#I'm also adding onions to this list

[wombywoo]

Wait, is Vincent not able to go near garlic or is this because Quinn's breath would suck? XD

Garlic is extremely repulsive to vampires; something something hypersensitivity to certain sulfurs, plus it's just funny. The scent/taste overwhelms them, causing their eyes to burn/coughing/agitation etc. so it's also an effective weapon against them.

long story short--Quinn's nasty ass garlic breath is not coming anywhere near Vincent unless he gargles with some mouthwash 🚫

[tightwadspoonies]

How to Shop at an Asian (or other ethnic) Grocery Store

Do you live in or near a city in the US?

Need to save some money on groceries?

Might I introduce you to... shopping at the local Asian grocery?

Asian grocery stores aimed at an Asian-American customer base almost always beat the prices of their western (or for-western) counterparts. Often by a significant amount, especially in categories like produce, meat, rice, and spices. Plus in addition to lower prices, you get the satisfaction of supporting a small, local business instead of a larger chain store.

(Note that a lot of this information applies to other ethnic grocery stores as well, but we're using Asian because they're common in many cities, and have particularly good prices on produce.)

But it can be a little bit of a learning curve when you first start to shop at them. This post will give you the information you need to navigate them.

So how do you find a good Asian grocery store?

First, go on google maps and search "grocery".

Note that you are NOT googling "Asian Grocery" or "Cheap Grocery". If you search "Asian Grocery" you will get results for Asian stores marketing toward a western audience, and because of this, will be neat, shiny, and very pricey. If you search "Cheap Grocery" you will get stores marketing themselves as cheap, which generally are only slightly less expensive than their "expensive" counterparts (think Aldi). Okay in a pinch, but you can do better.

Second, look at the pictures of all the stores you can easily get to.

Here's what you want: not a lot of printed ads, pictures of hand-written signs (especially in languages other than English), food in cardboard bins, and you want it to look kind of "junky". Bonus points if you can see prices listed in the pictures or the people shopping there are mostly older, ethnic women.

Third, If you couldn't find anything like this, go on your city's subreddit.

Search "cheap", "cheap grocery" and "expensive grocery". Why "expensive grocery"? Because you want to find people complaining about grocery prices, and you want to see the advice they get. Many times, that advice is Asian or ethnic grocery stores.

If you're still not getting anything, google "[city name] cheap grocery" and "[city name] expensive grocery" (see above). Scroll until you get to FORUMS discussing groceries in your city. You DO NOT want blogs or articles. Again, you're looking at the advice people are given when they complain about grocery prices.

One of the first questions people ask upon walking into an Asian grocery store of the type discussed in this post is:

"Is the food I'm getting here safe to eat?"

The answer is just as safe as anywhere else you might shop.

You're probably used to very clean, pretty, well-lit, well-organized stores. This will probably not be that, but it will be regulated by the same health department that regulates those stores. They are held to the same standards.

It's a lot of work to keep a store looking like a western consumer expects. It's a lot less work (and thus less money) to keep a store looking like an ethnic career housewife or grandmother expects. That is largely where the savings comes from.

What's a good deal at an Asian grocery?

Produce. You're probably used to things like onions and carrots being the cheapest per pound. Here it's going to be greens, apples, pears, radish, cabbage and maybe squash and sweet potatoes. Check unit prices and prepare to try some new things. Also a pound of greens is a LOT of greens. Keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that you might see a few pieces of produce that are bruised or have mold on them. That's okay. Just don't buy those pieces. The rest of the batch is probably fine. Wash produce when you get home if you're concerned, though you should be doing that anyway.

Rice and dry beans. If you like to buy in bulk, you're in luck. Don't expect to walk away with a pound or two of these. They come in 40lb packages. But if you tailor most of your meals around them, those meals will be cheap af. There are also lots of different types of specialty rice if you want to make your own sushi or mochi. Learn how to soak and sprout beans.

Tofu. Tofu is expensive when you buy it at a health food store. It is not when you buy it at an Asian grocery. It probably won't be in pretty packages, but again, cheap is not going to be super pretty.

Meat and fish. Meat is generally going to be cheaper here, though maybe not by as much as the produce is. Pork will probably be your cheapest option. You may also see cuts you don't normally see, like tongue, intestine, liver, kidneys, blood, etc... "Weird," however, does not automatically mean cheap in this context. Check unit prices and prepare to be adventurous. If you don't know what else to do with them, dried fish and animal organs make fantastic stock when boiled.

Spices. Again with the extremely large quantities here. But very inexpensive compared with their western counterparts.

Candy. This makes a great inexpensive gift if you need one, since the candy sold at these stores is fairly exotic for a western audience.

What isn't a good deal at an Asian grocery?

Dairy. This includes fresh milk, butter, cheese, etc... If they have it, it will be very expensive. Consider buying elsewhere.

Eggs. Again, this will probably be as expensive or more than the eggs you could get at a western supermarket.

Snacks. Pre-made items will be expensive in general, even though they may be tempting because they are different from what you are used to and you don't need to learn to cook a new thing. Do your best to avoid these and make your own if you can. If you can't, frozen pork or vegetable dumplings are probably your best bet for a quick meal.

Bread. It's pricey. A lot of Asian cuisines use rice, noodles, or buns for their starch instead of western-style bread. So if you can find it it will often be a novelty item.

What else do I need to know?

It's okay to be overwhelmed by new ingredients. Look up some YouTube videos on how to cook certain ingredients if you're not familiar with them.

These are not supermarkets. They sell food and sometimes the kitchenware (steamers, woks, chopsticks, etc...) needed to cook it. You will probably need to get your soap and household items somewhere else.

Pay in cash if you can. Most of these are very small businesses and paying them cash makes it so they don't need to pay credit card fees. At the very least, make the minimum purchase before paying with a card.

[texas-gothic]

Dracula Daily Prep: Gather Your Paprikash!

It's that time of year again. Even as we speak, Jonathan Harker has departed for Transylvania, and the unhallowed halls of Castle Dracula. And as he makes his way towards that foreboding country, he will encounter a singular, most enticing of dishes: Paprika Hendl, or as we might know it better, Chicken Paprikash!

This traditional Central European dish explodes in popularity each May as we all gather around our virtual mess hall to enjoy the spirit of this most influential of gothic novels. Perhaps you yourself are considering throwing together a pot this year? Well, if you are, let this be your guide.

So, first, let's discuss the most important of the ingredients here: authentic hungarian paprika. Now, the recipe I first used last year called only for Sweet Paprika, but I personally found that version to be a little bland. I'm remedying this by adding some Hot Paprika as well. However, this is just my personal experimentation. Hungarian Hot Paprika can in fact be very hot, so if you're not comfortable with anything too spicy, feel free to opt only for the Sweet Paprika.

(Both of these I had to order online.)

Next, is another very important addition. As youre gathering your basic cornerstones of cooking (namely yellow onion, roma tomato, and garlic for this recipe) you may find yourself passing up on something that could vastly improve your dish. I'm talking, of course, about Hungarian Wax Peppers. These peppers range in heat, from meak and mild to slightly hotter than you'd average jalapeño. As per instruction, you should only use one. But on my end, I found the single pepper to be a little underwhelming, and I had trouble picking out it's flavor. So, this year, I'll be using two of them.

I got these from Central Market, an upmarket gorcer on Westheimer. They're a cousin of HEB, and you can find one or two in every major city in Texas. If you're elsewhere, try an alternative like Whole Foods, or try to find a European or International food market in your area.

Next, let's talk chicken. You can't have Chicken Paprkiash without the chicken, after all.

You're going to want to go with dark meat cuts for this. Traditionally the dish would use a mix of legs and thighs. Personally, I suggest using only the thighs, which you'll want to get bone-in and skin-on. The thigh provides a flater surface for browning than the leg, as well as more meat.

(A note on food safety, raw chicken will usually only last 2-3 days in the fridge. So you'll want to grab that fairly close to the day you're actually cooking this. If not, you can do what I'll be doing, and sticking it in the freezer until about 24 hours before I start cooking.)

So, as you gather your meat, produce, and spice you're probably asking yourself, "what on Earth am I going to be eating this with?" And the answer to that is spaetzle! A popular dumpling present in lots of Central European cooking, this is exactly what you need to tie this all together.

Now, while you should be able to find some in the international isle of most major grocers, you might also have to visit an international food store, or perhaps something more upmarket. If none of these options work, then there are a variety of other side dishes that work just as well. Egg noodles are a very popular choice, and in my very American attempt last year, I found that mashed potatoes work especially well.

Now that you've got all these things together, you're very nearly done. All that's left is the thickener. Paprikash is thickened using a blend of flour, heavy whipping cream, and sour cream. We'll get onto preparing this mixture in my post on actually cooking the paprikash, but until then, acquiring them should be a cake walk at any place food items are sold.

Now that will conclude the actual grocery list for just the Paprikash itself, but I do have one more pointer on how to really liven up this meal. Now, if you're under 21 or if perhaps you take after our dear, depraved, beloathed Count

Then you can skip this next bit. As a wine professional myself, I find that a well paired glass can add a tremendous flare to nearly any already great dinner. In the case of something like Chicken Paprkiash, and keeping with the Central European theme, I could hardly think of a better match than a good German Pinot Noir, also known as a Spatburgunder. Pinot from Germany typically has a very light body and a refreshing acidity that plays very well with the rich and creamy sauce of Chicken Paprikash. The palate of earth and red fruit should always pair nicely with the smoke of the paprika, as well as being a general good partner for any chicken. I myself am going with this 2020 Rheingau from August Kesseler.

And with that, we are done! Hit those checkout isles and make sure to get home before dark. Terrible things have sway over the world once the sun has gone down. So if the crowd does keep you locked up until nightfall, make sure to graciously accept any crucifixes given to you by kindly, elderly grandmothers and inn keepers. But whatever you do, make sure to pop in on Friday, when I'll be sharing a step by step guide on taking these ingredients and turning them into a dinner that will make our good friend Jonathan go red as a fire truck!

Happy Dracula Week everybody!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I lied about having an allergy?

TW // emetophobia (I'm not sure if this is too dramatic, but just to be safe)

I have had a deep hatred of onions my whole life, and while I am not technically allergic to them, whenever I have one, it immediately causes me to gag or throw up. Unfortunately, they are a common cooking ingredient, and I usually have to request that family, friends, or restaurants make my meals without the onions.

The trouble is that my request is often ignored, and I have even had family members try to sneak onions onto my servings to see if I will notice (I always do) because they say the onions are "good for me." Most upsettingly, I have had onions added to meals like burritos that are not supposed to have onions at all according to restaurant ingredient lists. This has caused me to be suspicious of any meal given to me that I did not make, unless it is something that obviously would not have onions.

It is also quite aggravating to see the annoyance on people's faces when I have to clarify that no, I am not making a special request because I am allergic, but simply because I strongly dislike an ingredient.

I am tired of having to pick through my food to ensure that I will not suddenly become violently ill (though I usually feel better within the hour), and I have thought frequently about claiming that I am allergic, so people will take me seriously, but I am worried this will cause undue stress and extra effort to avoid cross-contamination. I also fear that this is belittling to people who do struggle with serious allergies.

WIBTA if I lied that I am allergic to avoid potentially getting sick, even if it requires extra effort from the chef?

What are these acronyms?

[najia-cooks]

Hey Najia! I love this blog so much! I have a question. I find cooking pretty difficult sometimes. I'm chronically ill and also the kitchen stresses me out a bit because I'm very scatterbrained and there's knives and fire and stuff. I also fuck things up in the kitchen pretty easy. Are there any recipes on here you find particularly easy to make? That you'd recommend for when you just cannot be arsed? Hope you're having a wonderful day, I know it's your birthday 😄🎉

Thank you!

I can understand your stress—cooking can involve things that are objectively dangerous and also time-sensitive. I'd recommend:

Try recipes where you don't have to come into direct contact with the blades you use. Some Indian dals, for example, cook lentils in a sauce made from blended onion, tomato, and garlic; you could process them using a food processor or blender. A lot of things (fresh salsa, guacamole, a duqqa of garlic, chilies, and spices that you can throw in to cook with some lentils) can be prepared in a mortar and pestle, too.

I've never used one, but a vegetable chopper might help in a similar way that a food processor would, by reducing the amount of knifework that you have to do. There are a lot of recipes where a chopped onion is the only knifework required.

Also try recipes that are cooked in the oven, and not on the stovetop. Something that gets thrown into the oven on low heat to cook (like a casserole or fukharat dish) takes longer, but is more hands-off, than something that's cooked on the stove.

Do all of your prep work first. Read through the recipe and see what chopping, blending &c. needs to be done, prep each ingredient, and put it in its own little bowl. This includes anything in the ingredients list that says "1 onion, diced" or similar: do that right off the bat. If the recipe says "meanwhile" or asks you to do prep for anything while anything else is cooking, you might choose to disregard that and do all the prep first, depending on how long the cook time is and how much attention it needs (e.g., soup on a low simmer for half an hour can pretty much be left alone; anything in a frying pan cannot). This way you won't be rushing to chop anything quickly while worrying that something else is going to overcook.

Look for vegetables, like broccoli / cauliflower / romanesco and green beans, that can be broken up with your hands rather than chopped. Rip up cilantro and parsley rather than chopping them.

Admittedly "simple" is not the guiding principle of this blog, but here are some recipes that I think could be easily adapted:

Fukharat l3des: just one onion to chop. Cooked on low heat in the oven.

Fried tofu sandwich: just mixing sauces and spices. You can skip coating the tofu in cornstarch and frying it. Instead try freezing the whole block, thawing it, cutting into two or four pieces, and then marinating it in a plastic bag with your sauce overnight. Then bake the tofu for 15-20 minutes, turning once, at 350 °F (180 °C).

Roasted celery and potato soup: requires only very rough chopping; the cooking methods are baking and simmering. The fried tempering could be skipped by just adding those ingredients into the simmer earlier.

Carrot salad or chickpea salad or tapenade: you could throw all of the ingredients in a food processor.

Moroccan lentils: just an onion and tomato to grate or process.

Kashmiri lal chaman: the only thing you need to cut is tofu; the gravy is just water and spices. You could bake the tofu instead of frying it.

Black bean burgers: no chopping or frying if you omit the onion and carrot and elect to bake the finished patties.

'Chicken' and olive tajine: the marinade is blended or pounded, and there is no other prepwork to do other than chopping one onion. Everything can be simmered on low heat until cooked, so it's pretty hands-off.

Chana pulao: mostly rice, chickpeas, and spices. Some aromatic prep, but you could crush instead of chopping those.

Romanesco quiche: no knifework at all if you omit the aromatics and break aprt the romanesco with your hands.

Spanish garlic mushrooms: just crush garlic instead of slicing and buy pre-sliced mushrooms. There is frying, though.

Eggplant cooked salad: the eggplant is broiled and then spooned out. No knifework required if you use tomato puree.

Butternut squash soup: just roasting and simmering. No knifework required if you omit the aromatics and buy pre-cubed squash.

Dishes with a base of lentils, chickpeas, beans, rice, and/or noodles are great because there's no knifework that needs to be done to prepare the beans &c. themselves.

[theleastprofessionalchef]

Good morning! Brunch today was polenta, melted apples (with caramelized onion and wilted chard), cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, and cinnamon cranberry bread (recipe below the cut). Technically the chard was supposed to be separate but I tossed them in with the other veg to save space and give them some more flavor- I also did the polenta like it is in the apples recipe, though I used half coconut cream and half water, and added nutritional yeast instead of cheese to keep it vegan.

Y'all get to see inside my messy three year old recipe book XD there's also some alterations I've started doing that aren't listed in the recipe, I'll put those at the end. Also that I've been making a vegan version this year!

Transcription:

Cinnamon Bread, makes one loaf, takes about an hour to an hour and a half.

2 cup flour

1 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk (1 tbs [apple cider] vinegar to [1 cup] milk)

1/4 cup veg oil

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Crumb: 2 tbs sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp butter

- oven to 350°

- mix dry in one bowl, wet in other, then combine

- pour into prepped pan, sprinkle and pat down crumb mix

- bake 50 min [or until toothpick comes out clean]

Now, my alterations! I've cut down the cinnamon to 1 tsp specifically so I could also add in 1/4 tsp each nutmeg and cardamom, and a sprinkle of allspice. I also like to sometimes mix in either chocolate chips or cranberries (this one was the latter).

To make it vegan, I switch out the buttermilk for vegan yogurt (or just oat milk if I don't have any on hand), and replace the eggs with ground flaxseed at a 1 egg to one tbs ratio, and add 3 tbs oat milk per egg (so, 2 tbs flax and 6 tbs milk)

I'm also... kinda lazy when it comes to the crumb. I've taken to just sprinkling brown sugar over the top and it comes out just fine lmao

[placeinthemiddleofnowhere]

Sorry, English is not my first language. I am absolutely in love with this series, especially the world building and how you portray your characters. I'm curious on how canine-like reader is. Do they have the same toxicity where they can't have chocolate, grapes, onions, and what not? Or their human side kind of compensate for it?

And you can answer this if you're comfortable. Do they have heats/ruts? If they do, do they have to be spayed/castrated? (Which is great for regular dogs, but it sounds horrible for a person).

Thank you for your time

- Anon

Your English is perfect anon, don’t worry! ☺️ I’m so happy you like the world building and my versions of 141 💕

Pup can have chocolate and grapes and things haha, they’d have a mostly human body at the end of the day so they can process things like that fine! They have the wolf tail and ears with maybe a lil bit of fur that fades out surrounding those areas and they can run and move faster, smell and hear better and have an urge to be loyal to ‘their person’ (Ghost in this case) and those are the main traits that show through. I also think they’d have kinda yellowish eyes as well, just like a wolf!

As for the heats and ruts, I’m kinda on the fence about adding that in. I’m leaning more toward a kinda general need to ‘mate’ that happens in the spring (coinciding with the animals mating season) and leaving it at that in terms of wolf like habits. Not that that means it’s the only time hybrids wanna do it of course haha

They definitely wouldn’t need castrated or spayed, those poor lil hybrids have it bad enough in the Reign universe, I’d hate to pile on to their lists of things they deserve compensation for 🥴😂

[foodandfolklore]

Tools and Ingredients to keep on hand; Kitchen Witchcraft Elevated Pt. 2

Alright time for Part 2, Ingredients! Again, this is my person preference, and it's like my third time trying to write this out so bear with me. These are things I tend to keep on hand, and this list is not going to just include Salt, Pepper, Garlic; You got that already. I hope. If you're looking for info on Tools, check out Part 1. Onions: I keep a bowl of onions on one of my shelves in my kitchen. I find they keep better outside of the fridge, and I can easily see when I'm running low. Onions have strong protective and good cleansing properties so I tend to add them to my pot or pan before adding any other food. I also like to let them caramelize to get that transformative element.

Lemons: Lemons are great to use in so many dishes, both sweet and savory. You can zest the peel for it's oils and fragrance. You can squeeze the lemon for it's juice and acid. They're associated with beauty, longevity, positivity, mental clarity, cleansing; ect. One of the great things about lemons is thanks to their peel, you can leave them out at room temperature for long periods of time, so long at the peel is unbroken. So if you need to make space in your fridge, pull out your lemons.

Cinnamon Sticks: Okay so every witch has ground cinnamon. It's one of the easiest and cheapest spices to get. It's in every beginner box of witchy herbs. And it that's because it's absolutely fantastic to use. The problem with cooking, however, ground cinnamon isn't always the best option. The power is very fine, but also gritty. So it can be hard to strain out if you are just wanting to infuse some cinnamon. It's why I keep sticks on hand. They're also great for seasonal garlands and bundles.

Italian Seasoning: Rosemary, Thyme, Basil and Oregano. That is what's in Italian seasoning. Do I have these seasonings separate? Yes I do. And there are other seasonings in there like Marjoram, Summer Savory, Sage, Parsley; it varies a little from brand to brand. But if I'm in a rush, I can grab that Italian seasoning to make my food tasty and include one (or all) of the spice correlation properties. Quick note; if you're buying yours, check the ingredients. It should list what spices it's using. I bought a big thing of "Italliano" once without checking and my food was just not emotionally the same. I checked the ingredients and is was mostly dried bell peppers and salt.

Cayenne: It's cheap, spicy, and banishes bad shit. That's all I ask of it.

Vinegar: This may seem odd since vinegar is largely associated with souring spells and Hexes. But it also has strong cleansing an protecting properties too. You can also use it as a preventative property to deture people from asking uncomfortable questions or bringing up touchy topics. But vinegar is also an important tool in the culinary world. A lot of the time, if you taste your food and it tastes flat or bland, even with lots of seasonings, a little acid and brighten it up. Sure you can use lemon juice, but sometime you just need a tsp, and opening a jar of vinegar is easier than juicing a lemon. Vinegar is a key component in many sauces and marinades. Not to mention being used in pickling. Then they are a lot of uses outside cooking, like help with cleaning. My MIL's favorite way to wash windows is still spray with white vinegar and wipe with newspapers.

Canned Milk: So we all keep some kind of milk in the fridge. Dairy milk, Oat milk, Almond Milk, Soy Milk, lots of wonderful kinds of milk. So why keep canned milk? Well, canned milk tends to be thicker and creamery than regular fridge milks. Yes, I can go out and get cream, but it's often cheaper and easier to just use some canned milk I have laying around. Plus, sometimes cream is too rich for what I want. The three main kinds of canned milk I keep on hand are Evaporated Milk, Sweet and Condensed Milk, and Coconut Milk. If you drink only dairy milk, I recommend keeping at lest one can of coconut milk on hand too. In case one day you find yourself cooking for someone who can't have dairy milk.

Soy Sauce: This is a great, inexpensive flavor enhancer that I add to soups, curries, and meats. I buy it in bulk, and I always get more before I run out. Because of it's dark color, and it's made from soy, it has strong protection and banishing properties for me.

Cumin: This is a weird one for me. I go through waves of using cumin and not using cumin. I'll use it for every other meal one month, then not touch it again for another month. So, to preserve it's flavor and aroma, I buy whole cumin seeds, and crush them as I need them. But I like keeping cumin on hand since many recipes online will include cumin in their spices.

And that's all I got for now. If I think of more stuff later, maybe I'll make a part 3

[adobe-outdesign]

chia pop chia reviews, maybe? is there even a better name for those because chia pop chia sounds unwieldy but they aren't all fruit. potato chia pop when

(Note: I already covered a bunch of Chia-specific colours in my Chia review. To avoid redundancy, I'm going to list a few secondary favorites in this colour review so the entire thing isn't a repeat. Also, I'm doing my least favorite colour instead of species for obvious reasons.)

Chia pops are basically just those cheap ice pops where they come in liquid form and you toss them into your freezer. There are a bunch of them and for the most part they're normal food items... except for a few with the handful of "magical". For reasons that have never even been remotely explained in the lore, Chias that eat magical Chia pops change into a matching fruit/veg form, most of which are unique to them specifically. These additional colours give the Chia some flavor (both literally and figuratively) and are their main gimmick.

Conversion is a weird topic for these Chias. The bulk of them got redrawn and put into standard poses for customization (which is a particularly strange choice as they can't wear clothes anyway)... except for some that just didn't, for no clear reason.

Because the conversion was so uneven there's no way to make a judgement call for all colours, but on average I'd say that they looked better pre-conversion, as they tend to just look strange in the default poses—though on the plus side, most of them lost the weird lower lip that Chias used to have. Hopefully TNT will consider doing pet styles for these colours in the future so people can pick and choose what they like best.

(Secondary) Favorite Species:

Agueena: Chias that are based on Neopets-specific fruits are always neat, and the agueena was already a good-looking item, so unsurprisingly the agueena Chia also looks pretty good. It's less fruit-like than some, but the cyan-on-blue splotches make for a good pattern that works really well with the orange hair-like "leaves". The shading on this one's also really good.

Banana: I like my fruit and veg Chias ridiculous, and this is a ridiculous colour all right. The elongated body is immediately distinct and fun, and I like how its partially unpeeled, which adds a bit more visual interest to it than it would have otherwise.

My only issue with it is that I wish the face lineart was colored so it matched the rest of the design. Also, the arms and legs don't seem to actually line up with the body quite right; I kind of feel like the legs should've been redrawn and the arms dropped entirely ala the onion Chia.

Thornberry: Another Neopets-specific fruit, this design is pretty similar to the tomato Chia, which is its only major drawback. However, I find myself liking the thornberry Chia more, as it has a bit more contrast with the dark feet and the texture at top breaks up the otherwise monocolor body.

This is absolutely a colour we could use a pet style for though, as the unconverted version was much better. Aside from having better face proportions, the variable sizes of spikes really added something to it.

Least Favorite Colour:

Gooseberry: Just kind of a strange pick of fruit to begin with (for those wondering: gooseberries are an actual thing, look it up), nothing about the gooseberry Chia has ever looked good. The colors are drab and low-contrast, the body is weirdly off-kilter and has poor shading, the face placement is odd (it used to be lower down on the pre-conversion art, which was better but not by much), and ironically the thickness of the stripes make it not look much like an actual gooseberry. Honestly, all this does is make me want a watermelon Chia.

[gabby-i-guess]

ADHD PSA #2: The Dinner Formula

Feeding yourself is easily one of the hardest responsibility as an adult. It's even harder if you're neurodivergent - textures are ✨a lot✨, cooking takes so much energy, and actually planning meals can be almost impossible. A lot of us just end up not eating properly, because it just takes too much brain power some days.

So, let's make it simple.

dinner = a carb + a fat + a protein + a vegetable + incentive

"Okay..." You say, "but what does that mean??" Well, it can mean lots of things. I'd suggest making a personal, physical list of things you like/have. But for now, here's mine:

A carb: rice (instant packets are perfect), pasta, noodles (yep, 2 min noodles count), bread, potatoes

A fat: (that's right. A fat. That shit helps you digest all the vegetably goodness, okay? Don't go crazy, but some is necessary) butter, regular old vegetable oil, sesame oil, olive oil, cheese, cream, or whatever is already in the other ingredients (e.g. meat, nuts, avo)

A protein: chicken (pre-cooked works wonderfully), mince, tofu, egg, nuts, mushroom (gross but if you really must), salami, tuna - fuck it, even frozen chicken nuggets count

A vegetable: green is best but anything will do! Broccoli, kale (I love kale chips), spinach, red pepper, peas, beans, carrots, ANY AND ALL frozen veggies. Also - blending or finely shopping your veggies can be a lifesaver if you're not a fan of veggies

And finally, the most important bit - incentive. This is whatever will make your brain want to eat the meal. No judgement, I promise. The goal is to give your body the fuel it needs to keep chugging along - if the fuel has to be topped off with Bacon Bits and aioli, so be it. Mine are...

Incentive: seasoning like Nando's peri peri salt, chicken salt, garlic, onion, curry powder, lao gan ma. Toppings like fried onion, sesame seeds, pine nuts, cheese. Sauces like sweet chilli sauce, soy sauce, Japanese mayo, pesto, aioli. Or maybe, some random factor, like chop sticks, blue food dye (I'm a PJO fan...), a special bowl, preparing it as snack food, cutting things up into fun shapes, or buying alphabet pasta.

Finally, let's round out this post with some examples of dinners I've made recently using this formula:

Pasta + cream + chorizo + blanched and blended spinach + pesto = creamy pesto pasta

Flavoured rice pack + sesame oil + egg + broccoli + soy sauce and onion = simple fried rice

Couscous + salad sauce + Dino chicken nuggets + salad pack + the aforementioned Dino chicken nuggets = an insanely good salad (AND I took the leftovers to work)

I really hope this helped someone. I'm sending you all so much love and good vibes. This humaning shit is insanely hard and complicated, so if you're just getting through each day without adding to or subtracting from the population, you're already doing such a great job.

Be kind to yourself ❤️

[qipsir]

Please read all the way through. Important things in bold

Now's a good time to remember that any Chromium or Microsoft-based browser - yes including Brave and Opera - are NOT. SAFE.

Switch your browser to Firefox, set DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, or Oceanhero as your default search engine. Add extensions like Ghostery and Ad Nauseum and Facebook Container to block ads and trackers and mess with the information they're getting from you. > If anyone is curious, I have an image of all my extensions attached at the bottom. Also PLEASE let me know if you find an alternative to YouTube

Switch your google drive account to Proton - you can have it forward the gmails you get from that point forward if you want

Get everything off Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Photos. Use WPS, use LibreOffice, use a thumbdrive I don't care but not Google. Not Microsoft.

YOU CAN OPT OUT OF FACIAL RECOGNITION WHEN TRAVELING. It's not about 'we already have everything on you'. Doesn't matter. It's about normalizing consent in the collection of data.

Delete all period tracking apps you have. I used to think Stardust was safe because of end to end encryption but they've added an option to log in with google so take that with a tablespoon of salt.

Discord and DMs on any social media platform are not safe. I don't know the safety level of dms on here but I can't imagine it's much higher. Discord I know for a fact has handed over chat history to law enforcement before and they will do so again. Use an end to end encypted messaging app AND DO NOT USE SIGNAL. - My personal reccommendation is Cwtch. it runs on Tor Browser and unless you turn the settings off it will not provide notifications of messages and it will delete the message history when the app is closed. it is password protected as well.

On that note, if you need to look something up for things like reproductive care, use Tor/the Onion Browser. It's about as safe as it can get and yes it takes a bit to load but that's because it's got built-in VPNs.

This bit may be on the more extreme side but as soon as I have the energy to I'm seeing if I can't reprogram my laptop to run on Linux.

Anyone with a uterus, switch to something reuseable like a cup, disc, or period underwear. If needed, I have a discount link to SAALT Co that gets you 20% off (WINTER67078). They've got cups, cup cleaners, and a variety of period underwear. If not, you can make reuseable pads yourself. I also just saw someone made 'petals' which is the fabric equivalent of making a sort of toilet paper cup.

I am aware this is not a substitute for medication, however Emerald Coast Alternatives does have a tea blend that went viral for being 'herbal adderal' and I use their PTSD blend daily. there is also a panic attack blend that knocked my nervous system on its ass the first time I tried it. I do not have an affiliate link with them myself, but they did just start an affiliate program. I'm going to reblog this with all the codes/links I find for that.

There's a group called the trans housing project and through Alliance Defending Liberty, there is a list of resources for aid with all sorts of things

Learn what you can make at home. Adapt recipes. Propagate. Grow your own food. Find more sustainable alternatives to things you'll need replacements of - Oak & Willow is a good one for household cleaning supplies, and I've seen Who Gives A Crap pop up several times. They have toilet paper made from recycled paper, and apparently is cheaper per roll than other brands? Companies like Misfits Market sell produce rejected from stores over imperfections for a cheaper price. I highly recommend getting a portable solar panel or something if you can. It's not much but it's something.

And if worst comes to pass, look at me. Look me in the eyes - now that you think about it, you have never met anyone who is neurodivergent or queer. Anyone you think is an immigrant, they were born and raised here. You have no clue if anyone you know is on birth control or has had an abortion. Someone tries talking to you about politics? "Who has time to talk about that" or "Sorry, I'm not political."

[gwenchobanicooksmisspiggy]

hello my name is gwen chobani and i cannot cook. for the life of me i make the worst food ever. most things i make my brother spits out in horror. it is a painful thing, being so bad in the kitchen. no one understands me but Beyoncé. I'm also a lifelong Muppet stan.

well, lo and behold, Miss Piggy (my feminist hero) has a cookbook filled with celebrities' recipes (or moreso, their private chefs recipes probably.) it was published in 1996 and was for some charity idk. there's also a jab at Oprah and some pretty damn funny/cute little musings about dinner parties n shit.

well, I've decided to channel my inner Amy Adams and go through every recipe in this book to teach me how to cook, Julie & Julia style. Miss Piggy will teach me. she will guide me. she will save me. i would both kill and die for her.

the first recipe i decided to try was Larry King's Favorite Tuna Health Salad. i picked it as the first one because it seemed the easiest, seeing as there's no need to use the stove or oven.

i misread the ingredient list and added way too much tomato and bell pepper, tho oddly enough it could've stood to use even more celery than i ended up using even tho i used "too much."

while chopping the onion i realized "there's no fucking way i gotta put a whole onion in this thing" and well i was finally correct. it was just supposed to be 2 tablespoons lol.

anyway i made it and it was nasty imo. the white wine vinegar was too much. a 1/4 cup?? ludicrous. and not enough whipped dressing. if i make this again I'd put it way less vinegar and more dressing, and leave out the tomatoes because i find them psychologically disturbing.

my brother actually really liked it tho?? interesting. life is strange.

tune in next time for when i make something else, probably also fucking it up.

[bruhstation]

I'm interested in what the trains in your humanization prefer to eat (What if Henry loves apple charlottes?)

yes!!! eating is one of life’s biggest joys! always love talking and learning about food and watching people cook and eat and express their happiness, so this was a fun one to answer.

thomas a. billington: thomas needs something to chew or suckle on in the break room. think of any candy that your grandma would store on her detailed glass bowl. tootsie rolls, werther’s hard caramel candy, jolly ranchers… you get it. he doesn’t have any particulars when it comes to filling dishes and most of his diet consist of snacks and candies hence his thinner and shorter build.

edward pettigrew: he loves a good hot black tea with a side of rich tea biscuits or scones. he’s the guy who knows too much about tea. stomach ache? ginger tea. sleep aid? chamomile’s the way. for the more filling dishes, edward prefers light savory dishes with feta cheese involved. he’s really fond of fërgesë from his home country, but there’s no place on sodor that could make a mean one, so he settles with making it at his own home.

henry stanier: sliced apples! when he’s in a good mood, he’d shape them into little bunnies. he likes anything savory with a strong taste too, like his mother’s curry. henry loves a full course, hearty meal that tastes and feels good, and growing up, he’s always had a large appetite (fast metabolism). henry doesn’t like anything greasy or deep fried because it’ll make his stomach acid flare up. I had to look up what apple charlottes is, and yeah, I can tell you that henry would love it.

gordon j. gresley: gordon has a sweet tooth but he’s self conscious about it and has an image to uphold so he’ll tell anyone who’s making him coffee to make it black (he adds a packet of cream and sugar when nobody’s seeing) without anything added (his friends see right through him). his favorite dessert is orange float with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. gordon also likes food that is usually eaten together with friends or family (something something lazy susan) like pork roast or kway teow or thick beef stew with mashed potatoes. big portions are necessary!

james a. hughes: sweet margarita is james’ favorite drink to have during outings with his friends. he also loves a good french onion soup, especially paired with croutons (do not make them too hard or he’ll riot!!). speaking of croutons, james loves fondue and he always fights over it with thomas. really, any food that looks good and makes him look well-off would be on his favorites list (please, james, why does most of these dishes involve alcohol in one way or another). he also likes sweet danish pastries.

percival “percy” avonside: he’s a simple man when it comes to food he likes. sandwiches are the way to go! carbohydrates, proteins, the tasty stuff — it’s all there! eggs benedict (he puts another english muffin on top so the sauce won't spill everywhere) is his most favorite since it makes him feel special and fancy. percy also loves good coffee, usually mixed with condensed milk or mocha, since he delivers the night mail train.

tobias “toby” holden: tiramisu is his favorite dessert and he prefers it made with more coffee content. he has helped out henrietta many times with making it to the point he’s has the process memorized. for savory dishes, he loves some good lasagna with extra beef content in the sauce. it’s gotta drench. really, toby loves his layered food huh

montague “duck” collett: he’s not picky when it comes to food given to him, so he just eats what any average joe would eat (eggs on toast for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, sausage with potatoes and peas for dinner). normal person food. duck makes sure he has his meal three times a day and follows the motto; “eat before you’re hungry, stop before you’re full.” also diesel made mango panna cotta once for him as a desperate token of apology and duck fell in love with it.

donald and douglas dunalastair: like thomas, they don’t really have much preference for filling meals. dessert, though? now that’s the stuff. donald loves cranachan so SO much he wishes he could eat it every day. douglas likes candies more instead of softer, silkier desserts, like black licorice or peppermint candy. they also eat only twice a day since they get full super quickly. amazing how so much strength for shoveling snow is stored behind their lanky bodies. they also drink irn bru

oliver t. swindon: oliver loves shepherd's pie because it’s practical. everything he needs is right there, fitting for someone who doesn’t like complicated things. as for the sweet stuff… even after forgetting some of his memories after his rescue, oliver remembers the feeling and taste of halo-halo on his tongue clearly, something he missed dearly.

giovanni vin diesel: diesel loves bruschetta. he puts some pepper flakes on top for that spice kick. he also loves sfincione, specifically the way his family would make it, but, like edward, nobody on sodor knows how to cook a decent one (too much sauce, too thick of a bread, or too soggy) which makes him a bit sad. diesel’s kind of picky when it comes to the meals he can consider “favorite” because he believes he’s the most qualified in the culinary field on sodor due to his upbringing.

mavis hawthorne: a slice of blackforest cake always makes her heart sing. not too heavy on the whipped cream, though, because she doesn’t like her desserts too sweet. she also likes baumkuchen. whenever toby cooks lasagna, he’d make another portion to give to mavis, which quickly became her favorite and something she looks forward to during lunch breaks.

rebecca nassif: rebecca likes snacking a lot. she finds joy in eating! she grew up surrounded by meals. like diesel, because of her upbringing, she’s always been an enthusiast of not only food, but culinary arts as a whole. she loves cold desserts that usually remind her of her old neighborhood like this pistachio kulfi that she would made when she was younger. rebecca also missed having knafeh and mafruka since moving to sodor (it’s been like... a week.)

nia e. wanjala: whenever nia feels like treating herself to something good, she’d make her own version of the gatsby sandwich at her house. she’s especially keen on the french fries and enjoys extra hot sauce with it. it’d take two meal times for her to finish it all. lately, nia’s also been enjoying pastries like chocolate muffins and bombolone (chocolate fillings are her favorite).

lady: as part of her mission to understand humanity and their intrapersonal relationships, lady developed an affinity to eating. she’d eat anything as long as it’s acceptable by human standards even though she doesn’t have to. lady wants to understand that people eat not only to survive but as a way to show their love and culture. isn’t the greatest blessing to be bestowed upon living things the ability to consume to their heart’s content? does her lack of mortal needs indicate her lack of personal desire? anyways her favorite foods are fish and chips with sweet mayonnaise on the side and soft serve vanilla ice cream.

diesel 10: his go-to is black coffee mixed with red bull (added with some other weird concoction if he feels like it). some scrambled eggs with a dash of hot sauce for breakfast. some fried bacon if he has some self respect for the day. some dried sardines if he wants to feel miserable. some baklava with extra syrup and pistachio if he wants to treat himself because the sound of the crunch eases his stress

[timetraveltasting]

FRENCH ONION SOUP (1651)

For a very rainy day, soup seemed like the perfect answer. So, I decided to make this Tasting History recipe, a comforting version of French Onion Soup from 1651. While onion soups have been made since Ancient Greek and Roman times, modern French onion soup, topped with toasted bread and melted cheese, didn't arise until the 20th century. This recipe lies somewhere in the middle, and still comes from France, making it a true French Onion Soup. The recipe was published in Le Cuisinier François by François Pierre de la Varenne in 1651. Instead of the quintessential cheese in a modern French Onion Soup, it uses just milk instead. I chose to make this recipe because I thought it would be interesting to try a precursor to the French Onion Soup we enjoy today. See Max’s video on how to make the dish here or see the ingredients and process at the end of this post, sourced from his website.

My experience making it:

I ended up using 3 medium-sized onions, as I wanted a smaller yield than what Max had, and as a result, I 'two-thirded' the recipe to match, which turned out very accurate still, I think. Otherwise, I followed the ingredients list meticulously - quite easy to do when the ingredient list contains mostly items I usually keep around the house on the regular.

I sliced my onions nice and thin, adding them to a soup pot with the already-melted salted butter. They filled about two-thirds of the pot, just as I planned, but after a little more than an hour of cooking they did caramelize down to a small layer, maybe an inch thick, at the bottom. I added the water and scraped as much of the brown caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan as possible. I probably could have waited until the onions were a little more brown to add in the water, but I was getting a little impatient, as the onions had already cooked for more than an hour (longer than Max's did). I added the salt and pepper (I might have been a little generous with these amounts), then simmered the soup a bit before adding the milk and bringing it back up to a boil. I took the soup off the stove as soon as it came to boil, as Max says that if it boils too long once the milk is in, the soup can separate into layers - no thanks! Luckily, mine cooperated. I baked the baguette slices until they got a good crisp on them, but I didn't bother trying to get them as golden as Max's, because, in my opinion, his looked way too crispy for my liking. I served the French Onion Soup as an appetizer for our dinner of breaded shrimp and carrots with hummus (a bit of an easier meal since the soup took so long to make). I topped the soup with a toasted baguette slice each, with a few on the side for dipping. It looked tasty enough, but very...beige!

My experience tasting it:

I tried just a spoonful of soup first, with some onion in it. While it did taste nice, and definitely of onion, I did find that the milk was very forward in the flavour. This gave it such a sweetness when combined with the onion, which, in a modern French Onion Soup, would have been perfectly balanced by the saltiness of the melted cheese. Unfortunately, the soup was also quite under-seasoned. Both my husband and I had to add quite a bit of salt and pepper to bring the flavour up to our taste preference, despite my generous hand adding both of those ingredients in when making the soup. Perhaps the flavour would have been a little more intense if I let the onions reach a darker shade of caramelization before adding the water, but I'm not too sure. My next bite, I tried some of the floating toasted baguette in the soup. It definitely added more texture, but the centre had gone a little soggy, while the outside was still a bit too crispy. When I dipped the remaining toasted baguettes on the side in, they were also a little too crispy. I would probably prefer just adding some small croutons to get that texture, since they're just easier to eat in a soup. While the soup was decent and we did both happily finish our bowls, I don't think we would make this recipe again. Firstly, it took pretty long for not much flavour-payoff, and secondly, modern French Onion Soup recipes are just so good (especially with the cheese in there!) that I would prefer to make the modern one every time. I guess the French have worked to perfect French Onion Soup for hundreds of years to make the show-stopping one we enjoy today! If you end up making this dish, if you liked it, or if you changed anything from the original recipe, do let me know!

French Onion Soup original recipe (1651)

Sourced from Le Cuisinier François by François Pierre de la Varenne, 1651.

After your onion is cut very thin and sauteed in butter until it’s well browned, cook it in a little water well seasoned with salt and pepper. After it is done, add milk to it and boil it. Baking your crusts dry, serve it promptly.

Modern Recipe

Based on Le Cuisinier François by François Pierre de la Varenne (1651) and Max Miller’s version in his Tasting History video.

Ingredients:

2-4 yellow onions

4 tablespoons (57 g) salted butter

1 ½ cups (350 ml) water

½ teaspoon salt, more to taste

½ teaspoon pepper, more to taste

3 cups (700 ml) whole milk, room temperature

8-12 slices French baguette, preferably stale*

*If the baguette is not already stale, put the slices in the oven at a low temperature for 30 minutes to dry them out.

Method:

Peel the onions and cut them in half from root to stem. Slice thinly. Don’t worry about them being perfect or totally uniform.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.

Add the onions (they will likely fill the whole pot) and cook, stirring frequently, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until they’re a dark golden brown.

While the onions are cooking, preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C).

Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet and toast them on the top rack of the oven for 3 to 5 minutes on each side, or until they’re nicely browned.

Add the water to the caramelized onions and use a wooden spoon to scrape the sides and bottom of the saucepan.

Add the salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Cover the saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes.

Pour in the milk and return to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat immediately once it starts to boil.

Ladle into bowls and serve it forth with toasted baguette on the side.

[transactinides]

i'm super bad at cooking and never know where to start because every recipe out there asks for ingredients i simply don't have at home so do you perhaps know what basic ones would be good to stock up on? like eggs and stuff...especially when it comes to spices i have no idea what is okay to use

Haii o/ very honored that you sent me an ask, and ofc I’ll do my best to help! This reply got a bit out of hand so. Long text under the cut. Behold. Feel free to reach out in asks or dms or whatever with any future questions (@ everyone tbh).

Food is, of course, very subjective, so my idea of a perfect list of foods to keep a stock of will not be universal, but I hope this will, at least, give you some ideas if anything. 

First of all, I usually mentally break down my typical weekday recipe into vaguely carbs source - protein source - veggies, buy a couple of options for each category and just switch them around for variety. My standard set is

rice / pasta (usually spaghetti re:shapes) / glass noodles

eggs / chicken / tofu / bacon

random pack of frozen vegetables, bell peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy greens. garlic and onions too

I have an option of making egg fried rice with chopped up bacon and added frozen vegetables one day, then blending the leftover vegetables with bell peppers and tomatoes to use as pasta sauce with chicken and spaghetti the next day, then branching out and making eggplant tofu stir fry with glass noodles, then using whatever eggplant tofu stir fry i had left as rice balls filling and making myself a quick vegetable salad on the side… And all those things are easy to make and don’t need much fussing around. 

Other options to consider would be potatoes (you can roast them with whatever, boil, fry, etc), buckwheat (my wife doesn’t like it otherwise I’d use it more often), kidney beans and chickpeas for your carbs*; fish and meat for your proteins (those are. a bit too expensive for me usually); carrots, cabbage, leeks etc. 

The list looks long, but, again, you just need to pick out a couple of things from each group and throw shit in a pan so to speak. And a lot of them are easily soup-able (boiling water chicken potatoes carrots rice? boom soup. etc), which is another easy base recipe to exploit.

Now to the matter of spices. Salt and pepper are obvious enough, but a good thing to look for are, especially if you are just getting into cooking, spice blends. Something something French Herbs™ something something Taco Seasoning™ something something Seven Spice™ something something Garam Masala™. There’s a lot of different ones, but they are, essentially, a formed flavor profile in themselves, so you don’t need to worry about mixing spices and herbs that might not go well together, and by paying attention to contents you can learn for yourself what individual seasonings are commonly used together.

Also, everyone, hold your judgement real quick and trust me with this, but ooh I always save leftover flavor packets from instant ramen and reuse them in other dishes. Egg fried rice just doesn’t taste right without suspicious red powder courtesy of shin ramen… It’s probably MSG my beloved or something…

While I’m at it, bouillon cubes are handy to have, you can use them for soups, crumble them up in other recipes. Adding one to the water you’re cooking rice in is a great hack at making it more flavourful.

In general, while I do actually have way too much spices (and keep buying more… very excited about my newly acquired dried tarragon…), the ones I’d advise to have for an average person would be:

Salt (ideally both coarse grain and fine grain, but fine grain only serves you just right)

black pepper (both in a mill/grinder and peppercorns), red pepper flakes

paprika, garlic powder, ginger powder

bay leaves, dried oregano, basil, thyme, dill, cinnamon, coriander, cardamon, cumin, turmeric, sumak....

I really got a bit carried away by the end, but. You don't actually need to buy all of them and at the same time, just start with whatever couple of things you'd need for whatever you are cooking and let your collection build up over time, since spices aren't something you need to buy often anyway 👍

Other things I think it’s nice to have in stock in your kitchen would be flour and baking powder, vinegar (distilled vinegar, rice vinegar… I like to have balsamic vinegar too but it’s so expensive it’s ridiculous ngl), soy sauce, cooking oil of your choice (I use sunflower oil, olive oil and sesame oil), panko or breadcrumbs, starch (i have potato starch, cornstarch and tapioka starch, I would suggest just getting cornstarch at first).

* going to clarify here that while beans are often brought up as a source of protein, most are rich in complex carbs, excluding edamame and green beans for example. And since I mostly often cook beans with meat, they check out my daily carbs in my head.

[gothhabiba]

obviously you can’t cook don’t know what a blog is etc etc. but in a universe where you did would you know of any recipes your alternate self posted which used leftovers or scraps? or alternatively making really good stock? many thanks

hm. if I ever cooked I think I would say something like—take

the peels, ends, and greens (if you haven't used them for anything else) of carrots

the ends, leaves, and outer stringy bits (if you're one of those people who peel them) of celery

tomato skins

mushroom stems

peels and trimmings of onions

peels and ends of garlic

skins and trimmings of ginger

the whites of green onions

stems of fresh, tender herbs (parsley and cilantro)

stems of woody herbs (thyme, rosemary), in moderation

trimmings from leeks, turnips, and fennel, in moderation

And simmer in enough water to cover for about an hour, with herbs or whole spices if you'd like (I generally include bay leaves, black or white peppercorns, cumin seeds, and coriander seeds), then strain. You can keep scraps from preparing meals over the course of a few days or weeks and freeze them in a bag or other container until ready to make stock; make sure each bag has a good proportion of different vegetables. Frozen scraps will only take 15-20 minutes of simmering to make stock.

Make sure that you scrub any vegetables whose peels you will be using for stock thoroughly. Scraps can be used for stock if they are wilted, but not if they are rotten.

Various places online will give you different ideas of what to include in stock and what not to bother including (there's a pretty comprehensive list here); as you do this over time you will no doubt have your own opinions about inclusions and ratios. Do not include cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower) as they will make the stock unpalatably bitter. You may chuse to divide scraps in terms of what meal you plan to make with the stock (e.g. leave ginger, lemongrass, galangal peels &c. for an east Asian meal rather than, like, an Italian one).

Other things that can be done with "scraps":

The whites of green onions can be simmered alongside kombu/dashima when making Japanese dashi or Korean yuksu. Also reconstitute dried shiitake mushrooms in this stock to get flavourful mushroom water in the stock + reconstituted mushrooms that you can slice, boil, fry, &c.

The whites of green onions can also be used to make shiraga negi, a Japanese garnish

Thai recipes often involve leaving the peels on garlic when chopping or pulverising it. I'm not sure how the skins on Thai garlic compare to other varieties so your mileage may vary.

Garlic and onion peels can be dried in a dehydrator or an oven on low (~200F) and then ground to add savor to bread, soups, rice &c. Basically use it like garlic powder

Cauliflower and broccoli stalks can be peeled, sliced and roasted (along with the leaves) at around 400F (200C) for 20 minutes or so until browned and crispy with olive oil, salt, and spices of your chusing, then dipped in ranch or garlic sauce (for a quick vegan ranch I mix vegan mayonnaise + grated garlic + a squeeze of lemon + pinch of salt).

Kale stems can be pickled, or sliced thin, sauteed, and added to stir-fries and soups.

The inner core of cabbages (which some recipes call for you to remove) can also be minced and added to soups.

Orange, lemon, and grapefruit peels can be used to make mixed peel; apple peels and cores can be used to make apple jelly. These recipes aren't really something-for-nothing, though, as they do use a lot of sugar.

Also orange peel tea. Sometimes when making mixed peel I drain the water after five minutes of simmering and drink it as tea, then replace the water and continue simmering as the recipe calls for.

Some Medditerranean cake recipes involve (perhaps soaking and then) blending an entire orange, peel and all--look up "whole orange cake."

When not making mixed peel, I (remove the pith from and then) dry orange and lemon peels to grind into zest and store it to use as needed. A friend of mine saves the pith, too, and dries and grinds it and uses it to replace some of the flour when baking.

South Indian & Latin American recipes sometimes feature the peels of bananas or plantains—look for banana peel curry/thoran.

Various recipes can be found for banana peel pulled pork and banana peel bacon; banana peel cake; banana peel tea.

Starch left from rinsing rice can be used to thicken soups and stews (this is common in Korean recipes).

The water left from cooking dried beans can be used in soups and stews, or in cooking future batches of beans.

Make sure that anything you're eating or boiling has been washed well.

I— I'm. uh. huh. that was weird, I don't know what came over me...