ghostcomb

[xiaomao-ai-wo]

2/5

Orange cream macaroons

Amphibiuary2024 prompts dessert & orange (tomorrow)

[ourlazykittycollection]

Victuuri bowling date drabble

Found this little blurb laying around in my ‘deleted scenes’ doc - this was the original first date scene from Chapter 7 of HelloGoodbye. 

“Bowling?”

Victor flashed Yuuri a smile. “It’s a classic American date!”

“Have you ever been?” Yuuri asked as Victor navigated his way out to the main road.

“Once or twice,” Victor replied honestly. “You?”

“A few more times than you,” Yuuri smiled.

As it turned out, they were both incredibly bad at the sport. Victor’s first few throws went straight into the gutter while Yuuri managed to hit at least three pins each time. An employee finally took pity on them and showed them how to put down the guards.

“It’s more fun when you’re good, I suppose,” Yuuri smiled apologetically, though secretly relieved that he wasn’t completely embarrassing himself.

Victor pumped his fist into the air as his next ball took down five pins. “We should make some bets,” he said, trading places with Yuuri.

Yuuri watched as Victor’s ball lazily appeared out of the chute. “Like what?”

“Like whoever gets the most pins in the turn gets something from the loser,” Victor suggests.

Yuuri shrugged. “Okay - what are we playing for this next frame?” he asked, adjusting his fingers in the slightly too large holes.

“A kiss?”

Yuuri laughed, “Okay, but that sounds like a win-win.”

“Fine - high score for this frame gets a massage from the loser. Half-hour minimum, with oil.”

Yuuri nodded as he walked up to the starting position. He spent a bit more time than usual lining up his throw, trying to remember everything Mitch had taught him about footing and which arrows in the lane to aim for. If he hadn’t been so serious, he might have laughed at himself at the considerable change in concentration brought about by the prospect of having Victor’s hands on his skin.

Yuuri got a spare. Victor got eight pins.

“Loser goes out to grab breakfast tomorrow,” Yuuri suggests, with a satisfied smile.

They continued like this for the rest of the game, and into the next. While Yuuri’s form continued to improve as the frames rolled by, Victor was still struggling. Halfway through the second game, Yuuri decided to give him a break.

“We can stop, if you want. You already owe me a back massage, foot rub, breakfast in bed, an autographed photo, several kisses, the spot on the bed closest to the window tonight, and half your dessert later,” Yuuri smirked as Victor tried to decide on the stakes for the next frame.

They had four left and Victor was losing by a good amount. Victor sighed. “Let’s just make one more - based on the final score of this round,” he suggested.

“You sure?” Yuuri asked.

Victor nodded. “We can each decide our own prize if we win.”

Yuuri hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. “Great!” Victor chirped. “What do you want, if you win?”

“When I win,” Yuuri smiled, “I want you to teach me how to do a quad flip.”

“Done!” Victor agreed.

Yuuri’s stomach fluttered. That seemed a bit too easy. “Wh-what do you want?” he asked, nervously.

“I want you to dance for me.”

“O-okay…” Yuuri agreed.

“You’re up,” Victor said, stepping aside for Yuuri to take his turn.

Victor’s request had him slightly baffled, which threw him off for the first frame. Why would Victor request that? Doesn’t matter - I’m going to beat him anyway, Yuuri decided, letting the thoughts go.

The final frame came and went, and Yuuri lost. He gaped at Victor as he bowled two strikes in a row. “What?!”

“Amazing!” Victor cheered as his name appeared on the overhead screen as the winner.

“Unbelievable - I feel like I’ve been duped!” Yuuri groaned.

Victor wrapped his arms around Yuuri’s waist and kissed the top of his head. “How about I make it up to you with dinner?”

Yuuri curled his fingers into Victor’s shirt. “Fine.”

[Later Victor requests a pole dance…obviously ;-) ]

[survivorreelsmagicwithin]

Episode 1B - “I'm praying to Yoncé I survive and don't get first boot.”-Jess

no words.

LITERALLY

NO WORDS.

Two points. TWO FUCKING POINTS.

I'm praying to Yoncé I survive and don't get first foot. That ain't a cute look xoxox

i'm already forgetting to search for the idols, i'm already getting paranoid about if i need to start making alliances instead of just enjoying the really cute convos i'm having with ruthie lily and kevin (max is kinda dry and annoying but... we'll try to make it work ig).... and i'm already hating every challenge we do especially this one although i actually really liked the challenge it was so creative and fun, i just hated that i have bad luck and am stupid with the deduction things, HENCE why i havent looked for the idol yet. LOL. so.... tl;dr - things are going perfectly! this hufflepuffle is workin exactly as he should!

I just wanna say we really are the hufflepuffs. 114 moves in like 5 hours, but we did it.  Really proud of Ruthie, Landen, Kevin, Max, and I! Sending positive vibes to slytherin. Hope they are okay in this madness.

Yo my tribe? Kinda dope. I think that everyone worked really well together today! I think Joanna kinda took the lead and some of her ideas were... a choice. But! It got us first place! I think that this tribe has a good shot of getting to swap unscathed.

With Slytherin going to tribal, I really hope that someone I don’t know goes, but at the same time I’d be okay with Jess going? I feel like she’s such a sleeper threat in most games I’m in with her and I really just don’t want to compete with that this time around.

I kind of snapped and got myself an idol good until final 6 teehee.

I knew that the Snape's letter or writing or whatever that freak was up to was SOMETHING. Did I get lucky... hell fucking yeah.

A crackhead like me SHOULD NOT have all this POWER.

I also gave Jacob literally the worst clue ever because we are sharing clues ladies xoxoxo

The clue was:

"Snape is taken aback. “That wouldn’t be any business of yours now would it? I wouldn’t want to find out you are spreading false information. I trust you won’t have any issue with that”. Congrats! You’ve discovered Snape Storyline 2! That’s all for the moment, and will end your search for this round."

BOTH ARE HALF TRUE. Just in case he doesn't put 2 and 2 together and now I went from place to place on purpose. He's gonna think now I gave him something of value and I know he's gonna think "No way someone go an idol on day fucking 3".

CONFESSIONAL 1.1 — Walking into the Great Hall, I saw a few familiar faces... for not good reasons!

First Jacob, who I know from tengaged. He and I were in a similar friend group for a short period before he left it, but we had a rocky relationship. We flirted a bit (blame 16-year-old Nicholas), but that is in the past.

Secondly, Jess... who I just directly sent home in Eve’s The Challenge: Fresh Meat. She did not have great words to say to me (such as I’m condescending), so I was very wary and, honestly, unhappy with her being here.

But, as Kylie Minogue says, it’s better the devil you know.

Flash forward to the Sorting Ceremony, and I’m so happy to be.. Slytherin? I told Mister Vintage (Sammy) and Mister Heinen (Caeleb) that I’m either a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, but I suppose I’ve been lying to myself.

Then, I see my tribe: both Jess and Jacob are present. This is a curse wrapped in a blessing wrapped in an enigma. And, I love it.

I hate, hate, hate conflict and bad vibes, so I directly spoke to both. Jacob did not easily recognize me, but remembered me fondly; so, a successful reacquaintance. Jess, on the other hand, was definitely more apprehensive (as was I), but I made one thing clear: the past is the past, and I am declaring my loyalty.

I have been hurt in previous games by shoving the past aside while the other is still grudgingly aiming for revenge, but I feel Jess is different. She apologized to me about her words, which did hurt, and I apologized to her. What I said was honest, so I’m glad to see a fateful blossoming.

The first reward challenge is revealed, and honestly, I’m really bad at participating in pre-merge competitions, because I do not mind tribal. However, I do want to, since we are such a small tribe, focus on maintaining our numbers in case of a swap. We came in second this reward, and honestly, I’m glad to have eaten cupcakes (although I hate cherry). The fact we all chose a dessert and were privately messaged makes me assume someone received an advantage, but who knows...

What I DO know is that I had two separate relationships, so I wanted to lock a trio down (Me, Jess, Jacob), but I obviously did not want to gamebot this early and make the chat day one. So, naturally, i waited until after immunity.

Speaking of immunity... I took charge, because I like it, but also, I wanted to be able to take blame if we lost. I hate the whole “let’s vote someone out cuz they cost us a virtual challenge” this early in the game, it’s a cheap way to vote. I want to vote on loyalty and activity instead. That’s why I am probably going to target Jessie or Vi, but I‘m unsure as to which will be my vote. On one hand, Vi is much less social, but she also contributed a lot to the challenge. I do not want to judge a book by it’s cover, so I will reach out to her and assess her vibe.

I like going to tribal first, because my philosophy is that it’s better to test loyalties now, rather than guess loyalties later.

Regarding other players, Jules and Juls just played in a mini with me and sheeped the majority alliance to screw me over, so I’m not feeling them right now. Bitterness doesn’t exist in my mind: play well and I respect it; sheep and be stupid, and I will gladly dish out the karma. 

I’m satisfied with the happenings of this game so far, and I hope to make it further!! This is one of my first real orgs so, I’m em definitely excited. x. nick

Yay we won immunity. Raffy do be carrying our tribe though!

WELL WELL WELL!!!!!!! as far as my relationships go which is where i left off last round, really nothing much has changed about how i feel about or view my tribemates, but in exciting news... we won immunity!! i am not going to be first boot that is so nice, and im hoping that we can keep winning immunity until a swap so I can feel more secure. I think I could stand a shot if we lost on this tribe but i think if so the vote would split 3-2 i dont think i can get a unanimous vote on anyone unless its myself which is NOT WHAT WERE TRYNA DO HERE !! if anything i feel like i have the best chance to wiggle myself in with the girls (lily and ruthie) Max would probably be my ideal first vote if we ever lose an immunity because I know landen can be useful in challenges, but he YET AGAIN addressed me with a name that does not sit well with me he called me a "challengewhore" yet another reference to TS 2020, so this is not a good sign. Ideally I could get landen out and still be set but i know he has a relationship with juls who i also have a relationship with and wish to continue to have in this game, and us going against each other could make that more stressful than it needs to be because i know landen avenged beck for voting juls out maybe juls would do the same for him? Much to think about, but thankfully i dont have to think about it all that hard because yet again we ARE SAFE !!! woo, anyways thats pretty much it hopefully we can keep winning :D

Ahhhh safety feels so nice, I’m glad that I’m not in danger of being the first boot. Also I love the fact that ravenclaw won the first challenge with so little moves HAHA!

I want to go far in this thing with lily and with kevin, my goal right now is to get to merge and owen be alive so I can work with him!

I am very happy to have won this immunity challenge. We barely won, but I managed to pull my tribe to a victory. Emphasis on the "I" part. I am very frustrated with my tribe's lack of challenge activeness and ability. If the time did not work for them, then I do not know why they even suggested doing it at 2 PM. This challenge would have gone faster if I had done everything myself. In the end, though, I hope this helps in me staying in the game because I am a necessity if they want to ever win a challenge in first place. I highly doubt that they could do it without me.

So I’m currently writing this with one hand because my cat decided to lie on my other one  anyways Nobody is really talking about the vote which means it’s probably me going but I’ll see what I can do to change that

Here's a breakdown of my first few experiences since I am writing this a few hours before the first tribal council.

FIRST I was cast in this game along with a BUNCH of people that are icons across different formats of Tumblr Survivor - so that's intimidating. Mostly because my play style is kinda vanilla in comparison. I gotta find a way to stand out or I'm going to be thrown out fast.

SECOND There's a twist that will probably have some major effect at some later point in the game where everyone is added to the Great Hall. I think that it's for convenience of posting things like results and challenges so it only has to be sent to one chat... but also so that we can feel THEMATIC which is a lot of fun.

The game started in the Great Hall and we got sorted into our houses and the implication was that it's random but.. I don't think it's entirely true if I can read into what the hosts said to me once I was sorted into Gryffindor (something about running out of room in Hufflepuff) - because I definitely didn't say Gryffindor in my application.

THIRD My tribe has the following people: Joshua, Juls, Raffy, Autumn, and myself. 

I do not know how many of theme said Gryffindor when they applied but also did not want to bring it up to them as I am masquerading as a brave idiot. :D

Anyway, I started conversations with all of them and they all seem very sweet!!

I've played in a game before with Raffy where he was super snakey but also a great ally until he tried to snake me. So there's that... he's also an "over the top" type of person so he takes charge a lot of the time and voices his opinions about everything. I hope we can create some sort of working relationship in the game, but I think that he will tell me the truth if he does align against me.

Autumn is super chill and super strategic-minded. She puts lots of thought into all of her decisions and makes calls that benefit her getting to the end while trying to align with the right people. If I can't get to the FTC of this game... TBH I want to make sure she gets there. I played with her in one game and we both were tossed out one after another when the game turned on our "side". I don't think that relationship will factor into this game as it was forever ago and we both kinda play "new" every time we start a game but I'm hoping she will want to try and play with me just because I've seen how great she is at the game.

Juls is a very fun person who seems to always be having a great time! I found out she lives in Texas too and that she was excited to get to know me because we are from the same state. I was like.. do I know you? Because when she messaged me the way she did implied that she knew who I was and I was thinking OH NO what have people said.

Joshua seems really sweet. He hasn't added incredibly much to conversations so far with him but he has contributed some fun things. I love that he tries to be entertaining, but as I see it so far he's the first person I'd be willing to vote out if it came to our tribe going to council... though of course, having said that I bet they've all declared me their first choice.

FOURTH The reward challenge was the Letter plus Number challenge so as predicted...

I did terribly and earned 0 points for our tribe and was SO happy it was not for immunity.

The immunity challenge was a Choose Your Own Adventure Puzzle.

We got a slow start in that I feel like everyone was afraid to make a move because that would put a target on whoever "failed for the team". Then me and Raffy kind of got things rolling with him taking the main leader role and me taking on a secondary role either agreeing with his suggestions or contributing a suggestion for what we should do.

There was a misunderstanding with the competition and we ended up making a whole bunch of extra moves because it was unclear to us that the letters we found at a later part of the challenge were able to be changed into numbers at a lockbox so we did a bunch of extra stuff... and I was resigned to the fact we were going to the first tribal when we go surprised that Slytherin... DID WORSE!!! O_O

Anyway... I still have no alliances or confirmed "working game" relationships and I really don't feel like starting those conversations at the moment so if I am out of the ones established or on the bottom of one that will add me to "pick me up" for later votes then I blame myself for not trying hard enough in that category.

FIFTH I definitely didn't just now search for the idol and waste two days that I could have searched other times. Nope! Not me!! :)

Anyway I went on a trip to Hagrid's Hut because I love me some Hagrid and I figured he'd let me in since I"m a Gryffindor and he loves us the best (you know, like a reverse Snape)... I dug through all of his junk and found his umbrella. Apparently I liked that it was pink and then left his hut. 

To be honest, I probably should have taken his dragon's egg and turned him in... maybe could have gotten him fired.

Someone finally got me to come out of retirement- can you believe it

It's been cute so far and I have no complaints, probably cause the hosts wisely put me, Owen, and Dan in separate corners lmao. Yooo if we all make it to merge?? Hell hath no fury. But we will cross that bridge when we get there! And for now I enjoy the calm before the storm. I deadass forgot how to be an org so I need all the time I can get to socialize and reacclimate. Me checking Skype more than once a year? Don't remember ever doing that. I love Raffy, it's always good to see Chips, I think I like Juls, and I'm not sure how I feel about Joshua but it's fine. I like Gryffindor cause we have no beef and I hope it stays that way.

ok so my tribe lost :( big sad. but im def ok bc jess is soooo close to me and we made a threesome with nick so. i think jessie is an easy first boot bc shes not around as much as vi. but really its our decision at the end of the day!

here’s the hot goss.. i’m a little upset i didn’t get anyone i Know on my house/tribe but also grateful HSBSNSNN all i know is that so far i’ve been doing pretty solid in securing relationships with those on my team (at least.. i hope so :flushed:) and i’m hoping they all like me hehe. kinda praying to just mist my way to merge where i can be united with people who like me enough to keep me around still.. >:D 

[tortuga-aak]

We tried a food delivery system that’s about to blow up the healthy fast-food scene — and it was shockingly good

leCupboard

leCupboard dispenses healthy, personalized, prepared meals out of machines.

We tried out three leCupboard dishes — two meals and a dessert — and the taste blew us away.

Founder Lamiaa Bounahmidi believes the startup helps address nutritional problems that arise when people choose convenience over health.

Lamiaa Bounahmidi may have a solution to your diet woes: a vending machine.

Bounahmidi is leading a San Francisco-based startup called leCupboard, which dispenses healthy, personalized, prepared meals out of vending machines. The startup's goal is to get people to think differently about healthy food by making it as convenient as fast-food.

Customers simply press a button on one of the machines — which Bounahmidi calls "cupboards" — and out comes a vegan snack or meal in a reusable glass container. The dishes range in price from $6-$13, and most are high in protein and whole grains. 

LeCupboard's seven locations are all in downtown San Francisco, in semi-private spaces like coworking areas, schools, and hospitals.

My leCupboard taste test

On a recent visit to one vending machine, I ordered and sampled three different items, each of which was filling enough to stand on its own.

Bounahmidi recommended I start with a lighter dish as a sort of appetizer, then try a more filling main course, followed by a dessert. I tapped my selection on leCupboard's touch screen, and was able to enter any dietary restrictions. Options included "avoid gluten" and "avoid nuts" — if I had used it, the feature would have excluded options that included those ingredients — but since I don't have Celiac or an allergy, I skipped that step.

Within 30 seconds, my first entree came out ready to eat.

leCupboardEach leCupboard dish comes with a label that lists ingredients and lays out its nutritional profile, including fiber, protein, and what leCupboard calls "healthful" fat, a tweak to standard nutrition labels that aligns with the latest nutritional science on fat. Healthy main dishes get labeled "Build," while desserts — which mostly rely on ingredients like nuts and fruit — get labels like "Indulge." 

My first item mimicked a poke bowl, the popular raw fish dish. But because leCupboard's food is all vegan, my selection featured beets instead — a substitution that made me skeptical. After gingerly skewering a forkful of beet and some veggies, I took a bite.

Erin Brodwin / Business Insider

The flavors — lemon, seaweed, vegetable, delicious — danced on my palate. It was so good. I asked Bounahmidi how she had performed this magic trick.

The beets, she explained, were glazed in a lemon marinade then paired with a vegetable that tastes a bit like seaweed. A light carpet of black rice rounded out the dish, and a creamy, spicy sauce gave it some kick.

"I love cooking, and the flavors are designed to be craveable; to be satisfying. Just like any other food," Bounahmidi said. 

Convenience over health

As she sees it, the reason most of us struggle to eat well is that convenient options usually only offer unhealthy food.

"We focus so much on what we're eating on the weekends when we're out with friends and then feel guilty for having dessert or over-eating, when really the problem isn't what we're eating on two days of the week — it's what we're eating on the other five," she said.

With more than 100 meal-delivery apps to choose from across the US, it's easy to see why many people no longer leave their offices for lunch. And those who work especially demanding hours or have more than one job often don't have time to prepare or seek out a healthy lunch. In a recent survey, some 62% of professionals said they typically ate lunch at their desks, a phenomenon that's heralded social media hashtags (#saddesklunch) and new social science vocabulary ("desktop dining").

Most of "our choices aren't actually choices. They're made because they're convenient," Bounahmidi said.

In this context, vending machines — a technology that has barely changed since it was introduced as the "Automat" in 1912 — are booming. Since 1995, the number of vending machines in the US has grown 96% to a whopping 5.1 million, according to the New York Times.

The main course

Next up was my main dish: a falafel bowl inspired by Bounahmidi's visits to Cairo. Like the others, it came in a reusable glass container that can be returned to the leCupboard staff at their Cafe location for a refund of $3. Eventually, Bounahmidi envisions that a second machine next to the first will allow customers to return their dishes and get their refunds automatically.

Erin Brodwin / Business Insider

This dish was also delightful, but I think I'd heat the falafel next time for a slightly better flavor. Overall though, it exceeded my expectations. The freshness of the tomatoes and crunchiness of the kale shone through, and the falafel was savory and filling.

Bounahmidi said health is at the center of leCupboard's mission. The initiative is the customer-facing portion of a public benefit corporation Bounahmidi founded called Looly, which has raised over $2 million in funding according to AngelList. She is currently working on a pilot project with several hospitals to design meals for people with specific dietary needs, including Celiac disease, Crohn's, and diabetes.

I finished off my meal with a dessert called "le Versailles" — a plant-based chocolate mousse sprinkled with sea salt, raspberries, and pistachios.

Erin Brodwin / Business Insider

As a chocolate lover, this was my favorite part of the meal. The mouse was light and fluffy but rich, and the salt on top gave the chocolatey sweetness a hint of savory — my favorite combination. I could honestly see myself eating this at least once a week. And I'd be more than happy to eat the rest of the meals that often as well, as long as I could get $3 off the retail price after I return my glass container.

For that to happen, though, I'll have to wait until leCupboard expands to some public locations, a goal Bounahmidi aims achieve within the next few weeks.

"On our lunch breaks we go down the street to what's easy and cheap," she said. "This solves that."

NOW WATCH: 5 myths about sugar that you should stop believing

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[ramialkarmi]

We tried 3 meals from a vegan vending machine that’s about to blow up the fast-food scene — here’s the verdict

leCupboard dispenses healthy, personalized, prepared meals out of machines.

We tried out three leCupboard dishes — two meals and a dessert — and the taste blew us away.

Founder Lamiaa Bounahmidi believes the startup helps address nutritional problems that arise when people choose convenience over health.

Lamiaa Bounahmidi may have a solution to your diet woes: a vending machine.

Bounahmidi is leading a San Francisco-based startup called leCupboard, which dispenses healthy, personalized, prepared meals out of vending machines. The startup's goal is to get people to think differently about healthy food by making it as convenient as fast-food.

Customers simply press a button on one of the machines — which Bounahmidi calls "cupboards" — and out comes a vegan snack or meal in a reusable glass container. The dishes range in price from $6-$13, and most are high in protein and whole grains. 

LeCupboard's seven locations are all in downtown San Francisco, in semi-private spaces like coworking areas, schools, and hospitals.

My leCupboard taste test

On a recent visit to one vending machine, I ordered and sampled three different items, each of which was filling enough to stand on its own.

Bounahmidi recommended I start with a lighter dish as a sort of appetizer, then try a more filling main course, followed by a dessert. I tapped my selection on leCupboard's touch screen, and was able to enter any dietary restrictions. Options included "avoid gluten" and "avoid nuts" — if I had used it, the feature would have excluded options that included those ingredients — but since I don't have Celiac or an allergy, I skipped that step.

Within 30 seconds, my first entree came out ready to eat.

Each leCupboard dish comes with a label that lists ingredients and lays out its nutritional profile, including fiber, protein, and what leCupboard calls "healthful" fat, a tweak to standard nutrition labels that aligns with the latest nutritional science on fat. Healthy main dishes get labeled "Build," while desserts — which mostly rely on ingredients like nuts and fruit — get labels like "Indulge." 

My first item mimicked a poke bowl, the popular raw fish dish. But because leCupboard's food is all vegan, my selection featured beets instead — a substitution that made me skeptical. After gingerly skewering a forkful of beet and some veggies, I took a bite.

The flavors — lemon, seaweed, vegetable, delicious — danced on my palate. It was so good. I asked Bounahmidi how she had performed this magic trick.

The beets, she explained, were glazed in a lemon marinade then paired with a vegetable that tastes a bit like seaweed. A light carpet of black rice rounded out the dish, and a creamy, spicy sauce gave it some kick.

"I love cooking, and the flavors are designed to be craveable; to be satisfying. Just like any other food," Bounahmidi said. 

Convenience over health

As she sees it, the reason most of us struggle to eat well is that convenient options usually only offer unhealthy food.

"We focus so much on what we're eating on the weekends when we're out with friends and then feel guilty for having dessert or over-eating, when really the problem isn't what we're eating on two days of the week — it's what we're eating on the other five," she said.

With more than 100 meal-delivery apps to choose from across the US, it's easy to see why many people no longer leave their offices for lunch. And those who work especially demanding hours or have more than one job often don't have time to prepare or seek out a healthy lunch. In a recent survey, some 62% of professionals said they typically ate lunch at their desks, a phenomenon that's heralded social media hashtags (#saddesklunch) and new social science vocabulary ("desktop dining").

Most of "our choices aren't actually choices. They're made because they're convenient," Bounahmidi said.

In this context, vending machines — a technology that has barely changed since it was introduced as the "Automat" in 1912 — are booming. Since 1995, the number of vending machines in the US has grown 96% to a whopping 5.1 million, according to the New York Times.

The main course

Next up was my main dish: a falafel bowl inspired by Bounahmidi's visits to Cairo. Like the others, it came in a reusable glass container that can be returned to the leCupboard staff at their Cafe location for a refund of $3. Eventually, Bounahmidi envisions that a second machine next to the first will allow customers to return their dishes and get their refunds automatically.

This dish was also delightful, but I think I'd heat the falafel next time for a slightly better flavor. Overall though, it exceeded my expectations. The freshness of the tomatoes and crunchiness of the kale shone through, and the falafel was savory and filling.

Bounahmidi said health is at the center of leCupboard's mission. The initiative is the customer-facing portion of a public benefit corporation Bounahmidi founded called Looly, which has raised over $2 million in funding according to AngelList. She is currently working on a pilot project with several hospitals to design meals for people with specific dietary needs, including Celiac disease, Crohn's, and diabetes.

I finished off my meal with a dessert called "le Versailles" — a plant-based chocolate mousse sprinkled with sea salt, raspberries, and pistachios.

As a chocolate lover, this was my favorite part of the meal. The mouse was light and fluffy but rich, and the salt on top gave the chocolatey sweetness a hint of savory — my favorite combination. I could honestly see myself eating this at least once a week. And I'd be more than happy to eat the rest of the meals that often as well, as long as I could get $3 off the retail price after I return my glass container.

For that to happen, though, I'll have to wait until leCupboard expands to some public locations, a goal Bounahmidi aims achieve within the next few weeks.

"On our lunch breaks we go down the street to what's easy and cheap," she said. "This solves that."

SEE ALSO: Americans have been making a huge diet mistake for 100 years — here's what they should do instead

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 5 myths about sugar that you should stop believing

[tortuga-aak]

We tried 3 meals from a vegan vending machine that’s about to blow up the fast-food scene — here’s the verdict

leCupboard

leCupboard dispenses healthy, personalized, prepared meals out of machines.

We tried out three leCupboard dishes — two meals and a dessert — and the taste blew us away.

Founder Lamiaa Bounahmidi believes the startup helps address nutritional problems that arise when people choose convenience over health.

Lamiaa Bounahmidi may have a solution to your diet woes: a vending machine.

Bounahmidi is leading a San Francisco-based startup called leCupboard, which dispenses healthy, personalized, prepared meals out of vending machines. The startup's goal is to get people to think differently about healthy food by making it as convenient as fast-food.

Customers simply press a button on one of the machines — which Bounahmidi calls "cupboards" — and out comes a vegan snack or meal in a reusable glass container. The dishes range in price from $6-$13, and most are high in protein and whole grains. 

LeCupboard's seven locations are all in downtown San Francisco, in semi-private spaces like coworking areas, schools, and hospitals.

My leCupboard taste test

On a recent visit to one vending machine, I ordered and sampled three different items, each of which was filling enough to stand on its own.

Bounahmidi recommended I start with a lighter dish as a sort of appetizer, then try a more filling main course, followed by a dessert. I tapped my selection on leCupboard's touch screen, and was able to enter any dietary restrictions. Options included "avoid gluten" and "avoid nuts" — if I had used it, the feature would have excluded options that included those ingredients — but since I don't have Celiac or an allergy, I skipped that step.

Within 30 seconds, my first entree came out ready to eat.

leCupboardEach leCupboard dish comes with a label that lists ingredients and lays out its nutritional profile, including fiber, protein, and what leCupboard calls "healthful" fat, a tweak to standard nutrition labels that aligns with the latest nutritional science on fat. Healthy main dishes get labeled "Build," while desserts — which mostly rely on ingredients like nuts and fruit — get labels like "Indulge." 

My first item mimicked a poke bowl, the popular raw fish dish. But because leCupboard's food is all vegan, my selection featured beets instead — a substitution that made me skeptical. After gingerly skewering a forkful of beet and some veggies, I took a bite.

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The flavors — lemon, seaweed, vegetable, delicious — danced on my palate. It was so good. I asked Bounahmidi how she had performed this magic trick.

The beets, she explained, were glazed in a lemon marinade then paired with a vegetable that tastes a bit like seaweed. A light carpet of black rice rounded out the dish, and a creamy, spicy sauce gave it some kick.

"I love cooking, and the flavors are designed to be craveable; to be satisfying. Just like any other food," Bounahmidi said. 

Convenience over health

As she sees it, the reason most of us struggle to eat well is that convenient options usually only offer unhealthy food.

"We focus so much on what we're eating on the weekends when we're out with friends and then feel guilty for having dessert or over-eating, when really the problem isn't what we're eating on two days of the week — it's what we're eating on the other five," she said.

With more than 100 meal-delivery apps to choose from across the US, it's easy to see why many people no longer leave their offices for lunch. And those who work especially demanding hours or have more than one job often don't have time to prepare or seek out a healthy lunch. In a recent survey, some 62% of professionals said they typically ate lunch at their desks, a phenomenon that's heralded social media hashtags (#saddesklunch) and new social science vocabulary ("desktop dining").

Most of "our choices aren't actually choices. They're made because they're convenient," Bounahmidi said.

In this context, vending machines — a technology that has barely changed since it was introduced as the "Automat" in 1912 — are booming. Since 1995, the number of vending machines in the US has grown 96% to a whopping 5.1 million, according to the New York Times.

The main course

Next up was my main dish: a falafel bowl inspired by Bounahmidi's visits to Cairo. Like the others, it came in a reusable glass container that can be returned to the leCupboard staff at their Cafe location for a refund of $3. Eventually, Bounahmidi envisions that a second machine next to the first will allow customers to return their dishes and get their refunds automatically.

Erin Brodwin / Business Insider

This dish was also delightful, but I think I'd heat the falafel next time for a slightly better flavor. Overall though, it exceeded my expectations. The freshness of the tomatoes and crunchiness of the kale shone through, and the falafel was savory and filling.

Bounahmidi said health is at the center of leCupboard's mission. The initiative is the customer-facing portion of a public benefit corporation Bounahmidi founded called Looly, which has raised over $2 million in funding according to AngelList. She is currently working on a pilot project with several hospitals to design meals for people with specific dietary needs, including Celiac disease, Crohn's, and diabetes.

I finished off my meal with a dessert called "le Versailles" — a plant-based chocolate mousse sprinkled with sea salt, raspberries, and pistachios.

Erin Brodwin / Business Insider

As a chocolate lover, this was my favorite part of the meal. The mouse was light and fluffy but rich, and the salt on top gave the chocolatey sweetness a hint of savory — my favorite combination. I could honestly see myself eating this at least once a week. And I'd be more than happy to eat the rest of the meals that often as well, as long as I could get $3 off the retail price after I return my glass container.

For that to happen, though, I'll have to wait until leCupboard expands to some public locations, a goal Bounahmidi aims achieve within the next few weeks.

"On our lunch breaks we go down the street to what's easy and cheap," she said. "This solves that."

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