§uper ®ose

Due to finances, my fiance's aunt went to Salvation Army for some groceries. One item she brought back was a large beef round bottom roast.

The thing I'm concerned with is that it is brown and not red. Is that something to worry about?? Also, the label on the package (from the grocery store it was originally from) says sell by 7/25/12 but it's frozen & I'm hoping has been for a while...but I don't know. They wouldn't give people meat that was spoiled/bad/unconsumable would they??????? I know some items SA gave are due to expire in a few days...but would they do that with meat, considering the risks??

I'm not the best cook in the world & am still learning a bit now that I don't live at home anymore. I also don't want to end up giving my boyfriend food poisoning or anything! LOL! Would anyone be able to tell me what the recommended temperatures & times are for cooking fish, pork, poultry & beef in the oven? Or would anyone be able to point me to a website with a list or chart of some sort?? Thanks so much!!

My boyfriend & I love fish but the way I usually prepare it is getting a bit old...though it still tastes good every time. (I make a packet with foil & just pour a small amount of olive oil, seasonings and an extremely tiny pat of butter, usually Smart Balance, onto the fish fillet then close the packet & bake until done.)

Does anyone have any good crust/coating recipes for fish that keep it moist/juicy & don't require a lot of effort? I would need to have clear instructions as well such as whether I'm starting w/ frozen, fresh, thawed, etc fish. I'm not exactly a gourmet chef so my cooking skills are pretty limited. I prefer making stuff in the oven because it's healthier than frying. (I grew up on very little, if at all, fried food.)

We really love salmon, tilapia, catfish, swordfish, etc. so anything that goes good on those would be appreciated. We've tried fish prepared in the seafood dept at the local Schnucks with a mediterranean or panko crust & those are pretty tasty....wouldn't mind something like those as well. Also, what are some good sides with fish? We usually have mashed potatoes, mac n cheese or a small salad & are pretty picky about our veggies.

Thanks!!!

I've got a bit of an odd situation. My boyfriend and I have been together 10 months and have yet to have a special love-type song that's "our" song. The problem is, he listens to metal music...and ONLY metal. (Varies anywhere from death to melodic) He cannot stand anything else (alternative, pop, rap, etc) and it actually puts him in a bad mood if he's forced to listen to that stuff. (I listen to just about anything except Rap/R&B.) Most of the bands he likes and listens to are from Europe and they're usually ones that not everyone has heard of. There's only a few main-stream bands on the list of liked ones.

Main-stream examples: Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine & older Metallica.

Examples of the rest: Kalmah, Ensiferum, Bal-Sagoth, Therion, Strapping Young Lad, Children of Bodom, Finntroll, Nightwish, Wintersun, Iced Earth, Opeth, Arch Enemy, Cannibal Corpse, Skyfire...you get the picture I'm sure.

Examples of hated bands: Nickelback, Slipknot, Korn, Atreyu, 36 Crazyfists, Godsmack, Linkin Park, etc.

Does anyone know of any songs they could suggest that could be decent candidates for our song? He once tried suggesting "Monument" by Strapping Young Lad but if you listen to/read the lyrics, it wouldn't work. I think he just picked it because I liked it a lot, played it often & would sing along every time.

My other problem is gonna be music at our eventual wedding reception since we've been talking about marriage in the future a few years from now. Oh boy....

I'm thinking about getting another tattoo but not sure what to get. I want something to universally represent family...my entire family that is...not just parents, siblings, etc but also grandparents, cousins, etc. People in the past have suggested a tree but I don't know about that. I'm also still not sure where to go (I live in the vicinity of StL) or where to get it on my body. I want to keep it on the smaller side though because I have to put it in a hide-able place...have to cover my art @ work since I work in an office. If I went w/ the tree theme, I was thinking possibly a cherry blossom tree w/ both family names (mother & father's sides) up in the main part & then have petals falling from the tree for those who have passed on. I'm not sure I want a tree tattooed on me though.

I currently have 2 others: a small rose on my right shoulderblade and a heart on my lower back made of a bass clef & upside-down treble clef put together. I won't get a tattoo without it having meaning to me so that I won't regret it in the future. The rose is because my name is Rose and the heart is because of my love of music. (My sister, with whom I'm close to, & I actually got that one as a matching one as well.) Unfortunately It would be quite a while before I could get this new one though because this year is not good money-wise.

I need help regarding stain removal on a couple t-shirts I have that are a bit unique, therefore irreplaceable. One is light gray & unfortunately I managed to get a dime to nickel-sized spot of blood on it from one of my bf's cats. (It was neutered & I noticed was still seeping a bit of blood once brought home. I picked him up to take him over to my bf so he could take a look & I apparently didn't hold him far enough away from me though I thought I did.) The other shirt is a dark blue (but not navy) and I got these big greasy spots on it from my bag of popcorn that leaked on me at the movies one night. I have a normally well-working, stain-fighting, pre-treater that I've used on them each time I've washed but nothing seems to be working. Unfortunately both stains had already dried before I was able to get to washing. I had not been able to put anything on them or try to rinse them out right away because I didn't notice either spot until later that night or the day after. *sigh* Anyone have any suggestions on what I could do or use???

Also, I was thinking of trying that Oxyclean stuff (powder or liquid, doesn't matter) with my laundry as well. Has anyone actually tried it that could give me feedback on whether I'd be wasting my money or not? So far I've only heard one bad thing: A coworker said it kinda bleached a spot on her carpet in a way. (Though it wasn't noticeable after a while once the spot got dirty again - she has 3 small kids & a large dog.)

Who do you report spam text messages to?? Your cell phone carrier or what??

Lately it seems spammers have resorted to using texting as their form of harassment & it makes me angry. They use an email address & send an email in text message form to your phone number. Once I got 3 of them in one day from someone trying to pose as my bank. Luckily I knew it wasn't actually my bank & therefore reported the information to them. Today I received one from another random email address but I'm not sure who this 'company' is. The message said I received a PM from [name] and to go to this website called highstay . com. Eerily enough, the name was that of a friend of mine. I'm not sure who this company is and I don't dare check out that website so who do I report this to?? I am not about to change my number seeing as I just did last year to get away from a toxic ex-bf & refuse to be bullied into cancelling text messaging on my phone. I use texting most of the time (as do my boyfriend, sister & other friends) because I have a great deal on unlimited texting since I don't have a lot of minutes on my plan.

Since most insurance doesn't seem to cover mole removal, is there a way to do safe removal at home? It is possible to use that freeze-away stuff that you'd normally buy at the store for warts? I've got a few raised moles that I wouldn't mind removing...one on my arm & another on my chin. ugh. Any others I have look normal, are not raised & just look like big freckles to me.

Just asking out of curiosity even though I know I could ask my doctor about it next time I'm in to see him. I'll need to ask about one anyways since it's not looking right.....

My boyfriend has a really dry scalp which equals dandruff of course. Problem is, nothing seems to help. He's tried numerous shampoos that are specifically for dry scalp/dandruff such as Head & Shoulders and stuff like that but nothing seems to be helping. He uses Pert now because he claims it works better but, in all honesty, to me it doesn't look like it does. Scrubbing his head in the shower doesn't make a difference either.

Could anyone suggest some really good shampoo he could use that doesn't cost a lot? Numerous suggestions that are tried & true would be appreciated! =o) FYI, he has thin blonde hair if that is a key factor at all. I think he's starting to get slightly annoyed by the issue because it sounds like he's been dealing with it for years. (I myself had the same problem as a child but it went away after a few years.)

What's the difference between a regular bank and a credit union? My boyfriend & I were wondering this the other day because he uses a regular bank and myself & his best friend use credit unions. He said his best friend will only use a credit union.

Our question was, what's the difference and which is better to use?

(Simple terms would be preferable because this stuff goes over my head sometimes LOL)

Okay so I just bought a new car & was gathering suggestions from people on names for it. (Apparently it's bad luck NOT to name your car.) A friend of mine managed to find one that I really like but we don't know how it's pronounced! The word is Laksha....Hindi for 'white rose'. (My car is white & my name is rose...it makes sense lol)

Anyone have a clue how to pronounce that word or can find a reliable resource to help find the proper pronunciation? Not sure if it's how it looks or weather it's 'lake-shea' or 'lake-sha' like he believes it may be.....

When browning ground meat, what's the best method for draining any fat/grease you have without losing half the meat in the process??? My roommates & I try to get the leanest kind we can find when we're in the mood for meat but there's still a lil fat/grease left when it's done cooking & no matter what we've tried (collander, pouring but holding meat w/ a spoon, etc) we end up losing half the meat......

Does anyone have a special trick they use that works???

Thanks!

Okay so over the weekend while going to a friend's new house I had passed through this little town & saw a street sign with my sister Rita's name on it. (It read Rita Place) I told her about it because hers isn't a popular name & she was like "that's awesome! I want one for my apartment!" (I meant to get a picture but didn't get a chance to...)

So my question is, does anyone know of a [secure] website or even a store where you can get signs custom-made and for a reasonable price?? (We don't have a lot of money to spend & I don't want her to be tempted to find & steal the sign. lol)

I want to try to find & make one to look like a street sign...the green with the white text basically. I live around the St. Louis, MO area so if anyone knows a store...name it! =o) Thanks!!

Sorry if this may be in the 'wrong' category (I couldn't figure out where to put it) and that I had to re-post it...I was getting no response in the 'Local Business>United States>Other - US Local Businesses' one....

I have an IBM ThinkPad laptop. I've had it for 3 years & it's been very reliable. I finally had my 1st problem last night & I don't know what to do! I sat down, plugged in my ipod to sync it & the comp just shut off on me. I couldn't turn it on or anything. I left it alone for a few hours & apparently it turned back on (the little lights on it were lit up) BUT the screen stayed black, I could hear the fan blowing (normally don't) w/ cool air (felt it) & it wouldn't turn off when I held down the power button. All I was doing on my comp all day was talking to a trusted friend on IM & importing CDs I own into iTunes to put them on my ipod later. I don't think it's a virus cause I had just done a scan around then (done regularly) & I've had my ipod for almost a week w/ no problems. My Dad is normally good w/ computers (he worked for IBM for goodness sake) but even he's not too sure what could be wrong...maybe the motherboard or power supply went bad?

WHAT COULD BE WRONG? Any suggestions?

Okay so I have an almost-15 year old terrier, norwich or norfolk, can't remember which. She's always been a well behaved dog...knew what places in the house she was & was not allowed, etc. Problem is, recently within the past couple years she's started this odd habit of ripping up paper....tp, napkins, etc. Just tonight, my sister had to shoo her out of the bathroom cause she got a hold of the toilet paper (unrolled close enough to the floor I guess) and was just sitting there tearing it up. What exactly would cause such odd behavior like that after all these years? There's been no change in our behavior towards her to cause rebellion or whatever. We make sure she has food & water, she's loved tremendously and isn't ignored because there is always someone around. (My Dad is home all the time because he can't work & is on disability...has Parkinsons, Fibromyalgia & Osteoperosis. Sad, I know.) Could it be boredom maybe? She's still fairly active yet shows no interest in walks or toys...

Okay so I'm sure some of you may have heard about the shooting during a city council meeting here in Kirkwood, MO that left 6 dead & the Mayor in the hospital in critical condition. Pretty shocking considering that town is like Pleasantville. (I'm in the same state, just not the same city.) As I was out today I noticed that all the flags around here are at half-mast and it made me think, what is the origin of this tradition??? I know a flag is usually lowered in memoriam for death or tragedy but is it done for anything else??

I just thought this was an interesting thing to ask about because I've never heard/learned the origin of lowering a flag to half-mast & on what conditions.

P.S. Please don't just copy & paste from Wikipedia or any encyclopedia like that. If I wanted to look there then I would've done so by now and not asked this question. Besides, Wikipedia is not always correct due to the fact that any random person can create an entry on anything there.

First, I've seen that you can file your taxes using the Turbo Tax website etc without even needing to go to a store & buy the program for your computer. Has anyone used this & had no problems with it? Is it worth it? Can you do your federal AND state with it? Does it have you e-file or just print out crap to mail in? Are there different versions & which is the best to use? I have only the one W-2 & don't need to do any special filing because I just have 1 car (no rec. vehicles), don't have kids, don't own a home, don't have rental property & all that other junk.

Second, before knowing about the online version, I bought the Deluxe version for the home computer that includes federal & state. Can you use the same program year after year or do you have to keep buying a new one every year?? I have yet to open it & want to find out about all this stuff before filing. If using the online version works better (& quicker) then I'm returning the program to the store & getting my $45 back! lol

Does anyone know of any good tricks or things to add to spaghetti or tomato sauce to reduce the acidity at all?? I looooove spaghetti & such but was cursed with acid reflux & always end up with the most horrid heartburn. My Mom used to add carrot slices cause my Dad had it the worst but I hated that & won't do it...carrots don't belong in spaghetti! lol

Any help would be much appreciated!! Thanks =o)

P.S. I do take antacids & whatnot for my heartburn/acid reflux so please don't suggest just taking some of those!!

Has anyone ever had a Butter Braid? I usually only see them sold as fundraisers & can't seem to find anything close to it anywhere. It's a lightly-sweetened, braided, buttery pastry with fruit filling of your choice (apple, cherry, etc) & frosting drizzled on top. This thing practically melts in your mouth & is simply delicious!!

My question is, does anyone have the recipe for it by any chance or have you ever found it somewhere?? I would looooove to make it (in apple) sometime cause I haven't had one in YEARS.

(Please don't suggest topsecretrecipes.com or anything like that cause I've already checked! I have that site bookmarked LOL)

What is the healthiest butter/margarine to use? I like the stuff & since it's a common ingredient in a lot of foods, I'd like to know the healthiest, but best tasting, one to use??

I'm little by little trying to alter things in my diet so that it is better for me. I have already started in the salt department since I prefer salty over sweet. (I eat very little candy/sweets, if at all.) I use a salt substitute which is potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride =o)