday double as a baby announcement? 

Thunderjacking your own kids? 50/50 chance.

[Sew Sumi]

Henry on speed. 

[Christina87]

4 hours ago, Lunera said:

So did Henry's bday double as a baby announcement? 

She has to be pregnant!!! She lost all the baby weight and looked amazing there for a little while. 

[FairyDusted]

Hmmmm….close call IMO. Could be though. We will find out soon enough about the next blessing.

[Marigold]

Loose sweater, dark color and arm kinda covering the belly area.

Suspicious jessa! 

[madpsych78]

If you look closely at the video, which I believe Jessa is wearing the same outfit as in the pictures, it looks like the black bottom is leggings, not a skirt.

[Darknight]

Spur looks just like jessa

[MichaelaRae]

Hmmmm....interesting. Where did these photos come from? Because I don't see them on "Blessa"'s Instaca$h account or the Duggar FB cash in....

[ginger90]

5 hours ago, MichaelaRae said:

Hmmmm....interesting. Where did these photos come from? Because I don't see them on "Blessa"'s Instaca$h account or the Duggar FB cash in....

http://www.tlc.com/tlcme/inside-henry-seewalds-first-birthday-party/

[lookeyloo]

Well, that little snippet is all I need to feel like I am caught up with the Seewalds.  Henry sure is a cutie.  Remember when he only scowled?