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gkt-tummyaches · 7 months

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cooking hc

drawing is hard + isn't working with me today, so now i'm going to rank the ppg, rrb, and ppnkg's ability to cook + what their favorite meal is. 1 being best, 10 being the worst.

buttercup !! [10/10] 👑 spent a lot of time in her tween years learning to cook from the professor. they don't really have a lot in common; it was a way for her to spend time with him, while also being productive/learning something useful alongside it. she's not michelin star level, but rarely anything goes wrong with her in the kitchen. she's learned mostly from cookbooks, so a lot of the recipes she knows are traditional/generic american family dinners, but buttercup's super open to experimenting too. not really a foodie, but indulges whenever somebody asks for something a little off the cuff.

favorite meal is just diner-style burgers and fries.

butch :) [8.5/10] ⭐ learned kind of out of necessity. can be pretty tiring for him to cook for his brothers a lot of the time, but it also brings a sense of relief - knowing that there's food in the cupboards to cook with gives him reassurance due to the boy's history with food insecurity growing up. kind of enjoys cooking. all the meals he makes are mostly learned by ear or just really cheap hacks - butch just has a natural afinity for cooking that makes mostly everything turn out good. he's very partial to cooking homey, hearty meals. experiments all the time. he and boomer make some of their best creations (and,, abominations, sometimes) in the middle of the night. butch also packs brick lunch to take to school/college. would probably die inside if you asked him to cook something with ingredients costing more than $20 total.

favorite meal is ropa vieja or gazpacho, both with rice.

bubbles ? [7/10] 👍 technically bakes, not cooks, but she's still decent ! she bakes in troves, usually for charity events or as part of a gift for somebody's birthday. it's a messy ordeal that needs at least two other people to help clean up. so far no fires ! she's only burnt or failed a few recipes she was learning, but bubbles bounces back pretty fast with her next attempt. baking is a surprisingly strict discipline in comparison to cooking; it's not something she'd thought she'd enjoy very much at first because of this, and also because everything she bakes is mostly sweet - it's a refreshing hobby. she enjoys baking tart treats the most, anything bittersweet or sour. they also tend to be more fun; tart and pie crusts are prime real estate for pastry decoration.

favorite meal is vegetarian chili, favorite dessert is avacado mousse.

blossom [5/10] she can make box recpies ! most of it tastes fine. she lacks the finesse and pizzaz for anything more exciting, but it gets the job done. something about the sandwiches she makes are somehow unbeatable, but everything else is,, fine. she burns most pan-fried foods. the utonium household has been through 5 very expensive, non-stick pans. they were all her fault.

favorite meal is lobster ravioli,,, when she's not the one making it.

boomer [5/10] he can put things in the microwave and make grilled cheese. so far nothing has broken under his supervision, but on multiple occassion boomer has needed to be corrected on how to use utensils more complicated than a spatula. most of the things he uses come out unscathed, so that's a plus. his downfall is usually not checking the expiration date on ingredients and, therefore, using expired ingredients. mostly milk. it's kind of cringe.

favorite meal is cheesy ramen noodles. with way too much garlic.

brick [4/10] anything that doesn't require being cooked. that's it. don't let him near the stove, the oven, the toaster, the microwave - no, not even hot water. brick's speciality is in,,, dressings. maybe just mixing things. salad ? there's. something. he has to be good at something, probably. they just haven't figured out what yet !

favorite meal is pho, if butch is the one making it. to be honest, just anything butch makes him. but pho in particular.

the punks CANNOT cook. that's it.

both their kitchens are collecting dust.

brute doesn't even open the door to her kitchen in her apartment; she has the money to eat out whenever she wants, or at least have it delivered. bad things would happen if she tried her hand at cooking.

brat and berserk have a semi-functional kitchenette and it's mostly just used for the sink and the fridge.

the fridge is full of leftovers; brat is constantly ordering takeout, or bringing home food from whichever neighbor pitied them enough to cook extras. it is solely through handouts and whatever sweets berserk steals from the shop that they are still alive.

#ppg #ppnkg #rrb #hcs #headcanons

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sleepy-toast23 · 3 years

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Boyfriend Headcannons(?) for season 4 & 5 Chuck Shurley

(nsfw and sfw will be seperated)

(this is mostly weirdness and nonsense mixed in with headcannons. A LOT OF THIS IS VERY STRANGE/CRACK SHIT IG? IDK WHAT ELSE TO CALL IT)

(this is for the few remaining Chuck fans out there, season 11 & 15 versions will come out soon- since chuck has changed drastically every season qǝɔɐnsǝ ʇɥǝ ʍɹᴉʇǝɹs ɐɹǝ ɟnɔʞᴉuƃ ᴉuǝdʇ ɐup ɥɐʌǝ dɹoʌǝu ᴉʇ ʇᴉɯǝ ɐup ʇᴉɯǝ ɐƃɐᴉu. Stay strong fellow Chuck fans😔)

(enjoy)

SFW:

He will never admit to it, but he really loves bing cuddled and smooched

Like- REALLY loves it.

If you want that pretty necklace for Valentine's day and he says no

Just give him a hug and a smooch on the cheek (effectiveness increased if you use puppy eyes)

He'll be putty in your hands.

And his credit card will be out in milliseconds

He's lazy. There's no way around it.

So hope you don't mind doing a lot of chores

He's extremely thankful though

He reminds you how thankful he is every night and day with little gifts, kisses, and even making you breakfast

"what would I do without you, (Y/N)?"

"I love you so, 𝙨𝙤 much"

His kisses tickle cause of his beard

He uses this to his advantage often

Too often for your liking

You tell him he's your lazy little teddy bear

He's offended. How dare you.

You kiss him on the cheek

*The attack was effective, Chuck became confused*

He makes an alright income from his book series

You have been working on him with issues regarding his drinking habits

He wants to change for you. But it's hard for him.

You understand that, and appreciate that he's even making an effort

You've been making him do more chores recently

This includes his own laundry, buying groceries, and helping with meal preperation

How chuck stayed so thin you have no idea

He isn't very active at all

He has a mild dad bod at most

Good thing we love dad bods here🥰

You opened the window one morning and he whimpered and covered his eyes.

Man has not seen the sun in a while.

Chuck is genuinely making a change though

You've gotten him to come on jogs with you

You have to take l o t s of breaks for him

When he's writing, you like to sit behind him and correct his writing.

Tiny man, fragile ego

He gets flustered and angry and will nudge you away

Never hard though. He would never hurt you

You think it's absolutely adorable

His face is litteraly tomato red

When he passed out at his desk, it's up to you to carry him to the bed you share

The mornings after he always complains about pains other than in his head

You say it must be part of the hang over

𝙄𝙩𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨

Big oops

He's heavy, what were you supposed to do!?

You never tell him the truth.

It's better you don't.

You know of his 'visions'

You didn't believe him at first-

Until you walked out one day and found him spazing out on the couch

You almost dialed 911, thinking he was having a seizure

He snapped out of it and explained that was just his visions

You called 911 anyway and asked for an ambulance

Can never be to sure when it comes to crazy drunk hermit boyfriends

Doctors said he was absolutely fine though.

You really started believing him when 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 showed up.

The winchester boys (and Cas!)

You don't like them around Chuck.

Dean threatened him with a gun once

You were ready to commit a war crime on a single human being

You will protect your lazy teddy at all cost

You have to admit though- seeing him being all tough and fighting demons and ghost is 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙩

You hated Becky.

You punched her at the supernatural con

No cap, you litteraly f#cked her sh#t up.

She got too close to Chuck

And was giving him googley eyes

Not on your watch

You watched Cas get obliterated by Raphael with Chuck.

You found a fingernail in your hair

*fingernailS

Chuck has told you the ending the day before it all went down

You were confused on why he forbid you to tell the brothers

You were upset, but he seemed serious about it

Nsfw:

Has had sex multiple times before you two even got together

Still acts like a virgin baby

You love walking into living room with no towel on after showering

Seeing his jaw drop is priceless

"(Y/N) is that... 𝙮𝙤𝙪..."

His size is incredibe

He's truely been blessed by God

Which makes sense, after all, he is a prophet.

He's very vocal in bed

It's absolutely adorble

Small whimpers and moans

He'll tell you how amazing you are to him

It's cheesy, but you can tell me means it

"fuck.. (Y/N).. I love you."

"you're so beautiful under me like this- not that you aren't Beautiful not under me😅"

"I'm the luckiest man in the world"

Actually well groomed down below

Uncircumcised

Cleans well though

At least he's not 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 lazy

Gentle lover

Slow and steady wins the race😏

Until you start screaming at him to speed up out of frustration

Totally into dominatrix

Watching and feeling you ride his cock is the hottest thing he's ever seen/felt

Willing to try most kinks

Will never be on the 'giving' side of BDSM though.

He doesn't have the heart to whip you or be rough with you like that, no matter how many times you tell him it's okay.

Both love & hates when you tease him

You'll stroke his cock til he's close to release- and than stop

He'll cry and beg for you to let him cum

You love to sit and watch him

You occasionally poke and stroke the tip to keep him stimulated and hard

It's pleasurable torture for him

When he blows his load- it's a 𝙝𝙚𝙛𝙩𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙙

Vanilla sex is still wonderful though

He is the God of aftercare

Is also a master of Oral.

That beard on your thighs is pure magic

Pet names. Pet names. Pet names!!

Kitten, love, darling, sweetheart, baby girl

Knows all your spots

The person writing these headcannons needs to go bathe in holy water now

#chuck shurley #supernatural #writing #headcanon #chuck shurley smut #chuck shurley x reader #spn #rob benedict #dean winchester #castiel #sam winchester #crowley #spnfandom

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batmansymbol · 3 years

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fellow ADHD/chronic sleep issue friends: try SleepTown

Hey everybody! Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to spread the good word of this app, which has actually, legitimately changed my life. (this post isn’t sponsored lmao i wish)

I’ve had sleep problems for half my life. Around 8th grade, I lost the ability to make myself shut down for the night. I’d sit in front of devices, wanting to stop working or studying or messing around on the internet, but I couldn’t make myself. This was about ten years before I learned what “executive dysfunction” was, and about 13 years before I got diagnosed with ADHD, go figure.

So, when I was a student, I’d pass out at 4 AM, then wake up every morning feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. It was a running joke in college how I would sleep in public places, trying to snatch 15-minute naps here and there because of exhaustion.

After college, it got worse. I’m self-employed, so I stopped waking up in the morning at all. I worked until later and later times, until 3, 5, 7 AM. I woke up at 2 PM, then 4, then 6. Eventually, fully nocturnal and trying to reset my inner clock, I’d pull all-nighters and try to stay awake through the following days. Then I’d pass out for 14 hours, after being awake for 30 hours straight. Rinse, repeat, for years.

Due to sleep issues, I have: nearly driven off the road in high school, dropped classes in college, fallen into depressive episodes, developed a Vitamin D deficiency, gone days without eating, and lost friendships due to self-isolation. It’s been a blast!

I tried so many things to fix the constant grogginess, fatigue, and messed-up schedule. I tried a sleep study at the hospital, repeated blood tests to check for hypothyroid or anemia etc., melatonin, Zzzquil/other sleeping pills, the “multiple non-phone alarm clocks” strategy, a light-emitting alarm clock, and about six different apps, including that one that makes you solve math problems to shut the alarm off.

There’s one called Sleep Cycle that’s pretty good at what it does - it helped me feel less groggy when I woke up - but within a few days of starting it, I was back on my bullshit.

Then, about a month and a half ago, I downloaded an app called SleepTown. It costs two dollars. The concept: you set a goal for your nightly sleep parameters (mine is 12:15 PM to 8:45 AM). Before you go to bed, you hit the Sleep button.

After you hit Sleep, a construction site pops up and begins to build a cute cartoon building like the one above! If you leave the app after pressing Sleep, or if you don’t press Sleep before your bedtime, then the building is destroyed, leaving a sad-looking demolition project :(

So, you have to leave your phone alone. The next morning, the alarm goes off as scheduled. When you press “Wake Up,” and shake the phone for a minute to prove you are awake, the cute cartoon building will be completed and added to your Sleep Town! This is mine so far:

The app has various game-like features. You don’t know which building you’re going to get every night, so when you wake up, it’s like unwrapping a present. There are dozens of cute buildings to unlock, and achievement badges like building every kind of tent. Every seven days you meet your goal, you get a red ticket to help unlock a rare building (like the red-roofed library in the picture above).

There’s also a simple social feature. The pyramid in the pic is from me being in a Sleep Circle with a friend, meaning we have the same bedtime goals. This would be especially good for a couple who’s trying to get more regular sleep.

Despite the gamelike feel, though, it’s not an addictive app. It’s not designed to keep you fiddling around with it all the time and waste more time on your phone. It’s just gamelike enough to create a really good carrot/stick balance. Most sleep-related apps are only the stick, featuring louder or more relentless alarms - but that doesn’t make you excited to go to sleep on time.

This app makes sleeping feel like a fun, purposeful activity. I want to see which building I get, and it makes me really happy to see this town that I’ve been constructing through taking care of myself. And I don’t want to “let down” a building by destroying it.

It’s borderline ridiculous how dramatically my entire life has changed. Excepting a couple times I’ve stayed up for a social situation, I haven’t been awake past 1 a.m. for six weeks. I cannot believe how good I feel. I eat regularly. I have a meal plan and a calendar. I have hobbies and a work-life balance and I stick to (virtual, covid-responsible) hangouts that I make with friends.

It’s not totally failsafe. You CAN lie to the app and press “Sleep” while continuing to do things (except your phone, which will be locked down). I tried to do this a couple times. But I wound up feeling guilty about lying, because it felt stupid to want this little reward when I hadn’t actually met my goals.

In the same way, you CAN technically hit “Wake Up” and go back to sleep, but the shake-awake feature helps with that. I’d like it if they added something even more aggressive, like a step counter or something that won’t count you as Woken Up until you’ve taken 20 steps around your house or similar.

As it is, though -- I'm still groggy when I wake up at 8:45, but 1) keeping a regular schedule has lessened the grogginess and 2) when I wake up, I know for a fact I’ve gotten 7-8 hours of sleep the night before and I’ll feel fine in half an hour. So, in order to push past the groggy phase, I usually play a few chess puzzles on my phone or do a crossword, and by then I’m awake enough to get up.

I doubt this app will work for everyone, but I wanted to share it in case there is anyone else out there like me. Hope y’all are hanging in there, and happy sleeping :)

#adhd #sleep #executive dysfunction #feel free to reblog to potentially help ur sleep deprived friends!!!!!!!!!!#long post #looooong post #personal #about me

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frenchie-sottises · 4 years

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Skelebros Headcannons.

No one asked for these, but whatever. Also, there may be some triggers, so be aware. (It’s mainly trauma stuff.)

Also, this is like, super fucking long. I included quite a few versions.

Papyrus:

- Is over 7′9 without the boots. He’s 7′11 with them. - Smarter than he looks. (I might as well say that this is confirmed cause he apparently knows of Sans’s ability to prank people across time and space.) - Isn’t the best cook when it comes to dishes other than spaghetti, but that doesn’t mean he can’t learn. Excellent baker though! - He didn’t jump out of the window because he forgot the door exists. It’s his way of being comedic. (And it worked.) - He loves Sans’s puns, but he only gets so salty because he feels like the timing could be better. - Almost burned down the house once when he tried to make spaghetti the way Undyne did it, so he learned to tone tf down. He only gets rambunctious when he cooks with Undyne cause, come on, it’s fun to go nuts every now and again. - Isn’t afraid to curse, but he doesn’t do it cause it’s rude.

Sans:

- Is over 5′2 and is literally big boned. (All the Sanses are, really.) - Doesn’t actually know that Papyrus loves his puns. - The jacket he wears is something he made, so this means he’s good at sewing. - He went outside without a shirt once, so when he made the joke about the cold going through him, he opened his jacket as the wind went through. He got sick like a dumbass hours later. - Speaking of dumbasses, he managed to get Papyrus to call him one for getting sick. He’s managed to get Papyrus to cuss also. (They still love each other dearly, don’t worry.) - He totally doesn’t have PTSD. Nope, not at all. It’s definitely not from the genocide routes and seeing his brother get killed multiple times. - Because of his trauma and not having the proper resources to help it, he suffers a form of CFS. (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.)

Edge:

- Is over 7′10 without the boots. Is 8′2 with them. - No one knows how he can wear heels in the snow. (He runs in them for crying out loud.) - Can be easily flustered when it comes to flirting, but when he’s in the mood to be saucy? Oh boy. - Is practically a professional chef and baker. Undyne’s lessons made him realize that he has to teach himself if he wants to provide decent meals. - Is rough with his brother, but he isn’t straight up mean. It’s more along the lines of him struggling to be kind and gentle out in public. - Half of his encounters usually don’t involve him doing anything. He’s just that intimidating. - People mostly know him for being loud and angry 24/7, but this isn’t always the case. He can control his volume when he needs to, and is actually pretty damn tame. It’s pretty rare to see him genuinely angry.

Red:

- Is the shortest Sans in this list standing at 5′0. - His sweating mostly comes from him trying not to piss off his brother despite the fact that said brother’s made it clear that he would never be angry at him. - He has PTSD, but due to the environment, his symptoms tend to be worse. - He’s resorted to cutting himself several times. His brother has no clue though. - Struggles with his moral code more than his brother. He’s torn between following his own path and suffering possible consequences from the king, and being loyal to the king at all costs to avoid his wrath. - His shoes are always untied, so it’s not uncommon to see him on the ground face down. - If given the chance to take his mind off of things, he will take it. Drugs are off-hands though. You can thank Edge for that.

Stretch:

- Is over 7′6 when he’s not slouching. - The cig’s gonna be lit, but he doesn’t smoke. He only does it cause it makes him look cool. - He actually doesn’t use any drugs, but he did get himself high one time via weed brownies for pure shits and giggles. Boy, was he high off his ass. - Unlike the classic Sans, his jokes have better timing. He’s made Blueberry laugh several times. - “I can make every dirty joke in existence... AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME!” - Stretch at one point in time. - Has an endless supply of hoodies and it confuses his brother to this day. - He’s learned to give mercy while making you wish you were dead. (I may or may not have watched Rising of the Shield Hero.)

Blueberry:

- Is over 5′6 with the boots. Is only 5′5 without them. - Has a bod that screams the power to wrestle BEARS. - Someone teach him how to cook. He keeps overcooking the fucking TACO MEAT- - He has the body of a himbo, the personality of a himbo, and the mind of a himbo- okay, maybe the last one is a little inaccurate. He can be pretty smart. - May or may not be a bit of a perv. - His smile is so bright that it lightens up just about everyone’s moods. - Is a fantastic artist and no one can tell him otherwise.

Pup (Swapfell):

- Is over 7′3 when he’s not slouching. - Does actually smoke. - His blind eye was given from his brother playing far too rough. - He likes to rob people, but will learn to stop if the victim is shown to be far too powerful for him to handle. - Despite his not-so-welcomed attitude, when he’s put in a place where there is no threat of his brother, he can be quite friendly. - Has tried to feel people up in the past, but constantly keeps having his ass handed to him. - Makes only dirty jokes.

Blackberry (Swapfell):

- Is over 5′7 with the boots. Is only 5′4 without them. - Really needs his ass handed to him. - He can say he loves his brother all he wants. Doesn’t excuse why he treats him like shit. - He tends to poison his food when it comes to others. It could possibly contribute to why his brother steals other’s money. (And by “poison”, I mean he’s not a good cook. At all.) - Although he fights a lot, his body doesn’t quite match up to par, and he hates it. - Is easily jealous and possessive. - Surprisingly doesn’t actually swear when he swears.

Slim (Fellswap Red):

- Is over 7′3, and he doesn’t slouch. - Has the fluffiest jacket in existence and wears a lot of the bigger collars. - Is an absolute sweetheart when his brother’s not around. (More so than Red.) - Although he often drinks hot sauce, he’d rather prefer BBQ sauce. - Actually handles his PTSD better than his other lazy counterparts. - Has a bad habit of falling in love too easily. - Is very reserved and quiet for the most part.

Bloodberry (Fellswap Red):

- Is over 5′9 with the boots. Is only 5′6 without them. - Has a bad tendency to be saucy with someone he likes. - Is a decent cook when it comes down to it. - Also struggles with being kind in public. - Has taken a liking to archery. He’s even become good at it. - He hates the queen, but mainly because she’s always cruel to her subjects. He hopes to overthrow her for the betterment of the kingdom. - Unlike Blackberry, he does care for his brother.

Wine (Fellswap Gold):

- Is over 7′4, and he doesn’t slouch. - Since he mostly writes, he’s become a very good writer and artist. - Whenever he’s given a compliment, he sits in silence. He usually doesn’t receive them, so when he does, he kind of just.. breaks. - Like his blacklist, he has a list of names of those who have been extremely kind to him. - Tries not to become someone who has to depend on someone else. - He has days where the braces on his canines hurt like all hell, so he’ll wind up with tears in his eyes. - The constant oppression gets to him sometimes. He isn’t violent, but he will continuously cry and whimper.

Coffee (Fellswap Gold):

- Is over 6′0 with the boots. Is only 5′10 without them. - Wants to try and fix the kingdom so its people aren’t so oppressed. - Will be there for his brother within seconds. - Learned to be a decent cook for his brother. - The oppression gets to him also, but it’s mainly from the people. - A lot of the clothes he and his brother wear are from his own hands. - Has taught his brother some military fighting to protect himself as he is related to someone who the people hate.

Axe (Horrortale):

- Is the biggest Sans on this list standing at 6′7. - Is also the strongest in terms of physical strength. - Really needs to stop seeing human flesh and regular food as the same thing. - To those he cares for, he becomes almost like a guard dog but 10x scarier. - None of the Sanses and Papyruses aside from his own brother mess with him. - If someone is not scared of him for whatever reason, he has some respect for that. He just doesn’t really show it. - Gets easily spooked by really loud noises.

Everest (Horrortale):

- The tallest Papyrus standing at 9′2 with the boots. He’s only 9′0 without them. This also assumes he isn’t slouching, but he always is. - After being without food for so long, he struggles to not eat human flesh. - His kindness challenges classic Papyrus’s. - He hit a growth spurt far too early, and it’s why he’s slouching. (It’s kind of like he suffered Gigantism, but he stopped growing eventually.) - Compared to the other active counterparts, he’s the weakest. - Because of him being so thin, he tends to freeze far more easily. - When he’s pushed in a corner, he will fight back, but it’s best if his brother is with him.

And that ends that. I had these ideas going for a while, so I decided to spill them here. Hope y’all like these.

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years

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The Ultimate Guide to Instant Noodles

A variety of instant noodles from different countries

How to mash-up, deconstruct, and altogether upgrade the versatile staple of dorm room dining

As a semi-professional noodle slurper and collector, I’ve eaten hundreds of noodles in my life, but I have a particular soft spot for one type, specifically: the instant kind. You know, those hard squiggly bricks of dried, fried noodles with accompanying seasoning packets that have long been the foundation of the American collegiate diet. Since the pandemic started, I’ve been showing off my impressive collection of instant noodles to my friends on FaceTime like a YouTube beauty guru flaunting their makeup stash.

I love instant noodles for many reasons: They have a nearly indefinite shelf life; they are an easy breakfast, snack, or — with the right bolstering — a full meal; and, they come in a panoply of shapes, textures, flavors, and colorful packaging styles. But while there is nothing wrong with eating instant noodles according to the instructions, it’s their versatility that’s made me a devoted fan. Here’s how to mash-up, deconstruct, and upgrade the dorm room staple.

1. Load up on protein

Yes, many instant noodles come with their own packets of dehydrated vegetable or meat flavoring, but they rarely provide much real taste and add zero in the way of texture. Supplementing your own additional proteins will do a lot to make your instant noodles more satisfying and nutrition-rich. Try simple items like ground meat, sausage, tofu, and leftover fried chicken — or my personal favorite ramen topping, pork char siu. Meat shortage got ya down? Just crack an egg. You can stir it right in to create an egg-drop soup effect, or poach the egg gently in the soup broth to enjoy breaking the creamy yolk.

Chicken-flavored ramen with garlicky sautéed kale, roasted chicken legs, and carrots.

2. Go big with toppings

Going nuts with the add-ons at ramen restaurants can mean spending $30 on a bowl of noodles (toppings normally cost between $1 and $3 each.) But at home, you can have as many toppings as the inventory of your fridge’s produce drawer allows: scallions, corn, mushrooms, kale, you name it. Not sure about what to do with all those weird greens in your CSA farm box? Add them to your instant noodles! Fact: There is no such thing as a lousy topping for instant noodles.

3. Deconstruct everything

Each element of the instant noodle package is a multi-purpose cooking superstar. The seasoning packets add a pop to stir-fried vegetables. Broken into bits, the uncooked noodles are an excellent crunchy topping for a salad or even another non-instant pasta dish. Do yourself a favor and add some ramen seasoning to mac and cheese, or how about using those instant noodles to make buns for an at-home ramen burger?

4. Switch up the liquid

To deepen the character of the soup, try cooking the noodles in vegetable or chicken broth instead of plain water. There are plenty of wilder recipes out there, including this one I’m skeptical of that uses milk, but homemade stock is a safe jumping off point.

5. Mash-up different styles

Mixing different instant noodle styles and seasoning packets is a culinary art form in itself, and can have big payoff. Jjapaguri (also called ram-don), the famous dish from the Oscar-winning movie Parasite, is actually just a hybrid of two different kinds of instant noodles — Neoguri and Jjappaghetti — and has become one of Korea’s national dishes. The magic comes from the mixing of Neguri’s spicy seafood powder with Jjappaghetti’s savory black bean powder, which ignites a lethal umami bomb. But jjapaguri is just the start. Try mixing Neoguri and curry noodles to create an exuberant, spicy curry broth. Combining super spicy noodles with something cheesy is also 100 percent never a bad idea.

Jjapaghetti goes well with fried egg

The Ones to Know

Here, then, are some of the best instant noodles to stock up on, categorized by whether or not they’re “brothy” (the noodle soup kind) or “saucy” (brothless noodles with a separate sauce).

BROTHY

MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle If you love Penang curry, try adding this noodle to your cart. These wildly popular Malaysian instant noodles are considered some of the best in the world on this heavily opinionated ranking. Three whole flavor pouches — one of them is a paste — make for a deep, coconut-y taste and hearty portion size that you rarely get from instant noodles. Add toppings like fried tofu or prawns.

Neoguri, Spicy Seafood Udon Noodles Neoguri, a Korean word for raccoon dog (neither a raccoon nor a dog; discuss), has been my top choice for ramen since I started slurping noodles at the age of three. This beloved Korean instant noodle is known for two things: thick udon-like noodles and a spicy seafood broth with actual dried seafood. It’s fantastic with any fishy topping or add-ins.

Nongshim Shin Ramyun Noodle Soup Shin Ramyun might be the very first Korean instant noodle brand, as well as one of the easiest to find internationally: I still remember the exciting moment when I found Shin Ramyun in a random gas station in Alabama. It’s known for its spicy broth, and doubles as an excellent noodle for Korean ramen beginners. Top this with a slice of American cheese to tone down the spice and pump up the greatness.

Prima Taste Laksa Coconut Curry Lamian Noodles This Singaporean instant noodle inspired by traditional laksa has a paste sachet that can and should be used for stir-frying vegetables, too. The noodles are rounder and less wavy than others, and the white powder adds the signature creaminess.

Mama Noodles Thai cooking doesn’t shy away from acid, and neither do these Thai instant noodles, with just the right balance of acidic and salty flavors. The wavy noodles and the powdery seasonings make a great snack — though it may not be hearty enough to be a standalone meal. Beef it up with a hard-boiled egg and other vegetable toppings, like scallions.

Sapporo Ichiban Tokyo Chicken Momosan Ramen Think Japanese shoyu ramen, in instant form: salty, slightly smokey, and clean tasting. It’s great with plain old white-meat chicken breast — which is hard to say about anything, really.

Paldo Gomtang Oriental Style Noodles with Beef Soup Base Not all Korean instant noodles are spicy! This mild, creamy Korean noodle soup is inspired by gomtang, or beef bone broth. It has an intense beefiness and is excellent with hearty greens like cabbage or scallions. Add some ground beef to make it more filling.

Tseng noodles with black sesame sauce

SAUCY

Nongshim, Jjapaghetti (Noodle Pasta with jjajang Sauce) “On Sundays, I’m the chef for Jjapaghetti” has been a Korean catchphrase for more than a decade. A combination of two dishes — jajangmyun (black bean noodles) and spaghetti— this saucy Korean instant noodle is also what spurred the ram-don trend after its crucial role in Parasite. The accompanying savory black bean sauce is all it really needs, though I highly recommend a luxe drizzle of truffle oil, too.

Indomie Mi Goreng Instant Stir Fry Noodles If you haven’t tried this Indonesian instant noodle, stop what you’re doing and fix that immediately. The package comes with a liquid seasoning mix of savory onion-flavored oil, sweet-spicy chili sauce, and sweet soy sauce, creating a salty-and-sweet coating for the wavy noodles. Any optional toppings like grilled steak or boiled eggs are just gravy.

Samyang Extra Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Are you up for #FireNoodleChallenge? Join the leagues of people who’ve filmed themselves slurping these dangerously spicy noodles. There are multiple flavor options available, from carbonara to curry, and all of them equally fiery. Cover this with lots of mozzarella cheese to tone down the heat to the point where you might actually enjoy it.

Tseng Noodles Scallion With Sichuan Pepper Flavor This Taiwanese instant noodle is all about texture. Its curling, knife-cut-like strands are a perfect match for the sauce. There are many different flavors, besides this scallion one, such as black sesame and shallots. Depending on the sauce, the noodles textures vary. Think of this as gourmet-tier, since it costs slightly more than other noodles, but it’s totally worth the splurge.

Paldo Bibim Myun Cold Noodle The spicy, tangy, sweet sauce of these Korean noodles will wake up even the dullest of palates. Cook the noodles until they’re just al dente, or still a little firm, then rinse them under cold water to get rid of any residual starch and achieve peak bounce and chew. The sauce packet is an excellent salad dressing, too. Add some chopped cucumber and hard-boiled egg for a clutch midnight snack, or add some ice cubes for a cooling summer treat.

Mom’s Dry Noodle Sichuan Spicy The Taiwanese knife cut-style noodles cling to the oily, spicy sauce for maximum slurpability. Top with a fried egg or fried cubed tofu and you can almost pretend you’re at a restaurant.

Mom’s Dry Noodle has dried ribbon noodles which have ideal textures for the sauce

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2NkSTkS https://ift.tt/2V7Dj0p

A variety of instant noodles from different countries

How to mash-up, deconstruct, and altogether upgrade the versatile staple of dorm room dining

1. Load up on protein

Chicken-flavored ramen with garlicky sautéed kale, roasted chicken legs, and carrots.

2. Go big with toppings

3. Deconstruct everything

4. Switch up the liquid

5. Mash-up different styles

Jjapaghetti goes well with fried egg

The Ones to Know

Here, then, are some of the best instant noodles to stock up on, categorized by whether or not they’re “brothy” (the noodle soup kind) or “saucy” (brothless noodles with a separate sauce).

BROTHY

Tseng noodles with black sesame sauce

SAUCY

Mom’s Dry Noodle has dried ribbon noodles which have ideal textures for the sauce

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2NkSTkS via Blogger https://ift.tt/2V92Rds

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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hecallsmehischild · 4 years

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On Losing Weight

Recently I was asked a question that prompted me to pull together all the information I could remember about how my husband, Sergey, and I have been eating over the last few years. We both struggle very much with food and have been trying to do better by our bodies for a long time, but are wary of all the diets and fads. This post has details about what we’ve tried to date and what has worked for us. Most of it is written by me. At the end, Sergey wrote a few paragraphs also. Very long post under the cut.

Disclaimers and a few generalities

One thing about eating and weight loss is that accountability really helps. However, I’ve found personally that even if everyone in your family means well, accountability partners should not be within the family. The main reason I've found is that there's too much baggage with any family member (with the potential exception of your marriage partner) for accountability to ever go well and function as it should. Resentment, triggers, irritation, even accidental shaming crops up because of old baggage and derails everything. You need accountability with someone who you don’t carry a lot of baggage with, because there’s often a huge emotional component to eating.

It takes a LONG time to lose large amounts of weight. You can lose five to ten pounds relatively quickly, but often your body will stabilize on the new number and then you may find it very hard to get lower for months, so continuing to try new things is helpful.

You will yo-yo between 3 and 5 pounds all the time. That is standard. So think in five pound increments in any direction, because your bodyweight is constantly in flux over a few pounds. For this reason, weighing once a week is a lot more accurate than weighing every day and will cause a lot less despair and frustration.

We are not vegetarians at all. We cannot offer any thoughts on a vegetarian diet.

Whatever you do, food-wise, has to be part of your ordinary life. Short term diets set you up to fail. Changing your lifestyle is what will produce long-lasting changes.

Also, some of the things my husband and I try, in some ways, appears to walk the line of eating disorder. I’m watching it very closely with that in mind, and I still don’t think it falls into the trap. Sergey and I do not have enough activity to burn off all the food with take in, so we’re trying things to decrease our food intake AND increase our activity, so that we reach a reasonable balance. But people who have (or are tempted by) eating disorders need to take care, and I would recommend not reading this post or else proceeding with utmost caution.

Obviously not all of the things we do are feasible for everyone, but maybe even hearing some of our ideas might spark a different way of thinking about food and being active for you.

One Meal a Day

Three meals a day makes a lot of sense if you’re doing hard labor all the time. It doesn’t make as much sense if you have a desk job or take care of a house as your main occupation. So the first thing we did a few years back is cut down to one meal a day. It could be anything at all, but it had to be just one meal. That alone dropped us both about 10 pounds down. We’d have one meal around lunch, and later in the evening we would share a large bowl of some sort of fruit (like tangerines or cherries). The aim was to eat things that were both good and filling. Variation keeps you from getting bored and abandoning the lifestyle.

Meals were often grilled salmon or home-warmed burgers (lean, when we could) or a soup from Trader Joe’s. Some of our meals now:

Two burgers with lean beef patties, pickles, and some mayo on bakery fresh onion rolls

Lox (with is VERY low cal, if expensive) on onion rolls with tomato and onion, a little oil and pepper and salt

Sharing a whole roast chicken from the store, plus a roll each

Large can of tuna mixed with a little mayo on two onion rolls

Shredded chicken and mashed potatoes from the store’s fresh packaged food section

Pot roast and mashed potatoes from the store’s fresh packaged food section

Meatballs. Just meatballs.

A spicy beans/rice/sausage/mushroom dish we brainstormed that we make in a pressure cooker

Home-made chicken mushroom fettuccine alfredo. Not super healthy, but hot and homemade. (this is a “maintenance” meal, see what I mean by that later)

A bag of chicken fried rice from Trader Joe’s

Soup from the grocery store (not the canned kind, but the fresher ones sold by the store)

Two larger sized tamales

One frozen pizza (inspect the full calorie count, you’re shooting for something between 600 and 1000 calories total, which does exist but it takes some looking and experimenting with types) whose flavor can always be spiced up with extra mushrooms or garlic powder. Not the Tostino’s or Party pizzas. I promise there are healthier, tastier, and more varied pizzas to be had in this calorie range.

Chicken breast or chicken thigh meat is sold frozen. Cook that and make that into sandwiches for very lean, filling meals. Use of various spices encouraged.

A tray of baked “catfish nuggets” which are chunks of catfish cooked in the oven

A tray of baked white meat chicken nuggets

Cocktail shrimp (thawed from frozen) with cocktail sauce

I have just broken into the frontier of omelettes, also low-cal and filling in conjunction with onion rolls.

Sergey would often go to a salad bar and load up on the salad, then also load up on the chicken noodle soup which is very filling and very low cal.

Sergey eats his meal closer to noon or one. I try to eat my meal around 3 or 4 if I can hold out, because then I’m not groaning about how hungry I am in the evening or being kept up by hunger pangs. For me, that’s the mid-point of the day and the one that helps me deal with hunger best.

Snacks and Sweets

Snacks are always tricky, and large bags of anything salty are automatic failures in this house; we are incapable of portioning them. So we stopped getting them unless we acknowledged the truth to ourselves, which is that one bag is one serving size no matter what the back says (i.e. we embraced that we’re being bad and got it anyway).

For a while Sergey and I had an occasional bowl of non-buttered popcorn with powdered salt. This worked for a bit because it was pretty filling, but Sergey found himself making multiple bowls so we had to stop because that defeated the purpose.

Some stores sell very small snacks individually portioned, like a tiny foil pack of variously flavored olives, or banana bites coated in cacao, etc. Those are great. Rice cakes can be good, though I get tired of them after a while. I like the cinnamon apple and chocolate ones best. Speaking of cinnamon apple, individual oatmeal cups are good too. I aim for around 140 cal for a snack.

Sometimes I will snack on a lean burger patty or chicken thigh-meat piece, each of which is about 70 cal.

By himself, Sergey often would (and still does) fill a large bowl full of small quartered tomatoes mixed with pepper, oil, and onion. He can put away two of these tomato salads a day as “snacks.” He says they’re very filling, good for you, and low-cal. He’s leaning more on bowls of baby carrots and sugar snap peas these days. Sometimes he will make a large bowl of Golden Apple slices to chow down on.

I keep NO ice cream in the house. I may get a larger quantity for a birthday celebratory binge, or use individual containers as a reward system, but I never “stock up” on ice cream. Birthday? Maybe 4 of the personal containers of various flavors, and that’s it for my birthday treat. Reward system? Once I get to a certain weight, I allow myself to have one small personal container of ice cream (or my other favorite, a jar of honey pecans) a week. The incentive to get to a certain weight balances out the slow-down on the weight loss the treat causes, because this can’t be all about deprivation or I couldn’t sustain it. Being able to sustain a way of eating into a lifestyle is a huge deal.

I keep dried cranberries in the cabinet. Sometimes if I’m hungry and need to hold out, I’ll grab one handful of those to eat. I keep larger quantities of oatmeal too, but I’m not sure if that’s working against me or not, because I dump high quantities of honey in to bring it up to my sweet tooth standards so it might end up being a bad thing for me. I haven’t sat down to figure that out yet.

I make a mean chunky cinnamon applesauce that is a delicious and pretty healthy snack, too, when I have the energy to make it.

I would like to make sweets all the ding dong day, but it works against us, so I have to reserve my sweets making for when there’s a large group to share them with. Otherwise we would eat all of that ourselves.

Tools that help

Making your own food at home becomes a lot more enjoyable and feasible for low-energy people like us when there are tools that cut back on the effort it takes. To that end

A good 6 qt pressure cooker does everything a crockpot does, but it has more options and is faster.

A good food processor can do almost anything, from applesauce to milling oats to slicing veggies to finely dicing the onions you don’t want to deal with, to making ice cream out of frozen bananas and cocoa powder. We have an older one and it still does wonders, even though some of the latches don’t work right.

A good indoor grill machine.

Electric mixer/beater. The effort of making cookies goes down by a third to a half the personal energy cost when you use this, plus the process goes faster and the texture is so much better.

A dishwasher. A good dishwasher means you aren’t spending a ton of energy cleaning up all the dishes you soiled just making food. Did you know there are portable dishwashers that hook up to your sink if you don’t have one in the home? I just learned this...

This one heavily depends on how much you’d use it, but it can be very inexpensive to get an electric citrus juicer. I can go through about 40 lemons for a party-sized quantity of lemonade and it wracks out my wrist to do that manually, so I got a good one for about $20.

This website is one Sergey uses to see what products are legitimately good, because Amazon is starting to have major issues with fake reviews PLUS Chinese knock-offs getting passed off as the good product. This site user-tests a ton of different brands of the same product and tells you which one they found to be best and why, then gives a few runners up in other categories like price or different type. I used this to find a good set of salt/pepper grinders, a good knife sharpener, and an individual serving coffee maker. I also found my electric mixer and citrus juicer on here.

Also, pickling things is fun and very cheap and easy.

A few radical things

This is our lifestyle, not a diet. We go crazy with our eating when we’re on a trip, but normal, everyday eating is the one-meal-a-day plan for us. Going to a friend’s place for a meal is a balancing act that we often fail (because it’s often all-you-can-eat), but we’re already brainstorming ways to compensate.

Here’s for something radical sounding, to be handled with care. While Sergey aims for around 1300 calories a day, approximately, I aim for under or close to 800. I’ve found that if I eat the same things as him, I maintain my current weight but do not lose any. It’s when I, the smaller and less active person, undershoot him, that I start gaining ground. When I reach the weight I’m aiming for, I will allow myself more leeway to get to his calorie intake level, because that’s “maintenance” level for me.

Here’s the current thing we are testing, so the results are not in yet. We’re doing this because neither of us has been able to budge our weight for a while. It’s a combination of factors so track with me. We like a place called Star Cinema Grill which is a movie theater that serves you a meal and/or drinks while you watch the movie. But even for one meal this is a very high calorie day if we go there. We swore off going for a long time, until their marketing department sent out a wave of “Two free tickets!” in the mail. Sergey figured that he would go, and then he would not eat for 48 hours to make up for it. I was a little concerned by the idea, but after thinking it over for a while (with the concern about eating disorders in mind) it didn’t actually seem that unreasonable. So I joined him in this. So now we’ve worked out that we can go to Star Cinema Grill on occasion as long as it’s followed by a 48 hour fast.

We had previously tried 48 hour fasts (which consist of, for example, eating lunch around noon on Sunday and stopping food until lunch on Tuesday, so that you sleep through much of the 48 hour period) but we first did the fast on ONLY water. By the second day we were both so lethargic and unfocused that we could hardly function. This time we allowed ourselves to have several rounds of tea or mocha throughout the day. That time, we experienced very negligible energy drops and made it through the period of no-eating with a lot less suffering.

NOW. I was reading Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, the expanded and revised edition, and at the end they included several articles they had written as bonus material. Please read this article to understand where I’m going next.

Excited, I rushed over to Sergey to make him read this bit. This is already sort of what we had been doing. Though this guy had distilled it down to sugar water, tea with a cube of sugar isn’t much different. My mocha had about three times the sugar, but was still on the very low end of calories for a day. So this idea (that sugar-water helps trick your body past hunger) was being confirmed for us by someone else. So we’ve decided to test out doing this 48-hour fast once a week, which may also allow for re-inclusion of things we tend to forgo more often (like weekly ice cream? Or a fresh batch of cookies?). Stay tuned...

Going out

We built a list of places and categories of how good or bad they are for us to go to. We divided them into Healthy and Healthy Cheat. Bad ones don’t make it on the list so we’re not tempted when we’re thinking of where to go out.

Healthy Restaurants are places where, if you’re reasonable with your choices, you can eat pretty much any one meal on their menu. (Lemon Shark is our Poke place in the area. Poke is unreasonably good and healthy and filling for you, and most will have vegetarian or cooked options on the menu if you don’t like raw fish. Jinya is a ramen place, though you have to be a little more selective about because some dishes are two meals’ worth, and Sweet Tomatoes is a salad bar also known as Souplantation in some regions)

Healthy Cheat Restaurants are places where we know we’ll probably eat more than we should, but the food is still relatively healthy. Tokyo Grill and Dimassi’s are both buffet places with relatively healthy options near us. Fukuda Sushi is our sushi go-to for now (though we’re looking to replace it as the fish quality went down).

Avoid most all-you-can-eat places like the plague, unless it’s a salad bar. Even then, if you gravitate toward the breads and creamy soups like I do, just say no.

Places we love that are also pretty bad for us on any kind of regular basis: Rudy’s BBQ, Star Cinema Grill, Wine Tasting Room (large meat and cheese platters), anywhere Italian.

Being Active

We took up Krav Maga, which had us doing off and on rigorous exercise for an hour twice a week. That went on for about a year. After I broke my toe, we switched to a home exercise regimen.

Instead of home exercise equipment, we opted for DDR pads, and have been doing hour-long DDR sessions most mornings. After an hour long workout (25 songs on easy-to-medium levels) we each do 20 crunches and then Sergey does extra burpees or push-ups. As the crunches get easier for me, I will be adding five at a time. I’m up to 30 now. Crunches were initially added to help me maintain the muscles that hold up a weak place in my spine, however now it’s also a good end-workout routine. I cannot get through all this without frequent water breaks because I drip sweat, and Sergey turns into a waterfall.

Sergey has added about 3-5 extra mini-workouts (a set of pushups or burpees) sprinkled throughout the day.

Some days we go to a park in the morning and walk for 30-50 minutes instead of DDR. It’s less strenuous, but a nice change of pace and scenery.

Some days we go kayaking in a nearby waterway, which REALLY works the arm muscles that day, but it’s a fantastic workout. We keep saying we need to go more often, but often forget.

Failing

It’s going to happen. It’s going to feel miserable. Sometimes I have found myself up at three AM, unable to sleep, making myself another whole frozen pizza or eating all the spaghetti leftovers. Sometimes I can talk myself into something slightly better, like a bowl of oatmeal, but not often. Sometimes I’ll just mix white and brown sugar, butter, and raw oatmeal and eat this lump-of-barely-cookie-dough as is. Sometimes I come home from the grocery store with an entire round loaf of bakery bread and eat it, much to Sergey’s fascination and surprise. One time I scooped one out and filled it with clam chowder and ate my own homemade bread bowl. It was great. It was also way over my limit.

Sometimes “failing” is known and expected, like around the holidays or birthdays. It’s okay to celebrate. Food is a very social and emotional experience as well as a sustenance deal. Keep picking yourself back up and trying again.

Sergey, who is SUPER good at distilling core concepts, adds his own TLDR:

On Losing Weight

Dusty and I have both struggled with overeating. For me, there have been sad times when plowing through a huge meal may have been the happiest 20 minutes of my day, and it’s no surprise that I would resist any attempts to eliminate that. However, I’ve found that losing weight and getting healthier leads to better moods and reduces the frequency and severity of impulses to binge.

Whatever you do must be incorporated into your lifestyle—if you are “going on a diet,” then you are setting yourself up to fail. If certain behaviors become part of your ordinary day, and you maintain that for months at a time, it’s much more likely that you’ll be able to keep going.

The most important change I’ve made is limiting myself to 1 meal a day. After a short adjustment period, I feel only a little bit hungrier than I did with 2 meals a day while consuming half the calories. That meal should be a reasonably-sized meal (typically 800-1200 calories for men, 600-900 for women), not an extra-large one. If I get hungry again, I only allow myself some very low-calorie snacks like carrots, sugar snap peas, or tomatoes.

The second thing I did was institute a daily exercise program. Dusty and I start each morning with an hour of DDR when we can, and I stop what I’m doing every 3-5 hours to do a set of 20 burpees. As I gain strength, I plan to increase this number. We also go for walks or go kayaking when the weather and our moods allow. What’s most important is that you do something to get your heart racing and get sweaty, and that you do it every day.

The last thing I did was institute occasional 48-hour fasts. For example, I would have lunch on Monday and not eat again until lunch on Wednesday. If I have tea with light sugar during a fast, I only feel moderately hungrier than I would otherwise. It’s much more tolerable than I thought it would be. There is considerable research suggesting that intermittent fasting is good for you, and it can be a reasonable way to offset the binge you couldn’t resist having. It’s definitely a healthier approach than purging, which hurts both your body and your soul.

#food #eating #rlchild #exercise #if you struggle with eating disorders this post is not good for you #not vegetarian

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mrpatrouiousachatz1993 · 5 years

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A Free School Lunch Program can save a Public School MILLIONS of Dollars.

You know what I love, I love how the far right blames liberals for the whole PBJ Sandwhich if you can not afford school lunch, and they say school lunch should be free. Meanwhile they want to cut food stamps, they are against free public college tuition, and they want to cut social security. Yet they whine over PBJ given to students who owe lunch money or can not afford lunch.

Don't get me wrong, I hate the idea of just a PBJ sandwhich if you owe lunch money or can not afford a hot meal. The taxes we pay go to public schools. So if I am paying taxes, and my local taxes go to the local public school for my area (in this case Avonworth), should that mean a student at that school district should be treated differently than the students who have financial privilege because they can not afford lunch?

You know where most of the public school's budget goes to? THE SPORTS TEAMS! How about instead of the school giving more money to the Football team to purchase new uniforms every year, the schools give more funding to programs that offer FREE lunches to those who can not afford it, or just make school lunch FREE! You know how much money the schools would save if they funded for Lunches to be FREE!

Lets take a look at The prices in the Avonworth School District as an example.

$2.60 is the price of lunch in the Elementary School and Primary Center, a reduced lunch is $0.40.

In the Middle School and High School, you have two lunch options. A "main entree" line lunch is $2.70 and a "premium" line lunch is $3.35. The reduced lunch price is $0.40.

Now for the breakfast it is the same price for everyone which is $1.50.

Now for Avonworth they start school around the end of August and end June around the 1st or 2nd week. Now if you were to take the tax dollars Avonworth community members pay, count all of the prices of the lunches in all 4 schools. There are about 185 days for students at Avonworth. so take all the prices and multiply them to $185.

Primary Center and Elementary School cost of lunch for students for the entire year: $481.00

Middle School and High School "main line" lunch cost the entire year: $499.50

Middle School and High School "premium line" cost the entire year: $619.75

Now lets look at the average cost of uniforms for HS football teams. One set of jerseys and pants can cost at least $150 per person, if you multiply that by 60 players the bill can reach up to $9,000. Now lets multiply $9,000 to and entire school year (we will use Avonworth as an example). Now lets go by a 10 years. lets multiply 185 with 10. You get 1850 days. Now lets multiple that $9,000 total to 1850 days. You get 16,650,000. Now if you purchase new football uniforms every year, for 10 years it is going to cost you over a million dollars.

Now lets take the average cost of lunches for an entire year and multiply them to 1850 days.

Primary/Elementary: $889,850

Middle School/High School "Main Line": $924,075

Middle School/High School "Premium Line": $1,146,537.50

Now lets add all these calculations up for all the lunches in a total of 10 years.

It would cost the school 2,970,462.50 to provide free lunches to students in the course of 10 years.

Avonworth's budget is over $22,000,000 annually.

Now lets take the average cost of new football uniforms every year for 10 years and subtract it with the cost of lunch for 10 years.

The school would be saving $13,679,537.50 if they would have funded free school lunches every year for 10 years, instead of giving money to the football team every single year for new uniforms.

Now the cost of jerseys and pants for sports teams, can vary on the company the school goes through. However, we need to admit that the cost of school lunches now a days are ridiculous. Not to mention in some districts we add extras to sucker parents to pay more money. Like at the Avonworth Elementary School and Primary Center, a child can purchase an Ice Cream or some kind of sweet treat for $1.00, or they can purchase a Miniature Rice Krispie Treat for 25 cents. A Large bottle of water is the same price as the Ice Cream and sweet treat. A small bottle of water is 50 cents. Why do these extras cost less than the lunch it self? Oh you only have 50 cents? You can get a small water or 2 Rice Krispie Treats. Oh you only have $1.00 in your account? You can get an Ice Cream to prevent going into a negative balance.

We pay taxes for a reason people! Put those taxes to good use like FREE School lunches! Also please get rid of the junk food extras like Ice Cream, Donuts, and Rice Krispie Treats.

#school lunches

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lifeafterthewake · 5 years

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11.12.2018

I wasn’t and I’m still not sure what to do with this account. I’ve started it as an attempt at blogging and it’s clearly not working. Then again it usually is quite a challange for me to write as I live with a person who talks a lot and I seek their presence. Oftentimes I talk and all the content inside my mind gets spilled and discharged. But right now I’m in a bit of a pickle, staying at a friend’s house while they’re away so naturally more thoughts come to my mind and the need to express them is more apparent.

I wanted to write a little bit about self-control or self-control issues. I’ve never been good with self-control. Whether it’s money, food, learning for important exams, managing my time, speaking to other people or managing the power I have in relation to them - there were always issues.

My weight is an issue of great concern to me as my whole childhood and adolescence I was bombarded with contradicting communicates: that I eat too much, that I don’t eat enough, that I’m too fat, that my weight is fine, that I should do more physical activities while I was going to extracurricular classes almost all the time (karate, dancing, swimming, horse riding for a short period of time). My parents are obese and they eat too much and so I was overweight ever since I went to elementary school. The most I ever weighed was 102kg I think. I was 15 years old then. It was a turning point for me as when I crossed the 100kg line I thought to myself ‘this is too much, this is dangerous, I have to do something about it’. And so I did.

Before going into highschool, so 15/16 years old I’ve imposed a set of strict dietary rules upon myself. I ate every 3 hours 5-6 meals a day, I chewed every bite 30 times or until it was practically dissolved in my mouth, I’ve only eaten one meal at a time, so no multiple dish dinners. I avoided sweets and juice, drank mostly water. As a result I’ve lost... I’m not sure really. The least I weighed was 76 or 78 I think. Let’s go with 76. So I’ve lost 26 kilograms. In 6 months time. I looked like a different person. I wouldn’t say I was mentally happy with myself but physically I felt so much better. I still had to deal with comments from my family about how I don’t eat anything and how I look ‘so thin’ but it was managable.

I’ve stopped sticking to my ‘no sweets’ rule about a year into high school. It was hard to keep it up. Generally my eating habits have loosened since then but I still feel like it was much needed, even though it wasn’t a safe thing to do, for me to feel that I can achieve something if I try hard enough. You see, I never really had to try to do anything in school. I’m an intelligent person and I’ve never had problems with grades during my time in lower education. It is a bit of an issue now that I’m studying but it’s still mostly managable.

When I moved out of my parents house I got drunk on the money. I still can’t responsibly spend my money although I have taught myself to spend less on food. My father rented me a flat and sent in about 330$ a month for me to live on. I don’t live in US or UK so it’s actually quite a lot of money for a student’s needs (for measure: a loaf of bread in a chainstore costs about 0,68$; 1,5L bottle of water 0,39$; 1kg of chicken breast +/-4,74$) . In the beginning I was spending it like crazy, mostly on food that I was eventually throwing away. I was cooking a lot back then too. You see, I say I’m bad with money but if I am bad then my parents are horrible with it. They probably spend about 530$ a month on food itself, and probably throw away about a 1/5 of it. Every time I visit their house the fridge is brimming with food (and it’s usually cold cuts or cooked meat that I don’t eat often anymore). So you can imagine what kind of an environment I was subconsciously trying to recreate and why it was so costly.

Food apart I don’t manage my money well unless I absolutely have to. My father usually sends me extra cash whenever I need it so I got lazy about controlling my spendings, I splurge on material items and then run out of money for food or I irresponsibly spend money on food in the city center because I don’t have time to cook and I hate planning meals ahead so I run out of cash very quickly (a dinner in the downtown area costs me about 5,26$ per main course; for the same amount I can cook a meal for 3 days). This semester I got super lazy with my diet as well, preciesly because I had so classes at uni. I usually try to avoid grains and wheat because my body doesn’t deal well with gluten in excess. Lately I’ve let myself completely loose (because of personal reasons as well) and I feel horrible.

I feel horrible to the point where I’ve made myself vomit my food twice during the last two weeks. The first time was when I came back from my grandparents’ (02.12). I ate a lot during the small party they threw and I was feeling very sick. ‘I ate a lot’ doesn’t cut it. I stuffed myself. Partially because seeing my family is always very stressful for me, it’s emotionally difficult, I can’t seem to find a way to deal with them and I think it’s getting worse the longer I ignore the issues that I should address. But it’s exactly the lack of self-control that is keeping me from doing it. My parents are very manipulative and the slightest chance they get to change the topic or steer the discussion in a different direction than the issues that I’m trying to discuss they take it and I fall for it. I get emotionally torn apart and die inside and after some time I realise that nothing has really been discussed and I feel like shit. And it keeps repeating itself so I get discouraged even more and it’s even harder to touch upon anything relevant to me.

The second time was today (11.12). I came back to my friend’s flat after spending crazy amount of money on home appliances in Ikea. I went to a shop and bought ingredients for a cake and food to eat for the next few days. I bought a loaf of bread because I can’t control my goddamn self. And a bar of chocolate. Went back to the flat. Ate 5 pieces of bread with generous amount of butter and a cheese slice on each piece. Ate the whole bar of peanutbutter chocolate. May I add I was alterating: I ate 4 sandwiches, I ate a bar of chocolate, I ate 1 more sandwich. Plus I’ve drank half a cup of tea. So then I felt sick. There are a few types of sick in my world. There is drunk-sick, there is stretched stomach pressing on intestines-sick, there is stressed-sick, there is acidic food-sick and there is wheat-sick. We’re going with both wheat and stomach pressing on intestines sick this time.

I don’t really vomit involuntarily unless I’m really drunk and I haven’t been really drunk for at least 2 years I believe. It’s always a decision just as much as spending money is a decision, just as much as stuffing myself with food that makes me feel sick is a decision. So I’ve decided to make myself vomit. In a way it’s cathactic, in another it feels like my mental health is in a really bad state right now.

There is a point I want to make here. I feel like overating isn’t a purely physical act just as eating disorders are mental health disorders. For me overeating is a way of dealing with emotions. I externalise my emotions, put them into food. I then put the food in my self. In a way we always do that but we’re also animals that have to survive so eating and hunger are totally normal and natural. When we analyse something we put a point of focus where we see fit. So I put in my self. I chew it, swallow it, stomach it, it goes through my intestines. All the time my body is breaking this food apart into simpler substances and redistributing them throughout my body. Perhaps the emotions I put into food come back into my body with these simpler substances going straight into the cells. I put bread inside of me, a product that I don’t deal well with - a testimony of hatred. Bread gets broken apart, emotions get inside of me - I get fatter, my nose gets stuffed, I get atopic eczema. Vomitting is an act of desperation. It’s not as much about getting the food out of my system - it’s about getting rid of the discomfort I’m experiencing because of the food I put into myself. But this discomfort is an effect of my actions.

I’ve been feeling like a puddle of pure terrible for about a month now. No, for exactly a month. I’ve done something very stupid and hurtful to people I’ve felt sympathy for and to myself and I can’t get over it. I can’t get over many feelings from my past as well. They haunt me. It’s easier to vomit and for a split second feel like I - this bag of flesh - am not anything much more than a bag of flesh feeling all these sensations that you get when you throw up. But then your thinking and feeling kick in. I still feel like trash and I still haven’t dealt with those feelings that are inside. I’ve tried to push them out and eat them in a different way but in the end I couldn’t deal with them. I hope that I can teach myself how to be in control of my life to the point where I am able to deal with my feelings before I hurt myself or someone else. I want to do it step by step. Right now I’ll stick to avoiding wheat and eating more consciously. It’s the little things that make up the base of our existence. It’s the little things that will pull us apart rolling away if we lose control over them.

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Laser hair removal update: had my third appointment on monday (10.11). Sometime after my first post the lymph nodes on my neck got infected and it hurt like a mofo. So for the second treatment we went with lower power. Not much inflammation afterwards but also not much effect. My beard is thinning out but not many bald patches so far. For this appointment we went up with power. Very painful especially down the middle of my face and neck (mustache, under the lips, chin, under the chin). A lot of inflammation after the treatment. Today is a little better, a lot of zits, I hope the hair strands will come out easily. Spraying myself with Octanisept and trying to avoid face-skin contact. Doesn’t hurt, feels slightly hot and I’m still puffy.

#blog #stream of consciousness #winter #body image #emotions #mental health #eating #food #dysfunctional family #weight #self-control

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jenba · 6 years

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Havisham Square

Havisham Square was my attempt at building some city rowhouses. These are only partially furnished (plumbing, appliances, lighting, and cabinetry), so feel free to decorate and edit as you wish! Each rowhouse features a living room with fireplace, kitchen/dining, two bedrooms, and one and a half bathrooms. I wasn't sure how the lot would behave with multiple mailboxes, so I just left one on the middle lot.

Each rowhouse is a little bit different as far as wallpaper/flooring and placement of some objects - the pics in this post are of the one on the far left.

A few other notes about this lot - I did playtest a little just to make sure Sims could reach all of the rooms and the objects, and I noticed that they will sometimes use all three kitchens to make ONE meal, moving from counter to counter. :-p If you don't want this to happen, I would recommend only furnishing one rowhouse and deleting all objects from the others, or using the door-locking feature of the game in order to keep Sims from wandering willy-nilly into each other's spaces.

(Kitchens are a thing of mystery to me lately - even in regular houses, I have trouble forcing the Sims to use the proper surfaces and sinks.)

CC-free

Lot size: 20x20

Cost: §106,798

Lot Location: “Havisham House” in Windenburg

Required Packs:

EPs - Get Together, Cats and Dogs

GPs - Dine Out, Vampires

SPs - Romantic Garden (just for the streetlamp)

To install, download the ZIP file from the link below. Extract the folder and copy its contents (there should be 8 files total) into your My Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Tray folder.

DOWNLOAD ZIP file (SimFileShare)

**If you don’t want to install it using the Tray files, you can also find it in the Gallery under #jenba and Origin ID silrosse.

Enjoy!

#sims 4 #ts4 #ts4 download #havisham square #random rowhouses #windenburg

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travelcenter-uk · 3 years

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Trip to Dubai: 6 Best Encounters and Wow Facts

I was able to find a lot of answers to some prolonged questions on my last trip to Dubai in November 2019. Not just that, but I learned several wow facts that blew my mind!

Keep reading. I have a lot to tell you.

Did you know that the literal meaning of Dubai is money? And that, Dubai was mostly a small desert 50 years ago, but now it is ranked as one of the fastest-growing cities in the world?

I would love to see that shock on your face when you read this. Because, when I first learnt this, I went crazy!

Then, I started to wonder what more about Dubai, don’t I know?

However, I was able to overcome this dubiousness! (Find the pun). It was, as I started visiting some of the best tourist attractions in the country.

1 - I visited the Dubai Frame

You may wonder why I visited the Dubai Frame first, out of all tourist attractions. Well, it was because of the hype.

My brother has been in Dubai for almost fifteen years now. And, this frame has always been a hot topic for him.

I was a little bland at first, though. Like you are right now. But can you see this giant, glistening Gold frame in the picture below?

Yeah, I couldn’t let my curiosity kill me.

What is so special about it?

The wow factor is, this giant frame has a symbolic connection between the old and new city of Dubai! It is also the most massive frame in the world.

Is the visit free of charge?

Although this frame stands there like an adornment, you cannot just visit it. You need to purchase tickets. We purchased it online (because it is easier than staying under the hot sun at the venue to buy). There were four of us as adults, so we had to pay around 11 Euros each. They did allow the kids in for free.

The fun part about the Dubai Frame?

The panoramic glass lifts, of course!

Once you are on one of these lifts, it shuttles you to the top.

I have a fear of heights, so this was even fun. I know I should say ‘terrified’, but it was fun! Because, once you are at the top, you can walk on a clear glass walkway along the entire 313-foot width of the frame.

Pictures taken from here are so Instagram worthy (mostly if you use your selfie-stick or GoPro). Oh, and it was almost sunset when we visited the frame, so the view was breath-taking! Now you know what the best time is for you to visit the Dubai Frame on your next trip to Dubai.

2 - I had Dinner in the sky!

If this is not in your ‘things to do in Dubai’ list, add it right now!

I can’t tell you that I signed up for this with no hesitations. I kept throwing tantrums for nearly ten minutes.

My brother had pre-purchased the tickets to ‘Dinner in the Sky Dubai’ online It was because they allowed only 22 pax during a single slot! Do you think saying ‘no’ after that would have been a good thing to do?

I don’t think so.

Tip: If you are planning to have Dinner in the Sky in Dubai, pre-purchase your tickets online. This way you can pick the day and time-frame of your choice! You can also contact the team at Travel Center UK to make an arrangement.

Okay, now to the best part!

Familiarizing with the premises

We were welcomed with a refreshing drink. After which, we had to deposit all our belongings (except mobiles & cameras) into a locker.

It was relieving to do so because we could enjoy the whole time without panicking. I mean, I am sure none of us wants to see our bags fly down from 50 m above the ground.

Once we made ourselves comfortable, they strapped us to bucket seats. Of course, with safety harnesses.

The fun part of this?

They used cranes to lift the slots. My nephew had a great time, screaming and enjoying the whole process.

As I love photography, I did not miss out on the breath-taking views of the glittering skyline. 50m above the ground, we were able to see the Dubai Marina, Atlantis, Burj Al Arab and Burj Khalifa!

What about the food?

The chefs onboard were outstanding. As soon as we were in the sky, they started to make our two-course gourmet menu live! Yes, we got to see our menu prepared before our eyes.

The food was excellent, along with the peppy tunes accompanying us as we had our delightful feast.

For nearly 90 minutes, we enjoyed our meals with 360 degrees view of the splendid city!

3 - I Realized why Dubai is a Birder's Paradise

Thanks to my little nephew, who kept crying to visit the wildlife sanctuary. I learned that there are over 320 bird species that migrate between Europe, Asia, and Africa via Dubai!

It was not some random fact thrown in the wildlife sanctuaries. It was a wow fact I heard from the guard at one of the sanctuaries there.

Another double-wow fact about the birder’s paradise is, the rare birds passing through the city. These rarities include; spotted eagles, broad-billed sandpipers, and greater herons. Usually found passing during the spring and fall.

Can they be sighted?

Yes! You will easily get this opportunity if you go on an unplanned trip to Dubai.

Ras al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary is from where I learned these wow facts. It is also where I sighted most of these rarities. The show-stealers, however, were the flamingos. They created a picture-perfect sight in the wetlands, with their beautiful pink feathers.

4 - I Tandem Skydived to see Palm Island in Dubai

Do you recall me telling you that I have a fear of heights? If you do, then you surely know this was a challenge I took.

Undeniably worth it!

What was unique about tandem skydiving in Dubai?

There is a wow fact about tandem skydiving in Dubai! The types of jumps are, of course, similar to any other countries (in general). But here we could explore the world’s largest artificial archipelago!

We were also able to see the Atlantis Hotel, Burj Al Arab, The World Islands, and Dubai Marina! An all-in-one sight-seeing experiences.

What were the charges like to skydive in Dubai?

The Palm Drop Zone that we chose was quite expensive compared to the other spots. However, it gave us a spectacular view and best skydiving experience (as first-timers).

If you are on a budget and still want to try skydiving in Dubai, then you can take the Desert Campus Drop Zone. If you are more afraid of heights than I am, then you should try Indoor skydiving. Best way to take that first step to overcome your fear of heights. It’s wallet-friendly too! (Thank me later!)

5 - I travelled on the longest driverless metro line in the world!

Wow! I could not wait to boast about it.

I have given you the wow fact already, but not the double-wow facts yet.

The city’s Red Line (32.37 miles), runs through the heart of Dubai like an artery. I am not exaggerating, but the experience of taking the Red Line was completely futuristic!

The Red Line cuts through the centre of Dubai and flies past the city’s many newly built skyscrapers and landmarks.

What is so special about this metro line?

The Red Line experience includes cheap fares, air-conditioned cabins, on-time service, and multiple ticket classes! It’s like a Do-It-Yourself tour of Dubai when you take the metro.

The double-wow fact here is, the Red Line consists of more than twenty tourist spots and restaurants!

What are these tourist spots and restaurants?

iFly Dubai

Dubai Festival City

Deira City Centre

Dubai Creek

Xiao Wei Yang

The Noodle House

Red Shrimp

ADCB (formerly Karama Souk)

Zabeel Park

World Trade Centre

The Emirates Towers

Applebee’s

Tim Hortons

Rose Rayhaan by Rotana

Burj Khalifa

Dubai Fountain

Dubai Mall

Ski Dubai at Mall of the Emirates

Dubai Marina

Jumeirah Lake Towers

Ibn Battuta shopping mall

Did the Red Line metro tickets cost a lot?

I had the same concern as you. But luckily, it was significantly cheaper than I thought.

For tourists and occasional visitors, they offer ‘red tickets’. And they cost only 0.46 Euros!

It’s interesting as it sounds. Because the Red tickets are worth for ten trips or five daily passes!!

6 - I lost myself in the most extensive natural flower garden in the world

Miracle Garden was one of my favourite places to visit in Dubai. The garden was like a total animation. My trip to Dubai would have definitely not been complete without having visited this garden.

The wow fact about the miracle garden could go on as a list.

Starting from, the fact that it displays almost 50 million flowers at its premises!

Then, the responsible use of water through drip irrigation! I mean, don’t we know they could have spent millions on bringing freshwater for the garden if they wished? But they didn’t!

What were the best things to do in the Miracle Garden?

The garden included so many entertainment facilities and attractions. Some of them that we did not miss out were;

Floral Parades

Street performances

Zumba sessions

Trampoline Park

Disney Avenue

Mickey Mouse

Life-size Emirates A380

Lost Paradise

Cabanas for relaxation

Butterfly Passage

Hearts Passage

Umbrella Passage

Giant Tortoise

Floral Clock

Floral Castle

Giant Teddy Bear

Lake Park

Hill Top

Next How much did the visit to Miracle Gardens cost?

The entrance fee for us (adults) was nearly 9.16 Euro per head. For my seven-year-old nephew, we paid 6.53 Euro, and the baby nephew was allowed in for free.

Additional costs? Definitely, for all the snacks, we whacked at all the restaurants, kiosks, cafes and sweet bars!

#ThisIsNotTheEnd

So, I’ve spoken about the six best encounters and wow facts already. I hope you all had a good time taking notes. That means, now you know some of the must-do on your next trip to Dubai!

But trust me, these aren’t everything that Dubai has for you. I have only spoken about a few. There is so much more I could talk about, but if you wish to read. So, let me know in the comments if you are interested to know more about my trip to Dubai!

You can also read this e-book from Travel Center.

Oh, and there is something important about my trip to Dubai that I should not forget to mention!

Although my brother escorted us in Dubai, we did need a Travel agent! I mean, how else could we have got some of the best Dubai deals? It is where Travel Center came in functional!

If you are planning on your trip to Dubai, then you must talk to one of the travel experts at Travel Center. They not only provide you with the best travel solutions but also give you a list of customized and affordable deals to choose from!

Now, that makes my seventh wow fact for you. (Chuckles)

Read More:- Trip to Dubai: 6 Best Encounters and Wow Facts

This Article, Information & Images Source (copyright):- Travel Center UK Blog

#travel #traveller #travelling #travelcenteruk #travellife #travelgoals #travelblog #travelblogger #destinations #dubai

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