#in my house we do an 'end-of-week' minestrone

[awed-frog]

Hello! I see that people are asking you about diets right now. I started living independently fairy recently, and I still haven't figured out an ideal way of feeding myself. Not sure if my autism plays a role here, or if it's just me being inexperienced, but would you maybe happen to have any advice for NT people regarding food? Like how I can get myself to eat enough fruits + vegetables and how I can keep from eating the same two dishes for the rest of my life (I WILL, if I don't pay attention)

Hi, thanks for the message! I’d say first of all take it easy, planning your meals + groceries is harder than people think, especially in the beginning. Just remember not to buy too much (produce will go bad, stuff like flour will develop flies) and take it easy. I can suggest a few things:

1) If you can, get good cooking appliances, especially a rice cooker or multicooker or Instant Pot, depending on where you live and what’s available. A rice cooker is a good option because they��re generally cheap, but most of them can only handle white rice, which isn’t the most nutritious meal. I finally got myself a multicooker two years ago and I’m really happy. You may have to experiment a bit in the beginning, but it halves the time you spend in the kitchen, can reheat food, and also makes things like bread and yogurt.

2) If you have a freezer, use the hell out of it. The best option for varying your meals is to always cook twice the portion and freeze half. If you don’t have a big freezer, remember that most vegan meals will also keep fairly well in the fridge for a couple of days, so you could eat your delicious meal both on Thursday night and for lunch on Saturday, which is Not Bad. You can also look up ways to freeze vegetables and fruits - I started keeping batches readily available to add to soups, stir-frys, and fruit purees/smoothies.

3) Be realistic. Like, unless you’re a Michelin cook, you’ll need some time to learn a new or complicated recipe, so start trying on a Saturday and give yourself a few tries. And if you get home really late, you probably won’t want to spend two hours in the kitchen, so either prep your meals beforehand (you can find tons of good advice online), or keep some ingredients for a quick meal (like a pesto sauce or ready-made dips).

4) Pantry, pantry, pantry. Most cookbooks will have a pantry list in the first pages, and those are the first things you need to buy. Remember that if you keep the same old recipe but swap out ingredients, you’ll magically have different dishes and you’ll get a lot of nutritional benefits because you’re eating different stuff! For instance, for a quick meal you can make hummus but use borlotti beans instead of chickpeas, or peanut butter instead of tahini. Why not? God is not watching. 

5) Change up your greens. For your produce: if you live on your own, don’t buy too much, and choose variety instead. For instance: weekly, only buy two kinds of fruits (one perishable you’ll eat first, like stone fruits or berries, and one that’ll last longer, like bananas, apples or pears) and three kinds of vegetables (one cruciferous: cauliflower or broccoli, for instance; one root: turnips or carrots or sweet potatoes; and one leafy green: spinach, Swiss chards, kale and so on), plus mushrooms (a nutritional godsend and very yummy) + onions and garlic. Add whatever salad material is in season (summer or winter greens, zucchini, beets, avocado) and you’re basically all set. By thinking in terms of categories instead of specific foods, you’ll ensure variety without too much effort.

6) Stick to easy cooking. As for meals: you don’t actually need a lot of fancy recipes. Find two or three things you like to cook, and repeat them twice or three times a week. By alternating your lunches and dinners, and swapping out ingredients a bit (one evening rice, the other barley, for instance; one lunch roasted pumpkin, the next one roasted Brussel sprouts) you can cook on autopilot while still ensuring you’re getting your nutrients and don’t get bored.

7) Cheat. If you struggle to eat your veggies, there are tricks you can use. For instance, smoothies and soups are good ways to eat tons of stuff fairly easily. If you eat cheese, it will make anything taste good - although garlic has the same effect and zero bad fats. Nutritional yeast is also something most people love. Adding finely chopped veggies to a normal tomato pasta sauce is another way of hiding a few greens without much effort. You can find a lot of recipes for ‘hidden’ fruits and veggies by looking up parenting tips - and remember that the way you cook stuff also changes the flavour considerably, so if you don’t like steamed zucchini, try roasting them, or adding them to a stir-fry, a soufflé, a savoury bread and so on.

8) No rules apply. And finally, remember you’re an adult now, and if you decide that you want to try miso soup and fried rice for breakfast, or that Friday night is ice-cream-instead-of-dinner night, that’s perfectly alright. You don’t have to cook for yourself for every single meal, or stick to your own culture and family traditions for what is acceptable to do.

Also: a slightly unethical life tip. On b-ok, you’ll find most cookbooks that exist - for free. If you need ideas, you can look up a book on Amazon, see if it looks good, then download it on b-ok. I’d suggest trying three or four recipes and if you like them - and can afford it - buying the real book to support the author. I sometimes do this because you can’t always tell at a glance if a cookbook is what you’re looking for or not, so this makes it easier to decide what to buy.

Good luck and happy cooking!

[study-coffee-chicago]

Seasons of PD: Season 3: Jay’s Missing (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister! Imagine)

As always, I don't own any quotes from the episode that happen to be in here!

Your age: 14

Jay's age: 28

Will's age: 30

"C'mon Jay," you muttered as you called him for the third time in an hour.

It was the one night a month where you and your brother would go out to dinner together and if there was a hockey game on, you'd finish watching it at his apartment. Then, he'd take you home. He was skeptical about doing it tonight since you had end-of-the-year exams next week, but you reassured him that you'd be fine; taking a break for a few hours never hurt anybody. And, you had all Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night after school to study since exams didn't start until Tuesday.

"You've reached Jay Halstead--" You quickly ended the call and began texting Ruzek. Hopefully, he'd cave and tell you what was going on.

But, when the read sign popped up seven minutes later, you knew something was up. If Jay was going to be late, he would've called you, or at least texted.

Since it was late May, the sun was out later than in the winter, which meant that it wouldn't be dark for another couple of hours. So, you grabbed a light sweatshirt and pulled it on, grabbed your phone and a few dollars and put them in your pocket, shouting a "bye Dad" on the way out...not that he cared what you did anyway.

You walked a few blocks to the El train stop, put your dollar in for your ticket, and hopped on. While you were on there, you were sure to have Ruzek's number pulled up on your phone and were ready to hit the call button in case something happened to you.

You looked at the map. The 21st District was just a few stops away. Soon, you'd know why Jay wasn't answering you. Hopefully, he was just out on a raid, handcuffing the bad guys.

***

"Kim," you said as you rushed into the district and saw the officer. "Do you know where my--"

You were cut off by the faint sound of a scream.

"Do I know where who is, Y/N?" she asked, completely ignoring what she had just heard.

"Jay, but that sounded like him screaming!"

You ran up the stairs to Intelligence, tugging on the gate even though you knew it wouldn't open without a member scanning their palm or Platt buzzing you up.

"Was that Jay? Is he there?" you yelled.

"Y/N, we can't let you up there right now," Kim explained.

"Why not? Jay told me we'd go out for dinner tonight and he always calls if he's gonna be late."

You looked up to see Ruzek coming towards the door.

"Would it kill you to answer a text?" you asked.

"Sorry, been busy."

"At least let me upstairs and then you can tell me where Jay is and I'll be out of your hair."

Ruzek sighed and allowed you to go up, Kim following you as well.

"Or Detective Halstead winds up as fertilizer in some cornfield in Indiana. We understand each other, Sergeant?"

"What'd he want?" Antonio asked, everyone totally unaware that you were now in the room.

"Halstead's life for all our CI files."

"H- His life?" you asked, frozen on the top step to the bullpen.

"Shit," Kevin muttered.

"Is he in trouble? Is he dead? Is that why he didn't answer my calls?" Your bottom lip started to tremble.

Antonio took a deep breath. He knew that if Gabby was in trouble that he'd want as much detail about what was happening as possible. "Something uh, something went wrong earlier," he supplied. "And then, because of that, some dealers took your brother."

"They took him? Took him where?"

"We don't know yet, kid," Al said. "But, that's what we're trying to find out."

When you heard that they didn't know where he was, you ran off towards the locker room. Ruzek tried to put his foot between the wall and the door to stop you from closing it and locking yourself in, but you were too fast for him.

You pulled out your phone and dialed a number you knew you probably should've called earlier when you first thought that Jay was in trouble.

"Erin? Jay's missing. You gotta find him. You're his partner."

***

Erin blearily reached for the phone, still trying to get over her hangover from last night--which lasted well into this morning--to go out for another night of non-stop partying, drinking, and drugs. She furrowed her eyebrows when she saw your name pop up.

"Hell--"

"Erin? Jay's missing. You gotta find him. You're his partner."

"He's--" She cleared her throat. "He's missing? What happened? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. I- I called him because we had a dinner and he didn't pick up, so eventually I just- I came down to the district and I heard someone on the phone say they're going to turn him into fertilizer, Erin."

"Do you know who it was?" she asked as she grabbed her service weapon and slid it into the waistband of her jeans...the same clothes she had been wearing since last night. A call that her boyfriend was missing was definitely curing her hangover fast.

"I don't know. It was- It was some dealer. But, you gotta come here and help them find him. You're his partner. Please." Your voice cracked on the last word.

"Okay, okay, I'll call Will to come pick you up and explain the situation. I'm leaving my apartment right now. I'll be there soon."

"Please don't call Will," you urged. "He's gonna be mad at me."

"Why's he gonna be mad at you?"

"Because I took the El and I'm not supposed to take the El by myself."

"Y/N, you taking the El by yourself is the least of his problems at the moment. Just sit tight and I should be there in about ten minutes."

***

"Y/N, c'mon open this door. Please?" you heard your oldest brother's voice on the other side of the door. "I know you're worried about Jay, but it's not gonna help at all if you just lock yourself in here all night."

You sniffled and then walked over to the door and unlocked it. "Will!" you cried, rushing into his arms. "He's gone, he's gone, he's gone."

"Hey, hey it's okay. You're okay. They're gonna find him and then you can have two dinners with him next month because you missed yours this month."

The number of times Jay had been shot or hurt on the job had caused Will to basically be immune to hearing bad news about his little brother. But, if Jay didn't come back or flatlined, then he'd be freaking out. And, despite Will wanting to scream at all of Intelligence to go find him, he knew he couldn't do that. He couldn't lash out right now because it'd only make it worse for you.

Your stomach growled, making Will go into even more protective brother mode. "When's the last time you ate?"

"Lunch," you answered.

"Y/N, it's 7:30. We gotta get some food in you."

"But, but what if he comes back? I wanna see him when he comes back."

"I'm gonna be honest with you. When he comes back, he's probably gonna need to go to the hospital just as a precaution. And, I know you have exams soon and your algebra one is stressing you out. I don't think Jay would want you to fail an exam just because you were worried about him."

"I hate math," you grumbled.

"I know. That's why you need to make sure you study."

"Doesn't mean I'm gonna end up liking it because I have to work on it."

Will didn't know what to say to that because he knew that you were right. So, he reiterated his previous point. "Let's go get you some food."

"Can-Can we just eat at home?" you asked. "I don't wanna not be home and hear bad news about Jay."

Will knew what you were getting at: you didn't want to break down in public.

"Yeah, we can do that. Still got a bunch of mac n cheese at home?"

"A few boxes," you answered, remembering how bare the cupboards were at your and your dad's house.

"We'll just grab something on the way home. C'mon."

"Can Erin come, too?" you asked.

"Go ask her. And, don't take the El by yourself. That's dangerous."

You rolled your eyes and followed him out of the locker room and into the bullpen.

"Erin," you started as you walked up to her desk. She had her head in her hands.

"Hmmm?" she asked looking up.

"Do you wanna come back to my house and eat dinner with me and Will?"

"I don't know if--"

"She'll come," Voight answered before she could finish.

"Hank!"

"Erin, we'll still be here working when you're done with dinner. Lord knows you could use some food in you."

"Fine." She stood up and grabbed her coat. "Not like you're letting me help with the case anyway," she muttered. But, no one heard that part.

Since she had quit Intelligence in Bunny's bar a few weeks ago, Voight was right in having her not work the case...not that she'd admit that. But this was her boyfriend, her partner, that was in trouble and she'd be damned if she didn't help get him out of this mess.

***

"Dad's not home?" Will asked as he let them into the house using the spare key that was hidden under a layer of dirt in the flower pot.

"He never is," you mumbled.

"What? What do you mean he's never home?"

"I mean, he's never home on Friday nights because he always goes out to the bar with some old friends," you told him. That was at least true. He did go out to the bar with some old friends...but it wasn't just Friday nights anymore, it was Friday, Saturday, and sometimes Thursday and Sunday, too. Because of this, he ate out a lot and didn't cook. Therefore, he had no reason to buy a lot of groceries, which was why there wasn't a lot of dinner food left in the cupboard...not that there was a lot of breakfast or lunch food here either, though. There was just enough for you to play it off that your dad just needed to go to the store. There was just enough for your brothers not to worry.

"Okay."  Will started to grab the Olive Garden you had ordered out of the bag. You said you weren't hungry--you didn't want to eat when you were this nervous-- and had only wanted to get some minestrone soup. But, Will insisted that you needed more than that so you compromised: minestrone soup and half an order of fettuccine alfredo...plus the breadsticks and the salad that came with the meal obviously.

A while later, Will was almost done with his food and was grabbing another breadstick and Erin was putting more salad onto her plate. You, on the other hand, had barely managed to finish your minestrone.

"Y/N, can you please eat a bit more? How about a breadstick? I know you love those," Will said.

"I'm not that hungry," you said quietly.

Will was about to say something when Erin stepped in. "How about you work on some of your homework? Maybe that'll make your appetite come back since you're using a lot of energy to focus. And, Jay mentioned that you have exams next week."

"He did?" you asked. You didn't think that Jay would mention stuff that you had going on in your life, like exams, to Erin.

"He always says how proud of you he is for working so hard in school...because he says that he was never as good in school as you."

"He really says he's proud of me?"

"He sure does."

"You guys mind if I do it out here? It's a lot easier to write stuff down when I'm writing in my notebook on the table instead of balancing it in my lap on my bed."

"Sure, kiddo," Will said.

You went to your room and grabbed your backpack and then started to work on your homework.

As you were working on it, your brain wandered back to the first time Jay had helped you with your math homework, all the way back in kindergarten, at this very kitchen table, when both of your parents had been working and Will was all the way in New York for his first year of med school.

You were sitting at the kitchen table, trying not to crumple up your math homework sheet and throw it across the room. It was only five subtraction problems, but subtraction was hard! You had only just started understanding addition!

You threw your pencil across the kitchen, where it narrowly missed the wall. It clattered to the floor, causing Jay to look up from where he was reading a book in the living room, the chair he had been sitting in was facing the kitchen, so he could keep an eye on you.

"Did you throw that?" he asked as he walked towards you.

"No," you lied.

He picked up the pencil. "If you lie, you get nine minutes in time out instead of six."

You didn't want to go in time out that long!

"I throwed it," you admitted, looking down at your math homework.

"It's threw, but thank you for being honest. Can you tell me why you threw the pencil?"

That was something his mom always did with him when he was younger: asked him why he did something and then, possibly put him in time out. Sometimes, he just needed to talk it out, and if that was the case, he didn't have to go into time out.

"I don't get sub-trac-shun!" you complained. "It's stupid!"

"Hey, we don't use that word."

"But it's hard."

"I know, but what if I help you? Would that help you to get it?"

"But Will said you not good at math," you pointed out, remembering something your oldest brother had said.

Jay chuckled. "I'm not good at big kid math. This stuff is easy for me."

"It's easy?"

"Oh, yeah. And, I think I might have something that can help you."

He walked over to the cupboard and reached up to the top shelf where he grabbed a bag of chocolate chips. He poured some into a small bowl and then walked back to the table and sat down next to you.

"We gonna eat chocolate?" you asked. "Even though I throwed-- I threw my pencil?"

"This is gonna help you learn subtraction."

"How?"

"Just watch." He paused and looked at the paper in front of you. "So, this one says five minus two."

"I know that," you told him proudly. "I know it says five minus two. I dunno what the an- the answer is though."

"Okay, well, take five chocolate chips out of here."

He held the bag out to you while you took five out, counting each one out loud. "What do I do now?"

"Now, if I eat two--" he popped two in his mouth. "--how many do you have now?"

You looked down at the chocolate chips. "One...Two...Three. I have three choc-chips!"

"That's right! So, five minus two is...?"

You scrunched up your face, trying to piece together what he had done. "I dunno."

"We had five chocolate chips. I ate two. How many did you say we have left?"

"Three!"

"Yeah. Five minus two is the same thing...just without me adding chocolate chips to the end."

"Huh?"

"Here." He took your paper from you and on the first three problems, he wrote chocolate chips after each number. "Five chocolate chips minus two chocolate chips is...?"

"Three!"

"Yeah! Good job! Now, write three down as your answer."

The next problem was three chocolate chips minus one chocolate chip and you did the same thing this time. Except, you got to eat the chocolate instead of Jay. You had two chocolate chips left this time.

Then, when you got to the last two problems that didn't say chocolate chips after the numbers, Jay showed you on your fingers how to figure out the answer.

Then, since you did such a good job, he let you watch Dora and eat some more chocolate chips.

"Y/N? Y/N? You good?" You were snapped out of your thoughts by Will saying your name.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine." You reached over the table to grab your pencil that had rolled towards Will. But, as you were reaching for it, your elbow knocked the two-liter of pop. "No!" you cried out as it spilled. It didn't just spill anywhere though...it spilled right on top of your algebra notebook. "Fuck this! I can't do this!"

You threw your pop-covered and sticky notebook on the ground and sprinted to the bathroom, ignoring Will and Erin's calls for you to come back.

You locked the door and slumped down against it. God, you needed that notebook. That had your entire exam review in it. And, if you didn't finish the exam review, you couldn't take the exam.

You only had 25 more problems left out of the 220 you had to do, hence why the review was given to you a month before you actually had to take the exam, so you had time to do it. And, some kids would wait until the last minute, but you figured you'd start early and do a certain number of problems a day so you didn't have to stress out and had time to ask your teacher questions if you had any.

But now, now you had a matter of days to do all 220 problems...and you had other exams to study for...and your big brother was missing...and...

Shit, here comes the Olive Garden.

You jumped up and lifted the lid of the toilet, quickly emptying the minestrone soup from your stomach.

"Y/N? Y/N! Open this door!" Will yelled as he banged on the door.

You leaned back against the bathtub and took a few deep breaths, willing yourself not to throw up again. You groaned as you felt the liquid rise in your throat and were back above the toilet in a matter of seconds.

You were panting at this point and trying to take a few breaths before more came out. Because you were so focused on making sure you didn't inhale your own vomit (ew) you didn't hear Will pick the lock and enter the bathroom.

When all that was left for you to throw up was bile and you were finished, you closed your eyes and leaned back against the bathtub once more, and took deep breaths.

"So that's why you didn't want to eat any more than you did," Will said.

"Will? How'd you get in here?"

"I picked the lock, Jay's not the only person in this family who knows how to do that, you know."

"I hate this," you mumbled, eyes still closed. "It happened last semester with exams too, but it wasn't this bad."

"Kid, you're stressing yourself out too much. You have to take a chill pill."

"I c-can't!"

"Okay," Will started as he crouched down next to you. "Why can't you relax?"

"I spilled pop all over my notebook!"

"So? You already practiced those problems. You know you don't need to practice them again, so just do the ones you need to practice."

"You don't get it!" You frantically rubbed the heels of your hands over your eyes as tears started to stream from them. "I needed that notebook! If I don't turn in the entire exam review I c-can't take the exam." You sighed and just put your head in your hands. This night seriously could not get any worse at this point. "And, Jay's miss- Jay's missing!"

"Y/N, I need you to take a deep breath for me, okay? Just take one."

"O-Okay." You took a deep, yet shaky breath.

"Now another."

You took another deep, yet shaky breath. And, you continued this cycle until Will deemed your breathing to be back to normal.

"How about you brush your teeth and then we'll figure out what to do for the homework once you do that. Sound good?" You nodded and stood up to go to the sink. "I'll be in the kitchen with Erin."

Then, Will exited the bathroom to go back into the kitchen like he told you.

"How is she?" Erin asked when she saw him come in. She had started cleaning up their take-out containers while Will had been busy trying to calm you down. "Sounded like she was puking."

"Because she was."

"Is she sick?"

"Not in the technical sense. But, she is what I like to call stress sick."

"Stress sick?"

"Exams are stressing her out, so add on top of the fact that Jay's missing, and she got so stressed out that she threw up."

"Poor kid," Erin sympathized. Then, her phone buzzed. "I gotta get back to the district. Tell her to feel better from me."

"Will do." He started to walk Erin towards the door, but stopped when they were almost to it. "And Erin? Bring my little brother back. Even though he's a pain in my ass half the time, I can't lose him. And, I know Y/N would take it really hard."

"Will, he's got the best unit in all of Chicago looking for him. We'll bring him back."

A few minutes after Erin had left, you walked into the kitchen, with clean teeth and the gross taste of vomit now out of your mouth, to see Will sitting at the table, staring at your notebook with a roll of paper towel next to him. "What are you doing?" you asked as you sat down.

"Trying to get the stain out," he replied.

"How? It's like the entire notebook, not just one page."

"You're talking to the king of spilled coffee on homework. And, lucky for you, pop and coffee are both water-based. So, I think I know how to get this out. You're gonna need to rewrite it in a new notebook, though."

"Okay. Need any help?"

"Can you just get me a bowl filled with water?"

"The paper's already wet. Why do you want to make it wetter?"

"Just trust me on this one." You yawned. "After you grab that for me, maybe you should go to bed. It's been a long day."

"Will you stay here?"

"Of course. I can just sleep in my old bedroom...unless Dad did something to it. Speaking of Dad, is he usually out this late? Does he usually leave you home alone this late at night?"

You were filling up a bowl with water and turned to look at Will. You shrugged. "Sometimes. It's okay, though." That was a lie. Most nights he didn't get home until two or three in the morning...but, Will didn't need to know that.

"I'm going to have a chat with Dad about that. He shouldn't be leaving you home alone this late at night."

"Will, it's not even that late. I'm fine." You placed the bowl of water on the table.

"Fine. But if it hits midnight and he's not home yet, then I will be talking with him about this."

You nodded. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed. 'Night Will. Sorry about getting sick."

"You don't have to apologize for that." He stood up and pulled you into a hug. "Goodnight."

You started to walk towards your bedroom when you remembered something and turned back to Will. "Will?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you think Jay's okay? He's gotta be okay, right?"

"Y/N, he's got the best unit in the city looking for him."

"And Erin."

"And Erin," he confirmed. "He'll be okay." But, in that moment he didn't know who he was trying to reassure more: you or himself.

***

"You wanna go somewhere today?" Will asked as you were both sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal the next morning.

"I have homework to do...a lot more than I thought I'd have, too. Did Erin give you any updates on Jay?" you asked.

He shook his head. "But, he's gonna be okay. And, you don't have a ton of homework to do. You have a ton of homework to copy."

"What do you mean?"

At this, he placed the notebook on the table. "I told you I knew what I was doing."

You flipped open the notebook to see that Will was right: he did in fact know what he was doing. Even though the pages were all still tinted a light brown from the pop, the writing from you doing all the practice problems was still legible. "How did you...?" you trailed off as you continued to flip through your algebra notebook.

"Like I told you, I spilled coffee on one too many notebooks in college. Now all you need to do is copy the problems down into a clean notebook. Save you some brainpower."

"Thank you."

"Now, I suggest we got to CCU's library so you can get a change of scenery while doing that."

"CCU? Why? And, you're not a student there anymore. How are we gonna get in?"

Will scoffed. "They don't check student IDs when you go in. And, a change in my workspace always helped me to focus when I was studying, so maybe it'll help you."

"Workspace," you mocked. "So professional. But, yeah, let's do that. Can we keep our phones on though in case Erin calls?"

Will nodded. "Of course."

***

Getting into CCU wasn't actually that hard. All Will had to do was pay $10 for a day pass to park and then you walked into the library, no student ID necessary.

"Okay kiddo, where are we sitting?" he asked.

"I don't know. I've never been here before. Where did you normally sit?"

"Second floor. It's generally quieter up there and the tables are big, so I could throw my books all over it. But, I'd come back down here for coffee a lot, too."

"There's a coffee shop?" you asked as you widened your eyes. "In the library?"

"Well, tuition is out of this world. So, at least we get something out of it."

"Can we go? I think I have $5 somewhere in my backpack."

"If prices haven't gone up since I was here when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, then I can get a muffin and a large coffee for $5. I'll have the coffee and you can have the muffin. I'll pay," Will told you.

"Okay, thank you! And, you're not that old, Will."

You got your triple chocolate muffin and Will got his large coffee. Then, you found one of the big tables that he had mentioned and started copying your algebra review into another notebook.

"What are you going to do? Sit here and stare off into space?" you asked your brother. "Wait," you began as you started to rummage around in your backpack for an eraser, "What's this?"

You set a big book on the table. And it's definitely not something you'd read because it was called "How We Learn", which you assumed meant that the book was nonfiction and went into the science of learning.

"I found it in my room. Must've left it there from Christmas last year and I haven't had a chance to read it, so I figured I'd bring it to read now."

"Fair enough."

***

"Did Jay ever want to go to college?" you asked a few hours later. "Or, did he know it just wasn't right for him?"

"I think he always knew he wanted to do something involving being on the front lines and being in all the action," Will answered, dog-earing the page in his book and setting it down. "Why? You don't want to go to college either?"

"No, I do," you said quickly. "It's just- I just want to know things that I've never asked him if we...you know..."

Will nodded. "I know you're worried about him, but if Hank Voight's anything like Jay's told me, he won't let anything happen to one of his own."

"But he let it happen to Jules," you said. What if Jay was the next Jules?

"Jules? Who's Jules?"

"She was Antonio's partner. Antonio's the reason Jay got into Intelligence. And one day, he said we were going to go see a movie. Like, he just randomly picked me up from school and everything. I could tell he was sad after the movie, and it wasn't a sad movie, and he told me that someone he worked with died. A little later, we were walking by the memorial wall by the district and he showed me her name."

"I see," Will said, drawing on his talking-to-patient skills because what else was he going to say?

Luckily, he was saved by his phone ringing.

"Hello? Erin?" Pause. "He's at Med?" Pause. "Okay, yeah, we'll be there in ten minutes."

"He's okay?" you asked as soon as Will ended the call. "Jay's okay? They found him?"

Will nodded. "He's at Med. Erin said he's a little bruised, but he was conscious, so that's good."

You took Will's book and shoved it in your backpack along with your schoolwork. "Let's go."

***

"Nat, really, my ribs don't need to be wrapped. I'm fine," Jay protested as he sat in a treatment room at Chicago Med, Erin standing next to him in some clean clothes that Natalie had let her borrow.

"Jay, your ribs are badly bruised. They need to be wrapped. If you're more comfortable with a guy wrapping them, I can easily call in a male nurse for help," Natalie suggested.

"No, it's not that. I don't care who does it."

"My little brother just doesn't want to bruise his big ego, that's what's going on, Nat," Will said as he entered the treatment room with you by his side.

You jumped when Jay turned and you saw his face and his chest: a black eye that went from the inside corner of his right eye to his right temple, a gash on the top right of his forehead, another gash on the left side of his forehead which was diagonal and above the outside portion of his left eyebrow, a jagged cut that went down his left temple starting at eye level, a split lip, and purple, blue, and red bruises along with some cuts and welts that littered his ribs and chest.

"You're okay?" you asked as your lips pulled into a frown and tears stung your eyes.

"I'm okay. Just a little beat up right now. Nothing to worry about."

Without thinking, you ran to his bed and gave him a hug. He let out a groan as you squeezed a bit too tight, irritating his ribs.

You pulled away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay, my ribs are just gonna be a little sore for a few days."

"I thought you were going to be turned into fertilizer."

"Fertilizer?" Jay furrowed his eyebrows. "Who told you that?"

"When you didn't call me back about dinner, I tried calling Adam, but he didn't pick up either, so I went to the district. I heard some guy on the phone saying he was going to turn you into- into fertilizer. I was so scar- so scared."

Tears rolled down your cheeks faster than you could wipe them away.

Jay stood up with a grimace and walked the few paces over to you, wrapping you in a hug. "Hey, I'm okay now. That's all that matters. And, you did a really good job calling Erin."

"I did?"

"You sure did. She told me all about how you told her that I was gone and that she'd be able to get me out because we're partners." He paused. "She also told me that you took the El by yourself."

"Erin," you whined. "You weren't supposed to tell him that."

"It's okay," Jay said. "I won't tell Dad as long as you don't do it again."

"I won't," you replied. Not like Dad would do anything anyway, you thought to yourself.

"Jay," Will started, "You need to get back into bed."

"It's just bruised ribs, Will. I'm fine," Jay argued.

"It's just bruised ribs, Will. I'm fine," Will mocked. "Yeah, tell me that tomorrow when you can barely walk because of how sore they are. Bed. Now."

"Fine." Jay sat down with a huff and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I swear, you're such a child, Halstead," Erin said.

***

You walked out of school a few days later feeling free. Summer was here and you were no longer a middle-schooler. You were now a high schooler.

You started to walk out of campus, the way you took to walk home every day, when you heard the thundering of footsteps behind you, causing you to jump and turn around.

"Jay." You breathed a sigh of relief when you saw it was your brother.

"Hey, figured I'd pick you up. My text must not have gone through."

"Oh, I turned my phone off because of exams. Sorry."

"No problem. C'mon, we're going out to lunch and then we'll stop home to grab your swimsuit."

"Swimsuit? Why?"

"Mom would always take us to Navy Pier on the first day of summer to go swimming. And, since Will's shift ends at 1:00 and I'm on leave because of injury, it's the first year we can actually do this all together."

You nodded, trying to hold back tears at the mention of your mom.

"Hey, let me take your backpack. That thing looks like it's gonna make you topple over." You took it off and handed it to him. "Whoa! What's in here? Rocks?"

You laughed. "Nope, end of the year locker cleanout. Everything that was shoved in my locker is now in there."

"No rotten food I hope," Jay joked.

"No," you laughed. "Why? Did you or Will leave food in your locker?"

"No, we knew better than that. But the kid next to me left a milk carton in there over spring break and that smelled funky when we got back. I started bringing my backpack around with me just so I didn't have to go back to my locker because it smelled so bad."

"We can't do that. Teachers say it's for our safety because of bombs."

Jay opened the door to the backseat and put your backpack in there while you got into the passenger seat. Then, he got in the driver's seat all the while thinking how you knew that that was the reasoning behind that rule. He knew the reasoning because he was a detective. But he thought that most of the time, kids just thought it was some stupid rule.

"How do you know about that?" he asked once he started his truck.

"One of my teachers told us. She was mad at a kid who kept bringing his backpack to class even though she told him not to, so he went off on her and called it a stupid rule and asked why we even had the rule. She told him it was because if there's a bomb threat then she has to check every single backpack. That's why."

"Oh," was all Jay said. He really didn't want to be having this conversation with you, but here he was.

"Is it different?" you asked.

"Is what different?"

"Like, is high school different now than when you were in high school? And how different is middle school from high school?"

"Are you nervous for high school already, kiddo? You just finished eighth grade like fifteen minutes ago!"

You shrugged. "I'm just curious is all." Jay quirked an eyebrow at you while he took his eyes off the road for a split second and then returned them back to the road. "Okay, fine. I'm a little nervous."

"Let's talk about this over brunch, okay?"

"Okay."

***

Of course, Jay knew that you wanted to go to iHOP because breakfast was good at any time of the day. Jay thought differently though and ordered a sandwich instead of breakfast food like you. You had gotten their cinnamon roll pancakes with bacon, sausage, and hashbrowns on the side.

You were waiting for the comment about it being a lot of food, but that never came...which you were thankful for. You didn't know how you were supposed to explain to your very perceptive brother that the reason that you were eating a lot here was that you only had about 3/4 cups of dry cereal this morning before school because you were out of milk. You were out of milk and your dad didn't go grocery shopping. And, it's not like you had enough money to buy groceries or that you knew where your dad kept the money so you could take $20 just to buy food and hide it in your room so that you had something to eat.

"So, what do you want to know about high school?" Jay asked. "Did you get your schedule yet?"

If you were going to Central Chicago High School after going to their middle school, you had the option to schedule your classes the month prior and then you'd see if you'd get those classes. Of course, it might not be possible to get every class with every teacher you want, but it was cool that you got to know right when you finished eighth grade. And, in high school, it was the same thing: on the last day of ninth grade, if you were staying for tenth grade, then you'd get your schedule on the last day of ninth grade. It was sort of weird to you, but you got used to it.

"Is Eva going to be at the beach, too?" you asked. You knew it was her's and Diego's last day of school along with Jordan's and Vanessa's, so you wanted Jordan and Eva to be there when you told everyone your schedule so they could tell you everything they knew about the teachers you had next year.

"I can text Antonio. Why?" Jay asked.

"I just wanted to see if Eva and maybe Jordan would be there because they could tell me everything about the teachers I have."

"I can text Antonio and Kevin. You know what, I'll text Ruz and Burgess too."

"And Mouse."

"And Mouse. Can't forget about him now, can we?"

"What about Erin? Is she coming, too?"

"Uh, I don't know about that. She's had a rough couple of days."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "Why?"

"You know how Voight took her in?" You nodded. "Well, after Nadia died, she was backsliding. Badly. And now, she's detoxing and it's kinda hard on a person's body."

"Okay, but seeing you would make her feel better. She's always happy when she's around you. And you always have this big, dopey grin on your face whenever you're around her."

"I do not," Jay protested. You raised your eyebrows at him. "Okay fine, maybe I do that occasionally. I'll text some people and then we can talk about high school."

Jay sent the texts while you continued to eat. He took a few bites of his sandwich and then broached the topic of high school once more by saying, "So, what do you want to know about high school?"

"I dunno. How's it different from when you went to school like twenty years ago."

"Hey! It was not twenty years ago. I'll have you know it was ten years ago!"

"Same thing."

Jay rolled his eyes. "Well, shootings happened, but not as much as they do now." You opened your mouth to ask if Jay had ever responded to one, when he stopped you. "And I know what you're going to ask. No, I didn't respond to one and I wouldn't tell you if I did. What do I always tell you?"

"I'm trying to keep you innocent and sheltered from all the bad stuff in the world," you said verbatim of what he had told you dozens of times when you asked for details of what he was doing at work.

"Word for word. So, we got to carry our backpacks around and it was an open campus."

"It used to be an open campus?" you asked, shocked.

"Yup, we rarely even had to sign out."

"Lucky! I wanna leave school and go to Mcdonald's for lunch!"

"Too bad you weren't born like fifteen years earlier and that could've happened."

"Oh, and we could eat lunch on the roof. There was a way to climb through the ceiling above the indoor track. It's closed now, though."

"Why'd they close it?"

"Yeah, you might want to wait until we're at the beach for me to tell that story since I'm sure everybody else would find it funny."

"Okay..." you trailed off, drawing out the "y". You didn't know why everyone would find a story of a hole in the ceiling being closed funny, but you figured it was best to let Jay have his way...with this one at least. "What's the difference between middle school and high school?"

"Now, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret: nobody cares in high school."

"What do you mean?"

"Just ask Eva when we get to the beach."

"She's coming?"

"Her, Diego, Antonio, Kev, Adam, Kim, Jordan, Vanessa, Mouse, Erin, and of course Will are all coming."

***

Luckily, Jay decided to stay in the car while you ran inside your house and changed into a swimsuit, slipping your clothes over top of it so it would be easier when you got to the pier.

"Dawson!" Jay yelled as he walked up the beach, bag in hand filled with his swim trunks, water bottles, and a few bags of chips. Typically, he would've brought beer to the beach, but he had to drive home, with you in the car no less, so no drinking for him.

"Halstead!" Antonio yelled back.

Once you got up close enough, you saw that Gabby was there, too.

"Bring Gabby to be your DD, Antonio?" Jay jokingly asked.

"I mean, I'm sure Ruzek's bringing beer, so I might be able to get away with one."

"Uh uh," Gabby said. "If Kim brings some fruity drinks, you're driving home."

"So, if she brings regular drinks I can have a few beers?"

"Your cap is two, Antonio. You've got these two to take care of." She gestured to Eva and Diego. Diego was already jumping the waves and Eva was laying down on a beach towel starting to get a tan.

"Eva!" Antonio yelled. "Y/N's here!"

"Oh thank God," she said and walked up to you. "Girl, come sit your towel down next to mine and then we can look at your schedule."

"Yeah, I wanna see that, too!" Jay exclaimed.

"Should we wait for Will? And Jordan? Maybe Jordan has some input about the teachers. And, Jay said he has a story to tell about a hole in the ceiling of the high school and he wants to be sure everyone is around to hear it."

Ten minutes later, everyone had arrived and was in their swimming gear. "Okay, what's this story about the ceiling, Jay?" you asked.

"Oh, that story," Will joked.

"Yeah, that one. What other one would there be?"

Will rolled his eyes.

"Okay, before I start, I am going to preface this by saying that I was young and I was very stupid."

"He's stupid every day," Will dramatically leaned over Jay and whispered to Erin.

"Man, would you shut up and let me tell the story?" Will sat in silence for a few seconds. "Thank you.

"We all know about senior pranks. Well, it was my senior year and a few of us from the soccer team decided to pool our money together and buy some live chickens--"

"Did you say chickens? As in chickens with feathers? That squawk?" Kevin asked.

"Yes, real chickens. What other ones would there be?"

"Maybe they were chicken nuggets," Adam suggested.

Jay dramatically sighed. "Antonio, did you miss having me in the unit this week? You and Erin had to put up with these two bozos all by yourself."

"Hey!" Adam and Kevin yelled in unison.

"Anyway, as I was saying, some of us from the soccer team pooled our money together to buy chickens. Real live chickens, not chicken nuggets, Ruz. Then, we chose a Sunday night to get into the school--they always left this one back door unlocked--and we climbed onto the roof from the stairs/hole thingy in the ceiling right above the indoor track.

"Once we got to the roof, we dropped the chickens off of it. But, our stupid lookout got caught and then the cops came."

"You got arrested?" Adam laughed. "This is priceless."

"Didn't get arrested. Just had to do community service to be able to walk at graduation. But, nowadays, yeah, I'd have probably gotten arrested."

"So, that's why they closed it? Because you and your friends decided to drop chickens from the roof?" you asked.

"Exactly."

"Were Mom and Dad mad?" you asked. "I was little. I don't remember."

"They weren't thrilled, I'll tell you that much. I think if I would've gotten arrested it would've been a lot worse."

"He's downplaying it," Will said. "Mom grounded him from everything. Car keys, those crappy Motorola phones we had back then, GameBoy, dates with Allie. He couldn't do anything."

"Does not sound fun. I won't be trying that." You pulled your schedule out of the bag Jay had brought and passed it to your brother first.

"Aw, man, you got Cunningham for history," Jay groaned. "Or should I say Cuntingham."

"Jay!" you yelled.

"That old hag is still teaching? Damn," Will added.

"Okay, what's the issue with her? Eva? Jordan? Anything about this Cunningham lady?"

"She just hates freshman," Eva supplied. "When you become a sophomore it gets better."

"And she hates when you tip back in your chair," Jordan added. "She'll make you pay her 25 cents if she sees you do it in her class."

"Okay, no tipping in chairs, and I have to deal with her for a year, noted." You turned to your brothers. "How do you know of her?"

"I didn't have a problem with her other than the fact that she's a crappy teacher," Will said. "But  Jay, on the other hand, he's a different story."

"What'd you do?"

"So, I was a freshman when you were born and Mom went into labor the night before I had a test. And, because everyone hates tests, I went to the hospital with Will that morning and we waited for Mom to you know, be done giving birth to you.

"And, I went to school the next day and this old hag said that because there wasn't a doctor's note that I couldn't take the test--"

"He was this close--" Will pinched his pointer finger and thumb together so that they were almost touching. "--to taking you to school one day just to show you to Cunningham and saying is this a good enough doctor's note for you?"

"But Mom wouldn't let me do that...for obvious reasons. And then, because I couldn't take that one stupid test, I did not do well in that class."

"Just say you're related to me," Will said. "Don't mention Jay's name at all and you'll be fine."

"Got it. I'm gonna go in the water now."

You started to go in the water when you heard Erin and Will trying to convince Jay to go in.

"Dude, I can't roughhouse because of my ribs, you know this!" Jay told Will. "And, I am not going in the water with you again, not after what happened last time."

"Jay, that was twelve years ago, give it rest."

At this, your ears perked up. "What'd Will do?" you asked, walking back up to your brothers and Erin.

"He tried to drown me."

"Did not! I just wanted to see how long you could hold your breath."

"Yeah, see how long it would take me to drown!"

"He tried to drown you?" Erin asked.

"Yeah," Jay answered. "Me and Will were playing in the water. I was like 16 and Will was like 18. Y/N was a little toddler and was playing with her shovel on the beach. Then, Mom had to go to the bathroom, so she left me and Will in charge."

"Bad idea number one," Will said.

"There's more bad ideas. So, Y/N's playing in the sand, me and Will are playing in the water, and then next thing I know, Will's practically on top of me and holding my head underwater."

"And the minute I let you up was the minute Mom came back."

"Yup, perfect timing."

"And then you have Y/N who's sitting on the beach and decided to watch us and was just clapping her hands and chanting again, again!"

"Really?" you asked, as you tried to hold back your laughter. "I did that?" Will nodded and you shrugged. "Sounds pretty accurate to me."

"And then I didn't get ice cream after."

"Yeah, you didn't get ice cream after." Jay took a deep breath. "You almost killed me!"

You rolled your eyes. "I'm going in the water to cool off. Maybe it is best that you guys stay here. But, I mean, Gabby's here and I hope to God Will knows CPR because he's a doctor and that you cops do, too."

Once Will saw that you weren't focused on him and Jay anymore, he turned to his little brother. "Hey, how old was dad when he kinda, you know, clocked out on parenting us?"

"Early high school," Jay answered. "Why are you...oh shit, Y/N."

"Yeah, Y/N," Will reiterated. "And, we had Mom, so it wasn't that bad. But, she doesn't have that."

"She's got us," Jay said. "That's gotta count for something."

A/N: I was going to post this last night, but I almost fell asleep while editing, so it's coming out now. Anyway, not sure how I feel about this one, but I got it done, so that's all that matters. Thank you for reading! Please vlike/reblog and comment and tell me what you think! As always, if you want to be added to the taglist, just comment that you want to be added down below. PS: That story about chickens being dropped into the courtyard at school, yeah my older cousin did that for his senior prank and the lookout got caught and they had to do community service to walk at graduation.

taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @onechicago18 @iamasimpingh0e 

[nitannichionne]

If He Was YOUR Fan Chapter 10: Thunder and Wind (A Henry Cavill Fan Fic)

You are watching the weather channel everyday now, and there is no denying it: there is a storm coming in three to five days, give or take. The wind velocity over the seas change, but landfall is inevitable. You feel a bit panicked; it’s one thing to face storms in your home town with family around you, but it’s another when you are in a place you don’t know facing a storm you’ve never experienced with no family around you.

The town is even getting ready, repairing shutters, and stockpiling foods. You’re no slouch when it comes to preparation and you have been slowly adding supplies to your backpack, even to your cabinets. You just aren’t sure where to go. The garage you are in is relatively new, so you are not sure of how much it has stood against, or if it was rebuilt after a storm. The house is a better bet, and you are afraid the garage apartment may be destroyed.

Luckily, the storm makes landfall at the end of the week, giving the movie crew a chance to film but also to secure what they can. Urgency fills everyone’s steps; it is important to do whatever can be done. Even Henry is being more precise with his performances, trying to do things in one or two takes. He is terribly busy and you understand when he can’t see you as much. Between trainings, new shooting schedules and just trying to get that eight to ten hours of sleep, he feels the need to lead and work harder than others, be an example and yet help everyone else.

You just try to be quietly supportive. You make sure he eats and drinks, which seems to be the first thing he throws out the window when he is in this mode. You introduce him to the twenty minute power nap and meditation in his trailer, things that saved your ass in the past when it was crunch time for you. He is a true Taurus-a true bull, trying to charge through everything, but you are more concerned for his well-being and what keeps him able to continue being that way. At first, he rejects the idea, but as he sees your concern, he relents and tries to take better care of himself.

                             “When we get off work tonight, I’d like you to wait for me,” Henry says in his Geralt voice as you both stride toward the set.

“Sure, but—” you hesitate, still instinctively feeling a bit intimidated by the tone but not as much as before. “you are really busy, so it’s okay if you don’t have a lot of time—”

“I have time for this,” Henry grounds out, but then touches your shoulder. “Just…wait for me?”

“Alright,” you nod, responding to the purr in his voice and seeing a look in his eyes that is new to you. He looks tired of course, but he also looks a little distracted and unsure. He leaves you behind the wall of cameras and in a few breaths and a clench of his jaw, Geralt has emerged and Henry simply cannot be reached. In the blink of an eye, Gracie blinks at you, and then blinks into character herself. You turn to finish your duties, heading back toward the trailers as you open the notes app on your tablet holding all your to-do’s as you stride over to have lunch with Stella.

“People are talking,” Stella whispers.

“About what?”

She looks around and then answers, “About you.”

“Me?!”

“Well you’ve been in Henry’s trailer a lot—”

You roll your eyes. “I stay and wait for him to finish eating, Stella.”

“What?”

“You know they are trying to get more done before the storm,” you remind. “He’s not eating or drinking, I can see it in his color. So, I stay and wait for him to eat.”

“And he does it?”

“Yes, it’s quiet persistence,” you shrug. “I told him what I’m doing and why I’m doing it once. I just stand there.”

“Is that why you’ve been taking a shorter lunch?” Stella began putting two and two together.

“Yes, my waiting is part of my lunch hour and then when he starts I start, or when he finishes I start,” you shrug. “It’s a guilt trip, my waiting for him to eat, but it pushes him to do what he should be doing in the first place, the bullheaded boy.”

“Stop it!” Stella laughs, rocking backward and losing balance of her lunch on her lap, almost spilling it on the ground but catching it just in time. “Did you like the minestrone?”

“That was really good—“

“I made it!” Stella beamed. “They let me do it! Have you heard anything else?”

“I don’t think there is any left, Stella.”

She gasps and gets up to check. She squeals in delight and you laugh at her giddiness.

“Happy day!” Stella sighs. “Oh, times like this I know I was meant to work with food—”

“Hey, guys!” Stuart greets. Archer is with him.

“Hey!” Stella smiles widely. “Did you have some of my minestrone?”

“That was you?” Stuart’s eyes widened. “You have to make that at the house!”

You smile and rise to your feet. “Well guys, I’ll catch you later, okay?”

“Leaving again, are you?” Archer asks, raising an eyebrow at you.

“Yes, I have to get back to work—”

“You haven’t been around much, helping Mr. Cavill and all,” Archer says accusingly, almost spitting Henry’s surname.

“I am doing what I can for all the cast members and their assistants, Archer,” you say evenly, hoping you come off as dismissive instead of defensive. “See you guys later.”

The day goes on in flurry of changed orders and last minute things to do. There’s only a day or two left before the storm hits and your mind swims with what needs to be done. You overhear Stuart ask Stella to stay at his place during the storm and she agrees happily. You hope that Archer doesn’t ask; that would be awful and awkward. You realize during the course of the day that some people partner up on occasions like these-be it as friends or more.

At the end of the day, you sit by the catering trailer with Stella as she wraps for the day. You keep checking your texts to see if anything last minute pops up for you to do before you leave. You feel like Cinderella this particular day, dealing with Gracie’s demands of tea for her throat, cleaning her trailer, and walking actors’ pets, the latter of which you don’t mind. You just want to be sure you are done and ready to go when Henry is.

“Ready to go?”

You look up to see Archer and Stuart approaching. Stuart is particularly happy and relaxed now that he knows Stella is staying over for the storm. Archer, however, looks like the prelude to the event of the storm itself.

“Yeah!” Stella nods quickly, gathering her things.

You don’t move. You look around to see so many people gone, but Henry’s truck is still there, not far from you. You didn’t want to look like a puppy on a doorstep but you certainly feel like one now.

Stella looks at you questioningly. “Hey, you’re not coming?”

“I have plans,” you say quickly.

“Do you?” Stuart asks, nudging his older brother.

“Speaking of plans,” Archer asks. “I was wondering where you would be staying during the storm.”

You swallow hard. “I haven’t given it much thought.” That was true. You have been so busy with preparation for the thing, you missed this detail.

“Well, if you have nowhere to go—”

“She does.”

Your eyes fly up to see Henry approaching. His look is calm, but his body is rigid as he strides toward the group. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Henry nods. “ready to go?”

Your eyes lower as three pairs of eyes fly toward you. “Yeah, pretty much.”

He offers his hand and you take it. He effortlessly pulls you to your feet, and sees your tablet open. “Colin’s gone already. I don’t think he’ll have anything else for you—” he smiles. “Well, not today.”

“Oh, okay, thanks.” You fold the tablet case shut and slip it into your cargo pocket.

“See you tomorrow,” Henry nods with a polite smile to everyone, his eyes lingering on Archer for more than a second. He shifts his hand so that he is holding yours and leads you off.

“Later, guys,” you call back softly as you follow him. He walks you to the passenger’s side of his truck.

“Well, I guess you know what I wanted to talk to you about,” Henry says softly, your bodies inches apart as you lean against the vehicle.

“Not sure,” you say slowly. You refuse to assume, after all, what does Mom say? To assume makes an ass out of you and me….?

“I was hoping,” he paused, his eyes dropping as if getting up the nerve, but rise with intensity as he says his next words. “I was hoping you’d ride out the storm with me. They say it will be fronts rolling in and out all weekend, but the first hit will be the worst.”

“Yeah,” you smile breathlessly. “sounds like fun.”

“We should shop for some things we might need, you know?” he said softly. “I mean, safety, snacks, stuff like that.”

“Agreed.” You nod. “I’ll be honest, I’ve been getting ready all week, you know, little by little.”

“Great.” He nods. “So, let’s see what we’ve got, alright?”

“Yeah,” you nod.

He opens the door for you, and you slide into the passenger’s seat. He closes the door and as he walks around the car to get into the drivers’ side, you realize it may be time. The makeout sessions and massages, the kisses and caresses…it was all building into the point where something was going to give. He slides in next to you and stretches over to give you a quick kiss. “I’ve been wanting to do that all day.”

“I’ve been wanting you to,” you say softly.

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[anemonenemerosa]

Hello hello,

here we go. Thank you for staying with me and thank you @lumosinlove for creating this world =)

This is still dark (but we’re getting a bit better) so please stay safe.

Chapter 10

They stopped in front of a big apartment-building, windows mostly dark, it was almost one in the morning. There was no doorman, no entry hall to the building, just a corridor leading to stairs and a concerningly dingy lift. Ouais, enfin… maybe I pay with my kidneys for this, after all.

The door to the flat opened, Regulus was pushed in and all but froze. He had never seen such a place.

There was no entrance hall in here either, the front door directly opened into a small living room with an open kitchen and a dinner table shoved into a corner, half hidden behind an overloaded laundry rack.

The windowsills were crammed with pot-plants in several states of... health? survival? decay? Books and knickknacks were messily shoved into the tall but sloping shelves lining the walls, which were painted in a soft warm yellow, making the room look sunny and warm, even in the middle of the night.

Nothing, not even the chairs or precariously crooked shelves seemed to belong to the same set of furniture. And was one of the table-legs different from the others?

It was... all over the place, really.

The worn maroon rug in the living area clashed horribly with the big, ugly purple corduroy couch and the mismatched and multicoloured throw pillows.

Posters of 80's movies -Regulus recognised Ghost Busters and Back to the Future- and lots of unframed photographs almost covered the wall behind the couch.

On the far wall were three doors, one closed, one revealing bits of a very messy bedroom, the other ajar, sporting a poster of a rather ancient wooden privy... What. The. Hell.

Regulus did not know what to make of this. He somehow loved it instantly while simultaneously cringing over all the chaos and all the stuff crammed in here. His, stylistically uninspired, mother would probably die of shock at the view and somehow that made the place a little more endearing to him.

However, he always thought of himself as tidy and some part of him died just a bit at the sight of the mismatched socks and shirts littering the part of the bedroom-floor he could see. This place, starkly contrasting the house he grew up in was bursting with life, messy and welcoming instead of an assembly of model rooms resembling what was shown in some posh interior-design magazine. This is what a home looks like, Regulus decided.

He allowed himself to be ushered further inside.

"Leave you shoes here please and put your coat..." Regulus turned around as the sentence did not continue and saw Ben looking at the overflowing coatrack behind the door.

"...Put your coat somewhere you will find it again" he concluded, nodding to himself.

Mateo already went past them into the kitchen and dived headfirst into the fridge. "We have some left-over Minestrone from yesterday, if you want, Reg."

Regulus turned, having disposed of his coat on one of the chairs. As he didn't answer for long enough to be considered impolite, Mateo lifted his head from the fridge, noticing Regulus blank stare

"Is it OK, if we call you Reg? Regulus sounds so stiff..." This warm, infuriatingly disarming, smile. Regulus could only nod.

These people rendered him speechless at a disturbing rate. Usually, he chose not to speak but with them, he often couldn't.

The only one who had ever called him Reg was Sirius and even he stopped that years ago. Could he really be Reg again? Was he allowed to? No, a malicious voice echoed through his head. You do not deserve that comfort. Remember what you did. Regulus felt sick.

"Soooo... Minestrone?" – "I am not hungry, but thank you" Regulus looked at Mateo, hoping he would not call him Reg, regretting his thoughtless agreement.

"When’s the last time you eaten?" Ben asked as he came from the Bedroom in striped Pyjama-bottoms and an old shirt. Regulus tried to remember if he had had lunch today. Not good.

"If you need to think about it, it is too long ago. You eat." The man stated as Mateo chuckled and put a pot on the stove.

"Do never deny again that you are a freaking mother hen", he joked while walking into the bedroom, probably to change, too.

Regulus hovered in the room, wary and utterly confused. He struggled to maintain a safe distance, still trying to fathom what's going on and why these strangers were more welcoming and affectionate than his family ever been.

A quiet but reckless voice in his mind - very different from the sneer that chimed up just a minute ago and sounding suspiciously similar to a younger Sirius- reminded him that he fucked up already and that he might as well go and enjoy his time while the universe and/or his mother were probably already in preparation to take him down.

              ----------------------------------------------------------

A while later he was seated on the ugly, lumpy couch, nursing a bowl of minestrone. He was clad in a much too small shirt ("this is the biggest shirt we have, you are just a giant") and borrowed underwear (his blood-stained sweatpants were soaking in the sink along with his, also bloody, shirt) and wrapped in a baby blue blanket with pink chickens on it. Why does such an item even exist?  

The TV provided mindless background-noise while Ben and Mateo chattered along about anything and everything. Regulus just sat there in silence and listened intently. He never met people who would just go on and lay out their life in front of a person they just met. Let alone a person they found bleeding in the shower, mid-meltdown... Maybe their life history hinted on why they were so careless with private information.

And they really were. They told him everything and Regulus was confident he could write their memoirs by now.

Apparently, Mateo grew up in Manaus, Brazil So, it was Portuguese, not Spanish. ("That's where Rio Negro and Rio Solimões meet to form the Amazonas" The more you know...) He came to the US to study medicine on a scholarship, is in the last weeks of his training and only stays in Slytherin because-

"One cannot choose their training hospitals on that scholarship. No offense, mate." None taken.

They recounted how they met almost five years ago at an airport.  That, after spending eight hours waiting for their delayed flight, they were joined at the hip. "Metaphorically and literally." Regulus went bright red at the innuendo while Ben patted his back sympathetically, shaking with suppressed laughter. He and Mateo were huddled up together in a yellow blanket with... Flamingos? Where did they even get these bird-themed things?

Ben had a sister, Josephine, who stayed here during semester breaks ("But do call her Jo or she will end you.") After Regulus gave a pointed look to the closed door, he was informed that he did not need to worry about their noise as she slept like the dead and even overslept a fire alarm in the building last summer.

Jo was 18, like Regulus but already in her Sophomore at Boston University as she skipped a year in middle school. "Got herself a scholarship and does computer-sciences, the insufferable nerd and know-it-all."

"She's really great, Reg. Ben is just her brother and thus, bound to think she’s annoying." Mateo interrupted Bens speech about his sister.

Regulus allowed himself a minute of going over the relationship with his own brother. Sirius was annoying. Very annoying, to be exact. But if anyone except him had called him out in the past, Regulus remembered feeling a little surge of protection against the git he was related to... maybe this was a siblings-thing.

He focused back on the conversation in front of him, fascinated by the insight of other people’s relations and upbringing.

The siblings grew up in Bristol, Great Britain, and moved to New York when Ben was seventeen and Jo ten but he did not elaborate on why they came here. That’s why I couldn’t place the accent.

Ben had studied Art History at NYU and actually worked at the Art Gallery in the city-centre. Cleaning the rink in the evenings was his means to save money for a tattoo shop he wanted to open in Boston, where they would move, come February, for Mateo’s new job.

He got informed that a note has been shoved under Jos door, announcing his presence, a spare toothbrush was presented and then, at nearly half past two in the morning, he is left for the night with a hug (!) from both of them. How touchy they are.

Regulus was not cuddly, never had been.

Really? You loved to snuggle up with Sirius in bed. The voice of reckless young Sirius supplied unhelpfully. This whole situation was completely surreal but also comfortingly normal.

This is a dream or, more likely, a godamn fever-trip. C’est pourri! This is shit! Regulus sighed.

These people were mad... hell, they didn't even know him. Yet, they took him in, fed him (very good) soup and freaking hugged him good night. They probably even stayed awake that long, filling the air with their complete life-story to keep him from feeling lonely... Allez savoir pourquoi! God knows why!

Reckless young Sirius suggested again to just roll with it and Regulus began to wonder whether he, instead of them, had gone mad.

This life he had a short glimpse into, this night was not real for him. He couldn't have that, considering the family he was born into and his obligation to live up to their expectations. Not to mention that he absolutely did not deserve being cared for after he de facto kicked his brother in the face ruined and his career.

The tiny voice piped up again, but Regulus silenced it with an exasperated groan. Yep, mad.

He surely would not sleep here on this odd couch. He would sit here, mull over all the shit that happened in just this one day, wait for them to wake up to thank them appropriately, return to the Malfoys and sleep there for a week to recompose himself.

[thadelightfulone]

Keep Me In Mind

Part Two of my submission for the Quarantine Writing Challenge hosted by @shaekingshitup​ and @chaneajoyyy​. [PART ONE]

Took this as an opportunity to write for someone new...ENJOY!

Pairing: Thick Black!OC - Lexi Washington and Rome Flynn

“One night, Rome! That is all I asked for. Was that too much? I just don’t understand how he could do this to me again.” She cries into the phone.

“Hey, hey, hey.” She quiets down, “Just breathe,” and he can hear her inhaling deeply on the line, “Where are you now?”

Lexi called Rome crying about Drew again. Last night, he once again ruined her plans for the evening. Drew knew she wanted a night to herself, and she even told him to go out with his boys. All she wanted was a few hours to relax and unwind from the bullshit week she had. And he couldn’t even do that. Drew was there when she got home, yelling, screaming, and acting a fool with the guys online instead. Rome knew this already because he was online with them.

Rome waits a few moments, then repeats his question. Lexi takes her time answering him as usual, knowing that she is going to tell him so he can pick her up. This has become a routine for them. She calls him complaining about her boyfriend, he listens and then offers to take her out to get her mind off things. It shouldn’t even be a part of their relationship, but it is; this is what they have become.

“At the house.” She steps out of the kitchen into the doorway to grab her coat and purse, “I’ll be on the steps.” Opening the door to go out, she slows once he speaks.  

“Nah, stay inside. I’ll let you know when I’m there.” Lexi closes the door, turning on her heel and heading past the kitchen.

Lexi walks to the office and sits down at the desk, “Ok, text me, so you don’t have to come inside.”

“Lex, relax.” He jumps in his car, starting it up. “I got you. You just choose where you want to go, ok. That’s all I want you to worry about.”

“Yeah, ok. I’ll see you when you get here.” They end the call, and Lexi looks at the picture frame on her left. It is a photo of Drew and her in better times, enjoying the natural beauty at her favorite park. Before things became so strained that they could barely talk to one another without it turning into an argument - he makes a demand of her, and she wants him to ask respectfully. She makes a simple request, and he fights her tooth and nail just to avoid doing it.

Lexi closes her eyes, she is so sick of the fighting and his treatment of her and their relationship, but she doesn’t want to leave. She loves him, and she believes somewhere deep down, he loves her, too. She has no idea how they got to this point, but she has hope it’ll get better.  

Folding her arms on top of the desk, Lexi puts her head down and nods off. Only waking when she hears voices coming down the hall towards the office. She sits up and tries to wipe her face of any sleep real quick. A short knock precedes the door opening, and she sees Rome walk in with Drew behind him. He stays at the door.

“Yo man, the next tournament is in a week. You playing with us, right?” Drew asks, clapping him on the back.

Shrugging him off, “Of course, you know you need me.” Rome looks over at Lexi, who is fluffing her hair and rubbing her eyes before standing up, “Ready to go?”

“Yup,” she walks over to Drew and kisses him on the cheek. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, sure.” He steps back into the main hall, then turns around, walking backward as he faces them both, “Oh, and can you bring me back some chips and ice cream? I finished both earlier.”

“Really, Drew? You were just out, why didn’t you get some?”

“It’s not my job to make sure the pantry stays full.” Rome shakes his head while Drew smiles at her, “Besides, I didn’t say anything about you finishing off the rest of the Crown last night.” Turning back around, he makes a left down the hall. Lexi groans.

“Come on, let’s go,” Rome interjects before Lexi can follow after him just to say something back. He has been here when one of their arguments started, and he does not feel like playing referee today. Grabbing her shoulders, he leads her away in the opposite direction towards the front of the house.

Walking to his car, Rome opens the door and lets her get settled as he makes his way around to the driver’s side. He watches as Lexi leans back in the seat, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. They both sit there quietly. Rome’s eyes on Lexi taking in the view from the bottom up. Lexi is wearing classic white slip-on Vans with some dark denim jeans and a pink and purple ombre peasant top. Her burgundy and dark brown natural curls twisted out, framing her face. Rome smiles while staring at her when she removes her hands from her face.

“Can I get my face back?” Big black eyes behind rose gold-rimmed glasses along with the deepest dimples he has ever seen laugh at him. Her laughter causes her cute chubby cheeks to rise and her eyes to flutter. "I hate when you do that, you know?" She pushes at his arm.

Shrugging the push-off, Rome looks over at Lexi, "Do what?" Starting the ignition to warm the car up, he sits back in his seat, waiting for her answer.

"That!" Lexi points at his face, "That right there." She grabs her phone and tries to snap a picture of him. Rome turns away before the flash, and she catches a perfect profile shot of him. He is looking out the front of the car, his 5 o'clock shadow appearing between his mustache and attempt at a beard. Spotting a new short cut, she can see the waves coming in. And she knows he is smiling at her even while he faces forward. The beautiful bastard. She saves the picture and puts her phone away.

"So, you don't want me looking at you?" Quickly turning her way, he sees her slowly nod at him before nervously biting her lip. Putting the car in gear, he begins to laugh, "Not gonna happen." They pull off, and Rome grabs her left hand with his right, squeezing it before settling it on his thigh.

Lexi looks down at their hands intertwined; it's not a new sight because they do it all the time. But for some reason, today, it just feels different and not necessarily in a bad way. "Where are we going?"

Focusing on the road, "Have you eaten today?" Rome inquires. Lexi rolls her eyes, focus outside of the window while mumbling the answer. "Lex?"

"No," she huffs out.

"When was the last time you ate?" He stops at a red light to look at her fidgeting in the passenger seat.

Groaning, she finally looks back at him. "Not since lunch yesterday." He squeezes her hand on his lap. "I did- I did have food to eat last night, Rome, but I was so pissed off about Drew being home and fucking up my evening-" she sighs, "I couldn't bring myself to eat it. So, I let him have it."

"And drowned your sadness in that bottle of Crown I left at the house?" She nods her head in response, "You don't even drink whiskey." He proclaims.

"I know.” She whines, “Why do you think you didn't hear from me until this afternoon?" Lexi rolls her eyes, "On the plus side, I did get to soak in my bathtub and woke up there, too." She starts laughing, and Rome can't help but join her.

"What am I going to do with you, Lex?" What am I going to do about you? He thinks to himself.

The light turns green, and Rome takes off. The car is quiet again except for the radio in the background. Everything I Miss At Home by Cherrelle is playing softly. Rome peeks over at Lexi, who is quietly singing the song. Loud enough that she didn't think he would hear her.

Rome pulls up in front of a restaurant. He parks the car and gets out to catch the passenger door before Lexi does. He didn't need to rush because she is dumbfounded, looking up at the familiar place.

Hearing her door open, Lexi looks up at Rome. "How did you know?"

"Know what?" he replies, helping her out of the car and closing the door behind her.

"Italian, Rome?" He is still confused by her comment as they enter the restaurant. They are greeted by the owner, who remembers Lexi from the previous evening and shakes her hand, welcoming her back. Rome looks at her as she nervously says hello to the man. "This is my favorite Italian restaurant.

"Ahhhh, so your dinner last night was from here?" She mouths yup as the owner leads them to a table. Rome follows behind Lexi, eyes roaming her body and especially those thick hips swaying in her jeans. He inwardly groans as she slides into the booth.

"Well, I knew you loved Italian. I just didn't know you knew about this place." He finally replies while sitting down.

"Yeah, I love this place. It's actually where Drew and I first met." Lexi ends that statement, gently realizing how awkward this must be. "I'm sorry."

Rome taps the table before looking up at her, "No need to apologize for that."

"But I mean, he's -" Lexi stops speaking as Rome shakes his head.

 "I know who he is." He cuts her off, "And I know who you are. There's no need to say any more than that." Rome picks up the menu, sighing behind it.

He didn't mean to act like that towards her, but he didn't want to talk about Drew. He didn't want to talk about anything that reminded him that Lexi does not belong to him even if that is part of a long-overdue conversation between the two.

Putting the menu back down, "I should be the one apologizing to you." Lexi looks up from her menu, confused. "Why don't we get something in your stomach first, and then we'll talk?" Like it was planned, Lexi's stomach answers for her, and they both laugh, erasing the quickly rising tension at the table.

Lexi orders her favorite dish from the night before, Stuffed Chicken Marsala, and decides to get it over mashed potatoes tonight. Rome orders Chicken Florentine over Angel Hair pasta. They both order different flavored Italian sodas and Minestrone to start.

Their food arrives, and they eat in comfortable silence. Lexi sneaking peeks at Rome since she can’t figure out what he wants to talk about with her. They have always been able to talk with one another about everything, so this doesn’t make any sense. He looked so serious when he brought it up, too. He cut her off when speaking, and he has never done that before. If she is honest with herself, Rome has always been there for her in ways that Drew never has. Finished with her food, she drops her fork on the plate and openly scrutinizes Rome, hoping he will look up from his plate so they can start this conversation.

Rome senses Lexi’s eyes on him and pays so much attention to his food that he scrapes the plate while cutting his chicken. He completes the task at hand and puts the knife down. It feels like he is under a microscope, and Rome doesn’t understand where this nervous energy around Lexi is coming from. He has always been her sounding board and a voice of reason for when she wants to just talk in a judgment-free zone. And she has been that for him on occasion as well, so what changed?

His phone vibrates against the table, and he looks down at it. Drew. The unspoken matter between them. Why is he calling him now? “It’s your man.” He tells Lexi.

“He’s your best friend,” she declares. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom while you two talk or whatever.” She sets her napkin beside her plate and gets up from the booth.

Rome watches her before picking up the phone. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“When are you guys coming back? I want my ice cream.” Drew complains into the phone.

“Are you serious? As long as we have been gone, you could have went and got some.” Rome states matter-of-factly.

“I know, I know. But I asked her to get it for me. So, I expect her to do that.” Rome pulls the cell away from his ear to look down at it. This cannot be the same dude he grew up with acting like this. “Can you make sure you stop before bringing her home?”

“Yeah. Bye.” Rome ends the call, not wanting to entertain him anymore. The waitress appears as Lexi makes her way back to the table.

“Would you like anything else?” She asks them. Rome nods at Lexi, who shakes her head.

“No, that’ll be all. Thanks.” The waitress drops off the check and collects their plates before leaving them alone.

“What did your bestie want?” Lexi smirks at him.

“Stop that mess.” Rome waves her off as he takes cash out of his wallet to pay for their meal. “He wanted to know when his ice cream would be making it home.”

“The ice cream? But not me?” Lexi questions.

“I was kindly asked to make sure we stop before bringing you home.” Rome stands and takes Lexi’s hand, helping her up.

“Wow, ok.” They wave goodbye to the owner and waitress on their way out. “You are just taking me straight home, right?” She asks as they get into the car.

“Is that what you want?” Lexi shrugs as Rome goes on, “Is it worth the argument?” He starts the car, heading back towards their house.

“No, but I am over whatever game he is playing.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “I just want to be respected and treated as an equal. Something he stopped seeing me as a long time ago.” She grabs his left hand, linking their fingers before settling them in her lap, “Why can’t he be more like you?” Under her breath, why can’t he be you?

Rome is quiet until George Duke’s No Rhyme, No Reason plays on the radio. He starts singing along, knowing exactly how the man feels except he isn’t married, but he definitely finds himself wanting the woman next to him. Lexi smiles in the dark while listening to him sing.

The car stops in front of the house, and Lexi mentally prepares herself to deal with whatever mess Drew is about to start. Rome comes around to her side as she gets out. He grabs her hand in his as they walk up to the front door. Turning her around before she goes inside, he sees the tears start to run down her face. Rome leans over and kisses Lexi’s cheek, “Just keep me in mind.”

[britishassistant]

But I Like One Piece (7)

The Uchiha compound is creepy.

It’s the same way Auschwitz is creepy. The knowledge of the atrocities committed there, combined with all the little context clues which make it more than just knowledge.

Smashed windows, run down storefronts, overgrown gardens, doors hanging off of rusted hinges. Random objects scattered around, as though waiting for their owners to pick them up.

Brownish stains everywhere.

This is what she always imagined the aftermath of a Buster Call would look like.

Except this is.

Real.

She shudders and clutches Naruto’s hand tighter. He squeezes back, averting his eyes.

Uchiha scoffs in front of them.

She frowns at his back. What, are they not allowed to be disturbed by the scene of a genocide? Still, she’s surprised he can stomach cutting through here, even if it is a shortcut to their destination.

“Is it far to your house?”

“Hn.” He says.

She scowls at his back. So much for pleasant conversation.

Eventually they come to a large house at the very center of the compound.

There’s more brownish stains here than in the rest of the compound, but Uchiha pushes the front door open.

“...Don’t bother taking your shoes off.” He says. “Training ground’s this way.”

“Wait.” Naruto stops dead, looking around wild-eyed. “You said the trainin’ ground was near where you live.”

The Uchiha actually turns around at this. “Yeah, and?”

She stares at the dusty, dark interior of the house. She closes her eyes and counts to ten.

“Sasuke-kun.” She says with her brightest smile. “Is there anyone living with you at the moment who looks after you?”

He shudders. “N-no. That’s stupid, I’m an Uchiha. I don’t need to be looked after. And d-don’t call me that ever again.”

She keeps smiling as she buries her face in her hands and tries not to scream. For the love of Luffy, Chopper and Robin, how is this child not a gibbering wreck?

Naruto gestures wildly at their surroundings. “But why—why’d you live here?! The village gave me an apartment! Why live where—”

He clamps down on the sentence. But it’s too late.

“What? Where my an-bro-broth—where That Man murdered my family?” Uchiha sneers. “A clanless moron like you wouldn’t get it.”

Naruto flinches a little.

“Well no one can if you don’t use your words and explain this shit.” She snaps, irritated. “People aren’t mind-readers you know.”

He stiffens, lip curling, before turning his back on them again. “Let’s just get this over with.”

She throws her hands into the air as Naruto cracks his knuckles, following him into the darkness of the house. “Bring it, jerk.”

Much like the spar at the Academy, the two of them are on even ground initially.

Also like the spar at the Academy, it’s not long until Uchiha begins losing.

Even without an audience, Uchiha has something to prove in this fight, and that distracts him instead of motivating him.

All the little needling remarks they’ve been making clearly get under his skin and making him lash out where it would’ve been smarter to play it safe, his stances and footwork becoming less precise and more sloppy as he frantically tries to beat Naruto down and make him stay down.

Whereas Naruto can easily dodge or shrug off these blows, redirecting the motion and using the openings to hit back.

She winces gleefully at a particularly painful hit on Naruto’s part. They’ve trained under Gai-sensei. One of the first things he taught them was the importance of letting your emotions fuel your resolve instead of trying to keep them separate and leaving them liable to distract you at the worst opportunity.

Naruto knocks Uchiha’s ankle out from under him and carefully controls the fall so Uchiha doesn’t even end up winded, but is definitely pinned with no hope of escape.

She grins widely, crowing. “Finished! Match victory to Uzumaki Naruto!”

Naruto promptly leaps up and begins whooping, running in circles around Uchiha, while the boy on the ground shouts that this wasn’t fair, he was only warming up, they need to go another round so they can clearly see how strong he is.

She just keeps grinning fiercely. “It’s better to accept loss with grace, Uchiha-san. Now, where’s your kitchen?”

This...

This is a travesty.

If Sanji was here, he’d kick Uchiha Sasuke so hard he’d rearrange his entire shitty face. Of course, given the track record of that move, it’d probably end up improving his looks, but still. Travesty.

There’s fruit shoved into pile in a corner and moldering, glimpses of white-green fuzz visible.

There’s packets of meat and fish in the fridge that have been carelessly torn and left open, their juices dripping down onto other items.

There’s eggs and yogurt left out on the countertop, already long curdled by the smell of them.

There’s congealed leftovers shoved into the fridge on the plates they were served on, without any foil or covers to protect them.

There’s grimy and poorly cleaned utensils sitting in a sink full of dirty water, and the countertops themselves are covered in stains from previous cooking attempts.

At least he knows milk goes into the fridge, and put the tomatoes in the cooler drawer. Even if they’re so squished together over half of them are bruised.

She takes a deep breath and tries not to choke on the stench. Sanji give me strength.

“Well.” She says brightly. “Congratulations. You’ve managed to somehow be even worse than my shittiest expectations.”

Uchiha glares at her out of a swelling black eye. “Shut up.”

She hangs her head, exhaling harshly. Not constructive Ketsugi.

“Right. Where do you keep your bin bags? The bigger the better I think.” She steps up to the sink, pulling the plug and letting the grime drain away, turning the tap on as far as it can go on “hot”.

Naruto makes a face at the rattling sound the drain makes, the expression pulling at his fat lip. She sighs. “Rubber gloves too, if you have them.”

“Your problem.” She tells him, in the middle of sorting through the fruit and seeing what’s salvageable and what has to go, “Is that you have too much food.”

They’re on the fourth bin bag already, having filled the other three with the contents of the fridge and carried them out to a monstrous skip at the back of the compound.

“You have loads of people giving you more than you can feasibly eat, let alone prepare.” She continues, grimacing at a particularly fluffy punnet of cherries. “So it goes to waste. You need to begin doing your own shopping. Or telling some of them thanks but no thanks. Or, hell, even donating the extra stuff to people who can use it.”

“Like who?” Uchiha asks dismissively, as he reorganizes his pantry so things aren’t just thrown in there willy-nilly, carefully sweeping up spilled grains of rice or flour or sugar or pasta into a dustpan as he goes.

“The Orphanage.” Naruto throws out as he scrubs pots and pans until they gleam under almost-boiling water. “They’d always tell me they never had enough food to go around when I lived there.”

Sasuke’s face is wrought with some complex emotion when he next empties the dustpan into the bag, his mouth twisting when she mutters, “Wouldn’t get it, huh?” striding back into the pantry like he hadn’t heard her.

She tilts an avocado, marveling at how much it feels like a rock, and says in a louder voice, “You could always see if there are any charities or soup kitchens that would appreciate the donations. Even I could always take some of what’s left over and make you something with it.”

“...” There’s a lot of judgement she doesn’t appreciate in that silence.

“I don’t just make curries.” She replies snidely, stuffing some rotten bananas into the bag with more force than is perhaps strictly necessary. “I do lots of other foods. Right Naruto?”

“Yeah!” He says, depositing a metal spoon onto the veritable field of tea towels they’ve laid out over the counter. “She just makes the curry super spicy because she has no idea what it’s supposed to taste like. She does other foods normal though!”

Her eyebrow twitches and she has to fight to stop herself from lobbing a mushy apple at Naruto’s treacherous head.

By the time they’re done, the countertops are gleaming, the fridge has been scrubbed clear of contaminating juices, and the sink’s drain no longer sounds like it’s giving out a death rattle every time water goes down it.

The pantry is arranged so Uchiha actually knows where stuff is, and the fresher meat and bread he doesn’t know if he’ll eat in the next week or so has been frozen and put into the freezer.

They have used a grand total of seventeen bin bags to throw away all the wasted food.

In one of the now-gleaming pots, there’s enough minestrone soup for one person gently bubbling away. All Uchiha has to do is let it simmer until the pasta is cooked through and then he can eat it. And wash everything up. She’s very adamant about him washing up properly.

She now has a bag stuffed full of food that Uchiha turned his nose up at on her shoulder.

The sun is beginning it’s slow descent out of the sky. They need to get going if they want to even have a quick dinner together.

“Wait. You two live together?” Uchiha asks, incredulous.

“No. I have to live in my apartment in the village.” Naruto says, looking crestfallen. “An’ I can only eat with Mayu-chan and Mayu-chan’s Okaa-san and Otou-san if I make it there and back before the sun sets.”

She smiles sadly at him, reaching out to squeeze his hand—

“If I leave, the Uchiha clan lands are forfeit.”

They turn back to Uchiha Sasuke, who’s begun looking like he really, really wishes he hadn’t said anything.

He huffs. “If I leave this place, the council will take it as a declaration of the Uchiha clan forfeiting their right to this land, since there wouldn’t be any living here anymore. The land will be reclaimed by the village, and—and—”

Clans are required to do things certain ways or risk dissolution. She sighs. “There is so much wrong with...that, but okay. We can start working on that next. Thank you for explaining.”

He nods stiffly, and walks them to the gate of the compound.

“I don’t get it,” Naruto says as they walk down her street, sun hot on their necks. “Even if the village does claim the lands, wouldn’t it be better to not live with...that?”

She shrugs the bag higher on her shoulder. “If he does, the village might tear down the old compound buildings to make new ones. And even if it is the site of an awful tragedy, he may still think of that place as ‘home’. If you’d lost everything else, would you wanna lose that too?”

Naruto shakes his head and bites his lip.

She gently bumps his shoulder with her own and they arrive home in pensive silence.

She makes sure to bring her (now dogeared and slightly stained) easy recipes cookbook with her to the Academy, alongside extra servings of eggplant tempura, to loan to Uchiha Sasuke.

He doesn’t quite throw a tantrum.

But it’s pretty close.

“I. Don’t. Want. It.” He grits out, glaring at her.

She bites into an onigiri she’s traded with Shino. There’s half a hard boiled egg inside as filling, and it’s supplying her with absent-minded ideas for recipes based off of food from her past life.

“Look, we’ve got your food down to manageable levels, but that means nothing if you can’t do anything with it.” She taps the book’s cover. “This is the first cookbook I ever owned. It’s what I used to use to make stuff for Naruto when we met.”

Naruto perks up a little at the other end of the table, craning to see it’s cover, so she holds it up for him. “It’s pretty easy to follow, and there are some more complex recipes in the back if you want a challenge—”

“I’m not wasting my time with cooking.” Uchiha hisses, nose wrinkling in distaste. “I need to focus on getting stronger. Only civilians care about useless things like that.”

She’s about to give him a good kick in the shins and see how he feels about civilians then, when Chouji abruptly stands up next to her.

“Wanna say that again, Uchiha-san?” He says, his tone low and surprisingly steely.

Shikamaru lifts his head off the table and sits up straight for once to give him a death glare, while Ino scoots her chair away from “Sasuke-kun” and crosses her arms, frowning at him imperiously.

Uchiha’s eyes dart between each one of the three, and he looks away, taking a bite out of one of the tempura she’s snuck into his lunchbox. “Hn.”

She blinks, trying to digest this new information about there being stellar cooks who also are apparently ninja while Chouji just sighs, settling back down in his seat and returning to his sandwich.

Of course, once he feels slighted, Uchiha can never leave well enough alone.

“It can’t even be that good.” He grumbles, pretending he doesn’t hear Kiba’s snickering. “If it was where soup you made came from. That was disgusting.”

She hears Hinata breathe a soft little “oh dear,” over the rush of blood in her ears.

“I see. What was wrong with it?” She asks.

The Uchiha puffs up a bit, oblivious to Shino shaking his head behind him. “Everything. I couldn’t even eat it, so I threw it out.”

There’s a soft slap as Shikamaru covers his eyes, muttering “Troublesome.”

“Alright. Well, since this is the first time, I’ll be sure to take your complaints into account.” She says, smiling.

She grabs his shirt collar and drags him up over the table to meet her gaze. “Because the next time you waste food, Sasuke-kun, I’m going to rip out your baby teeth, boil them down into a bone broth, and feed that to you instead. Are we clear?”

The Uchiha goes pale.

“Easy Mayu-chan, I think the jerk’s just lying to make you mad.” Naruto says, leaning over and gently attempting to pry her fingers off of the shirt collar. “C’mon, jerk, Mayu-chan doesn’t mean it—”

“Yes I do.” She adds.

“—No you don’t, stop making this worse!!” He yells, finally separating her from Uchiha. “I get you’re upset, and he shouldn’ta hurt your feelin’s, but you can’t just make bits of him into ingredients over stuff like this! Even Sanji wouldn’t do that, would he?”

“...Sorry, Naruto.” She replies hesitantly, feeling a bit abashed.

He gives her a disapproving look that is a stunning replica of her mother’s. “I’m not who you should be apologizin’ to, am I?”

She shoots a poisonous look at the offending party. “...Sorry Uchiha.” She says grudgingly.

He just huffs, storming off to the other side of the classroom where his fangirls coo over him and glare nastily at her.

But her cookbook has vanished along with him.

The next day he comes back and throws her recipe book at her face.

She has just enough time to catch it before it clocks her in the nose before he begins boasting in that quiet, insinuating way of his about how he’ll surely surpass her as he waves around a newer, updated copy of the same book.

She asks if that’s supposed to be a challenge, mind turning over the possibilities of recipes Uchiha will willingly cook and eat, mentally marking down the pages.

He haughtily snorts, but doesn’t deny it.

Sakura then shoots up, one hand in the air, saying she’ll be the judge. When Sasuke snorts and says she’ll be biased because she’s civilian, her lips purse and she grabs Chouji’s arm, proclaiming him to be her “co-judge”.

Chouji just shrugs and says he doesn’t mind getting more food.

So then of course, Ino invites herself and Shikamaru along as “moral support”, though why the judges need it is a little beyond her.

Naruto and Lee come with her, obviously, so Kiba and Hinata also show up that weekend with a reluctant Shino in tow.

Shikamaru’s beginning to teach him how to play shogi, and she’s experimenting with different concentrations of sugar water and fruit juice to see what his insects enjoy best, so she hopes he’s not too put out by spending time with them.

Akamaru is still a very good boy, and is perfectly happy with bits of meat and a rawhide bone.

They work out pretty quickly that Naruto can’t really be around for the cooking contests.

This is because Uchiha will, without fail, work out something to argue about with him, and then they’ll have to take it out on each other in the training ground, and by the time they’re finished it’s always too late to actually begin cooking.

So the weekends when Naruto is required to visit the Hokage become cooking contest weekends, while the ones where he comes become sparring weekends.

They don’t all always show up—Ino’s parents have a flower shop they want her to help out at, and her and Chouji and Shikamaru’s parents are all best friends so sometimes they have to go to parties. Shino, Hinata and Kiba often will have clan duties that mean they can’t come.

Sometimes she and Naruto or Sakura can’t come just because they’re spending some time with their parents.

But there’s always someone there on any given weekend, as the leaves on the trees change colors and fall off. And it works. Uchiha’s house is beginning to feel less like a mausoleum and more like somewhere lived in again.

She enjoys the chance to stretch her culinary muscles without bankrupting her parents and test her skills against a rival who she will grudgingly admit might be catching up to her.

She’s still more irritated by him than not, but Sanji and the other chefs at the Baratie drove each other up the wall too, so she’s fine with this working relationship.

Comrades don’t need to get along or even share the same goals to be able to work together after all.

Naruto’s birthday is always a strange affair.

They aren’t allowed to see him for the entire week, for one thing. He’s always collected by masks on the Sunday before and doesn’t return to his apartment until the next Monday.

The first time it happened, she freaked out badly enough that her father accompanied her to the Tower and they sat in a little waiting room outside the Hokage’s office for four hours, not meeting the glares that all the busy, ant-like people sent them.

Hokage-sama had taken their visit in good humor, even as he told them he couldn’t tell them where Naruto was, for the boy’s safety. He’d patted her head and told her not to worry, that Naruto would be back soon.

Of course, she’d worried enough that she ended up sitting outside of Naruto’s apartment for most of the week, watching the village’s festival below and knocking on the door intermittently, occasionally munching on bits and pieces from food stalls that her parents brought for her.

When she’d finally knocked on the door and Naruto had answered, she’d tackled him to the floor in a hug.

There may have been tears. She really couldn’t say.

Neither could Naruto, no matter what he likes to insinuate about “photographic evidence”.

So they’ve developed a tradition of celebrating Naruto’s birthday the weekend after the week it actually happens.

His birthday dinner is held at Ichiraku’s, like there’s any other option.

He gets his first five bowls of ramen free, and the rest heavily discounted. Teuchi-sama and Ayame-sama ladle extra toppings into each bowl, with a grinning “Happy Birthday, Naruto!”

Unlike last year, he’s got two birthday cakes this time, because Uchiha turns even gift-giving into a competition. He’s made an extremely bitter coffee cake with dark chocolate fondant and decorated with sour cherries forming an Uzumaki spiral. Naruto manfully eats two entire slices before passing it off to the adults, who derive much more enjoyment from it.

He likes the lighter vanilla sponge with orange buttercream and a white chocolate narutomaki which Chouji made much more. Chouji subtly lords this over Sasuke for the rest of the night.

Hinata stutters out a “Ha-ha-happy B-bi-bi—” before dropping an intricate box filled with shuriken and a whetstone on the counter and fleeing.

She lasted ten minutes longer this year.

Kiba gives Naruto kunai, as does Ino, which leads to an argument about the quality of their preferred suppliers. Sakura gives him a book on the language of flowers, while Shikamaru gives him a book on the plants of Uzushio and a calligraphy set.

Gai and Lee give him a piggy-bank in the shape of a smiling frog on a lilypad.

It’s really cute, and Naruto instantly declares it to be Gama-chan’s “big sister”, Kaeru-chan.

Her parents have bought him a selection of orange hoodies, some sleeveless and some not, all with the Uzumaki spiral hand-embroidered on the back by Okaa-sama. She also added little ninja frogs with teeny shuriken and kunai and katana in all of the hoods.

She’s a bit worried about her present by now, because it seems silly by comparison. Never mind that she had to search high and low all throughout Konoha and eventually ended up giving all her money to a merchant from Takigakure for this.

She hands him a (rather ratty) plush of a grey pelican with an offensively yellow bill. Her embroidery skill is nowhere near her mother’s level, so the red Uzumaki spiral she attempted to stitch onto its breast in place of the customary tomoe is crooked.

Naruto stares at it for a really long time.

The adults are very, very quiet.

“Well,” She hazards. “Hokage-sama did say everything we give him needs his symbol on it?”

Then Naruto begins laughing and hugging her tightly, proclaiming that it’s name is now Peri-chan, and the adults begin talking again, acting like nothing interesting has happened.

So she hugs Naruto back as hard as she can, Peri-chan squished between them.

It’d be nice if this could last.

[adventureswithtyntyn]

1/1-(4 miles) January! And 2019! Wow! Woke up to some icy roads because apparently my neighborhood is the only one that doesn’t salt. Anywhooo! My dad decided to make a homemade Dutch baby for breakfast so we had that and I had a yogurt bowl. We ended up going and running some errands for a few hours. So basically I was forced to leave my house😂 Lunch was late and I had some minestrone and salad. Tbh the soup was trash I’m just saying.

I ended up pushing myself to just do a 4 mile run on the treadmill. Easy pace and still I struggled a bit. But whatever!! Maybe I’ll take a few days off running or working out. I just don’t think I’m in the right mind set to being race training.

My back was crazy sore today like I definitely did something to it yesterday because one side of my lower back was in pain. Like actually what the heck, I can’t sit for long without pain. Look maybe it’s all in my head but lately my runs just feel like shit. I’m tried and even the easy paces feel hard. I’m still getting tingling even with pt exercises and my knee is bothering me. I know I need to chill but it’s hard to chill when I want to start marathon training in a week. I’m just hoping my motivation returns when I go back to school.

We went to my grandparents for dinner and had pasta, salad, vegetables etc. then I just went home and read and tried to stretch my back. That’s about it!

Snacks: cereal

Thankful for Dutch babies

[fifthnerve6-blog]

Produce Spotlight: The Ultimate Guide To Onions

Why do onions make you cry? Are onions keto? Find out in this month’s produce guide: The Ultimate Guide to Onions! From hair growth to curing a common cold, there are many questions about onions. Ever wondered where these staple veggies came from? Or how do onions grow? And then there is the ongoing question of the best way to caramelize onions, or can onions be frozen? Look no further than this Ultimate Guide to Onions to learn everything about growing, cooking and nourishing about these lovely alliums.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Onion Origin and Growing Information

Where do onions come from?

Onions were one of the earliest domesticated crops. They were originally cultivated in Iran and Pakistan. Due to their ease of growing, transportation and storage, they were likely a staple of the prehistoric diet. In ancient Egypt, onions were worshiped as a symbol of eternity and were buried as a sacrifice to a new Pharaoh. In several cultures, onions were used as medicine as well.

Where do onions grow best?

Onions are grown coast to coast in the US due to their hardiness and simplicity. Onions are commercially grown in over 20 states, including Vermont! Don’t worry about the soil, as onions can thrive in virtually any conditions so long as they are watered well.

How do onions grow?

These delicious alliums are a cold-weather crop, so they are typically planted in early spring and harvested in the late fall or early winter. Onion sets can be used to make them resistant to frost damage. They seed about 4” deep and should only be buried one inch below the soil, so they are perfect for a raised bed or small hoop house. If mulch is used, onions only need to be watered about once a week. However, onions will appear healthy even when they are bone dry so be sure to water well and soak the roots. Fun fact/wives tale: the thicker the skin on the onion, the harsher the upcoming winter will be!

When do you harvest onions?

Once the onion plants start sending up flowering stalks, it means they have stopped growing. These onions are not mature, but can be used within a few days. Once these flowers have turned yellow and start to fall over, the onion has matured. Mature onions can be pulled out of the ground at the base of the exposed flower, and stored in cool and dry conditions.

Cooking and Preparing Onions

Where should you store onions?

Store onions in a cool, dry place, ranging from about 40-50 degrees. Cellars or cool basements are perfect. Once you harvest the onions, let the onions cure on dry ground for a few days if weather permits. Do not store onions next to any high-ethylene fruits, such as apples or pears, as they encourage rotting and over-ripening. Onions should be kept in mesh bags or nylons to help with dryness. Kept on a typical counter, onions should keep four to six weeks.

Can onions go bad? How do you tell?

Unfortunately, onions can go bad. As with most fresh produce, check with your senses to tell if an onion has gone bad. If an onion is mushy, has black spots or obvious mold, it has probably gone bad. Onions can sprout if kept in the dark, much like potatoes, and they are still perfectly safe to eat. However, if the sprouts are soft or off-color, it is another sign your onion is no good.

Can you freeze onions?

Onions can be frozen, though it may slightly affect the texture and mute the flavor. This can be a great strategy to save onions you are worried about going bad. Chop up an onion to the size you look to use it and store it in an airtight bag. Freeze for two to three months. Note they will be wet when you thaw them. Drain away excess moisture and cook them as directed adding more time to evaporate any excess moisture if necessary.

How do you caramelize an onion?

We all know the delectable, sweet, tangy flavor of caramelized onions… but how do you create this at home? Several types of onions can be caramelized, including white, yellow and red. Onions caramelize when the large sugar molecules that naturally occur in the onion is broken down into simpler sugar molecules. This increases the sweetness and deepens the flavor of the onions. To caramelize an onion, french slice them, and add to a cold saucepan or skillet with oil or butter per onion. Cover and set over medium high heat. Cook and stir the onions as they release their liquid and soften. If they become dry add in a few tablespoons of water or reduce the heat. Once the onions are soft, remove the lid and allow any liquid to evaporate. They will start to brown. (Due to the lack of moisture- the sugars will be able to caramelize.) Keep an eye on them, and stir often until the mixture is golden brown and caramelized. Caramelized onions can be eaten immediately, or stored (if you have more self control) for up to a week in the refrigerator. Try them on pizza, in lasagna or on baguette for an appetizer.

How do you pickle onions?

Pickling onions is a similar process to pickling beets or carrots or any other vegetable. I love pickling them in Maple Syrup! Here is my favorite way to do that. Alternatively, try table sugar: Combine ½ cup vinegar, 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1-2 teaspoon(s) of salt. Whisk to combine. Add to a mason jar with one philly cut or sliced onion (use a mandoline to cut as thinly as possible). Refrigerate for at least one day before enjoying. Red onions provide the nicest vibrant pink results, but yellow, sweet and white onions can also be pickled!

Which onions are the sweetest? Mildest?

Each type of onion has its own unique characteristics. Lets break down what they are:

Yellow onions: These are the “all-purpose” onions. They are used most often and get sweeter as they cook. These are perfect for stews, sautés or caramelizing. An example of a yellow onion is a Spanish onion.

White onions: These tend to have a slightly sharper flavor and are more commonly used raw for salsas or chutneys. However, they can be sautéed for a variety of dishes.

Sweet onions: These, as the name would suggest, are the sweetest and mildest of the onions. They lack the sharpness and acidity of other onions. Types of sweet onions include Vidalia and Walla Walla.

Red onions: These are the most eye-catching of the onions, with their red flesh and softer texture. These are similar to yellow onions in taste, but are also totally suitable to be eaten raw in salads or salsas. Unfortunately, when red onions are cooked they lose their beautiful color. If their strength is unappealing to you for eating raw, soak them in water for a few minutes before serving.

Nutrition of Onions

Which onions are the healthiest?

All onions have the same macronutrient and micronutrient profiles. The only thing that slightly differs is the amount of phytonutrients, which are antioxidants that show themselves through pigment. So, naturally, red onions would have slightly more phytonutrients than yellow onions, and white onions have the least phytonutrients. However, these slight differences do not drastically improve health.

Can onions cure a cold?

While a brothy soup that contains onions may feel comforting when you’re sick, it alone probably won’t cure you of your cold. The home remedy of onions curing illness started in the 1918 flu pandemic. Doctors would prescribe that families keep a cut onion at the bedside of a sick person so it would absorb the germs in their body. As a result of modern medicine, we now know that that is not how illness works. Additionally, vegetables may rot as a result of their own bacteria but they cannot absorb bacteria from the air and hold on to them. On the other hand, a diet high in vegetables and fruit is one of the best ways to prevent illness, and onions can absolutely be included in that.

Do onions help your hair grow?

The sulfur in onions is thought to stimulate hair growth when applied topically. However, the only study to find significant results for the use of onions was from applying onion juice to the scalp twice daily. About 70% of people with hair loss saw regrowth after 6 weeks from this method. For those of us who would rather avoid smelling like onion juice, eating onions (cooked or raw) provides sulfur that, though it is less concentrated, can still marginally help hair growth.

Are onions keto?

As with anything, the carbohydrate content depends on how much you eat. For example, ¼ cup of cooked onions contains about 5 grams of carbs and ¼ cup of raw onions contains about 4 grams of carbs, making it keto acceptable. There is slight variation between onions, but it is marginal. Most all non-starchy vegetables are nutrient-dense and important to include as a regular part of your eating pattern, keto or not.

Why do onions make you cry?

To stay out of the weeds on this one, the short answer is that onions release a slightly unstable chemical once they are cut. This is a type of sulfenic acid, a derivative of sulfur, which irritates the glands in our eyes that cause us to cry. There are several ways that people cut up onions without irritating their eyes, but they are all individual depending on your sensitivity to the acid. If onions make your eyes water, things to try include soaking the onion in water, keeping a piece of bread in your mouth or keeping the sliced side facing down. My mom gave me a pair of these onion goggles, and they actually work, but I ended up getting rid of them because they took up too much space in my kitchen drawer. If you are particularly sensitive, they may be a good option/worth the drawer space for you. 

Onion Recipes

vegetarian caramelized onion and mushroom lasagna

roasted delicata squash salad with warm pickled onion dressing

beet and caramelized onion bruschetta with goat cheese crumbles and a giveaway

maple pickled onions

Balsamic Caramelized Onions

minestrone soup

apple and cheddar pizzettes with caramelized onion

instant pot veggie curry

10 minute gazpacho

Added bonus: check out this post on how to properly dice an onion!

struggling with weeknight meals?

My free ebook, The Best Weeknight Dinners, includes 15 of my family’s favorites — recipes and meals we go back to over and over again. It includes simple entrees you can make start to finish in 20 to 40 minutes. And all are made with simple to follow instructions and easy to find ingredients.

Thanks for signing up! Just check your inbox to confirm your subscription, and then look for a welcome letter from me, including a link to download your free ebook. Every week you’ll receive ideas and inspiration on how to incorporate more fabulous healthy seasonal recipes into your life!

Source: https://www.healthyseasonalrecipes.com/produce-spotlight-the-ultimate-guide-to-onions/

[theolivechickken]

CAN I PET YOUR DOG

Pt. 2 of week 1

I know I already write a lot, but actually I HAVE TOO MANY GOOD THOUGHTS AND MEMORIES AND IT’S HARD TO GET THEM ALL DOWN BEFORE THEY PASS.

Jan 18

Let’s get this bread. Woke up bright and early, threw some toast in the toaster, and dressed it with some butter and honey. We left at 7:55 to head down the mountain and meet Katharina (who would walk us to the school where we were volunteering for the morning). On the walk down the mountain, a cat hopped down and followed us around on the trail.

We followed the river down crossed through a park to get to the school. I really loved the interior! Walls were painted with pastel and primary colors, and student art was displayed on bulletin boards. We sat in a neat little library that had walls lined with organized books, desks and colorful chairs, computers by the windows, and a little reading pit in one corner. It kinda reminds me of a Montessori Classroom. Very warm, open and cozy.

Our first session was with the 4-6th graders (probably my favorite group that we worked with today!). They were so enthusiastic and excited to be here with us, and I had a lot of fun talking to them. This was the group that was starting out in English and I was so impressed by how much they already knew and how much they engaged in conversation! They had a bunch of questions prepared for our little speed date “get-to-know-you” rotations and would often ask us if we had any pets or siblings, if we had a boyfriend or girlfriend, if we drove a car or played computer games, and asked us what our favorite colors, hobbies, subjects, and foods were.

Our second group was with the dreaded middle schoolers and high schoolers. We had to actually prepare little lessons to teach this more advanced group. Nadia, Raine, and Aubree prepared a time lesson to help them convert their 24 hour clock to a 12 hour clock with AM and PM. SaVanna and Regina passed out a past-tense worksheet to practice using verbs ending in -ed. Michaela and Patrick hosted a USA geography trivia activity and Bryn, Ayetzy, and I ended the session with a round of Bingo (centered around articles of clothing). Our game went pretty well actually! I think it was a good note to end on.

The third group had some experience with English but was overall the quietest group. We sat at different tables around the classroom and talked about American food, Austrian food, and random subjects. So many of the students were from different countries and had very different backgrounds from their classmates. I thought it was interesting how they all found themselves studying in Salzburg even if they came from countries that were much further away.

Alright boys, let’s attempt this laundry. Also in German but thankfully nothing set on fire and my clothes got washed.

For dinner we munched on some of the leftovers that Marcus left in the student kitchen (so many caaaaarbs yikes). Later, I went out to Murphy’s Law and O’Malleys with Kaya, Regina, Nadia, Aubree, Raine, and Patrick. Murphy’s had a quieter, older scene, but it was chill in its own way. O’malleys had just what we were looking for. They were playing some bangers and we were all singing aloud and dancing with our new British friends who joined our table. It was such a fun night! Afterwards, we stopped at a food stand and got sausages before climbing into a taxi (one of the very few that would take us up the mountain - and it was pretty large since it managed to fit all 7 of us in it) and heading back home.

Jan 19

Woke up deaaaad inside. The flu hit me like a train. Or I guess I never recovered from my mild cold which evolved quickly to the black plague. Also probably didn’t fully recover since everyone else is sick too so we’re just passing it all around. Had a heartwarming cup of much needed minestrone soup at Spaghetti & Co (yay soups and vegetables and vegetable soup :) ) Patrick, Aubree and Nadia had pizza, Raine had gnocchi, and Regina had chicken strips and fries. We have not mastered the art of flagging down waiters yet. Kinda just throw our hands up and then awkwardly put them behind our heads to play it off when the waiter doesn’t see them.

We strolled through the city, passed by H&M, got distracted by the coats hanging in the windows, and then found ourselves inside looking at the clothes. We discovered that there were multiple floors to this store and hopped inside an elevator. We somehow managed to push all the buttons in the elevator, went up to the second floor, and then set off an alarm since Raine was holding a coat with a tag on it. Luckily, no one went to jail! We also stopped by DM and Spar to pick up some groceries and I found myself a little orange juice smoothie (stock up on this vitamin C). Took the lift back up the Mönchsberg and had a chill night in to rest.

Jan 20

On the road to recovery (lets beat this cold/flu/sickness??) Sweated out my fever but now I’m congested?

Yes, resting is important, but let’s also take it slow in this slow city.

Went out to Mr Le’s Healthy Asia one-man restaurant shop. What a nice man :) Food was cheap and decent, and his shop was located at the very bottom of the Mönchsberg so it was pretty quick and easy to walk to. He asked if we were on holiday or staying, and we told him we were here for 4 months. Then he gave us a stamp card for his restaurant! You can bet I’ll be back. He told us he was excited to be visiting San Francisco and New York next week.

Strolled through New Town to find a bank for Patrick to stop at but turns out Google lied to us and they were all closed. Ended up stopping at Coffee Haus to sit down and do homework with Bryn. I had a chai tea latte in mind when ordering, but our waiter brought out a decently large cup of chai tea. It was still pretty tasty and honestly hot tea is probably better for my sore throat. I really love the atmosphere of this coffee house. It’s very modern and hipstery, and has a really relaxed overall vibe. It’s also lively compared to many of the restaurants in town (that are usually dead silent or volume is kept to a minimum). It reminds me of Lux cafe back at home, where you can just sit down and order something, then take your time hanging out and not be disturbed by waiters or waitresses.

Have I mentioned how well trained dogs are here?! I have seen so many cute dogs just roaming freely but not too far from their owners. One little guy stopped by our table to sniff our hands and I think this is the first dog I have pet here. I didn’t ask the owner “Kann Ich?” but to be fair the dog came to me so I think that question is pretty much answered.

Also, dogs aren’t as cuddly or friendly as those in the US? They might come nearby to sniff you but they don’t really like to be pet by strangers or like to greet others. They don’t get excited by other dogs or by other people. It’s weird man.

[unwritrecipes]

10 Cozy Things To Make Right Now

Maybe it’s an occupational hazard, maybe just an annoying personality trait😘 but in my perpetual search for the next great recipe out there, I’ve given short shrift to some of our most tried and true favorites around here. And that’s a real shame because there are some beloved recipes that I haven’t made in years!

What a fickle creature I am! At least that’s what it seemed like when I scrolled through my Recipe Index over the weekend. Well no more! It’s time to revisit some delicious old friends!

So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are some cold weather dishes/drinks/desserts etc that are guaranteed to keep you warm, well-fed and dare I say, in these very trying times, even happy!

1. Spring Minestrone with Mini-Chicken Meatballs—this is what started me reminiscing—After forgetting about this wonderful since 2016, I made it again a week ago and we loved it so, so much! Honestly, this might be my favorite soup ever! It’s satisfying without being heavy, immensely flavorful and the mini-meatballs are pure fun. This time I subbed in zucchini for the spinach and my daughter thinks that I should be making it a permanent change!! Oh, and ignore the “spring” in the title—it’s the perfect winter dish!

2. Amazing Soy Braised Short Ribs—why oh why, have I put this recipe aside? The meat cooks in an apple juice/mirin/soy sauce mixture, makes your house smell heavenly and literally melts in your mouth! I must make this again before the winter is over!!!

3. Creamy White Chicken Chili— Over the years, on these very pages, I’ve repeatedly professed just how much of a chili hater I am…and yet I find myself craving this! It’s the chili for chili-haters! Mildly spicy, full of tender white meat chicken and white beans and topped with addictively crispy homemade tortilla strips. YUM!!

4. Winter Vegetable Chowder—creamy, hearty, and chock full of interesting winter veggies like rutabaga and celeriac, this wonderful vegetarian soup has you cut those veggies into “attractive pieces”. Geez, I’ve been missing the fun for far too long!!!

5. Israeli Couscous with Mushrooms, Peas and Sweet Potato Sauce—I remember loving this a ton when I first made it—even vowed to make it part of my regular repertoire—but sadly it’s never graced our table since! So much for the best of intentions! Will definitely be making this again as I just found a container of Israeli couscous buried in my pantry!

6. Amazing Sweet Potato Nachos—With the Super Bowl only a couple of weeks away, these seem entirely appropriate and we can convince ourselves that we’re being healthy—after all, we are using sweet potatoes instead of taco chips. We’ll just forget about all the cheese and sour cream!!

7. Baked Oatmeal—when first discovered this, I made it week after week, till we all noticed our pants getting tight because we couldn’t stop nibbling on it, but I think our collective household willpower has significantly improved (fingers crossed!) Having this all ready to go and simply having to pop it into the microwave on chilly mornings is truly a lifesaver!!

8. Skinny Frothy White Hot Chocolate—I’m not the hugest fan of hot chocolate (it kinda hurts my stomach) nor do I really like white chocolate, but this combo is fabulous and light and I really, really want some RIGHT NOW!!! It is seriously frigid outside!!!

9. Baked Chocolate Pudding Cakes with Vanilla Whipped Cream—a warm, gooey, chocolatey portion-controlled dessert sounds like the absolutely perfect ending to a cold winter night and who can say no to a dollop (or two) of vanilla whipped cream?!! This could be a great Valentine’s treat…just sayin’.

10. Farina Pudding “Pappchen”—this was my Grammie’s specialty—it’s creamy, light and full of lemony, farina goodness. She generally served it cold for dessert, topped with raspberries in syrup, but I like it better hot without any topping for breakfast. It’s so simple and brings back so many happy memories for me. If you’ve never tried farina pudding before I urge you to give this a go!

AND

These Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread—I had to include a cookie, guys! They’re one of the very first things I blogged here, over 6 years ago. Don’t let the awful photo dissuade you—they are simply wonderful with a cup of tea or coffee!!

What are you making to keep warm? I’d love to know!!

[brerediddy]

more than survive - chapter 8

After he left the SQUIP, Jeremy didn’t feel any different. He remembered that the man said it would take twenty-four hours for the pill to activate, so he figured that it was relatively safe for him to take down a few petty criminals - safe in the sense that the SQUIP couldn’t affect him or throw off his abilities, at least.

Dark had fallen by the time he made it to his usual post. Jeremy settled with his legs folded under him (criss-cross applesauce, as Michael used to call it when they sat down together for reading-time in the first grade) and kept his eyes open for any danger. After a few moments of silence, he was beginning to think that maybe it would be a quiet night. Maybe he’d find a lost pet or two and get a churro on his way home. That would be nice , he thought. It was usually never this silent on Fridays.

His peace was interrupted when he heard a loud CRASH from a few blocks over. He pulled himself up, wary of the noise, and then immediately sprang from his position to follow it. When he located the source of the sound, he found three masked men crowded around an ATM. One was holding a rather large sledgehammer and another had a crowbar. The third was holding a duffel-bag and emptying money into it.

“Did you guys forget your PIN or something? You can reset it, y’know,” Jeremy called, lowering himself above the ATM. He hung upside-down, his feet gripping the web as well as his hands.

The man with the bag immediately began piling money in even faster as the other two jumped at the interruption. Sledgehammer Guy raised the appliance slowly. In a surprisingly quick move, he swung for the masked teenager. Jeremy dodged the hit easily, letting go of his web to land on the asphalt. “That was rude,” he quipped. “Let’s not do that again, okay guys?”

Crowbar Guy took a step closer and Jeremy would be damned if he let another cliché crowbar get the best of him. He kicked the weapon out of the man’s hands, hearing a clang as it landed. Crowbar Guy took one look at Spider-Man and ran in the opposite direction. Smart.

Duffel-Bag Guy seemed to have collected all that he wanted in the commotion so he began to run, too. Sledgehammer Guy followed and Jeremy shot a web to hold them back. “Sorry guys, I can’t let you go.”

Sledgehammer Guy turned around, fighting against the web. His weapon was still dangling freely and he narrowed his eyes at Jeremy beneath his ski-mask. He swung the hammer at the teenager once more, but this time he let go. The full weight hit Jeremy in the chest, knocking him to the ground. As he regained his breath, the two men were already climbing into a stereotypical black van. Seriously, did robbers try to be predictable?

Jeremy pushed himself up, ignoring the pain in his chest. He ran after the van, shooting a web to catch it. The web stuck to the bumper of the vehicle as he was dragged behind it. He felt his suit tearing against the roadway, but he had to keep a strong hold. He didn’t want them to get away.

The van turned a sharp corner, throwing Jeremy into the brick corner of a building harsly. He grimaced at the pain in his ribs but held on tightly. Suddenly, the back door popped open and he could see one of the men pointing a gun at him. He wasn’t sure who it was due to the change of accessories and the ski-masks, but the man looked fully intent to shoot. In fact, he did. The first bullet swept by Jeremy’s ear, ricocheting off of a trash can. Another buzzed by his right arm, piercing the skin just lightly and he let go of the web, now only holding on with his left. He tried to pull himself closer, but the van turned yet another corner and threw Jeremy into a pile of trash bags.

They cushioned his landing, but didn’t help the disappointment that overcame him as he watched the van speeding further and further away. He tried to recall anything: a face, a license plate, but nothing would come to mind as he ached. Jeremy let his head fall back against the garbage, deciding that the situation couldn’t get worse anyway. His skin was scraped in a million places from his torn suit, his arm was bleeding, and it hurt to breathe. How had a routine robbery gone south so quickly? He shifted in place, groaning when his ribs caught fire. There was no way he could move. He’d have to lay there until he healed enough to get home; or until someone found him. Both thoughts were equally horrifying. He let his eyes close and tried to block out everything else.

-

“Spider-Man? Spider-Man, are you okay? Stai bene ? Salve ?”

Jeremy slowly woke up, opening his eyes to see a skinny-faced, mustached, kind-looking elderly man.

“You slept in my garbage,” the man said. “This morning, I come to work and see you! The Spider-Man!”

“I-I’m sorry, Sir, I’ll get out of your way.” Jeremy hurried to sit up. His ribs still ached, but it was nothing compared to the previous night. He figured that his bullet-wound was done bleeding from the gross sticky feeling in the arm of his suit. He had recovered enough to go home and sleep it off.

“No, no,” the man said. “It’s okay. Bene . Are you alright?”

“I’m alright,” Jeremy spoke. He stood slowly, the man pressing a hand against his back to assist him. “Thank you.”

“Oh, my pleasure, Spider-Man. You saved my restaurant a few weeks ago. Grato . We’re very thankful for you.”

The boy was suddenly aware of where he was. This was he and Michael’s most frequented Italian restaurant—Buon Cibo had the best breadsticks in the tri-state area. “Mr. Rossi!” Jeremy said immediately. Now he could recognize his face. “It was no problem. I’d be lost without your place.”

“You know my restaurant,” Mr. Rossi said, his face brightening even more. “Take some food home, on the house.”

“I couldn’t, but thank-”

“Spider-Man.” Mr. Rossi held up a hand. “You saved my business. Grato . Take some soup, at least. Good for injury.”

-

Jeremy ended up with two bowls of minestrone and a bag full of breadsticks, free of charge. He went home to shower, letting the steam seep into his cuts and scrapes. It shouldn’t have felt good, but the burn was steady and consistent and kept him from thinking about his life being one failure after the other. The previous night had been a new low for him. Honestly, he slept in literal garbage .

After the shower, Jeremy dried off and got his first-aid kit out from under the sink. He bandaged his arm, wrapping gauze and tape over his disinfected injury. His chest was covered in light bruising, a few angry blue ones scattered around. Jeremy threw on some jeans and a loose shirt, then his cardigan. His ribs certainly felt bruised but it was nothing that he couldn’t deal with. The boy ran a hand through his hair, brushed his teeth, and doused himself in body-spray. He hoped that he no longer smelled like garbage.

He left his house, food from Buon Cibo in hand, and made his way to Michael’s. He just wanted to eat some soup, play some games, and forget that he was a total failure. He walked up to the front door and texted Michael.

1:13 PM        To: michael mell straight from hell    

hey i’m outside. i have food

Moments later, the taller boy opened the door. Originally, he had a look of skepticism on his face (which Jeremy thought was odd, but didn’t focus on it too much). The suspicion turned into a smile when he saw the bag in Jeremy’s hand and he stepped aside to let him in. “I was just about to get some lunch. Perfect timing,” he said. They walked into the kitchen and sat at the table, soft light streaming through the windows.

“So, why’d you get Buon Cibo? I mean, I’m thankful,” Michael spoke, pulling a breadstick from the bag. “But it’s kind of out of the way.”

“I was in the area,” Jeremy said. It wasn’t a lie. Michael nodded and took a bite of the bread, nodding approvingly. They ate in a comfortable silence for a while.

The taller boy cleared his throat. “So, where were you last night?”

“What?” Jeremy asked. He tried to keep the shocked look off of his face, but the other boy’s inquisitive stare told him that he wasn’t succeeding.

“You dad called and asked if you were here. Apparently you didn’t come home last night.”

“Why does he care? It’s not like he comes home half the time.”

Michael sighed, “That’s not important. I told him that you were with me.” Jeremy nodded gratefully. “But you obviously weren’t. So where were you?”

“I was out...shopping. It got late. He must not have seen me come in,” he said in what he hoped was a rational manner. “I left pretty early this morning so we just missed each other, I imagine.”

“Oh,” the other boy nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Yeah,” Jeremy agreed.

“So you went shopping alone?”

“Yeah?” Jeremy took a bite of a breadstick and shrugged. He didn't know why Michael was being so weird. “Why?”

“Just curious,” he responded. He put his hands up in mock surrender. “I never know what you're up to these days.”

“I've just been running a lot of errands, that's all.” The tension in the room was palpable and Jeremy cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Dustin Kropp saw you with some guy at the eleventh street lot.”

Jeremy nearly choked. What? How? Had he seen anything?

Michael kept talking, “Do you have a boyfriend, or something? You know you could tell me.”

The shorter boy wanted to die. He wanted to die so much at that moment. The SQUIP? His boyfriend ? “You know that I would tell you. You know I would.”

“Would you?” Michael chewed on his lower lip. It wasn't like he was jealous. If Jeremy had a boyfriend, well, good for him. He didn't care. He didn't .

He just didn't understand why his best friend had been acting so strangely for so long and why he was apparently hanging out with some older guy without telling anyone. He didn't even know if Jeremy liked boys. He wouldn't be surprised but he certainly would feel a million times worse; now that he could maybe have a chance of his feelings for the other boy being mutual, someone had beaten him to it.

“Michael, of course I would. I tell you everything,” Jeremy said, crossing his arms stubbornly.

“Honestly, Jer? You tell me everything . Really?”

“I tell you what I can,” he corrected stubbornly. He knew that it was getting into dangerous territory so he said, “He’s not a boyfriend. I’m helping him with a project, that’s all. He said it would look good on an application.” Jeremy knew that he needed to stop digging this hole deeper and deeper. He knew that he should have stopped talking even as he began.

“So why did that never come up in conversation?” Michael asked, but the bite was out of his voice. He knew that Jeremy didn’t have a boyfriend. The thought was comforting.

“It’s supposed to be a secret until the project is done. I’m sorry,” the boy stated, his shoulders slumping.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you,” Michael said. He didn’t mean it in a rude way, but he literally did not know what was going on. Ever. Jeremy seemed so...complicated, recently. He’d never been complicated before.

“Nothing is going on with me.”

The taller boy pushed his bowl of soup away from himself, crossing his arms. He leaned back in the chair. “Is there anything else you aren’t telling me?”

“No, Michael. That’s all,” he lied. Jeremy couldn’t stand the distrust in his best friend’s eyes so he focused his attention back on his food. “I’m sorry.”

After a painfully long silence, Michael opened his mouth to speak. “So…” The other boy was obviously trying to figure out how to guide the conversation back to normal. “You were out shopping?”

Jeremy nodded, rocking his head a bit to show his confirmation clearly.

“What for?”

“Clothes, mainly. Dad was going to take me, but he’s been busy with work.”

Michael unfolded his arms and reached out for his bowl. He pulled it closer to himself and asked, “You were in the city last night? Wasn’t there, like, a crazy chase with Spider-Man?”

Man, news traveled fast. He got dragged behind a van one time , and everyone knew. “Yeah, I guess so.” Jeremy shrugged. “I wasn’t in that part of town, though.”

The other boy hummed and stared at his hands for a moment before looking back up at Jeremy. “Do you carry any pepper spray or anything?”

“No,” he responded. “Why?”

“Just, I don’t know,” Michael spoke gently. “It’s just. You were in the city. Alone. At night. Did you forget that you were mugged?”

Jeremy sat up straighter in his chair. Actually, yes. He had forgotten about that conversation. “No.”

“I feel like you should carry something. Just to be safe.” The taller boy looked back down to his hands. He swallowed thickly and then added, “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

And, well. If Jeremy didn’t melt right there on the spot. He knew that the other boy worried for him, even if it was uninvited, and it was comforting to know that someone gave a shit. That he gave a shit. “Michael…”

“I know. I know that you’re fine and that you can take care of yourself. But, Jeremy, the crime rates are so high. All the time. And I don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt again.”

“I won’t get hurt again,” Jeremy reassured, feeling like a fraud. He gave a small smile and said, “See? Perfectly fine!”

“You’re a dork.” Michael let out a huff of laughter and suddenly, things felt normal again.

[meatismurderbutalsodelicious]

How to Stock Your Pantry for the Semi-Apocalypse*

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for many of my friends in the United States, what with the pestilence, the lack of leadership, the hoarding in the supermarkets, and it’s not even the post-Apocalyptic dystopian future we were promised.

However, what’s been slowly creeping into my Facebook feed of late are the first hints of food boredom.

Even those who can afford to order in their favorite Chinese or Mexican, those menus are getting a bit long in the tooth. What once was an “every couple of weeks” guilty pleasure of General Tsao’s chicken, “special” fried rice and a bottle of your favorite twist-off cap Shiraz has lost its charm.

Anyone who follows my Instagram account knows that nothing comes between me, food and cocktails. I’m the guy who when answering the questionnaire at a new doctor’s office warily counters the “how many alcoholic drinks do you have a week” inquiry with a defensive, “Why do you need to know?”

“I hear you like to cook?” I’m often asked when being introduced to new friends and colleagues and my go-to answer is, “Yes, but I prefer to eat.”

And that’s why I cook. I wish I could say I find cooking to be this relaxing past-time, where I spend anywhere from 15-minutes to several hours whipping up a quick pasta sauce or creating a complex Indian curry, listening to Adelle or Carly Simon—a glass of Muscadet in hand. But, no. Cooking, for me, is an ordeal and a means to an end.

Homemade beef pho broth.

But that’s doesn’t mean it can’t be somewhat enjoyable; your food doesn’t have to be predictable or monotonous. And, if you’re going to be confined to your home for three to four weeks, this is where you have to improvise, to grab the whisk by the handle and make the magic happen.

The Basics

First, if you’re entering week three of isolation and it’s time to hit the markets, let’s think smart and make sure your fridge and pantry are stocked with the vitals. If you have food allergies or adopted a lifestyle that has dietary restrictions, please, swap out as needed.

Some of you have been furloughed or lost your jobs, so this is a reasonably priced list offering staples that will last a long time and give days, if not weeks, and in some cases, months of value. Buy what you feel is necessary. As Stephen Casuto, host and creator of one of my favorite cooking shows, Not Another Cooking Show, says, “You, do you.”

“Table salt is disgusting and should only be used for rubbing into the wounds of your enemies.”

The Carbs:

Pasta — enough for at least six meals for two people with leftovers, or three meals for four people (spaghetti/linguini and some kind of tube or macaroni—rotini, fusilli. etc.)

Rice — My old standby is Jasmine rice. Prepared properly it can be used in all kinds of dishes—plain, Mexican, Spanish, Asian, Indian, Italian.

The Vegetables:

Potatoes—Technically, a carb, but, hey. Both waxy (Yuko Golds, Red Bliss or similar) and floury (Idaho, Russet or similar). Keep in a cool, dry drawer, these can last for weeks if stored properly.

Preparing the base for a Pasta Fagioli soup.

Carrots—Large ones with their greens preferred, but if the hoarders have bought all those, then freakish manicured baby carrots.

Tomatoes—firm, preferably on the vine and not quite ripe yet. Only get about four to six so you will use them and they won’t rot and go to waste. Great for sandwiches, avocado toast, chopped into an omelet.

Onions—Yellow and Red (Yellow for most of the sauteeing and cooking you’re going to do, and red for fresh salads, sandwiches, and salsas)

Garlic—Two to three decent-sized bulbs, stored with the onions and potatoes. (Remember: Warm and humid makes your garlic and onions grow into stinky house plants.)

The easy and delicious weekday sauce.

Peppers—Depending on what you love or what you can tolerate, get at least two bell peppers or Italian green peppers, maybe a handful of hot red birdseye chillis, or some habaneros. These will add color and sparkle to everything from a salad to some scrambled eggs.

Celery—I’m of two minds when it comes to celery. First, it’s a vital part of mirepoix, that magical combination of onions, carrots, and celery that’s the basis of most Western soups and stews. But, unless you’re on a rabbit diet, people tend to buy it, use less than half a bunch in one minestrone soup then end up chucking the rest away. But, hey, you’re the cook.

Herbs—Get the dried kind out of desperation: bay leaves, oregano, thyme, rosemary. But, always get fresh parsley and basil.

Dried Goods:

Flour—White, all-purpose flour and Cornmeal (making cornbread for breakfast is a simple warm treat. Everyone should be able to cook this from scratch).

Thickeners—Corn starch, potato starch; I recently discovered xanthan gum and if you’re one of those folks taken by “molecular gastronomy” or food as a science project, this is one of the weirder thickening agents on the market.

Cornbread can be made in less than an hour.

Leavening Agents—Baking soda and baking powder. (Unless you’ve decided you really love baking artisanal bread, you really don’t need yeast).

Salt—Preferably sea salt, or kosher salt. Remember different salts have different salinities, so a “pinch” of pink Himalayan salt is less salty than a similar size “pinch” of Morton’s Table Salt, which, by the way, is disgusting and should only be used for rubbing into the wounds of your enemies. So, get a salt that fits your budget, your health needs, and your personal flavor profile. I prefer sea salts, they have a richness I like and I feel I can control seasoning better.

Pepper—Black peppercorns, of course, but nothing beats having a box or container of white pepper. It’s got a completely different flavor profile than black pepper and adds a wonderful heat to everything from mashed potatoes to cream soups.

Eggs and Dairy

Milk—If you’re lactose intolerant or vegan/vegetarian you can substitute soy milk or your favorite substitute here, but not almond milk because that shit is a ripoff and is killing the planet.

Cream—You will want this for mashed potatoes and to thicken some sauces.

Butter—Always buy Kerrygold Irish Butter, salted and unsalted. It’s the best butter out there. Fight me.

Making a chicken curry from scratch

Plain Yogurt—I prefer Greek yogurt myself. It’s handy to have around and a great way to add richness to a baked item if you only have low-fat milk or to make a quick fresh fruit breakfast.

Cheese—If you must, get a bag of shredded cheddar and a bag of “parmesan”. Cheeses are personal taste, I love fatty, creamy, stinky cheeses, but, honestly, they don’t last long and they are an extravagance for many people at this time. So, get what you like, but make sure you at least have a nice chunk of quality cheddar or similar cheese around.

Eggs—A dozen, big ones. Free-range if you feel guilty.

This Singapore-style laksa is easy and quick.

A Bit of the Sweet

Sugar—Processed sugar is evil. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, always have some handy. It’s great to throw a tablespoon into a tomato-based sauce to offset the acidity. And there is nothing like a lovely stack of homemade pancakes covered in melted butter, a sprinkling of sugar and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Brown Sugar—Less sweet, a little smokey and great for Asian broths that ask for processed sugar. And, it’s “good” for you because, you know, it’s not processed.

Maple Syrup—For pancakes and French Toast.

Condiments:

Ketchup—Whatever you like. Though raised on American Heinz ketchup, I prefer the British brands that tend to use a little more vinegar, but that is an acquired taste.

Mayonaise—The magical base for so many different dressings and sauces. Yes, I will sit down with a plate of french fries or steak-cut chips and a cup of mayo and just go to town on that. Also, dipping cold, boiled chicken that’s torn into strips and wrapped in chilled, crisp iceberg lettuce into mayo while drinking a dry white wine on a hot summer’s day is one of God’s little miracles.

Fried halloumi cheese on a run of the mill avocado toast makes it better.

Mustard—Go ahead, buy French’s American Mustard in a squeeze jar. I don’t judge. But, please get some good Dijon Mustard, and some English Mustard, wet or the powder, is really handy to have for extra punch.

Vinegar—Plain old white vinegar if you're on a budget, but red wine, is also good. Italian balsamic if you want to live large, but I find a bottle of Japanese rice wine vinegar is the perfect all-rounder.

Hot sauce—Tobasco and Siraccha are my go-to faves, but you know what you like.

Olive Oil—Get Extra-Virgin and plain. the EVOO is great for both cooking and for finishing dishes and for cold dressings and sauces. Plain olive oil is great for adding flavor to simple fried sauces and dishes.

Vegetable Oil—A good neutral oil is Canola. It won’t kill you.

Prepared Foods

Canned Goods—at least one can of each: chickpeas, black beans, and kidney beans. Also, a can of mushrooms and a couple of cans of diced green chillis. Two to three 24-ounce cans of Italian tomatoes, with our without basil.

Frozen vegetables—A package of corn and a package of peas. One package of mixed vegetables for making quick healthy soups.

Broths and stocks—Beef, chicken, and vegetable. Fish stock for the more adventurous. (If you haven’t had sliced potatoes slow-cooked in fish stock, I totally recommend it, simple and delicious.) I always buy low-sodium because my body is, like, you know, a temple. 🙄

Actually, always try to purchase low sodium processed foods, that gives you, the cook, more power over the seasoning of your meals.

Thai beef soup with beef balls.

Now, you’re thinking, why is this guy torturing us with pictures of beautiful, exotic home-cooked meals? Why are so many of the “basics” not as exciting as the final products?

That’s because now is the time to get what I’ll call…

The New Basics

You’ve hit the local Vons, or Trader Joe’s, Publix or Wegman’s; you’ve emptied your wallet at Whole Foods and Kroeger, now let’s get some real food. Head down to your local Asian supermarket, or your local South American/Mexican supermarket, because this is where it gets interesting.

The Carbs:

Noodles—From Japanese soba, udon and Hokkaido (ramen) noodles to the long, translucent Vietnamese and Thai rice noodles to the tightly wound, sometimes flavored Chinese noodle nests, most of these keep a long time in a dry cool place and they cook quickly offering alternative tastes and textures.

The Vegetables:

Fresh Ginger Root—it’s ugly and essential, but it can change the flavor of everything from a simple broth to a quick scrambled egg into a culinary adventure. No, don’t peel it with a spoon, that’s silly. Just use a sharp knife on the extraneous knobbly bits and then use a vegetable peeler like a normal person. Honestly, I see the YouTube chefs wrestling with a chunk of ginger and a tablespoon and I just shake my head.

Choy Sum and/or Bak Choy—Definitely hunt these down at the Asian grocer. They stay fresh longer in a good vegetable crisper in your fridge; they’re easy to clean and prepare and cook very quickly.

Chayote—A green, waxy squash that is like a more flavorful cucumber, with a great texture. Add it to all your veggie soups, or saute it with some garlic. Just handy. And keeps in the fridge for a long time.

Condiments:

Soy sauce—Get both kinds, dark soy sauce and light soy sauce. The difference isn’t the color, it’s the viscosity and the flavor. Dark soy sauce is actually somewhat sweet, unctuous and thick and adds deep rich flavors to stews, soups, and sauces. Soy sauce is a nice alternative to just seasoning with salt. Get low sodium, if dietary restrictions are in place, but you don’t really need to use too much, so, I always go with regular.

Chili Oils/Pastes—Much like the fresh peppers, this is all about personal taste. I love spicy food, but I’m not a fan of heat for heat’s sake. So, no a jalapeno margarita where I can’t taste anything or feel my lips is not a great culinary experience. Still, always have these little miracle jars handy, you control the heat by how much or how little you add to the dish you’re preparing. My three faves are traditional Chinese chili garlic sauce, Chiu Chow chili oil, and Calabrian chili oil.

Vinegar — Plain old white vinegar if you’re on a budget, but red wine, is also good. Italian balsamic if you want to live large, but I find a bottle of Japanese rice wine vinegar is the perfect all-rounder.

Fish sauce—Don’t let the name and smell deter you, a spoonful of this elixir in a soup or dressing adds a lovely saltiness and brightness.

Sesame Oil—Plain or toasted. This is for flavor only, really. You can add it to dressings, or add it to vegetable oil when sauteeing, but you can’t cook with it because it burns very quickly; that said, it gives a great depth of flavor to any dish you add it to.

Frozen Foods:

Dumplings—Either factory-made or handmade, Asian dumplings are inexpensive, delicious and easy to prepare. Beef, pork, shrimp, and vegetable or a combination of two or more fillings are always available. Korean dumplings tend to be larger. Wontons are light and mostly shrimp or shrimp and pork. If you’re lucky to have a vibrant Asian community, find the “Mom and Pop” store that makes both noodles and dumplings. Fresh dumplings are usually packed with a light dusting of corn or potato starch so they can be easily frozen.

Asian-style meatballs—OK, now these have a texture that takes a little getting used to, but they are packed with protein and flavor and cook up in seconds in a frying pan or in a soup. Pork, beef, and shrimp are the most popular. I love them and find they really make a noodle soup a quick, but truly satisfying meal.

Canned Goods:

Coconut Milk—From Indian to Thai to Malaysian cuisine, this is mother’s milk. Get a couple of cans.

Peppers—Canned chipotles. Smoked in a flavorful sauce, a little goes a long way here. But you can add these to soups and basic stews to create great depths of heat and flavor.

Okay, now this is by no means a definitive list, but it’s enough I think to give you as many options as you can once you return home and prepare for the next few weeks of personal time.

As you’ve seen, I’ve included links to some of my favorite recipes with the pictures, it’s from these recipes that I reevaluated and changed how I stock my fridge and pantry.

It’s also helped inform my cooking. Bored with cereal and toast, and fried eggs, or scrambled eggs or an omelet with bacon, one morning I created what is now my favorite, flavorful, high protein, yet not too filling breakfast; scrambled eggs and dumplings. It’s my recipe, inspired by other more traditional recipes and the food I had available at the time. It’s what Chef John from the delightful Food Wishes refers to as “that’s just you, cooking.”

The First Recipe

Ingredients:

Three eggs, room temperature, well beaten, preferably in a metal bowl with a whisk

One to two scallions or a half/third of a small yellow onion, finely chopped

One chili pepper (in this case, a Thai green chili), finely chopped.

Four to six frozen Asian dumplings depending on what type

2 Tablespoons — Vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon — Sesame oil

Chiu Chow chili oil or Sriracha

Soy Sauce

Salt

In a small saucepan bring water to a boil. In a small frying pan add your vegetable oil, the onions, and chilis and some salt and turn on the heat.

You want the onions and chilis to cook slowly and sweat, not burn or brown so keep an eye on them and keep stirring.

Now once the vegetables are cooked and the kitchen smells delicious, add a tablespoon of sesame oil into vegetables and lower the heat.

Now, the water should be at a rolling boil. Add the dumplings. I used Korean pork dumplings this morning. They only take three to five minutes to cook. You will know they are done when they float and spin freely in the water.

Now, turn up the heat of the frying pan and add in the eggs, keep stirring and cook the eggs as you like them. Take the eggs off the heat, the residual heat should finish the cooking.

Meanwhile, the dumplings should be cooked. Strain them and place them in the bottom of a bowl. Then scoop over the eggs, finish with a tablespoon or two of soy sauce and the chili sauce of your choosing.

This is a 15-minute breakfast, tops. I hope this was helpful. It’s a trying time for everyone and many of us are fortunate enough to have a roof over our heads that we can cower under. This is an opportunity for reflection, but also to make the most of your family or companions. For those of you living alone, treat yourself to a culinary feast once in a while.

I say cooking is an ordeal, but it’s also a celebration. A chance to be creative and offer comfort, if not for yourself, for the people you live with and love.

Go break an egg.

*This article is the inspiration for this blog and was previously published on Medium.

[crazedlunatik]

Over the summer, ISZAF (working with the art students at ISNS) issued a challenge. Those of us who chose to accept the challenge were tasked with documenting our Treasures using our smart phone cameras. Here is a copy of the challenge proposal handed out to all the participants:

THE CHALLENGE: Create a maximum of 10 cohesive smartphone photographs over a 3-month period.

SUBJECT: “Treasure”

SLOGAN: “Not all treasure is silver and gold”

LEADING QUESTION: How do you define treasure in your culture?

Further thoughts on “Treasure”

The idea of culture can take many forms. It can be something that is valued through a personal or collective experience. Johan Huizingas said, “If we are to preserve culture, we must continue to create it.” We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with imagery. Smartphone technology has allowed us to instantaneously create culture through photography and digital media. Shenzhen is generally known as a hub for technology, so this is very evident in our immediate experience where we reside. How do you define treasure in your culture?

The challenge seems easy but the longer you think on it the further down you can go. The actual practice of capturing moments with your phone sometimes can be a challenge. Often when you are in a particularly wonderful moment you don’t even think of documenting it. And, as treasured as those captured moments can be, they are nothing compared to actually living that moment fully.

When I began the challenge, I had several themes I wanted to pursue. Which meant shoot photos all summer and figured it out at the end. The themes I highlighted in my head were: family, food, travel, and a look at nature itself. As the summer progressed, I focused on capturing photos related to these themes.

Family. I was successful at documenting the star of my family, Carter, and not so good at the rest of the family. My son Carter is all over my pictures and he looks adorable. It is very easy to take hundreds of pictures of him. My wife was the second person most photographed and several photos of her came out wonderfully. Especially the ones were she and Carter both were in the shot. I saw parents and siblings this summer but did a terrible job capturing them. I took a few photos, but they didn’t really do them justice. I was both happy with and disappointed with my results for this category.

Food. When I originally envisioned capturing food I saw myself really laying out how food is sold in raw form all the way to the final presentation on the plate. I wanted market shots, preparation shots, and the final dish. I was going to be in three countries over the summer and I envisioned capturing the differences and similarities between the three. I only managed to pull off 1/3 of that vision, Vietnam. Perhaps I was taking for granted the time I had and my familiarity with China and the US. The market shots were not done very well, some food prep shots from the cooking classes came out okay but the few final dish shots I got In Vietnam were amazing. I ate a lot of amazing food that never got the photo taken because I am always happy to dig in when the food arrives.

Travel. That I documented well. I have shots all over Vietnam and several in the US as well.

Nature. I wanted to approach this through a backwards way. I wanted to show the pollution and crowding that came along with the travel. I wanted to say something by sharing the discarded trash in our oceans and the sheer mass of humanity exploring nature. I took these pictures as we went along but, in the end,, I just wasn’t happy with what I had managed to capture. It was not clear what we were looking at or why the pictures were taken. I honestly think this is something that, had I spent more time thinking through and setting up the shot, could have worked well. When looking at the photos I did take, I had solely shot pictures of crowds and the focus was simply the crowding of touristy spaces. I don’t think I really had a clear vision of what this would look like despite looking back and seeing in my mind’s eye what I should have been shooting.

When the time came, I submitted 20 photos, 5 pictures for each of the above categories. The only one I had truly missed the mark on, according to the selected photos, was the Nature/Tourist category. That wasn’t much of a surprise really and I agreed with them on leaving that side out of the show. In the end they chose 8 photos; 3 from family, 3 from travel and 2 from food.

Here is the display:

I’ll talk about each in this order:

City Chicken – This is part of the travel series. We were wandering the streets of Ho Chi Minh when I saw several chickens wandering an area. I took photos of them in different places but this one just casually sitting next to the scooters resonated with me.

2. Sand Baby – Carter loves playing in the sand. I documented this at the beach near Huizhou, China. This was not his first visit to the beach. He went to San Diego while we were in the US, but I did not take photos there. I had just killed a brand-new cell phone by jumping into the pool a week prior. That new phone was nowhere near me, safely tucked in the diaper bag. I was a little braver in Huizhou and happily I’m still using that phone now.

3. Minestrone – While we were in Hanoi, Vietnam we stayed in a hotel undergoing major renovations. We were the only people in the hotel and the staff was willing to serve. They also figured it would be a good time to test out a three-course meal on actual customers. The minestrone soup was the first course. It was beautiful and very tasty. Even more so when we discovered our gourmet meal was on the house.

4. Surf Baby – Carter and his mama are exploring the waves. Carter was eager to get into the water until it splashed him in the face a moment later. This was also at the beach near Huizhou, China.

5. Coastline – A view of the Huizhou Beach from the 29th

6. Sunset on the Water – Ha Long Bay in Vietnam is a beautiful place despite the hundreds and hundreds of tourists hanging out everywhere we went. The sunset from the top of our boat was beautiful.

7. A Boy and His Bear – Carter is playing with a bear that was mine when I was a boy. He hugs it often and shows it love every now and again. This shot was too adorable not to share. This was in the hotel in Huizhou, China.

8. Caprese Salad – The second course in our three-course meal in the hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam. This salad was amazingly delicious. Just as good as it looks. I did not quite pull off the third course in photos. I took the shot, but it just wasn’t quite right. If you were wondering the final course was salmon.

Here are a few photos from the opening night:

It was a great night.

The ISZAF Treasure Show Over the summer, ISZAF (working with the art students at ISNS) issued a challenge. Those of us who chose to accept the challenge were tasked with documenting our Treasures using our smart phone cameras.

[costcohotdogslut]

“Try and have her fed by 5:45 at the latest, but take her food out at LEAST an hour before, she likes her meals to be at room temperature. After that, she’s allowed two hours of free time. It’s Tuesday, so me and her usually watch Real Housewives together, its kind of her favorite show…”

Furiously jotting down her itinerary, Victoria was making sure to write down everything Kendall was telling her, wanting to make everything go smoothly for the next two weeks. “But make sure it isn’t Orange County! Those women are out of control and I do NOT want Logan Jr. exposed to that kind of stuff. Beverly Hills and Atlanta are fine.” Kendall said, as Victoria reached for her red marker to make sure that little tidbit of information was highly visible.

“Other than that…. I think you should pretty much have everything down. I start getting her ready for bed around eight, nine on the weekends, and make sure you take her outside to go potty before bed! You getting all of this, Logan?” Kendall asked, glancing over and seeing him on the recliner, who was on his phone, playing around with the woman filter on Snapchat.

“Great. Well I should probably get going now, my flight leaves at 7 and I want to get there a little early.” Kendall said, gathering up his things and making a mental checklist of everything he needed. “I’m gonna miss you ladies SO much! Keep me posted on anything and everything.”

Pulling Victoria in for a hug, he let go and walked over to Logan Jr., who was sitting on her cute little chaise lounge. “You be a good girl while I’m gone now, you hear me?” Kendall said to his daughter, who was currently watching Easy A on her iPad Mini. “Oh, she has her headphones on, she probably didn’t hear me.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s what it is.” Logan piped up from his recliner, not even bothering to look up from his screen.

“Okay…. Well goodbye then! I’ll let you guys know how Gram Gram is doing when I get back to Minnesota.”

“Bye Kendall! Have a safe flight! Me and Logan Jr. will facetime you first thing in the morning!”

Waving him off, Victoria got up and went over her list, figuring she ought to get a head start on the list of things she’d have to do daily.

For the next two weeks, Victoria and Logan were tasked with taking care of Logan Jr. and making sure she got the proper care a queen like her needed on a constant basis.

Kendall’s grandmother had fallen down last week, and tomorrow was her scheduled appointment for her hip surgery. Kendall, Katie, and their mom had decided to fly in to Minnesota to help her out during the recovery period, and also just to visit her since they hadn’t seen her since moving to Los Angeles.

Dustin, too, was out of the house, leaving earlier in the week with a large array of luggage filled with makeup, wigs, and women’s clothing with him. Nobody had bothered to ask him where he was even going and for how long. Camping maybe? Who really knows.

So for the next two weeks, it was just Victoria and Logan, and while she didn’t like to admit it, she wasn’t particularly… thrilled. Her and Logan didn’t really talk much these days, and when they did, it was usually to tell her something mean and hurtful (she honestly lost count of the amount of times he told her Fun Size was a stupid movie). But… she wanted to help her best friend Kendall out, and it was only two weeks… maybe it wouldn’t even be that bad.

“So looking at our schedule… Kendall usually takes Logan Jr. for a walk right now. I can go find the trash bags if you help me look for her harness?”

“…….”

“Um, Logan?” Victoria asked, looking over at Logan who was silently laughing to himself.

“God, I look SO hot as a girl…”

“Okay…. well then how about you be in charge of feeding her tonight? I’ll ever help you out, that way we can both see how to do it.”

“…….”

Sighing, she got Logan Jr. buckled up, knowing that this would all end up falling solely on her (as she had already suspected.

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Two days had passed, and things had gone… horribly. Victoria had been running around like a madwoman for the last 48 hours, Logan Jr. absolutely testing her limits by acting up and being a little diva, no doubt knowing that she could get away with it now that both of her dads were away.

It especially didn’t help that she got almost no support from Logan, either. Sure, he had actually put her outside to pee a few times, and he spent almost three hours the previous night recording videos of Logan Jr. for his insta story, which gave Victoria a little time to finally catch up on some sleep. But other than that, he usually just kept to himself.

Not only feeling tired, but Victoria also felt a little lonely being all by herself in the apartment.

Logan, on the other hand, was laying back on his California king bed, enjoying the silence now that pretty much everyone was out of the house. Kendall and Dustin could really get on her nerves, asking him to take his boots off the coffee table, to clean up his mess after his little house parties, if he wanted them to save him a plate for when he got home, like shut up already!

He honestly considered himself a saint for having to deal with all of their bullshit.

Just as he put in his earbuds and opened his Spotify app, he heard a loud crash and commotion coming from the other side of the apartment.

“LOGAN JR.! YOU GET BACK OVER HERE, MISSY!” Victoria yelled out, Logan Jr. squealing back in response.

Sighing, he set his stuff off to the side, figuring he’d just have to give Dedicated a stream at a later time.

Walking out his bedroom and into the living room, he saw Logan Jr. excitedly jumping around and oinking, with Victoria leaning over the kitchen counter, ready to pull her hair out.

Looking over at her, Victoria gave Logan a pleading look.

“Can you PLEASE help me get Logan Jr. into her pajamas? I just gave her a bath and she doesn’t want to cooperate with me!” Victoria groaned, glaring at Logan Jr. who seemed to be squealing back at her mockingly.

“Uh…. Sure.”

Walking over to her, Logan Jr. looked up at her namesake with sweet, innocent eyes. As Logan reached down to pick her up, she suddenly jumped up and ran through his legs, making a noise that he could only guess was the pig equivalent of snickering.

“You get over here right now!”

For the next 15 minutes, Victoria and Logan began chasing Logan Jr. all around the apartment, in a sequence that seemed to parody the old Scooby Doo cartoons as they ran through door and door, room and room, never seeming to be able to catch that little pig, the two even harshly crashing into each other as Logan Jr. continued to run away from them.

Finally, the two managed to tackle the little diva as she gave out a little squeal that presumably meant that of defeat. Wiggling her into her little zebra onesie, she huffed on over to her little bed, seeming to be in a bad mood now.

Victoria and Logan, on the other hand, were on the floor, trying to catch their breaths. A few minutes of awkward silence passed between them, before Victoria finally spoke up.

“Phew…. Well thank you, Logan, for helping me out with that.” She said, wiping the sweat from her brow as Logan gave her an awkward smile.

“Uh… yeah, for sure.” Logan replied, the two looking away from each other, not knowing what to say. “All that running worked up an appetite….. did you…. wanna go to Olive Garden?”

“YES! Omfg, let me go grab my keys!”

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After a few fender benders and a horrible parking job later, Logan and Victoria were seated at their table, munching on breadsticks and enjoying their soups.

“I’ve gotta say, I’m SO glad you recommended the Chicken & Gnocchi to me, it’s delicious!” Victoria said, hurriedly shoving spoonful after spoonful into her mouth.

“You can thank Sabrina for that! She’s the one that turned me onto it, and now I get it EVERY time we come here.” Logan said, words slightly mumbled as he shoved his third breadstick in his mouth. “It’s like, the only soup worth getting here!”

“Well I mean, I think the minestrone is amazing too!” Victoria responded, seeing that Logan quickly shot a disapproving look at her “, but I think I’ll just get this one from now on!” She quickly added, Logan smiling now that he agreed with her.

Everybody’s! DANCING! DANCING CRAZY!! And we never stop! We NEVER stop!!

“Oh! That’s Kendall calling me!” Victoria said, picking up her phone and putting it up to her ear. “Hey Kendall! So good to hear from you, what’s up!”

“Not much, just wanted to see what you were up to. How’s Logan Jr. doing!?”

“Oh she’s fine! She’s been giving us a little trouble here and that, but we’ve been having fun other than that. We even watched Wheel of Fortune after dinner, and I had NO idea she was so good at it!” Victoria said, looking over at Logan who was mouthing at her to hang up.

“Haha, that’s awesome! I’m glad you girls are having fun. I’ll have to have a talk with her when I get back about her manners, though… So what are you guys up to right now!”

“Me and Logan are at Olive Garden! And before you ask, Logan Jr. is fine, Logan called Jake over to watch her while we were gone, and we gave him the entire rundown.” Victoria said, which translated to Logan shoving the list at Jake and telling him to figure it out while Victoria warmed up the car.

“Oh, well that’s good then. Tell Logan I said hi! And PLEASE tell me you ordered the minestrone soup! You know that’s our favorite!”

“Uh…. So how’s your grandmother doing!” Victoria asked, quickly changing the subject.

“*Sigh*… we just took her to the hospital right now. She’s getting admitted so that she’s already here for her surgery tomorrow, and I’m hoping that-“

“Hold that thought, our food is coming! I’ll call you back later, bye Kendall!” Victoria blurted out, cutting Kendall off mid-sentence as she put her phone back into her purse.

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“-and then that’s when I went flying off the mechanical bull. I had already had a few margaritas so I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was pretty hilarious when I fell on my ass after that. Leon was cracking up and I’m pretty sure Matt almost peed himself!” Victoria laughed as she told her behind the scenes Victorious cast party stories, and Logan listened intently, nearly choking on his pinot grigio.

“That’s so funny! God I bet they were a blast to be at, huh?” Logan said, as Victoria nodded in agreement.

Resting her chin on her hand, she gave a faint smile to Logan, who surprisingly gave one back.

“You know, I really missed us hanging out together. We used to have SO much fun on tour together!” Victoria said.

“I know, we were kinda inseparable weren’t we? You were so much fun to hang out with, remember that time we went to Club Jam and nearly got kicked out after swiping that bottle of Fireball?” Logan said, sending Victoria into a fit of laughter.

“God, do I? That was one of the craziest nights of my life.”

The conversation mulled to a comfortable silence, the two actually enjoying one another’s company.

“I wish we could do this more often. You really are the same fun, down to earth person underneath all this black cloud of bitterness and negativity you radiate nowadays.” Victoria said, eyes widening at what she realized she just said. “Um, no offense!”

“None taken!” Logan replied, spooning up the last of his alfredo with a satisfied hum. “And I know! I can say the same for you, you’re still that fun loving girl you used to be, even under those ugly clothes you wear from Old Navy. But other than that, nothing else about you has changed.” Logan said, smiling at her.

“Yeah…. Thanks.” She said, awkwardly glancing away as Logan whistled over at their waitress to come over.

“How can I help you sir?” The underpaid waitress asked.

“Can I get a refill of my pasta? Extra sauce and chicken please, hold the noodles.” Logan barked at her, not even bothering to look up.

“Oh! I’m so sorry sir, but our Never Ending Pasta promotion actually ended last week, right now we currently have our Giant Italian Classics as our special, would you like to try that one out?” She responded, putting on her best customer service voice she had to use with difficult customers like him.

“….. I didn’t ask what your fucking specials were, I ASKED if I could get a refill of my pasta. Are you fucking dense, or…?” Logan grunted, already pulling out his phone to leave a negative review on Yelp.

“…… Of course, Mr. Logan. I’m sorry about that, I’ll go and put your order in right now.”

Victoria, meanwhile, sat there absolutely dumbfounded and even a little impressed. As the waitress sulked away, she was at a loss for words.

“Holy shit! I can’t believe you actually got her to do what you wanted!” Victoria exclaimed, Logan shrugging at her.

“Yeah… I guess being insanely rich and famous and powerful has its perks sometimes. She didn’t have to be such a bitch, though.” Logan responded, Victoria leaning back in her chair still in awe. “Oh here she comes, I’m gonna try it out too.”

As the waitress set the plate down in front of Logan, Victoria snapped at her to get her attention, feeling a little dizzy already from acting like a diva. “Yeah, can I get a refill on this baked ziti, too?”

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” The waitress scoffed at her, rolling her eyes as she went over to another table to help her other customers.

Crestfallen, Victoria looked down at her lap, suddenly finding herself to no longer be hungry anymore. Logan (reluctantly) put a comforting hand on top of her, grimacing on the inside at how embarrassing that was for her.

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The car ride was uncomfortable for a while, the two opting to get an Uber on account of Victoria getting a little shitfaced from her 4 glasses of wine (to mask her hurt feelings, after all), so the two sat there in silence.

As he scrolled down his Twitter feed, thankful that Lorde had liked all of the things he had live-tweeted during dinner, he suddenly heard giggling coming from the left side of the backseat, looking over at Victoria who was just staring at him.

“Heh, what’s so funny?” Logan asked.

“Nothing….. just thinking.” Victoria replied, seemingly dropping the topic before rambling on again. “It’s just…… I don’t know. I’ve been feeling a little down and insecure lately, and seeing you be so mean and nasty and… confident…. I wish that I could be like that!”

“Oh? Well…. I guess it just kinda came naturally to me. I used to be pretty awkward and geeky and… yeah…. But I remember the first time I snapped at somebody and when I realized how much fun it was, I couldn’t stop!” Logan said, Victoria nodding understandingly.

“But not even just that, I’m sorta jealous of how COOL you are now! Like you have all these pop star friends, an awesome boyfriend, a huge fan base, these expensive clothes, not to mention that awesome goth aesthetic you have going on now…” Victoria drawled on.

“It’s not an aesthetic, it’s a lifestyle.” Logan bluntly said.

“Right…. I don’t know, I wish I could just reinvent myself like that. Maybe that’s what I need, just a completely new image and attitude for myself.” Victoria said, thoughts circling around in her head.

“….. then let’s do it! Let’s give you a makeover!” Logan said, a bright smile suddenly forming on the girl’s face.

“Seriously? You’d really do that for me? Well… alright!” Victoria exclaimed, suddenly feeling the most giddy that she’s felt in a while.

“Driver! Change of plans, take us to the nearest mall! I think we have a Hot Topic that’s calling our names!”

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Stumbling into the apartment, Logan and Victoria were giggling as they threw their bags on the floor.

It was 10 PM and they had finally gotten home, having stayed at the mall almost three hours past closing, forcing the poor employees to work overtime so that they could be of their assistance. When you’re as famous as Logan, you could do whatever you wanted.

As they gained their bearings, they saw Jake on the couch cradling Logan Jr. like a little baby, who was knocked out cold under her little blanket.

“Hey guys. Nice to see you guys back.” Jake whispered, not wanting Logan Jr. to stir.

“Hey babe.” Logan said, tiptoeing over to give him a quick kiss, as Victoria waved at him.

“I finally managed to get Logan Jr. to sleep a little while ago. She was a little restless at first, but she was just stoked to see Uncle Jake!” He said, quieting down when she began to make little noises before going back to snoring. “Was dinner good? You guys were gone for quite a while.”

“Oh yeah…. We went shopping too.” Logan said.

“Yeah, we had a bit of a shemergency!” Victoria added, pointing at the bags littered around their feet.

“Oh… well that sounds fun. Did you guys bring me back anything to eat? I’m starving, I’ve been stuck on this couch for the last two hours.” Jake said, grinning when Logan dug through his Gucci crossbody bag and threw a breadstick at him.

“Thanks. So what else did you guys do?” Jake asked, Victoria and Logan giving each other excited glances at one another.

“We got matching piercings!” Victoria squealed, pointing at her new septum ring while Logan raised his black mesh shirt to show the stud on his left nipple.

“Yeah! The girl at Claire’s was a fucking idiot though, she said she only knew how to do ear piercings and she was afraid to do anything else. So we had to wait around while that dumb bitch watched a tutorial video on the whole process.” Logan quipped.

“Damn, that sucks. But looking good, guys! And Logan, we have to test that thing out later on…” Jake said, giving Logan a flirty wink. However, he suddenly let out a long yawn, realizing just how tired he was. “I’m gonna get going in a bit, I have to get up early in the morning for the gym, so do one of you guy’s mind taking over for me?” Jake said.

“We would, but….. we have to go try on all our new clothes and play fashion show!” Victoria said, grabbing all her bags as her and Logan ran to his room, Logan muttering out a quick “sorry babe” as they slammed the door.

“So…. Where do you wanna start?” Logan asked.

“First, I think we need to get some music playing…” Victoria replied, the two of them giving one another a knowing look.

“I come home! In the morning light!

My mother says when you gonna live your life right?

Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones…

And girls, they wanna have fun!”

Quickly getting to work on unloading their bags, the two goofed around as they threw clothes all around them, Victoria holding up different shirts to her chest, Logan standing there with his arms crossed, shaking his head no to each different garment.

As the music was blaring on full blast, they were unable to hear the yelling coming from the living room.

“No! Logan Jr., please don’t wake up!”

For the next 20 minutes, Victoria and Logan had a little 80’s movie montage, trying on different hats and scarves, Logan cracking up as Victoria played around with a feather boa, and Logan trying on a pair of oversized heart sunglasses.

“Oh daddy dear you know you're still number one…

But girls, they wanna have fun!”

“Oh god, I think she just peed on me! Fuck!”

After about a dozen outfits later, they finally decided on a final look for Victoria.

Standing behind her, Logan had his hands over Victoria’s eyes, getting her ready for her big reveal.

“Are you ready to see the new you?” Logan asked, Victoria shaking with nerves and excitement.

“More than ever…” Victoria responded. Taking his hands off her eyes, she let out a soft gasp. “Logan…. I love it!”

Wearing high waisted leather pants, a leather jacket, and a black tube top, Victoria was in love with her new image. The hoop earrings and chunky necklace really finished off the look, and she could only stare in amazement (even though it wasn’t all that different from something she’d normally wear, albeit more black and leather).

“All we need to work on now is that attitude, and you’ll feel like a brand new you in no time!”

TWO WEEKS LATER

Putting his keys in the door, Kendall struggled to carry everything around him, finally making it into the apartment as everything crashed around him. Peering in, he saw Victoria and Logan playing Wii Tennis, cackling as neither one seemed to be able to hit the ball.

“Hey guys, I’m finally home!” Kendall said, looking over to see Logan Jr. curled up in her bed with an apple. “Oh there’s my baby girl, I missed you so much!” He exclaimed as he ran over to his pig daughter, wrapping her in a tight hug as the mammal let out a squeal annoyance. “Did Uncle Logan and Aunt Victoria take good care of you?”

“Obviously, god knows you left us enough instructions on what to do.” Victoria dryly said, Kendall taken aback a bit at her tone of voice.

“Oh… well I can’t thank you guys enough!” Kendall said, neither one bothering to even acknowledge him. “Ooh, Wii Tennis, can I play?!”

“Have you ever heard of a tennis match with three players?” Logan asked, more rhetorically than anything, Kendall gulping in response.

“No, I suppose not... Well, I can just wait for my turn then.” Kendall said, taking a seat on a nearby couch, watching the two having the time of their lives.

Looking at Victoria, he realized just how… different she looked. She was wearing all black, and was that a septum he saw in her nose?

“Hey Vic, did you change anything recently? Like a haircut… or…..?”

“…….”

He sat there for a while watching them play, taking a moment before deciding to speak up again.

“So Gram Gram had her surgery.” Kendall said, still to no response. “It went really well! And, they said her recovery has been going very smoothly, and she should be back to normal within a few more weeks!”

“Kendall?” Victoria said sweetly, putting her remote down as she turned to look at him.

“Uh huh?” Kendall responded, glad that finally someone was paying attention to him.

“I… REALLY….. do not. Give. A fuck.” Victoria barked at him, quickly looking over at Logan for his approval, who gave her a big thumbs up. The blond, however, quickly turned red, tears welling up in his eyes as he got ready to just go to his room.

As he walked away, he heard them cheering as Victoria FINALLY managed to serve the ball, the two giving one another a high five, and if Kendall’s eyes weren’t deceiving him, he could have sworn they had on what appeared to be matching Silly Bandz.

That was all it took before Kendall broke down in a fit of tears, quietly closing his and Dustin’s bedroom door before collapsing onto their bed, sobbing.

END

[charllieeldridge]

15 Simple Money Saving Tips Anyone Can Use

Do you want to travel more? Save money to move abroad? Pay down your debt? Have a nest egg so you can start your own business?

Finding the extra cash to do so isn’t always easy. In this article, I’ll share 15 simple money-saving tips to help you keep more cash in your pocket.

We utilized all of the tips in this article when we were saving money to go traveling. In the end, we were able to save enough to set off on our year-long backpacking adventure sooner than we thought. 

Here are my top picks for ways to save money this year. 

First, Create a Spreadsheet

Before you can put any money away, it’s important to figure out your finances and how much money is available for you to save. 

Write down your take-home earnings, and from there, subtract all of your necessary expenses — just the payments you need to make in order to get by.

This is a simple visual way to see all of your payments in one place, and realize how much extra money you have to spend on entertainment, miscellaneous, and of course, savings. 

Here’s an example:

Total Monthly Income: $_________.

Monthly Payments:

Rent / Mortgage

Groceries 

Cell Phone 

Electricity 

Water

Car Insurance 

Gas 

Loans

Credit Card Bill

Cable and Wi-Fi

Total Monthly Payments: $_______.

Monthly Income minus Monthly Payments = $______.

If your balance each month is in the negative, you’ll need to start making some changes, including making more money on the side, picking up an online job, consolidating your payments, and tweaking your lifestyle.

Have a look at budgeting apps such as Mint (free) and Wally (free) to help you realize your money-saving goals. 

Here are 15 easy money-saving tips for you to utilize this year!

1. Say “No” To Dining Out

When it comes to money-saving tips for food, this is by far the easiest one. Have you ever added up the amount of money you spend in a day, week, or month on meals out or coffees?

If you have a Starbucks coffee each morning, that’s roughly $4 every morning.

Going out for lunch during the week will cost around $8 each time for a salad or sandwich.

Do co-workers want to grab some drinks with you after work? That’s about $6 each drink and you’ll probably be hungry after work (and after that beer), so add some finger food for about $10. Don’t forget to add tax and tip! 

*One major bonus of working remotely is that you won’t have to feel guilty for saying “no” to co-workers when they ask you to go out for lunch or drinks.

Theoretically, depending on how often you grab drinks or have coffee, you could spend around $28 + tax and tip in just one day. 

During the weekends, going out for dinner is what many people enjoy doing. Let’s use Earls Restaurants as an example. I’m going to showcase costs based on their menu as the chain has locations in both the USA and Canada.

For dinner, the cheapest appetizer on the menu (apart from bread and fries) is $9.50. The least expensive main dish on the menu is a margarita pizza for $10.50, followed by chicken tacos for $14. Dessert is $5.

On top of that, you’ll want a drink, which is around $5 for a beer. Cocktails are $10+.

A 3-course dinner out at Earls with a beer will cost you $30 minimum (plus tax and tip).

If you spent an evening out during the week, and one on the weekend, you’re going to spend $60+ in one week. In one month, that’s $240 total. That $240 would go much further at the grocery store.

2. Enjoy Dinner Parties

Obviously you’ll still want to have a social life, so I’m not saying give up on seeing your friends and forgo any fun. But, rather than meeting for drinks at a trendy bar, or going out for dinner, why not host a dinner party?

Between all of your friends, you could rotate who hosts each weekend.

Make the dinner party pot-luck style where everyone brings a dish to contribute to the meal. You can find some awesome recipes on Allrecipes.com.

Or, rather than everyone bringing a dish, each week it could be the host’s turn to make the meal.

Opt for an affordable one-pot style dinner (spaghetti bolognese, chicken stew, minestrone soup, beef and bean chili, etc.) or a baked dish such as lasagna, casseroles, grilled chicken with roasted potatoes…get creative! 

Buying booze from the shop rather than a bar is much cheaper. Look for sales at your local liquor store and stock up on beer, wine and spirits. 

Enjoying dinner and game night with friends, or drinks and appetizers is a great way to catch up and save money while doing so.

3. Save On Accommodation Costs

Accommodation eats up a massive chunk of the budget each month. But, it doesn’t have to. If you’re looking to save money on having a roof over your head, you have a few options. 

If you are currently renting, consider downsizing and moving into somewhere smaller and/or more economical.

If you’re in a townhouse, move to a basement suite or a studio apartment. If you’re in a 2-bedroom, switch to a 1-bedroom. Maybe search for a cheaper neighbourhood. There are many ways to downsize your accommodation. 

Rather than renting a 1 bedroom home, can you save money by joining up with someone and having a roommate in a 2-bedroom place? 

If you’re comfortable living in someone’s home, consider looking for house sitting jobs. This is my best money-saving tip for accommodation.

You can house sit/pet sit all around the world, including your home city (in many cases). If you live in one of the popular housesitting destinations (England, Australia, Canada, USA) there are a lot of house sits available). You could move from place to place every couple of weeks, all within the same city. 

A Luxury House Sit in Grenada

By becoming a house sitter, you’ll receive free accommodation and (in our experience) a vehicle for your use. You’ll get to live like a local for free and enjoy the company of a furry friend.

While you’re trying to save money, this is an especially good way to keep cash in the bank. For more about the house sitting company we use and highly recommend, click here. 

4. Use Rewards Credit Cards

If you’re going to spend money, you may as well earn some points while you’re at it. Americans have some great credit cards that offer cash-back and rewards when you purchase groceries. But surprisingly, there are actually some pretty good credit cards for us Canadians as well. 

The Blue Cash Everyday card from American Express offers 3% cash-back on grocery store purchases up to $6,000 / year.

After that, they offer 1% cash-back on groceries at supermarkets in the USA. There are other bonuses such as 2% cash-back at the gas station, 1% on other purchases and no annual fee. Click here to learn more. 

Another great card is the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card. You’ll receive unlimited 4% cash-back on dining and entertainment, 2% when shopping at supermarkets, and 1% on other purchases.

You’ll also get a $500 cash bonus after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months, and there’s no annual fee for the first month. Click here to learn more.

There are many more cards that offer savings on groceries at supermarkets in the United States. Click here to compare.

For Canadians, even though we don’t typically have the best travel credit cards available, there are a few great credit cards for food and grocery purchases.

The American Express Cobalt gives you 5 points for every dollar at grocery stores, cafes, bars, food delivery and restaurants. The points you earn can then be redeemed for travel on any airline. When it comes to food, this is a great credit card.

You’ll also get 2 points for every dollar spent on gas, travel, rideshare (Uber), taxis, but just 1 point for all other purchases.

The only downside to the card is that there’s a $10 monthly fee, and American Express isn’t accepted everywhere (but, you can use it at Safeway, Sobey’s, Whole Foods, Co-op, Metro, FoodBasics and more).

If you prefer Visa, a great card is the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite which offers 4% back on groceries and gas. 2% cashback at drugstores and recurring bill payments and 1% on other items. The $99 annual fee is waived for the first year. 

Make this the year that your plastic cards start working for you. 

5. Do Some Meal Prep

One of the main reasons that people opt for pricy fast food, or frozen meals is because preparing a healthy meal can take a bit of time. Consider preparing food ahead of time and have it ready to go for the whole week. 

Do you drink smoothies in the morning? Pre-cut all of the fruits and vegetables and have them portioned out into containers for each day, then toss them in the freezer.

Each morning, grab out the container, add the liquid of your choice, and blend it up. Cutting up the produce is the time-consuming part. Have it ready to go and you’ll be able to eat healthier and save money by not opting to buy breakfast on the fly.

On Sundays, create meals for the whole week. When we lived in Canada, I used to do this and it saved us buying meals out when there was “nothing to eat” in the fridge. 

Frozen fruit ready for the blender

The best idea is to make a large batch of food – stews, soups, chilis, and sauces freeze well – and make a variety of them so you’re never bored with eating the same food.

Or, portion out meals into containers for the week. Make a large pot of rice, add cooked chicken and a side of vegetables to each container and you’re ready to go. Change them up with various types of vegetables, and maybe mix between couscous, quinoa, pasta and rice. 

Things like casseroles and lasagna also freeze well.

Having ready-made meals in the fridge and freezer will stop you from ordering in pizza, or grabbing some fast food on the way home. Making food at home is much more economical and is one of the best money-saving tips.

6. Share Your Clothes

If you have a friend who is the same size as you, this is an excellent way to enjoy two wardrobes for the price of one! It’ll save you going out and shopping for the latest items — and most likely, purchasing things you don’t actually need.

When you “have nothing to wear”, you can call up your friend and do some weekend shopping in their closet. Clothes are expensive and most of us own way too many. Rather than buying something new, consider borrowing. 

But, if you must purchase an item and your friend doesn’t have something you can borrow, buy clothing at the second-hand store, opt for outlets, or check out the sales rack. 

7. Ditch The Car

Depending on where you live and your lifestyle, you could quite easily sell your car and get around by foot, bike, or public transport.

For couples who own two cars, sell one of them and share the second. Cars are the biggest money guzzlers – petrol, insurance, parking and maintenance, it’s never-ending! 

Sell your car and put that money towards your next trip or paying down some debt. Walking and cycling are great ways to get exercise, while public transport options are also very affordable and practical.

When it comes to the best money-saving tips, selling your car and opting for a transit pass is always at the top.

Not only will you be able to put the money from the sale of your vehicle in your bank account, but your monthly transportation budget will be very minimal going forward. 

8. Cut Back On Beauty

This one applies to both women and men. While women tend to spend more money, men are starting to put an emphasis on grooming as well. 

Go into your bathroom and have a look at all the products you own. Make-up, lotions, perfumes, body wash, hair styling products, beard oils, etc.

Depending on which brands you’ve purchased, if you tallied up the cost, you’ll probably find it’s quite high.

Do you actually need all of those items? Could you get by with a cheaper brand? Could you do without 5 different types of hair products and just use 1? 

Cut back on your spending on body and beauty products this year and keep more cash in your pocket.

Although those items are pricey, when it comes to money-saving tips on beauty, my biggest suggestion is to limit your time at the hair salon and spa. Or better yet, don’t go at all.

For women, a simple cut is often around $50+, while colouring or highlighting your hair will easily add another $85+ to the bill. But, you also need to tip on top of that.

Each time you visit the hair salon, you’ll spend around $125 (if you have your hair coloured). Most women do this every 2 months or so, meaning you’ll spend $750 in a year on your hair. 

$750 is a round trip flight from New York to Bangkok.

$750 is 15 nights of accommodation (at $50/night). 

$750 is a 5-day cruise.

$750 is a lot of groceries!

If you simply must colour your hair, purchase dye from the drugstore. If you need to cut your hair, you can learn to do it yourself, have a friend come by to cut it for you or opt for a cheaper salon to get it cut — less frequently.

Cancel all pedicures, manicures, facials, and spa treatments if you want to save money this year. It’s amazing how much money you can save just by changing your beauty regime. 

9. Automate Your Savings 

One of the hardest things about saving money is physically transferring the money to a savings account.

A top money-saving tip is to set up automated savings. Simply contact your bank and have them set your account to transfer $X to your savings account each month (or week, or bi-weekly). Or, you can request a certain percentage be transferred into savings.

At the start of this money-saving tips blog post, I mentioned going through your finances to see how much money you have left over after paying the necessities.

Let’s say you have $300 left. You’ll probably want $100 for entertainment in the month (meals out, movies, booze, etc.) and $100 for miscellaneous (toiletries, gifts, medicine, etc.), which leaves you $100 each month that you can transfer to your savings account. 

At the end of the year, you’ll have $1,200 in savings! But, if you had to manually transfer that money, odds are you would probably end up spending it instead. Automate your savings, it’s one of my best money-saving tips. 

10. Use Cash (for entertainment)

Using your credit card to pay your bills, buy groceries and all other items is what I recommend. But, if you’re budgeting yourself $100 / month for entertainment, then I suggest using cash. 

We personally did this when we were trying to come up with $40,000 for a year of travel, and it’s amazing how well it works.

Basically, you have $100 in your wallet (we did $50), and that’s all. No other cash in your wallet. When that $100 is gone, so is the paid entertainment for the month.

You’ll have to get creative and enjoy free entertainment such as watching movies at home, going outdoors, hiking, or having friends over for dinner and games. 

Being able to actually see the cash leave your wallet (rather than just swiping your debit card) really makes you decide whether or not you truly need that item you’re about to buy. And if you only have a set amount for the month, you may decide to save it for a special night out. 

Consider using cash for your entertainment budget

11. Cancel & Consolidate

Take all of your utility bills and lay them out on the table. Evaluate each of them and decide if you can cancel any of your accounts, or at least, cut back.

Do you have the best cable package? Maybe consider purchasing a Netflix subscription (or something similar) instead for $8 / month.

When it comes to your cell phone bill, do you need that much data, talk-time, texts? For Wi-Fi, can you downgrade your plan to a slower speed (but one that will still stream shows)?

Can you cancel your landline at home? 

Is there a better car/life/health insurance plan you can be on? 

Could you switch to a gas water heater, rather than electric?

This is one of the top money-saving tips for those of you at home who are trying to save money. Bills seem to stack up and unless you contact your provider to either get a discount or cut back on the plan you’re currently on, you’ll continue to overspend on utilities each month. 

12. Cancel Your Gym Membership

This one is huge! So many people make “going to the gym” one of their New Year’s Resolutions, but, most people stop going after a couple of months.

Depending on which gym you go to, you’ll probably spend around $50 / month. And, when you sign up, oftentimes you’re locked into a year’s worth of payments.

Rather than shell out $600+ each year, start working out at home. 

There are endless FREE yoga and workout classes on YouTube and Skillshare. All you need is a mat and maybe a few weights.

Rather than joining the gym so you can run on a treadmill, go for an actual run, outside. Go hiking, walking, or cycling —mall of which are free ways to get exercise. 

Doing yoga at home rather than in a studio is a great way to save money

Another option is to join the local recreation center. They’re usually very affordable and you can utilize all of the amenities (swimming pool, squash courts, running tracks, etc.). Plus, many cities have parks with climbing walls, skateboard bowls, ice-skating rinks and running tracks that you can use for free. 

Get fit for free this year. 

13. Quit Your Habits

I’m not here to give any lectures, but if you are a smoker, vaper, gambler, or heavy drinker, it’s time to quit — or at the very least, cut back…way back. The cost of cigarettes varies depending on which state or province you live in, but on average, they are around $8 a pack.

If you smoke a pack every 2 days, that’s $1,460 that you’re literally burning away each year. 

The cost of alcohol is also very high. Either quit drinking, cut back, or purchase a cheaper brand of booze. You’ll be amazed at the amount of money you will save each month. Money that can be put towards a trip, or creating a better lifestyle for yourself. 

14. Give DIY Gifts

When you think about money saving tips, cutting back on gift-giving probably isn’t at the top. But, if you consider how many birthday, wedding, baby, anniversary, Christmas, or travel gifts you’ve purchased this year (and did the math), you’ll probably be surprised at how much you spent. 

Rather than purchasing presents for friends and family who are celebrating, make them something. A handmade gift is much more thoughtful anyway.

Check out Pinterest for some excellent DIY gift ideas. Or, better yet, give the gift of time. Spend time together doing an activity and create memories that will last much longer than that handbag you bought. 

15. Forgo Fees

This is a good one. When you’re out and need to hit up the ATM to get some cash, only go to the ATM at your bank. Each time you utilize another bank’s machine, you’ll pay a fee. Usually, it’s about $5 per withdrawal.

When you use your credit card, make sure you pay off the balance, or at the very least, the minimum amount due, or interest (at a high rate) will start accruing.

If you pay your bills late, there will be a penalty added.

If you have a chequing account with a monthly fee that’s waived if you keep “x” amount of dollars in the account, make sure you don’t go below that amount. 

All of these little fees, penalties, and interest costs can really add up over a month. If you do miss a payment, or you accidentally dip below the required amount of cash in your account, contact your bank or service provider and ask them to (please) remove the fee. They usually will. 

16. Bonus! Order Groceries Online

Going into the grocery store can be a pain. Not to mention, once you’re there, there are tempting items to buy — especially near the check-out counter.

These days, it’s definitely becoming more mainstream to simply purchase your groceries online and have them delivered to your door. 

Not only will you save money due to impulse purchases, and on gas for your car, but ordering online is usually much cheaper than buying in-store — especially for health foods. Compare prices of items like almond butter, coconut oil, hemp hearts, nuts, beans, canned fish, etc. on websites like Amazon before going into the grocery store. 

Save even more money by signing up for Thrive Market. This platform is the Whole Foods for people who aren’t rich! Organic, non-GMO, healthy foods are available at a fraction of the cost, delivered right to your house. You can even order frozen meats and seafood, and as a bonus, shipping on items over $49 is free. Click here for details. 

Finally, another company which is located in both the United States and Canada is Instacart. Basically, you log-in to an app and order your groceries from the local supermarket. Personal shoppers will then collect the items on your list and you either pick them up at the store or have them delivered to you.

Same day delivery is possible, even within 1 hour. You can purchase 1 month or 1-year memberships and enjoy unlimited deliveries. Exclusive discounts are available for Instacart members. Click here for details. 

Your time is valuable. Save time and money and consider ordering online. This is one of the best ways to save money on groceries.

Did These Money-Saving Tips Help?

I hope that the above 16 money-saving ideas gave you some new and useful ways to keep more money in your pocket this year. When you’re saving for a trip, wanting to work for yourself, or simply need to pay down some debt, every penny counts. 

My final tip is to make a realistic goal for yourself, one that will allow you to still enjoy your life while putting money away.

If you have a whiteboard, write down how much money you want in your savings account at the end of the year. Focus on that amount, and utilize the above steps to help you realize your money-saving goal.

As always, please feel free to comment down below with your best money-saving tips, or email us with comments and suggestions. 

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[benjamingarden]

Weekending

It's fall which means our days are busy getting products made for the business, getting orders packed & shipped, as well as trying to keep up with the leaves and picking and processing the remaining produce in the garden.  Where do we even start with an update?  Let's start in one of my favorite spots....the kitchen!

a busy kitchen

oven-roasted tomatoes for homemade spaghetti sauce

The kitchen is truly the most used space on our property.  Because I make almost everything from scratch and we preserve excess produce, it's rarely left without some task mid-process.  A couple of weeks ago I baked a large amount of oven-roasted tomatoes.  Rather than canning them as sauce I mixed them in the food processor until they were sauce and then placed them in jars for freezing.  Next year I will go the extra step to can them because our freezers are FULL! I also chose not to can tomatoes this year.  And now I wish I had.  I so much prefer having tomato products stored in glass over cans and certainly enjoy the taste of freshly grown.  I will go back to canning them next year.  I usually preserve them as sauce, diced, and whole peeled tomatoes.

delicious minestrone cooling on the back deck

On the weekends I usually make up big pots of soup that we can eat throughout the week.  I LOVE minestrone.  Mostly because I never use a recipe and just toss it whatever I've got for veggies plus beans and a grain.  It's always a tad bit different.  I'm back to making two completely different meals many days because I'm still eating plant-based while my husband is not.  {sigh....}  it's a pain but worth it.  So, because of this, I try to make anything ahead of time that I can in order to save time in the evenings.

no-knead artisan bread baked in a loaf pan with a second loaf pan

I also made no-knead bread into a traditional loaf.  It was fantastic!  Usually it's baked in a round ball and develops a very thick crust (which is delicious) but baked in a loaf pan the crust is a bit lighter, perfect for sandwiches or for serving thinner slices.  Although I'm eating a lot less foods that contain flour these days (I find that I feel better) I still make bread from time-to-time.  On a similar note, I have done very well in continuing to avoid refined sugars and rarely consume honey or maple syrup now too.  Since dates have the most nutritional value I try to stick with them if I need something sweet.  That and fruit three times a day.

squash ready for roasting

we roasted regular and roma tomatoes

can there ever be too much kale???

Our first frost arrived!  This meant we had to hurry around and pick the last of what was in the garden.  We have a TON of Asian Pears.  I will be eating them for months.  I picked the last of my herbs and tied them so I could hang them to dry.  I also processed the remaining basil into oil & cheese-free freezer pesto.  We picked another bushel of peppers and I'll be processing them tomorrow.  They get cleaned, sliced, and put up in the freezer.  The last of the eggplant was roasted and we ate it the night we picked it.  Broccoli is in the fridge.  I think we'll be able to eat what's left fresh before it goes bad.   I have a few plants still growing (I covered them for the frost) so, depending on when we get frost again, we may get more!  Greens (kale, swiss chard & spinach) are still growing.  They will be fine until we receive a harder frost.  And I'm in the process of roasting all of the winter squash to put up in the freezer.  Green tomatoes are lined up in the kitchen window and those that are ripe are being eaten as quickly as we can.  We are honestly just about tomatoed out.....but isn't that the beauty of eating seasonally?  You wait and wait and wait and then eat and eat and eat.  And then you go back to waiting for the next summer's bounty.  By the time it arrives you can't wait to eat and eat and eat!

farmcat Jack on one of his many adventures outside (where he isn't allowed to be....)

my sweet boy Oliver

Oliver and Jack both had their yearly check-ups.  Their doctor said they are both perfect!  Of course, I debated saying that about Jack.  Thankfully he's perfect health-wise but he's still a very naughty boy.  His main source of happiness is tormenting Oliver any chance he gets or trying to sneak out of the house (and going into full-on panic mode when he succeeds).  He has not matured at all as he has aged.  (don't tell him but he can be pretty funny sometimes)

our hardworking garden clean-up crew

The coop girls are molting.  It's been just over a month so hopefully we're getting toward the end.  There are feathers everywhere!  The good thing is the feathers do well in compost, so that's where I've been putting them.  Egg production at this time is summed up in one word:  slow.  We don't use many eggs so it works out fine for us.  Our egg customers, however, are sad. The coop girls have been busy cleaning up the garden beds for us.  Let me tell you they take it as a serious job.  Dirt goes flying as they make their way through the beds looking for bugs and such.  They run to one area and scratch and peck, and then they hear another chicken exclaiming excitement over what she's found so they run to her and scratch and peck, and then another chicken exclaims excitement, and, well, you get the idea.  They don't stay in any one place for long. Projects around the home are on hold for a bit as we try to get caught up with making products.  We're hoping to get the back deck stained before winter.  That's the largest project we'd like to tackle.  I've got to tidy up the garden and other small projects but I should be able to fit those in. That's what's happening around here.  Hoping you had a wonderful (and productive) weekend as well!

Weekending was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)