#time to mix egg into the noodle soup and microwave it :3

[triglycercule]

i feel like such a loser eating instant noodles for dinner (TWO cups because goddamn it its NEVER enough) is this what my trio eats on a night to night basis. now i know DAMN well horror's complaining about eating this shit. killer wouldn't even let his cool down before eating and then acts surprised when dust and horror point out the fact that he can't chew properly anymore (GODDAMN BODY HOLDING HIM BACK ONCE AGAIN.....)

dust my normal king dust my only mildly smart king. you will always be the realest. the only one that considers paying at restaurants (although he probably ditches that idea bc killer's right ditching IS easier! and less money out of his brokeass pocket. alright horror let's steal as much food as we can by shoving it into your skull!)

[forlornmelody]

Baking Disaster

There were three cardinal rules in Alfred’s kitchen. 

1. No dishes left in the sink.

2. The microwave is for emergencies only.

3. Bruce Wayne is not allowed to touch anything. Not the fridge. Not cupboards. Not even the cutlery drawer. 

Neither Alfred or Bruce would ever explain the reason why, but Jason had a feeling his mentor had once set the kitchen on fire. Or maybe more than once. But Alfred let Jason help him cook and bake. It gave Jason a rush. There were so many rules in Wayne Manor, or even outside it that he had to follow at all times. He almost missed the streets. Almost. But here there was something Jason was allowed to do that Bruce wasn’t. 

Bruce and Jason only broke that rule once. Alfred caught a cold. One bad enough to put him to bed but not bad enough to send him to the hospital. And so they bought a can of chicken noodle soup and stuck it in the microwave for three minutes, bringing it to Alfred after it had a minute to cool. And after Alfred was safely asleep and breathing close to normal, Bruce got a mischievous glint in his eye and the faintest trace of a smile. 

“Follow me,” he whispered conspiratorially. It was a side of Bruce Jason had never seen before. Were they gonna do something illegal? Maybe shoplift the convenience store at the end of one of the Batcave tunnels?  Break into the R&D labs at Dagget? Pull a prank on Gordon? (Well, Jason was pretty sure that was illegal–Gordon being the police commissioner, and all.) 

It was nothing illegal–at least not in the eyes of the public. Jason looked up at Bruce (God, to think there was a time when Bruce was taller) curiously as he tip-toed, tip-toed into the Wayne Manor kitchen. He held a finger to his lips as he edged open a drawer to the side of the stove, and pulled out two aprons–one full size and one tween size. Bruce tied his on with a flourish and made quick work of the ties on Jason’s. “Ready to get to work?” he whispered. 

Jason nodded silently, pulling out the baking cookbook and whispering ingredients. Flour. Butter. Chocolate chips. Raw cane sugar. Eggs. Almond Extract. --”Trust me, Bruce. Alfred doesn’t believe in vanilla.” Baking soda. Water. A pinch of salt. 

They didn’t use the standing mixer–too loud. So they took turns mixing it by hand. “Watch this.” Bruce grinned, stirring faster and harder. “Betchya Barry can’t stir this fast–oh.” 

Part of the dough flew and hit Jason on the nose. He narrowed his eyes as Bruce's eyes widened. “Now you’ve done it.” 

“Wait, Jason–”

“Too late.” Jason grabbed a handful and threw it at Bruce’s face like a snowball. 

It didn’t crumble like snow did, landing on Bruce’s chest with a smack. “Jason.” 

Jason swallowed. “Bruce–”

Next thing he knew, the whole bowl of dough was getting dunked on his head. By the time they finished their dough fight, Jason and Bruce had to make a whole ‘nother batch to bake. But man, those cookies looked good baking in the oven. 

Just after the timer dinged! Bruce and Jason heard a soft cough behind them. Oh no. 

“What happened to my kitchen?” Alfred said weakly, a soft quilt wrapped around his shoulders. Jason looked behind him and saw the mess for the first time. Dough on the cabinets. Dough on the floor. Dough on the cookbook. Dough on the ceiling. 

“I can explain–”

Thankfully, Alfred was a forgiving man–once Jason had cleaned all the kitchen with Bruce’s help. Bruce still wasn’t allowed though. 

“Jason? You okay?”

Dick’s hand grabs Jason’s shoulder. He jumps, the mixing spoon clattering to the floor. “Huh?”

“You’ve been standing there for ten minutes.” Dick looks worried. 

“Oh.” Jason looks down at the unmixed ingredients, and realizes his hands are shaking. His chest hurts. There isn’t enough air in the room. 

“Master Jason?”

Jason doesn’t even realize that he’s kneeling on the floor until Aflred wraps the same quilt around his shoulders. 

“It’s okay, Jason. You’re safe.” Barbara says soothingly, handing him some ice water, and helping him hold the glass. 

Tim kneels in front of him. “Remember your breathing exercise. Four counts in. Hold. Four counts out. Hold…”

Dick turns the music down, along with the police chatter. He even closes the curtains. And when Jason’s ready, Dick guides him upstairs to the couch, tucking him in without a word.

Just as he starts to walk away, Jason whispers. “Thanks.”

“Any time, brother.” Dick smiles softly, and the sun glimmers in his eyes.

[punfit]

24/7/21

Breakfast - serving of smoothie (avocado, spinach, green capsicum, cashews, yoghurt, honey, coconut water), sweetened black coffee, 1 meringue kiss.

Snack - serving of lemon meringue pie, sweetened black tea.

Lunch - serving of instant prawn and chicken noodles with 1 egg, 2.5 servings plant based tuna, and spicy sauce, 1 meringue kiss.

Dinner - 2 servings of oven ready BBQ chicken pizza and garlic bread.

Dessert - 1 mini chocolate muffin, 1 meringue kiss, black tea.

Water - 1.8L, good.

Exercise - none.

Ate way too much for such a low level of activity. I didn't have e enough water in the morning/afternoon and wound up napping for like 3 hours in random bursts of sleepiness throughout the day.

25/7/21

Breakfast - serving of smoothie (avocado, spinach, green capsicum, cashews, yoghurt, honey, coconut water), sweetened black coffee, 1 meringue kiss.

Snack - lemon meringue pie, sweetened black tea.

Lunch - serving of sweet potato and pumpkin soup with beef and potato curry, 2 servings damper.

Snacks - 4 servings buttered microwave popcorn, 1 serving creamy soda Pepsi, 1 meringue kiss, green tea, 2 servings beef jerky.

Dessert - 2 buttermilk pancakes with chocolate sauce.

Water - 1.8L, good.

Exercise - none.

Tomorrow's the first day back at uni, so perhaps I'll leap back into a worn schedule with an exercise break in the afternoon.

26/7/21

Breakfast - serving of smoothie (avocado, spinach, green capsicum, cashews, yoghurt, honey, coconut water), sweetened black coffee, 1 meringue kiss.

Dinner - serving of mixed steamed veggies, 2 steamed dim sims, lamb chop, potato bake.

Dessert - 2 meringue kisses, green tea.

Water - 1.8L, good.

Exercise - none.

So I didn't exercise, because I woke up late and then spent the morning/afternoon making pancakes and more meringue kisses, but I also cut back on the snacking. I count that as a win.

27/7/21

Breakfast - 2 buttermilk pancakes with apple pie topping and caramel syrup, sweetened black coffee, 1 meringue kiss.

Snack - serving of lemon meringue pie, green tea.

Dinner - 2 servings biriyani with 1 serving chicken curry and potato curry.

Dessert - 1 mini chocolate muffin, 3 meringue kisses, green tea.

Water - 1.8L, good.

Exercise - none.

I could feel the sugar on my teeth.

28/7/21

Breakfast - 1 pink lady apple, 1 choc caramel muesli bar, 1 string cheese, 2 servings salted cashews, sweetened black coffee, 1 meringue kiss.

Lunch - 2 layer egg, bacon, cheese and fishcake sandwich on buttered white toast with sriracha, garlic mayo and BBQ sauce, 1 meringue kiss.

Dinner - 1 serving beef and vegetable stew, 1 kransky hot dog with tasty cheese and roasted onion in white bun.

Dessert - 3 meringue kisses, black tea.

Water - 2L, excellent.

Exercise - none.

Full day of classes and study.

Starting to break out in pimples with all the sugar and reduced water intake. They itch ; -;

29/7/21

Breakfast - 1 banana, 1 string cheese, 1 choc caramel muesli bar, serving of salted cashews, serving of sultanas, sweetened black coffee.

Snack - serving of lemon meringue pie.

Dinner - serving of biriyani with chicken curry, potato curry, salad with ranch dressing.

Dessert - 5 meringue kisses, black tea.

Snack - 1.3 servings buttered microwave popcorn.

Water - 1.8L, good.

Exercise - 21 mins on the treadmill at 4km/h and incline of 10%; Chloe Ting flat abs in 30 days (10 mins); 25 x (donkey kicks, butt bridges, double leg raises, crunches, half push-ups)

Had the last slice of pie today. The last time I made it was over two years ago, so I thought I'd commemorate it.

Wasn't planning on exercising but then the mood struck. The walk went well, and I took some very brief breaks during the Chloe Ting video but made it through all the moves okay (with a modified bunny-hop-plank because I was indoors), and then I threw on those 25-rep moves because my abs weren't really sore from the video, so either my muscles are still working after almost two months of rest, or I didn't do the video moves correctly. Felt good after it all, which is the main thing. :)

I'm thinking of trying to properly 'meal plan' so to speak, by being more mindful of what I eat. My weight loss seemed to go fastest when I reduced my intake of bread and dairy (and sugary treats too) so I'll aim towards those two goals, as well as more fruit and veg and protein to help me feel full.

The only sweet treats I'll accept will be meringue kisses, because there are so many to get through. :P

30/7/21 Weight

SW: 80KG

CW: 63.0KG

GW: 60KG

0.5KG down from last week. Hard to believe it's already been a week since last weigh in.

Still, that's not bad for only two days back on exercise (and all that sugar 😬)

Breakfast - 2 buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup and salted butter, sweetened black coffee.

Dinner - serving of mixed steamed veggies, 1 steamed dim sim, 1 serving roast chicken with spicy sauce and 2 servings stuffing, 0.5 corn on the cob.

Dessert - 1 meringue kiss.

Water - 2L, excellent.

Exercise - 21 mins on the treadmill at 4km/h and incline of 10%; Chloe Ting flat abs in 30 days (10 mins); 25 x (donkey kicks, butt bridges, double leg raises, crunches, half push-ups).

I noticed that I've lost the faint ab lines I worked so hard for all those months. ;n;

I've only gained maybe 1.5-2KGS from my lowest recorded weight, but it's really visible around my face and belly. And my arm muscles are hiding under the returning chub, which makes me sad. I worked hard for these muscles. They're still there, but I can't see them so well anymore.

Oh well, with a little work and time I can easily come back around. Just gotta stay consistent. 💪

[luthied]

This is the least healthy comfort soup that I make. My family has made it for as long as I can remember, usually when I was feeling sick and needed some comfort. I still remember the giant stock pot that could fit three giant cans of soup broth at a time and still, STILL, had room for a crazy amount of noodles. After we had our share, we would put the leftovers in a big yellow tupperware bowl with the crack in the lid. It was the biggest one we owned and the leftovers would fill it all up. Slowly we would eat through the stock pile of goodness, microwaving it until it was warm all the way through and the noodles outside of the broth would get a little crispy. I seemed to always burn my mouth by eating it too fast.

My recipe has changed over time, I have messed with the liquid to noodle ratio, added some seasonings to the noodles, and I have experimented with added actual healthy stuff in there which does work well. I just always tend to make it how I remember when I have had a bad day and just need some comfort.

So for starters you need a broth. The broth type doesn’t matter to the recipe, only that you better really like it cause that is where your flavor is coming from. I like to use swanson’s chicken broth. You get that into a pot and start boiling it.

While that is heating up, you gotta make the dough. If you have a lot of overhead room in the pot, feel free to make extra, but I find a good ratio is 1 egg per 1 cup broth. Now mix your eggs together and add the flour.

I am sure you are confused as to how much flour, and I can honestly say I have no idea. I add the flour thoroughly until if you lift your spoon up, the dough wont stick to it. You can add your flour a bit heavy handed on the first run through but then you add about a tablespoon at a time until you are happy with the consistency.

Remember, the more flour you add, the stiffer the dough will be in the end. I like to make mine a bit more eggy, so I tend to add just enough to get the dough to not stick and then stop. The flour will absorb more into the eggs as you let the dough sit, so don’t worry if your dough is a bit more sticky than when you last checked as you put in the dough to the pot of boiling broth.

Note the dough below’s consistancy after resting.

I also like to add some spices, such as garlic powder, cayenne, paprika, or thyme. I had garlic powder on hand and as the broth I was using came from had seasoning in it already, I decided to hold off on adding extra.

Once your broth is at a rolling boil, take a spoon and dunk it in the broth to coat the bowl if the spoon so that your dough doesn’t stick to it. Grab about half an spoonful of dough and drop it gently into the broth, some shaking may be needed if your dough sticks to the spoon.

After using up all the dough and putting the bowl and spoon on the sink to soak, I set the timer for about 15 minutes. For very large amounts, say 3 large cans full of broth, I suggest cooking it for 30 minutes. You can turn the heat down so that the broth is simmering, though stir often and keep an eye on it as this recipe likes to boil over.

Serve it up, then enjoy! I do suggest letting bowls and such soak for a decent amount of time. The flour can get hard to remove if it dries.

[jaybug-jabbers]

Meal Ideas for College Students

Ok, so. As a college student, I’m compiling my own list of easy meal ideas. I have a bad habit of skipping meals, like many students do. A list of ideas helps a lot when you’re busy, stressed, tired, and/or not feeling up for much.

This post will prioritize quick/easy meals, ideas for relieving meal monotony, food that gives energy that sticks with you throughout the day, and meals that are generally healthy and balanced.

Note: This list of ideas was made with myself in mind. Everyone has their own dietary needs and/or preferences to keep in mind! Still, you might find something useful here. :) Also, check out my other post of recipes for more specific ideas.

Lunch/Dinner Ideas

1.) Soup/Salad/Sandwich.

-Not many canned soups are worth eating in my opinion, but a few taste acceptable (split pea’s pretty good), and sometimes grocery stores have containers of fresh soup. Those are almost always better tasting then canned!

-Salads ideally are more then just plain romaine lettuce and croutons/salad dressing. They can have all kinds of crap thrown on: nuts, seeds, tortilla strips, dried fruit, fresh sliced fruit, cheese, chicken, even some pasta noodles.

-It’s better to buy heads of greens and wash them yourself, as the already-washed bags of greens go bad quickly and have been prone to e. coli outbreaks. A little salad washing bowl speeds up cleaning greens. In either case, try to get a mix of darker, vitamin-rich greens.

-Sandwiches can use the healthier lunch meats but also leftover cooked chicken, or just a grilled cheese sandwich. (Use different kinds of sliced cheese.) Fancy mustard, pesto and horseradish can really punch up a sandwich; so can bread that actually tastes good.

2.) Pasta.

There are a lot of options of what to put on top of pasta; just adding some marinara sauce to spaghetti noodles is only the beginning.

-If you do use red sauce, I suggest adding mushrooms, sliced sausage or ground meat, or lots of cheese on top to bump up the protein.

-If you do something else, stir-frying some veggies (fresh– zuccini, mushroom, celery, carrot, snappeas, etc. frozen– frozen stir-fry veggie mix) and adding a light sauce is good; even dumping vinegarette salad dressing on it can be tasty.

-Other options include frozen shrimp, meatballs, leftover chicken, tofu or a cheese casserole.

-Try other kinds of pasta noodles, because even that can relieve some food monotomy. You can even use cheap ramen noodles, because why not? Just skip the spice pack they come with and add other things instead.

-Raviolis or tortillinis are also great for a light dinner or lunch.

-Sides for pasta include bread/garlic bread, salad, and fruit.

3.) Tacos/Burritos/Tostadas.

Canned beans, cheese, a bit of shredded lettuce, some jarred salsa, a tortilla, presto. Also great for using leftover ground meat or baked chicken. If you are lucky enough to own an avacado, please use it for this.

4.) Nachos.

This is basically when you have canned beans but you ran out of tortillas. Dump everything on top of corn chips instead.

5.) Enchilada Casserole.

Ground meat (or shredded chicken), canned black beans/red kidney beans, shredded cheese, canned enchilada sauce, corn tortillas, and a casserole dish. Dense and lasts you for a long time. Freezes well, too.

6.) Baked chicken.

There’s about a million different ways to prepare chicken. What’s more, the leftovers are so useful for so many things.

7.) Homemade pizza.

-They sell those kits at the store with the shell and the pizza sauce all ready. Just add your desired toppings and cook. A million times better then frozen pizza and worth the five extra minutes of work. You’ll need to invest in a large cutting-board and a pizza cutter or a large knife, but that’s it.

-If you want emergency personal pizzas, you can even use English Muffins for the task.

8.) Hamburger.

If you don’t care for ground beef, ground turkey or chicken works just as well; you can cook them insanely fast and easily on a Foreman grill, but still cooks pretty fast in a regular pan too. Adding some fixings goes a long way: pickles, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pineapple rings, etc. Good sides: salad, fries/potato, peas or beans.

9.) Baked frozen fish/salmon.

Again, you’re unlikey to have the time to buy and prepare fresh fish, which needs to be cooked and eaten quickly, but you can buy a filet of frozen fish. Good sides: rice, easy risotto, boxed couscous, broccoli, bread, etc.

10.) Fajuitas.

Steak strips/chicken strips that are pan-fried, plus stir-fried mushrooms, asparagus,  zuccini, etc. Lime juice and avacado add a lot of flavor.  

11.) Chicken, mustard, mushroom, garlic, spinach and swiss hot sandwiches.

Bake ‘em after assembling them for melty goodness.

12.) Smoothies/shakes.

This is a great addition to breakfast or lunch if you’re not very hungry or running low on food supplies; only if you have a blender, of course. Ice cubes, plain yogurt, fruit (fresh or frozen), shredded coconut, honey, fruit juice or ice cream, and blend. Experiment to find what works best.

Breakfast Ideas

Bulk up on breakfast if your schedule demands it!

1.) Oatmeal loaded with nuts, dried fruit, powdered proteins, flaxseed, and a dash of maple syrup/honey

2.) A plain yogurt parfait loaded up in a similar manner, plus granola

3.) Bagels or toast with cream cheese, nut butters, jam/honey, or avacado

4.) Stir-fried potatoes, potato pancakes, hashbrowns

5.) Low-sugar muffins

6.) Breakfast burritos

7.) Omlettes

8.) See above for smoothies!

General Tips

1.) Always make large portions when you cook so there are leftovers. When you bake chicken for dinner, you can use the leftovers the next day or make a sandwich or a taco or whatever. If you’re going to invest your precious time and energy into cooking, get the most out of it. If you have TONS of leftovers, freeze them in portions that are easily taken out, bit by bit, to use later on.

2.) See if you can locate a microwave on campus. This expands your options for what to pack for food, in case sandwiches a million times a month gets tiring. Pack things into microwavable tupperware or bring little paper plates and plastic utensils. Plastic bento boxes are also handy ways to pack things other than sandwiches. You can even bring soup, pasta, or ramen with you in a thermos.

3.) Frozen vegetables help a lot. You may not have the time to buy, clean and cook fresh veg, but grabbing a bag of something frozen is easy to make sure you have balanced meals. Steam them in the microwave easily in a bowl with a plate on top; avoid the ‘steamer’ plastic bags if you can, which tend to taste gross imo and may not be super healthy. (zapping plastic may create toxins.)

4.) See what’s in season for fruit. That way you can buy cheaper organic fresh fruit such as grapes, melons, berries or even exotics like kiwi. If you get them in bulk and need to use fresh fruit up before it spoils, try smoothies or put them on cereal/oatmeal or even make a fruit salad.

5.) Consider investing in a crock pot or insta-pot cooker. This opens up options for a lot of low-effort recipes, where you can just toss crap in and come back later and it’s done.

6.) Invest in spices. It’s worth the money and effort to get a variety. Get in the habit of tossing them into things. It can punch up just about anything and is way better then just salt. Even scrambled eggs can be punched up with some Sriracha sauce or some spices, or a little bit of shredded cheese.

This is a repost on a new blog. The original post was on Nov 4, 2019.

[tallat-of-thralls]

3 Simple Flour Recipes

Having to improvise and make food using ingredients i have because of budget and limited space has forced me to use old recipes i learned from my grandmother.

****Skip past story time for recipes****

My grandmother grew up during the Great Depression and i would always inquire on the menu that she had as a child. How they were cooked and why she had so little She would tell me about her father getting a bag of flour or unmilled grain and sometimes cans of tomato paste. Nasty recipes like ketchup soup and baked onions. To stale bread and old stew. She would sing in her gritty voice the nursery rhyme peas porridge hot. Peas porridge cold and go into detail about the watery old stews made to keep her and her siblings alive in a time of economic and civil woe. She would interject on the persecution of her mother (my great grandmother) back in old country during the rise of nazi germany before ww2 and the saving marriage to her polish father during their flee for the states.

My nana would speak about how much of a better diet we had (when i was little) compared to what she had growing up in the depression.

Well, i didn't realize economy and several unfortunate circumstance would lead me to needing several of these recipes. To which i thank on a daily basis for my grandmother sharing these with me.

If this gets enough likes/reblogs i will include more simple depression recipes like for soups and other dishes meant to have a full belly for a low price in other posts. This one is just 3 staple foods that use mainly flour.

**Disclaimer: The recipes i will be posting are Not inherently gluten free nor vegan friendly. If you want to include a vegan friendly version or gluten free one feel free to reblog with your own addition ***

Pancakes:

You can buy premade pancake mix if you want to but this is the recipe for when you have ingredients but no premade mix.

Its easy to make a ton of pancakes and over the years i have switched up the recipe by substituting or adding ingredients for more than just these typical pancakes. (Like pumpkin, cinnamon roll, cheesecake, blueberry etc)

What you will need:

2 cups flour

1-2eggs (depending on egg size)

2 Tablespoons Baking powder

1/3 cup Sugar (granulated or confectioners)

1 tablespoon Vanilla extract (optional)

Milk or water (about 1cup to start with)

2 tbsp Cooking oil (i use corn)

3tspns table salt

To begin, sift or mix with fork or whisk together baking powder, salt and flour.

Crack the eggs into a separate cup or bowl (just to avoid shells in the flour). Mix in cooking oil, vanilla and beat the eggs until yellow.

If you used granulated sugar mix the sugar with the milk or water until it dissolves. If you used confectioners sugar(powdered) mix it directly into the flour.

Now, mix the egg into the flour first followed by the milk/water. You want the mix to be thick but not sticky and also not watery. If the mix is too sticky mix in a tablespoon of milk/water until properly thinned. If its too watery, add a tablespoon of flour until properly thickened

Cook in a pan on medium heat about 1/4-1/2 cup of mix per pancake.

Plain Egg noodles or Knodels

One of the most simple recipes ever. I use this egg dough recipe for noodles/knodels in a variety of soups or casseroles.

They are very bland but you can always spice them. However, they usually take up the flavor of whatever theyre sitting in. I recommend cream sauces (like stroganoff) and stocks or broths (like chicken soup).

What you will need:

2 cups of flour (plus extra)

3-4 eggs

1-2 teaspoons of salt

1/4 cup chilled or room temp water

Firstly, sift the flour with the salt.

Beat the eggs in a seperate bowl to watch for shells.

Mix the water and eggs withe the flour.

The dough should be sort of sticky. If not add a tablespoon of water at a time until it is sticky. You dont want the mix watered down at all. It should be doughy.

Once properly sticky you're going to have to flour your hands and knead a lite extra flour into the mix until it can hold it shape. The dont shouldn't rise. There is no leavening in it.

For knodels, have a tiny pile of flour on one side of the bowl with the dough or in a seperate bowl (i have only one mixing bowl so it is usually halved with worked dough on one side and the other is flour). Start pinching off small pieces of the dough and dropping it into the flour.

Knodels should be bite size pieces if cooked dough. Remember the dough will swell once cooked so make them smaller than usual.

Once you started pinchin off pieces, powder your palms and roll the dough pieces into tiny balls. Keep them well floured or else they will stick to other pieces of dough inside the pot or bowl (if you plan on storing them).

Drop them into the pot of hot fluid (water, broth, or sauce) and cook until firm.

For noodles, you need a flat lightly floured surface to flatten out the dough and cut them into ribbons. Cook them the same as the knodels.

Pizza bread dough

Easy to make, easy to cook. Good side dish and you can get fancy by stuff them with cheese and meat for a complete meal. This is just the recipe for the bread.

What you will need:

2 cups of flour

1 yeast packet (they sell quick rise yeast for pizza at stores but im assuming this is not quick rise.)

3 tablspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon of sugar or honey

1/4 cup HOT water

Firstly, i use a tea kettle.to heat my water. But you can use a sauce pan (pot) or the microwave. I suggest if you use the stove to start heating the water on low to give yourself time. Also, preheat the oven at 425 degrees (f).

Next, sift the flour with the salt. Mix in the olive oil.

Dealing with the yeast: if you have the quick rise. Mix the sugar and one yeast packet in with the flour. If not, mix the yeast packet and sugar into a separate bowl. Once the water is heated, carefully pour it either in to the yeast dish to activate it or directly into the flour yeast mix. Once the yeast is activated mix it in with the flour.

The dough with be hot. If you have sensitive fingers like i do, let it cool down before handling it. On a lightly floured surface, you will knead the dough until it can hold its shape.

With the instant yeast, its ready to bake. Make your shapes or roll it out for pizza and bake it for about 30 minutes.

The original yeast, youre going to have to oil a bowl and place the yeast ball into the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a lid. Stick it in the fridge for about an hour or two and allow it to rise. Once the dough doubles in size, make your shapes and bake it for about 30 minutes.

(Protip, melted butter with herbs like oregano or basil and parmesan cheese can be slathered over the dough during the baking process to make it tasty)

These are just my main three recipes. I have others but i feel this post grew too long to add anymore.

Let me know what you think!

[fuckcorn]

Cheap stuff: Dry Goods Part 2

Continuing on from Part 1, here.

Canned Goods, Soups, and Similar:

There are plenty of cheap-ish canned fruits, veggies, and legumes that have a good shelf life without corn preservatives. Again, look for items without citric acid that are stored in their own juices or in water.

Remember that canned tomatoes, both fancy and basic, are going to have citric acid as a natural byproduct. It’s not a given that you’ll have a corn reaction to them, so they’re worth trying if they seem to be devoid of other corn ingredients.

Canned soups that don’t have corn are extremely hard to find. Cheap ones are even harder to find. A few of Campbell’s Well Yes soups don’t have corn, but only the ones in the tin cans (about $2 each). The ones in the “sippable”/microwavable plastic containers have cornstarch as a preservative. Healthy Choice used to have some stellar little ones that had no corn or garlic and I used to stock up on them ahead of hurricane season. I think they’ve been discontinued. Usually even when a soup doesn’t have corn, it will have plenty of garlic so you really should hunt through the section for yourself. I’m not up to date on soups; I’ve kind of given up hope in favor of making my own.

Boxed soups are pretty much the same only they’re the new wave and the bougie companies switch to boxes, so you know from jump that they’ll be somewhat expensive.

It is worth it to save up for Pacific products like Pacific free range chicken broth, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, etc. Pacific products are pretty clean and they can make a good base for soups and other meals that you build yourself for cheap. Dumping cream of mushroom onto some chicken with butter and paprika is, believe it or not, a fantastic meal, and a cheap one to boot (esp. when you thin the soup with some water while heating it all up and boiling it down a bit).

As a cheaper alternative, some store-brand broths and condensed soups, esp. ones that brand themselves as ‘organic’ are low- or no-corn. Target’s Good & Gather beef broth and WF’s 365 beef broth are good examples of that. Again, not especially cheap, but the boxes are big and broth goes a long way.

Even when you can’t afford meat or you are sick or even when you just can’t stomach solid food too well, adding seasoning & herbs to a chicken or beef stock and heating it in a pot will give you something substantial to sip and some basic nutrients.

We’re not there yet, but basic saltine crackers like Original Premium are corn-free. When my food allergy kicked in, I spent a lot of time with just eggs or just broth because my stomach was a mess. They keep you alive.

Watch out for “caramel coloring” and “natural caramel coloring” in broths, especially beef broths. Caramel coloring can be sourced from corn.

Lipton soup in boxes and canned and packeted gravy all have the same problem: Cornstarch. I haven’t found anything that works for me. Nothing. Not even at the international market. Making a roux isn’t too hard, though, and it’s the basis of all gravy.

For a roux, mix equal parts flour and fat. So melt like 3 tablespoons of butter in a pan and whisk in 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Whisk, whisk, whisk the hell out of it. For a dark gravy, you let it cook. You literally let it gain color from cooking darker and darker and then add, for example, beef broth a little at a time until it thickens up. Add seasoning: Boom, gravy. For a lighter gravy, like a cheese sauce, you start the same way, equal parts flour and fat, but you start adding, like, milk and cheese and stirring it all together to melt. Boom, cheese sauce.

Godspeed to you if you can find just-add-water soups that don’t contain cornstarch. Some of the bougie ones (read: expensive ones) in packets that you’ll find near the quinoa and the expensive Asian imports might be safe. Heat-n-eat ramen and cheap stuff like that is a no-go.

Alternative to ramen: Buy noodles for cheap and throw out the seasoning packets. Sometimes the noodles will be fine and it’s the extras in there that are corntaminated (usually MSG, cornstarch, and dextrose). Make your own ramen seasoning with this as a base: https://funhappyhome.com/homemade-ramen-seasoning/. I have yet to find corn-free bullion cubes, so go heat the noodles in chicken or beef broth, instead, and add whatever seasoning you come up with.

Rice Ramen is a brand that usually has no corn, but it’s jacked up my stomach enough that I don’t fuck with it, anymore. I’m just a sensitive soul, tho~

Make your own marinades!! It’s cheap and safe, which is something you can’t say for store-bought marinades. All you really need is the same shit that you used to make a salad dressing, per the previous post. In fact, if you made a dressing that you really like, make another batch and pour it in a dish with some raw chicken one day. See how you like it. Acids help the flavors of fats and seasonings to soak into the meat. So you want like a vinegar, a citrus, or something along with maybe some sugars or sauces and seasoning. I’ve got a marinade that’s balsamic vinegar, ketchup, paprika, onion, and honey. It grills really fucking well. After taking your meat out of the marinade, in order to use the remaining marinade as a sauce, make sure that the sauce BOILS for at least 4 minutes. Let it reduce and get to a food-safe temp and serve it with the cooked meat.

Cheap, corn-free marinara does exist. I don’t buy it because it also contains garlic, but, like with the soups, you’re looking for ones that are labelled organic. You’re gonna see citric acid but that’s usually from the tomatoes.

Rao’s sauces are not especially cheap, but the jars are huge, the ingredients are clean, and they even have a sauce that’s formulated for people with sensitive stomachs!

Alternatively, pasta sauce is not hard to make.

Corn-free pesto does exist but it’s always fucking expensive and the jars are super tiny. If you can grow some basil in a pot and you have some olive oil, you’re more than half-way there. Look for recipes.

Annie’s Shells & Cheese. Look for the orange box and the purple box. Cheddar and white cheddar. For some reason, the other flavors and pasta types have cornstarch, as do the single-serving ones and the canned soups of the same brand. Annie’s isn’t really cheap but those two are safe for us and they’ve got a great shelf life. You can make it quick and easy. Look for coupons, I always see coupons for them which does bring them into a good price range.

To be continued in another installment.

Edit: Part 3 here.

[whatevertheywant]

Here's how to make goopy carbonara (this is purely striving for game accuracy. I would advise adjusting the ratios significantly if you plan on making this. It is delicious but also very heavy.):

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

1 cup neutral flavored oil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 large red onion chopped

1 shallot chopped

1 small Roma tomato chopped

9oz steamed broccoli/fresh broccoli

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 Romano cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella

1 qt half and half

3 tbs butter

1 tbs olive oil

1 lb spaghetti noodles

1. Melt butter and olive oil in a large saucepan before adding onions and tomato. If using fresh broccoli,add to pan with other vegetables. If using microwave broccoli,steam in microwave per bag instructions.

3. Cover onions and tomato for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Let microwave broccoli cool for at least 5 minutes.

4. In a tall glass or jar (I used a soup container from Chinese takeout), crack all of the eggs. Add oil,salt, pepper, red pepper flakes,and broccoli if microwaved. Use an immersion blender and mix until the texture of mayonnaise.

5. After the vegetables are cooked down,add egg mixture and one cup of half and half. Stir until Incorporated before adding parmesan and Romano before stirring again.

6. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Then take off the heat before stirring in mozzarella one cup at a time. Taste for seasoning.

7. Return to heat and turn heat down to low adding more half and half as desired.

8. Cook pasta 1-2 shy of box instruction time.

9. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of pasta water.

10. Take sauce off of heat and stir in the pasta. Use water to thin the sauce if needed.

11. Serve in a bowl and cheat by sprinkling some dried parsley on top since you can't see the broccoli anymore.

[missguomeiyun]

Homecookings [June ed.]

Remember this from wayyyyy back when in April?

This was my 1st batch of radish kimchi, & it has been fermenting for over a month!

The brine is so dark now! Looking sooooo good :D haha the taste was great! After >1 month, this really tastes like the ones from Korea! SUCCESSSSSSS! Out of the 3 jars, this jar was my favourite!

Breakfast on a day off! First, microwave some frozen Costco fries till they become a little soft. Pour some into a frying pan, squeeze a little bit of water (so it heats up faster), cover & cook on medium heat for 2-3mins. When you open lid, you’ll notice the bottom of the pan looks kinda “gross” bcos the oil from the fries is mixed with the added water. At this time, crack an egg (or two!). Move the raw egg around so that it touches all the fries before it gets all cooked. The goal is to use the egg to connect all/most of the fries. Add whatever cheese you want (I used gouda Kraft singles & a marble cheesestring). Finish with some fresh ground pepper + garlic powder!

*tears* my last Twilight Delight............ Does anyone know if/where I can find this in Edmonton?!

Corn fritters! I always get the corn fritters from Seoul Fried Chicken (you get to choose your sides when you order the 5-piece combo), but I made my own! Doesn’t taste the same but I was super satisfied! I used a combo of tempura mix + flour, with frozen corn, furikake, & salt. YUM!

Shrimp with.. .tea. I tried to re-create “Longjing prawns��, a famous dish from a Chinese city called HangZhou. You can look up how it’s cooked, what it’s supposed to look like etc. I used green tea powder + medium-sized shrimp. Since this was a failed attempt, I’m not gonna tell how I made it lollll. BUT what I CAN say is.. . even though it was a failed attempt at the dish, the product was not bad. The flavour of tea on shrimp was definitely not a common thing; I actually don’t find it weird nor disgusting. The look could be improved but I didn’t know the green tea powder would come out so dark =O

A kimchi jjigae that was too spicy for my palette - made by me lol! This kimchi jjigae was vegetarian: I used napa cabbage, mushrooms, & tofu. Kimchi, kimchi juice, & also rinsed out a cayenne pepper jar. My mom was cleaning spice jars & containers that day, & the cayenne pepper in the jar was stuck to the bottom of the jar (moisture likely got in & the cayenne pepper has been around for a long time) - so I added hot water & rinsed it out. It made my kimchi jjigae so spicy!

Kimchi pancakes =D I had some evening shifts this month so this was a good snack (~10pm) / breakfast the next day. Hmm I wonder if it’s possible to make a big batch of these & then freeze them.. . so then I could just microwave it when I wanna eat them.

Korean-style lettuce wraps using fish cake from my fish cake soup ^^

A Western meal~ Gravy, mashed potato, beef, & bread!

Used leftover beef from above for instant noodles. The greens on the bottom are from the big clamshell container of mixed greens purchased from Costco. The thing with salads is that.. . you feel/think like you have so much but then you start eating, you realize you don’t actually have that much. In this case, I thought I had a lot of greens, but then I added the instant noodles on, then later the broth. .. the level of leaves just went flat lol I had to wash/add more later.

2nd box of this product - I really liked this so I got it again!

You can read about my 1st cooking experience with it here: https://missguomeiyun.tumblr.com/post/612980412153823233/vegan-quinoa-paella

In response to that post above^ , I used the other servings for something similar (basically the paella with a stir-fry).

I did something slightly diff this time around; I undercooked the paella in a pot, then cooked it together with cherry tomatoes, corn, & cucumber. When it was ready, I tossed in chicken fingers (pre-baked), & added some shrimps. I preferred this over the paella + separate stir-fry. Having the textures of the tomatoes, corn, & cucumber in the mix was more interesting.

Didn’t do much cooking in June, I know.. . will step up my game in the next month!

[hellofashionist]

Tasty Food Recipes That You Can Cook Within Ten Mins

you recognize the information: preparing meals at home is ideal for your health and your wallet. But permit’s face it — you have other priorities taking up space for your time table and minimal unfastened time, so spending hours or maybe minutes within the kitchen isn’t always on the top of your to-do list. So many matters can crowd out meal prep (think: lengthy hours at work, vast others, preserving in touch with circle of relatives, perhaps even a exercising here and there).

24 healthful and portable mason jar food

but before giving in to endless seamless clicking, turning into a ordinary at the chinese language place near the office, or residing off frozen meals, recognize that in the time it takes to look at your favored cat videos on youtube, you could make a nutritious home-cooked meal. Most of these recipes are smooth and healthful — and equipped in 10 minutes, tops. For each meal of the day, along with make-and-take breakfasts and lunches, that is fast food that fitness experts could approve of. Reader survey please take a brief 1-minute survey your answers will assist us enhance our enjoy. You're the satisfactory! Breakfast

1. Peach cobbler oatmeal picture: spoonful of taste neglect flavored oatmeal packets and move au naturel with this oatmeal that’s reminiscent of a cobbler. With sparkling peaches, chopped pecans or your nut of desire, and cinnamon, it's going to fulfill your sweet enamel so nicely that you could find yourself making it for dessert. 2. Easy poached egg and avocado toast

avocado toast is all of the rage, however adding a poached egg takes it to a new level and completes the trifecta of nutrients: protein, fats, and carbs. Parmesan cheese and sparkling herbs sprinkled on pinnacle make it appearance and taste fancy. 3. Oatmeal blueberry yogurt pancakes image: formidable kitchen a stack of selfmade flapjacks doesn’t take that lengthy to make. These are high-protein and free of gluten, however they still flavor incredible and fluffy, way to bananas, oats, vanilla, and of course blueberries. Four. Cheddar-garlic grits with fried eggs

a southern classic, tacky grits don’t need to be a complete fat and calorie bomb. Cook dinner them in water rather than milk and leave out the butter. However keep the cheddar: the 2 tablespoons in keeping with serving here maintains the dish gooey and rich and affords almost 10 percent of your day by day calcium. Then upload eggs for staying electricity, chopped chives for their slightly oniony flavor, and garlic, which makes the whole lot flavor higher. 5. Hot quinoa cereal picture: marin mama chefs terrifi as it's miles, quinoa takes some time to prepare dinner. Even as a few humans have stated it can be nuked, that takes extra than 10 mins in most microwaves. But quinoa flakes, which can be similar to oats however are a complete protein, can be equipped in a flash. Cook them in your selected milk with dried berries, after which top away with nuts, nut butter, seeds, and fresh fruit.

6. Scrambled tofu whilst properly prepared, tofu is something however blah — and this model gives as a great deal protein as a scrambled egg. Toss the vegan staple with tacky nutritional yeast, turmeric, cumin, and paprika (buy smoked for even greater taste). Even egg enthusiasts will enjoy it. 7. Pumpkin pie oatmeal photograph: two healthful kitchens this healthful, autumn-stimulated oatmeal gets its pie-like taste from pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and vanilla. A sprinkling of dried cranberries provides natural sweetness. Eight. Open-confronted sandwiches with ricotta, arugula, and fried egg photo: john autry

a breakfast sandwich may be a lot more than a smashed viscount st. Albans, egg, and cheese eaten in the back of the wheel. Yes, this one requires a fork and knife, however it’s really worth it. Toasted bread is topped with spicy arugula, an excellent source of vitamin ok, which allows your blood clot. Then add an egg, salty ricotta — it has greater protein than cottage cheese — parmesan, and thyme. It’s a sandwich like no different. Nine. Omelet in a mug photograph: scattered mind of a cunning mother toss your favored breakfast meat (or pass it if you’re vegetarian), salsa, eggs, and cheese in a mug and zap it for 1 minute. Stir, and then prepare dinner for some other 30 to forty five seconds. Season to flavor and pinnacle with greater cheese. Breakfast has by no means been less complicated to make — or to clean up. Lunch

10. Butternut squash ramen bowl with rice noodles, tofu, and clean pea shoots photograph: in pursuit of more a scrumptious dinner for one, this noodle bowl has all the flavors of your fave brief-prepare dinner noodle cups however none of the icky components. Rice noodles offer the majority of this vegetarian-pleasant bowl, which makes use of boxed butternut squash soup as a base for instant cooking. Pea shoots taste like, properly, peas, and are rich in vitamins a and c and folic acid. If you can’t find them, you could use spinach. Eleven. Mediterranean panzanella photograph: the noshery

rather than top a salad with bagged croutons, whip up this tuscan version with toasted pita bread. There’s the usual right-alone-however-higher-together suspects predicted in something called “mediterranean”: tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, and olives. The olives are key since the fat in them assist your body absorb the vitamins inside the greens.

12. Crunchy asian ramen noodle salad picture: gimme some oven this colorful, crunchy salad is simply what the health practitioner ordered when leafy-veggies-based sorts are dull you. Crunchy coleslaw blend and dried ramen noodles (swap in crunchy rice noodles for a less-processed option) are tossed with avocado for wholesome fat, edamame for protein, and mango for imaginative and prescient-protecting beta-carotene. Thirteen. Brief and clean hen burrito

leftover hen finds a new domestic in this short burrito. Blend it with avocado and cheese earlier than wrapping it up in a tortilla and cooking it. We’d take it one step in addition and upload a few peppers, onions, and perhaps a few vegetables to the filling. Bonus: make some immediately and freeze the extras for a fair quicker lunch subsequent time.

14. Salmon and herbed bean salad photo: grocery store healthful uninterested in tuna salad? Strive canned salmon combined with creamy cannellini beans, greens, and sparkling herbs for a remarkable smooth meal that’s as scrumptious on its personal as it's far in a pita or with whole-grain crackers

15. Creamy buffalo fowl and black bean quesadillas if you usually reach for the wings on sport day, this is the lunch quesadilla for you. It’s spicy, creamy, and loaded with flavor. Black beans bump up the fiber and protein, and inexperienced onions upload a touch more zing. Experience loose to cut back on the bitter cream or use greek yogurt instead. 16. Tomato salad–crammed avocados image: taste of home

not only desirable for guacamole, moist desserts, and rich smoothies, avocados are designed to be filled! Dispose of the pit and fill the center with a mixture of tomato, feta, onion, and herbs for a filling meal that’s quite sufficient to serve at a brunch. After all, not every breakfast-meets-lunch recipe must take hours to put together.

17. Caprese quesadilla italian and mexican favorites crew up for a mashup that’s better than something blended with the aid of a dj. The how-to is quite apparent: fill a tortilla with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil; cook until the cheese is melted; and drizzle with balsamic glaze for a taste-packed final touch. 18. Herb and onion frittata at the same time as this recipe uses liquid eggs, you can alternative  complete eggs for the reason that ldl cholesterol and fats inside the real factor are not anything to worry approximately. Upload anything herbs — clean or dried — enchantment to you, due to the fact all of them have distinct flavors and fitness blessings. Like pizza and mashed potatoes, frittata tastes simply as properly bloodless as it does warm, so cross in advance and double the recipe and devour the alternative half of for breakfast tomorrow.

19. Turkey-provolone wrap with avocado mayo this isn’t just every other turkey sandwich. Smear mayo and coronary heart-wholesome avocado on a tortilla and roll it up with lettuce, provolone, and tomato. This recipe is gentle, creamy, and crunchy, but view it as a starting vicinity and play with other fillings. Dinner

20. Zucchini pasta with vegan cashew-basil pesto photograph: the fitchen the addition of cashews — a good source of bone-building phosphorus, strength-generating magnesium, and other minerals — makes pesto distinctly creamy. Make the sauce in a meals processor, spiralize zucchini (or use a vegetable peeler), and integrate the two. Then dig in! 21. Veggie fried rice image: pinch of yum fried rice is a dream for chefs pressed for time, and this model is not any exception. Leftover brown rice works high-quality for this, however in case you’re in a pinch, microwaveable rice stands in nicely. Peas, eggs, and corn get tossed with salty soy sauce and rice vinegar. Mix in any of your different preferred greens, too. You surely can’t cross wrong.

22. Highly spiced cilantro shrimp with honey-lime dipping sauce image: love grows wild because it chefs so quick, shrimp is the right protein for busy evenings. Season it with paprika, cumin, cayenne, and cinnamon (yes, cinnamon — it provides warmth) for max flavor, and sauté it in butter for just minutes. Toss with sparkling lime juice and a selfmade honey-lime dipping sauce that tempers the heat of the shrimp.

23. Oven-baked tostadas image: yellow bliss avenue crunchy oven-baked corn tortillas famous person in this meal. After they’re golden and crispy, pinnacle them with refried beans or any simple beans, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, cheese, and avocado. That is one recipe to have fun with and spot what mixtures you can create. 24. Broccoli and parmesan soup

with five ingredients and 10 minutes, dinner is prepared. Cooking the broccoli with a parmesan rind infuses cheesy flavor into every spoonful, and a hint of soy adds umami — that savory taste that you may’t pretty describe but taste pointers of (in a terrific manner). This pureed soup packs nutrients a, b-6, and c, plus phytochemicals that can fend off cancer. 25. Pan-roasted salmon with arugula and avocado salad

picture: serious eats a complete seafood dinner in 10 mins? Oh, sure. While the salmon sears on the stove, toss arugula with a lemon–olive oil french dressing, cubed avocado, and parmesan. Once the fish is achieved, plate it on pinnacle of the salad. Your coronary heart will thank you, for the reason that two servings of fatty fish weekly may additionally decrease the hazard of cardiovascular ailment. 26. Brief and smooth black beans and rice image: the perfect pantry

there’s a reason rice and beans is this kind of popular dish: it’s cheaper and clean. But it could additionally be uninteresting. Not so with this flavorful take. Conventional latin flavorings like sofrito, cumin, and chili powder are introduced to cooked rice. Toss in inexperienced chile peppers for heat and black beans for protein and you've a complete meal right away. 27. Low-carb chili picture: i breathe i’m hungry whilst you want chili and you need it now, pull this recipe out. Using your preferred keep-sold salsa speeds matters up, and there’s no longer even any dicing or slicing worried. Use ground lean red meat or turkey, and pinnacle together with your favorite fixings like sour cream, corn, avocado, or clean-squeezed lime juice.

28. Bbq chook pizza neglect frozen pizza or delivery: this pie is ready even faster! Use a whole-wheat pita because the crust, and pinnacle it with fish fry sauce, red onion, mozzarella, and precooked hen — leftover or rotisserie from the store works nicely. Microwave until the cheese is flawlessly melted, and then go beforehand — consume everything! 29. Lean and green tofu stir-fry photograph: consuming fowl food

stir-fries are ideal when you need a healthful meal speedy. Plus, they’re an smooth manner to % in greens. This recipe consists of onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and a couple of cups of spinach in step with serving — that alone offers approximately a third of the daily advice of diet a, plus loads of vitamin k and some potassium, vitamins that are critical for the fitness of your eyes, bones, and coronary heart.

[thisiswhymomworries]

What foods do you usually eat then? Lately everything's just been pretty much disgusting for me too and I'm at a loss

bread

ham and cheese sandwich + potato chips

peanut butter and jelly sandwich

eggos + peanut butter and maple syrup

eggos are super easy lil bitches to pop in your toaster and then slap some peanut butter on

cinnamon toast + maple brown sugar oatmeal

try mixing grown flax seeds into the oatmeal. it doesn’t taste super great, but the brown sugar and cinnamon pretty much mask it and flax seeds have protein, fiber, and omega 3

blueberry / lemon poppy seed muffins

if you don’t have the spoons to Make muffins, get a box of muffin mix designed to be made in a mug! you can find them in the breakfast aisle, and you just add milk or water and microwave for a minute, and they taste great~

pizza (alfredo sauce; I hate marinara)

you can also add garlic powder and shredded cheese to the crust mix for extra goodness!

wheat rolls

you can buy pre-cooked rolls in the frozen section that just need to be heated up in the oven

protip: rub some olive oil on your pan / baking sheet, salt it lightly, sprinkle different cheeses, and THEN press your rolls onto all that goodness. it will bake onto the bottom of the roll and taste great!

pasta

I buy Knorr pasta sides, usually in the boxed meals aisle but they come in bags and lots of different flavors

I like bland stuff, so I buy: spinach and kale, herb and butter, alfredo sauce, broccoli and alfredo but they have lots of flavorful stuff too

macaroni and cheese

my mom made me a really great recipe for homemade mac’n’cheese if you want it

but Kraft is super easy and tastes great too

secret ingredient!! boil your noodles in half water, half chicken broth or get some broth concentrate and add a few teaspoons of that to add flavor and a tiny bit of protein!

gnocci is really good if you need something kind of different

they’re made from potatoes but taste and feel like noodles after being cooked

you can cook them in whatever sauce you want or buy boxed meals with sauce already included; I buy Italia four cheese gnocci

ramen

I just buy regular chicken flavor in those orange packs you can get for .50 but there’s lots of flavors usually available

you can also look up a ton of recommendations on how to add more good stuff like spices and vegetables but I am BORING so here are my fave picks:

oil / butter - add a drizzle of olive oil and/or a pat of butter at the very start when you put your noodles in; this is solely to add calories bc since I struggle to eat anything at all, I rarely hit 2000 a day and bodies need that

an egg - add about halfway through; you can crack it directly in there and let it bake on top of the ramen, but I prefer whisking it up in a cup and then pouring it in while stirring to get a scrambled egg effect; adds protein!!

parmesan cheese - don’t add until you’ve scooped out what you want into a bowl bc if you try to cook it with your noodles it will goop up in your pot; sprinkle some shredded or dusted parmesan on top of the ramen in your bowl, it tastes great with the egg

ravioli

I get Buitoni cheese ravioli with the matching alfredo sauce, but they also have pesto and marinara sauce

you can get meat-filled ravioli too, and ravioli made with spinach and kale baked into the noodles / cheese filling for some extra nutrition

goes great with wheat rolls!

soups!

I’ve started buying canned soups to start with and then just adding whatever I want to them

things to add to soups: potatoes, carrots, broccoli, celery, corn, peas, chicken broth, you can buy shredded meat like chicken or roast beef if you’re into that, vegetable stock / bullion

I also have a quick and easy homemade chicken noodle soup recipe

boil egg noodles in chicken broth plus herbs (rosemary, thyme, celery flakes), then add cut up carrots and potatoes, (plus any other meat or vegetables you want) and boil until everything is tender

goes great with cornbread muffins!

I found little “snack packs” of carrots that had exactly the right amount of carrots for one pot of soup, and there were four packs. so that might be easier than buying an entire bag of carrots that you’ll only use ¼ of

and a good recipe for potato and broccoli soup

don’t have it on me rn so message me if you want it and I’ll find it

it has potatoes, broccoli, sharp cheddar cheese, and a creamy sauce; also great with cornbread

if you want minimal cooking, heating up a can of campbell’s chicken noodle soup is fine!

I make a grilled cheese sandwich to go with it

protein

anything with peanut butter

I like Munchies peanut butter crackers bc they taste the Best

lots of stuff with cheese

protein shakes!

I buy Bolton’s Farmhouse bc they also make good strawberry banana fruit smoothies and their protein shake tastes like chocolate milk

Cliff granola bars

very expensive, but I like peanut butter banana, chocolate chip, and peanut butter flavors; super easy to eat when you don’t have the spoons to make anything

yogurt

greek yogurt has the most protein if you can suffer through it like I do. oreo crunch isn’t bad and salted caramel is OK. whipped yogurt tastes the best but it doesn’t have as much protein

smoothies

you can buy a bag of mixed berries in the frozen section, then add plain yogurt, orange juice / pomegranate juice (fucking expensive), kale or spinach leaves (you really don’t taste them) Body by Vi (also expensive!), and blend it up

if you don’t have the spoons for that, you can buy smoothie drinks like I mentioned above with the protein drinks. I mix in some Vi stuff with that since it has a lot of vitamins and extra protein. I like the cream cheese flavor bc it’s sweet

roast beef and mashed potatoes

obviously cooking a roast takes a lot of time, so I just buy a package of precooked roast beef next to the tubs of premade mashed potatoes. you can heat up both in the microwave in about 5 min each, and it goes great with wheat rolls

I hope this helps and message me again if you want recipes for anything!

[discoagidyne]

To Make a Dinner

Fandom: Persona 4

Pairing: Yosuke Hanamura/Yu Narukami

Rating: General audiences

Other notes: Anniversary fluff // @magusarcana 

Yu was a good cook. Everyone knew that. He was somewhat famous around Inaba for it, after all, even after he’d moved back to the city. A few of the little old ladies that frequented the Junes produce section had even asked about him after he’d moved. Apparently Yu had competed with them for discounted items on a daily basis and they’d swapped recipes when they were feeling less competitive.

What everyone didn’t know was that Yu had only gotten good at it through trial and error. Yosuke himself had no idea that his partner worked so hard at cooking until after they’d started dating and he walked in on Yu spitting one of his failures into Dojima’s sink.

Yosuke, however, was not the chef his boyfriend was. He could cook eggs, toast, rice, even miso soup on a good day. But typically, if it was Yosuke’s turn to cook, they tended to end up at a restaurant with his most recent paycheck instead of at the stove with the groceries. Yu always said he didn’t mind, that he liked having a man who'd take him out and show him off (at least, once Yosuke actually got comfortable doing that), but deep down, Yosuke knew he’d have to learn to cook a meal other than breakfast eventually.

Our anniversary is coming up, so what better time to learn? Yosuke figured. It can’t be that hard. Then, remembering the pained expression Yu wore as he lifted his head from his uncle’s sink, Yosuke swallowed his fear and thought again, to reassure himself, It can’t… be that hard… No way…

He’d make Yu a spectacular anniversary dinner if it cost him his life.

That’s what he’d thought, anyway, until he saw Chie eyeing up a banana on her kitchen counter as she stirred her curry. Not until then had he considered it might actually cost him his life.

“Chie, please don’t tell me you’re considering putting that banana in the pot.” Maybe Yosuke didn’t know how to make curry, but he definitely knew curry didn’t have freaking bananas in it.

“Wha--” Chie recoiled defensively. “I just thought it could be a little sweeter, you know?”

“Uh, no.” Yosuke didn’t even want to imagine whatever disaster Chie was thinking of making. “You’d think after all this time you would’ve figured out how to make curry.”

Chie turned to face Yosuke, one hand on her hip and the other pointed directly at him. “Well, if you know so much about curry, why don’t you make that for you guys’ anniversary?”

Yosuke’s mouth twisted a little as he thought it over. He played with his necklace, a gift from Yu, turning its cat pendant over in his hand. “Doesn’t that seem kind of…” He dragged it around its chain. “I don’t know, too safe?”

Chie shrugged. “I dunno, I mean--” She returned to stirring. “We had curry that day you and Naoto brought him back to Inaba.”

The Dojima family had been waiting for them outside when Yu, Yosuke, and Naoto arrived. Yu was already halfway out of the vehicle when Yosuke’s car came to a stop. On a normal day, Yosuke might have scolded his boyfriend for such reckless behavior, but as he saw Yu dash into a group hug with his uncle and cousin, Yosuke couldn’t bring himself to do anything other than watch on with a resigned smile.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this emotional,” Naoto said, switching off her phone and stashing it away in her pocket. Through the rear view mirror, Yosuke noticed she was smiling, too.

“It’s been a rough couple of months.” That was an understatement. It’d been more like years. Yosuke hadn’t even the slightest idea how bad it’d been until after they’d gotten together, or how much pain Yu had been hiding behind those intense gray eyes for all that time. But it wasn’t really Yosuke’s place to share that. He had a feeling Naoto might have already deduced that much on her own anyway.

“Shall we join them?”

They did just that, catching up to Yu as he swung open the door to the Dojima household to see the rest of his friends there waiting for him. It was meant to be a surprise -- Naoto had texted everyone ahead of time -- but Yu had already heard them from outside.

Everyone’s quiet hiding spots had been abandoned in favor of stopping the curry from boiling over and destroying Dojima’s kitchen. Not that it prevented Yu from taking each and every one of them into a teary-eyed embrace and turning the surprise around on everyone save for Teddie, who’d glomped Yu first, announcing something about making up for last time. Yosuke’s smile went wry as he made a mental note to ask Teddie later what exactly that was supposed to mean.

But just then wasn’t the time for that conversation.

Yu was finally home. His real home.

“Something smells good,” Yu said once he finished his rounds. “What’s cooking?”

“Curry!” Nanako answered excitedly, practically bouncing as she said it.

“Yeah?” Yu placed a hand on her head and shuffled her hair. She’d grown quite a bit since the last time he’d done that. “Did you make it, Nanako?”

“Mmhm! And Chie and Yukiko and Rise and Teddie all helped, too!”

The color left Yu’s face. “I-is that so?”

Yu and Yosuke both shot Kanji a panicked look. Kanji made a distressed arm motion at the girls, then made an X with his arms and shook his head.

Yukiko dished up a plate and handed it to Yu. “C’mon, try it! We’ve improved since last time.”

The curry was pink.

“It does... smell like curry,” Yu conceded, offering them a smile though his eyes were still screaming in terror.

Rise hooked an arm around his elbow. “I promise you’ll love it!”

They herded Yu to the table. Yosuke went with. As much as he dreaded it, he knew he couldn’t let Yu face this alone. They sat down, side-by-side. Yu accepted a spoon from a very apologetic-looking Kanji, and then stared down his meal.

Yosuke was pretty sure it moved.

Yu glanced up with a nervous chuckle.

Yosuke took his hand, right there in front of everyone, squeezing it and brushing his thumb over Yu’s knuckles. The room seemed to pause, their friends’ eyes widening in realization. No one said a word, until finally Yu shoved the spoon into the rice. “Here goes nothing.”

Yosuke’s brow flattened over his eyes. “You know, Chie, as nice of a memory as that is, I don’t think he’d really want me calling back to that curry.”

“What are you talking about? Yu loved that curry.”

“I hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but he pretended to like that curry for Nanako.” Yosuke grimaced as though the memory slapped him in the face. “I spent the night knocking on the bathroom door to check if he was still alive.”

“Well, just...” Chie hesitated, looking down at her dinner with a mix of worry and guilt. “Don’t make that curry. I mean, we’ve all had curry together a lot since Yu first came to Inaba. I’m sure he has a lot of other good memories attached to it.” She paused again, worry tugging her frown tighter. “...Right?”

And each curry was more questionable than the last, Yosuke considered saying, but seeing as Chie actually seemed to feel bad about the quality of the girls’ cooking for once, he kept it to himself. He spent a few moments thinking over all the meals the former Investigation Team had shared together, from the camping trip to their most recent dinner party at the Amagi Inn, and finally, he replied, “That’s true.”

Chie seemed relieved to hear that, at least. Yosuke uncrossed his arms and pushed himself from the counter he’d been leaning against.

“I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks, Chie.”

*****

Fridge door cracking open. Bottles rattling.

“Oho! I spy with my little eye… a beary delicious snack!”

Yosuke rolled over on his parents’ couch, pulling the pillow over his head as he turned.

Fridge door slam. Tap, tap. Trash can click. Swish, ka-shunk. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Microwave door snap. Dull click of plastic on glassware. Microwave door re-snap. Beep, beep, beep. VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR--

Yosuke dragged himself into an upright position. “Teddie, do you have any idea what time it is?”

--RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR--

“It’s nighttime, you silly bear!” Drag of kitchen drawer wheels on wood. Rattle of chopsticks. Crash of drawer’s contents as it was slammed shut.

--RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR--

If Yosuke had known Teddie was going to spend the night in his parents’ kitchen instead of his old bedroom, he would’ve slept up there himself. “Are you seriously eating at--” Yosuke turned to the digital clock on the VCR, briefly wondered why his parents still had a VCR, then continued, “--3:47am?”

--RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR--Ding!

“Of course! You and I both know how hastily the freshness window for food court leftovers closes.” Teddie’s voice had an enthusiasm to it that was entirely too awake for the hour. Microwave snap open. Painful yelp. Fabric slide. Plastic scrape. Microwave snap shut. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Yosuke pushed his bedhead out of his eyes and rubbed them. He crossed his arms over the back of the couch and rested his head in them. “That window’s on a haunted house that’s been locked up for years, Teddie.”

“Sounds like someone’s grumpy. You should go to bed, Yosuke.” Teddie shuffled over, sliding across Mrs. Hanamura’s newly waxed floor and into the living room with a plate of reheated yakisoba balanced in one hand. Yosuke’s heart rate shot up, and not in the good way like it did when Yu kissed his ears.

“Please don’t do that.”

Teddie hopped onto the couch, and despite not living with his parents anymore, Yosuke saw his life flash before his eyes when the fried noodles bounced on the plate. Teddie held up his chopsticks and wagged them teasingly at Yosuke. “Remember the last time we had Junes yakisoba?”

“Yosuke, we’re understaffed. Yosuke, the food court is packed. Yosuke, the newbies don’t know how to use the yakisoba grill,” Yosuke whined mockingly as he scraped burnt shards of noodles and veggies from its surface. He knew it was petty, but it made him feel better. “Yosuke, your day off isn’t as important as this--” He started scraping faster. “--stupid yakisoba grill.”

“How’s my hardworking man doing?”

When Yosuke turned around, there was Yu, standing at the customer window. He was dressed to the nines in a suit that Yosuke never would’ve guessed had come from a thrift shop if he hadn’t been there when Yu bought it.

“Oh, you know me. Nose to the grill… stone.” Yosuke frowned. “It sounded better in my head.” He wiped the crumbs from his scraper with a rag. “How’d your interview go?”

Yu’s smile faltered, and he turned away with a small sigh.

Yosuke leaned over the counter, resting his head in his arms. “That good, huh?”

That got a laugh, albeit a weak one. “I’m getting used to it.”

“You’re not supposed to get used to it, Partner.”

“No, I know, but...” With another sigh, Yu rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s starting to feel like I’ll never find a job.”

Yosuke looked up at Yu, taking in his partner’s gloomy expression until he couldn’t bear it anymore. He pushed himself up, then put his own hand over the one Yu had on his neck and pulled Yu into a kiss. It took a moment, but soon Yu relaxed and leaned into it.

When they parted, Yosuke whispered, “Better?”

Yu broke into a tiny smile and nodded.

Yosuke returned the smile, though it waned as soon as he saw the manager approaching.

The manager was a tiny, older man with a ring of hair crowning his bald skull. He’d been working at that particular Junes location so long he couldn’t be fired.

“Great,” Yosuke mumbled, lowering his head in hopes the manager would move on after a glance.

The manager instead strolled over, then squinted at Yu, giving him a judging once over. “You again?”

“Me again,” Yu confirmed with a small shrug.

The manager turned to Yosuke. “You know we’re not paying you to flirt with your boy toy, right?”

“Yeah,” Yosuke said, slowly looking up.

“Then why is he here?” The manager pointed a thumb at Yu. Yu’s nose scrunched up a bit.

Yosuke shuffled his hair with one hand. “No, I know. But I already took care of the line and cleaned up.”

“Well, maybe,” said the manager, his voice increasing in volume. “If you weren’t so busy making eyes at him, you’d see how much there is to get done around here.”

Yosuke shrunk back, then clenched his fists and stepped forward, mouth open and ready to throw it back, only to be cut off when Yu slapped a thousand yen note into the tray on the counter.

“I’ll take two plates of yakisoba.”

The manager gave Yu a confused scowl. “What?”

Yu met the manager’s eyes, his own eyes blazing with a determination over his otherwise blank face. “I’m a paying customer.”

“Oh, so now that I’m scolding Hanamura, you’re going to buy something?”

“Now that you’ve called him in on a day he asked off several weeks ago...” Yu leaned in, towering over the angry little man. “Yes, I am.”

The manager glared at Yu, then Yosuke, and then he scuttled away, grumbling to himself.

Yosuke let out a relieved sigh, then leaned over the counter and muttered, “Look on the bright side, Partner. At least you’re not stuck working here.”

Yu gave Yosuke a peck on the cheek, then rested his chin in his hand and smiled up at him. “Is it better or worse than working for your dad?”

Yosuke groaned as he pushed himself away from the counter. “So much worse. You don’t even know.” He adjusted his apron and headed back to the grill. Smiling to himself, he flicked on the heat. “But thanks for standing up to him. I know it’s not much, but I’ll whip up some yakisoba for you on the house.”

“Make some for yourself, too.”

“Make it three, Yosuke!” Teddie said, popping up in his mascot costume under Yu’s elbow and making him jump.

“Wha--” Yosuke flinched back, pointed his spatula at Teddie. “Dude, how long have you been there?!”

Yu was still staring at Teddie with slightly widened eyes and a mild look of shock.

“Long enough to see you two get lovey-dovey~!” Teddie sang.

Yosuke groaned. “Get back to work, Ted.”

Teddie sank into a pout until Yu patted his head, then he sprung back to his cheerful self and hopped off to greet a family at a nearby table.

“I swear he spends more time picking on me than actually working,” Yosuke said. He was still annoyed, but there was a familiar affection to his voice.

“Maybe I should apply for his job,” Yu said with a laugh.

“Yeah, maybe,” Yosuke said, starting on the noodles. Then he paused, and turned back to Yu. “Actually, on second thought, don’t. That’d be way too distracting.”

“More distracting than Teddie?” Yu leaned against the counter, resting his chin in his hand. “I’m flattered, Yosuke.”

“That wasn’t that long ago, was it?” Yosuke said, leaning back against the couch. “That was that weekend I asked off because you were visiting our new apartment.” Yosuke’s face fell into a grimace. “...and then we both got roped into working, because Junes is a freakin’ black hole of capitalism.”

“Mmmmm-hm!” Teddie agreed, though he’d done it with half a plate of yakisoba in his mouth and a tone that made it hard to for Yosuke to believe he was even listening.

“If you’re gonna eat it in front of me, at least share,” Yosuke grumbled. “I didn’t get to eat anything at Chie’s.”

“Hmmmmm...” Teddie’s tone decrescendo’d as he thought it over.

“They’re not even your leftovers!”

Yosuke made a swipe for the chopsticks and Teddie leapt from the couch, taking the noodles with him.

“It’s waaaay past your bedtime, Mister!” Teddie chided.

Yosuke tossed his blanket aside and jumped to his feet. “That’s my line!”

*****

Dojima hung up the phone. “Yu called. Said he should be here in an hour.”

“Actually, he texted me saying the trains weren’t running on time because of the weather,” Yosuke said, looking around. The Dojima house was pretty much as he remembered it, save for the fact Nanako’s fridge artwork had vastly improved. Yu had told him she’d been drawing more lately because she had free time at the bus stop after her piano lessons. “Is it okay if I wait here?”

“Yeah.” Dojima glanced at the stairs. “I’m sure Nanako will be right down. You want anything to drink?”

“Sure, I’ll take a soda if you’ve got one.” Yosuke felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He took it out and flipped it open.

Yu: How’s the small talk with my uncle going? ;)

Yosuke’s face fell into a wry smirk.

Dojima opened the fridge and took a can from it. “I’m kinda surprised you two didn’t come down together.”

“They’re understaffed at his job right now, and I had some family stuff I had to be back for, so… You know how it is.”

Dojima answered with a thought-delayed grunt as he handed Yosuke the soda.

Yosuke: reeeeeal arctic u late guy

“Thanks,” Yosuke said. He gave Dojima a nod, then looked back at his phone and frowned.

Yosuke: *arctic elate

Yosuke: **attic undulate

His frown deepened.

Yosuke: ***i hate these new phones

“Hey, Mr. Dojima. Do you have a smartphone?”

Dojima’s face twisted just enough to answer for him. “I can’t stand the thing, but they’re required at work these days.”

Yosuke let out a pained sigh. “You know, I thought relating to you might make me feel better, but now I just feel old.”

Dojima’s brows popped up. “Excuse me?”

Yu: Did you just call my uncle old?

“I mean, not that you’re old,” Yosuke rushed in before Dojima could react beyond his initial shock. “You’re in great shape for a man your…” Yosuke trailed off as it dawned on him that he’d rambled himself into a corner. “...for a man.”

Yosuke glanced down at his screen again, then over to the stairs.

Yosuke: ur texting nanako rn arent u

“Uh… thanks,” Dojima said, an eyebrow raised over a hard gaze.

Yu: I might be

Yosuke: tell her to come downstairs n save me

Dojima sat down at the table with his half-finished mug of coffee. “He was stuck at work though, huh? I sure hope that kid doesn’t end up like his mother.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that.” Yosuke took a seat across from Dojima. Then, with a wink, he said, “Not to brag, but he can’t stay away from me for that long.”

Dojima kind of laughed, but he also kind of gave Yosuke a wary once over. “How long have you two been together?”

Sweat started to gather on Yosuke’s forehead. He laughed weakly. “Almost a year.”

Yosuke: could use some help here

Yosuke: any time now

“Feels longer,” Dojima said. He took a long sip from his mug. The drops of sweat on Yosuke’s skin were quickly becoming bullets.

Yu: I’m interested in hearing what else you’ll say about me

“Y-yeah… Sure does.” Yosuke pushed out another laugh, noticeably more nervous than the last one.

Yosuke: u want me to tell ur uncle n eves popping cousin abt how the small of ur back is ticklish

Yosuke: *peeve spotting

Yosuke: **EAVESDROPPING

Nanako came bounding down the stairs, and Yosuke couldn’t help but feel a tinge of satisfaction.

“Hello, Yosuke!”

“Hey, Nanako!” Yosuke gave her a wave. “Long time no see.” He leaned toward her with a smirk. “How’s your big bro doing?”

Nanako’s face went pink, and guiltily she replied, “I think he’s a little bored on the train.”

Dojima bounced a slight squint between his daughter and Yosuke, but said nothing.

“I guess it is a pretty long journey,” Yosuke said, scratching the back of his head. “It feels a lot longer when you have to go it alone, too.”

Yosuke and Nanako’s phones buzzed in unison, and they checked them together, almost as though it’d been planned.

Yu: I didn’t bring my net :(

Attached was a photo of a rice grasshopper trapped in the train with him.

Yosuke: dont u dare bring that back with u

Dojima sighed tiredly. “Well, it’s a good thing you have those phones.”

“I—uh, sorry.” Yosuke went to put his phone back in his pocket when it buzzed again.

Yu: I could cook it for dinner

Yosuke frowned deeply and drummed out a curt reply on his screen.

Yosuke: DONT

Nanako burst out into a fit of giggles when she saw it.

“Sorry,” Yosuke repeated with a tired sigh of his own as he relaxed. He slipped his phone into his pocket.

“It’s fine.” Dojima took another sip of his coffee. “Almost a year, you said? Anything special planned?”

“Well...” Yosuke dragged out the word as he cast his eyes to the side and broke into a bashful grin. “Just between us, I thought I could cook one of those real nice romantic dinners for him, but it’s still in the planning stages.”

Dojima chuckled softly. “Somebody seems excited.”

“Oh, that sounds great,” Nanako said, clapping her hands together. “I bet Big Bro will love it!”

“I sure hope so.” Yosuke’s smile waned as his nerves took over. “It’s been a while since I’ve manned a stove outside of Junes.”

“Have you cooked for him since that time he twisted his ankle?” Nanako asked. She’d spoken with zero ill will, but the question stabbed through his heart like a dagger.

Et tu, Nanako?

Clutching his chest, Yosuke melodramatically lamented, “What happened to that kind, innocent girl we used to play with?”

Yosuke dropped the spatula and grasped his hand, seething. “Dammit—“ He turned to Nanako, standing beside him with a plate, looking worriedly up at him. “I mean, darn it!”

“Are you okay?” Nanako asked, setting the plate down on the kitchen table. “I’ll turn on the cold water.” She did just that, and Yosuke put his burn under the water with a wince.

“Thanks.” Yosuke frowned at the red mark on his hand. “I didn’t think making him dinner would be this hard.”

“Is this your first time?”

Yosuke’s frown deepened. “Making eggs? No.” He sighed and turned off the water. “I swear your kitchen hates me.”

Brows pressed together, Nanako hummed in thought. “No, I don’t think that’s it. Maybe you’re just nervous.”

Yosuke laughed, sort of. “What makes you think that?” He made a dismissive motion with his hand and bumped his burn against the kitchen counter. “Sh—Crap,” he squawked, then added in a deeper, but still pained tone, “Crap.”

“You seem antsy.”

“Me? Antsy?” Yosuke asked, too incredulously to be convincing. “Nah...”

The toast popped up, and Yosuke popped up with it.

Nanako squinted at him. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure!” He leaned against the counter, legs crossed in feigned nonchalance. Then he sniffed once, then twice, and shot around to snatch up the spatula again. “Don’t you dare burn on me, egg!”

Nanako put the toast on the plate. “If you say so.” She set the plate on the table and, taking up a knife, she began spreading butter over the toast.

“I mean, I don’t know.” Yosuke flipped the eggs over and shuffled his hair. “I might be a little nervous. Your big bro is so good at this stuff, you know? It’d be nice to make something he can actually enjoy.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that, Hanamura,” said Dojima from the couch. He turned the page of the newspaper he was reading. “I once saw him eat grass.”

Yosuke laughed. “What? You mean like plain lettuce?”

“No,” Dojima answered with a tired sigh. “Grass.”

“Hmm...” Nanako’s butter knife slowed to a stop. Her face scrunched up in thought.

“Grass, huh...” Yosuke said, suddenly aware of how tightly the disappointment was stretched across his own features. The egg popped and sizzled, grabbing his attention again. “Oh, oops. I think these are ready. You got the plate, Nanako?”

“R-right here!” she said, straightening up and offering the plate. Yosuke took it from her with a grin.

“Alright, and here we go!” He slapped the eggs onto the toast, one and then the other. “How’s that?” he asked, lowering the plate to show Nanako. “Do you think your big bro will like it?”

“Uh-huh!” she said, beaming up at him. “Big bro likes Yosuke, so I’m sure he’ll like Yosuke’s eggs!”

Yosuke started to respond, then faltered as his face filled with heat. After a tense chuckle, he finally managed, “You really think so?”

“Yeah!” Nanako tugged at the borrowed apron around Yosuke’s waist. “Let’s take it up together!”

Dojima cleared his throat and lowered his paper. “Actually, Nanako, I think he can handle it.”

“Huh?” Nanako turned to her father, mouth agape with surprise. “But--”

“Yosuke’s got it under control, Nanako,” Dojima reassured her with a smile and an awkward wink that didn’t suit his gruff detective exterior in the least.

“Mr. Dojima?” Yosuke began, only to be interrupted by Nanako’s tiny hands pressing into his back.

“You’ve got this, Yosuke!” Nanako announced again, as though Yosuke hadn’t heard Dojima the first time.

“Okay, okay! I’m going. Sheesh.” Yosuke headed up the stairs with the plate. He stopped at Yu’s bedroom door and knocked. “Delivery!”

“Come on in,” Yu called back from the other side. When Yosuke entered, Yu was stretched across his sofa with his wrapped leg propped up on the armrest. Yu looked Yosuke over, then said with a grin, “I didn’t know Junes delivered.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Yosuke said, unamused. “I made some eggs.” He handed the plate over. “Nanako helped. So, you know--” He paused to shrug. “--it wouldn’t turn out like the girls’ cooking.”

Yu met Yosuke’s eyes. “Thank you, Yosuke.”

Yosuke turned away with a bashful smile. With one hand, he shuffled his hair. “Y-yeah. No biggie, Partner.”

Yu’s eyes wandered over Yosuke, then back up. “That apron’s not a bad look for you.”

Yosuke lit up red, and he turned around even further to hide it. “Oh, uh… thanks.” He shuffled his hair again, then his hand settled on his neck. “It really suits you better, though.”

“You’re right, it does.”

Yosuke turned back around, arms crossed, but smiling. “Dude, humble much?”

Yu chuckled back at him, then met Yosuke’s eyes again. Their eye contact lingered just long enough for their smiles to fade and the pink of their cheeks to brighten. Yu broke it first, laughing again, although more tensely. “I better eat this before it gets cold.”

Yosuke blinked. He shook his head, then ran a hand through his hair to push it back into place. “Yeah, definitely. Enjoy.” He took a seat next to Yu’s work table and made himself comfortable with one of Yu’s cushions. “So how’s your leg holding up?”

Yu turned to his ankle. He lifted it about an inch, winced, and eased it back down. “It’s… sure there alright.”

“Not great, huh?” Yosuke crossed his arms, casting his gaze down at the table. “Sorry I let you down.”

“You didn’t let me down, Yosuke.”

Yosuke’s hand returned to his neck, its grip tightened. “But if I hadn’t freaked out back there, then your ankle wouldn’t be--”

“I’d rather have you than my ankle,” Yu said firmly, his eyes locked on to Yosuke’s. Yosuke stared back, speechless and ironically frozen in spite of the heat slowly rising to his ears. As Yosuke’s gradual color change became visible, Yu broke eye contact, hiding his own pink face behind his fist as he cleared his throat. “I mean, who would make me eggs?”

Yosuke cracked into a smile, then a small laugh. “I’m pretty sure Nanako could handle that.”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Nanako said, waving her hands. “Sorry, Yosuke.”

“I can forgive you,” Yosuke replied, crossing his arms and turning away with a feigned reluctance. “I guess.”

“Yosuke!” Nanako whined back.

Yosuke patted her on the head. “Kidding, kidding.” He broke into a smile and winked. “Even if I was mad, I’m sure your big bro would plead your case when he gets here.”

Dojima smiled, lowering his mug. “About that anniversary dinner, are you making eggs again?”

“What? Now I’m getting razzed by both of you?” Yosuke sighed and put a hand on his hip. “I’m starting to see where my partner gets it from.”

*****

“Do you want this packed a certain way or…?”

“Just shove it all in,” Yu said, doing just that with his shirts. He took no care to keep them folded or neat, instead hastily stuffing them into his duffel bag and moving on to the next drawer. Naoto wasted no time following orders, sliding the gadgets and trinkets upon Yu’s desk into a large shopping bag Yu had dug out from the cupboard under the kitchen sink earlier.

Yosuke, however, hesitated. “Dude, are you sure? I mean--”

“My parents will be back within the hour.” Yu didn’t look up. “I’d prefer to avoid that conversation.” His voice was strangely calm compared to how he'd sounded over the phone ten minutes prior.

“Agreed,” Naoto said, giving the desk drawers a final check.

With a tense sigh through tight lips and clenched teeth, Yosuke began emptying the contents of Yu’s already sparse shelf into his backpack.

“There’s nothing in here that can’t be ironed or replaced. Most of the sentimental things are already at your place.” Yu smiled as he said that, like a child getting away with a prank. Yosuke hadn’t really thought about it until then, but hearing Yu say it, it dawned on him just how much stuff Yu had smuggled into the Hanamura household, just how many times Yu had brought things over and ‘forgot’ to take them home, just how many times Yu had asked ‘Can I keep this here? Since I’m staying over so often?’, and just how often a flirty wink had been disguising the true nature of those questions.

“We’ll have our own place soon,” Yosuke said, face gradually twisting as he threw Yu’s college textbooks into the bag. “Far away from here. They’ll never hurt you again. I won’t let them.”

Yu turned, meeting Yosuke’s eyes, drawing his mouth tight as he swallowed, then opening it, only to be cut off by a whiny gurgle. Yosuke’s face went pink, and Yu snorted into his fist, hiding a smile behind it.

“It’s not that funny!” Yosuke protested. “C’mon, Partner! This is a serious situation.”

“It’s a little funny,” Yu replied between giggles. Yosuke shook his head and sighed.

“We did skip lunch to be here.” Naoto was wearing this smug, knowing smile that made Yosuke feel like pouting. Why the hell wasn’t her stomach making embarrassing noises, too?

Yosuke sighed. “Honestly, Partner, you're lucky I was in town.”

Yu smiled. “I know I am.” He stood up and kicked the bottom drawer of his dresser shut. He flung his bag over his shoulder. “You two finish up here, I’ll get us something for the road.”

“Good idea.” Naoto nodded. “It’s a long drive to Inaba.”

“Thanks, Partner.”

“No problem, Partner,” Yu said, his duffel bouncing against his back as he left.

Setting aside the warm, fuzzy feeling of the word ‘Partner’ in his partner’s voice, Yosuke frowned slightly, perking up an eyebrow. “Is it just me, or is he enjoying this?”

With a somewhat melancholy smile, Naoto checked under the bed, then behind it. “Though I can’t say for certain, I have a theory,” she paused, standing up straight and placing a hand to her chin. “That freedom may taste different for those who have to seize it for themselves.”

As the words sunk in, Yosuke nodded slowly, packing the last of Yu’s personal belongings, those that didn’t fit into his backpack, into the pockets of his cargo pants. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

They gave the room one last once over, then joined Yu in the kitchen, where Yu filled Yosuke’s arms with a heavy stack of plastic containers filled with pancit.

Nearly dropping the tower of food he could barely see over, Yosuke asked incredulously, “We’re taking all of this?!”

“I paid for it. I cooked it.” Yu said simply, indifferently. “It’s mine.”

Yosuke looked over the containers. “W-well, alright...”

“Thanks, Babe,” Yu said, giving Yosuke a peck on the cheek and patting his shoulder to point him and his red hot face toward the door.

On her way past him, Naoto relieved Yosuke of the top half of the leftovers, softly chuckling to herself.

Yosuke frowned. “What?”

“I assure you, it’s nothing.”

Yosuke squinted at her from behind the whole way down to his car.

Naoto tapped the side of her water glass. “I know it’s a bittersweet memory, but that drive was really important to him, and he seemed to be genuinely amused when his phone went off over dinner time that evening.”

“Even if he did end up hurling lunch into Dojima’s toilet with that pink curry,” Yosuke muttered.

Naoto tugged down her cap. “Letting the others influence Nanako’s cooking was a mistake.”

“You can say that again.” Yosuke heaved a long, drawn out sigh. “Even after all that Chie still suggested curry. I guess, at least there’s no way I can screw curry up that bad.” He paused, glancing at Naoto’s phone on the table between them. “You have any pancit recipes I could borrow? Or even curry ones?”

“You don’t want to use your boyfriend’s recipes?” Naoto asked with a hint of amusement.

Yosuke set his elbow on the table and motioned to Naoto. “Listen, Yu? He has shockingly few physical, written down recipes for a guy who cooks as much as he does. Why do you think it’s taken me this long to start seriously trying to cook?”

“So, you’ve got a natural on your hands?” With a small grin, Naoto crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “Sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you, Senpai.”

Yosuke sunk his chin into his hands and groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

Naoto laughed gently and picked up her phone. “I’m on the case.”

Yosuke’s expression softened. He smiled back at her. “Thanks.”

*****

“You really think I can make this?” Yosuke made a face at the bowl of poke in front of him.

“It’s super easy to make,” Rise said, reaching over the table to point at the dish. “All you have to do is cut it up, mix it, and season. I make it all the time at home.”

Memories of Rise’s past cooking surfacing in his mind, Yosuke gave her a flat, incredulous frown in response. “Really?”

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

Yosuke’s frown deepened. “Can you blame me?” He put his elbow on the table and motioned his hand at her. “Don’t you remember that omelet?”

“That was years ago, Senpai!” Rise crossed her arms with a huff so big it made her over-sized sunglasses sink down her nose. She glared at him over the rims. “Besides, it wasn’t even that bad. You guys just have no taste.”

And yet, Yosuke thought as he let out a pained sigh, you brought me here instead of making it yourself. A younger Yosuke would have said it aloud, but this time he only considered it just before realizing those words might result in Rise dragging him out of the restaurant and into exactly the kind of situation he wanted to avoid.

Maybe Yu was rubbing off on him more than he thought. Not that it was a bad thing.

“Fine, whatever.” Yosuke rubbed his forehead. “But please tell me there’s a way to make this that doesn’t involve so much fish.”

“But I thought Yu liked fish?”

Yosuke lifted his head away from his hand and gave Rise a confused squint. “You know, I kinda thought I’d make something the two of us could eat together.”

Rise sat up straight. “Wait, you don’t like fish?”

“No?”

“Then why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“I did!” Yosuke snapped back. “All the time! Back in high school I used to talk about it so much I die a little inside every time I think about it!”

“Huh.” Rise fell back into her chair. “I must’ve tuned it out.”

Yosuke hid his face in his hands and groaned. Yep. As expected, there it was again. That dying feeling.

Rise’s brows bunched together. Twirling a lock of her hair, she said, “But back in LA, I remember for sure, you didn’t say a word when I got poke for you guys then.”

Yosuke lowered his hands and let one of them slap down on the table. “Yeah, because your bear of a foreign bodyguard was glaring at us the whole time.”

“What are you talking about? Kevin’s a sweetheart.”

“Maybe to you. I could’ve sworn one wrong move would’ve landed me and my partner in the hospital for the rest of the trip.”

“I told you! His face just looks like that; he can’t help it!” Rise said, hands perched on her hips. “Besides, you didn’t complain when I came back without him either!”

“Don’t forget, my concert starts at eight sharp, okay?”

Yu and Yosuke, dragged their eyes away from the bald six foot seven man towering over them, tattoos winding up his arms and to his face that glittered with piercings, and shared a wary glance.

Yu swallowed. “Got it,” he said.

Yosuke, chewing slowly, with a pained expression, merely nodded.

“See you two later!” Rise left with a wave on her way out, pigtails bouncing behind her.

The hotel room door clicked shut.

Yosuke spat a red chunk of tuna and gasped, “Finally!” Yu ran his hand up and down Yosuke’s back as Yosuke gagged and continued, “Ugh… You know, Partner. I thought I’d be free from all that fishy stuff in the States.”

Yu had said not a word, instead chewing his poke in silence. It wasn’t until Yosuke looked at his partner that he realized Yu was a bit pale.

“You alright, Partner?”

Yu swallowed again. “His fist is the size of your head.”

Yosuke scooted closer and wrapped his arm around Yu’s waist. “Oh, c’mon,” he said, forcing out a grin. “We’ve faced scarier things inside the TV, right? He’s nothing.” Yu gave Yosuke a sidelong gaze that sunk down to the chewed up tuna in Yosuke’s take out box and rose back up to Yosuke’s face. “Y-you know what?” Yosuke patted Yu’s bicep. “I bet you could cut him down with one blow.”

Yu chuckled weakly, but his smile remained. “Thanks.” He leaned over, eyes falling shut, pressing his lips to Yosuke’s cheek.

Blush steadily climbing his face, Yosuke mumbled, “Yeah… No problem.” He tugged Yu back in by the cat pendant that hung around his neck. They kissed, once, then twice, then once more; their mouths slowly falling open a little more with each return until Yosuke scrunched up his nose and pulled back. “Geez, dude. You taste like that tuna.”

With a bright-eyed grin, Yu tossed their take out boxes onto the nightstand and fell back onto the plush hotel bed, dragging Yosuke down with him. Like magnets, their lips clicked back together.

“Yosuke? Hello?” Rise waved her hand over Yosuke’s eyes. “Earth to Yosuke?”

Yosuke snapped back to reality, his dopey grin disappearing in an instant. “Wha...” He pushed Rise’s hand out of his face. “The hell?”

“So...” Rise smirked as she settled back into her seat. “What were you thinking about that was so good you had to clock out of our chat, Senpai?”

Yosuke shot a couple uneasy glances around the restaurant. “Oh, you know, just...” He cleared his throat. “Thinking about how good this would be without fish.” He laughed tersely.

“Reeeeeally?” Rise asked, drawing out the word in such a way that Yosuke had to swallow his embarrassment before he replied.

“Yes, reeeeeally,” he echoed back, drowning his mortification in sarcasm.

Rise giggled. “I might be able to find some vegetarian recipes.”

Yosuke sighed, relieved. “Thanks.”

*****

“Yosuke,” Yu laughed. “How far are we going?”

Yu inched forward gingerly, blinded by Yosuke’s hands. Beneath those hands, he was grinning from ear to ear.

“Not much further,” Yosuke reassured him from over Yu’s shoulder.

Though his smile didn’t falter, Yu squirmed a bit. “Your hair tickles.”

“We’re almost there, alright?”

Yu laughed again. “I didn’t say I didn’t like it.”

“Dude,” Yosuke said with a slight frown.

After a few missed swipes, Yu clumsily patted Yosuke’s arm. Then surprise cleared his face, and he sniffed the air. “Something smells good.”

Yosuke brought his blinded partner to a stop, then removed his hands to reveal the colorful spread of dishes all across their small table in a kitchen dotted with candles’ flames.

Yu’s eyes went wide. “Yosuke, did you...”

“I hope it tastes as good as it smells.” Yosuke leaned into Yu’s field of vision and winked at him. Yu took Yosuke by the arm and pulled him up into a firm kiss. Once the shock faded, Yosuke eased into it, letting his eyes fall shut and settling his hands on the belt at Yu’s hips.

Yu grinned as they drifted out of the kiss. “I’m sure it will.” His eyes gave Yosuke’s face a once over, and his hand curled around Yosuke’s nape, thumbing the necklace chain. “But will it taste as good as you?”

Yosuke snorted. “What am I? Dessert?”

“No, tonight that’s me.”

“How can you say that stuff with a straight face?” Yosuke asked, his face aglow in the dim room. Yu only laughed. Yosuke tugged Yu toward the table. “C’mon, we gotta enjoy this mood lighting before it sets off the fire alarm.”

“Classy.”

“Shut up, dude,” Yosuke shot back, smiling despite his words. “Anyway...” He pulled out one of their old, worn out second-hand kitchen chairs and motioned to it with a flourish. Yu met his eyes, smiling with anticipation as he took a seat. Yosuke pushed Yu’s chair in and proceeded with his best waiter impression, “Tonight’s main entree is curry. For side dishes, we have pancit, veggie poke, and yakisoba mixed with eggs on toast.”

Yu’s smile fell as his mouth fell open.

“Something wrong, Partner?”

“No, it’s just…” Yu pushed his hair back behind his ear and chuckled. “This spread’s a real trip down memory lane.”

Yosuke matched him with a nervous laugh of his own as he sat across the table. “Yeah, I, uh… I got some suggestions while we were visiting Inaba.”

Yu narrowed his eyes over his returning smile. “Is that what you were up to while I was out?”

“You caught me.” Yosuke’s shoulders lifted with a resigned shrug.

“Whose idea was the curry?”

“Chie’s.” Fear flashed over Yu’s eyes, and Yosuke rushed to add, “But I swear the recipe isn’t hers.” Yu breathed a visible sigh of relief, and Yosuke gave him a wry smirk. “C’mon, Partner. Have more faith in me than that.”

“Alright, alright.” Yu said, amusement brightening his face.

Yosuke cast an embarrassed look toward his lap, rubbing his neck. “I can always count on you to be there for me, Partner. Not just to cook, but any time I need you, and I…” He lifted his head to meet Yu’s eyes. “I wanted you to know you can do the same. I'm always here, Yu.” Yosuke laid his arm on the table, offering his open palm.

“Yosuke.” Yu placed his hand into Yosuke’s, clasping it tight. He took up his spoon, but paused it above his plate as he dreamily gazed across the way at his partner, eyes glistening with darts of candlelight. “I love you.”

Beaming radiantly, Yosuke answered, “I love you, too, Partner.” He took up Yu’s hand in both of his, squeezing Yu’s fingers under his thumbs. “Happy anniversary.”

[jenroses]

Work time about 15 minutes, cook time probably 80 minutes, less if you like chewy noodles

This recipe is free from gluten, egg, nuts, tomatoes and a bunch of other things that no one would ever put in lasagna anyway.

Size is flexible, we had some stuff left over with a 10x10 pyrex, you could probably do a 9x13 pan and be good with the following.

What you will need: 1 box gluten-free brown rice lasagna noodles. Tinkyada or similar. This would probably work okay with other noodles, but you need noodles that will absorb a lot of moisture. Do not pre-cook, or if you MUST, just cook them long enough to be a little flexible, do not cook them all the way. We're going for easy. 1 quart tetrapack Imagine Portabello Mushroom Soup 2 boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed to warm enough to squeeze in the microwave, squeezed and drained. Spinach water is not tasty, get rid of it. 1 pint ricotta (we used full fat organic valley) 12-18 oz sliced low-moisture mozzarella (or fresh, IDK and IDC, it would be good either way. A pound would be about right. Get it pre-sliced or this stops being easy.)

Layering order is key. You want the noodles and the cheese to bond and blend and all that nonsense. But you also need them to suck up a bunch of moisture from the soup.  You also don't want this to stick.

If you like salt and pepper, use them, I'm not the boss of you. I hate pepper and no one likes as much salt as I need, so we have a salt-at-table policy. The soup has a fair amount of sodium already, I think.

SO, I am the boss of you when it comes to order.

Lasagna order of operations: 1. Cook spinach in microwave to warm enough to squeeze excess liquid out 2. Mix squeezed spinach with portabello soup 3. In a Pyrex (or whatever, baking) dish, cover the bottom with a very thin layer of sauce 4. Cover with 1 layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. 5. Pour 1/3 of the remaining soup over the lasagna noodles and spread evenly. 6. Put spoonfuls of ricotta (about half) over all the noodles. Just make little scoops with a regular spoon, and space 'em out a little. 7. Layer of mozz slices 8. Layer of noodles 9. Layer of sauce 10. Ricotta 11. Mozz? If sufficient for another layer after this 12. Noodles 13. Remaining sauce 14. Remaining Mozz

Bake at 350 until noodles are cooked through (fork should spear easily through the middle of the pan, 60-90 minutes. 375 or 400 would be fine too, but then watch for burning.)

You can add parm to the top layer if you really want, or browned, drained sausage, or shredded zucchini if you don't have enough spinach, whatever, I don't care, this is supposed to be done quickly and easily with what you have. Hell, you could use actual tomato sauce or alfredo, just make sure there's enough liquid to cook the noodles.

It's okay if you have extra sauce or noodles left over if you're using a smaller pan. This is a forgiving recipe and probably wants to err on longer cooking and resting times. Can be a little too liquid if not cooked long enough, but very tasty regardless. Smells fantastic. If you want more zip, add hot sauce or pesto to individual portions after cooking.

[trustdisk]

La choy chop suey

Serving Suggestions: Heat drained La Choy Chop Suey Vegetables with slices of cooked chicken or beef in a large skillet over medium heat season with La Choy Soy Sauce Combine drained La Choy Chop Suey Vegetables with leftover cooked rice heat in microwave until warm and season with La Choy Soy Sauce Stir drained La Choy Chop Suey Vegetables into your favorite Asian-style soups and broths Toss together sliced cooked chicken, shredded cabbage, drained La Choy Chow Mein Vegetables, mandarin oranges and soy sauce in large bowl for a quick Chinese salad sprinkle with La Choy Rice Noodles before serving. Add a delicious new twist to your everyday meals with La Choy Chop Suey Vegetables, a mixture of Asian-style vegetables. Our flavorful sauces, Asian vegetables, crunchy noodles and complete meals are a convenient and delicious way to add variety to your everyday meals. La Choy has created authentic and easy to prepare Asian foods for over 80 years. Sprinkle the chow mein noodles on top before serving.Est.Item Package Dimension: 14.22cm L x 11.43cm W x 6.6cm H. This mixture of Asian-style vegetables includes bean sprouts, onions, and carrots. La Choy Chop Suey Vegetables add a new twist to your everyday meals. Add the meat and onion mixture on the top. 2 - 14oz Cans of Asian Cuisine CHOP SUEY VEGETABLES by La Choy. Pour half the mixture into the bottom of the dish, layer the rice on top, and pour the rest of the mixture over the rice. In a separate bowl, mix together the Cream of Chicken, water, soy sauce, bean sprouts, and water chestnuts.Add the meat and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until no longer red. Over medium-high heat, sauté the onions, celery, and green pepper until just cooked but not yet brown.*Given the difficulty of finding water chestnuts or bean sprouts in ranch country, I used La Choy Chop Suey Canned Vegetables, which also has bits of onion and celery. Since 1922, La Choy has delivered Asian-inspired ingredients, helping people prepare quick and delicious meals for. 1 can bean sprouts*, or 1 cup fresh bean sprouts, chopped.1 pound pork sausage, finely chopped, or ground beef.This is a Filipino-Chinese version while there are other versions such as an American-Chinese, Indian-Chinese, and more. It usually contains pork, shrimp, and often even boiled quail eggs. _ American Chop SueyĪdapted from Country Cookin' by the Monterey County CowBelles, 1975 edition Chop Suey is a vegetable dish composed of assorted vegetables cooked down in a thick, gravy-like sauce. Culinary experimentation is a dangerous thing. If sauerkraut crosses my path soon, I will attempt Polish Chop Suey. Best of all, the hour-long baking seemed to eliminate the preservative aftertaste I associate with Campbell's soups.Īs for The Pessimist, he took third helpings, leaving me with both an empty casserole dish and a self-satisfied grin.īe warned, friends. My sausages lent enough flavor that I didn't have to season the dish, and the rice absorbed the liquid well without becoming mushy. The finished casserole tasted better than expected. He had, apparently, eaten the CowBelle chop suey too many times as a kid. Browse our wide selection of Asian Specialty Foods for Delivery or Drive Up & Go to pick up at the. "Why are you making chop suey?" Jacob asked a few days ago at Safeway. Shop La Choy Chop Suey Vegetable - 28 Oz from Tom Thumb. Until recently, I was not aware canned bean sprouts even existed. By the late 1980s, it had dropped off most Chinese menus in the Northeast (though contemporaries like chow mein and pupu platters remained.) To my parents, La Choy products were as foreign as Twinkies. I did not grow up with American chop suey. La Choy has created authentic and easy to prepare Asian foods for over 80 years. Later, some smart chef figured out that his customers loved anything crispy, and added fried noodles to the mix. Which Chinese mother has not stir-fried every leftover bit in her kitchen with soy sauce? What developed in the US just had a thicker sauce, more standardized vegetables (onions and celery were a must), and fewer Mysterious Animal Parts. After all, it was the page with the most food stains, the telltale sign of a beloved recipe.Ĭhop suey, the emblematic dish of the America's Chinese restaurants, is similar to the Cantonse "jap sui", literally "odds and ends". Zooming past the egg foo young and sweet and sour beef, I zeroed in on chop suey. Since 1922, La Choy has delivered authentic Asian-inspired ingredients, helping cooks everywhere prepare quick and delicious meals for their families.

[livingcorner]

These Are the Tools You Actually Need in Your Kitchen

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You're reading: These Are the Tools You Actually Need in Your Kitchen

When it comes to kitchen gadgets, I can go a little crazy. Walking down the cooking aisle at a store, specialty tools like avocado peelers, strawberry hullers or a teensy-tiny wooden spoon always call my name. Unfortunately, because I don’t have the space or the budget to indulge in these semi-impractical kitchen tools, I have to streamline my batterie de cuisine to just the essentials. But what about those essentials every cook should have? Whether you’re looking to minimize your kitchen clutter or start stocking your space from scratch, here are the tools every home cook needs.

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Chef’s Knife

A good knife is a chef’s best friend. This is one of the few things that you’ll thank yourself for investing in. Carbon-plated stainless steel will stay sharp over time, but go to a specialty store to find the best match for you. Choose a knife that you feel comfortable handling. It should feel balanced in your hand, easy to hold and control, not too heavy, but definitely not flimsy. Believe us, you’ll be using it a lot, so take good care of it.

Purchase our Test Kitchen’s favorite.

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Metal Spatula

A sturdy metal (or high-quality plastic) spatula is vital for flipping, tossing, and serving all kinds of foods. Think eggs over easy, puffy pancakes, roasted veggies, sauteed meats, baked salmon…we could go on.

Purchase here.

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Shutterstock / Noom Kittipong

Silicone Spatula

A silicone spatula is crucial for scraping out the food processor or the sides of the mixing bowl, swirling frosting onto a cake or folding egg whites into cake batter. Make sure your spatula is silicone and not rubber, or else it may risk melting under high heat. If you make lots of garlicky things, you may want to have a separate spatula for sweet baking only.

Purchase our Test Kitchen’s pick.

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Shutterstock / Prarinya

Whisk

Sturdy metal whisks come in all shapes and sizes. Choose a mid-sized whisk with a handle that fits comfortably in your hand. Use it to mix dry ingredients together before baking, stir eggs for a frittata or emulsify a vinaigrette. You need a flat whisk, too. 

Purchase here.

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Slotted Spoon

Whether it’s wooden or metal, a perforated (or slotted) spoon acts like a miniature strainer, removing solids from liquids—think pulling potatoes or small pasta noodles from boiling water.

Read more: 86 Meaning: What Does 86 Mean?

Purchase here.

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Kitchen Shears

Super basic, super useful. Every day, you’ll reach for shears to open up packaging, snip away herb stems, or trim fat from meats. Once in a while, you might use them to cut up a whole chicken or trim the crust off a pie. Look for a pair that dismantles for cleaning, so gunk doesn’t build up in the hinge.

Purchase here.

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Tongs

For a few bucks you can buy a cheap pair of metal tongs that’ll last you a lifetime. I’m always finding new uses for mine, from turning chicken breasts in the pan to reaching into the oven to check on my roast. (Basically, think of them as extensions of your fingers.) They’re also great for serving family style at dinner.

Purchase our Test Kitchen’s fave.

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Oksana Mizina/Shutterstock

Cast-Iron Skillet

Made with thick, heavy bottoms and sides, cast iron pans can evenly heat to high temperatures and retain heat for a long time. They give a beautiful sear to a steak or scallops. They go right in the oven, so use ’em for making corn bread or cobblers (and all these other delights). They’ve got rustic good looks that can go right from stove to tabletop. Last but not least, they’re virtually indestructible. Learn how to care for yours properly, and it will last a lifetime.

Purchase here.

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Shutterstock / v74

Nonstick Skillet

Easy to clean, lightweight nonstick pans are ideal for scrambling eggs or wilting greens. Look for ceramic coating, as some nonstick pans are made with PFOAs, chemicals that may be harmful to your health and the environment. Here’s our whole nonstick skillet buying guide.

Purchase here.

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Agnes Kantaruk/Shutterstock

Saucepans

A large saucepan is essential for making pasta, boiling potatoes or corn, and simmering big batches of soups and broths. Look for a 5- or 6-quart size. A smaller saucepan (1.5 or 2.5 quarts) comes in handy for smaller items, like boiled eggs, rice and oatmeal.

Purchase here.

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Shutterstock / Arina P Habich

Dutch Oven

Ah, the classic Dutch oven, another cast iron essential. Look for a 5 or 6 quart if you cook for a small crew, or go big with a 7 or 8 quart and feed a crowd. This pan can go in the oven or on the stovetop, so you can sear meat and then slowly cook a stew for hours in a low oven. (It’s like the original slow cooker.) You can also use your Dutch oven as an alternative to the large sauce pan above. And you can bake bread with a super crackly crust in your D.O. They’re expensive, so save your pennies and use it every chance you get.

Purchase here.

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Taste of Home

13×9 Baking Dish

Bake up a hearty casserole or sweet sheet cake with this versatile dish. These come in pretty colors, so find one that matches your dishes; you’ll want to serve right out of it. See how many ways we love our 13x9s.

Purchase here.

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Shutterstock / Spok83

Immersion Blender

Once I handled an immersion blender, I kissed my standing blender goodbye. This handheld tool makes it so easy to blend soups, smoothies, and pestos with the push of a button. I find much easier to handle than a traditional blender, and it’s great because it takes up much less space, too. Read on for more tips for how to use an immersion blender.

Purchase our Test Kitchen’s go-to model.

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Read more: Best Flooring for Kitchens in 2021

Colander

Wash fruits and drain pasta, veggies and other boiled foods. I like a colander that can balance on the edges of my sink, but a classic footed colander is just fine. Look for metal or ceramic, which are sturdier than plastic.

Purchase our Test Kitchen’s pick.

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Shutterstock / NIKITA TV

Box Grater

I find myself reaching for this sturdy shredder at the most unexpected times—whether it’s shredding zucchini for healthy-ish muffins or softening butter extra quick. It might take a little extra elbow grease compared to a food processor, but I love how my box grater doesn’t take up much space.

Purchase here.

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Taste of Home

Microplane

My microplane is my go-to tool for when I want my dishes to feel gourmet. It’s a fine grater that’s perfect for adding thin sprinkles of Parmesan over a pasta dish or adding lemon zest to a flaky fish. Discover more smart ways to use a microplane.

Purchase here.

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Prep Bowls

This might sound like a no brainer, but it’s important to have a variety of mixing bowls. Get ones that are metal or glass because they’re less porous than plastic. They won’t pick up stains or odors. I have a single large metal mixing bowl for cake mixes, chopping up salads, or oiling down veggies. My smaller bowls hold 1 to 2 cups and are the perfect way for me to practice mise en place in the kitchen—staying super organized while I cook.

Purchase here.

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Timer

Timing is everything when it comes to cooking! If you’re making multiple items at once, it’s crucial to keep track individual cooking times. Our test kitchen cooks carry timers around their necks, but if you don’t want to buy a timer you can set one on your microwave (or phone).

Purchase here.

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Cutting Board

A sturdy, stable surface is essential when it comes to prepping your food. A wooden cutting board will help protect your knife from dulling quickly, as well as make cleanup a breeze. Here’s how to take of your cutting board.

Purchase here.

Originally Published: January 23, 2020

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Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Kitchen

source https://livingcorner.com.au/these-are-the-tools-you-actually-need-in-your-kitchen/

[missguomeiyun]

Homecookings [Mar. ed]

I mentioned that I had a long stretch of evening shifts this month, so I’m starting off with a few pictures of my work dinners. I’m trying hard to up my dinner game haha food breaks on evenings are illegally longer, yes, I said it. Everyone knows; everyone does it. Furthermore, it’s also seemingly longer bcos there is no line-up for microwaves. It’s actually the microwave line & finding a seat to sit during day shift breaks that makes breaks seem a lot shorter. I don’t like evening shift, but day shift breaks are literally the worst part of working day shift. Ironic- breaks are the worst part of a shift. But it’s true! I just find myself wasting too much of my break time NOT actually sitting down & eating, you know?

Anyway, here are some of my dinners.

Pan-fried tofu + chicken + napa cabbage over rice noodles.

Here’s the rest of it. So I’ve learnt to pack soup separately - this was inspired by the delivery/take-out food system where noodles & soup are packed individually. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before lol felt like my dinners could have been upgraded yrs ago.. . but it’s still not too late now! When I’m at work, I microwave the noodle/ingredients portion, then pour my hot soup from a thermos into the bowl ^^

Other food I bring include snack + yogurt.

Some days, I cook the same for both lunch & dinner. This was one of those examples. So for lunch, it’s dumpling + noodles.

Evening work dinner version: load noodles & dumplings into bowl, & again, soup separate =)  I had chicken soup that my mom made.

Work dinner 3: pasta! Every week I have at least 1 work meal that’s pasta. It’s easy & I love pasta!

This was baby clam + Korean fish cake strips + green cabbage over instant noodles. These were the bibim noodles, which means it comes with a spicy sauce. Thus, I kept that separate till after my bowl of food was microwaved, then I mixed it all together. No soup; just a spicy saucy noodle.

Now onto the regular non-work cooking~

Spicy rice cake soup with tofu & green cabbage

Homemade pho - sponsored by my brother haha he brought over beef & soup

Deonjang soup with rice cakes, chicken & lettuce on the bottom.

BLACK BEAN NOODLES!

Black bean noodles (aka jjajangmyeon) served with egg, yellow radish, & Korean fish cake. YUM

Up-ing my pancake game by adding parmesan cheese lol

I made 3 large/thick-ish pancakes with 1 cup of pancake mix. Added about 1 large tbsp of parmesan cheese powder. I wished I had added a LITTLE more. I could taste the cheese but. .. it would be better if I added just a teeny bit more. It made a difference though! Better than ‘no flavour’. I may try adding some dry chives to it next time :P

I’ve been using this brand of potato starch noodles. I’m not sure why they call it dried vermicelli. .. Honestly, there is no difference between the diff brands. This one isn’t particular cheaper or anything but it’s just a bigger bag & I eat these noodles pretty often so it’s more “convenient” vs re-stocking when I run out.

Yes.. . More black bean noodles haha

Dumplings in soup with napa cabbage & soup seaweed, plus a little bit of Korean salted shrimp sauce =]

& NOW, I AM ON STAYCATION! WOOOOOOOT!!!

Look forward to my posts in these next 10 days-ish! Will likely post 1 post a day :P hopefully!