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contentment-of-cats · 4 months

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Just give me the coffee, I will do the rest.

Loki is settling in. Mostly, he wants to eat and sleep. The few times I have let him out of the Borg Cube, he's been out for 10 minutes, gets overstimulated, and runs back to his Safe Place. Right now he is learning how to play with toys, and loves his scratching posts and pads. He's been through so much. I have asked that the ex get a visit from his karma.

Unpleasant Subject Ahead

Another thing that this whole thing has driven home is how important it is to get your affairs in order - even if you don't have cancer. Loki's mom was getting a divorce and fell so ill so fast that she was unable to make her own medical decisions within days of admission. Even if you are getting a divorce, even with an actual protective order, your spouse is still the legal default person to make decisions for you. They are your legal heir. If you don't have a legal spouse (marriage certificate), it's your adult children, if you have no kids then your parents make those decisions even if you're a legal adult. If you have no immediate family, then your extended family gets called in.

Power of attorney legal and medical

Will for personal property

Living trust for investments and real estate

Medical orders (supersede those of the POA) such as Do Not Resuscitate

A health care directive like this one.

It's hard to think about, but when your surviving extended family is a mess (like mine) you want these things in order. Hell, have them notarized so that a judge can look at the plaintiff and say, "What the hell is the matter with you?"

Golden Treadmill

I'm strapping myself in with another 'write to spec' contract. Yep, it's more porn. I negotiated for one every six weeks from February to November. I need to visit Amazon and stock up on barf bags and brain bleach. I did say that I won't write noncon or (yes, this is a thing) racist tropes. It's hard for me to write hardcore body horror. I might be writing horrible porn in order to pay off my medical bills that makes my pussy slam shut like an angry clam, but I have standards. That being said, the editor delivered the advance to my freelance bank account and the outline to my inbox.

Whoo boy.

In my defense, I did not know that 'monster fucking' was commercially viable.

Cat in the Kitchen

Rediscovering food has been a wonder. As promised, my rearranged innards make it trial and error, but the errors seem to be self-correcting. Gut flora does come back, but I have not been brave enough to venture into my spicy Indian, Chinese, and Mexican foods.

I've been making casseroles/hotdish because they freeze well and sometimes the fatigue renders me incapable of anything other than pushing a button.

For casseroles/hotdish you need:

Vegetables: Frozen works fine. Canned is saltier, so if you go canned use 'less salt' brands. If you are using mushrooms, frozen, fresh or dried is best. I find canned mushrooms have a very weird metallic taste.

Starch: Potatoes, rice, pasta/noodles, bread. Yes, tater tots count.

Protein: Can be vegetable protein, beans, canned tuna or salmon, or meat. Smoked salmon is delicious in casseroles and soup, so I go to my local deli on Friday to get lox ends and trimmings.

Sauce: Canned soups (cream of ____), jarred or canned pasta sauce, or packaged cooking sauces and gravies.

Topping: Cornflakes, tater tots, cheese, potato chips, stuffing, etc.

Flavor: Dried herbs, onion and celery, garlic, spices.

Slowcooker meals are great, too, and follow the same rules as casseroles/hotdish. But my favorite caserole dish is my Gran's Lancashire hotpot - lamb neck chops, potatoes, onions, and more sliced potatoes on top for a crispy lid.

Back to work.

#life in general #cats #writing #food #legal health stuff

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abruzcadabra · 2 years

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My grocery list

I’m putting my grocery list in a blog post so that others can get a specific picture of how the things I buy help save me money and simplify my life. You may notice that some things are in odd categories-I’m not a nutritionist. Also, you’ll probably notice that there is very few premade items, mostly sauces. Hope it is somewhat interesting. There is a copy and paste-able list at the bottom. I have also written a blog post with recipes I commonly use these ingredients in.

Meat

I buy meats that have multiple uses. My regulars are: flank steak, chicken thighs, ground beef (80/20), eggs, and fish. I use flank steak because it is lean and a good cut, but still inexpensive. I like chicken thigh because they are less expensive and more moist than breasts, but just as versatile a protein. Ground beef is good for tacos, burgers, and adding to dishes. I like 80/20 because it isn’t too dry to cook on its own and it is cheaper. Eggs are a great source of easy protein and fairly inexpensive. The kind of fish I get depends on the prices. I always look at the prices so I know when there’s a deal. I don’t buy if there are no deals. I like fish, but it can be very pricey. Especially for meat I would recommend going to a Costco business center or Chef Store. I buy in bulk and portion it into reusable bags.

Veggies and fruits

Staples: Avocado, Banana, Tomato, Romaine, Apple (Fuji or Gala), Potato, Garlic, Onion, Brussel Sprouts, Asparagus, Broccoli (frozen), Peas (frozen), Corn (frozen)

Variable: Sweet potato, Blueberries, Grapes, Raspberries, Mango, Cauliflower, Zucchini, Spaghetti Squash, Mushrooms, Sweet Peppers, Carrots, Turnips

Seasonal/Occasional: Ginger, Cherries, Grapefruit, Watermelon, Artichoke, Celery, Pineapple

Spices

Spices accumulate over time and do not need to be purchased frequently. I will list them according to how important/versatile I think they are.

Staples: Cumin, Paprika, Thyme, Rosemary, Salt, Pepper, Cinnamon, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder

Good to have: Turmeric, Fennel, Nutmeg, Cloves, Chili Powder, Cayenne, Red Pepper, Parsley, Chives, Oregano, Sage, Montreal Steak Seasoning, Sesame Seeds

Used sparingly: Cardamom, Seasoned Salt

Carbs

I don’t eat wheat-it just disagrees with me. I substitute pastas with mung bean noodles. We eat a lot of tacos with corn tortillas. I occasionally use rice. I keep walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, peanuts (in-shell), and sunflower seeds on hand for snacking, adding to salads, and grinding up to make breadings.

Sauces

I have a lot of sauces since they keep well. Those include, but are probably not limited to: ketchup, mustard (deli, yellow, sometimes honey), mayo, soy, oyster, Worchester, A1, peanut, sweet chili, tapatio, crystal, lemon juice, lime juice, teriyaki, BBQ, jelly, peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla flavoring,

Oils and vinegar

Avocado oil for high heat, olive oil for not so hot, coconut oil, lard for seasoning the cast iron, balsamic (which I also make a glaze from), apple cider vinegar. I keep white vinegar under the sink for cleaning and crafts.

Dairy

Heavy whipping cream is delicious and can be used in anything calling for milk-watered down if necessary, but milk cannot be whipped. Occasionally fancy cheese for cheese and meats date nights. Dried non-fat milk. Sour cream. Greek yogurt-plain or honey flavor. Butter.

Canned/jarred

Soups, tuna, spam (for musubi), beans (black and refried), enchilada sauce, spaghetti sauce, artichoke hearts, pickles, jalapenos, olives (black and green/Kalamata)

Other

Corn starch, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, bouillon, tortilla chips, salsa

I just replace these things as they run out. It is a diverse enough list to make many recipes, but small enough that it isn’t too costly nor strenuous to maintain. As I run out of things, I add it to my list. When the list is long enough, or has items that are of greater importance, I go shopping.

Just Lists

Staples:

flank steak, chicken thighs, ground beef (80/20), eggs, fish, Avocado, Banana, Tomato, Romaine, Apple (Fuji or Gala), Potato, Garlic, Onion, Brussel Sprouts, Asparagus, Broccoli (frozen), Peas (frozen), Corn (frozen), Cumin, Paprika, Thyme, Rosemary, Salt, Pepper, Cinnamon, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, corn tortillas, mung bean noodles, rice, walnuts, pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, ketchup, mustards, mayo, soy, tapatio, lemon juice, lime juice, teriyaki, BBQ, jelly, peanut butter, avocado oil, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, heavy whipping cream, sour cream, butter, tuna, beans, enchilada sauce, spaghetti sauce, pickles, jalapenos, olives, corn starch, baking soda, bouillon, tortilla chips

Extras:

Sweet potato, Blueberries, Grapes, Raspberries, Mango, Cauliflower, Zucchini, Spaghetti Squash, Mushrooms, Sweet Peppers, Carrots, Turnips, Turmeric, Fennel, Nutmeg, Cloves, Chili Powder, Cayenne, Red Pepper, Parsley, Chives, Oregano, Sage, Montreal Steak Seasoning, Sesame Seeds, cashews, peanuts, oyster sauce, Worchester, A1, peanut sauce, sweet chili sauce, crystal hot sauce, maple syrup, vanilla flavor, coconut oil, balsamic vinegar, dried non-fat milk, Greek yogurt, canned soups, spam, artichoke hearts, salsa

#grocery list #eat healthy #grocery store ideas #grocery store tips #grocery tips #food lists

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weightloser · 2 years

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Day 1 - 7/6/22

July 6th is as good a time as any. I’ve been consistent in going to the gym for a few days again. I have the week off of work, so I want to use this week to kick myself into gear again. I’ve wanted to try being sugar-free (or rather, just reducing my added sugar intake) for a long time, so I’m starting tomorrow. I came up with a grocery list and a few simple meals for myself, since I think simplicity is the way to go, especially because I’m pretty much cooking for 1, but Aldi assumes I’m cooking for a family of 4 given their portions for veggies and meat, and as much as I can I don’t want to be wasteful.

I officially started going to the gym again on 7/4 after a week or two off. My plank time suffered, but it’s gradually improving since the 4th. As the weights get heavier, I’ve been thinking more about my goals in the gym and at what point I want to stop upping the weight in my exercises. For practicality, I think 60lb at 3x20 for most major exercises is a good goal for me. Currently I’m around 30lb depending on the exercise. Since I did weights today, tomorrow I’ll bike and see how I feel.

I tried not to eat added sugars today. It’s one of the few days I can remember in recent months that I’ve wanted to grab a candy or bag of chips from the vending machine downstairs and resisted the urge. Fighting that urge today is what inspired me to earnestly want to start sugar-free in the first place... It shouldn’t be that hard to avoid candy. I feel addicted to it, so over the next 30 days at least I came up with a few simple meals I can make myself.

Lunches include scrambled eggs, sliced cucumber with salt, and cherry tomatoes; avocado toast (toast a slice of 35-cal bread, mix avocado with garlic powder and a bit of chopped onion, slice cherry tomatoes on top with a bit of salt and pepper and lemon juice); and some kind of charcuterie (deli turkey, cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber with salt, maybe carrot?).

Dinners include protein (chicken most often, but maybe beef (meatballs or steak?) or fish), a carb (white rice, but I tragically found out that a cup of uncooked rice is upwards of 740 cal, so probably no more than a 1/3 cup per dinner), and veggies (top contenders are green beans and carrots based on previous Hello Fresh experience, but I’m open to spinach, kale, mushrooms, and brussel sprouts...).

My Aldi grocery list is looking like this:

Fit & Active 35 calorie bread, avocado, cherry tomatoes, grapes (freeze some off the vine for snacks, apparently has the consistency of ice cream?), seedless cucumber, 2 lemons, big carrots, mixed greens and balsamic vinegar (if I want salads? tbd), green beans, green onion (wash & chop all, freeze remainder in water bottle to pour when needed), eggs (if needed; I think I have some already), Lunch Mate oven-roasted turkey, mini babybel cheese, panko bread crumbs, garlic powder, Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, brown rice, frozen cauliflower rice, and Simply Nature frozen sweet potatoes.

I’ve bought a few G Hughes sugar-free sauces to eat with my chicken. I hope it’s good!

Here’s to new beginnings.

#gym #aldi #grocery list #dinner #lunch #diary #weight loss #health

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fuckingrecipes · 3 years

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Do you have a tag or links to recipes that can keep out of the fridge? I wanna start packing lunch but steamed veggies and pb&j only take me so far lol preferably meat or egg dishes? For protein

Food that keeps at room temperature for many days:

- Whole veggies: potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, cucumber, eggplant, tomatoes

- Whole Fruit: Apple, Pears, Plums, Tomatoes, Avocado, Mangoes, Citruses, Papaya, etc.

- Bread products. Loafs, croissant, bagel, buns, Pita bread, baguettes. Chips and Crackers.

- Some Sauces : Soy Sauce, Oyster or Fish sauce, Vinegars, Most Oils, Ketchup, Mustard, Vinegar-based salad dressings, vinegar-based hot sauce, Peanut butter, Honey.

- Hard cheese like Cheddar, Gruyere, Machego, Parmesan

- Dried fruits and Nuts. I have a big bag of dried cranberries and almonds that I snack on throughout the day.

-Dry noodles. Can you bring an electric kettle to use during lunch? Do you have access to a microwave or super-hot water from a coffee maker? You can cook noodles.

-Single Packets of tuna or precooked chicken in sauce, like this:

Food that is perishable, but is fine to let sit at room temperature for 4-6 hours between when you take it out of your fridge in the morning, and leave it at your desk all day before eating:

Literally anything if you have an insulated lunch box ($10-$20) and a regular bottle of water that you froze overnight and stuck on top of the other food. Portable refrigeration, plus you have a drink included by the time it thaws.

If you want to be extra safe, you can pack your lunch the night before, leave it in the fridge overnight, and then pack it with the ice-bottle into your insulated lunchbox when you leave. Put the more-perishable stuff like dairy or meat products up against the bottle for maximum chill.

Then eat whatever cold dishes you want. Salads, deli meat and cheese, egg salad, tuna salad, Lemony potatoes, coleslaw, pies, marinated veggies, rice, chopped fruit, veggies with dip, Hummus or Tzatziki with bread, Guacamole, cold pastas, hard boiled eggs, etc. There are ENDLESS cold 'Salads' that are just various combinations of pastas with vegetables or fruit and different seasonings.

You mentioned 'steamed veggies' so if you have a microwave available, then prepare literally anything you want, pack it cold in your lunchbox, and heat it up on-site.

#lunch #cold lunch #food advice

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bartistic · 3 years

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Bruce Goes To The Market!

knife tw, food cw, incredibly dumb self-indulgent concept cw, outsider (oc) pov

It is universally acknowledged that a cashier possessing free time, will be in want of an extra task to fill that free time. At least, that’s what James’ managers seemed to think. Privately, he agreed, as he found restocking the shelves to be a most agreeable pastime, one that could in fact suck up hours of his eight hour closing shift.

He was in the soda aisle, debating whether sparkling water belonged with seltzer or with the rest of the store brand items, when he noticed a broad-shouldered man in sunglasses and a Gotham University sweatshirt, inspecting the selection of diet tonic water and looking utterly flummoxed. Customer in need of assistance!

“Hi, how are you doing tonight? You need help finding anything?” Mentally, James winced at the preppy-ness of his ‘customer service robot voice’ as his favorite coworker Stephie liked to call it. Luckily, he’d thrown his voice out enough screaming to Queen karaoke the night before that his voice stayed in the normal octaves rather than shooting into the stratosphere. The man straightened up and looked down towards James, who suddenly felt very short in all of his 5’9” glory. (Well, 5’8 3/4” but who’s counting.)

“Yes, actually. I’m new to the store, could you direct me to where the soap is?” Oh god. Of all the things it had to be the one item James swore was never in the same aisle twice.

“Of course!” He lied through his teeth. “Here, right this way.” Turning, he set off towards the general direction of where the soap tended to lie, with a variation of four different aisles. Luckily, the first aisle was correct, and he watched, intrigued, as the customer gave a thorough inspection to at least 14 different bars of soap. “Anything else I can help you with?” He added, as the man finally selected a bar and placed it in his basket. The man looked sheepish.

“This is actually the first time I’ve been in a grocery store. I’m not usually the one doing the shopping. My—the person I live with gave me a list, but I honestly don’t know where or even what half of these things are.” He held out a grocery list, scrawled in an elegant cursive. It was double-sided. James checked the front of the store, where the other cashier was engrossed in his phone while trying not to appear engrossed in his phone. It was an hour and a half until they closed, and he was pretty sure there was only one other customer in the store at most.

“Sure! Alright, so our first step should probably be to hit the deli, seeing as they have the longest wait times.” After walking the man through ordering Roast Beef, Prosciutto, Pastrami, Swiss, Havarti, Gouda, and Picante Provolone (what) they moved on to the canned goods. “We should probably grab a cart, I don’t think that basket’s going to be able to hold all of this.” Turning into the canned goods aisle, James sighed.

“Caution: Hazard Detected! Precaución, ¡Peligro Detectado!” The store’s resident useless robot assistant was stuck in place, screaming at a small bit of an onion peel that had fallen to the floor.

“Batsy, I swear to god.” James went over and kicked the peel under one of the shelves, pressing the button on the robot to reboot it.

“...Batsy?” The customer sounded somewhere between bemused and amused. Perhaps just ‘mused.

“Yeah, it’s our obtuse robot that only sees what’s right in front of it and makes a big fuss over literally nothing. It can’t even clean anything up, and the few moments there actually is a spill it just skids through it and makes it worse. Technically corporate calls it Patsy, short for Patrick, because we’re Patrick’s, you know? But since this is Gotham, we call it Batsy. Short for... Batrick. I’m not the one who came up with the name, that honor goes to my coworker Stephie. She’s, uh, not working tonight.” James internally began banging his head against the shelves. Why. Was. He. Like. This. “So, do you know what brand of chickpeas your... roommate wanted?”

/ / /

Finally, after another 45 minutes of shopping, they were ready to check out. James noticed the shift had changed while he was away. “Alright, so I can actually take you at this register over here, ‘cuz I’m still logged in and all.” He gulped as the customer began to load up onto the belt. This was... a lot of food. He’d scanned around a quarter when he officially ran out of room, turning to bagging instead. “Let’s get you another cart, actually, so we can load into that without squishing what you haven’t unpacked yet.” He moved to go grab one, but the customer was faster, jogging back with another cart before he could even finish bagging all the protein shakes. There were, admittedly, a lot of protein shakes.

Scanning the meat-substitutes, James scanned his own mind for an avenue of conversation. “So, you mentioned that it’s your son who’s the vegetarian. How old is he?”

“He’s 13. It’s not religious or health-wise or anything, he just really loves animals. Our house is practically a zoo on a good day, and that’s not even counting all his siblings.”

“Oh, how many kids do you have?” It had to be a fair amount for it to be ‘all’ his siblings. The customer opened his mouth as if to answer, then shut it again. He seemed to be thinking. Did he... not know how many kids he had??

“Legally I have... fffffour? Five? Yeah... that sounds right.” James tried to hide the bewildered expression in his own face, but he must not have been doing it well. “That makes me sound like such a bad father. No, I promise, I love them all, I just have quite a few of their friends living with us as well, and I’ve known those kids long enough to feel like they’re my kids too. Not to mention the whole difference between the ones I’ve adopted, the one who was my ward who I then retroactively adopted, the one I’m fostering, and the one who is legally an emancipated minor. And... the one who. Is no longer with us.” James blinked. That was indeed complicated.

“You must have a lot of love in your heart,” he settled on, finally.

“I just h— Oh, #%*$.” The blueberry container had burst open, all over the floor. James internally groaned.

“Oh no! Sorry about that, that’s the third one tonight. The packaging is just... not great. Do you want me to go get you another one?”

“No, I can get it. Thanks though.” The customer gingerly stepped through the minefield as James power walked to go get the clean up supplies. Six feet away, Batsy was screaming at a blueberry.

“Eat your heart out, Mister Miyagi,” he aimed a light roundhouse kick at the button to reboot the robot. Batsy got two feet before it encountered another world-ending-threat, danger level blueberry. James sighed and went to go clear that area first.

/ / /

Finally, almost everything was scanned. James was scanning the bread and rolls as the customer fit all the bags into the two carts, like an expert game of tetris. There were a few hiccups where James had had to explain that you probably shouldn’t bag Raid with milk, or that it was a good idea to double bag heavy items, or that you should wait until the end to put the eggs in (and there were a lot of eggs. Gaston-levels of eggs. Probably to be expected with that many kids in the house. Hah. eggs-pected.) But by the end they were working like a well-oiled machine. James bagged the last item, hit the button to total it, and watched as the customer realized he forgot his deli items.

“I’m just gonna— gonna run and go get those real quick. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Can you fill out the charity question real quick though? Th...thanks.” The customer was gone before James could question him on the fact that he’d used the custom amount option to apparently donate $1k to Gotham General’s children’s ward. It was... probably a mistake, but he’d wait around to check. He turned as he heard the beginnings of a commotion behind him, from the one other customer in the store. This guy’s whole aesthetic just screamed gross, from the white-boy dreads to the Blue Lives Matter gaiter mask. It looked as if he was having trouble at self-checkout. James was about to head over to help when his coworker passed him. He turned back to keep an eye on the clock. 10 minutes until closing. Please come back with the deli items soon. He heard an aggressive murmuring that sent chills up his spine, a distinct feeling of Not Right Bad. He turned back to where his coworker was engaged with helping the other customer. His coworker who was... very pale. Frightened. The customer whose hand glinted silver with... oh #%*$, that’s a knife. Not Good Very Bad... oh hell no, you are not hurting my coworker on my watch.

“HEY #%$&FACE, EAT BEANS!” As the aggressive customer turned to meet the container of garbanzo beans that was currently hurtling towards his face at the maximum speed a theatre-kid-who-never-did-sports could throw, the world seemed to throw down. Faintly, James could hear rational thoughts pounding at the door to his mind, begging to be let in. Thoughts like ‘They’re definitely going to fire you for attacking a customer’ and ‘They’re definitely going to fire you for cursing in front of a customer’ and ‘They’re definitely going to fire you for damaging the merchandise’ and ‘You can’t even throw a ball to save your life, there’s no way that’s going to hit him.’ Praying to Freddie Mercury, Elton John, and all other things holy, James watched as the beans sailed through the air and struck their target true— albeit a little lower than planned.”

Grossface automatically brought his hands down to protect his nethers, apparently forgetting that their was a knife in his hands. He let out a second agonized howl as he stabbed himself in the balls. Blindly, James groped around for more ammunition. Holding out a zucchini as threateningly as he could, he watched as the would-be aggressor ran out of the store as fast as he could with both hands clasping his junk. “Are you okay?” He asked his coworker, feeling his voice echo through the suddenly very-quiet-sounding store. She nodded mutely. He nodded back, then turned back to his register and oH shit there’s His Customer, holding the deli items.

“Nice shot.” Okay, this time he definitely sounded amused.

“I... am so sorry about the beans, I can get you a refund on those or I can go get you some more or—”

“No need, they definitely went to a good cause.” The customer grinned and held out the deli items. Faintly, James began to wrestle with the bag to get to the barcodes. Finally, everything was scanned, for good.

“Alright, will that be everything?” The clock read two minutes until closing.

“Yes, that should be everything. Again, thank you for all your help.” James watched as even with the membership points taken off, the total soared to over $750.

“Alright, your total is... $754.33, here’s some coupons and a survey slip. If you fill that out you get entered for a drawing to win a $500 gift card. Which... I don’t know that you’d need, but. Why not.” The customer reached into his wallet and counted out 5 $100 bills. Then he pulled out a black card. He paid off the total with the card, then handed the bills to James.

“Here you go, I wasn’t sure how much you tip cashiers.” James opened and closed his mouth a few times, like a fish.

“People don’t normally... tip cashiers...” and especially not HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS.

“Oh. Well, you were a good cashier. You deserve it. And here—” at this he pulled a crisp business card out of his wallet. “At Wayne Enterprises we could use quick-thinkers like you.” Pulling down his sunglasses, he gave a quick wink. James waved absentmindedly as BRUCE #%*$ING WAYNE walked out of the store. He looked down at the business card. Written upon it were the words: “Call here for an interview, mention Malone and they’ll know I sent you. Best of luck with the current job— BW”

James sat down. The clock was 10 minutes past closing before he remembered to look at it. There were a million thoughts running through his head. Oh my god I joked around to a billionaire. I cursed in front of a billionaire. I chucked a can of beans into a man’s nutsack in front of a billionaire.

But oddly enough, the only question that remained at the top of his mind was this:

This is because I have black hair and blue eyes, isn’t it.

#batfam #batman #bruce wayne #crack fic babey #my writing #written over the course of 2 hours following an 8 hour shift #shameless self-insert time

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tightwadspoonies · 3 years

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The Thrill of a $5 Rotisserie Chicken

Few things allow you to feel the potential like a $5-7 pre-rotisserie’d chicken from a fancy, otherwise expensive grocery store like Costco or Meijer or Walmart or Giant Eagle.

First, you didn’t have to cook it yourself (and, generally, for some reason it’s significantly cheaper to buy your bird pre-rotisserie’d than buying the raw bird and cooking it), and second, well, it’s like 4 entire pounds of the expensive ingredient in basically any recipe- and you didn’t even have to run the risk of accidentally messing it up with the wrong seasoning or by forgetting it was in the oven.

But if you’re like me, $5 is the absolute max you would ever think of spending on any single grocery item (plus, if you think about it, that’s an entire animal’s entire life in that chicken carrier)- so how to justify it?

By getting absolutely every possible single scrap of nutrient and calorie from this former wad of feathers. That’s how.

Today I’ll take you through the process of getting your (7-9) meals’ worth out of that $5 bird in 4 easy steps:

Step 1: Acquire the Bird

Figure out which stores in your area offer the least expensive rotisserie chickens. In many places this will be somewhere between $5-7. It’s worth seeing if they’re even less expensive when purchased day-old from the deli cooler instead of on the warmer, though this is rarer than you’d think. It might be worth it to you to get a biweekly/monthly chicken at a place you don’t normally shop if you, like me, usually shop at grocery stores without such a fine prepared food section.

Step 2: Divide and Conquer

Resist the urge to eat as-is. You’re on a mission here.

While the chicken is still warm, pick all the meat from the bones. Picking meat from a warm chicken will make the meat come off the bones more easily and net you more meat for less work.

Place the carcass (as well as skin, tendons, drippings, and anything that isn’t meat) in a plastic bag or large container and put it in your freezer for later.

Shred the picked meat and divide into about 6 servings. It may not look like a lot of meat per serving, but many recipes don’t need a lot of meat to make them tasty.

Freeze these in separate containers (baggies are fine, or plastic/glass containers) so you’ll have a convenient, pre-cooked, pre-portioned source of meat for recipes.

Step 3: So You’ve Got Some Conveniently Portioned Chicken...

Find some cool recipes that use chicken. They don’t have to be difficult or time-intensive- find ones that use (or can be amended to use) about 1/6th of a rotisserie chicken. Keep in mind that many recipes are not specific to a particular type of meat/protein, and pre-cooked chicken works for a lot of them.

For example:

Warm shredded chicken on salad greens

Chicken salad (chop carrots, onions, and celery, toss with thawed chicken and dressing, serve on toast)

Chicken enchiladas

Chicken and bean tacos

Chicken bacon ranch casserole

Chicken pasta salad

BBQ chicken pizza

Chicken noodle soup, stew, or white chicken chili

Chicken stir-fry

Chicken Sloppy Joes (chop chicken small and pad out with veggies like finely diced or shredded carrots, potato, sweet potato, onions, green pepper, cauliflower, etc...)

Step 4: So You’ve Got a Chicken Carcass in Your Freezer...

Remember that large container or storage bag with the chicken bones, etc... in it? Well, you know how every time you cut up an onion or carrot, or celery, or other veg there’s bits you don’t eat (onion skin and ends, carrot tops and greens, celery butts, radish greens, etc...*)? Throw those into that bag/container as you go.

Once the container/bag is full of chicken and vegetable scraps, you’re ready to make some broth/stock. Broth and stock helps you get everything else out of the food parts you’d normally throw away.

Put all the scraps from your bag/container into a large pot and fill with water. Add some herbs/spices of your choice (recommend rosemary, bay leaf, basil, parsley, pepper, salt or bouillon if you would like, and garlic (fresh or granulated)) and a few tablespoons of vinegar (any kind you have is fine- it’s just to put a little acid in there to get some extra minerals out of the bones).

Turn on the stove until just boiling and simmer for several hours. Alternatively, you can put this in an electric pressure cooker (like an instapot) for 1-2 hours or a slow-cooker for 4-8 hours.

Once everything has boiled long enough that the tendons are clear and gooey (or when you’re starting to get anxious about the gas/electric bill), pour everything through a strainer set over a large bowl.

What comes out the other side is your stock. Pour into containers and freeze for later. This can be used for a nice soup base, instead of water when making rice or pasta, or you can drink a mug of it plain. It’s particularly great for getting calories, salt, vitamins and minerals in when sick- you can hide a surprising amount of butter, lard, coconut oil, or other fat in a mug of broth!

*I recommend not using bits from cruciferous veg like broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, etc... It will be overpowering flavor-wise and not in a good way.

#budget #chicken #food #tightwadery

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tlbodine · 3 years

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Thanksgiving is Gonna Be Weird: A Survival Guide for 2020

It’s 2020, the pandemic is worse than ever, and the holidays are right around the corner. No matter what, this is going to be a weird Thanksgiving for a lot of people. With travel restrictions in place and most of us having a mighty desire not to murder our friends and family by spreading around a disease, there’s a good chance that you’re going to be celebrating a bit differently this year.

And, hey, maybe you decide not to celebrate at all. Which is perfectly valid!

But maybe you’re staring down the possibility of your first Thanksgiving on your own, or feeding just the small group you live for rather than a big crowd, or some other unusual circumstance. And if that’s the case, I wanted to compile together some resources/ideas to help you out. I know this isn’t my usual horror fare, but...well, I hope it’s helpful, regardless.

“Help, I’ve Never Made Thanksgiving Dinner Before” Starter Kit

Maybe you’ve always gone home for the holidays but are currently stuck in an apartment with a few roommates, and none of you have any intensive cooking skills. Maybe you always take the kids to Grandma’s house and have never had to contribute more than a side dish but now really want to do a proper Thanksgiving feast for your partner(s), kid(s) and whoever else lives in your house.

Never fear! A Thanksgiving feast doesn’t have to be intimidating! In fact, Thanksgiving foods are usually pretty simple; the most challenging part of the whole feast is the project management aspect of working with a lot of different dishes and getting everything ready at once. But the smaller your crowd to feed, the easier that is!

So, the first thing you’ll want to do is come up with a menu. Sit down and write a list of all the foods you normally eat and enjoy on Thanksgiving. If something is served at your family meal that you’ve never cared for, guess what? You can boot that bad boy right off the list!

By and large, the standard Thanksgiving feast consists of:

Roast turkey

Mashed potatoes

Gravy

Some kind of dinner roll

Cranberry sauce

Some number of vegetable side dishes (often a green been casserole and a sweet potato casserole)

Some kind of dessert (often/traditionally a pumpkin pie)

I’ve linked above some easy & favorite techniques/recipes for all of these foods, but of course you can buy time-saving convenience items to get you rolling -- from potato flakes to gravy mix to premade pie. I won’t tell if you don’t.

If there’s something you’re used to eating every year that you don’t know how to make....call whoever usually makes it! If at all possible, obviously, I’m not recommending you do a seance to talk to your dead great-aunt and get her rolls recipe. Just, like...phone up your friend/family member, get the recipe, and use it as an opportunity to connect. Odds are both of you are missing the human interaction.

“Hey, That’s Nice, But I Live in a Dorm Room” Edition

Okay, okay, I get it. You’re away at college and can’t get home to see your family safely and you’re living in some kind of weird socially isolated dorm situation where you have limited access to cooking implements. Or, shit, idk, maybe you’re couch-surfing or living in a motel or otherwise not in possession of a full kitchen.

I got you, fam.

Do you have at your disposal a microwave? Rice cooker? Even an electric kettle will work!

If you have some way to boil water, you can make instant mashed potatoes, gravy, and stove-top stuffing. If you have a microwave, you can steam some vegetables and bake a sweet potato. For dessert, core an apple, stuff the cavity with brown sugar + cinnamon + butter and nuke in the microwave for 4 minutes.

It’s hypothetically possible to microwave a turkey, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Instead, I’d opt to buy a deli roast chicken (about $5 at most grocery stores), or even just some turkey deli meat. Alternatively, ham usually just needs to be warmed rather than cooked, and you can buy a big ol’ ham steak at the store for a couple of bucks.

“I’m Dead Broke Because COVID, Send Help”

You know the great thing about Thanksgiving food? It’s cheap. No, really! It can be, anyway, especially since a lot of foods go on sale.

In my area anyway, the local Wal-Mart and Smith’s Grocery have:

A can of green beans for about 79 cents

A bag of instant mashed potatoes for about $1

A big can of yams for about $1, or fresh yams for 50 cents/lb (usually a couple sweet potatoes = 1lb)

Canned corn or peas + corn for 50 cents, or steam-in-bag veggies of your choice for $1

Stovetop stuffing for $1 or sometimes even 50 cents per box

Margarine for 79 cents to $1

Gravy mix packets for 50 cents each

A can of cranberry sauce for $1 or less

Most of these are also available at Dollar Tree!

A lot of food banks will also be giving out turkeys this time of year, and some grocery stores will give you a free turkey if you spend $50 or $100 on groceries or whatever. Do you have an older relative who needs groceries? Ask if you can go buy their food and deliver it to their door (contactless!) and keep the free turkey.

You can pretty easily feed a group of 4-6 for $20 or so, especially if you’re willing to be flexible on your protein. And what are you doing feeding more than 6 people in the middle of a pandemic, huh?

“I’m Used to Hosting a Big Dinner But There’s Only Like Three Of Us Living In This House WTF How Do I Scale This Shit Down”

Maybe you are a Thanksgiving veteran. Maybe you’re accustomed to hosting for a big crowd and cooking a small meal just seems dumb and pointless. I feel you. This is my life right now! But don’t despair!

The way I see it, you’ve got a couple-three options:

Option One:

Cook your turkey + a different side each day, and eat your Thanksgiving feast spread out over a week or so. It’ll keep your leftovers from dominating your fridge, let you eat something fresh, and allow you to enjoy all your favorite recipes. Downside is you’ll have to cook every day, so you tell me if you’re too busy to do that.

Option Two:

Cook everything that you normally would, but portion off half of it or whatever to stuff into your freezer, or go deliver it to somebody else’s door. The odds are pretty good that you’ve got a friend or family member who is freaking out about the holiday, and if you can’t see them in person, you can at least drop food off on their porch and then honk aggressively/cheerfully from the safety of your car!

Option Three:

Make something different this year. If you’re a foodie, take this as an opportunity to challenge yourself to create something high-maintenance and weird that you wouldn’t normally make. This is a good choice if you’re off work and stuck in your house with nothing else to do. Basically you’re subbing out quantity for quality so the meal still feels special and unique even if it’s, y’know....just you and your cat, or whoever.

PS: Roasting a whole chicken or a cornish game hen is a fun, small-scale way to get your bird-in-the-oven experience. You can also buy a turkey breast and just cook that, which will be a lot faster than the whole bird anyway.

"I’m An Essential Worker And I’m Working Thanksgiving And Have No Time To Do ANYTHING, What Now?”

Dude, I get it. And whether you’re a doctor, nurse, grocery store employee, or whatever other essential service-worker, my heart goes out to you because hoo boy this year has been shit, hasn’t it? I can’t do anything about the hazard pay situation, but I CAN tell you that there are a few places offering delivery-based Thanksgiving meal options!

You might want to search around a bit for your specific area. Cracker Barrel, Marie Callendar’s, Boston Market, and other types of branded “home-cooking” type restaurants tend to have some kind of Thanksgiving thing. Why not call your local restaurant fav to see if they’re doing something similar? Most restaurants are desperate for a way to stay afloat right now, so a ton of places that don’t traditionally deliver are offering curbside service now. It’s worth a try!

So, there you have it.

I hope some of these tips taught you something new, pointed you to a helpful resource, or gave you some ideas. More than anything, I just want everybody to be safe and happy this holiday. So, please -- get creative, wear your mask while you’re shopping, avoid the get-togethers, and be careful. You may save a life!

#holidays #thanksgiving #covid 19 #PSA #cooking #food #tips #I hope this helps someone #please reblog if I missed anything #long post

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notbecauseofvictories · 5 years

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Hi Sarah! You seem to be quite enthusiastic and well informed about cooking, and I was wondering if you had any tips for students at uni? I feel it's so difficult to keep a healthy diet and cook for yourself on a low budget. Do you have any good recipes you could share? Or ideas? Thank you so much if you are able to answer, no worries if you don't feel like it.

This is...kind of a difficult question to answer, given that I approach cooking as a decadent, pleasurable thing, rather than something functional. (Some people shop online when they want to splurge. I make 48 coconut macaroons hand-shaped and dipped in chocolate, and a parmesan-garlic cream sauce to drizzle over my steamed brussel sprouts.) If all I need to do is consume calories, I’m much more likely to cut corners---seriously, store-bought sauces, simmer pastes, and salad dressings are a godsend---or buy something convenient. I could probably survive on deli sandwiches, if I really put my mind to it.

However, I do want to suggest a couple tips I think are helpful:

1) Know what you like, know what you need.

What it says, because food is always a balancing act between getting the kinds of nutrients your physical, calorie-consuming body needs and the sugar/salt/fats you want. Personally, I will eat literally anything if there’s bread or cheese or both involved. (This is not a joke---I have eaten a lot of creamed spinach and deli sandwiches.) However, having discussed my diet with healthcare professionals, I know what I need is proteins and vitamin d. So when I’m preparing my schedule for the week, I force myself to think about both: what will I eat, what should I eat, what can I make that satisfies the difference? And then, what’s my timing? (i.e., do I need to stay late at work? do I have other plans that night?)

Like everything with my life, I review it vaguely sometime Monday and plan out my week. Though I do know enough about myself to build in some flexibility, because sometimes a bitch is walking home desperate for a burger, and shouldn’t have to apologize.

2) Google with abandon.

I do not have any private store of family recipes. My mother was a functional cook, and my grandmothers were either of the “hors d'oeuvres and martinis” generation or the “jello(tm) with colorful sprinkles is an actual dessert” generation. (The difference there, by the way, is class. But that’s a whole other tumblr post.) The point is that at the end of the day, there’s no secret treasure trove of recipes for me to delve into.

Which means I google everything. Every recipe I post here, every time I have spare ingredients I’m looking to get rid of. “Unsweetened chocolate recipes” is one of my latest searches, because I accidentally bought 4 oz of it instead of semi-sweet and don’t know what to do. (I’ll probably end up make brownies.) I have also googled in the last few months:

Reduced milk recipe

Quinoa recipe

Bean recipe

Dark corn syrup recipe

Pie crust recipe

Apple pie recipe

Scallion pancake recipe

The point is, just because you don’t know what to do shouldn’t keep you from making good food! Personally, I love Epicurious, and always check their suggestions first, but the internet is wide and deep and full of people who will suggest cooking times, oven temperature, and spices you can add to stuff to make it taste good. Don’t be afraid to scroll through 4 different recipes on different domains, even if it’s the same dish; or to add “simple” to you search terms. You have more cookery knowledge at your clumsy fingertips than anyone before us ever has---use it.

3) Store it, freeze it, stick it in a tupperware.

As someone who’s now been cooking for herself for at least 5 years, I am here to tell you that there’s no “cooking for one.” Cooking for one is a lie. What you do is cook for 3-4 people, and then freeze or refrigerate the leftovers. So it’s important to consider how well your various ingredients freeze and how you’ll reheat them when the time comes.

Meat and seafood freeze well when you get them from the grocery store! Unfortunately, if you cook something or marinate it, and leave it to sit in the fridge, it will get very tough or break down entirely. (This is especially true if you use a particularly acidic marinade.) Unless you get them already frozen, fruits and vegetables do not freeze well at all—water expands as it freezes, and your fresh fruit & veg are so watery that the ice completely ruins the cellulose structure and defrosting will make them mushy. If you have leftover cooked vegetables, those should be used in scrambled eggs or eaten with a sauce within the week. Cream-based soups and sauces freeze pretty nicely, you just have to be careful not to leave them long enough to get freezer burn. Freezing bread arrests the yeast and mold processes, so if you’re looking to keep your loaf from turning, stick it in the freezer in an airtight bag.

(I haven’t had a microwave in two years, so most of what I make is the kind of stuff I can reheat on the stove—or eat cold!)

Also, most food isn’t ruined by temperature---you can leave a lot of stuff out on the counter after cooking without fear of bacteria. However, too much exposure to the air will ruin just about any dish: creams curdle, meat toughens, vegetables soften, starches harden. If you’re going to store something at room temperature, stick it in a ziploc bag, plastic wrap, or aluminum foil quickly, and it’ll last longer even without the refrigerator.

4) Occasionally, try something new.

Obviously, as a uni student you should try lots of new things---but as a uni student cooking for yourself, I encourage you to occasionally experiment. Make bread, if you’ve never made bread before; try a desert if you’ve been focused on single-serving chicken breasts. Once every few months, try cooking or baking something you’ve absolutely never tried. (For hard mode, pick something completely out of the ballpark---for example, a couple months ago I tried to make a meringue and failed miserably. But I think I understand why I failed and that’s made me a better cook in the interim.)

It is, of course, very important that we eat in a way that serves our body and its needs. But at the same time, making food has always struck me as serving more than just need---we make food to show our love and appreciation for others (isn’t feeding an act of service?), to articulate desires we can’t verbalize, to satisfy unreasonable cravings, to demonstrate capability, to prove our worthiness, to offer something that isn’t-sex-but-is, etc. etc. etc. Food is very rarely ever just food. Which means that sometimes, we should sequester ourselves in the kitchen and see if we can make that....thing from the Great British Bakeoff.

As a footnote, I hope my coworkers enjoy haphazardly baked alaska.

#tw food #no love sincerer than the love of food #Anonymous

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fluffyrainbowbutterfly · 5 years

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Crazy busy adult who has no time to cook shopping list because of work or college and also life advice

Frozen veggies, especially peas, can be microwaved and eaten in minutes

Fruit cups

Bagged salad

Orange, banana, apple (but not if you have braces). Takes literally seconds to wash, don't be lazy.

Berries (frozen or refrigerated), can be blended, cooked, or eaten as is (non-frozen berries need to be rinsed)

Canned lentils because protein and vitamin B

Eggs can be boiled or scrambled in bulk and saved to eat throughout the week

Deli meat. Can be mixed into dishes or eaten by itself.

Crockpots are great, throw in some meat and/or veggies and sauce, turn it on low, go to work/class, it'll be done when you're back and you can refrigerate or freeze left-overs for when you're really in a rush.

Worst case scenario: pour milk or other protein-based beverage into a thermos the night before, leave it in fridge, grab it on the way out. Put a small package of food such as trail-mix and a bottle of water in your backpack/workbag the night before in case you somehow forget the thermos.

It's okay to go without eating every once in a while, or binge on random vending machibe food in an emergency, but please try to eat healthy and as often as needed. I lost 60+ pounds just from being too busy to eat and experiencing non-stop stress. I lost fat and muscle tone, so my skin hangs loose on my body and my clothes don't fit right. Even though I did need to lose weight, this was not the healthiest way to do it (because I lost muscle tone).

Also you need to take time to clean your living space, and check it regularly for infestation, and call for maintenance or help if you see a problem. My dorm in college was infested with mold so bad (it was in the walls and air, so I couldn't stop it just by cleaning), the building needed to be rebuilt. Before that happened I caught several infections and illnesses that hampered my ability to succeed in my classes. I contracted aspergillosis(which can be deadly), but it went away a few weeks after leaving the room for good.

#dorm advice #college advice #college life #work #first time adulting #adulting #very busy #save time #in a rush #life #life tips #cooking #shopping #cleaning #mold #mold infestation #health #psa #this has been a psa

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muchymozzarella · 5 years

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Advice from a millennial foodie living alone on a budget

Do all your shopping in dollar stores and then buy what you can’t buy there in the grocery. Do not pay full price for generic products. What I buy for $40 in the grocery I can get for $20 at a dollar store. The only thing you can’t really get at a dollar store is fresh and frozen products.

Bacon is the cheapest non deli meat that’s sold around here, IDK if that’s true of most places. But it’s a good option apart from chicken if you want meat but are on a budget. Deli meats are probably the cheapest to buy in general, though I don’t prefer them. Eggs, as well, of course.

Pasta and rice are versatile and cheap carbs you can experiment with for meals that feel expensive but aren’t. Match meat / a protein of some kind with rice and some veg and you have a full meal. You can make so many different pastas by just changing sauces.

Great ingredients to always have are: Salt and Pepper, Butter or butter substitute, Soy Sauce. You can flavour most things with these ingredients alone, but you can always experiment with other dried herbs and spices.

If you have a hard time making your own meals, you can’t go wrong with wheat/grain bread and peanut butter for healthy carbs, protein and fat (barring allergies lol).

Totally not healthy but sometimes when I want a “pastry” but don’t wanna go out and buy one, I spread some butter on bread, sprinkle some sugar on it, then toast or melt it and eat that. It’s its own pastry. It’s ridiculously simple, not very healthy, but surprisingly decadent.

Buy bulk for stuff you know 100% you’ll use later and stock it (ie toilet paper, sanitary pads for ppl with vaginas), it’s cheaper. Use the dollar store trick; I’ve bought those huge 40-packs of liners and 24-packs of overnight winged napkins for only $4 from there).

If you love a certain brand then buy that brand, but also buy its cheapo generic counterpart and mix the two together in order to save up and still have that expensive experience (I do this for laundry detergent and instant coffee).

Get frozen veggies instead of fresh unless you’re gonna use them asap, so they don’t rot and you don’t waste food. There are a few things you can ONLY get fresh, but some frozen broccoli, peas, green beans, mixed veg, etc, can go a long way to keep you eating healthy.

You can make cafe style ice coffee by taking instant coffee, submerging it in a little cold water to remove the acidity, then adding the hot water / microwaving it, adding flavouring and or milk as needed (condensed milk mixed with coffee gives you this amazing sweet latte), and then adding as much ice as you can at once and stirring/mixing quickly, or pouring the hot mix into a cup full of ice (so it doesn’t melt). It took me a while to master the “add ice and stir” technique, so I suggest the “pour hot mix slowly into ice cup” technique for maximum effect.

You can make milk tea / bubble tea (without the bubbles) at home by boiling black tea (such as english or irish breakfast, ceylon tea, or orange pekoe) dark and then adding powdered creamer or coffee whitener (which is often non dairy) and sugar or sweetener as needed. You can add some milk to give it more body, but the milk tea flavour is generally achieved through the creamer/whitener. Same process with the ice: put in a lot all at once so it doesn’t melt, or pour the hot mix slowly into a cup full of ice.

You can get both instant coffee and black tea bags in huge bulk sizes. Also at dollar stores.

#advice #millennial foodie #not very extensive but still #budget

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larpgourmet · 5 years

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Making Food Look Genre

No matter what you do, some food just looks modern. There’s some easy and obvious fixes -- serve your food in bowls that fit the theme, and don’t eat with plastic flatware off paper plates -- but sometimes food just looks too modern, or too pristine for LARP.

No matter if you play in a fantasy or a post-apocalyptic LARP (those are the two most common, though I realize this list is hardly comprehensive) the best thing to do is remember that a lot of modern, processed foods would be difficult to make, or impossible to find in your world. Modern packaged breads, things like cheesecake or quiche, or packaged foods that deteriorate quickly are all all bad fits for meals where you’d like to be very genre appropriate.

Fortunately, some things can be done with simple substitutions -- though you may pay a little extra for below I’ll give you some ideas for substitutions to food you may be wanting to make, that will look a little more genre appropriate!

Bread / Sandwiches The go to of many LARPers. No matter what, modern, bagged bread always has something of a modern look to it, and sandwiches always carry a bit of that same modern appeal. If you’re serving bread as a side to a salad or soup, consider making a more rustic bread (I have a great beer bread recipe that I’ll link below!) You can cut or break off chunks, and serve it with butter, and the bread will look much more interesting!

Beer Bread: https://happyherbivore.com/recipe/beer-bread/

Consider breaking Sandwiches apart into what’s called a Peasant Lunch. Instead of making a regular sandwich, serve a small pre-sliced ham with some cheese you cut on site, and have a salad, fruit, and rustic crackers on the side. People can serve themselves slices of the meat or cheese, and eat vegetables and fruit. You get the same style of easy nutrition, but now it looks like a medieval feast!

If you still want to eat a normal sandwich, consider putting it in pita bread. It’s easier to carry anyway, and pita bread always has a slightly more rustic look about it.

Ultimately -- I think the big thing is to avoid potato chips as a side to a sandwich. They never look genre, and they really don’t offer you any serious health benefits. Go with a good side salad, cottage cheese, fresh fruit or vegetables.

Bonus Sandwich: The Beloved PB&J Nothing in this world is easier to eat than a good, old fashioned, PB&J sandwich. I think this one comes down to presentation. Consider toasting your bread, if you have access to a camp stove -- or cutting from a more rustic loaf. Use crunchy peanut butter and more classic preserves with fruit pieces. This is a great sandwich for pita, as pita covers a lot of sins since no one can usually see what’s inside. Also consider adding sliced banana to give the sandwich some weight. (Especially if you, like me, enjoy peanut butter and honey sandwiches). Then serve it with something like cottage cheese or baked apples.

Hot Dogs Inexpensive, full of protein, easy enough to heat, but can be eaten cold. Hot dogs are a staple of inexpensive LARP food. Fortunately, they don’t take a lot of work to make a little healthier, and a little more LARP friendly.

Instead of cheap hot dogs, consider getting inexpensive sausages from the deli section. Serve these without a bun, and have mashed potatoes and peas on the side. (Bangers and Mash for those of you who don’t know your UK dishes!) If you’re looking to make life easy on yourself, you can always go with canned peas, and instant mashed potatoes, and just heat everything up on your camp stove while at game. The meal will look much more rustic -- and will be much more filling! If you still want to be able to eat your sausages cold, then just be sure to cook them at home ahead of time.

Tacos Admittedly, this one I had to think about for a bit. I know a lot of people who love tacos. I think the dead give away on tacos tends to be the shell. So consider turning your normal taco into a chopped taco salad. You can top the salad with broken tortilla chips to give you the taco crunch if you need! Making a chopped salad makes it a lot easier to eat, no giant lettuce leaves to try to spear with a period accurate two-pronged fork. (Trust me, it doesn’t work.)

Burgers Who doesn’t love a burger? I know I do! I think buns are really the ill that makes burgers look modern. The quick fix is to advocate for slices of a more rustic bread, and go for a non-french fry/chip side. Mashed potatoes, or coleslaw can be made to look fairly genre, and also offer more nutrition (in general).

If you want to be totally extra, consider making Sloppy Joes on rustic bread! You get all the fun of ground beef, but they have a deconstructed look that makes them fit into genre just a little bit better.

The bonus with making Sloppy Joes, is you’ll need fewer condiments with you. So leave the ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise at home -- people won’t need to sauce this meal.

For recipe ideas on Sloppy Joes, check this out! https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/super-sloppy-joes-recipe4-1949927

Final Thoughts: Ultimately, I think the trick with genre food is that it should look less perfect if possible. Hand chopped vegetables, rustic (uneven) breads, food you made in a single cookpot (like mashed potatoes, or Sloppy Joes) -- those dishes give a world a more lived in feel, instead of brought from home, and many of them can be done easily and quickly!

#LARP #Recipes #genre #fantasy #post-apocalyptic #cooking

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lyesera-thoughts · 5 years

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Therapy - admitting mistakes and marijuana talk

For as long as I can remember, I have only ever eaten junk. Mom worked 2-3 jobs, had to get kids to school, and dad was sleeping all the time or just didn’t help.

Breakfast consisted of BK breakfast, Debbie Snacks, Donuts, or whatever quick CHEAP thing mom could grab on the way into school.

Lunch happened to be whatever the school gave me. I honestly don’t remember much, not very fancy (we were so poor my brother and I had free lunches), but I remember a lot of Friday pizza.

Dinner was whatever mom could get on the way home, or whatever was cheapest to stock in the house. Lots of pasta, pizza, BK meals, deli meats and white bread, steak and potatoes. Not a whole lot of green.

Snacks, because always snacks, whatever we could buy in bulk. Chips, crackers, ice cream, popcorn (slathered in butter), etc.

Then it was also an escape. Dad having an absolute fit and mom was done? Grab the kids, get in the car, and go to the store where she could get cigarettes, lotto tickets (to get free from her terrible, penniless life) and candy bars for the kids.

Food has always been bad/junky and always a quick and/or escape thing I always did.

It’s made NOT eating junk food an absolute nightmare to achieve. I seem to get better (read: eat maybe a couple donuts at breakfast AND have a bag of candy in the afternoon) and swing back to the worst (read: only eat whole cakes for breakfast lunch and dinner and also have candy if I can stomach it).

I also hide it. My fiance hates that I do it and I hate how ashamed I feel when he catches me. So I hide it as much as I can.

So it’s really hard to admit that I’m slipping back to the worst.

For the last few days, I have been making it a point to behave. I mean only the breakfasts my dietitian recommended. Only chicken and salad and a yogurt based ranch dressing for lunch. Only a lean (non red meat) protein and veggie for dinner. Healthy snacks (proteins and fruits) every afternoon. Sugar snacks MAYBE once in a while (and I had mine this weekend)

It’s been hard. I had been doing weeks of eating almost exclusively sugar prior to this change, which was Thursday. So right now, I get headaches and feel generally fucking terrible not having large amounts of sugar in the morning and afternoon. Been trying to push through by just making it harder to give myself the chance to have sugar, but it’s very very hard.

I really hope I start to feel better soon. I know that it usually is said I have to be generally sugar free for about 2-3 weeks before it’s more natural, but I really need it to be a lot faster....

On an unrelated note, marijuana. So I live in a state where it is legal to own up to an ounce of bud and can consume within the privacy of my own home. Also grow it, but I’m not much of a green thumb and there’s still laws about making sure its secure and such.

Recently, my landlord adjusted the rental notice to make it a violation of our agreement if we were to grow or consume marijuana in the apartment. Fortunately or unfortunately, I’m not a smoker. I have asthma, always have. I just don’t want smoke of any kind in my lungs, I barely breath when it’s humid outside because the air is denser. Thank you, but no thank you.

But it means that in order for me to consume it, I have had to bake it, in a coconut oil infusion I made. Which makes the house reek. Until recently. We discovered melting the oil into a pot and making rice krispies doesn’t end in an apartment full of marijuana scent.

The other big problem is, while it is legal to own and consume privately, it is still very much illegal to purchase marijuana in my state. Which means, apart from “gifting” I can’t get marijuana legally. I can only obtain CBD (hemp based) products legally.

Here’s my issue. I have a condition called fibromyalgia. It’s a stupid condition where my body produces large amounts of inflammation out of food sensitivities and even my own stupid fucking emotions (thank you anxiety and depression), then turns my pain receptors up to 11 for no (currently) discernible reason.

Now, my doctors offered me some medications in which I didn’t like the side effects. I’m one of those people who does a lot of research, asks my doctors a lot of questions, and tries to take everything in as neutrally as I can. I trust my doctors. If I find something online I want to hear their opinion on that and I listen.

They’re trained professionals, go figure!

But we both concluded that we didn’t like the side effects and that I wasn’t in a place that I HAD to take it. She wanted me to lose weight anyways and, in her words, it would probably fix everything. (I’m skeptical on that, but we’ll circle back when I actually lose weight).

But it means that I can only have over the counter pills for the pain management...which I’m getting conflicting answers on. My Rheumatologist says if the pains really bad, alternate high doses of Ibuprofen and Tylenol as needed. My primary, however, doesn’t like that in the least bit. Would rather I use cold/hot packs and suck it up. To be honest, neither really help, and I resent that these are my only options.

I tried CBD for a while. A lot of people were raving about it. I even went and saw a cannabis/hemp specialist in the area. (His only job is to talk to people about these choices and how to use them in their daily lives). But topically, nothing helped and orally, I was using so much to achieve results, that I was spending at least 50% more in a month on CBD oils than it cost for an ounce of bud.

Well...I have friends...friends who have been recreational users for a long time, who have been wanting me to try with them for a while (I wasn’t joking about not doing stuff if it wasn’t legal thing).

They were thrilled at the opportunity to help me out. I really appreciate that, I’m not sure that I expressed it properly to them, but I do appreciate it. Because within a week of reaching out to them I had my very own bud of flower.

No idea the strain I had, but it was at least a hybrid, if not a majority indica strain. And it did exactly what I wanted...

I followed their directions for decarboxlation and then into coconut oil infusion (thankfully before the rental agreement change and thankfully no one asked, because the house smelled like marijuana for weeks!). Then came the baking.

Barring a rookie’s mistake dosing the very first time (we fucked up bad, a story for another time perhaps), it’s been wonderful. I’m a dummy who doesn’t use it every night, but when I use it, it’s great.

I can only describe it as making things feel normal, or right. The pain dials down. I have some pain still, but I’m a big girl who’s out of shape. It doesn’t consume my thoughts, though, which is a huge change!

Things become happier and calmer around me. I’m quicker to smile, easier to cuddle with. I want to do things and have fun and then I sleep through the WHOLE night.

It’s fantastic.

I eat such small doses (a fraction of the recommended dose), only in the evenings, that my ounce of bud wound up lasting over a year! Even with my fiance eating a dose most nights (he just liked the good feels, I’d rather he do that than anything else).

A year! For less than a month of CBD! And it did what I wanted!

I want a medical marijuana license so I can legally obtain some more, but I’m finding a few issues. The laws in my state have a very, VERY short list of things someone on the registry must have to be approved. Chronic pain is on there, but listed as debilitating chronic pain. AND that a reasonable effort has been made to treat it in other ways.

I haven’t done those. I haven’t taken other meds because I don’t want to deal with the side effects. I haven’t lost weight yet, I’m struggling with old bad habits.

But all I can think of is that it’s so unfair that I have to just deal with my pain and frustration and bad emotions and not have easier access to a drug that could, just as easily, be controlled by the government like they do tobacco and alcohol.

A drug that has given me relief and good night sleeps, and biggest side effect is that I smile more!

Just saying...

#therapy #random thoughts #mistakes #over eating #fat #weight not coming off #marijuana #medical #medical marijuana #cannabis #pain relief

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jeantmelton · 4 years

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How To Eat While Traveling

It can be a challenge to eat well while traveling. Convenience food, eating out at restaurants, extra sweets, alcohol and skipping meals can leave you feeling tired, bloated and generally not your best. Combine that with long travel days, less movement and not sleeping well, travel can feel like less of a vacation and more of a stress on your body.

Whether you are traveling for work or for pleasure, by putting some simple strategies in place you can easily navigate travel to keep you healthy, happy and having fun!

Here are my top tips for navigating food choices when you are traveling:

Tip #1: Pack Snacks

There is nothing worse than being without food when hunger strikes. If your flight sits on the ground for hours before takeoff or you miss breakfast before your early meeting, having something with you to eat will save you from skipping a meal or resorting to the vending machine.

Here are my go-to foods that I pack for any trip:

Nuts (maybe a small amount dried fruit for some natural sweetness) and individual packets of nut butter

Fruit, such as apples and oranges

Veggie chips, such as kale or beet chips

Canned wild salmon

Whole grain or gluten-free crackers

Grass-fed beef jerky

Collagen protein bars

Olives

High Quality Dark chocolate (life is short!)

If I’m traveling by car, I might also pack a cooler with some perishable items like organic deli meat, coconut yogurt and a home – made kale salad (recipe below).

By bringing food with me, I ensure that I’m covered for whatever travel throws my way!

Tip #2: Hit The Grocery Store

I always scope out the grocery stores at my destination and plan on stopping there if needed. I can grab some simple staples like hard boiled eggs, avocados, a big salad from the salad bar and replenish my snack supply. If I’m traveling by car, I might also pack a blender and then pick up smoothie supplies as well.

I try to book a hotel room with a fridge or, better yet, a small kitchenette so I can make at least some of my own meals. This saves money on eating out and helps me prioritize maintaining good nutrition while avoiding overly processed or high sugar options that might be more convenient. Most of all, eating real food simply feels better. Who wants to be away from the comforts of home feeling sick, bloated, constipated, fatigued or moody due to something as preventable as eating real whole foods!

Tip #3: Make A Restaurant Plan

Eating out at restaurants can be challenging especially if you are following a personalized diet to support autoimmune disease, hormone balance or weight loss. On one hand you want to enjoy the pleasures of dining out, but on the other hand you want to maintain the progress that you’ve made with your health goals.

One of the best strategies to navigate restaurant eating is simply by having a plan. Here is what I mean:

Check out restaurants online before you travel. This will help you decide what the best restaurant options are for you and your individual style of eating.

Plan your order. Look at the menu online and make a plan for what you will want to order. This will help you avoid impulse decisions, keep you from feeling flustered and allow you to focus on the social aspects of the meal.

Make substitutions. Often restaurants will allow you to substitute a salad for another side, order a meal without the sauce or adjust your order in another way to suit your needs and preferences. Since dairy can be inflammatory for many, I often recommend asking for meal items without the cheese. Another great substitution is asking for olive oil and vinegar as your dressing. Many commercial salad dressings contain inflammatory vegetable oils and sugar and are helpful to avoid.

Tip #4: Support Yourself With Supplements

Another tip is to travel with supplements. Digestive enzymes and an organic greens powder are my top recommendations, along with any other supplements that you may be taking as part of your functional medicine protocol.

Digestive enzymes, such as Digestive Enzymes Ultra by Pure Encapsulations, are great to have in your purse or bag while traveling to help digest the foods that you are eating. Since it is common to eat foods that you don’t normally eat while traveling or sit a lot on long travel days (movement can help with digestion), digestive enzymes can simply give your GI tract a little love and support.

If you are sensitive to gluten or dairy, Pure Encapsulations also makes Gluten and Dairy Digest, which is specifically formulated to help you digest these proteins should you encounter any contamination by eating away from home.

One common challenge with travel is getting in enough veggies. Eating plenty of produce each day provides essential nutrients, antioxidants and helps to keep you regular, which can be very helpful when traveling. Using an organic greens powder, such as this one from Amazing Grass, can help to fill in the veggie gap. Simply mix a scoop with water or nut milk as a great way to start a day of travel and exploring.

Tip #5: Do Your Best

My goal for you is that with these strategies you can travel with ease! Eating while traveling shouldn’t be stressful or trigger feelings of guilt or shame around your food choices. Instead, it can be helpful to take the mindset of simply doing your best. Being prepared certainly helps with this positive view. Create a balance between nourishing your body with nutritious foods and enjoying the pleasure of eating and trying new things. If your body doesn’t like something you try, take note, and adjust for the next meal.

The more that you work with these strategies along with tuning into your body’s needs, the easier it will become to travel and maintain your health goals at the same time. You’ll just need to travel more to practice!

Quick Kale Salad

I travel a lot for work and also with my family. When I’m on my nutrition game, I whip up a batch of this kale salad the night before I leave. In the morning, I divide the kale among 3-4 travel bowls (I like LunchBots), top with any extra protein I have in the fridge and I’m done! It’s quick, tasty, nutrient dense and satisfying. Knowing I have something delicious and nutritious to enjoy keeps my eyes off the candy at the gas stations which I appreciate so that I can trust my travels will be fun and I will feel well!

Ingredients

8-10 large stalks of Lacinato kale (aka dinosaur kale)

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons tahini

½-1 whole lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons unfortified nutritional yeast

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Mix the oil, tahini, lemon juice and nutritional yeast until combined. Set aside.

2. Strip the kale leaves off the stems and discard the stems. Tear the kale into bite size pieces and sprinkle with salt.

3. Squeeze and massage the kale very hard for about 3-5 minutes or until the kale is very soft and appears “cooked.”

4. Stir in the lemon tahini dressing. Note: for extra delicious salad, store in the fridge 8 hours or overnight to let the flavors deepen.

5. Before serving, top with walnuts.

The post How To Eat While Traveling appeared first on Unlimited Health Institute.

from Lastest News https://unlimitedhealthinstitute.com/how-to-eat-while-traveling/

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iron-sulfur-world · 7 years

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you go through the sliding glass doors, thankful that the motion sensors recognize you; they didn’t in Arqufe and you got a nosebleed on impact. the shopping cart is uncomfortably warm, but it but it scuttles along where you push it politely enough.

the produce section is a minefield. you are only somewhat comforted by the list you have folded in your pocket, and you are starting to regret volunteering for this alone. you struggle to read the labels on the piles of fruit, mentally translate the degekaiD to Basic, and acquire all the requested plant matter. you drop a weoug into the cart, surprised at how much it weighs; the cart snarls at you. you apologize.

the weoug kinda looks like a melon. you wonder if you can eat it, and if you can, what it might taste like. Eideh-vib got a fyidikh last time and only her and the other Sholdfins could eat them, so theres no guarantee her weoug is safe for the rest of you, or appetizing.

the rest of the produce is matching names to labels. one of the workers assures you (in flawless degekaiD) that ripe uysdivi are supposed to ooze that way, so you suck it up and put them in a plastic bag. ugh. they’re too soft, and slimy, and you can feel it through the plastic. Zhelan better love these, because you sure as fuck don’t. you drop one on the ground. the worker goes to pick it up but the cart eats it before they can. the worker mumbles something about checking to see if the carts’ve been fed

(story continues under the cut)

ok thats it for produce. you got lucky this time; you weren’t expecting them to have tangerines, with how irritating the rinds seem to be to non-humans. god you’ve missed tangerines. uhhhh, you don’t need anything from the deli, you don’t think? so now meat.

before you left your home colony you were terrified of seeing what other meat existed away from your human-only settlement. you were also afraid of lobsters, and childishly imagined everything looking like more and more terrifying versions of your hated invertebrate. today you still hurry past the lobster tank and pick out the meats from the list, everything in neat, sterile plastic and styrofoam packaging. aside from a few obvious organs and limbs like a butcher’s shop (not a horror film), the cuts of meat all look kinda the same, except for variations in color. you pick out a pound of gjobfjak steak also, because you know Eideh-vib loves it, and because you know she can safely share with you, and it tastes ok, mostly.

and the most frustrating part; processed foods. now the trouble isn’t so much that the foods are processed, its that they’re packaged, and imported. and you only know so many languages to read so many packages. some things you recognize safe by sight; brand loyalty at its finest. cereal, tea, dounk, croutons, salsa, jedkehfur, bowod, doritos. it all goes into the cart. you take down a box of maybe-pasta. the nutrition facts repeat over and over covering the entire back panel, each repetition specific to the nutritional needs of a federally recognized trade partner. in tiny white script at the very bottom ‘no nutrition to humans’. disappointed, you put back the not-pasta. rice, you can eat rice, wait, nope nope nope those are dried garfanhoto ovaries no no no. garfanhotos look like lobsters, or like locusts and you can’t stand the idea of putting that in your body, even if Eideh-vib assures you they’re a safe source of protein. is that real rice? yes! rice! the cart growls at the weight, and you discreetly drop another uysdiv on the ground for it in apology.

ok, milk, eggs, ooh they have Afakiv eggs here, nice. but you still do want chicken eggs, do they have? yep, here we go. you really hope the cart’s gonna be nice about it. they’ve got cups of hodsii on sale. ehh, you drop a few into the cart. you don

shit

you forgot the bread.

the cart refuses to go faster than standard, but goes along with your U-turn anyway. the bread was an aisle back ughhhhh. you refuse to go another day eating instant rise/bake bread. just because the crew can take it, doesn’t mean you can. potato bread is a must, gluten-free bread approximations for Zhelan, uhh, might as well get two baguettes while you’re here. three packs of bagels, fuck, those breads. you don’t know what to call them in English but they’re fucking great. tastes like bread, otherworldly texture. Eideh-vib made fun of you the first time you had them, but she can laugh all she wants (she has a cute laugh btw) because you will be enjoying calorie dense carbohydrates until you die.

also since no one’s here to stop you you get a pack of cookies and candied eehguf. the cart rumbles at the smell and you let it eat one. that gets you some nice chirring. god thats too cute for something with so many legs.

the cashier asks why the packaging is torn. “I fed one to the cart,” you say, kinda embarrassed, “it also ate two uysdivi.” they smile at you, and assures you it happens a lot. the cart gets put back after the groceries are unloaded, and you give it another eehguf as a goodbye. you take a picture to show Eideh-vib; she’s probably already seen this kind of cart before, but even if she doesn’t think its cute, she’ll think you’re cute for thinking its cute.

#humans are weird #aliens #short story #slice of life #sci-fi #omnivore #food #human omnivore #this started because i had the idea about the nutrition facts and it spiraled out of control #i'll probably do another post about it later on #narrator has a crush on Eideh-vib #she's a sweetheart #iron sulfur words

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peachesannndgravy · 7 years

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Dear Don’t Post Anon

Hello!!!

I’m not sure if you wanted me to post your last asks; however, I chose not to. I won’t address specific details that you’ve mentioned in your asks but I will answer your concerns.

When it comes to school, it’s hard not to be stressed. The stakes are much different today than just a few decades ago. There’s a lot of emphasis on being the best but not just grades but every fkn facet you encounter. It’s quite exhausting. Also, there’s a vast misunderstanding coming from parents when it comes to studies. Nevertheless, I’ll tell you what has helped me with anxiety.

Go for a walk. It’s the best remedy for me. I literally just walk around && listen to classical music. You are correct in the sense that music influences your mood. I definitely recommend classical music. Some of my personal favorites are Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Erik Satie, && Chopin.

Do some dancing! I like to turn on my iPod, lock myself in the bathroom (the ONLY place where I can have privacy) && dance my ass off. Jump around to raise your heartbeat. After all, anxiety is basically a boost of adrenaline your body employs to protect you in case of danger. The problem with anxiety is that we get adrenaline when there’s no danger. In a true case of danger, we wouldn’t notice the adrenaline but if you’re sitting in a room && feel the sweating, palpitations, shortness of breath && other symptoms, we will panic. So, it’s important to burn off that extra adrenaline by moving around. I do so by dancing.

Sing!!!! It’s been known that when you sing for like half an hour or so, it helps with stress && blood pressure.

Mind your food!!!! Remember that your body is your machine && food is the fuel. Thus, your output is contingent upon the kind of fuel you’re ingesting. Avoid caffeine, artificial chemicals, sugarless products that taste sweet, MSG!!!!! && anything that is far too produced. Try to be as natural when it comes to your food. I know that when you’re in school it’s hard to eat healthily but take little snacks. I usually carry a plastic container filled with blueberries, blackberries, grapes && other fruits. If I’m unable to pack one, I throw an apple, banana, pear, a bag of nuts, string cheese or crackers in my bag. I drink a lot of water.

Avoid greasy food! As aforementioned, try to ingest healthy proteins to remain full. I like to have plain greek yogurt in the mornings && sweeten it with honey. I’ll eat my banana then for a snack I’ll carry a bag of celery, carrots, blueberries etc.. For lunch, I tend to eat a sandwich where I avoid mayo, opt for mustard && one slice of turkey deli meat && a shitload of spinach. As a snack, I’ll have once again more fruits/veggies. Dinner is usually salmon with spinach for me. I just try to keep it as natural as possible.

Write it down!!! Get yourself a diary && just write it down. It helps you gather your thoughts && just relax.

Take it easy. I know school is super important but don’t exert yourself. Know your limits && take only what you can handle. I used to be the type of college student taking like 15+ units a semester with a part-time job && parenting. Now, I’m taking 12 units, I have a part-time job && raise my kid.

Compartmentalize. You really save yourself a lot of stress if you follow a routine. Make sure you have certain hours of the day where you focus on one class so you don’t cram everything in one sitting. Don’t be afraid of redirecting responsibilities. In other words, ask for help. If you need help with studying or doing something, ask for help.

I know school is all about future-planning but if you stress too much today, you may not make it till tomorrow. Take it easy anon. Life is really short && you matter. School isn’t going anywhere. I’m fkn 30 && just barely finishing my undergrad studies after a ten-year hiatus && a child. It sounds like you have a supportive family, despite their limitations in understanding your problems, && it’s ok to tell them about your plans && keep open lines of communication.

Unfortunately, society is so bent on doing everything at the same time && people burn themselves out. Time is a social construct && it is relative. Set goals but don’t forget about taking time for yourself. Here’s a link of a powerpoint that I did to help college students.

Feel better babe!

#don't post anon #anon #replies

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