#kale is super nice in smoothies too but way more noticeable

[sanctfy]

the key to making sweet smoothies at home is flavored yogurt

[ragingbookdragon]

Batsis & Green Lantern, Sittin’ In A Tree. K-I-S-S-I-N–Wait, Is That Our Sister? PT. 2

Kyle Rayner x Batsis One-Shot

Word Count: 3.3K Warnings: NSFW (Slightly), Explicit Language Tags: @starflyer-104

Author's Note: Hi I finished this! Enjoy! -Thorne

**********************************************************************

Oddly enough, she didn’t make Kyle do anything other than design the first month he was at Wayne Manor. And she was true to her word. He had an entire room to himself, and the room was as big as his whole apartment, bigger if he was honest; and that wasn’t all—he had every instrument an artist could ever want, even some of the newest drawing tablets and pens that hadn’t even come out yet. Limited edition first pick that only someone like her could get her hands on by merely flashing that pretty smile and her last name of “Wayne”. It was a graphic artists dream come alive, and Kyle was afraid that he was going to wake up from it that he never once tried to pinch himself to see if it was a dream or not.

Surprisingly enough though, (Y/N) was being awfully nice to him too. She’d taken him shopping a bunch of times, a whole new wardrobe and even thrown in a new phone and laptop. Of course, Kyle wasn’t a fool and immediately confronted her about using her purchases to hold it over him. That was the one instance in which she wasn’t awfully nice because she sucker-punched him and told him to never call her a manipulator ever again. That she had never once used a purchase to force someone into something—she was a bitch but she wasn’t that kind of bitch.

He even questioned Jason about it once they got back to the manor and his friend cackled at the nice shiner he’d received. (Y/N) doesn’t buy things for people to make them do what she wants. She buys things for people because that’s how she shows she’s fond of them. Honestly, if she buys you what you want, especially if you ask for it, that’s how you know she thinks you’re a friend of hers. Just let her spoil you for a while, Rayner. You’ll miss it when you have to go back to NYC.

Kyle relented then, instead of fighting her on paying for everything, he watched her. Watched her when he asked for something. Just for a split second she’d get a look of honest surprise in her eyes before that smirk crossed her lips and she’d toss it in the basket before picking up her own needs. He found it almost endearing, the way she acted, like she wasn’t expecting him to ask for anything. And Kyle especially liked that look in her eyes. It made his heart beat a little faster when she gazed at him with those big eyes.

And while he did love that look, it only lasted for one month. Hell had come to the manor, and Kyle was smack in the middle of it.

***

“Good morning family!” she greeted cheerfully, placing her hands on Kyle’s shoulders. She received various replies, some happy, some tired, and Kyle gave his own.

“Morning, (Y/N). You seem happy.” He cut into the buttery waffle and started bringing the fork to his mouth when she grabbed his hand and gently but firmly, took the utensil into her mouth. Kyle couldn’t help but go slack jawed as she chewed and swallowed, offering him a smirk.

“I’m sorry,” she purred. “Did you want that?” His mouth opened and closed, and she pushed the plate forward, replacing it with a tall smoothie shaker that was a bright, sickly green.

“Uh…” he started, looking between the shaker and her. “What’s that?”

(Y/N) nodded at it. “That’s your breakfast for this morning.” She flipped the cap open. “It’s got spinach, kale, bananas, vanilla flavored protein powder, pineapple, mint leaves and spirulina.” She grinned. “It’s got all the protein and greens you need for the start of this wonderful day.”

“I don’t even know what spirulina is.” Kyle remarked.

“Blue-green algae super-food.” (Y/N) nodded at it. “From now on you’re going to drink smoothies every morning and then we’re going to weight train and run every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”

Her family started snickering around the table and Kyle swallowed thickly daring to ask, “And Tuesdays and Thursdays?”

She grinned wickedly at him. “Combat, Rayner.” Handing him the shake, she quipped, “Drink up me hearties.”

“Yo ho.” Kyle whimpered when he sniffed it and gagged.

***

“C’mon weakling,” she nagged. “You’ve barely gotten through the second set. Don’t tell me you’re already tired.”

Kyle groaned as he pushed the weighted bar up, holding it for a second before letting it fall. “I told you I can bench press one-hundred. You put one-twenty on this bar,” he griped through gritted teeth.

(Y/N) smirked. “Feel that pain though? It’s weakness leaving your body.” She grabbed the bar with one hand, pulling it up and onto the hold; she grinned as Kyle panted, chest heaving up and down with every sharp intake of breath.

“I—don’t know—how you do this—everyday.” He gasped and she snorted.

“No pain, no gain, Rayner.” She walked around him, and Kyle was too weak to keep his eyes off her as she did. “Oh, I can’t wait for tomorrow,” she cooed, throwing a leg over his hips, lowering onto his thighs.

Kyle’s throat tightened and he gazed at her as she leaned forward, propping her elbows on his chest, staring into his eyes. “Pretty close there,” he panted and (Y/N) smiled.

“Closer the better in my opinion.” Her eyes narrowed bemusedly. “From here I can get a good view of your form.” She pulled away. “You’re using your lower back to push strength into your arms. This time, use your chest and shoulders. Deep breath when you push up, breathe out when you lower, okay?”

He nodded, grabbing the bar again. “What set now?”

“Three. Five reps.” (Y/N) pressed a hand to his abdomen. “Core muscles tight. Glutes tight. Keep the stability and use your upper body muscles alright?”

“Got it.” He said, pulling the bar off and she felt his pelvis start to push upwards and she splayed her fingers.

“Chest, Kyle. Not your hips.” He grunted, trying harder, and she put all her weight onto his hips, keeping them pressed down to the bench. It showed in his form as he improved almost instantaneously. “Nice job,” she murmured. “Keep going.”

He got to the fifth rep, starting to go up, when she purred, “Your arms are very strong, Kyle. I wonder just how strong.”

Something in her voice made his heart stutter and he forgot momentarily what he was doing. The bar shifted downwards, and he gasped as it came down at him; (Y/N) reached out, quick as lightning and grabbed it with both hands, standing from his legs to put the bar back.

She looked down at him, concern in her eyes. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Sorry…lost my grip.” (Y/N) nodded and shimmied away, holding out a hand to him. “Thanks,” he said, letting her pull him up.

“Take five and go get some water, alright?”

He wanted to shake his head, tell her no, that he could keep going, but he thought against it and started for the water fountain in the corner. As he bent over, he happened to look back at her, seeing her bent over, stretching her legs. Heat pooled low in his gut, and he groaned, turning his eyes away.

“Jesus Christ,” he hissed. “Get a grip.”

“Let’s go, Rayner!” she called out behind him. “We’ve got two miles to run!”

Kyle let his head hand and he groaned again.

***

Compared to the day before, getting his ass kicked wasn’t as bad as it had seemed. That being said, (Y/N) wasn’t pulling her punches with him and he hadn’t managed to lay a single hit on her an hour in.

He gasped as she dropped him onto his back and he laid flat, gazing at the ceiling before him; she leaned over him, a cocky smirk on her face. “Need a break?”

“I’m not a novice in hand to hand. I trained with J’onn J’onnz for a while.” He countered with a glare and surprisingly, she nodded, rather impressed.

“I can tell in your form. You counter like he does.” (Y/N) bent down and gently swept away the sweaty hair from his forehead. “You’re learning pretty quick though, if I do say so myself.”

Kyle’s face lit up. “Really? You think—”

“But I can see that it takes you getting your ass handed to you over and over again before the lesson sinks in.”

His face pinched and he griped, “I should’ve seen that coming.”

(Y/N) snorted and patted his head, mocking, “You’re learning.” She smiled. “Now get up. You’ve rested long enough.”

“UGHHH!” he groaned, climbing to his feet.

***

On the third month and final month of the project, Kyle noticed a major improvement in himself. Not only had he lost a few of those extra pounds from snacking, toning all over his body, he’d also managed to expand his stamina a great deal. (Y/N) had congratulated him when he managed to run the various miles without even breaking a sweat.

The designs had come in well too, and Kyle honestly had more money than he knew what to do with. Well, rent and utilities were his most prominent factor, but even then, the money he’d have left over would last him a long time. He almost felt sad when they got to the final week of the project, no longer needing drawings, he was mostly there to make sure the designs were made correctly and with good materials.

(Y/N)’d even given him one of the first sets they produced and even if he was used to seeing his drawings published, it was another thing to see his name on the tag with it. It made him giddy, and he didn’t know how to rope that in with the continued nagging in the back of his brain. That it was all ending in a week. No more breakfast being made, no more laundry done, no more seeing his friends all the time and patrolling with them…and no more (Y/N) constantly.

When he thought about that, Kyle’s chest started to tighten, heart starting to hurt a lot more than he wanted to admit. And he knew why—somewhere along the lines of (Y/N)’s continual ass-kicking and training, he’d fallen in love with her. With her crude attitude and cocky smirks, her proud demeanor and skill, her beauty and the occasional kindness she showed to people, but most importantly, the love she showed for her family.

Most people saw an arrogant bitch who could school people six ways from Sunday both verbally and physically, but what they didn’t see, was the care she paid to those she loved most. To Dick’s anger issues, to Jason’s frequent regrets, to Tim’s consistent depression, to Cassandra’s ever-evolving education, to Damian’s rapid growth, to her father’s hurting soul—she cared so deeply for them, would give anything for them, even her life if it meant. And that made Kyle want to fall at her feet and worship her.

That this beautiful woman who allowed people to talk about her and never cared to correct, was the greatest woman alive, the most loving, the most caring. And she was hard, she was, but her love was tough and those that received it, her siblings and her closest friends, they knew she loved them completely. Kyle knew she cared for him. He only hoped that she wanted more.

***

The production party had been held in France and Kyle had never seen so many elites in one spot that he wasn’t sure how to even drink from his champagne chute correctly. Luckily, (Y/N) had stayed with him all night, tucking herself in his side and covering when he faltered in front of someone who didn’t speak English. And God, there was something very sexy about the way her lips moved when she spoke fluent French.

The party lasted well into the night and by the time they got back to the penthouse, he was dead on his feet. The siblings had dispersed to their rooms and (Y/N) stayed up a bit to speak with Alfred and Bruce over the phone. Kyle lingered around the kitchen with her and when she hung up, she sighed heavily, pulling out the dangling golden earrings and removing the chunky diamond necklace that probably costed more than Kyle did.

Her eyes met his and she smiled tiredly. “Did you have fun tonight?”

“I did,” he said happily. “It was…interesting to see what your life is like.” He chuckled. “Well, your day life that is.”

(Y/N) huffed a laugh and he wandered around the island, daring enough to reach up and grab her shoulders, digging his thumbs into her muscles. She groaned and hung her head a bit.

“Feel good?” he questioned, and she nodded.

“I don’t typically wear heels unless it’s for a party and I remember why.” Sighing, she pulled away from his arms and he just barely managed to keep the sadness from crossing his face as she turned. “What about you? Are you okay?”

Kyle shrugged. “Feel like I could sleep for a few days straight, but isn’t that how we all work?”

(Y/N) snorted, then sighed wistfully. “I almost don’t want this night to end.”

“How come?” he asked, and she met his gaze.

“I like seeing you flounder like a fish in front of socialites.” He rolled his eyes and she laughed, shoving him lightly. “I’m joking.” She rested her hand on his shoulder. “It’s been fun having around the manor. I know Dick and Jason have enjoyed hanging out with you.” She smiled and pulled away. “You should come back around after tomorrow.”

(Y/N) bypassed him and started towards her room when he spun and called her. “(Y/N).” she stopped and looked at him, waiting, expecting, and Kyle decided to lay his cards to her, letting her decide. “Spend the night with me.”

For a moment, she was surprised, honest to God surprised, then she smiled sweetly, something he wasn’t really used to, and she murmured, “Come with me.”

And Kyle barely managed to keep himself from tripping over his own feet as he hurried after her.

***

“Shut the door behind you,” she said, and he knew that just from the tone of her voice that she was the one who held the power—not that he cared, all he wanted was her. He felt his heart lurch as the door closed and she motioned him to come behind her. “Mind unzipping me?”

Kyle swallowed thickly as he reached up and grasped the gold zipper, gently tugging it down to where it stopped just above her rear. He also happened to notice that she wasn’t wearing any undergarments and he cursed under his breath. “Fuck, (Y/N).”

She grinned and with one hand undid the buttons behind her neck, then reached back, pulling his hands until his palms were pressed to her bare skin. “Be a dear and slip my dress off for me, hmm?” she leaned back into his hands. “Shouldn’t be too hard now.”

Before Kyle knew what he was doing, his hands were moving underneath the fabric of her dress, around her waist and up her chest, gently grabbing at the flesh of her breasts. (Y/N) gasped, a sound so saccharine in his ears, and leaned her head back on his shoulder.

“Kyle,” she whispered and with his pointer fingers, circled her nipples. Another gasp escaped her as she arched into his touch and she turned her head to the underside of his jaw, sucking the skin at his neck.

“(Y/N),” he groaned, rubbing up against her rear. “Baby...”

She was pushing away from him then, much to his dismay and she spun around, grasping at his suit. “Take your clothes off. All of them. Now.”

All that commanding she was doing was shooting straight to his cock and he obeyed immediately, not even caring about the dress shirt as he ripped it open, the buttons scattering across the carpet. He’d just gotten to his belt when he saw (Y/N) pull down her dress and he almost collapsed on his weak knees when her body came into full view.

For three whole months he’d been slowly driven insane by her tight clothes, guiltily imagining what she looked like underneath during the night, more often than not, relieving the urge.

She smirked and walked up to him, digging her fingers into the top of his pants and turned, pulling him along. They reached the beg and she yanked, sending him backwards onto the bed with a grunt, and then she was climbing atop him.

“I thought you wanted—” he gasped when she grabbed him through his pants. “I thought you wanted me to be naked.”

(Y/N) winked and squeezed him. “I changed my mind.” Leaning close, she let her lips hover above his. “I wanna see how needy I can get you.”

Kyle glared at her and surged forward, sealing her lips in a kiss before he wrapped an arm around her waist, tipping them over. She groaned into their kiss and wrapped her legs around waist. He let his free hand roam her body, caressing her side, squeezing her hip, slipping beneath her leg to grab at the flesh of her thigh. Each grasp, each pinch, each touch had her gasping and Kyle rocked against her, moaning under his breath.

Her fingers busied themselves with his belt and when she got it open, she unbuttoned his pants, and pushed them down a bit. Kyle pulled back to help but the second his hands left her body, he knew he made a mistake because she locked her ankles and placed her hands on his shoulders, shoving back. His back hit the bed and she was on top of him again, this time pinning his hands beside his head.

“Bad boy,” she admonished. “You weren’t supposed to move.”

“Sorry,” he retorted, but he wasn’t. Not in the slightest. “Couldn’t help myself.” He accentuated his point with a deep roll of his hips, and she grip briefly weakened as she ground herself down on him.

“You’re going to help yourself.” She warned, eyes devouring him where he lay. “Every movement is fifteen minutes added to how long I’m going to tease you.”

Kyle grinned. “Yes ma’am.”

(Y/N) matched his grin and before he could even see her move, she had a pillow from the top of the bed placed on his chest, long side up, enough to cover her from sight.

“What are you—” The door opened, and he tipped his head back on the mattress, seeing Dick and Jason gaping at them from the doorway.

For a solid moment, they all stared at one another, too shocked to say a word, then Dick and Jason were letting out the girliest screams Kyle had ever heard them make and they slammed the door shut.

(Y/N) sighed heavily and pressed her face into the pillow. “Lovely. Now we’re going to be all over the group chats.”

Kyle blinked, looking up at her. “You think so?”

“I know so.” She looked at him. “I knew I should’ve booked a penthouse across from this one.” (Y/N) started crawling off him when he reached out and grabbed her hips, keeping her in place; she cocked a brow. “Really? Your mood’s not killed?”

A flash of green appeared in her vision, then the door locked, and he smirked at her. “Nothing can kill my mood for you.” He squeezed her tightly. “Is yours?”

“Not in the slightest.” She reached down and traced the smirk on his lips. “Do me a favor though.”

“Anything,” Kyle agreed, and she grinned wickedly.

“Call me ma’am again.”

[werealljustwinginit]

Tell us about what skincare ingredients and products you love!

Okay, so I LOVE TALKING SKINCARE. This is a huge topic for me and I often write up a blog post once a year where i recommend skin care products. So here is this year’s recommendation! An insanelyyyyy long and detailed post nobody asked for!! HERE WE GO: 

I am a long time skincare advocate...before it really blew up and people started really getting to know more about their products and ingredients. I’ve just always had very acne-prone skin so I’ve had to pay attention to what products and ingredients I was using and how their formulas worked for me. As a result, over the years I tried A SHIT TON of products. Many expensive, fancy, high end, etc. But now I have my skincare routine down to a much more manageable and quality ingredient list. Obviously everyone’s skin is different...but this is what I use on a regular basis these days:

Serums:

- Krave Beauty’s Great Barrier Relief Serum: Honestly, this is THE SHIT. My favorite moisturizing serum to really help balance your skins hydration barrier and stay hydrated. It’s thicker and almost feels like a moisturizer. It’s so great.  - The Ordinary’s Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% Drops: Niacinamide is an amazing ingredient for your skin and can help a tremendous amount with clearing the skin, resurfacing, fading scars, and more. This really does a good job helping with my acne, so i really recommend to anyone. And I am pretty sure it’s like $5 cause it’s from the ordinary.

Moisturizers:

- CeraVe Moisturizing Cream: It’s a very cheap drug store moisturizer that has good, clean ingredients. After using fancy moisturizers for years, I finally gave into my dermatologist’s recommended lotion. LOL. They do have a lotion that is lighter, but my skin tends to be dryer, especially in the winter so I use the cream not the lotion. It’s thicker. (For high end junkies--it’s like comparing Drunk Elephant’s LaLa Retro to their Protini cream). I also sometimes throw in drops of a marula oil into this cream if I am really dry. Make myself a little face smoothie. 

Eye/Lip Creams:

- Mario Badescu Ceramide Herbal Eye Cream: Now honestly, I still haven’t found my perfect eye cream yet...but I have used this one for a few years now. It moisturizes well and is cheap to buy. It’s probs not the most effective but at least I am moisturizing my eye area. One day I will take on more eye creams that target certain things, but that is one day when I have money to spend lmao. -Glossier Bubblewrap Lip/Eye Cream: This is a very unique moisturizing product that is meant for sensitive skin like your eye area and lips. It does say it plumps a bit, which I don’t ever feel a plumping effect, but I do love to use it on my lips. It’s so moisturizing and is kind of like using a primer before you apply chapstick or lipstick. 

Exfoliators:

- Glossier Solution: The OG chemical exfoliant I tried and loved. These types of products aren’t great for everyone, and may have to be used less or more depending on skin type, but as an acne-prone human, I love a chemical exfoliant. This works and lasts a long while.

- Krave Beauty’s Kale-Lalu_AHA: Another chemical exfoliant. I recently tried this one because I do believe Krave Beauty uses better ingredients than Glossier Skin typically does (no shade tho). They were close in price, so I made the switch and have enjoyed the results so far. The packaging is also beautiful.

- Dr. Brant Microdermabrasion Exfoliant: This is NOT a chemical peel, this has aluminum oxyde crystals in it to polish the skin like a normal exfoliant would. It also has a lot of ingredients that help renew and refresh the skin while exfoliating. Now this product is HELLA expensive...I only have it because I once bought it for way cheaper when I had a subscription box. I don’t know if I would spend the full $80 bucks on it, but your skin does feel smooth.

- Tatcha The Deep Polish: This is an enzyme powder that you mix with water and exfoliate fro there. It is from when I used to buy the highest end products in hopes it would help my skin. It is pricey, but again does leave your skin feeling soft. So I rotate it in from time to time.

Masks: 

- The Ordinary’s AHA 30% BHA 2% Peeling Solution: AKA THE BLOOD MASK. Now hugely popular on social media, the “blood mask” is a chemical mask that peels off dead skin and essentially works to eliminate the top layers of your skin and begin rejuvenating a fresher layer for softer, healthier, plumper skin. I do this once a week and it is way cheap. I can compare it to Drunk Elephant’s Sukari Babyfacial and it definitely beats that expensive version.

- Glow Recipe’s Avocado Melt Sleeping Mask: This is an overnight moisturizing mask that you simply wash off in the morning. It really helps lock in moisture and feels nice on the skin. I use this when I am feeling really dry. 

- Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay Mask: This one you have to mix the dry clay mixture with water and apple cider vinegar to create a goo that you can then let dry on your face. It may be intense for some, but I find it really helps dry out my acne spots and reduce redness in my skin. It’s always a fun one to do with other people too because you do have to prepare it. Good sleepover activity. 

- GlamGlow Bubble Sheet Mask:  This one is honestly more so used for when I am traveling and want to keep a mask on hand or when I am having a fun girls night or something. It’s a bubble mask--so to me that just means fun. I typically avoid sheet masks (unless I am traveling) because I think you end up throwing a way a lot of product you are paying for. But this one is fun, it’s cute, it’s different. I don’t notice a huge change in my skin tbh, but it is a fun activity for girls night. 

Honorable Mention/Random Products:

- Youth to the People’s Kale and Green Tea Superfood Cleanser: I stayed away from this one for a long time because it’s expensive and I could rationalize buying such an expensive cleanser, but I got a gift card to Sephora and finally decided to try it. And ya know what?? I guess I am fancy now because I really love it. It does not overly strip your skin at all, and for the first time in my life I really know what that means. It’s so great, it smells so good. Ugh. Can’t get enough of this bougie bitch of a face wash.

- The Inkey List Retinol Cream: A recent purchase, but I have enjoyed seeing the results. Everyone imo should be using an eye cream and a retinol. This is a nice introduction to retinol, so I recommend to those looking for one.

- Glossier Mint Balm Dot Com Chapstick: THIS AGAIN--IS THE SHIT. Many will say they would never spend more than two bucks but one tube of their’s is seven bucks and it is WORTH IT. I buy the three pack once a year and i’m good. This is the best chapstick you will literally ever use. Fucking buy it. If I could tell you only three products that are a must from this list this would be one of them. (the other two would be great barrier relief and the kale cleanser)

- Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask: I like this lip mask, it’s not needed everynight, but I do like to use a lip exfoliant (made or buy one, whatever) and then use this to really retextures my lips. 

- Bag Balm: Now this is a very unusual product to recommend lmaooo. Originally, bag balm is used for chapped cow udders on farms--which is how I discovered it. Farmers eventually noticed that it helped your skin retain moisture and repair cracked skin in their hands. So now it is known as a good thick ass cream for hands and feet. Now this shit is again--used on cows originally, so the formula feels thick and greasy. I like putting it on at night and letting it soak in for a while as I lay on my phone. It really works--I swear to you. 

- Sagely CBD Cream: I use their relief and recovery crea which smells like lavender and has a cooling effect when applied to the skin (kinda like biofreeze or icyhot would). This is only a 50mg CBD lotion, but I do like it. 

- Mad Ritual CBD Muscle Recovery Balm: Now this is thick and definitely a balm, not a cream. It is much higher strength though, so I break it out when needed and a little goes a long way. This one is 200mg of CBD. 

- Mario Badescu Drying Lotion: This drying lotion is now so popular but has been a staple of mine for at least a decade now. You leave it on over night and it really does dry up and reduce zit size. Helps a lot. There must be a reason why super models are told to use this shit before a runway show. 

- Tatcha The Essence: Essences are a new and kind of weird thing, kinda like priming the skin to allow for better absorption of a product. Now this product I received as a Christmas gift one year, but I am pretty sure it’s like $100...breaking the bank as always, tatcha. Anyway, it does allow for better absorption of products and feels light and refreshing on the skin. One bottle has lasted me two years now. I don’t know if I would recommend it, but I do use it somewhat regularly and it does make you feel like a bougie bitch. 

AND THAT IS THE END. Sorry that was soooo long. But like I said, I do a write up once a year of my skincare products anyway. So there you guys have it!! If you have any questions at all about your skin or skincare routine , honestly hit me up. Over the years I have slowly has friends come to me. Once I collect all of the I will have all of the infinity stones lmao. 

[riotwritesthings]

Only a Phone Call Away

WinterIron, E, 1.5k, phone sex, crack, humor | AO3

For the @winterironmonth​, NSFW Sunday, TROPE/AU: Sexting/Phone Sex

You caught me, all I do is write fluff and smut. And Crack. This is all Three.

-

Bucky is heading towards the gym when his phone vibrates in his pocket. He wiggles it out, still talking to Steve, and barely glances down at the screen, just to see if it’s important.

It’s from Tony, and it says ‘Waking up without your fingers inside me? Tragic.’

Bucky walks into a door frame.

Steve gives him a confused look, notices the phone still clutched in his hand, and quickly says “I don’t want to know.”

Bucky doesn't text him back, because he has a lot of shit to get done today and Tony can’t be encouraged. The flaw in this plan, of course, is that Tony doesn’t need to be encouraged, and in fact takes being ignored as a personal challenge. Bucky remembers this far, far too late.

By the time he finishes training Bucky had a whole slew of texts waiting for him, and he makes strangled noises as he reads through the list.

‘It’s really too bad no one is bending me over this table right now.’

‘I can sit without wincing and honestly it is a crime. Someone should take responsibility for this.’

On and on and on the texts go, that patented Tony mix of ridiculous and hot as fuck and Bucky’s face gets progressively more red until Steve rolls his eyes and leaves the locker room without him.

‘My mouth is very empty right now. Just putting it out there.’ says the last one, and Bucky can’t fully contain a groan because he does not need the reminder of what Tony’s lips look like wrapped around his cock right now.

‘Then go eat lunch you maniac’ Bucky texts him back, even though Tony is currently in California and it’s a little too early for lunch on the other side of the country.

Tony sends him a picture of a suspiciously shaped sausage, and Bucky doesn’t know what he did to deserve this.

It only gets worse when Tony actually does eat. Bucky checks his phone while Clint pouts over losing the latest round of Super Smash Bro’s, and finds several new messages.

‘The only thing rearranging my guts right now is this kale smoothie, and it’s just not the same as your dick.’

‘My mouth is sadly empty of your cock. This hoagie just ain’t cuttin it baby.’

Bucky sputters and accidentally says out loud “what the fuck Tony, just eat your lunch.”

Clint shoots him a sideways look and demands “why can’t you people be normal?”

Bucky only makes it halfway through the afternoon. The final straw is the short video Tony sends him, must have been taken when Tony got dressed that morning because Bucky recognizes the background of Tony’s Malibu bedroom. He also recognizes the white lace panties that Tony is pulling on, has extremely fond memories of carefully removing them with his teeth, in fact, and the video ends right after Tony lets them snap into place and leaves just enough time to show the way his ass jiggles with it.

Bucky falls down the stairs.

“I can’t lie to you,” Bruce says, looking down at him and shaking his head, “I am going to be telling everyone about this.”

Bucky flips him off, pulls himself to his feet, and locks himself in his room to call Tony. “I am on the other side of the country!” He hisses in lieu of any kind of greeting, face still red and pants still uncomfortably tight.

“Are you? Must have slipped my mind,” Tony says, all faux innocence, and Bucky lets out a miserable groan. “You been thinking about me, baby?” Tony asks, and Bucky can just hear the way Tony is fluttering his eyelashes obnoxiously.

It still sends a bolt of heat straight to Bucky’s gut, has his slumping lower on his couch and groaning out “you know I have, fuck, even before you sent those messages. ‘M always thinkin’ about you.”

“Sweet talker,” Tony accuses, but his voice has taken on that breathy edge that Bucky loves.

Bucky is about to make some very filthy promises about exactly how sweet he’s going to be when Tony gets home, when the alarm goes off.

“Please tell me that’s not what I think it is,” Tony says with a miserable whine.

“Duty calls,” Bucky says, and he can’t quite hide his own misery behind his attempts to sound smug as he says “that’s what you get.”

“Okay, but I just want you to know,” Tony says, and nearly has to shout to be heard over Bucky’s protests as he finishes “I am currently hard and leaking all over this nice lace and I could really use some help getting out of it!”

“You’re the worst,” Bucky groans as his own cock gives a hard twitch, and he’d swear the alarm gets pointedly louder.

He ends up on a stupid top secret mission, because of course he does. Bucky isn’t allowed to have nice things, like phone sex with his boyfriend. He’s also not allowed to have his phone on him, radio silence and all that, but no one said anything about his secret phone that no one knows he has, so Bucky keeps that.

Tony made it, especially for times like these, and no one is going to be able to hack it. Bucky very nearly wishes he hadn’t, because every time he checks the phone there’s at least one new text from Tony.

‘Fun fact: studies show four of my fingers are smaller than three of yours.’ Tony texts him, and then a line of winking faces that Bucky really did not need, he can picture what Tony means perfectly well.

During a spare moment between fire fights, Bucky gets a text that says ‘My throat is sore and it isn’t because I choked on your cock.’

‘SEE A DOCTOR TONY’ he texts back, hitting the screen a little more aggressively than needed, and then has to move as the gun fire starts up again.

Three days in they get half a night of peace, because even super soldiers need rest occasionally, and the first thing Bucky does is find a bathroom to lock himself in, pointedly ignoring Steve’s glare.

“Baby you gotta stop,” he says as soon as Tony answers the phone, “my dick has been hard for three days and it’s starting to hurt.”

“You know what doesn’t hurt?” Tony asks without missing a beat, grin practically audible.

Bucky sighs and resists the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose as he says “don’t say your-“

”My ass!” Tony declares, loudly, and Bucky definitely hears someone groan miserably in the background on Tony’s end before a door slams shut.

“‘M gonna make you regret this,” Bucky growls, pressing the heel of his hand against his cock through his pants because oh, he has such a long list of things he’s going to do in the name of payback. “Remember when you came back from that couple days overseas?”

“Fuck,” Tony groans in response, nearly drowned out by the sounds of him rapidly shedding his clothes and yeah, he remembers.

“Gonna do worse to you this time, sweet thing,” Bucky promises, smirking viciously when Tony lets out an uneven moan, distinct sounds of him jerking himself off coming in even through the spotty connection. “Thought it was bad when you couldn’t sit for a week? Gonna keep you in that bed so long, fuck you so hard, you’re not gonna be able to move by the time I’m done with you. ‘M gonna have to carry you everywhere and everyone’s gonna know it’s cuz I fuckin’ broke you an’ you loved it.”

“Bucky,” Tony moans, his every breath a keening whine and the slick sound of his hand moving over his cock sounds almost painfully fast, desperate in a way that never fails to set Bucky’s blood on fire, has him frantically tearing open his own pants to get a hand on himself.

“You wanna tease me all fuckin’ week?” Bucky demands, equal parts frustrated and furiously turned on, “I’m gonna make you come so many times you forget words, not gonna know anythin’ but sobbin’ for it.”

“Fuck, fuck,” Tony gasps, and the comes with a drawn out moan that pushes Bucky over the edge too, has him biting down a low groan as he spills into his hand. “Hot damn,” Tony sighs, sounding breathless and smug, and Bucky can’t stop a soft, fond laugh from slipping out of him.

“You gonna stop distractin’ me now?” Bucky asks although yeah, he can admit he’s way less grumpy about it now that he’s covered in the warm haze of orgasm. ”Got me thinkin’ with my dick all the damn time, gonna get me killed,” he adds, just in case Tony has forgotten he’s on a dangerous mission.

“I’ll behave,” Tony promises, in that tone that means he absolutely won’t, and Bucky can’t help another soft huff of laughter.

He has another text waiting for him when he wakes up.

‘Sitting on the couch watching bad tv WITHOUT your dick in me? Just not the same. 2/10 stars.’

Bucky maybe accidentally breaks the phone. In the interest of his own sanity and survival.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt.24.prt.1

“What the fuck is going on with you this morning?”

“Nice to see you too”

Resting with his head against the glass wall of the shower, Lance wasn’t having a fun time. He’d thrown up, and was now basking in the revolting after taste and burning of his throat and sinuses. Hunk had had the best of intentions, but the flavours had been too strong and he was too filled with guilt to keep his liquid second breakfast down

“Are you sick? Do I need to call Coran?”

“My senses are a little too hyped. Blood makes it worse, so I’m super ramped up. It’s fine”

“You threw up”

“Food’s gotta come out some way”

“Ew”

Lance nodded, yep, being a vampire was glorious

“It’s fine”

“It’s not fine. Do you throw up every time?”

“Nah... and normally I don’t have an audience to my embarrassing moments”

Lance hoped Keith would take the hint and leave

“You better get your shit together, Hunk and Pidge are coming back later”

“I know, I heard. Hunk’s gonna he even more worried...”

“That’s his problem, not mine. Mine’s a vampire who’s clearly not okay, but insists on being a dick about it”

“I’m sorry?”

“You should be. What’s going on with you, is it just your senses? Because you look like total shit right now”

“Wow. Way to make a man feel better about himself”

“God! You’re impossible. Why can’t you just talk to me?”

“I already am”

Lance really didn’t want to talk. He wanted to find Blue and go back to bed. Keith wasn’t having it. Flushing the toilet, the hunter put the lid down and decided he needed to have one of those talks where they were both sitting. Something he sooooo wasn’t in the mood for

“You know what I mean”

“What do you want me to say? I had a really messed up dream and now I feel like fucking shit because my stupid brain doesn’t forget things?”

“Maybe? I don’t know. I don’t fucking know how to comfort people”

“I noticed”

“Fuck you. I’m trying”

Lance muttered under his breath

“Very”

“What was that?”

Sighing to himself, he raised his head to look at Keith

“Nothing. Look, I appreciate you covering for me. I don’t know why you did, but thanks”

“You could have just said that from the start”

“And you could have left me to vomit in peace...”

“You’re not okay. If you’re not okay, I don’t know what to do. Coran said you were changing, I don’t know what’s normal anymore. I’m stuck here and I don’t know why. And I don’t know why you keep doing stupid things. Why didn’t you feed before Hunk and Pidge got here?”

“Didn’t have time. Barely got out the shower and Hunk was calling to say they were coming over”

“So you weren’t trying to starve yourself?”

How stupid did Keith think he was? He knew he had to keep his hunger under control. He’d fed too much too fast. He should have stuck to his normal third of a bag. Too much blood had amplified the feeling of being alive. Stroked his ego and now he was dealing with his own stupidity. He hated the hunger. He hated not being able to keep down Hunk’s smoothie. Lance swore there were still pieces of kale and spinach stuck in his teeth

“No... Did Hunk make you a smoothie?”

“Nope. He tried to...”

“You’re lucky... are you going to be highly offended if I go back to bed?”

“Depends, are you going to get all douchey if you don’t?”

“Probably?”

“Then go back to bed. This time, try to wake up without looking like something Blue threw up”

Lance managed a weak chuckle. Blue had thrown up some spectacularly gross stuff in her lifetime. Keith probably meant hairballs, but he hadn’t experienced thrown up body parts before, or entrails in his sheets

“Blue is princess. Blue is perfection. She’s a tiny little murder cupcake of perfection”

“Does everything always have to come back to a comparison with bread items?”

“What do you mean?”

“You called Pidge an anger muffin before...”

“And you’re an anger loaf. You’re too fucking tall and grizzled to be a muffin”

“I’m not an “anger loaf”... what even is an “anger loaf”?”

Lance groaned

“I just told you, you’re too big to a be a muffin. Are you really gonna sit there and mock the guy on the floor?”

“If it gets the guy on the floor to talk to me”

“I thought we agreed I need a nap”

Keith sighed at him. Lance flinched when the hunter moved his hand, Keith’s brow raising in confusion

“What was that?”

“What was what?”

“You flinched”

“I thought you were going to punch me”

Keith rolled his eyes at him

“Paranoid much?”

“Always. Besides, it’s not paranoia when people are out to get you?”

“And who’s going to get your undead arse when we’re stuck out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere?”

“You?”

“Dream on. Can you get up off the floor now?”

But the floor was good. Moving seemed like effort... even if he did get to spend a few hours hiding from Keith

“I suppose”

“Good. You know, you’re worse than a kid”

“Yep. I grew upwards on the outside and not on the inside”

“I can tell. Either that or you were dropped on your head a lot as a child”

Jesus. Keith was snarky... but it was refreshing. Having him worried about him was too weird, but having him insult him felt strangely normal. Good, even. Like Keith didn’t actually worry about him, and that was how it was meant to be

“Probably. Probably dropped myself on my head too...”

“I can imagine”

Lance faked offence before cracking up into laughter. Poor Keith looked completely lost

“What’s wrong with you, now?”

“Nothing, mullet. Give me a sec to clean up, then I’m off for a nap. What are you going to do?”

“Play with my camera... there’s not a whole lot around here to do”

“That’s why I like it... Keith, you know, I know you’re the biggest dumbarse I’ve ever met, but I’m starting to think you’re actually not to terrible”

Keith shifted, uncomfortable but in kind of a good way. His heart was racing for no reason, but Lance could see a smile on those lips of his. Keith was actually kind of pretty when he smiled... pretty lame, yeah, lame...

“And you’re not too horrific for an undead thing”

*

Lance tried and failed at the napping. Pulling Blue into his hold, he groomed her thick black fur as she purred. She was a total slut for grooming. Bath’s not so much, but grooming turned her into a pile of purring goo. Planting kisses on the top of Blue’s head, she nudged into his lips

“No more grooming for you. I want cuddles”

Lance had given napping a genuine shot, only for his nose to decide it needed to be focused on Keith’s vanillary scent from the body wash in the guest bathroom. Keith hadn’t said anything about the options in there, and the hunter didn’t need to know Lance had wondered if he should buy him something more “manly”. Not being bugged by Keith to train felt weird. Lance loathe to admit he kind of missed it. Keith had a lot of drive, fuelled by the anger he hadn’t worked through. Without anything to channel that anger into Keith was left to potter around in a home that wasn’t his. It kind of felt like Lance was torturing Keith, a reversal of roles from when Keith kept insisting he was a vampire. Lance very nearly missed that as well. Yes, he’d been confident that he hadn’t turned Keith, but having Coran confirm it had taken a weight off Keith’s shoulders. He wasn’t Adam. He was lying when he said he was human... not that Lance had the full picture, and he wasn’t sure that Shiro’s version of things quite lined up with Keith’s. Keith must have been terrified he really was turned, trauma did strange things to the mind. He must have been terrified that Shiro was going to have to watch him change, then have to kill him like Adam had had to be killed. It all would have been especially hard on Adam, assuming he was a hunter, he knew just how vile vampires could be. Yeah, he should probably go check on Keith and make sure he was as okay as he was pretending to be.

A quick hunt through the house proved Keith wasn’t inside. Heading out the back of the property, he found Keith working out on his own. Damn if his dream didn’t come back to haunt him. Keith was focused, sweat running from his hair, yet totally in his element. For Keith, his job really was his life. He’d spent years earning those muscles in combat, rather than exercise machines alone. Thanks to his memory, Lance knew how to throw down, but Keith lived it. He lived to hunt the things they should all fear... Something Lance had once entertained the idea of, but knew his Mami wouldn’t approve at all. Plus, he didn’t want to end up on Coran’s disposal list if he lost control and lost the last of his humanity in the process.

Crossing the back lawn, Lance sat himself down a few metres away from Keith. The hunter so in the zone that he hadn’t noticed. Lance managed a good 10 minutes before Keith finally did, the hunter’s eyes widening a fraction as Lance cocked his head

“I didn’t mean to ruin your concentration”

“I didn’t notice you come out”

“I noticed. I was wondering where you were”

“I thought you were napping. Feeling any better?”

Nope. Because fuck if he hadn’t been distracted by the way Keith’s shirt was riding up

“Yeah, a bit”

Walking over, Keith flopped down next to him

“You don’t have to stop. I can go if I’m making you uncomfortable”

“You’re the one who looks uncomfortable”

That’s because he was. He could smell the sweat on Keith’s skin, a feeling welling up inside him. He wanted to reach out and brush Keith’s fringe back and he didn’t know why

“It’s nothing. You know, I almost miss you trying to kick my arse”

Keith snorted at him as he plucked up a stray blade of grass

“A few more lessons and I would have had you”

“Dream on”

“Is that you way of saying you’ve been holding back?”

“A bit. It’s hard to live as a human when you have way too much strength”

“Is that why you wear glasses? Don’t they get in the way?”

Lance took his glasses off, holding them out towards Keith

“We’ve talked about it before, but yeah. I see too much and I’ve seen too much as it is”

Keith seemed surprised as he took Lance’s glasses, holding them up to peer through them, making a face as he did

“These are horrible”

“It helps make the world smaller so I can focus”

“I’ve never really thought about what vampires must go through”

Keith handed his glasses back, Lance surprising himself by placing them down beside him

“Don’t go feeling sorry for vampires, ever. You do that and you’re dead”

“You don’t need to tell me that”

“I know you know the risks, but it’d really suck if something happened to you, you know”

Punching his arm, Keith looked mortified at the gesture, Lance unable to not snort in laughter

“Shut up”

“I don’t know why I did that”

“Because you secretly like me too much. It’s strange. I’ve never had anyone live with me before, other than Mami. I keep wondering if I’m doing anything wrong. If I’ve made you hate me. Or hurt your feelings... I’ve barely known you two weeks and I keep having to tell myself I’m not your friend. Maybe this was what Coran meant by our quintessence complimenting each other?”

Keith plucked up another blade of grass

“I don’t think I understand what quintessence is. Is it a fae term?”

Fae... Coran must be a fae. Lance hadn’t thought to ask and then it seemed too late too

“I’ve heard it mentioned between Allura and Coran before. It’s like the stuff inside us. That spark of life that connects all life. I think faes can manipulate quintessence”

“Like the way they constantly say “you’re safe” or “you’re in a safe place”?”

“That might be more to do with me...”

He’d been so scared as kid. Waking up in a strange place, scared of everything and anything. Coran had told him since he’d met him, and every time they met, that he was safe there

“Oh... I’m sorry”

“Nah, don’t be. You didn’t turn me”

“But still...”

“I have the feeling we both had kind of crappy childhoods”

Keith nodded, Lance noting the pain in the hunter’s eyes, he didn’t like it

“But look at us now! A vampire sitting in the sun, and a hunter who doesn’t know how to relax”

Keith dropped his head, Lance expecting to be scolded for “doing that” again

“I’m talking too much, aren’t I?”

Keith raised his head

“I don’t know. I’ve never lived with anyone other Shiro and Adam, not for years. You say a lot of things I hate, but now we’re getting on and it’s weird”

Lance gaped, before smiling

“I know right. I don’t know what to do when you ask me if I’m okay. I’m like, waiting for you to yell at me or try to kill me again, and then you don’t and I’m like why not?”

“I keep thinking you’re going to kill me in my sleep, and then you don’t. And you keep doing weird things that make me feel weird. You didn’t have to go out of your way. You didn’t have to buy lactose free milk”

“I didn’t want to make you sick. You might be a total dick, but that’s just being cruel”

“I tried to kill you”

“You poisoned yourself”

“I yelled at you”

“You still do”

Keith shook his head with a sigh

“I don’t get it”

“I don’t get it either. I don’t get why we seem to be getting on better. You should hate me”

“I do. I mean... I still think you did something to me”

Lance’s undead heart gave a strange leap of concern

“Coran said there was nothing wrong, didn’t he? It was a clean bill of health?”

“That’s what he said, but how am I supposed to believe him when I’ve only just met him?”

“You can’t go wrong believing in Coran”

“He helps werewolves and vampires... he’s not even human”

“Exactly, he helps. If Shiro trusted him...”

“Then I should... but...”

“It’s not easy to trust when you’ve been kicked to the curb?”

Keith nodded at him

“Yeah, exactly. And Shiro’s not even here. I don’t have a target and I don’t know what to do”

“I don’t know what to do either”

“At least you have a job”

“Giving people advice for next to nothing...”

“It’s still something”

With Keith around, Lance had been pretty neglectful of work. He really should check his emails and contact his clients...

“I suppose so. It usually keeps me busy... I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m not exactly a people person anymore”

Keith snorted

“I don’t think I’m in any position to judge”

“You’re alright. Pidge and Hunk wouldn’t be so gung-ho about you if you weren’t”

“I don’t get why they want to be my friend. I’ll be gone sooner rather than later”

Yeah. That was right too. Keith would be gone... a stupid prang if loneliness hit him out of the blue

“Yeah. Yeah. I suppose so... off to fight more vampires?”

“Probably. I go wherever I’m sent”

“Don’t you get scared?”

“Not really... if they’re hurting people then someone has to step up”

“Yeah. Keith, can I ask you something?”

“We’re already talking?”

Lance snorted, okay, he’d deserved that one

“Can you look up the status of vampires. Like if they’re alive or dead?”

Keith immediately frowned

“I can. I can ask Shiro, but that kind of thing usually requires permission”

Lance nodded. He’d expected that

“Okay. I was just wondering”

“You want me to find out if Nyma and Rolo are still alive?”

Just their names made Lance feel sick to his stomach. He’d wanted to ask Coran for so long, but was ashamed that he wanted to know. Shiro poking around could bring trouble... He didn’t want Keith and Shiro to be in any danger from those two

“Not if it’s going to get you into trouble... I just...”

“I can ask. Shiro’s been a Blame member longer than I have”

“No. No, it’s okay. It’s stupid really. They probably don’t think about me at all”

“It’s important to you, isn’t it?”

“They’re in the past. They’re not the kind of vampires you want to meet. I don’t want them knowing about you and Shiro”

“There’s databases for this kind of thing. The Blades take agent safety seriously”

“No. No... If I know... I’m stuck knowing, either way”

“That must be hard”

“Remembering? Humans don’t know how lucky they are. That pain you feel, it gets better with time, but... I’m already scared. I’m scared of when Blue will die. I’m scared of seeing her in any other way than alive. I’m scared that Pidge or Hunk will find out and hate me. I know... that I’m not supposed to be scared... but... Sorry. Sorry. I shouldn’t be letting my emotions get the better of me”

“You shouldn’t apologise so easily”

“When you get old, you feel like there’s a whole lot to apologise for. You’ll get it someday”

“No. I don’t think I will. You didn’t ask to be turned. You didn’t ask to be turning again... you should be mad”

“I’ve been a vampire for a long time now. Madness kind of fades away to acceptance”

“It shouldn’t. You were a kid”

“I was a shit of a kid. I always wanted to be liked...”

“Pfft, doesn’t every kid?”

“Probably. I don’t know. I broke my family and even after 36 years, I’m still fucking dumb”

“You’re not dumb... you’re stupid”

Keith seemed to really be searching for another word during the pause on his sentence, only for to him come up with “stupid”. The hunter’s eloquence rivalled his bullheadedness

“Geez, thanks”

“You know what I mean”

“I don’t know if I do... We should head in soon. Pidge and Hunk are going to be here shortly”

“How can you tell?”

“It’s the afternoon. With those two, it’s always best to be prepared for anything”

Keith dropped the piece grass he’d been playing with, his hands coming up to rub at his face

“I don’t know how to deal with them”

“Go take a shower and I’ll make you another coffee”

“I don’t know if coffee’s gonna help”

“Pidge would kill you for speaking such blasphemous words. According to her, coffee fixes everything”

“I’ll remember that for the day she spills coffee in her laptop”

Lance shuddered

“Don’t even joke about that. It happened in college... and fuck, I was honestly considering changing my name and moving to a new country. It’s not a sight you want to see”

“Noted. I mean, I guess I can force myself to have another coffee”

“That’s the spirit. Let’s get you inside, samurai”

“Samurai?”

Lance shrugged

“With all your martial arts and that... I mean, that looked like karate you were doing”

“Lance, samurais have swords”

[asfeedin]

The Best Mother’s Day Gifts to Keep Isolated Moms in Good Spirits

When I was growing up, Mother’s Day celebrations always took place at my great uncle David’s house. We’d sit at a big round table, eating heavily buttered Lender’s bagels. The conversation was often over my head, which didn’t really matter because I’d escape as soon as possible to play my uncle’s ancient Frogger, pretty much the only video game I’ve ever played in my life.

This year, I find myself looking back on that time in black-and-white, so unattainable that I almost can’t believe it ever happened. I’d love to spend Mother’s Day sitting around the table with my family and eating wonderfully crappy bagels. But this year I’m in quarantine in Brooklyn, with my mom in Boston and my family spread out all over the country. Many of you, I’m sure, are feeling the same way, longing for the chance to hang with your mom but unable to do so.

It’s also likely that there are those of you who might be quarantined with your mom and wishing you could have a little more distance. So this year, whether you’re 100 miles or 100 paces apart, we have a few gifts in mind to make this difficult period in history a little more celebratory and comforting.

A few tips: If you’re in quarantine with your mom, try using this new equipment or enjoying these tasty snacks together. And if you’re apart, have a Zoom session to experiment in the kitchen with each other. Of course, it’s possible your mom relishes her time in the kitchen because it’s the only moment of alone time she gets in the day. So, in that case, give your gift. Then give the woman some privacy.

For Cooking and Baking

Tagine

A new piece of cooking equipment is a nice way to help Mom expand her repertoire. This beautiful tagine makes for an impressive cooking vessel and serving dish. Pair it with a printed-out (dare I say, laminated?) recipe for a flavorful North African stew for cozy nights in.

This particular tagine, which is handmade in Tunisia, comes in a few different colors, so you can select whichever one suits your mom’s preferred color palette. Better yet, pick one to match her kitchen, and she can keep it on display all year long.

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Rice Cooker

Whether it’s burned, gloopy, dry, or just plain glued to the pan, a bad batch of rice is a deeply disappointing experience. But a good rice cooker takes all guesswork out of the equation. The Cuckoo model shown here is our favorite for cooks who regularly purchase and eat lots of different rice varieties (you can see our other picks in our full rice cooker review). If that’s your mom, she’ll enjoy all of the custom presets the Cuckoo has to offer. What’s more, this machine has a small footprint, which will be appreciated by apartment and house moms alike.

Pick one of these up for her, and save her from disappointing-rice hell for the true gift that keeps on giving.

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Vitamix

Maybe Mom’s a smoothie person, or maybe she’s into milling her own flour (what with flour being out of stock these days, maybe we should all do this). For that, she’ll need a kick-ass blender. Our exhaustive testing of high-powered blending lands on the Vitamix as a go-to for blasting through everything from wheat berries to fibrous kale.

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Quality Wooden Cutting Board

Like the Vitamix, a quality wooden cutting board is an investment piece. While the price may be high, if you take care of this board, it will take care of you—and your knives.

For a really nice board, we look to The BoardSmith, a small, family-run company that makes all its boards by hand. Its maple end-grain board is thick, solid, and long-lasting (Daniel’s been using his for years!). It comes in a few different sizes and offers some customizations like a juice groove and feet.

If you’re worried about your mom handling the upkeep, we’ve got her covered. Just print out our cheat sheet for cutting board maintenance, and she’ll be good to go.

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Chef’s Knife

Like my mom, maybe yours has been using the same knives for years. To remedy that dull situation, grab her a new chef’s knife. You can go Japanese or Western—Western blades tend to be heavier and more curved than their Japanese counterparts—but these two took home the top prizes in our chef’s knife review—out of a whopping 27 candidates! They’ll revitalize your mom’s knife skills and make slicing and dicing much safer.

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Mortar and Pestle

If she’s all set on knives, I’d recommend a mortar and pestle. There’s a wide variety of styles and use cases. Sure, they’re ideal for grinding up sauces and pestos, but no matter what style you opt for, they’re guaranteed to help Mom work out some stress and anxiety, too. *Take that, quarantine!*

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Piping Tips

There’s lots to get for your mom if she’s into baking. If she already has the essentials, treat her to some decorative tools like piping tips. These large ones are perfect for piping out creamy Oreo filling and dollops of chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream onto cakes. The set comes with several different shapes like swirls and stars, so she can get as creative as she’d like.

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Marble Pastry Slab

This marble pastry slab isn’t just a pretty base. It’s a smooth and cool surface for rolling out buttery pie crusts, laminating dough, and even tempering chocolate. It’s also good-looking enough to act as a serving platter for all those baked goods. And what mom doesn’t love a multitasker?

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Scale

If your mom is just starting out on her baking adventures, she needs a good scale. We’ve said it time and again, but measuring cups aren’t accurate enough on their own. Sure, she should have some, but a scale is indispensable if she’s going to produce beautiful breads, pastries, and treats.

We especially love this pull-out scale from OXO because it’ll show measurements even if there’s a big bowl on top of it. And lord knows we’re into batch-baking right now. The bigger the bowl, the better.

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Baking Dish

This Staub baking dish is another multitasker that Mom will love. The “splurge winner” for our baking and casserole dish review, it’s nice and heavy, it’s oven-safe at up to a whopping 575°F (300°C), and with excellent heat retention, it’ll keep what she’s made hot longer than the average baking dish. With a four-quart capacity, it’s large enough to hold not just brownies but roasts and big, holiday-friendly casseroles.

Maybe instead of wrapping this one, make a huge Hasselback potato gratin, serve it, and tell her it’s all for her.

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Baking Steel

Maybe now’s the time to get Mom into pizza-making. (That’s what’s happening to us, anyway.) For better, faster pizza at home, pick her up a Baking Steel to get that crust extra-crispy. Upon trying his own, Kenji noticed that his New York–style pizza dough even got those traditional oven-charred spots and a super-crisp bottom that’s hard to achieve, even with a pizza stone.

The Baking Steel will also prove useful if Mom is into baking bread, since it can measurably improve the performance of her oven by adding thermal mass. This means it’ll keep her oven hotter, ensuring those loaves get a full rise.

In layman’s terms, a Baking Steel is a piece of kitchen badassery that anyone would love. Plus, it’s too heavy to return, so she’ll keep it forever no matter what.

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KitchenAid Pasta Roller Set

For homemade pasta and ramen noodles as good (if not better) than what you’ll find at restaurants, pick up a KitchenAid pasta roller that will attach right to her mixer. You can even print out our exhaustive walk-through of how to make fresh pasta from scratch. It’s more reliable than anyone else in the family.

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A Supportive Floor Mat

It might not seem critical, but having a supportive mat on the kitchen floor can make cooking (and dish-washing) much more comfortable for cooks of any age. These GelPro mats are nice and squishy, providing good support for feet and knees. Maybe it’s not glamorous, but it’s a gift she’ll appreciate after a long day in the kitchen.

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A Chic Apron

This linen apron from Etsy is as functional as it is good-looking. It has a big pocket for thermometers and tongs, and it doesn’t have annoying ties, which is perhaps its greatest appeal. Mom can just slip it on and get cooking.

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For the Home

Robot Vacuum

It’s an indisputable fact that the worst part of cooking is cleaning. That’s why this year we’ve added a good vacuum to the list. And not just any vacuum, but one that requires almost zero energy from your mom. It’s an iRobot Roomba. Plug this baby in, turn it on, and let it go. It’ll pick up all of those stray crumbs in the kitchen and living room. And if your mom is anything like me, she’ll name her robot vacuum, start to talk to it, and by the end of quarantine, she’ll have made a new, very helpful friend.

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Wine Glasses

While mom is sitting back and relaxing, letting the Roomba do the work, make sure she has everything she needs for a nice self-care session. That should start with a nice glass of wine. (Yes, the wine should be nice, but the glass should be, too!) These reasonably priced (for crystal) glasses from Riedel did exceptionally well in our tests, impressing professional sommeliers (and yes, the casual wine-drinkers among us) with their ability to capture the aroma of red, white, and bubbly wines.

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Otherland Candles

Pair that glass of wine with a nice candle, and you’ll really be in business. For candle-gifting these days, I’ve been using Otherland, a company founded by an old high school friend of mine. The candles smell wonderful, they’re handmade (and free of parabens and chemicals), and the packaging looks like a gift unto itself.

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Breville Espresso Machine

If your mom is an espresso drinker, help her sip in style with a fancy espresso machine. This is actually the machine we use in our office (not that we’ve been there in what feels like an eternity). It produces beautiful espresso, is easy to use, and can even whip up frothy milk! Sure, it costs a whole lot, but Mom’s worth it.

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Jono Pandolfi Espresso Cup

So maybe you won’t be splurging on that espresso machine, but you can still help her sip in style with a Jono Pandolfi espresso cup. These beautiful little cups are all handmade. Plus, they’re dishwasher-safe, which as far as I can tell, is the best gift anyone could ask for.

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Parlor Coffee Subscription

You could also treat your coffee-loving mom to a subscription from Parlor Coffee and support a small business in the process. They source their beans from all over the world, offering single blends and origins, plus weekly and monthly shipping.

Better yet, grab yourself a subscription as well, especially if it’s been hard finding coffee at the grocery store.

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Powerful Coffee Grinder

If you’re going to treat Mom to good coffee, make sure she has a good grinder to match. Baratza’s Virtuoso coffee grinder was a favorite in our review. The conical burr produces a wide range of grind sizes, the machine is solid (made from both metal and plastic), and the customer service is excellent, which is important when your caffeine intake is on the line.

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For Eating: The Sweet Edition

Beautiful Caramels

Our new features editor, Daniela, says that while pastry chef’s Susanna Yoon’s chocolates are some of the best in the country, her soft caramels are the sleeper hit. They come in rich flavors like raspberry, brown butter macadamia nut, sea salt, and salted peanut, and they’re available in 10- and 20-piece gift packs. Each luscious little caramel is individually wrapped in cellophane paper for a delicious little treat far more elegant and elevated than any supermarket brand.

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Raaka Chocolates

If you do want to go the chocolate route, pick up some Raaka chocolate bars. This trio pack comes with wild flavors like pink sea salt and bourbon cask–aged. What’s more, the wrappers are a piece of art themselves. They’ll make Mom’s chocolate break all the more glorious and exciting.

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Real-Deal Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

We’ve long championed this chocolate-hazelnut spread from our friends over at Gustiamo. It’s rich, luscious, and might just ruin the original. Is that a bad thing? Perhaps. But once Mom’s hooked, you can make sending her a jar of Gustiamo’s concoction a regular thing. Birthdays, holidays—send a jar, and you’ll be all set.

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Pistachio Brittle

This Iranian toffee from Persian Basket is flavored with saffron and cardamom. It’s nice and sweet, just like English toffee, and it’s topped with toasty pistachios. The buttery hunks are packaged in a lovely, colorful box—and the website says the toffee pairs well with wine. No mom could say no to that.

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Pistachio Spread

Our founder, Ed, is constantly praising Gustiamo’s pistachio spread (which we hope he shares with his wife when he has it!). While it’s a pricey everyday purchase, this pistachio spread makes for a very special gift, made with Italian pistachios and little else.

While you could obviously just dive in with a spoon, this rich treat would also taste excellent spread over your morning toast, smothered on a sticky bun, or drizzled over ice cream.

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Frog Hollow Citrus Basket

I suppose citrus would fall under the sweet category as well. If Mom always has lemon in her water or is constantly digging into grapefruits, get her a gift box from Frog Hollow Citrus. This farm has been practicing regenerative agriculture since your mom was in her early days. Giving her one of its boxes packed with citrus is an excellent way to send a little sunshine even in the depths of quarantine doldrums.

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Bergamot Marmalade

Of course, if she prefers that citrus on her toast, then add some bergamot marmalade to her Gustiamo order. For the uninitiated, bergamot is a citrus fruit that’s sort of a cross between bitter oranges and lemons. In other words, the perfect pairing to hot biscuits and English muffins.

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For Eating: The Savory Stuff

A Great Spice Mix

My love for this particular spice mix is undying. Filled with pink Himalayan sea salt, grains of paradise, shallots, garlic, and more, the World’s Fair Barbecue Rub is versatile and delicious. It transforms everything it touches, from eggs to steak to tomato sauce. Whenever I feel like a dish is just a little bit bland, I add a few sprinkles, and it turns the whole thing right around. Starting at $6.99, a bag or glass jar of this mix from The Spice House is an excellent, affordable, and useful gift for Mom. (She’s over tchotchkes and so are we.)

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A Spice Set

I happen to know some moms whose pantry is full of old spices that have basically lost all of their flavor and are now just dust particles. If this is your mom, consider getting her a new set of spices to revitalize her collection. We’re particularly enamored with this gift set from Burlap & Barrel, which has all of the essentials. As Daniel puts it, these spices are not just fresher than what you’ll find elsewhere, but they’re “er-er,” which is his way of saying that they’re “better in every way from the ho-hum stuff on supermarket shelves.” If that isn’t an endorsement, then I don’t know what is.

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Sichuan Peppercorns

Málà is that wonderful flavor you taste and feel when you’re eating Sichuan cuisine. And that hot and numbing sensation comes from Sichuan peppercorns. If you want the good stuff, look to Mala Market, a small company that imports all of its ingredients straight from China. Their Sichuan peppercorns will give your chili crisp more buzz—and will be your mom’s gateway into the wide world of Sichuan cooking.

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AeroGarden

Whether your mom has a green thumb or a black thumb, she’ll revel in an AeroGarden. Especially during this time of quarantine and limited grocery trips, having an AeroGarden is not only satisfying but useful. Without much effort at all, your mom could have all the herbs she could ever want growing just about anywhere in the house, regardless of her natural-light situation.

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Lots of Pasta

We cannot get enough pasta here at Serious Eats. (Did you even see Starch Madness?) While we’re perfectly happy eating pasta from supermarket brands, sometimes we like to splurge, and the splurge is almost always at Gustiamo, which imports Faella dried pasta from Italy. During Covid times, Gustiamo is offering five-pound bags of certain shapes, including penne. While mom is trying to stay home, there’s probably nothing better to gift her than a gigantic bag of pasta. The fact that it’s from Italy and is really, really delicious? Well, that’s just icing on the pasta cake.

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Meat From D’Artagnan

Now it’s time to talk meat. Our culinary team has long looked to D’Artagnan for specialty meats, like porcelet collar and duck. And when shelves at grocery stores are bare and you want to fill your freezer, D’Artagnan is a great place to look. While the steaks and specialty meats can be pricey, I’d look to the ground beef as a gift. Sure, it’s not sexy, but wait, what am I talking about? A good burger is definitely sexy.

If you’re quarantined with Mom and you decide to go the duck route, you’re in luck. We have all sorts of recipes from our duckstravaganza. Maybe go for a group project and dry-age your duck for the best duck breast either of you will have ever had.

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Pantry-Friendly ‘Nduja

You’ve also likely seen us talking a lot about ‘nduja lately. Why? It’s an affordable pantry ingredient that can amp up all sorts of dishes, from casual beans and greens to mac and cheese and even eggs. Better still, ‘nduja lasts for ages in the fridge, so Mom can take a scoop whenever the mood strikes.

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[elizabethcariasa]

Toddler Feeding Essentials: 18 months

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Can we first talk about Otis’ tiny cute smile and those long flowing hair locks?!?! HOW CUTE IS HE. It’s always wild even looking back at photos from 1 month ago because he is just growing so fast. I love sharing bits and pieces of Otis’ journey through the world with you and feeding has been a popular topic. I last updated you on baby feeding tips and baby led weaning and starting solid foods here. At almost 18 months (next week!) there isn’t much that Otis won’t eat. He’s always been pretty adventurous when it comes to food and really has a zest for it. Mealtime is one of my favorites that we get to sit down and spend quality time together. Our breakfast chats over coffee are my favorite way to start the day. Sometimes we even share a meal with Otis’ grandparents and get to video them in while eating. So it’s become a really special little chunk of time for all us. Otis loves his eggs, fruit and waffles in the morning and is currently on a yogurt smoothy kick! His favorite fruit is currently blueberries and loves when Blake make’s bbq chicken on the grill. He is obsessed with brocollini and I think the only thing he has refused to eat because of the flavor is kale. And you know what, I don��t blame him. HA! I find such joy watching him eat and enjoy and excited to share all the items we are using and loving now.

Toddler Feeding Essentials: 18 months

1 grabease baby utensils: These have been out favorite utensils for Otis. The come recommended by occupational therapists and I love the choke protection shield to make sure they can’t swallow them. The handles are very ergonomic for his little hands and because they are shorter it’s easier for him to get the food into his mouth. We use both the fork and spoon and also own their toothbrush that we love as well.

2. stokke tripp trapp highchair: This high chair is pricey but we were lucky to have someone get it for us off our baby registry. I will say I think it’s worth every penny after using it for 1.5 years already. What I love is that it is super easy to clean and wipe down. Some of the pieces are dishwasher safe which also makes my life easier. Another amazing thing is that is very adjustable. So the chair is able to grow with baby from the newborn stages to toddler. The foot rest board is adjustable so it keeps them comfortable while they eat. Imagine sitting at a bar stool with no foot rest?? So many high chairs don’t have adjustable foot rests and this is a game changer. Also it’s aesthetically pleasing and blends in with our decor which is always an added bonus. I often get questions on how I keep the straps clean and the chair white. My secret is using a bib (for the most part) to cover the straps. Also I clean and white the chair down after every use. The chair has a great tray but now that Otis is older, we love that we can push this highchair to the table to have him really be part of each meal and eat together.

3. lollaland lollacup: We use this cup as a water cup for all of Otis’ meals. What I love about it is the handle detaches and the straw is made up of 2 very easy to clean pieces. I love the handles since he often tends to throw his water cup around at meal time so the handle portion makes it stable on the table. You can also use the cup without the handles too. It does leak a little bit out of the straw when it’s thrown off the table, but the spillage is not bad at all.

4. gathre bib: I love how easy this bib is to just scrub in the sink. The snaps are pretty sturdy so he can’t rip it off.

5. ezpz happy mat placemat: This is one of my favorite things. I often get asked how well this mat stays on the table. I will be honest, Otis can rip any plate off. Any plate. That being said, this was been my favorite for him because of its massive footprint, it’s harder for him to peel it off so it buys me some more time before he throws it all onto the floor. Sticks well for us and love that it keeps more mess off the table. It does take up alot of room storage wise but it’s basically always in our drying rack since we use it for every meal. Also it’s dishwasher friendly which is a big plus!

6. oxo tot transitions straw cup: This has been our favorite cup for Otis’ milk. Sometimes he has milk with his meals now that he is getting older and we use this cup. I tried a bunch and I love this one because the straw itself is VERY easy to clean. It’s essential. Also you can add a handle if need be or use it without. They spill a little bit for me when thrown but not a ton. So it’s not spill-proof but pretty decent.

7. contigo kids water bottle: I picked these up and they have been easy to use for Otis. I took him to the store and made sure he was able to push the button to release the straw and he had no problems. I like being able to see how much water is in the bottle and these were the most simple patterned ones I could find.

8. inglesina fast table chair: This is one of our favorite travel highchairs. It easily clips onto most tables or bars. We brought this to restaurants when Otis was too small for the ones they provide there. I also love to bring this to a friends house so that we can clip it onto the dining room table and have dinner together. For our everyday, we have it clipped onto our kitchen island for when I need to give Otis a quick snack in the kitchen and unload the dishwasher or clean up a little.

9. hiccapop omniboost travel booster seat with tray: This has been a gem and such a great creative solution for a highchair on the go inside and outside. We have used it in hotels (pictured above) and also bring it to parks, the beach etc when we want to sit Otis down and have a snack. It has an amazing little tray that attaches to the seat so it creates a nice little on the go environment. It’s so tiny and we just keep it in our car so in a pinch we have it with us to use.

10. Contigo Spill-Proof Kids Tumbler with Straw: These have been a favorite water cup and live up to their spill-proof name. For the most part, when tipped over it truly is spill-proof. Of course when it get’s really hot, I have noticed the water will bubble up the straw and spill out. But we love it and have a few. Also love that I can see the liquid level and the straws are super easy to clean in just 2 pieces.

11. contigo 13oz stainless steel kids autospout water bottle: This is similar to the clear water bottles but this is a good insulated version to bring to the park with us.

12. bapron bib: I LOVE these bibs because Otis can not rip them off. You put their arms through and tie behind their back so they really can’t take it off. These are machine washable which are amazing. I will say I wasn’t diligent washing them enough and really scrubbing after every meal and they can get a little smelly. So make sure to remember to give them a machine wash to keep them from getting smelly.

13. ezpz mini mat: This is the smaller version of the bigger mat we have. I have a few of these and I bring them to restaurants or use them when I don’t need my big mat. Super easy to clean and also dishwasher friendly.

14. skiphop zoo insulated food jar: I love to use this insulated jar for cold or hot foods from home on the go. I mostly use for cold foods and use it to stow cut up fruit etc.

15. munchkin snack catcher cup: Otis loves his snacks and I have a million snack cups. This is one of my favorites.

16. skiphop zoo snack cup: Another favorite snack cup because the animal designs are adorable and the lid is attached which makes for less food spilling all over the place.

As a reminder I have discount code for the Feeding Littles feeding courses which I bought and used for Otis. I can not say enough good things about them. They are such an incredible resource for feeding ideas and tips especially for Toddlers. They were kind enough to offer $10 off either course with code: EATSLEEPWEAR since I blab on and on about them constantly

It was such a valuable resource for us personally (and continues to be) and I am sure that it’s what has helped us nurture the adventurous little eater Otis is today.

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[kurtwarren54]

Toddler Feeding Essentials: 18 months

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Can we first talk about Otis’ tiny cute smile and those long flowing hair locks?!?! HOW CUTE IS HE. It’s always wild even looking back at photos from 1 month ago because he is just growing so fast. I love sharing bits and pieces of Otis’ journey through the world with you and feeding has been a popular topic. I last updated you on baby feeding tips and baby led weaning and starting solid foods here. At almost 18 months (next week!) there isn’t much that Otis won’t eat. He’s always been pretty adventurous when it comes to food and really has a zest for it. Mealtime is one of my favorites that we get to sit down and spend quality time together. Our breakfast chats over coffee are my favorite way to start the day. Sometimes we even share a meal with Otis’ grandparents and get to video them in while eating. So it’s become a really special little chunk of time for all us. Otis loves his eggs, fruit and waffles in the morning and is currently on a yogurt smoothy kick! His favorite fruit is currently blueberries and loves when Blake make’s bbq chicken on the grill. He is obsessed with brocollini and I think the only thing he has refused to eat because of the flavor is kale. And you know what, I don’t blame him. HA! I find such joy watching him eat and enjoy and excited to share all the items we are using and loving now.

Toddler Feeding Essentials: 18 months

1 grabease baby utensils: These have been out favorite utensils for Otis. The come recommended by occupational therapists and I love the choke protection shield to make sure they can’t swallow them. The handles are very ergonomic for his little hands and because they are shorter it’s easier for him to get the food into his mouth. We use both the fork and spoon and also own their toothbrush that we love as well.

2. stokke tripp trapp highchair: This high chair is pricey but we were lucky to have someone get it for us off our baby registry. I will say I think it’s worth every penny after using it for 1.5 years already. What I love is that it is super easy to clean and wipe down. Some of the pieces are dishwasher safe which also makes my life easier. Another amazing thing is that is very adjustable. So the chair is able to grow with baby from the newborn stages to toddler. The foot rest board is adjustable so it keeps them comfortable while they eat. Imagine sitting at a bar stool with no foot rest?? So many high chairs don’t have adjustable foot rests and this is a game changer. Also it’s aesthetically pleasing and blends in with our decor which is always an added bonus. I often get questions on how I keep the straps clean and the chair white. My secret is using a bib (for the most part) to cover the straps. Also I clean and white the chair down after every use. The chair has a great tray but now that Otis is older, we love that we can push this highchair to the table to have him really be part of each meal and eat together.

3. lollaland lollacup: We use this cup as a water cup for all of Otis’ meals. What I love about it is the handle detaches and the straw is made up of 2 very easy to clean pieces. I love the handles since he often tends to throw his water cup around at meal time so the handle portion makes it stable on the table. You can also use the cup without the handles too. It does leak a little bit out of the straw when it’s thrown off the table, but the spillage is not bad at all.

4. gathre bib: I love how easy this bib is to just scrub in the sink. The snaps are pretty sturdy so he can’t rip it off.

5. ezpz happy mat placemat: This is one of my favorite things. I often get asked how well this mat stays on the table. I will be honest, Otis can rip any plate off. Any plate. That being said, this was been my favorite for him because of its massive footprint, it’s harder for him to peel it off so it buys me some more time before he throws it all onto the floor. Sticks well for us and love that it keeps more mess off the table. It does take up alot of room storage wise but it’s basically always in our drying rack since we use it for every meal. Also it’s dishwasher friendly which is a big plus!

6. oxo tot transitions straw cup: This has been our favorite cup for Otis’ milk. Sometimes he has milk with his meals now that he is getting older and we use this cup. I tried a bunch and I love this one because the straw itself is VERY easy to clean. It’s essential. Also you can add a handle if need be or use it without. They spill a little bit for me when thrown but not a ton. So it’s not spill-proof but pretty decent.

7. contigo kids water bottle: I picked these up and they have been easy to use for Otis. I took him to the store and made sure he was able to push the button to release the straw and he had no problems. I like being able to see how much water is in the bottle and these were the most simple patterned ones I could find.

8. inglesina fast table chair: This is one of our favorite travel highchairs. It easily clips onto most tables or bars. We brought this to restaurants when Otis was too small for the ones they provide there. I also love to bring this to a friends house so that we can clip it onto the dining room table and have dinner together. For our everyday, we have it clipped onto our kitchen island for when I need to give Otis a quick snack in the kitchen and unload the dishwasher or clean up a little.

9. hiccapop omniboost travel booster seat with tray: This has been a gem and such a great creative solution for a highchair on the go inside and outside. We have used it in hotels (pictured above) and also bring it to parks, the beach etc when we want to sit Otis down and have a snack. It has an amazing little tray that attaches to the seat so it creates a nice little on the go environment. It’s so tiny and we just keep it in our car so in a pinch we have it with us to use.

10. Contigo Spill-Proof Kids Tumbler with Straw: These have been a favorite water cup and live up to their spill-proof name. For the most part, when tipped over it truly is spill-proof. Of course when it get’s really hot, I have noticed the water will bubble up the straw and spill out. But we love it and have a few. Also love that I can see the liquid level and the straws are super easy to clean in just 2 pieces.

11. contigo 13oz stainless steel kids autospout water bottle: This is similar to the clear water bottles but this is a good insulated version to bring to the park with us.

12. bapron bib: I LOVE these bibs because Otis can not rip them off. You put their arms through and tie behind their back so they really can’t take it off. These are machine washable which are amazing. I will say I wasn’t diligent washing them enough and really scrubbing after every meal and they can get a little smelly. So make sure to remember to give them a machine wash to keep them from getting smelly.

13. ezpz mini mat: This is the smaller version of the bigger mat we have. I have a few of these and I bring them to restaurants or use them when I don’t need my big mat. Super easy to clean and also dishwasher friendly.

14. skiphop zoo insulated food jar: I love to use this insulated jar for cold or hot foods from home on the go. I mostly use for cold foods and use it to stow cut up fruit etc.

15. munchkin snack catcher cup: Otis loves his snacks and I have a million snack cups. This is one of my favorites.

16. skiphop zoo snack cup: Another favorite snack cup because the animal designs are adorable and the lid is attached which makes for less food spilling all over the place.

As a reminder I have discount code for the Feeding Littles feeding courses which I bought and used for Otis. I can not say enough good things about them. They are such an incredible resource for feeding ideas and tips especially for Toddlers. They were kind enough to offer $10 off either course with code: EATSLEEPWEAR since I blab on and on about them constantly

It was such a valuable resource for us personally (and continues to be) and I am sure that it’s what has helped us nurture the adventurous little eater Otis is today.

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[veganismmadeeasier]

Hi there! Seeing as today is only the 2nd day of January, I should probably start with some cliches, such as "new year = new start" or “this year is going to be your year!”. While I don’t doubt that it will be, I think the beginning of a new year is a time as good as any to start something new and make a change in your life.

If you’ve decided to join the 30 Days of Veganism, welcome and good for you! To help you start off well, I’ve put together a list of vegan kitchen staples that my recipes are based on. It will be easier to prepare all those delicious meals if you have all the necessary ingredients at hand!

Fruit: Buy it fresh if you can, although frozen fruit also works great, especially in smoothies. Berries are a great source of antioxidants, cherries and kiwis contain lots of vitamin C, as well as mangos which also have vitamin A. I also use lots of bananas as a base for my smoothies each day; they have potassium and some protein, and they are a natural sweetener!

Veggies: I prefer to buy mine fresh but, again, frozen vegetables also work well; simply depends on what is easily available/cheaper in your country. When it comes to making stir-fry or salad bowls, just choose the veggies you like the most. What I use the most often are tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, sweetcorn, beetroots, and different types of potatoes. Sweet potatoes especially have a lot of vitamin A! Different recipes that I’ll be posting are not strict in terms of ingredients so feel free to substitute with whatever vegetables you have lying around.

Beans: These are a very important part of my meals. In savory dishes beans are my main source of protein (if not using tofu). There are many different kinds so choose whichever you enjoy the most. I usually buy my beans in cans so they are ready to eat right away instead of having to soak them overnight.

Grains: I base most of my meals on grains such as oats for breakfast and quinoa, couscous, buckwheat, different types of rice for lunch and dinner. I also use rice noodles for a lot of dishes as they are very quick to make. Most grains are also a great source of protein in addition to beans.

Greens: I try to include a large portion of dark leafy greens in at least one of my meals every day. They keep you hydrated, provide a nice amount of protein and are a good source of iron (spinach) and vitamin A and calcium (kale).

Healthy fats: In a plant-based diet, these come mainly from nuts and nut butters, avocado, and hummus. They are super important for proper hormone function, especially in women. Hummus and nut butters (especially peanut butter) also contain protein.

Plant milk: I love how many tasty varieties there are! My favourites include rice, oat and coconut milk. Many plant milks are fortified with calcium, vitamin D and B12 which is critical to remember about when on a plant-based diet (more below). Additionally, soy milk has a lot of protein. I use plant milk every day in smoothies or oatmeal, and also when baking.

Other protein sources and ’superfoods': Hopefully by now you can see that it’s not at all difficult to get an adequate protein intake from a plant-based diet, which is what many people fear the most. But there are more protein sources, for example ones that can be used as smoothie bowl/oatmeal toppings: chia seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds. In addition to being high in protein, they all also contain essential omega-3 fatty acids and minerals (more below).

As for savory dishes toppings, nutritional yeast - also known as vegan cheese - is a great source of protein. It’s often fortified with vitamin B12, too! Another topping I use are sesame seeds which also contain a lot of protein.

In addition to those natural protein sources, I use plant-based protein powders every day in my smoothies. My favorites are unflavored hemp, pea, and rice protein. Don’t worry about them tasting bad - when combined with fruit and plant milk, you can barely notice the taste.

Even though not necessary, ‘superfoods' are great to include in any diet. Because the vegan diet incorporates so many nutritious foods, you shouldn’t be worried about not getting in enough of most vitamins or nutrients - but it definitely doesn’t hurt to add some more sometime along the way. Some of the most popular and my favorite vegan ‘superfoods' are spirulina and maca powders. They are not the cheapest; however, you don’t need to use a lot of them so they last you a very long time. Spirulina in particular has tons of protein and maca contains a lot of absorbable calcium and magnesium. It also gives you an energy boost and naturally balances your hormones!

Supplements: Despite the abundance of nutrients in the vegan diet, there are some vitamins and minerals you either cannot get from vegan foods or you should pay close attention to their intake. The one vitamin you should definitely be supplementing is B12. It’s not only vegans who cannot get adequate B12 amounts from food but also vegetarians. Despite plant milks and some other products with added B12, most of us probably don’t consume enough of those products to get enough of the vitamin. Therefore, the easiest solution is to take B12 supplements in form of pills.

Other important things to consider are minerals such as iron, magnesium, and calcium. I’ve already mentioned vegan foods rich in all of those, namely chia, hemp and flax seeds. Aren’t they great? So much love for them!

Other foods which are high in iron include spinach and kale. While you may eat those things frequently, iron is not so easily absorbed from those food sources. Ways to increase iron absorption include adding foods containing vitamin C to a meal. Fortunately, kale - as an example - contains high amounts of both so it’s a perfect way to boost your iron absorption! Magnesium can be found in dark leafy greens and different types of seeds and nuts, such as pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, brazil nuts, almonds and cashews. As mentioned above, maca powder also contains easily absorbable magnesium.

As for calcium, collard greens, tofu and other forms of soy contain large amounts. However, blackstrap molasses have the highest amount of calcium but many people dislike its taste. Other sources include kale, tahini, almond butter, and maca powder.

Whoa, so that’s it! I’d like to say “in short” but it definitely was not short. I tried to give you as much information as possible without writing launching into a super long rant. Of course, definitely not everything was mentioned about different food groups, vitamins and nutrients. Hopefully you can use the above to get started though! Good luck, enjoy and come back soon for some new recipes!

[atlantias]

date #2 of 2017

so i saw the 22 year old TA again from this story and it was actually one of the best dates i ever had. we spent a long time together so get ready for it lol

he planned on taking me to this cove right by the ocean to show me the night sky with all the stars and the moon in all their glory and he was obsessing over the sky being just perfect with minimal clouds

so i drive to his house n im not as nervous as i was from the first story. he invites me in and i sit in his kitchen as he makes a smoothie lmaooo it was actually kinda grody....spinach, kale, mango flavored fish oil, and blueberries was the combination. he got me to try it and i was lowkey disgusted and he laughed a lot at my reaction lol. i learned he was just casually reading a book of war poetry by WWI poets and i was like shit dude ur intelligent...

i told him i didn’t eat dinner and that i was gna eat mcdonalds (i remember from the last date that he didn’t enjoy mcdonalds) and he actually was down to go! as we drove on the way there we talked more music n stuff and he let me look at his music and i got to choose the songs!! he and i like the same shit! blink 182, the killers (my fav), flume, joywave, old fall out boy, etc. also come to find out he likes one of my FAV SONGS EVERRR (i actually found it on tumblr 23858 years ago here and i had never met anyone else who knew about the song). he and i sang it together n i felt so happy. he’s super into films and we bonded over how we liked the inclusion of alfred hitchcock’s psycho into the song.

so we eat our mcdonalds n blast music and we decide to watch bates motel (neither of us had seen it) because it related to psycho lol. he and i cuddled on the couch and after a couple of episodes we took a break and i actually MET HIS MOM????? his mom was pretty and very sweet. she asked me about myself and was very inviting and kind. i was so surprised to meet his mom..... and i was surprised by how comfortable i felt. it was a nice contrast from experiences with my ex in which i freaked out about meeting his family weeks in advance and i didn’t feel comfortable during the introductions when i finally met them. 

at one point we ran out to his car and he drove to the cove but unfortunately it was so cloudy you couldn’t see anything. however, we did walk out a little bit to hear the ocean and i smiled up at the moon thanking the moon for being there for everything n for giving me these rly nice moments ill remember forever. i thanked the moon for sharing this contentment with me. he also showed me some of his fav places in the town growing up, mostly places he smoked weed lmao

when we got back to his house, we kept watching bates motel and honestly he reminds me of freddie highmore from bates motel bc they’re both a lil quirky and nerdy and totally dorky. he even mentioned how he is like freddie highmore “when it comes to things like this” right before he turned my head to kiss me :) then we just started making out and at one point he just laid his head down on me as i was stroking his hair and rubbing his back and it was genuinely one of the most calming experiences ever. he told me my hair smells good and i confessed that he smells good everywhere lol. i apologized for blue balling him at one point and he told me it was totally fine and didn’t make me feel bad about being on my period. he told me he was falling asleep on me and so we ended up going up to his bedroom. he gave me an oversized t shirt he brought back from college with the word "fargo” (the capital of north dakota) on it, the place his mom his from.

up in his bedroom we cuddle, and i notice how neatly i fit into his arms and intertwined with his body. it’s not uncomfortable, it’s not too hot, our bones don’t hurt each other, and our breathing is in sync. our heartbeats are straight up the same rate. he smells really good too. he smells like a home. we started making out more and for a second time i apologized for blue balling him. he told me not to worry about it because he knew there was a chance we wouldn’t have sex and he was okay with it bc he still wanted to hang out with me. we talked a lil in the dark (where i feel the most safest) and we talked about our relationships with our parents and our families and our struggles as divorced kids. 

in the morning at 7:30, i noticed he got up and left and didn’t come back to bed. i rolled over and he had left me a note on his pillow next to me apologizing about the indigestion he got from the blueberries from his smoothie the night before. he wrote “feel free to wake me up if you rise before me” LOL. it was cute. i wanted to spend more time with him, so i headed down to his basement where he was sleeping on the couch. i asked him if he had to get up at a certain time in the morning and he said no, so i ended up canceling my work, lying about a car problem. he welcomed me on the couch, tucking me in under the covers, but 2 minutes later i told him he could come back up to bed. 

we cuddled more in bed, i didn’t really let him sleep lol and we talked more. he asked me about my favorite books and we talked about our friends and china and just random topics. we stayed in bed for 3 more hours haha :) we made out a couple more times too and he told me he likes my icy cold feet. he keeps me warm n i smile a lot when im with him :) i felt super comfortable with him, we were able to banter. at one point i said “i like hanging out with you” really softly and he went “what?” and i repeated it just a bit louder and he said “what?” again but then said “im kidding, i like hanging out with you too” and i got pretend mad at him by turning my back to him and telling him he’s an asshole and it was cute. he told me we fit together like puzzle pieces and i was like wow is he a real human being???? this is so random but i taught him a lil about periods (he’s an only child n never learned about these things) 

fast forward, we go to a diner that i had always wanted to go to! and he pays! wow! we talk about random shit like fav movies and school and food. i dared him to eat an entire gob of botter and to chug the small glass of maple syrup; both of which he did, and i gagged each time. we also went to whole foods (my first time going) and he bought me green tea and mango mochi! at one point it was so cold that i coughed all the powder from the mochi all over myself, my phone, and his car and he laughed so hard. on the drive back to his house, i asked if i could play a song, and i played one of my fav songs, lonely lullabies by kweku collins, and he said he really liked it ahhh!!

before we parted ways, he kissed me briefly and then hugged me (picking me up ugh). i made him promise that he wouldn’t watch bates motel without me. we pinky promised and he kisses the pinky which is something i do and it made me so happy :) then he texted me later saying “that was a whole lotta fun. we should do that again soon” 

summary n notes: i like that he keeps his eyes closed when we kiss. he keeps them squeezed shut. i rly like him as a human being, he’s interesting and he’s interested in me ? confused. im kinda nervous bc our universities are 1.5 hours away from each other. his mom asked how far away our schools were when we met and he randomly asked me if i had a car at college. i rly rly do like him but i dont know what he wants or what i even want. also back at college i have a fwb that i get along with rly well as a person n this sounds so selfish but i don’t want to cut my fwb out of my life either. i have only one more week of break so i hope i see him again :)

[artsoccupychi]

Healthiest Smoothie Recipes for Each Season of the Year

In this article:

Benefits of Eating Seasonally

The Healthiest Smoothie Recipes for Each Season of the Year

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

Smoothies are so versatile! There are so many ways to make them, so many delicious combinations of foods to include.

I drink at least a quart of green smoothie a day, every day of the year, and wanted to share with you why I take care to use seasonal ingredients when possible.

I’ll also share my favorite healthiest smoothie recipes for each season of the year!

Benefits of Eating Seasonally

Green smoothies are my favorite way to get 10-15 servings of fruits and vegetables into a single meal–a feat that would have you chewing forever if you ate them separately or in salad!

And you can ramp up the already massive nutrition–and reap a number of other benefits–by paying attention to the time of year you’re eating certain foods, especially those grown locally. This practice also lines up with the ayurvedic principle that we are genetically programmed to need and respond to the foods grown in that season.

Visiting farmers’ markets is a great way to find ingredients for healthy smoothie recipes.

The benefits of eating seasonally include:

More nutrient value.

Visit your local farmers market or search in Google to figure out which fruits and vegetables are currently in season when you’re planning out your recipes. This Seasonal Food Guide is a great resource where you can plug in your location info and find out what’s growing near you. (Note that some of us in cold climates don’t have anything growing near us 6-9 months of the year. For us, what’s growing elsewhere in the world, but available to us, is what to focus on.)

When food is in season, it’s much more available to find locally––not just from farmers, but at the grocery store, too. Oftentimes food has to travel long distances before it reaches the produce section at the supermarket, and in the time from when it’s harvested to when it gets to your plate, its nutrients have been depleted.

Local food, of course, doesn’t have to travel far, so you can get it while it’s still nice and fresh.

Better flavor and texture.

Think about tomatoes in January vs. fresh-picked tomatoes in July––the flavor is unmatched in the summer. Same with fresh berries; have you ever tasted a blueberry while snow was on the ground? It’s usually gritty and unappealing.

Crops that have been allowed to ripen naturally taste infinitely better than those that have been picked unripe. When fruits and vegetables are picked before they are ready, they are chilled during transportation and then ripened artificially with chemical gases, and this process used to transport product internationally affects the flavor and texture.

Less expensive.

Out-of-season fruits and vegetables are priced high because of how far they have to travel, the storage they require, and their limited availability. It’s not uncommon to see a pint of organic berries cost upwards of $10 in the winter. When produce is in high supply locally, the cost goes down, and we can enjoy healthy meals in abundance, even on a budget.

Reduced exposure to toxins.

Small, local farmers often use organic practices, but may not be labeled organic if the cost of the certification is higher than they can afford. When you buy in season and locally, you can chat with vendors at farmers markets to see what kinds of pesticides, insecticides, and/or herbicides they are using.

Traces of pesticides and other chemicals on your food don’t belong in a healthy smoothie.

Out-of-season produce generally has to come from other countries with a different climate, and getting answers about how the food is grown is nearly impossible. If the farms are overseas, pesticide usage may be regulated differently than it is in the US. While many European countries, like Sweden and Finland, have banned certain chemicals or GMOs, others have more lax guidelines. Many foods have to be irradiated, as well, on their way into the US.

The only way to know about potential toxins with more certainty is to talk to local sellers when you’re buying seasonal foods from them.

[Related article: What Does Organic Mean? (And Should I Pay More For It Or Not?)]

Better for the environment.

Supporting local farmers isn’t just great for the local economy, but it supports a better environment for all. Buying local means you’re not supporting the transportation, refrigeration, storage, and other needs of out-of-season goods, which has financial costs as well as fuel and energy costs.

The Healthiest Smoothie Recipes for Each Season of the Year

Now that you know why it’s important to eat seasonally and more locally, here are a few smoothie recipes that capitalize on the foods that are ripe during each season.  I developed these recipes while I was raising my family, so the yield is larger than just one smoothie, making them great for sharing or for make-ahead meal prep.

Your seasonal foods may change depending where you are in the world, of course. You’ll notice that in the following recipes, not every ingredient will always be a seasonal or locally-available one, but the primary focus ingredients are seasonal for most of the U.S.

Spring

Springtime ingredients give smoothies a fresh and exciting taste.

This is the time of year when everything’s in bloom, many fruits and vegetables begin to become available and we have plenty of new greens to choose from in our smoothie recipes.

Carroty Concoction

2 ¾ cups ice water

Romaine lettuce, added until blended mixture reaches 6-cup line

2 large carrots, cut in chunks

2 stalks celery

2 cups strawberries

8 apricots or nectarines

1 cup honeydew

2 bananas

½ tsp stevia

Add ingredients one at a time and blend till smooth.

Glorious Goji

3 ½ cups water/ice

3 large handfuls spring greens

2 handfuls arugula

Spinach, added until blender mixture reaches 6 cup line

1 cup dried/soaked (or fresh) goji berries (if fresh, decrease water by ½ cup)

2 cups strawberries

2 bananas, frozen in chunks

3 oranges

⅓ cup agave (raw, organic)

Add ingredients one at a time and blend till smooth.

Summer

Watercress and other vegetables harvested in summer are powerful ingredients.

Who says smoothies have to be sweet? This mix is packed with tons of nutrients from super-fresh vegetables, and makes a great substitution for that red-tomato concoction we see on the shelves at the grocery store. This savory smoothie makes the most of summer nutrition:

Savory “V-8”

2 cups water

1 big kale leaf

2 big handfuls of spinach

1 carrot

2 tomatoes

1 handful chopped green onions

2 stalks celery

½ English cucumber or zucchini

1 tbsp flax seeds

Basil or cilantro (up to your taste!)

Juice of 1-2 lemons

Crushed red pepper, to taste (optional)

Blend together in a high-speed blender till smooth.

Cress Crush

2 ¾ cup water/ice

1 bunch watercress

3 kale leaves

Spring greens, added until blended mixture reaches 6-cup line

¼ whole lemon (including peel)

5 ripe apricots

2 ripe peaches

1 banana, frozen in chunks

1 cup blueberries

Blend together in a high-speed blender til smooth.

Fall

As a plentiful season of harvest, fall is a fantastic time to try new ingredients in your smoothie.

Nothing says fall like pumpkin pie, but nothing says health like mixing it with a veggie-packed smoothie! If you can’t find pumpkin pie spice, you can blend your own with a mix cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cloves.

Deep Purple

3 ¼ cup water/ice

1 medium beet, washed well and quartered

¼ medium purple cabbage, cut into chunks

Spinach, added until blended mixture reaches 6-cup line

2 tbsp raw honey (local, if possible)

2 tart-sweet apples

2 bananas, frozen in chunks

2 cups pineapple chunks

½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

Blend water, ice, beet, and cabbage til smooth. Add in spinach and blend until mixture reaches the 6-cup line. Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend til smooth.

Persimmon-Pear Delight

2 cups cold water

5 chard leaves

2 pears, cut in chunks

1 persimmon

2 dates

Blend till smooth in a high-powered blender.

Winter

Don’t let the cold weather stop you from drinking your daily smoothie and even getting creative with the ingredients!

In colder months, some people are less likely to enjoy smoothies because of their usually cold temperature. But many smoothies are delicious at room temperature or even warmer, so don’t let the thought that smoothies are “cold” deter you from this high-nutrition habit in the winter.

The best ingredients to use this time of year for warm smoothies are root vegetable and winter squash (like sweet potato, butternut squash, and pumpkin), apple, persimmon, and pear, and herbal roots like turmeric and ginger. All of these types of foods will help keep your immune system strong throughout the cold and flu season.

Don’t be afraid to try sweet potatoes and squashes raw in your smoothies, as well as cooked. Raw sweet potato, for instance, has every essential amino acid in it.

Sweet Potato Smoothie

1 warm, cooked sweet potato

1 ½ cups almond milk

2 tbsp almond butter

1 thumb fresh ginger

1 thumb fresh turmeric

1 scoop GreenSmoothieGirl Vanilla Shake Bone Broth Protein

2 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Blend till smooth in a high-powered blender.

Sunflower Shower

2 ¾ cup water/ice

2 oz sunflower greens (sprouts)

Romaine or bibb lettuce, added until blended mixture reaches 6-cup line

¼ whole lime (including peel)

3 plums, pits removed

2 bananas, frozen in chunks

2 apples

Frozen berries added until container is very full

Blend til smooth in a high-powered blender.

I hope these recipes will serve you year-round! Remember to make use of locally-available foods as much as possible; your bank account as well as your body will be glad you did.

Read next: How to Freeze Spinach & Other Leafy Greens for Later (with Shortcuts!)

  Robyn Openshaw, MSW, is the bestselling author of The Green Smoothies Diet, 12 Steps to Whole Foods, and 2017’s #1 Amazon Bestseller and USA Today Bestseller, Vibe. Learn more about how to make the journey painless, from the nutrient-scarce Standard American Diet, to a whole-foods diet, in her free video masterclass 12 Steps to Whole Foods.

    Disclaimer: This article may contain affiliate links, which allow you to support our mission without costing you extra.

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[josephkitchen0]

A Garden Vegetables List for Weight Loss

This garden vegetables list is packed full of easy to grow vegetables to help you reach and maintain a healthy weight. Did you know you can grow your own weight-loss food? If you’ve tried to purchase good vegetables, then you know how expensive they are getting. Growing your own is easy to do in all kinds of spaces.

Spring is a fun time of the year and it’s almost time (depending on your growing zone) to make preparations for a successful gardening year. Planning the plot and starting seeds are all fun things that I enjoy.

If you need to shed a few of those stubborn winter pounds, why not grow a few plants from my garden vegetables list to help you on your way? All of these are easy vegetables to grow and with the right bit of exercise can really give you the edge you need to look and feel your best.

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The first vegetable to come to mind when we think of weight loss is of course the tomato. It’s an intrinsic part of a salad or a BLT. In truth, it is a wonderful plant and is easy to grow. It is a fruit though and along with growing strawberries could be another topic all to itself. There are many articles written on how to care for tomato plants, so since everyone else is talking about it, I decided to focus on a few other options.

1) The Easy to Grow Cucumber

The cucumber is full of valuable water and minerals. I’m especially fond of it for smoothies and juicing. This plant is a mainstay in my garden as it can be used in salads, eaten by itself, soaked in vinegar, preserved as pickles and even grilled.

With any weight-loss diet, there’s a need to always have a diverse plate so not to lack any fiber or minerals. Cucumbers are very versatile and can be used in many different ways. I like to dehydrate them and then add them to my salads for a little something crunchy on it. Make sure to plant enough to be able to pickle, can and dehydrate as many as you need to last for months to come.

2) Celery the Low-Calorie Champion

Like the cucumber, celery is mostly water and contains almost no calories. Your body will burn more calories while you’re eating it than the stick of celery has. Celery gives you a shot of fiber and protein as well. Just make sure if you add anything to a stick of celery you keep it healthy. Some people like to dip it in all kinds of creamy dips. We like to put a little bit of organic peanut butter on it. Yummy!

3) The Goodness of Broccoli

Did you know broccoli contains no fat and the carbs are slow release? The carbohydrates are great for keeping your energy levels up long after you eat it. This helps keep your body from feeling it’s being starved and going into the cycle of binge eating which is the downfall of most diet plans. Broccoli is another food most people smother in cheese or some other sauce.

4) Beans of Protein

Beans are a great choice to help your body keep its protein levels up. Keeping them up will stop the dreaded food cravings. They satisfy your body, especially when put on top of a steaming bowl of quinoa. Together they form a complete protein chain with most all the amino acids your body needs.

Beans are a companion plant to corn. We wait until our corn is knee high and then plant a variety of beans between the hills. The beans grow up the corn stalk and enrich the soil by fixing nitrogen which the corn has used. We usually plant at least 4 kinds of beans.

5) Spinach Superstar

One of my favorites to grow in containers. The nutritional content of spinach makes it a super food. It is low in calories and is also very high in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. You literally can’t eat too many calories when eating spinach. It’s an excellent source of vitamin K, A, C, B2, B6, magnesium, folate, manganese, iron, calcium, potassium and another great source of protein to boot. Then there’s the fiber, omega-3, copper and more!

Spinach can be grown almost anywhere in the world. It’s an easy to grow, versatile food which can be added to scrambled eggs, smoothies, juices and salads. It’s loaded with flavonoids which act as antioxidants which help protect against cancer. (Who doesn’t need more of those in today’s world?) I guess Popeye was on to something popping cans of spinach like candy!

It doesn’t stop there, it’s also a heart-healthy food and can help maintain a healthy gastrointestinal tract. It is said to help with arthritis, osteoporosis, migraines and asthma. Studies have shown it may slow age-related effects in brain function! I had dangerously low iron levels in 2005. I use spinach to boost my iron levels tremendously. Iron carries oxygen to your cells, which helps keep your energy levels high. Make sure you are using organic spinach as it’s one of the foods on the market today which is most highly sprayed with pesticides.

6) Bell Peppers the Taste Choice

Bell peppers are low in calories, one cup comes in around 40 calories a serving. They give you enough vitamins A and C to last you all day. They contain capsaicin which studies have shown reduces the bad cholesterol in the body.

They’re great at controlling my sweet tooth as they have a great sweetness all their own. I love to use them on many different dishes and they dehydrate very easily making them good for many years to come. If you’ve never had a dehydrated bell pepper, you’re missing out. The flavor becomes so sweet and rich, I add them to everything from salads to gumbo.

7) Squash the Gold Standard

We enjoy squash in soups, salads, raw, grilled and baked. We grow crookneck yellow, butternut, zucchini, upper ground sweet potato, spaghetti, acorn squash, and my favorite, the pumpkin. With a broad range of flavors and applications to fill your plate, it’s always nice to try a new variety of squash. I warn you, if you don’t have enough room all plant all of them, choosing from these delicious heirloom varieties will be difficult.

Spaghetti squash is a substitute for almost any pasta. Butternut squash is delectable when cut in half and baked in the oven or diced and steamed. I like to add butter and cinnamon to mine for a special burst of flavor. A cup of yellow squash contains around 35 calories, 7 grams of carbs, 1 gram of protein and less than one gram of fat. Squash is a great choice when replacing higher calorie vegetables like potatoes and corn.

Preserving squash is easy too. Butternut, spaghetti, acorn, pumpkin and upper ground sweet potato are hardy winter keepers. I like to dehydrate zucchini and crook-neck for soups, salad,s and casseroles.

You’ll need a little more garden space for some of these. Upper ground sweet potato, for instance, spreads far and wide. I’ve seen photos of people growing zucchini and butternut vertically, but I’ve never done it myself.

8) Onions Make Things Better

Onions are a staple in our home. We eat them almost every day in some form or another. I like to add a couple of onion varieties to my guacamole dip at the same time. They give it an unexpected flavor explosion! They simply make things taste better.

Did you know onions have the lowest calorie profile on our garden vegetables list? They also contain a large amount of sulfur and are good for your liver health as well. They are a companion to protein-rich foods as they facilitate the actions of amino acids, helping the brain and nervous systems to function to their full potential.

Onions can help aid in detoxifying your body from heavy metals. The yellow and red onion varieties are the richest dietary source of quercetin, which has many health benefits including guarding against stomach cancer.

Of course, there’s so many on the garden vegetables list for weight-loss it would be hard to list them all. We could have talked about growing radishes, turnips, or kale. I went with the veggies that don’t get noticed all the time. I guess I’m for the underdog.

So there you have it, my garden vegetables list for weight-loss. Do you grow any of these? Do you have growing tips or suggestions for something not on our garden vegetables list? Please share with us in the comments below.

Safe and Happy Journey,

Rhonda and The Pack

A Garden Vegetables List for Weight Loss was originally posted by All About Chickens

[nickflit]

A month back the inaugural Eat Clean healthy blended healthy juice recipe, “The Healthy Elvis,” was introduced.

While that’s a fun recipe to switch things up, this one has become a part of the regular rotation as somewhat of a dessert.

These are the six favorite vegetables and fruits added to the daily blend of fresh juice.

It’s a quick way to cheat towards the R.D.A. of veggies and fruits, especially since it’s not always easy to get the full servings of fruits and especially vegetables as only around 10% of Americans get the recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetables.

Most importantly though, this recipe tastes super good!

Spinach

Though the first time I heard about adding spinach to fruits I thought it didn’t sound great, one sip was all that was needed to be convinced otherwise!  A huge handful is always added to the fresh juice, but the more the merrier, (as you can’t even detect it-the cherries, bananas, and pineapple overpower it).

Fun fact about spinach; rats fed spinach powder saw a 24% increase in grip strength over the control group.  Maybe Popeye knew something about this natural anabolic.

  Kale

Any dark leafy green is really healthy, and kale is one of the darkest.  Kale is bitter, so is not as tasteless as spinach, but not nose pinching either.

Fun fact; kale used to mostly be used as decoration surrounding buffet food until it’s relatively recent popularity as a healthy green/superfood.

  Frozen Tart Cherries (fights inflammation, helps sleep)

I get these in bulk at Costco and put a small handful in each fresh juice, and the bag lasts a month.  They show up tastewise more than any of the ingredients, and make the juice super addictive.

  Frozen Bananas (provides a GREAT source of preworkout fuel, and is great for recovery too).

I pre slice these about an inch apart then roll them in parchment paper and throw in the freezer.  They act as the “ice cubes” with the cherries and pineapple, which transforms this super juice into an especially refreshing cool drink.

    Ginger (great for digestion, nausea.)

Never having used ginger until about a year and a half ago, it’s hard to imagine what I’d without it now, as it’s put into a variety of foods including homemade digestion tea, veggie stir fry, granola, (and always in the fresh juice now).

A heaping minced teaspon adds an addictive bite.

  Frozen Pineapple 

I just started adding frozen pineapple into the mix when seeing it at a great price at ALDI a month or so back.  Only a tablespoon or two is added but it packs a nice tropical punch.  As soon as it was added into the mix, it was obvious the body was craving something unique within in.

After looking at the amazing amount of surprising benefits it has, it’s was easy to see why.

Bonus options for added protein, calories, and extra taste, (transforms it into a smoothie).

Lately this has turned more decadent with the addition of whole plain yogurt and unsweetened vanilla almond milk, (not to mention the pineapple).  These were both mention in the post ALDI’s Top 10 “Eat Clean” Food Items at a Healthy Price.

Yogurt (Unsweetened Plain)

Any flavored yogurt has a ton of sugar added usually. Even regular plain yogurt has an adequate amount of sugar from the lactose, and there is also plenty of added sweetness from the other ingredients.  It adds a nice tang.

Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

Adds a nice hint of vanilla to the mix, and it’s a slight thickening agent, as there is a noticeable difference when using instead of water.

Try this “recipe” out, you will not believe how good it is!

    Super Six Eat Clean Juice Blend A month back the inaugural Eat Clean healthy blended healthy juice recipe, "The Healthy Elvis," 

[opepin]

april: week four

24: i felt bloated in the morning and my body woke up at 6:30 am. i laid in bed for a bit and then got up and did 30 minutes of cardio. it was a good session. i felt much better after. then i showered, ate breakfast, and said goodbye to kevin. i caught an even later train at 8:45 am and i still got to the office at around 9:15 am LOL. is it worth going early anymore...? it’s nice not to rush too much in the morning. i shared the pocky i got yesterday with everyone. charles hated it, cole liked it, and steve said he liked it too. steve never had original pocky so i will definitely bring him some! it’s still too grape-y imo. we did a bit of work and then charles, cole, and i walked over to the gogi on the block food truck at around 11:15 am and got rice bowls and yuja smoothies. mmm. the rice bowl with bulgogi was yummy! i would get it again, but it wasn’t like amazing. it’s definitely something i would recommend though. :) cole and charles really liked it too! i had lunch with the dev guys and then headed back to the office for a 12 pm call.

i worked real hard for the rest of the day. i made sure to get what i wanted to get done before leaving the office. i got to leave a bit early too because i was so productive. yay me! i walked to south station with cole and he actually wanted to get food from mcdonald’s. so we went and we stopped by the coin souvenir cranks and cole gave me 50 cents to get me a boston tea party one! thanks! :) two homeless guys came up to us during our visit to south station. i think it’s because we stopped walking. anyway, cole ate and we talked for a bit. then we caught our trains. cole got pulled over by police for a random bag check? i didn’t know they had those in boston??? still confused about it, but i got home and then chilled for a bit. then i did my exercise, showered, and cooked dinner! it’s been such a long time since i’ve made dinner. of course, i made the kale coconut stir fry and then kevin got back from climbing, showered, and we ate dinner while watching black mirror. this episode was about social status via likes and ratings and it was lulz. kevin didn’t like the episode because all the characters weren’t likable. then we called it a really early night. we both went to sleep at around 11 pm. kevin was tired from staying up and gaming LOL.

25: both kevin and i woke up at 7 am. well, i woke up and i went back to sleep...and kevin stayed up listening and watching a game in the dota tournament that’s going on. i got out of bed at 8 am and then did 30 minutes of hip hop cardio. then kevin made us breakfast, we ate, he continued watching games, and i went to shower off and then we were out the door at 9:10 am. my doctor is now located 3-5 minutes away from the apartment and we drove there and got lost because it was a large suburban company area... we found the tuft’s branch at the end of the long road. i was a bit late because we did get lost but everything went smoothly. i got blood work done again just to make sure i don’t have any deficiencies, thyroid problems, etc. she guessed that i may have celiac disease? but i’m not allergic to gluten? hmmm. well, the blood tests will let me know. kevin picked me up and then we continued our work day from home.

the day went by pretty quickly. i got all of my work done. kevin and i had a spontaneous nap session for like 10 minutes or so lol. then i went to exercise. i’m noticing that regular pilates and focused ab workouts don’t tire me out as much anymore. i did about 40 minutes of just abs and i felt like i wanted to do more cardio. x__x; kevin started cooking because we were just so hungry throughout the entire day? i’m guessing kevin was hungry because his body wasn’t used to waking up at 7 am. i was hungry because... i don’t even know... well, i showered and then we ate while watching black mirror. my favorite episode is still ‘white christmas.’ this one was interesting and scary af though. kevin went to game and i took this extra time (it was only 9 pm!!!) to play ‘bravely default’ and look at my finances, ahha. i brushed my teeth and went to bed at around 11 pm. yay. go me!

26: it was so dark outside. i thought i woke up at 5 am but it was 7 am... i got up and then did a hiit workout and it was intense af. o__o i think it’s because i haven’t been pushing myself enough this week (i think i overdid it last week though). i felt really good afterward. it’s all about finding the right balance. i showered, ate breakfast, said goodbye to kevin, and then got on the train at like 8:45 am and got to the office at 9:17 am. mathew was there but i was the second one in...LOL. notice that i’m taking the train later and later. x__x; anyway, i thought i would be super unproductive because of the weather but i got pulled into dave and mathew’s brainstorming session and then got to catch up with phil and got new work to do. it was exciting! haha i’ve been on that video and tutorial grind for too long now. we broke for lunch and dave had to get into a call. i microwaved my food, ate it at my desk, and then took a walk outside. i got rained on the last minute and ran back in. then i had a good long call with phil about moving forward.

i worked on some tasks left to me in the call for the rest of the day and then left work a bit before 5 pm. i was the last one out (besides michelle who was on a call). i thought kevin was supposed to go climbing today but he didn’t and i got to south station way earlier than him. i took it home because he still had some work to get done. :< i was a bit sad because i love taking the train home with him. i got back, picked up a package (which was the mug replacement that kevin got for me <333) and then chilled and waited for him to get home. he was feeling sick and tired and we ended up napping on the bed for about 1-2 hours LOL. we woke up a few times and one of those times, i just forced him back to sleep with me HAHAHA. we got up at 8 pm and then i was a bit grumpy but i exercised it off while kevin cooked salmon and bok choy for dinner. we ate and watched another episode of black mirror. ugh, all of the protagonists are so unlikeable right now. i liked yesterday’s episode more than this one. then kevin got on a call with haoqi while i played some bravely default. i stayed up a bit after kevin finished his call and went to sleep before 12 am.

27: i did a tabata workout this morning and then decided i should curl my hair because it was looking odd and flippy this morning. i still made it to the 8:45 am train, ate my breakfast, said goodbye to kevin (he was wfh today), and got to the office at 9:12 am? what? then cole and i headed over to kane’s donuts and got the office half a dozen doughnuts because it was a beautiful thursday :) we got a(n): apple fritter, butter crunch, old fashioned glazed, snickers, honey blueberry pie, and boston cream doughnut. the butter crunch was delicious and i didn’t like the pie one that much. we got the last apple fritter, huhuhu. i talked to steve and cole about real estate, food, and then the lakes? haha. then i went and started my day. i had a quick customer call that went well and then i worked on finishing up something from yesterday and continuing with tutorial stuff. we had an odd standup that wasn’t an actual standup but it the actual standup got canceled? haha. then i spent some time ordering my mom’s mother’s day gift on the phone (this thing was sold out online, not in the closest store to me, and was the last one in the store i called to order it).

i signed up for book of the month club (so excited) and i also took a short 10 minute walk to enjoy the warming weather. cole got real angry at the business men today because they mistook him for the pizza delivery guy in the rudest way -__-’ anyway, i had lunch at my desk and watched some youtube videos. then i went back to work. i felt that food coma coming on but i just kept going. i finished all of my work early and then me and cole walked over to south station. he went to meet with his sister for dinner and then i took the train home to kevin :) kevin finished cooking and then took a really long nap. i think he napped from 6 to 9 pm. i did my workout, showered, ate by myself because he was still sleeping LOL, watched the newest episode of jane the virgin, and planned things with hillary and daniel for their weekend in boston. then i woke kevin up, he ate dinner, and i went to bed while he stayed up playing some games. i don’t think he stayed up too late though.

28: i forgot to set an alarm for myself this morning but both me and kevin woke up at 7:30 am! i did my work out at 8:30 am and then started my day. kevin made me breakfast -- he took a sick day today because he wasn’t feeling well. then i did some work and played a bit of bravely default. today bae and phanpy are flying over and i can’t wait! it was a really chill work day. although, i did miss out on connecting with phil at the end of the day, which made me feel bad. x( kevin and i had to meet up with hillary and daniel to get their luggage though so they could make it to the game on time. so we hopped on the train and waited for them (their bus was experiencing some rush hour traffic). we met up with them and then sent them right off :) kevin and i took their luggage back and then i exercised and kevin cooked. then i showered and kevin continued gaming. i spent the night just chilling and gaming and then preparing the bed and towels and stuff for them. they came back at around 9 or 10 pm and then i just talked with them until 1 or 2 am. lol i got real tired though. kevin hit the hay real early too. zzzzz.

29: daniel and hillary woke up hella early and worked out. i woke up at around 9 or 10 am and then did a 45 minute work out while hillary did some homework. daniel left to grab breakfast with his friend in the morning. we waited for kevin to get out of bed (this boy woke up at 4 am and watched a dota game until 6 am). then we headed over to the sowa open market and met up with daniel there. the moment we got there, we realized all of us were pretty hungry so we yelped a place and found out that ‘area four’, a place that hillary looked up earlier in the morning for brunch, was nearby! so we walked there and got the best freaking service ever. the decor was also bomb and so was the food. i loved it there. :) hillary and daniel got the hong kong waffle and breakfast pizza. kevin and i got the deep fried apples and caramel and a hot mess skillet. yummm. daniel got the swipe right drink, which was an orange vanilla flavor mint drink? it was pretty delicious. the owner didn’t charge us for kevin’s oj and daniel’s beer. so nice! they also let daniel sample beer! wowow. i can go on and on.

after we paid, hillary and daniel got a lyft to fenway and then kevin and i went back to the market to see if we could get any produce. turns out there’s no produce at the market but we got a loaf of sun-dried tomato and garlic bread from when pigs fly. then we headed back home. we relaxed for a bit and then planned meals for the week and then drove over to lucky fortune grocery store where we kinda figured that the produce there wasn’t better than kam man but they just had a wider selection. i got a bit grumpy because we had to make a stop at kam man anyway but i apologized and we worked it out. ><” sorry about getting mad about the little things. i just wanted to be efficient. we only spent $15 or so on our groceries this week ;D haha. hillary and daniel came back at around 8 pm and then we drove to shaking crab only to find out that it was hella packed O_O so we went to fat cat and ordered out. i feel like it was a win-win situation. ;P

i got the ahi tuna wrap and kevin got the lobster mac and cheese. daniel got the lobster mac, hillary got the thai mussels, and they shared calamari. they devoured everything O_O omg, so impressive. kevin and i called it a night pretty early? i had trouble sleeping because of all the salt and food in my tummy, but i felt super sleepy a couple hours after eating. daniel watched some streams on his phone while hillary did homework.

30: we all slept in LOL. hillary and daniel headed into the city at around 12 pm to explore and get pastries and kevin and i left for worchester’s vegfest shortly after. the drive was interesting because we experience super warm and sunny weather then cloudy weather then slight rain and then pouring rain LOL. it was so cold by the time we got there. T_T but we got there and it was packed af. we got some delicious italian ice, tried some kombucha, bought some vegan cheese :O, and realized that we hate being in crowded busy places LOL. i saw people eating fomu ice cream so we tried to track it down but it was too late. they were packing up when we found them. i also went into the bathroom and it was disgusting and people are so mean. :( the lady that got out of the stall before me clogged the toilet with toilet paper and didn’t even bother to tell me so i went in the stall and came out and told the lady after me that the toilet is clogged and not to go in there and she just assumed that i did it and said “gross.” wtf. anyway, we decided to get into the long af line to the vegan treats bakery booth and also got a carrot dog on the wait there! lol it was literally a carrot in a hot dog bun lawls. it was really good with the sauce and toppings though! the hot dog bun itself was delicious.

i got a hazelnut notella cheescake, coconut rice pudding, chocolate-covered cannoli, and chocolate chip cannoli for $28 T___T LOL the french pastries were super expensive, but eh, yolo right? the cheesecake was my favorite and the cannolis were pretty good. kevin never had a cannoli but he has now and he really likes them :P we drove back in time to park and walk to hojoko. we had an argument on the way back about how i make him / other people feel dumb when asking questions (lol he asked a very inquisitive question) and i responded negatively, but we’ve talked about this and i really did try to bring the conversation back, but at that point, kevin was just frustrated at me, but it’s okay, we talked it out and i will continue trying. :) we ordered the wasabi roulette, kimchi fried rice, uni toast, okonomiyaki, and yakisoba to share. the portion sizes are small for 4 people but still yummy! i was the one who got the piece with 2 grams of wasabi T__T but the horchata baby bottle was A+! haha.

daniel got the dahk n’ stormy and a beer. i got the tokyo tea -- it was good but there was so much tequila in there! lol i am definitely off my game permanently from drinking now. it was fun eating and chatting with everyone <3 hillary and daniel went off to the game and then kevin and i drove back home. we showered and relaxed and then kevin gamed while i did some exercise (had to hit 10k steps) and then i just brushed my teeth and went to sleep at around 11 am. kevin let daniel and hillary in after they came back from the game.