#chicken salad avocado boat

[69yard]

Avocado Health Benefits and nutritional Value, Protein in 1 Avocado

The protein content in one avocado can vary slightly depending on its size and variety. On average, a medium-sized avocado weighing approximately 150 grams contains about 2 grams of protein. However, it’s important to note that avocados are not a significant source of protein compared to other foods like meat, dairy, legumes, or nuts. Avocados are primarily known for their healthy fats and are…

[allwaysfull]

Margaritaville | Carlo Sernaglia and Julia Turshen

Breakfast

Pineapple and Coconut Milk Smoothie

Key Lime Yogurt with Graham Cracker Granola

Baked Boatmeal Squares with Blueberries and Coconut

Huevos Rancheros

Key West Omlet

Key Lime Hollandaise

South Florida Eggs Benedict

Spicy Breakfast Quesadillas

Triple B (Buttermilk, Blueberry and Banana) Pancakes

Best-Ever French Toast

Our Breakfast Potatoes

Appetizers

Volcano Nachos

Warm Asiago Crab Dip

Grilled Oysters with Tarragon Butter

Peel-and-Eat Shrimp

Mustard Sauce

Drunken Shrimp Skillet

Lava Lava Shrimp

Conch Fritters with Calypso Sauce

Spanish Octopus Salad

JWB Crab and Quinoa Cakes with Curry Kale Slaw

Crispy Calamari with Peppadews and Lemon Aioli

Fried Oysters with Creamed Spinach

Lionfish Carpaccio

A Day on a Boat

Kusshi Oysters with Granny Smith, Cucumber, and Mint Granita

Veracruz Seafood Cocktail

Tuna Poke with Plantain Chips

Paradise Ceviche

Belizean Shrimp Ceviche

Pimiento Cheese Hushpuppies

Crispy Eggplant and Goat Cheese Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

Fried Baby Artichokes with Remoulade

Tostones with Mojo Sauce

Hollywood Burrata with Grated Tomato Dressing

Jalapeño Deviled Eggs with Pickled Mustard Seeds

Cajun Chicken Quesadilla (Blackening Seasoning)

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Wings with Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing

Sweet Chile Chicken Wings

Salads and Soups

JWB Caesar Salad with Sourdough Croutons

JWB House Salad with Cashew Dressing

Little Gem Wedge Salad

Avocado and Papaya Salad with Spicy Lime Dressing

Quinoa and Mango Salad with Seared Tuna

Fried Green Tomato Salad with Salsa Verde and Quesp Fresco

Andalusian Gazpacho

Luxurious Lobster Bisque (Lobster Stock)

Bahamian Conch Chowder

Chicken and Corn Chupe

Burgers, Sandwiches and Hot Dogs

Cheeseburgers in Paradise with Paradise Island Dressing

Black-and-Blue Burgers

Turkey Burgers with Cheddar and Barbecue Aioli

JWB Surf’n’Turf Burgers

Ultimate Veggie Burgers

Grilled Flank Steak Sandwiches with Horseradish Sauce

Cuban Meat Loaf Survival Sandwiches

A Day on The Beach

Tailgate Muffuletta for a Crowd

Beach Club Sandwich

New Orleans Fried Oyster Po’Boys

Delta Fried Catfish Reubens

Blackened Fish Sandwiches (Jalapeño Tarter Sauce)

JWB Lobster Rolls

Aloha Hot Dogs

Own-Damn-Fault Hot Dogs

Blackened Chili Dogs

Main Dishes

Best-Every Chili (alt: vegan version)

Margaritaville Family Recipe Cuban Meat Loaf

Veal Saltimbocca Pockets

Prime Sirloin Oscar

Steak au Poivre

Summer Grill Surf’n’Turf

Grilled Skirt Steaks with Carlo’s Chimichurri

Slow Cooker Pork Should with LandShark and Cola

Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde, Smoked Ancho, Pasilla Sauce

Chicken Tinga

Jerk Chicken

Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Country Gravy

Shrimp Mofongo al Ajillo

Spear Fishing with Carlo

Outside-Optional Cajun Clambake

Sardinian Seafood Stew

Pan-Seared Halibut with Artichoke Ragout

Seared Grouper with Fresh Mango Salsa

Crispy Sicilian-Style Pounded Tuna Steaks

Coho Salmon in Lemongrass-Miso Broth

Salt-Crusted Whole Snapper

LandShark Beer-Battered Fish

Seafood Mac and Cheese

Lobster Pasta

Paella del Mar

Jimmy’s Jammin’Jambalaya

Baby Back Ribs with Guava Barbecue Sauce

Pizza à la Minute

Side Dishes

Pico de Gallo

Guacamole

Cilantro-Lime Coleslaw

Crispy Brussels Sprouts

Yukon Gold Loaded Mashed Potatoes

Spicy Red Onion Rings

Livin’ Floridays

Lobster Hash Browns with Jalapeño Cheese

JWB Creamed Spinach

Oven Fries

Fajita Black Beans

Island Rice Pilaf

Creamy Spinach and Cheese Grits

Skillet Cornbread with Honey Butter

Grilled Corn with Lime Butter

Pickled Jalapeño Mac and Cheese

Dessert

Baked Florida

Key Lime Pie

Banana Cream Pie with Caramel Rum Sauce

Coconut Tres Leches Cake

Island Rum Cake

Strawberry Sponge Cake Shortcake

Frozen Mango Cheesecake

Crispy Bananarama

Chocolate-Bourbon Croissant Bread Pudding

S’mores Nachos with Warm Chocolate Sauce

Drinks

Brunch Rum Punch

Perfect Bloody Marias

LandShark Micheladas

Incommunicado

Jimmy’s Perfect Margarita

Frozen Paradise Palomas

5 o’Clock Somewhere

Red Wine and Cherry Sangria

Cucumber and Mint Coolers

Watermelon Pink Lemonade

[prapasara]

Quinoa Recipes

Orange-Pistachio Quinoa Salad

Quinoa-Pear Breakfast Bake

Cumin Quinoa Patties

Kale Quinoa Salad

Quinoa, Fresh Fig and Honey-Balsamic Parfait

TASTE OF HOME

Vegan Quinoa Salad

TASTE OF HOME

Skinny Quinoa Veggie Dip

TASTE OF HOME

BLT Quinoa Bowls

TASTE OF HOME

Apple-Cinnamon Quinoa Pancakes

Chickpea Tortilla Soup

TMB STUDIO

Quinoa with Peas and Onion

TASTE OF HOME

Quinoa-Stuffed Squash Boats

Curried Quinoa Salad

Apple Quinoa Spoon Bread

TASTE OF HOME

Chicken Quinoa Salad

TASTE OF HOME

Spiced Blueberry Quinoa

California Quinoa

Vegan Tortilla Soup

TASTE OF HOME

Avocado & Garbanzo Bean Quinoa Salad

Quinoa & Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

TASTE OF HOME

Strawberry-Quinoa Spinach Salad

TASTE OF HOME

Confetti Quinoa

Pea Soup with Quinoa

TASTE OF HOME

Spicy Coconut Shrimp with Quinoa

TASTE OF HOME

Brussels Sprouts & Quinoa Salad

Quinoa Unstuffed Peppers

TASTE OF HOME

Quinoa with Roasted Vegetables

Colorful Quinoa Salad

TASTE OF HOME

Loaded Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

Black Bean & Corn Quinoa

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Ginger Chicken and Quinoa Stew

TASTE OF HOME

Chicken Quinoa Bowls with Balsamic Dressing

Curried Chicken Skillet

Warm Squash & Quinoa Salad

Lemon Cranberry Quinoa Salad

Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

Quinoa chicken salad

Quinoa chicken salad

Chocolate, coconut and raspberry quinoa porridge

Start your morning with this quinoa porridge packed full of guilt-free goodness. This recipe is quick with minimal ingredients. What’s more, it’s easy to make a batch for the rest of the week.

Veggie quinoa meatballs with tomatoes, olives and caper sauce

Quinoa-coated halloumi with sprouting broccoli and romesco dressing

Vegan burritos with black beans, sweetcorn and quinoa

Quinoa buddha bowls with shredded sprouts and beets

Healthy risotto

Sweet potato and quinoa chilli

Quinoa-crusted haddock with garlic-roasted tomatoes

Roasted tomato, halloumi and quinoa salad

Mushroom and quinoa-stuffed courgette

Hot-smoked salmon salad with teriyaki dressing

Vegan quinoa sushi

Quick quinoa and black bean chilli

Tsukune with Japanese-style quinoa

Red quinoa, feta and spinach salad

Harissa salmon with mixed grains and spinach

Quinoa Recipes

Quinoa Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Quinoa Egg Bowl with Pecorino

Santa Fe Quinoa Salad

Smoky Quinoa and Bacon Salad

Crispy Quinoa Sliders

Quinoa and Brown Rice Bowl with Vegetables and Tahini

Black Bean and Quinoa Salad

Roasted Delicata Squash with Quinoa Salad

Red Rice and Quinoa Salad with Orange and Pistachios

Quinoa with Spice-Roasted Shrimp and Pistou

Bacon Quinoa with Almonds and Herbs

Golden Semolina Quinoa Spinach Cakes

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Roasted Cauliflower and Quinoa with Candied Walnuts

Corn, Basil, and Quinoa Salad

Three-Mushroom and Quinoa Salad

Quinoa and Cauliflower Salad with Popped Sorghum

Quinoa Pancakes with Ricotta and Lemon

Mini Crustless Quiche Bites with Mushrooms, Quinoa, and Cheddar

Blistered Shishitos with Furikake Ranch and Crispy Quinoa

CR   ::    https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/quinoa-recipes/      ,        https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/collection/best-quinoa-recipes/  ,  https://www.foodandwine.com/grains/quinoa/quinoa-recipes

[forefix]

10 Keto Recipes To Start Lose Weight Within Few Weeks

#1Recomendation

1. Avocado and Egg Boats - Slice an avocado in half and remove the pit. Scoop out some of the flesh to create a hollow space for a cracked egg. Bake in the oven until the egg is cooked to your liking.

2. Keto Chicken Salad - Mix shredded chicken with diced celery, chopped pecans, mayonnaise, and a dash of salt and pepper. Serve over lettuce leaves.

3. Keto Cauliflower Fried Rice - Pulse cauliflower florets in a food processor until they resemble rice grains. Sauté with diced onion, garlic, scrambled eggs, and soy sauce.

4. Keto Zucchini Noodles with Pesto - Use a spiralizer to create zucchini noodles. Toss with homemade or store-bought pesto and top with grated Parmesan cheese.

5. Keto Broiled Salmon - Season salmon fillets with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Broil in the oven until cooked through and serve with roasted vegetables.

6. Keto Buffalo Chicken Dip - Mix shredded chicken with cream cheese, hot sauce, and shredded cheddar cheese. Bake until bubbly and serve with celery sticks.

7. Keto Eggplant Parmesan - Cut eggplant into rounds and coat with almond flour, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning. Bake until crispy and top with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.

8. Keto Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus - Wrap asparagus spears with bacon and bake until crispy. Serve as a side dish or appetizer.

9. Keto Almond Flour Pancakes - Mix almond flour, eggs, almond milk, and baking powder to create a batter. Cook in a non-stick pan until golden brown and serve with sugar-free syrup.

10. Keto Chocolate Avocado Pudding - Blend avocado, cocoa powder, almond milk, and sweetener until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator until set and serve as a dessert.

#1Recomendation

[our-health-is-our-wealth]

Here is a 7-day diet set up for weight loss:

Day 1:

Breakfast: one bowl of oatmeal with sliced bananas and a cup of tea Lunch: Grilled salad with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, and a home spoon honey mustard dressing Dinner: Baked salmon with cooked vegetables Day 2:

Breakfast: Smoothie created with one banana, one cup of frozen berries, one scoop of macromolecule powder, and one cup of sugarless almond milk Lunch: Turkey and cheese wrap with avocado and spinach, served with a aspect of fruit Dinner: Vegetable stir-fry with curd and rice Day 3:

Breakfast: a pair of hard-boiled eggs and a cup of grapefruit Lunch: Grilled green groceries and spread wrap Dinner: Slow cooking utensil soup Day 4:

Breakfast: Greek food with 1/2 cup of cold cereal and a drizzle of honey Lunch: Grilled chicken and quinoa dish Dinner: Baked zucchini boats full of ground turkey and pasta sauce sauce Day 5:

Breakfast: Avocado toast with a dish and a aspect of berries Lunch: Tuna and pea bean dish Dinner: Grilled pork chops with cooked sweet potatoes and asparagus Day 6:

Breakfast: one bowl of whole grain cereal with sugarless almond milk and sliced strawberries Lunch: common bean and herb Dinner: Baked chicken with cooked broccoli and a sweet potato Day 7:

Breakfast:  in experienced smoothie created with one banana, one cup of spinach, one scoop of macromolecule powder, and one cup of sugarless almond milk Lunch: Grilled shrimp and green groceries skewers Dinner: Quinoa and common bean chili It's important to recollect that this 7-day diet set up is simply a guide and not a strict plan. you'll be able to combine and match meals to fit your preferences and wishes, as long as you follow whole, unprocessed foods and keep among your calorie limits. do not forget to drink lots of water and find regular physical activity to support your weight loss

[shitpost-no-kyojin]

Avocado BBQ Chicken Salad Zucchini Boats

[kinfoodie]

Do you have any easy-to-make recipes for disabled dogkins? I have chronic fatigue, so I can't make big recipes because I'm always exhausted and get tired quickly!

Heya!

Yes of course! No problem, I made a list of quick-to-make recipes for you to try out. Hopefully the time frame with the ones I've picked works for you (all should be 30 minutes or less).

No-Cook Creamy Tomato Pasta

Rainbow Taco Boats

Blackened Chicken Salad with Avocado

Chinese Chicken Salad

10-Minute Teriyaki Chicken & Broccoli

Parmesan Crumbed Fish

Butternut Squash Pasta

Vegetarian Paella

Crispy Quinoa Sweet Potato Fritters

Israeli Couscous Salad

There ya go! I hope you enjoy and if not let me know and hopefully I can refill the request again! :) Cheers and happy eating~ <3

[nancypullen]

Melons and Murders

We didn't do anything special on the 4th of July. Because only 30-something percent of Tennesseans are vaccinated and the Delta variant is unpredictable, we're still avoiding crowds. It sucks because I really want to enjoy a ballgame or a concert. Downtown Nashville broke a previous record by hosting an estimated 400,000 drunken idiots for an Independence Day celebration. What could possibly go wrong there, right? So we stayed home, grilled some brats, and watched tv while our neighborhood lit up like a combat zone. It was insane. After all of that grumpy complaining, I'm actually here to pay tribute to summer food. As far as I'm concerned, the absolute QUEEN of the summer is the Sugar Kiss melon.

This melon will change your life. I've never tasted anything so good. Don't be deceived into thinking this is just a cantaloupe. This is magic in your mouth. This melon tastes like it's been injected with vanilla and sugar. They're only in season for a brief part of the summer and we eat about three a week. Not even kidding. We get ours at Publix, even though I've seen and purchased them elsewhere, the Publix melons seem to be at peak freshness. I don't know if Kroger warehouses theirs before they're in stores or what, but the Publix melons are superior. You'll spot Sugar Kiss melons right away, wrapped in their distinctive blue mesh and set apart from the other cantaloupe. Get one (no, seriously, get two) and you can thank me later. It wouldn't be summer without watermelon. I buy one every Saturday, chunk it up and keep it in a big, lidded tub in the frig. When I come in from working in the yard, hot and sweaty, a couple of pieces of chilled watermelon cools me down faster than anything I could drink. Mickey says the same thing. It's always sad toward the end of summer when watermelon becomes scarce. I have some heirloom seeds from my Grandma Ethel's watermelon patch that I treasure, and I haven't had the courage to plant them. How silly is that? I'd hate to get my hopes up and have some stupid pest ruin everything. Anyyywhooo...back to watermelon. Aside from just eating it straight, I'm addicted to this combo.

Day after day, I drop chunks of watermelon into a bowl, sprinkle some feta and a bit of chopped, fresh mint leaves, then top it with a quick squeeze of lime, just a little. Holy moley, I hear angels sing when I eat this. The super sweet melon, the salty feta, the zing from the mint and the lime - it's everything a summer dish should be. It doesn't hurt my feelings that it's really pretty to look at too. Know what else I'm addicted to? Breakfast salads. I love breakfast, it's my favorite meal of the day. I would be content to eat a hearty breakfast and then just nibble for the rest of the day. Normally I'll dice up tomato and onion and get it sizzling in a skillet, then I'll throw in some riced broccoli.

Once that's cooked through, I season and scramble two eggs and pour that in - a few stirs with a spatula and I've got a bowlful of veggie eggs and a yummy breakfast. If you're so inclined and can spare the calories, add cheese or bacon or whatever floats your boat. It's delicious, low in calories and fat, offers plenty of protein and fiber, and will keep you full all day. Winner. Lately I've been throwing together a flavorful salad...spring greens, a quarter of an avocado, a tablespoon of feta, and a tablespoon of crumbled bacon. Super simple.

Then I spritz a pan with a little olive oil and fry an egg. I season it like crazy and plop it right on top of the salad.

When I cut through the egg it releases the warm, yummy yolk as a dressing and coats everything. It's a delicious, healthy breakfast. The mister and I are still working the Weight Watchers thing. It's so stinkin' easy and NOTHING is off limits. I'm on the Purple Plan because I don't like to log things, so I have a bazillion "free" foods but only 16 points a day. The items that cost me are fatty things like mayo and butter. As long as I eat clean and whole foods (even whole grain pasta is zero points for me!) I can finish every day with points to spare. A grilled chicken breast with roasted broccoli and sweet potato is a zero point meal. How simple is that? Of course, that doesn't mean I don't have treats. It didn't take me long to figure out that a macaron is just two points and totally worth it. I'm down 21 pounds and it's been embarrassingly easy to do. It's been a slow drip, pretty much a pound a week, but it's the easiest diet I've ever been on and I think I've tried them all. Sorry, I rambled. I promised melons and murder. The murder part is really more of a question for you. It's no secret that I'm a true crime junkie. My DVR history is frightening- Snapped, Cold Justice, etc. My reading list looks like I'm either planning or solving a murder. But I'm new to true crime podcasts. When I'm at my desk I like to listen to a murder or two, usually tuning into a Dateline series (the Mommy Doomsday episodes will blow your mind). I'm in the market for other podcasts though, so I'm asking for your favorites. You don't have to answer here, you can always send suggestions to njpullen@gmail.com - no need to create a Tumblr profile or any of that. Hit me with your favorites, My Favorite Murder? Anatomy of a Murder? Crime Junkie? Sword & Scale? Do tell! Gotta' go. It's time for me to trot out to the garden and pick more cucumbers and have a chat with the birds and squirrels. Summer is in full swing and I intend to enjoy these days. Besides, if I don't go out and get sweaty, I can't justify eating more melon. I have an agenda. I hope you're having some fun with your day. Stir up some giggles, even if you're just laughing at yourself. I used to write jokes on Post-It notes and leave them on the doors of bathroom stalls at work. I wonder how many pantsless people chuckled ? Go spread some sunshine and make sure you get some on yourself. Stay safe, stay well, stay sunny. XOXO - Nanccy

[leonard-ruth]

Did you know?  If you want to lose several lbs with #ketolifestyle. You can click link https://thebulletproofketo.ck.page to get a free Ebook and Everything You Need for #keto Success.

🍤 SEAFOOD DISHES 🍣 500 CALORIES each! *Swipe for Shrimp, Salmon, Scallops, Cod and Prawns! Recipes below👩🏻‍🍳:) ⠀ ⠀ 🌟 All dishes approximately 500 CALORIES 🍴 Which is your favourite Seafood? ⠀ ⠀ 🍤 ZESTY SHRIMP 🍤 1️⃣ SHRIMP: 1 pound wild shrimp (thawed, patted dry, seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder). Heat 1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil over medium high, add shrimp and sauté for about 2 minutes per side. Add 2 teaspoon coconut aminos, a squeeze of lemon or lime juice and some hot sauce and toss. Remove from heat. Top with cilantro or parsley. 2️⃣ BRUSSELS: 1 pound Brussels (trimmed). Bring 2 cups salted water to a boil, add the Brussels and cook for about 4 minutes. Drain water and place Brussels on a paper towel to pat dry. Using a flat bottom cup, “Smash” the Brussels just slightly, one at a time. Add them to a bowl and toss with 1.5 tablespoon olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Set oven to broil, place the Brussels on a sheet pan and broil for 2 minutes (6 inches from the broiler). Flip then broil for another 1-2 minutes. (Careful not to burn). 3️⃣ POTATOES: slice 1 pound mini gold potatoes multiple times, leaving 1/4 inch at the bottom (TUTORIAL IN HIGHLIGHTS), toss with 1.5 tablespoon olive oil, 2 cloves minced garlic, salt and pepper. Bake on 450 for 35-40 minutes on a sheet or an oven safe pan. 4️⃣ AIOLI: Dressing: 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 4 tablespoons greek yogurt (or nondairy), 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon coconut aminos, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. ⠀ ⠀ 🍣 CAJUN CHICKEN lSESAME ASIAN SALMON, CUCUMBER SALAD and TAHINI SAUCE! 🍣 ⠀ ⠀ 🥑 BBQ SHRIMP and CREAMY BALSAMIC MUSTARD ZOODLE SALAD and Avocado 🥑 ⠀ ⠀ 🐟 Garlic CHILI LIME ROASTED COD AND CILANTRO LIME HUMMUS WITH HASSLEBACKS 🐟 ⠀ ⠀ 🦪 MANGO AVOCADO SALSA and CHIPOTLE SCALLOP ZUCCHINI BOATS 🦪 ⠀ ⠀ Which is your favourite 1,2,3,4,5?

CREDIT: INSTAGRAM

[greensaplinggrace]

Barret Apocalypse AU Pt. 3

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 of Prompt: “Hello! This is kind of out there but I was wondering if you could do a post apocolypse au? With tons of Barret but not very shippy. With lots of found family though! Thanks” ~ @eilesgiire

CAN BE FOUND HERE ON AO3 - NOW COMPLETE!

Tifa fights like Barret has never seen anyone fight before. Quick and vicious, fists and feet and violence. With cool precision and a fluidity in every movement - creative and adaptable and intelligent. She flows like water and strikes like lightning and all Barret can do the first time she pulls on her gloves and beats a man to the ground is watch in frozen awe.

Until, of course, he’s forced to watch her back and shoot down those in the Cluster she isn’t already taking care of. 

He’d kept Marlene behind him the whole time, ready to take her and run if need be, but he’d stayed for Tifa. He’d fought for Tifa.

And Tifa had fought for him.

She’d fought for Marlene, too, and every day since then Marlene has looked at her like she hung the moon and the stars. Clinging to her and asking for stories - helping Tifa clean up around camp and cook dinner when it’s her turn, mellow and soft in the light of the stove as the sun sets behind them.

Tifa fills up the empty spaces of Barret’s life and more. With reliable efficiency and a keen loyalty, but most all with her kindness and her passion. Her fire and her loyalty and the gentleness of her touch when she carries Marlene. The softness of her smile and the light of her laugh and the compassionate lull of her silence when they sit together, just the two of them, late into the calm of the night.

Tifa saves him in many ways. She saves him from driving himself to the ground protecting his daughter. She saves him from having to be alone - from fighting a one man battle against the world with a child at his back. Tifa saves him in other ways, too. With furious fists and keen eyes, fighting off the monsters of the night and bringing home supplies he could never have uncovered on his own. But mostly she saves him by just being there and being herself. Always.

Tifa stays for many years after he helps her, through trials and victories and losses - through it all. And every second of every day after he saves her, she saves him right back.

---

Barret returns from patrol to a spread of food in the middle of camp, Tifa sitting on her knees by their makeshift kitchen as she rummages through bags of food. Marlene is perched nearby on a horizontal log, kicking her legs as she watches with childlike fascination. Barret stays silent for a moment to watch them, Tifa glancing up to nod at him in greeting before returning to her work.

“What do you think?” she finally hums, “Sandwiches and fruit salad?”

“What kinda sandwiches?” Marlene asks, high and sweet as she tilts her head at Tifa, and Barret can’t help the warmth of adoration when he sees her wide eyed curiosity. He settles his bag of car parts at the base of a nearby tree and wanders further into the clearing.

“Hmm...how about...peanut butter and jelly!” Tifa waves the can of peanut butter at her invitingly, but Marlene only makes an exaggerated face of disgust. Tifa remains entirely unfazed by the rejection, merely chuckling and setting it aside to rummage through the bags again. “I thought you liked peanut butter.”

“I did, but not anymore! It’s gross and it makes my mouth all sticky.” 

“Okay...chicken and tomatoes, then. With white cheddar cheese…and avocado!” Tifa holds up the green food triumphantly to Marlen’s wild cheer. She smiles fondly as she sets it aside, sharing a look with Barret over Marlene’s head. He huffs out a laugh and sets the rest of his supplies at the edge of his tent.

“Yeah!” Marlene exclaims excitedly, practically vibrating in her seat now, “Sandwiches and fruit salad! What’s in the salad, Auntie Tifa?”

Tifa casts a sideways smirk at Marlene as she leans over her supplies and starts to gather what she needs. “That’s a secret,” she tuts, “now go play with Daddy while I make this.”

Marlene’s gasp is so loud it could wake the dead, and Barret finally lets out a full bellied laugh as she wheels around to face him. “Daddy!” she yells, teetering on the log with the force of her momentum, “I knew you’d be back soon!”

He catches her before she can fall, setting a large hand on her shoulder and getting to his knees in front of her. “Well, you’ve always been the smartest of us,” he says, accepting her into a one armed hug, “and apparently the pickiest!”

“Peanut butter isn’t yummy anymore,” she huffs as she pouts against his chest, and he snorts. 

“That’s okay, we’ll just find you something better.” He takes her up in his arm, lifting her until she’s propped up on his shoulder. “Now, what happened while I was away?”

Marlene chats for a half hour about catching bugs and trying on dresses, how she and Tifa explored the river and raced boats down the stream, and not once does she mention trouble or danger. Not once does she cry or pause to look sad, barely hanging on to that thread of innocence and joy.

Nothing happened, she says, except that she had fun. Lived her life. Talked with Tifa and ran around camp in a frenzy after having chocolate. Nothing bad happened at all, and that’s more than a blessing. It’s more than he could ever put a name to.

He thinks things might just be starting to look up for them.

---

Losing his prosthetic is nowhere near losing his real arm, but damn if it doesn hurt like a sonofabitch. It stings with pain and lights up at the worst of times, and when he finally goes to remove it he can only take away so many pieces to relieve the misery. The base isn’t something he can just remove, especially now that part of it has been damaged. So they’re down one gun and they’re down one arm, and to make matters worse, the rest of the prosthetic is quickly becoming a liability.

And of course, their truck is gone as well, because Barret had trusted the wrong damn person at the wrong damn time, and he knows he has nobody to blame but himself. Tifa feels mighty guilty about it in the aftermath, citing the fight they’d had and her defense of the SOLDIER, but he knows she was only trying to support him. Knows she was only trying to make good of a fucked up situation in any way she could.

He’d made a mistake. He’d made many mistakes that day, but that one stings the worst. It stings the most when his arm is stinging too, though, and he remembers all he sacrificed. 

Barret vows that the next time he lays eyes on that arrogant piece of shit, there will be no benefit of doubt. Cloud will never see the light of day again.

So he’d better stay far, far away.

---

Cloud does not stay far away. 

He doesn’t even stay inches away, because that would be too good - it would be too easy.

No, the next time Barret sees Cloud, he’s trapped in one of the stores at the center of a mall, back to a checkout counter and counting the bullets of his handgun. A crash rings out, high and ear splitting as one of the display windows shatters beneath a heavy force, and then he’s tumbling over the counter and into Barret’s space before he can so much as shout in surprise. Plopping down right next to him, winded and scrambling to regain his footing, until the frantic turn of his head finally sets his sights on Barret.

They both freeze.

Barret’s growling at the mere sight of him, teeth clenched and five second away from firing, when the kid actually scoffs and turns his head away.

“Save it until we’re somewhere safe.”

“‘Scuse me?!”

“We need to get out of here first. Your grudge can wait.”

Barret laughs at the sheer audacity of this kid. “I ain’t workin’ side by side with the man who treated my family like dirt and then stole my damn truck!”

“Then you’ll die.” He doesn’t even flinch when he says it, expression the blank, unfeeling mask he’d been trying so hard for back at camp. Acting as if he’s recovered already; as if nothing had happened. 

As if he hadn’t been laid up and grieving the loss of his friend not two months ago.

Barret has to use every piece of willpower he’s got left to keep himself from exploding in frustration.

“I ain’t gonna die ‘cause I actually know what the hell I’m doing. Last time I checked, you were the one on death’s door.” He regrets bringing it up almost as much as he feels vindictively pleased with doing so, and the way Cloud’s lips thin, shoulders tightening, is both relieving and distressing all at once. 

Gaia, what the hell is he doing? 

He needs to get home to his family.

“Alright.” He swallows his pride. Three bullets and one arm. He’s been trapped back here for almost an hour now with the infected, unmoving and endlessly persistent. “You got a plan?”

Cloud’s face softens for a moment in surprise, and Barret feels a hint of triumph at the expression as the kid’s cheeks light with a blush and he turns away again. So much for Mr. Stoic.

While Barret waits for Cloud to speak he lets his head back back, counting out his breaths and pumping himself up for whatever they’re about to do. Then he launches himself up to peak over the counter for a second, eyeing the horde of infected through the three remaining glass windows. When he falls back to the ground he exhales loudly, grinning over at Cloud. 

“Whoo! Yeah, we can do this! So what- what’ve you got in mind? You hack and I shoot? Maybe we can give them the runaround and take ‘em from behind?”

There’s a beat of silence, Cloud staring at him with an indecipherable expression as he fingers the hilt of his blade. He frowns, shaking his head and peering around the open end of the counter.

“That could work.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

The kid juts out his chin, puffing up. “It means it could work.”

“Well, you’ve got a plan, right?”

A silence descends between them, as Barret’s hopeful expression slowly drops away and Cloud’s shifting becomes more agitated. Until finally, Cloud admits reluctantly, “I’m working on it.”

“You can’t be serious! You were the one pushing for us to work together. I thought you had something in mind.”

“Because I thought you had a plan!”

“I’ve been trapped here for an hour. If I had a plan, I wouldn’t be here.”

“You’re the leader of a gang. I thought you were supposed to be good at this?”

Barret feels like he’s just entered the twilight zone, casting the kid an incredulous look. “I ain’t the leader of shit! What gave you that impression?”

That makes Cloud falter, his mask shifting to reveal a brief flash of confusion, brow furrowing a centimeter in thought, before it all smoothes over again. 

Gaia, but that’s annoying as shit.

And all Barret can do is watch as his expression morphs into something cool and reserved, head turning to peer around the counter again in order to consider their options of escape. There’s something analytical there, now. Something more self reliant and less trusting that has Barret feeling like he’s failed.

Barret pushes it all from his mind, sighing and closing his eyes as he breathes rhythmically to calm himself. When he opens them again he gives the kid a long, assessing look and notices what he hadn’t taken the time to notice before.

Cloud looks exhausted. Hair longer than it had been - greasier and dirtier and still flecked with dried blood. It looks like he’s washed up at least once since they’d last met, but he’s clearly been busy. There are new bruises on his arms and a trio of cuts running down his left cheek. His outfit’s been changed, Barret notices, but it’s still a SOLDIER’s uniform. A thick turtleneck with a padded waistguard and loose pants. 

Barret isn’t too sure about the shoulder pad studded in nails or the wrist guards holding the same design. It looks like the modern scrap metal crafting members of Camps or Mobs tend to sport.

“The hell are you even doing here, anyway?” Barret can’t help asking, frowning at the fresh materia loaded in Cloud’s sword.

He hopes to high hell that the stupid punk hasn’t joined a Mob.

“I’m on a job.”

“Jobs are out in the apocalypse, in case you hadn’t heard.”

Cloud gives him a scathingly unimpressed look. “Camps still need certain supplies,” he says, after he breaks away to look outside the store again, “I happen to need different supplies. We make it work.”

“You’re a mercenary?!” Taking advantage of citizens in need to further his own interests. Barret should have known. Hell, the kid had taken his truck and left without even a word of goodbye.

“I’m guessing you don’t agree.”

“I think it’s the type of bottom feeding shit you’d get from Mobs and Syndicates,” Barret snaps, eyes narrowing, “but I don’t know what I expected out of a former SOLDIER.”

“Guess you know me as well as you thought you did,” Cloud hums, and the dryness of his tone makes Barret’s hackles rise.

“Do you even give one shit about the people around you?”

Cloud doesn’t even respond to that. He only tenses and tilts his head back, bringing his sword into a ready position at his side. 

“More are coming,” he breathes, the sound of his voice echoing in the dark corners of the store. The howling outside their windows becomes almost deafening with a thunder of footsteps and falling bodies, and Barret straightens as well. “We need to leave.”

“Got any ideas, smartass?”

Cloud doesn’t answer, gaze flitting about for a solution, but Barret knows he’ll find none. He’s spent the last hour checking every possible crevice of this building for a way out.

“What about the way you came in? That window was separate from the other ones, right? You’d have to come in from the top.” 

The fourth window had been blocked on all sides by solid scaffolding, it had been impossible to enter through. Which is the only reason Barret’s certain the infected hadn’t piled over the busted window after Cloud came inside. He’s still not sure how the hell the merc had managed to do that, but maybe he could somehow reverse it.

Unfortunately, the entire world seems to be against them today.

Cloud shakes his head. “That’s not happening,” he says, voice chillingly calm, and Barret’s blood runs cold, “walls were just shredded.”

“Shit! You can’t be-” A reverberating crack! rips through his sentence before can finish speaking, and the rise of screams as glass starts breaking has him shooting to his feet alongside Cloud.

There’s a beat when he sees the infected - dozens of them - down the sights of his gun. Cloud tensing beside him, sword raised as they spill into the store in droves, and Barret knows they aren’t going to make it out of this alive. A cacophony of moans and snarling as demented forms tear over the ground and start at them.

And then there’s another crack that splits the air, a rush of fire and debris that has Barret dropping in a second - hooking an arm around Cloud and throwing them both to the ground as a burst of heat rushes through the air above them. The concussive blast has a wave of force following not long after, tinged with red hot sparks and accompanied by the sounds of shattering glassware. 

Barret makes sure to press himself over the entirety of Cloud’s body when the shards start raining down on them, the hairs on the back of his arm burning when he curls it over his neck to protect himself. He doesn’t move - not for anything - while the fury rages on around them.

Then the explosion ends, as quick and loud as it had begun, with a vorping rush and crumbling walls. Yet even as it dies the noises don’t. 

Flames crackle loudly throughout the store, above them and beside them and all around them. A lull in the chaos replaced by the lingering presence of destruction. It takes Barret a second to catch up, blinking through the burn of smoke and wincing at the sting of glass along his back, and in that time a strong grip comes to tighten around his arm. 

The hand is small, barely able to fully wrap around his wrist. Gloved and inhumanely bruising as the body beneath him twists out from under them and hauls them both to their feet. Cloud cuts down one of the flaming, screaming infected near them with brutal efficiency and tugs violently at Barret to get him moving, sword raised as if he’s about to charge the whole damn store.

“We’ve got to move!” Cloud shouts over the din of noise, and Barret growls in annoyance, yanking his arm away with such force it briefly unbalances the merc.

“Yeah, yeah. I got the damn memo.” 

Despite his better judgement, Barret lets Cloud take the lead. He reserves the last of his ammo for an emergency, instead keeping a look out for any surprises as the merc makes a beeline straight for the doors. He hacks at any flailing limbs that even think to come their way, but in all honestly there aren’t many left. Enough to warrant some level of concern, Barret supposes, but he steps over charred remains by the dozens as he crosses to the other side of the room. 

It seems as if the bomb was thrown right in the center of the horde, with most infected burnt to barely recognizable crisps. Someone had deliberately taken them out. 

Whoever they are, they’re a hell of a bomb maker, but he wonders if they’d even known people were inside the building.

When Cloud reaches the door, Barret lays a hand on his shoulder and pulls him back, stepping forward to check out any possible threats that may be lingering in the mall center. 

There are more infected scattered about the area. Nearer to the center of the blast, the bodies are burnt and blackened, but along the edges of the horde he starts to notice the sprawling ragdoll effect of an infected shot through the head. Pools of blood spread out from those bodies, but the spatter is too indistinct for Barret to make out where the attacks came from.

“Do you see them?” Cloud asks lowly. He presses against Barret’s forearm as if to take the lead again, and Barret doesn’t relent an inch as he glares the kid into retreating behind his back.

“Settle down,” he hisses, “let me-”

“Oh hey!” It’s a woman’s voice, ringing out across from them along the upper levels, and Barret immediately snaps his gun towards the source of the noise, feeling Cloud tense against him in preparation. 

“Hey!” The woman cheers, waving her arm in the air as she jumps up and down. Barret squints over at her and tries to get a good look through the dirty glass railing, but all he sees is bouncing brown hair in a ponytail and shining metal armor.

She doesn’t sound like a threat, but she’s certainly dressed like one.

Barret prepares himself to speak, keeping his gun levelled with what he can make of her head, but before he can another voice sounds out from above them.

“What are you yelling at, Jessie? Did you mess up the bomb again?” It’s a man’s voice this time - deep and edged in humor - with just enough information to make Barret that much warier of the bouncing brunette. Not to mention the steadily growing number of people. If there are two, there can be more, and Barret’s beginning to worry that they may have just jumped from the frying pan and into the fire.

Jessie makes a sound of frustration, tsking so loudly it can be heard across the room, and points down at them in a way that has Barret about ready to fire. “No, Biggs! There were people inside!”

“Oh god, there were people?!” Another voice frets, and Barret worriedly places him on the same level as them - on the same side of the building as them - with the sudden knowledge that they are now outnumbered. He has no idea if they’re outmatched. He’s never heard of these people in his life.

He lowers his arm as he circles carefully to the edge of the doorway, standing just outside of it to allow Cloud through. He nods in the direction of the one closest to them as he keeps an eye on the woman.

“Are they okay?” The nervous one says. “Did we kill them? Oh Gaia.”

Barret snorts at the other man’s tone, the tension in his shoulders loosening slightly at the obvious worry. He can hope these are good people who’d made an honest mistake, but it’s best to be wary until he’s sure.

“No, we definitely didn’t kill them,” Jessie says, her enthusiasm waning as she speaks, “but they don’t look too friendly either.”

“We’re friendly enough,” Barret finally says, tone casual even as he keeps the gun on her, “but we did almost get burnt to crisps, so forgive me if I’m not exactly falling into your arms.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt anybody. I’m so sorry!” Jessie calls down to them, and damn if she doesn’t sound it. Barret loosens a bit more, gun dipping in a show of peace.

“It’s fine. Barely got a scratch.” 

“Well, at least we didn’t commit murder,” the man above them says drily, and Barret can’t believe his ears when Cloud huffs out what must be a laugh beside him.

“There’s always a second time,” he deadpans, unfazed by Barret’s glare.

The man barks out a laugh in response, leaning over the railing to see them better, and when Barret notices his head poking out he steps further into the mall center to get a better look at the whole group. 

None of them have their weapons readied, or appear remotely violent. The one above them is grinning and Jessie has been nothing but cheerful. So Barret makes a decision. Still eyeing them all warily, he lowers his gun fully.

Cloud quirks a brow when he does so, letting the tip of his sword drop to the ground as well, but he doesn’t offer up any other fascinating pieces of commentary. Apparently the wisecracks are only for special occasions.

Barret looks up at the two strangers again. “Who the hell are you people?”

“Oh! I’m Biggs,” the man above them says, pointing a thumb at his chest and nodding. “That one over there is Jessie, in case you didn’t hear. And that’s Wedge!” He points over to the third member a short distance away, who’s gathered the courage to come out into full view from around the corner. Wedge waves over at them with a smile, and Barret will be damned if these people aren’t the cheeriest motherfuckers in the world right now. 

Of course, that thought is proved wrong not two seconds later when Jessie’s voice rings out nervous and worried through the air. “Hey guys? I’m seeing some movement up here and down the hallways. Maybe we should take this outside.”

“Explosion was bound to draw other infected,” Barret snorts, “did you guys plan this at all?”

“We planned it enough!” Jessie huffs, moving away from the railing to head toward the stairs, “we were just here to test-”

She cuts herself off with a high, startled gasp as a guttural howl tears through the air. The next moment has her teammates crying out as her upper body collides brutally with the railing, hand hitting the hard glass hard enough to jar the gun from her fingers, and it falls the long distance to the floor with a clatter.

Then Barret’s moving, as Biggs races to help his friend and Jessie scrambles at the slick glass to brace herself, kicking at the infected behind her. It claws up her back and raises its head, jaws stretched wide, and Barret curses, firing a round into it without hesitation. 

It’s throat explodes in a spatter of blood, and Jessie gasps when it’s hold only tightens. The thing lets out a keening noise as it thrashes, practically throwing Jessie through the air, and even as Barret puts another bullet straight into its head he knows it won’t be enough.

“Jessie!” Biggs skids to a stop at the railing just as she tumbles over the edge, and Barret doesn’t stop for a second to think before he’s charging across the room. He drops his gun and slides beneath her just in time to feel the brunt of her weight. Catching her around the waist with one arm and feeling her head whip violently back into his chest as he allows himself to drop to the floor and soften her fall.

The collision knocks the breath from his lungs and sends a flare of pain down his back, but all he can do is let out a sigh of relief at the very alive woman in his arms right now. 

That had been way too close.

“Oh Gaia! Oh- Jessie!” There’s a rush of steps as Wedge runs over to them, and Jessie groans in response.

“It’s fine, Wedge,” she says, voice strained, “I’ve only broken every bone in my body.”

Wedge lets out a relieved breath, helping to pull her to feet as Barret pushes her upright.

“Whoo!” She breathes, jumping and shaking out her arms before turning to give him a big smile and a playful wink. “That was some fall. Luckily I had my hero here to save me, huh?”

“You’re lucky he was there, Jessie,” Biggs says, thumping down the steps and coming up to them as well, “otherwise you’d be paste.”

He grabs her arm and pulls her into a hug, and Barret chuckles as he pushes himself to his feet as well.

“Glad I could help, but it looks like you’ve got quite the set of friends here. They’d’ve found a way to save you.”

Wedge gives him a grateful smile, but Barret can see the beginnings of a guilt he knows all too well. He pats a comforting hand on the guy’s shoulder and nods. 

“You did good.”

“We all did good!”

“That’s cute and all, but we really should get going,” Cloud's voice cuts through the cheer like a knife, and Barret turns to see him coming up beside them with his sword at the ready. He looks unconcerned with the situation, but Barret notices him casting about for potential threats. His eyes linger on a group of infected meandering over from one of the halls, and when he sees Barret looking he nods at them.

“Yeah, I see it. Shit.” Barret runs a hand through his hair and bends to pick up Jessie’s gun first, handing it over to her before equipping his own.

It slides through her fingers like it’s the most natural thing in the world, and her grip tightens around the handle as she grins at them both. “That’s no problem! We know a way out.”

“A way that isn’t riddled with zombies?” Cloud asks, pointing down another hallway. The area is slowly filling with infected, and Barret herds the group closer together. 

Cloud stands apart from them, eyeing the infected approaching them with unusual gusto. 

“Have a little faith, man! Wedge is the best at this kind of thing.”

“Yeah, I’ve already got a route.”

“Then use it,” Cloud snaps.

Wedge yelps. “Y-yeah. Yeah! Come on.”

With surprising speed and efficiency, he’s turning to head down the nearest hall, Jessie and Biggs immediately following behind him and waving Barret along. The easy way they all carry out the plan is impressive, and Barret takes up the rear without question, determined to get these people out of here alive. 

What’s truly surprising, however, is the way Cloud lingers behind, another hand coming down to grip his sword as he turns to jog toward the nearest horde.

“I’ve got your backs,” he calls after them, “don’t wait up.”

“Then I’m staying too! I’ll cover you.”

“Don’t bother.”

The cold dismissal has Barret’s chest heating with anger, but he knows the merc is right. At this point, he’d be more of a liability than an asset.

“You’d best meet us at the front entrance, SOLDIER boy!” He makes it sound like an order, but knowing Cloud it probably means he’ll do the exact opposite.

“Good luck!” Jessie throws behind her with a small wave, accentuated by Biggs’s own cursory thumbs up, and all Barret hears is Cloud’s grunt of acknowledgement before they’re turning the corner and leaving him in the dust.

Winding through the building after that is a strange affair. The group he’s met are all talkers, chatting excitedly and bickering even in the midst of danger. They’re good shots, too. Biggs and Jessie especially, who take up attacking at a distance while Wedge focuses on navigating.

They’re quick with their words and quick on their feet, but it’s still a shock to the whole group when an infected lunges from a nearby store and latches onto Wedge with a scream. Biggs shouts and staggers back, foot caught in the clawing grip of one they’d thought they downed, and within a matter of seconds the comfortable solitude of their journey is destroyed.

Barret reacts in a flash, shooting the one on Wedge in a throwaway attack, splintering the infected’s jaw with a sickening crack as he stomps on the one attached to Biggs with a roar. He hears a series of pops after that as Wedge gets the opportunity to down his attacker, and that’s when Barret sees more. Slinking from surrounding stories and halls, slithering along the floors with cracked nails and dripping mouths. Caging them in on all sides.

“Move! Damnit!”

More rounds are fired as the infected close in on them, Wedge spraying the front line in bullets as Jessie and Biggs take them out with headshots and busted kneecaps. An infected manages to get a hold of Barret’s arm as he tries bash in its skull with his gun, jaws opened wide as it lunges in for a bite, and for a moment the world stops. Thoughts of Marlene and home and failure burning through his mind until a sword is splitting its head in two, Cloud kicking the body aside as if it’s nothing. 

He grabs Barret by the shoulder as the shock fades and spins him to face the others. Then blows straight through the group to take the lead, slashing apart the infected blocking their path with an arc of fiery steel.

Gaia, Barret never thought he’d be so happy to see a SOLDIER in his life.

“Let’s mosey,” Cloud says, and for once the collected tone of his voice doesn’t set Barret off.

“You heard the merc! Move!”

Wedge doesn’t need to be told twice, rushing forward alongside Cloud as the SOLDIER continues to hack a path through the infected. Barret recovers rapidly, ushering Jessie and Biggs forward as they continue to focus on the infected at their sides. 

They turn the corner to see more infected crawling out of the woodworks, but Cloud is relentless and Barret is vicious, the rest of the group pushing forward with the type of determination Barret could only dream of, and for a second he thinks they might actually get out of this scott free.

Then Biggs cries out, folding at the knees as they all pass ahead, and Barret skids to stop. 

“Fuck!” The whole party starts to slow as they realize what happened.

“What do we do? Oh, shit!” Jessie panics, and Wedge shakes his head, firing another round into the front lines as he points down the hall.

“It’s down there,” he yells back at them, “we just need to move.”

Barret nods and turns on his heel, racing back to grab the other man before the infected get to him.

“Go on ahead!” He shouts back, waving them away as he comes to a skidding halt beside Biggs. He’s grateful when Cloud seems to take the order in stride, already circling around to hold the rear as Wedge reluctantly pushes on ahead.

“Just leave me,” Biggs hisses, clutching at the blood soaked remains of his pants. The cut he has along his lower leg is long and weeping, but there’s no way in hell Barret’s leaving him behind. “Please just-”

“Shut the hell up! Shit-” Barret scoops Biggs up and throws him over his shoulder, ignoring his cursing protests as he waves his broken arm at their exit. “-we’re all gonna make it out of this alive!”

He runs for the exit, seeing the rest of the group just beginning to gather outside.

“Heya Jessie!” He calls out, bursting through the doors just as they’re starting to close, “got any more of those bombs?”

The grin that lights up her face is absolutely wicked, and Barret steps back with the others as she grabs a grenade from her belt pouch and wings up. With a warcry of “watch the fuck out, bitches!” she launches it through the air.

The ensuing blast is enough to make them all turn away and shield their eyes, Barret realizing a bit too late that he’d lost his sunglasses somewhere along the way, and when they all turn to face each other again it’s with wide, triumphant grins. Wedge laughs as Jessie lets out a whoop, and Barret can feel the body on his shoulders loosen with relief. Cloud lingers at the outskirts, but he doesn’t look as put out as he usually does, mouth soft with the hint of a smile.

“Good job,” Barret says, “I ain’t never seen a better team in my life.”

“We’re a team, now?” Biggs asks, voice lilting and delirious, and Jessie gasps.

“We should be! Imagine what we could all do together.”

“I think that'd be pretty nice,” Wedge agrees.

Barret snorts, but he doesn’t deny it - can’t even say he doesn’t feel the same way. So he hefts Biggs further up on his shoulders and grins.

“I wouldn’t mind working with y’all again, but right now we should probably get him taken care of. How close is your camp?”

“Oh, uh…we don’t exactly have one…” Wedge laughs uneasily and fidgets, Jessie crossing her arms beside him.

“It’s because we just got here. We drove in from a nearby Camp and we haven’t had the chance to get settled.”

“But you did have the chance to test bombs.” Cloud doesn’t exactly sound sold, but Barret’s mind has already honed in on something else.

“Y’all got cars?” he asks excitedly, and at their nods he whoops, “aight! We’re headin’ back to my camp, and you can stay there for as long as you need!”

“You’re short on transport, huh?” Biggs sympathizes breathlessly, “we’re short on shelter. Maybe we can make this work.”

“We’re still lookin’ for a good house, but we’ve got tents and a decent cooking station, not to mention we’re well hidden from any Mobs.”

“You’ve already got me sold!” Jessie laughs, “follow me and we can load Biggs up.”

“Yeah…” Wedge says, tone worried, “he’s looking pretty out of it…”

Barret winces when he feels Biggs’ weight slacken completely, nodding at Jessie and Wedge to lead the way. 

“We should probably get going, then.”

Jessie and Wedge grin eagerly, already heading across the parking lot to their cars, and it takes Barret a good few steps to realize someone is missing. He sighs lengthily and turns around with a scowl.

“The hell you doin’ back there?”

Cloud only shrugs and walks over to a motorcycle parked not too far away. “Sorry, I’ve already got a ride.”

“Where the hell did you get a bike from?!”

Cloud hums and revs the engine, turning to look at Barret with raised eyebrows. “I sold your truck.”

“Wha-”

“It was a nice car, Barret. Shame you let it go!”

Then with a roar he’s peeling out of the parking lot, whipping around the bend of the building as Barret stares in open mouthed shock. It takes him a moment to realize what just happened, and when he does the rage that fills him is incandescent.

“Son of a bitch!”

---

Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie end up staying. 

It’s almost startling, how they fill up every space like they’ve never been anywhere else. Bundling their cars along the path and pouring from the doors to greet Tifa and Marlene. They’re quick to pull up tents and set up bags, divvying chores around camp with nothing but the barest minimum of playful complaints. 

By the end of the week it’s like camp has never been solemn and quiet, only broken occasionally by good cheer. Because now it’s wild laughter and at least one conversation going at all times, an energetic atmosphere that has Tifa letting the rest of her tension go and Marlene jumping around in the mornings, play fighting with Biggs and watching Jessie build her tools with burning curiosity, helping Wedge to cook and bonding with him over the animals in her picture books.

Jessie helps Barret with his arm, too, in an unexpected turn of events that has Barret almost wanting to cry, Marlene squealing with excitement beside him. Apparently, her and Biggs are both good enough with electronics to attach an advanced prosthetic, and capable enough to go out on their own one quiet night to find him a working one.

It’s a metal arm instead of a gun, but Barret couldn’t care less. They’d risked life and limb invading a rundown facility to bring it to him, and the level of devotion and care they put into removing the old painful pieces and putting in the new ones is enough to make him love them.

And Gaia, he really does love them all. Wedge with his faithful optimism and Biggs with his rough edged compassion and easy going nature. Jessie with her giggling mischief and boundless support for others. His family.

They stay a long time. They stay months. And it’s them that stay behind when Barret goes out with Tifa to find a home. Them that watch Marlene and take care of camp in his absence and them that help the group move into the house Barret finally finds, just at winter’s cusp.

When they all spill into every crook and cranny of their new building, claiming rooms as Tifa carries Marlene inside and Barret eagerly stocks the kitchen, he can’t help thinking that this time, things are really looking up for them.

This time, things have changed.

---

Their new home is a two story building. Solid and sturdy and located deep in the forest, with only a winding trail to lead them out. It’s what will keep them safe from the Mobs, Barret knows, but everybody takes to the clearing and the surrounding forest with especial interest.

Tifa takes up practicing her fighting out back. She sets up a punching bag in the basement but she hardly uses it, preferring to move under the light of the sun as she trains. It’s quite the spectacle. An easygoing, zen-like atmosphere that brings a comfortable blanket of warmth over the winter mornings.

Marlene especially loves Tifa’s practice sessions, and it’s one of the only ways Barret can get her to wake up on time now. She adores watching Tifa flow through her moves, and it soon becomes routine for her to sit outside and observe, wide eyed with awe and filled to brimming with questions. 

Tifa answers them all patiently, laughing along as she practically dances across their lawn, and sometimes Barret will sit too, just to enjoy the peace.

“You can practice as well, you know,” she tells him one day, brow furrowed in concentration as she drops to hold a particularly difficult position.

“What would I have to practice?”

“Daddy doesn’t know how to fight!”

Barret scoffs with offense. “I know plenty.”

Tifa laughs, shifting like water to pull up her leg and punch viciously at the air. “For your arm or your shooting! Maybe you could even practice wrestling.”

“Wrestling, huh?” he chuckles. 

She snorts. “You’ve got the build for it.”

“Suppose I do.”

“Everybody else has joined me before. Wedge has an exercise routine that he works through out here when he’s feeling confident, although I think he still mostly does it in the basement. Jessie fiddles with her bombs sometimes, but most of the time she’ll let me teach her some moves.”

“You offering lessons?”

“Only to those who want them. Biggs occasionally will, but he primarily comes out here to play with Marlene.”

“We’re reading Madeline! I almost know aaalll the words.”

“Is that so?”

“Uh-huh! Uncle Biggs says I’m the smartest little girl he’s ever met ever.”

“Well, of course he did. My angel could run the whole universe if she wanted to.”

Marlene giggles and blushes, scooching closer for a sideways hug as the conversation fades. The only sounds for a time are birds chirping and leaves rustling, Tifa’s breaths punching from the tight coil of her stomach as she moves, sweat glistening in the sun.

“I’m only saying…” she breathes after a time, “that you could get out of the house more.”

“This an intervention?”

“You’ve been a bit of a shut in lately, Barret. We’re all worried.”

It’s that feeling, the feeling of being worried about - of having people around to care what he does and how he acts - that pushes Barret to take up practicing as well. It’s melee fighting, mostly, and physical therapy with his new arm. Working over the throbbing aches in the muscle around the scarring that had gotten fried for months with small shocks.

By the middle of winter, Barret is thoroughly exhausted and pleased in a way he hasn’t been for years, at ease with his body and with his family. Spending time with Marlene in the comfort of knowing they’re safe and that she’s cared for - that she’ll be cared for no matter what happens. 

So winter passes without trouble. Soft and warm, despite the fall of snow, in the thick of his family and the feeling of being loved.

---

Springtime rolls around not with a bang but with a whimper. Sliding into their lives on cool breezes and bright, blooming flowers. Falling in on the roll of words and strange circumstances. Endless food supplies and restocked medicines and a new picture book appearing in Marlene’s hands that Barret’s swears he’s never seen before in his life.

He hears about Cloud before he sees him.

It happens first when he’s in the kitchen. The fruit bowl is full through no action of anybody in the house. Filled mysteriously for what has to be the fifth time that season, and finally Barret can’t take it anymore. So when Tifa passes through the room he takes the opportunity for what it is.

“Hey, Tifa!” He calls to get her attention, “we were out of pears two days ago, right?”

She stops and brushes the bangs from her eyes with a fond smile. “Oh yeah, Cloud brought some back after I told him we were out.”

Cloud? When the hell had Cloud come around?

How did he even find them?

“Why were you talkin’ with that thief? You know what he did, right?” Barret can count on one hand the amount of times Cloud has betrayed him, but it’s still too many.

Unfortunately, Tifa doesn’t seem to think so. “He isn’t doing any harm, Barret.” She rolls her eyes at his scowl. “It was just some supplies.”

“Did you pay him for them?” If Cloud has asked for a single cent off of Tifa, Barret’s going to put him so far underground he won’t ever see the light of day again.

“No, Barret,” she huffs, crossing her arms, “I didn’t even ask for them. Now leave Cloud alone.”

“If he wanted to be a damn decent person, the least he could do is be less of a coward about it and show his damn face!”

“If you want him to stay, you’re going to have to ask him yourself. I’ve already tried.”

She walks away after that, not at all fazed by Barret’s steaming indignation as he grinds into the empty air, “I don’t want him to stay!” 

He doesn’t.

Nobody answers.

Two days later, it’s Marlene who mentions him. She’s got another pretty coloring book and a new set of crayons, and Barret forgets for a moment about the whole fiasco until he asks her where she got them.

“Cloud gave them to me!” she exclaims excitedly, pulling open the pages to wave a tiny, shittily drawn pencil flower in his face.

“The hell is that?”

“A flower. Cloud drew it! We drew together!”

“You drew together?! When was this? How long did he stay?”

And how the hell hadn’t he noticed?

Marlene puffs up at the question, thinking long and hard before nodding decisively and saying, “Super long! It was like...an hour.”

“A whole hour? And this was all he drew? Baby, you got robbed.”

It takes an effort to remain lighthearted in the face of this intrusion, but Tifa’s right about nobody getting hurt, and Barret is loathe to see the smile fade from his little girl’s face.

“I told you he was family, Daddy.”

“Yeah…yeah, you did.”

Family doesn’t leave each other behind, though. And Cloud’s left them all twice now.

Unfortunately, the little snippets of conversation about Cloud don’t end there. First it’s Tifa and Marlene and then it’s crutches for Biggs and painkillers when Barret’s arm starts acting up, despite the fact that he’d never told a soul. Jessie rambles praises about Cloud’s skill out on missions and Wedge offers shy assertions of what Cloud is like as a friend.

It isn’t a lot. Doesn’t permeate their home or destroy the peace. Yet it still drives Barret mad. The entire team has seen or interacted with Cloud since he left. Everybody has spent time with him or talked to him in some small capacity.

Everybody but Barret.

“He’s got a pretty red scarf now,” Marlene tells him one day, as they’re out picking flowers for the dinner table, “and his clothes are all blue. I liked him better in black.” She makes a face and Barret can’t help but laugh, though there’s a weight settling in his gut that feels a lot like dissatisfaction.

“Well, maybe the next time I see him I’ll tell him he looks like a fool.”

“No!” she giggles, “you’ll make him sad!”

“If he can’t handle a little honest criticism, then maybe he deserves to be sad. Hell, his ego could probably use the reality check.”

Marlene hums. “What’s an ego?”

“It means you...well, having a big ego means that you think you’re better than everybody else. It makes you look down on other people and feel like you’re the most important.”

“Oh…” Marlene seems to mull this over for a moment, and Barret busies himself with finding the prettiest damn flowers in the clearing as he waits. Until finally she hums, biting her lip and toying with the ripped edges of the flower stems clumped in her fist. “I don’t think he’s like that, Daddy. I think he just wants to be liked.”

Barret snorts in disbelief. “Yeah, well he’s got a funny way of showing it.”

Marlene thinks for another second as she pulls up more flowers. “I like him,” she eventually says, small and uncertain, and Barret sighs.

“I do too,” he tells her, and the words feel too right on his tongue to be a lie, but he convinces himself of it anyway, “now let’s finish this up before everybody eats without us.”

The day ends on a peaceful note, with Marlene forgetting about the conservation and Barret pushing it to the back of his mind, but every so often the little things will bring it forward again. Small comments and throwaway lines. The house slowly filling with the presence of not six people, like he’d expected, but seven.

Except their seventh member isn’t there. And every day his presence lingers like a shadow instead of a light, Barret finds himself growing unhappier.

He doesn’t like the kid, but hell, he’d certainly appreciate having him around.

---

It’s a woman’s scream that changes things again. A woman’s scream that turns the world around, heard high and frightened over the boughs of the trees when Barret is out on patrol with Tifa. 

It’s the close vicinity to their home as well as the sheer terror in her voice that makes Barret come running, and he only shares a brief look with Tifa before they’re both tearing through the trees. Racing like a fire is licking at their heels as they burst abruptly through the treeline and come stumbling out into a clearing filled with infected.

Barret manages to skid to a halt nearer the trees, but Tifa flies a good few feet further before she tucks and rolls amidst the thick field of flowers and comes to a smooth stop. 

It’s the high, panicked shouts that has them both looking up to see a girl - large green eyes and soft brown ringlets - standing high on the peak of a boulder. She’s surrounded on all sides by a horde of infuriated infected, carrying a basket full of flowers and waving a staff at them with violent intent.

“Stay- Stay back!” She shuffles backwards and gasps when her foot slips, rocks crumbling beneath her weight. Within seconds Tifa is launching over to her, kicking the nearest infected in the head with such force it’s sent flying backwards.

“Don’t move!” she calls up to the girl, garnering her wide eyed attention, “stay right there and we’ll take care of this, okay?”

Barret nods and comes forward, pulling out his handgun to fire an ear splitting round into one that’s managed to crawl halfway up the boulder. It falls and crushes a good few of it’s friends, and the girl’s mouth quickly turns to an ‘o’ of awe as she watches Tifa punch another one straight to the ground.

“We got this taken care of,” he says, taking out a good ten more before reloading with rapid efficiency. 

Tifa’s a whirlwind of spins and kicks as she tears through the center of the horde, stopping at the base of the boulder for only a second to look up at the girl again, panting and brushing the hair from her eyes as she smiles softly. “You just worry about not fallin’ down, okay?” she says, voice warm.

“Okay…” the girl sighs dreamily, standing her staff upright and leaning on it to peer over the edge at Tifa, “my name’s Aerith.”

“Oh! Uh...nice to meet ya, Aerith. I’m Tifa and that’s Barret.”

Barret growls and shoots down another dozen, glowering at Tifa’s back. “Hey! Fight now, chat later, Prince Charming.”

“Right!” She high kicks an infected clean through the jaw and doesn’t even pause as she whirls around and drives her heel into another. “On it.”

Barret has to reload another time as Tifa covers herself, and she wastes no time in reducing the rest of the infected to a downed pile of bodies. He pops off the last remaining stragglers and heads over, holding out a hand to first grab Aerith’s basket and lower it to the ground. Then he raises his arm so Aerith can brace herself against him and slide down. 

“You’re going to be just fine,” he soothes as Tifa grabs her around the waist and lowers her the rest of the way, “barely a scratch on you.”

“Oh, I can take care of myself,” she sniffs, hefting her staff over her shoulder as she leans down to pick up her basket, “but the first twenty drained my mana quite unexpectedly. Usually I’ve got better stamina.”

“You’re a conjurer?” Barret asks, silently offering to take the basket from her as Tifa helps her across the pile of bodies. She hands it to him and nods with a sharp mhm!

“I’ve been using magic since I was a little girl. There are a lot of spellcasters now who’ve run dry, but the planet provides all the energy I need.”

“She does wonders for us everyday,” Barret agrees, cradling her flower basket gingerly. They cross the field slowly, with Aerith at first having trouble stumbling over the infected and later pausing to pick flowers at any given moment. 

“Why are you all the way out here, anyway?” Tifa asks her, bending down to pick some as well. She hands them to Aerith with a shy smile and Aerith plucks them from her fingers as if they’re made of spun gold.

“This area has the best flowers.” Aerith hums and tucks Tifa’s choice away behind her ear, holding the other out to Barret.

He chuckles and accepts it gracefully, doing the same with rising amusement as he watches the blush on Tifa’s face darken. 

“I’m- I’m sorry your spot got ruined,” she manages after a time, as they all come to a halt at the treeline, “we have another...another field full of flowers- closer to home.”

“You live around here?” Aerith asks, and Barret only feels the faintest hint of suspicion at the question, considering how sweetly it was asked and how strange the circumstances are. He doubts this girl has any ill will toward them.

“Yeah,” he says, “down by the river. It’s a bit of a clearing in the trees. Far enough away from the roads so we don’t run into trouble. We’ve got a few others there as well.”

Aerith’s smile turns painfully reminiscent, cheerful eyes going vacant with a painful memory. “I used to have a home like that,” she says lowly, looking down at her staff to play her fingers over the rough edges, “it was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen. Ringed in gardens and covered in nature’s love; the flowers went on for miles in every direction.”

“I’m sure your new home is just as lovely.”

“Oh, I don’t have a home anymore.”

Tifa hesitates, glancing over at Barret in question, and he nods. His heart already aches with Aerith’s solemnity, and he wishes for nothing more than to help her. 

“Would you like to come have dinner with us?” Tifa asks softly, grabbing Aerith lightly by the elbow. Her red eyes are tender as she catches Aerith’s own brilliant green, and she smiles with nothing but sweet compassion. “We’d love to have you.”

“It ain’t no nature’s lover, but it looks mighty fine, if I do say so myself,” Barret adds in. His heart lightens when he hears Aerith laugh, and they share a triumphant look over her head as Aerith straightens and pulls Tifa closer, jutting her chin in Barret’s direction.

“Lead the way, then. I’d love to see your home.”

So Barret leads the way. 

The conversation as they walk is mellow, not fraught with anything but the settle of indolent satisfaction, and they bask in each other’s company as they gather flowers on the path home.

Aerith beams when she sees their house, utterly delighted. She enters with awe and she sits at their table and she eats with enthusiasm, sharing stories with Barret’s family and never once finding fault in them. Afterward, flowers spread across the house throughout the evening’s waning glow. As she and Marlene work to place the brightly colored plants on every windowsill, giggling and talking about nature and magic and the flow of the universe, full and sated and happy.

Then it turns dark and the night falls too suddenly, so Barret offers for her to stay the night. She agrees to a chorus of cheers, Jessie snorting and throwing an arm around her shoulder as Biggs and Wedge fight to show off her room.

Barret watches it all happen from the kitchen, lingering by the sink to dry dishes as Tifa washes them.

“Do you think she’ll stay?” Tifa asks, in the quiet of the night with the gentle lull of voices not too far away.

Barret chuckles. “Oh yeah, she’ll stay.”

One night staying over turns to one more day turns to just one more night. On and on until they find that Aerith has, indeed, never left. 

And she never does, brightening their world that much more with her radiance.

---

There are some things about his family that Barret can’t fix. Things like Wedge’s insecurity and Tifa’s shy anxiety - Aerith’s stubborn independence and Jessie’s proactive dynamo and Biggs’s choice to put everybody else before himself. Things that tear them up inside and wring them out. Things that sometimes make them have bad days and good days. 

Things that sometimes bring them to him, no matter how much he knows and they know that he can’t do a thing about it.

“My father was in a coma,” Jessie tells him one day, completely out of the blue. She’s tinkering with a grenade and eyeing blueprints, body open and at ease, but there’s a tension in her shoulders, tongue peaking out between her teeth. “It was because of the mako in Shinra buildings. He’s been like that for years, he- was like that for years.”

“I’m sorry, Jessie.”

“Yeah? You’ve always hated Shinra. You probably would have hated my father for working for them.”

“That’s not true. I trusted them, too, and my home was destroyed because of my mistake,” he says softly, taking off his sunglasses to meet her eyes. She blinks over at him and he can see the jump in her shoulders, but when she looks back down at her work again she forces a smile.

“Guess we both got taken in by the big shiny slogan, huh?”

“Yeah.” It isn’t enough, Barret knows. It will never be enough. So he lets the silence fall as they work, and Jessie opens up again only a few minutes later.

“My mother used to cook these big meals, and she’d always leave the light on in case I ever returned home, but...I rarely did.” She pauses and lets a smaller, more solemn smile settle on her lips, and despite the fact that it’s that much sadder, Barret’s relieved to see that it’s a genuine display. 

“Wedge would have loved her cooking,” Jessie says with a chuckle, “you all probably would. Bunch of starved barbarians.”

Barret snorts out a laugh. “You can say that again.”

Another silence descends, thick with a mourning Barret doesn’t think Jessie’s let herself feel for a moment since this started, and he relaxes into a solid and supportive presence at her side; unmoving.

“I think I’d have liked to meet your mother,” he offers into the quiet, and Jessie smiles.

“Yeah, she’d have liked to meet you, too.”

Jessie...Jessie speaks. But nobody reacts the same to trauma and grief, and the others don’t speak so much as let it sink into their lives.

Wedge holds himself together differently than the rest. Always worried and endlessly kind, like a nerve exposed to the cruelty of the world. He’s stronger than most of them, Barret knows. He’s more powerful than he ever seems to realize. Yet there is nothing Barret can say to help him - no words that can break the cycle Wedge has trapped himself in - so Barret doesn’t use words. 

He uses action.

Every second of every day. Every time he sees Wedge succeed and power through. Every time he sees him fail and sink into depression. Every time Wedge does anything emotional or physical or just plain simple, Barret is there for him. With honest praise and constant check-ups, showing the man that he is loved and that he has friends.

It warms Barret when he sees the others doing the same, supporting Wedge through his trials and lifting him further when he flies - never giving up on him. 

There’s a stream of humor throughout as well. Biggs and Jessie’s understanding and respect masked as playful jabs. Laughter and claps on the shoulder and sideways hugs; Biggs using Wedge’s shoulder to walk as he rambles in his ear and Jessie making his favorite foods after a hard mission; Tifa sharing stories of her childhood with Wedge so he can do the same and Marlene drawing him pictures of flowers and hearts and heroic deeds. Even Aerith, new to their family and still finding where she fits, takes Wedge out with her to collect flowers and occasionally raid old homes for food. Barret doesn’t know what they talk about, but they both always come back looking lighter than when they’d left.

The team comes together with their own faults and their own troubles like broken glass, but they don’t scratch and they don’t break, and Barret has never been more proud to call these people his family.

Barret finds himself the closest with Tifa, though. Even as he settles contentedly into the swirling, chaotically unique lives of the people around him.

Tifa carries the world on her shoulders. Always tense and always angry; rage simmering beneath the surface of calm.

Barret gets that - he understands it.

Tifa’s close with everybody in their growing family - especially Aerith, once she pops into their lives -  but she spends the most time with Barret. It was them before anybody else, after all. Taking care of Marlene and fighting together. It had been Tifa’s heart of gold that had encouraged him to open his life to her and let her in. It had been her steady presence that had allowed him to let in others.

Barret loves this woman with his everything, almost as much as he loves Marlene.

So it hurts when one day, after a failed mission, skin littered in burns and cuts and fists clenched with a rage she could never safely release, she looks at him as if she’s failed him, too. As if she’s failed the world.

“I’m sorry, Barret,” she chokes out, “I’m-”

He catches her hand in his own and soothes the tension, tugging her forward until she’s pressed against his chest. When she doesn’t pull away he wraps his arms around her, cradling her as gently as he can, and sinks his fingers into her hair.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I do,” she cries, shoulders heaving and body quaking, and he gentles her with small movements, rubbing his thumb in light circles and shushing her softly. “I do, I’ve failed- so many people.”

“Not me,” he assures her, “never me. And never them.”

“We needed that-”

“Not at much as we need you. Never as much as we need you.”

It won’t fix anything. It never fixes anything. But he holds her as she cries and he lets her know she has a family, and he hopes it’s enough.

It was enough for him.

---

Marlene is able to make him crowns of real flowers, now that they have a true home. They’re picked wild from the forest every day, and when spring rolls into summer she finds daisies and leaves and little patches of thimbleweed to weave all kinds of accessories.

It’s a decent way to occupy her time, and Barret will often make crowns with her on the back porch when can. Sometimes they’ll watch Tifa practice when they do so. Sometimes they even get to see Biggs competing with Jessie or Aerith casting her spells. Most of the time, they try to do it around midday, when everybody is inside and it’s just the two of them, cheerful conversations at their back and the stretch of sunlit forest before them.

“Does the planet make flowers because they’re meant to be crowns?” Marlene asks on a particularly sunny day. It’s distracted and dim - a passing curiosity - but Barret answers anyway.

“The planet makes flowers because they help the world go round,” he tells her, “ and because they look beautiful.”

“She must work very hard.”

Barret chuckles and holds out his crown for her, waiting until she’s dipped her head with a beaming smile to put it on her.

“Yeah, angel,” he says eventually, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears. He lifts her chin to kiss her on the forehead and hums. “But it’s worth it to create such beauty in the world every day.”

“Does she ever get a break?” Marlene asks, eyes wide with worry as she peers up at him.

“Well, I’m sure she doesn’t see what she’s doing as work, baby. She takes care of us because she loves us, and because the world is hers.”

“Oh,” Marlene whispers, and he frowns in confusion as she turns her head to study her crown, fiddling with the small petals embedded throughout.

“What’s this about, baby?”

“Hm, nothing!” She gives him a big smile, full of a softness and an understanding he’s never seen in her eyes before today. She stands and rises on her toes to lift her crown to his head, then, sincere and sweet as honey, “I just think you’re a lot like the planet, Daddy.”

He blinks at her when she pats him on the head, crushing a stray few flowers by accident, before whirling around with a twirl of her pretty pink dress to head back inside. The door closes behind her with a thud, and Barret blinks again.

“‘Like the planet’, huh? Well shit,” he sighs, “least I don’t got mako in my veins.”

---

When Barret finally sees Cloud again, it’s almost a full year after they’d last spoken, and with only short anecdotes to let Barret know how the kid’s been doing in the interim, it’s no surprise that he almost doesn’t recognize Cloud when he lays eyes on him. Though when he does, he can’t say he’s overjoyed.

The first thing he notices is that Cloud’s got on the red scarf Marlene had mentioned, though it’s tattered and torn now, curling behind him in the light winds as he stands amidst the massacre of the infected all around him. It’s stark against the vivid blue of his outfit, but the browns in his boots and the leather straps criss crossing his chest tone the whole thing down a notch.

It’s still enough to make Barret squint in disbelief.

“The hell are you doin’ up here, merc?” he snaps, drawing the blonde’s attention to him in sharp assessment. The hard edges of Cloud’s expression fall away when he catches sight of Barret, though, eyes widening for a second in surprise before he’s recovering and pulling his mask back into place. 

Barret sighs. “Why are you so near to the city? Ya got a job in that hellhole? ‘Cause I can tell you right now that no amount of gil is worth it.”

Cloud blinks at him. “That’s really none of your business.”

“It is my business when I’ve got five people back at home worried about your hard boiled ass,” Barret growls, hackles rising at the tone.

Cloud only gives him a condescending once over, turning away in clear dismissal. “Then maybe you should worry less about others and more about yourself.”

Barret’s blood boils. “The hell did you say to me?!”

“Your sacrifice is award worthy, but nobody’s forcing you to bask in my presence. Leave if it bothers you.”

“What has gotten into you?”

“Exactly what you expected of a former SOLDIER, or don’t you remember?”

Barret frowns at that, gritting his teeth against a cutting response as he lets the merc sit on the words he’d just said. There’s a long silence, Cloud’s gaze flickering to Barret and then away, face still stoically neutral. He wavers for a split second, hand tightening around his sword, then swallows.

“...they killed Zack.”

“What, the SOLDIER?”

“My friend.” It’s a startling rebuke, but it isn’t waspish or clipped at all. Cloud sounds almost empty, teetering on the edge of some unnamed emotion, and Barret has the feeling that he’ll never see the kid again if he happens to fall in the wrong damn direction.

Why do I care?

“Are they inside the city?” 

For Tifa. And the others.

“No,” Cloud’s voice cracks on the word, composure crumbling for a second as he struggles to regain control, “they left- they-” His voice breaks again and he falls silent. His shoulders rise and his gloves strain in a death grip around the hilt of his sword, but he doesn’t say another word.

“Were you going to kill them?” Barret asks, worried more for Cloud than the assholes that had almost murdered him in cold blood. And hell, okay, so maybe Barret does like the merc after all, but nobody has to know that except him.

“I was going to avenge him,” Cloud says, voice almost a whisper. He looks down and burrows into his scarf, shoulders up to his ears with what has to be agonizing tension, and Barret approaches with slow steps as the kid begins to tremble.

“How were you going to do that?”

“By- I don’t know- I wanted to…” he swallows roughly, closing his eyes and wrapping both hands around the hilt of his sword. He brings it closer to his chest in the parody of a hug and casts a sideways glance at Barret again. His gaze is split open now, emotions a roiling mass of pain and misery, and he curls his entire body inward as if to protect himself from the world.

Barret’s heart pangs, throat closing in something like grief for a man he doesn’t even know, and watches as the strongest person he’s ever met crumples further with every second he’s left standing alone.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting justice,” Barret tells him, stopping a short distance away, “You must have loved him a lot.”

Cloud nods, short and stilted, bringing the sword even closer as he speaks. “This was his,” he whispers, “it’s not- it’s not mine. I don’t know if I could...if I could kill them- with it.”

He says it like he’s ashamed, and Barret wants to tell him he doesn’t have to be - wants to say a dozen things he never could.

“He was a good man?” Barret asks in place of it all, “is that why?”

“Yeah.” Cloud’s voice cracks on the well of tears this time around, and he hisses as he runs a frustrated wrist over his cheeks, the smooth brown texture of his gloves only serving to smear it further across his face until he hides it in the crook of his arm for a moment, breaths short and panicked.

There’s a strong urge to pull Cloud into his arms as he watches the kid collapse in on himself, but he knows that wouldn't be a good idea. So Barret doesn’t move to touch Cloud at all, merely sliding forward a bit more on small steps. Settling on the ground as close as he dares in a spot not covered in dead bodies or blood.

“Tell me about him.”

The smile Cloud gives him is a bitter thing. “You sure you want to hear about a Shinra lapdog?”

“I’m sure I want to hear about your friend and a good man. Now sit, merc. I’d say you’re makin’ my back ache having to look up at you, but even sitting down, that doesn’t seem to be a problem.”

Cloud huffs out a laugh and wipes at his face again, and Barret studiously does not notice the complete break in facade as he slowly lowers himself to the ground.

There’s a long silence between them before Cloud starts to speak, but Barret is patient. When Cloud does speak, it's like an outpouring of information. Emotions detached in an obvious effort to remain impartial - even judgmental - and Barret wonders if the kid has had anybody to talk to about this since it happened.

He doubts it.

Asking Cloud to come home now would only push him further away, though, so Barret lets him speak and he lets him leave.

And Barret waits.

---

Cloud’s appearances around the house become more frequent, after that. They occur as often when Barret is around as when he isn’t, and Barret finds a sense of contentment in the way their family almost becomes whole every time. Even though he can see Tifa aching and Aerith slumping every time the kid leaves - can see Marlene sometimes sitting high on the rooftop to watch for his bike. 

Cloud’s absence always makes Jessie huffy. Always engenders a sad understanding in Biggs’s eyes, like he knows why Cloud does it and doesn’t like it. Wedge is always the only one that’s happy when Cloud leaves, merely pleased to have been able to spend time with him at all.

Barret watches their discontent grow with every passing day. Weeks turning to months turning to a whole year of this back and forth; one piece of their perfect puzzle always missing.

But Cloud gets better with every passing day the team gets worse. He’s recovering, Barret notices, in agonizingly short intervals. Careful, prodding steps instead of eager leaps, but it’s enough. And Barret watches the ratty red scarf and glaring blue outfit turn into another black ensemble. A high necked zip up shirt and a smooth leather shoulder pad. Rich black gloves and a well tailored sleeve. He watches as the battered, stumbling, sleep deprived, bruise eyed look becomes more stable and more healthy - more whole - and he feels proud.

The new look is strange, though, Barret can admit. When he asks Cloud about it he gets a sarcastic evasion, but when he asks Aerith she says he’s changed jobs.

“He does deliveries now,” she sings happily, “we’ve asked him to carry quite a few things to the nearest Camp.”

“So he’s quit being a merc?”

“No, he still does that too sometimes.”

Barret sighs. “What a bastard.”

But it means the kid is finally getting his shit together, so Barret doesn’t feel too bad.

The rest of the team starts to find a rhythm to their lives as well. There’s cooking and camaraderie and a simple domesticism, yet there’s also supply runs and near constant training. A restless energy that’s broken one day when Cloud makes his next visit.

It’s when they’re all in the house together for once, and he steps through the front door like he owns the damn place, offering them positions in a guild.

“They’ve got jobs,” he says, “gathering supplies for Camps and fighting off Clusters as charity work, all unpaid and free for those who need it. There’s even some more...difficult missions that involve espionage and- and taking down big Syndicates.”

“Shinra?” Barret’s the one to ask as everybody holds their breath behind him, and when Cloud nods in answer the tension in the room snaps with a rush of vindictive glee.

“Hell, yeah!” Jessie whoops, Biggs grinning beside her, and Barret notices Wedge looking just as pleased.

He can’t help but return the sentiment, laughing loudly. “Looks like they’re getting a whole host of new members!”

“It’s mostly going to be helping people, Barret,” Cloud reminds him, and Tifa nods.

“Let’s not forget the main objective here.”

“Oh, I won’t. This is just what we need, trust me.”

Cloud nods sharply. “Good, then I’ll deliver the message.”

Barret follows him out of the house and leaves the others behind, a question on the tip of his tongue that he can’t shake. Until Cloud sits on his bike, turning to say goodbye, and Barret asks it before he can convince himself otherwise. 

“You workin’ for them too, merc?” 

Cloud hesitates on the throttle, lips pursing for a second in thought. “I’m not a merc anymore,” he finally says, and that’s all the answer Barret needs.

“You’ve got a place here, Cloud. If you ever need it or want it.”

“...you’ve already got...something here.”

“Not without you we don’t. It’s killing Tifa, you not being here. And everybody else is miserable too.”

“And what-” he blushes and shifts, clearing his throat uncomfortably, “what about you?”

Under normal circumstances, Barret would be rolling his eyes at being forced to say it, but there’s something about the way it’s asked that makes him think Cloud hasn't been sticking around for one simple reason. It’s discomfiting in a number of ways - makes Barret feel like the biggest fool in the world - but he pushes that aside in favor of giving the kid a smile. An honest, caring smile that has him swallowing thickly and looking away.

“I want you here too, Cloud. We all want you here. You’re family and we miss you, okay?” Barret huffs and crosses his arms. “So don’t keep us waiting, you hear? We’ve waited long enough.”

Too damn long, if you ask Barret.

“Yeah, I’m...uh. I’ll have to think about it.”

Barret snorts. “‘Course you will.”

Cloud’s lips twitch with a smile, and he revs the engine loud enough to make Barret jump and scowl viciously. “I’m a hot commodity, Barret. I’ve got a lot of offers!”

“Offers, my ass! You ain’t a damn prostitute.”

Cloud, the complete and utter bastard, doesn’t even sate Barret’s curiosity with a response. before he’s leaving just as quickly as he’d come.

“Fucking smartass.”

---

In the end, their family comes together in a number of ways. Pieces Barret hadn’t even known were missing slotting into place like they were always meant to be there. 

Cloud comes home eventually, at the end of another long year, and during that time Barret finds a new purpose in a team dedicated to helping people. They fight a lot more now - entering dangerous situations and watching each other's backs. Yet he makes sure to always spend just as much time - if not more - at home with his little girl. 

Cloud gets on with Aerith and Tifa like oil on fire, and the trio quickly becomes inseparable. Likewise, Biggs, Jessie and Wedge seem to form an unbreakable bond as well, though the two groups mesh together whenever they can. Hanging out and laughing and lazing the days away just as much as they fight side by side and conquer any adversity that gets in their way.

Barret grows closer with all of them in ways he’d ever thought he could, and as the years pass their bonds only grow stronger. They take care of each other like a family should. Save each other like a family should.

And in the midst of an apocalypse, misery at the door and the world gone to ruin, Barret finds a haven in the people he’s gathered around him. Good people, he thinks, that he could never let go.

[ketodietplan2020]

21 Delicious and Healthy Keto Snacks

Many popular snack foods have too many carbs to easily fit into a keto diet plan. This can be particularly frustrating when you’re trying to ward off that between-meal hunger.

If you’ve found yourself in this nutritional predicament, don’t worry.

There are many low-carb snack options that are just as healthy as they are delicious.

This article outlines 21 keto-friendly snacks to include in your next meal plan.

1. Mini frittatas

Mini frittatas, or egg muffins, are a great keto-friendly snack that’s easy to prepare and fully customizable.

All you need to get started is:

a dozen eggs

standard 12-cup muffin pan

mixing bowl

an oven

To begin, beat the eggs in a bowl and season with a little salt and pepper.

Distribute the egg mixture evenly between each muffin cup and add your preferred low-carb ingredients like:

spinach

mushrooms

tomatoes

cheese

Bake at 350°F (180°C) for about 15–20 minutes, or until set.

Exact nutrition information varies depending on what you add to your recipe. One frittata (170 grams) may provide up to 320 calories, 14 grams of protein, and 21 grams of fat.

Store them in the refrigerator so you can easily grab a couple on your way out, or bake a few batches and freeze them for later.

2. Caprese salad skewers

Caprese salad is a classic Italian favorite. When you assemble the ingredients on skewers, it turns into a great portable snack.

Preparing it is as easy as alternating pieces of fresh mozzarella cheese, basil leaves, and cherry tomatoes onto skewers. Eat it plain or mix a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dipping.

A 3.5-ounce serving (100 grams) of Caprese salad may provide about 139 calories, 7 grams of protein, and 11 grams of fat — not including dipping sauce.

3. Caesar salad bites

If you’re a fan of Caesar salad, you’ll love these mini Caesar salad bites. You can use romaine lettuce if you want to keep it classic, but a heartier type of green like kale holds up better if you’re not planning to eat them right away.

Make individual cups to hold the salad by heating tablespoon-sized portions of grated Parmesan cheese on a parchment-lined baking pan. Bake until the cheese has melted and is starting to brown.

Let the melted cheese portions cool slightly before placing each over the bottom side of a mini muffin pan, lightly pressing the cheese into the shape of the muffin cups. Let them cool completely, and they’ll turn into small, edible, crispy cups.

Toss the greens with your favorite dressing and portion into each Parmesan cup. In lieu of croutons, top with roasted pumpkin seeds or pistachios for extra crunch. For more protein, add chopped chicken or smoked salmon.

4. Cajun style shrimp and bell pepper kebabs

Shrimp are a great source of heart-healthy omega-3 fats. They’re also lower in mercury than other types of seafood, making them a healthy and keto-friendly snack option.

First, use a Cajun style dry rub on the shrimp. Place the seasoned shrimp on skewers, alternating with thick slices of fresh bell pepper.

Bake or grill the kebabs until the shrimp is fully cooked and the peppers are between crisp and tender. Serve right away, or store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to eat.

5. Veggie sticks with nut butter

Pairing fresh or lightly cooked vegetables with your favorite nut butter is one of the simplest, nutrient rich snacks you can make.

Nuts are loaded with heart healthy fats. Research suggests that regularly eating nuts may support blood sugar management and weight loss.

A 2-tablespoon (32-gram) serving of peanut butter, without added oil, typically packs around 16 grams of fat. Dip raw carrots and celery in almond butter or try lightly steamed or grilled broccoli drizzled with peanut butter.

If you’re not making your own nut butter, be sure to check the label of the type you purchase, as some recipes contain added sugar. The best and healthiest nut butters only require one ingredient — nuts.

6. Salmon salad celery boats

Salmon is not only a good source of omega-3 fats and protein but also vitamin D, a nutrient many people don’t get enough of .

A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of canned salmon provides over half of the daily value (DV) for vitamin D, and it can quickly be made into a salad that suits a keto diet .

Combine cooked salmon and mayonnaise to make a simple, keto-friendly salad. You can customize the recipe by adding fresh herbs, spices, garlic, or lemon.

Serve the salmon salad stuffed into fresh celery stalks for an extra nutrient boost and satisfying crunch.

7. Keto sushi rolls

Keto sushi rolls are excellent nutrient rich snacks that come together in as little as 15 minutes. All you need is a pack of nori seaweed sheets and some uniformly chopped veggies and fish to use for filling.

You can use raw, sushi grade fish, but it’s not necessary. Smoked fish or no fish at all — plus lots of veggies like avocado, bell pepper, and cucumber — will work just as well.

To boost the fat content, you can add cream cheese or serve it with a spicy peanut sauce — just make sure it doesn’t contain added sweetener.

To assemble the sushi, simply lay out the nori and dampen the edges with a little water. Lay your filling on the nori sheet and roll it tightly. Slice it into bite sized pieces or eat it like a wrap.

8. Collard green sandwich wraps

Collard greens are loaded with essential nutrients, including:

folate

calcium

vitamins K, C, and A

What’s more, their large, hearty leaves lend themselves well to a low carb sandwich wrap.

After trimming the stems, place the collards in a pot of simmering water for 20 to 30 seconds. Remove them from the pot and place immediately into a bowl of ice water for a few seconds. Pat them dry with a clean towel and begin making your sandwich wraps.

Fill your wraps with items like:

fresh herbs

avocado

chicken salad

tuna salad

sliced turkey

roasted veggies

cream cheese

9. Avocado egg salad

Avocados are loaded with:

heart-healthy fats

fiber

vitamins

minerals

anti-inflammatory compounds

Some research even suggests they may promote healthy aging.

Using avocado as a substitute for mayonnaise in traditional egg salad is a great way to boost the nutritional content of this classic dish while still keeping your snack keto-compatible.

Combine a few diced, hardboiled eggs, mashed avocado, minced red onion, and a bit of salt and pepper.

Serve with:

lettuce wraps

celery sticks

thick slices of cucumber and radish

10. Veggie sticks with guacamole

Guacamole makes a great, portable, and healthy keto snack, as avocados are loaded with fat, fiber, and a hefty dose of essential nutrients. In fact, avocados provide 15 grams of fat and 24% of the DV of fiber per 3.5-cup (100-gram) serving.

To make guacamole, simply mash a ripe avocado and combine with lime juice, diced red onion, and salt and pepper. Fresh jalapeño makes an excellent addition, too.

If you’re not up for making your own, you can buy pre-made and individually packaged guacamole. Although guacamole is good to eat by itself, you can also use sweet bell peppers, red radishes, celery, or broccoli for dipping.

11. Bone broth

If you crave something light and warming, bone broth makes a perhaps unexpected but tasty snack option for keto dieters.

Unlike traditional broth, bone broths are cooked longer and typically contain more protein. Some commercially prepared bone broths boast up to 10 grams of protein per cup (240 mL).

Bone broths don’t typically provide much fat, but you can easily augment this by adding coconut oil, butter, or ghee.

You can make your own bone broth on the stove top or with a slow cooker or pressure cooker. Make a big batch and freeze it in individual servings that are easy to heat up when you crave a warm, comforting snack.

If you opt for a commercially prepared brand, be sure to check the ingredient label, as some of them harbor added sweeteners and are high in sodium.

12. Keto smoothies

If you follow a keto diet and thought smoothies would be forever off limits due to their typically high carb content, you’re in luck.

You can make keto-friendly smoothies using coconut, avocado, and nut butter as a base to boost fat content and provide a creamy texture.

Small amounts of low carb fruits, such as berries, lime, or lemon, may be used in a keto smoothie, but you should also include nutrient dense veggies like spinach, cucumber, kale, or jicama.

Other flavorful additions are:

cacao

cinnamon

vanilla extract

flavored protein powders

If you’re looking for something sweet, you can add a keto-approved sweetener like stevia or monk fruit.

13. Mixed nuts

Nuts are full of protein, fat, fiber, and plant compounds that offer a variety of health benefits. In fact, some research associates a higher intake of nuts with a reduced risk of heart disease and cancer-related death.

Just 1/4 cup (28 grams) of mixed nuts provides approximately 15 grams of fat, 6 grams of protein, and 2 grams of fiber .

You can buy pre-packaged mixed nuts or build your own mix using your favorites. If you go for the pre-made option, be sure to check the label for any added ingredients that don’t fit into your diet plan.

Almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, pistachios, walnuts, and pecans are good options for your own keto-friendly trail mix.

Other nutritious additions are:

sunflower seeds

hemp hearts

cacao nibs

coconut

14. Fermented vegetables

Fermented vegetables like pickles are a great keto snack option.

Research suggests that eating fermented foods that contain beneficial bacteria may promote healthy digestive function and reduce your risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Fermented vegetables can be purchased or made at home.

You can ferment almost any type of vegetable, including:

cabbage

cucumbers

carrots

cauliflower

beets

green beans

For added fat, pair your fermented veggie snack with herbed full-fat crème fraiche.

It’s important to note that pasteurized pickles or those made with vinegar don’t provide any live probiotics. This applies to most, if not all, commercially sold pickles.

15. Olives

Olives have long been praised for their rich supply of heart healthy fats, which is just one reason why they make a great keto snack.

Olives also contain vitamin E, fiber, and other health promoting plant compounds that may reduce inflammation and prevent chronic diseases like osteoporosis.

A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of olives provides roughly 145 calories, 15 grams of fat, and 4 grams of carbs — almost all of which come from fiber .

You can enjoy them plain or stuff them with feta or gorgonzola cheese to add some extra fat.

16. Fat bombs

“Fat bomb” is a term people on the keto diet coined to describe low carb, dessert-style energy bites that satisfy your sweet tooth.

Fat bombs are often made using coconut oil, nut butter, avocado, or cream cheese as the base. Other ingredients are added to create delicious flavor profiles.

Dark chocolate and peanut butter is a popular combination, but the possibilities are limitless.

You can purchase these delicious, portable snacks or make them at home.

17. Buffalo cauliflower bites

Try a healthy, vegetarian twist on classic buffalo wings by swapping the chicken for fiber rich cauliflower.

In addition to fiber, cauliflower contains vitamin C and other antioxidants that may reduce inflammation and boost your health.

To make these tasty “wings,” toss chopped cauliflower with your favorite buffalo sauce and melted butter. Roast in the oven for 20–25 minutes or use an air fryer.

Serve with carrot sticks and a side of ranch or blue cheese dressing.

18. Flax crackers with cheese

For many keto dieters, crackers are usually off the menu — but they don’t have to be. Ground flax seeds are loaded with fiber and omega-3 fats, and they make a great base for keto-friendly crackers .

Pair the crackers with sliced cheese, and you’ve got a healthy and delicious keto snack that requires very little preparation.

You can make flax crackers yourself or skip the baking process and buy a bag instead.

19. Coconut yogurt

Yogurt is a great source of probiotics, which may support healthy digestive function .

Coconut yogurt has been making waves as a popular dairy-free alternative to traditional yogurt, and some types are also suitable for a ketogenic diet.

20. Stuffed mushrooms

Mushrooms are low in carbs and provide important nutrients, including selenium, potassium, vitamin D, and several B vitamins .

For a tasty keto snack, try stuffing button mushroom caps with herbed cream cheese or ground sausage.

For a different twist, turn portobello mushroom caps into mini Margherita pizzas by stuffing them with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil before baking until tender and golden.

21. Meatball sliders

Traditional meatball sandwiches are high in carbs because of the bun. However, you can replace the bun with lettuce to make keto meatball sliders.

Mix your favorite ground meat with eggs, garlic, herbs, and Parmesan cheese, shape into balls, and bake. These keto-friendly meatballs can be eaten right away or frozen for later.

When you’re ready to dig in, place the meatballs in the lettuce “buns” for a high protein, low carb snack. For an extra dose of fat, serve them with a tomato-garlic aioli for dipping.

[gethealthystayhappy-blog1]

10 Keto-friendly recipe ideas

Starting a new diet can be difficult, and sticking to that diet can be even harder! A new diet means a lifestyle change. One major reason why people don’t stick to their diet is because they run out of ideas on what to cook

Well today I’m going to help by providing 10 Keto-friendly recipes that you can try out right now! Read more down bellow.

1) Keto Beef Stew

Let’s kick things off with this beautify beef stew, it’s sure to fill you up and keep you satisfied for the remainder of the day.

2) Garlic Butter Brazilian Steak

Juicy, tender steak with golden butter sauce to top it off. Need I say more?

3) Quick Frittata with Tomatoes and Cheese

A quick and easy dish that can be prepared in just a few minutes.

If you’re a fan of seafood, then you’re bound to love these next two dishes.

4) Blackened Salmon with Avocado Salsa

This mix of Salmon and Avocado is sure to stimulate those taste buds.

5) Buttered Cod in Skillet

Not a fan of codfish? Well that’s because you’ve never made it like this, make this and you’ll change your mind

6) Zucchini Pizza Boats

Okay, I’m not gonna lie, I’m not the biggest fan of Zucchini…but after seeing this, I’m willing to give it a shot.

7) Chicken Enchilada Bowl

This one’s my personal fave (just a tip, add more cheese and jalapeños, you’ll thank me latter)

8) Shrimp and Sausage Paleo Skillet Meal

We all know that shrimp goes well with anything, so there’s really not much to say about this one, just try it! (Unless of course you’re allergic to shrimp…in that case I would advise against trying this one)

9) Thai Chicken Lettuce Wrap

If you like Thai food then give this one a shot, fair warning though, it’s spicy.

10) Thai Beef Salad

And what better way is there to end it than with beef, hmm? That’s right there’s not!

Well I hope you’ve found this useful and informative, please feel free to comment down bellow and let me know what you think about these recipes.

If you’re STILL looking for some more recipes then consider clicking the link down bellow for a free custom Keto diet meal plan!

Grab your custom meal plan here

[deadmomjokes]

Adulting 101: Grocery Shopping, Smarter

I have roomed with way too many freshmen who lived on fries and takeout because they, per their own admission, had no clue how to buy groceries. And I know a bunch of people are probably in the same boat. So I’m going to take you through the issues I often had to help my tiny baby roomies with, and drop some extra tips on you that I’ve figured out while living away from home. Feel free to add your own!

PRODUCE BUYING (yes, you need to eat a plant every now and then)

Canned and frozen veggies are just as nutritious as fresh, sometimes moreso. Nutrient content degrades as the vegetable sits after picking, and if you live somewhere that your produce has long shipping times, it’s actually less nutritious than canned or frozen. In canned vegetables, look for the “low sodium” marker. Canned and frozen also last a million times longer than fresh, and are WAY cheaper. Buy the frozen broccoli and thank yourself later when you have Netflix money left over.

Pro tip: when using canned veggies, rinse them a few times. They now taste fresh, ready to cook or ready to eat straight. You’re welcome.

When shopping for canned fruit, pick ones that are packed in 100% juice, not syrup. That syrup not only makes things way less healthy, it makes it pretty slimy too. Plus the juice is nice in smoothies, if you choose to save it.

If you buy fresh, do so in quantities that look too small. Get what you think you need, then put a little back. You always need less than you think. If you DO buy large quantities and they start to look funny, cut them up and freeze them.

When buying fresh, get some that are ripe now, and some that need a few days. This way you have some that will last a bit longer rather than trying to scramble to eat 3 avocados within 24 hours.

Buy onions in bulk, chop them up all at once, and freeze them. Only cry once, my friends. They cook much faster when they were previously frozen, and they last ages. Plus a sack of chopped frozen onions makes a good makeshift ice pack for twisted ankles and sore backs, and it won’t hurt to thaw and re-freeze a few times.

Here’s a cheat-sheet for how long produce lasts and how to store them. This should give you a good idea of how much to buy. It is very conservative, tho, so don’t panic. For instance, it says tomatoes only last about 3 days, but I’ve gotten a week and a half out of them if you don’t refrigerate them and keep them away from other fruit. Use it as a guide, and google some other “produce cheat sheets” to get an idea of your time window.

When buying frozen vegetables, get the big resealable packages. They’re cheaper per ounce, and you don’t have to worry about whether you can eat all of it at once. If you have limited freezer space, however, just get some freezer ziploc bags and store the extras in that. Twist-tying the opened, non-resealable bag will just freezer burn your food.

I know you think you eat a lot of potatoes, but you, an individual, do not eat enough potatoes to warrant that 5 or 10 pound sack that’s always on sale. Pass it by and go to the individual, select-a-piece display. You’ll thank me when you aren’t cleaning up rotten potato goo in a few weeks because you only got halfway through the sack and just couldn’t eat any more potatoes.

MEAT BUYING

Buy in bulk, keep out only what you’ll use within a day, and freeze the rest into individual serving size packages. You can get SO many meals out of a tray of chicken breasts, so buy as big a package as you have freezer room for.

Check the yellow-tag/clearance section. You find amazing deals there! Just freeze it right away if you aren’t cooking the whole thing for dinner that night. Yellow-tag is always because it’s nearing its sell-by date.

Don’t feel like you have to cook meat in whatever size or form it comes.  Buy big honking roasts and cut your own chops/steak from it. Buy that tray of chicken breasts and cut each piece into stew chunks or strips . Get the bone-in stuff and fillet it yourself. Think big when buying, small when storing, and then use that knife block your mom gave you and slicey slice things down to an individual size, or into something new. (Pork roast into chunks makes for a great, cheap stir fry.) Pop the rest into freezer ziploc bags and take it out the day before you need it. (Thaw in-fridge, please, it’s much safer.)

Ground turkey acts the same as ground beef in most recipes, and is generally cheaper unless you live in beef country. Substitute and save.

GRAINS

As with produce, buy your flour and sugar in much smaller quantities than you think you need. That 2lb sack doesn’t look like very much, but it’s a lot less likely to attract pests if it’s not sitting there for months while you struggle to use it, and it’s also much more manageable so it doesn’t get everywhere while cooking or storing. (You’ll also make fewer sweets if you don’t have a huge bag of sugar sitting in your cabinet getting clumpy and worrying you.)

Mac-and-cheese IS a viable grain option, and if you dump in some broccoli and/or chicken chunks, it’s a full meal. It’s cheap, but less sodium than ramen, so try switching it up. Also try to look for mac-and-cheese made with whole and/or enriched flour if you eat a lot of it, you’ll be slighly less likely to get constipated from it.

Premade loaf bread has a butt-ton of sugar in it. This is not only not as good for you, but makes the bread more likely to mold quicker! So look for low-sugar options. (Or make your own bread, it’s not too hard.)

DAIRY

Unless you’re like me and drink a crapton of milk (doctor’s orders, don’t judge), buy your milk in half-gallons. You can always grab another one if you run low between regular grocery shopping days, but you don’t want to have the experience of going to pour your cereal and getting your appetite ruined by the smell of rotten milk.

If you can’t or don’t want to drink milk, most milk alternatives are now fortified with the same nutrients that animal milk has. Don’t skip the dairy recommendation because you don’t like animal milk, get yourself some soy or almond milk and get your daily calcium intake!

Cheese lasts a long time, but will get dry, hard, and powdery if not stored properly. Look for, you guessed it, resealable packages.

Most of the time, block cheese is cheaper than grated and you can just grate it yourself at home. But always check the price-per-ounce, it’s usually located in the corner or on the side of the tag.

Yogurt lasts longer than you think it will. Buy in the big tubs, not individual cups. It’s cheaper, and you can pick how much you want.

SHOPPING TIPS

Shop by what’s on sale to save money. Have an idea of what you want when you go in, but be flexible with your choices. For instance, I would go in with a shopping list that had an item that was simply “sale meat.” I had meal ideas planned out that I could replace or alter based on what was on sale at the store. No chicken on sale, but the tofu was marked down? We’re having tofu stir fry on Wednesday instead! Apples on sale? You had planned to get bananas, but if the apples are cheaper you can either get some of both or just do apples. Check the sale papers or online ads beforehand to see what kind of specials they have, and try planning meals around that.

Speaking of, CHECK THE SALE PAPERS! Save those mailers, compare prices, and see which store has what you’re after. Google the store’s website and see if they list their specials online.

Have a basic plan for what you’re going to do with your purchases. Don’t just pick up a bunch of kohlrabi “to try” if you don’t have a plan. It could be as simple as “I’m going to look up a recipe later today and I’m moving Tuesday’s dinner to next week so I can make this new thing on Tuesday.” But don’t just go “huh, that’s neat” and buy it without consciously planning when to use it. Or you’re going to end up with rotten kohlrabi and money wasted. Be aware of what you’re buying, and tell yourself how you’re going to use it before you put it on your list, or in your cart if it’s a last minute decision.

Don’t shop hungry. Simple idea, you’ve probably heard it before, but you’ll come home with impulse buys and a headache if you shop on a very empty stomach.

Make a list. You ARE going to forget that you really needed rice if you don’t put it on that list. I know you think you’ll remember, but you won’t. Crossing the threshold of a supermarket completely wipes your RAM. Write that stuff down somewhere and take it with you.

Be willing to shop around. I know Walmart is convenient, and it has asparagus on sale, but if the Kroger also has an amazing sale on the salad greens that you were planning on buying, try to make the effort to get to both stores. Nobody said saving money and eating well was easy, but it is worth it. Unless one store has price match, then just take your ad in and do the shopping at that store.

Try to have a buddy. Grocery shopping can be exhausting and stressful, but a friend can make it easier, and keep you sane. They can also help steer you away from impulse buys just by their very presence. It’s a lot harder to justify the checkout candy bar when your friend is right there, even if they don’t say anything. (Or you could get both of you a candy bar, if you’ve got the cash for it.)

Try to pick a single grocery day and plan for it consistently. Weekly, biweekly, whatever is best for you, just plan a day to do your in-depth shopping. Shopping piecemeal is a good way to spend more money than necessary, and to make sure you forget stuff. (You may have to make fill-in trips between big shopping days, but plan the big ones and try to put off as much as you can until then. But stopping for milk because you ran out won’t break the bank, so don’t worry about doing an occasional quick-stop.)

STORAGE TIPS

Ziploc bags are your friend, but make sure you know what kind you’re getting. Only specifically labeled “freezer bags” should be used in the freezer, or you risk your food getting icy and freezer burnt. Also, look for the store-brand zipper bags, they work just as well.

Label everything you put into the freezer if it’s not in the original package. You’re going to have days where you can’t tell if that’s chicken or tofu. Most freezer zipper bags have a space just for labeling. Keep a kitchen sharpie handy and label stuff. Also put the date on it, and use things within a year of freezing.

Get canisters. There are some cheap ones, even, but get SOMETHING. Put your flour and sugar in the canisters. It will last longer, and you don’t risk the bugs. You may think your apartment is safe, but bug season comes for us all in the end, and those little turds go right for a folded-over sack of flour, I swear.

Keep a list on the front of your freezer of everything that’s in there. Add to the list as you put stuff in, and cross stuff off as you take it out. That way you don’t have to dig to know if you have any more of those frozen peaches you like in your smoothies. Nor will you forget for a million years the bag of stew meat you had intended to use. Small magnetic whiteboards are particularly good for this purpose. (Also consider doing that for each major storage area--fridge, cabinets, pantry, etc-- if you routinely forget what’s in there. You could even tape it to the inside of the cabinet door so nobody else sees your bad memory.)

Don’t store potatoes and onions next to each other. They’ll both sprout.

Keep bananas away from all other produce. They’re naughty ethylene fiends that will spoil your tomatoes just for fun. That said, stick a banana in with an under ripe fruit and it’ll be ready in a day or two.

Take your produce out of the little plastic bags unless they need to ripen a bit more.

Go through your fridge completely once a month. Take everything out, check the dates, sniff it, and throw out old/rotten/nasty stuff. Go through your freezer once every 2 or 3 months. Reorganize your stacks, and double check your content list is current.

I know this is long, but I hope it can be helpful. Please add on any tips you have, at the very least I’d love to read them!

[youthofnausea7]

Chickpeas of the High Seas, a Tuna Salad Recipe for Plant Based Pirates

So tuna salad might not be everyone's favorite sandwich topping, as a matter of fact it might even be no one's favorite sandwich topping, but if there's one thing that's for damn sure, a tuna salad craving can be fucking hard to ignore. However, if there's one thing I've learned in my years as a broke vegan, it's that chickpeas make a damn good first mate for many of your swashbuckling kitchen adventures. Hoist the Jolly Roger fuckers, we're sinking that smelly tuna boat for good!

What you need:

Prepared Chickpeas (I was extra this time and cooked them myself, but canned works every bit as well)

Diced Red Onion, because why not make it pretty

Diced Celery because crumch

Pickle Relish

Vegenaise or whatever other mayo substitute you have handy, you could probably also use avocado, but only if you're a millenial

A sheet or two of Nori Seaweed

Salt and Black Pepper

Dill Weed (optional, just like most of these ingredients)

I didn't list the exact amounts of the ingredients because it's the kind of thing that tends to turn out better if you just eyeball (or eyepatch) it and sample it along the way, and doing so would just be doing a lousy disservice to the simplicity of this recipe. Also you can sub almost any of the ingredients for whatever it is you like in your tuna salad. Are you fucking weird and like apples in it? Fine then put your gross apples in it, just stay the fuck away from me.

How to make it:

So start off with your prepared chickpeas, put them in a large sealable container. That's right, you're going to make this AND store it in the same container. This is the pinnacle of vegan convenience.

Alternatively you can put it in a blender, I guesss. It'd save you from having to do a lot of chopping which is cool, but I don't let anything go to waste and there's so many things I'd rather do with my day that don't include scraping tuna salad off of blender blades.

Also, using a blender undercuts the best part: Smashing!!!

Okay so I lied, smashing can actually be cruelly tedious. Just be smarter than me and use something better than a fork. You wanna try your best to mash it to the point that there's no more full beans, some halfies might escape your clutches, but who are you trying to fool anyways? Keep it up until the consistency is like that of, well, tuna salad.

Next thing to do is dice up some red onion into little pieces

Cool put them babies in the mashed chickpeas, and do the same with some celery

Since we're mixing this all up into a tasty vomit-like substance (do I talk about vomit too much in my recipes?), I usually just don't fucking care what it looks like; so what I like to do is chop chop cop widthwise and then just go fuckin ham on the pile until it's mostly little pieces.

Fold them in and realize you added way too much fucking veggies

Toss some relish on there, it'll make yer paw proud

Resist the urge to transfer it to another container.

When you've got all that mixed together, get out your mayo substitute and put a couple of big ol' globs on there, as many as you need to coat all the stuff

Mix it all up and continue resisting the U R G E

When it's all mixed up get out one of these. It's called seaweed, and it makes stuff taste like it came from the sea.

Get out two sheets and toast em over the stovetop. CAREFULLY. On LOW heat. These may be the tortillas of the sea, but if you try to toast them like a tortilla you're going to have a bad time.

When you got em all roasty toasty, crunch them up into as little pieces as possible and put em in the salad. The best way to do this is to put them in a ziploc bag, tie the bag to a skateboard, and do a whole bunch of mega rad skate tricks until there's nothing in the bag but ocean dust.

When it's all mixed together it'll look something like this, I guess

Add the salt and spices to taste, and when it's how you like it put it in a sandwich

Bang Bang

There's a lot of ways you can fuck around with this recipe; if you're more of an egg salad kinda person, use Indian black salt instead of seaweed. If you're incredibly boring you probably prefer chicken salad, just don't add either. Just a reminder, this recipe is mostly just a very loose guideline and mainly just serves as an example. Put whatever the fuck you want in it, and do whatever the fuck you want with it.

Aside from the classic tuna salad approach, my favorite thing to do with this technique is to make spicy tuna for sushi. Just lose the veggies and add sriracha, toasted sesame oil, and rice vinegar when you're adding the mayo. I'll provide the photographic evidence when I get better at rolling sushi, because as of current my sushi rolling skills are dogshit.

Picnic time, fuckers!

[bryonyashaw]

Fajita Melt kit and stand 'n' stuff Taco Boat Kit AKA 'the double feature' - bought this @oldelpasouk kit from @aldiuk

These dishes are a family favourite of ours.

𝗧𝗮𝗰𝗼 𝗸𝗶𝘁 -

Uniquely shaped to make them easy to fill and eat with yummy taco fillings so that everyone can get involved in the fun! Smoky BBQ Seasoning Mix and a savoury Taco Salsa are all the key ingredients you'll need to make a MEX-tra special taco meal everyone will love. The soft Boat shape makes it easy for kids to hold too.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 -

•8 Stand 'N' Stuff Soft Flour Tortillas

•1 Tomato Stir-in Sauce

•1 Cool Herb Topping Mix

𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙙𝙙 -

• 500g minced beef (I used minced chicken because that's all I had in but it tastes great, you could also make this vegan)

• Lettuce (I had a bag of mix salad)

• 2 tomatoes (I used chopped tinned tomatoes)

•I grated in some courgette and pepper to get the extra veg in.

• 100 g grated cheese

• I also chucked in a can of mixed beans to bulk out the mince and extra protein.

𝗠𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗷𝗶𝘁𝗮 𝗠𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝗞𝗶𝘁 -

Serves 3 to 4 amigos! Turn up the flavour of your favourite Mexican food with this and other Old El Paso™ products lile the tvao kit. It's delicious toasted and cheesy taste of street food trucks into your home

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 -

• 6 extra soft tortillas wraps

• 1 spice mix

• 1 cheesy sauce mix.

𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙙𝙙 -

• Chicken (I used turkey breast strips)

• Avocado

• The recipe on the box didn't say to add veg but I did as hiding veg in meals is my thing so I chopped up peppers and grated carrot.

• Cheese for a fiesta that's ready in 25 minutes!

All the food above is from Aldi and affordable but you can get own brand food kits too plus wonky veg version of things which always reduces the pennies.

[theraptivadallas]

Academy Sports Outdoors Now Offers the Best Local Attractions Near Fort Worth, TX!

When you're visiting an area like Fort Worth, you need to know about the local attractions. It's one of the best ways to get a feel for an area and connect with the community as a whole. Here are five of the best attractions near Academy Sports Outdoors Fort Worth.

Fort Worth Zoo

One of the best ways to spend a day with your family is at the Fort Worth Zoo. This zoo has been around since 1909 and has over 700 animals representing 250 species. The zoo features both indoor and outdoor exhibits as well as an animal nursery where visitors can see baby animals up close. The Fort Worth Zoo also has a bird show, aquarium and aviary that are perfect for children who love to learn about wildlife.

Fort Worth Water Gardens

The Fort Worth Water Gardens is a unique park located in downtown Fort Worth, Texas that offers a variety of activities for visitors. It is one of the most popular attractions in the city, and it has been featured on numerous television shows, including HGTV's "Water Gardens by Design" and The Today Show.

What to See at Fort Worth Water Gardens

The park features waterfalls and lily pads, which are surrounded by a reflecting pond. The park also features a reflection pool with several fountains, which can be seen from the upper level. There are also some beautiful sculptures throughout the park, including one called "Spillways," which was created by artist Robert Morris. This sculpture represents one of the spillways on Lake Lewisville Dam. Visitors can even rent paddle boats for an hour or two and explore the unique surroundings from the water's perspective.

The Fort Worth Water Gardens is a series of three pools, two lakes and a waterfall that are connected to the Trinity River.

The gardens were designed to provide a space for relaxation and reflection in the busy downtown area.

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is a museum located in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, US. It was founded as the Kimbell Art Foundation and opened in 1972. The museum houses one of the largest collections in the United States and has been described as having "one of the most impressive art holdings in the world".

The collection features works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Joan Miró, among others. It also holds examples of American art from the 19th century through World War II, including pieces by Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keeffe.

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House is located at the Shops at Park Lane in Fort Worth. It is one of the best steakhouses in town and definitely worth a visit if you're looking for a nice meal out with friends or family members.

The restaurant offers an upscale dining experience, complete with great service and excellent food. The menu includes seafood, pasta, steak and chicken dishes, many of which are signature dishes created by Chef David Barton.

There are several different types of steaks available including ribeye, new york strip and filet mignon. They can be ordered as individual cuts or as part of an eight-ounce or 12-ounce steak package with fries (or onion rings) and salad bar included.

You must try their signature crab cake appetizer which comes with avocado creme fraiche dressing for dipping. It's absolutely delicious!

Grapevine Vintage Railroad

The Grapevine Vintage Railroad is a railway that runs from Fort Worth to the town of Grapevine in Texas. The railroad was built in 1876 to transport cotton, but today it has been transformed into a tourist attraction.

The Grapevine Vintage Railroad operates on weekends and holidays from April through November. In addition to the train ride, there are also several attractions at each stop along the way.

The Grapevine Vintage Railroad is a great family attraction, but it's also one of the best ways to get from Fort Worth to Dallas. The train runs on weekends from March through October.

The Grapevine Vintage Railroad is a scenic excursion train that runs from Grapevine to Fort Worth. The train departs from the historic depot at Main Street Station and travels along the Trinity River for a leisurely 40-minute ride. It offers passengers breathtaking views of the city skyline and surrounding areas. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad is open year-round with special summertime events like Murder Mystery Dinner Trains and Christmas in July.

Hopefully, this list has given you some great ideas for what to do in and around Fort Worth, Texas. Whether you're planning a trip or are just looking to try out new restaurants, the five places on the list will have no shortage of things to do with your time. So take this list with you, and be sure to check it out next time you're in the area.

Mobile IV Therapy

Mobile IV Therapy is a service that provides intravenous (IV) hydration, nutrition and medication infusions to patients at their homes or in the office.

This service is designed for patients who are unable to leave their house or office due to illness or injury. The Mobile IV Therapy team will come to you!

Mobile IV Therapy Park Glen is an excellent alternative for patients with chronic conditions who require long-term IV therapy such as chemotherapy or immune system support. It may also be used for short-term treatments such as dehydration from the flu, food poisoning or hangovers.

Theraptiva Park Glen (972) 454-4379 https://theraptiva.com/mobile-iv-therapy-fort-worth