#well i buy frozen vegetables but they last months and i just buy the cheap ones without looking at the brand

[playingonedchess]

i keep getting the same ads constantly its either eat non limp vegetables now, spend £40 on non limp frozen vegetables and get a free monopoly board shop at the co op our food is actually cheap or have you considered putting moisturiser on your skin you should

[three--rings]

Threerings' Dinner Plan

Okay so you've got the average or more than the average amount of stress and limitations to your time and/or ability, but you like to eat good food. And you know you need to both eat healthier and more cheaply (i.e. home cooked food.) What do you do?

Well in the past few months I've kinda perfected a system for low effort cooking of very healthy meals that last for many days of leftovers. None of this is revolutionary or anything or original but IDK it's working really well for me so I'm sharing.

(Also this is for omnivores. Sorry non meat eaters.)

Basically the idea is sheet pan meals. Like I said, not revolutionary. But I've found a system to make it as easy and low-effort as possible.

Step One: Choose your meat and recipe.

So mostly I use chicken for this, because it's cheapest. But if your store is having a great sale on pork or beef, by all means. This last week I did pork tenderloin cause they were super cheap I just searched for a recipe for sheet pan pork tenderloin and adapted it.

But we're gonna assume you're going chicken. So I really only like chicken breasts, but if you like thighs you can use those because it's cheaper. I typically use about 1.75-2lbs of chicken at at time for these recipes.

So what I do is buy the thin sliced chicken breasts from the store. The benefit here is they are already pre-trimmed of all the nasty parts so you're not paying for bits of chicken you don't want and also you don't have to handle and cut the chicken yourself. All I do is open the package and I cut each piece of sliced chicken in half in the middle, horizontally. You don't have to do that, but it makes all the pieces about the same size and it fits better on the tray and then people can take exactly as much meat as they want more easily. (I'm only feeding two adults but it would work well for kids that way.)

Step Two: Veggies

So that's your meat, then you need veggies. I use frozen veggies because they are 1)cheaper and 2)pre-cut. You can pretty much use whatever veggies you like with whatever recipe, but I try to keep it in theme. Like with a Mediterranean dish I did onions and bell peppers and cauliflower. Recently I got a bag of "roasting vegetable blend" that was excellent with brussel sprouts, butternut squash, and onions. Get the higher quality veg like broccoli "florets" cause it's worth a few cents more. You will need/want more veggies than you think, like 20 oz total, you can mix a couple small bags of different ones per tray. And they will shrink a good deal in cooking.

Step Three: Sauce/seasoning.

And then we have seasoning/sauce. This is where I turn to internet recipes for "sheet pan whatever chicken." But I have a few I've used that I've adapted so I'll give them here. Whatever you do, basically you just mix the sauce and pour it over the chicken and/or vegetables and throw it all on a sheet tray and cook it in the oven. (Specifics below.)

Korean Chicken

4  tablespoons dark soy sauce (I've tried both dark works better)

4 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons neutral oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce

4 cloves garlic , minced (or ½ teaspoon garlic powder) (I use pre-minced jar garlic for ease)

1 tablespoon gochugaru red pepper flakes (if you don't have these just either use a smaller amount of regular red pepper flakes or just more sriracha. This shouldn't be really HOT, just tangy. )

Do Broccoli and Chicken with this, and mix it all in the sauce. It makes the absolute best broccoli EVER. Like I just want a plate of this broccoli it's so GOOD.

Greek Chicken

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

6 cloves garlic minced

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup feta cheese crumbled

(Sub pre-juiced lemon juice and jarred garlic for ease.) Marinate the chicken in the mixture for like 30 minutes first if you have time. Onions, bell peppers and zucchini is good for this. Don't add feta until the last 3 minutes of cooking, sprinkle feta over it and then put it back to get a little melty and browned.

Shawarma Chicken

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ground coriander 

1½ teaspoons paprika (may substitute smoked paprika)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon fine salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons neutral or olive oil

Juice of ½ lemon

You can again marinate the chicken for a bit if you want. But you don't have to. I recommend cauliflower for this, with whatever else you like. Grape tomatoes are good too. For this one I sprinkled the veggies with curry powder to make sure they got seasoned because there wasn't that much of the marinade.

So for ALL of these the process is this:

Preheat over to 450

Spread the frozen veggies all over a sheet pan (wrap the pan in aluminum foil first for easy clean up.) You can drizzle them with oil, salt and pepper, or a little of the sauce/marinade and toss to cover. Toss the sheet in the oven while it's still preheating. This will get the veggies started and defrosted before you add the chicken so it will all cook together.

Meanwhile get the chicken ready/wait 10-15 minutes for the oven to heat and the veggies to start cooking. (If you're using smaller/more tender veggies you can cut this time. Skip this entirely if you're using fresh.)

Mix your thin sliced chicken pieces with the marinade/sauce. Remove veggies from the oven and push to the sides to make room for your chicken in the middle. You can also simply lay the chicken pieces over veggies if you don't care about the veggies getting carmelized. Arrange your chicken and dump all the sauce. Return to oven.

Cook for about 20-25 minutes. You can check the temp of the chicken with a thermometer, but it's so thin it should be fine. This is why we start the veggies first so they can get mostly cooked and have time to start browning without overcooking chicken.

Remove from oven.

Serve with rice. I have been going the ultra-lazy route of using frozen microwaveable rice, but some of you may have rice cookers.

Congratulations you have a super healthy meal. If you feel crazy you could make a second tray of veggies at the same time and just have less meat with each meal to stretch your $. You could also add beans to your veggies and same.

My husband and I can get dinners for 4-5 days out of one of these meals. But neither of us eats a lot at a sitting, so ymmv on that.

You can also probably see how to adapt this. Find a sauce/marinade recipe, choose veggies and meat, and go! You will have to figure out the cook time for different kinds of meat though.

[blahandwhatever]

The air is unclean, and the sun has too often been an unblinding orange disk. Still, there is no orange sky or fire. Still, a walk outside after a housebound day fills me with life.

This week, I’m basking in contrasts. The pleasure of a lazy day at home after a busy day out and about. The pleasures of the outdoors and moving and exploring after a lazy day at home.

Today's walk through well-trodden ground was unusually invigorating, shaking me out of my latest too-much-internet slump. Afterward, I went to check out Woodman’s Food Market for the first time, driving through parts of Buffalo Grove I’d never ventured into, so reminiscent of Naperville. My singular aim was obtaining Herr’s Carolina Reaper cheese curls - they disappeared from Jewel just as they’d become an essential in my spicy snack rotation, and I hadn’t been able to find them anywhere in forever. With the help of Instacart, I learned they might be available at this store.

The store was massive and packed with a wealth of stuff. I got a whole ’nother walk out of winding through its many aisles, getting the lay of the land. My brain teemed with a sense of discovery I hadn’t felt in a while. I found my beloved cheese curls. Know what else I found? My favorite chocolate and organic teas I’d been ordering in bulk since they disappeared from other stores. It was like a return to the past - and so were some of the prices. Favorite frozen meals at prices I hadn’t seen since before COVID. SeaPak tempura shrimp for $6.99, regular price - I’m lucky if I can find it on sale for that little elsewhere. Some cheap organic produce too. The only letdown was a bag of apples I thought cost $3.99 but learned at checkout was $3.99/lb, or $8.99 total. That one was more expensive than the equivalent at other stores (although I’m a little suspicious because looking online suggests it’s $3.99 for 3 lbs - and this was a case where I had trouble scanning the barcode and an employee helped me. I’ll check more carefully next time). Also couldn’t find any organic cashew butter - would be nice to find a good replacement for the horribly price-gouged one I’ve been buying at Whole Foods, or the same one for a lower price, but oh well (last new cashew butter I tried was Once Again from Fresh Thyme, which is so awful I can’t believe it’s on the market and voluntarily eaten by people).

All in all, it may be a bit farther from home, but it’s definitely a place worth visiting once or twice a month to stock up on some stuff. With the prices they have, some things aren’t even worth buying elsewhere anymore. The drive is also more pleasant than most of my shopping routes here.

I got back home after 9, another first in a while, and still had an excess of energy for bouncing around to music. I ate my chips, had lots of vegetables, eventually wound down and wrote most of this post, read some Annie Dillard, and made the mistake I’ve so often made lately of taking a nighttime nap that would end up going on for hours. Last night, I resisted doing this and was better off for it. Stupid habits form all too fast - then I have to fight to shake them off.

Now there’s construction going on in the parking lot, probably adding more uncleanness to the air. But I’m safe enough inside with my purifiers, and far enough from the noise to sleep soundly again.

[crimeronan]

what do you usually cook in your household?? as a chronically ill person as well i would love some ideas

we are very very bad at cooking consistently (most often we subsist on tv dinners + hummus and crackers) BUT i will give you my go-to Disabled Meal Tips:

in THEORY we cook pasta and potatoes mostly. we have a chair in the kitchen to sit in while food is cooking. pasta and mac n cheese both take like 20 minutes, usually we'll teamwork with one of us doing the cooking and another draining/saucing/serving. the biggest obstacle to potatoes is peeling them, but when we have the bandwidth we'll all just sit in bed or at the kitchen table together & put on a podcast & peel them as a team. you can make potatoes a thousand ways but the easiest for us are usually baking or mashing

you can also get a can of black beans for 99 cents (where we are at least) and mix it with salsa + melted cheese or shredded chicken for protein. it's a pretty complete filling meal that can be made in the microwave

cereal makes for a good, cheap, long-lasting staple that you can make easily. bowl + milk, done. personally i like the frosted flakes at trader joes but you can get whatever. bonus: even sugary cereal is often fortified with a shitload of Nutrience (TM)

i make tuna sandwiches when i have the bandwidth, just a can of tuna mixed with mayo and spread on bread. a single can usually makes 2 sandwiches. similarly peanut butter or pb&j sandwiches are a great quick source of protein

and then we buy a lot of fruit, whatever's in season, to have more fiber in our diets -- we Should have more vegetables in general, but cooking even frozen ones is a Trial, and prepping fresh veggies is something we can only manage maybe once a month

obviously your go-to meals will vary depending on dietary restrictions etc, but i've found the best meals for me are the ones that require Very Few steps to make. pasta, potatoes, beans, add protein. it's healthier than eating zero-nutrient snack foods all day, cheaper than pre-packaged tv dinners, and simple enough to not be Miserable

[acti-veg]

Cheap Vegan Essentials

With everything going on right now, I thought may be useful to repost an edited version of my list of cheap vegan groceries. Most of this is standard stuff but if you’re used to ready meals and faux meats but you can’t get them with the panic buying, this post may prove helpful to you. A lot of these have a really long shelf life as well, so they will be useful if you end up isolating. You may struggle to find some of these items with people clearing the shelves, but it will hopefully help to know what to keep a look out for. Just please avoid stockpiling. It is sensible to have these items in your cupboard but you should only buy what you need.

Rice: Rice is an extremely cheap and filling staple. A cup of rice contains roughly 45 grams of carbohydrates and 4-5 grams of protein. In an airtight container it lasts at least 6 months.

Beans: Beans are one of the most accessible protein sources and have been a staple around the world for thousands of years. Just one cup of soybeans, for example, contains a massive 28.62 grams of protein, while even standard baked beans contain around 14 grams. They also contain lysine, which is missing from most other plant sources.

Chickpeas: Chickpeas can be purchased very cheaply canned, and in large bags in bulk if you’re willing to prep them yourself. Each cup contains about 15 grams of protein, tonnes of fibre as well as magnesium and folate.

Lentils: Similar to chickpeas, lentils can be bought canned or in large bags. A cup of cooked lentils contains a massive 18 grams of protein, they also lower cholesterol, improve heart health and help stabilise blood sugar.

Oats: Oats are very cheap, can be bought in bulk and have great shelf life. They are high in protein, fibre, and B12; they are even thought to help lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

Cereals: Most cereals, especially supermarket’s own brand products are very cheap. Whole grain cereals like bran or oat based products are high in fiber, calcium and iron, and most are fortified with B vitamins.

Pasta: Pasta is another great product to always have on hand, it is one of the least expensive items in any supermarket, can be bought in bulk and has a very long shelf life. Depending on the type, pasta can be a good source of fibre and carbohydrates; it is a high energy food and is very filling.

Potatoes: Potatoes are one of the cheapest foods available in most supermarkets, at an average of just $0.56 per pound. They are versatile, filling and despite their reputation as unhealthy, they are an excellent source B6 and a good source of potassium, copper, vitamin C, manganese, phosphorus, niacin, dietary fiber, and pantothenic acid.

Sweet potatoes: Sweet potatoes are as versatile as white potatoes, are high in vitamins B6, C, D, iron, magnesium and potassium. They’re also a more balanced source of energy than white potatoes, as their natural sugars release slowly, avoiding blood-sugar spikes.

Noodles: Many varieties of noodles are vegan, they are very cheap and last a long time. Noodles are very filling and contain high levels of B vitamins, vitamin E, magnesium, iron, riboflavin, and calcium.

Nut butters: Depending on the type, nut butters can be purchased very cheaply. It has a surprisingly good shelf life, is an excellent source of heart healthy fats and is very high in protein.

Falafel: Falafel is usually cheap to buy pre-made but it is even cheaper when made at home just using chickpeas and spices. It is filling, can be used to make great vegan burgers and is a good source of protein, fat and soluble fibre.

Hummus: Though buying pre-prepared hummus is usually relatively cheap, it is far more cost effective to make your own in larger quantities, depending on the recipe you usually only need chickpeas, tahini and lemon.

Couscous: Couscous can be great in salad or as its own side dish, it is cheap to buy and is a convenient option since it is so easy to prepare. It is a good source of lean protein, dietary fibre and B vitamins.

Tofu: Tofu has an odd reputation for being expensive, quite probably among people who have never bought it. Tofu has been a Chinese staple for thousands of years, it is now widely available in supermarkets and is far cheaper than comparable animal products, averaging less than $2 per pound. It is filling and is high in both protein and calcium. If you find it expensive in your local supermarket, try a Chinese market or world foods store. It will keep for months if you freeze it.

Tempeh: Tempeh is similar to tofu in price and use, but has a different texture and slightly different nutritional properties. The fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fibre and vitamins compared to tofu, as well as firmer texture and a stronger flavour.

Seitan: Seitan is made with wheat gluten and is extremely high in protein, as well as being one of the cheapest sources of protein per dollar when made at home and is around the same price as low quality beef in stores. It has a steaky texture and is very filling.

Frozen fruit/vegetables: Large bags of mixed frozen vegetables can be bought extremely cheaply almost anywhere. Despite popular opinion to the contrary, frozen vegetables are almost as healthy as fresh produce since they are frozen while fresh and don’t endure the loss of nutrients associated with long travel and extended shelf time. Frozen fruit like mixed berries can be a cheap way to prepare smoothies or dessert.

Canned fruit/vegetables: Having a few cans of fruit or vegetables around is always a good idea, things like canned tomatoes or corn can be a side on their own, canned peaches or orange pieces are an instant dessert and canned tomatoes can be used to make sauces.

Bananas: Bananas are one of the cheapest fruits available and deserve a mention based on their nutritional value and their versatility. They can be used in desserts, as a healthy snack and can be used to make cheap vegan ice cream.

Citrus Fruits: Citrus fruits like lemon, orange and limes are cheap to buy in bunches, especially when in season and can be eaten as a healthy snack or used as a cheap way to add flavour to existing dishes.

Vegetable stock: Vegetable stock is good to have around for a variety of purposes; it will add flavour to any dish from gravies to soups and roast dinners. It is extremely cheap and relatively healthy if you go for a low sodium option. It is even cheaper if you make it yourself from leftovers or trimmings.

Olives: Olives are a healthy source of fat, they are thought to have anti-inflammatory properties and contribute to good health health, as well as being good sources of iron. They can be bought in large jars very cheaply and can be a healthy snack.

Olive Oil: Thought to be the healthiest oil to cook with, it is heart healthy and can be used to add flavour to a variety of dishes like pastas and salad.

Spinach: Spinach is often called a super-food in terms of nutritional content, it is is high in niacin and zinc, as well as protein, fiber, calcium, iron and a multitude of vitamins. You can also buy large bags of pre-prepared spinach very cheaply.

Kale: It has a different flavour and texture to spinach, but has similar uses. It is a great source of dietary fibre and is packed with nutrients, vitamins, folate and magnesium. Even a 500g bag should only set you back around $2.50.

Bread: Many new vegans assume bread is off limits, but many breads are vegan. Even speciality loafs are very cheap considering the amount of meals they can contribute towards, and they can be a good source of carbohydrates and protein. It will keep for 3-6 months if you freeze it.

Plant Milks: Plant milks have an undeserved reputation for being expensive, this is only in comparison to heavily subsidised dairy milks, though even then the price is comparable, in fact, some supermarket’s own brands are even cheaper. Plant milks are packed with calcium and are usually supplemented with vitamins B6 and B12.

Non-Dairy Spreads: Non-dairy spreads can be made form a variety of sources, from soy or olives to coconut oil. They tend to be comparable to dairy butter in terms of calcium, but without the unhealthy fats and cholesterol. They are usually priced similarly or cheaper than their dairy counterparts.

Peppers: Peppers tend to be very cheap to pick up in large bags, particularly bell peppers. They can be stretched over several meals, and can add flavour and texture to curries, stir fries and salads.

Nutritional Yeast: Seen as something of a speciality health food, nutritional yeast is actually very cheap, lasts a long time and is one of the best sources of vitamin B12. It has a nutty, cheesy taste, so you can use it in place of anything you’d usually sprinkle cheese on. It is also great in soups and when used to make “cheesy”, creamy sauces.

Flax seeds: Each tablespoon of ground flax seed contains about 1.8 grams of omega-3s. It is included in this list as they make a great egg substitute in baking, can be sprinkled on cereal, yogurt or oatmeal. It is cheap to buy, and even a small packet lasts a long time.

Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate is not only far healthier than milk chocolate, it is usually cheaper to buy in the same quantities and is far more filling. It is versatile for use in baking and desserts and is a healthy snack in small quantities.

Selected Produce: Fresh vegetables are not always expensive. Seasonal vegetables are usually cheap in most supermarkets, but some vegetables like carrots, turnips, onions, cabbage and cauliflower are inexpensive all year round, and can often be bought on offer or as “irregular” (but still perfectly edible) for even less.

Herbs and Spices: Having a range of spices on hand is always a good idea; things like cumin and garlic can add depth and flavour to simple meals and they last a very long time. Investing in a good spice rack and some curry powder will save you money in the long term.

Stay safe everyone, and please check in on your vulnerable friends, family members and neighbours. I am always around if you need any advice, resources, accessible recipes or just a bit of a chat to help with the stress. Take care of yourselves and each other.

[wherevermyway]

why can’t we drink forever? (1/2) // minsung // 18+

one: i will only complicate you series navigation: [desktop] [mobile]

⚠ POTENTIAL TW: READ WITH CAUTION! ⚠ pairing: lee minho x han jisung rating: explicit! 18+ warnings/tags: creator chose not to use archive warnings, explicit sexual content past character death, alcohol abuse/alcoholism, depression, edgy cynical depressed jisung, ambiguous/open ending. word count: 5,883 also on AO3

originally posted: 20 january 2021

After being arrested for driving under the influence, Jisung learns that money can buy his way out of jail time, but it can’t buy his way out of his feelings.

disclaimer: this is a work of fiction! any reference to persons in this work of fiction are purely coincidental. the characters referenced from Stray Kids are  interpretations loosely based on their personalities in the group and do  not represent the real people behind the personas. if this, or any of  the content included in the warnings above make you uncomfortable,  please stop reading now.

“I don’t know how things got this way, Sungie, baby. I’m worried about you.”

A sarcastic huff leaves the lips of the young man seated in the passenger seat of a sleek, new all-white Audi. He kicks his feet up on the dash, earning a frown from the middle-aged woman driving the vehicle. The young blonde stares out the window as he fumbles around his hoodie pocket. Out comes a white pack of Marlboro Gold cigarettes and an engraved silver lighter.

“You and me both, ma,” he tuts as he pops a white cigarette up from the pack into his mouth, flicking the dial of his lighter as he takes in a deep breath. He jams a finger down on the window button, the crisp winter air blowing the grey cloud around, the acrid scent of burnt tobacco filling the car. “Guess if we knew the answer to that, I wouldn’t be in the car now, huh?”

“Maybe you’d have gotten into a better university,” his mother sighs as she shakes her head.

A devious smirk curls up on the young man’s mouth as he brings the cigarette up to his lips again, taking a long drag. He knows better than to verbally respond with a cynical quip.

Maybe I’d be fuckin’ dead.

Alcoholics Anonymous sounded like a cult following: a twelve-step programme where all of its members had to follow a strict code, be mentored by a sponsor, and thank some bullshit deity to be given a new chance every day. “Every day is a new chance,” the cult leader would say at the beginning of every meeting. “May God grant us the serenity…”

“I’m Jisung, and the courts told me I’m an alcoholic, so I guess I’m an alcoholic,” the artificial blonde shrugged his shoulders, the ghost of burnt coffee still dancing on his tongue as he spoke.

The mindless cult drones spouted off a casual “hi, Jisung,” in monotonous, unenthusiastic unity as the young man sat down.

“How did you get here?” The meeting’s leader was relentless in prodding the young man. “You’re not obligated to tell us, of course,” which was a boldfaced lie, “but acknowledging your problems might help your recovery.”

Jisung brought the styrofoam cup full of lukewarm, acrid coffee to his lips and took a long sip. He winced at the taste and pursed his lips as he made eye contact with the leader. “I was abducted by aliens, man, now I’m here. Shit was crazy.”

The leader frowned, ready to interrupt Jisung.

“Nah,” the young man kicked his feet out from under the metal fold-up chair, flipping his hood over his head with his free hand. “I got drunk, went out to get more booze, then hit a tree on the way back and the cops pulled me over since my headlight was out. The internet wasn’t lying when they said all cops are fuckin’ bastards.” His quip earned a laugh from a few younger members, whereas several of the older people shook their heads in frustration.

“Please,” the leader sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “let’s refrain from political commentary. Thank you for your,” there’s a pause as the leader clears his throat, “for your candor, Jisung. Now that we’ve introduced all of our new attendees, why don’t we move along with the next step in the meeting?”

The meeting was pointless, all of the same shit that Jisung had read about in the fliers that were handed to him with his sentencing. He had to endure twelve months of this, but it wasn’t like he was doing much else with his life, anyways. Jisung poured the last of the disgusting coffee from the cardboard takeaway box into his cup, then tossed the box into the large rubbish bin at the end of the table. One last cup of free shitty coffee before he left; it would pair nicely with the cigarette he so desperately craved.

“Hey!” A bright voice came up behind him and Jisung rolled his eyes at the way optimism dripped from the trill. He slowly turned around, taking a sip of the cold coffee in his cup. A young man with neon pink hair, probably the same age as Jisung, smiled widely as he stuck his hand out. “I’m Felix, nice to see someone here that’s about my age.”

Jisung gingerly accepted the hand and shook it twice before quickly sticking his hand back into his pocket. “Charmed. How long are you stuck here for?”

“Oh!” Felix shook his head, smile still wide on his face as he pensively looked down to his shoes. “I’m not here for… well, I’m a psychology major.”

Of course he was.

Felix tucked his hands into his jacket pockets and tapped his foot twice as he continued to smile at Jisung. “I’m also new here and was hoping I could make friends.”

Jisung shook his head, reaching into his hoodie pocket for his pack of cigarettes and familiar silver lighter. “I’m not a good influence. Don’t think I’d make good friends with someone so… nice.” He meandered a white cigarette out of the packet with a single hand, then tucked it behind his ear, lighter still tucked into his palm. “No offence, dude.”

The smile finally fell from the pink-haired man, who quickly pulled his hands from his pockets, “wait, wait!”

Jisung cocked an eyebrow at the man, biting his tongue as he felt the clawing at the back of his head, his synapses screaming a plea for him to get a hit of more nicotine.

“I don’t wanna sound desperate,” Felix ran his bottom lip under his teeth as he looked around nervously, “I just really wanna talk with someone that’s so different than me. I’ll even buy you dinner or something from the diner down the street.”

As insulting as the words ‘so different than me’ came off to Jisung, desperation was a bad look for anyone. “You got a car?” Felix nodded twice, biting his lip as he stared at Jisung. “Lead the way, psycho student Felix.”

Felix’s eyes went wide and his bright smile came back, beaming brighter than before. “It’s psychology, not psycho.”

The blonde rolled his eyes as he plucked the cigarette from behind his ear and tucked it in between his teeth. “I know what I said.”

The food at the diner was mediocre at best: rubbery scrambled eggs and burgers made from frozen patties that were likely a concoction of rejected organ meat slurry and textured vegetable protein. It was cheap, but it was always good. Rich in comfort, lacking in quality: the antithesis to Jisung’s life.

Jisung hadn’t been here in two years, not since his friend turned on-again, off-again boyfriend Changbin left for university, halfway across the country. This was the place they’d come to at three in the morning after hitting up a house party, where they would drunkenly curl up with each other and swap kisses that tasted like stale beer and watery coffee.

This was the place where Changbin broke up with Jisung for the final time, Changbin citing that they wouldn’t be able to stay in contact much anymore. However, he hadn’t told Jisung that he was sleeping with someone that graduated a couple years prior and was conveniently attending the same university as him.

That night tasted like vodka and strawberry soda, the latter of which Jisung never let grace his tastebuds again.

The blonde scowled down at his orange juice, watching the ring light above their table shimmer and ripple in the liquid. He hadn’t heard from Changbin in two years, and he was as bitter about it as the black, burnt edges of the hashbrowns that stuck to his plate.

“You okay?” Felix poked his fries with a fork, bringing one to his lips as he scanned Jisung’s expression.

“Are any of us okay, psycho student?”

Felix furrowed his brows and set his fork down against his plate, chewing on the crinkled french fry a bit before he swallowed. He folded his hands together and rested his chin against the interlaced fingers. “No, like,” he shrugged, eyes shifting around a bit, “I mean it. You seem kinda distant.”

Jisung rolled his eyes up to meet Felix’s and he cocked his eyebrow. He was starting to regret tagging along with this kid he barely knew, feeling like this was less of a potential friendship and more like a therapy session. “You don’t know me, man.”

“No, but I know people.”

“You’re a sophomore psychology student, dude. You don’t know shit.”

The pink-haired man sighed, back thudding against the plasticky booth. “I guess you’re right about that. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to know, though.”

“Your funeral, then.” Jisung followed suit, leaning up against the booth with a bit more tact, swinging his arm around the wood frame. “I had my first sip of alcohol when I was thirteen. Got bored when my parents fucked off to Italy on some shitty trip without me.”

Felix tilted his head up like a dog, suddenly alive with renewed interest.

“They’re only parents in blood and title.” Jisung looked down at the table, scratching inanely at a chip in the pale green linoleum. “I was raised by nannies and tutors until I was fifteen. Most parents would probably panic when they leave the house, coming back to an empty liquor cabinet. My parents? Nah, they just restocked it and told me not to drink too much at once.”

“That’s,” Felix’s voice trailed off as he looked away, milling over the new information.

“It’s fucked,” Jisung finished the sentence, then brought the plastic cup of orange juice to his mouth and took a long sip. He set the cup back down and pulled up the sleeve covering his left arm, presenting the flesh over the table. Felix visibly recoiled as he eyed dozens of scarred lines littered across the skin, some marks still relatively fresh. “Their response to this? ‘We’ll get you into therapy and you won’t do this again.’ It was always the best money could buy, but their money didn’t do shit to my brain.” He shuffled the cloth over his arm again, ignoring the look of pity Felix offered him.

“If money could buy them a better son, they would’ve traded me out, like upgrading a car on a lease.”

Felix stumbled over his words a bit as Jisung rifled through his pockets, pulling out his phone and his wallet. “You still wanna make friends with someone like me?”

It took a moment, but Felix tentatively nodded his head. “Doesn’t sound like you have many friends to begin with,” he nervously sputtered out.

Jisung cocked his head to the side and licked his teeth as he smiled. “I don’t do friends. But life’s full of surprises. Anyway, gimme your phone so we can swap contact info.”

They exchanged phone numbers and Jisung dropped a couple of bills on the table. “Don’t worry about it,” he said as soon as Felix opened his mouth to protest, “you’re a university student and I’ve got my shitty parents’ cash to burn.”

“I’ll see you next week?” Felix questioned as Jisung stepped out of his shoddy 2003 Toyota Camry.

Jisung nodded once, tipping his index and middle fingers off of his forehead. “You got it. Thanks for the ride, mate.” He slammed the door with a fake smile that faded as soon as he turned around. Sure, Felix was the antithesis of everything Jisung was, but he could prove to be a source of entertainment over the next year.

Despite being cynical and vehemently anti-religion, Jisung always said a quiet prayer to himself as he opened the door, hoping his parents weren’t home when he arrived. Today, it seemed like luck was on his side: his mother’s keys weren’t on the key rack, and his father had yet to return from some bullshit ‘business trip’ off in China. Perhaps it was Morocco or Norway; they all blurred together in a haze of indifference. All Jisung was sure of was the fact that his father had probably taken one of his mistresses away to some foreign country he was pretending to secure a business deal in.

“Everyone’s favourite fuck-up is home!” Jisung shouted in the empty vestibule, his voice echoing against the cold walls. He didn’t expect a response, so when he was greeted with a comfortable silence, he smiled to himself. He kicked his shoes off and unceremoniously tossed them into the corner by the key rack.

His heavy, heel-first footsteps echoed as he made his way towards the kitchen, pulling a bottle of wine out of a glass display cooler as he padded towards the main refrigerator. He pulled out a box of takeaway Indian curry from the night prior, setting both the box and the bottle on the marble kitchen island, shuffling his feet towards a drawer. He retrieved a fork and a wine key, tossing them onto the countertop as he pulled out his phone, pack of cigarettes, and his lighter.

Jisung opened the bottle of wine as he sat down on a stool next to the counter, tossing the cork towards the rubbish bin, shrugging as he missed. That was a problem for later, and he didn’t feel like dealing with it now. Completely ignoring the takeaway carton, Jisung grabbed the wine bottle, then took a long guzzle directly from it. He winced a bit as the flavour of fermented floral grapes perfumed his mouth with a sharp, sickly rotten scent. The bottle clattered loudly against the marble, the echoing reminding Jisung of just how alone he was in such a large house.

“Fuck it,” he muttered, bringing his phone up in front of his face, scrolling through one of his playlists until he found the right song. With a few taps, some Drake came through the kitchen speakers. Jisung turned up the volume to near max, his head subconsciously moving to the beat of “In My Feelings”. He took a cigarette from the pack on the table and lit it, the tip turning from paper and plant to a red, ashy ember as he inhaled.

Was he allowed to smoke in the house? Of course not.

Did Jisung give a shit? Absolutely not.

A text message popped up as Jisung aimlessly scrolled through his various notifications. He opened it, barely scanning through the entire message from his mother until his eyes stopped on a blue phone number. His eyes narrowed, poring over the entire message. “A coworker of mine offered to be a sponsor for you: Lee Minho. He’s a few years older than you, but he’s nice. Here’s his number, please reach out to him.”

Jisung sarcastically scoffed, locking his phone as he placed it back on the countertop, swapping it for the bottle of wine. He took a drag off of his cigarette, then took another long swig from the bottle. “We admit we’re powerless to alcohol,” he mutters the first step under his breath as he slams the bottle down on the counter.

“Maybe I don’t fucking care.”

Jisung woke up on the couch to the sound of heels clacking against the hardwood floor just before eight in the morning, his fingers jostling an empty bottle of scotch on the floor as he brought his hands to his face.

“Get cleaned up, please.” His mother’s voice was accompanied by bright spotlights suddenly shining directly on his face. “I’ve invited Minho over to meet with you.”

“I didn’t ask you to.” Jisung’s voice was low and gravelly, groaning as he sat upright. The world spun, his body carried by the false inertia his mind had created.

His mother trotted off to the kitchen, shouting over her shoulder. “I know you didn’t. I did it because I care about you, Sungie.”

The blonde rubbed his clammy hands against his face again, attempting to wipe the sleepiness from his eyes. He grabbed his phone off of the floor, then wobbled his way upright, the living room spinning around him in a familiar sense of uneasiness.

“You don’t give a shit about anyone but yourself,” he muttered under his breath.

Somehow, Jisung managed to make his way upstairs to his room, stripping an article of clothing off with each lazy step from his bedroom door towards his personal washroom. By the time he got to the glass enclosure of the shower, he was totally stripped bare. Jisung distantly stared at his reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror, a gaunt and ashy doppelganger staring back at him with a pained, empty look on his face.

Instead of stepping into the shower, Jisung approached the mirror, subconsciously bringing his hands to touch his flushed face. His cheekbones were more prominent now than they were earlier in the year, dark circles painted in broad strokes under his eyes. His gaze trailed down the scars he had inflicted on his arms and on his thighs, reminders of the failed attempts to take his own life that he was now forced to carry with him, wearing each line and mark as a badge of shame.

A warm tear rolled down his face as it contorted into an expression of terror and hurt, before he took his fist and crashed it into the mirror in front of him, a spiderweb of the impact left behind in the cracked glass as he pulled his bloodied knuckles away. Some glass shattered to the floor, some still wedged in the gaps between his fingers, and Jisung stared at the crack that split his reflection into several fragments.

How he was still alive was beyond him.

“Mrs. Han, please,” a lilted, unfamiliar laugh travelled up the staircase as Jisung slowly made his way down towards the first floor. He squinted at the noise that caused his head to throb, realizing that someone unknown speaking to his mother, likely the Minho she had mentioned earlier. With each step he took towards the drawing room, the voice got louder, each staccatoed laugh more pronounced.

“Jisung, come sit,” his mother said, replacing the genuine smile on her face with a fake, ‘Vaseline-on-the-teeth’ smile. She motioned towards the empty space on the couch, opposite from the young brunette that turned around.

Jisung met his eyes and it suddenly felt like his surroundings cracked and shattered around him, like the mirror upstairs. Rich brown eyes glistened behind the black and gold browline glasses that rested against the bridge of his nose. Rose-tinted lips curled upwards in a shy smile, revealing large, rabbit-like front teeth that rested softly against his bottom lip.

“Hi,” the stranger said with a gentle wave, “I’m Minho. Resident biochemist at the pharmaceutical company your mother works for.”

As Jisung made his way over to the open spot on the couch, he squinted, refusing to break eye contact with the strange invader. It felt like he was a wild animal on display, about to be poked and prodded by zookeeper staff or by scientists in some sort of underground, off-the-books laboratory. It would fit, after all, since the man was some sort of scientist.

“I’ll let you be,” Jisung’s mother says, rising to her feet. “Maybe you should tell Minho about your little misstep last night, hmm?”

Jisung rolled his tongue over his bottom lip and shook his head sarcastically. “Go enjoy your overfilled glass of wine at nine-fucking-thirty, ma. I’ll be here spilling my guts to a stranger that gives more of a shit about me than you.” Minho winced and his expression fell from cheerful to shocked.

The men stared at each other, Jisung’s gaze layered with arrogance, and Minho’s heavy with awkward discomfort. “So,” the younger man kicked his feet up onto the coffee table, pulling a pack of cigarettes and his trusted lighter from his sweatshirt pocket, hoping to wrap up the conversation as soon as possible. “I know you work with my mother, you’re an alcoholic, and your name’s Minho.” As quickly as Jisung could take in a breath, the cigarette between his teeth was lit, and he was glaring at the intruder through the grey haze that came between them. Their eyes met again, Jisung growing more and more wary by the second. “Why should I pick you as my sponsor, when I feel like you’re just gonna snitch to my mother?”

Minho’s jaw looked like it was clenched too tight, his bottom eyelids squinted upwards as he studied the younger man in front of him. They watched each other, eyeing each micromovement the other’s face made. About halfway through Jisung’s cigarette, Minho finally broke the uncomfortable eye contact, and took a deep breath. “I’m not asking for you to trust me, or to spill your life story,” he shifted, sitting upright, “but for you to see me as a mentor when things get hard and you want to dampen your feelings with alcohol. I’ve been there, Jisung.”

Indignation washed over the younger man’s face, quickly replaced by a familiar wave of arrogance. Jisung shook his head, ashing his cigarette directly onto the floor. “Doubt it,” he tutted, licking his teeth as he nodded his head, staring at the ring on Minho’s finger. He smirked to himself, then turned his head away and up towards the ceiling. “Looks like you’ve got someone that loves you. I don’t know what that feels like; never have, never will.”

The elder chewed on his bottom lip, clenching his fist as his eyes subconsciously scanned the ring on his finger. “Had.”

“What?” Jisung turned his head back towards Minho with a look of disgust on his face, ashes falling from his cigarette.

The brunette sighed, leaning further into the couch, nervously running his thumb over his balled up fingers. “He’s the reason I turned to drinking, to fill the void he left in my heart when he died.”

Shit.

For the first time in ages, Jisung felt a slight pang of regret twinge in his abdomen.

Minho swallowed hard, almost as if he were holding back his emotions. “We were married for five years, together since high school. You’d think I would’ve known the signs, but Chan was so good at hiding things, hiding his pain from everyone.”

The ember in Jisung’s cigarette died out as he found himself enraptured in Minho’s story.

Chan was Minho’s high school sweetheart. They started dating their sophomore year of high school, both attended the same university, and they got married when they were twenty. To Minho, Chan was everything. They supported each other, making the other man stronger and gave them a reason to go on.

Minho had no idea that Chan was severely depressed, holding his true feelings to his heart. Not long after Minho’s twenty-fifth birthday, Chan disappeared, only leaving a journal behind. It had started off with an apology, that if Minho found his journal, that it was too late to save him and that Chan had simply given up. On nearly every page, Chan reiterated that it wasn’t Minho’s fault, that Chan was just too far gone beyond repair, that Minho had given him a new lease on life, but it wasn’t enough.

Exactly three weeks after Chan had gone missing, police were on the doorstep of their shared home.

“Dental records,” Minho whispered, his eyes distant and glazed over as he lost himself in the memory. “That’s how they knew it was Chan. I don’t remember much after that, but I thought that I could find the answer to why Chan took his own life at the bottom of a bottle.”

Jisung’s grip on the arm of the couch was so tight, his knuckles had turned white and they were starting to ache.

“Several bottles,” Minho continued, “several bottles and several near-death experiences waking up in the hospital later, and I still hadn’t figured out the answer. I figured that maybe I’d see him again if I drank enough. Now,” he folded his arms, tucking his chin into his chest, “I’ve accepted that I’ll never know the answer to that question, that I need to live on for him. If there’s an afterlife, maybe I’ll get to ask him myself. Until then, though,” Minho rolled his teary eyes up to meet Jisung’s uncomfortable gaze, “I just want to atone for not doing enough before. I want to help others that are hurting, you know?”

They continued to stare at each other for what felt like hours, until Jisung finally shook his head. His voice cracked as he tried to speak. “Sorry,” his apology was shockingly sincere, “I guess I spoke before I thought.”

Minho awkwardly smirked, dismissively waving his hand in between them. “Don’t worry about it. I just wanted you to know that I’ve been at rock bottom and that there’s a way up and out, as long as you’re willing to put in the effort.”

Maybe Jisung was willing to give Minho a try.

At first, Jisung agreed to meet with Minho once a week after the mandatory AA meeting he attended. It took seven visits spanning seven weeks before Jisung eventually opened up about the neglect he faced from both of his parents, the emptiness he felt from being raised by nannies, feeling like money was more important than his own life.

Ten weeks in, they started hanging out on the weekends. Their relationship shifted from mentorship to friendship, and it was somewhat a relief that Jisung finally had someone he could trust enough to call his friend.

Week fourteen was when things started to shift further. Jisung hadn’t consumed alcohol in eight weeks, and things were clearing up, slowly but surely. He had been meeting with Felix more and more, too — maybe they weren’t quite friends yet, but Jisung was at least trying.

Things were looking up for the first time in Jisung’s life.

At week sixteen, Jisung stayed over at Minho’s apartment, convincing him that he needed to watch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The blonde had vehemently pressed that it was, quite possibly, one of the best series of all time, animated or otherwise. After some gentle pressure, Minho finally caved, and they sat on his couch, diving into the show and into some mediocre takeaways.

They had gotten through the first three episodes and Minho finally relented that, yes, it was a good show and that, yes, Jisung was right.

“I knew you’d like it, dude,” Jisung snickered, playfully poking at Minho’s chest. The corner of his lips tugged upward into a crooked smile, and he wore Minho’s seal of approval as some sort of badge of honour.

The brunette turned away, softly smiling into his shoulder as a rush of crimson started to tint his face. “You’ve got me trying all sorts of new things, Ji,” Minho rubbed the back of his neck for a moment before he flashed his teeth at the younger man. “So much for me being the mentor here, huh?”

Jisung sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth at the nickname, trying to ignore the warmth blossoming up his face. He tried to stumble out some sort of response, but he caught himself getting lost in the way that the overhead lights shimmered in Minho’s eyes, highlighting the soft amber and warm bursts of hazelnut that erupted around his pupils. His expression started to falter, and he felt a familiar rush of excitement bloom in his chest, causing his nerves to come to life all around his body.

He remembered that this was how it felt right before he shared his first drunken kiss with Changbin, but something about this felt different. Perhaps it was the fact that Jisung was completely sober, but he desperately wanted Minho to kiss him, to want him back. However, Jisung wasn’t sure if it would have been a good idea, pondering over if Minho was really ready to start a new relationship, especially with someone he was supposed to be mentoring.

“Something on your mind?” Minho’s voice was soft as it gently guided Jisung back to the moment. “You’re kinda spacing out on me.”

“No, no,” Jisung stumbled around the words he wasn’t sure he could say, suddenly distracted by the television in the background. “I guess I was just thinking about the show.”

Minho’s head tilted to the side, concurrently lifting his brow in confusion. “You guess?”

Jisung waved his hand in between them and readjusted his posture so he was further away from Minho. “Yeah, I mean, I’ve seen it so many times, but it’s one of those shows that you watch and you see something new each time and—”

Warm fingers were suddenly on the side of Jisung’s face, pulling him back into Minho’s space. “You’re a terrible liar.” The voice was soft, yet assertive; low, but so loud. Jisung’s eyes went wide as Minho’s apartment blurred around him, his vision suddenly taken over by the sight of the brunette’s face right up next to his. In front of him.

Before Jisung could process what was happening, he was subconsciously pressing his lips into Minho’s, trying to remember exactly how kissing worked. It was years since the last time he had any practice, but it all came back to him as Minho helped guide Jisung’s face with his hands.

Minho’s tongue was soft, warm, and damp as it gently pressed up against Jisung’s lips, wordlessly pleading for entrance. Without letting his mind mill over the fine details and concerns he possibly had, Jisung parted his lips. Timidly, he rolled his tongue around Minho’s, his hands quivering as his fingers scrambled for purchase in Minho’s hair.

Unlike anyone Jisung had kissed before, this felt right, even if there were some uncomfortable grinding of teeth and awkward nose bumping. Within a reasonable amount of time, they slowly became experts at training the way the other wanted to be kissed. As if Minho could read Jisung’s mind, he would interrupt his soft kisses with gentle nips and grazes at Jisung’s bottom lip.

“Please,” Jisung’s voice cracked as Minho pulled his teeth down his bottom lip, “my neck, I…”

Minho swiftly moved his lips from Jisung’s, peppering tiny pecks against his jawline to his ear, stopping to take the blonde’s earlobe into his mouth with his tongue, grazing the tender flesh between his teeth. Jisung’s back involuntarily arched as the grooves of Minho’s teeth pulled at his sensitive skin, the sensation causing his nerves to come to life with an electrical jolt from head to toe.

The brunette chuckled, his warm breath brushing up against the tiny hairs on Jisung’s ear. He said nothing, simply moving down to press a few soft kisses to the skin just below the younger man’s earlobe. Minho’s lips were soft, gentle, only to be quickly replaced by a sudden, harsh bite into the tender flesh.

A yelp, accompanied by uncontrollable twitching, came from Jisung, who was simultaneously melting into Minho, but also pulling away. The elder’s fingers dug into the blonde’s waist, keeping him in the same position, not allowing him to escape. Jisung’s yelp had faded into a whimper, which evolved into a moan as Minho sucked the flesh between his teeth, quickly repeating the process several times in various spots along Jisung’s neck.

The moans were increasing in volume and breathiness, Jisung subconsciously, frantically rutting his pelvis into the couch. Minho must have caught on to this, letting go of Jisung’s waist to ease him down onto the couch. He pressed his lips to Jisung’s again, dancing his fingertips down to the waistband of the younger man, who was completely blissed out.

“Can I help you with this?” Minho’s voice was somehow both soft yet assertive as his palm pressed against Jisung's clothed erection.

Words eluded Jisung, verbal language suddenly turning into complex algebraic equations that didn’t translate from his head to his tongue. Instead, he groaned in affirmation as he hopelessly rolled his hips upward, finding himself pitiful that he was so desperately craving for Minho to just keep fucking touching him.

Things started to blur in a haze of wanton desire. Minho’s hand gently stroked Jisung’s cock, paying special attention to the way that his fingers and palm brushed against the head. Involuntary twitches took over Jisung as he whimpered and mewled, his shoulder blades grinding into the couch. Minho continued to nibble and bite at Jisung’s neck, occasionally whispering words of assurance and praise into his ear.

“You’re doing so well,” as he slowly dragged his hand from the base of Jisung’s cock up to his head.

“I can’t imagine how incredible you would feel around me,” as he gently thumbed the slit, rubbing precum around the sensitive head and causing Jisung to bite the back of his hand as he failed to stifle a cracked moan.

Jisung’s breaths turned erratic and he was nearly convulsing as his body started to twitch. Minho shifted his weight to his knees, slowing his strokes just enough so that he could awkwardly shift one leg off of the couch to position his head in a way he could take Jisung into his mouth.

“What are you—” Jisung started to question, until he found himself losing control of his body as Minho rolled his tongue around his cock. “Fuck, Minho!” He clamped his eyes shut, arching his back upward, hitting the back of Minho’s throat as he convulsed, his orgasm suddenly completely taking over him. “Minho,” he whined and unclenched his fists; “Minho,” he panted and opened his eyes; “Minho.” With one last breath, he was back to reality.

This had to have been the closest thing to heaven that Jisung thought he would ever experience.

Jisung had stayed over at Minho’s that night, too tired to function like a normal human. They slept on the couch together, necks crooned in uncomfortable positions all night long, bodies stiff from the unnatural firmness that Minho’s couch held. The next morning, they chose not to discuss the night prior, but they did exchange some soft kisses, until Jisung protested, mentioning that their morning breath was distracting him from actually enjoying the kiss.

Their weekends continued on like this: spending time watching a couple of episodes of their chosen programme until they got distracted and lost within each other. Nothing progressed further than handjobs, the occasional blowjob, and the one time that they rolled around naked, making out for so long and so intensely that the way they pressed their bodies together caused Jisung to come without any additional stimulation — and, hey, they liked it.

The budding relationship between them was confusing. During the week, Minho acted like the appropriate, wise mentor, with Jisung as his eager pupil. When the weekend came around, however, all bets were off. In everything but title, they were boyfriends for all intents and purposes. Every time Jisung tried to bring it up, Minho would shut down, saying that he wasn’t ready to really think seriously about it yet.

So, Jisung didn’t press. He was sure that their intimate interactions were causing conflicting emotions to arise within Minho, emotions he probably had been ignoring since Chan’s death, trying to shove them down as time went on. Even though he wanted to navigate the full spectrum of sexual experiences with Minho, Jisung remained silent until Minho was ready.

[bisexualgarrus]

Hey you don't have to answer this if you don't want to but could you tell us what you usually eat in a week with a vegan diet? I've been trying to consume less animals products but it's so hard T-T

hii! yes, i can do that! i know starting off with veganism seems like a lot. i also had no clue of what to eat at first. but nowdays it’s no different than my life before. i’m very happy with my diet, and it’s not more expensive or more difficult to mantain than my old one! so yeah hope this helps: 

i don’t know how to translate some foods so pls google them for me lol

when i’m in a rush: 

fideos with pesto or tomato sauce (i usually prepare a lot of tomato sauce at once and then freeze it to use it for 3 weeks more or less)

falafel (buy it frozen on the superkarmet, takes you less than 10 minutes  to fry it) with hummus (sometimes homemade, sometimes bought)

vegan burgers (buy them frozen on the supermarket), usually with potatoes (i cook them on the microwave since it’s the easiest way)

vegetable mix (buy it frozen in bulk! i use vegetables a lot so cleaning + washing vegetables becomes too time consuming for me. frozen veggies can be a ilttle more expensive but if you buy them in bulk it becomes worth it) i usually eat this with rapiditas

lentils with olive oil (yeah just that, it’s yummy for me)

soup with rice (preparing soup takes a while but i usually prepare a big caserole and freeze it, so then it takes me less than ten minutes to prepare it)

sandwiches. usually hummus and tomato or hummus and olives

when i have more time: 

rice with vegetables

stews! i usually make them potatoe or lentil based but also tofu or fideos depending on my mood 

pizza (i buy a vegan mozzarella that’s cheaper than some brands of regular muzzarella lol. you can also make a homemade potatoe cheese which is really cheap, you should check for recipes online)

for breakfast / snacks

tea / coffee / mate / juice / smoothies

bread with jam / olive paste / hummus

fruits! of course

cookies or cereal bars (buy them at the supermarket. you should check cheap vegan products available where you live. but you’ll find out many products at the supermarket are actually “accidentaly” vegan lol. like oreos) 

puffed corn or rice. back home i also used to make popcorn pretty often

when i have spare money i usually treat myself with nachos or chips hehe

well that’s about it i think. i usually order food once or twice a week as well. as you can see i don’t buy any crazy rich vegan products. the only “luxurious” vegan product i consume is coconut milk which yeah, it is really expensive but it’s the only vegan milk i enjoy the flavor of. but at the end of the day it all depends on the amount of money you want to spend. if you want and can afford to buy vegan yogurts and vegan ham and vegan whatever it can change your diet a lot as well, i just don’t buy that type of thing because they’re usually expensive as hell. 

also i add nutritional yeast to most plates!! it’s expensive but for the use i give it the jar lasts more than 8 months for me so it’s worth it. i like the flavor nutritional yeats adds and it’s, well, very nutritous lol

and remember! if you aren’t eating meat and dairy you need to supply b12. no food will give you that. here in argentina b12 can be bought at any pharmacy freely and it doesn’t have any dangerous side effects. but if you’re in doubt you should contact a health professional. 

[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.

[alindakb]

An Empty House - by Alinda

Harry looks at the bread in front of him. It’s the same bread he’d left in the breadbox over a week ago. By now it’s hard and uneatable. But it’s the only food in the house so Harry pushes it into the toaster. He stares at the machine, his hand trembles next to it. His nails are bitten. He couldn’t stop himself last night. If Draco could see them he would tell Harry that it’s a disgusting habit.

The toaster pings and Harry looks back at his stale bread. Now toasted and warm. He almost burns his fingers while he drops them on his plate. He picks up his knife and looks at the butter. The fancy stuff, not the cheap butter Harry prefers. A small reminder that he’s not supposed to be here alone.

Harry leaves the butter and picks up a slice of bread. He takes a bite and forces his jaws to move. Even toasted the bread is still uneatable. He drops the slice and walks out of the kitchen. A picture of him and Draco still stands on the cupboard in the hallway. Harry looks at it. They smile and look so happy. Harry remembers when it was taken. They had just moved in together. All was right then with the world.

Harry grabs the frame and puts it down. His heart aches just to look at it. A small tear falls from his eye and he wipes it away in haste. He won’t cry. Draco isn’t worth it.

In slow motion, he walks up the stairs. He turns into the bedroom and looks at the bed. The sheets are made of silk. Normal cotton wouldn’t do for Draco. Harry pulls them off the bed and throws them in the corner. He’ll get some simple cotton bedding this afternoon. Once that don’t remind him of the emptiness of the house. The emptiness in his heart.

He should put on some decent clothes so he can go out and do some shopping. He can’t live on stale bread and fancy butter alone. And a good cup of tea would do Harry good. The normal store brand. The once he would buy before Draco.

Harry walks into the walk-in closet. It wasn’t originally in the house. No, after hearing Draco complain for over six months that he had no decent place to put his clothes, Harry had it build. Now it’s silly. Three-quarters of it is empty. All the fancy suits are gone, all the Gucci shoes taken without saying a word. Harry looks at his shirts and fancy clothes Draco bought for him over the years. His fingers slide over the expensive fabrics. Harry never like them as much as he liked his sweaters and jeans. But Draco had loved it when Harry would dress up if they would go out. So Harry had never complained.

Without thinking about it Harry pulls all the clothes Draco bought for him from the racks and pushes them all in an old duffel bag. Then he opens a drawer and pulls out his favourite jeans. It’s filled with holes and completely worn out, but it fits him better than anything else he owns. Next, he gets a sweater and pulls it over his face. An old gift from Ron, once bright orange. Harry should call Ron and see if he wants to grab a beer soon. It’s been too long since they had a night with just the two of them.

When Harry walks out of the closet he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His hair is a mess, standing up in all directions. His eyes are puffy and his glasses are crooked on his face. Harry smiles at himself and shakes his head. Maybe it’s for the best that Draco isn’t here anymore to yell at him for being a disaster. For the first time in years, Harry doesn’t have to pretend to care about how he leaves his house.

Harry treads down the stairs and picks his wallet and keys from the little bowl next to the front door. Draco left his key at the bottom of the bowl. Just the key. He took the fluffy key chain that used to decorate it. A gift from Harry when they just started dating. Harry doesn’t know what he should think of that. He left all the pictures, the furniture they bought together. He only took his clothes, his expensive food and the stupid key chain. Won at a fair. When they still remembered how to have fun together.

He should get a new name tag. The one next to the door still says Harry Potter & Draco Malfoy. It will be just Harry Potter from now on. That was clear when Harry had come home last night from his week-long training in Scotland. When he’d found the house empty, all Draco’s possessions gone. He didn’t even leave a note. Just disappeared from Harry’s life like the last couple of years didn’t matter at all.

The store is just a couple of blocks away and Harry takes his time to reach it. He doesn’t know what to buy. He needs food, but the thought of eating makes him feel sick. He remembers loving fruit, eating bowls filled with them. Two forks fighting for the last strawberry. Laughter in the kitchen when they would fight over the last peach in the fruit bowl.

Harry passes the fresh fruits and vegetables and makes it’s way to the freezers. Frozen pizza will do. One person meals out of the freezer. No slaving in the kitchen while Draco reads the most interesting articles from the newspaper out loud. No fancy dinner parties or three-course meals. Just some microwave crap and a stupid TV show. Those will be Harry’s evenings from now on.

He just needs to get some Coco Pops and milk. The one thing Draco didn’t change about him. His silly breakfast. Draco would fry eggs and toast bread with fancy butter. But all Harry ever needed in the morning was a bowl with Coco Pops and milk. Harry turns into the cereal aisle and stops.

Draco stands in front of the Coco Pops. He reaches for a pack and places it in his cart. He’s in joggers and a simple t-shirt. His hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail. And when he looks away from his cart and spots Harry he freezes.

“I thought you hated those?” Harry says. “Aren’t they sugar monsters that will kill me before I even turn forty?”

Well, it is better than the things Harry has fantasied about all night. All the horrible things he wants to yell at Draco. Draco should be proud of him for not making a scene.

“They are your favourite,” Draco stutters. Draco never stutters. He’s always sure of himself, composed and calculated.

“I would think you didn’t care about my favourites anymore. Since you packed up all your stuff and left without saying a word.”

Draco looks away, but Harry doesn’t miss the tears that fall from Draco’s eyes.

“It was the only way I would be brave enough to do what was needed. You’re better off without me,” Draco says. Then he grabs his cart and starts to walk away. Harry looks after him. The anger boiling to the surface.

“Fuck you, Draco. I will never be better off without you,” he spits out.

Draco stops for a second, and then walks on, out of Harry’s life forever.

[the-english-student-studyblr]

The Student Store Cupboard (and what to do with it)

There are a few things that I always make sure I have in my cupboards/fridge/freezer when I’m at uni. With a few simple recipes, you can have a very varied and balanced diet without breaking the bank, so here are my tips.

Cupboard:

- Bread rolls and other bread-like things for breakfast (like bagels or toasting muffins) - depending on where you go, a pack of 6 rolls can be as cheap as 30p and they can be used for sandwiches or to dip in soup or, if they go stale, you can blitz them up to make breadcrumbs.

- Pasta - the student staple. I got a 3kg bag from tesco for under £2 at the beginning of term and I still haven’t finished it yet. There are loads of things you can do with pasta that are super cool, quick and easy to make.

- Spaghetti - different from pasta because I use it for different things. I’m an absolute heathen and use spaghetti instead of noodles for stir-fry because it’s cheaper. A really cheap 500g pack of spaghetti can cost as little as 20p and you can use it for everything you would use pasta for and more.

- Onions - I use onions for everything. Pasta, chilli, curry, anything that needs a little something extra to bulk it up, stick an onion in there. They keep forever.

- Lentils - similar to onions in that they keep for ages. I mainly use lentils for soups and for bolognese/chilli. If I have potatoes around, I might use them for a shepherd's pie. Basically, anything you’d use minced meat for you can substitute for lentils and it’s amazing. If you want a really easy, slightly more exotic but still filling meal, look up mujadara. It’s a middle-eastern dish that’s basically just onions, lentils and rice. It’s awesome.

- Rice - a bag of rice is cheap and will last ages. The measurements are really easy: just use double the amount of rice in water (1 cup rice = 2 cups water) and leave it to cook over a low-ish heat. Useful for lots of things too.

- Tins of beans, chickpeas etc. - another good source of plant protein that’s ridiculously cheap but also versatile. Beans are great for chilli and burritos/tacos/whatever else you’d use beans for and chickpeas make a great curry. I’ve also discovered that you can make a great filling meal from chickpeas, vegetables and pearled barley. Tinned food literally lasts forever. 

- Tuna - Tuna. Pasta. Bake. Enough said. Also good for sandwiches.

- Pesto sauce - A jar can last up to a month in the fridge. Sometimes if I get bored, I put it on my sandwiches. Great with fish too.

Fridge:

- Peppers - Use in all cooked meals. Also for snacks. Vegetables are good for you and have loads of vitamins so make sure you stock up.

- Carrots - Same reason as peppers. They seem to last ages in our fridge if I don’t eat them within a week which is good. Also, carrots and houmous? Delicious. The ‘carrots help you see in the dark’ thing might be false but they are good for your eyes.

- Tomatoes - All the pasta dishes need tomatoes (unless it’s mac and cheese)

- Stir fry sauce - I’m lazy and don’t want to spend money buying the ingredients to make my own so I just buy whatever’s cheapest. Ignore the use-by dates. I had a jar of black bean sauce in my fridge for months and it was still perfectly safe. I probably make stir-fry about once a week so getting a bottle or jar works out very cheap in the long run.

- Cream cheese - I normally have the garlic and herb kind. It makes a great pasta sauce when you mix it in with a little butter and maybe some milk if you have it.

- Butter - It’s essential. You can’t live without butter (or spreadable margarine anyway)

Freezer:

- Frozen vegetables - I usually have at least peas, sometimes sweetcorn etc. as well. It’s great because you can just add it to your boiling pasta and it’s done by the time you need it.

- Chicken/chicken-style pieces - I actually normally get the quorn pieces because they work out cheaper but I know people who hate it so if that’s you then get some chicken. If you’re going for the meat route, don’t buy it already chopped into pieces and look at the price per kg to get the best deal. Check out the freezer section and the reduced rack.

- Fish - I try to get salmon but Aldi has cod for cheaper so last time I got that instead. Fish is really good for you! It has loads of protein, little fat and loads of good fatty acids and omega 3. It’s also pretty versatile and lasts ages. If you buy it frozen you can normally get a month’s worth for around £3.

- Bulk made meals - I always cook huge batches of food at the beginning of term and freeze it for later. At the moment, I have 4 containers of soup, 1 of bolognese/chilli and 1 of chickpea curry. I ran out of tupperware containers and had to buy more after making the soup. Cannot recommend enough.

Recipes:

Recipe for vegetable soup here

Previous recipes post here 

One-pot Tomato Pasta:

Ingredients:

- Tomatoes

- Onion

- Pasta

- Herbs and spices (basil, oregano etc.)

- Other vegetables and proteins (optional)

Method:

1. Finely chop your onions and brown them in the pot that you’ll cook your pasta in (add some garlic if you have some fresh)

2. Chop your tomatoes and add them to the pot along with any other vegetables or proteins you might be using.

3. Add the pasta and a little water (just enough that the combined mix covers the water but not enough that you could cook pasta in it on it’s own.)

4. Stir and add herbs and spices.

5. Cook over a medium heat until the pasta is soft and the tomatoes have broken down to make a sauce.

 Stir-fry

Ingredients:

- Noodles or spaghetti or rice (whichever you’d rather use)

- Assorted vegetables (peppers, carrots etc.)

- Meat or meat substitute

- Stir-fry sauce of your choosing

Method:

1. Boil the noodles.

2. While the noodles are cooking, fry the vegetables and meat/substitute until cooked through.

3. Add sauce to the pan with the veggies etc. (+ a little water if necessary - for sauces like hoisin it is necessary) and lower the heat.

4. Add the noodles to the pan if there’s enough room, if not just mix it all together on the plate.

Chickpea Curry:

Ingredients:

- Chickpeas

- Tomatoes (either tinned or fresh. If fresh I’d recommend sing tomato paste as well)

- Spices (curry powder, paprika, cumin, turmeric etc. Basically, all the spices in your spice rack/cupboard)

- Onion

- Rice

- other veggies (I recommend spinach or peppers)

Method:

1. Set the rice up to cook (for 1 cup of cooked rice, use half a cup of dried rice and 1 cup of water) over a low heat

2. Brown the chopped onions in another pot.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and other vegetables.

4. Crush some of the chickpeas against the side of the pot with the back of teh spoon or a fork.

5. Add spices

6. Cook until thickened slightly and the rice is cooked

Mujadara:

Ingredients:

- Lentils (brown NOT RED, RED LENTILS JUST BREAK DOWN TO MUSH DON’T MAKE MY MISTAKE)

- 4x the amount of water as lentils (1 cup lentils : 4 cups water)

- Onion

- Rice

Method:

1. Place the lentils in a small saucepan with half of the water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat and simmer, cover until the lentils are par-boiled (10-12 minutes). Remove from the heat, drain the lentils and set them aside.

2.  Cook the onions until they are dark golden brown, darker than typical caramelized onions (about 40 minutes), sprinkle the onions with a teaspoon of salt as they cook.

3. Carefully pour the remaining water in, bring the water to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir the rice and par-cooked lentils into the onion mixture. Cover and bring back to a boil. Stir in a healthy pinch of salt and the black pepper. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice and lentils are both cooked through (about 20 minutes). Serve the Mujadara hot or at room temperature.

[deadmomjokes]

Adulting 101: Grocery Shopping, Smarter

I have roomed with way too many freshmen who lived on fries and takeout because they, per their own admission, had no clue how to buy groceries. And I know a bunch of people are probably in the same boat. So I’m going to take you through the issues I often had to help my tiny baby roomies with, and drop some extra tips on you that I’ve figured out while living away from home. Feel free to add your own!

PRODUCE BUYING (yes, you need to eat a plant every now and then)

Canned and frozen veggies are just as nutritious as fresh, sometimes moreso. Nutrient content degrades as the vegetable sits after picking, and if you live somewhere that your produce has long shipping times, it’s actually less nutritious than canned or frozen. In canned vegetables, look for the “low sodium” marker. Canned and frozen also last a million times longer than fresh, and are WAY cheaper. Buy the frozen broccoli and thank yourself later when you have Netflix money left over.

Pro tip: when using canned veggies, rinse them a few times. They now taste fresh, ready to cook or ready to eat straight. You’re welcome.

When shopping for canned fruit, pick ones that are packed in 100% juice, not syrup. That syrup not only makes things way less healthy, it makes it pretty slimy too. Plus the juice is nice in smoothies, if you choose to save it.

If you buy fresh, do so in quantities that look too small. Get what you think you need, then put a little back. You always need less than you think. If you DO buy large quantities and they start to look funny, cut them up and freeze them.

When buying fresh, get some that are ripe now, and some that need a few days. This way you have some that will last a bit longer rather than trying to scramble to eat 3 avocados within 24 hours.

Buy onions in bulk, chop them up all at once, and freeze them. Only cry once, my friends. They cook much faster when they were previously frozen, and they last ages. Plus a sack of chopped frozen onions makes a good makeshift ice pack for twisted ankles and sore backs, and it won’t hurt to thaw and re-freeze a few times.

Here’s a cheat-sheet for how long produce lasts and how to store them. This should give you a good idea of how much to buy. It is very conservative, tho, so don’t panic. For instance, it says tomatoes only last about 3 days, but I’ve gotten a week and a half out of them if you don’t refrigerate them and keep them away from other fruit. Use it as a guide, and google some other “produce cheat sheets” to get an idea of your time window.

When buying frozen vegetables, get the big resealable packages. They’re cheaper per ounce, and you don’t have to worry about whether you can eat all of it at once. If you have limited freezer space, however, just get some freezer ziploc bags and store the extras in that. Twist-tying the opened, non-resealable bag will just freezer burn your food.

I know you think you eat a lot of potatoes, but you, an individual, do not eat enough potatoes to warrant that 5 or 10 pound sack that’s always on sale. Pass it by and go to the individual, select-a-piece display. You’ll thank me when you aren’t cleaning up rotten potato goo in a few weeks because you only got halfway through the sack and just couldn’t eat any more potatoes.

MEAT BUYING

Buy in bulk, keep out only what you’ll use within a day, and freeze the rest into individual serving size packages. You can get SO many meals out of a tray of chicken breasts, so buy as big a package as you have freezer room for.

Check the yellow-tag/clearance section. You find amazing deals there! Just freeze it right away if you aren’t cooking the whole thing for dinner that night. Yellow-tag is always because it’s nearing its sell-by date.

Don’t feel like you have to cook meat in whatever size or form it comes.  Buy big honking roasts and cut your own chops/steak from it. Buy that tray of chicken breasts and cut each piece into stew chunks or strips . Get the bone-in stuff and fillet it yourself. Think big when buying, small when storing, and then use that knife block your mom gave you and slicey slice things down to an individual size, or into something new. (Pork roast into chunks makes for a great, cheap stir fry.) Pop the rest into freezer ziploc bags and take it out the day before you need it. (Thaw in-fridge, please, it’s much safer.)

Ground turkey acts the same as ground beef in most recipes, and is generally cheaper unless you live in beef country. Substitute and save.

GRAINS

As with produce, buy your flour and sugar in much smaller quantities than you think you need. That 2lb sack doesn’t look like very much, but it’s a lot less likely to attract pests if it’s not sitting there for months while you struggle to use it, and it’s also much more manageable so it doesn’t get everywhere while cooking or storing. (You’ll also make fewer sweets if you don’t have a huge bag of sugar sitting in your cabinet getting clumpy and worrying you.)

Mac-and-cheese IS a viable grain option, and if you dump in some broccoli and/or chicken chunks, it’s a full meal. It’s cheap, but less sodium than ramen, so try switching it up. Also try to look for mac-and-cheese made with whole and/or enriched flour if you eat a lot of it, you’ll be slighly less likely to get constipated from it.

Premade loaf bread has a butt-ton of sugar in it. This is not only not as good for you, but makes the bread more likely to mold quicker! So look for low-sugar options. (Or make your own bread, it’s not too hard.)

DAIRY

Unless you’re like me and drink a crapton of milk (doctor’s orders, don’t judge), buy your milk in half-gallons. You can always grab another one if you run low between regular grocery shopping days, but you don’t want to have the experience of going to pour your cereal and getting your appetite ruined by the smell of rotten milk.

If you can’t or don’t want to drink milk, most milk alternatives are now fortified with the same nutrients that animal milk has. Don’t skip the dairy recommendation because you don’t like animal milk, get yourself some soy or almond milk and get your daily calcium intake!

Cheese lasts a long time, but will get dry, hard, and powdery if not stored properly. Look for, you guessed it, resealable packages.

Most of the time, block cheese is cheaper than grated and you can just grate it yourself at home. But always check the price-per-ounce, it’s usually located in the corner or on the side of the tag.

Yogurt lasts longer than you think it will. Buy in the big tubs, not individual cups. It’s cheaper, and you can pick how much you want.

SHOPPING TIPS

Shop by what’s on sale to save money. Have an idea of what you want when you go in, but be flexible with your choices. For instance, I would go in with a shopping list that had an item that was simply “sale meat.” I had meal ideas planned out that I could replace or alter based on what was on sale at the store. No chicken on sale, but the tofu was marked down? We’re having tofu stir fry on Wednesday instead! Apples on sale? You had planned to get bananas, but if the apples are cheaper you can either get some of both or just do apples. Check the sale papers or online ads beforehand to see what kind of specials they have, and try planning meals around that.

Speaking of, CHECK THE SALE PAPERS! Save those mailers, compare prices, and see which store has what you’re after. Google the store’s website and see if they list their specials online.

Have a basic plan for what you’re going to do with your purchases. Don’t just pick up a bunch of kohlrabi “to try” if you don’t have a plan. It could be as simple as “I’m going to look up a recipe later today and I’m moving Tuesday’s dinner to next week so I can make this new thing on Tuesday.” But don’t just go “huh, that’s neat” and buy it without consciously planning when to use it. Or you’re going to end up with rotten kohlrabi and money wasted. Be aware of what you’re buying, and tell yourself how you’re going to use it before you put it on your list, or in your cart if it’s a last minute decision.

Don’t shop hungry. Simple idea, you’ve probably heard it before, but you’ll come home with impulse buys and a headache if you shop on a very empty stomach.

Make a list. You ARE going to forget that you really needed rice if you don’t put it on that list. I know you think you’ll remember, but you won’t. Crossing the threshold of a supermarket completely wipes your RAM. Write that stuff down somewhere and take it with you.

Be willing to shop around. I know Walmart is convenient, and it has asparagus on sale, but if the Kroger also has an amazing sale on the salad greens that you were planning on buying, try to make the effort to get to both stores. Nobody said saving money and eating well was easy, but it is worth it. Unless one store has price match, then just take your ad in and do the shopping at that store.

Try to have a buddy. Grocery shopping can be exhausting and stressful, but a friend can make it easier, and keep you sane. They can also help steer you away from impulse buys just by their very presence. It’s a lot harder to justify the checkout candy bar when your friend is right there, even if they don’t say anything. (Or you could get both of you a candy bar, if you’ve got the cash for it.)

Try to pick a single grocery day and plan for it consistently. Weekly, biweekly, whatever is best for you, just plan a day to do your in-depth shopping. Shopping piecemeal is a good way to spend more money than necessary, and to make sure you forget stuff. (You may have to make fill-in trips between big shopping days, but plan the big ones and try to put off as much as you can until then. But stopping for milk because you ran out won’t break the bank, so don’t worry about doing an occasional quick-stop.)

STORAGE TIPS

Ziploc bags are your friend, but make sure you know what kind you’re getting. Only specifically labeled “freezer bags” should be used in the freezer, or you risk your food getting icy and freezer burnt. Also, look for the store-brand zipper bags, they work just as well.

Label everything you put into the freezer if it’s not in the original package. You’re going to have days where you can’t tell if that’s chicken or tofu. Most freezer zipper bags have a space just for labeling. Keep a kitchen sharpie handy and label stuff. Also put the date on it, and use things within a year of freezing.

Get canisters. There are some cheap ones, even, but get SOMETHING. Put your flour and sugar in the canisters. It will last longer, and you don’t risk the bugs. You may think your apartment is safe, but bug season comes for us all in the end, and those little turds go right for a folded-over sack of flour, I swear.

Keep a list on the front of your freezer of everything that’s in there. Add to the list as you put stuff in, and cross stuff off as you take it out. That way you don’t have to dig to know if you have any more of those frozen peaches you like in your smoothies. Nor will you forget for a million years the bag of stew meat you had intended to use. Small magnetic whiteboards are particularly good for this purpose. (Also consider doing that for each major storage area--fridge, cabinets, pantry, etc-- if you routinely forget what’s in there. You could even tape it to the inside of the cabinet door so nobody else sees your bad memory.)

Don’t store potatoes and onions next to each other. They’ll both sprout.

Keep bananas away from all other produce. They’re naughty ethylene fiends that will spoil your tomatoes just for fun. That said, stick a banana in with an under ripe fruit and it’ll be ready in a day or two.

Take your produce out of the little plastic bags unless they need to ripen a bit more.

Go through your fridge completely once a month. Take everything out, check the dates, sniff it, and throw out old/rotten/nasty stuff. Go through your freezer once every 2 or 3 months. Reorganize your stacks, and double check your content list is current.

I know this is long, but I hope it can be helpful. Please add on any tips you have, at the very least I’d love to read them!

[ayellowtide-blog]

What I’m Prepping This Week: March 25-29

so, i still live at home and my mom does the cooking of the dinners for the family, but i always make sure that i have veggies to eat with the dinner and healthy options for lunches. this week, i’m having sandwiches for lunch (i can usually eat the same thing all week i’m that boring lol), so i’m not going to be prepping those, as they wouldn’t last as well prepped and are easy enough to make everyday. at the end of the post, i’ll include some foods that i have on hand this week that don’t have to be prepped.

#1: Maple Dijon Roasted Carrots (Vegan)

i love carrots. i love maple syrup. end of story. these are quick and easy carrots with a simple glaze that you just roast in the oven at 425 for 20-25 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. you can also mix it up and add some fresh herbs if you want, but i didn’t have any, so i just kept it simple with the glaze, which is flavorful enough on its own.

Ingredients: 1 lb carrots, 1/3 cup maple syrup, 2 tbsp mustard, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp olive oil, salt to taste (i used 2 pinches)

Nutrition Per Serving (makes 6 servings): Calories: 73 Total Fat 2g / Saturated Fat 0g / Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 97mg / Potassium 269mg Total Carbohydrate 18g / Dietary Fiber 2g / Sugars 12g  / Protein 1g

#2: Zucchini Cheddar Tots

if you saw my meal prep post last week, you would also know i made these tots for the first time and fell in love with them. my dad and i really love them and couldn’t believe how good they were, so i’m making double the amount i made last week. you just grate the zucchini up, salt it, let it sit, and then drain out the moisture. then, mix all the ingredients together, form them into tots and cook them at 400 for 18 minutes on one side, then flip them and cook them on the other for another 8 minutes.

Ingredients: 4 medium zucchini, ¼ - ½ teaspoon salt (sprinkled on the zucchini after it’s grated to draw out moisture and then the zucchini is squeezed, so not all of the sodium is absorbed), ½ egg (about 1 ½ - 2 tablespoons beaten egg, depending on the size), 3 tablespoons Italian style bread crumbs, 3 tablespoons cheddar cheese (I used Sargento 4 State Blend), ½ teaspoon garlic powder, pepper to taste

Nutrition per Serving (makes 8 servings – about 56 tots total, 7 tots per serving) Calories: 121 cals Total Fat: 5g / Saturated Fat: 2g / Cholesterol: 58mg Sodium: 227mg / Potassium: 302mg Total Carbohydrate: 13g / Dietary Fiber: 2g / Sugars: 4g / Protein: 6g

#3 Roasted Parmesan Broccoli

Ingredients: 1 bunch of broccoli, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon Italian style breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, 3 cloves sliced garlic, pepper to taste, salt to taste (I used 2 pinches)

Nutrition per Serving (makes 4 servings): Calories: 114 Total Fat: 8g / Saturated Fat: 2g / Cholesterol: 3mg Sodium: 181mg / Potassium: 11mg Total Carbohydrate: 7g / Dietary Fiber: 2g / Sugars: 1g  / Protein: 4g

#4: Homemade Mixed Nut Butter (Vegan)

i hate how much sugar and salt prepared peanut butter has and i have a shit ton of the kirkland mixed nuts packs that go bad by july so i need to eat them somehow! i decided to try homemade nut butter for the first time to use for toasts this week and it’s really easy. you can use any nuts you like, i just used mixed because that’s what i had. you can get raw nuts and roast them yourself but hello i like shortcuts. just blend in a food processor for about 10 minutes until butter forms. voila.

Ingredients: 3 Kirkland Mixed Nuts Snack Packs (1.6 oz each, 4.8 oz total -- 0.60 US cups, or just under 10 tablespoons of nuts), ½ tsp cinnamon

Nutrition per Serving (makes 6 servings, about 1 ½ tbsp per serving) Calories: 156 Total Fat: 13g / Saturated Fat: 2g / Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 50mg / Potassium: 149mg Total Carbohydrate: 7g / Dietary Fiber: 3g / Sugars: 1g / Protein: 4g

#5 Homemade Vegetable Broth (Vegan)

since i had the stalks of broccoli, i didn’t want to waste it, so i decided to make some vegetable stock this week. homemade stock lasts 3-4 days in the fridge and indefinitely in the freezer. it’s super simple, though the calories aren’t really exact here, but broth is super low cal in general.

Ingredients: 8 cups water, 2 broccoli stalks chopped, scraps of 4 zucchinis, scraps and peels of 1 lb of carrots, 1 cup chopped onion, 1 medium potato cut into chunks, 3 teaspoons minced garlic or 3 garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons black peppercorns, 1 teaspoon salt

Nutrition per Serving (makes 8 servings, 1 cup per serving): Calories: 70 Total Fat: 0g / Saturated Fat: 0g / Cholesterol: -- Sodium: 341mg Total Carbs: 16g / Dietary Fiber: 2g / Sugar: 4g / Protein: 2g

#6: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

having a sweet on hand during the week makes it easy to not reach for something overly sugary like a soda for a quick fix. i used this recipe and it turned out really great, but i had to bake mine for about 8-10 more minutes than the recipe called for, but i enjoy my oatmeal cookies crispy and chewy. the recipe says it makes 24, but it only made 23 for me!

Nutrition per Serving (per 23 cookies, as mine made 23): Calories: 115 Total Fat: 6g / Saturated Fat: 4g / Cholesterol: 20mg Sodium: 12mg / Potassium: 5mg Total Carbohydrate: 15g / Dietary Fiber: 1g / Sugars: 11g / Protein: 1g

#7: Rice (Vegan)

i like having a good starch on hand and this week i opted for rice made with 1/2 water, 1/2 homemade vegetable stock

Ingredients: 1 cup dry white rice, 1/2 cup homemade vegetable broth, 1/2 cup water

What I Have on Hand This Week

aka, things i have left over from last week’s buys or foods i keep stocked in the freezer that i’ll be using. i always like to keep stock of what i have on hand so i don’t forget about it and it goes bad because i hate wasting money! i love to buy bags of frozen veggies and fruits because they’re cheap or freeze any leftover uncooked fruits and veggies i have from the week before that i didn’t use.

while i always have frozen fruit and vegetables on hand, here’s what i’ll be using this week from my stock: Archer Farms Pineapple Peach Salsa - salsa lasts a long time so it’s great to have on hand in your fridge or cabinets. i like this salsa because it’s only a few bucks, taste delicious, and has only 115mg of sodium per 2 tbsp Simply Balanced Blue Corn & Flax Seed Chips - obviously flax seeds are super trendy now so eating them like this makes me feel like i’m getting a little something extra out of these chips. these are a target brand, which i love and it’s geared towards healthy foods. they’re affordable and have a resealable top so they last longer than regular chips. Frozen Cherries - absolutely LOVE cherries, they are my favorite fruit and they are super delicious frozen and make the best smoothies! i go through a packet of frozen cherries in about 2 weeks depending on how often i’m using them, but they last a long time in the freezer. Frozen Strawberries - the frozen fruit i almost always have on hand. you can buy giant bags for pretty cheap, but try to get off-brand, like the grocery store’s own brand of frozen fruits & veggies, they tend to be the cheapest and they are the same quality as name brand. Frozen Bananas - i never buy frozen bananas, i just freeze my bananas when they start to go brown! peeled bananas last about 2 months, whereas unpeeled last 3-4 months.

[mythicaliz]

cheap eats tips

I got these asks last night but wanted to wait until i was on my laptop to answer them. so here are some ideas. they arent really recipes, just tips

tl/dr

Equipment

my number one way to save money is a chest freezer. obviously not everyone has the money to buy one or the space for one but you can find smaller ones on kijiji. alternatively, if you have a parent or friend who has a large freezer that you can easily access and is willing to give you some room in it that works too. we used to have a basket in my husband’s parents freezer before we got our own, and we give up some space in ours to a friend who lives near by. that being said, use whatever freezer space you have to stock up on things (more on this below)

a crockpot is also a great tool to have and you can find them cheap at thrift stores. It means spending 5 minutes in the morning and coming home to dinner already made. it can be used for so many things. there are no shortage of quick, cheap crockpot recipes on the internet but ill include some ideas below

Meat

- i pretty much only buy meat on clearance or sale. clearance meat is just a day or 2 before the sell by date so they have to get rid of it fast. it’s still fine quality. i just freeze it immediately (if you aren’t going to use the whole pack in one meal portion it out into freezer bags). This is why having a big freezer is handy. Once a pack of 3 chicken legs was on clearance for $2. we bought 24 of them and used them on the bbq, baked, in soups and stews, pulled the meat off for casseroles etc. we had like 6 months of chicken for under $50

-save your bones and scraps. have a bag on the go for beef scraps and one for chicken scraps in the freezer (do the same with vegetable peelings, ends, onion skins, etc.) throw a bag of veggie scraps and meat scraps/bones in your crockpot. cover with water and add whatever spices you like, peppercorns, bayleaf whatever. add a good amount of salt and a splash of vinegar. both of these help break down the bones and pull all the minerals from them. cook in the crockpot for 12-24 hours (you may need to add more water). strain it and you now have amazing bone broth which is incredibly good for you and a base for any soup. if you have the space you can freeze in ice cube trays and then put in a ziplock to have convenient broth chunks to throw in pretty much anything. but you can also just freeze it in tupperware, or zliplock bags or whatever.

-if you eat bacon save your grease. keep a mason jar in the fridge and drain any grease off into the jar. then you can sautee veggies and stuff in it and it’s already so delicious

-cut up meat and put it in soups, stews, casseroles etc rather than making it the centre of the dish. if you have 2 people you’re likely to cook 2 full chicken breasts if that’s the main part of your meal, but you could probably get away with one if you are making a dish where the chicken is cut up with lots of veggies and maybe some beans on top of pasta. get it? 

-not meat but eggs are always good to have on hand. inexpensive and so much you can do with them. (in an oven proof skillet: sautee up some veggies, whisk up some eggs and throw them in. top with a bit of cheese if you like. throw it in the oven until eggs are set. you have a fritatta you can eat for dinner or cut into wedges and eat hot or cold for breakfast or lunch)

Produce

-lettuce is a scam. don’t buy it. it’s expensive, has almost no nutrition and is pretty shitty for the environment. Spinach or cabbage is a better choice because you can make salads with it but if it starts to get past it’s prime you can cook it or freeze it and throw it in a soup or stirfry later

-root vegetables last a long time and are great. plus they add heartiness to any meal

-use your most perishable produce first, then move onto the heartier stuff. frozen is also great, and sometimes is more nutritious than fresh thats out of season

-apples. they last forever and if they get sad you can make apple sauce (in your crockpot! cup em up, skin on and all, add a little cinnamon and some water and cook until mush. then blend it up) or baked apples (cut em in half and scoop out the core a little. add a bit of butter and brown sugar in the hole. if you have walnuts or pecans you can throw some in there too. bake until soft)

Legumes etc

-legumes, beans, pulses are all amazing sources of protein and inexpensive. you can save even more money buy buying dried ones and rehydrating them in your crockpot. (rinse beans and put in crockpot with 2 inches of water above beans. they should take about 6 hours on high to be tender)

-lentils are also great and have a really nice flavour. you can also use them to thicken soups, one of my favourite dishes is called  Mujadara. it’s lebanese (like me!) you slowly cook a cut up onion in olive oil until it’s all caramalized and delicious. set it aside and cook equal parts rice and brown lentils. you can use water or broth for more flavour. cook until tender, top with your friend onions and it’s like heaven. i’ll cut up a tomato and cucumber and make a little salad on the side with it. 

shopping

-stock up on things when you can. say canned tomatoes are on sale. maybe you can’t afford to buy 10 of them, but even if you buy one or two extra cans then you’ve paid less and have them on hand when you need them. also, i realize room can be an issue. don’t feel like all your food has to stay in your kitchen. in college i had a bin under my bed with canned goods and pasta etc. as long as it’s nonperishable keep it wherever you can. 

-buy the largest size you can afford. for most things, it pays to buy in bulk. maybe you have a friend you can go halfsies on bigger items with. an example is rice. gigantic bags that could feed you for a year go on sale for $10. if you can, buy it.

-a lot of people live in food deserts. what that means is you live somewhere that it’s nearly impossible to walk to a grocery store so you end up shopping at convenience stores, gas stations and eating fast food. I suggest a well planned monthly shopping trip to a store that has good deals. Yeah you’ll pay for an uber, but you’ll save more than in the long run and have much healthier food. 

-don’t force yourself to eat things you dont like. so many people try to choke down kale. or rather they buy it and let it rot in their fridge. personally, i like kale, (im sure it helps that i fry up onions in bacon grease and then wilt kale in that :P) but just because it’s some super food doesn't mean you have to eat it or feel bad for not eating it. 

anyway that’s some advice!

[live-in-color-recovery]

Cooking from scratch- How to feed yourself (pt.3)

This is part three of a series I’m doing to share everything I have learned as a newly independent person recovering from an eating disorder- hope it helps!

Before you even arrive at the grocery store, you must decide what to cook.

Learning to cook is not only an essential part of keeping your grocery budget down, but it can help with an unhealthy relationship with food as well. I was mostly terrified of food my mother cooked because I knew she often cooked with a lot of oil, butter, cheese, salt- all of the scary stuff. Restaurants were equally as terrifying for the same reason. 

For myself, learning to cook from scratch made dinner less scary because, at the very least, I knew exactly what was in the food. It is less scary to see a meal as the sum of its parts.

Cooking from scratch instead of buying freezer meals or going out to eat not only helps you stick to your recovery goals, it also saves a TON of money, which I will prove in my post about shopping lists. Your friends are probably tired of going out to eat anyway, and offering a home cooked meal is a cheap way to get people together. 

So, how do you learn to cook? I learned everything I know from Pinterest. Seriously. I cook three times a day and every single recipe is from Pinterest. I know it’s scary at first, but there are plenty of easy to follow recipes, and if you can read, you can cook. I just started with one pan/sheet/pot dinners and worked my way from there. Here is a link to my Pinterst page for inspiration. I organize my dinner recipes by region, so it gets pretty exciting.

Some recipes:

Curry: I consider learning to make curry as a good introduction to cooking from scratch because you can make it with almost anything and it will still turn out delicious. Here is a video on how to make every curry imaginable. I make curry once a week because it’s cheap, and it keeps well in the fridge. It’s also a great way to get your veggies! Pro tip: use ground cumin if you can’t find/afford cumin seeds.

Easy Spanish Stew:  A staple in my home. Here’s the link to the recipe. This is a great way to get your daily veggies, and it takes no cooking skill. Pro tip: I have never cooked this with celery and have never missed it. I have also been known to use water instead of chicken broth and just add more seasoning. Add good bread and butter to make it a complete meal!

Broccoli Alfredo: Carbs, proteins, and fats are essential in recovery. It is scary, but this is essential to your survival. Alfredo really isn’t as bad for you as you think. Buy a cheap jar of it, and add parsley and oregano for taste. Cook whole wheat pasta ($1 at walmart) to get your daily whole grains. Then, add any protein you have on hand. I find this recipe works well with turkey sausage or meatballs, but chicken will also work. Then, add some fresh or frozen broccoli ($2 at walmart). At the end, you have a dish with whole grains, protein, vegetables, and lost of calcium. See? Healthy!

Stirfry: Another meal I make almost weekly. I invest in giant bags of rice from a local Asian market for $5 each, and they last months. Follow this Gordon Ramsay on how to make rice. While the rice is cooking, heat up a pan with oil and cook some onion and garlic until clear. Next, add some Teriyaki sauce. ($2 at walmart) Then, add chicken or tofu or really anything. (Optional: marinade protein in teriyaki for an hour before cooking) Last, add some broccoli from that giant frozen bag I told you to buy earlier. Add cornstarch to thicken by first mixing two tablespoons in a small glass of water, and then dumping it into the pan. Trust me on that one. 

So there you have it- my best healthy and cheap recipes for recovery!  Next, I will start posting my weekly grocery budget and my meal plans. Stay tuned!

[travellingczechia]

Ekologický Záhradnictví (Gardening, cooking, and generally living green in the Czech Republic)

(above: some herbs and garlic on my host family’s kitchen counter.)

HERE’S something I’ve been meaning to write about for awhile: environmentalism in the Czech Republic, and in Europe in general.

Now, the Czech Republic doesn’t have the eco-friendly reputation that some European countries like France or Austria do. However, from the perspective of someone from the US, the lifestyle is still a LOT greener. Here are some differences I’ve noticed:

1. Transportation. Mainly, public transportation. For a city of 100,000 people, České Budějovice has a remarkably convenient and efficient bus network, one vastly superior to the one in my home city of over 800,000. The whole country is well connected by trains (yeah, there are delays sometimes, but it’s better than nothing) so I could travel to any city in the country or even abroad for a pretty low price. South Bohemia also has fantastic bicycling paths, which in many cases are as well marked and maintained (if not better) as the roads. 

Speaking of roads, Czechs don’t like to drive. So when possible, they make use of all these public services, as well as private bus lines. (Also, shoutout to neighboring Slovakia, which provides free train service for students. Good idea Slovakia.) 

(above: some vegetable leavings in the compost box.)

2. Waste

Czechs are so, so diligent about how they handle waste. With a few exceptions, almost every Czech household I have been in has sorted out plastic, paper, and biodegradeables. Even when a household doesn’t have its own compost, there is often a city-provided compost box to dump your stuff in. However, my second host family composted their own, and used the wonderfully rich soil in their garden. 

Another way that Czechs (and Europeans in general) reduce waste is by simply not buying as much. Rather than always trying to be stocked up on everything and anything, they buy ingredients as needed. The only time this can result in a loss is with fresh bread. Almost no one eats packaged sandwich bread, bread is NEVER frozen, and so a fresh loaf often goes stale before it gets eaten. However, all my host families have then saved that bread, dried it out, and fed it to birds or given it to people they know with farm animals. 

3. No electric dryer.  I thought it would bother me, but honestly, I don’t mind at all hanging clothes outside (especially with my view now- spot the castle turret in the background.) In the winter, we hung our clothes on a rack next to the fireplace. 

4. Gardening culture! This one is my favorite. 

One of the very few pieces of information I picked up before coming to the Czech Republic was that Czechs like to garden. When I arrived in August this didn’t seem to hold true, but now that spring has come, it certainly does. Gardening just looks a little different here. Rather than rows of identical houses with a big green lawn and a large rectangular planter for colorful, decorative flowers, Czech gardens feel more practical. Many avid gardeners live in city apartments, and hold property elsewhere for gardening. For example, my host grandmother lives in a flat, but bicycles about half an hour to her garden near our house. This allows the garden to be much bigger than if it were tucked onto a city street.

And rather than filling planters with frilly, brightly colored seasonals, most Czech gardens I have seen have been mostly edible. (Don’t get me wrong, seasonal flowers are beautiful. But I personally like the Czech way better, because if I’m going to go to all the trouble of cultivating a plant, it’s much more rewarding to have something to eat in the end.) On their garden plots, Czechs grow cabbages, cucumbers, zucchini, sweet peppers, lettuce, potatoes, pumpkins, raspberries, blueberries, currant fruits, strawberries, and apples. They plant herbs and spices to use in the kitchen, and then they actually use them in the kitchen. (My family has a bay leaf plant in the living room. I had no idea what it was until my host mom told me to go get some of it for the soup.) 

I recently read Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, and it has given me a lot to think about. But I think many of his ideas would seem painfully obvious to a Czech grandmother. Pollan argues that gardening and preparing fresh food inevitably improves both the quality of what we eat and the impact we have on the environment. I am convinced, after reading his book and after helping in gardens here, that it would be a thousand times easier to make people care about soil and water quality and climate, if those people were paying attention to all those factors and how they affected the raspberries they wanted to put on their waffles. 

This year in the Czech Republic, the winter was extremely mild and spring came early. Everything is blooming and becoming ripe a full month in advance. This is a big deal, because people expect to eat things when they are fresh. Last week, cherries became ripe, and I immediately noticed that every fifth person seemed to be carrying an enormous number of cherries down the street with them. Before that, it was strawberries. Soon, Czechs will go out to the forests to harvest blueberries, and in the fall, mushrooms. 

(above: freshly picked mini-strawberries and some early forest blueberries on a poppyseed cake.) 

I’ve found it difficult to express this observation of greater connection to nature to Czechs. Much of the younger generation, for one, doesn’t garden or forage, and isn’t nearly as interested in the seasons as their parents or grandparents. When I have gushed to older Czechs my admiration for the freshly cooked meals, the carefully tended gardens, the bakeries with cheap, whole grain bread, and the composts, their reactions are generally along the lines of, “um... thanks?” To most Czechs I’ve spoken to, local, unprocessed food isn’t some kind of hipster luxury- it’s just what makes the most sense. That isn’t to say that Czechs don’t import pineapples year round or eat processed things, they definitely do. But there is a recognition that what is better for the environment is also healthier and tastier. I firmly believe that, for the long-term health of the planet, that is a subtle culture difference which matters. 

5. Forests. Disclaimer: Slovaks will laugh at me for being impressed by Czech forests. Also, I googled “Czech forests” to find statistics for this post, and this was one of the first results: http://www.radio.cz/en/section/panorama/environmentalists-ringing-alarm-bells-over-ailing-czech-forests

That said, the World Bank estimated that in 2015 34.5% of Czech land was forest, and that percentage is increasing. Numbers aside, Czech forests are great because they are accessible. Trails are numerous and well marked. Every castle I have visited- and there are many, many castles- have at least a small woods around them which someone living in the castle used as hunting grounds at some point. It is never difficult to get to the woods, living in South Bohemia. That is something I appreciate a lot, not just for the climate benefits. 

[artificialmillie]

farraja + fancy dinner date :0

I’m sorry this took so long, I tried to answer when I got it but tumblr deleted what I wrote and I was too angry to try again lmao When Aja had suggested that she and Farrah went out to a fancy restaurant for dinner, both of them were ecstatic at the idea. They were so used to cheap takeout from down the street and microwaveable meals from the store that Aja was sure she’d forgotten what real food tasted like. She missed her mother’s tenderly made, home cooked meals from back home, and deeply regretted not learning how to cook something other than spaghetti bolonaise - and everything was from a packet. Their night had gone wonderfully. The food was more than exquisite, and the fresh tastes made Aja nostalgic. It was wonderful to finally eat something worth more than five dollars - Farrah had never known how good vegetables could taste when they weren’t heated from frozen - but the only downside was the expense. Both had to go for something on the simple side. Aja imagined how the rest of the menu must’ve tasted. Pork loin and applesauce, rump steak with charcoal dust still on it, fresh tagliatelle. All of those were around twenty dollars, and that was just money that the two didn’t have. Fancy cheesecakes and Black Forest gâteau for dessert...“Hey, I’m sure everything we had was just as nice as the rest of the menu,” Aja assured Farrah, spooning some vanilla ice cream into her mouth. Farrah stirred the remaining sauce from her sticky toffee pudding around her plate. “I know,” she said, “and the last thing I want to seem is ungrateful.”“You don’t. I feel the same.”“What we did have was really good, though.” She smiled up at Aja. “We could get the recipe from the chef,” Aja said. “As well as recipes for the stuff we couldn’t try.”“Are you suggesting we try and cook again? Because I remember how that went on your birthday.” Both of them laughed at the memory, but the image of burnt icing stuck to the stove and flour somehow on the ceiling flashed as a deterrent in their heads. “No, we’ll make Sasha do it,” she said, chuckling. Farrah joined her. Farrah scraped some remnants of sauce from her plate and into her mouth, and Aja continued with her ice cream. She took her time to look around the restaurant nonchalantly, and it was painfully obvious that everyone else there was far richer than them. The two could just about pay the cost of their rent and bills each month, and these people in fancy suits and dresses looked like they made that in a day. It dulled her spirit more, but she didn’t want to let that show. She spotted Farrah doing the same, her eyes sullen as they landed on a couple who had a plate of lobster each. “We can try everything else next time we come here,” Aja told her. Farrah almost spat out her food upon hearing that. “There’ll be a next time?!” she exclaimed a little loudly. “Aja, this is crazy expensive,” she whispered. “I’ll save; I’ll stop buying all the extra candy that we both know I don’t need,” she said. “I can work a few extra hours.”“You don’t need to do all that for us,” Farrah said. “You wanted to pay today - I’m happy to pay for it next time.”Farrah reached over and squeezed her hand. “You know I love you so much, right?” she said, beaming. “I do,” Aja replied. “And I love you too. So much.” They looked into each other’s eyes with enough love to fill the entire restaurant, and Aja felt a warming in her heart. Farrah’s free hand quickly darted under her nose, and before she knew it, her girlfriend was shoving a spoonful of her ice cream into her mouth, smirking. “I take all that back,” Aja joked, retracting her hand and putting on a scowl. “We’re eating Chinese food for the next three months.”“Good thing I love Chinese food.”“Good thing I love you.”