#bit of cheese bit of meat quite a bit of whole grain bread

[confinesofmy]

wow my diet really is radically different than a year ago. that pizza poll reminded me i'm allowed to buy pizza so i got one and it didn't taste right bc parosmia but it also makes me feel so physically unwell to eat it. idk if it's the cheese the grease or the dough but both times i've eaten it i've felt like i swallowed a bowling ball. like i've slightly over-eaten rice and pasta and like. a sandwich maybe once or twice in the past year but nothing compares to two slices of this pizza. which isn't a lot! but it's enough that i start sweating. 😩

[ericathemad]

Okay, but THIS. THIS.

I work in government nutrition services and programs as an adult, and it is infuriating how much of those milk ads were and continued to be pushed by the dairy farmers lobby (at least in the USA, and probably elsewhere). The Dairy Council of my state is *literally* one of the key sponsors of the state's public health association.

Maintenance Phase, which is an amazing podcast anyways, recently did an episode on the Food Pyramid, which really dove into the problems with the Food and Nutrition Services program, which houses SNAP/Food Stamps, WIC, the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), is part of the USDA - a department *specifically* designed to promote and protect the interests of farmers and agriculture in the USA. Of course milk is going to be promoted everywhere when the agency that sets health guidelines also needs to make sure their industry is making money!!! (Please listen to the episode, it's great, just as every episode they do is).

There is a reason that milk is included as part of all school meals in the US. There's a reason the WIC program, which won't let people buy herbs, fresh meat, or almost any grains beyond whole wheat bread and tortillas, also comes with gallons of milk and pounds of cheese in the monthly food packages. Yes, milk can be yummy and nutritious, but also, there's a lot of dairy farmers out there who need their products subsidized.

I personally really like milk, and consume quite a bit. But I don't have lactose intolerance, and I come from a culture where milk and cheese is a regular part of my diet (thanks white America!) For many people, they can't eat dairy products, or they just don't like them. We (the people of the USA) should not be subsidizing an industry that, quite frankly, overproduces anyways, and then be told to consume all that excess because it's necessary for our health and wellness!!!

the fact that we all spent our childhoods inundated by ads for milk -- not even a particular brand of milk or anything, literally just the concept of Milk -- feels like the premise of a night vale gag but it's just a thing that happened.

[sailforvalinor]

The Chain’s Favorite Foods

Time: Coffee. Try to tell him that coffee isn’t a food and he’ll straight-up ignore you. He claims that it’s the only thing that kept him alive on his adventures besides luck. Malon has been trying to at least reduce his dependency for years, but it’s been slow going (especially recently, as Wild makes amazing coffee).

Warriors: Salmon. I don’t really have any argument behind this other than a gut feeling, and the fact that salmon is amazing in all forms.

Twilight: Sweet potatoes, especially if they’ve been made into a casserole. Butter, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon sugar—he enjoys them with anything as long as he can still taste the sweet potato. (The pumpkin soup he discovered while with the yetis is a close second, though.)

Sky: Apple pie. Sun made him one for his birthday once and he ate the whole thing in about 20 minutes.

Legend: I feel like Vet’s the kind of guy who just really likes soup—anything that can warm you up from the inside. When he was little, there was a specific kind of soup that his uncle used to make for him when he was sick, but no matter how hard he tries he can never seem to quite replicate it. Wild, once he found out, has been bound and determined to figure it out.

Wild: He finds it quite difficult to nail down exactly what his favorite food is, as he likes so many things. He gets bored of things quickly—really, he’s more into the thrill of trying new things than nailing down a favorite.

Hyrule: BREAD. The boy just REALLY likes bread. In his Hyrule, it’s very hard to come by a good loaf of bread—most of what you can find is either made with low-quality grain or has gone stale. Artisanship in regards to food in general has kind of died out due to the general populace’s survival mentality. Their first night at Lon Lon Ranch, Malon made a couple of freshly-baked loaves to go with their dinner, and when Hyrule bit into the light, warm, fluffy piece of bread for the first time, he actually started crying. (As someone who loves bread a little too much, I can relate.)

Four: He tries to hide it because he thinks it makes him seem childish, but he really loves sweets, particularly cheese and fruit danishes. He also usually has chocolate of some form with him at all times.

Wind: Crab legs. He says so because he believes it makes him seem grown-up, when in reality he probably enjoys cracking them open more than the taste of the meat itself.

[faolan-red-eagle]

What do you hc a meal among the Reachfolk or Forsworn is like?

I made a whole post about Reach food (among other things), which you can see here! As far as like, atmosphere and such goes, most meals would be communal affairs, with a potluck kind of style for serving. There's usually a roast meat option (goat, beaver, boar, venison, sometimes People Meat if there's Namira devotees present), some breads or grain (barley bread and potato bread are common, barley is also eaten much like oatmeal or grits), several types of vegetables, cooked a few different ways (a nice dandelion and radish greens salad with roasted carrot tops and beech nuts is a popular side dish in the summer), a wheel of goat cheese and dish of goat's milk butter for spreading on the bread, a few types of alcohol (a sweet wine made from apples is popular for celebrations, and a strong ale mulled with honey and meadowsweet is a favorite during chilly winter months), and distilled water (usually with a bit of fruit for flavoring).

The Forsworn specifically also carry travel rations, twice-baked barley flatbread, dried jerky (usually venison), foraged wild greens, gjetost-style cheese, dried fruits, and pine, almond, and beech nuts.

Typical Reachfolk breakfast/lunch/dinner "menu":

Breakfast (usually taken early, from 5 to 7am) 

Toasted barley bread with goat cheese and honey 

Venison sausage 

Fresh fruit, varying by season 

Birch tea, blended with mint or dried snowberries and sweetened with honey to taste 

Lunch (taken at or around noon) 

Crispy pan-fried beaver strips with roasted garlic and leek 

Hulled barley, cooked similarly to oatmeal and topped with either fruit compote or fried potato skins, onion and cheese depending on preference 

Distilled water flavored with fruits (strawberry, snowberry, and peach are most popular) 

Snacks such as bits of venison or boar jerky, dried salted fish, dried fruit and nuts, a slice or two of barley bread, or the occasional hand pie are eaten between lunch and dinner, usually with copious amounts of tea or flavored water. 

Dinner (generally eaten quite late, around 9pm) 

Stew, made from bone stock, whatever meat is available, cabbage, potatoes, carrot tops, parsnips, acorn or barley flour, and rendered beaver fat 

Toasted barley or potato bread spread with salted goat butter and mashed garlic

Ale, beer, or sweet apple wine as per the person’s preference (hot or chilled cider is also common for those who don’t like/can’t drink alcohol) 

Dessert, though eaten rarely, is enjoyed on Summoning Days or other celebrations, the most common of which is a pound cake made from barley and acorn flour and drizzled with honey glaze (Reach children are prone to just dipping the cake slices in honey wholesale, which is certainly an... interesting decision). Hand pies made of potato bread filled with peach or cherry compote and chopped beech nuts are also quite popular among the Reachfolk. 

[realityhelixcreates]

Lasabrjotr Chapter 78: The Great Provider

Chapters: 78/?

Fandom: Thor (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe

Rating: pg 13

Relationships: Loki x Reader

Characters: Loki (Marvel),Thor(Marvel) Wanda Maximoff, vision, Bruce Banner

Additional Tags: Post-Endgame: Best Possible Ending (Canon-Divergent), Party Time, Alarr Is A Little Bitch Now And Forever, Seriously Bull Cults Are Super Old, And Super Important

Summary:  You face the bull.

“There's a lot of people looking at me.” Your father whispered to you, fiddling nervously with a crumbling slice of dark buttered bread. “Your asshole beau got me good this time.”

Seated on the other side of you, Loki sighed. Of course he could hear, even with the din of the First Feast all around. You shook pepper onto a peeled, boiled egg.

“It wasn't planned like that.” You whispered back. “All of the humans are seated on this side, me included. The planners just thought you should be next to me.”

On the one hand, you were glad your father was acknowledging your relationship without major pushback. On the other hand, insulting a prince within earshot of that prince, and many of his vassals, was probably not such a good idea.

“I mean, I can ask them to change the seating order. Put you down at the farthest table, with a bunch of Asgardians you've never met.”

He shuddered. “You wouldn't. My own daughter wouldn't do that to me, her poor old father, who has so few years left to him. You wouldn't show such cruelty to a vulnerable old man.”

“Yeah, yeah, you've got one foot in the grave already. You could fall over dead any minute now. You're practically dust.”

“Well, that might be going a little far.” he huffed. “I've still got some vinegar in me.”

“You even talk like an old man.” you teased. “Besides, you don't get to pull the Old Man Card, and then complain because I play along. Make up your mind.”

You passed him a serving bowl full of bilberry porridge, and he dipped some out. One thing your father was always willing to do, was try new food.

“Speaking of, what counts as 'old' to these folks?” he asked. “You've been saying some stuff about that, but it seems unbelievable.”

“You gotta start believing this stuff, Dad.” you chided.” It's all real. I know it's hard. My head has been swimming for months. But it gets easier to accept the more you learn. Anyway, for an Asgardian, about five thousand puts someone firmly into the 'elderly' category, but for an Aesir, like the king, or Saga, or Loki, the sky is the limit. I can count the number of kings Asgard has had in it's whole history on one hand. They just live that long.”

“Five thousand? Damn. That's...That's like, pyramid building times, isn't it? Say...did they...?”

“No, they didn't build the pyramids. I already asked. And even if aliens did build them, it wouldn't have been Asgardians” you pointed out. “They would have been in the north, making, I dunno, runestones? Longships? Something like that. The people in the north never really did the large-scale monument building like they did in Egypt. But Asgardians sure did. You saw the paintings of the old palace?”

That thing that looked like a pipe organ? Yeah.”

“So, if they were building our monuments, they'd have looked like that, wouldn't they?”

“Okay, but what if it was different aliens? We know there's more than one kind of alien.” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but...I never found out if the other gods of the world were aliens or not. But even if they were, I'm pretty sure the pyramids were built by humans, even if they were built for their gods.”

“They were.” Loki interrupted. “But they also made for interesting sight-seeing expeditions for many peoples across Yggdrasil, so yes, aliens visited Earth quite often in your distant past.”

Your father clammed up and glared. After a few awkward moments, Loki turned back to his plate, passing along a crumbly cheese that turned out to be similar to feta. You added some to your grain salad.

Just get through dinner, you thought to yourself. Why did the men in your life always have to be so difficult?

Time was left between courses for the making of toasts, and there was a lot of back and forth-between the Icelandic dignitaries praising the Asgardians for being such gracious hosts, and the Asgardians praising them for hosting all of Asgard in the first place. There were toasts for the Avengers in attendance, though they were somewhat subdued; the Maximoff girl was still a fairly controversial figure, Dr. Banner continued to be visibly uncomfortable with the attention, and the Vision was simply not as well known. But they were dutifully honored nonetheless, and then the humans of Trolerkaerhalla turned their adoration on you.

'The People's Seidkona', they called you. 'The bridge', and 'the Huldra shield'. Even 'the Sapphire Brand', a kenning Loki had invented for you, which made you wonder what he had been discussing with his worshipers when he was out working on the longhouses.

The dessert course was mixed dried fruit, cooked down into a compote and served over bread.

It was also the last course before the slaughter of the bull, for tomorrow's Second Feast.

You'd told Tara and your father about it, to mixed reactions. Tara was repulsed, but your father, who presumably saw more dead animals along the side of the road than you would be comfortable with, seemed to take it in stride.

“Someone has to do it.” he'd said, “They gotta get to the plate somehow. Sucks, I know. There's no way out of it?”

“It's tradition.” you'd sullenly explained. “And it's really old. Like, Proto-Indo-European old. Back when kings used to be worshiped and held responsible for everything. If the crops failed, they sacrificed him. So it was in a ruler's best interests to make sure his people were provided for. I think, eventually, the bull became a stand-in for the king. I don't know if the Asgardians influenced us in this case, or if it was the other way around, but there's a whole deep layer cake of symbolism involved, and I really do have to participate.”

The bull and the ruler. Symbols of power, fertility, plenty, and prosperity. It was poetic, in an ancient, rustic kind of way.

You had thought that you had it all together, but when you heard the bellowing sound of the bull somewhere close, and your heart clenched in your chest.

Suddenly dessert didn't taste so good.

                                                                              ******

There had been an arena built between tables for the bull to be driven into, with a raised platform that you were currently perched on, holding a goad with a trail of ribbons at the end. You would be enticing the bull towards you with the movement of the ribbons, and once it was within range, Loki would strike.

Then the beast would be butchered on the spot, to prepare for the next nights festivities. It would be very educational.

The human guests had been informed of what was about to happen, and of course, the Asgardians already knew, but they still cheered you on anyway. Skaldic students picked up a slow drum beat, that pulsed like a heart.

How many thousands of years worth of rulers and seidkonas doing this? Odin and Frigga had done it. Bor and Bestla had done it. Buri and Audhumla had not-the holiday hadn't been declared until after Buri's passing. But one had to assume that they all gazed out from Valhalla, within it's great black hole, and saw what their descendants were doing. Presumably, Buri could now see that two people who had no true relation to him, were now the ones honoring him. How would he feel about that?

The bull bellowed behind the gates, the sound echoing and distorting strangely. Loki lurked next to the platform, waiting. This wasn't going to be like a matador facing down an angry beast. This was going to be an ambush.

The gates slowly begin to open, and your adrenaline spiked into the sky.

Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes

The bull entered the arena and you froze in shock, almost completely forgetting what you were supposed to be doing.

The bull was...wrong. It was completely still, standing on a board on wheels. It did not walk into the area, but was pushed. It's head was oddly textured, almost shiny, and strangely shaped. It bellowed again, weird and distorted, but did not open it's mouth.

Its strangeness blended into your anxiety, becoming a potent cocktail of revulsion and dread. Loki patted the platform next to you, and you started, jerking your ribbons to and fro. The bull bellowed one more time before Loki strode up to it, and, with one smooth and elegant swing, beheaded it.

There was no blood. The wound was hollow, and the head sprouted the legs of a child as soon as it hit the ground, running around and mooing irreverently to the amusement and obvious confusion of the audience.

It was fake. It was a fake bull. Loki had mentioned to you that you need not worry because he had taken care of her bull problem, but hadn't had time to elaborate before you'd had to scramble up the platform. You would have never guessed he meant this.

With a flourish, Loki whipped the tanned hide off the bull, revealing a hollow armature beneath, within which was an ice-covered table, piled up with cuts of meat, bowls of organs, piles of stew bones, and a bucket of blood. The bull reduced down to its edible parts, all ready for tomorrow's feast.

The drums stopped abruptly, the child who had been hiding in the paper-mache bulls head discarded it to the side and ran off into the cheering crowd, as people came forward to carry away the bits of bull.

Loki draped the bull's hide over his shoulders and helped you down from the platform.

“Did I not tell you?” he said smugly. “I took care of it for you. Truly, the symbolism is the most important part, and this speeds the process along so that we may get to the dancing all the sooner!”

“That was freaky as hell!” you scolded. “You shoulda told me it was gonna be a fake! I spent that whole time all bent out of shape because of it, ugh, what a lot of wasted sleep!”

“In my defense, I didn't find out that you were troubled about it until yesterday. I had only a limited time to come up with something.”

“And you decided to stuff a kid in a fake bull's head? That's what you came up with?”

“That's Beli's youngest great-great-great-grandson, and he volunteered! My dear, what's wrong? I thought you would prefer it this way?”

“I do!” you huffed, irritated. “But I need you to start telling me when you do things like this! How am I gonna do my job if you already make all the decisions by yourself? Stop trying to surprise me all the time. I froze out there because of it! What did that look like to everybody else, huh?”

“I think they were too captivated by the bull to take notice...” he didn't sound so sure. “But yes, you are right, of course. It is a bad habit. I will be better.”

Somewhat mollified, you took his arm and allowed him to lead you to the dances.

                                                                              *******

“It's an insult!” Alarr raged. “He reduces our history to mere spectacle!”

“It may have been for convenience.” his wife pointed out. “Our Midgardian guests need more frequent rest. It wouldn't do for his Highness' little seidkona to collapse from exhaustion.”

“Do not call her that!” he snapped. “She doesn't deserve the title! What part of her is a seidkona? The part that graces Loki's bed? Or the part that gets into cat fights with her betters? This is exactly what I am talking about though! The Midgardians are weak, but we are the ones expected to lower ourselves to their level? If they cannot keep up, they shouldn't be here! The prince is a fool, and the Allfather merely enables him. Together, they will reduce us to infants.”

“Watch your tone with me, Alarr. I tire of your temper.”

“And I tire of watching our culture and people be diminished for easier consumption by outsiders. When does it end? If even our holy days aren't exempt from foreign influence, then what part of us can we really expect to keep? How much can we be diluted, and still remain Asgard?”

“Alarr, this obsession has already cost you dearly. And not just you, the whole family has been impacted by it. You are so preoccupied with everything you're afraid we're going to lose, that you don't see the harm that you are doing to us yourself! Now you may sit here and let your rage rob you of your Buridag, but I'm going back out there to enjoy myself! Stars know, I've had precious few chances to do so lately!”

She stormed out, leaving him behind to seethe.

                                                                       ******

“That was so weird.” Todd said. “I thought it was going to be a real cow.”

“I'm glad it wasn't!” another camper exclaimed.

“Yeah, me too, but why did they go through all that rigmarole about what was going to happen, explaining the whole thing, telling us not to fear, and then wheel out a meat-filled piñata instead? Did they think we were gonna think it was real? Like, are we toddlers to them?”

“Maybe? They're all hundreds of years old, aren't they? Even the kids.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I feel like that's a problem though. I mean, think of the advantages they have over all the rest of us! I can't help but feel like they will eventually have a disproportionate amount of global influence, just because of the monumental projects that they can put together with that longevity. And like, I know the longhouse squad might not mind having alien overlords, but I'm sure not excited about it.”

“Global superpowers rise and fall. That's just history.” another camper said. “Are you sure you aren't just worried that yours might be overshadowed?”

“No need to be rude.” Todd chided. “People were rightly worried about super powered individuals before these guys even showed up. I mean, look at what happened to Sokovia! When I was a kid, that kind of thing was unthinkable! Now we've gotta worry about nukes, and terrorists, and school shootings, and climate change, and now alien invaders and supermen on top of all that? It's no wonder people are so worried. Did you know these people haven't even signed the Accords? What do you think that says about them?”

“Hey, I'm not disagreeing, man. I'm skeptical too. But they're refugees all the same, and it's only been a couple years. I figure they're just trying to get adjusted before they go committing themselves to anything big, you know?”

“And that's fair for the average Asgardian. As far as we know, they didn't do anything wrong. But Thor...you know, as much as I like him, he's been involved in some pretty destructive events. And the least, I mean, the very least he could have done to show some kind of good faith with Earth, would be to turn his brother over to some kind of justice. But he hasn't; he's just let Loki flaunt every authority. The man committed a felony, he kidnapped my girlfriend, and...nothing! He's not allowed on United States soil, but he did it anyway, and nothing has been done. I can't help but be resentful, who wouldn't be?”

“I know what you mean, but then why did you come to this shindig, anyway?”

Todd shrugged. “I just wanted to see that she was okay, you know? We weren't perfect, but we really had something, and I just want to make sure she's okay. She didn't look okay, up there with that fake bull, and I don't like it. I know her; she's kinda delicate. All this is gonna be too much for her.”

“You have a lot to say.” interrupted an unfamiliar, accented voice. The little knot of campers jerked to attention. A young man stood nearby, arms crossed, glaring.

“Uh, yeah...” Todd said. “To my friends. Who are you?”

“Fritjof.” the stranger said shortly.

“That's the mutant.” one of the campers whispered urgently. “We saw him out in that fight, remember? He throws fire!”

“Oh.” Todd held his hands up in front of him. “Hey man, we don't have any beef with you. No need to lose our tempers or anything...”

Fritjof snorted. “Somehow, I doubt this.” he sneered.

“Frit!” A woman cried, then rattled off a quick sentence Todd could not understand. Fritjofs intimidating stance softened, and he answered back.

“I'm going to dance now.” He told Todd. “Be a more gracious guest.”

Several of the campers let out the breaths they'd been holding, as he left.

“What a freak.” One of them muttered.

“Don't know what his problem is, but I think he could use a class on minding his own business.” Todd said.

“So, you wanna go dance?”

“Not really, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to go see what it's like.”

                                                                              ******

The dancing was energized and frenetic; stomping, clapping, twirling, leaping. It was full of laughter and celebration, messy and unchecked. The commoner's dances were danced by all, and you had thrown yourself into them with relish. From arm to arm you passed, jumping and shouting in time with everyone else.

You danced, and spun, and bounced, finally ending up panting back in Loki's arms.

“Come, sit with me.” he said. “You need a breather.”

He sat you down in one of the covered seats, wrapped you in his cloak for extra warmth, and pressed a cup of hot cider into your hands. The community continued to dance, some breaking off to rest, some jumping back in. You simply watched, sipping your cider as Loki twirled Sjofn, Thor kicked with Wanda, and a very tall Asgardian lady tried to entice an increasingly uncomfortable looking Dr. Banner. Even Gloa seemed to be having a good time, though you noticed Alarr was nowhere to be seen. Andsvarr, however, was dancing for all he was worth, and rarely let Saldis out of his grasp. It was cute, but not as cute as Tara, slightly drunk off buttered rum, flirting openly with several very confused Asgardians, or your father, trying hard to avoid Dr. Banner's fate.

Loki whirled his way back to your side, and plopped down next to you, but must have noticed you were fading.

“It has certainly been a long day, hasn't it?” he asked. “Would you prefer to return to our rooms?”

“Yeah. As much as I'd like to stick around, I'd really need some sleep.” you admitted. “Gotta be up bright and early tomorrow too.”

“Then shall we?” He offered his arm, and somehow the two of you slipped away without much notice.

“Are you going back out?” you asked, as he tucked you comfortably into his bed.

“Yes, for a little while longer. It's best that my brother and I be seen out among the people for as long as possible. I'll be back later. Sleep soundly, my dear.”

The rigors of the day caught up to you quickly, and you had no inkling of how much time had passed when you finally felt him slip into bed next to you, smelling of sweet crystal mead.

[acti-veg]

What Vegans Eat

Food is generally the biggest concern for people when going vegan, but most new vegans end up pleasantly surprised by the range of foods available. Not only is there a vast range of faux meats, cheeses and ready-made meals available, you’ll also discover new ingredients and favourite meals. A lot of vegans report that their diets actually became quite a bit more varied after they went vegan, contrary to their initial expectations.

There can be as much difference between the diets of two vegans as there are between two people who eat meat, so it wouldn’t be practicable to offer any sort of exhaustive list here, only some examples. You can live comfortably as a junk-food vegan if you want to, there are alternatives to just about every animal product, most supermarkets have a vegetarian frozen section with vegan options, and there are even specialist stores that now cater to us. 

You can also opt to go down the route of a whole foods, plant-based diet, which is certainly the healthier option, just a bit less convenient at times. Examples of common vegan staples include things like rice, beans, potatoes, lentils, chickpeas, hummus, bread, couscous, nuts, seeds, noodles, tofu, seitan, pasta, quinoa and all manner of fruits and vegetables. 

This may be pretty close to how you eat now, but if it isn’t, it can be a little tricky to visualise. Even just taking some of the staples listed, a common meal like chicken with vegetables and rice can be made vegan just by replacing the chicken with chickpeas, which have a similar protein content to chicken. Chickpeas can be seasoned with anything you might put on chicken, plus they have the added bonus of being much cheaper and far lower in calories. You can make just about any meal vegan by doing this. The beef from spaghetti bolognese can be replaced with lentils, meat in curry with tofu or seitan, or you can just opt for a faux meat/dairy version of whatever you would usually cook. 

So, while the long answer to the common question ‘what do vegans eat’ is a list of every edible fruit, vegetable, bean, nut and legume on the planet, the short answer is: pretty much everything you ate before you went vegan, just in a different form. Most of what vegans eat isn’t food specifically made for us, it’s food you already enjoy - it’s burgers, pizza, fries, well-seasoned vegetables, fruit, grains and adapted versions of all your best-loved dishes. There are literally thousands of edible plants we can incorporate into our diets, and most people only eat the same dozen or so species of animals and their secretions. Those who eat animals often dismiss our diet as boring, yet apparently can’t imagine a meal without chicken, beef or cheese. 

The truth is that anyone who believes a diet that doesn’t include animal products has to be restrictive has never fully explored the joys of plant-based cooking and baking. There are so many vegan ingredients, or foods which can be made so with minimal adaptation, more than you could ever try in one lifetime. Keep in mind that globally, the dishes which make up most people’s staples are already vegan, or at least can be made so with minimal adaptation. Meat has historically always been a luxury, and it remains so in most of the world, so it should be no surprise that some of our best loved dishes were traditionally plant-based. 

-An extract from my free eBook: The Green Road - A Practical Guide to Veganism

[certifiedceliac]

So You Have Celiac Disease: Now What?

How do I Eat Gluten-Free?

A lot of times I see people that are newly diagnosed struggle with the sudden changes being on a strict gluten-free diet entails. When I was diagnosed for the first time in 2014, I thought it would be a pretty easy switch.

"Okay, so avoid gluten. That just means I need to not eat bread or crackers or stuff with wheat in it, right? That's not that big a change."

Not quite.

A lot of celiacs still struggle with symptoms post-diagnosis, and for many it's because they're still unknowingly ingesting gluten.

What is Gluten?

Gluten is a protein found in some grains, like wheat, barley, rye, and their derivatives. For most people, gluten makes its way through the digestive system without a fuss. For people with celiac disease, however, gluten being ingested causes the body to activate an immune response. Basically, your body starts attacking itself. This causes structural damage to the villi of the intestines, which can lead to malnutrition, nutrient deficiancy, and a whole host of other problems (Side note: even if you have no obvious symptoms, having a celiac diagnosis means you need to not consume gluten. There's such a thing as silent celiac, where you still have the disease and still cause damage to the intestines upon ingesting it, but show none of the common symptoms). Even ingesting a crumb of gluten-containing bread can cause damage.

How do I avoid gluten in my diet?

Because gluten is not listed as a major allergen on the FDA's top 8 allergen list (Milk, Egg, Fish, Shellfish, Peanuts, Tree nuts, Wheat, and Soybean), there's no regulation that requires it to be specifically disclosed on a food product's ingredient list. While a wheat ingredient is almost always an indication that a product contains gluten, gluten is also present in the following types of grains and wheat derivatives:

Barley (and barley malt or malt derived from barley), brewer's yeast, bulgur, couscous, cracked wheat, dinkel, durum, einkorn, emmer, farina, faro, gliadin, graham flour, kamut, matzo, rye, seitan, semolina, spelt, and triticale.

There are also ingredients out there derived from those ingredients that someone new to all this might not know to look for. For instance, gluten can also be found in the following:

Brown rice syrup, caramel color, dextrin (and maltodextrin), modified food starch, natural flavoring, oats, vegtable starch, and yeast extract.

Everytime I grocery shop, I look at the ingredients on every food product I buy. Unless the product is marked as being gluten-free, if it contains any of the ingredients on that second list, I don't buy it. Products sold in stores bearing a gluten-free label are supposed to contain under 20 PPM (parts per million) of gluten (what is considered by many to be the safe amount for celiacs to ingest). Always go for a product bearing a GF certification if possible. Several organizations certify foods to be under a certain PPM, such as Celiac Support Association, Beyond Celiac, NSF, and GIG/GFCO .

It requires a bit of extra time in shopping, but it's just one of the things you get used to.

What Can I Eat?

A lot, actually! In the weeks and months after a diagnosis, it's better to stick to minimally processed and whole foods so that you can lower your risk of exposure and give your body time to heal (plus it's generally cheaper--You'll quickly notice GF substitutes are often more expensive).

You can eat whole grains like corn, rice, amarath, and buckwheat (even though it has wheat in the name, it is GF), fresh fruits and vegtables, and meat (just avoid pre-seasoned or marinated meats, as these often contain gluten). Dairy can be tricky for some people, and some celiacs might benefit from cutting it out of their diet completely while their body heals, but milk and cheese are naturally gluten-free (just double check labels for anything you're unfamiliar with--flour is sometimes used as an anti-caking agent in shredded cheese and gluten can hide in a lot of seasonings and flavorings).

Living with celiac disease can be a struggle, and with any major lifestyle change, it's normal to go through a grieving process. Let yourself cry if you want to! The good news is, as celiac and gluten-intolerance becomes more common, more and more options are becoming available to us. You might not ever be able to have that particular kind of cake or goodie again, but there are other options out there, and after a while, you might even find that you prefer some GF stuff over regular foods!

[xxcureangelxx]

5, 9, 10, 13, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28, 30-35, 38-42, 44-46, 50, 52, 54, 60-62, 66, 71-74, 86-91, 96, 100! 😊

okay I literally have no clue how old this is and if I'm even taking the questions from the right post but here goes I guess? 🙈

<u>5. What is your favorite Color?</u>

PURPLE

<u>9. How tall are you?</u>

about 1,70 meters or 5'7"

<u>10. What shoe size are you?</u>

size 40-41, I think that's about 8 in US sizes?

<u>13. What talents do you have?</u>

uhhh good question... not sure if it counts but I guess I'm quite good at a lot if things but can't do anything extraordinarily well?

<u>20. Are you religious?</u>

Absolutely not. Due to family history and a lot of other things I'm actually against it a lot but people can do whatever they feel like is right for them as long as they don't harm others with it.

<u>21. Have you ever been to the hospital?</u>

Yes, quite a lot actually. practically grew up in hospitals as a baby because of kidney issues, broke both my legs with 4 years old, had to revisit for tests a lot during my childhood because of the kidney issue. it calmed down afterwards until I was back in hospital last year because of my terrible mental health and I'm currently in a rehabilitation clinic for it as well.

<u>24. Baths or showers?</u>

Shower's because we don't have a bathtub

<u>25. What color socks are you wearing?</u>

currently none, I love going barefoot, but usually I wear white, gray or black. I know... I'm a bad gay.. no rainbow socks (;ŏ﹏ŏ)

<u>28. What type of music do you like?</u>

you know.... I hate this question with a passion even though I love music so I'll just throw in my yt-playlist here and everyone who's interested can look through it to get a picture xD not sorted in any way and not a conclusive list at all, I just add songs as I find them

<u>30. How many pillows do you sleep with?</u>

mostly just one at a time but I've got two different ones. one is the normal fluffy kinda pillow, the other is made of some kinda foam material and rather thin.

<u>31. What position do you usually sleep in?</u>

I'm always lying on the side! have been doing that since I was a baby too.

<u>32. How big is your house?</u>

compared to what? 🙈 I'd say decent size for 5 people to live in, would have space for 1-2 more if rooms were used differently but definitely not enough to comfortably live with 12 or even more people like my family used to. we've got like 3 proper sleeping rooms (one of which is the attic so not very nice in terms of heat and the staircase is smack in the middle of the room), a kitchen, a dining room, a big living room, a tiny bathroom that barely fits a toilet and shower, and the basement is a mix of storage, electrics and stuff, washing room/utility room and it's got another smaller room that's been turned back into a small workshop but used to be the room of my brother and later my grandmother.

<u>33. What do you typically have for breakfast?</u>

I guess this is where it shows that I'm german but we usually just eat bread (preferably whole grain) with cheese or slices of salami or ..meat sausage? is that a proper translation? 🤨 idk... it's rather simple really. on the weekend maybe buns and boiled eggs. on the occasion that I'm too tired for it or don't have enough time I eat cereals but it's not very common when I'm at work/school

<u>34. Have you ever fired a gun?</u>

No, and I don't want to

<u>35. Have you ever tried archery?</u>

Yes!! I did last year when I was in the hospital and it was super fun! was quite good at it as well, even for my first try 😤

<u>38. What's the longest you've ever gone without sleep?</u>

I think about 3 days? if we count "barely unconscious for a few hours" as sleep that is... otherwise no clue...my memory of the bad sleepless time is quite hazy lol

<u>39. Do you have any scars?</u>

yeah, quite a few tbh. got 2 huge ones from surgeries due to my kidney issues, well they look like 2 but it's actually multiple ones since they simply cut open party of the old ones again, tiny hooman apparently have very little skin. then I got some other ones here and there from accidents, general dumbness, etc, like when I cut through my sunday morning bun and almost cut half of the tip of my finger off because my mother sharpened the knife and didn't tell me or that time as a kid I couldn't wait for my ironing pearl pictures to be done and burned myself on the hot iron, mostly stuff like that.

<u>40. Have you ever had a secret admirer?</u>

I mean.. if they're a secret... how would I know? ;) not sure if it counts that it took me months to realize I had a crush on my best friend and the feelings were reciprocated and I was too blind to see the signs?

<u>41. Are you a good liar?</u>

Nope. People actually think I'm lying more often than I lie... so.... :/

<u>42. Are you a good judge of character?</u>

I'm.. honestly not sure what this one means? like, am I able to judge what kind of character a person has after barely meeting them or smth? if so, I'm terrible at it

<u>44. Do you have a strong accent?</u>

in german? nope. in english? hmm hard to judge since I rarely hear myself speak. I think the stuff I do know how to pronounce is mostly okay but since I learned it through reading I'm simply unsure of a lot of pronunciations. 'also'.... I can not for the life of me pronouns that word no matter how many times I hear it... it's kinda become a quirk after some classmates pointed it out to me and I'm incredibly aware how terrible I say the word but.... just can't get rid of it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

<u>45. What is your favorite accent?</u>

I.. actually really love the way my best friend talks? 👉👈 they're french btw. just... typical me for struggling to understand them though, already terrible at it in german too...

<u>46. What is your personality type?</u>

honestly, I don't think I can answer that. I'm big on self loathing and everything's pretty shitty so, no thanks

<u>50. Left or right handed?</u>

Right handed. but does it even count id I'm bad at doing things with that hand too? lol

<u>52. Favorite food?</u>

hmmmm tough question... not the biggest fan of food in general a lot of the time... probably Züricher Geschnetzeltes

<u>54. Are you a clean or a messy person?</u>

Definitely messy. my allergies did not like this post trying to clean and tidy up more often though. my depression does not like this post either

<u>60. Do you talk to yourself?</u>

sometimes. quite a bit when watching movies or if I mess stuff up

<u>61. Do you sing to yourself?</u>

barely. got a lot of bad experiences with that so i keep my singing to a minimum. my shower is a great listener though

<u>62. Are you a good singer?</u>

I was in a choir for a few years when I went to 'middle school' and I had like one solo part once but other than that I can't really say because I barely ever sing in front of people

<u>66. Do you like long or shor hair?</u>

this question is currently my absolute nemesis.. I've got suuuper duper long hair and have had it ever since elementary school and I used to be super happy with it and sometimes I still am happy with it but other days, depending on where I'm at genderwise, I absolutely hate it and I just want to take the closest scissors and cut it all off... currently haven't had the guts to look for new hair styles though... but in other people? or women more specifically? I love long hair 🥺

<u>71. What makes you nervous?</u>

Or the shorter question: what doesn't make me nervous... I'd say pretty much everything has got the potential to make me nervous. I'm an overthinker, anxiety is a big thing for me and ptsd makes me scared of almost everything. so.. yeah... sucks to be me sometimes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

<u>72. Are you scared of the dark?</u>

Yes, very

<u>73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes?</u>

I try not to but sadly I sometimes do, even if it's not my place to. I really don't like that part and hope I'll be able to learn not to sometime

<u>74. Are you ticklish?</u>

Yes and I hate it 😭

<u>86. What are you allergic to?</u>

again, easier question: what am I not allergic to... it's... a lot... like, really a lot. with the test on the skin of my arm I reacted to every single substance and the more thorough blood test lead to much of the same result. the absolute worst are birch trees (pitty, love those), then the usual pollen of pretty much every tree or flower, all animals with fur or feathers, dust and... yeah list goes on and on, you get the picture... :/

<u>87. Do you keep a journal?</u>

no.. have tried to multiple times in the past but never made it more than a week... too depressing to write and read... the therapist at the rehab clinic is currently forcing me to try a positivity diary for the millionths time, can't even get that done each day even though I'm doing it on my phone and get notifications to do it each evening...

<u>88. What do your parents do?</u>

making my life hell lol.. okay on a serious note, my father was a car electrician, he's retired by now, my mother is a housewife, she used to work different jobs before her first kid, later on she took care of my grandmother who was suffering from dementia, got some money and retirement points for that too.

<u>89. Do you like your age?</u>

I-... I don't know? it's weird because I both feel a lot younger and a lot older than I am rn....

<u>90. What makes you angry?</u>

another tough question... I actually have anger issues in that way that I'm barely capable of feeling anger... used to be worse but I already worked a lot on it in therapy so there's at least some there now... in the past I simply started to cry and felt overwhelmed by sadness whenever I was supposed to feel anger... so I can't tell very well what makes me angry because I first have to realize that I'm feeling anger or more like should be feeling it....

<u>91. Do you like your own name?</u>

Not really, no, but I guess I finally figured out some reasons why.. I've recently started going by a bit of a different name too but only my closest friends know so far and I'm not sure if I'll be using it irl at all..

<u>96. How did you get your name?</u>

I'm still trying to get my mother to admit that she named me after this song but she keeps denying it.. she's a fan of this band so it would have fit.. but she keeps saying she just liked the name, no long thought process behind it..

my chosen name is a bit of a different story. an ex friend I got to know through yt gave me that nickname almost 10 years ago after I complained that you can't make a shorter nickname out of my birthname and it's also the name of s character I like, especially his voice, and... idk it just feels more gender neutral and I simply feel comfortable with it. it just fit.

<u>100. Color of your room?</u>

same as question 5: Purple 🥰 or... well half the walls are purple, the other half is white

phew... can't believe I made it through all of these....

in case people haven't noticed yet, I'm currently kinda getting back into tumblr? I think I've already stayed a lot longer than any times I tried getting back before. it mostly started because we've got super bad wifi at the clinc I'm at rn and reddit takes up waaayy too much mobile data and... idk, I guess I just missed the vibe of tumblr

I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stick around but we'll see

[stressedspidergirlsfandomblog]

Ficlet cont under the read more. It’s like 4 pgs so I didn’t wanna wreck ur dash. Beware pining?

(I cut out the middle because I rewrote the entire beginning and it wouldn’t line up. So here’s… closer to the end, I guess.) 

He looks at her, trying to decide if he believes it’s the truth or not. When she stops them in the middle of the busy walkway, holding his gaze, he decides if she’s lying, he’d rather pretend she wasn’t. But her pulse was even, she smelled normal and he couldn’t think of a reason she’d lie. “I don’t need saving, or coddling,” he tells her.

“You need a great deal of coddling,” she pats his hand again. “But not because of that.” She leans into him as they walk, and then smiles. “I’m in the mood for breakfast, are you hungry?”

“I could eat,” he comments neutrally. He’d eaten some but was starving again already. He glances around, Dandelion isn’t far behind them, he’s occasionally stopped to chat with people, telling them where he’ll be playing that evening.

“Look! Fresh peaches, oh, do come over here,” she drags Geralt to a farmer’s small cart, and buys a few different fruits to sample. She’s not buying large quantities, but she doesn’t haggle much, either, so the farmer doesn’t mind her. Using her belt knife, she cuts the first fruit in half neatly, flipping the bit to the side of the walkway. Handing him half, she bites into her half and smiles in pleasure. The fruit is sweet and just the right amount of ripe. He samples his, watching in surprise when she hands off a peach to the bard. After having wiped fruit juice from his chin, he’s surprised when Yennefer pulls him down to kiss him. It’s wonderful in itself, she tastes of the fruit she’d just eaten, and she giggles a bit when they break apart.

“Strawberries!” she points out, tugging him to another cart. Some people have stalls or even what look like more permanent little shop stands, but she keeps choosing the smaller carts. Poorer farms, probably. The produce is no better or worse. She laughs as she feeds him one of the strawberries, and he kisses her in delight, to share the sweet flavor.

Dandelion watches always surprised to find that the witch shares the food with him. She doesn’t speak to him, doesn’t include him in her laughter, or allow Geralt to be distracted from her. He comes to realize it isn’t meant to be cruel. He’s along because he follows Geralt. She’s doing all of this to distract him and put him at ease. Teasing the witcher with a piece of fruit, a half of a pastry, a slice of roast lamb, and they walk and eat their way down the paths set up for the fair. He’s never really seen the witcher in this kind of mood, where he smiles a bit, and laughs some when Yennefer does. He bends his ear to her and seems lighter.

She’s undoing it, he realizes. Without any magic at all, she’s undoing the harm they did, not all of it, but some of it. She makes him feel less other. Less inhuman. People are more willing to approach and laugh with a man attached to a pretty laughing woman than a glowering man alone, witcher or not. He suffers alongside Geralt when they try some kind of smoked meat made with strong spices. Yennefer laughs again, unbothered, but finds them some soft, bland cheese and rolls to help take away the pain.

“What the fuck was that,” he complains, having thought he had a strong well cultured palette.

Geralt resists rubbing his nose on his sleeve, and blinks away tears from his watering eyes. The cheese had helped, as had the bread. When he finds someone with cups and skins of juice for sale, he purchases some, sharing with both the bard and Yennefer.

“Chiles, and peppers, they shred the meat and mix it together, then smoke it.”

“I shouldn’t want to eat that ever again. Oh, that was too much,” the bard wheezes. Geralt laughs, and Dandelion stares at him. He hasn’t seen him really laugh. He chuckles sometimes, but this is something new. It hurts a bit; he’s never managed to bring this side of the witcher out. He hadn’t realized how much Yennefer knew about Geralt, either. His favorite fruits, drinks, what types of meat he hadn’t tried but might like, what he might not like. She knew him, cared enough to remember his preferences. As far as Dandelion knew, Geralt would eat anything at least once, and didn’t much care what it was so long as it was filling. He hadn’t realized how badly the witcher just wanted to be a man with a woman and no burdens to carry.

His hatred for the sorceress eases a little. He doesn’t think he’ll ever like her. Especially since he knows all this frivolity and fun will just end in heartbreak again for Geralt, and he’ll be morose until they start again. Every time this happens, it makes him angry all over again. Why keep going back? He’d wanted to ask, but now he understands. At least some of it, it’s not as if he didn’t go back to the countess a few times. Or his duchess.

“Oh, Geralt, your favorite, come over here, I didn’t even know you could find it this far inland, come on,” she tugs him over, and he follows her. The sun is warm on his face, he’s clean, and while the doublet is obnoxious, it’s not as horrible as it had felt when he first put it on. She buys two of an oddly shaped fruit Dandelion hasn’t seen before, and deftly slices it against her palm without so much as nicking her skin. She holds half out to Geralt who takes it, and then offers Dandelion a few slices. He tries it cautiously, wondering what kind of fruit might be Geralt’s favorite. It’s sweet, a little tart, and has a very light flavor. Then he notices the little slices in his hand are shaped like stars.

Geralt savors the sweet flavor, eyes closed as they stand to the side of the crowds, out of the way. He’s mindful of the little seeds and knocks them free of the fruit before eating the rest of it. When Yennefer’s finished her pieces, he leans in to kiss her, heedless of how improper it might be. She keeps her hands away from him, to keep his doublet clean, but kisses him willingly.

They’re making their way past all the food and trinkets to the proper vendors, and when they’ve rinsed sticky fingers and faces in the fountain, their exploration of the harvest market begins in earnest. Yennefer does quite a bit more shopping than Geralt had expected and finds he doesn’t mind carrying some of it with him. Dandelion has his own things to buy, and for a bit the witcher finds himself trailing the bard as Yennefer haggles with a hedgewitch over some charms.

He lightly touches the back of the bard’s hand with his fingertips and Dandelion turns to him. “I’m not mad at you,” he says, unsure what the look on Geralt’s face is about. “You were enjoying your time with her, and I didn’t want to get in the way of that. Soon enough you’ll both burn it down.” Then he hates himself. “I’m sorry. Maybe this time you won’t,” he says, gently squeezing Geralt’s shoulder. “Fuck, I don’t, she brings out the worst in me, I say horrible things and I don’t mean to. Or I do, but not to you, not…Let’s try that again. I’m doing wonderfully, this place is less of a backwater than I thought, and our horses will have more to carry as we travel.”

Geralt simply frowns at him a little, realizing he has been missing something about the bard. “I’m sorry, last night, that I asked you to…” he clears his throat and looks around rather than finish his sentence. “It wasn’t right. If that’s… if that’s why you’re uncomfortable with me, I wouldn’t… I was just desperate, and I would have asked anyone, it was…I was…I didn’t mean to upset…I don’t know what I’m trying to tell you, I’m just sorry I put you in that position.”

Dandelion hisses in his breath, stung by some of the apology. He glances over at Yennefer, still haggling and takes a deep breath. “If you had been fully in control of yourself and had asked me in earnest, rather than desperation I would have gladly done it,” his voice is a little clipped, but he can’t make himself confess anything.

Rather than feeling like his apology was accepted, he feels like he made the situation worse, he simply frowns. The words make sense individually but strung together they make him feel stupid. “You…you want…?”

“Not here, not now. It’s lovely out, there’s people to talk to, purchases to be made, food to sample, wines to try…apology accepted. You were suffering and now that it’s over, here we are. Looks like she got what she wanted,” he looks over as Yennefer comes to join them.

Bewildered, Geralt doesn’t try to press the conversation. Not that he ever usually does, in fact, quite often, he is trying to stop the conversation from happening at all. He links his arm with Yennefer’s and lets her lead them about a bit. He has no interest in most goods, he has two shirts, an extra pair of pants, and he’s wearing his boots. He doesn’t need much more, and he has nowhere to store any of it, anyway. Although, perhaps he could use some extra socks, and Roach might be able to use a newer saddle blanket…when they make their way to the livestock areas, he finds a woman who makes truly beautiful saddle blankets. He’s not interested in looks and selects a simple grey one. It seems well made and sturdy and the horse won’t care what it looks like any more than he does.

He also remembers to buy some small bags of grains and feed, along with a few wizened carrots. No need for fresh or fancy, the horse is just going to eat them and shit them out without caring.

Yennefer drops back to let him shop on his own, linking her arm through the bard’s. “I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer not to walk through pig shit. He’ll come back when he’s done.”

“Ah.”

“It’s sweet, how he says he couldn’t care less about the horse, and here he is buying her things.”

“It’s not as if he’s buying saddle charms or trinkets for her mane or special soaps for her tail,” the bard protests, then wonders why he’s doing it.

“No, but he is finding care for her hooves, and something to make sure she doesn’t get mites in her ears, and a whole host of other things for her that aren’t strictly necessary. He just likes to have it all on hand. He has a great capacity for love,” she glances at the bard from the side of her eye. “He’d purchase something for you, but he has no idea what to give you. He knows he has no eye for fashion, you don’t bedeck yourself with much jewelry and he wouldn’t know what to pick, he can’t buy anything for your instrument -the lute or otherwise,” she smirks. “He has no idea what’s required.” She doesn’t let him shop for her, either. “He does look around for you. He does make sure he can see you, and that you’re safe. He won’t say it with words, but he cares about you as much as he does the horse, at the very least. Try to notice.”

When Geralt gets back to them, he smells a bit like livestock but in the open air it will fade quickly. Yennefer wrinkles her nose. “We should find a runner, so we aren’t having to carry things.”

“We could have asked some of this be delivered at the end,” Dandelion points out, for all he hadn’t purchased much.

“And hoped no one resold it to double their profit and then gave it to whoever purchased it last,” Geralt points out.

“Well then.”

“Let’s just take it back ourselves, and come back to enjoy the rest?” Dandelion suggests. The urchins hovering about seem more likely to steal than deliver their things.

They make it to the inn and back, going a different path to avoid the town square both times. Dandelion stays closer this time, snidely discussing the various other musicians who are busking around the festival. Geralt grins a few times, shaking his head ruefully at the description of one man’s voice the bard comes up with on the spot.

(if you want more, or wanna see the whole thing, lemme know. I’m debating putting the full version on ao3. Also if you just happen to like my fic, my blog is full of ficlets and fic I’ve written and links to my ao3. Just… just sayin.) 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23655211/chapters/56780635

[sohannabarberaesque]

Moth Mondays with the Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera

Kwicky Koala “himself”

Somehow managing to evade the clutches of Wilford Wolf through a sly trick of his allowing him to move around as if by magic, The World’s Fastest Koala also has another side of him that makes him somewhat popular in the food-truck arena with a somewhat unusual approach to same ... and which he can best relate.

“Here’s Kwicky Koala, live at The Moth ...”

It seems there’s something irresistable about having a food truck out amongst food trucks ... but even more amusing is to have a food truck like mine featuring Australian grocery staples. Which, to someone like me fond of eucalyptus leaves, may seem a little odd when, instead of meat pies, say, you’re actually offering the likes of ETA Barbecue Sauce, Bonox--that’s a beef extract you mix with hot water for broth--Nerada Tea, Milo, Vegemite--that’s a rather iconic Australian staple, yeast extract basically as tastes a bit on the salty side but is rather nutritious on toast or crackers--and a number of Arnott’s Biscuits, as we Aussies call your cookies.

Which also turns out to include some crackers such as SAO, which is a rather thick cracker yet is very appetising ... Jatz, which is pretty much like your Ritz cracker ... Barbecue Shapes and Chicken Shapes ... and a rather hearty one called Vita-Weat Crispbreads, which are whole wheat and, because of the fiber, are quite nutritious yet snackable. Now a crispbread to us Aussies is a cracker as could replace bread at the table, in case you’re asking.

Now one evening, I had parked my Aussie Grocery Truck close to Venice Beach just as the sunset-watchers were out to watch an especially brilliant sunset complemented by some especially ripper waves ... and you’ll never guess who turned up, or what she wanted. It was an incognito Penelope Pitstop, I will have you know, who wanted a couple packets of Arnott’s 9-Grain Vita-Weat Crispbreads “for the evening ahead.”

I didn’t know if she was the sort as was on a crash diet, but then again, Penelope Pitstop isn’t the sort to want to go on off-and-on diets recognising the bodily harm they can do for an attractive gal like her. She was to explain to me privately that some Australian friends of hers had introduced her to Vita-Weat Crispbreads as something of a worthwhile foundation for some light snacks such as he’s fond of noshing on every now and then. Especially with cheese spread or just plain cheese ... and she can’t help but go crazy for Vita-Weat Crispbreads. Especially the 9-Grain and Sesame sort; she can hardly resist the rather rich taste as much as the whole grains inherent. 

At least I’m glad to please Penelope Pitstop ... as well as The Banana Splits, who have been known to call at my truck for a box or two of the Arnott’s Shapes. Especially the Barbecue flavour, although on occasion they can’t resist the Chicken variety ... although Fleegle explained once that the barbecue was a little tangy for their tastes, yet left the inevitable stains on the old fingers (as well as a rather distinctive taste when you lick the seasoning off), and Bingo couldn’t resist “bogarting” a new box of Shapes.

Still, though, you can never help but discover what sort of tastes the curious have from my Aussie Grocery Truck. Especially the Vegemite, naturally, and then out of curiosity--even if it means my having to demonstrate the proper way of spreading the old Vegemite. As in very thinly across the toast.

“... and that’s the story from The Moth”

(The preceding is an independent fanfic feature having no official connexion or association with The Moth. For more information, please to visit their website ... and tune in to The Moth Radio Hour weekends on your local public radio station; check your local radio listings for the day and time.)

@warnerarchive @hanna-barbera-land @warnerbrosentertainment @moonrock1973 @wherearethememesonmyplate @themineralyoucrave @hanna-barbera-blog @hanna-barberians @jg376 @screamingtoosoftly @cottoncandy-wannabe

[cook-the-beans]

Georgia is a stunning country to travel to and the vegan food is abundant, fresh and delicious. When you find your way around the meat and cheese, you discover a whole world of beans, veggies, bread, potatoes and mushrooms.

One of the reasons Georgian food is so vegan-friendly is because of the Orthodox fasting periods, that many adopt, where they can’t have any food from land animals. You will find that many restaurants have a ‘fasting menu’.

Many local Georgian dishes just happen to be vegan, making our life easier while travelling. In Tbilisi, you have some choices of restaurants and cafes serving specifically vegan food, but outside the capital, the reality is different.

I assure you will not have any problems to eat vegan even when visiting small villages.

Here is a list of some of my favourite vegan dishes that you can get from a regular place in Georgia serving local food.

Vegan-friendly Georgian food

Veggie pâtés

Pkhali – different coloured balls of vegetables minced with walnuts and seasonings, normally with garlic, onion, herbs. The most common are spinach, aubergine and beet.

Eggplant with walnuts (Nigvziani Badrijani) – Slices of eggplant that filled with walnuts, coriander and garlic, served cold topped with pomegranates.

Red pepper stuffed with walnuts – as the name says is a red pepper filled with hearty walnut paste.

Beans and bread

Lobio – It’s a bean stew served in a clay pot, made with red beans, onion, garlic, herbs, and local seasonings. Mchadi – cornbread that is usually eaten with Lobio. Comes in fried and non-fried varieties.

Acharuli, Stew boats – a boat-shaped bread from Georgia, is the most popular filling melted salty cheese and egg. Although I found other options, from aubergine stew, wild mushrooms, spinach and other greens and even with tomato and cucumber salad.

Georgian Pastries: Lobiani – Is a mashed bean-filled bread easily found everywhere. Similar to lobiani is the Mkhvlovani- made with a mixture of different kinds of herbs. I did find other pastries that were vegan but could memorise the names.

Georgian traditional dumplings

Khinkali – The easiest vegan ones to find are the ones with potato and mushroom fillings, but I also had found some with beans and spinach.

Mushrooms

There are several dishes with mushrooms served in clay dishes.

They also have mushrooms cooked in different ways. Wild mushrooms stewed, fried mushrooms, grilled mushrooms, etc.. If you are a mushrooms lover like me Georgia is heaven on earth. Ojakhuri with mushrooms – instead of the traditional potatoes with pork, this one is with mushrooms.

Shilaplavi – Kind of a Georgian risotto with mushrooms.

Vegetable stews

Ajapsandali – is a vegetable stew made with onion, potato, aubergine, bell pepper, tomato, parsley and other seasonings, a little bit like a ratatouille.

Salads 

The most common one is Cucumber and Tomato Salad with a creamy walnut and herb sauce, but there are various other kinds of salads too. The Georgian beetroot salad with tkemali (plum sauce) is also quite easy to find.

Mexican potatoes – Thickly cut potatoes with lots of seasoning. They can be fried or baked depending on the restaurant.

Pickles – you can order mixed pickles or plates of specific pickles.

Vegan Georgian Sweets

Churchkhela –  also known as the Georgian Snickers is a traditional sweet made from nuts and fruit juice. It is extremely delicious, nutritious, healthy and energizing. To prepare it the string of nuts is repeatedly dipped in concentrated fresh fruit juice.

Tklapi – Thin fruit sheet.

Pelamushi – reminds a frozen pudding prepared with grape juice and walnuts.

Markets

There is no best place to explore Georgian food culture than visiting some of their markets.  

Here you can find the best deals to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, dried fruit and grains, coffee and tea, spices and much more.

Georgian Street food

Street food is not a strong concept in Georgia by any means, but you can occasionally find small stall selling, fresh fruit, fresh cold-pressed juice and Turkish coffee.

Have you been to Georgia and tried any of these dishes? Do you know any other traditional Georgian dish that is accidentally vegan?

photography – all rights reserved – Ana Rocha

Travelling vegan in Georgia Georgia is a stunning country to travel to and the vegan food is abundant, fresh and delicious.

[frostedpuffs]

Do you have any tips on eating healthier/staying healthy?

im certainly not an expert on this but i’ll tell you a bit of what i’ve learned recently from my own dieting experience! if anyone would like to add on please feel free. i also apologize if some of this info is wrong, bc i am in no way a professional lol, just a young adult tryna lose some pounds

stop eating white bread. a piece every now and then is okay but that shit’s bad for you. if you really want some bread, get some whole wheat or whole grain bread. if it’s brown, it’s better for you. but a better option would be to switch to wraps or flatbreads, like spinach wraps or whole wheat wraps.

speaking of wraps, make them. make a LOT of them. they are so versatile. i make at least two or three wraps a week (with spinach wraps because they’re my favorite and are low in calories.) today i made one with some chicken, lettuce and lowfat cheese and it was really yummy. plus an apple on the side!

switch out your late-night eating habits with fruits or veggies instead of sweets. i’ll admit, im the type of person that loves having something sweet, especially at night when i’m watching tv or trying to wind down. i had a bad habit of grabbing some cookies or ice cream and it was hard to break it. but instead of eating those high-sugar, high-calorie snacks i traded them for veggies like celery or carrots or my favorite fruits: apples, strawberries, red grapes and watermelon. whenever you get the urge to grab a snack, whether it be during the day or night, have a piece of fruit. you might hate it at first, but after a while you start craving an apple really bad instead of a cookie.

STOP DRINKING SODA. this is a must. soda is so full of so many bad sugars that it can make you gain weight too quickly. i used to be addicted to soda, especially cherry or vanilla sodas, and i’d drink more than one on the daily. now i dont drink soda anymore—just bottles of water or the occasional vitamin water or fruit juice—and i feel so much better. i cant even stand the smell soda anymore, it’s too sweet.

red meat really isn’t that good for you.

CHICKEN, FISH, FRUITS, VEGGGIES. THEY ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS.

learn your body’s cues of when you’re full to stop from overeating. most people eat until they feel like they’re about to burst, but it’s better to stop eating once you stop feeling hungry or a light pressure in your stomach, and in fifteen/thirty minutes you’ll realize how full you really are.

stop eating most sugary cereals. lots of cereals actually aren’t very good for you. instead, if you’re looking for breakfast that’s filling, have a yogurt and some berries, and maybe a piece of toast with jelly or jam on it.

snack often. eat three meals a day, but be sure to have a healthy snack between meals. the more often you eat will actually help your body’s metabolism if you’re eating healthy. have a granola bar or an apple!

quit eating all that nasty processed shit. stuff like oscar meyer lunch meats (or most lunch meats in general) or processed cheese and the like. also cut down on the sodium. a packet of ramen noodle flavoring has almost half of the recommended daily intake of sodium, to put that in perspective.

exercise. pls exercise at least a few times a week. even going for a 15 minute walk is better than nothing.

EAT A SALAD. don’t be afraid of the greens.

try to eat a vegetable at least once a day. you will feel better. trust me 

count your calories with a calorie tracker app! i highly recommend myfitnesspal as it has literally almost every single food ever made in their system. plus it really helps you discover your eating habits and change them for the better.

most importantly, remember that it’s okay if you have a hard time with eating healthy, and it’s okay if you mess up. we all cave on those irresistible sweets every now and then. it’s nothing to feel terrible about! you’re strong and you’ve got this. it’ll be hard at first if you’re used to eating food like pizza rolls or McDoubles, but it’s worth it in the end. you’ll feel better, sleep better, and even find yourself craving healthier foods after a while. i believe in you!

[veganerudition]

So I would like to understand being vegan some more. I personally love animals and feel they shouldn't be mistreated but I do enjoy meat, and cannot see a way to live without animal product. Can you explain to me how you stay healthy without consuming animal products, as well as what you do to proactively stay away from products animals have been used in.

Hey! I’ll try my best in helping you understand. Sorry I’ve answered this a little late, I’ve been trying to think of the best way I can tackle such a question.

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like proper nutrition is your primary concern here? If so, I have a few suggestions for you that you can hopefully find applicable. Just keep in mind I am living in a fairly suburban area and have easy access to supermarkets, so my experience is based on this.

The way I stay healthy is by understanding the key components of nutrition. I need carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals. The majority of these things contributes to my energy intake, and the average adult requires roughly over 1400 calories per day to maintain their weight when doing nothing (more calories for larger, taller, and more active people). Consuming enough in calories as a start makes it much easier to meet your other nutritional needs.

 Key vitamins and minerals include B-vitamins, vitamins A, D, C, and E, calcium, iron, magnesium, and quite a few more (there are dozens). It’s not necessary to think much of many of these nutrients, such as vitamin C, B-complex, A, and a fair few minerals as long as you’re eating a diet that’s balanced with a range of vegetables, fruits, whole-grains, roots, and dense protein sources such as beans, tofu, lentils, and chickpeas. Some nutrients like vitamin B-12, calcium, and iron may require the addition of fortified plant-based milk, cereal, and bread in your diet. That is something I do, as I cannot currently afford a wide range of fresh produce to fulfill my nutrient requirements. So I use foods that are dense in nutrients such as the above to compensate. 

If you have further access to alternative meat and dairy products, I would recommend reading the packaging details to see what additional nutrition you can get from them as many faux meats are supplemented with iron and B-12. You can also get a bit extra calcium from other plant-based dairy products such as coconut yoghurt. Take a wander through your supermarket and see what’s available in terms of both faux alternatives and whole-food alternatives, and think of ways you could potentially incorporate such meat alternatives into your current meal plans. You don’t need special alternatives to be healthy though, I rarely consume them and usually just rely on tofu, lentils, and beans as my primary protein sources. 

As for staying away from animal products altogether, it just takes discipline and knowledge. Knowledge concerning what food types typically have animal products in them, and discipline in rejecting those products as foods you want to eat. Usually there are alternatives that you can buy or make for biscuits, cakes, chips, lollies, and other foods that may have animal products in them, so you don’t have to forgo your cravings altogether. Sometimes you may have to get creative with your own baking (I’ve made brownies, cheesecake, ice-cream, and more, and am currently looking into making spinach cheese pies), but you can develop it into a habit with practice and time. 

I hope at least some of this has been helpful. Feel free to message me again if anything in particular doesn’t make sense.

[lowcarbnutrients]

7 Ways To Get Your Children To Eat Their School Lunches

After reviewing among my fellow YMC Blogger's articles on just how her preschooler rejects to consume her lunch, I thought I'd 'reply' by creating a post with some ideas. Gurpreet Randev, just like lots of parents of young kids, has actually attempted whatever from vibrant finger foods to pin-worthy elegant food skewers. Her child proceeds to come house from school with an unblemished lunch bag. Gurpreet is at completion of her rope when it comes to institution lunches, and her child is just one month into preschool. I understand she's not alone, as well as I recognize that lots of parents, like her, have read many post and also write-ups on particular consuming and also 'how you can get your child to consume more.' As a parent of a preschooler myself, I could envision the frustration that Gurpreet is feeling, so I hope that some of these (rather unconventional) ideas will certainly aid her and also other parents who really feel the very same pain.

1. Include your kid in lunch preparation, setting up and packing

When offered the possibility, young youngsters love to assist plan as well as prepare meals. When kids have a say in just what they eat, they really feel a feeling of control. This, consequently, increases the possibilities of them eating it. Offer your youngsters 2 to 3 options for each component of their lunch. Ask 'Would you such as to have a plum or peach for your fruit?' or 'Would you such as a pita or a tortilla wrap for your sandwich?' When you as well as your child have actually decided just what will certainly enter into his lunch, put every little thing out on the counter or table and obtain your kid in order to help construct it and/or load it right into his lunch bag. Handing over a little of control will give your kid a confidence increase as well as a feeling of satisfaction in contributing to his meal.

2. Try separating their foods

I couldn't figure out why my three-year-old kid quit wishing to consume his peanut butter and also banana sandwiches (he generally enjoyed them) up until I asked him if he'd prefer the banana on the side of his sandwich. He stated yes and happily demolished his lunch. Many preschoolers or young school-aged kids experience a stage where they do not like their food to touch. This is typical and will certainly pass eventually. Although your youngsters might be declining to consume their macaroni as well as cheese with peas mixed in, they may happily eat it if you take the peas out and put them on the side. Attempt deconstructing their sandwiches or putting all their pizza active ingredients into different parts in a container (meat, grated cheese, cut-up veggies, and also mini pitas).

3. Have an open dialogue

Your kid may go on a certain food 'strike' where they choose not to eat a food or combination of foods. This is entirely normal as well as is normally absolutely nothing to fret about. However it's vital to have an open dialog concerning food selections and preferences to make sure that you could stay up to date with these 'food stages' (as well as not assume that your kid will consume the previous best option). Young kids can be picky with food (as highlighted in my previous point) and also although it's not ok to be a 'short-order cook,' it's vital that your child feels as though they have a say in exactly what they consume. Ask your child why they are no longer intending to eat a food-you could be stunned at what you discover. Probably it is the shade or texture that is turning them off. Perhaps the banana that you send out in the morning finishes up being brownish and mushy by the time lunch duties around. Let them recognize that it's OK to not want to eat a specific food which they could attempt something brand-new or a different variant of an old favourite.

4. Make sure that your kid can open their containers/baggies

This seems silly, yet in more youthful kids, lack of manual mastery could really be among the reasons they come residence with unopened containers of food. Technique opening baggies and also containers in the house prior to you send them complete of food to college.

5. Make a snack-inspired lunch

Kids love finger foods. Attempt making lunch right into a 'bento box' by getting an amazing container with numerous areas and placing snack-like foods (that together form a healthy well balanced dish) with great deals of different colors, structures, and also shapes. Include vibrant veggies as well as fruits (of your child's picking) with tasty dips, healthy protein options such as cut-up meats, hardboiled eggs, chickpeas, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, and afterwards entire grain foods such as breads, homemade muffins, biscuits, etc. Once again, involve your child in choosing what she wishes to have in her bento box, even if it is an uncommon combination of foods.

6. Dial down the too much creativity

If you, like numerous moms and dads, are spending hours scouring Pinterest for Martha Stewart-worthy lunch concepts, you might be going a little bit overboard on the innovative side of things. Children aren't as high upkeep as we could believe. Your youngsters will dislike the bunny-shaped sandwich or star-shaped cheese pieces as high as your think they will. It's important to provide a selection of foods at lunch (3 to 5 various foods in numerous shades as well as shapes) for nourishment objectives but also to avoid college lunch monotony, however this doesn't have to take hours at a time. As opposed to reducing your child's sandwich into 4 squares, eventually cut it right into triangles. As opposed to supplying cheddar cheese, deal mozzarella someday. As opposed to offering carrots and also celery, deal cucumber and also baby tomatoes. As opposed to an egg salad sandwich, use a sliced up hard steamed egg and also whole grain crackers. Switching it up-even a little bit-will pique your child's interest and motivate them to munch a little bit greater than they otherwise would.

7. Take the pressure off on your own and your child

It is TOUGH not to place the pressure on your youngsters when they choose not to consume a dish, however here's the point: when you put the stress on, it will likely transform them off of it even much more. My idea is to back off (I indicate that in the nicest method feasible). Toddlers as well as kids were birthed intuitive eaters, and it's crucial to support that intuition as long as you possibly can. By pressuring your kids, you are in fact encouraging them to NOT follow their interior hunger/fullness signs. This is the opposite of exactly what you want to do. As Ellyn Satter's Department of Duty describes, our obligation as the parent is to guarantee your youngster is supplied a healthy and balanced, delicious, well balanced meal 3 times a day and also healthy and balanced treats in between many meals. It's your children's duty to choose whether they consume as well as just how much. As long as you are holding up your end of the offer and your kid is expanding well and also not falling off the growth contour, they is likely satisfying their calorie demands by the end of the week (even if they eat extremely little in one meal and even in someday). Attempt your ideal to grit your teeth and bite your tongue when you see your very carefully crafted lunch returned uneaten and know that it won't be like this forever. It's a phase not unlike various other challenging stages that our darlings go through.

I blog post daily suggestions, sources, and response to challenging concerns about nutrition for family members over on my Facebook Web page, so do not hesitate to check it out!

[soulsantecafe]

5 nutrition tips for vegetarian athletes

More and more people are vegetarian, vegan or at least ' flexitarian' – a term coined by people who consciously want to eat less meat, but still want to enjoy a steak every now and then. A good development, because our body needs much less meat than many people think. But how do you ensure that as a fanatic athlete you get enough protein , iron and vitamin B12 if you can't get it from meat? Don't worry, this isn't going to be an argument about why everyone should be vegetarian. I also quite enjoy my piece of meat. I only want to help the people who have made the decision, with 5 nutrition tips for vegetarian athletes, to get enough nutrients in a simple way. Let's go!

Looking for Vegan Restaurants Nearby Dubai Marina? Soul Sante Cafe brings to you Vegan food & Gluten free Plant based food in Dubai for weight loss, wellness and muscle gain.

Content blog vegetarian tips Enough complex carbohydrates Think about your protein intake Get Enough Calories Don't forget the importance of iron Varied eating pattern 5 tips for vegetarian athletes Do you no longer eat meat at all, or have you even removed all animal products from your diet? Then there is a good chance that you will develop a deficiency of certain vitamins & minerals and other important nutrients, such as vitamin B12, iron, calcium and vitamin D. I have 5 practical nutrition tips for vegan and vegetarian athletes! Eat enough complex carbohydrates In general, a plant-based diet contains sufficient carbohydrates, thanks in part to the amount of grains, rice, legumes and potatoes. Make sure that you choose the good carbohydrates , and leave fast, refined carbohydrates. Go for brown rice, quinoa, oats and millet – and avoid white pasta, white rice and multigrain bread (not whole wheat). Why carbohydrates are so important? During exercise, carbohydrates are burned much more efficiently than fat, so you can get your energy from carbohydrate-rich products much better than from foods rich in fat. Carbohydrates are our body's main source of energy. So with a lot of physical exertion you need enough energy! Think about your protein intake My next tip for vegetarian athletes is about protein. Although meat eaters get a lot of protein from foods like steak , the lack of protein from meat is easy to make up for. Plant-based foods, however, contain less protein than meat, so you have to eat a little more of it to get the right amount. For example, you can replace a piece of meat for 200 grams of legumes, and animal proteins from milk and cheese are also a good alternative. Our body mainly needs protein as a building material, and for athletes proteins are indispensable for both the recovery and maintenance of the muscles. Do you not eat any animal foods at all? Then you can think of a protein shake to supplement your daily diet. Animal products contain vitamin B12, while vegetable sources do not. At least not in recordable form. In the supermarket you will find products that are fortified with vitamin B12, such as breakfast products, vegetable butter and meat substitutes. Unfortunately, they often contain too little. That is why it is advisable for vegans to take a vitamin B12 supplement . Get enough calories from your diet The energetic density, which refers to the amount of energy your body can get from a food, is much lower with a plant-based diet. Even though legumes, potatoes and grains can be filling, you need to eat a lot of them to get the same amount of energy as with a piece of meat. Therefore, choose products with a relatively high energetic density such as avocado, nuts and certain oils. Dairy products also contain quite a bit of energy. Iron (Fe) is important for athletes. It is involved in the production of hemoglobin, a building material of red blood cells. These help transport oxygen through the blood to all parts of the body. This is very important for good sports performance. There are two types of iron: haem and non-haem, but only the latter is found in plant products. Difficult, because haem iron is absorbed much more easily by the body. In order to get enough iron as a vegetarian, fanatical athlete, you have to increase the daily iron intake considerably (for men 16 milligrams, for women 27 milligrams) . Moreover, you can ensure that your absorption of non-haem iron is promoted by combining it with vitamins A and C or citric acid. Coffee, tea and dairy products actually stop the absorption. Good plant sources of iron include quinoa, tofu, spinach, tahini and cashews. Have a varied diet

Get more --  weight loss meal plans dubai

My last tip for vegetarian athletes relates to variety. As with many diets, it is extremely important for vegetarians to eat a varied diet. Spread out throughout the day, make sure you consume meals with sufficient protein and carbohydrates, and make sure you choose products with a high energy density, such as meat substitutes and avocado

[lifeafterthewake]

11.12.2018

I wasn’t and I’m still not sure what to do with this account. I’ve started it as an attempt at blogging and it’s clearly not working. Then again it usually is quite a challange for me to write as I live with a person who talks a lot and I seek their presence. Oftentimes I talk and all the content inside my mind gets spilled and discharged. But right now I’m in a bit of a pickle, staying at a friend’s house while they’re away so naturally more thoughts come to my mind and the need to express them is more apparent.

I wanted to write a little bit about self-control or self-control issues. I’ve never been good with self-control. Whether it’s money, food, learning for important exams, managing my time, speaking to other people or managing the power I have in relation to them - there were always issues.

My weight is an issue of great concern to me as my whole childhood and adolescence I was bombarded with contradicting communicates: that I eat too much, that I don’t eat enough, that I’m too fat, that my weight is fine, that I should do more physical activities while I was going to extracurricular classes almost all the time (karate, dancing, swimming, horse riding for a short period of time). My parents are obese and they eat too much and so I was overweight ever since I went to elementary school. The most I ever weighed was 102kg I think. I was 15 years old then. It was a turning point for me as when I crossed the 100kg line I thought to myself ‘this is too much, this is dangerous, I have to do something about it’. And so I did.

Before going into highschool, so 15/16 years old I’ve imposed a set of strict dietary rules upon myself. I ate every 3 hours 5-6 meals a day, I chewed every bite 30 times or until it was practically dissolved in my mouth, I’ve only eaten one meal at a time, so no multiple dish dinners. I avoided sweets and juice, drank mostly water. As a result I’ve lost... I’m not sure really. The least I weighed was 76 or 78 I think. Let’s go with 76. So I’ve lost 26 kilograms. In 6 months time. I looked like a different person. I wouldn’t say I was mentally happy with myself but physically I felt so much better. I still had to deal with comments from my family about how I don’t eat anything and how I look ‘so thin’ but it was managable.

I’ve stopped sticking to my ‘no sweets’ rule about a year into high school. It was hard to keep it up. Generally my eating habits have loosened since then but I still feel like it was much needed, even though it wasn’t a safe thing to do, for me to feel that I can achieve something if I try hard enough. You see, I never really had to try to do anything in school. I’m an intelligent person and I’ve never had problems with grades during my time in lower education. It is a bit of an issue now that I’m studying but it’s still mostly managable.

When I moved out of my parents house I got drunk on the money. I still can’t responsibly spend my money although I have taught myself to spend less on food. My father rented me a flat and sent in about 330$ a month for me to live on. I don’t live in US or UK so it’s actually quite a lot of money for a student’s needs (for measure: a loaf of bread in a chainstore costs about 0,68$; 1,5L bottle of water 0,39$; 1kg of chicken breast +/-4,74$) . In the beginning I was spending it like crazy, mostly on food that I was eventually throwing away. I was cooking a lot back then too. You see, I say I’m bad with money but if I am bad then my parents are horrible with it. They probably spend about 530$ a month on food itself, and probably throw away about a 1/5 of it. Every time I visit their house the fridge is brimming with food (and it’s usually cold cuts or cooked meat that I don’t eat often anymore). So you can imagine what kind of an environment I was subconsciously trying to recreate and why it was so costly.

Food apart I don’t manage my money well unless I absolutely have to. My father usually sends me extra cash whenever I need it so I got lazy about controlling my spendings, I splurge on material items and then run out of money for food or I irresponsibly spend money on food in the city center because I don’t have time to cook and I hate planning meals ahead so I run out of cash very quickly (a dinner in the downtown area costs me about 5,26$ per main course; for the same amount I can cook a meal for 3 days). This semester I got super lazy with my diet as well, preciesly because I had so classes at uni. I usually try to avoid grains and wheat because my body doesn’t deal well with gluten in excess. Lately I’ve let myself completely loose (because of personal reasons as well) and I feel horrible.

I feel horrible to the point where I’ve made myself vomit my food twice during the last two weeks. The first time was when I came back from my grandparents’ (02.12). I ate a lot during the small party they threw and I was feeling very sick. ‘I ate a lot’ doesn’t cut it. I stuffed myself. Partially because seeing my family is always very stressful for me, it’s emotionally difficult, I can’t seem to find a way to deal with them and I think it’s getting worse the longer I ignore the issues that I should address. But it’s exactly the lack of self-control that is keeping me from doing it. My parents are very manipulative and the slightest chance they get to change the topic or steer the discussion in a different direction than the issues that I’m trying to discuss they take it and I fall for it. I get emotionally torn apart and die inside and after some time I realise that nothing has really been discussed and I feel like shit. And it keeps repeating itself so I get discouraged even more and it’s even harder to touch upon anything relevant to me.

The second time was today (11.12). I came back to my friend’s flat after spending crazy amount of money on home appliances in Ikea. I went to a shop and bought ingredients for a cake and food to eat for the next few days. I bought a loaf of bread because I can’t control my goddamn self. And a bar of chocolate. Went back to the flat. Ate 5 pieces of bread with generous amount of butter and a cheese slice on each piece. Ate the whole bar of peanutbutter chocolate. May I add I was alterating: I ate 4 sandwiches, I ate a bar of chocolate, I ate 1 more sandwich. Plus I’ve drank half a cup of tea. So then I felt sick. There are a few types of sick in my world. There is drunk-sick, there is stretched stomach pressing on intestines-sick, there is stressed-sick, there is acidic food-sick and there is wheat-sick. We’re going with both wheat and stomach pressing on intestines sick this time.

I don’t really vomit involuntarily unless I’m really drunk and I haven’t been really drunk for at least 2 years I believe. It’s always a decision just as much as spending money is a decision, just as much as stuffing myself with food that makes me feel sick is a decision. So I’ve decided to make myself vomit. In a way it’s cathactic, in another it feels like my mental health is in a really bad state right now.

There is a point I want to make here. I feel like overating isn’t a purely physical act just as eating disorders are mental health disorders. For me overeating is a way of dealing with emotions. I externalise my emotions, put them into food. I then put the food in my self. In a way we always do that but we’re also animals that have to survive so eating and hunger are totally normal and natural. When we analyse something we put a point of focus where we see fit. So I put in my self. I chew it, swallow it, stomach it, it goes through my intestines. All the time my body is breaking this food apart into simpler substances and redistributing them throughout my body. Perhaps the emotions I put into food come back into my body with these simpler substances going straight into the cells. I put bread inside of me, a product that I don’t deal well with - a testimony of hatred. Bread gets broken apart, emotions get inside of me - I get fatter, my nose gets stuffed, I get atopic eczema. Vomitting is an act of desperation. It’s not as much about getting the food out of my system - it’s about getting rid of the discomfort I’m experiencing because of the food I put into myself. But this discomfort is an effect of my actions.

I’ve been feeling like a puddle of pure terrible for about a month now. No, for exactly a month. I’ve done something very stupid and hurtful to people I’ve felt sympathy for and to myself and I can’t get over it. I can’t get over many feelings from my past as well. They haunt me. It’s easier to vomit and for a split second feel like I - this bag of flesh - am not anything much more than a bag of flesh feeling all these sensations that you get when you throw up. But then your thinking and feeling kick in. I still feel like trash and I still haven’t dealt with those feelings that are inside. I’ve tried to push them out and eat them in a different way but in the end I couldn’t deal with them. I hope that I can teach myself how to be in control of my life to the point where I am able to deal with my feelings before I hurt myself or someone else. I want to do it step by step. Right now I’ll stick to avoiding wheat and eating more consciously. It’s the little things that make up the base of our existence. It’s the little things that will pull us apart rolling away if we lose control over them.

---

Laser hair removal update: had my third appointment on monday (10.11). Sometime after my first post the lymph nodes on my neck got infected and it hurt like a mofo. So for the second treatment we went with lower power. Not much inflammation afterwards but also not much effect. My beard is thinning out but not many bald patches so far. For this appointment we went up with power. Very painful especially down the middle of my face and neck (mustache, under the lips, chin, under the chin). A lot of inflammation after the treatment. Today is a little better, a lot of zits, I hope the hair strands will come out easily. Spraying myself with Octanisept and trying to avoid face-skin contact. Doesn’t hurt, feels slightly hot and I’m still puffy.