#veggies with my stock base

[harmcityherald]

thanksgiving left over breakfast bowl of champions

[kcrossvine-art]

Hi fellow adventurers!! Welcome to chapter 2! We're going to be attempting a nice lil fruit-focused quiche/frittata/pie thing. And yes, tomatoes are fruits.

Who says you cant eat totally normal things in a dungeon with definitely no monsters in them? 

You know what that means; Man-Eating Plant Tart!

(As always you can find the cooking instructions and full ingredient list under the break-)

MY NAMES CROSS NOW LETS COOK LIKE ANIMALS

SO, “what goes in to a Man-Eating Plant Tart?” YOU MIGHT ASKThe way its prepared in the show is akin to a frittata, but the crust is borrowed from quiche world.

Eggs

Whole milk

Bell peppers

Persimmons

Cherry tomatoes

Pitted green olives

Thinly sliced OR shredded sweet potatos

Salt

Pepper

In the show they use leftover hotpot stock, slime, and mashed up fruit as the batter ingredients. Fruit mush is easy to work with but I couldn't find any stand-in for slime that would cook correctly into what they made in the show, and the hotpot stock is just not thick enough to carry the base. It is too many watery ingredients at once. Needing a thickening agent, both gelatin and agar agar were tried. It was edible but the texture was… gelatinous. Regular egg and milk will serve for our purposes.

The next complication was the crust- so in the show its made with the skins of fruit, straightforward yeah? Well. You see it also has to be 1. Thick enough to bake without burning 2. Harden through cooking to be sliced and held and 3. Inedible. Lotus leaves? Plantain leaves? Really thin gourds? I couldnt find any historical basis for a savory food cooked in this method, or similar method, with an intentionally inedible crust. I could find a few dishes which used leaves as their crust, but none that hardened during cooking and even less that used fruit skin. I chose sweet potato skin for its visual match and texture. It is edible, and it is not a fruit.

I hope youll forgive me for these 2 major deviations as i wanted to keep it looking how it does in the show while also ensuring it tastes good.

AND, “what does a Man-Eating Plant Tart taste like?” YOU MIGHT ASKFluffy, airy, savory, salty.

The density of the eggs is offset by the crisp fruits

And the saltiness doesnt overpower the remnant fruit-sweetness

(If you eat the crust) the sweet potato brings this nice muted, smokey, flavor

Spongecake-esque in consistency

Would pair well with cranberry or strawberry juice

Would also pair well with a mellow hot sauce?

. You can use heavy cream instead of milk for a creamier batter . Roast the fruit longer to remove more liquid if too wet (and vice versa if too dry) . Smoked paprika, pepper flakes, cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder would taste good in the mixture

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

"A mixture of mashed up and cut up Man-Eating Plant fruit, slime and scorpion soup is poured into a pan lined with the flattened peel of the fruit and cooked before garnishing with some more fruit. Described as salty by the group."

From start to finish this recipe took 3-ish hours? Shredding the potatoes took the longest, so if you get them bagged itd be cut down. A very filling recipe and a good way to sneak veggies/fruits in if you have a hard time getting enough of those essential nutrients. The best advice i can give is to add salt/seasonings at every stage of the process, to build up layers. It makes a difference flavor-wise (even if its just salt). I advise against reheating if possible. The filling will make the crust soggy over time.

If you want to be closer to the cooking of the show, you could double the fruit amounts and mash them together while halving the amount of egg and milk. I hadnt tried due to budget reasons, but it should work with some finangling. I'll pass the final verdict off to you guys with how todays recipe turned out <333

What would you rate this recipe out of 10? (with 1 being food that makes one physically sick and 10 being food that gives one a lust for life again.) Did you love it, did you hate it? What're your thoughts on what I could do better, and what would you have done instead?

🐁 ORIGINAL RESIPPY TEXT BELOW 🐁

Ingredients:

3 Eggs

13oz whole milk

2 bell peppers

2 small persimmons

140oz cherry tomatoes

12oz pitted green olives

34oz thinly sliced OR shredded sweet potatos

Salt

Pepper

Method:

Heat oven to 420f and grease a 9-inch pie pan.

Thinly slice (or shred) your sweet potatoes and squeeze out any excess moisture. Coat in olive oil, salt and pepper.

Press sweet potato mixture evenly into and up the sides of the pie pan.

Blind bake for roughly 25 minutes or until lightly golden-brown. No worries if the edges get crisp.

Remove pie pan from oven and set aside.

Core and chop up your bell peppers and persimmons. Coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Line out on a baking sheet, evenly spaced, and roast for roughly 20 minutes or until softened. (you can do this at the same time on a separate rack from the pie crust if you have room)

Remove the stems from your cherry tomatoes, and drain/dry your green olives if canned.

Bring a frying pan to medium heat with olive oil. Add the green olives and sautee until their skin texture starts dimpling. Add the cherry tomatoes and continue sauteeing for about 5 minutes or until lightly browned.

Once the bell peppers, persimmons, cherry tomatoes, and green olives are all done, set aside to cool until just above room temp.

Lower the oven temperature to 350f.

In a mixing bowl combine your eggs and milk, add salt to taste. If you want other seasonings nows a good time!

Once uniform in color and texture, add your cooked fruit. Stir until evenly distributed.

Pour mixture into the potato pie crust.

Bake for roughly 40 minutes. The filling should be mostly firm, but wiggle *slightly* when you shake the pan.

Remove from oven and let rest for roughly 15 minutes before serving.

[thebibliosphere]

Something I've been recommending a lot to my fellow MCAS + POTS-sufferers at the moment, has been investing in a soup blender.

Apart from beta blockers, the primary treatment for POTS is increasing salt and water. A really good way of combining both and upping your nutritional value is by drinking things like bone broth or veggie stock.

But if you're like me with a ton of allergies (so you can't buy anything premade🙃) and bone broth raises your histamine, then you're left with the energy sapping task of making your own.

And I don't know about any of you, but when my nervous system is throwing a wobbler, the last thing I am capable of doing is standing up for long periods at a time over a hot stove.

Some people get around this by using a slow cooker, which is great if you can. I personally can't because slow cooking raises the histamine content of food (especially meat) and also, the clue is in the name, it's a slow cooker and sometimes my POTSie, ADHD butt needs food now-ish or as soon as possible and not 8 hours later. Instapots can be good, but they take up a lot of counter space and also I don't know if you've ever tried to release a pressure cooker valve when you can barely stand, but I genuinely think that's the closest I've come to dying and I've experienced both megaloblastic and hemalytic anemia.

Which is why we got a soup blender. They take up less space, are generally easier to clean, and also easier for me, at least, to use. All you need to do is roughly chop your ingredients up, dump them in the jug, add seasoning, fill the jug with water, hit the soup function and then sit your ass down for the next 20 minutes while this magical fucking thing both cooks and blends you some liquidy goodness.

I will say, don't invest in the instapot one. It's not worth the price point, and the motor burned out on mine after about six months. It was also a pain in the ass to clean. (The self clean was more of a "swish water around for 30 seconds" function and I can't tell you how many times I hurt myself trying to get gunk off the bottom.)

The one I currently have is a Ninja HB152 Foodi Heat-iQ Blender, which was a little more expensive, but in my opinion, far superior and better made. It's faster, makes either chunky or smooth soup, really good consistency dips, ice cream and smoothies. I've also used it to make alternative milks like oat milk and it didn't jam the blades.

It also has a great cleaning system that actually takes a full 6 minutes to run and really gets any residue off the base, and it also alerts you to things like the jug or lid not being secure, which is great when I'm brain-fogged and try to blend things without the lid on.

Anyway, this post brought to you not by Ninja but by @mothman-etd making me some leek and potato soup laden with enough salt to make this POTS episode manageable.

Just throwing the info out there. Hope it helps someone.

[alwaysjustjay]

Fondant Potatoes

Cylinder cut potatoes, seared and roasted in a herbs, butter and stock.

Recipe Information:

Menu Category - Sides

Required Ingredients - Potato & Herb

Prepped Ingredient - Veggies

Skill - Gourmet 6

Serving Sizes - Party, Family, Single

Restrictions - Vegetarian-Safe and Lactose-Free

Compatibility - Base Game Compatible, Simple Living, Dine Out Restaurant Menu, Home Chef Hustle

*Requires the current version of my food enabler mod*

Early Access - Download Here!

Public release December 1st!

@sssvitlanz

[collecting-stories]

okay so i've never requested a platonic fic before, but if you're interested, i'd love to see a best friend!jake seresin x platonic!reader! i dunno anything fluff or just silliness with the guy :)

like when i think about being friends with him, i acknowledge 100% that he is a CertifiedPrettyBoy™ but he's just not my type 😭

but yeah, platonic!jake seresin x fem!reader please :)) i could see sarcasm thrown at him from reader and him spinning it into one of his flirting bits

I was super excited about this request because I'm ace and I love platonic/best friend fics so much.

-

"What do we need for fondue?" Jake asked, leaning against the basket of your shopping cart, flexing his arms when a woman walked passed, looking over at him and smiling. You rolled your eyes, you should have known that going shopping for game day would've been easier by yourself. Although you hated driving and Jake was always happy to drive. And brave the absolute headache that was Trader Joes on a Saturday. 

"Broccoli, some kind of bread, apples, sausage..." You read over the list that you had unfolded on top of a bag of bagels. You looked up from the list to see him looking behind him, still following the same woman, "Seresin, I swear to god-"

"I'm paying attention darling," he joked, turning back and smiling at you. 

"You are not paying attention," you replied, "but I will pretend that you are. What do you wanna get?" 

"Hmm," he hummed meaningfully before standing up straight, "broccoli, apples, sausage." 

"You just want me to have to go back over to the bread cause you know I hate that lady," you muttered.

"I think you come here too often if you have a literal vendetta against a woman stocking shelves," he replied, "but also, I saw the guy with the kids headed to the veggies and I don't want you to commit murder over a bag of tiny trees."

"A true american hero Hangman," you laughed, turning the cart in the opposite direction.

The first time you met Jake Seresin he'd been out with some friends at the bar you worked at and he'd laid on the charm, pleasantly surprised but unbothered that you weren't interested. From there, something of a strange friendship developed and eventually evolved into him moving in with you when he officially moved to the area and didn't wanna live on base. The whole thing worked out better than you ever imagined that it would, mostly because he was the first roommate you didn't actively hate. You even did things you weren't entirely excited to do, like host Super Bowl parties for his friends. 

"Look at this!" Jake interrupted your stare down with the bread shelves, trying to decide between the ciabatta and the french loaves. When you turned he was holding a chocolate cake shaped like a heart, "for Valentines."

"I have a date," you reminded him.

"On Valentines?" He asked, looking down at the cake and then back at you.

"Yeah remember, I told you? I literally put it on the calendar." 

"Then we can have it the day before." He insisted, putting it in the cart.

"On Galentine's day?"

"More like Pal-entines day."

"Ehh," you cringed and laughed when he rolled his eyes at you. "Did you get everything?"

"Yeah, and that girl's number too," he smiled, waving his phone at you.

"Naturally," you replied, "hey maybe you can share the cake with her."

Jake shook his head, "first date on Valentines? Yikes," he said and then, "you aren't going on a first date on Valentines are you?"

"No...it's like our third date." You replied, "I've literally detailed both previous dates."

"Yeah and you still haven't told me, your nearest and dearest friend, who it is you're going out with," Jake pointed out. He was right, obviously. You hadn't mentioned who you had been dating. You were usually too transparent with each other and you wanted to tell him it was just that...it was someone he knew and if things didn't go well or fizzled out or anything, you didn't want Jake to feel like he needed to get involved. You loved him and he was your best friend but sometimes he went into older brother mode and you didn't need him thinking he needed to fix something or move something along that didn't need to be fixed or moved along. 

"I will...but not right now, when we're supposed to be grocery shopping," you replied. 

Jake stuck his tongue out at you and grabbed the grocery list from the cart, scanning over the items you hadn't crossed out yet, "does this guy like football?"

"Why would that matter?" You asked, grabbing the ciabatta bread finally and putting it in your cart, "I don't like football."

"Don't like football?" He practically laughed out loud as he said it, "darling you were literally screaming at the TV during play-offs." 

"Um," you dragged out the 'm' as you shot him a skeptical look, feigning disbelief at his claim, "I don't remember that."

"I definitely remember that. Coyote as my witness, I have never seen someone that excited about football outside my dad," he replied. "Hey, it's not Coyote is it?"

"What's not Coyote?" 

"This guy you're dating."

"It is not Coyote," you replied, "I promise you will be the first to know if I feel like it's definitely going somewhere...and it won't be Coyote."

"Just checking." 

You rolled your eyes, taking back the grocery list from him, "grocery shopping Hangman, grocery shopping." 

[extrajigs]

Got my comp set up at my inlaws so I am back on the net! Time to get into chimera variants! Buckle up this is an info dump below. 

Chimera actually get their common name because they come in a LOT of different shapes once their society advances enough to discover magical body modification. Something that I’m going to have to make a few posts about but these are the ‘starting styles’ so to say. They are based off of different populations in Mirum who occupied different areas of the continent prior to chimera becoming one unified culture. 

Coastal- These chimera are living the closest to the ancestral chimeric niche. They live in the island chains and Western/Southern coasts of Mirum, live in very small nomadic family groups. Most distinguishing features of them is the fact that their faceplate does not fully flatten out upon maturity, leaving them with a much wider field of view and a more streamlined body. They also have partially fused trunks, much wider splayed toes, and long thin teeth. These are the fellas built for a much more aquatic life, fast swimmers but a little clonky on land. 

Plains- The stock standard. These are the most common ethnicity of chimera by a mile, populating the vast floodplains of the continents interior. They are lean and quick on their feet, with endurance equal to their speed. The majority of their diet still relies on the waterways around their settlements, but they don’t turn their nose up at fruit and veggies. Think of them as the transitional form, venturing into spending most of their time on land, but still very tied to the water. They live in large towns with many different families coming and going, sometimes far enough to run into the others! 

Alpine- Short and stout, these fellas are pretty much the only variety of chimera able to inhabit Mirum’s Southern mountain chain. They are built for the cold, with much more bristled nostrils and bellows to keep out the chill and padded toes to help them climb their rocky home. These guys aren’t particularly fast but they really have no need to be for these are the only chimera that don’t regularly worry about predation, the largest carnivores in the mountains are terrestrial birds which very rarely target larger prey. Their main worry is food, they have moved off of fish to meat, leading to them going from actively hunting to more trapping and farming. They live in small towns with very few ever leaving aside from trading, but that’s not infallible.

Forest- From the forest/jungle covering the Eastern side of the continent come the largest of the chimera, these guys are tall and lean. By far the fastest yet quickest to tire, they’re the most magic reliant of the bunch. The classic squishy caster. They live a calm life and worry far more about Antlerworms than Histin, so they are able to be a bit more lax on their building construction. Their towns are small but known for large sprawling buildings, often built around and through some of the larger trees in their range. Again they have weaned off of fish somewhat, but still actively chase down their meat. For their greens they have taken to orchards within felled portions of forest. 

That’s the basic ideas, but all of them have far more in common with each other than not. They all ‘speak’ the same ‘language’, recognize the same creator, and generally no issue with accepting others into their communities. As time goes on the boarders between them begin to blur until most chimera have a little of every background within them.

[transactinides]

i'm super bad at cooking and never know where to start because every recipe out there asks for ingredients i simply don't have at home so do you perhaps know what basic ones would be good to stock up on? like eggs and stuff...especially when it comes to spices i have no idea what is okay to use

Haii o/ very honored that you sent me an ask, and ofc I’ll do my best to help! This reply got a bit out of hand so. Long text under the cut. Behold. Feel free to reach out in asks or dms or whatever with any future questions (@ everyone tbh).

Food is, of course, very subjective, so my idea of a perfect list of foods to keep a stock of will not be universal, but I hope this will, at least, give you some ideas if anything. 

First of all, I usually mentally break down my typical weekday recipe into vaguely carbs source - protein source - veggies, buy a couple of options for each category and just switch them around for variety. My standard set is

rice / pasta (usually spaghetti re:shapes) / glass noodles

eggs / chicken / tofu / bacon

random pack of frozen vegetables, bell peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy greens. garlic and onions too

I have an option of making egg fried rice with chopped up bacon and added frozen vegetables one day, then blending the leftover vegetables with bell peppers and tomatoes to use as pasta sauce with chicken and spaghetti the next day, then branching out and making eggplant tofu stir fry with glass noodles, then using whatever eggplant tofu stir fry i had left as rice balls filling and making myself a quick vegetable salad on the side… And all those things are easy to make and don’t need much fussing around. 

Other options to consider would be potatoes (you can roast them with whatever, boil, fry, etc), buckwheat (my wife doesn’t like it otherwise I’d use it more often), kidney beans and chickpeas for your carbs*; fish and meat for your proteins (those are. a bit too expensive for me usually); carrots, cabbage, leeks etc. 

The list looks long, but, again, you just need to pick out a couple of things from each group and throw shit in a pan so to speak. And a lot of them are easily soup-able (boiling water chicken potatoes carrots rice? boom soup. etc), which is another easy base recipe to exploit.

Now to the matter of spices. Salt and pepper are obvious enough, but a good thing to look for are, especially if you are just getting into cooking, spice blends. Something something French Herbs™ something something Taco Seasoning™ something something Seven Spice™ something something Garam Masala™. There’s a lot of different ones, but they are, essentially, a formed flavor profile in themselves, so you don’t need to worry about mixing spices and herbs that might not go well together, and by paying attention to contents you can learn for yourself what individual seasonings are commonly used together.

Also, everyone, hold your judgement real quick and trust me with this, but ooh I always save leftover flavor packets from instant ramen and reuse them in other dishes. Egg fried rice just doesn’t taste right without suspicious red powder courtesy of shin ramen… It’s probably MSG my beloved or something…

While I’m at it, bouillon cubes are handy to have, you can use them for soups, crumble them up in other recipes. Adding one to the water you’re cooking rice in is a great hack at making it more flavourful.

In general, while I do actually have way too much spices (and keep buying more… very excited about my newly acquired dried tarragon…), the ones I’d advise to have for an average person would be:

Salt (ideally both coarse grain and fine grain, but fine grain only serves you just right)

black pepper (both in a mill/grinder and peppercorns), red pepper flakes

paprika, garlic powder, ginger powder

bay leaves, dried oregano, basil, thyme, dill, cinnamon, coriander, cardamon, cumin, turmeric, sumak....

I really got a bit carried away by the end, but. You don't actually need to buy all of them and at the same time, just start with whatever couple of things you'd need for whatever you are cooking and let your collection build up over time, since spices aren't something you need to buy often anyway 👍

Other things I think it’s nice to have in stock in your kitchen would be flour and baking powder, vinegar (distilled vinegar, rice vinegar… I like to have balsamic vinegar too but it’s so expensive it’s ridiculous ngl), soy sauce, cooking oil of your choice (I use sunflower oil, olive oil and sesame oil), panko or breadcrumbs, starch (i have potato starch, cornstarch and tapioka starch, I would suggest just getting cornstarch at first).

* going to clarify here that while beans are often brought up as a source of protein, most are rich in complex carbs, excluding edamame and green beans for example. And since I mostly often cook beans with meat, they check out my daily carbs in my head.

[figuring-out-witchiness]

Recipe- High Protein Strength and Protection Soup

Recently in Hong Kong we had a level Typhoon 8 (really bad storm) come our way. Since I moved into the new apartment and I was by myself I wanted to add a little protection to myself and my place. Ultimately the typhoon ended up not hitting so bad and my area was fine other than some heavy rain and wind. This is the recipe I used as the first storm warnings were put in place.

PLEASE NOTE: Do not only use a spell to protect your house. I also taped my windows and was prepared with resources in case I would be stuck or needed to leave the apartment. Listen to your weather authorities for the proper info. This spell is only to give a little boost to your existing precautions.

This recipe is intended to give you an added boost of protein to help strengthen your body while using the herbal power to infuse your home with peace, strength, and safety.

Ingredients

Bay leaf

Rosemary

Thyme

Salt

Black pepper

Cumin

Basil

Onion

Garlic

Pepper

Potatoes

Beans (any kind) I used white kidney from a can

Vegetable (preferably local and in season) I used Chinese cabbage

Chicken (meat is completely optional)

Cooking instructions

Heat your pot. Then add some oil.

While waiting for your pot to heat, chop up all your sauteeables (garlic, onion, pepper)

When the oil is hot add the chopped garlic, onion, and pepper to the pot and turn heat on low. Stir occasionally until softened and onions are translucent.

Also add in your seasonings. Cooking your aromatics in the oil first will ensure the flavor can bloom. The smell and taste will be more intense.

Chop up the chicken into the desired size pieces.

Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. The. Add the pieces to the pot.

Wipe down your surface and sanitize immediately after handling the chicken to avoid salmonella risk.

Chop your remaining veggies. ( Potatoes and cabbage in this case)

Since in my case I used cabbage, when the chicken was about 50% cooked I added it in to give it a little extra cook. If you're using something less hearty like spinach you can wait to add in later.

When the chicken is about 70% cooked through, add water (or stock if you have that on hand)

Add in the chopped potatoes (and veggies if you didn't add with the chicken)

Simmer on low heat and continually stir to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. Make sure you taste along the way. Let the seasonings guide your instincts and add whatever you feel is lacking.

When the potatoes are cooked through (can easily poke them through with a fork) then the soup is ready!

Casting Cooking Intensions

I laid all my ingredients out and focused on what I wanted to receive from each of these ingredients. I also acknowledged how they got to my kitchen or the life that went into providing me my meal (chicken in this case since I am flexitarian)

Acknowledged the storm starting outside. I opened a window and listened to the sounds of the nature and city around me. Focusing on the strength and power that comes from the thunder storm.

I organized all of my cooking utensils, pots, and bowls to be used. I sanitized them with boiling water while saying a positive words about the utensils ability to help me cook my meal.

Used my favorite cooking utensil. Many witches lean towards a wooden spoon that they are drawn to, or perhaps add their sigils on. But for me I use my favorite pair of wooden chopsticks! Same intent but different cultural variation based on what I'm drawn to use.

When stirring I stir in a clockwise position to draw in my intentions and counterclockwise to banish negativity or worry thoughts.

It may sound crazy but I speak to my soup. I think about being strong and visualize my house having beefy gym arms to push against the storm. I acknowledge the actual protection my home gives me daily and thank it. I ask my house to use the smells and energy from the soup to give it a little extra strength. I also visualize myself in the gym hitting my prs. And visualize eating my soup and it giving me strength. I also say things like "this soup is going to be so tasty and make me feel so comforted safe and warm while giving me all the protein and vitamins I need to be super strong and healthy" I kinda just say and think these positive things doing what feels right.

When I finally eat the soup I think of it powering me up and I focus on the flavors and all the energy that went into the ingredients that are now being passed on to me!

I save my scraps. The food worked hard to make it to my table and I believe every part should be utalized as much as possible. To reduce waste and show a little love to the earth I collect all the scraps for my freezer and make it into a veggies stock when it's full.

[mizufae]

Due to my very strong family history of colon cancer I’ve got my first colonoscopy scheduled for Monday so I have to start eating a low fiber/low residue diet today and I’ve been avoiding seeds and nuts and high fiber veggies for a couple days and tomorrow it’s only like, eggs and maybe white rice in the morning and gingerale followed by a full afternoon of evacuating my bowels and forcing myself to drink tons of water. And let me just say, this is really opening my eyes to how much fiber I normally eat. Like, it didnt seem like a big deal until I realized that I had to go shopping especially for products made of white flour, and make a new batch of chicken stock because all my stuff is full of spices. I can’t put paprika or furikake on my eggs or cook up any veggies with them and it’s gonna suck. My default snack is like an apple or pear and some walnuts or pumpkin seeds; I eat plenty of beans and am currently really craving refried bean tacos; for sandwiches I prefer caraway rye and that’s what I keep in the freezer. I prefer fruit based desserts and baked goods with nuts in them. No WONDER I get all screwed up gi-wise when I travel and have to eat out a bunch. Apparently my preferred diet is a full list of everything you can’t eat before a colonoscopy. Like, I’m allowed to eat jello but not the red or blue flavors, which are the only acceptable jello flavors anyway. I’m allowed to have cottage cheese but I only like cottage cheese with blueberries and nuts on top. I’ve been trying to avoid high fiber foods for a couple days now in preparation and my guts are annoyed as hell with me. I crave a salad so bad right now.

[mh-and-celiac]

My recommendations for GF staples in Australia (likely available in NZ/Aotearoa & some are global brands).

I wrote this out the other day for a GF group I’m in but thought it’d help to share here too. After a year of trail & error, these are most of my favourite gluten free staples for main meals. I really wanted a list like this when I started out gluten free, so hope it helps someone else.

Pasta- San Remo, I really couldn’t stomach anything else. Look for pastas with corn/maize as a main ingredient & rice low in ingredients or not there.

Latina fresh is almost imperceptibly different to gluten too. Thats a fresh pasta. When I was struggling the most with the transition, Latina fresh helped when trying to make a meal made me cry.

Gnocchi- Simply wize.

Bread- buy from your local gluten free bakery. We try to convince ourselves that supermarket bread is fine when it’s not. The fact that no one will eat it not toasted says enough. It’s also safer to freeze as supermarket bread arrives to them frozen & it’s defrosted on the shelves. It also means they risk mould. So you save money that way.

Pizza base - Senza for proper pizza. Bfree mini pita for pita bread bases.

Tortillas- Old El Paso. These are the softest, most flexible & most resilient to tears. They tear less than gluten ones in my experience. They do have the weird gluten free/tapioca smell but when they’re piled with filling you won’t notice. If you’ve tried them before & didn’t like them, try them again. They’ve change their formula in the last year or so apparently.

Noodles- Mr. Chens vermicelli rice noodles, but I’m sure any rice noodle would be fine as they’re naturally gf. If you’re adventurous & want to make your own 2 minute noodles, these would be perfect too because they’re divided up into 5 ‘chunks’ in the packet.

Other bits & pieces;

Crackers - Orgran quinoa wafers. The Ob ones are great too but harder than the orgran ones & I get so fed up with gluten free food being so hard. Simply wise do lots of crackers.

Crumpets - liberate. Check for mould, the supermarket defrosting on the shelf is BS. But these can be refrozen. If you like soft, squishy crumpets with the the back a little crunchy, these are your crumpets. The genius ones as disgusting & hard & crumble. Some people like them, I don’t think we ate the same gluten ones tbh 😂.

Arnotts Tim tams couldn’t have turned out much more perfectly.

Choc chip biscuits is from the ultimate brand at Coles. Also the Coles ‘I’m free from’ bars.

Master foods sweat chilli sauce, the kids one in the orange squeeze bottle.

Aldi do gluten free wedges & bubble & squeak.

V2 meat alternatives are gluten free & great.

Everything from yumi (falafels, veggie balls, veggie burgers (though they need extra sauce, bit dry), dip) is gluten free & great.

Fry family meat free nuggets are gf & good, but nothing else from that brand is gf.

Cc’s & most corn chips (not Doritos), Cheezels, skittles, twirls & flakes are all GF & no ‘may contains’.

My biggest tip starting out is to use the Woolies app. They have a really good filter for gluten free foods. It makes shopping less overwhelming knowing things you can get without scouring every packet in the store. The coles app is rubbish for this, so even if you shop there, try the Woolies app. Each store stocks things the other doesn’t, but it’s a starting point.

Also trust labels. You don’t need to know what all the weird flavours, colours & preservatives are. They will state beside them, if they contain a gluten source. Keep an eye out for barley malt.

[remembertoeat]

Dinner Recipe: "Fancy Salads"

TIME: ★★★★

PRICE: ★★★★

EASE: ★★★★

CLEANUP: ★★★★

"Fancy Salads" is just mine and my partner's term for... well... ANY salad that has more effort in it than a side salad. Even then, the amount of effort is typically fairly minimal.

This has room to be much more intensive, but typically these take us about 10 minutes to throw together. Possibly less if you have pre-cut veggies.

We usually use leftover chicken (or other protein) from our previous meals, but you could leave it out entirely or replace it with your protein of choice (tofu, chickpeas, etc.) There are a couple variations that we frequently make, depending on what we have in stock or what leftovers we have! All of these use a salad green base (we grab a handful or two of 50/50 salad blend, romaine, spinach, etc.)

-Summer Salad:  Mandarin oranges, cherry tomatoes, almonds, craisins, strawberries

-Autumn Salad:  Diced apple, walnut, strawberry, crumbled goat cheese

-Harvest Salad:  Craisins, corn, pecans, avocado, sunflower seeds, bacon

-House Salad:  Red onion, cherry tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, cheddar cheese, croutons

-Italian Salad:  Pepperoncinis, red onion, kalamata olives, tomatoes, parmesan, croutons, italian dressing

-Taco Salad: Salsa, Mexican blend cheese, avocados (or guac,) red onion, jalapenos, corn chips (this is a GREAT way to get rid of the crumbly corn chips at the bottom of the bag!)

Grab a big handful of greens. Toss it in a bowl. Toss the toppings in with it. Drizzle with dressing of choice. Done. SUPER easy, quick, and tasty!

NOTE: Some of these topping sets are gluten free, dairy free, or could be easily modified to be so. I don't have food restrictions, so be sure to double check your dressings to adapt them as necessary!

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

I'll want to break down the chicken and beef into pre-marinaded freezer baggies with any roots or beans or sauces paired with them in a lil bundle of baggies, that way meals become as simple as popping a baggie set into a cast iron in the oven or on the stove. The last of the current priority garden, home, and body ingredients are in the mail, and I'm just waiting until I have the last of my salts and amino acids to mix them up.

Upcoming projects:

1) add compost cultivator to The Stacks now that there is a sizeable hay patch and an existing decomposition culture to support

2) Start tree seed trays (wild plum and black cherry)

3) Start greens seed trays (amaranth, turnip, beet, collard)

4) start shrub seed trays (Alleghany blueberry)

5) start wildflower seed trays (flax, marshmallow)

6) bury seed trays in coco coir and compost when The Stacks are fully decomposed

7) infuse olive oil with shea butter cubes, resins, cracked seeds, and salts in pourable cruets

8) break down chicken and beef into ready-prep single meal and bulk meal portions and freeze (burger/meatloaf mix, chili mix, carne asada, carne criolo, buttermilk chicken for battered cutlets, pulled chicken and ranch for pizza root-fries, kung pao chicken, green curry chicken, pulled chicken for matzoh soup, meatballs, lemon garlic chicken, ground beef crumbles, Date Night Steaks, sliced roast beef packets, jerky, BBQ for beans, dumpling filling, seasoned battered chicken for fried chicken strips and cheesy chicken pasta/veggie-noodle lasagnas, etc)

9) sauce tomatoes and freeze

10) bake a round of washing soda

11) ferment some rice for washing cakes and scalp scrubs

12) mix laundry detergent (epsom salts, resin infused oils, seed infused oils, washing soda, hand soap)

13) mix body scrubs

14) mix and set washing cakes

15) mix and jar scalp scrubs

16) mix and jar hair cremes

17) mix and jar hair masques

18) mix and jar skin masques

19) mix and bottle serums

20) mix and bottle texture spray

21) mix and jar bath salts

22) deep clean kitchen (wash counters, wash sink, treat drain, sweep and mop floors, wash cabinetry, wash appliances, run cleaning cycles on oven and dishwasher, clean out traps and catches, wash trash can and deoderize, empty and sanitize recycling bag, clean cat cozies, sanitize kitty meal plates, sanitize communal water fountain, sanitize water pitcher and replace filter, etc)

23) juice citrus (lime, lemon) and bottle/refridgerate

24) make citrus paste (lime, lemon) and freeze

25) make chimichurri base and freeze

26) make basil, garlic, and sesame paste and freeze

27) make kefir

28) make garlic confit and freeze

29) make caramelized onions and freeze

30) make pepper paste and pepper jelly and freeze

31) make pickles (onion, garlic, peppers, sundried tomato) and freeze

32) make curried carrot and lentil soup and freeze

33) make chicken stock and freeze

34) make kimchi

35) make samosa and empanada wrappers (corn masa pastry dough)

36) make dumpling wrappers (rice paper)

37) make and freeze dumplings, samosas, and empanadas (veggie mince, meat mince, kimchi and rice, Oaxaca and honey, Oaxaca and beans, Oaxaca and pepper jelly, curry chicken, veggie curry)

38) mix and bag sazon rice packets

39) prep herb and spice mix bottles

40) season and freeze root-fries and root-wedges

41) marinade and freeze veggie side dishes

42) air fry and package chickpea pops

43) make candied snickie snacks (nuts, jerky, coffee beans, carrots, citrus)

44) cut and batter Oaxaca strips for battering (seasoned lentil and rice flour) for paneer pakora and fried cheese sticks

45) cut Oaxaca strips for cheesy pastas

46) make and freeze queso fundido (Oaxaca cubes, peppers, garlic confit, coriander, oregano, paprika, chili pepper flakes, cumin, salt, cracked peppercorns, sundried tomatoes, shea butter curls, buttermilk, meatmince)

47) mix and freeze omelet/egg casserole mixes (queso fundido, onions, salt and pepper, fresh herbs, liquid whole egg mixed with buttermilk and rice flour, sundried tomato mince)

48) repot Pomegranate in compost and coco coir

49) identify and butcher the rooster

50) source scrap wood for laying nests, cat climbers, garden stakes, cat toys, chicken toys, carry/storage crates, etc)

51) mix dehumidifer/air filter pack for upstairs bathroom

52) deep clean upstairs bathroom (wash sink, wash floors, wash toilet, wash cabinetry, refill hand soap, wash counters, polish hardware, wash mirror)

53) wash towels and hang out to dry

54) wash blanket/bed linens and hang out to dry

55) wash clothes and hang up to dry in rounds of 2× outfits or 1× linens per basin

56) deep clean our bathroom (wash sinks, wash counters, sweep and wash floors, wash cabinetry and walls, refill deoderizer, clean shower, polish hardware, wash mirrors, refill hand soap, organize shower and sink products, wash toilet)

57) deep clean bedroom (take out trash bins, pick up floors, vacuum and sanitize carpets, wash walls, organize clothes, organize dog toys, sanitize dog meal dishes, wash and polish side tables/trunk, wash bedframe, sanitize mattress, change sheets and blankets)

58) vacuum and sanitize upstairs carpets

59) wash walls upstairs

60) clean guest bedroom (sanitize mattress, wash and replace bed linens and blanket, pick up floors)

61) move office couch to living room

62) move office desk/supplies to guest bedroom (for now)

63) plan a workout routine (minimum 2x gym days/wk for rowing and cycling and traction, min 2 home workouts/wk -> prioritize range of motion, balance, and gradual endurance building)

64) plan a hygeine routine (min 3x wash day/wk for skin, max 1x wash day/wk for hair)

65) organize my next round of plans

[theriverbeyond]

Can you share the recipe for your soup?

SURE YES i love talking about recipes!! however please note i cook like if you mixed a college student with a grandmother (low effort, no measuring, just vibes) so not sure how replicate-able this is based on my direction.

behold! tom kha inspired low effort noodle soup:

Ingredients

1 Ramen chicken flavor soup packet (noodles optional, can also use udon noodles, or bouillon/ similar stock)

Tofu (optional but also i love tofu)

Any veggies you have on hand (optional, I don't have these rn so did not add them)

Random thai yellow curry takeout that was in my freezer (optional, a few spoonfuls i chiseled off with a knife)

dashi sauce (add to taste, a couple "shakes" of the bottle? not too much)

soy sauce (add to taste, one pour?)

lemon or lime juice (add to taste, many squirts from the bottle)

Salt, pepper, and/or MSG (i use this, but it is optional, add to taste)

Chili oil or spicy sesame oil (one quick "whoopsie" pour)

Egg (optional)

unsweetened coconut cream (1/2 can or to taste)

Water (like 3 cups? 5? i have no idea i just put the pot under the tap until it hits vibes)

Cornstarch (spoonful)

Steps:

Put literally everything into a pot and boil, adding seasonings and sauces and lemon/lime to taste as you go to whatever flavor profile you like best

Mix cornstarch with some of the broth or some water, then mix that into the pot to thicken it a little

Add noodles if desired

Add egg, if desired

eat

[askthesinclairs]

WAIT!!!!

...

I haven't even told you about how you're supposed to stock a fridge 😏

It's goes vegetables pre prep foods, fish, pork, beef/ lamb and chicken. This is based on if the meat is raw of course. You don't want the meat juices from chicken to drop on the veggies cause they only have to get up to an internal temp of 135 f while chicken has to be brought up to 165 f. It's just unsafe to do and yes you are getting my food rant. This is helping me remember

wh.. *Drooling* man.. i love food.. and cookin videos- sighhh..

[ketchuplaser]

"Well, this stocks us up on canned goods for a while, Bao Bay."

"And I've plenty of fresh veggies, and some good herbs!" "A wise man once said, 'A man can live on packaged food from here until Judgement Day if he's got enough rosemary.'" "And you bought me boba! My hero..." Tali Kaleel and Clara Blackburn of the Wrath of Argos For Draw Everything June 2023, AdorkaStock 's ongoing art challenge. Plenty of time for anyone that wants to participate to stretch their artistic muscles! *all Chinese is based off actual Firefly/Serenity dialogue, so my bad if something is not quite right*

[msbarrows]

Yeah Anno 1800 is still controlling my brain and eating most of my free time (and some time I should be using for other things, like sleeping). Which means I've once again been skipping out on doing my daily posts, so grrrr at myself since I find having them personally useful (such as for double-checking when I last served something so I don't produce chili out of the freezer twice in one week sort of thing; I'd be fine with that but the brother prefers more variety).

And now I've once again gone a full week since I last posted, and apart from "played Anno 1800, crocheted a little" most days are a blank. At least it's the same save I was working on a week ago so I'm well past any danger of needing to restart from scratch? I'm in a weird mode with it where my income is almost always in the red, but I'm regularly selling excess stuff (some of it pretty valuable) to the NPC traders, and since those are blink-and-you-miss-it spikes of positive income, my actual money on hand has been climbing steadily despite being 'in the red'. I'm now up to almost 30 million in game, and seem to finally be turning the corner to actually earning positive revenue occasionally.

Let's see how much of the last week I can reconstruct:

Aug 20 - Chili and tortilla chips. There may have been a side salad.

Aug 21 - Pretty sure I did potato salad, corn on the cob, and hamburgers. Unless this and yesterday were reversed.

Aug 22 - Divided up a little under 10 lbs of mixed ground beef & pork my brother had bought, into 1 and 1.5 pound amounts in (flattened) freezer bags to freeze. Since there was still leftover tortilla chips, I made a taco salad for supper as a way to also use up the less-than-a-pound of ground meat left.

Aug 23 - Dug out some of the leftover lamb and lamb stock from the freezer and made a barley pottage with it, with carrots and peas mixed in for a veg. Barley and lamb is an awesome combination.

Aug 24 - Pizza for supper.

Aug 25 - Partially cleaned the upstairs bathroom. Did pasta and meat sauce and a Greek style salad for supper.

Aug 25 - Ran and put away three loads of laundry. Baked a loaf of oatmeal bread, except substituting Bob's Red Mill 5-Grain Hot Cereal for the oatmeal; it's also rolled grain, and I wanted to see how it would come out (delicious - had some a bit ago with my evening pills).

Supper was beef curry, barberry rice, and some mixed veggies sauteed in toasted sesame and olive oils.

-

Oh, and some time during the week I hit the 1/3 point with the green acrylic scarf, took a look at how much yarn remained in the ball, and decided it was unlikely to result in a long enough scarf for its excessive width. Frogged it and started over, doing the same pattern but based on sets of three stitches instead of four. It's working out as a much more scarf-suitable width now.