#oh and 1 orange’s worth of zest

[flygonscales]

hrngh…. soup…..

[the-most-humble-blog]

Cooking at Home: The Expensive Way to Pretend You’re Saving Money

The Great Cooking Lie

Remember when everyone told us that cooking at home was the ultimate money-saving hack? A way to avoid takeout guilt, eat healthier, and keep your wallet happy? Turns out, that was a scam. By the time you’ve factored in inflated grocery prices, specialty ingredients, and the emotional toll of doing your own dishes, cooking at home often feels like the expensive way to fool yourself into thinking you’re responsible.

1. Grocery Shopping: The Silent Robbery

The grocery store is where dreams of frugality go to die.

Eggflation: Eggs used to be the poor person’s protein. Now? They cost as much as a latte at Starbucks.

Shrinkflation: Food companies are sneaky. That $5 bag of chips? Mostly air. That $3 orange juice? It’s now 75% pulp water.

Impulse Buys: Let’s not lie. You didn’t just buy what was on your list. Somewhere along the way, a bag of gourmet popcorn, a bottle of wine, and three different cheeses mysteriously ended up in your cart.

The Math That Hurts: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices increased by 13% in 2022 alone—the biggest jump in decades. Your “cheap home-cooked meal” isn’t looking so cheap anymore.

2. Time Is Money—And You’re Losing Both

Cooking at home isn’t just about food costs; it’s also a massive time suck.

Meal Prep Hell: Chopping, slicing, marinating—it’s basically an unpaid part-time job.

Recipe Rabbit Holes: “How do I zest a lemon?” quickly turns into a YouTube deep dive that eats your entire afternoon.

The Cleanup Toll: No one talks about how cooking makes you a hostage to your own sink.

You're Your Own Server, So Get to Work: The average person spends 37 minutes per day preparing food and 13 minutes cleaning up. That’s almost an hour daily you’ll never get back.

3. The False Economy of Food Waste

Here’s the ugly truth: cooking at home often means buying ingredients you’ll never finish.

The Herb Cemetery: How many half-used bunches of cilantro have you thrown out this year? Be honest.

Overzealous Bulk Buys: Sure, the family-size bag of spinach was a “deal”—until it became a science experiment in your fridge.

Shocking Reality: The average American household wastes about $1,500 worth of food per year. That’s a lot of takeout you could’ve guiltlessly enjoyed instead.

4. Cooking vs. Takeout: The Brutal Comparison

Let’s crunch some numbers.

Homemade Pad Thai: $25 for specialty ingredients, 2 hours of your time, and a kitchen disaster.

Takeout Pad Thai: $15, zero effort, and no dishes. You don’t need a degree in economics to see which option is the real winner.

5. The Instagram Myth of Home Cooking

Social media is partly to blame for this mess. Those influencer chefs with their immaculate kitchens and perfectly plated meals? Lies.

They’re not showing you the pile of dirty dishes off-camera.

They’re not factoring in the cost of their professional kitchen setups or $200 cutting boards.

Oh, The Humanity: You’re out here crying over a burnt casserole while @FoodieGuru56 is making soufflés look easy. The system is rigged.

6. The Emotional Toll of Home Cooking

Let’s talk about the mental exhaustion of planning, prepping, and executing meals.

The Pressure: “If I don’t cook, am I failing at adulthood?”

The Guilt: That sad, uneaten bag of kale in the fridge stares at you every time you grab a soda.

The Stress: Cooking is supposed to be relaxing, but when your smoke alarm goes off, it feels more like a horror movie.

7. When Cooking at Home Actually Works

To be fair, cooking at home can save money if you do it right:

Stick to simple recipes with ingredients you already have.

Avoid specialty items you’ll never use again (looking at you, saffron).

Embrace leftovers like they’re a gift, not a punishment.

Pro Tip: One-pot meals are your savior. Fewer ingredients, less cleanup, and more time for Netflix.

Just Order the Damn Takeout For Pete's Sake

Cooking at home was supposed to be a solution, but for many of us, it’s become a self-inflicted punishment disguised as responsibility. By the time you’ve navigated the overpriced grocery store, wasted hours prepping, and battled with your oven, you could’ve enjoyed a hot meal delivered straight to your door.

So, do yourself a favor. Order the takeout. Save your sanity. And while you’re at it, follow The Most Humble Blog for more brutally honest takes and unapologetic truths about the madness of modern life. You deserve it.

[parksprout]

Sprout Journal 11/23/24 - 11/24/24

OH MY GOD I GIVE UP ON DOCUMENTING THE DAYS I HAVE MISSED FOR MY JOURNAL I STG I have fallen so far behind on this it's crazy!! I've just been so tired to be honest, it was a really busy week and I'm entering the final stretch of school for the year ough. It's exhausting!! Sometimes I forget that what I'm doing is in fact more than what most people can - or should - do. I work 40 hours a week in a warehousing job as the second highest person in my department, attend school full time with four classes and 15 credit hours, maintain friendships, go to the gym for 6-7 hours a week, cook at home, keep my house tidy. It's a lot, really. I guess I'm proud of my capabilities but maynnNNNnNnNN I AM SO TIRED I JUST WANNA SLEEP!!!!!

I would like to talk about e neighbor of mine. They just reminded me of their existence through their sole habit that I'm aware of. Across the way from my house, visible directly through the window behind my computer, is the parking garage of a large high end apartment complex. Every day this neighbor that I presume lives in said apartment complex arrives home around nine o' clock pm, parks their red Toyota corolla and then presses the door lock button on their key fob at least eight times. They then walk away towards the elevator that surely leads into the complex, but along the way they again stop and press the key at least six or seven more times to elicit another series of honks from their car. I always know when they arrive because of their honking car! I don't really mind it. I feel like firstly it must be both a habit of paranoia, or maybe an impulse that's difficult to control, and secondly it's oddly comforting knowing that a stranger is still alive and continuing their routine. I love observing the routines of the world.

Anyways!! I wanted to actually journal about what in the heck I've been up to lately. I swear I'm gonna get back in the habit of doing these more often now that life is settling back down again.

So Saturday the 23rd I actually had my families thanksgiving celebration! I'm gonna be honest this is literally the first one I've gone to since I was twelve and they became optional lol. This year I only decided to go because my little brother, his girlfriend, my niece that I haven't seen in eight months and my older sister I'm trying to make amends with (she should really be the one apologizing to me imo but whatever I guess) were all gonna be there. The people I was less interested in seeing were my dad, his girlfriend, my other younger brother and his wife. So it was sorta fifty-fifty worth it versus not. But I decided to give it a chance, and I think I had fun! I still went to work beforehand so there was that, but tbh the shift was very easy. There was almost nothing to do besides a quick round of stock in the morning, some deep cleaning and me making the plan for the night shift workers who would come in around when I was leaving. After work I headed home and grabbed the food I'd cooked the night before! I made a big dutch oven full of garlic mashed potatoes and some homemade cranberry sauce :3 I love my cranberry sauce recipe so here it is! I make mine really tart so feel free to up the sugar:

Sprout's (cranberry) sauce!

Ingredients: 16 oz's raw cranberries (washed and dried), 1 large navel orange, 1 cup of sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to taste but always less than half as much nutmeg as cinnamon, a pinch of salt!

Step 1: pour washed and dried cranberries into a sauce pot and immediately add the cup of sugar. Stir periodically to prevent burning

Step 2: while the cranberries and sugar start to come to temperature add in the zest of half the orange, the juice of the full orange, and your seasonings

Step 3: cook on medium heat until all berries have popped and sauce has thickened, pour into a heat safe container to cool (CLEAN YOUR SAUCE POT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE THIS STUFF TURNS TO CONCRETE AS IT COOLS)

Add more zest on top before serving! :3 but this is just for aesthetics.

Anyways so I drove over there after I grabbed my food and immediately got to helping in the kitchen! I ended up helping to make the turkey, which turned out fantastic :3 I am good at cooking methinks. Dinner was ready a couple hours after I arrived! We had so many dishes... lemme give y'all a tierlist hold on.

This isn't my opinion of the dishes as concepts, just how the ones at the actual dinner turned out. Sadly I gotta rank that mac and cheese so low :( they used fuckin big ass rigatoni noodles for some godforsaken reason, didn't bake the mac and only used velveeta </3 heartbreaking truly. My sister made these homemade rolls and sweet potato casserole that went crazzyy though... also I'm biased as hell my foods both went straight to the top of the list. They also had ham there but I don't wanna eat pork, it's kinda yucky imo, and I am a certified green bean casserole hater. But after dinner we got some board games out and just chilled while having drinks :3 I won a game of settlers of catan because I am the main character (I got lucky)

Forreal after that not a bunch happened! I think I upset my sister :< I was getting my hair braided by my brothers gf (the brother I like's gf) and my sister walked in and I said "go away we're having girl time" because it was me and both of my brothers gf's in there talking about hair and makeup alksdjfasdf but I sometimes forget that my sister is trans and she takes feelings of exclusion like that very seriously :< I was making a joke but... it honestly wasn't a very sensitive one and I feel bad about it

tbh the very best part of the day was probably the Bnuuy sending me a sleepy selfie, they looked super cute and I had really missed seeing their face!! It was really nice and kinda put me in a good mood for the whole day I'm ngl.

Yesterday, the 24th, was a really simple day! Work was easy as all hell, I didn't really do anything there besides what I was supposed to and play basketball asDKFASDF I have gotten weirdly good at basketball since we installed a hoop in the warehouse, I win a decent amount of the time and I'm only getting better as I work out more. After work I went to the GYM AND YOU KNOW WHAT I DID??? I HIT A TEN MINUTE MILE AND I KEPT THAT SHIT UP FOR THE FULL HOUR!! I ran six miles an hour for one hour straight, I felt like a fucking olympian I'm ngl. That stuff was HARD UGH. I got a lil sad feeling after I got home, though. I was thinking about the bnuuy a lot. I was thinking about how tomorrow (today) is our monthiverssary that we almost always would celebrate. The number 25 always reminds me of them now, and the number 12, and the number 9. It's funny how little numbers like that become sacred, they become a part of a persons image to you. Anyways I was feeling sad so to mitigate that feeling I decided to go online and ask the sleep token mutuals I have on twitter to send me pet pics and oh my gosh did they ever!!!! Like 100 different people either dm'd or replied to my post with pet pictures ToT it was such a sweet thing, I felt really taken care of. I felt loved. I keep looking at all their cute lil pets today ugfh. Besides that I didn't have much else go on :3 I felt better after a lil bit and stopped my yearning as best as I could and then actually slept pretty early!!!

For once, I don't wanna type a big segment about the bnuy. They're super duper on my mind don't get me wrong, but I'm feeling tired and don't particularly wanna go through that feeling right now askjdnhfasdf I don't need to get the emotions out at this precise junction so I think I'll just hold them <33 anyways I love them a lot, I love them so so so so so so so so so so so much and they're my favorite person to ever exist. There we go, bvnuuyventing out of the way. #yearnposting amirite

That's it!! Finally caught up on my journaling asdfasdf I love you so much tumbie!! Have a good night!! <333

[maraschinocherrysoda]

Orange Meringue Cookies

Note: these Cookies are literally amazing. You want an orangey aftertaste? These are THE Cookies. You want your breath to smell like oranges? THE Cookies. I'm telling you. No orange extract needed when these girlies taste incredibly fine without extracts.

Oh and picture above is an actual picture of my own Cookies♡

Ingredients:

1 cup of sugar

4 egg whites

1/4th cup of orange juice from an orange, cut 4 slices in total

1/4th slice worth of Orange zest

1/4th tsp of lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 200

Start by adding your egg whites and the lemon juice and mix on 4 until it foams.

As it begins to foam, add sugar gradually after every 2 minutes to let the sugar dissolve.

As it becomes almost glossy, keep mixing on 5 until you've got stiff peaks.

Add your orange juice and zest and mix on 3 to let the juice turn your meringue orange and add it to your piping bag.

Beware, the zest will block your piping tip up but it's worth it for the taste. Just poke the zest out.

After you are done piping cookies on your baking sheet, place it inside the oven and bake for 1 hour, then turn the oven off and let it cool in the oven for another single hour.

Fun fact: raw meringue can last up to 24 hours in the fridge covered up. :)

[astrologanize]

please take a moment to take a deep breath, ask yourself the above topic, and select the icon you are most drawn towards 

pile 1: for the rest of 2020 you need to take a step back and allow for pieces to fall as they shall because no, you cannot force situations to fall in your favor. you don’t know as much as you think you do about current/upcoming situations, just as the telescope suggests you’re only able to view so much at a time and the big picture has yet to be seen. in you taking a step back you may experience letdowns from yourself, maybe you’ll feel like there was more you could do - there wasn’t, or you may also experience letdowns from others - maybe you pulling back will reveal just how one-sided the effort was. allow yourself to be disappointed but take comfort in knowing that better options are in the works

pile 2: for the rest of 2020 you need to make decisions that reflect you as an individual, not decisions that are coming from a place of playing it safe, following protocol, not wanting to ruffle feathers, or not wanting to change course. it’s an orange! where is your zest?! it’s time to take a calculated risk and ruffle feathers! your life should be in your hands, you are not in an assembly line waiting for the universe to make decisions for you. though you may feel like the lone ranger in the process, this is the step you’re needing to take in order to get to the point that you are desiring, and the fear of breaking from the pack is what is keeping you stuck in limbo 

pile 3: for the rest of 2020 you need to get alllllllllll the way out of your pride oh goodness because whatever it is that you think it’s supposed to be like is not so and this ax is not worth grinding. either you need to let this plan or attachment that has become monotonous go or you need to veer off course so that you can bring the spark back. lighten yourself and recognize that as your icon suggests, violets are a wildly versatile flower that continuously adapts and you would benefit from taking notes there. there will be some tipping of the scales in the process, you may get restless while trying, but it’s better than keeping course for the sake of pride. have self-love by allowing yourself a chance to grow 

pile 4: for the rest of 2020 you need to stop being loyal to faulty foundations. if you’re having family issues then it’s time to prioritize yourself, if you’re having issues within your environment then it’s time to cut your losses because there is no winning in this scenario, if you’re perpetually dissatisfied then maybe you need to stop being such a harsh critic so that you can make the right changes. right now i’m seeing too much dormant energy, you’re pouting and going “oh well, i guess this is my life” when you could be like the teddy bear suggests - assured, because by you doing the behind the scenes work instead of waiting for change - change WILL come. know that you don’t have to have it all figured out, what matters is that you have trust in your efforts 

pile 5: for the rest of 2020 you need to stop missing out on opportunities to connect with others, while being covid safe of course, you need to put yourself out there more. there is a defeatist attitude when it comes to connecting and it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy because of course nothing is going to work out if that’s the mentality you’re entering it with - you’re the one selling yourself short! ease up on yourself, have more of an objective in mind when it comes to people (no, don’t have an agenda but demonstrate a level of proving that you’re invested in this connection and that you want to see how far it can go), and take your time with it - no getting ahead of yourself! it’s the lips - “a closed mouth doesn’t get fed” 

pile 6: for the rest of 2020 you need to stop overextending yourself and being frustrated that you feel like you’re wasting your potential - you’re not. by you trying to mold yourself or hold yourself to a certain standard, you are making matters worse and burning yourself out. this is a time for some constructive r&r by tending to your own issues with greater thoroughness because right now there are loose ends before you can move forward - you have to prepare and aim before you can shoot this bow and arrow. this is not a matter of waiting, it is a matter of you doing your due diligence with what you currently have and having patience because eventually this sense of confinement and same old, same old with your situation will change 

[crackcrocs]

DEATH WILL ONLY BE THE BEGINNING #3

3. Transformation Central

the entities of my personalities would like to come together in one voice that speaks through me, we or I call this collection of words from the mustiest corners of my brain to this note page to voice something that might come close to what I feel underneath the skin I wear. In all my unorganised words- I might even go as far as to call this a poem, titled:

‘TRANSFORMATION CENTRAL’

sub characters in my head would appreciate if this could be visualised & understood through as deep a lens as humanly possible. even I confuse myself so if you can decode or relate to any of this, wonderful. If not, I’m locked in my own mind, swallowed the keys to my soul.

SIMILARITIES & INTERCONNECTEDNESS BETWEEN HUMAN & PLANT CONSCIOUSNESS EXIST! if you look closely at my nose freckles you’ll see the resemblance of the constellations above. if you look at the human veins & the layout of a tree, this is further proof.

{VISUALS THROUGH A SEPIA WINDOW STARING @ THE AUTUMN LEAFS; IMAGINING THE SEEDS UNDERNEATH, THROUGH NUMB ROOT VESSELS THAT PERMEATE THROUGH EVERY MEMBRANE OF MY EXTERNAL TO INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT}

~FEATURING THE VICIOUS CYCLE OF DEPRESSION & PERFECTIONISM.

here goes:

What is this part of my mind ?

If you want; delve inside-

I may look sweet like Alice,

but underneath it all

I deteste looking in the mirror

-cos I see the mad hatter.

my inner child needs a platter-

full of care not distortion & abuse pls.

less fibbin would’ve been a breeze.

now following the dead fish in the stream!

HOW on EARTH do I fit with the cod & the Haddock?

I’m the rainbow fish- beat & battered.

dim my own light cos I’m too afraid to shine.

alone.

thieves tried to steal my shiny scales.

I sat and watched them grow.

In the sea realm they were mean gargantuan selfish whales, with poisonous shark fangs & alligator tails. scorpion hands. (gremlins)

and still they make me feel like the alien-

I cant take it.

Make it make sense ?

I can’t.

controller in my hand-

Off balance stance.  

anxiously I move round like a wobbly jelly.

where’s the button to balance my chi & shut out the ego ?

the teLLIE telling lies to our vision!

change the channel aura terracotta orange- daily dosage of vitamin D & C.

catch me sun gazing by the sea

head buzzin like a bee.

speaking from a dusty box

stuck on top of a forbidden shelf

cos I dunno how else.

I’m tryna delve deep but forgot how to dive

How can i visualise? scenery foggy-

the establishment man with the glue gun got me xD

inner monk burning but at peace

Cos I refuse to believe

If the only way is the American dream

Interconnected; like the frog in science -let’s dissect it!

down to every floating atom spirit neighbouring your door

subcategories & divisions, it’s more!

than the rich and the poor -prism that’s been built

do we all feel like a performance monkey on stilts?

will my data be extracted & used to mould a robots personality some day?

well obviously not.

does the price of our lives all amount down to slave ways?

LABOUR YAY!

but morals & values it seems we’ve forgot.

sO If i don’t speak its cos I’m lost.

or maybe i’m enlightened-

Standing at the edge of the porch;

watching TRYING to understand how the flowers grow.

questioning eVERYTHING man made!

I’ve stepped out of the perfect picture frame

I can see the coal pollute the sky

I need to hop on the train-

but I’m comfortable

Sunset to sunrise statue standing still.

what’s the ingredients to life’s yucky pie?

I’ve exceeded mental lotteries.

Sanity n universal peace would be a trophy.

TIL then I’ll be crafting & shaping a solid pottery reality,

with a few pence, gum, and a bandana of belongings tied to stick.

thinking one day I’ll be laying the bricks

& building a kingdom of bliss.

guess for now I’ll use the intricate delicate materials in my tool box- that’s all I’ve got.

might have a long way- maybe worth a shot.

I observe, cruisin in the sky.

dunno why..

I jus look @ the hills.

Only time & history reveals.

no thanks mr men-

I don’t want your prescription pills.

there’s enough propaganda as it is.

I won’t jump on the merry go round-

til my core trusts & envisions we’ll actually feel safe!

I don’t want to take part in this faux fur, sweet nothings & a jack in a box punching blur, so called future.

oh and genuinely thanks quarantine-for once again, I can hear bird sounds!

guess this is me tryna speak out loud!!!...

it’s not thrilling

system  time killing everything-

mother nature’s oxygen

everything is nauseating

clock ticking, I better start creating.

they should write a book on how to be free when the system set us up to believe that we’re tied to the cut down trees that gives them a currency of greed that they breed.

If blindfolded, I don’t wanna eat what they feed.

Whilst they profit of us -tell us smile and the bandits don’t wanna see us happy.

they’re too busy robbing all our hoods.

In exchange for the silence, they’ve granted us with a 21’st century fashion garment of a slave muzzle! labelled conform.

More delusion to add to the already desensitised norm.

zootonic diseases, welcome covid 19 to your plastic kiddy tea party!- apologies for questioning your motive!

Been handed too many hot plates with a post it note saying HOLD THIS.

we’ll be okay just hush.

Same Shan message told to every generational seed.

If we don’t TRY overpower-

we’ll never succeed!

it’s getting even more scary.

Artificial intelligence.

Societal negligence..

my canvas isn’t clear-dunno am I schizo ?

finger painting, cos it makes more sense.

struggling to blend.

borderline conspiracist pretending to be fine;

moving the goal post, hovering above the race line.

who made the chalk? who set the lanes?

I wanna know it all, maybe¿ far past insane.

I can fit all I need in the palm of my hand,

Maybe even less! cut a finger off not sure it’ll even add stress.

hi from personality Peter, even sober- always away with the fairies.

Pass the pixie dust, I’m in a rush

Found shelter in the comfort of pan physicists timer, no not the one on your phone!

Ring ring, skeptical! is it my demon or my mommy on the phone?

I’m stuck in the airspace of an infinite glass filled with beach particles trying to form myself standing up still attempting not to slip through the hands of my very own discovery.

time is running out & ill go when I go.

I’m sitting inside the fly trap -

stardust, chakras can you feel the sensation colors like a starburst.

deep emotion is a curse.

still entrapped in the sand dune of nothingness-

flipping a domino monopoly of solidified thoughts as I sway with the wind.

I’m the trapped sandbox in the playground & the slipping sand in my own hands.

Inhale chronic but I wanna enter the quiet realm of white noise

-color of a wife beater vest, calmer than the ease in ignorance of a red neck.

sadomasochistic, messes.

but oblivion, seems like less stress.

Unfortunately I can see, with all eyes

empathetic paralysis, gets me vexed.

Punching truth into the core of your chest!

It’s not funny, neither is the one on the receiving end..

My limbs are numb

& im done playing octopus alchemy.

I want minimalism & life can be simple,

Evil entities have made it hard.

Maybe I’ve got stars above my head like an old cartoon character.

But I can’t make it make sense, are they out to get me. worse all of us? Or have I bottled myself tryna re mesh the broken shards,

I feel glued to the floor cos there’s a pretty price to pay if you want more.

I see life through a different lense, maybe born downside up, Benjamin button I came out the back door-

Outside looking in, digesting confusion.

Is to be a product of environment a sin?

rummage through my messy brain.

personalities sardine packed in this tin

I’m the wizard of my mania

Scaring & attracting the black crows-

they’re my friends.

Sometimes still a cowardly lion

Roaring pain & true riddles at the wrenching wicked witch posse of the west.

will my voice ever be loud enough to shed light wit my words and grate the sweet zest

In to the cake i’m baking?

Probably not.

Got more thoughts than the autumn leaves collected by the garden rake. alone.

gathering & storing the pains of yesterday.

sometimes I stay in line

Other times in my head Im on my hands juggling out of time.

but I really don’t mind if I lose or win.

we all have a pace

I jus don’t want the 1% to win the race.

It’s unfair!

Humanity does anyone care ??

Half lady

half fairy

Good  MOOrning-

from my anagrams.

no I’m not a cow.

twister fidget spinner brain in the flesh-

form of expression this time around lyrics.

feel I’m jus a silly rubix

& still mourning

I don’t like dairy

pass the oat milk.

Are you aware the industry are sabotaging our diets?

we want peace!

the powerful elite-

perceive & deceive

the scene they want us to be.

chuck the narcissistic psychopathic pie back in our face-

every time we almost found & addressed the Programme & Control man in the maze.

evil & extroverted- he said that the anarchists have to be the cause of riots.

working isn’t class. I said let’s switch roles- he said pass.

It’s piss! Who’s got the bomb & the guns?

Who got the land? off wit OUR heads 4 fun!

it’s pure scary.

Pharmaceutics handshake.

with the cooked up suppliers, also crooked wack liars.

I’d rather shot a gallon of bloody blubbery infused slaughter house milk

If it meant we didn’t use cocoons for silk.

why not add a drizzle of bleach to the concoction & maybe that’s a reach.

every time I guzzle fakeness, it taste peak.

I want real fruit, what next-

a seedless peach ???

what’s the difference between a weirdo & a freak?

layers & levels to the shit.

Magnifying tapping the window of society, I’ll be puffing green til I get to the land of Oz.

sponge soaked soaking up emotions

Suffocated by deduction of care in life

feel entrapped in this paradigm

what am I thinking ?

got the verbs & a cuppa tea

It’s mixed with torment & desire to be free.

I’d rather be awake than asleep

When I get too comfy I feel weak

Demons they reap

underneath

rip the seems as I bleed

Concrete

Solid

Emotions

Is all you’re getting

It’s all sad scenes in the imagery I’m setting

people need care we seem to be forgetting

why are we in debt wit

a posse of clowns

pay the price so we can get a frown

here’s some seratonin

quit ya moaning

life is all sound

aw yeh¿  if you’re not an over thinker!

product of environment- Sirius flickers

theyve done a ritual like it’s Wicca

now here’s your gold sticker..

for managing to co operate.

In this world fuelled off of evil n hate

waking ups a bloody disgrace

I am not amazed.

Man I love my fam n my friends

Just hate this part of my brain that feels the need to play pretend

sometimes I feel insane

but I’m calm

need to escape so I don’t do harm

Gold lioness in the sky by the sea

with puff the magic dragon

fire out my mouth, fuel helps me breathe

I will shine bright

Promise imma be alright

even tho I’m not sure why

I function like this

I wanna be myself

It’s just hard to find the comfortability

To feel happy and pretty

Lay me down on a bed of roses

Ring around sing about overdose emotions

Sorry dunno how to communicate

Heads in a constant debate

Should I go or should I stay

My head clashes

Burnin the next ciggy as my thoughts become ashes.

[sunneinsplendor]

Chef Jeff Bread Pudding

Yes, I  took the time to recreate the bread pudding Jeff Blim’s chef character in 911 was making when he got impaled by an exploding whip cream canister, what’re you doing with your degree in quarantine? :p

All seriousness this was fun and I enjoyed doing it, so here’s 

a) a recipe for my best approximation of Chef Maurice Malone’s bourbon bread pudding with as many photos as I could do. 

b) some bonus features that you can add to this recipe that will make it better. I’m not telling a character that spent a minute and some change doing his best before being a table prop how to do his job.....except that I am. Sorry, but bourbon alone doesn’t make a winning dessert, fight me, Jeff chef.

c) a sidenote: I’m not using one of those nitro whip containers. They’ve literally killed people and you’ll never see one in my kitchen. Seriously. The death narrowly avoided in this episode happened to someone in 2017. Don’t use those fucking canisters. 

everything recipe-wise under the cut. It’s gonna be long.

OKAY. WELCOME to cooking in the fanbase!

First thing: Wash your hands. Not pictured but I’m sure with the pandemic we all know how to wash our damn hands.

Second thing: Gather our ingredients.

You will need:  Nutmeg, cinnamon, half and half, vanilla, two eggs, white and brown sugar, a loaf of bread that’s preferably a little stale, and bourbon. All the bourbon. 

his is for enough bread pudding to fill the containers shown, which are two little ramekins and one medium sized one. If you have no ramekins, congratulations, you made it this far in life without them! A muffin tin will work fine but won’t look the same. Cuz they’re bread pudding muffins now. Don’t worry about it, it’s gonna taste GREAT. 

Third thing: Making the batter. 

1 cup of half and half. You can sub out alternate milks for this probably but since I’m recreating a recipe done by a fake chef on a fake cooking show I’m assuming he’s going for gold here and making the richest dessert he can get away with. So. Dairy. Pour that in the bowl. Add 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg. whisk all that together until the cinnamon stops being unsocial and actually combines with the milk. Add the two eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, and about 1 Tablespoon of bourbon. You can add more bourbon. Its ok, no one’s judging, but too much is gonna screw with the ratios so adjust if you need to for your intake, perhaps less vanilla?

Fourth thing: Bread.

Again, pretty sure you can adjust this for gluten free etc by switching out bread etc, but recreating Jeff Chef, so full-flour bread from wherever you wanna get stuff from. Any bread will do, lord knows most of us have decided to make bread at least once during this pandemic, so use that if you have it. I’m using about three fat slices, like so:

cut off loaf. Watch your fingers and use a serrated knife, you’ll get cleaner cuts and not want to tear your hair out with the loaf being squished or tearing or whatever.

Cube up. Repeat at least 2 more times. squish all that bread into all that battery goodness. Cover in plastic wrap after making sure all of it’s gotten a good soak in the batter, let it do it’s thing for a half hour at the shortest. 

BONUS FEATURES: If you want to add extra stuff to it like berries or whatever you can do that when we squish it all in the ramekins or muffin tins or what we choose to use. What I’m adding to mine is my favorite, and I feel like Chef Jeff would approve. SO. What you need is about a handful of dried cherries, some orange zest and about a shot glass full of bourbon.

Oh yeah. That’s the stuff. 

So what you’re gonna do with that is slow simmer it for about 5-10 minutes til most of the bourbon has been either cooked off or absorbed into those sexy little cherries. Put it to one side in a cup or something when it gets there, we need that pan back cuz we’re making bourbon caramel sauce.

Yeah buddy. 

Fifth thing: Caramel. Smallish caramel batch is gonna be: 1/2 cup white sugar. 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar. I’m using dark but it doesn’t matter much, I just like the molasses content of the dark more. Also we’re using a tablespoon of water. Yes the water is important. Sugar scorches if you glance at it wrong and the little bit of water makes it less likely to do the thing. So. Medium high heat to start, then a nice middle heat once everything starts cooking together. DO NOT LEAVE THIS ALONE FOR A SECOND. DON’T DO IT. DO NOT. Sugar is the most persnickety motherfucker to ever motherfuck and it will go from a gorgeous caramel to the thing that the fire alarm is gonna tell everyone you fucked up SO FAST. This shit gets WATCHED. GOT IT? Good. 

So when it looks like this (let’s say 15 minutes in? Something like that, you’ll know when it hits this color) you take it off the heat and stir in 1/2 cup of whipping cream that’s at room temperature. Yes that’s important. The colder the whipping cream is the more it’s gonna steam when it hits that molten lava we’ve just been coddling on the stove and it will burn the absolute fuck out of your hands. Room temp. Save your hands. Trust me. Stir fast but pour slow, it’s ok to have to add this in intervals. Return the pan to a really low heat and keep stirring until the inevitable sugar blobs have turned back into a smooth, pretty caramel.

Should stick to the back of a cold spoon like this. Add about a shot glass of bourbon to it and stir some more. The steam is gonna slap you in the face with alcohol flavor but don’t worry, most of it’s gonna cook off. Once all that’s mixed in, take it off the heat, let it hang out on the stove, it’s done for the moment. 

BACK TO THE BREAD PUDDING! 

Sixth thing: Put the bread pudding stuff in your containers for bread pudding!  Protip: Butter the insides. If you HAVE to use pan spray that’s fine but butter is better. Ghee or something similar will also be fine but I’m french chef trained and will go to my grave telling you to use fucking butter.

look how cute they are! The little guys are straight Chef Jeff ones but the big one is the Bonus Content one, that’s where our simmered cherries and orange zest went, mix it in with your hands when you’re portioning it all out, k?  OVEN TIME! The little guys are in at 350 degrees for 15 minutes then ratchet that oven up to 400 for another 15 minutes to finish. 

Lookin’ good, guys. Ok. Let those cool, we’ve got whipped cream to not get murdered by. 

1 cup whipping cream. 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar. Bourbon. Whip the shit out of it. Remember why you hate parts of your fucking major. Throw the whip in the sink and bust out the damn eggbeaters because screw continuity your forearms hurt. 

Voila. Whipped cream that no one got a nitro canister in the chest over.  Sidenote: If you wanna just get a can of Reddi Whip or whatever no one’s gonna judge. It won’t taste the same but it’s easier and frankly after a certain point you’ll wonder if the whipped cream by hand is worth it anyway but it is really goddamn good. 

PLATING! THING THE LAST!

(With apologies to the food stylist on 911, as I have no white plates and am making do with my green ones)

We did it, guys! Chef Maurice Malone’s (Chef Jeff’s) bread pudding, with no near deaths! Go out there and make your own, cuz this thing is DELICIOUS. 

[tfcocktails]

             Welcome to a mane event! Some might be wondering if I have any drinks to put hair on your chest. Today we are going to focus instead on ones that put hair around your neck. The color of this cocktail gives away its transformative nature. Tawny gold, coupled with a strong level of alcohol to juice, ensures the imbiber will find themselves feline fine. Without further ado, I present.

The Lion

Ingredients

-The juice of 1-2 oranges as desired

-1 shot rum, Captain Morgan’s Orange Creamsicle is amazing

- ½ shot Midori, the real stuff

- ¼ shot Grand Marnier

-Splash of Grenadine to even out the color

             To gather these ingredients is to purrfect an exercise in specificity. Use your fine senses to track down a ripe, succulent orange. The juicier the better. One can never go wrong with Valencia. These things should have a good heft to them. If you can lift an orange in your paws like it is a balloon, pass. Do not worry about the fact you have paws out of the blue. Anyone who follows these recipes should have no problem rolling with the punches. I suggest stocking up on some quality oranges. You will want multiples, or perhaps desire to start your own pride. No judgement!

             Secondly, we must discuss rum. You are looking for this specifically. Captain Morgan’s Orange Creamsicle rum. Trust your feline instincts, you need that cream. This stuff creates the most pleasing, nuclear orange cocktail the hue of Mufasa’s chest hair. If you want to make The Lion king, then do yourself a favor and get to hunting. This stuff sold out quickly here. Some lionesses must have been busy. Regardless, if one cannot find this delicious treat, simply pick your favorite white rum. The color will not be as nice, but I understand that times are tough.

             Next on the list is Midori. Buy name brand. You can find it, and its worth every penny. The things one can do with this nuclear green liquor would astound. The perfect zip of melon will bring out the orange in anyone’s mane. This is a must have for any bar. It is the difference between being a house cat and a big cat. One’s flavor is mewling, the other bold and majestic!  Be a big lion, buy the good stuff.

             Now Grand Marnier is a bit expensive. However, you do not use a lot per drink, and often they sell tiny bottles. I suggest going big and buying one to last. This liquor is the key to making good Margaritas into exceptional ones. Often just a splash in any home mix will create something complex. Fun fact. Retractable claws make removing the wax seal extra easy! Who says transformation is always punishing.

             Grenadine. Go buy some. It is at Walmart.

             Now that everything has been gathered, we can break out our shaker and free the beast! Toss in a few cubes of ice, and measure twice. This drink needs to be shaken like crazy. If you do not feel the frostbite in your poor paw beans, then it is not shaken enough. What comes out of the bottle will astound you with the color. This is a more than sum of its parts drink. Now, take a sip!

             Atta lion! Well, if you were not turning into one before, you certainly are now. There is no more delicious a trigger. The sweet orange and cream taste will linger on your tongue, washing away the alcoholic bite. You are going to have a hard time keeping your muzzle from going back for more. Just double the recipe if necessary! Give in to those primal urges, but drink responsibly. Hung over predators are dangerous.

             Make sure you drink enough that the itching is not a problem. Fur growth is one thing but sprouting a mane quite another. Just brush it with your claws if things get a bit hairy. You do not want to try combing your mane out drunk, not the first time at least. Once you sober up in the morning, I am sure you will make a barber very happy! Trust me, you will enjoy the new style.

             Fair warning. Consumption of The Lion can lead to dangerous desires for meat, hair care products, and the company of other lions. I suggest you do not resist and simply share the drink with friends. I am aware that the pandemic is going rampant. Therefore, it is your responsibility to ensure your pride comes from a safe social bubble. Wear a mask over your face when you go out on the prowl. Remember the circle of life. Respect the dangers and respect your fellows!

             By this time, your tail should be growing in. I suggest investing in a nice apron for making these cocktails. You can stay safe for work and tear through less clothing! Fair warning, the splash of grenadine can lead to some wacky secondary shades of color in your tail fur. If it is the color of a strawberry, you may have used too much.  However, again remember all felines are beautiful, except fascists.

             It is probably about time for a cat nap if you have had as much of these as I have! Again: I am not responsible for how long you remain a lion after consuming this beverage. Nor do I accept any liability if you wind up living in a zoo, shredding your clothes, or accidentally becoming addicted to cat nip.

             Oh yes! My garnish. I had considered trying to make something that looked like the sun from the opening of the Lion King. I used a simple peel of orange zest and nestled a bourbon-soaked cherry in the center. It looked great for a hot minute, but then it got a bit silly. I will toss my recipe for bourbon cherries later. (The secret is you use a lot of bourbon.)

             As always give me a roar if you make the drink!  

[sulla-slays-cronulla]

Crostate di Sole

Kiwi & Meyer Lemon Solar Tartlets 

(and a potong break)

Early Prep

2 Golden Kiwis into quarter inch slices

[ 1 more kiwi for post-bake topping wouldn’t be remiss ]

Bake in oven, fan setting 100C, for 1h 15mins. Store airtight in fridge for a bit. 

Butter up 11 (maybe 12. MAYBE) muffin tins

Enlist labourer. I needed more hands for this. 

Base

3-4 tablespoons black sesame seeds and 20g of oats, toast in frying pan. Seeds lead oats by 3-4 minutes. 

Let it cool in a bowl when done, add a teaspoon of salt, of nutmeg, sweet paprika, and I guess a tablespoon if cinnamon is fine. Mix while warm, feel free to raise each spice (maybe not salt) to a tablespoons worth. I might next time, even though nutmeg is a drug. 

140g flour (100g + 1/3 cup), was a mix of plain and self-raising because I ran out of plain. Perhaps 2/3 was self-raising, so the tartlets became rather puffy. Which is ugly and I thought the base would be too thick but nah, was a pleasant error. 

1.5-2 tablespoons natural brown sugar

55g butter. Mix in flour by hand until texture resembles fine breadcrumbs, this will be a little wet, though. [ If you want a buttery pastry, use more butter. The oats dry out the mixture quite a bit, which makes it taste lighter ]

1egg, 2 teaspoons vanilla essence (if its a cheap one) and a tablespoon of cold water. Mix thoroughly before adding to butter & flour. It shall be very wet, so use a spoon to generally incorporate then add the toasted oats, seeds and spices. 

Roll out, you shouldn’t need to use flour to prevent the dough from sticking to anything. Popped it in fridge for 5 minutes just so it’d be easier to wield, but more because I couldn’t decide what sized/type of cookie cutter to use. 

Select a shape-cutter or cup or bowl maybe 1/4 less large than required. Halve the dough, and roll one half out as thinly as you can, it should be enough to cover a 9″ baking dish. Then cut out your shape. 

After you cut out a circle, roll it out more so it can cover around 3/4 of the way up the muffin tin rim. Poor visuals provided. Press pastry into corners of circle. Once this is mostly depleted, combine with remaining half of dough and roll out to that same sorta 9″ tray size at least again.

The pastry layout I managed was 11, but perhaps 12 is possible. 

Blind bake: this was at 180C for 6.5 minutes. 

Lemon Curd

Total citrus liquid amount: ~250ml. If you prep super early, you could reduce and cool this. If you are using normal lemons, up the orange juice portion. 

4 Meyer Lemons juiced

60-80ml sugar free orange juice, I dunno. 

2 eggs, 1 yolk

1/8 cup flower honey, 3 tablespoons olive oil.

Sooooo. Was pretty worried about this, on account of I had run out of eggs. See, the original recipe states that beside a bloody mountain of sugar, the proportions are 6 eggs, 8 tbsp butter, and 4 lemons with zest. But if I had dropped the citrus juice portion to accommodate my egg limitation, there wouldn’t have been enough for the tarts as I judged it. Fortunately, it turned out rather delicious and also held together. 

Assuming you did not pre-reduce juice, place all ingredients into a saucepan and turn on to low heat, stirring constantly. This is where you should delegate as well, or keep a bowl aside to rapidly pour the curd into when it seems like danger zone thickening or so your hands are freer to do the tasks. 

Stir constantly. Again. STIR. CONSTANTLY. And be sure to scrape the bottom and sides and all. I suppose it took between 10-20 minutes to perceivably thicken, and there were numerous panicked moments where I thought it would turn to lemon quiche. At the ‘oh dear, this is rather resistant’ point, I hurriedly transferred it to the bowl so it would not cook further.

Just prior to this is where I realised I had not started placing the kiwi slivers into the tart bases, so tried to manage while stirring. It was precarious. Cover tart bases evenly as you can with the baked kiwi slices.

Pre-heat oven to 180C. 

Use a tablespoon to carefully fill the tarts. Not above the tart edge, as I found. No biggie if there is curd to spare (possibly for a twelfth tart). 

These need to be in the oven for 17 minutes. It was perfect for the smaller ones (view bottom and curd integrity, though absent pulchritude), but the 4 overfilled tartlets took 10 more minutes.. so strange. 

After baking, cool gently then into the fridge they go. Best eaten cold next day. Because of the juice:egg proportion I was terribly concerned the curd would be too runny, but it was absolutely fine after refrigeration. 

I’m not sure if... for the third kiwi, it would be best to add them for, or after the bake. But inclined towards after they have cooled. 

Lastly: Loda il Soleeeeeeeeee! 

[alexteltevskiy]

What do you see No. 2

7:11 PM, Anna reads off the faint shimmer barely escaping her stealth matte black Tag Heuer. "He's got 49 minutes..." she muttered through her breath, teeth clenched. "Come on, don't be like that..."

Anna was laying flat on a makeshift bed, constructed of two tables moved next to each other, pushed flat against the window. Minimal padding, a half-eaten bag of potato chips and the bristly crackle of a burning fireplace on the other side of the large living room - her only comforts. The thermostat showed a 66 on the wall, but she didn't seem to mind the chill, wearing only a matching gunmetal gray sport bra and simple cotton panties.

She tried to remember what her last New Years Eve was like, what she did, where she was. She remembered nothing. Not last year, not the one before that, or the one before that. Gray static. Her life, just a blurred stream of decadent hotels, damp alleyways, foggy nightclubs. One after another, one city after another.  This New Years Eve was no different. People hurrying across the street, shiny boxes in hand, smiles on their rosy faces, escaping the cold. Lights lighting up everywhere, just not for her.

Her fists were clutching a pair of mil-spec Nikon binocs, poking through the blinds. Chicago looked gorgeous from 37 floors up, but she wasn't in it for the views. On the receiving end of those optics was a lonesome figure sitting on a couch in a minimal apartment, in the building across, 3 floors down. The figure was mostly motionless, budging only to hug the medium-sized brown-coated American Red-Nosed Pit Bull that would occasionally jump up next to its owner, licking him in on the cheek, then slumping down to stare on up melancholically from owner's the lap.

Last remnants of daylight had completely set long ago, Anna split in half by the sodium vapor from down below, painting her face with zebra stripes in all the shades of orange zest, and the faint green cast on her almost bare back from the lonesome LED clock on the wall, showing 7:37 PM, slowly ticking down in the back of her mind. By this moment she had steadied her pulse - breathing slow and deep. She had prepared herself and her mind, as she had countless times before. His subtle and sincere smile, long beard and bushy eyebrows moving slightly with the wind every time he stepped out into the balcony to drink his morning coffee. Or the way he would tousle his dog's big, flappy and joyful ears after treating the canine to a fresh bowl of dog food. Even the way he would sit down in the living room on some evenings, put on an old Thelonious Monk record on low, sipping away a glass of chilled Chardonnay while looking across the modestly sized quarters at a small photo of a beautiful young woman with a big, spunky smile and starkly contrasting soft features.

All those moments, forcibly abandoned, ejected into the far recesses of conscious. A whole month of waking up earlier than the sun just to see him open his bright blue eyes in the morning. 31 days of breathing every breath with him, cooking his favorite meals, reading his favorite books and listening to his favorite music. And 31 evenings of sharing his silence, solemnly remembering his late wife. A whole month’s worth of surveillance data, etched into the flickering nebula of hard drives next to the window in Anna’s apartment couldn’t convey the closeness she developed to her subject in the building across, 3 stories down - Zach Bertrand. Anna would close her eyes and feel like she knew Zach for years. In the brief bouts of deep sleep which she sporadicly had over a month-long presence in the rented apartment she sometimes had dreams of her childhood and teenage years in the stuffy, crumbling old orphanage in Arizona. Little fluffy clouds, sprawled across a neon gradient of a sky… A perfect backdrop for lazy summer days spent sneaking out of the dorm just to hold her boyfriend’s hand as they drove in his rusty, canary-yellow 69’ Beetle down to Vermillion Cliffs. Watching the sun dip below the plateau, the searing orange reflected in the bright blue of his eyes. These memories, becoming more distant with each passing year, seemed like they happened a life time ago. Zach, from the building across, reminded her of that boyfriend from long ago. Zach was also wanted man - living under an alias and owing Anna’s incredibly powerful overseas client an enormous amount of money, which he had till 8 PM today to transfer.

An icy-cold tear rolled down first her left cheek, then her right, cutting her face in three. She snapped back from the trance, pupils tightening, quick glance at the Heuer. 7:55 PM. “Oh my God…” She fumbled down from the table, knocking over her phone with the uplink to her employer, a bright red blinking sign “Transfer Not Completed” sprawled across the freshly-shattered screen. Having landed hard on her left knee, she limped into the bedroom and, with all her might, forcing back the piercing knee pain, threw the mattress off the bed base to reveal a specops-issue surpressor-equipped Steyr AUG A1. Clutching the cold hard steel of the sight barrel, she made her way back to the window. Check mag, sight align, bolt charge, safety off. After years of experience, she went through the very same motions without flinching. Opening the window just enough to stick the barrel out, a piercing gust of wind blasted her face, making her flinch, turning a fresh stream of tears to ice. Staring down the sights at Zach, he was still on the couch, with his dog sleeping next to him. “Just get to that damn laptop, press the button already! Press it now! Go, damn it! Why are you still sitting!?” Anna was now screaming.

7:59 PM read the clock. Zach quietly stood up, trying hard not to wake the dog up, and went into the kitchen. His shiny metal MacBook was on the kitchen counter, screen lit with windows of all sizes and colors. Anna’s heart sank when he walked past it and gently closed the display down, serving himself a chilled Domaine Anderson Chardonnay, 2012 vintage. Fresh white shirt, collar undone, he stepped out onto the balcony. The man seemed incredibly at ease, relaxed even as he gave his Mid-North District refuge a final, sweeping look-over. After his first sip, Zach set his sights on the building immediately across from him, staring at a very specific point in space, 3 floors above him. Staring right into Anna’s sights. Those blue eyes, burning through years of ice in Anna’s heart… He knew all along, she concluded, unable to swallow the rock-like lump in her throat.

Anna’s phone started to vibrate, a message was delivered. She knew what it said without lifting her eyes from the sights. 8 PM rang out with the sound of a gun being cocked from the opposite side of her room. She could feel the barrel of the gun in the corner, having come from the shadows, aimed straight at her, piercing the left side of her back with an invisible line. “Do it,” the voice in the corner calmly said. The time had come to do her job. Through the fogged up sights she could see Zach raise his glass to her and smile. A smile so peaceful and endearing, she could only hope it meant that he forgave her for what she was about to do. Clenching the trigger with her trembling finger, she held her breath and started counting to three…

1..

2…

…

[plxyboi-blog]

30 surprising foods that melt fat

New Post has been published on https://healthy4lives.com/30-surprising-foods-that-melt-fat/

30 surprising foods that melt fat

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Those who want to lose excess weight and dwell a healthy everyday living, may possibly not have to follow a diet or make distinctive excess weight reduction recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as lengthy as their fridges are comprehensive of certain sorts of foodstuff.

According to msn, the following sorts of food would aid you lose excess weight and would soften unwanted fat.

1. Pumpkin Seed Pesto

“Mix [pumpkin seeds] with basil, parm and garlic for a twist on a nut-absolutely free pesto,” suggests Rebecca Lewis, RD for HelloFresh, a major healthy meal package delivery company. Or, you can toast the unwanted fat-blasting seeds and sprinkle them on to salads in lieu of toppings. Lewis also suggests including them to soups for a dose of additional protein.

2. Eco-friendly Tea

“you can consume four to five cups a day, you may possibly in fact not only heat up but speed up your rate of metabolism and even burn off far more calories (and unwanted fat, such as tummy unwanted fat!) in your snooze, many thanks to its polyphenol named epigallocatechin-three-gallate, or EGCG,” reveal The Nutrition Twins, Lyssie Lakatos, RDN, CDN, CFT and Tammy Lakatos Shames, RDN, CDN, CFT, and authors of The Nutrition Twins’ Veggie Heal. “It also has the amino acid theanine that delivers on a psychological alertness and calmness that can help you to make rational choices, so you can convert down fatty, caloric meals that you’d commonly take in because of to tension.”

three. Roasted Brussels Sprouts

The great meld of delectably crispy and bright with refreshing flavor, this cruciferous veggie is one of our most loved superfoods. “Roast them with spices and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast,” suggests Julieanna Hever, MS, RD, CPT, a plant-based mostly dietitian and writer of The Vegiterranean Diet program and The Finish Idiot’s Information to Plant-Based Nutrition. “They’re outstanding excess weight reduction meals due to the fact they are loaded with fiber and detoxifying glucosinolates.”

four. Pickles

Pickles are loaded with h2o, vinegar, and fiber, and scarcely any calories! In fact, just one cup of the pickled cucumbers pack in two grams of fiber for only sixteen calories. Not to mention, studies display that acidic meals like vinegar aid improve the body’s carb-burning level by up to forty p.c. When your physique burns off carbs, it moves on to torching unwanted fat, which can aid you at last rock your skinny denims muffin top rated-absolutely free.

five. Dried Plums

“Dried plums are one of the ideal normal constipation treatments. A serving of 4 to five dried plums packs three comprehensive grams of fiber,” shares Rebecca Scritchfield, RDN, writer of the upcoming e book, Body Kindness. “About half of that is insoluble, which can help speed foodstuff by the digestive tract. The other half is slow-moving soluble fiber, very good for enhancing satiety, decreasing cholesterol and regulating blood sugar amounts. They both include up to a quite healthy gut.” And trim tummy!

6. Spaghetti Squash

“Just when the cooler temperature has you craving heat, unhealthy consolation meals, spaghetti squash is one of the ideal replacements for spaghetti!” exclaim The Nutrition Twins. “It feels like a hearty meal, but one cup only has about forty calories—more than 75 p.c fewer calories than a cup of basic pasta.” Even much better? It is a very good resource of fiber, which suggests it will continue to keep you fuller for lengthier and aid continue to keep tummy bloat at bay.

seven. Kiwi

“They may possibly be modest, but these sweet-tasting fruits have a hefty sum of actinidin, a normal enzyme unique to kiwifruit that aids in digestion by breaking down protein in the physique. Kiwifruit also has prebiotic fiber, which primes the gut for healthy digestion,” claims Scritchfield. “Study signifies that a day-to-day serving of eco-friendly kiwifruit can help to improve bowel movements. So, slice in half, scoop with a spoon, and pop into your mouth like nature’s Tums (SunGold kiwis, with a yellow flesh and tropical taste, supply three times the vitamin C of oranges and as much potassium as a medium banana).” Did we mention they’re just hankering for a heavenly breakfast bowl?

8. Mushrooms

Recreation, established, ‘shrooms. As in, time to include a hefty serving to of this powerful and nutrient-packed fungi to your future meal. Sautée them into a tomato-based mostly sauce or roast them right up until crisp to include as a topping to tasty salads brimming with autumnal bounty (feel: squash, pumpkin seeds, massaged kale). “Swapping any of the infinite sorts of hearty, umami-flavored mushrooms for meat will continue to keep your tummy flat because of to their quite minimal unwanted fat and calorie depend and super nutrient profile,” points out Hever.

9. Brown Rice

“Healthy taking in may possibly be triggering fuel overload,” features Scritchfield. “Rice is the only starchy foodstuff that does not trigger fuel, research claims.” To continue to keep issues healthy, stick to a fist-sizing portion with your foods.

10. Winter season Squash

Indeed, you can get ’em all calendar year all around (and need to!). “Note: These winter season squashes have thicker skins so have to have lengthier cook times than summer months squash,” claims Lewis. The end result? A tantalizing, roasted veggie facet that is deserving of becoming an entrée (just stuff with beans, veggies and garlic or herbs for a tasty medley of flavors).

11. Apples

“Nature’s great excess weight reduction foodstuff are apples,” claims Hever. “Consume them uncooked, sprinkled with cinnamon, or baked as a seasonal handle. You cannot overeat them, there are myriad versions as options, and studies display that having fun with an apple ahead of a meal decreases whole caloric ingestion at that meal.”

12. Pistachios

Guess you can’t have just one. And that is ok, pop a handful of these nutrition superstars. “Pistachios are the great fall-flat tummy foodstuff (harvested in early September with harvest long lasting about 6 months and well known right by the vacations) are our most loved due to the fact they have a profitable mix of protein, fiber and healthy fats to continue to keep you satisfied through the day,” say The Nutrition Twins. In addition to trying to keep vending machine-cravings in verify, the fact that you have to de-shell them, also can help you avoid senseless snacking. “Most treats with a gratifying crunch also trigger tummy irritation and bloat from salt, unwanted fat, and from digestive distress, but not pistachios! Also, their fall hues (eco-friendly and purple-purple colours) occur from antioxidants!”

13. Darkish Leafy Greens

These antioxidant-packed powerhouses are great to toss into soups, stir fries, and chilis. Some ideas: “Massage your kale to aid break down the fibers a bit, then sautée it with garlic and olive oil Mix spinach in your morning smoothie with bananas for a eco-friendly power breakfast include swiss chard to your hearty soup recipes — its texture is in a position to stand up to the lengthier cook times.”

fourteen. Peanut Butter

In addition to for creating a delectable spread or dip, peanuts also pack in a tummy-unwanted fat-blasting influence. Genistein, a compound that acts on obesity genes and lowers your body’s means to retail store unwanted fat, is existing in this functional nut. What’s far more, peanuts are brimming with polyunsaturated fats, which have been proven to “convert on” genes in visceral unwanted fat that are linked to reduced unwanted fat storage and enhanced sugar rate of metabolism in the physique, according to a Uppsala University study.

fifteen. Baked or Roasted Potatoes

And include to that: yams and sweet potatoes. “They’re quite minimal in unwanted fat, superior in satiating advanced carbs and fiber that can help you stay lean and satisfied with delectable, comforting sweetness,” suggests Hever.

sixteen. Pumpkin

If you’re getting it from a can and not refreshing, be certain to decide for the unsweetened variety of one of our most loved superior fiber meals. “It would make a terrific, minimal-calorie dessert, just include cinnamon,” recommend The Nutrition Twins. “Pumpkin is only forty calories and five grams of fiber for each half-cup so it will continue to keep your tummy lean and flat although the fiber can help to flush unattractive tummy bulges from constipation. You can also use pumpkin to switch oil in brownies and butter in other recipes to continue to keep your recipes minimal-calorie and delectable and your tummy flat.” Pumpkin brownies? Really don’t head if we do.

17. Lemons

This citrus fruit is very well well worth befriending in your day-to-day schedule if you haven’t now. “If you consume alcohol, it can trigger fuel to variety in your deal with and tummy. Cut your alcohol in half by swapping a h2o with lemon in between drinks. Consider it more than ice, sparkling, or incredibly hot h2o with lemon,” suggests Scritchfield. “The vitamin C in lemon can help break down the bloat.” Making fish? “You can also zest [a lemon] and then slice it and include to any fish recipe,” features Lewis. Eco-friendly tea with lemon? Even much better, you overachiever, you.

18. Tomatoes

Oh tomatoes, allow us depend the techniques we adore you. “They have the magical mix of h2o and potassium, which delivers on an instantaneous flat tummy by flushing surplus sodium, h2o and bloat from your physique and tummy,” reveal The Nutrition Twins. “Furthermore, they’re fiber-packed (goodbye constipation and the puffiness that comes with it!) and super minimal in calories, so you can take in a whole lot of them without gaining excess weight.”

19. Cheese

Getting rid of your muffin top rated does not have to signify offering up all your most loved indulgences— Havarti and Gouda involved. Cheese is brimming with butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that is the solution of fermentation in the substantial intestine, which has been tested to protect against the progress of both insulin resistance and obesity, a study in the journal Diabetes observed.

twenty. Chocolate

And you really don’t have to give up your sweet guilty pleasures, both. Darkish chocolate is abundant in polyphenols, plant-based mostly antioxidants, that aid you struggle both absolutely free radicals and stubborn unwanted fat. A Louisiana State University study observed that gut microbes in our tummy ferment chocolate into polyphenolic compounds, such as butyrate, which ignites your physique to burn off unwanted fat as gas and turns off genes linked to irritation.

21. Eggs

A study in the journal Nutrition Study divided 21 guys into two groups in which half ate a bagel breakfast although the other half ate eggs. The conclusions confirmed that the egg team confirmed a reduced reaction to ghrelin and ended up much less hungry three several hours later. What’s far more, individuals who woke up to eggs ate fewer calories for the future 24 several hours following the study.

22. Avocados

Prevent fearing the unwanted fat! Creamy avocados are comprehensive of monounsaturated fats that dim your hunger and protect against the accumulation of tummy unwanted fat. In fact, a European study tracked 90,000 folks for many decades and found that contributors who tried using to take in a minimal-unwanted fat diet experienced the very same chance of becoming chubby as individuals who ate regardless of what they wished! Consider this fast fact another purpose to bite into avo toast.

23. Plums

These reddish fruits can give your unwanted fat genes the purple mild. How so? Plums have phenolic compounds named flavonoids, which lend the fruit its deep color as very well as its means to struggle unwanted fat. Plums also are a terrific resource of pectin, a gelatin-like kind of fiber observed in the cell walls of fruits that places a cap on the sum of unwanted fat your cells can soak up.

24. Spinach

There is a purpose why Popeye often chose spinach. The dark eco-friendly leaves have a lengthy-chain sugar molecule named sulfoquinovose (SQ), which can aid your midsection stay trim. According to a study in the journal Mother nature Chemical Biology, SQ encourages the advancement your very good gut germs, which protect against terrible germs from colonizing your gut and producing irritation and tummy unwanted fat. Toss the leafy greens with a handful of walnuts, sliced strawberries, and goat cheese for a gratifying lunch.

twenty five. Nut & Seed Trail Mix

According to a 2016 Danish study, folks who ate a meal abundant in plant protein somewhat than animal protein documented emotion drastically far more satiated. Pack a baggie comprehensive of flab-frying peanuts, walnuts, and sunflower seeds to munch on if the hunger pangs get started to distract you in in between foods.

26. Tuna

Mild tuna is a nutritional triple danger in a can: it’s economical, packed with protein, and blasts tummy unwanted fat. In fact, a study in the Journal of Lipid Study observed that including omega-three fatty acids to your diet could aid convert off unwanted fat genes. When fish have two sorts of omega-3s—DHA and EPA—the scientists found that DHA can be forty to 70 p.c far more productive than EPA at suppressing unwanted fat genes and blocking unwanted fat cells from enlarging. Crack open up a can of tuna due to the fact it’s the fish with the optimum DHA material.

27. Bananas

When you skimp out on snooze, your physique makes far more ghrelin, the hunger hormone, encouraging you to take in far more the future day. Remain on track with your excess weight reduction targets by noshing on nanners. Not only do their muscle mass-calming minerals, like potassium and magnesium, lullaby your physique into a snooze manner, these fruits can also aid you glimpse and experience thinner. Just one study observed that females who ate a banana 2 times day-to-day ahead of foods for two months reduced their bloat by 50 p.c, many thanks to the fruit’s debloating potassium.

28. Cinnamon

Who knew that zapping unwanted fat is as easy as shaking some cinnamon on to your oats? A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition observed that this blood sugar-regulating spice can help cut down insulin secretion, blocking sugar from becoming stored as unwanted fat. Not into oatmeal? Consider sprinkling the stuff into your latte or smoothies.

29. Salmon

Wild-caught salmon is brimming with omega-three fatty acids, which are infamous for squashing irritation and serving to you zap undesired tummy flab. In fact, these healthy fats struggle irritation by growing in adiponectin, a hormone that boosts rate of metabolism and burns unwanted fat. Inventory up on this pink fish, as it’s abundant in both EPA and DHA, the two energetic forms of omega-3s.

30. Blueberries

These bite-sized berries are as mighty as they are little. In a study in the Journal of Medicinal Food items, blueberries ended up proven to cut down abdominal unwanted fat, triglycerides, and whole physique excess weight. Up coming time you’re creating a yogurt parfait, really don’t neglect to toss in some blueberries!

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[pantryplanet65-blog]

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Orange and Saffron

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Silky smooth and bursting with unexpected flavors, this creamy butternut squash soup is finished with crème fraîche, fresh cilantro and crunchy, maple-roasted pumpkin seeds.

Butternut squash soup recipes are a dime a dozen, but this one stands apart due to its unique flavor additions: a pop of fresh orange zest and a hint of fragrant saffron. It’s an entirely unexpected flavor combination that’s simply delicious.

Sometimes, a cookbook comes along that changes your entire culinary perspective.

Ottolenghi’s SIMPLE is one of those books.

We’ve been cooking our way through it, slowly and surely, often filling our weekly menu plan with 3-4 recipes just from this book. And other than some unusually soggy fish fingers, everything else we’ve made has been absolutely stellar. The fact that most of the recipes lean vegetarian doesn’t hurt either: there’s very little in this book you need to feel guilty about.

I love this book so much I decided I need to share at least one recipe with y’all here. I probably won’t share more though, because you should really go buy it for yourself. (If you’re a design nerd like me you may appreciate the original UK version of the book, which has a drop-dead gorgeous cover. Why publishers tend to take beautiful covers and genericize them for the US market is beyond me… I’ll seek out the original version if I can find it, even if it means cooking in grams and milliliters!)

I’ve really been enjoying cooking from a physical cookbook, and it has inspired me to make better use of the other cookbooks in my collection in addition to this one. Menu planning is so much more enjoyable flipping through a beautiful, tangible book vs scrolling instagram or pinterest for recipe inspiration (says the food blogger who makes a living posting recipes online… eh, whatever).

Also, can I just say that you’ll likely be seeing a lot of this bowl. I used it for my winter tomato soup, and couldn’t resist using it again for this soup. It’s my own, and possibly my favorite piece to date. I’m still at the point where the clay sort of becomes whatever it wants to be, but this ball of clay miraculously became the perfect bowl for soup… and I absolutely love it.

The original recipe calls for a pumpkin or winter squash; we used butternut since that’s readily available and generally pretty reliable in terms of flavor. I feel like pumpkins are grown more for decoration around these parts, and even pie pumpkins are often stringy and flavorless, so I generally avoid them. Still, this recipe would work with just about any variety of winter squash so use whatever you have on hand.

The result is a divinely rich and satisfying soup that’s creamy as heck even before the final dollop of crème fraîche (which could certainly be left out if you wanted an entirely vegan version).

If you find the soup too thick for your tastes, just add a little bit more broth to thin it to your liking.

I had a beautiful pomegranate waiting on the hutch for this soup. I thought the bright, fruity arils would be the perfect finishing touch both for looks as well for flavor. But of course, as you’ve likely noticed by the lack of red pomegranate seeds in these photos, I got so immersed in the shot and the soup and the crispy pumpkin seeds that I completely forgot about the pomegranate.

So it goes.

I still think pomegranate seeds would be a great addition here, if you feel so inclined. ;)

Oh, and I’d be remiss if I neglected to talk a little bit about the pumpkin seeds, because they are worthy of their own post, they are that good. Tossed with a simple mixture of maple syrup and chili flakes, and then roasted until browned and crispy. They are the perfect textural contrast for a soup like this (if you’re anything like me you find you need something to chew on to be satisfied with just soup for dinner). And if you have leftover, well, they make a gosh darn great snack too.

One thing to note about this recipe: harissa varies greatly depending on the specific variety and brand. I purchased the same Belazu Rose Harissa that the book recommends (if it’s good enough for Yotam it’s good enough for me!) even though it’s a bit pricey to ship from the UK. If you use a different brand of harissa I’d recommend starting off with just 1 tablespoon or even less if you don’t like a ton of spice. Taste the soup and then decide whether or not you want more.

If you start cooking regularly from this book, it’s worth picking up the 10 SIMPLE ingredients described in the book, including the rose harissa as well as za’atar, tahini, black garlic, and preserved lemons. I actually bought a whole set from the Ottolenghi website, and while shipping wasn’t cheap it still came out better than finding the ingredients individually on Amazon or painstakingly seeking out other brands. Some items, like the preserved lemons, can vary greatly from brand to brand. The first jar we bought last year tasted like straight up pinesol. But the Belazu lemons are downright delightful, so it was worth it to me to hunt them down.

Silky smooth and bursting with unexpected flavors, this creamy butternut squash soup is finished with crème fraîche, fresh cilantro and crunchy, maple-roasted pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients:

For Toasted Pumpkin Seeds:

1/2 cup (80g) raw pepitas/shelled pumpkin seeds

2 teaspoons maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

For Squash Soup:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large or 2 small onions, sliced into 1-inch wedges

1 medium (approximately 2 pound) butternut squash or pumpkin, peeled, halved and seeds removed; cut into 1-inch cubes

1 quart vegetable broth

2 tablespoons rose harrisa, more or less to taste*

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads (about 8 threads)

1 teaspoon orange zest (from 1 large orange)

3/4 cup (180g) crème fraiche

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, to serve

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toss seeds with maple syrup and chili flakes. Spread in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 15 to 20 minutes or until some seeds have popped and are starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cool, breaking apart any large clumps into bite-sized pieces.

Increase oven temperature 425 degrees F.

Drizzle olive oil over onion and squash pieces in a large bowl. Season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Toss to coat. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spreading into a single layer. Roast for about 25 minutes or until vegetables are soft and caramelized. Set aside to cool.

Combine vegetable stock, harissa, saffron and orange zest in a large stock pot or Dutch oven set over medium high heat. Season with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to a simmer, then add the pumpkin and onions, along with any leftover oil on the pan.

Reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the crème fraiche.

Blend until smooth using an immersion blender, or transfer the soup to a free-standing blender (be cautious blending hot liquids, I’d recommend blending in two separate batches for safety).

Transfer to serving bowls. Sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds and top with fresh coriander.

This soup will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Store pumpkin seeds at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.

* Different brands of harissa can very greatly in terms of spice. We used Belazu rose harissa, the brand Ottolenghi recommends in the book. It’s not quite as spicy as some of the more traditional African varieties we’ve tried, but 2 tablespoons worth still makes for a pleasantly spice soup. I would recommend starting with 1 tablespoon or so, you can always add more to taste.

Adapted from Ottolenghi Simple.

All images and text © Lindsay Landis / Love & Olive Oil

Did you make this recipe?

Let us know what you think! Leave a Comment or share a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #loveandoliveoil.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Source: https://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2019/02/creamy-butternut-squash-soup-with-orange-and-saffron.html

[manxfile84-blog]

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Orange and Saffron

get fresh recipes via email:

Silky smooth and bursting with unexpected flavors, this creamy butternut squash soup is finished with crème fraîche, fresh cilantro and crunchy, maple-roasted pumpkin seeds.

Butternut squash soup recipes are a dime a dozen, but this one stands apart due to its unique flavor additions: a pop of fresh orange zest and a hint of fragrant saffron. It’s an entirely unexpected flavor combination that’s simply delicious.

Sometimes, a cookbook comes along that changes your entire culinary perspective.

Ottolenghi’s SIMPLE is one of those books.

We’ve been cooking our way through it, slowly and surely, often filling our weekly menu plan with 3-4 recipes just from this book. And other than some unusually soggy fish fingers, everything else we’ve made has been absolutely stellar. The fact that most of the recipes lean vegetarian doesn’t hurt either: there’s very little in this book you need to feel guilty about.

I love this book so much I decided I need to share at least one recipe with y’all here. I probably won’t share more though, because you should really go buy it for yourself. (If you’re a design nerd like me you may appreciate the original UK version of the book, which has a drop-dead gorgeous cover. Why publishers tend to take beautiful covers and genericize them for the US market is beyond me… I’ll seek out the original version if I can find it, even if it means cooking in grams and milliliters!)

I’ve really been enjoying cooking from a physical cookbook, and it has inspired me to make better use of the other cookbooks in my collection in addition to this one. Menu planning is so much more enjoyable flipping through a beautiful, tangible book vs scrolling instagram or pinterest for recipe inspiration (says the food blogger who makes a living posting recipes online… eh, whatever).

Also, can I just say that you’ll likely be seeing a lot of this bowl. I used it for my winter tomato soup, and couldn’t resist using it again for this soup. It’s my own, and possibly my favorite piece to date. I’m still at the point where the clay sort of becomes whatever it wants to be, but this ball of clay miraculously became the perfect bowl for soup… and I absolutely love it.

The original recipe calls for a pumpkin or winter squash; we used butternut since that’s readily available and generally pretty reliable in terms of flavor. I feel like pumpkins are grown more for decoration around these parts, and even pie pumpkins are often stringy and flavorless, so I generally avoid them. Still, this recipe would work with just about any variety of winter squash so use whatever you have on hand.

The result is a divinely rich and satisfying soup that’s creamy as heck even before the final dollop of crème fraîche (which could certainly be left out if you wanted an entirely vegan version).

If you find the soup too thick for your tastes, just add a little bit more broth to thin it to your liking.

I had a beautiful pomegranate waiting on the hutch for this soup. I thought the bright, fruity arils would be the perfect finishing touch both for looks as well for flavor. But of course, as you’ve likely noticed by the lack of red pomegranate seeds in these photos, I got so immersed in the shot and the soup and the crispy pumpkin seeds that I completely forgot about the pomegranate.

So it goes.

I still think pomegranate seeds would be a great addition here, if you feel so inclined. ;)

Oh, and I’d be remiss if I neglected to talk a little bit about the pumpkin seeds, because they are worthy of their own post, they are that good. Tossed with a simple mixture of maple syrup and chili flakes, and then roasted until browned and crispy. They are the perfect textural contrast for a soup like this (if you’re anything like me you find you need something to chew on to be satisfied with just soup for dinner). And if you have leftover, well, they make a gosh darn great snack too.

One thing to note about this recipe: harissa varies greatly depending on the specific variety and brand. I purchased the same Belazu Rose Harissa that the book recommends (if it’s good enough for Yotam it’s good enough for me!) even though it’s a bit pricey to ship from the UK. If you use a different brand of harissa I’d recommend starting off with just 1 tablespoon or even less if you don’t like a ton of spice. Taste the soup and then decide whether or not you want more.

If you start cooking regularly from this book, it’s worth picking up the 10 SIMPLE ingredients described in the book, including the rose harissa as well as za’atar, tahini, black garlic, and preserved lemons. I actually bought a whole set from the Ottolenghi website, and while shipping wasn’t cheap it still came out better than finding the ingredients individually on Amazon or painstakingly seeking out other brands. Some items, like the preserved lemons, can vary greatly from brand to brand. The first jar we bought last year tasted like straight up pinesol. But the Belazu lemons are downright delightful, so it was worth it to me to hunt them down.

Silky smooth and bursting with unexpected flavors, this creamy butternut squash soup is finished with crème fraîche, fresh cilantro and crunchy, maple-roasted pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients:

For Toasted Pumpkin Seeds:

1/2 cup (80g) raw pepitas/shelled pumpkin seeds

2 teaspoons maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

For Squash Soup:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large or 2 small onions, sliced into 1-inch wedges

1 medium (approximately 2 pound) butternut squash or pumpkin, peeled, halved and seeds removed; cut into 1-inch cubes

1 quart vegetable broth

2 tablespoons rose harrisa, more or less to taste*

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads (about 8 threads)

1 teaspoon orange zest (from 1 large orange)

3/4 cup (180g) crème fraiche

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, to serve

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toss seeds with maple syrup and chili flakes. Spread in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 15 to 20 minutes or until some seeds have popped and are starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cool, breaking apart any large clumps into bite-sized pieces.

Increase oven temperature 425 degrees F.

Drizzle olive oil over onion and squash pieces in a large bowl. Season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Toss to coat. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spreading into a single layer. Roast for about 25 minutes or until vegetables are soft and caramelized. Set aside to cool.

Combine vegetable stock, harissa, saffron and orange zest in a large stock pot or Dutch oven set over medium high heat. Season with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to a simmer, then add the pumpkin and onions, along with any leftover oil on the pan.

Reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the crème fraiche.

Blend until smooth using an immersion blender, or transfer the soup to a free-standing blender (be cautious blending hot liquids, I’d recommend blending in two separate batches for safety).

Transfer to serving bowls. Sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds and top with fresh coriander.

This soup will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Store pumpkin seeds at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.

* Different brands of harissa can very greatly in terms of spice. We used Belazu rose harissa, the brand Ottolenghi recommends in the book. It’s not quite as spicy as some of the more traditional African varieties we’ve tried, but 2 tablespoons worth still makes for a pleasantly spice soup. I would recommend starting with 1 tablespoon or so, you can always add more to taste.

Adapted from Ottolenghi Simple.

All images and text © Lindsay Landis / Love & Olive Oil

Did you make this recipe?

Let us know what you think! Leave a Comment or share a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #loveandoliveoil.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Source: https://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2019/02/creamy-butternut-squash-soup-with-orange-and-saffron.html

[seasaltandhoney]

Madeleines

Did I name my daughter after cake? No. Did it factor into her name? Possibly (probably). It’s no secret that food is a major part of my life, and when it came to naming my girl, I knew there was a lot to consider. In the end, Madeleine was a French name (hi, Francophile here), it was a strong name, it was the name of several history-making, inspiring women, and...it just fit our little lady. Even though we hadn’t definitively settled on her name before she was born, I think I always knew that that moniker was meant to be hers. 

But “madeleine” is indeed the name of one of my favorite desserts as well. And since I’m now mama to a Madeleine, I better be pretty good at making the dessert, right? Right. Which is why I fell head over heels in love with Daniel Boulud’s recipe for classic madeleines. I should also note that he got this recipe from his (French) mother, which is absolutely adorable. A famous chef still cooking his mother’s recipes! Love. 

The spongey cakes are lightly sweetened with honey and infused with a zesty orange extract, which makes them rich but not heavy. They also smell like heaven as they bake and are pretty much the cutest, most impressive looking dessert ever. Plus, they’re satisfying as a snack or dessert and they’re a snap to make. Finally, I always have the ingredients on hand, making them the perfect thing to whip up for a last minute soirée. Oh, and I forgot to mention! My little Madeleine loves them too. 

If you want to try your hand at making this lovely French treat, you will need a specialty pan. But trust me, it’s worth the investment. Once you make them, you’ll be coming up with excuses to bake them all the time.

X

Madeleines

-very barely adapted from Daniel Boulud, courtesy of Bon Appétit 

Makes: 12 large madeleines 

Prep Time: 5 minutes plus 1 hour resting

Cook Time: 8-10 minutes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 large eggs

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

1/2 teaspoon orange extract

6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

Directions:

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Whisk the eggs, sugars, honey, zest, and extract into a medium bowl until smooth. Add the flour mixture and whisk to combine. Slowly add the melted butter. Pour the mixture into a resealable plastic bag (or a pastry bag if you have it) and chill in the refrigerator for one hour. 

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400° degrees. Lightly spray your madeleine pan with cooking spray and dust with flour. Cut a small corner off the bag with the batter and gently pipe the batter into the pan, filling the madeleine shells about 2/3 full. 

Bake until the madeleines are puffed and golden, about 8-10 minutes. (But be careful here! The side that’s cooking against the pan tends to get darker faster than the tops.) Once they’re done, tap the pan against the counter to release the cakes. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with powdered sugar. 

[mommamojito-blog]

It's Friday Cocktail Time!! Mulled Wine Edition!!

Hey Mommas!! Happy Friday!! Can you believe the last weekend of October is already here?!  I'm sure you all have all sorts of fun Halloween activities planned with your little ones! It's such a fun time of year!  It's been an exciting week at Momma Mojito.  We've been adding so, so many amazing new pieces for fall and winter.  Seriously have you seen them yet??  Tees for Thanksgiving, moto leggings, tops for holiday pictures, and dresses for special occasions.  Go check them out here!

Here in OKC, we got hit with a BIG cold front last night! Seriously, the wind was howling all night long.  It was really kind of eerie....perfect for Halloween time!!!  The cold is supposed to stick around here and we are forecast to have a cold Halloween night, so I decided I needed to come up with a new warm cocktail to cuddle up next to the fire with after all of these cold outdoor activities.  I have to admit that while I have made my fair share of warm cocktails, I have never made mulled wine until now.  That seems weird right?! I love cocktails, I love all things warm, I looooove wine, so why in the world have I not made mulled wine before now?! I have no earthly idea.  BUT, better late than never because THIS mulled wine is fabulous.  Oh so yummy and comforting.  It's citrusy, sweet, luscious, and just a bit spicy.  Plus, you can dress it up with all sorts of garnishes to make it look just as festive as it tastes.  So here's the recipe mommas!! Hope you all have a spooktacular Halloween!! Cheers!! ;)

xx, Momma Mojito

 MOMMA MOJITO'S MULLED WINE

1 Serving (Double for You and the Hubby or Multiply by 4 for a Pitcher Worth with a full Bottle of Wine!)

Ingredients:

1 cup of Apple Cider

3/4 cup of Red Wine (Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot is best)

1/2 tbsp of Honey

1-2 Whole Cloves

1 oz. of Fresh Orange Juice

1 Cinnamon Stick

1 Star Anise (can be found in the spice aisle)

Zest of Half a Clementine

Peel of Clementine for Garnish

irections:

In a small saucepan, combine the cider, wine, honey, cloves, orange juice, cinnamon stick, star anise, and clementine zest.  Bring to a light boil and simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.  If you'd like to remove the spices, then strain into a mug.  Otherwise, pour straight into a mug and garnish with the clementine peel.  Enjoy this luscious, delicious, seasonal drink immediately.  Best served next to a fire.  Cheers mommas!