I thought I would lump all my questions into one post and hope for some great answers.
One
One of my daughters wore through her high school backpack mid-year last year. I loaned her my travel backpack for the rest of the year. It's a Jansport, and really hasn't been used all that much. But this summer, it's beginning to show wear in the bottom of the backpack, like see-through wear. So, this daughter needs a new backpack. We replaced the other daughter's backpack early last school year, as her high school one bit the dust a loooong time ago. We went to REI and used a gift card to buy her new one. So, my question -- have any of you found an especially great brand of backpack that would last through daily use for 3 years or more?
Two
When I was sick last week, I had a hard time putting together dinners. Everyone in the family gets home so very late, that dinner needs to be on the table when they walk in the door. As illness strikes with no warning, it wasn't as if I could just prepare ahead of time and stock the freezer. I was sick all week, and we went through every prepared food in the freezer that I could find, and still needed more meals. To complicate things, our budgets are strained even further this summer, with some medical bills needing to be paid, and the medical fund needing to be replenished. So, just ordering pizzas won't work for us. My question here -- what quick and easy dinners do you put together under similar circumstances?
Three
Finally, my 3rd and last question burning in my mind this week. How old is too old for using gravy? I roasted a whole chicken a couple of weeks ago (on a Saturday). I made gravy with the drippings that night. The leftover gravy sat in the fridge all the following week (until the next Friday morning), when I finally realized that it was not a container of some peanut butter-y concoction of one of my kids, but indeed was chicken gravy. I immediately tossed it into the freezer, at about 6 days old. What do you think? Is 6 days in the fridge (40 degrees F) too long for gravy? If I heated it through real well, would it be safe to eat?
Thanks, to all of you! I just know I'm going to get some really great and useful answers!
