#i find it hard to eat a lot of lettuce and i don't like raw spinach or kale

[pollsforfun]

Mmkay considering the last poll I'm curious.

[memento-morri-writes]

Hey!!! Since you said you have a lot figured out for your WIPs I'm interested in your answers!!

what natural resources does each nation have that the others don't? do they export/trade it at all? (For any WIP you wanna answer for!)

@bloodlessheirbyjacques 👀❤️‍🔥

JACQUES, I LOVE YOU!!!!!! I'll try to keep this at least somewhat brief, but be warned, you have NO idea what floodgates you have just opened. (I actually intended to make a post like this literally over a year ago, so thank you for helping me make it!!)

Get ready for:

Econ 101 - A Crash-Course in Continental Trade Policy

Before we get started, here's some things you might find helpful:

a map of the continent (see below)

an explanation of why Anvia and Oryn don't get along

under the cut because hoo boy, this is a LOT.

Anvia, the kingdom where ATQH takes place (and which Fallon rules) is primarily an agricultural society. The country's position in the middle of the continent, plus the river running through the kingdom providing fertile land, gives makes it the best-suited area for agriculture on the continent. (Side Note: It gets colder as you got west-northwest on this continent. Oryn is cold, with long winters and short summers, while Oraine is extremely hot and the land dries up quickly.)

They grow crops and raise animals not only for their own survival, but for export to the neighboring nations. Anvia also has a decent number of craftspeople living in its larger cities, who use crop byproducts (or non-food crops) and animal products to make other products, such as textiles, leather products, etc.

Thus, Anvia's main products/exports are food crops (apples, wheat, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, lettuce, cabbages, carrots, peas, hops, among other things), created food products (wine, ale, baked goods, jams, jellies, preserves) as well as animal products (largely wool, but things like eggs, cheese, and milk may also be exported), and craftsproduts (textiles and leather products, for example).

Due to the fact that most of Anvia is farmland, be it crop fields or livestock pastures, there is very little opportunity for logging. Even the areas that haven't been developed for farming are largely prairie-like areas. Also, Anvia lacks substantial access to mountains or mineral deposits for mining. So they are lacking in construction materials such as timber, stone, and metals.

Oryn, on the other hand, is ripe with construction goods. They have massive mines scattered throughout the kingdom, especially along the mountain range that borders with Anvia. (Ironkeep, the fortress to the Northeast of Westcliff, is a major stronghold built to protect Oryn's most profitable mines.) Additionally, a massive portion of the kingdom is covered in forests, so logging is another major industry.

(Side Note: Kristopher's father and the current king of Oryn, Pierre, has increased both of these industries massively. The working conditions in both tend to be hazardous, with many people being injured or killed. (Fun Fact: If you want to know how Pierre runs his kingdom, listen to Eat Your Young by Hozier.) Kristopher believes that his father is ruining Oryn, not only by ruining much of its natural land, but also by working the people so hard.)

Notably, Oryn is also home to significant number of craftspeople, specializing in blacksmithing, metalworking, and jeweling. Orynian weapons and armor are said to be stronger and more durable than any others, and jewelry made by Orynian jewelers with Orynian stones is highly prized across the continent and beyond.

Oryn's main exports are lumber, stone, metal (raw, processed, and crafted into items), and jewels (raw, processed, and made into jewelry).

However, what Oryn severely lacks is fertile farmland. Not only is most of the land covered in trees, but the soil is quite rocky -- far from ideal for large-scale farming. (The hilly, mountainous terrain doesn't help.)

So, you can probably see why Oryn and Anvia need each other. They are forced to trade with one another to ensure the survival of both kingdoms. However, as I've explained in the past, the two kingdoms have a long history of tension between them -- which actually was the result of conflict over resources to begin with. However, despite this obvious codependency, neither one has been willing to suck up their pride and open direct negotiations between the two nations. (Fallon has tried several times during her rule, but has never once received a response from Pierre.)

So, this is where Oraine steps in. Oraine has a very hot environment, and aside from a few choice crops, not much of trade value grows there. (Their main exports, aside from a few "exotic delicacies", are fancy goods, such as fine clothes, art, and fancy furniture.) However, what Oraine does have is massive amounts of accessible coastline. Because of this, they have a long history of ship-building and maritime trade. Fortuitously for Oraine, Anvia and Oryn's border is mostly treacherous mountains, which makes overland travel difficult.

So, at some point in the past few centuries, some clever Orainian had an idea, and Orain graciously stepped in, offering to conduct trade between the two kingdoms -- for a fee, of course. Eager to continue their mutual cold-shoulder treatment, Anvia and Oryn were quick to accept the proposal. It was agreed upon that both Anvia and Oryn would be able to use Orainian ships to send their goods to each other, to Oraine, and beyond.

There are multiple companies (each owned by wealthy merchant families) that offer these services, both within the continent and beyond, and each is free to set their own price and negotiate their own service contracts with individuals, companies, or the nations themselves. However, they are charge a hefty tax that goes directly to the pockets of the ruler (currently Empress Adrienne) of Oraine.

Not only that, but Orainian merchants are well aware of how necessary their services are to both Anvia and Oryn. As such, their fees are often ridiculously overpriced. And Anvia and Oryn pay them, because they don't have any other choice. (Well, they could choose to talk to each other and begin their own trading initiatives instead of settling for Oraine's horrid prices, but why would they ever do that?)

To tie all this back to the messy international politics of the continent, the Empress of Oraine has her own fleet of trading ships that carry out trades on her behalf. It is these ships that the rulers of Anvia and Oryn are required to use when they wish to send something more between them for political purposes. Orainian leaders have long claimed this is to "supervise" and "prevent increased hostility", but in reality it's just another way to line the ruler's pockets.

The rulers of both kingdoms have signed contracts with the Empire, including a rate of charge for the service. The Empress continually pushes to raise said rate, with the monarchs attempt to negotiate a lower price -- or at least keep the same one they had before. But it's a precarious slope, because if they push too hard, the Empress could retract her offer altogether, which would be disastrous (at least in the short term) for the two kingdoms, until they were able to communicate in a civil manner and establish their own trade barriers. (Of course, the Empress has no intention of actually rescinding her offer -- it's far too profitable -- but the monarchs don't know that...)

And that's all, folks!! To anyone who read all 1,092 words of this, I am hugging you (if you accept), and buying you your favorite meal. Hopefully this isn't too boring of a read...

[hecckinfood]

lesson 1: salads

I know, I know, just go ahead and lower those torches and pitchforks please.

The first moment food made sense to me was when I had almost nothing in my house but some wilty lettuce, bacon I had swiped for free from the kitchen at work, and a bottle of strawberry vinaigrette I had bought on a whim because I had a couple extra dollars to spend on something frivolous that day. I threw it all in a bowl with some of that pre-mixed salad garnish, said screw it, good enough and sat down to watch Friends for the umpteenth time.

For the first time in a month or two of figuring out this "healthy eating" thing, I felt like I had made a breakthrough.

Anything really can be a salad if you try hard enough. Lettuce isn't always necessary. In my opinion, as long as it contains a protein, a vegetable, and some sort of dressing (adding a starch is good for energy and feeling full, but not necessary), it counts.

My biggest tip: rotisserie. chicken.

Costco is famous for its $5 chicken, and I'm fortunate enough to have a membership through my job that I can use for personal purchases, but honestly most rotisserie chickens are pretty affordable, and for the volume of food you'll get off of it, it's 100% worth it.

So far, some of my most memorable attempts at salad-making have been:

Pre-cooked potatoes and chicken, raw spinach, with a dressing made from shaking together buffalo sauce, mayonnaise, balsamic vinegar, and salt in a tiny mason jar, then microwaved enough so the spinach gets wilty.

Butter lettuce, bacon bits, heaps of shredded cheese, leftover hamburger, with some random creamy dressing I found that looked halfway decent

Fruit salad. Just. a whole bucket (and yes, I do mean my big popcorn bucket) of fruit salad. Pineapple, pears, apples, grapes, oranges, whatever I could find that was either small enough to be bite-sized to begin with or that I could find pre-cut and canned. Thrown together with a bit of lime juice and honey.

Some ingredients that you can try but I've found to be either disgusting or just not worth my time/budget:

Quinoa. This stuff is great and nutritious in theory, easy to find pre-cooked, but the taste of it is weird and bitter and is so strong it ruins salads for me

Bottled dressings. Yes, they're great. But they're often full of sugar and other preservative crap. And the things I've been able to do with separate ingredients is amazing and (in my opinion) more budget-friendly. For example, I keep on hand balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar (which is also great for a heap of other things), mayonnaise, olive oil, hot sauce, and basic dried spices and herbs. You can get spices in those 4-way containers from Aldi that don't take up much room and have incredible flavor profiles.

Frozen vegetables. Again, great in theory and convenient for some, but my lazy ass would rather consume an entire jar of pickles or a can of green beans before I cracked open that bag of spinach in my freezer. Veggies are veggies, and as long as you're getting something high in fiber and dark in color, it doesn't really matter how it's stored. Canned mushrooms, green beans, carrots, kidney beans, etc. All amazing additions to a dish (doesn't have to be a salad, sometimes canned foods in salad can get a little weird) with lots of nutrition for cheap.

Anyways, that's lesson 1 on salads!! tune in next time for more of Katie's Some-Nonsense Guide to Food When You Can't Cook

[cooking-in-the-desert]

My favorite salad ever

So, those lucky folks in real life who know me know that I'm an absolute salad junkie.

And no... I don't mean the kind that usually feature in the greatest hits of every midwestern mom's church cookbook that feature cool whip or Jell-O. No - I'm talking about crunchy, fresh, salads with a lot of flavor, texture, and aren't reminiscient of 1950's nostalgia.

Salads are a common weeknight feature in my house since they're easy to prep and throw together and don't require much effort. And if like me, you keep around a bunch of random mason jars from various canning experiments or jars from the Bonne Maman jam you keep buying because it's delicious and the closest thing to your grandmother's homemade jams you can find in a store, making dressings is wicked easy too.

Now - this salad isn't one of those strange salads like the ones you see on tik tok or instagram by that Baked By Melissa chick - I've tried those, and honestly... wasn't that into them. I mean, salad on a chip is great - but honestly I'd rather just go make a big 'ol nacho salad w/ fake meat and cheese. The Baked By Melissa ones make gargantuan servings of healthy tasting salad - and who the hell likes healthy tasting salads? Not me - I like salads that taste like they contain a billion calories and want nothing to do with dressings that contain raw spinach as an ingredient - like, I put raw spinach in the crunchy green part of my salad. That is *more* than enough healthy for me, thanks.

I admittedly like my salads to taste good - and 'healthy' salads often taste like grass to me. If eating grass is your schtick, then by all means, go for it - but I am emphatically not a fan.

So anyway - here's my absolute favorite salad and dressing.

Note: Before anyone comes for me - the honey I use in the dressing recipe came from a hive that was recently removed by a professional beekeeper from a friend's property because the hive was massive and threatened the integrity of a structural wall in their home (some friends recently purchased a house that was vacant for over a year, and a hive of africanized bees set up shop behind the stucco and went to town making themselves at home - the bees had to be removed for everyone's safety - and the honey would have gone to waste otherwise).

Feel free to use bee free honee, maple syrup, brown sugar syrup, or agave nectar in it's place.

Balsamic Dressing

Ingredients:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (I like an aged vinegar, such as Oak Creek Olive Mill's - it's locally produced and really delicious).

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 tbsp honey

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tsp dried basil

2 tsp dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Combine ingredients in mason jar or container with lid, and shake to emulsify, or whisk to combine well.

Spinach Salad:

1 cup spinach

1 cup romaine lettuce, chopped

1/3 pkg Tempeh bacon (I followed a recipe by the Minimalist Baker - located here):

2 tbsp vegan feta (optional)

5 strawberries, chopped or sliced

1/3 cup cooked quinoa

8 small cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1/3 cucumber, julienned

1/8 red onion, sliced

2 tbsp sliced almonds

1/2 avocado, diced

2 tbsp dressing

Croutons (optional - if that's your thing).

Layer quinoa, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, onion, tomato, chopped or sliced strawberries, avocado, feta, and almonds. Top w/ as much dressing your heart says to go with today and toss to combine. Serve immediately.