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chatoyism · 6 years

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Sweeter Life ➵ Young K One Shot

➺ Summary: You love cooking. Ever since you were little, you were giving out restaurant quality foods for your family but was scared to show it to anyone else. When you eventually got a boyfriend by the name of Brian, he opened up about the reason why you get takeout so much. Eventually, it was time to prove how well your skills can a long way.

➺ Genre: Romance, Fluff

➺ Member: Kang Younghyun (Brian)

➺ Words: 2.8k

A/N: This beautiful one shot which features a cooking recipe is indeed a real thing! It was inspired by a cooking video I watched on YouTube following the same recipe and same name so if you ever want a look at what the food will look like in your head to form some kind of image, the link to the exact video is right here! Thank you, Cooking Tree for this beautiful stunning masterpiece!

Blueberry Cheese Tart Recipe

It was dark outside, cold, freezing air brushing past your cheeks as you took a shivering step inside your two-story house after coming back from working at the town convenience store. Your teeth chattered repeatedly, hands trying to rub against your body in hopes of delivering some kind of warmth while you glanced around the empty and quiet space. Closing the door behind you in a hurry, Your flat shoes made clacking sounds against the wooden floorboards as you walked through the hallway towards the kitchen with a large bag of take-out food in your hands.

The smell of the food lingered around the room, a box filled with steak, gravy and fresh salad and cheese from a local quality restaurant you got from nearby. Quickly rushing to the kitchen, you placed the oversize bag on the counter, taking out the contents and setting it aside and throwing the rubbish away. Excess grease stained your soft and delicate hands, the smell of the cooked but hot food filling up your taste buds.

From around the corner, footsteps echoed throughout the house coming from the stairs. The steps were careful, trudging through the hallway before the figure behind the sounds wrapped their arms around your petite waist.

In the corner of your eyes, you saw little feet poking out from underneath baggy black sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt, red hair sticking out on the side of your face. It was basic clothing choice, but that was the style you’ve always been admiring for.

“Now where has this beautiful piece of food come from, love?” The sound coming from your boyfriend Brian mumbled in the crook of your neck. You chuckled as his lips tickled against your skin, squishing his chubby cheeks softly.

“It was all that I could find at this time, Brian. It’s late at night so every restaurant in town was closed and couldn’t open up until later.” You explained to him, turning your body around so you faced his tired but angelic figure. “Thank god I found this one restaurant that offered me some lovely dinner tonight!”

He laughed at your beautiful smile that you let out whilst explaining your catastrophe with the whole “restaurant” thing. There was something about you that made him your boyfriend. He was talented, played the bass guitar, sang like an angel, beatbox like a pro and even dance like a natural, but there was a giant difference between you and him. You were a part of the “average” women so you didn’t know how or why he chose you out of all girls.

“Come on. Tuck in.” You nudged him slightly, making him nod out a murmur cutely and cuddled with you a little longer before grabbing the food box and a plate and headed for the dining table. You ran behind him, sitting in the seat just across from him with cutlery and your own plate, food and glasses of water.

As he opened the takeout box, steam escaped everywhere, surprisingly suddenly making you chuckle. Eyeing the succulent visual of the grilled steak and gravy on the side made him lick his lips in temptation. Drool was almost leaving his mouth at the stunning beauty of the food in front of him before he quickly emptied the contents into the plate and immediately dug in.

His face showed many signs of happiness. Scrunching up his nose as he chewed the steak sent pure bliss all around him. It was yet again, like every other food you ever got, indescribable.

“Where do you find these foods Y/N?” He questioned like an enthusiastic toddler, stabbing the fork into the crisp salad and practically inhaling the food into his mouth. You laughed.

“Maybe at the greatest quality restaurants in town.” You smirked jokingly as your boyfriend smiled at your reply.

After watching Brian tucking into his food like an animal, you too decided to have a go and see for yourself. Grabbing your fork and knife, you sliced off a chunk of steak, watching as the sweet juices oozed out beautifully, popping the piece into your mouth and chewed.

It was indeed magnificent like your boyfriend had said. Everything about it made your body shiver, just from a single piece of steak alone. Strange. The tenderness was good, the juice filling your taste buds and the texture crispy and soft.

However, it didn’t meet your expectations.

“Woah, this is actually some good stuff.” You said, trying to pretend that it was alright, something you’ve been doing this whole time with the other bags of food you bring in every night for you and your boyfriend to share.

“See? I told you so! This restaurant has to earn good tips from this type of food!”

For the rest of those few minutes, you continued to eat at an ordinary pace, taking your time to engulf some water and accompany your meal with salad and cheesy gravy. By the time you were halfway done with your steak, Brian’s plate was basically empty. Not a single bit of lettuce, meat or gravy covered the plate beside a few stains.

He was impressive.

You were about to take another piece of salad into your mouth that was stuck to the end of the fork before Brian interrupted suddenly as he watched you eat.

“Hey Y/N?” He asked, tilting his head.

“Yeah? What’s the matter?”

“I’ve been getting quite curious lately over something that may be ordinary for you, but got me really confused at first.” He said, looking at you deeply in the eyes while you really wanted to eat that salad on your fork.

“Why is it that you bring us takeout instead of cooking your own dinner?”

You froze suddenly, making the salad fall off the cutlery. It startled Brian at first making him start to panic as you didn’t say a word for a few seconds and just stared at him straight in the eyes like you were stunned.

Actually, you were stunned.

“U-Uhh, Y/N? Are you okay there? I-I’m sorry if I offended you, I-I didn’t mean too!” He stuttered, waving his hands in front of your face.

You snapped back to reality. “O-Oh yeah. I’m fine, just a bit traumatized.”

“Was it about the cooking thing?” Brian asked, his red hair fluttering in front of his face. You set down your utensils and looked down, nodding in acceptance.

“I-I know how to cook… I’m just scared that people will judge it…” You mumbled, but Younghyun managed to hear it perfectly, making him smile that you told the truth.

“It’s alright love, you don’t have to show your cooking, if you’re scared, just keep it inside unless you want to let it all out. I will wait for that special moment.” Brian smiled brightly, making you grin at how amazing he was.

“Thanks love.” You said.

“No problem. Now eat your steak or else I might steal it.” He chuckled, playfully joking with you.

You were right about the cooking subject yesterday. The talk from before explained a lot of truth that you were too afraid of telling to anyone, even if it was a topic that many spoke about. However, it was all over the fact that you were scared people judged you.

You cooked like a professional, used ancient techniques when it came to using knives and even knew how to correctly take out fish bones without leaving a single one in, but you wouldn’t have known since you barely ate any of your foods. All those judgments were made by your parents and siblings, how they questioned you at such a young age how you could become the next best chef in the world.

You made anything, from soft, fresh white bread, perfect Italian pizza, stunning spaghetti to the desserts like sweet apple custard pies, creamy vanilla stack cake and summer peach iced tea drinks.

You basically served quality 5-star restaurant food that you would make by yourself.

It was a natural skill, you were almost born with this talent, but you eventually let this talent slip away and hid it behind your other skills in life. It fell behind and the last time you could ever remember recalling the last food you made was when you left home for college. Two years ago.

Now, you didn’t feel so scared anymore. You had Younghyun by your side.

The morning sun rose up and beamed its shining light through the slits of your curtains, making you gradually open your eyelids and sit up, stretching your arms out with a big yawn.

You wore only a singlet and underwear that night under thick white blankets with the warm body of your boyfriend beside you. His shirtless figure, spread out across the mattress while his face hid underneath the sheets made you smile at his cute sleeping posture, light snores escaping past his plump peach coloured lips.

Letting your legs slip out of the sheets, you quietly stood up and pushed the blankets towards Brian, making him shuffle a little, hoping that you didn’t disturb him and to your surprise, he didn’t.

You made your way to his side of the closet and picked out a large oversize shirt from the wide range of clothing, before deciding on one white long sleeve one and slipping it over your body. The big size dropped beyond your small body size, making it look more like a dress.

You left the room quietly, closing the door and walking downstairs and heading straight to the kitchen where you opened the fridge and noticed the somehow overfilled compartments of food.

“Since when did we get all of these?” You questioned, raising an eyebrow before shrugging and thinking of something to make with your gallery of food recipes.

Yes, that was correct. You were planning on cooking today. Breakfast for your boyfriend.

“Sugar… Cream cheese… Blueberries… Apple mint…” You labelled the ingredients in front of you before you immediately thought of something from the top of your head.

“I got it.”

You grabbed an apron that hung on a hook and tied the knot around your waist, grabbing a giant glass bowl from the cupboard and proceeded to grab your ingredients from the fridge. One at a time, you pulled out a bunch of things. Fruits, powders, leaves and a rotten apple at the far back of the fridge that you didn’t even notice before sighing and brushing off the contents on your hands.

“Cream cheese and whisk.” You said to yourself, grabbing a whisk and mashing the right amount of cream cheese inside the bowl before it was soft and smooth. You added the egg, some sugar, a pinch of salt, vanilla extract and continued on mixing.

You were incredibly focused on your work. You were a silent worker but didn’t notice the sounds of Brian’s footsteps from the stairs when suddenly, his figure came up to you from behind without you noticing and slipped his arms around your waist once more. You jumped up in surprise, heart beating quickly and quickly covered up the bowl of mixture in your hands.

“You weren’t in bed, early birdy.” He mumbled, smiling as he pressed his shirtless body against your back wrapping his arms tighter. You laughed a little.

“I was thinking of something today, but you can’t see it until I tell you too.” You replied, making him smirk. “It’s a secret, so no cheeky peeking.”

“Alright, I’ll go back into the bedroom, but you better promise me that you’ll be done soon. I miss your warmth beside me, okay, love?”

“It’s a promise.” You connected pinky fingers and watched as he gave you a wink and turned towards the stairs, quickly eyeing your ingredients on the countertop before heading up into the bedroom and away from your sight.

“Weew.” You wiped off a bit of sweat on your forehead.

You quickly found a plate to place your food in, getting a tart sheet from inside the fridge and moulding it into shape before grabbing homemade blueberry puree and spreading it lightly inside the uncooked dough.

Pouring the soft, creamy mixture on top of the puree, you put the tart on a baking tray and opened the oven before slipping it in, baking it for a good 35 minutes until it was crispy and golden brown.

Time went by slowly, sitting through a movie being played on the TV, wondering what Younghyun was probably up to in the bedroom alone by himself when the timer to the oven sounded. You jumped up with glee, skipping to the kitchen and slipped on your cute pastel blue oven mitts before opening it up and picked the cooked fresh tart from inside, setting it on the stove top.

The creamy mixture folded into a squishy texture, the tart on the outside firm and golden brown into perfection where you began placing small little blueberries on top and adding leaves of apple mint in between the cracks of the fruits.

“Kang Younghyun! Breakfast is ready!” You called out, echoing through the house when suddenly, loud thumps from upstairs were heard and his hard footsteps banging against the floorboards. He quickly ran downstairs, still without a shirt on when he suddenly stopped by the kitchen door frame.

His reaction was priceless.

Your delicate hands handle the powdered sugar lightly, tapping the strainer over the perfect, seamless masterpiece that was shining right in front of him as it left white speckles on the blueberries and apple mint laid in a beautiful circle. He couldn’t explain. He was speechless. He was in love with not only a beautiful woman but an amazing unrecognized chef.

“Close that mouth of yours, you’ll catch flies!” You said and ordered him to come over to sit at the counter, still in a complete daze.

He still couldn’t comprehend the situation.

“Y-You made that?” He asked, still not sure if this was you or some masterpiece ordered online. You raised an eyebrow and smirked, giving him an almost shocking answer.

“Who else would’ve made it?”

“No way, this is unbelievable…”

“Go on, take a bite.” You said, a little scared at first when you lent him a fork as he took it, delighted. His stomach churned and rumbled underneath the rows of muscles chiselled on his body which made him look down at pat it in silence.

“I swear, I don’t feel worthy of this creation. It looks too good.” Brian tried to stop himself from eating it before you took a knife and cut a piece through the tart, revealing another whole new world inside, making him drooling for the food.

He immediately tucked in when you placed the slice on a plate and slid it towards him where he took a piece and devoured it in a second, enjoying the burst of flavours exploding inside his mouth. Not even one bite through, the warmth of the creamy mixture and the juicy blueberries alone made him leave his jaw hanging in total shock. He left a sort of, “Oh-my-god-this-is-so-good-I’m-speechless” type of expression, where he stayed still, and trying to figure out why he couldn’t speak.

You dug in as well, taking a piece from the tart and popping it in your mouth where you too were surprised. It had been so long since you last got to taste your own cooking, but it was so much better than you intended it to be.

“A-Are you okay, Younghyun?” You said his name, making him snap his head back to the real world.

“I-I-I just can’t believe it… This is amazing…”

“Don’t lie, it’s not that good… Is it?”

“Why would I say that my girlfriend’s cooking is bad? T-This is basically chef quality stuff! Even Gordon Ramsay could get jealous over this, it’s really good!” He said in excitement, continuing to dig into the tart before all of it was gone from the plate. Nothing was left behind and all that was left, however, was a full stomach.

“You, Y/N, are one of the greatest people alive.” He complimented, making you blush a whole shade of red. He smiled brightly, cute at how you looked away with shyness.

“You’re playing with my feelings…” You joked.

You were about to place the empty plate into the sink behind you when Younghyun stopped you in your tracks.

“Uhh, Y/N, you’ve got a little something on your lips there.”

“Where is it?”

You were going to brush it away when Brian suddenly leaned in super close to you, holding onto your chin and closed his eyes, giving a deep, passionate kiss on your lips. His plump lips moulded in with yours, the sweetness of the sugar from earlier binding with the taste of his own, closing your eyes for a few seconds and letting him kiss you passionately before breaking it slowly.

“It was powdered sugar. All gone now.” He smirked.

Your heart was on the verge of stopping at how cheesy he was, but how he could be so loving and caring at the same time.

Who knew life with your boyfriend could be so sweet?

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aliesteem · 4 years

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The Wonderful World of Focaccia

Great original photos were lost in the making of this writing piece. I’ve googled the best photos I could in replacement!

In the world of baking and pastry, there are thousands and thousands of unique foods rooted as cultural staples. Focaccia is one of them. A flavorful and traditional Italian bread. There is, surprisingly rich history behind the cloud-textured bread. I’m exploring it as well as a review of the focaccia I’ve eaten at bakeries La Focaccia of Eataly and Amy’s Bakery from taste, texture, composition to appearance.

First off, we must know what focaccia is exactly. As we know focaccia is a flat Italian bread but also known as the Roman words “panis focacius” literally meaning bread. It is a truly easy bread to create. All Recipes Magazines tells its readers “This may be the fastest yeast bread you make; it takes only one hour from conception to completion” It only consists of the simple ingredients of flour, water, dry yeast, salt, and olive oil. Historians believe that this basic recipe originated either in Northern Italy, ancient Greece or Rome before the growth of its empire. In the early years of focaccia, its dough was dimpled lightly with oil and baked on a piping hot tile on the face of a fire. These dimples can also be called dotting. The History of Focaccia Bread by Abigail’s Bakery describes dotting, “this creates multiple wells in the bready by using a finger or the handle of the utensils to poke the unbaked dough.” Within the process of baking the bread would be punctured to release steam from the bubbles that would accumulate on the surface of the bread. After, moisture is preserved by wetting the bread with more generous amounts of olive oil in these wells. According to The History of Things, focaccia wasn’t always meant to have risen during cooking. Their article states “Historically focaccia was unleavened, the recipe rises naturally in the right climate” over time yeast was added to give height to the bread in quicker time.

There are other changes of focaccia that altered over time. The focaccia was once associated with Christmas Eve and Epiphany and only be eaten at that specific time of year. Since then Italian cuisine has branched out. Focaccia is now eaten all year round. New flavors have been incorporated “They can contain olive oil, rosemary, sage, garlic, cheeses, and onion. There are also sweet recipes of focaccia containing eggs, honey, raisins, anise, sugar, and lemon or orange peel.” Cultures in around the world such as Burgundy, Argentina, and Spain have their own versions of focaccia called fouaisse, fugazza and hogaza.

There is also the continuous misconception that focaccia is merely pizza. “Focaccia is not pizza; it is not even a Sicilian deep dish pizza. Focaccia doesn’t have cheese on it; it’s actually flatbread … it is generally not as fluffy as focaccia” says It’s Not Pizza … its Focaccia article by 2gourmaniacs. In Italy pizza and focaccia are seen as two widely different foods. It is often foreigners or those unfamiliar to the cultures that confuse the two. Pizza is its own full meal whereas focaccia is considered a light snack or accompanying a dish such as soups, cooked meats, and salads or as sandwiches.

I made a phone call to Amy’s Bakery of Chelsea Market on Manhattan’s 9th Ave and W. 16th street. I told them I was doing my own research of focaccia for a blog. The lady over the phone was thrilled and agreed to give me free focaccia to taste and assess. When I arrived there the next day with my friend. I love Chelsea Market. I’ve been there in the past, the colorful, unique shops is stimulating and exciting every time I go there. As I walked into Amy’s Breads I went to the cashier and gave my name. They were incredibly friendly and immediately knew who I was. An employee went in the back room and came back with cute, small paper folded neatly at the top with a note with my name and a smiling face stapled to the top. It was so adorable and kind. The employee asked me to go to the side of the store where she gave the paper bag and explained the flavored focaccia. I was given fragrant rosemary focaccia that also smelled of sweet vinegar. I gave a piece to my friend and then took a big bite. I was immediately disappointed. The focaccia was crusty but not in a good way. It tasted super dry, stale as if it was left out for a long period of time. Looking past the texture, the flavor wasn’t redeeming. The tangy, overbearing, vinegar taste took over the entire bread leaving my mouth sour. I felt as if I was forcing myself to chomp it down. I put the remaining bread back in the paper bag, rolled it up and stuffed it in my purse to give to my family members later on if they wanted it. I appreciated the great hospitality of Amy’s Breads but I didn’t enjoy their actual food. I went to go buy a bottle of juice to wash out the tang from my mouth. My friend did like it a bit more, however; consuming the entire big piece she had in her hand. She told me it could be the delight of free food that altered her perception of the focaccia and honestly I think that’s exactly what it was.

The same day I arrived at my second bakery, La Focaccia. La Focaccia is a bakery specializing in breads in the famous Eataly market located on 5th Ave and 23 street in Manhattan, New York City. I didn’t call beforehand plus I was in a rush this time around so I had to hurry up and buy. The atmosphere of Eataly was just as fast-paced as I was and La Focaccia itself was packed with a long line. The employees were quick to serve customers but did not have any hospitality as in connecting with the customers. There was barely any eye contact but I’m sure it was because of how congested the area was. Luckily, I was tended in a matter of minutes and purchased a thick slice of focaccia bread topped with ham, basil, and mozzarella cheese for about $5. At very first taste I was impressed. The focaccia bread had a nice golden, brown color. It had a soft texture to the tongue and the flavor was simplistic, the ham added the perfect touch of saltiness. The mozzarella added pleasant moisture and the strong kick of the basil herb came in and brought it all together. I liked this focaccia so much I gobbled it down. I thoroughly enjoyed La Focaccia’s bread and would definitely go back again. Amy’s Breads and La Focaccia are both bakeries that focus on breads specifically. Experiencing the hospitality of their stores and the focaccia product itself I grasp just how dissimilar they are from each other. Amy’s Bread’s for one has inviting employees. They smiled, laughed and remembered customer’s names automatically. Whereas in La Focaccia, workers seemed much disassociated with no time to engage with customers other than to sell. When it comes to pure hospitality and quality of communication between buyer and seller Amy’s Bread wins with no argument at all.

On the reverse, La Focaccia’s focaccia was delicious and well-made. The focaccia was so tender with a soft chew. The flavors were powerful but did not overwhelm me like the rosemary and vinegar at Amy’s Breads. I could tell that La Focaccia makes their breads fresh often where I sense that Amy’s Bread bakes focaccia themselves but may store batches for the following days and it’s easy to detect in the dry cardboard feel. When I look into what these bakeries advertise I have a better understanding on why the results of their focaccia bread are the way they are. Amy’s Bread’s website elaborates what they provide in-store, “We offer a full selection of morning pastries, sandwiches, and salads, cookies, bars, cupcakes, layer cakes, coffee and espresso beverages” From this I see Amy’s Breads has a wide focus on what they serve and what I found out from the manager the focaccia there is only made seasonally. Focaccia is not Amy’s Bread’s specialty where it is at La Focaccia. On La Focaccia’s website, they immediately state on their main page, “Eataly's bakery (La Focaccia) offers an abundant selection of focaccia, an Italian flatbread topped with high-quality ingredients.” Visitor’s come mainly to La Focaccia for the Italian flatbread. It would make sense that this bakery would have perfected their focaccia recipes and procedures more so than Amy’s Breads. Evaluating texture, taste, and appearance La Focaccia has the better bread product easily. If a bakery had the hospitality of Amy’s Breads paired with La Focaccia’s quality of product it would create an all-round excellent experience.

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x-endo · 5 years

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HOW TO LIVE ON ~400BGN A MONTH (in bulgaria) (if you live alone+one pet)

this is a small guide i decided to put together for people in Bulgaria (or other countries who are poor, don't get paid a lot, live in capital cities etc). please note that i am privileged enough so that i live alone but i DONT PAY BILLS besides my phone bill and internet bill (which are altogether ~70lv). from what i understand though water+electric bill is around ~100lv so this guide should still help. i also have the privilege of having a full-time job that pays more than the above, but i was in a very tight spot a few months ago (and a couple of times last year), so i have this as a sure way to manage to survive until it gets better. therefore, my tips are for such a situation. i understand my privilege, but i hope this can still help people!

all currency will be in LV/BGN, as it is focused on Bulgaria. but you can probably still use some tips if you live elsewhere!

so, due to some stuff with the bank that i won't get into, a few months ago i was at -200lv in my bank account - i had some money saved+i took commissions, and i was able to cover that amount so that i was back to 0, but unfortunately that happened right before a trip i had to the UK. if you've ever been to the UK, esp London, you know it's expensive as fuck for everyone else. so for only one weekend, i ended up spending around 500-600lv (for hotel+food+tickets). which meant that i barely could manage for two-three months, because i was always short around 500-600lv (i only recovered this month - and that happened in may!).

the moment you get money, divide it into envelopes, each labelled for a specific purpose! for me, it's like this:

CAT - 50lv PHONE/INTERNET - 50lv (back then i paid less for phone lol)* MEDICATION (bc i have to buy+take meds) - 50lv GROCERIES - 150lv

that way, everything can come up to 300lv. *do NOT use text messaging services on your phone because those are pricy AS FUCK. and try to avoid calling 0700 numbers bc last time i racked up a +10lv bill just from that. try to use internet (mobile internet is cheap and limitless) as much as you can for everything. get viber, whatsapp, fb messaging, etc.

if you shop in a supermarket like Billa, Billa has cards. GET A CARD. they're free to make, and some products are cheaper that way, especially in the bigger supermarkets. i don't shop at Lidl, so i don't know if they have such a program. if you can, shop in a local small store - they're usually a little cheaper than supermarkets! buying in bulk from a small store can be embarrassing, but last time i went for basic groceries it was around 20lv.

things to buy that last a long time and are cheap:

- rice - pasta - ready to go noodles - eggs - soup - bread, but NOT WHITE. white bread molds really fast even in the fridge, so you'll end up throwing away half a package of bread after a week. - potatoes - FRESH vegetables* (tomatoes and cucumbers mainly, i can only eat cherry tomatoes which are more expensive but it's still ok because i buy a bunch and then just eat them over the course of a week) - krenvirshi, put them in the freezer

*if you are easily distracted and forgettable/have depression and low energy, do not buy frozen vegetables. i can't stress this enough. you will put them outside to unfreeze, then forget or feel too tired to cook them, and by the next day they will have to be thrown out. buy fresh vegetables and put them ALL in the fridge.

- if you find any, corn on the cob instead of in a can. put it in the FREEZER. in stalls outside (not in supermarkets), i've seen a package of 6 corns for ~4lv. they are more filling than a can of corn, and about 5 cobs last longer than a can, which lasts about 2 days and is more expensive overall.

i don't eat beans or 90% of dairy products, so i can't give advice on that!

- frozen meat, always try to look at the prices first of course. try to buy in broika instead of a package of a few. - spreadable cheese, try to avoid Philadelphia as it is more expensive. - try to avoid stuff like lukanki as they're usually pricy and can't last super long (in my experience at least) - olives - jars of pickled stuff, as they usually last a long time - frozen nuggets

try to avoid snacks like chips and cookies, but you can buy obiknoveni biskviti for pretty cheap!

now, if you are way too tired to cook or make something, here is a list of things you can eat outside that aren't that pricy: - avoid mcdonalds. i know it's tempting and seems "cheap" but it really isn't, and it's not very filling either - instead, go to KFC - they have something called a Street Box, that has a few pieces of meat+corn or a small salad i think for 2-3lv, and it can be a meal for two days. generally if you buy a KFC menu, you can divide it between 2-3 days - there is a hummusbar place in sofia around Popa, which seems pretty expensive but it's very filling and it can last 2-3 days if you save it properly. the thing i always get is around 11lv. - in smaller stores (not supermarkets) you can sometimes find sandwiches which are in a pack of 2. i personally can't eat mixed so i take the one with only kashkaval+lukanka, and it lasts 2 days. - a place on pl. makedonia offers really good grilled food for like... 3lv for a sald+meat+a bread. next to it there is a chinese place that’s again around 2-3lv a portion. around the same area there’s a tiny bar where things are expensive except a box of hummus which is 1.50lv and lasts a couple of days, but don’t buy bread with it bc that’ll raise the price by a lot. just get the hummus.

generally avoid restaurants and fast food places though, if you can. if you do go, try to leave something to take home.

if you have a pet like a cat, and it doesn't require special food (in which case unfortunately i don't have advice - my dog can eat only very special very expensive food, so obviously the expenses will be higher, but my mom takes care of my dog so), still don't buy the cheapest supermarket brand. be kind to your pet. don't buy it the level of food you yourself wouldn't eat. i usually buy cat pouches, and give my cat 1/2 of it daily + dry food, which he leaves in his bowl for the next few days. for dry food, i TRY to buy bulk that lasts about a month and costs around 13lv, but due to a bad back i can't always do that, so buy whatever you think is best. cat toilet, there is a brand that you can throw in your own toilet and lasts a month and a half for ~7lv, it’s called CITY PETS, silver protect. unfortunately bigger/expensive pet stores won’t have it, so you might have to look around neighborhood ones. i’ve discovered it lasts a REALLY long time. 50lv should be enough.

whatever you have left over at the end of the month in those envelopes, save and put towards next month's expenses. or buy yourself a starbucks because you deserve it!

if anyone has suggestions/corrections, please feel free to add stuff!

#tips #money saving #saving money #bulgaria #advice

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