#that she could snack on nuts and stuff to get her protein and she liked that suggestion :)

[naomiknight-17]

We had a nutrition class at cardiac rehab today and usually I'm like "UGH I KNOW stop lecturing me" but today a few people got involved in discussion and it was kinda neat

Someone said they didn't know how to replace red meat in their diet cuz they don't like fish, people suggested chicken or pork or Impossible Beef or seitan (sp?). One lady commented that she'd never tried chickpeas and didn't think she'd like the bean-y texture and I was like "Oh you gotta try them roasted they get so crunchy and tasty" and she was like "Ooh, I like crunchy!"

I mentioned I find lentils too mushy, and one of the therapists was like "Were they red lentils? Try the green, they stay firmer!"

And I could go on but like

Instead of coming out of that nutrition class feeling browbeaten and annoyed, I'm kind of excited to go to a nice grocery store tomorrow and pick out some new foods to try :)

[motorclit]

There's a part of me that believes that some of the healthier stuff made from scratch may taste bland because our tastebuds are so used to all the flavor enhancing junk in the junk food, so you need to "reprogram" your tastebuds.

Like, I've had to eat healthier because my health demanded it (endometriosis really fucked with what I can or cannot eat to a point where I discovered the foods I could eat were sort of according to the Mediterranean diet). But also my fast metabolism makes it hard for me to gain weight so certain doctors aren't fucking accusing me of having an eating disorder.

So having a hugh-carb, high-fat, mid-hugh protein diet on top of exercising meant I thought I had to get used to bland foods.

It's actually the right kind and amount of salt plus spices and shit like that is what can make food not so bland (proper cooking oils helps, too). And it may start to seem bland at first , but after a while, that ended up stopping for me.

After a few years, I used the Yuka app to scan barcodes to check problematic ingredients for stuff, cuz I desperately wanted quick shit because I will have low-energy days on the rag and my muž will be at work. I discovered there's a dino nuggets that passed that sniff test and when I had that with a Hunt's brand 100% natural ketchup (also passed that test), that taste was VERY strong to me. Almost overwhelmingly. So I've turned those into either a treat or a "I have low energy and this is low energy prep" type of meal.

I'm still exploring more options for myself but I can't always afford the best quality of foods, so occasionally I have to go to the store with my muž to use the app and hope we can afford it.

Again: I'm trying to GAIN weight, but having endo that got worse made me susceptible to having bad gut reactions to certain foods of certain brands or types of preparations. I'm still trying to fix my diet to where I can happily eat more to gain weight. Believe me, in my case, gaining weight is a legit STRUGGLE because of my metabolism. I've been like this my whole life and once I've found a nice minimum of something working and finally started gaining weight, it's like I have a whole new body. More of me exists. I feel more like a person and not some beanpole anymore.

But I hate having people come up to me claiming they wished they could eat whatever they wanted and not gain a pound. Buddy, no you don't, because when you go seek counseling for abandonment issues, you end up with a bitch who claims (WITHOUT EVEN ASKING ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHOP WITH FOOD OR BODY IMAGE) that you have an eating disorder and wants to put you in in-patient care immediately. Why, despite explaining your situation to her, would she ignore you? Because she wanted to milk my Medicaid insurance. My suspicions were correct when I told her I'm done with her and she got PISSED.

But it's BECAUSE of her that I now, for the first time in my life, I obsess over a weight scale. And if that number drops in ANY WAY, I freak out a little, because I've worked SO FUCKING HARD to get myself OVER a hundred pounds (being no lighter than 110 is my goal, and I still have yet to reach it) and to see me drop a pound or two because I no longer have a decent pan for making a particular pancake recipe and because we're short on cash to get certain ingredients for my dinner for a couple of days makes me wanna beat the shit out of that "counselor."

My pancake recipe was a waffle recipe I found online. I spread a little honey on them. I eat them with fresh eggs (scrambled, cooked in olive oil) we buy from a friend of my mom's who raises chickens (WAY better than store-bought eggs), I struggle getting a decent lunch put together, but then I've got a buncha veggies and chicken thrown together in an olive oil broth for dinner. Afterwards, I eat garlic and chives pita crackers. I'll have nuts and pumpkin seeds as a snack as well. I eat yogurt for protein and probiotics, I do everything that I can plus weight-training exercises to build muscle. All so the numbers on a scale won't betray me if I go to seek professional help of any sort.

Healthy food has never been bland. It's the junk food that's more affordable that fucks with our tastebuds. If I ever get my hands on the recipe I need for a pizza, I WISH I could have pepperoni, but my body won't allow processed meats, so I will have to do without and use other toppings instead.

I experiment with recipes to see what works and what doesn't. I HOPE that once we get raised garden beds made, I can finally grow my own herbs and maybe even spices on this farm. Because guess what: A LOT OF PRODUCE ALSO TASTES BLAND DUE TO MONOCULTURE FARMING THAT PRIORITIZES HIGH YIELDS OVER NUTRITIONAL QUALITY. The microbes in the soil are shit in monoculture mass farming. I can't wait to taste my first farm-fresh carrot, and this is coming from someone who loved carrots since childhood.

Look up apps and stuff (I use Yuka) that when you scan the barcode, it'll tell you what ingredients are problematic, what the risks are, etc. I generally ignore whether something is rated as too salty or too caloric or anything like that because that's not what my body calls for. I pay attention to what harmful additives are in stuff. And you'll be surprised how much shit in grocery stores are risky to consume on a regular basis (because that's what's affordable.)

Yuka also does beauty product ratings too. Which includes deodorant, soaps, and hair care products. There's harmful shit in quite a few of those, and because endometriosis is still not fully understood, I'm avoiding sketchy or risky additives just to be safe, because I have no idea what could set my endo back off to getting worse in me again.

We shouldn't have to do this but here we are. Please stay safe out there and if you're eating healthy, understand that you may need to train your tastebuds some. Don't be afraid to experiment with recipes! Maybe go to your local farmer's market or even grow your own food! Or both! (If you can!)

Sorry for the ramble, but I didn't expect diet culture to do a fucking 2000s throwback complete with "healthy=bland" views. Also sorry for any typos; typing on my phone is a pain in the ass.

I know this is a tiny part of the wider problems born of diet culture, fatphobia, classicism, and racism but like god the idea that "healthy" food must inherently taste bad has completely ruined us as a society.

[doberbutts]

Hi back on my bullshit once again, you followed me and now you have to deal with me

In talking to a Chi breeder while conducting my research, we got on the topic of hypoglycemia and what steps they take to avoid it. While I spoke briefly about the topic in this post, the breeder also gave me some tips that I wouldn’t have otherwise known. Remember that while I’ve always liked the various terriers of the world, I’ve never personally owned one. My grandfather’s JRTs never needed anything like this, nor did my sister’s (admittedly large at 12lbs) chihuahua, nor did any of the small dogs owned by various roommates prior to this.

I had always sort of rolled my eyes when warned about the risk, thinking that the problem would be easily mitigated if only the owner was feeding a proper high protein diet to make up for the higher metabolism and not feeding their dog so much junk... until a client dog of mine was given plenty of sugary, fruit-based, carb-heavy treats during class and sugared out at home. He was thankfully okay- after his owner spent several thousand dollars at the emergency vet to figure out why his dog had a seizure and then went completely unresponsive (that dog also later developed diabetes according to an update sent to me from his owner, could have been related considering he was a “teacup”) but that was the first time I saw an otherwise-healthy tiny dog go through a sugar crash. When I got Tiki, one of the first things we did was swing by my store to grab some Nutri-Cal, so I could pull her back from that abyss if need be.

We chatted a bit about that, and then the breeder said something I’d never even thought of. They said they don’t ever wean the puppies onto mush or canned food, because they find that both of those are fairly sugary and are more likely to make one of their young weanlings crash. They wean directly to kibble supplemented with fresh eggs and veggies from their garden and chickens, and at the pup’s own pace. This creates puppies that are not picky, that are hungry for their food, and that have significantly less chance of sugaring out. They do keep sugary syrup on hand just in case, but since starting to do things that way they’ve noticed they don’t have to worry about it as much. They try to keep treats as meaty and low-sugar (and low-starch) as possible, and their chews are generally things like horns and hooves rather than kongs filled with (sugary!!) peanut butter.

While I do have some leftover cans and (frozen) freshpet that I plan to stuff into kongs, this makes sense to me. I’m a big fan of lower carb, higher protein foods anyway as a carnivore’s diet is going to emulate that- regardless of grain in or grain free (and this breeder feeds grain in) a carnivore’s stomach is adapted to eating more meat-based proteins than anything plant based. Even the taurine-deficient DCM is causing an issue because of a lack of digestible taurine, an essential nutrient found in red meat, not carbs and starches and sugars. Regardless of what form of food I feed, I always choose meat-heavy foods with as minimal starches as possible (unless feeding raw, certain canned foods, or certain dehydrated foods, zero starch and carbs is impossible because meat powders in the processing and so something must be added to create a “solid” appearance) (this is where you see the prevalence of grain-free foods having absurd amounts of peas, legumes, lentils, and potato come into play- cheap ways to artificially boost the protein percentages and an added bonus to use it as a starch) (also why I have always sought foods with low starch percentages, as these have been known problem ingredients well before the DCM crisis hit)

This is interesting to note for me, because I genuinely had not been sure what “the best” thing to feed Tiki would have been. She ate kibble, canned food, freshpet, the various fresh foods from various companies, and never really seemed to have any complaints about any of them. Towards the end she was canned only as she wouldn’t eat anything else, but how much of that was due to the fact that she was literally dying rather than anything to do with her personal preference? And I would have never connected the dots, though it definitely makes sense as quite a few canned foods are quite heavy on the carbs and starches (so are some kibbles, though not the particular kibble this breeder feeds). 

It also, idk, just sort of made me happy to know that these folks treat their dogs like... dogs. They’re definitely more of the dress up the tiny dog and tiny dogs belong on laps and carry my tiny dog around everywhere with me type of people on the surface that I would initially be comfortable with, but in actually speaking to them it was nice to hear them say how they hate the stereotype of picky little dogs and won’t feed into that, they give their dogs chews and toys, they temperament test and are constantly out training and competing (when covid’s not happening), their more drivey higher energy dogs they go out and compete in performance sports even if they just do fun-runs and don’t actually title just to do stuff with them. The amount of people who come into my job who, when I suggest something correctly sized for their tiny breed, say “oh my dog is a chihuahua they can’t do that” makes me nuts, even more so now, because I spoke to someone with more than a decade of experience breeding chis and their dogs chew bones and play fetch and compete just like any other breed out there.

Just, something about the “oh we don’t do sugary snacks just in case with hypoglycemia, so we give the dogs hooves instead” made me so happy to hear strictly because so many people at my job won’t even consider buying a chew for their tiny dogs. I have to argue with people that greenies and fresh kisses are not going to break their little dogs’ mouths if they chew on them unless that dog has a pre-existing dental issue, meanwhile this hoard of chihuahuas gets a whole hoof each to gnaw at when they’re being terrible monsters. 

[soaringsearingphoenix]

Consider, top 5 snacks?

Snacks!!!!!!!!! I love snacks. Honestly many foods are snacks to me because i tend to eat lots of little meals in a day instead of one big meal

1. Cheez-its. It isnt always cheez its but i've been craving them specifically lately. i've always liked them a lot. Also recently i joked in a d&d game (actually its dungeon world but people know what you mean when you call systems "d&d"),

Anyways I made a joke that Costco sells them in "serving-size boxes" (Costco is one of those US stores that sells everything in bulk so the boxes they sell are like the size of a turkey) and the GM and i have been arguing ever since about what counts as "one unit" of something, and whether it's possible to eat 3lbs (1.4 kg) of cheese flavored snack crackers in one meal

(I said "yes it would just be a very long meal," and she was like, "if it takes you all day it doesn't count as one sitting anymore," and i said "it's one sitting if you don't get up". This has still not been resolved)

2. Strawberries are the second thing that comes to mind. I love strawberries. I love getting a little bowl of whipped cream to dip them in, if i am at home. If i am not at home, i have them plain, and i will cut all the little leafy tops off before i take them with me, so that i can compost those

3. Apples with peanut butter. It's sweet. It's salty. It's healthy in a way that makes me think "ah yes, a nice healthy snack :)" like my parents would be proud of me for it even though im an adult and they are no longer especially interested in what i pick as a snack. Also peanut butter is good for protein, which helps me focus. So...

4. Any dry snack with a lot of protein. Trail mix (WITHOUT whole almonds or raisins - side note, my theory as a kid was that best friends are people who like all the foods that the other person doesn't like. One friend likes the cookie part of the oreo best, the other likes the cream part best. One person likes trail mix without raisins, the other likes raisins with all the salt on them. One person wants the pickle that comes with meals at sandwich places, the other does not want it. Two of my friends were bffs and they always split up oreos into their favorite parts at the lunch table, and I knew there were lots of reasons they were friends, but i still thought that a BEST friend is someone who you can share food with without having to argue about it.

Even now as I start to navigate adult life, i think maybe it works as a metaphor. I think that sometimes the people that you love will want different things from you, but the ones best suited to you want things that help you get what you want too, and you can reach agreements without having to argue over it because there's not much to argue over. You can save your arguing for silly things like whether you can declare that a box which says on the side that it has 20 servings of something actually only contains one. Anyways, one of my former roommates likes the raisins from trail mix and just the raisins usually, and i miss her a lot.),

or even just nuts like cashews or peanuts, as well as jerky, dried edamame, dried chickpeas, any kind of lightweight protein-rich snack food. I would eat mealworms too if i could get them at the convenience store rather than like... the chicken feed store.

Listen, my eating schedule is weird right now because i'm at home a lot and my days are unstructured, but when i'm out and about i eat like a backpacker mid-hiking trip. I eat a LOT of nonperishable protein-dense foods. I definitely like dried snacks better than protein bars, and the saltiness of them actually reminds me to drink more water so that's also a plus. I do really like trail mix even though i am picky about it, but it's easy to get the components you like and prep it yourself. and add extra chocolate chips.

5. Hummus. With either carrots, cucumber slices, sugar snap peas, or pita chips. I will sit down and eat the entire little bowl of hummus they sell at the store. If you give me a) one of those bowls of hummus and b) something to dip in it, i'll just keep eating until i run out of one of those two things. Hummus is almost less a snack and more of a meal. There was a week once when i went through like one full dish of hummus per day. I've scaled back since that.

Left to my own devices, I tend to eat single-component meals, so like, instead of a meal of veggies, starch, and protein, i'll eat like... chicken for breakfast, broccoli for lunch, and pasta for dinner. I usually get around this problem by prepping foods where those ingredients are already sort of stuck together, like lasagnas and casseroles and soups, and it's still One Item but it's more varied. So hummus is great for that too because it's something i MUST eat with at least one other component. And it's got protein! Win-win.

Tldr: cheez its, strawberries, apples+peanut butter, trail mix, and hummus with dipping stuff

[kelliejelly]

I want my control back.

💎I want back the way I completely ignored the possibility of eating alone. I used to be able to stay out of the kitchen for days and until my mom would force me to go to a family dinner. I was doing stuff and thinking about food way less. Basically, I was too busy being depressed and exhausted to the point where I wasn’t getting up, but it worked. I had a drawer full of different foods in my room, it was the only place that was never messy, but I took stuff out of there very rarely. I still have some candy from over a year ago that used to be there.

💎I want back the way I didn’t feel like I can have a little snack, or grab a pretzel from a big bowl. I knew it wasn’t worth it. I understood that my goal is way too big for me to just delay it with empty calories. I love how people were commenting on how everyone in a sleepover is eating some cookies and nuts and bread sticks and I was only drinking my tea. ‘Just because food is there doesn’t mean you have to eat it’ was my motto.

💎 I want back the way I felt knowing that I’m drinking my 3rd bottle of water and it’s only 9 am. Going through the whole school and using all the stairs in the building and then heading to the class to refill my water on every recreation was an everyday routine. My friends was joking about how all the water in our classroom is gone just because of me. I felt so strong and comfortable cutting and squeezing lemon juice into my water bottle for breakfast. Sometimes, I would get lectured by my mom on how I can damage my kidneys by drinking so much water.

💎I want back the way I was a little bit nervous so I went to the bathroom during lessons to do jumping jacks and squats. When our lesson was canceled because a teacher didn’t show up or something I was excited not because I don’t have to study now but because I had extra 40 minutes to walk around the school. I remember my mom being mad at me because instead of going straight home I was spending about 2 extra hours in the middle of a cruel Russian winter. The fact that I needed to burn calories was more important to me than the fact that it’s -15 °C and it’s snowing very fucking hard. It was such a party when I found a position in my head where I could do crunches without making my bed crack loudly.

💎 I want back the way I was comfortable with my body for a few seconds when I heard my classmate whispering to my friend ‘wow Ophelia got so thin! Wtf her stomach?? I remember her being a chubby potato’ and she told her ‘yeaaah is it me or even my stomach isn’t that flat?’ I was wearing a hella tight dress, it was my birthday and I didn’t eat before that for like 3 days. I was wearing headphones so they thought I didn’t hear it but I sure did. Later, that classmate told me that I lost weight and look better now, but she said ‘yeah but you still have such thunder thighs lol’. But I knew I’ll prove her wrong. I got a lot of compliments that day, and this will keep me going.

💎I want back the way I always chose the one restaurant whenever going out because they had calorie tags on the menu and their lowcal food was delicious. I felt so safe when I was getting information about any restaurants that we were visiting with my friends for a birthday or something the day before and sitting all night writing out the menu options, calculating calories, searching for photos of food to get the idea of portions and finally choosing positions like ‘diced cucumbers topped with Jesus’s tears, a side of a fresh steamed air and 0% fat gluten free vegan water’ and eating a half of it anyways. I didn’t get a ‘welll I was barely eating for a few weeks I think I can let myself get that pizza’, I knew I would regret it so much later.

💎I want back the way I was spending the most of my money on food (I eat separately from my parents) on fancy vegetables, protein meal replacement bars and packs of gum. I was very limited on my cooking time so I would use it as an excuse to eat air. Sometimes, I would delay my homework and stuff to bake some brownies for my parents and just sit for hours and smell it. I loved visiting my favorite small cute grocery shop near my school. It was so calm to go to there, get some kind of frozen mix like tomato, bell pepper, zucchini and onion, a small pack of sporty high protein cottage cheese with yogurt, a packet of instant lowcal mushroom soup, and a special bright purple energy drink. It was so tasty, cheap and high quality and I can’t find it anywhere else in my city now because that shop is closed.

I want back the way it was regular to see numbers drop on a scale. I want it and I will achieve it. I’m not that weak. You don’t know me.

[ziracona]

Do you have any favorite drinks and foods headcanons for ilm?? I feel like Meg would like Shirley templess 👀

Hmmm for sure but there’s so many characters I don’t know how to comprehensively answer this, haha. Meg probably would enjoy that. I think she drinks sometimes for fun or bc it seemed like a good idea at the time, but actually prefers non-alcoholic, because it’s not that great to her, and also because you have to not take your adhd meds if you plan on drinking that day as they interact, and amphetamine > depressant lol. I think she enjoys fruity mixed non-alcoholic stuff a lot. Specially if it got that 👌 zest 👌 to it.

Meg is a huge nerd who likes most of her favorite foods for fan reasons. Her favorite food is chocolate chip cookies with blue chocolate chips because of Percy Jackson. Favorite drink she would probably say is coke, but in reality it’s probably some kind of non-alcoholic cocktail she wouldn’t think to name.

Jake has a proficient pallet from being rich and can actually tell a huge difference in food quality, but hates this and is determined not to be the spoiled rich shithead who only deins to eat from a plate prepared by someone who graduated prestigious culinary school at the top of their class. Has forced himself to acquire a taste for lean meats and nuts. Would request like salted cashews if Meg was getting snacks & she’d throw a fit bc mixed nuts isn’t a treat and he would be offended she was judging his pick. Secretly really appreciates diligently and artfully prepared food. Does not like lamb. He will hunt and there’s not much he feels bad about eating, but he saw a lamb going to get slaughtered as a kid and absolutely will not stomach that as food ever since. Would feel weak & has probably only mentioned it to Dwight, or maybe Claudette, bc she’d never judge or be mean, or maybe Quentin, Kate, or Adam, because Quentin & Kate would agree, and Adam is like, the chillest man ever.

Dwight likes sea salt and vinegar chips, beers, Pepsi, pretzels, steak, and (secretly) those frosted animal crackers. Gets shit constantly for his taste in food and drink. Just wants to be left alone. One time Claudette drank a beer with him to make him feel better bc everyone else was making fun of him for liking beer and she is sweetheart.

Claudette enjoys a dish her mom makes out of fried onions, squash, artichokes, and optionally also mushrooms, probably more than any other food in the world. It is really good. Favorite drink is sparkling grape juice. It makes her feel like she is drinking champagne, but it actually tasted good, and won’t get her drunk or hungover. Also likes tea a lot. Most green and white tea types especially.

Nea likes almost anything with a cronch when you bite into it. Enjoys fish too, and curry the way Min makes it (which is very rushed college student but like, rushed college student with standards). Really likes empanadas after being introduced to them. Also genuinely really loved both Claudette’s amaranth oatmeal and her realm cookies, and since she and Quentin kind of ‘grew up’ inside the realm, it’s also like, surreally and kind of heartbreakingly, a nostalgic and comforting childhood memory to her. They remind her of times she was more okay as a teenager. :’-] Favorite drink is probably a kind of complicated cocktail that is very strong but also sweet and tangy, nursed for a long time. Or a sports drink if she’s on the go. (Lol her fave drink is just the alcoholic version of Meg’s).

Min likes anything spicy that is prepared well, but especially likes meat dishes. Girl wants her protein so she can kick ass. Really loves Ace’s cooking. Smell is 70% of taste. Spice it up, fam. Only knows how to cook 3 dishes on her own, but they’re a good 3. Doesn’t have a single fave. Although she does greatly enjoy just like, devouring a slab of meat if Anna cooks. It makes her feel like a powerful wild beast to just shred a flank with her teeth and she digs that. Fave drink is baijiu, although more in a competitive way because it’s alcoholic af & she can stomach it than actually for taste or pleasure. For taste she will just mooch off Nia & Ace, who both like fruity alcohol.

Ace likes a homemade bread recipe of his mother’s most (I think he and Frank are the only two with stated favorites in-fic?). Makes it a lot for the girls and for friends, and everyone likes it so this works out well. Enjoys martinis and any fruity alcohol, but is good about not actually getting drunk past lucidity. Also enjoys just really nice brands of various juice (mango is probably his favorite?)

Quentin likes his Dad’s pasta recipes probably most, but doesn’t have a favorite from among them. Also likes red velvet cake a lot because he only ever gets it on his birthday and it makes him happy. His mom died when he was really young and he pretty much doesn’t remember her, but one of the memories he still has is of her giving him birthday cake. It’s the time of year he always feels closest to her. Favorite drink is energy drinks because he’s stupid and likes to play god with his body and knock back adderall with shots of redbull. Didn’t like energy drinks so much before Freddy, and back then probably Coca-Cola or something was the fave, but now energy drinks are associated with comfort in his head, so he genuinely likes them. Also really likes M&Ms. Used to treat himself to a bag from the school vending machine if he had a shitty day, so they are also associated with comfort.

David likes chips (as in fries cut UK style/thick, not American chips). He is enlightened and sees the true value of all potato products as well, and honors them as such. Also is the enjoyable kind of person who genuinely & visibly appreciates most all good food. He likes beers too (you and Dwight, buddy) although he’s got better taste in them. His favorite drink is probably coffee though. He likes strong coffee, full body, with just a little bit of cream and sugar so it’s still bitter but has a pleasant edge to it. Not sure why that’s his favorite. He just really likes it.

Laurie likes strawberry milk. Would give that answer if asked for fave food or drink. If prompted further would consider, then suggest that as her drink, and some kind of really nice soup as her favorite—probably pumpkin. Will genuinely enjoy any gift of food someone picked out for her with some thought. Also loves Mac’n Cheese a lot, but would not admit to that to everyone because she’s kind of embarrassed that as many times as she’s had it in the past two years alone, her heart still sees a warm bowl and years for the good shit.

Kate likes fruit. Mangos, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, pears, pomegranates. Has the patience to eat a pomegranate too. Would just say “fruit” if asked. Loves to pick it fresh. Favorite drink is probably a smoothie, but she would insist that counts. What flavor would vary, but she leans towards blueberry or raspberry on default because she likes the colors.

Tapp likes Chinese food. Mostly this is because Chinese takeout was the nicest thing he could ever afford on the reg as a treat. However, he gets to eat real chow mein and mapo tofu (former made by Ace, the latter by Min—spicy mapo tofu being one of the 3 dishes she knows), and decides those are now his favorite food. Would not ask people to make that because it would be being a hassle, and he would think it wouldn’t matter and would be stupid & not worthwhile to request a dish when visiting a friend, but gets excited internally when they make that & gives sincere and generous compliments. Tried and failed super badly to learn how to make both, but Rachel Thomas (who didn’t know at all how to either but is great at teaching herself shit) helped him figure it out and now he makes them as often as he can without feeling like it will get old/annoy the people living with him. Favorite drink is whiskey but that’s for depression reasons. For genuine enjoyment, he likes probably just juice. Orange or pomegranate.

Adam shares Min’s enjoyment of spicy foods, but is really into trying new things and genuinely doesn’t have a favorite. If he had to pick, he’d probably say Bulla cake, because it is his favorite desert/treat. He really enjoys them & they are nostalgic to him. Good memories of his childhood. His uncle wasn’t always great at knowing what to say, but used to pack him one to take to school any time he knew Adam was stressed or intimidated by an exam or due project. Even if it went bad, he had a comfort reward for making it through. Always buys them when he’s somewhere he can. Favorite drink is tea. He likes a wide variety, but masala, jasmine, and ginger are some constant favorites. Would actually know, care about, and adhere to proper boiling/steeping times per tea type.

Jeff likes baked goods. He really enjoys the baking process itself a whole lot, especially if he has people he can cook for/share with. Definitely has created several original & very good bread recipes. Prefers bready goods to sweet ones. About the sweetest fave he has is basic scones (just bread/no nuts or fruit or filling. Slightly sweet bread with a little sugar on top, meant to be paired with jams etc when eaten). Likes those a lot. Favorite drink shifts from subtype to subtype, but is always one of his homemade craft beers. Also enjoys Dr. Pepper (ah I knew I was forgetting—both he & Joey also have some stated canon favorites. So does Susie).

Jane’s favorites are both things her dad makes. He has a really good ceviche recipe and a complicated secret recipe bean dip, and Jane likes snacking on those with a bowl of chips while chatting on the porch. Slow meal extends both fun of chat and fun of conversation. And her dad has a really good sense of spice use. She can make both well too, but is convinced they taste completely different when she does & distressed by this. Her dad insists they taste the same, but also always sympathetically packs her some time take home anyway. Her favorite drink is probably either coffee or wine, out of familiarity and comfort. She’s not very particular though. As a treat she enjoys moccacinos with a ton of whipped cream a whole lot though.

This was already super long so I’m gonna stop here, but I wood cry if I didn’t include at least Philip in what is now clearly just a survivor lineup. So honorary addition:

Philip likes anything really cold and refreshing. Prefers things with a little bite, so he would pick a cola or alcohol over a fruity drink. Not a big preference past that. Always touched and surprised any time a friend goes into a gas station pitstop and comes back with /any/ ice cold beverage for him, no matter how many times it happens. The gesture to him is very much genuine kindness instead of a friendly nothing. For food, he likes anything with enough substance to actually make him not hungry. So meat dishes are a big plus, as is nice bread. He doesn’t have a favorite meal-meal, probably, but there is a kind of cookie made entirely of egg whites and sugar, that is beaten and fluffy and sweet like a cloud and really delicious somehow despite having almost no substance. Philip had no knowledge of these, but Claudette made him some one morning she was feeling happy not too long after they both first went home to Montreal, and the meringue chocolate chip cookie variant she made was one of the best things he had ever eaten, and probably is his favorite food. They’re like little bites of the concept of sweetness without it being an overdose, and have a very unique and pleasing texture. With the chocolate added, it’s just right. 👌 And then also, of course, it was a gift welcoming to his new home, from the person who more or less is his new home. : )

[its-r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s]

Call Me A Freak- Chapter 6: Privacy

Words: 2,540

Warnings: nightmares, panic attack, insecurities and self loathing, descriptions of injuries and blood

Ch 5 | Ch 7

~ ~ ~

We headed down to the kitchen, setting up everything that we needed and beginning the spell. It was supposedly going to end up being baked as a cookie.

“Alright, it says that we still need one tear,” I said, looking over the book as Evie threw some nuts into the mixing bowl.

“Let’s just chop up some onions,” Carlos offered, but I shook my head.

“No. It says we need one tear of human sadness.”

Jay huffed behind me. “A tear’s a tear.”

“That’s not true, Jay,” Evie stated. “They both have antibodies and enzymes, but an emotional tear has more protein-based hormones than a reflex tear.”

I froze as I listened to her talk. I rarely ever heard Evie speak in full sentences. Much less about something like science.

“Yeah, I knew that,” Jay tried, but Carlos was quick to disagree.

“Did not.”

“Yeah, I did.”

In front of us the door handle to the kitchen began to jiggle and I only had a brief second to cover up the spellbook before Lonnie looked in.

“There you are, Mal. I was looking for you. You know, all the girls want you to do their hair.”

I laughed politely as I continued to mix together our spell.

“Midnight snack, huh?” she asked looking over the contents. “What you guys making?”

“Nothing special. Just cookies,” I tried to explain, but before we could stop her, Lonnie reached her finger into the mix and popped some into her mouth.

As she glanced over our concerned expressions she chuckled. “What? I’m not going to double dip.”

Evie knit her eyebrows together. “Feel… anything?”

“Like it might be missing something?” I covered.

Jay was quickly beside us, leaning toward Lonnie. “Hey there,” he flirted.

We all held our breath to catch onto Lonnie’s reaction, but we got nothing but a blank stare.

“Could use some chips,” she finally replied, walking towards a cabinet in the back of the room.

I let out a sigh as Jay slowly sat down once more next to Carlos. “And those are?”

“Chocolate chips,” she said. “Just the most important food group.”

She dropped a bowl of what I had to assume was the chocolate chips in front of me.

“Wait, didn’t your mom ever make you guys chocolate chip cookies?” She grabbed a handful and added them to the mix.

I looked up at her, unsure what to do.

She looked between all of our confused expressions and started again.

“Like, when you’re feeling sad? And they’re fresh from the oven with a big ol’ glass of milk and she just makes you laugh and put everything into perspective and…”

My eye began to twitch as she explained. She spoke to us like this was some sort of universal experience, but what she was describing was too specific. She was remembering something.

And god did that hurt. We didn’t even have chocolate chips on the Isle, why on earth would she expect us to know this experience she was describing? I thought back to earlier that day, when Jane came to talk to her mom and how it made my chest ache to see them together.

“Why are you all looking at me like that?” Lonnie interrupted my thoughts and I quickly pulled myself together.

“It’s just different where we’re from,” I snapped, mixing in the new ingredient.

“Yeah, I know. I just… You know, I thought,” she stumbled over her words. “Even villains love their kids…”

She trailed off once more and I couldn’t contain myself from laughing a bit.

I could see Evie glance at me, shocked by the reaction. But I didn’t look at any of them. I didn’t want to. I wanted to get my work done.

“Oh,” Lonnie whispered, looking between our varying expressions. “How awful.”

She reached a hand out and placed it over mine. I jerked away, automatically, glaring at her, but my anger vanished when I saw a glistening tear running down her cheek.

I reached up without hesitation and wiped it away, doing my best to drop as much of it in the mixing bowl as possible.

“Yeah. Well, bummer, but we have to get these into the oven.” As I spoke I looked around at my friends, making sure they were with me and not still off in pity-land. “So, thank you so much for stopping by. Really, really have a goodnight. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

While I ushered her out, Evie grabbed the spell and mixed it all together.

“Okay,” I sighed, finally getting her to leave. “Boys, cookie sheet. Evie, oven.”

“Yes ma’am,” Evie replied as she walked by with the mix.

I started to follow, but Carlos stepped in my way.

“Hey Mal? You wanna talk about what just happened?”

My mouth dropped open. “What do you mean?”

He hesitated for a moment, checking to see if Evie or Jay was listening. “It’s just… Evie told us about your shoulder and back. And just now, when she brought up our moms loving us, you laughed-”

“Carlos,” I interrupted. “I’m not having this conversation right now.”

Without another thought, I pushed past him and walked towards the ovens.

~ ~ ~

“I don’t see why you can’t do this, E,” I grumbled, walking into our dorm room.

I had the scary-ass-love-spell-cookie in a baggie, which I proceeded to stuff into my backpack.

“Because, M, he likes you,” she persuaded. “I mean, I don’t know if he ‘likes you’ likes you, but I barely know him. He won’t take a strange cookie from me.”

I rolled my eyes, turning to look at her. “I barely know him either! Besides, you’re a better… flirt.”

She chuckled, looking me up and down. “Flirting doesn’t matter. As soon as you get him to eat that cookie, he’ll love you no matter what you do.”

I collapsed onto my bed. “I’m going to sleep. Pretending to be a good person is exhausting.”

“Alright,” Evie responded quietly.

The minute I had shut my eyes, I was back in the same situation from the night before.

~ ~ ~

Their face was perhaps the worst thing I’d seen. One of their eyes looked like it was about to pop out of its socket. Blood ran down their chin and their cheek,  still gushing from their mouth. Any section that wasn’t bruised yet had a jagged cut through it. They were unrecognizable.

I wanted to throw up. This was more than torture. 

This was just a kid and they’d been through excruciating pain.

I had almost forgotten that my mother was still there, when she said, “We found the boy who stole your wallet, dear.”

My whole body went cold. This kid. This teenager who was no older than me. He was getting punished like this because of me? Because I let my wallet get away?

My mother made sure to discipline me for that one. But normally after that, the matter is done. I make a mistake, she punishes me for it, we move on.

She had made her stupid goons find the kid. A kid who made the simple mistake, just like I had. His mistake was choosing me as his target. And now, my mother was killing him for it.

Stealing him away, beating him black and blue.

The Isle was not a safe place. No one would be able to call this home.

I heard my mother shuffling behind me, but I didn’t dare look away from the body. Any minute now, he could die.

He whimpered and shook on the cobblestone.

I wondered how long he’d been missing for. Had anyone noticed yet?

My mother then dropped something in front of me. It clanged against the ground, the sound echoing. I didn’t look down at it. I didn’t want to.

“Go on then, Mal. Make him pay for it.”

~ ~ ~

“Mal,” Evie said, gently shaking me awake. “Mal, wake up-”

I freaked out. “Get off of me!” I screamed, thrashing around and pushing her away. “Stop!”

In my haste, I slipped off the other side on the bed, hitting the ground hard. Evie ran around, but was careful not to touch me again, kneeling down near my feet.

“Mal? Are you alright?” she asked, but I wasn’t paying attention to her.

I wrapped my arms around myself and shut my eyes tight, rocking myself back and forth. My shaky breaths were the only sound I could make out. I did my best to focus on them and to inhale as slowly as possible. I needed to calm down.

My stomach spasmed and it felt like the only thing holding my heart in my chest were my arms.

Finally, my heart rate decreased and I felt like I could breathe again. That’s when I started listening to Evie once more.

“It’s okay,” she cooed. “Shh. It’s okay. You’re safe.”

I looked up at Evie. She was still kneeling at my feet, face soft, speaking calmly.

“Hey Mal,” she said, once she noticed that I was listening to her. “Are you alright?”

It felt wrong. Being vulnerable. Even in front of someone I’d known as long as Evie.

I never let my emotions get away from me. The only thing that I was allowed to feel when I was outside the castle was anger. Everything else could wait. It could be dealt with when I was in the safety of my own room.

But there was no safety here. I had nowhere else to go. I didn’t have a room to myself. I didn’t have any time to myself. I didn’t even have a bathroom I could lock myself in.

“No.” While I was in Auradon, everything was out in the open.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I’m having a panic attack.”

Evie didn’t respond to this. She watched me carefully, but she didn’t make any move to help. I think she was frightened about setting me off again.

Before I could stop it, a tear slipped down face. Then, another one.

I took in as big of a breath as I could handle and quickly said, “Could you get me some water?”

Evie was on her feet in a second, walking to grab the water that she left of her bedside table. As she did that, I pulled myself off the ground and onto the side of the bed, still holding my knees up to my chest.

“Thank you,” I mumbled when she sat down beside me.

“You should put your feet on the floor and lie down on your back,” she said.

I looked at her, confused, so she went on.

“You’re constricting your airways,” she explained. “You’ll be able to breathe better when your lungs are free.”

I still didn’t fully understand what she was explaining to me, but I put the glass down and lay back across the bed, draping my legs over the side.

Evie spoke to me as I stared up at the ceiling. “You just keep thinking about your breathing. Think about getting in deep breaths and exhaling slowly.”

I followed her instructions. Silly as it seemed, I had never really listened to someone like this. Evie was providing helpful, sincere advice and I needed it. I never got attention like that.

“What time is it?”

Evie was startled, but quickly replied, “It’s almost one in the morning.”

I huffed. “Damn.”

“What’s wrong?”

I was beginning to feel better, or at the very least, more in control of myself, so I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “I’m going to be so tired tomorrow. There’s no way I’m getting sleep after that.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, quietly.

I shrugged. I definitely didn’t want to talk about it. But leaving Evie in the dark would only raise more suspicions. Concerns.

“Nightmares,” I replied, vaguely. “I’ve been having them for a couple of months.”

She nodded in understanding. “I’m sorry. You were breathing really fast in your sleep. I figured it was some kind of bad dream. That’s why I woke you up.”

I felt like I couldn’t stop moving my hands. First, I was rubbing my face, then playing with them in my lap, then running them through my knotted hair. I was worried that if I stopped using them, perhaps Evie would see how much I was shaking. See how much of a nervous wreck I really am.

“I didn’t mean to push you away,” I said, but it was difficult. Every time I unlocked my jaw, it shook, like I was about to start crying again. “I, uh… I thought for a minute that you were my mother.”

Evie gasped when she heard that, her eyes slowly trailing down to my shoulder, then back at me. “M, I am so sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I replied quickly.

But it wasn’t fine. And she could see it in my face.

“You know,” she started. “I had kinda always felt jealous of you guys.”

“Hm?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know… I guess, I just wish my mom cared about me the way that your parents had. You and Jay and Carlos. Because, I mean, Cruella is insanely strict, but she loves Carlos. A lot, a lot. He’s her pride and joy. Her baby. And then Jay is the perfect son. His father does nothing but praise him. Even Maleficent…”

I glanced over at her, not sure what good she could say about my mom.

“I know that things aren’t… great with your mom. But, I was envious of the faith that she had in you. You’re her number two, almost her equal. She trusts you… All my mom does is criticize me.”

I sighed. It was true. And I knew it well enough not to fight Evie on how she shouldn’t be jealous that I had a mother like Maleficent. Our parents had conditioned us to want one thing in the world and then, refused to give it to us.

For me, it was power. All my mother could talk about was me ruling the world… and yet, she wouldn’t let me anywhere near a leadership position, because the minute I had that, I could use it against her.

The Evil Queen had set up her daughter to always be disappointed in the amount of appreciation she got. With the way that she insisted for Evie to praise her, Evie had expected appraisal back… but all she got from her mother was criticisms. 

I finally said,  “Just, get some sleep, okay? One of us has to be awake tomorrow.”

She nodded, as if she were going to go, but hesitated. I glanced at her questioningly and she carefully reached out a hand put it over mine.

I froze. She must have seen how jittery I was.

She gently encased my hand within hers and smiled at me. “If you need anything, just call.”

I wanted to pull away, but I knew that she was trying to be a good friend. And, what was one show of solidarity, right?

“What about your beauty sleep?” I joked.

She shook her head. “Beauty sleep can wait. You’re more important to me.”

She gave my hand a quick squeeze, then walked back over to her bed.

The minute she was gone, I felt cold.

[falloutglow]

SOFT ASKS for Echo: 🍄 & 🥀

;w; thank!

🍄 What are your OCs favourite snacks? Their favourite comfort food which always cheers them up when they’re down? Favourite meal to make? Do they enjoy baking and cooking and are they any good in the kitchen?

Echo is a great cook actually! She’s still learning, but NoOne taught her a few things when cooking with alcohol (its NoOne’s specialty haha) and in a few aus she bakes a lot of goodies (ah good ol Tea Shop Monsters au). She loves cooking food for more than just herself! It’s a way to bond :3

As for snacks...she doesn’t snack much, but tends to lean towards things with protein like jerky and nuts. She does adore sweets and would soooo love chocolate or a nice cold Nuka-Cola, however, she doesn’t like eating them that often. Sweets are more for when she’s feeling like crap and wants to treat herself, indulge a bit. Comfort food wise would be stews! Echo just loves how stews can warm up your insides and also help make ya feel better when you’re sick.

🥀 How would your OC decorate a notebook or journal? What kind of things are written in there? Could you give an example of a nice entry?

OOOO! Well, she’d probably leave the covers fairly blank. She’s not artistic. However, I can see her pasting words from burned textbooks n stuff, things that are hardly salvageable to the cover cause aesthetically it’d look neat.

She’d more likely than not journal her thoughts down, but also sensor herself if she accidentally writes down ‘secrets’ and things she doesn’t want other folks to know. (Like how she’s from a vault and that she’s a psyker...) She’d be very inconsistent with it and probably forget she has one. It’d hold a lot of notes if nothing else. Things for her to remember. HMMMM an example....

[insert date here]

Well, I’m once again in the Dugout Inn. Dogmeat is asleep, hogging most of the bed again. Vadim made rent a lil cheaper at least since we helped him out on finding out what happened to Earl... I don’t want to go into detail. I had that flash ‘gut’ feeling before we went down in the clinic. Already knew he’d be gone when I found the receipt. Nick probably had a feeling too, but he doesn’t see what I do. Nobody does.

Son Sun didn’t know about Earl and was just as shocked... The blood on the floor though... I still don’t trust him or anyone who wears a lab coat and calls themselves a doctor or scientist. I don’t know if I should stay in this city for much longer. But its getting colder and- just save caps. This’ll just be temporary. At least I’ve made a few friends... if they see me that way. At least Dogmeat will help keep me warm.

[Soft Asks]

[carrotlunch07-blog]

Yogurt and Oats for Breakfast

Yogurt is a super versatile ingredient or dish in itself. This recipe for yogurt and oats contains all kinds of extra goodies to help you start the day right.

You love yogurt. It’s a health food, isn’t it? It’s even what they call a super food. But, is it really all it’s cracked up to be, or are there some things you should take into consideration when you choose yogurt to enjoy at home?

Yogurt has long been considered a healthy food to enjoy on a regular basis. Not only is it high in protein and important nutrients, but it also can aid digestion, boost your immunities, protect against osteoporosis, and promote heart health and a healthy weight.

However, for years yogurt companies have stuffed their yogurts with sugar and additives making it a little less impressive as a healthy food. The junk they put in can detract from some of yogurt’s innate benefits.

So, how can you enjoy yogurt without all the bad stuff? 

Buy or make it plain and dress it up yourself.

Yogurt: Health food or junk food?

As you know, over the last few years I’ve been doing some serious food reading. Not about cooking per se, but about nutrition, portion control, eating habits, our food sources, government regulations on food, and the way marketers try to get us to buy stuff. It has been an education to be sure.

Some of the books that have had a tremendous impact in how I think about food include:

It’s through the reading of these books that I’ve made slow shifts in how I shop and cook and in how my family eats. We’re not as “crunchy” as they come, but we don’t eat exclusively out of a box, either.

Slowly but surely, I’m making changes to improve my family’s diet without busting our budget. I cook more from scratch, and we try to avoid chemicals, artificial ingredients, processed sugars, and unfermented soy. I am working on making healthy eating easier over all.

One of the new wrinkles in this healthier eating paradigm, has been to examine the yogurt we eat.

Yogurt has always been one of my very favorite breakfast foods. In my non-pregnant and nursing years, I haven’t really been a milk-drinker, so yogurt and cheese help me keep up on my calcium.

Years ago I was a diehard Yoplait or La Creme fan. Coupons and sales were plentiful for those items so I could keep the refrigerator stocked to the brim, buying as many as 60 cartons at a time. I thought that I was buying “health food.”

It was only later when I started to reduce our intake of processed sugars and processed foods in general that I found out how SWEET these yogurts actually were. Plus, often they had all kinds of ingredients I couldn’t pronounce.

How to switch to plain yogurt

So, I made some changes. I started buying large 32-ounce cartons of plain, or sometimes vanilla, yogurt, preferably Cascade,  Mountain High, or Fage brands.

Not all my kids liked that change. But most of them have gone along with it, especially when honey or maple syrup is drizzled over the top. Occasionally I buy Trader Joe’s vanilla and blueberry cups, but not often.

If you or yours are slow to be won over to plain yogurt, consider one or more of the following toppings for plain yogurt:

maple syrup

honey

jam

fruit syrup

fresh fruit

granola or nuts

It may take some time, but you’ll be a convert before too long.

Uses for plain yogurt.

Plain yogurt is an incredibly versatile ingredient to keep on hand.

It’s great to use in baking instead of buttermilk. Just mix half yogurt and half milk as your buttermilk substitute.

Use it as a thickener in smoothies.

Mix it with whipped cream to reduce the fat and increase the protein in your favorite sweet topping.

Substitute it for sour cream in recipes to give an equivalent tang without all the fat.

Can you make yogurt at home?

Believe it or not, it’s incredibly easy to make yogurt at home! A few years ago I experimented with making yogurt myself. One night I tested two different methods:

I also read about the microwave/oven and cooler methods, but decided to go with these first two methods. The next morning I compared the yogurts I had made. They were like Laurel and Hardy, one was thick, the other thin.

The slow cooker method was good, but thin like buttermilk. Folks suggested that I strain the yogurt to thicken it, but it was so thin, the yogurt went right through the sieve. I used some in baking and churned the rest into frozen yogurt.

The yogurt incubated on the heating pad was thick and creamy. Since we like THICK yogurt, you can guess that I’m a fan of the heating pad method.

Try them both out and see for yourself which you prefer. I originally tested with whole milk, but have since made homemade yogurt with nonfat milk and it turned out fine and thick, albeit a little on the tart side in comparison.

My preferred method for making homemade yogurt is to combine 1 quart milk, 1/4 cup powdered milk, 2 tablespoons yogurt with live cultures, and to incubate it for 5 hours according to the heating pad method.

Enjoy Yogurt and Oats for Breakfast.

As a born Francophile, I’ve loved reading The French Women series by Mireille Guiliano and have been encouraged by many of the suggestions she has to offer for life, work, and good eats.

One of those habits that I’ve adapted for my own is what Ms. Guiliano calls “Magical Breakfast Cream”. I can’t vouch for its magical properties, but I know that I like it, at least how I tweaked it.

I’ve made some significant changes to her recipe. Her recipe calls for shredded wheat cereal instead of oats, flax seed oil instead of meal, and orange instead of lime, as well as the addition of ground nuts. My tweaks are thanks to what I normally stock in my pantry.

This variation has become my daily breakfast, packed with protein and filling enough to get me through the morning.

Yogurt is a super versatile ingredient or dish in itself. This recipe for yogurt and oats contains all kinds of extra goodies to help you start the day right.

Cuisine: American, French

Keyword: oatmeal, oats, yogurt, yogurt and oats

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

2 tablespoons rolled oats not cooked

1 tablespoon chopped roasted almonds

1 teaspoon flax seed meal

the juice and pulp of half a lime

1 teaspoon honey

In a small bowl, layer the ingredients in the order listed. Stir or not, depending on how you like it.

Level up your meal planning and prep.

Need a little extra motivation to get on your meal planning game? Want to make lunch packing less of a drag? Creating a kitchen survival kit to help you WIN in the kitchen this school year.

I’d love for you to join me for the next Mom’s Kitchen Survival Workshop!

Together, we’ll create a plan to help you get dinner on the table every night, fill your freezer with wholesome snacks and breakfasts, finesse your lunch-packing skills, and even make sure you get a daily dose of MOM food.

Learn more here so that when registration opens, you won’t miss out.

Source: https://goodcheapeats.com/2018/09/morning-yogurt-and-oats/

[axgmented]

🎠 - Your character is at the carnival.  What kinds of rides or games do they check out to entertain themselves? 🍜 - Carnivore/Pescatarian/Vegetarian/Vegan/Other? What kind of diet does your character have?

  ohhhh my god. rem LOVES the shooter games. she like's those fake little rifles that shoot those stupid corks out. she loves throwing the knives or the darts at the balloons. she HATES those water gun games, no thanks. she likes the ring tosses too, so she can try and get all the goldfish the vendors have and releases them in the fountains in the upper plate so they have a better chance of living. rem tries to buy out all the vendors of their prizes and sets them up in the slums on random carts on the corners so the kids can have a toy and the lonely people can get the huge teddy bears so they don't have to go to bed alone.

  as for rides? ALL OF THEM. she LOVES rollercoasters, LOVES the twister type of rides that throw her against the surface of the ride of the side with just pure gravity. her all-time favorite ride though would be the ferris wheel and she'll usually save that for last. she likes the one loop rollercoaster, but will only ride it once or twice because that ride, for some reason, throws her equilibrium off.

 honestly, rem is all of these.

   it truly depends on what she feels like when she wakes, whether she wants to eat meat or not, fish or not, be strictly vegan that day, or just vegetarian. it varies with her mood, but she is constantly eating. she has strategically placed snack packs all around the office. rem has a super high metabolism and with her being augmented and different than the other turks, she needs to keep herself fed nearly all the time. BUT we all know she's a bit of a self destructive little shit, so she doesn't always follow protocol of eating when she should.

  since her diet has been basically set out for her since her creation, if she deviates from her normal diet, she will get sick. usually, her breakfast is eggs, rice, some type of meat (whether is pork, beef, chicken or fish) or protein (like tofu or soy or something like that if she's in one of her non-meat moods), veggies and fruit, with some type of carb (like toast with avocado, honey, chai seeds and hemp seeds thrown in, ect). rem eats extremely healthy; her snacks are even healthy: fruit, granola, nuts and cheese, lean proteins in small amounts (like turkey slices, turkey bacon, venison strips, ect), things like that. most of her stuff is organic and homemade. tseng actually put rem through an extensive personal nutrition course before she could be released on her own so she wouldn't fucking die.

   BUT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE--- she'll get drunk and want to sober up at the closest waffle house or when she's running recon and can't really cook anything for herself, she'll indulge in the local fast food places but she'll end up throwing it up in the long run.

[sexlessrpmemes]

Attack of the Killer Donuts sentence starters

“This isn’t going to hurt, because you’re dead. If you weren’t it would hurt like a motherfucker.”

“Rosie, no, no, you may not eat Minnie”

“I did it, I’ve created the greatest discovery of the 21st century”

“Please never enter my lair when the door is locked.”

*whining voice* “no, wait, you’re going to ruin my greatest hour.”

“Well it’s not like I wasn’t working.”

“Neither is lying and getting paid for it.”

“Is it invisible money?”

“What’s next, you’re gonna tell mom?”

“You sassing me is not helping this situation.”

“Hold your water Nancy, I got it.”

“I was a little busy, with being the only one here and all.”

“Whatevs, dude look, I need money.”

“Babe, we have to go, I don’t have time, I’m on house arrest.”

“I’m here for the device, where is it.”

“I don’t want to use salty language in front of the... lady.”

“I don’t want your kind in my classy eating establishment.”

“Yeah, this place really screams class.”

“It’s mine, unhand me you ruffian.”

“It’s mine, mwahahahaha”

“It’s donuts, it’s free donuts.”

“I can’t believe you like our coffee.”

“I don’t, just keeps me regular.”

“You’re not going to let the criminal have a donut?”

“That acid’s kicking in.”

“Whiskers Mc fur, we’ve been waiting for this all week.”

*seductively dancing at a box of donuts*

Do you smell patchouli?”

“Greetings kids, is _ available.”

“No, I wouldn’t be caught dead eating here, I mean I have a very strict gluten-free paleo-vegan diet.”

“I just wanted to show you my latest creation, open it you silly goose.”

“Behold, it’s fertile soil’s latest creation, circular bliss.”

“It looks like a tiny donut.”

“What gives, it’s a tiny round donut.”

“It is a tiny round donut you boob, where do you think I get the word circular from.”

“The big deal my uncouth compadre is that it’s made from the freshest, certified organic gluten-free fat-free proteins. Nothing less for my customers.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Best part, 3.50 retail.”

“Actually my halitosis inflicted competitor, three dozen sold this morning.”

“Just because it has all those healthy ingredients doesn’t mean it necessarily tastes good.”

“I can feel it tingling all over my body.”

“Are you ready for my famous macaroni and cheese.”

“I call it the [insult]nut it’s our new free-range whole wheat 100% sugar free.”

“It looks like a regular donut.”

“I would love to chit-chat with you all day, perhaps catch some salmonella too, but I’ve got a hot yoga class to go to.”

“__ wouldn’t bend over to pick up his mom if she was on the ground.”

“Unless his mom was a quarter.”

“Do you hear that? That heavy breathing?”

“He comes to my house even if I’m not there, he hangs out with my mom.”

“She doesn’t always ask for money, she comes to see me.”

“I’m crazy about you baby, you’re the clam to my chowder.”

“The donut shop.”

“Wise ass huh?”

“Everyone is giving you lip today _”

“Two hits, me hitting you you hitting the floor, any time you’re ready pal.”

“_ did you pepper spray these customers?”

“I hope you get explosive diarrhoea you filthy animals.”

“We’ve been friends since fourth grade?”

“We’ve been friends since I beat you up in miss ___’s class.”

“You’re never gonna let that go are you?”

“No one fires _ on my watch.”

“Do you just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind?”

“Is he a zombie?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“You’re not remotely disturbed by the fact that I hit this guy with my car at 60 miles per hour, he survived, looked like a zombie then shat his guts out, glowing green radioactive shit in case you guys missed that part, before plopping over and dropping dead?”

Dude, the donuts just moved.”

“I... hate... donuts”

“The donuts are alive, and mutated into... killer donuts.”

“I think my brain just melted”

“Thank god you have so few customers.”

“And tell the police what? An army of killer donuts is on the loose?”

“Dangerous criminal? He was polishing a sword behind a sorority house, how dangerous can he be?”

“Wait, it’s tempered glass it can not be broken.”

“She’s dead, the donuts ate her, it was horrible.”

“I am 100% sure it was the donuts.”

“Don’t worry, the ground broke my fall.”

“There’s like ten murderers in there.”

“There’s no time to call for backup, there are like ten murderers in there.”

“__ what’s gotten into you, it’s not star wars night.”

“What could possibly cause donuts to become bloodthirsty killers?”

“You think your crazy uncle came up with a reanimation serum?”

“No need to panic Debbie, this new antidote should bring you back to normal... or it’ll just kill you again.”

“Eureka, I’ve done it.”

“Oh you’ve done it alright you crazy loon.”

“You’ve turned harmless tasty donuts into killer donuts.”

“Your serum has contaminated the donuts and they’ve come to life.”

“That’s impossible... who are you?”

“What you see before you is a harmless grey mouse, a few seconds ago it was a crazed killer rat.”

“Aww it’s taking a nap, how cute.”

“You ignorant toad. The point is not to kill the rat again, but to stabilize it. You don’t realize what I’ve done here, you’re in the presence of genius.”

“Just give us enough pink stuff so we can kill the donuts.”

“You fool, it has to get into their bloodstream.“

“We’re talking about donuts, donuts don’t have a bloodstream.”

“_ grab some pink stuff, let’s go.”

“Do you have any grenades?”

“I’m angry, we’re about to be snacks FOR THE FREAKING SNACKS.”

“The worst part of this is that when I’m eaten by my little friend sprinkle and glazed out there my mother is going to be alone.”

“I should just open the door and let them eat me.”

“I like you very much alive, now shut your mouth and help me figure a way out of this mess.”

“That’s great, now how do we survive the explosion?”

“You definitely weren’t dreaming, we blew up the donut shop.”

“Don’t think so hard, you might strain something.”

“That’s why I want to figure out what we are, last time I didn’t I ended up with an imaginary girlfriend.”

“No, you know what, I love you, and that’s that, you’re my (significant other)”

[anothergirlrecovering]

Dietician day five

Peggy is honestly just so kind. I feel like I say that every time, but every time I’m still blown away by it. Maybe that says more about me than it does her that I’m always so floored when people are so nice to me. I came in and she was running behind with her previous client so I sat down and was browsing my phone. When she came out to get me she said that she was sorry for running behind that she got to the office late this morning. I said I was fine and she said to put my stuff down and we can go and weigh. She weighed me and then I went back into her office and she said so how’s life and I said well I gain weight so it’s going good and she was like I saw that how has food been going and I was like it’s been OK it sucks but I’m trying and she was like yeah I saw that and I’m really proud of you I know it hasn’t been easy and you’ve been really pushing yourself but you’ve been doing such good work. She said that she was so thankful for me and I just found that so interesting as a statement but it was nice to hear and she was like seriously I’m just so thankful for you and she said she’d been looking at my logs And had been seeing that even though I’m not necessarily completing all of the meal clinics changes she sees so much consistency compared to what it was when I first came in and she’s just so proud and glad to see that because it’s a step in the right direction and also the fact that I did actually gain weight and I was like well yeah and yesterday was the first day that I literally did every single freaking snack and meal that there is. We were literally sitting there talking and she didn’t have her breakfast and I Wasn’t sure if she had eaten with her first client or what but so I didn’t eat until she was going to say something about it but she asked me how things were going with following the meal plan and I was like honestly it’s just it’s so time-consuming and she was like what do you mean and I was like because I just end up with so much anxiety around picking the right thing and not picking the wrong thing and she was like there’s no judgment and I was like I know that but for whatever reason I just have so much anxiety and I know it’s not your fault and I know it’s not even you I think it’s actually my history with my parents because they were so judge mental that I’m just always so afraid that I’m gonna pick the wrong thing and do the wrong thing and I end up writing out the meal plan like crossing things out and writing things in and trying to make all the food groups work and she wa wasn’t sure if she had eaten with her first client or what but so I didn’t eat until she was going to say something about it but she asked me how things were going with following the meal plan and I was like honestly it just is so time-consuming and she was like what do you mean and I was like because I just end up with so much anxiety around picking the right thing and not picking the wrong thing and she was like there’s no judgment and I was like I know that but for whatever reason I just have so much anxiety and I know it’s not your fault and I know it’s not even you I think it’s actually my history with my parents because they were so judge mental that I’m just always so afraid that I’m gonna pick the wrong thing and do the wrong thing and I end up writing out the meal plan like crossing things out and writing things in and trying to make all the food groups work and she was like I think you have hit all of your changes sometimes and I was like well if I did then I wasn’t aware of it and had been counting them wrong and she was like oh maybe not she said that she had an actually looked all that closely with that I was doing pretty well and she was like it’s actually all really flexible you know and I was like yeah but I don’t do well with flexibility and that’s part of the problem and she was like so do we need to make it a range of servings and I was like yeah maybe that would help and so she took out the original sheet of paper with my meal exchange values and she was like where do you feel like you’re not hitting your exchanges and where do you feel like you need more and I was like well how the heck do you only do eight proteins a day and she was like what do you mean and I was like honestly if I wanted a whole can of tuna that’s five of my servings a day and then I only have three left so basically I can have a little bit of peanut butter breakfast and then I’m like done so what about dinner and she was like it’s all flexible. She was like you can increase as you need to or decrease those as you need to just sort of depending on the day and it’s OK to have more one day if you happen to have to know that day and I must’ve just had a blank expression on my face and she was like we can go ahead and bump it up to 10 servings of protein and she increased the grain and decreased the dairy because I’m not doing so great on meeting the dairy exchanges anyway. She said something about nuts and that she was allergic to peanuts and I was like wait really? I said that I had brought her a peanut butter muffin but apparently that’s not an option and she was like oh that was really sweet but yeah I’m allergic to peanuts I had adult onset peanut allergy and she said that she had a little bit of signs before but then one time she ate it and got sick and it was just a pretty scary feeling so she took Benadryl and then got allergy tested and found out she was allergic to she can’t have it. I said that sucks and she was like it wasn’t anaphylactic or anything and I was like yeah but it’s still scary I can I can empathize there with some of my allergic reaction‘s. She was like sounds like your rigidity around your parents with food our old messages and I think you need to really write them a letter and I was like I totally did and she was like I saw that you had written something down but I wasn’t sure what it was and I was like yeah that was my homework and she was like that’s right and I was like I always do my homework that’s assigned to me and she was like I want to read it to me and so I ended up reading it all out loud it was pretty long and when I was done I was surprised because she said that was so beautiful and I was anticipating her being like by your parents are bat shit crazy but she apparently thought the whole ending to it was beautiful about when I want to do to take care of myself and she asked if she can make a copy of it and I said sure why not. She said she thinks that I really need to read that letter to Lynn and I must’ve looked pretty blank because she said do not feel comfortable talking to her about these things well they will surely knows about all of that but in general I try to avoid eating disorder topics because we need to sort of therapist and then I feel like it’s awkward because then she brings up seeing a specialist with it she does already know the things I mentioned and she was like well what about the aspect of what you were doing to take care of yourself and I think she knows about that she knows that I’m here and everything. I said that Lynn definitely knows about how my parents are and the memories that I mentioned and Peggy was like it sounds like your parents are honestly really self-absorbed and narcissistic and I was like yeah that’s my husband says to and she was like there’s this great book the Wizard of Oz and all of its narcissistic people or something and she suggested that I read it and said that she’s given to many clients over the years who had similar parents who were like mine and she said that her own parents were pretty narcissistic and so she can empathize and that book really helped her. She said that she thought it would help me and then I would see my parents throughout the book a lot and that she gets the sense that I’ve done a lot of work in putting boundaries in other areas of my life with them but when it comes to food there are just really no boundaries and they’re still sort of playing those rolls of telling me what to do and what not to do. I said yeah that definitely makes sense. And then I can relate to that. She said she knows that we gain is going to be hard but that it’s not really optional at this point and I said I know and she said I have so many things that I’m working towards and I said I just wish that it wasn’t all going straight to my stomach because I already hate my stomach but I understand it’s my body’s way of trying to protect my organs and she was like exactly but that will go away and it will distribute. I was like yeah I just wish it would go quicker because I absolutely hate feeling like I look pregnant. She also asked if there were any moments of last week that I had felt proud of myself at all and I said well sort of because yesterday I am and I did do every meal and snack and then also I said that I mean I got over my meltdown about not having corn and was flexible enough to just use polenta even though it’s totally not the same thing at all but it’s something. I said also the fact that I had eaten lunch on Sunday even though I had coffee because usually if I have coffee that I feel sick and I don’t want to eat and she was like so we know that usually use coffee to avoid eating because about makes you feel and I was like well not exactly but while I’m studying for this exam I need something to help me focus and it’s pretty much like my options are either coffee or Concerta and Concerta leaves me not wanting to eat and coffee makes me feel too sick to eat and she was like well there’s also tea have you tried that and I was like well sort of but it seems like T is never as effective as coffee or Concerta and she was like well if you know that the coffee’s gonna make you too sick to eat you could always just take the Concerta and eat and I was like I mean yeah I guess I could just do that and she was like you know opposite action and I was like look at you knowing your DBT skills and she was like oh we did them in those groups at the treatment center all the time and she was like come on radical acceptance you have to gain weight you have to make yourself eat and I was like yeah that’s true I could just do that. She pointed out that I wasn’t eating breakfast and she looked panicked because there was totally only 10 minutes left and I was like oh yeah and she was like you need to eat that and so I took it out and then I ate all of the fruit and she ended up saying at the end where she was like I know you eat all of your fruit but I’m trusting that you’re going to eat the other stuff in the car and I was like I will I purposely made sure to eat the fruit because I know that’s not something you can really eat easily in the car and she was like I didn’t know if you were just trying to eat all the fruit first because a lot of people do you service will try to fill up on the fruits and vegetables first and I was like oh yeah I most definitely do that every time and she was like well that’s a food ritual and I was like yeah I guess I hadn’t really thought of that. She had asked about any food rituals and I was like honestly I don’t think so but my husband might say otherwise and she was like well what would he say and I was like I mean he would probably say that I take way too long to actually plan out my meals because I end up just so rigid and trying to make sure that everything fits perfectly and that I end up at the grocery store far too often and she was like oh why is that happening and I was like I don’t know I think partially because I’m so inflexible and it’s like I end up thinking about a certain food that I end up wanting and then I think about it all day long and then I have to go to the grocery store to get it and then I’ll go get it and I’ll just wander aimlessly through The isles looking at what’s actually there until I eventually realize that I’ve wasted a bunch of time for no reason and go home and make the thing I was thinking I was originally going to make and she just sort of looked at me with this like sad but empathetic sort of frown and said I think your body is hungry baby you have to eat. And part of me just wanted to cry right there but I held it together and said maybe. She reminded me that I have permission to eat and permission to eat even more servings of anything that I want. She reminded me that food does not have an agenda and that it has literally been put on this earth to nourish our bodies and that’s it no further questions. She went through her usual series of questions about behaviors and asked if any other behaviors had sort of ramped up and I said no but that I had went running on Sunday and she asked how long and I was like I only just a mile and she was like I have a feeling he went running because you didn’t weigh yourself of the weekend and I was compensatory and she kept talking so I didn’t really get a chance to defend it because it wasn’t necessarily compensatory as much as it was that I was feeling really physically anxious and I hate that feeling and running does actually help that go away but whatever. She asked me about challenging my flexibility this week and she was like maybe it’s not calorie counting maybe it’s going to the grocery Store list or challenging yourself with a certain food or something and I was like or like picking whatever I actually want to eat instead of what the right thing is supposed to be when my husband and I go to this dinner theater over the weekend? She literally threw up her hands and said how excited she was for that and how she gets so happy for people when they get sassy with her eating this order and pick what they want and not what they’re eating disorder wants. I said I could manage that. She mentioned something about having to train my brain to learn that food isn’t going to cause cancer and I can eat and nothing will happen and I was like omg I ate so much white rice and pop tarts when I first got out of treatment and she was like I see that all the time where previously restricted foods become the thing you want all the time. She went and made copies of everything, and I grabbed my stuff and walked out.

[weekorchid21-blog]

This keto diet: Its highs and lows plus 5 recipes

My friends Mike plus Robin have been about the keto diet with regard to a couple of years. That they lost a bunch of weight, and many people look fit and cut — superior to I’ve ever before seen all of them, and I have personally known these individuals more when compared with 30 years. Their the desired info is not unusual. The keto diet generally leads for you to rapid weight loss. Typically the trick lies in keeping it off. Mike and Robin have done it well, nevertheless a number of people can’t. And therein lies a problem, according for you to Jennifer McDaniel, a registered dietitian as well as owner regarding McDaniel Healthy eating plan Therapy in St. Paillette. “While Taking the keto diet: your five recipes to try might gain positive aspects within the short term just simply like any some other hard to stick to diet, most people — like, 90% of often the people — have trouble staying with it. Any time they lose the body weight and they can’t maintain the weight which they attained, honestly, that is just another been unsuccessful diet plan, ” she said. Often the keto diet is actually a high-fat, low-carbohydrates diet — “it’s like the Atkins diet plan on steroids, ” McDaniel stated. People on this diet strive to eat 70% to many of these of their very own calories through fat, simply because little as 5% by carbs and the remainder through proteins. This will help us lose weight since it forces our bodies in order to reduce fat for energy as an alternative of the preferred gas, sugars. McDaniel recommends that her buyers not go on the keto eating habits. The diet changes this microbiome in their physiques (the bacteria, fungi and more that reside inside us). It is difficult for people on the diet to help consume adequate fiber, which often can lead to obstipation and other stomach nastiness. And because carbohydrate food hold on water, people on typically the diet are often dried out, she said. And still, like Robert and Robin the boy wonder in addition to thousands of other individuals can confirm, it is effective. So I thought we would test some sort of few tested recipes to be able to see how they tasted.

CONTENT CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN The guidelines of the keto diet are really restrictive, which will can make cooking difficult. You need to steer clear of fruit, glucose, grains, coffee beans and legumes, rice, potatoes, candy and even liquid. Components to be encouraged include meat, fatty fish, ovum, butter and ointment, cheese, nuts and plant seeds, selected oils (olive, avocado, coconut) and low-carb fresh vegetables — most green greens, garlic, onions, peppers and stuff like that. It is very a good lot to absorb, therefore I began with some sort of simple totally wonderful recipe involving Citrus-Marinated Olives. These kind of are the marvelous cure, combining often the heady earthiness of olives with shiny notes connected with orange in addition to lemon. Although the flavor are imprudencia, they operate surprisingly properly together. Very best of all, you make these individuals in mere a few minutes. Another victorious one was Keto Egg Cups of coffee, a plate that concisely presents everything that is good concerning keto cooking: Little cups of made from prosciutto hold eggs mixed with cream, spinach, roasted red potatoes and mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. A fresh delightful corporation of high-fat goodies of which come together into a hand-held snack. And it’s merely as fun at space temperature as it will be warm. 2 entrees came next. First, I required a menu for Instant-Pot Keto Cities Chicken and made it some sort of recipe ingredients for Keto Mediterranean and beyond Roasted chicken Without an Instant Pan. It only took regarding a few minutes longer than often the Instant-Pot variation, and it was deeply satisfying. I can admit, though, i always could not devote to whole keto cooking with this specific a single. As written, the formula calls for searing six chicken thighs plus then cooking the recipe in the resulting excess fat. My six thighs rendered out a new half glass of fat. I just could not do it. My partner and i couldn’t make with — and My spouse and i certainly could not eat — that a lot fat. We know the keto diet requires precisely what appears to be like a shocking level of fat to work, nevertheless I couldn’t see the idea. I poured out fifty percent of the fat, along with the dish still felt dirty to me. ARTICLE GOES ON BELOW ADVERTISEMENT NEWS E-NEWSLETTER The day's top news right in your mail. E mail My spouse and i am above thirteen many years of age, and consent to sending policies. SIGN ME UPWARDS Privacy Policy Gazette Marketing and advertising THE JOURNAL BUSINESS HONOURS NOMINATIONS The particular Gazette Enterprise Awards honor local businesses, organizations and individuals that have demonstrated impressive accomplishments in business enterprise in often the Souterrain between June you, 2019 - May thirty-one, 2020. KNOW MORE Oily, although delicious. Meaty rooster thighs and leg are paired having olives, capers, oregano plus a cutting splash of vinegar. It’s presented with a fresh-tasting yogurt sauce, generating a good impressive presentation. I would happily eat it any time, specifically if I poured away all but a single tbsp. of of these fat. Typically the other entree, Keto Breaded Chicken Cutlets, isnt terrible — but I’d just make it again if I were on the keto diet program. The chicken is dredged through salted peanuts flour ahead of frying, which offers it a good duller flavor than wheat flour. Having wheat flour, the same recipe would be outstanding, if familiar. If youre for the keto diet, salted peanuts flour is definitely often the way to go. Just simply be sure to work with a lot of salt. Often the last plate I made was a a treat named Black and White Keto Fats Bombs. Seriously, that certainly is the name, and seriously, honestly, that is what exactly they are. They are chocolate-and-vanilla candies that are made with coconut oil in addition to almonds, and also low-carb, powder sweetener, sugar-free vanilla get and unsweetened cocoa powder. How would they taste? Not poor, actually, or at a minimum quite good. Nevertheless the structure was so that oily together with off-putting that the majority of taste testers threw apart their selections. One mentioned it has been like eating spread. When you’re on the keto as well as you’re looking for an extra infusion connected with fat, then I’d state to go ahead and make it. Usually, this particular is one to keep away from. My friend Robin assures by the keto diet together with says she is interested in it. Her health indicators are all great, plus she states that she features higher vitality and alertness. And even though the diet program is definitely restricted, she loves precisely what she can feed on: mozzarella dairy product, olive oil, butter, nut products and dark chocolate. The greatest thing she yearns for is fruit, but the lady will not miss the forty five pounds she lost. After that again, I use an additional close friend, Roger, who else lost 65 pounds. He / she just eats more healthfully and mindfully, and strolls every single moment. That appears easier.

[healthspiritbody]

Why Full Fat Milk Is Better To Drink And The Reason Why The 'Skinny Stuff' Makes You Fat

When I was a child almost everyone drank full-fat fat milk. Then, in the 1970s, we were warned saturated fats found in dairy would block our arteries and make us fat.

Britons are drinking third less milk than they were 30 years ago, and consumption rates continue to fall

Concerned about our health, many made the switch to foul-tasting skimmed milk or gave up cow’s milk altogether. I included.

As a result, Britons are drinking third less milk than they were 30 years ago, and consumption rates continue to fall. A recent survey found a third of people under 35 are now considering cutting back on dairy, citing a health or moral reasons. Instead, they opt for plant-based alternatives such as soya, almond or coconut ‘milk’.

My 18-year-old daughter Kate is one of them. Cow’s milk makes her uncomfortable and bloated, so in a bid to reduce her symptoms, she made the switch to almond milk.

Kate’s problem is surprisingly common. About 60 percent of the global population lacks the enzyme lactase that helps us digest the sugars in cow’s milk, called lactose. For these people, guzzling milk can lead to unpleasant symptoms such as stomach irritation, gas and bloating. However, the vast majority have minor symptoms and even those with severe lactose intolerance can usually tolerate a tiny splash in their tea.

But for some people, even the odd builder’s tea can cause crippling stomach cramps, not to mention the embarrassing wind. So I understand why the alternative milk market is booming. But I also have concerns.

If you are thinking of switching away from dairy, for health reasons, then there are a few things to know, because unless you really understand what it is you are doing, switching from dairy could actually be bad for your bones, heart, and brain. And, rather ironically, opting for skinny versions could even make you fatter. After weighing up the evidence, I’ve recently switched to the full-fat variety again – and after reading this you may want to do the same.

Almond milk won’t protect your brain

Cow’s milk contains lots of essential nutrients that nut or oat milk don’t; high levels of protein and Vitamin B12, for instance.

Everyone knows dairy is an excellent, natural source of calcium, essential for healthy bones, but not many are aware of another, equally important nutrient, called iodine. One small glass of cow’s milk (full-fat, semi-skimmed or skimmed) contains almost 70 percent of our recommended daily intake of iodine – essential for brain development in babies and regulating mood and metabolism in adults.

Studies have shown ‘milk’ derived from plants contains just two percent of the amount found in cow’s milk. You can also get your iodine ‘fix’ from eating seaweed and it’s abundant in shellfish and other white fish. But cow’s milk remains by far the main source of iodine in the average British diet.

One small glass of cow’s milk contains 70 percent of our recommended daily intake of iodine, whereas plant-based ‘milk’ contains only two percent of the vital ingredient

Given the fact that we are one of the most iodine-deficient countries in the world, many of us need every scrap we can get.

Sadly, young women tend to have the lowest levels – and this is the same demographic most likely to shun animal foods in favor of plant-based alternatives. A 2011 study of British teenage girls found nearly 70 percent had iodine levels well below the acceptable minimum. Iodine is needed to make thyroxine, a hormone released by the thyroid gland that controls how effective your body is at converting food into energy, also known as metabolic rate.

Persistently low levels of iodine lead to depletion of this hormone and the slowing down of vital bodily functions, including burning energy. It is what is known as a ‘hypothyroid’ state, which leads to weight gain and mood swings. More worryingly, iodine deficiency in a pregnant woman can impact the brain of her fetus – a 20-year study of 14,000 pregnant and post-pregnant women discovered that if an expectant mother was mild to moderately iodine-deficient, this had a significant effect on her child’s reading ability and IQ scores.

Another study, looking at almost 50,000 babies, found both maternal and new-born iodine intake to have a significant impact on the child’s neurodevelopment at three years of age. Low levels of the mineral were associated with delayed language development, behavioral problems, and reduced motor skills in children. This happens because a lack of thyroid hormones dramatically halts the brain development of the fetus.

The extra fat can curb your hunger pangs

I witched from full-fat milk to skimmed in the 1980s, amid fears that saturated fat could impact my heart health and my waistline. The trouble was, I found skimmed milk (which is about 0.3 percent fat) so watery I couldn’t stomach it, so chose semi-skimmed (1.6 percent fat) instead. This green-top milk remained my go-to for many years until last year. I returned to blue-top after reading a number of recent studies which showed the sorts of saturated fat you find in milk and dairy seems to be protective rather than harmful.

One of the reasons we’ve been told to go for low-fat options, like skimmed milk, is because consuming saturated fats raises the level in the blood of LDL, often thought of as ‘bad cholesterol’. High levels of LDL are associated with a greater chance of heart disease.

It was also assumed that because skimmed milk has less than two-thirds of the number of calories, per glass, of full-fat milk, it would be less fattening.

But we now know it is more complicated than that.

The saturated fat in milk does indeed boost LDL but it also boosts levels of ‘good cholesterol’ known as HDL, and this appears to balance out the damage done by higher LDL.

HDL picks up excess cholesterol in the blood and takes it back to your liver, where it’s broken down and removed from the body.

To many people’s great surprise (including me), there have been a large number of recent studies demonstrating that full-fat milk drinkers not only tend to be slimmer than those on lower-fat varieties but also have a lower risk of metabolic syndrome – or raised blood pressure, elevated blood sugars and raised levels of fats in the blood that can increase your risk of heart disease.

A recent study of 1,600 healthy middle-aged Swedish men found those who ate butter and drank full-fat milk were half as likely, over the 11-year study period, to become obese than those who went for skimmed milk and low-fat spreads.

And a study of 18,438 American women found those eating the highest amount of full-fat dairy were the least likely to gain a lot of weight over 11 years.

The likely explanation, according to studies, is that consuming high-fat dairy products keeps you fuller for longer, reducing the lure of sugary snacks.

So why not just go one step up to semi-skimmed? Well, you certainly could but it has lower levels of some essential fatty acids, like omega-3, which is linked to slowing cognitive decline and reducing anxiety and depression.

Full-fat milk may have three times the fat content but it also contains 90 times the amount of omega-3 fats as found in skimmed milk, and about twice as much as semi-skimmed, not to mention that the fat-removal process rids the finished product of a host of vitamins, such as Vitamin A and Vitamin D. Some of these vitamins are added back in afterward, but by no means all.

I like the flavor of full-fat milk and those extra few grams of fat curb my hunger pangs.

I believe my brain, bones, heart – and taste buds – will thank me for it.

If you know someone who might like this, please click “Share”!

Why Full Fat Milk Is Better To Drink And The Reason Why The ‘Skinny Stuff’ Makes You Fat was originally published on Health Spirit Body

[waverule2-blog]

Yogurt and Oats for Breakfast

Yogurt is a super versatile ingredient or dish in itself. This recipe for yogurt and oats contains all kinds of extra goodies to help you start the day right.

You love yogurt. It’s a health food, isn’t it? It’s even what they call a super food. But, is it really all it’s cracked up to be, or are there some things you should take into consideration when you choose yogurt to enjoy at home?

Yogurt has long been considered a healthy food to enjoy on a regular basis. Not only is it high in protein and important nutrients, but it also can aid digestion, boost your immunities, protect against osteoporosis, and promote heart health and a healthy weight.

However, for years yogurt companies have stuffed their yogurts with sugar and additives making it a little less impressive as a healthy food. The junk they put in can detract from some of yogurt’s innate benefits.

So, how can you enjoy yogurt without all the bad stuff? 

Buy or make it plain and dress it up yourself.

Yogurt: Health food or junk food?

As you know, over the last few years I’ve been doing some serious food reading. Not about cooking per se, but about nutrition, portion control, eating habits, our food sources, government regulations on food, and the way marketers try to get us to buy stuff. It has been an education to be sure.

Some of the books that have had a tremendous impact in how I think about food include:

It’s through the reading of these books that I’ve made slow shifts in how I shop and cook and in how my family eats. We’re not as “crunchy” as they come, but we don’t eat exclusively out of a box, either.

Slowly but surely, I’m making changes to improve my family’s diet without busting our budget. I cook more from scratch, and we try to avoid chemicals, artificial ingredients, processed sugars, and unfermented soy. I am working on making healthy eating easier over all.

One of the new wrinkles in this healthier eating paradigm, has been to examine the yogurt we eat.

Yogurt has always been one of my very favorite breakfast foods. In my non-pregnant and nursing years, I haven’t really been a milk-drinker, so yogurt and cheese help me keep up on my calcium.

Years ago I was a diehard Yoplait or La Creme fan. Coupons and sales were plentiful for those items so I could keep the refrigerator stocked to the brim, buying as many as 60 cartons at a time. I thought that I was buying “health food.”

It was only later when I started to reduce our intake of processed sugars and processed foods in general that I found out how SWEET these yogurts actually were. Plus, often they had all kinds of ingredients I couldn’t pronounce.

How to switch to plain yogurt

So, I made some changes. I started buying large 32-ounce cartons of plain, or sometimes vanilla, yogurt, preferably Cascade,  Mountain High, or Fage brands.

Not all my kids liked that change. But most of them have gone along with it, especially when honey or maple syrup is drizzled over the top. Occasionally I buy Trader Joe’s vanilla and blueberry cups, but not often.

If you or yours are slow to be won over to plain yogurt, consider one or more of the following toppings for plain yogurt:

maple syrup

honey

jam

fruit syrup

fresh fruit

granola or nuts

It may take some time, but you’ll be a convert before too long.

Uses for plain yogurt.

Plain yogurt is an incredibly versatile ingredient to keep on hand.

It’s great to use in baking instead of buttermilk. Just mix half yogurt and half milk as your buttermilk substitute.

Use it as a thickener in smoothies.

Mix it with whipped cream to reduce the fat and increase the protein in your favorite sweet topping.

Substitute it for sour cream in recipes to give an equivalent tang without all the fat.

Can you make yogurt at home?

Believe it or not, it’s incredibly easy to make yogurt at home! A few years ago I experimented with making yogurt myself. One night I tested two different methods:

I also read about the microwave/oven and cooler methods, but decided to go with these first two methods. The next morning I compared the yogurts I had made. They were like Laurel and Hardy, one was thick, the other thin.

The slow cooker method was good, but thin like buttermilk. Folks suggested that I strain the yogurt to thicken it, but it was so thin, the yogurt went right through the sieve. I used some in baking and churned the rest into frozen yogurt.

The yogurt incubated on the heating pad was thick and creamy. Since we like THICK yogurt, you can guess that I’m a fan of the heating pad method.

Try them both out and see for yourself which you prefer. I originally tested with whole milk, but have since made homemade yogurt with nonfat milk and it turned out fine and thick, albeit a little on the tart side in comparison.

My preferred method for making homemade yogurt is to combine 1 quart milk, 1/4 cup powdered milk, 2 tablespoons yogurt with live cultures, and to incubate it for 5 hours according to the heating pad method.

Enjoy Yogurt and Oats for Breakfast.

As a born Francophile, I’ve loved reading The French Women series by Mireille Guiliano and have been encouraged by many of the suggestions she has to offer for life, work, and good eats.

One of those habits that I’ve adapted for my own is what Ms. Guiliano calls “Magical Breakfast Cream”. I can’t vouch for its magical properties, but I know that I like it, at least how I tweaked it.

I’ve made some significant changes to her recipe. Her recipe calls for shredded wheat cereal instead of oats, flax seed oil instead of meal, and orange instead of lime, as well as the addition of ground nuts. My tweaks are thanks to what I normally stock in my pantry.

This variation has become my daily breakfast, packed with protein and filling enough to get me through the morning.

Yogurt is a super versatile ingredient or dish in itself. This recipe for yogurt and oats contains all kinds of extra goodies to help you start the day right.

Cuisine: American, French

Keyword: oatmeal, oats, yogurt, yogurt and oats

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

2 tablespoons rolled oats not cooked

1 tablespoon chopped roasted almonds

1 teaspoon flax seed meal

the juice and pulp of half a lime

1 teaspoon honey

In a small bowl, layer the ingredients in the order listed. Stir or not, depending on how you like it.

Level up your meal planning and prep.

Need a little extra motivation to get on your meal planning game? Want to make lunch packing less of a drag? Creating a kitchen survival kit to help you WIN in the kitchen this school year.

I’d love for you to join me for the next Mom’s Kitchen Survival Workshop!

Together, we’ll create a plan to help you get dinner on the table every night, fill your freezer with wholesome snacks and breakfasts, finesse your lunch-packing skills, and even make sure you get a daily dose of MOM food.

Learn more here so that when registration opens, you won’t miss out.

Source: https://goodcheapeats.com/2018/09/morning-yogurt-and-oats/

[ragethewriter]

WBJ Day 25 - the backpack

Do animal people carry backpacks?  Who knows.  

But it does beg the question: what the heck are the Anima hauling around with them, without the need for cellphones or coin purses?  To answer this question, we’re going to meet another character, and take a look at her inventory.

Say hello to Arcana!

Arcana is another member of the Hybrid Clan.  Aside from being a reliable strategist, she is also incredibly knowledgeable, having spent her childhood among the Scribes.

So without further ado: lets empty her pockets and ask her some questions!

~ Q & A under the cut! ~

~ ~ ~

Q:  “So, Arcana.  Tell us about your bag.  Do most people carry one like it?”

A:  “Nahhh, not most people.  This is my training bag, I just take it to and from the field.  It’s big enough to fit my must-haves for a long day of training - and small enough to hook over one shoulder!  I’d say it’s comparable to what some Working Breeds might carry when on the job.”

-

Q:  “What about other Breeds?  Do they have a way to carry their personal effects?”

A:  “When they need to, sure.  Heck, even the pets gotta upgrade their pockets sometimes. For casual use, most people just... roll their knick-knacks up in some fabric... and tie it across their torso in a cute little sling - like so!”

-

Q:  “Very nice.  So back to your bag.  Can you show us what you're carrying?”

A:  “...Sure.”

- water bottle

“Pretty self explanatory.  Gotta stay hydrated!”

- hair ties/headscarf + brush

“Stuff that any active person with long hair would carry.  I like to keep mine out of my face... and helmet-head isn’t a very flattering look.”

- sweat cloth(s)

“Also good to have on hand when working - or in my case, training.  Useful for cleaning up and cooling down.  Absorbent, durable, easy to wash.”

- scent pouch

“This little thing is more of a trend among Working Breeds - but I like it.  Sort of a... small drawstring bag, that you fill with your favorite good-smelling stuff.  Used to freshen up or clear your head when the going gets tough and the smells get gross.  Mine has crushed orange rinds and vanilla!”

- timekeeper

“Basically a... what do you call them?  Watches?  You strap it on and it tells time.  Nothing fancy, just a basic display and a vibrating alarm feature.  The War Mother made sure we each got one so she could tan our hides for being late.”

- gloves and stirrups

“Gloves I’m sure you understand, and stirrups are pretty much like... gloves for your feet.  These ones are made of leather.  Since I have heel-down feet and padded toes, they’re good for protecting my arches when running.”

- binding wrap

“Strips of nice, thick, all-purpose fabric: for wrapping up knuckles, feet, and joints.  Very useful for rough training, and can double as bandaging!”

- notebook

“... What the heck do you think it’s for?  Sometimes I gotta write shit down, I’m a busy person.”

- snacks

“I’m also a hungry person.  War Mother doesn’t exactly approve of snacking on the training fields, but most of us do it anyway.  You can always count on Amani to be stocked with health-nut protein bars if you need them... but Case is the one who packs the good stuff.  He has a sweet tooth.”

- knife

“... Knives are useful.  That one’s my favorite.”

- crumpled paper, bits of string, half of a broken nail file

“Look okay it’s been a while since I’ve cleaned this out.”

- a glass-spun tiger lily

“Give me that.”

...

“No, it’s not sentimental.  I don’t know how it got there.”

~ ~ ~

Thank you, Arcana, for that thrilling look into the Hybrid equivalent of a gym bag.

As always, you can find Arcana and all her crossbreed pals over on the art blog!  Like Talon, she will also be available to answer any questions that are addressed to her.

*slam-dunks my daughter back in her box*