#it's literally just going to be rice with tomato sauce and meatballs. just that.

[moinsbienquekaworu]

It's 1:30 someone encourage me to make lunch

[thegarlicpressph]

Guevarra's goes beyond the buffet table, launches new website

My entire family loves dining at Guevarra's in San Juan City. It's always a family affair. When we want to celebrate a special occasion, or just want to get together in Metro Manila, this buffet restaurant is always on top of the list.

Then, the pandemic hit. Dining in, especially buffets, became obsolete during the lockdown. Businesses tried to cope by shifting to deliveries. Some barely managed to stay afloat, some unfortunately had to close, while some thrived in the delivery world.

Guevarra's kept on doing what they do best: Making good food for everyone. They offered their usual buffet favorites for delivery, like their Pork Bellychon, Angus Beef Tapa (our all-time fave!), Beef Kare-Kare, Pancit Palabok, and Beef Kaldereta, in various sizes. They even have their own delivery riders for convenience.

As the lockdown stretched to almost two years, the people behind Guevarra's kept moving with the times, adapting to the public's needs and wants. Aside from their buffet best-sellers, they created their own version of food trends, like Lechon Angus Baka (ridiculously tender and flavorful angus beef, best enjoyed with the sweet-savory sauce). If you're eating it at home, you can enjoy it the fool-proof way with some garlic rice or go a little rogue and turn it into the best burger you'll ever make at home.

As restrictions eased, dining in slowly returned to pre-pandemic normalcy. Guevarra's decided to give us more reasons to literally get up in the morning, even on weekends. They recently started offering Breakfast Buffet on Sundays featuring morning staples, from cereals to crispy bacon to Pinoy almusal classics like Champorado, Arroz Caldo. They also put their own twist on Western faves, like Chicken & Waffles, but instead of fried chicken, you get chicken adobo. I know, it sounds weird, but trust me on this: the sweet and slightly crisp waffle (with their whipped butter and maple syrup) goes so well with the garlicky savoriness of adobo.

While their Chicken & Waffles (or pancakes) is an absolute must-try, Guevarra's take on Vigan Longganisa is a revelation! Swimming in a pool of umami-filled tomato sauce (with a healthy layer of oil for good measure), these chubby parcels of meaty goodness are tender (those pockets of fat make sure of that), packed with flavor, and will definitely have you reaching for another cup of rice. And for someone who hates bell peppers, this dish is making a compelling argument for 'em. You can enjoy Guevarra's Vigan Longganisa at their Sunday Breakfast Buffet or when you order their Sariling Sikap Box.

They also had in mind those people who were still stuck at home alone or those who are going back to the office. In 2021, they officially launched their Solo Meals, featuring a single serving of their buffet best-sellers served in a convenient bento-like container with stir-fried veggies and steamed rice. They have seafood, pork, chicken, and beef options. These meals are also perfect for meetings (Zoom or physical), parties, and even baon for roadtrips (#RevengeTravel)!

They've also gone beyond the usual buffet offers, giving diners the option to elevate their dining experience at home. Another personal favorite from Guevarra's line-up is their Spaghetti Marinara with Meatballs. Definitely different from sweet Pinoy spaghetti, the sauce is a bit more sour and tempered by the saltiness of the parmesan cheese and the savory meatballs. Pro-Tip: If you're ordering at home, keep it in the fridge because it's even better the next day (if you can keep yourself from eating all of it).

There are so many reasons to love Guevarra's, but there's nothing like their sweet selections to keep you coming back for more. When dining in, their Frozen Brazo de Mercedes (served in shot glasses) should not be missed. If you're ordering for delivery, don't forget their cakes and desserts, like their indulgent Brigadeiros and milky-chewy Kalabasa Pastillas, which are perfect for gifting or as a sweet ending to a satisfying meal.

The people of Guevarra's also made ordering a lot easier! Now you can have their signature dishes delivered to your home with just a few clicks. They also have frozen goodies so you can stock up on your favorites! Visit www.guevarras.com to place your order. They deliver daily from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Guevarra's is located at 387 P. Guevarra Street corner Argonne Street, San Juan City. For more updates about their latest offers, follow Guevarra's on Facebook or Instagram.

[missguomeiyun]

Homecooking [Feb ed]

Another month has gone by. I think it’s bcos it was a short month, time went by even faster. Literally.

The highlight of this month was definitely doing an Acanthamoeba stain at work for an eye specimen. The procedure is so .. annoying to perform. Acanthamoeba is a single-celled organism that causes rare but REALLY BAAAAAD infections of eyes (most commonly isolated site) & generally skin. It can be found everywhere in water & soil (ie: environmental source). Ppl usually ‘get’ it via dirty water & unsanitary conditions in swimming pools or putting in/removing contact lens. Protect your eyes, ppl!

In any case, my 1st time doing the stain & wetmount for this at work. It’s very involved - from setting up to cleaning the bench after. Apparently it can ‘crawl away’ O_O but you can’t see it with naked eye obviously so you CLEAN the heck out of everywhere. Anyway, it took me a long to complete, & I hope I won’t have to do it again any time soon lol

Alright, onto the food :D

Gailan + squid fish cake bar + egg + thick rice noodles. I used a simple chicken broth.

I transformed some of my leftover HelloFresh food into this breakfast bowl. This contained sweet potato, potatoes, cheese, meatball, cocktail sausages (from Costco), & the gravy. I liked this better than what the recipe gave me lol Honestly, this was like diner restaurant food.

Pasta with eggplant + tomato with some cocktail sausages. I just used a cheese + olive oil ‘sauce’.

Braised beef noodles~ This was so goooood! I loved the daikon bcos it soaked up all the flavours. Pls disregard the singular wonton haha it was a leftover wonton from my niece’s lunch.

Instant noodles with leftover braised beef & daikon. Yes, that is a raw egg :P I don’t know. .. just decided to try something diff. It was neither a hit nor a miss.

Vegetarian cheonggukjang :D  again & again, I keep saying the same thing.. . once you’ve tried cheonggukjang (the strong, more fermented version of deonjang), you won’t be able to go back haha

So hearty~ Edmonton had a few days of like severe cold weather around the 3rd week of Feb., where it felt like -40 with the windchill. I made this for lunch for one of those days.

Here is the other half of the cheonggukjang. 1 package of this brand of cheonggukjang base is too much for 1 person. It’s VERY salty. I personally use it for 2 meals (or 2 servings). It really does serve 2 haha I don’t usually add noodles to my cheonggukjang but wanted it in noodle soup form that day. .. equally good no matter what.

Bokchoy & pork belly with udon noodles, in miso soup.

I like the Six Fortune brand fat/circular udon.

McD’s DELIVERY  wooooooOOOt! Ordered it for no reason, really. Just felt like it. I have plenty of coffee at home haha 1st time trying the iced caramel coffee. It was soooo bland! I actually ended up adding my own coffee to me. Just the instant coffee. Like I made a super saturated/concentrated instant coffee with Nescafe powder, & then just poured it into the iced coffee after some cooling. THAT made it so much better.

*Note to self: just don’t order the iced coffee with no cream + half syrup + extra iced. 

On sale beef at Hmart. I would’ve wanted a little more fat but . .. still good! I love beef haha

A loooot of beef + flat rice noodles. Don’t worry- I always have veggies. It’s just that my parents & I were going for the “carb of your choice” dinner so we all had a diff carb, while sharing the veggie stir-fry.

Cute, huh? The same beef with my homemade garlic stem banchan.

Pasta for work lunch~

Perilla seed powder sujebi with bokchoy & (Costco) chicken. 

Finished this book :D

Guess the noodle (brand/kind/flavour!). Prize? Nothing.

[saint-ambrosef]

As a broke student who didn't grow up learning how to cook, any "how to cook and eat cheap for newbs" tips would be MUCH appreciated

Ask and you shall receive!

Meal Planning:

Figure out what you enjoy eating. That can mean cuisine or specific ingredients; for instance, I love Indian and Mediterranean food. It helps with planning meals.

Plan your week's dinner ahead. If you're just starting out, that can be intimidating, so just plan 2 or 3. Use the above tip as a guide to figure out what dishes you can make, but I will also suggest my favorite easy dishes below to get you started. Make a list of ingredients you need for your weekly meal.

Keep a list of recipes you like -- I have a google doc for this purpose. Then when it's time to plan my weekly meals, I just scroll through my list, pick a few, and write down the ingredients.

If you're living by yourself, you can totally cook less frequently in larger batches, and just eat leftovers on in-between days.

Shopping efficiently:

Part of this is just learning your grocery store. When you get used to shopping for ingredients every week, you will quickly learn where most items in your store are located.

When drafting my grocery list, I often take the extra five minutes to organize it by category. And after a little experience, you can order it sequentially based on the store layout. E.g., my store entrance is by the vegetables, so I'll put those first on my list, then all the fruits, snacks, dairy, etc.

Always check your list against your fridge/pantry before you leave the house, so you know already what you do/don't have.

General Cooking Tips

Cold onions won't make you cry. Keep a few in your fridge.

The finer you mince something, the quicker it cooks -- and burns. That is why recipes add garlic at the end.

Most meats can be substituted for each other, especially if it's cut up/ground. It'll taste different but still good.

Frozen spinach can be added to basically any sauce-y or soup-y dish as a veggie source. Spaghetti sauce, lentil dahl, chicken soup...

If you're scared of overcooking/undercooking, slow cookers are your best friend. You can get them at thrift stores for like $5.

The most versatile dried spices to keep stocked: cumin, chili powder, paprika, cinnamon, and oregano. Next would be basil, thyme, ginger, garlic powder, bay leaves.

Fresh spices to keep stocked: garlic cloves, limes, lemons. Seriously, constantly ask yourself if the food would taste better with some fresh citrus juice. The answer is almost always yes. Cilantro, too, if you like a lot of Latin, South Asian, and Middle Eastern cuisines.

Prep all ingredients before you start cooking - chop, dice, etc.

Below are some of my go-to meals when I was in college and didn't have a ton of time to cook. At the time, I lived on roughly $20/week for groceries, so they're also extremely cheap (although your cost might vary depending on where you live and shop). I've included my rough price per [hearty] serving.

I don't have the recipes to share, because I kinda just eyeball everything now, but any recipe you find online should be easy due to the simple nature of these dishes. I can share my own specific recipes upon request.

Chicken Korma: Just chicken, onions, coconut milk, tomato paste, and spices served on whatever rice I have around. Super tasty at about $1.50/serving. Lentil Dahl is very similar but sub chicken for lentils.

Beef Stroganoff: Ground beef, onion, sour cream, beef bouillon, egg noodles, mushrooms, frozen peas, spices. $2.00/serving.

Greek Meatballs: Seriously so good. I usually do half ground turkey, half pork sausage, bake them, and serve on rice and greens with tzaziki sauce. Easy to make a ton and freeze for later. $1.75/serving.

Turkey Chili: Literally dump a bunch of stuff in a slow cooker. Top with sour cream, cilantro, corn bread. like $1.50/serving.

Fried Rice: Just fry leftover rice with whatever veggies are on hand. So cheap. $1.30/serving. Throw in an egg for protein.

Burrito Bowls: Or tacos. Make great lunches, too. $2.00/serving.

Mac and Cheese: The homemade stuff. So enriching and only $1.75/serving. Great with frozen peas, too.

Learning how to budget for groceries is a whole different topic that deserves its own post. But I hope this is at least partly helpful for getting started!

[normal-thoughts-official]

See I think the problem is sweden is just.. cold amshnsdhdj we can’t really grow spices here so throughout the times it’s just been salt and pepper (until we started importing spice from the colonies like we thought we were the brits lmao) but traditional swedish food is like??? Potatoes and meatballs with lingonberry jam and sometimes you make the sauce out of the fat you fried the meatballs in and it’s gross. I’ve never been to Germany actually but that restaurant sounds disgusting I’m so sorry what are they doingggg. THANKFULLy we have so much food imported from pretty much everywhere that most people’s favourite foods is almost always something that didn’t originate here. Like tacos!! It’s a staple in pretty much any household here, at least where I grew up, and one of my friends is obsessed with Indian food, specifically vindaloo which is so so spicy but so good. As for the cream cheese sushi, at the restaurant here they put it in the maki rolls with veggies and a piece of omelet, i cannot stress how good it is ahaha. I love food so much!!! I don’t think I’ve ever eaten anything Brazilian specifically, but since we’re talking about it I’m really curious. If you have a specific dish or anything you think I should try let me know!! I’m gonna ask google but it’s always fun to get tips from someone who is living with the culture behind it and everything!! - salmon anon (salmnon? salmanon? Swenson? I actually wrote swenon but my phone corrected me so I’m leaving it skhdkshd)

aaaa okay so when it comes to brazilian food you gotta understand that there’s...... so much stuff. our cuisine is super varied and rich and there’s just... a lot. so it all depends on what strikes your fancy. but i have a few suggestions, although keep in mind that again, brazilian cuisine is varied and rich and it’s a big country, so i have the mos contact with food from my region (the southeast), although i’ve been to the northeast, north, and south as well

so the basis of culinary in most brazilian households is the rice + beans + farofa combo. farofa is basically cassava flour with spices, it is made to add Big Crunch to the meal. we eat that in every meal, except for breakfast. it’s kinda the foundation/pillar of the plate. i do recommend trying it, absolutely. the most likely version of that for you to find is feijoada, which is a little stereotypical as far as brazilian dishes go, but i doubt you’d find regular rice beans and farofa around in a small town in sweden. in feijoada the beans come with pork parts, and it’s black beans, not regular beans. it is also traditionally served with kale and orange slices. it’s really good, personally i love it

[image ID: a plate with kale, rice, farofa (which is sandy-colored and has a grainy consistency), orange slices, and feijoada. end ID] 

another great dish worth a try is moqueca. moqueca is (usually) fish/shrimp, coconut milk, dendê oil, bell peppers, and other spices. it takes cilantro so if you are a little bitch, i mean, if you don’t like it, you might skip that one. it is also usually served with farofa or pirão, which is essentially farofa but moist 

[image ID: a pot of moqueca. it looks soup-like and has very vibrant colors, particularly red, yellow, ad green. you can see pieces of bell pepper and chopped cilantro in it. end ID]

i do recommend trying anything palm-heart related if you haven’t. palm heart pies are one of my favorite things. and okay i know that you probably won’t be able to find this but i doubt you’ll be able to find most things i’m talking about so i’m just gonna dream big here: catupiry is this kind of brazilian... cream cheese, except it’s creamier and tastier and just superior in general. we love putting it on shit, and when it comes to stuffing, palm heart + catupiry or chicken + catupiry are my favorites

i also love bobó de palmito na moranga, which is essentially palm heart inside very creamy squash. the most common version actually takes shrimp instead of palm heart, but i don’t like shrimp and they’re not super accessible in my city anyway lol

[image ID: a carved pumpkin with shrimp swimming in a creamy mixture of squash, coconut milk, and catupiry inside. end ID]

escondidinho is another great dish. it means “little hidden one” in portuguese and it is cassava puree with dried meat inside, gratinated. there’s also a version with mashed potatoes, ground beef, and tomato sauce, but cassava is better. honestly just go for anything cassava. it’s the basis of native brazilian culinary and it’s fucking delicious. fried cassava, roasted cassava, cassava puree.... if you’ve never had them, they’re like potatoes, but better in every way. and don’t get me wrong, cuz i love potatoes

anything from the state of minas gerais FUCKS and is highly recommendable. tutu de feijão might look bad for a gringo but i promise it’s worth a try. feijão tropeiro is amazing, and chicken with okra is one of my fave brazilian dishes. it’s also easy to make so you can make it at home, even. just don’t forego the rice beans and farofa. my eastern european friend had never seen okra so if you look it up, no, that is not pepper. it’s not spicy. seriously i know yall are afraid of everything but it’s not

as for snacks! one of the greatest institutions in brazil is coxinha. coxinha is a potato-based batter stuffed with chicken (and usually catupiry as well although coxinha without catupiry is also commonly found) and deep fried. you cannot have a kids party and not serve it, it is absolutely essential. but it is also eaten as a regular snack commonly. it is super good, everyone loves it, and i highly recommend

[image ID: a plate of coxinhas. they are round-ish thingies with a “beak” on top, making it look almost like a pyramid. they are orange-golden in color and have a distinctly deep fried texture. end ID]

another great institution is pão de queijo, which i’ll admit i’m not a fan of because i don’t like cheese (catupiry doesn’t count) but i can’t just forego mentioning it. it takes polvilho, which is tapioca (which is a derivation of cassava, i’ll get there in a minute) flour, with cheese, basically. it gets a fluffy consistency that is hard to describe and that many people love. it is most traditional in the state of minas gerais, but you can find it all over brazil and also in other places in south america although recipes vary

[image ID: a bowl of pão de queijo. they are small, round, and white-ish. they have a very thin hard-looking layer on the exterior, but it also has cracks that make you able to see that the inside is fluffy. end ID]

tapioca! you might have heard of tapioca as the bubbles in bubble tea are made of it. it is a kind of cassava flour, but it’s very different from the cassava flour used to make farofa. it is white in color. you just put that motherfucker in a frying pan (no oil needed) and the grains stick to each other, making a sort of... taco-like thing? it doesn’t taste like a taco but it looks slightly like one. then you just stuff it with Whatever You Want. can be savory or sweet, personally i prefer savory but the "classic” one is coconut and condensed milk. another good stuffing to try is what we call romeu e julieta (literally “romeo and juliet”), which is a cheese that we know as queijo minas, but if you have contact with mexican food you might know as queso fresco, and guava paste. i know it sounds weird which is why it has the name as these two things are not supposed to be together but they go WELL together. romeu e julieta is a common dessert and the basis for thousands and thousands of other recipes in brazil

[image ID: a plate with tapioca. it has the form of a taco, but the “batter” is thinner and white. the inside is coconut and condensed milk. end ID]

speaking of tapioca, DADINHO DE TAPIOCA (tapioca dice) is where shit’s at. it is tapioca flour with cheese rolled into a dice format and fried, served with pepper jam, altho you can forego it, but i DO recommend trying it with the pepper jam. it is not super spicy and so so very good. don’t waste an opportunity to try it

[image ID: dadinhos de tapioca. they are small cubic snacks with a golden color and granulated-looking texture. there is also a little bowl with pepper jam in it. end ID]

and an ESSENTIAL brazilian institution: pastel and caldo de cana. pastel is a flour-based batter with a bit of cachaça (sugarcane liquor) stuffed with Whatever You Want (most common tho are ground beef, and cheese. but personally i’m always a slut for palm heart and there’s a local pizza place near my home that also makes pastel with whatever flavor you could possibly want and broccoli with catupiry pastel? PEAK) and deep fried. it is kinda big for a snack but bro it is so very good. and then we usually have it with caldo de cana, which is sugarcane juice. now, caldo de cana is very sweet, so personally i like to put a little bit of lemon in it, which is how we usually make it in the state of São Paulo, but other states lowkey look down on that (brazilians as a whole have a sweet tooth, many of our desserts are Really Sweet) but they are wrong and we are right. anyway, pastel and caldo de cana are usually served at street markets, so once you are done with your groceries, you can sit down and enjoy some. highly recommended altho again i’ll be surprised if you can find any in sweden. but pastel is not hard to make! caldo de cana is tho, you have to have kind of a machine to extract the juice from it

[image ID: pastel and caldo de cana. pastel is a long, golden-colored, thin rectangle with, in this case, cheese inside. caldo de cana is of a brownish-green with a regular juice consistency. end ID]

onto desserts! an all-time brazilian favorite is brigadeiro. that is condensed milk, butter, and cocoa with chocolate sprinkles, essentially. i recommend using dark chocolate as it is otherwise really sweet but it depends on your tastes. do try it tho

[image ID: brigadeiros. they are little balls completely covered in chocolate sprinkles, each places in a smal paper holder. end ID]

romeu in julieta as i already mentioned is very popular and seriously, give it a try

if you’re into sweet stuff, try rapadura, which is our version of piloncillo. it is like 90% sugar tho so seriously, you gotta like sweets

pé de moleque, which literally translates to “boy’s foot”, is rapadura and roasted peanuts, and it’s one of my all time favorite desserts

[image ID: a plate of pé de moleque. they are thick rectangles with almost entire roasted peanuts parts stuck together by a rich brown sort of batter - rapadura. end ID]

paçoca is also grounded peanuts with a little bit of salt and sugar, usually coming in a cork format. they are absolutely amazing and i can’t recommend them enough

[image ID: paçoca. it literally just looks like a small cork, even the color is similar. looks like something totally underwhelming but i promise you it’s so so very good and worth a try. end ID]

and okay i think that’s what i have!! at least off the top of my head (yeah that’s just what i came up with off the top of my head. like i said. brazilian cuisine is RICH) sorry for the gigantic answer that is probably not very helpful, but welp, now you know what to look for, at least lol also if you’ve followed me for over a year you should have known i would do this. BITCH I’M LATINO FOOD MATTERS TO ME

[c-is-for-circinate]

C’s infinitely modifiable recipe for vaguely niceish dinner-including-vegetables 20 minutes after walking in the front door

Like many of us, my executive function is dead by the end of the day, especially if I’m tired, especially if I’m hungry, and figuring out How To Food when I need it most is hard as fuck, especially if my kitchen’s kind of messy and I stall out on needing supplies or space.

Also like many of us, I have a really hard time figuring out How To Vegetable, because I’m very afraid of buying fresh things that might go bad before I have the spoons to use them.  And IDK about you, but I get really tired of eating the same thing all the time, so the only way to actually make myself get excited about cooking and eating is to have the option for variety.

Luckily for me, I’ve nailed ‘many, many pasta dishes I would not be ashamed to serve my mother’ down to a familiar, easy formula that I can follow with whatever I have on hand in the freezer and cabinets.  Even better, knowing this formula helps me go grocery shopping, because I can buy specific canned, frozen, jarred, and refrigerate-able things knowing several different ways I can use them.

Maybe it will help you too!  Maybe not!  But it has made my life SO MUCH BETTER, so, as a gift from me to you, A Recipe (of sorts).

To start: Drop your shit by the door.  Get out one frying pan, one pasta pot, and a wooden spoon or plastic spatula or whatever you have to cook with.  It does not matter that the counter is a mess; all you need are two clear stove burners.  There are almost no prep steps to fuck with your executive function and block you from starting this process as soon as you get home.

Step 1:  Veggies Get some olive oil heating up in your pan on medium/low.  While it’s warming up, go to your freezer and grab any frozen veggie you own: broccoli, peas, sliced bell peppers, zucchini, spinach, mixed medley, whatever.  When the oil’s hot enough that a couple of drops of water sprinkled into it sizzle a bit but don’t spit, pour the veggies straight into the pan.  (About 1/4 to 1/2 of a bag is usually plenty for me to make dinner + tomorrow’s lunch).  If the oil is Way Too Hot, turn the burner down, wait briefly, and toss the veggies in anyway.  They’re frozen, they’ll survive.

Step 2:  Carbs If you’re doing regular pasta (or those great frozen raviolis they sell at the grocery store, for extra flavor/protein), stick a pot of heavily salted water on the hottest burner cranked up to high, slap a lid on it, and wait for it to boil. If you’re doing couscous or some other fun grain that cooks in 10 minutes or less, get that going however you usually make it. If you’ve got a bunch of leftover rice in the fridge from the other day’s takeout, wait until the veggies are mostly thawed and then toss it right into the frying pan.  Break it up with the wooden spoon and add a little extra oil to make sure none of it’s too dry. (Sadly, this recipe is not scaled for potatoes.)

(Optional: Seasoning #1 If you happen to have minced garlic in your fridge, throw that shit in the frying pan when the veggies are mostly thawed.  If all you’ve got is dried, that’s cool, wait for later.  Make sure you add the liquid soon after, b/c garlic burns fast.  This is also a good time to add ginger, if you have it on hand and the ingredients you’re planning to use work with it.)

Step 3: Liquid Grab a can of [black beans/tomatoes/coconut milk/crushed pineapple/literally whatever, use the condensed soup if you want, this recipe is ANYTHING GOES] from the cabinet, drain about half the liquid out of the can and throw the rest straight into the pan.  OR snag a jar of [pre-made pesto/harissa/salsa/whatevs] from the fridge, and spoon in a big glop.  (Use judgment here.  Save half a can of things like coconut milk instead of draining it down the sink.  If it all looks super dry you can add some a splash of broth, or juice, or milk, or wine, or whatever, but you shouldn’t need much--you’ll have pasta water for that in a minute, and your frozen veg probably produced a ton of liquid to begin with.)

Step 4:  Cooking Get that pasta in the water as soon as it’s boiling.  If you’re doing grains, check on them and do whatever you’re supposed to do to make the grains cook right. Turn up the heat on the stuff in the pan so it bubbles a little around the edges.  The wetter all the stuff in your pan is, the hotter you want the burner.  You’ve got a fair bit of leeway here; so long as you’ve still got liquid in there, and you vaguely keep an eye to make sure it doesn’t burn, this can keep going without damaging anything until your carbs are done.  (Sugary liquids like orange juice or the syrup from canned fruit are more likely to burn, so keep a closer eye on those and cook them a little cooler.) This is a good point to wash out a bowl to eat out of if you don’t have a clean one.  Shove just enough dirty dishes aside to make sure you’ve got enough space in the sink to drain the pasta.

(Optional: Meat/meat substitute We’re cooking fast tonight, so we’re going for precooked meat options.  I’ve used canned tuna, frozen Ikea meatballs, leftover grocery store rotisserie chicken, frozen shrimp, fancypants gourmet chicken sausages (which freeze very well), jarred pulled pork I made in my crock pot three weekends earlier...  Like everything else in this recipe, you can go as low-budget or as pretentiously gourmet as you like.  Microwave frozen things on 50% for a minute or two in the bowl you’re planning to eat your dinner in, then throw them right into the frying pan.)

Step 5: Season (for real this time) Taste the stuff in your frying pan and decide what it needs.  You can throw in dried spices or fresh or dried herbs, or splash in soy sauce or vinegar or sriracha, or anything else you use to season food.  Season heavily, because your carbs are going to stretch all the flavors out, except for salt--you can add that once everything’s in the same pan.

Step 6: Combine When your starch is mostly-almost-done, drain most but not all of the liquid, and dump the pasta or quinoa or rice or whatever-you’ve-got right into the skillet.  (Leaving in a little bit of pasta liquid will help thicken everything and stick it together.)  Mix it all up with your trusty wooden spoon or plastic spatula or whatever you’re using and let it all hang out for a minute while you get your bowl.  Here’s where you taste and add more salt if it really needs.

(Optional: Cheese If it’s been that kind of day and the stuff in your pan + the contents of your fridge offer up a tasty combination, turn the heat off and just dump a shitton of shredded cheese right into the pan.  Mix everything fast so it all melts together from the heat of the pasta and it all gets melty and a little stringy and delicious.)

And that’s it!  One Frozen Veggie + One Carby Base + One Wet Canned/Jarred Thing + a few minutes of cooking + some spices + optional meats and/or cheeses = dinner, fifteen to twenty minutes after walking in the front door, plus probably lunch for tomorrow along with it.

This is also very often my base recipe even when I’m working with fresh veggies or raw meat.  Chopping fresh veggies adds an extra 5-10 minutes at the front end, depending on how many different kinds of vegetables I’m using.  (Make sure any raw veggies go into the pan before any frozens, because they’ll take longer to cook.)  If I’m working with raw meat or fish, or I’ve marinated tofu and I want it to get brown and tasty, I’ll generally season my protein and sautee it in the pan before I do anything else, then set it to the side in the bowl I plan to eat dinner in and cook everything else just the same as normal.

Obviously this takes a little bit of flavor-matching when it gets to the seasoning stage, but the whole ‘match a frozen thing to a canned/wet thing’ part is surprisingly forgiving, particularly if you stick to individual veggies instead of trying to play with one of those mixed vegetable medleys.  

I generally season a few different ways based on my ‘wet’ ingredient:

Canned tomatoes --> tons of garlic, any vaguely Italian herbs like basil/oregano/fennel, mozzarella or Parmesan cheese

Black or red beans --> lots of chili powder, some garlic, sometimes other spices with a bite like paprika or ginger to round out the flavor for fun, usually cheddar or “southwestern cheese blend”

Canned fruit, orange juice or canned baby corn --> heavy ginger, some garlic, soy sauce, sometimes Chinese Five Spice if I have it around, no cheese

Coconut milk --> just ginger and garlic, OR something vaguely garam masala-like (cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, coriander, cloves, chili, plus also non-c spices like nutmeg and whatever else seems like it might be an okay idea), no cheese

Just broth --> any of the above, OR mustard and paprika, usually with cheddar (particularly if I can add frozen or fresh diced apples to a frozen veg like broccoli)

Pesto, harissa, salsa, and other jarred ingredients usually have tons of seasoning in them already, so I season lightly to enhance whatever they’ve already got going on

(Worth noting that I grew up on Italian cooking, so I think garlic belongs in everything and I’m very much not an expert on many flavor profiles--these are things that taste good to me, and a place that might work for you to start from if you don’t have a lot of ideas what you might like.)

Good luck!  Happy cooking!  

[shelbywanders]

Less than $100/wk on groceries?!

If you’re anything like me, you don’t like wasting your money. You have to get your money’s worth, or it’s not worth it at all. One of my biggest struggles was grocery shopping. I HATED spending so much money on food that would just be gone in a couple of days! Dropping $200 on food a week was NOT my cup of tea, but hey, you have to eat! And grocery stores are just so tempting...

Right now, it’s just me & my fiance that eat the food. We have a four-month-old who is exclusively breastfed, and we also use cloth diapers, so we literally don’t spend any money on her when it comes to groceries! I know, love it while it lasts, right?! Even though it’s just the two of us, we were still spending way too much for my liking on groceries. But now I’ve gone from paying almost $200 a week on groceries to less than $100. And when I mean groceries, that includes all household items and toiletries. So really, I spend about $50-$60 on just food a week! How do I do it? Well honestly, there’s not a lot of tricks to it!

First things first, what are we eating this week? That’s the first question I ask myself when I go to make my grocery shopping list. Wait, back up. You don’t make a list? There’s your first problem! 

Lists are VITAL to spending less money at the grocery store. Lists aren’t just great to remember things that you need to get. They serve other purposes too! I easily spend 50 bucks over my budget if I go into the store without a list prepared so now I won’t be caught dead without one. You might think that it’s silly to need such a thing, I mean come on. You’re an adult. Lists are for children. No! Listen, lists help keep my life together! When we go to the store, our eyes wander everywhere. They land on things that tempt us. You really didn’t plan on buying donuts at the store, but you spotted some, and they look soooo good..now you want them! When you write down only the things that you need, it’s easier to bypass the things that tempt you in the store. When you’re shopping from a list, your attention is focusing on the things on the paper. Therefore, you spend money on only the things you need this week and less on random items that just catch your attention when you don’t know exactly what you need. It might seem crazy that just a simple task like making a list can save you money, but you would be surprised! If you currently don’t make a list before you shop, I highly suggest to try it out and see how it goes for you! 

So now we know we need to make a list. But what goes on it? It’s time to make a menu! It’s easy to forget things when we just make a list out of thin air. This is where Pinterest comes in so handy. Pinterest is a social media platform where people share recipes, home decoration ideas, inspiration for crafts and so much more. The first thing I do is get on over to Pinterest to help come up with new and easy recipes for dinners. I plan out my days and decide on what we’re going to have each day. 

I am a sucker for cheap and easy meals. I mean, I have a baby, and I don’t have time to cook a dinner that takes an hour to prep and then another hour to cook. I have come up with so many dinners that are less than $10, and pretty much all of them take less than 30 minutes to make from start to finish. Some dishes take an hour to cook, but only a few minutes to prep. Those types of meals are my favorites! The only reason why I suggest Pinterest is because if you’re like me, I am not creative in the kitchen. I can cook just about anything, but if I don’t have a recipe, I have no idea where to start! I also hate having the same things over and over again, it just gets boring! It’s so easy for me to go onto Pinterest, search cheap dinner recipes and find so many different recipes to try out that don’t break the bank and help switch it up a bit to keep things fun and exciting in the kitchen! 

Once I find my 7 dinner meals, I go to each one of them, and that’s how I form my list. I figure out what I need for each meal, take out what I already have at home and configure a shopping list from that. This way, I’m not just buying random things that I think I might or might not use this week. After I make my list from the recipes, I go back and add the rest of the foods I know we’ll need and then all the rest like household items and toiletries. Things that I usually add for example would be like eggs, milk, and bread. Cereal for breakfasts and lunch meat for lunches. You know, things that we use every week and that I know I need to buy no matter what the menu is. 

I do realize that many people do this with their shopping lists. They know what they want to make, so people make a list of things that they need to get so that they can make it. It’s not unheard of! I used to do this too, but I would never make an actual menu for the whole week and plan my entire day out foodwise. Until I started to do that, I was still spending more money than what I wanted. 

Making your menu

It doesn’t stop there! When I make my menu for the week, not only do I try to find cheap and easy recipes to follow, I try to find things that the items that I buy for one recipe will be used in another recipe too. For example, if I plan on making chili one night and I need to buy say, tomatoes, onions, and ground beef for it, I know I want to also make tacos another night so that I can use half of the tomatoes, onions and ground beef that I bought for chili for tacos too! I can buy one bigger can of tomatoes for .89 cents and split it and use it for two different meals. It’s all about looking at different recipes and seeing how you can save yourself a couple of bucks by buying bigger packages of items but using them for multiple meals. 

Doing your shopping

Stores are different around the world. In my city, the biggest grocery stores that we have are Walmart, Kroger, Meijer and Aldi’s. I have shopped at all of them to compare them, and I always come back to Kroger and Aldi’s. When I do my shopping, I buy everything except protein (all the meats) at Kroger and I buy my protein at Aldi’s. Why? Because have you been to Aldi’s before?! Their protein is super cheap! Sure, it might sound annoying having to go to two different places for groceries, but I save $50 bucks easily by getting my protein at Aldi’s rather than just getting them at Kroger. So don’t be afraid to check out other grocery stores in your area and compare and contrast the prices! It might be worth it to go to two different places if you’re saving money! It is to me. 

When I shop, I always buy the generic version as they are pretty much always the cheaper option. I know, the word generic sounds ugly. But honestly, most of the generic versions are still basically the same as the fancy name brand stuff! Besides, I just can’t get myself to buy something that is X amount of money when I know there’s a cheaper option available. But that’s just me! I mentioned earlier that I don’t do any couponing. Every now and then, I’ll have a coupon that I’ll use but other than that I don’t use any. Should I? Probably! But what I do pay attention to is sales. Sales! Sales! Sales! Kroger has a lot of great deals which helps my budget a lot. Never ignore the sales! 

Getting home

Wait, you mean there’s more to saving money after the shopping is done? Yes! You’ve done your shopping, you’re tired, you’re ready for a bath & some wine, but you have more money saving things to do! When I used to grocery shop, I would buy one of those big things of chicken breasts (you know, the ones that look like this)

And I would just keep it like that. It wasn’t until I started portioning out my meats (therefore portioning all my meals out) that I started saving a lot of money. Not only do I portion all my meats out, but I also cut them in half. I mean those chicken breasts are HUGE! I buy the big thing of chicken, take each chicken breast and slice em in half and make twice as many meals as leaving them whole! And trust me, they are still big enough for a meal! I portion them out for two in a freezer bag. When we need to buy pork, we always buy a pork loin and then I cut them into chops if I need them or just leave it as a loin. I do the same thing when I portion them. Each meal gets its own bag. With a pork loin that costs 5-10 bucks (depending on the sale that week), you can make 3-4 meals out of it! When I need to buy ground beef, I buy the big 5 lb rolls and cut them in thirds or in half, depending on what I am using the beef for.  These are just some examples of what I do with the meats I buy! 

The last time I went to Aldi’s, I spent $11 on a pack of chicken breasts. They are huge, so we cut them in half, and after portioning them out, we had 11 meals! 11 meals for $11?! Yes, please! Not only does portioning the meals out help save you money, but it also makes thawing and preparing meals a lot easier too because all you have to do is take a bag out the freezer and into the fridge to thaw. No sorting out your meals or having to think about how much of what you’ll need. 

So there it is! How I spend less than $100 a week on groceries! No tricks or couponing. Just planning and organizing your week makes such a difference in the money that you’re spending! To end this blog off, I wanted to include an example menu & list that I would use at my house to give you all a visual. 

Menu

Mon- Oven Baked Meatball Sandwiches

Tues- Creamy Swiss Chicken Bake w Buttered Noddles

Wed- Garlic Rosemary Pork Loin w Green Beans & Mashed Potatoes

Thurs- Chili

Fri- Chicken Enchiladas w White Sour Cream Sauce 

Sat- Pulled Pork Sandwiches 

Sun- Lemon Buttered Tilapia over Rice 

List

Bread for subs, pasta sauce, mozzarella, ground beef. Noodles, butter, mayo, parm cheese, sour cream, swiss cheese, chicken. Garlic, rosemary leaves, green beans, mashed potatoes (instant), pork loin. Tomatoes, onion, tomato sauce, ground beef, cheddar cheese, chili seasoning packet. Chicken broth, green chilies, tortillas, butter, mozzarella, sour cream, chicken. Hamburger buns, bbq, Worcestershire sauce, onion, chicken broth, garlic, brown sugar, pork. Lemon juice, butter, rice, tilapia. 

As you can see, there are several items for each recipe that repeats itself. I’ll use the big ground beef for both meatball sandwiches and chili. I’ll use sour cream in the swiss chicken and chicken enchiladas, also use the mozzarella with the meatball sandwiches and enchiladas, also the butter in a ton of dishes... you get the picture! All these recipes are very different from each other yet contain a lot of the same ingredients that you can use for multiple purposes.

I’ll add on any extras like cereal, milk, eggs, bread, and other drinks. Add the household things that I might need like laundry or dish detergent and then toiletries, like shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant. And then there’s my list! This was actually my grocery shopping list a few weeks ago. I spent less than $100 on it all! 

Other comments & tips! 

I realize that many people have bigger families to feed, but that’s okay! All of this can still help you. Most of the meals that I make, while there are only 2 of us, they could definitely feed more like 4 people. I make a lot so that I have leftovers that I can quickly heat up for lunch the next day! 

The thing I like the most about making lists from menus is that it is super customizable. If your budget is $200 a week, you can make a more extravagant list. If you have time in your life to make more time-consuming recipes, you can change up your menu with more ingredients too! Just because I personally like to stick with simple but tasty and fast recipes, doesn’t mean you have to! 

While I tend to buy generic items, there are plenty of ways to spice them up! I almost always buy instant mashed potatoes (I know some will cringe at this) but just add some salt & pepper, butter, garlic & sour cream & a tiny bit of cream cheese, you would think it was homemade! I buy the $1 jars of pasta sauce, add some garlic, Italian seasoning, parmesan cheese & bam! So much tastier and it’s so easy to do! 

If you’re interested in the recipes that I love to make (All under $10 and 30 minutes or less to cook!) make sure to follow me on my Pinterest to see what I pin! 

https://www.pinterest.com/shelbywanders

Thank you so much for reading! I love saving money and love to help other people do it too! After all, saving money = happy life! 

[asfeedin]

These YouTube chefs help you cook with pantry staples

One of the few pleasures I can afford myself during this coronavirus crisis is cooking up a decent meal. And over the past few weeks, I’ve learned that you don’t always need fancy ingredients to do that. Some of my favorite cooking channels on YouTube have loads of great ideas for using up what you’ve got at home.

Here are some folks you should follow for tips on what to cook next to delight your loved ones, or to simply enjoy by yourself — and learn a thing or two along the way.

One of the new rising stars of the YouTube foodie universe, Internet Shaquille shares practical tips and recipes for stepping up your cooking game, using easily available ingredients. Never thought you could serve up Gambas Al Ajillo? His Date Night recipe comes together in minutes and is hella fancy. Want to improve your potatoes, Brussels sprouts, burritos, or avocado toast (by skipping the avocado)? iShaq has got you covered. And if you enjoy French Toast for breakfast, try these ideas for a better desserty start to the day.

Do you hate when recipe blogs just go on and on with a long story that you have to scroll past for ages before you get to the actual ingredients and steps? Then you’ll love Ragusea’s channel. The man is all about simple recipes and techniques, and he gets right to the point without any jibber-jabber.

Most of his videos focus on classic recipes that are popular across the US, like buttermilk fried chicken, lasagna with bolognese sauce, mac & processed American cheese, cast iron pan pizza, and spaghetti and meatballs.

But there are also a lot of videos that cover basic techniques, which you can learn and then adapt to suit your taste, flavor preferences, and the ingredients available near you. There’s a good one for everyday roast chicken, dead-simple bread that even I can make, and also a handy recipe for pork chops that includes an adaptable technique for easy pan sauces. Oh, and since he’s a former journalist, Ragusea is also great at debunking common food myths with the help of food scientists and other experts.

Lopez-Alt has literally written the book on using food science to cook better at home. He’s got loads of great recipes on his channel — some covering the fundamentals, some innovative and exotic — but I want to draw your attention to his latest crop of videos, which cover some key ideas, use easily available pantry ingredients, and are shot with a GoPro strapped to his head.

Try your hand at making tomato soup from scratch, get to grips with classic Roman pasta, and rustle up some late-night munchies like smashed cheeseburgers, one-pan egg sandwiches, and kimchi & bacon spaetzles. You should also dive into his older videos, where he shows you how to make mayonnaise, extra crispy eggs, and Kung Pow chicken.

TV legend Alton Brown has done it all in the food entertainment world, and now he’s back with a series on YouTube to help you use up what you’ve got in your larder. In his Pantry Raid videos, Brown explains how to cook rice quickly and perfectly, dishes up an easy recipe for cookies, and demonstrates a neat method for making popcorn without a popper.

Oh, and if you’ve got some booze lying around, his Smoky Tequila Sour sounds pretty good too.

Don’t worry, vegan pals, I haven’t forgotten you. Although Pick Up Limes is a lifestyle channel and doesn’t yet have a lot of lockdown-specific content, it’s chock-full of great recipes that are quick, easy, and great for cooking up in large batches.

So yeah, you might not have all the necessary ingredients for some recipes in your kitchen already — but if you want to eat clean, the recipes on this channel are worth doing a big grocery trip for. I particularly like this bunch of ideas for creamy one-pot pastas, these comforting soups, these delicious takes on hummus, and this easy chocolate chip banana bread.

Did I miss your lockdown-friendly cooking channel of choice? Let me know via tweet or email, and I’ll include them in a future roundup.

Read next: Watch 50+ live performances from Montreux Jazz Festival for free

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Tags: chefs, Cook, Pantry, staples, Youtube

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[amatchgirl]

25 Pantry Recipes (That You’ll Actually Love)

Here we are. We are in a TIME, folks. It is uncharted territory for most of us. We are making the map as we go and wheeeew baby, there are a lot of feelings running us in a lot of different directions. We feel stuck and restless and unsure and tired and wired and ok-maybe-actually-enjoying-some-dedicated-time-together but also worried, anxious and please let me watch this show by myself and oh no what day is it.

But we are staying home because it is an act of love. An unprecedented act of love to take care of each other. To make the world safer for each other. To help build the world back up to a new normal, for each other. 

We know cooking can get very tricky these days this with limited access to grocery stores and sometimes even more limited items on shelves, so we pulled together a collection that relies heavily on pantry staples. The ingredient lists are short and the recipes are so very very flexible, (something we’re all really trying to practice being right now – oh, hello multiple Zoom meetings in one house with children and animals and are even the plants somehow louder?).

Here we go.

Trying to keep ingredient lists as short as possible these days and this comes in at a whopping three. We’re using our best pal cashews to add a creamy, velvety twist on the standard pasta, and the jar of tomato sauce we’re probably all coming to know really well right about now.

Get the recipe here.

No, we did not mistakenly put the words salmon and burger together. Give it a crisp sear, top it with a dollop of yogurt and dill and float it on a bed of herby cabbage slaw and you’ll totally get why this pantry-friendly protein patty is worth your bravery.

Get the recipe here.

We cannot lie – these pancakes are straight up exquisite even WITHOUT blueberries, syrup or dripping buttery goodness, but if you happen to have any combination of those things at the ready, these are an absolute dream of a breakfast/lunch/dinner.

Get the recipe here.

We call it “Back Pocket” Noodle Stir Fry because we want you to keep this simple perfect recipe in your back pocket at all times, not the beautiful noodlefull dish ITSELF. That would gross. So grab your noodles, find all the veggie stragglers in the fridge, crisp up a protein, shake up your sauce in a jar, and you are READY.

Get the recipe here.

If you’ve got a pound of chicken in the freezer, a stocked spice rack, and a can of coconut milk, this is for you. Lots of coconut and curry-like flavor, but no cutting boards, no measuring cups, no fuss. Just pack it all up in a bag, freeze or refrigerate, and pop it in the Instant Pot. 

Get the recipe here.

If you’re not currently using your vodka as a backup disinfectant then boy do we have a delicious and incredibly easy recipe for you! We swapped out the cream for, wait for it (and trust), coconut milk to make it vegan but ALSO because you might already have a can on hand.

Get the recipe here.

We’ve all had the same nightmare: what if we run out of crisp and wonderful carby things to serve on the side of everything? Chickpea flour to the rescue! This single ingredient (and ok fine, there’s water, olive oil and salt involved too but that’s it!) is delivering to you your new favorite gluten-free dipper.

Get the recipe here.

Cream-free but creamy-as-all-get-out and here to replace your usual coffeeshop latte. You’re free to come to the party at any time of day because literally morning, noon or night (decaf-style), it’s just a straight-up TREAT.

Get the recipe here.

Isn’t it beautiful how potatoes just seem to kind of last forever? Sweet potatoes serve as the base of this spicy creamy delight – just add in some cans of tomatoes and coconut milk, a scoop of peanut butter, lots of spices, and add in some chopped kale to finish it off (which, well, also kind of seems to last forever?).

Get the recipe here.

One silver-lining from this pantry-cooking situation is that everyone seems to be dipping their toes into amateur breadmaking and we are HERE FOR IT. If you haven’t considered it yet, here’s a heck of an easy intro that is going to yield you the perfectly crusted outside, soft and chewy inside loaf of your dreams. Also, carbs.

Get the recipe here.

Sure, baking might be a coping mechanism, and sometimes it has us in front of the oven, oven mitts on, praying for a warm, sweet, wholesome, unfussy and delicious treat to appear. Prayers answered, friends! Carrot muffins at the ready. And by at the ready, we mean blended up in a blender, poured into a muffin tin, baked, and ready to devour.

Get the recipe here.

Lentils, amiright?! Healthy, filling, affordable and they kind of do all the work for you! We put these in the Instant Pot with some warm curry spices, a can of tomatoes and a bit of coconut milk or butter/ghee to make it a little creamy. Scoop it on top of some steamy rice and you have yourself some easy delicious comfort food, which really feels great right now.

Get the recipe here.

This Vegetarian Chili is super cozy, deeeeply flavored and super meaty but with not one little bit of actual meat! And we’re not making up for it by just adding a bunch of beans, friends. No way! This chili uses a delicious blend of walnuts, carrots and mushrooms as a “meat” for all your hearty chili texture needs. Grab your tortillas chips and get ready.

Get the recipe here.

On a scale of *very* to *runs out of room screaming*, how intimidated are you by the thought of making your own curry from scratch? GOOD. You are a real person with well-adjusted fears! But you can totally do this. We believe in you. It’s easier than you think, only requires a few ingredients, and will be so, so worth it.

Get the recipe here.

We all just really need a cookie right now, don’t we? The especially beautiful thing about it is that you probably already have everything you need tucked right in your pantry/fridge. Flour, sugar, butter, chocolate – staples are all here, ready to play.

Get the recipe here.

If you need to clean out the last dregs of your fridge to make space of the restock, this Lo Mein Is. Your. Answer. You can toss almost any protein or veggie you have at it, we swear we won’t tell if you’re using regular old spaghetti noodles and no matter what combo you come up with, that sauce is still going to make it sing.

Get the recipe here.

There is no box situation here! (unless your noodles came in a box but, like, go with us here) There’s also not an elaborate sauce construction and hour-long bake time! Just 5 ACTUAL REAL FOOD ingredients, nothing is powdered or in a pouch, and the whole thing is creamy cheesy yours in under 15 minutes.

Get the recipe here.

If you are looking at those chickpeas on your pantry shelf and thinking, “ok but what else do they do.?…” Well, this! They’ll soak up this deep and complex Morrocan spice blend and then simmer in a fire-roasted tomato sauce to a stewy perfection. Scoop them on top of some couscous or another grain on hand, put a little cucumber salad on the side and a pop of fresh cilantro, mint, parsley if you’ve got it.

Get the recipe here.

Shepherd’s Pie always seems to be an ideal scrappy sort of recipe. Potatoes keep a good long time so we usually have a couple of those laying around, you can definitely use frozen veggies for any fresh that you’re missing, and you can flex all around with quick gravy ingredients. All roads lead to something delicious, bubbling and deeply comforting coming out of that oven.

Get the recipe here.

Maybe you need a little boost because, wheeeew, it is all…a lot to manage right now. We’re right there with you. But if you can find yourself some oats, some peanut butter, a little honey and fingers crossed, a few chocolate chips, we’ve got about 30 little bite-sized pick-me-ups headed your way.

Get the recipe here.

Here’s a little something if take-out isn’t an option for some of your favorite restaurants right now (although buy a gift card for later use if you can!). A great sesame noodle hack that is super flexible depending on what’s available, it comes together in a snap and is a great meal-prep option, you know, if you’re craving some consistency in this DEEPLY INCONSISTENT TIME! We sure are.

Get the recipe here.

If you happen to have curry paste and some coconut milk sitting on your shelves, this is a seriously delicious and easy 5-ingredient way to use up any scrap veggies or protein you might need to get through in your fridge. Listen, you can even throw some golden raisins or any other odd/interesting ingredient at it if you wanna get creative, which is definitely the name of the game these days.

Get the recipe here.

We’re always here for a no-bake situation, but honestly, just very thankful that recipes like this exist right now. Pasta and tomatoes from the cupboard, milk and butter from the fridge, and meatballs from the freezer. Grate up those scrappy pieces of cheese in the back of the drawer to top it off and get going.

Get the recipe here.

If you can only have one sauce on hand right now, this is it. And good news! You probably have most ingredients hanging out in your kitchen already – peanut butter for creaminess, soy sauce for saltiness, sesame oil for smokiness, rice vinegar and ginger for zippiness, and sambal for that perfect spicy hit.

Get the recipe here.

We make no bones about it, this is straight up legit better-than-meat taco meat. In some sort of vegetarian magic spell, it manages to be crisp, spicy and oh so taco-y delicious that you forget to even marvel at all the nutritional bonus points you’re getting from good old fashioned plant-eating. 

Get the recipe here.

We hope this helps. We believe big time in the joy and connection food can bring, so we feel grateful to be able to help you put a little scrappy, creative joy on the table during all of this. Take care of yourselves, take care of each other. 

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[tauers-go-dutch]

Greece-y Turkey

Hold onto your butts- this one is a long one.  We spent a week on vacation, so we have a lot to write about.  

A couple of months ago, Mariah and I were talking about plans to go on a longer trip for her birthday and for Thanksgiving, both of which would fall on the same week.  We first discussed Iceland- eventually turning it down not due to the cold (it’s apparently always cold in Iceland), but due to the perpetual darkness with no guarantee for a decent view of the Northern Lights.  So we looked for warmer alternatives.  After talking to various friends that had been there before, our minds turned towards Turkey.  Sure, the political climate hasn’t been great the past couple of years, but we figured the everyday people would be friendly enough. Besides, Turkey looked beautiful, and Istanbul is one of the most historic cities in the world. So we made plans… oh, and we decided why not go to Greece in the same trip?

The trip wasn’t without snags… Turkey requires a visa for US citizens.  We bought ours online, and two days later, shit went down and the US and Turkey revoked tourist visa privileges from each other. So… we didn’t know if we could go for a few weeks.  We ended up calling the embassy and previously issued travel visas were said to be honored.  Further, eventually privileges were reinstated by both countries.  That didn’t stop the Dutch checking agents at the airport from harassing us with outdated information- they almost didn’t let us board because, ‘Well, the presidents of both countries are fighting right now.’  Um, close… I guess.  And people say Americans are ignorant.

Obviously we got on the plane.  It was literally the last flight out of Schipol at midnight.  A poor three and a half hours of sleep and we were in Istanbul. But that was just the layover. Another sleepless few hours and we were in Kayseri- a small city in the center of the Asian portion of the country. From there, it was an hour shuttle ride to Goreme, the main city in the Cappadocia region.  Yes, I wrote this to indicate the bit of a pain to get to Cappadocia, but it is worth it.  The region is populated with ‘fairy chimney’ rock formations.  They are gorgeous, and even more so when you learn that people carved homes and churches in them in the middle ages.  Now, whole hotels are embedded in the rocks- including ours!  After settling in, Mariah and I found lunch (delicious Turkish pide), and just walked around taking in the sites.  I mean, the sunset was amazing!  Then was an early dinner (seriously delicious and home cooked) and early bedtime.

Our cave hotel  

The next morning, we were supposed to have a balloon tour to see the sunrise, but the wind was too strong to go up.  Oh well, we made the most of it by going to see some of the aforementioned churches in the Goreme Open Air Museum. If you end up going, pay the extra fee to go into the Dark Church.  Luckily, when we went, we were the only people in at the time, and the docent was kind enough to give us a mini tour of the church and the beautiful frescoes adorning the walls.  Unfortunately, the frescoes are only preserved from the little light entering the church (hence Dark Church), and no photos are allowed.  

Afterwards, we tried Turkish ravioli (which is a dish from Cappadocia as we came to find out later) and some amazing Turkish samosas (I can’t remember the actual names, so I have to resort to analogizing the dishes).  We then took a quick taxi to a small town to the north called Avanos. The main part of town is very nice and picturesque, but we quickly found out the rest of town is not so nice.  We bobbled around a bit (and were guilted into buying a souvenir), then  we made our way back to Goreme.  We were told that the balloon ride would be canceled again the next day, so Mariah scheduled a consolation prize- a hamam bath.

This was a real treat- just be sure to check you inhibitions at the door.  We paid for a bath, massage, and facial.  We started in a sauna, which we really got the sweat going. Then, in just a towel, you lie down on a stone table.  A person then dowses you in water and gives you rough luffa scrub up and down your entire body.  This is followed by a lavender soap rub down- again all over.  You are rinsed and then given slippers to go back and relax before your massage.  Too bad my slippers were three sizes too small!  The massage and facial were standard, but welcomed.  We left the place feeling so relaxed and refreshed. Dinner that night was some of the best I’ve had.  Truly a great night.

Avanos

One size... fits all? 

The next day wasn’t too eventful.  Honestly we just made our way back to Istanbul, which was rainy.  We had some good durum and climbed the Galata Tower for some spectacular views of the city.  Plus we had some great baklava.  You might be sensing a theme that I enjoyed the food there, which was good because the next day we scheduled a food tour around the city.

Galata Tower

We met our guide, Latif, in the old city.  Latif opened up a small local tour company, Istanbul on Food, with his college friend. His friend has since moved to Australia, but Latif carries on the business.  I can’t stress enough how good this tour is.  Latif has been in the tour game for 12 years, and his passion for Turkey really shows.  If you go to Istanbul, book this tour.  The food is so good, and there is so much (really too much).  

We went on the ‘Taste of Two Continents’ tour, and started the day off with breakfast in the Spice Bazaar.  Latif gathered simit bread, various cheeses, Turkish pastrami, menemen (eggs with peppers and tomatoes), clotted creamy and honey, and both chunky and smooth hazelnut butter.  Holy shit, everything was amazing, but the smooth hazelnut butter was dangerous, which shouldn’t be a surprise given it was basically Nutella without chocolate. Afterwards we hopped on a ferry over to the Asian side of the city.  While it was chilly, we sat outside and caught some amazing views.  In the meantime, Lafit shared how the Asian side, specifically the Kadikoy neighborhood, is, ironically, situated more like a European city than the European side of Istanbul.  After living in Europe for a year, I completely agree. It really is an intangible feeling, but Kadikoy was hip and trendy, and very enjoyable. To hammer home the European feel, we started at a sweet shop by the port.  There we had salep, a spiced hot drink made from orchid flour.  While the Salep was good, the really cool thing about the shop was the Christmas sweets that they sold.  Turkey, as you may know, is predominately an Islamic nation. However, it is a secular nation, and very open to people of other faiths, as evidenced by its sale of chocolate Santas.  It was very heartwarming to see Latif relive childhood memories upon sight of the chocolate Santas which he used to have as a kid growing up in Germany (Germany has the largest Turkish population in Europe, outside Turkey).

From there, we had lunch at Ciya, which is widely regarded as the best lunch in the city. Each day the restaurant has a new menu of various dishes from regions throughout the country.  We had samples of two different stews, baba ganoush, stuffed eggplant, puff bread, and Turkish pizza.  Seriously, SO. MUCH. FOOD.  And this was stop three of 12.  The next stop was to the originator of a special type of donor kebap- an iskender kebap. This one doesn’t come wrapped up, but is rather eaten like an open-face sandwich and smothered in tomato sauce. And it is considered more upscale than the common street food version.  Luckily, after this stop we a stop for some lighter fare- traditional pickled veggies.  We had cucumbers (ie pickles), beets, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, and even a plum. The plum was weird, but we cleansed our palate with a mix of pomegranate molasses and tahini.  Yum!  

Next we walked over to a street stand, and tried some mussels.  We had both fried and steamed- the steamed was mixed with rice and lemon, and was heavenly.  Well, at least for me… not sure Mariah thought as much.  But our next stop was for tantuni.  This was described as Turkish tacos, and that’s pretty accurate. They’re even better with hot peppers! The sour yogurts drinks that came with them were pretty awful, though.  Latif said every American he’s taken on tour has hated them, so there’s that. Next was kokorec, which, stay with me here, is pig intestine wrapped around tripe, roasted, diced, and served in toasted bread.  Actually not too bad, but I wouldn’t make it a habit.  Supposedly, the EU is cracking down on kokorec for sanitary reasons (Turkey is/was half-heartedly trying to join the EU), which is probably a good call. Next is a quick stop for raw meatballs, which is actually meat-free, and made from walnuts.  Supposedly, the original recipes called for meat, which wasn’t cooked due to a punishment from god, but now is made from walnuts.  It’s actually decent.

Unfortunately, this is not a milkshake- it is a salty, plain yogurt beverage! 

Ok, so now after a few lighter stops, we went to a small pide restaurant.  Pide is a popular dish in Turkey.  It is sometimes called Turkish pizza, but Turkish pizza often refers to the flat pita with a meat and tomato spread.  Pide has a thicker crust, and layer with cheese and toppings like a typical pizza, and sometimes wrapped like a calzone.  It is delicious.  We had a veggie (which unfortunately included mushrooms to Mariah’s chagrin), and was the absolute best thing we had all day.  In fact, Latif didn’t really eat all day (he tries to keep from eating too much on the tours to keep from gaining weight), but indulged here.  My only regret is that I forgot to take a picture of the restaurant, and I can’t remember the name.

I don’t think she can eat any more

On the final stop, we stopped at a local ice cream chain- Mado.  While a chain, this has the best ice cream according to Latif. We had some traditional Turkish ice cream, which is made thicker and richer than the American version.  We were also treated to a surprise birthday cake, courtesy of Latif.  SO. MUCH. FOOD.  Also, I forgot that we had some delicious baklava and Turkish coffee (no, you don’t drink the grounds that are left in the cup).  Latif even treated us to an extra treat of pudding made from barley/wheat topped with cinnamon and chickpeas.  It was good (truly), but we could barely eat it after stuffing ourselves earlier.  After the tour, we wanted to see the Taksim neighborhood, which is where Latif’s evening tour was located.  So he accompanied us and gave us a few more tips.  We thanked him and explored the neighborhood, including a holiday market, an orthodox Christian church, and an extremely lavish high school.  Then we went up to a brewery to close out the night. If I were hungry, I would have tried a burger, because they looked delicious (the beer was decent).  We called it a decently early night, but were pleasantly surprised when our hotel left us a complementary chocolate cake for Mariah’s birthday.  We made room. Overall, I think we can call this a birthday success.

Just kidding - she made room

The next day, we hit up all of the hot tourist spots of the city.  We went first to the Blue Mosque.  The architecture is tremendous, but I feel that the lack of décor within mosques leaves them feeling empty.  Outside the mosque we were harassed by a vendor who wouldn’t take no for an answer, and despite our best intentions, we admittedly fell a bit into his tourist trap and bough some spices and candies.  After that annoying side quest, we went to the Hagia Sophia, which was the grand church of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-6th century, until being converted to a mosque in the Ottoman Empire.  Now it is a museum, and houses the art from both eras. Additionally, there are some neat tombs for old sultans of the Ottoman Empire.  Afterwards, we toured the Topkaki Palace.  The palace was grand, but I’m still palace’d out.  There were some beautiful views that made the entrance fee worth it, though.  What I was really excited for were the city cisterns, though.  These used to house the water for the whole city.  It was pretty cool seeing the setting for (*spoiler*) the climax of Dan Brown’s Inferno. Finally, we walked through the Grand Bazaar, which is really a glorified flea market, before getting a small bite to eat.  Oh, and we saw a surprise aqueduct along the way.  Not much more going on for the rest of the evening.  

Underground cisterns

Hagia Sophia

The Blue Mosque

The tombs of young princes

Alright, so now we are on to the last leg of the trip.  We went to the airport to hop over to Athens… literally, we were going in a puddle hopper.  I may have been in a prop plane before, but I honestly don’t remember it.  I even got to have the window seat right by the engine- some cool photos ensued.  We traveled with an interesting set of characters, including an American diplomat (hopefully she made some progress while she was in town).

Upon arriving in Athens, we of course went to find food.  To our surprise, Turkey was really lacking solid falafel, despite being neighbored by several countries in the Mediterranean that specialize in it. That wasn’t a problem in Athens! We arrived in the afternoon, so some of the sites had closed their entrances early for winter hours. However, we still got to see some cool stuff, including the first arena for the Modern Olympic games (side note- don’t pay to go in, you can see it all from the outside).  We also walked through the city garden and found a little pond with so many turtles!  They had even stacked on one another- super cute.  We then climbed up toward the Acropolis (but not actually to it- that would be for the next day), and watch the sun set over the city.  It was gorgeous.  We walked around the city a bit more, and found some awesome street art. We also found a beer bar, which had some solid brews.

First falafel!

We started the next morning with brunch!  Mariah had a Greek omelet, but I tried something new.  Alas, I again can’t remember the name, but it was basically orzo-esque pasta, tomato sauce, and eggs.  Mix it up, and you have deliciousness on a plate.  We then split Nutella stuffed pancakes.  Yum!  Then we went up the Acropolis.  Yes, it is worth it.  The views are amazing.  Just check out the pics.  We also went to see the agora, which is cool, but probably not entirely worth admission. BTW, despite Greece not having the best economy, they sure know how to price admission to their attractions. They take a page from Disney, and charge the maximum you’re willing to pay, cause, I mean, you’re not going to not see the Acropolis.  As a side note, I was actually surprised at the number of Americans I saw around the city, considering it was Thanksgiving weekend.  We got some souvlaki (basically gyros), which by now you probably know were amazing- you just have to wait in line for an hour or so before getting some.

Pretty excited about having a Greek omelette in Greece!

A view of Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Zeus from the Acropolis

That evening, we caught a drink in a cute coffee house that changes décor for the season. We happened to catch them as they changed for the Christmas season.  The drinks were awful, but the atmosphere was really cool.  We then found yet another amazing meal for dinner.  This place was seriously cool, because it was a family deli with a dinner service.  They not only give you free bread, but also pastrami and cheese as a free appetizer. We then ordered some dolmas (basically the first of the whole trip) and bulger salad.  We also had a pastrami egg dish (well, I did) and a Greek salad. Superb!  We then closed with drinks in a trendy bar called the Clumsies. My Celtic Forest drink played with my head a bit, since the ice kinda looks like seaweed.  

Final baklava

A quick stop for Christmas tea

Seaweed cocktail?

The next morning, we went home.  It was particularly interesting, since we (ie, the whole plane) were immediately stopped after landing by border control.  This was very odd since we were traveling from one EU member country to another. Fortunately, we were able to pass with no problems (even though Mariah had to check her hand luggage at the gate so she didn’t have her passport).  At least we made it back in time to join our friends for a belated Friends-giving celebration.    

To say the least, this was an epic trip.  Easily one of the best we’ve had.  While I miss our family, and the traditional food, I loved trying out this Turkey for Thanksgiving, even if it was a bit Greece-y…

…

Ok, that was a bit much.  Tot ziens for now!

[omgkittymonster-blog]

KAT'S KETO STARTER GUIDE

a quick guide to starting keto easily and without worries!

⦁ intro ⦁ science ⦁ myths and misconceptions

⦁ breakfast ⦁ lunch ⦁ dinner ⦁ snacks ⦁ food list CHEAT SHEET:

⦁ intermittent fasting ⦁ what to do when you go out to eat ⦁ what to drink and when

⦁ "carb cycling", cheat days, and how tos: ⦁ things to avoid that are a waste of money

INTRODUCTION TO KETO Keto is an amazing diet and/or lifestyle that when paired with multiple other forms of healthy choices can be a quick way to lose a few pounds or a healthy way to live longterm allowing you to still enjoy life without estranging yourself from your friends and family.  It is very flexible and people that stick to keto find themselves in love with it and raving about their success, as long as they gave it the proper chance! I myself lost ten pounds the first week I did strict keto and I knew then I was hooked!

SCIENCE BEHIND KETO AND WHY IT WORKS The common american diet is very high in sugar, carbs, unhealthy fats, caffeine, sodium, etc. This recipe is a disaster waiting to happen, heart disease, obesity, cancers, diabetes, among a plethora of other terrible life stealing diseases that effect millions of americans. Whether you do a low carb, or low calorie, or low red meat and fat diet, the idea remains the same.  Reduce calorie intake vs output, avoid foods that cause inflamations or gastro-intestinal upsets, and eat filling whole foods that offer a lot of nutrient density. Now, the reason that keto works so good is the science behind the diet: When you reduce the amount of sugar (glucose)  your body intakes, which is its normal source of fuel, it panics, uses what it has, burns glycogen which is stored in the liver and muscles, and finally switches your body to KETONES (which burns FATS for fuel instead).  When your body is in Ketosis, it will burn your body fat and consumed fats for energy, to do normal body functions.  This sounds like a miracle, and I can honestly say it is.  Most average americans have anywhere from a 20%-50% body fat ratio, men usually on the lower end of that, where anything over 30% is usually considered overweight.   That being said, most people have a lot of fuel to burn that they would never have burned if they were eating a large amount of carbohydrates that the body prefers to burn first.  You literally have your own fuel just waiting to go, and you will feel awesome when you see the fat melting off your tummy, thighs, back, face.  :D

Myths and Misconceptions When I first started keto I thought I could eat as many hot dogs, burgers, chicken wings, ranch dressings, etc as I could stuff in my face.   Truth be told you can, but your body will be severely lacking vitamins and minerals that you need to be healthy so I would suggest making sure to vary your diet, always include a healthy fat (example: salmon, avocado, macadamia nuts) and lots of greens whenever possible.  If you absolutely cannot, taking a high nutrient density multi vitamin is really smart, as well as looking into electrolyte mixes or supplements. People will try to bully you or shame you for not eating "just one this" or "you have to try a bite" and after a little while, you absolutely can! But during the first month or so, til you become "fat adapted" it is best to be as diligent as possible, and you will be really proud of the results. Not all fats are created equal:  While dirty keto does exist and sometimes is necessary, try to remember that quality of your fuel will always dictate how you feel.  Will you feel better after a slice of greasy pizza or a big salad with lots of veggies and roasted turkey? Easy concept. You don't have to starve yourself.  This was the hardest part for me to learn at first.  Keto foods are filling, yummy, and full of flavor, so eat til you're about comfortably full and give the fork a rest.  You'll find you're sated for many hours! Not all people get the keto flu.  Some adapt to eating high fat really well with minimal issues.  If you are feeling dizzy, lightheaded, or stomach sick, make sure you have plenty of water and if you need to, have a shot of pickle juice or a sprinkle of salt in your water.  Vitamin water ZERO is also a decent way to get electrolytes without having to spend a lot on a supplement.  I'd avoid zero sugar gatorade though, the sweetener in it is sucralose which is bad for ketosis.

NOW TO THE FUN PART: THE FOOD! I do most of my shopping at a normal grocery store, and most of the things I mention can be bought at meijer, target, walmart, or whatever your local chain is. Buy organic if you want! But it isnt necessary.  Meats and dairy foods are best when bought all natural or organic if possible.  Look for words like grass finished, or pasture raised.

Breakfast ideas: Omelets - add whatever meats veggies and cheeses from list fit your choosing Cauliflower "hash" - sautee pieces of cauliflower with meats, veggies, top with cheese and let it melt :D keto "cereal" - 2 cups unsweetened coconut, sprinkle with cinnamon, stevia, coconut oil, pecans, macadamia nuts, whatever.  bake two minutes per side around 375 til toasted.  cool and serve with unsweetened hemp, oat, almond or soy milk and fresh berries if you want! Chorizo and eggs with avocado and sour cream - they do make turkey chorizo too! or make your own by adding hot sauce and spices to ground turkey.  :3 "Two Good" Makes a super low carb yogurt that tastes amazing  - i eat it with berries or a "Quest" brand protein cookie for breakfast! Chia pudding - 2 T. chia seeds, milk substitute or water, stevia, and whatever flavor you want to add! Peanut butter, cocoa powder for PB cup,  raspberry/almond,  blueberry/pecan.  Chill overnight, awesome grab and go Egg muffins  - mix up eggs like youd be making scrambled eggs, add some ricotta or cottage cheese (full fat only), add toppings, bake for 5-10 mins til middle is set (use a tooth pick).  Can freeze and pop in microwave or last a week in the fridge.  I like mine with pesto and mozzarella with tomato on top.

Lunch ideas: La tortilla factory low carb wrap "blt" - these tortillas are amazing and come in many sizes.  If you cant find those, find any brand that says "low carb" - look for net carbs under 6 for best choices.  Add avocado, turkey bacon, mayo if desired, lettuce, tomato, peppers, etc.  Eat with cheese chips (recipe in snacks) Soups:  Creamy chicken chili, broccoli cheese (substitute heavy cream and broth in place for milk in recipes) bone broth veggie soups (imagine PHO or Ramen with no noodles!) MAKE A BIG ASS SALAD WITH WHATEVER MEATS AND CHEESE AND VEGGIES YOU WANT   (that are safe on the list ofc) this is what i do a lot, and i put the dressing on the side so i can just munch on it throughout the day without it getting soggy.   If you find yourself picking certain parts out of your salad right away, try to focus on those more until your body is craving other things.  Some days i eat my meats right away, others i eat all my veggies.  Your body often tells you what you need without even realizing. If you're a grazer make a fruit and nut tray, or "lunchables" almost. There is a recipe for whats called CLOUD BREAD. It's basically like a fluffy meringue that is made with cream cheese and eggs. I dont make it a lot, I almost always would rather have those wraps.  They're that good and last longer :D Try to keep things with you that you know you will eat, rather than things you think you're supposed to eat, because cold fish sounds disgusting vs that yummy five piece chicken tender with hot sauce. >_>

Dinner Ideas: Dinner is my forte because for a long time I was doing OMAD keto, aka "One meal a day keto" where I would fast until dinner every day, except for coffee, tea and water.  During these times I dreamt up many cheat meals that I JUST HAD TO HAVE and went home and keto-ized em.  If there's a will there's a way, bahahaha. OMAD is not recommended at the start of ketosis because you may feel low on energy or dizzy sometimes and we want to avoid bad feelings during initiation so when you see the success you have you won't have a negative feeling as to why it happened.

LITERALLY IMAGINE YOUR FAVORITE DINNER. Whatever you're craving.  You can hack it. We got this.   Chinese/Take out? Easy mode.  You can make stir fries, fried cauliflower rice, sweet and sour chicken (using parmesan for a crust!), peanut "noodles" or "zoodles", egg foo young, etc! American: Wings, burgers, brats/sausages, grilled chicken, etc - most cook out foods in whole form are totally safe. Pair with grilled veggies or a salad, or make a pasta salad from zoodles with homemade italian dressing.  YUMMMM bish Italian: Low carb tomato sauces and "noodles", Fat head Pizza (link to fat head dough recipe will be at bottom.  This shit is dope.  I never even liked pizza before this).  Chicken Parmesan, "Spaghetti and Meatballs", Lasagna: AND OMG GUESS WHAT. Alfredo is like totally fair game, and its really good with mushrooms and chicken. :P Mexican: HOLY FUCK I EAT THIS STUFF SO MUCH.  Like, pretty much everything but the chips and rice are totally gucci for keto.  Taco/Burrito bowls, fajitas, ceviche, salsa, avocado salad, guacamole, and for dipping I make cheese chips or thin slices of cucumber spritzed with chili lime and salt. Greek: Greek salad, schwarma, gyros (either without bread or use the low carb wraps), hemp seed "Falafel", tzatziki sauce, feta cheese, olives, etc. I have even made indian and thai curries, moroccan food, middle eastern We have made chicken tenders, french fries, chips, "nachos", fish fry, breaded mushrooms, mozz sticks, cheese curds.  All your craving foods! The internet is wonderful for this, just make sure you are paying close attention to how much a portion is, or if its higher in carbs than you're allowed for the day.

Above I posted a picture for a shopping list.

This is a nice shopping list but I find it is sort of strict.  Try to stick to these items to start but You can add in things like more nuts or avocados, almond and coconut flours (to make cakes and breads!), and higher starch veggies and fruits as time goes on.  I get down on some cantaloupe pretty often, and have a cupcake at least once a month.

Intermittent Fasting IF is typically considered an advance technique or body reset especially after big meal days or cheating, and while it has amazing health benefits, I would suggest you research it yourself and decide if it's right for you.  I had a lot of luck with it because I hate to keep track of my calories on an app so I knew if I ate whatever I could within a five to seven hour period that the chances that I would eat more than 1800 calories would go way down.   Each person is different, if you feel physically hungry, don't deny that feeling. Here is a link that describes and explains types of IF. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-guide#methods

What to do when you go out to eat We live in a time where many people eat low carb, or restaurants are very willing to wiggle with ingredients or substitutions.  Remember that nicer restaurants appreciate this less, but if you know that it will be happening, you can always call the restaurant and let them know in advance.  Many chefs are reasonable and want your business and willing to help. Always check the menu for words like, naked, ask for sauces on the side, try to stick to things that are usually safe, blue cheese, ranch, vinaigrettes, mayos.  When a dish comes with a carb side, most places will double up on steamed or grilled veg for very little extra or no charge.  I get steak with a literal dick ton of broccoli or asparagus and lotsa butter and its good and filling. :D Burgers can be put on top of a side salad , or ask for a lettuce wrap.  Make sure wings and chickens arent breaded before frying or baking.  Chinese restaurants usually have a section that has all the same ingredients but sauce on the side and veggies steamed, good for when you go out.  Egg drop soup is usually ok as long as you don't eat a gallon of it. If something comes that you really want, but can't have, just have one small bite and cover the rest of it with too much salt or ketchup or something than you can handle, or trade it away.  This will prevent you from eating it all. There's lots of options and understand that whenever you go out, there is a chance that you might slip out of ketosis.  Don't be discouraged because a small slip is a lot easier to deal with than a big one, and you will feel fine within 12 hrs.

What to drink and when Coffee, espresso, unsweetened teas, club soda or la croix like drinks with zero fake sugars added (look for aspartame, sucralose, dextrose, erythritol, etc), pure liquors with no added flavor or sugar (vodka, gin, whiskey, rum, tequila), dry red wine (cabernet, merlot) dry white wine (sauvignon blanc, brut champagne, pinot grigo, chardonnay).  Keep in mind that alcohol still contains a lot of calories and while it will not likely bump you out of ketosis, it does delay your body burning calories because it is too busy trying to destroy the evil alcohol from your bloodstream (dramatic music) so limiting intake in the first month really helps you to get in the swing and feel good and hydrated :P. Side Note: Ketal One makes new no sugar added Botanical Vodka and the Peach one and the cucumber mint one are fucking amazing, the end.

"Carb cycling" cheat days, and how to IF YOU KNOW YOU'RE GONNA CHEAT mentally prepare yourself for that.  Know what you want to eat, what isnt worth it, and how to stop yourself when you are done.  Ever been on a bender where you drank like three days in a row and by the end you're like dude wtf happened all I wanted was to drink friday night and now its sunday where did it go".  This has happened to me lots with holidays and special occasion weekends, and the best advice I have for you is to pay attention to how cheating makes you feel.  Don't feel guilty unless you feel bad for your progress or your body.  Sadly, potatoes make me feel like garbage so I try to avoid them like the plague even when I do cheat. Try to not eat for as long as you can handle after you cheat to allow your body some rest and to burn the glucose and glycogen that may be still in your system.  If you feel good enough some cardio or lifting may help to get you back in faster. Ultimately, if keto is a lifestyle for you, remember that life happens and its ok to be human, and eat things that are unhealthy as long as its not the normal.  Remind yourself that you deserve to be happy as well as healthy and balance that in your mind.  Being positive and recognizing this will help you to not fall off the deep end either way, by being too strict or completely abandoning keto, which often in the early phase will lead you to gaining all that weight you lost back. Carb cycling is a form of keto diet for athletes or very physical people who benefit from a quick carb before intense activity in order to feed their muscles or whatever but as I am not one of those people, I just stick to my higher carb fruits and veggies when I think I might go for a run or walk, or drag my ass down the road, whatever you'd like to call it. >_>

Things to avoid that are a waste of money Don't buy "exo ketones" or "Keto drinks" or powders, anything "bullet-proof" is basically bullshit, you can make the same things for zillions of dollars less and it will taste better as well. Keto urine strips are pretty much just a waste of money, they aren't really indicative of where you are at. Expensive "keto" supplements aren't necessary, take your multi and drink your electrolytes and you should be good to go.  Keep in mind if you are an intense athlete I am not so like talk to your doctor or coach dude.

[operakitten]

y’all I cook a lot and have done....even more quarantine cooking in the last six weeks lol

mostly this is for my own damn reference because 98% of these meals were a++  but can confirm all are super tasty

instant pot 15 bean chili with 1 lb beyond meat and about 1 lb sweet potato instead of the 2 lb ground turkey it calls for (will be using leftovers for chili dogs and probably chili mac as well, super tasty)

marinated baked peanut tempeh over a bowl of kale, quinoa, a quick homemade cabbage slaw, carrot ribbons and asian roasted potatoes and broccoli because I already had carrots and wanted to use up some baby potatoes that were going bad (we’ve had this two or three times, it’s great)

sweet potato and black bean tacos and a sweet potato and kale salad based on that recipe, where I just used a quarter of the sweet potatoes I’d already roasted for the tacos and omitted the pumpkin seeds because I had none (tahini dressings are in, everyone should try one)

cinnamon apple quick bread, subbing monkfruit sweetener for the sugars because it’s lower points on weight watchers for my mom. DELICIOUS, EVERYONE SHOULD MAKE THIS

pav bhaji with turmeric rice that I just made in my instant pot instead because it was quicker. I served the rice with I think three different indian recipes because it’s good and my mom doesn’t like white rice (make the pav bhaji because I love priya)

spicy sweet sambal pork noodles that would have been much better if I’d followed the recipe as written, but we’ve been quarantined so I used pork tips instead of ground pork and added some veggies. still pretty good!!!

I’m fairly certain I also made chicken yakisoba but perhaps not this exact recipe. honestly we’ve been on lockdown for six weeks I’m surprised I remembered this much. 

patty melt sandwiches with beyond burgers. I used a slightly different recipe for the sauce (no relish because I fucking hate it), and cut the cheese in half because we are lactose intolerant in this household. served once with homemade sweet potato fries (garlic powder, salt, paprika, a little cayenne. bake them at whatever you like baking fries at) and once with zucchini fritters? or possibly zucchini fries, zucchini does not work well on my silicon baking pads so they were a failure. the burgers were fucking dope though

chickpeas and also pinto beans because my mom eats like, half a can of beans every day with her lunch and nobody had any canned beans. the beans were about as good as beans can be, which is to say don’t expect them to change your life, but they were nice. would make them in my instant pot instead next time.

baked apples with oatmeal filling, again with monkfruit because we wanted something pie-y but I didn’t want to make pie crust and also I think I was out of flour at the time

cheese and yogurt quick bread which I made I think three or four times and then I had to go back to work so now I’m not baking as much. quick, great with soup, 10/10 I love quick breads. I probably used fat free greek yogurt because that’s who I am as a person, regardless of what the recipe actually says

chickpea tikka masala, I think substituting coconut milk with fat free half and half because that is what was on hand and I am not actually vegan. pretty good but honestly this was six weeks ago I remember nothing about it other than I like it

yeast-free cinnamon rolls because I discovered all my yeast is dead and there’s NO FUCKING YEAST ANYWHERE. again, I substituted monkfruit sweetener. these were DELICIOUS, and they were actually better cold the next day. talk about a sugar high

tomato and lentil curry, which I make every time I remember the recipe, which is probably every six weeks or so. it’s sooooooo good and it makes a ton. again, I might have subbed fat free half and half for the coconut milk but it’s deliciousssssss

I’m not 100% positive I’ve made this during quarantine but I’ve for sure thought about it because I’ve made it six or seven times before and it is GOOD. lentil soup. the recipe is literally called the best lentil soup ever and aside from like. a JUST lentils and aromatics soup at our local mediterranean restaurant, it’s pretty much the best lentil soup ever. IT HAS TEXTURE, which is important. a mix of textures, even better

sweet potato, kale, and chickpea soup that also has farro (or barley, or cooked quinoa, they’re all good) and cayenne and curry powder and it is WONDERFUL. sweet, spicy, salty, great blend of textures. LOVE THIS SOUP

french-ish onion soup because I bought a shit ton of onions and also I love onion soup. IT’S GREAT.

fancy beans on toast that you should not eat if you want the actual experience of eating beans on toast because it’s nothing like that. like, if you are really craving beans on toast, eat that. it was fancy beans served with a toast accompaniment, but it was nice the next day over spaghetti.

spaghetti with homemade meatballs that were, you guessed it, made with beyond meat!!!. I used oatmeal as my filler instead of breadcrumbs because that is what I had, and damn it, we substitute during quarantine! super yummy, a little messy because beyond meat is sticky raw in a way that real meat is not, but 10/10 would make and consume again

a chicken, sausage and rice skillet that I make pretty frequently for meal prep for work. I use 2.5 cups of rice, about 3 cups of broth, and cut the sausage content way down because I make these for lunches and the chicken sausage at costco is expensive (10 servings instead of 6-8, I think). I often don’t have shallots so I just use onion, today I’m out of peas so tomorrow I’ll probably add some chopped broccoli for veg. it’s also good with mushrooms! I add a little cayenne because that’s what I like. again, I make this in my instant pot so I just hit the rice button and seal after I’ve deglazed my pan (and I often don’t toast my rice). YUMMY

saag feta because priya is right and it might be better with feta??? it’s real good guys.

bbq jackfruit tacos with a side of roasted potatoes and cilantro lime coleslaw. I made 3 portions of jackfruit, so I used the rest of the dry seasoning on the potatoes and roasted them in a little oil at 425 for I think 35 minutes. the recipe is obviously for sandwiches but I didn’t have buns and I DID have corn tortillas. hence the different coleslaw. I do use the jalapeno, did not use a blender because I live on the wild side, and add maybe 1/4 cup of ranch dressing because I’m not that wild and also it tastes good.

also, cold and spicy asian noodles and poutine from the good and cheap cookbook. I believe I also made the roasted potatoes with chilies into tacos because I’m like that

and HOLY CHRIST I JUST REALIZED HOW MUCH COOKING I’VE DONE. we’re pretty good about eating our leftovers and usually only eat out on weekends (which we’re still doing via carryout to support our local restaurants), but there’s usually like, a hot dog night or sandwiches or just scavenge the freezer for food from thanksgiving nights. I HAVE COOKED A LOT

[courtneytincher]

How Celebrity Chef Einat Admony Learned to Love Israeli Food

Courtesy Michelle GevintWhen I was growing up, my dad was the one who shopped at the shuk, not my mother, as you might think. He was the unusual husband who was happy to take his wife’s shopping list and then head out to pick up the day’s groceries: glossy baladi eggplant, fragrant bunches of cilantro and parsley, dates, creamy gvina levana, and perhaps more freshly toasted and ground baharat spice mix, which seemed to make its way into so many of my mom’s recipes.I would often go with my father when he shopped. Shuk HaCarmel in Tel Aviv was not far from our home in the suburbs and was also right near the Yemenite quarter in which my dad spent his childhood. We would do the shopping and then wander into the shuk’s Yemenite quarter, which housed a handful of simple restaurants serving Yemenite classics, the kind of food you’d otherwise find only in a family’s home. My dad was happy to take on the shopping because he knew he’d be rewarded by my mother’s fantastic cooking (plus he was a nice guy). But he also might have volunteered for the shuk because he could indulge in some of the food he loved best—especially lachuch, a springy, moist Yemenite flatbread that was the one dish from his culture that my mom never mastered.My Persian mom was born in Iran, and was eventually raised in an Iraqi household. In Israel, our family would be called “Mizrahi,” meaning Jews who came from the Middle East rather than those with roots in Spain (Sephardic) or elsewhere in Europe (Ashkenazi).Mizrahi dishes are the foods of my childhood, and I learned to make them starting at about age eleven, when I became my mom’s assistant. She was always cooking something intriguing and delicious—Persian rice dishes fragrant with handfuls of herbs; kubbaneh, a delicious Yemenite bread she’d bake overnight for Shabbat lunch; chicken in fassenjan, a sauce made from ground walnuts and pomegranate juice and flavored with crazy-looking dried Persian limes. Our next-door neighbor was Moroccan, and she would let me help her with the hand-rolled couscous and all the spicy, tangy accompaniments for it—pumpkin chirshi, pepper and tomato matboucha, sweet and savory lamb tagine. While my mom and neighbor were getting free labor, I was getting an education, and I ended up as a professional chef (with a stop at cooking school along the way). It’s those foods of my multicultural childhood that I crave the most and that I now cook most often here in New York City. I’ve even built restaurants around my favorite Mizrahi dishes: My fast-casual Israeli chain, Taïm, was one of the first in the United States to serve sabich, an Iraqi Jewish, deliciously sloppy fried eggplant sandwich…something that just a few years ago you’d never have seen outside the neighborhood. And my couscous restaurant, Kish-Kash, celebrates all the influences of North African cuisine that surrounded me throughout my childhood.I’m gratified to see that the rest of the world is catching on. So many of the wonderful dishes I grew up cooking and eating are no longer considered ochel shel bayit—food you would only eat at home—but are being featured on restaurant menus all over Israel and in the United States.Food like this, whether Persian, Moroccan, Ethiopian, or Yemenite, represents not only my childhood and my heart but also Israeli cuisine as a whole—a multicultural mosaic of traditions from literally all over the globe, served in the spirit of generosity, hospitality, and joy, evolving as Israel grows as a nation. Israeli cuisine is young but with ancient roots, and I’m happy to be a part of its evolution. Now you can cook these dishes, too, and join me as we continue to create new traditions.* * *Fassenjan Meatballs: Persian Beef and Duck Meatballs in Walnut-Pomegranate Sauce* * *Quentin BaconWhat this brownish and somewhat grainy sauce—called fassenjan—lacks in looks, it more than makes up for in rich, intense flavor, thanks to a powerful combo of walnuts, pomegranate juice, pomegranate molasses, and dried limes. The brown, rock-hard Persian limes won’t win a beauty pageant either, but crack them in your hands and inhale the complex citrusy aroma with hints of smokiness, and you’ll understand why cooks in Iran treasure them. You can find dried limes (or dried lemons) in Middle Eastern groceries or order them online. They’re worth seeking out, and they keep indefinitely.Note: You can use all ground beef (2 pounds) instead of the duck. Serves 6 to 8 Fassenjan Meatballs INGREDIENTS:Meatballs * 1 pound Ground beef * 1 pound Ground duck breast * 1 yellow Onion, coarsely grated * ½ cup Finely chopped fresh parsley * 1 tsp ground Coriander * 2 tsp Kosher salt * Freshly ground black pepper * Vegetable oil, for fryingSauce * 1 Tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil * 1 Onion, coarsely grated * 2 medium Garlic cloves, grated or minced * 1 tsp Grated fresh ginger * 1½ cups Very finely chopped walnuts * ½ tsp Ground cumin * ½ tsp Kosher salt, plus more if needed * Freshly ground black pepper * 2 cups Pure unsweetened pomegranate juice (we like POM Wonderful) * ½ cup Pomegranate molasses * 2 dried Persian limes, cracked * Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper To Serve * Cooked white rice * Fresh pomegranate seeds, for garnish (optional) * Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish DIRECTIONS:Prepare the Patties: Put the beef and duck in a large bowl, add the onion and parsley, and season with the coriander, salt, and several twists of pepper. Knead thoroughly to blend the ingredients. If you have time, cover and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.Rub your hands with a bit of vegetable oil and shape the meat mixture into golf ball–sized meatballs; set them on a tray.Line a plate or separate tray with paper towels. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with vegetable oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and fry quickly until they are just golden brown on all sides, 3  to 4 minutes total; shake the pan a few times to roll the meatballs in the oil and make sure they are browned evenly. For the best browning, don’t crowd the pan; work in batches if you need to. Transfer the meatballs to the paper towels. Repeat to cook the remaining meatballs; set aside.Prepare the Sauce: Heat the oil in a wide saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and sauté until the onion is soft and translucent, about 3  minutes. Add the walnuts and sauté for another 3  minutes. Season with the cumin, ½  teaspoon salt, and several twists of black pepper. Pour in the pomegranate juice and molasses and add the dried limes. Bring to a simmer, stirring often. Taste and adjust the seasoning—once you add the meatballs, you won’t be able to stir, so make sure the sauce is seasoned to your liking.Gently slide the meatballs into the sauce in a single layer, making sure they are fully submerged in the sauce (shake the pan slightly to settle them). Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and cook until the sauce is thick and shiny, another 10 minutes or so. Serve hot over white rice, garnished with pomegranate seeds (if they are in season) and cilantro leaves. If not serving immediately, let cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days; reheat gently.Excerpted from Shuk by Einat Admont and Janna Gur (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2019.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

Courtesy Michelle GevintWhen I was growing up, my dad was the one who shopped at the shuk, not my mother, as you might think. He was the unusual husband who was happy to take his wife’s shopping list and then head out to pick up the day’s groceries: glossy baladi eggplant, fragrant bunches of cilantro and parsley, dates, creamy gvina levana, and perhaps more freshly toasted and ground baharat spice mix, which seemed to make its way into so many of my mom’s recipes.I would often go with my father when he shopped. Shuk HaCarmel in Tel Aviv was not far from our home in the suburbs and was also right near the Yemenite quarter in which my dad spent his childhood. We would do the shopping and then wander into the shuk’s Yemenite quarter, which housed a handful of simple restaurants serving Yemenite classics, the kind of food you’d otherwise find only in a family’s home. My dad was happy to take on the shopping because he knew he’d be rewarded by my mother’s fantastic cooking (plus he was a nice guy). But he also might have volunteered for the shuk because he could indulge in some of the food he loved best—especially lachuch, a springy, moist Yemenite flatbread that was the one dish from his culture that my mom never mastered.My Persian mom was born in Iran, and was eventually raised in an Iraqi household. In Israel, our family would be called “Mizrahi,” meaning Jews who came from the Middle East rather than those with roots in Spain (Sephardic) or elsewhere in Europe (Ashkenazi).Mizrahi dishes are the foods of my childhood, and I learned to make them starting at about age eleven, when I became my mom’s assistant. She was always cooking something intriguing and delicious—Persian rice dishes fragrant with handfuls of herbs; kubbaneh, a delicious Yemenite bread she’d bake overnight for Shabbat lunch; chicken in fassenjan, a sauce made from ground walnuts and pomegranate juice and flavored with crazy-looking dried Persian limes. Our next-door neighbor was Moroccan, and she would let me help her with the hand-rolled couscous and all the spicy, tangy accompaniments for it—pumpkin chirshi, pepper and tomato matboucha, sweet and savory lamb tagine. While my mom and neighbor were getting free labor, I was getting an education, and I ended up as a professional chef (with a stop at cooking school along the way). It’s those foods of my multicultural childhood that I crave the most and that I now cook most often here in New York City. I’ve even built restaurants around my favorite Mizrahi dishes: My fast-casual Israeli chain, Taïm, was one of the first in the United States to serve sabich, an Iraqi Jewish, deliciously sloppy fried eggplant sandwich…something that just a few years ago you’d never have seen outside the neighborhood. And my couscous restaurant, Kish-Kash, celebrates all the influences of North African cuisine that surrounded me throughout my childhood.I’m gratified to see that the rest of the world is catching on. So many of the wonderful dishes I grew up cooking and eating are no longer considered ochel shel bayit—food you would only eat at home—but are being featured on restaurant menus all over Israel and in the United States.Food like this, whether Persian, Moroccan, Ethiopian, or Yemenite, represents not only my childhood and my heart but also Israeli cuisine as a whole—a multicultural mosaic of traditions from literally all over the globe, served in the spirit of generosity, hospitality, and joy, evolving as Israel grows as a nation. Israeli cuisine is young but with ancient roots, and I’m happy to be a part of its evolution. Now you can cook these dishes, too, and join me as we continue to create new traditions.* * *Fassenjan Meatballs: Persian Beef and Duck Meatballs in Walnut-Pomegranate Sauce* * *Quentin BaconWhat this brownish and somewhat grainy sauce—called fassenjan—lacks in looks, it more than makes up for in rich, intense flavor, thanks to a powerful combo of walnuts, pomegranate juice, pomegranate molasses, and dried limes. The brown, rock-hard Persian limes won’t win a beauty pageant either, but crack them in your hands and inhale the complex citrusy aroma with hints of smokiness, and you’ll understand why cooks in Iran treasure them. You can find dried limes (or dried lemons) in Middle Eastern groceries or order them online. They’re worth seeking out, and they keep indefinitely.Note: You can use all ground beef (2 pounds) instead of the duck. Serves 6 to 8 Fassenjan Meatballs INGREDIENTS:Meatballs * 1 pound Ground beef * 1 pound Ground duck breast * 1 yellow Onion, coarsely grated * ½ cup Finely chopped fresh parsley * 1 tsp ground Coriander * 2 tsp Kosher salt * Freshly ground black pepper * Vegetable oil, for fryingSauce * 1 Tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil * 1 Onion, coarsely grated * 2 medium Garlic cloves, grated or minced * 1 tsp Grated fresh ginger * 1½ cups Very finely chopped walnuts * ½ tsp Ground cumin * ½ tsp Kosher salt, plus more if needed * Freshly ground black pepper * 2 cups Pure unsweetened pomegranate juice (we like POM Wonderful) * ½ cup Pomegranate molasses * 2 dried Persian limes, cracked * Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper To Serve * Cooked white rice * Fresh pomegranate seeds, for garnish (optional) * Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish DIRECTIONS:Prepare the Patties: Put the beef and duck in a large bowl, add the onion and parsley, and season with the coriander, salt, and several twists of pepper. Knead thoroughly to blend the ingredients. If you have time, cover and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.Rub your hands with a bit of vegetable oil and shape the meat mixture into golf ball–sized meatballs; set them on a tray.Line a plate or separate tray with paper towels. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with vegetable oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and fry quickly until they are just golden brown on all sides, 3  to 4 minutes total; shake the pan a few times to roll the meatballs in the oil and make sure they are browned evenly. For the best browning, don’t crowd the pan; work in batches if you need to. Transfer the meatballs to the paper towels. Repeat to cook the remaining meatballs; set aside.Prepare the Sauce: Heat the oil in a wide saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and sauté until the onion is soft and translucent, about 3  minutes. Add the walnuts and sauté for another 3  minutes. Season with the cumin, ½  teaspoon salt, and several twists of black pepper. Pour in the pomegranate juice and molasses and add the dried limes. Bring to a simmer, stirring often. Taste and adjust the seasoning—once you add the meatballs, you won’t be able to stir, so make sure the sauce is seasoned to your liking.Gently slide the meatballs into the sauce in a single layer, making sure they are fully submerged in the sauce (shake the pan slightly to settle them). Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and cook until the sauce is thick and shiny, another 10 minutes or so. Serve hot over white rice, garnished with pomegranate seeds (if they are in season) and cilantro leaves. If not serving immediately, let cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days; reheat gently.Excerpted from Shuk by Einat Admont and Janna Gur (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2019.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

September 17, 2019 at 10:28AM via IFTTT

[wellpersonsblog]

Why My Toddler Doesn’t Always Eat What I Eat

If you’re looking for tips for feeding toddlers, here’s my approach as a Registered Dietitian. Spoiler alert- sometimes I serve two different meals!

Hi friends!

This post has been a long time coming. Literally. It’s been in my drafts folder for at least 6 months. I originally came up with the post topic on my own…but it kept getting pushed to the back burner. And then a few of you started asking questions. And then I got more questions. Bottom line is, people notice (especially those of you who follow me on Instagram) when you don’t feed your kids the same thing you’re eating.

So I figured it’s about time for me to dive in and explain my thinking a little bit further. The short and sweet answer is this:

I believe that I can serve healthy foods to my kids without having to serve them the exact same meal I’m having. 

I realize that this may not be the most popular opinion, especially coming from a Registered Dietitian. And let me be clear that I don’t think there’s anything wrong with making one meal and serving everyone the same thing. I know it works for a lot of people, I understand how it can be helpful for picky eaters and I think it’s a great idea if it works for you and your family.

But I don’t think it’s the only option. And right now, I don’t think it’s the best choice for our family. As I share a little bit more about why, please remember that this is MY view about what works best for MY family. Every family is different and it’s possible that you will disagree with my opinion or think that what I do isn’t right for your family. THAT’S OK. I’m simply sharing my opinion in case it does help someone else out there whose thoughts or family are similar to mine. It’s also possible that my view will shift as my kids get older.

So, here we go:

Yes, I believe in Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility when it comes to feeding children. The division of responsibility in feeding encourages you to take leadership with the what, when, and where of feeding and let your child determine how much and whether to eat of what you provide.

At this age, it’s my responsibility to provide food for my kids. It’s their choice what and how much of it they eat.

Right now, this topic mostly applies to Squish, who is 3. Little Miss is still a bit too young for me to put some of these rules about having seconds, etc into play. But in the coming months, when she reaches that point, I’ll do the same thing with her.

My general overarching policy is that I decide what to put on his plate for dinner. If he doesn’t want to eat it, that’s fine. But he doesn’t get anything else until breakfast. Yes, there are nights when he goes to bed after eating only one or two bites of dinner. No, I don’t freak out about it. Kids are very good at eating intuitively and if he skips dinner, I trust that he’ll make up for it the next day or later in the week. I also often remind myself is that dinner is typically his worst meal. He is a very good eater at breakfast, and usually at lunch. He also eats snacks. By the time dinner rolls around, he’s just not always that into it. And that’s fine.

When it comes down to it, the reason why I sometimes serve him something different is because it’s not that hard for me. And I would rather focus on the actual act of family dinner and us eating together vs. the what we’re physically eating.

You guys know I’m a fan of food prep and although I don’t prep a lot of whole dinners, I do often prep components and that makes it easier for me to throw together a quick meal for him without any real extra effort on my part. So no, I don’t advise spending hours in the kitchen making two totally separate meals…but there are ways to serve different meals without a lot of extra work:

For example: Perhaps one night my husband and I are having taco salads with ground turkey taco meat, lettuce, rice, tomatoes, corn, black beans etc. Squish is not a huge fan of ground meat unless it’s made into a meatball. He also doesn’t love lettuce, or tomatoes, or corn or black beans. He does love tacos and quesadillas and he likes chicken. So maybe on that night, I would make taco salads for us and for him I would use some of the chicken that I shredded or baked during my food prep to make a hummus and chicken and cheese quesadilla, with a few black beans added in. Or I might make him a ground turkey and cheese quesadilla with a few beans to make it more likely that he would try the turkey.

Or say we’re having chicken curry, which he has tasted multiple times and tends to not be a fan of….I might give him some rice, a small piece of naan that we’re having, a little curry and then a couple meatballs that I had made during food prep over the weekend and some carrots with ranch.

In the photo above, hubby and I were having a skillet dinner with roasted potatoes, corn, peppers and onions, summer squash, pesto and shrimp. Squish is not a fan of any of those things. So he got strawberries, which he loves, noodles (which he loves) covered in pesto (which is relatively new to him but he eats occasionally), a little bit from our skillet, plus some parmesan chicken tenders that I made earlier in the week while doing food prep and just had to pull out of the fridge, cut up and serve.

The bottom line is: yes, sometimes I make something and all of us eat the same thing. Sometimes I make something for hubby and I and give Squish something different using stuff I already had on hand (along with a taste of ours). And you know what? Sometimes I make something for my husband that he likes…and it’s not something I like….so I eat something totally different. And that’s ok too. It works for us and I still feel good about what my family is eating, without feeling pressured to always have everyone eat the same thing.

One thing I do think is important if you take this approach: You have to work hard at continuing to introduce your kids to new foods and a variety of flavors, cooking methods, etc. I don’t recommend just giving up and serving them chicken nuggets every single night for dinner because they don’t seem to like anything you’re making. There are definitely nights that Squish doesn’t eat what I serve him, even if it’s different from what we’re eating. And that’s ok. I work hard to make sure I introduce him to different flavors, spices, vegetables, meats etc, even if he happens to try them at a different time than I eat them.

Since I am still regularly introducing him to new foods, here are some things I focus on when I serve him things I’m not sure he’ll love:

I always make sure there’s something on his plate he likes

I focus a little harder on making sure he���s hungry. If he eats a huge breakfast and lunch, doesn’t get much physical activity and has several snacks on a certain day, then that’s probably not the best day for me to serve him something brand new for dinner…because he probably won’t be that hungry and he might not eat it even if he does like it. If it’s a day where he eats breakfast, goes to school and runs around all morning, eats a smaller lunch, takes a long nap and only has a small snack before dinner, chances are he’ll be hungry and also more willing to try something new on his plate. Or sometimes I’ll try something new at breakfast or lunch instead of dinner.

I let him help make it. I try to do this all the time but especially for new recipes.

I don’t make a big deal about it. I don’t say things like “ohhhh we’re having this brand new thing for dinner…i hope you like it….yada yada”. I just serve it the same way I serve every meal.

I often mix it with something he likes. If I want him to try peas, I might mix them into mac and cheese, which he loves. Or if I want him to try ground beef or beans, I’ll put them in a quesadilla because he loves tortillas and cheese.

I’m willing to keep things separate. If I want him to try a chicken and noodle dish with some kind of asian sauce, he likely won’t touch it if i serve it all mixed together, but if I separate out the noodles, the chicken and the veggies, he might try at least one part.

Here are some questions I’ve gotten on this topic:

What’s your policy if he wants seconds? 

If there is fruit on his plate, he will always eat that first. And he almost always asks for more. In order to get more fruit, he has to eat everything on his plate (including vegetables). If he asks for seconds of the main dish, I give it to him, even if he hasn’t eaten his vegetables. If he asks for thirds of the main dish, I tell him no, until he eats his vegetables.

I will never force him to eat everything on his plate. But I won’t give in and give him more fruit just because he’s still hungry and doesn’t want to eat his vegetables. (For example in the photo above of the deconstructed chicken philly sandwich…he immediately ate the cheesy bread and orange, didn’t touch his peppers and ate some of his chicken. He asked for more bread and more orange, both of which I said no to, unless he wanted to eat the rest of his chicken and his peppers. He decided to be done for the night.

Do you make him take a no thank you bite? No. I encourage him to try a bite of everything on his plate but I never force him to.

Why do you sometimes serve dessert with the meal? I work hard to not put dessert on a pedestal. I firmly believe that restricting something only makes you want it more. Does that mean he gets dessert every night after dinner? No.  Sometimes I include a donut with breakfast or a cookie with dinner. I don’t point it out. I don’t make a big deal about it. Sometimes he chooses to eat it immediately, but often, he’ll eat almost all his meal before even touching the dessert. If we make cookies in the afternoon, I let him eat one. In other words, my own approach to healthy eating is that cookies, desserts and other sweets can easily be included and the same goes for my son.

Why do you feed your baby something different if she rejects the first thing you give her? First of all, my daughter is a very good eater. She’s almost 14 months and she eats A LOT. She’s not very picky (similar to her brother at that age) but I think that will come later. She’s also still learning.  For the past several months, my focus has been on exposing her to a variety of foods and providing food for her to eat. Soon, she’ll reach the age where she’s consciously deciding not to eat something just because she’d rather have something else (ie getting pickier). At that point, I’ll start taking the same approach that I take with him, where she can eat what I give her or not eat until morning. However, right now, I’m happy to give her another option so that she’s eating something. Right now, that means occasionally giving her a different protein source, some extra vegetables or some more healthy fats to help her grow and develop.

How do I choose what meals to make during the week?  I do cook a lot of dinners on the fly (hence the upcoming ebook) but in general, I try over the course of the week to cook some kid-friendly recipes that I know everyone will like, some that I can easily separate into different components Squish can eat the separate parts and hubby and I can eat it mixed together and one or two that I don’t think he’ll eat, in which case I’ll serve him something different, but also put a small serving of what we’re having on his plate.

Do you serve your kids foods you don’t like? Yes. This is something I work really hard at. I was world’s pickiest eater for 25 years and even though I’ve gotten a lot better, I still lean towards the side of picky eating and there are a lot of things I don’t like. That doesn’t mean my kids won’t like them. But it COULD, if I don’t expose them to these things. Luckily, my husband is NOT a picky eater. So I often cook things for him that I don’t particularly like. And I use those opportunities to serve those foods to my kids as well, without showing my bias or opinion, so that they can form their own opinions. This includes everything from vegetables like asparagus and cauliflower, to meat like beef.

Why do you keep serving stuff they don’t like? It’s a well-known fact that it can take a crazy number of times being exposed to a food before a kid is willing to try it or decides they like it. I almost always give them a little of what we’re eating even if I don’t think they’ll like it. Squish has definitely gotten pickier and will loudly tell me “I don’t like that” or “I don’t want that”. My response is “that’s fine, but I’m going to put it on your plate. You don’t have to eat it, but it’s going to stay on your plate and you’re welcome to try it if you want to.”

Whew! Ok I think that’s it for now. Lemme know if you have questions!

Enjoy! –Lindsay–

The post Why My Toddler Doesn’t Always Eat What I Eat appeared first on The Lean Green Bean.

First found here: Why My Toddler Doesn’t Always Eat What I Eat

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Caffé La Tea: A Restaurant Review

INTRODUCTION

If you walk into a coffee shop today, you’ll find people engaged in an assortment of activities: checking the news, writing essays, reading stories and chatting with friends. Throughout history, these are the ways people have spent their time in coffee houses. We may get our news from the internet instead of a neighbor and write on a laptop instead of on paper. We might read on a Kindle instead listen to a storyteller, text our friends instead of talk with someone next to us and stalk old acquaintances on Facebook instead of people watch. People have always used coffee houses for getting news, exchanging ideas, listening to stories and visiting with friends, though. Even hanging out at a coffee shop for hours while spending almost nothing isn’t new, people would sit in a coffee house all day and only pay a penny for admittance.

BRIEF HISTORY OF COFFEE SHOPS

Coffee houses originated in the Middle East, one of the first places coffee was grown. The documents that we have suggest that coffee houses originated in Mecca in the early 1500s or late 1400s. We don’t know when the first one opened, but they were commonplace enough in the early 1500s that imams banned both coffee houses and coffee from 1512 to 1524. Their concern was chiefly that the political sentiments expressed in coffee houses challenged the current rule. Coffee houses were primarily a place for political gatherings.

Today, coffee houses serve the same purposes they always have: people go to their local cafe to get news, work, read and talk with friends. We people, as mentioned, just engage in these activities online.

 CAFFÉ LA TEA

Love for sumptuous food, creative drinks and a good chat with friends are what Happy, Ermina, Ciarra, and Rona all have in common. As the creative and entrepreneurial minds behind Caffé La Tea, they were inspired by their travel adventures in and out of the country, as well as their memorable food stories along the way.

All these motivated the cousin-sisters-friend group to offer the city something fresh, vibrant and original. Thus, Caffé La Tea was conceptualized with the aim to provide a cozy and lively place for friends to gather and chitchat, while filling their cravings for a great cup of coffee or tea, paired with the perfect dessert. The idea was brought to life in July 2012, built from the ground up with their passion for food, coffee and milk tea—not to mention the endless cheers and encouragement from their friends.

Caffé La Tea cemented its success story with the perfect site along the busy street of Mabini, Cabanatuan City. Literally steps away from two main universities and the provincial hospital, and just hundred meters drive from Maharlika Hi-way, the first Caffé La Tea store is right at the center of its dense target market. Soon, the 100 sqm space was transformed to what was bound to be the “homegrown tea and coffee pride” of Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija.

Located in KM14 MacArthur Highway, Malinta, Valenzuela City, Caffé la tea has its branches that open everyday from 11 am - 10 pm. Walking into Caffé La Tea instantly brings you a sense of comfort and positive energy. The cafe mixes the simplicity and earthy warmth of a bodega, made comfy with modern interior design. Retro-modern lighting pendant lights bring balance and details between the bare floors and the spacious ceilings. The walls come alive with tasteful art pieces, and shelves filled with familiar things that remind you of home. The staffs are very accommodating and kind. They can change your mood because of the smiles on their faces and the feeling of they are enjoying their job. For coffee lovers, you should try their different kind of espresso, I'm sure you will love it. Their other meals seem to look tasty (based on my observations because I won't able to try it). All affordable! Their pricing is somehow competitive to other local themed coffee shops but overall, it is very affordable. A cozy place, good food and refreshing drinks, Caffe La Tea delivers on these, so it’s no wonder why everyone tends to have a great time here.

Moving on to their products offered, Caffe La Tea has a very extensive menu and it can be tough deciding what to order. For the drinks, some of their favorites are the CLT Houseblend, which is hot coffee with secret blend; the Toffee Nut Blender; and the creatively named Americano Meets Tokyo, chilled espresso and matcha blended in milk and ice.

The menu also has a long list of dishes that range from salads to affordable rice meals. We started with the Crispy Baked Wings with chili-chili flavor. I couldn’t get enough of its addictive spicy sauce.

Both the salads – the Asian and Okinawa – I’m also delightful, with fresh vegetables and delicious dressing. They may be light dishes, but they’re filling and flavorful. They provide healthy counterpoints to all the calories we can’t help but consume.

The Tuna Sandwich is the perfect companion for those who need to chow on something while reading a book.

The Pomodoro & Meatballs, with its sweet tomato sauce and huge chunks of meatballs, should be a winner for kids, while the Creamy Chicken Pesto is meant to satisfy those looking for a less conventional but still familiar take on pasta.

The rice toppings are crowd-drawers, too, with the cafe drawing on classic Filipino favorites. The dishes are flavorful and don’t skimp on servings, they are really value for money when you think about it. A cozy place, good food and refreshing drinks, Caffe La Tea delivers on these, so it’s no wonder why everyone tends to have a great time here.

As I tried to talk to one of their staffs, espresso con pana is their best selling coffee which is an espresso with milk and some whipped cream on top. But, as their advice, I should try this beverage last. I tried first their one of the best selling milktea named Ooooooreos. As you notice in its name, it is a milktea with plenty of Oreos. I love Oreos so it made me excited how it tastes like. This Ooooooreos didn't disappoint me. It taste so good, you can taste the Oreos in every sip of this beverage and also the taste of the tea is not overpowering the entire milktea. The taste of Oreos and tea are balanced as well as the sweetness is also balanced, not so sweet and not so tasteless. Finally, I ordered their espresso con pana. I got excited because they told me that this is their bestseller. When I saw it, it looks so delicious. I'm not a coffee lover but when I tasted it, there is only one thing that I said to myself. I will buy it again when I return in this shop.

RATING

I believe that there is always a room for improvement even though a shop like this is already a hit. In a score out of 10, I will give Caffé La Tea a 9 because of their good ambiance, affordable prices, good service and delicious food.

 By: Jake F. Dagoy 

Pictures: https://ourvalenzuela.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/caffe-la-tea/

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how i stock the smitten kitchen – smitten kitchen

It’s true: I’ve dragged my feet over writing a guide to what I keep in my “pantry” (I don’t have a pantry) and fridge for 14 years now. I have my reasons, primarily that I’m not sure I know what your kitchen needs. I mean, shouldn’t you stock the stuff you need for what you’ll want to cook and not some arbitrary list from a lady who loves Triscuits? Maybe you don’t love Triscuits! (Sorry you’re so wrong.) The idea of buying a kitchen full of someone else’s groceries is very much against the way I think anyone should shop. I know your kitchen will grow organically, and accurately reflect what you need if you buy things for what you want to cook as you want to cook them. Second, due to the nature of my work here I have an absolutely unusual amount of stuff in my kitchen cabinets and fridge. It’s totally justified for me, while making little sense for others. On the flip side, I live in NYC and have grocery stores and Greenmarkets quite close, but also as a small kitchen with very few cabinets, meaning that not only can I not stock very much at a time, I don’t need to — I can always dash out for vinegar or dried pasta. This is not the way most people shop.

So why now? Shopping and stocking up has taken on a whole new meaning during the pandemic, for us too. I can’t safely go to the store as often as I used to and there isn’t as much on the shelves when I do. I have to be strategic; I need a system. And of course I’ve amassed a lot of opinions on groceries after 14 years of a cooking career. Thus, please, think of this less as The Last Pantry Shopping Guide You’ll Ever Need, but a tour of the things I keep around more often than not — and would make a point to restock when I’m out of them (vs. say, the 00 flour I’ve bought for a few recipes over the years but don’t consistently keep around). Perhaps you’ll find something useful in planning your own next grocery order or pantry meal; I hope you do.

Pantry | Fridge | Freezer | Produce | Notes | Feeding Others

Things I Keep In The Pantry

Dried

Flours: All-purpose and whole-wheat flour get me through 99% of my baking. I never buy cake flour, preferring to make my own. I also keep whole-wheat flour around; it goes rancid (it will smell musty) much faster than white flour; if you only use it sporadically, keep it in the freezer. I rarely buy bread flour unless I’m on a bread-making kick, but if you make enough pizza or other breads, it can be worth it. If you like to make pasta, you should buy fine semolina. For specific cooking projects, I sometimes keep rye flour, barley flour, spelt, oat, almond meal, and/or gluten-free flour blends around, but I don’t consider them staples that must be replenished as soon as they’re depleted.  // New York Deli Rye Bread, Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Pasta and noodles: I keep a mix of pasta shapes around, some long, some short plus some tiny ones, like orzo, ditalini, and fregola/large couscous. When I find it, Setaro is one of my favorite brands of dried pasta. I like to stock dried rice noodles and ramen-style noodles, too. // Quick, Essential Stovetop Mac-and-Cheese, Crispy Tofu Pad Thai

Rice and grains: My personal favorites are a really long-grain white and a short-grain brown rice; it’s a bit random. I also keep a short-grain white rice like arborio or carnaroli for risotto and rice pudding, plus small couscous and farro (or barley, wheatbeeries, or freekeh). I tend to only buy quinoa, millet, or buckwheat when working on specific recipes that use them. Worth knowing: Cooked grains freeze fantastically for future dishes. // One-Pan Farro with Tomatoes, Crispy Rice and Egg Bowl with Ginger-Scallion Vinaigrette, Arborio Rice Pudding

Dried beans, lentils, and split peas: I like to keep dried black, small red, and chickpeas around but would caution you not to buy much more than you think you’ll use, as they will ultimately get stale and there’s no crime in being a canned bean person. A few random favorites of mine: dried chana dal (also sold as split chickpeas or bengal grams) makes for the smoothest hummus, no peeling required. Lentils de puy are dark green and don’t fall apart in soups and salads. Yellow split peas make a fantastic everyday dal, and black lentils make a stunning special one. // Ethereally Smooth Hummus, A Really Great Pot of Chickpeas, Burrata with Lentils and Basil Vinaigrette, Everyday Yellow Dal, Punjabi-Style Black Lentils

Sugar: Granulated sugar, raw or turbinado sugar, light brown, dark brown, and powdered sugar are always around in my pantry but I, of course, bake quite a bit. I mean, I also have pearl sugar, but I’m still on the bag I bought we-will-not-talk-about-it years ago. Brown sugars should be keep as airtight as possible. Nothing here goes bad. // Unfussy Sugar Cookies

More dry goods: Rolled oats and Irish oats, panko-style breadcrumbs, cornstarch and tapioca starch/flour (which is my favorite pie thickener these days), dried unsweetened coconut, cornmeal, nuts (we like whole and sliced almonds, peanuts, and I like walnuts; keep nuts in the freezer for longer storage as they will get rancid at room temperature) a mix of dried fruit, and always, non-negotiably, ground espresso for our Moka pot. (Lavazza Crema e Gusto is our current favorite). // Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Chicken Milanese, Even More Perfect Apple Pie, Green Beans with Almond Pesto, Stovetop Americanos

Spices: I have a rack off the side of my kitchen with my spices. Listen, I can tell you to buy Aleppo flakes, allspice, anise, bay leaves, cayenne, and celery seed — and that’s just the first row — but it will make a lot more sense for you to buy spices as you long for them in your food. I firmly disagree with anyone who tells you spices that are 6 months or a year old have to go — trust your nose and your food. When it doesn’t smell like much anymore or you’re not finding flavor in the dishes that contain it, it’s time for a refresh.

Canned

Beans: Black beans, kidney beans, small red beans, cannellini beans, small white beans, and chickpeas are my standards but you probably know that I really love beans. I often buy a canned black bean soup, pouring off some of the extra liquid at the top instead of mixing it in, for shortcut saucy black beans. For everyday beans, I mostly buy Goya. For special cooking, or simpler bean dishes that really glow up with better ingredients, I use Rancho Gordo. // Crisp Black Bean Tacos, Red Kidney Bean Curry, Cannellini Aglio e Olio, Crisped Chickpeas with Herbs and Garlic Yogurt

Tomatoes: 28-ounce cans (one whole and one crushed) prove the most versatile to me, as well as tomato paste (although I also like to keep a tube in the fridge for when I need less than a can). Should you only have tomato paste cans, you can freeze the extra paste in tablespoon-sized dollops for future recipes and be glad you did. // Quick Pasta and Chickpeas, Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

Coconut milk: I always regret it when I don’t have a can. In my unscientific studies, I’ve found Trader Joe’s coconut milk to be the richest/creamiest. // Braised Ginger Meatballs in Coconut Broth

Liquid

Vinegars: Vinegar keeps for eons and we love acidic stuff, so I keep many around, including plain white vinegar, white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sherry vinegar, rice vinegar, and black vinegar. Do you need all of these? Of course not. But I don’t think I could pick two desert island favorites. // Use in: Easiest Fridge Dill Pickles, Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw, Giardinera, and Pickled Cabbage Salad.

Olive oils: I like to keep a “good” olive oil around (something delicate for finishing a dish or salad dressing) and an everyday one around (for roasting, sautéing, frying, and baking). Repeat after me: There is no reason to fry an egg at high heat in your best olive oil. California Olive Ranch makes a great everyday olive oil; 3-liter cans, decanted as needed, brings the price down. If not, the bottles are generous. // Crisp Rosemary Flatbreads and Chocolate Olive Oil Cake.

Other oils: Toasted sesame, safflower/sunflower (my go-to vegetable oil for high-heat cooking and roasting, and cakes that need a neutral oil), coconut oil, and I don’t deep-fry often, but peanut oil is my favorite for when I do. Toasted sesame oil has the shortest shelf life; keep yours in the fridge if you use it infrequently. Do you love the taste of butter but dislike that it burns easily at high temperatures? I am the last person on earth to discover ghee — which is like clarified butter but tastes a bit toastier, due to the way it is made — I’ve been making up for lost time. Known better for its application to Indian cuisine, I also love it for frying eggs (even The Crispy Egg) and rather luxuriously roasting potatoes. It keeps a very long time at room temperature // Black Pepper Tofu and Eggplant, Double Chocolate Layer Cake, Easiest French Fries, Ginger Fried Rice

Liquid sweeteners: I keep molasses, honey, and golden syrup (which I prefer to corn syrup for flavor) around, mostly for baking. (I keep maple syrup in the fridge.) // Flapjacks, Majestic and Moist Honey Cake, Pecan Pie, and Nutmeg Maple Cream Pie

Vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste: I make my own vanilla extract. I recently picked up vanilla bean paste for a wedding cake project; I don’t use it as a replacement for vanilla extract (to me, they have different flavors) but in recipes where I’d otherwise add all or part of a vanilla bean. Heilala vanilla bean paste is highly concentrated and wonderful. // Make Your Own Vanilla Extract, New Classic Wedding Cake + How To

Etceteras

Everything else: Nutella; Triscuits; Ryvita or Wasa crisps; cheddar bunnies or rockets, sadly not homemade; at times, granola, chocolate, and cocoa for baking. I actually keep a box of baking chocolate in a cooler part of our apartment because our kitchen runs warm and I don’t want to melt and bloom it. My favorite baking chocolate is Guittard, but it’s not widely-enough available near me that I buy it exclusively. The pound-plus bars from Trader Joe’s are excellent for bittersweet baking. My favorite cocoa powder (Valrhona) is one of the most expensive and I can only encourage you not to try it because I’ve found it impossible to use others since. Should you buy it, I highly encourage you to buy a 3kg package (in 3 1-kg bags) to bring the price down and split it with friends who like to bake.

Things I Keep In The Fridge

Butter: Like olive oil, I keep two levels of butter around, one that is more everyday and unsalted for baking, usually a store brand or whatever was on sale, and a fancier or European-style (higher butterfat) salted around for toast and other finishes, where the flavor difference is more apparent. Butter absolutely goes rancid — and unsalted butter turns faster than salted butter (salt is a preservative) — so if you’re not going to use it within 3 to 4 weeks, I’d definitely keep it in the freezer.

Dairy: Milk, cream, half-and-half, sour cream, yogurt, buttermilk. Yes, we keep an unusual amount of dairy around. I don’t believe in buttermilk expiration dates. There, I said it. // Buttermilk Roast Chicken, Dreamy Cream Scones

Dijon and spicy mustards: I’m not going to tell you how many types of mustard we have in the fridge because you’ll unfollow me forever. But if I had to only choose one, it would be a smooth Dijon — this is a great everyday Dijon mustard. This is a delightfully crunchy whole-grain Dijon, and this our current favorite spicy mustard, // Mustard-Roasted Potatoes, Dijon and Cognac Beef Stew

Bouillon: I am a great fan of Better than Bouillon concentrates, which have much better flavor than most boxed stocks, keep for ages, and are wonderfully space-efficient. I actually keep one of each (beef, chicken, vegetable, mushroom, turkey) but if you were just choosing one, don’t sleep on that No-Chicken Base one because it has a cozy soup flavor but is also vegetarian. The turkey is great when you need extra stock for Thanksgiving cooking.

Cheese: We also love cheese and keep sharp white cheddar, aged parmesan and pecorino, halloumi, cotija, cream cheese, and sometimes feta around. Halloumi and cotija keep a very long time. Always save your parmesan rinds for flavoring soups. Nobody asked, but this is my favorite grocery store cheddar and my favorite feta is Bulgarian. // Parmesan Broth with Kale and White Beans, Foolproof Cacio e Pepe

Eggs: Most baking recipes call for large eggs. // 44 Egg-Centric Recipes

Yeast: I keep both active dry and instant yeast around, but I mostly use the latter these days and so can you. (Here’s an excellent primer on why.) Instant yeast keeps longer than active dry, but both keep longer in the fridge, and longest in the freezer. SAF Instant yeast is considered one of the best // No-Knead Bread

Miso: This also keeps for ages in the fridge and adds an unmistakable boost to food. // Miso Sweet Potato and Broccoli Bowl, Avocado Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing

Jams: Our go-tos are raspberry and apricot, but we also have fig, cherry, and more. We use a lot of jam because my kids (cough “kids”) like peanut butter and jelly a whole lot, and because I think a freshly baked biscuit with salted butter and apricot jam is a very fine thing. // Austrian Raspberry Shortbread, Easy Jam Tart, My Favorite Buttermilk Biscuits

Nut and seed butters: Peanut butter, tahini, almond, or sunflower seed butter. Sunflower seed is my favorite nut-free peanut butter swap. // Salted Peanut Butter Cookies

Extras that make us happy: Fish sauce (Megachef and Red Boat are my go-tos), mayo, preserved lemon paste, (a great alternative to chopping all or part of a preserved lemon for recipes), a favorite harissa (or a homemade one), capers, olives, I get these anchovies when I can, salami, chile-garlic sauce, this hot fudge sauce, maple syrup, and we always have this chili crisp.

Things I Keep In The Freezer

Bread: We don’t go through bread fast enough to keep it at room temperature, but the freezer keeps it perfectly.

Fruit: Mango, berries, strawberries, sometimes old bananas, and other fruits we might use to make smoothies. Frozen fresh pineapple and/or watermelon chunks make for some fine cocktails. // Frozen Watermelon Mojitos, Piña Colada

Vegetables: I like to keep edamame, peas, corn, and artichoke hearts around.

Pasta and dumplings: Potstickers, wontons, pelmeni and vareniki (we have a ton of these right now because my MIL got us Russian groceries last weekend), and tortellini are very helpful to keep around for kids lunches and easy dinners. // Spring Vegetable Potstickers, Chicken Wonton Soup, Potato Vareniki

Burritos, Tarts, and Casserole-ish things: I don’t plan well enough ahead to do this often, but when I do, I’m thrilled to have burritos, galettes or quiches, an extra lasagna, ziti, or pizza beans in the freezer for future meals. // Breakfast Burritos, Perfect Vegetable Lasagna, My Old-School Ziti, Pizza Beans

Meat: Bacon, sometimes pancetta, sausage, and recently I’ve been buying some vacuum-sealed steaks and pork chops, although I’ve yet to get in the habit of remembering that they’re there and need to be defrosted at least half day before we want them. // Bacon Corn Hash, Steak Sandwiches

Stock: I love to make extra chicken stock and freeze it in quart bags. I don’t think every soup needs homemade stock, but for simpler ones, the extra depth of real bone broth makes a difference. If I don’t have time to make stock, I keep a “stock bag” in the freezer with the backs, wings, and/or other unused parts of chicken plus any onions, carrots, or celery that I don’t think I’ll get to. // Perfect, Uncluttered Chicken Stock

Ice cream and sorbet: I’m married to someone who (understandably) requires a bowl of Haagen Dazs chocolate each evening, so that’s a given, but I also should confess that I splurged on a no-bowl-to-chill ice cream maker last summer and it’s definitely led to an ongoing supply of homemade delights like lemon sorbet, passionfruit sorbet, and real mint ice cream; I get 95% of my ice cream recipes from David Lebovitz’s Perfect Scoop.

Produce

Fruit: Lemons and limes keep and are two of my favorite ingredients; don’t underestimate the importance of acidity in making simple ingredients taste magical. Until better local fruit is available, we look out for decent apples, oranges, mango (our family favorite), cantaloupe, and pineapple to keep around, as they have a longer shelf life than raspberries (which we also buy, but eat quickly or regret not doing so). // Whole Lemon Tart, Even More Perfect Apple Pie

Fridge vegetables: Carrots, celery, cabbage (green, red, and savoy), cauliflower, broccoli, leeks, scallions, and greens (curly kale, broccoli rabe, spinach) are my go-tos. If you’re buying greens to cook, try to wilt them down when you get home from the store, as they’ll keep better in softened bundles (and can be frozen) than they will in boxes and bags, and take up less space too. I find that leafy herbs like mint, cilantro, and parsley keep 1 to 2 weeks longer if I first wrap them in a barely damp paper towel and put them in a zip-lock bag. // Roasted Cabbage with Walnuts and Parmesan, Carrot Salad with Tahini and Crisped Chickpeas, Broccoli Slaw

Room temperature vegetables: Shallots, onion (red, yellow, white), garlic, ginger, potatoes, and winter squash keep and keep // Caramelized Shallots, Slow-Roasted Sweet Potatoes, 44-Clove Garlic Soup

Notes

I lean brand-ambivalent. Sure, I like Goya beans and Better than Boullon but I try not to get too stuck on a brand of flour (I use King Arthur or Gold Medal but also Heckshers sometimes) because I think it does SK readers a disservice if my recipes work best with xyz brand that maybe isn’t easy to get. Before you buy any fancy brand of olive oil, why not taste the reasonably priced ones and see if you like it? Are you sure you can’t make great cookies with 365 brand butter? (Spoiler: You can.) Where I’ve linked to product here, however, I really just buy that one specific brand so it’s worth noting.

Most dry goods that you hope to keep for a longer period of time or don’t go through quickly benefit from being stored in the freezer, from yeast to whole wheat flour to nuts and seeds and coffee. Everything I just listed here doesn’t need to be defrosted either; you can use them very cold as you would at room temperature.

I keep all dried goods — everything — in jars. I honestly think there are people who don’t keep things in airtight containers and there are people who have had… crawly things. I had them one time four kitchens ago and I will not let that happen again. When everything is self-contained, even if you bring home something compromised, it would keep to itself. I have jars from all over (Weck, Le Parfait, Bormioli Rocco) but when I need more, usually buy 6- or 12-packs of Ball Wide-Mouth Jars in 16-ounce and 24-ounce because (praise hands) they stack!  I have various sizes of these small clamp-top jars for easy access to salts, baking powder, and baking soda I buy in larger quantities. I keep my flours and sugar in Borgonovo 145-ounce jars I can never find anymore but I’m working on a new solution — for you and me.

As always on Smitten Kitchen, nothing here is sponsored. I do all my own shopping and most of the schlepping.

Feeding others

Finally, it’s always a little incongruous to write about shopping and cooking in a casual way (“Ugh, my quinoa went rancid again!” — me, too often, not proud of this) at a time when so many people are don’t have enough to eat. If you’re looking for a place or places to help, I can tell you what I do: I have automatic monthly donations (my favorite no-planning-required way to support what I feel strongly about) set up for No Kid Hungry (which focuses on ending child hunger) and Feeding America (a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks).

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