#cheapest dry fruits

[wholesalefriutsvegetables]

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[navkaardryfruits]

[kahluacoco]

Making Mychael's Horns

My mom likes to celebrate Halloween with a family dinner in costumes. This year I decided to have a Mushroom Oasis inspired outfit. I found a peach mushroom sweater very similar to Mychael's in day three, and his gloves, but I knew what I really wanted to try was to wear his horns! I haven't done a craft project in a while, and I haven't done any cosplay before. This is documenting the process and has some accompanying pictures.

Before the essay starts, (I wrote a lot!) here's the finished product! It was lightweight and fun to make!

Here are the materials I used. Since I made this across multiple days I took some pictures for fun. I didn't expect to make this into a blog post but here we are! Sharing this out in case you want to try and make this. The products I noted here are not to advertise anything, I just tried to find the cheapest materials I could use. I also noted the prices.

Total Cost was ~$22 USD but that includes extra material for other projects. I bought all this at Walmart.

Materials

Acrylic Red Paint (Apple Barrel Matte Flag Red) $0.58

Acrylic Yellow Paint (Apple Barrel Matte Bright Yellow) $0.58

Acrylic White Paint (Apple Barrel Matte Snow White) $0.58

Acrylic Blue Paint (Apple Barrel Matte Too Blue) $0.58

Mod Podge Matte-Mat-Mate $4.94 for 8 fl oz

Foam Brush (optional for blending) ($1.48 for 4)

Some paint brushes (a few sizes for basecoating and details - $2.98 for 3 brushes)

Pencil

Thin wood dowel $0.42 around 1/8 diameter maybe?

1 Foam Block (Medium/Small - Used as a base to hold the horns upright while working/drying) - $1.97 for 2

Blue artificial flower pick $0.50 (I got one on sale at Walmart that had some purple, white and blue flowers with green leaves. Feel welcome to grab a couple picks just in case)

2 Craft Foam Rectangular Blocks (FloraCraft Foam - I used DryFM green blocks that aren’t as porous. They’re usually used for keeping water for flowers. I got rectangles that were a bit larger than 5 in H x 3 in L x 2 in W. $1.07 for each block.)

Soft Fabric Headband (I used Goody Fabric Covered Headbands in neutral colors. You can get one similar to your haircolor $4.48 for 3)

Hot Glue Gun (I owned one already)

Dinner Knife

Gloves and Face Mask

Scissors

Here are the steps. I added in a lot of notes for gotchas/oopsies that I ran into.

Instructions

Carving the horns

With the large foam rectangular blocks, draw out the shape of the horns on the two widest sides gently with a pencil. This will help guide carving.

With the serrated knife cut gently along the areas around the lines to form the rough shape of the horns.

Don’t cut directly along the line. Cut out from the rectangle a rough polygon shape to start that is a bit bigger then the drawn lines. Then slowly start carving closer like carving a fruit and curving the knife. You can cut larger shavings for the rough shape, but try to cut smaller shavings as you get closer to your drawn lines so that you can get more detailed easily. The less you cut, the easier it is to fix. If you cut more, then you aren’t able to add foam back. Take your time cutting. See drawing on process.

Since the foam is soft, you can optionally cut the rough shape and use your fingers to smooth the edges and curves of the horns

Once you’ve completed one horn, you can work on the other. As you carve, compare the two horns and try to make them similar in width, height and length.

Recommendations/Notes

Line your work area with a bag for easier cleanup.

I recommend wearing a face mask and gloves so you don’t breath in the fine dry foam as you’re working with it. It’ll get messy if you cut fast. It’ll cling to your hands and maybe clothes.

Be careful with the knife, I ended up using a small serrated dinner carving knife

Treat the foam gently, it can be easily squished if you grip it too strongly

If you want to buy an extra block to practice carving a 3d shape, it might be helpful

No worries if the two horns aren’t exactly the same. Imagine that a horn is like a thumbprint, no two are alike :)

After all the carving, the horns were roughly 5 in H x 3 in L x 2 in D. Feel welcome to make them smaller or larger.

Strengthening the horns

Gently clean away with your gloved hands as much of the foam dust as you can from the exterior of the horns.

Cut up the wood dowel into a couple of small pieces. This will be used to prop up the horns so they’re upright and allow them to dry. Gently poke through the bottom of the horns with the dowel, and poke the dowel through the base foam block.

Pour some mod podge into a reusable cup and with a medium/large brush coat the first layer on both horns. Paint all over the horns including the bottom.

Wait for it to dry and continue to coat the horns with additional layers until it isn’t porous anymore

Recommendations/Notes

Since the foam is porous and soft, some mod podge or similar material will help fill in the holes and strengthen it

Even though the exterior is strengthened and prepped for painting, the foam can still be squished if too much pressure is on it (squeezing it strongly, hitting it with something, etc). I chose this foam since it was lightweight and would be easier to wear, but that is the main downside.

You can use a blow dryer on low heat to help speed up drying. I think I waited at least 15-20+ minutes in between layers. I would go about and do some other stuff around the house and come back to it.

I coated the horns with about 2-3 layers of mod podge.

Painting the horns

To cover up the green foam, paint a base coat with the darkest red of the horns. You’ll need about 2-3 layers of base coat to cover all the horns in red. Let the horns dry a bit in between coats.

After the base coats are fully dry, prepare the three horn colors to make the gradient. Paint the darker red at the top, the orange around the middle, and the soft yellow near the base and bottom. Feel welcome to blend with a brush or even some gloved fingers! Let the horns dry a bit and apply additional coats as need until you get the desired result.

Once the gradient on the horns is fully dry, make the spots color and plan out where your spots will be before painting them on. Have fun with it! You can try to match the spot positions in the character reference sheet or make your own. You’ll probably need to let it dry a bit and paint a few coats until they are a nice solid color.

For steps 1-2, you can use the blow dryer until fully dry or let this dry overnight. I waited overnight until the next day in between each step.

If you have a spray on mod podge or other sealer, feel free to spray the horns to lock in and protect the paint colors! I didn’t get a chance to do this. This would be the last step.

Recommendations/Notes

Refer to Mychael’s character reference sheet as a color guide. His horns are a gradient of three colors with a fourth lighter color for spots.

You may want to practice mixing colors a bit to get the hang of it before creating larger quantities. For the quantities I made about 1/4 cup or so? I don’t know the exact proportions I used since I eyeballed it to the best of my ability. Here is a rough approximation:

The darker red at the top is like a vermillion. I used mostly red, with a few touches of blue (no more then 10%), a few touches of yellow (no more then 10%).

The orange was a mix of maybe 60% red and 40% yellow.

The softer yellow for the base was yellow with some white and a bit of peach (no more then 15/20% for the white/peach colors).

The spots were made with some of the soft yellow and extra white

The red paint I purchased was the strongest color, so keep that in mind when creating the oranges and yellows. The paint I used is a bit thin so I had to paint multiple coats.

I ended up painting a base coat with the darkest red color a few times to cover up all the green foam.

I mixed each of these in different reusable cups.

You’ll want to paint the gradient all at once to blend it.

You can use a blow dryer on low heat to help speed up drying. I think I waiting at least 15-20+ minutes in between layers when applying multiple coats. Then I waited overnight to let it fully dry.

Creating the headband

Choose a fabric headband that’s closest to your haircolor (or Mychael’s if you’re wearing a wig!)

Mark faintly with a pencil where the horns will be on the headband. I placed the horns a little less then 2 inches apart from the center of the headband. Feel free to adjust to your liking.

With the glue gun, add some glue to the base of the horn and hold down firmly. Be careful for any excess glue that may spill. I added in extra glue and made sure it was pressed firmly on the hairband to secure it.

Repeat with the second horn a few inches away from the other one. Dry it with a blow dryer on the low cool setting if needed

Optional for the flowers

Carefully remove all the fabric flowers from their stems on the flower pick. Remove the plastic base and leave the stamens. Use the scissors to cut some of the back stem if needed.

Apply some glue to the back of the flowers and carefully attach them to the headband around the base of the horns. Feel free to mix around the colors and leaves as you’d like.

Recommendations/Notes

Be careful with the glue gun. If you add too much glue onto the horn, you may burn your fingers when pressing it down onto the headband.

The flowers hide the base of the horns where it’s glued. This is optional if you prefer the horns as they are. I did this since my glue gun work was a bit messy and I thought it would dress up the headband and help blend the horns to my hair. I didn’t wear a wig.

I used 5 blue flower, 3 white flowers, 3 purple flowers, 6 leaves and 5 little fuzzy blue and yellow stems I used some leaves on the sides of the horns and the back. I glued the leaves first, and then some additional flowers on them. I tried to position the flowers at slight angles around the base of the horns in the back and front of the headband.

Here's how they look once they're ready! If you do end up making these, please share! It was so much fun dressing up, maybe next time I can try to go green and make a tail.

[dexnola]

How to cut costs on a gluten-free diet

Actually several of these principles work on anyone's diet, or another type of allergen diet, but gluten free is what I know and what I serve.

My household consists of me and my partner; she's gluten intolerant and I am not. Our grocery budget is $120 a week (including standard household consumables like soap, paper towels, etc. that I also buy at the grocery store) and we could actually tighten that up more if we worked even a little harder at it. I do most of the cooking and shopping for our household so I thought I would share what it is I'm doing.

Eat as many "regular" items as possible

If there is a gluten free version of an item and a "regular" one that contains wheat, normally the gluten free version is twice the price. So one simple way to cut costs is to buy fewer of them. Some examples are packaged GF cookies and crackers, frozen prepared dinners, canned soups that say gluten free in big letters... basically anything that is marketed as GLUTEN FREE and says GLUTEN FREE in great big letters on the front of the package.

There are lots of items that are labeled "gluten free" but aren't marketed as such. Ketchup is often labeled gluten free somewhere on the package, but there's no such thing as "regular" ketchup that normally contains gluten. Those are fine to buy.

The worst offenders are bread and baked goods in general. Gluten free bread is very expensive. Don't buy things like frozen prepared cakes; gluten free cake mix or brownie mix is the better buy.

Here are some "regular"/inexpensive foods that are naturally gluten free:

rice; avoid pre-seasoned rice mix things

potatoes [regular and sweet potatoes]

corn tortillas (plain corn taco shells and tortilla chips are also easy to get GF)

all manner of fruits and vegetables [fresh, canned, frozen w/o sauce/other extras]

peanut butter

milk and dairy products in general

beans; dry or in cans

meat, especially plain fresh or frozen meat without extra marinades, seasoning, or obviously breading

fish [frozen and canned are least expensive]

I still buy special gluten-free stuff, but

it isn't the bulk of our diet

when reasonable, I let my partner eat them and I eat the regular version (e.g. I still buy wheat sandwich bread for myself)

i put in extra work to find the lowest price; comparing different stores, couponing, stocking up when I find a deal, etc.

Speaking of which,

Figure out what stores are the cheapest near you

A key part of this sentence is "near you." I do most of my grocery shopping at two stores that are 10 or 15 minutes away from my house. They are on the same street and in close proximity of each other. As you compare prices, keep in mind which places are realistically convenient enough to shop at based on where you live, work, and spend time.

I prefer a data driven approach and so have a spreadsheet with the prices of lots of items I buy. Doing it this way, you find that while no store has the lowest price on everything, it's easy to find a store that has an overall lower price on most items.

When comparing prices, remember to compare based on the cost per ounce or cost per pound or similar, not just the package.

In my experience, shopping at more than one store is the easiest way to balance many factors including price, selection, convenience, and quality. Most weeks I go to these two stores:

Wegmans: huge selection of items, low prices on some things, but higher to middling on others; lots of choices for GF items and things like special spices or vegetables that I need just once in a while

Aldi: smaller selection, but easily the least expensive on most regular groceries

I used to live near Publix, which is expensive overall but had a big selection and lots of BOGO sales where they would sell certain items at a loss. I would stalk the sale paper online every week and if they had something I ate at a low cost, I would go to Publix just to buy those items in quantity and then leave to go get the rest of my groceries at Aldi or somewhere else cheaper.

Use sales to stock up on stuff you eat when it's cheaper

For example, If I read the sale paper for the Aldi and I notice butter is $3/lb or less, when it's usually more like $4, I'm buying at least two if not three or four packages and putting some in the freezer, even if we're not low on butter.

This goes double and triple for any special gluten free item. Stock up.

Don't stock beyond your means. Start small as you study your household's patterns of consumption. Start with items that are not perishable: things in cans and boxes, already-frozen items. Also, only stock up on stuff that you know your family already likes.

When you are planning meals to eat, choose based on what you have stocked; shop your house first! Then go to the store to fill in the gaps.

Be prepared to eat at home on days you don't want to cook.

There are always going to be some days when you can't or don't want to cook. You get sick, you're too tired, whatever.

Eating restaurant food (takeout, delivery, or dine in) is extremely expensive and comes with a lot of risks regarding gluten. This is best avoided. Eating out will kill your budget faster than anything else you could do.

This is one time when I don't mind buying a specialty GF item, because while they do cost more than the meals I normally make, they are cheaper than eating out and also safer from a gluten standpoint. I don't mind spending an extra dollar at the store to insulate me from spending ten dollars later.

Some ideas for solving this problem:

naturally GF convenience food that can be tossed in the oven or microwave (at Aldi I have found GF frozen shepherd's pie, sometimes can get frozen tamales, instant mashed potatoes, canned soup etc.)

build a repertoire of meals that are made from "ingredients" but are less work than whatever you normally do; what this means is up to you, for some people it's a dump-in-instant-pot type meal, or maybe a microwaved baked potato and a bag of frozen veggies... at my place I make nachos once a week because they're extra easy.

special GF convenience items like frozen pizza or lasagna

Cheapest of all: make a lot of something on purpose and freeze meal-size portions for later. Soups, stews, and casseroles are all top choices. You can also do things like brown a lot of ground beef and then freeze it; later, you can make something like spaghetti sauce or sloppy joes and skip that first step. (Note that some people do ALL their cooking with this in mind and cook just once or twice a week, or even just once or twice per month, and eat out of the freezer the rest of the time.)

Keep a growth mindset. It might be that right now you are eating out a lot and your skills in the kitchen aren't great. Buying more convenience foods and assembling them at home still saves a lot of money. Once that's comfortable and you're used to the routine of getting food from the store then you can expand your repertoire of simple meals from normal ingredients, which builds your confidence so you can try making more things from scratch. Eating is complicated and eating with allergies/intolerances doesn't help. But it's doable. It can be done.

If I wanted to cut costs in my own household and reduce that $120 budget, I would...

buy fewer sodas and drinks in general.

set strict limits on GF bread. (like I'll only buy 1 loaf a month or something) work with partner to make sure she always has food for lunch and therefore doesn't care to make a sandwich.

Try reducing partner's cereal consumption; make other equally easy breakfast choices available; cereal is expensive

cook and freeze more homemade food and buy less convenience food.

prioritize cheaper fruits and vegetables. Decide on a price per lb limit that I want to stay within and stop buying stuff that is more than that (or buy them very infrequently). Things like apples, carrots, onions, bananas, cabbage, and broccoli tend to be cheaper

do the same thing for meat and also eat significantly less meat.

Hope I helped :)

[unhingedbutpretty]

20 TAV/OC QUESTIONS

I made it as suggested by @thetavolution! I'm tagging @clandekariios because I'd love to see it for the family, @felynafae, @lanafofana, @certifieddragonenjoyer , @jellymellydraws (because I feel like Rose deserves it xD) and anyone else who wants to do it, feel yourself tagged! But please it's not a pressure tag! Totally optional.

Nyssala Baenre

I. what do they smell like at their freshest? (and/or after a tenday. your choice)

She loves floral perfumes like cloves and roses, with a touch of cinnamon.

II. what would their blood taste like to vampires?

I guess it would taste either like the drinks she consumes the most (cheap, dry, red, citric wine) or as barmy citric fruit brewed with too much sugar on it.

III. how would they kiss their LI?

She is very adaptive and can vary the way she kisses, adapting to the tastes of the LI (a skill she acquired in her years as a sex worker). If given the liberty, though, she's all into nibbles and sucklings, and she loves to bite and scratch. Although she pretends otherwise, she loves to leave red marks and nail trails.

IV. how do they sleep with their LI (what position, does one steal the blankets, is one too hot/cold, etc)?

She had learned to sleep (or trance) with one eye open, so she is a very light sleeper. She’s always cold, so she'll monopolize the blanket (or she'll hide under her LI for warmth).

V. what does their tent area look like? where do they prefer to pitch their tent (next to water, covered on three sides, etc)?

A total mess, but no one can tell this until they go inside. The exterior area is pristine, clean and organized with fluff pillows and a comfortable carpet around a narghile, but there are piles of junk hidden inside every crate or canva, and inside backpacks her belongings are in complete disarray since she just tosses it there and forgets that they exist — just like pretty much every other aspect of her life :’D

VI. if they had a set of dnd dice, what would they look like?

Pink and gold metallic dice (she'll never financially recover from that purchase)

VII. do they collect anything (gems, bottles, keys, etc)?

Do debts and abusive ex-lovers count?

VIII. if either, are they part of the astarion/gale book club (magic & literature) or the wyll/shadowheart book club (trashy romance novels)?

Completely into Wyll/Shadowheart book club, with the addition of her own erotic novels.

IX. if they had to be put in a “get along shirt” with a companion, who would it be?

Either Astarion or Jaheira. Astarion because they're always sassing over each other, resulting in long bickerings of mutual venom spilling. Jaheira because she is the “High Harper” and this group refused to help Nyssala flee from Menzoberranzan, so she's a bit sour against them. 

X. do they prefer speak with dead or speak with animals?

She likes speak with animals (like a disney princess), but uses speak with dead more often, for some reason.

XI. what are their thoughts on clowns?

A poor career choice (actually she wanted to become one, but was refused in every audition she made - it seems that Underdark humor is not very appreciated in the surface, so she became salty about clowns in general).

XII. their companions are gossiping about them behind their back! who is it and what are they saying?

She is the major gossipper of the party, but probably Astarion would talk shit about her “lower tastes” for foods and drinks (she's not very selective, and due to her financial problems she often consumes whatever is cheapest), or disclosing how much Nyssala would be an easy prey for vampires, given her former profession… Or a general gossip about how she managed to stay alive all this time (since disaster seems to follow her everywhere), complainings about how overall careless and financially irresponsible she is, the family name she never disclosed to anyone until Minthara came to camp, or why the hell she is dancing with a sword at the riverbank alone at night. She pretends it doesn't affect her, because she is somehow convinced that she doesn't deserve people's affection anyway.

XIII. what makes them laugh? what does their laugh sound like?

She has the silliest sense of humor, it's pretty easy to make her laugh, actually. As a child, she had a noble education, so she learned how to laugh “politely”. She also practiced charming and cute smiles to charm customers of Sharess’ Caress into buying another drink. But if left unchecked, the girl can cackle real LOUD, so she does whatever is possible to avoid that, since she learned the hard way that people often find it annoying.

XIV. do they have any inside jokes among their companions?

Probably she has some with Minthara, since they both hail from the same place and very likely know about the same people. I also headcanon them gossiping in their mother tongue about drow nobility and other companions.

XV. what’s the description of their camp clothes in the inventory menu?

“This is made of fine fabrics and delicate silvery details. Things like this are probably the source of half of her debts.”

XVI. what’s the description of their underwear in the inventory menu?

“The lace embroidery reads: free to stare, $40 to touch.”

XVII. how do they celebrate their birthday?

During the day, she buys herself a good birthday gift (one that most certainly further compromises her financial life). At night, she hangs out with her friends/coworkers to dance and get drunk on cheap alcohol.

XVIII. what modern day tv show would they binge over a weekend? do they get their LI to watch with them?

She'd be a sucker for doramas (romantic and comedy ones) or true crime series. Or both. But she'd watch whatever her LI is watching because she wants to please them so bad.

XIX. do you have a playlist for your tav? if so, what’s the title + description?

Amor de Quenga - Pablo Vittar (this is in Baldur's Gate, before the game, where she had given up on romance after several romantic disasters)

Baby Said - Måneskin (before the game)

How to Be a Heartbreaker - Marina and the Diamonds (also before the game)

Angry Too - Lola Blanc

Blues da Piedade - Cássia Eller (originally by Cazuza, but I like her version more)

I Miss the Misery - Halestorm

Hot Girl Bummer - Blackbear

Wasabi - Little Mix

Mad Hatter - Melanie Martinez

I'm a Mess - Bebe Rexha

911 - Lady Gaga

Panic Attacks in Paradise - Ashnikko 

Bad Girl - Avril Lavigne

Sweet but Psycho - Ava Max

Zitti e Buoni - Måneskin

Raise Hell - Dorothy

Kiss and Make Up - Dua Lipa & Blackpink

Beggin' - Måneskin (originally by Madcon)

Typa Girl - Blackpink (endgame, if she manages to pay off her debts)

Empire - (G)I-dle (endgame, if she manages to grow her ambitions)

XX. if you were to try pickpocketing them, what would they be carrying?

Make up, hair pins, and excerpts of dirty song lyrics and erotic novels written by herself.

[indnwitch]

Vegan/Vegetarian shopping list:

Pre Made salad bags (it’s a lot cheaper to just buy bagged salad and add to it, then buying a bunch of ingredients that will go bad if not used)

Make a list of fruits and vegetables that you like and get them (some times if you get the funky shaped ones you get a few cents off, even if you don’t that stops the funky shaped produce from being tossed)

Nut butters (most almond and peanut butters are vegan, jelly and Jams aren’t because they’re made with gelatin)

Bread, check the ingredients because a lot of breads are accidentally vegan/vegetarian ( Vegetarian/Vegan (link) Sandwiches will be your best friend)

Pasta (like bread a lot of pasta is accidentally vegan, CHECK THE INGREDIENTS)

Rice and beans are some of the cheapest things to buy, buy them dry and you can have them for a while in your pantry

Google vegan ramen, (if you’re like me and love spicy ramen then you’ll be happy to know Samyang 2x spicy hot chicken flavor Ramen in the red pack is VEGAN they use artificial chicken flavor rather then animal products. Vegan Kimchi regular and spicy is a lot easier to find then you may think just look for ones without fish sauce and shrimp)

Tofu (tofu is very versatile and it’s great source of vegan/vegetarian protein made from soy, it takes flavor beautifully and it’s relatively cheap firm/extra firm is best)

Cheese (there are so many vegan cheese options, for grated parmigiana follow your heart has both grated and shredded, Violife has a block. Violife has the best shredded substitutes, and singles. Daiya is a little weird in my opinion however they’re cheddar dairy free Mac and cheese is amazing (you just gotta use different pasta then it comes with)

Meat substitutes ( We’ve come a long way with decent vegan meat substitutes, beyond meat makes a whole variety of plant based meat substitutes that are very tasty especially if you’re still craving that meaty texture. Impossible meat substitutes also has amazing plant based meat substitutes, Impossible also has vegan chicken nuggets that tastes like McDonald’s and even have dino shaped ones. Light life has everything from vegan sausage crumbles to Bacon, the vegan bacon and hot dogs are amazing)

Eggs (just egg and simply egg are planted based substitutes for eggs, they’re liquid like an egg beater but can be used in place of eggs from a scramble to a baking ingredient)

Dairy (Vegan milk/coffee creamer you got options coconut, almond, soy, oat, pea protein. Pick what you like best. Personally California farms Oat milk in original and California farms oat vanilla creamer are my favorites. I’ll throw cream cheese and Yogurt in here as well Kite Hill regular and Strawberry cream cheese are my favorite, Kite Hill blue berry, and Strawberry vegan yogurt are my favorite. MIYOKO’S vegan butter)

Snacks (Lenny and Larry’s plant based chocolate chip cookies, Spudsy sweet potato puffs they have a million different flavors I like the hot fries. Vegan rob’s dragon puffs these are the vegan equivalent to hot Cheeto puffs but without the red dye 40. Vegan rob’s also has cheese puffs)

Sauces (Anne’s goddess dressing is very tangy, Diaya blue cheese and Caesar dressings are amazing, can be thick though, they also have ranch but I got a vegan homemade ranch recipe. Hot sauce, Franks, Cholula, Tabasco, and Tapatío are vegan. Ketchup& mustard are vegan. Hellmans and follow your heart have vegan mayonnaise,Sir Kingston’s and Follow your heart also have chipotle Mayo. Follow your heart also has vegan sour cream)

Seasonings (seasons you should have in your cabinet click here, the dollar tree sells all these for a dollar and most grocery stores sell adobo)

[somethingclevermahogony]

Happy STS! What are some common forms of entertainment for regular, non-noble people in your world?

Thank you for the question! As per usual, I will be sticking to Kishetal for this one, and more specifically the region around Labisa. These are just a few of the things that common people might do for fun! Common people find a number of ways to entertain themselves.

Beer halls (beer is the drink of commoners, as opposed to wine which tends to be more high class or else reserved for special occasions) are very numerous and form one of the main hangout spots for commoners of all ages. Throughout Kishetal, beer has traditionally been brewed and sold by women. Labisa alone has 19 beer halls, all but one of which are run by women. These halls typically serve five varieties of beer along with various food items.

Aruhakishar/Akishar: (Aruha- Dry, Kisharu- Beer) Unadulterated, typically plain beer, this sort of beer is the basis for the other varieties. These vary from brewer to brewer and can differ greatly in terms of strength, flavor, color, etc. This tends to be the cheapest option. Ishkishar: (Isha- Sour/Bitter Kisharu- Beer) Aruhakishar typically with the addition of various herbs, nuts, and even minerals. This beer is typically seen as invigorating, good for lifting the energy and strengthening the resolve against wicked spirits. Few people drink this casually. Wakishar: (Wawa- Sweet, Kisharu- Beer) Similar to the above but rather than the addition of herbs to promote bitter and sour flavors, this variety of beer is typically sweetened with the addition of various sweeteners, most often date syrups, honey, and fruits like fig. These tend to be the most well-liked variety of beer and fall in the middle when it comes to price. Olikishar/Olkishar: (Oli- Blood/Red, Kisharu- Beer) This variety of beer is similar to Wakishar but is flavored specifically with the addition of red fruit, like pomegranate, cherry, and various mountainous berry, giving it that crimson appearance. Some beer halls may add other additives to increase this sanguine appearance. Depending on the quality, this may be the most expensive variety of beer sold at a hall. Ihikishar/ Ihiki: (Ihi- Giggle (haha), Kisharu-Beer) This particular variety of beer is not sold in all halls and tends to be the most expensive, and is viewed among the common folk as more of a treat. This beer can be any of the above with addition of the treated oil of the magical Kasikur plant, also known as jit(from a Forestfolk word). Drinking jit mixed with wine may cause various effects, most commonly a slight high, similar to cannabis. However the use of jit is highly regulated as its magical effects, when consumed in sufficient amounts can have dangerous and bizarre effects.

Storytelling, relating tales of Kishetals history and of the various happenings of the outside world, takes a very robust place in the lives of Kishite people of all walks of life.

Temples often put on performances, mostly reenacting the exploits of legendary heroes. Typically these events are free though a donation is expected. The most extravagant of these performances may also include shows of sagecraft, some of the only magic that common folk are exposed to.

Poets and bards are likewise quite ubiquitous, performing on street corners or else found in the beer halls, competing for the attention, and appreciation of their audiences.

Poetry battles and rhyming contests, in essence thinly veiled battles of insults, are common spectacles and the best poets may even earn some degree of fame amongst their peers.

Gambling with dice or on the outcomes of fights are also quite common. Thiefs dice is particularly common among the enslaved population of Labisa as it only necessitates small gambles.

Suru was on the deck arranging some sort of game atop a wooden crate. " Come down here, Ninma." He called up to her.  Ninma shimmied down the mast and sat at the makeshift table. The crate had on it a pile of dried figs and two dice carved from bone; two of the sides were painted red, one blue, one black, one yellow, and one remained white. " What is this?" Ninma asked, inspecting one of the dice. " Something to distract us while we wait. Narul and I used to call this thief’s dice, no idea what it is actually called. I borrowed the dice from one of the crew. We used to play it in the slave quarters, don’t know if you ever played it up in the palace, doesn’t seem like it. The rules are simple. We take turns rolling the dice. If you get blue, you take a fig. If you get red, it becomes my turn. If you roll yellow, you must put a fig back in the pot. If you get white, you can take one of my figs, but if you get black, I can take one of yours. The game is over when someone rolls a blue, but there are no figs in the pot to take. Back home, we used the money your father gave us at festivals, but I respect you too much to take all your money, princess." He grinned.

Hunting for small game like birds and rabbits is popular among rural populations, though not so much among urban ones. Though, rat-catching is not unheard of among young and adult alike in certain parts of Labisa and other large cities.

Duels, or more accurately brawl matches with sticks and fists, are not at all uncommon, though technically illegal. When such fights do break out, they attract much attention, and typically, much gambling. The city guard, at least under Hutbari, does little to stop this and may even join in on the wager.

Wrestling, boxing, foot races, competitions of skill with slings, and other similar physical activities are popular, and may take place at just about any time. For those rare few that know how, swimming in Lake Shebali is a fun bit of leisure, though not always entirely safe as the depths of the lake can be dangerous. Dance and music are common as well, perhaps most famous is Storm Step. This style of dance theater is almost entirely non-verbal and rather is dependent on facial and bodily expression. The dances are performed on hollow wooden platforms, producing loud thundering sounds, thus giving the style of theater its name. Unlike most styles of theater in Kishetal, Storm Step is entirely dominated by women, and more often than not pairs of sapphic lovers. In some instances entire troupes may form polyamorous unions.

I could keep going, but I think that gives a good picture for now. Let me know if you would like to know more!

[aliveahahafuck]

So, random funny things that happened at larp this weekend:

I was NPCing as a crab, and at one point, one of the owners, who was also a crab, got this absolute Cheshire grin and ran OOG towards a light post that has been designated as the portal between cities/places within the different larp guilds (ie between all other games put on by guilds within the Underword universe). As more of us saw that and realised what he was doing as soon as we went down, we joined him. And as Crabs were still joining the group, he just started chanting, "COMING THROUGH THE SKEIN GATE: ONE", a few people join him chanting, "COMING THROUGH THE SKEIN GATE: TWO", and finally there's eight of us yelling the chant and at 3, we all shuffle out of the portal and all I hear from a player is "WHO THE FUCK PAID THE FEE FOR 8 CRABS TO GO THROUGH THE SKEIN GATE!?!?!?! THAT'S SO MUCH GOLD?!?!" (Someone who no longer has a crab problem, obviously. Lmao)

I fell asleep at a picnic table because A: the sun was warm, B: it was peaceful listening to the people chat beside me, and C: it was like 11 am and I'd only been up for two hours but had been exhausted the whole time. Except I wasn't completely sleeping, I was in the half awake state you get where you can hear ahit going on around you, but actually processing basically nothing. Because of that, I heard one of the people who I'd been chatting with say, "Should we wake her? There's demons coming." Only to hear what felt like seconds later:

"Hello there, what have we here?"

"It's a nature's hold. Wild animals can't see us."

"I see. And your friend?"

"Ehhhhh, she might be dead, might be sleeping, we're not too sure."

"Okay then, I'll leave you too whateverthis is." (Footsteps as they walk away)

"I can't believe that worked."

"Me neither."

They did end up waking me up and I chatted with them a bit before I fell asleep again for what felt to me like max 30 seconds, but according to my friend was more like 5-7 minutes and was woken up by a familiar voice saying: "Here. This is for you."

And I raise my head and see a hand placing an orange directly in front of me, I look up to the owner of the hand, and it's my best friends uncle, one of the owners of the guild, dressed as a demon with about 4 others and I just kinda blue screen and just say "thank you???" And they all walk off.

Once they're back in plot camp (a cabin a couple meters away but far enough to be out of earshot), I turned to the people beside me and just go: "he gave me an orange? What the fuck do I do with it? I'm not eating the demon orange?"

The consensus was do not trust the suspicious fruit.

(I found out later that he stole it from the player who runs an alchemy shop and also sells snacks; "he took it as he walked by and at first I was mad, but then I realised that demon just took the cheapest item in my shop; I'm going to take that as a compliment.")

Also, the demons just wanted coffee.

I also found out that while I was sleeping, the bottom of my WOOL cloak had fallen off my lap. I was sitting at a picnic table that had an ever growing puddle around it as the day went on. The fucker wasn't dry by the time I got home a day and a half later.

Lil while later, and I, once again, was fucking exhausted. I ended up going into the tavern and just laid down across one of the pew style benches that lined the walls (10/10 wouldn't recommend. Sitting up at the picnic table was better) and took off my belt, which had a few leather bags attached, to use as a pillow. Partly because I wasn't dumb enough to leave them as easy access and lose my shit, partly because the bench was so thin that I wouldn't have been able to comfortably lay down with the one on my back.

The tavern was FUCKING LOUD. Like, holy shit how did I sleep for 1.5 hours with that racket going on, loud.

I don't remember like 95% of what went on, but the things I do remember are someone saying "shit. There's bears outside." Followed quickly by "HOLY SHIT THE BEARS HAVE MAGIC"

And when, I'm assuming, the battle was over, the shopkeeper player yelling out a window, "I'm selling (healing potions), and they're really cheap~~"

Some time later, about an hour into this nap, I'd sat up, stared into the middle distance for a bit, then walked across the tavern to where I'd left my cloak and over vest above a heater to dry, put on the vest, took my cloak threw it down onto of my "pillow" and immediately went back to sleep for another 30 min.

Sunday, I was chatting with a friend when a npc gnome came over and challenged him to an arm wrestling contest. I was also friends with the person playing the npc. The guy I was originally talking to activated a magic item that made him stronger mid competition, to which the gnome activated a "gnomish device" anti magic field and won the contest. At which point he stopped and looked at me:

"You didn't have any magical items on you, right? Or potions?"

"Uhhhh, yeah. I had a potion of purify in my bag."

"Shit. Well, now you don't. It's just water."

He looked so upset that he'd fucked over my potion and he gave me blacksmithing materials as compensation.

It literally took all of 5 minutes for me to get a new potion, for free, because I knew who'd made them, and he knew I play a healer lmao

vlater i volunteered to go grab someone's staff from our cabin. As I'm walking across the central field, all I hear is: "LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU! CRABS!"

I turned to see the person who was playing the gnome, now a crab, just hauling ass b-lining towards me across the field. As previously stated, I'm a healer, a squishy as fuck, lvl 4 healer. I quickly turned and bolted, unlocked the cabin, flung the door open, slammed it shut behind me, and grabbed the staff I was sent to get in the first place. Seconds later the crab opened the door and saw me, this 5foot fuck all human holding this 7foot long staff grinning like a Cheshire cat: "activate magic item: sigil of the weapons master. 7 MAGIC! 7 MAGIC!-"

I like to call that staff "overkill: the weapon" lmao

The owner of it: "it costs 3 gold to borrow it. Unless you're so tiny that it looks ridiculous, then it's free."

I fell into the "Hilariously tiny" group, but also the "we're playing the same rareish race, and we stick together" group lol

After a huge battle where like 9 people died:

"I'm so not getting that staff back. There's no way it survived."

"That's unfortunate, I liked killing crabs with it."

"Yeah, that's always fun, even if its so overkill for them."

(5 minutes later I come running into the tavern again)

"MORE PEOPLE SURVIVED, THEYRE HEADING BACK NOW! (People start excitedly leaving) also, your staff survived."

"IT WHAT"

"It's coming back! I saw Wolfgreir (who had it before the battle) without it and was happy that at least he survived, and then I saw it being carried through the bush, Jaylin (main healer) has it!"

"No way. I was sure it was gone!"

"I can't believe it either."

[motsimages]

Things you can drink/take to help you stay hydrated that are not just water

Water is the healthiest, easiest and cheapest way to stay hydrated. But for some people it is difficult or impossible. Sometimes it's also just boring and you don't. Sometimes it's not enough to recover from being dehydrated. So here are other ideas to stay hydrated when it's hot, ordered from more water-like to less water-lik:

Make "flavoury water" (as I call it): some tea-shops sell dry fruits and flowers with no theine/caffeine that give taste to water. You can also cut some lemon in slices and put it in water (mint optional). Feel free to try with your own dry fruits or average fruits, see what comes out of that. This feels more refreshing that plain water and the taste sometimes is just what you were missing unknowingly.

The same but hot. Yes, it feels like hot weather drives hot drinks away, but sometimes they are a gift from the gods. I will mention here: soups. I particularly like this option at night.

Kompot. This is a Russian conserve for fruits that consists on boiling fruit with sugar so that it lasts for winter. You get a drink with all the flavour and, if you like, you can also eat the fuit that is left floating inside of it. I either mix the fruit with the water (taking the seed off) or throw the fruit away because I don't like it. It is my favourite summer drink.

Sodas and other classical refreshments. It is always best to drink something that to not drink anything, don't let anyone tell you that Coca-Cola is not an option. Do keep in mind that Aquarius is not necessarily a good option for electrolytes, it's more an average refreshment than real help in case of severe dehydration.

Jelly. Particularly good if you struggle to swallow for whatever the reason. Excellent option also because you can suspend fruit in it (if you like extra textures). You can make it thicker or ligther too, in case you feel like chewing water more than slurping it.

Slushies. Specially good if you like the crunch of the ice.

Milkshakes and smoothies. They are technically different and the texture can be different too, but in my head they live together. So yeah, fruit mixed together with water or milk. Probably smoothies hydrate more than milkshakes but options!

Cold soups. Gazpacho, vichysoisse... (any other soup/puré you make that want to try cold). They have a thicker consistency than any of the other, but they have a lot of water and vegetables (which also have water). Particularly good if you struggle with pure liquids or require more nutrients than just drinking water with flavour.

Ice creams? I guess you can count them too, they do have liquid, and we included milkshakes. Probably not the best option for hydration but complementary to others.

Fruit and vegetables. They tend to have a lot of water too, some more than others, but it's also a good way to have nutrients and stay hydrated. You can make salads, fruit salads, just bite it...

Overall, a combination of all of the above should keep you covered. Remember to play around with ingredients, textures and flavours too.

[foreignobjecticus]

Fruit Mince Pie Ultimate Taste Test*

Okay, I have sooooo many fruit mince pies and, instead of forgetting to write down my ratings like in did in Australia, I’m actually going to document them here. (In Aus, don’t bother with the cheapest Coles ones or the Bundaberg ones which have terrible pastry, iirc.)

Each pie will be awarded out of 5 stars, with 5 being the best and 1 being the worst. I won’t bother with actual prices but I will note if they’re the budget, midrange or high-end versions (which usually vary from £1.50 per 6 pies to £2.50/6 to £3.50/6 or more). I also won’t mention ingredients specifically as these can change too. Pies will be eaten just warm enough from the microwave that I scald my tongue on the first bite every single time.

*UK only and I don’t live near Tescos or Sainburys or whatever so tough luck.

Morrison’s Bakery Shortcrust Mince Pies (from the in-store bakery) - budget - ★

Filling: Oh god, did I just get a bad batch? It tastes like the bottom of the pot of filling caught but it got used anyway. Awful. There’s a terrible metallic taste and it’s a little dry.

Pastry: Way too sweet and a lot drier than shortcrust should be. This is crumbly, more like a soft biscuit almost. Did they use butter? It’s just sweet and... floury.

Presentation & notes: normal white sugar crystals on top, but otherwise just a plain looking little mini pie. I thought they looked dry and I was right. They’re also noticably more shallow than most standard pies, possibly to differentiate them from the “deep filling“ Morrison’s bakery mince pies... which I didn’t originally pick up because I’ve had them before and they’re decent but only sold in a 4 pack since December. Bugger. Now I might have to try these again to check if these weren’t just burnt, but I kind of don’t even want to finish this one... Tsk tsk, Morrisons. Way to start off these reviews badly lol

[furmity]

For all I had to be at my most responsible, competent, and organised to help my brother, spending a lot of time calling mechanics and discussing autoelectrics- we had a blast. We're great friends and hadn't seen each other in years.

He is out of the pit, and in a month we rendezvous with our sister (us three in the same place for the first time in three years!). Much progress was made.

We ate the finest, cheapest tropical fruits and cackled at the shaming of the guilty. We worked a few days on an organic sweet potato farm, visited a coffee plantation, and drank a bottle of mango wine. I *shudder* became accustomed to XXXX because the interstate folk don't know what's up.

I saw animals I've waited my whole life to see, amd marvelled at how all of Australia was once rainforest. We picked up a stray dog at the crater lakes and surrendered them to a vet. Alas, it was dry season and I didn't have the QLD green- treefrog- in- shower moment.

We mountain- goated across boulders, and I fulfilled my lifelong ambition of swinging from a jungle vine in aid of the goating. We had a driftwood fire on the Kaba beach and camped in a very eccentric tent belonging to our sister. One night I led a lost drunk girl who didn't have a phone through the dark mangroves back to camp... and when I went back to smoke a joint in there, the board walk vibrated ominously.

We inspected the pools at the top of Davies Creek Falls in the dark, and only realised the next day that they're 70m tall. We screeched to a halt for a frog crossing the road, and saw a platypus with uncanny ease at the platypus- viewing hide in Yungaburra.

I stood leaning on the rail of the Fitzroy Flyer and let the Coral Sea wind blow through me, up my nose and into my soul. That attempt to see some of Nyurrbing was ultimately a very expensive day on the beach in the rain (a cheerful one, though). We had silly cocktails on a tropical island from Foxy's.

A lucky sea- step penny I've had since Orkney in (er..?) 2016 mysteriously vanished, replaced by a 5c piece from the great Biboohra River. My rosary blessed by its waters, and my "home" solstice hallowing water my best offering.

I met Daintree bogans and greened out on their medical weed in Cape Tribulation. My brother was with me, and those guys were great, but I felt how easily something terrible could have happened. I thought I'd broken my nose.

I was sensible and didn't try the Queensland psyllocibins available in the caravan park's drug shop. Open 7-9pm daily and run by a metal head Bush Doof Jesus, it is frequented by Lenny the bandicoot (who was stolen then returned, seen crash- bandicooting in a cage on a skateboard!). I got a blow- by- blow account when my caravan- mate had a chocolate full of "penis envy" mushrooms.

I marvelled at being in Hippy Land, the way it was reflected in supermarkets and pharmacies. The Kuranda markets were a lot of fun. I saw plenty of irresponsible van- life animal husbandry, and was disappointed how strong white dreadlocks still are. I became disgusted by their fire twirling antics (kerosene on the beach of the Great Barrier Reef?!), beautiful as it was. Someone stole a plastic spoon which was holding our caravan window open, and you couldn't trust them around your dish detergent!

I read a trippy N.E. QLD magazine called Connect (it was the LGBTQIA+ edition and friends, I don't know how offended to be). Full of ads for white plastic shamans and barramundi animal messages.

I twice glued the boots which had been re- heeled before the trip. Their soles peeled the minute we got to Kaba Kada. What was once dappled grey is now dyed by the red, red Yidinji soil of the farm. They're treasured now (and at the cobbler).

I stitched tourist patches into the duffel bag which is slowly catching up to my old sticker- covered case that perished coming back from Aotaeroa. I was that tourist who bought a crocodile tooth, and dreamt with it under my pillow.

For my last night I painted my nails pink to watch Barbie in Australia's oldest operative cinema. We spoilt our dinner with popcorn and snakes, and saw one last waterfall.

I came home to Tarndanya and saw it anew... a changed woman (not that Barbie had anything to do with it).

[navkaardryfruits]

[elina-scstudyabroad]

If I had to choose one thing, that I love about Singapore so far it would definitely be the cultural variety of the food here. In Geylang, there are a lot of different types of restaurants, many of which are very easily accessible either take away or sometimes with small seating areas. Most of the food is extremely cheap with very decent portions so trying out new places and dishes has been one of our favorite things to do here so far. Generally, you can buy food in hawkers (outside food courts) which offer the cheapest options or food courts in malls (air conditioned!) which is a bit more expensive but still very cheap compared to eating out in the US.

Today I thought I’d create a breakdown of some of the food I have tried so far:

1. Noodles with various meats: from duck, pork and chicken to duck beaks, chicken feet and pig noses you can get pretty much anything in Singapore but one of my staples so far has been dry/fried noodles with some type of meat.

2. Sweet and sour pork: coming from the US, I was very much on the level of Americanized Chinese food and this dish of sweet and sour pork was actually the closest to what I am used to.

3. Poke bowl: if you know me, you know I love poke bowls and this one was absolutely delicious even though it was more in the higher price range compared to most foods in the hawkers

4. Curry: I ate this delicious Indian meal at the Marina Bay sands mall, which was very good though spicier than what I’m used to!

I am now also starting to eat more at home now that I have a kitchen and am eating a lot of fresh fruits like mangoes, bapples (I don’t know what these are actually called but they’re a mixture of an apple and a pear) and dragonfruit. We try to keep our fruit bowl in the living room stocked at all times!

There are many stores that sell fresh fruit and vegetables and we discovered this giant wet market in Chinatown that sells literally anything fresh.

But our favorite so far is the fruit store on the way home from the MRT station that sells different fruits and restocks almost every day!

[adarede]

Lesser known budget cooking tips

So many budget cooking tips are just things like “eat less meat!” and “only buy what you need!” and “buy the supermarket own brand!”

This advice is obvious, and most people looking for budget cooking advice are already doing it. In this post I will write some lesser known tips which are likely to give better results.

1. The cheapest way to get carbs is to make your own bread. The quickest way to do this is to make flatbreads. All you need is some flour (currently 69p for 1.5kg at Aldi; you only need like 50g at once), a pinch of salt (negligible money), and water from the tap. Make a dough (adjust flour and water until it is dough-like), knead until stretchy, leave it to rest for a bit (not essential step, can be skipped), roll/stretch it into a flatbread shape, and fry it in a dry frying pan for a minute or two on each side.

This may be more effort than buying bread, but it’s a fun thing to try if you happen to have a bit more time than money.

2. The cheapest way to get herbs is to forage them. For example, go to a churchyard and you’ll find loads of rosemary. Go around where you live, smell the plants, take pictures, look them up to see if you can eat them, and if so, eat them. (You can also get your very own rosemary bush by propagating a cutting. Easy to do, if slow. Look up directions online!)

3. Second cheapest way to get herbs - grow them. Around autumn or winter, go to a garden centre, and buy a packet of seeds reduced to clear. I got a huge pack of parsley seeds for 30p! Now have parsley growing out my ears. This is only cheap if you have access to soil though. You can also re-pot the potted herbs from supermarkets - hoping everyone saw that tiktok of the guy saying the reason they always die quickly is they are too many plants cramped together in too small a pot. 

As for growing other stuff, it only helps you save on groceries if you have the space to do it large-scale. But it’s fun so do it anyway. (This tip was quite well known but i’m including it in order to propagandise gardening)

4. Cooking bacon is often mentioned as the cheapest meat (It’s about £1/kg i think). However I’ve never seen that in the shops. What I have seen is a kg of frozen sausages from tesco for about £1.50. This is excellent value even if you consider that they’re only 42% meat. 

The cheapest fish is basa (catfish), and don’t listen to the haters: it’s delicious in both taste and texture (and £1.79 for 3 frozen filets from ALDI right now). 

5. Another uncommonly mentioned cheap meat is chicken paste. Or fish paste. It’s 42p for a little jar that contains a lot of protein! It gives me the shivers but I think it’s worth promoting more widely. 

On the other hand, one which doesn’t give me the shivers and which is great value protein is mini pork pies - these are very frequently reduced to clear in smaller supermarkets.

6. The cheapest vegetables are still carrots and potatoes, and the cheapest fruit is still bananas. However, the price of bananas has increased, so now if other fruits are on a good offer, it’s possible for them to be cheaper than the 18p per fruit which bananas now cost. Have seen apples at this price. 

7. Don’t buy things for the store cupboard. I’m always tempted to buy in advance stuff like cereal and tea and pasta and rice and tins. However, having stuff in the cupboard doesn’t seem to save money on future shops at all. Even if I’m buying multiple e.g. boxes of cereal because they’re on offer. The reality is that I just eat a lot more cereal when I have more in the house.

I think it’s helpful to have to use up all the food you bought last week before you go on next week’s shop. This often compels you to have a random using-up dinner, which is always a good idea. Pay no heed to conventional ideas of which foods go together.

8. An alternative to sweets when you’re feeling snacky: make some buttercream with margarine and icing sugar, put it in the fridge or freezer, and enjoy. Can also add cocoa powder to make chocolate buttercream. Super sweet and way cheaper for the amount you can get out of a box of icing sugar. 

Instead of buying baked goods, make cookies. Similarly, instead of buying cereal bars, make flapjacks. 

9. The only food I’ve had to throw away in the last year has been mushrooms that have gone mouldy quicker than I anticipated. Watch out for those sneaky blighters. 

10. If you are a porridge enjoyer, and you enjoy your porridge with milk, then use whole milk rather than semi-skimmed. You can replace the amount of semi-skimmed milk you would use with half the amount of whole milk, topped up with water, and get a porridge with the same level of creaminess. 

The same applies for white sauce/cheese sauce for pasta bake. Doesn’t apply for milk to drink on its own though (watered down whole milk does NOT taste like semi skimmed, it tastes like watered down whole milk). 

Same principle also applies for cheese (the principle being ‘semi-skimmed and whole milk are the same price’; so too are mature and extra-mature cheddars). Buy the strongest possible cheese to add to cheese sauces and pasta bake, as you will need to add less for more flavour. 

Of everything I’ve mentioned in this tip, only the porridge milk substitute has saved me money, as when I was doing this I ate porridge every day and measured how much milk I used. The other examples are extensions of the principle which I can’t guarantee would save money in practice. 

Having porridge for breakfast is also a very good idea when it comes to saving money as it fills you up for pennies. You knew that though.

11. Cheap meals generally take forms like:

- cheesy pasta bake with one vegetable in it (e.g. broccoli, peas, sweetcorn)

- lentil stew with one vegetable in it (e.g. carrots, peppers, spinach)

- rice with a single vegetable stir-fried (e.g. mushrooms, aubergine, reduced-to-clear 30p stir-fry veg bag)

- rice and beans (check out jack monroe’s chilli)

I save most money when I’m mainly eating this kind of thing.

Also some people don’t realise that you can cook rice in a saucepan just like you cook pasta. It is not at all tricky. 

12. Leftovers are your friend if and only if you have the willpower to avoid eating them for breakfast or midnight snack. Otherwise they are your ENEMY!

13. Don’t buy drinks (apart from tea bags and squash). Fresh juice and smoothies will lead you astray. 

I will consider this post my repository of knowledge and may add to it. 

[fitspiresuppliment]

Everything You Want to Know About Whey Protein

What is Whey Protein?

Of the many popular and efficient Dietary Supplements commercially available in the markets today, Whey Protein is one mainly utilized in Muscle Buildup, Recovery, and other Health Benefits. Whey is a By-Product of Milk during Cheese-Making. At Coagulation, milk separates into two: first, the Curds, which are solid and consumed as cheese; secondly, the Liquid Product known as whey. The latter product rich in Quality Protein is further processed to yield Fat, Lactose, and Water that are combined to create Whey Protein Powder.

Whey Protein has a Complete Profile of Amino Acids. In addition, its assimilation into the Human Body is almost quick. This can thus be used either Post-Exercise or as a Protein Reserve Supplement which one can use in addition to Nutritional Needs.

Process of Whey Protein Production

The process of producing Whey Protein involves the following processes:

Removal from Milk: Whey is the Liquid that remains when Cheese is in production.

Micro- and Ultrafiltration: Whey Liquid is filtered; this results in allowing Fats and Carbohydrates to be captured behind and taking the Protein with them.

Drying: Whey Liquid is dried as a Powder used to formulate a High Protein Supplement.

Blending: Any Flavor, Nutrients, or Enzymes can be infused during the process of designing a supplement such as Fitspire's Gold Whey Isolate.

Benefits of Whey Protein 

More Muscle Building and Recovery It contains BCAAs that are mostly Leucine. It promotes Muscle Building. Recovery after Exercise is in a short time frame; Growth and Recovery are also boosted.

Weight Loss It makes a person feel full for a much longer period of time; it suppresses the sensation of hunger; it keeps the Calorie Balance intact. Intake of this supplement causes further breakdown of Fats in the body while maintaining its needed Lean Muscle Mass.

Performance Enhancement Normal supplementation provides Strength and Endurance, as well as general Sports Performance, and therefore, such supplements, are extensively used by Athletes and Sportsmen.

Supports Immunity Whey Protein has Immunoglobulins and Lactoferrin that work for the Immune System as well as Health.

Easily Digestible When compared to almost all other forms of Protein, Whey Protein is relatively Easy to Digest and gets absorbed fast in the body, which makes it perfect for Post-Workout Recovery.

How to Use Whey Protein

Mix with Water or Milk and take within 30 Minutes Post-Workout for maximum Muscle Recovery.

Use it as a Meal Replacement by blending it with your Fruits, Oats, Nuts, and so on to get that healthy Smoothie.

Whip it into Breakfast or Snack Time for that day's Protein Intake.

Types of Whey Protein

There are three known types of Whey Protein:

Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC): It has about 70-80% Protein alongside tiny traces of Fats and Carbohydrates. This is the most common and also the cheapest form.

Whey Protein Isolate (WPI): Much more purified than WPC, contains 90% or More Protein alongside hardly any Lactose and Fat. Fitspire's Gold Whey Isolate is one of the high-value forms in this category.

Hydrolyzed Whey Protein (WPH): This is Predigested Whey Protein, which can be absorbed even more quickly and usually in Medical Proteins and their supplements or athletes that have high recovery demands.

Who Should Use Whey Protein?

Whey Protein can be used by several very different categories of people, from Athletes to bodybuilders. Whey Protein provides structural materials for the Rebuilding of Tissue Muscles and helps in Bodybuilding as well as Reenergizing altogether for Sporting Athletes working out at Extreme Exercises. It allows access to readily available Amino Acids that can be utilized in rebuilding.

Fitness Junkies

Whey Protein assists in Muscle Mass Retention but does supply fuel for further activity when one is Gym Bound or running Yoga and Cardio.

Protein-Derived Individuals

This is very helpful to an individual running Hectic Schedules as their Protein Needs are met in a Convenient, Efficient, and Safe Manner.

Whey Protein ensures a Balanced Appetite and helps one shed Body Fat without the loss of Lean Muscles, ideal for persons seeking to Lose Weight.

This protein may also be used to replace Meals or supplement Dieting Programs that aid in effective management of Weight.

Aged

Muscle Mass also becomes more relevant with increased age. Whey Protein will curb Age-Related Muscle Atrophy and generally help in Healthy Aging among the Elderly.

Those Who Have Become Severely Ill

Whey Protein supports recovery since it can permit Tissue Repair, and boost Immunity due to its High Profile of Amino Acids.

Why Choose Fitspire Whey Protein?

Fitspire Best Whey Protein Range: With its Gold Whey Isolate, Fitspire differs based on the requirements of people in the Fitness Sector. What does Fitspire differfromt:

Protein Quality Fitspire makes Whey Protein Preparation at fit and filter preparation that ensures the protein comes delivered with minimal amounts of Fats and Carbs. In this manner, you get the best Nutrition without adding anything unwanted.

Fitspire Whey Protein can be an All-Round Solution for Building Muscle, Weight Loss, or Stamina.

The product manufactured by Fitspire is Trustworthy and Safe. It checks every product to make sure that all the products it offers are Safe, Pure, and Effective in their working.

The Whey Protein by Fitspire comes with some Fantastic Flavors and mixes well to make it convenient to use daily.

Conclusion

A great complement for a person keen on taking his Fitness, Health, and Well-Being to the next level. Whether he's an Athlete, a Fitness Enthusiast, or someone who simply has to comply with the standard Proteins his body needs, Whey Protein will powerfully contribute to the journey. Fitspire's Gold Whey Isolate stands as the top Gold Mark, it promises superb Quality and Taste that will push users toward more satisfactory results.

Begins Today. Fitspire Whey Protein here's to the start of your path to Fitness and how it is going to change your Active Lifestyle.