#i mean it tastes like flour and salted butter so its not a bad taste

[capaldiera]

i used to be able to make paratha from memory so tonight i was like why don't i make some. without looking at a recipe. well a good reason why not is that i haven't done it in years

[supnahas]

Homemade mac and cheese baked in glass bowl

#Homemade mac and cheese baked in glass bowl mac#

Make sure you’ve removed the saucepan from the stove BEFORE you add the cheese.No elbow macaroni? Choose a smaller pasta with lots of ridges that the sauce will stick to.Cook your pasta “al dente” so it doesn’t become mushy.The salt will absorb into the pasta as its boiling and it will taste better. Salt the water you use to cook your pasta.These tools will help you make this recipe. Broil for about 8 to 10 minutes, until cheese is melted and starting to become more golden.Ĩ. Spread mixture in a 9×13 baking dish and cover with remaining 1 cup cheddar cheese.ħ. Add cheese sauce mixture to macaroni noodles and stir to combine.Ħ. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in 1 cup cheddar cheese.ĥ. Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens about 8 to 10 minutes.Ĥ. Stir in evaporated milk, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, salt and pepper.ģ. Stir in flour and cook on low for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. In a medium sized saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Cheddar cheese – I like sharp cheddar cheeseġ.Dry mustard – Find it in the spice section.Evaporated milk – It adds so much creaminess and is less fattening than regular cream.If you wanted a stovetop version, try my Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese.To make this delicious casserole, you’ll need these ingredients. And secondly… have you seen the ingredients list? Definitely a special occasions side dish. But then again, probably not a good thing for an everyday meal.

#Homemade mac and cheese baked in glass bowl mac#

Which, to be honest, isn’t really a bad thing in a mac and cheese recipe. First: let me break this down as a math teacher. Making a quick and easy mac and cheese? Put in ALL THE CHEESE!! Which means the only two I have on hand.Įven though this mac and cheese was so good I’m still thinking about it, this will not be a recipe I make all that often. At this point in time, we just got back from a long holiday and I only had two types: cheddar and mozzarella. Usually my fridge is stocked with at least 5 different types of cheeses. And my advice to you is: the way into anyone’s heart is through cheese. We are also rounding the corner to Valentine’s Day, which means that you might want to start thinking of meals to make your significant other. Time to pull out the old cheese casserole, featuring pasta. Beginning of February? Yeah, I am seeing less people at the gym (including me). So I decided to hold off on the recipe until most people give up their resolutions. When everyone was on a diet, and was vowing to eat healthy and all that good stuff… there I was making the most heart-attack inducing macaroni and cheese recipe. Like a loooonnngg time ago, back in the beginning of January. I actually made this Baked Macaroni and Cheese recipe a long time ago. This is the Mac and Cheese recipe to end all Mac and Cheese recipes. (You know I’m proud to be Canadian when.) So you all remember your childhood Mac and Cheese? I’m not going to name any names here, but it’s the kind of Mac and Cheese that you get in a box with the weird colored powdered cheese? The one that Wikipedia names a contender as the Canadian national food. Excuse me while I dive face first into this cheesy pasta.

[leavesofolive]

🌞🧹🌻Hearth Witch Tips!🌻🧹🌞

04: Your kitchen eats with you!

Just like with the rest of the house, what you put into the kitchen also heavily affects its energy. When you treat the hearth in certain ways, it reacts in certain ways. Your relationship with any room in the house is give-and-take. That means that if you don’t give back occasionally, the room will grow cold and stop appreciating your presence. But there are plenty of ways to mend your relationship! And the first step is to identify the problem!

From my experience, there are three main reasons why the kitchen stops being a warm and inviting place: 1) You are filling the cupboards with too much toxic, processed foods; 2) You aren’t spending enough time in that room; 3) Or you aren’t keeping the room clean enough.

When there’s a problem in the hearth, it’s always either one of these things or some combination of them. We’ll start with number three since it’s the easiest to explain. The kitchen should be anyone’s top priority to keep clean. It’s where all of your food, the nutrition and fuel of your physical and spiritual bodies, comes from! What you eat is your first defense against illness, injury, and your mental health. If the kitchen is filthy, then the food you take into your body will also begin to develop the same properties.

To keep the kitchen clean, I always start my day by washing last night’s dishes and give the counters a quick wipe. Once a month, I take stock of what’s in the fridge and freezer and scrub them out to prevent bacteria build-up. Sweeping the kitchen floors happens once a week and takes me all of three minutes to complete, tops. Once per season, normally at the beginning, I scrub the floors with soap and water, descale the coffee maker, wipe down the other appliances, and clean out the cupboards. So the only true “cleaning days” for the kitchen is four days out of the entire year. The rest of the time, the chores only take me about 30 minutes. As a quick tip, rinsing your dishes before setting them in the sink speeds up the dish washing process a ton! I’ve personally never trusted dishwashers since they don’t clean stuff well enough and it’s easier, faster, and far more cost effective to do it by hand.

The next problem the kitchen’s energy might be suffering from is how much time you’re spending there. First, spending a lot of time in the kitchen is a great thing! It absorbs the energy you feed to it, so when you don’t go in the kitchen very often or just don’t spend much time in there to begin with, the kitchen grows darker and colder. It loses the warmth and emotion and love that would’ve been sinking into it when you aren’t there.

The way to fix this problem is actually really easy! Cooking your own meals ensures that you are in there for a good amount of time each day because of the prep work and meal planning, etc. Plus, you get healthier, tastier food that way too! If you can’t cook all that well yet, don’t worry! Just like any skill, there’s no talent involved in learning something. It just depends on how much effort you apply to it. Another way to boost the hearth’s energy is to just hang out in that room. Invite some friends over, set out a snack tray, and just chill in the kitchen. Of course, since it’s pandemic right now, it’s best to wait until that’s over with to try this approach. But you, yourself, can still hang out in the kitchen!

The last problem, and a very, very common one in this day and age, is the influence of toxic food. Just like how your house absorbs energy from the land its on and what its built with, the kitchen also absorbs energy from the ingredients you keep within it. Toxic foods include anything processed or with a bunch of added sugars, and even GMO ingredients to some extent due to the trace chemicals that are still on the crops. These kinds of foods, if that’s the only thing in your house, will rot the energy. Not to mention, easy to grab snacks also end up causing you to spend a lot less time in the kitchen if that’s all you eat. Needless to say, no one eats healthy all the time. I don’t either! But having only toxic food in your kitchen isn’t great for you or the hearth.

Once again, cooking comes to the rescue! Even if you’re bad at it, it’s the thought that counts and little by little, as your skills grow and improve, the kitchen will learn to help guide you. There have been many times where I’d be stuck on how to fix something and a bottle of spice would fall of the shelf right next to me. If you listen to the kitchen, it will listen to you, too! Even if you don’t have time to cook, snacks like apples, berries, seeds, nuts, and dried meats are all healthy alternatives! I usually keep kale chips in the house for some yummy, salty crunchiness!

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

If you are worried about cost with this approach (believe me, due to my own situation it’s been a struggle at times), I’ve found out several tips and tricks to significantly lower the grocery bill. Anymore, my bill would actually be bigger if I bought crap food instead! Here’s my advice:

☀  Plan your week ahead! I always plan four meals a week that I’ll cook, and three days that I’ll scavenge for snacks and leftovers. I also stick to the rule of “one simple, one chicken, one meatless, one freebie” to remain more cost effective! The “simple” meal is just something I can make quickly if I know I’ll be short on time. The reason for have one of the meals be chicken is because it’s a much less expensive meat than beef or pork, and it’s a little better for the environment. The meatless meal is for the same reasoning. Meat is expensive and commercial brands are horrible for both the environment and the animals themselves. When I do buy meat, I make sure to buy local, grass-fed, organic meat as often as I can afford to. Keep in mind that every time you purchase anything, you are casting your vote for what is acceptable for society to continue. The “freebie” meal is just whatever I’ve been craving. If I want some kind of beef, I wait until this day.

☀  Learn to bake your own bread! For those of us with the time, this is a great way to save money and to stay healthy! Basic, white bread is actually pretty easy to make and only uses a couple ingredients. Those ingredients also go a long way. It costs me about 24¢ to make one loaf of bread because things like flour, sugar, salt, butter, honey, and yeast are all things that you buy once and can use for several loaves before you have to buy them again! It’s also not as time consuming as you’d think. Yes, it takes about 2 hours, but most of that time is proofing so you can easily be running around doing other things in between.

☀  Grow a garden! Even if it’s just a small, window herb garden, it can take the edge off of your overall food cost. Portobello mushrooms are also super easy to grow inside with minimal effort and equipment. If you have outdoor space, planting a small garden with the ingredients you use the most can help immensely!

☀  Only buy what you need! I know those sales look crazy tempting, but most of them are actually bogus and don’t actually save you any money. Think about what you are actually going to use before it goes bad and stick to your list. The bottom shelves at the store, aka the ones not in your direct line of sight, are usually where the grocery stores hide the better priced goods. At the back of most stores that have bakeries, there’s also usually a spot to get baked goods left over from the previous day for a slightly cheaper price. Day-old baked novelties like bread, cookies, and cakes are still perfectly good, and much easier to enjoy where you don’t have to spend as much!

☀  Check what’s already in your fridge before making your list! This is a huge one, since it prevents food waste, which in turn prevents money waste! What can you make during this week that can use up some of the ingredients leftover from last week? You’ll be impressed how quickly your food cost drops when you aren’t throwing things away. Waste not, want not! This trick also applies in another way, as well. When making your weekly meal plans, what types of foods use similar ingredients? If one meal calls for a slightly pricier ingredient, what other food can you cook with that ingredient to make the cost worth it? This also ensures that you get full use of things without wasting them. For example, this week I bought some fresh mozzarella cheese. Because this item is a little more expensive, I’m using it to make both the tomato mozzarella sandwiches and the beef wellingtons I’m making this week!

☀  Buy mostly produce! One of the best ways to lower your bill while still eating healthy is to simply add more fruits and veggies into your diet! There are so many tasty recipes that call for these babies that you’ll never run out of options, and there’s several things out there for everyone! Because I deal with sensory issues, I had to experiment a lot with what textures and tastes I could handle, especially on the bad days, but even still I found an over-abundance of things I love to eat. Fresh produce is way less expensive than meat, and much less expensive than many of the more mainstream snacks like chips or other processed foods.

                                     ------------------------------ All in all, taking care of your kitchen will also end up taking care of you, as well! Spending time there, actually using the kitchen the way it’s supposed to be, and just keeping it clean can work wonders in opening up your home and making it ten times warmer and more inviting! Trust me, your health and home will thank you for it!

[javierchvez]

winter bakin’ | jovier

pairing - javier chavez & @jojohood

time - sometime around winter break

setting - the kitchens

summary - javier and jojo make cookies for the holidays

The best part of Christmas was the baking. At least that was Javier’s opinion in previous years. This year he had something even better to look forward to, and that was baking with one of his favorite people. She might not be the most adept baker, but it was still nice to have company in the kitchen. And Javier couldn’t have asked for better company than Jojo. Grabbing the last of the ingredients, he gave her a quizzical look. “Now, the only question is…” he trailed off as if to build suspense as he reached into the drawer. It wasn’t anything that needed the suspense, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t fun to make it sound like a much larger debate than it was. “Do we want to do snowmen or the traditional gingerbread man?” Though he was asking for her opinion, he definitely made his own known by nodding his head slightly towards the former.

Jojo wasn't exactly what anyone would call the most festive person, but that didn't mean she hated the holidays. How could she, when her home back in Sherwood always went all out for them? It just meant that while she admired the holiday lights and decorations and all that stuff, she didn't usually participate in any of it firsthand. She especially didn't if it had anything to do with cooking or baking, but baking holiday cookies was a fun excuse to hang out with Javier. Not that Jojo needed an excuse -- almost without her even noticing, Javier had become one of those rare people that she knew she could hit up to talk about anything, at any time. And she must like him a lot if she was here, ready to try making cookies for the first time. "Hmmm..." Jojo said outloud as she struggled to tie her long, wavy hair back into a ponytail or bun to keep it out of the way from getting burned or something like that. She considered saying gingerbread just because she knew he wanted the other one more but she ended up going with, "Fuck tradition! Let's make some tiny snowmen!" With that, she finally wrestled most of her hair into a ponytail that stayed and she wiped her hands on the side of her pants. "So, Chef Chavez, how do we start this thing? Because I'm not kidding when I say the extent of my baking knowledge is those tv competition shows."

Javier could hardly contain his excitement when she agreed with him. He honestly would have been okay with either cookie, he just liked the way the snowmen looked and the fact that they had more icing on them than the gingerbread men. “Seriously, don’t even worry about that. That’s what I’m here for,” he said, trying to make her feel better about her inexperience with baking. “I can show you what to do. It’ll all be fine, trust me.” He’d shown plenty of people how to make things. Okay, maybe not that many people, but he was sure that he could teach Jojo a simple sugar cookie recipe. “So first, we’re going to pour flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and use this to mix it together.” He handed her a whisk as he spoke, with his other hand setting out the measuring cup to measure out the mentioned ingredients. “And while you do that, I’ll get the butter and sugar going in the mixer.” Javier waited until all the dry ingredients were properly measured before moving on to beat the butter and sugar together and tossed her a reassuring glance. “See? So far so good. You have nothing to worry about.”

"Worried? I'm not worried," Jojo lied through her teeth in the most teasing tone she could manage. She wasn't used to the part of liking somebody that made her insecure that they'd think less of her if she proved herself talentless, but at least Javier was nice about it. He was nice about everything, and besides, it wasn't like cookies were even that hard of a recipe to not fuck up. "And I do trust you," she admitted with a sigh. It was weird to say those words and even weirder to mean it, but it felt like a good kind of weird. "Alright, let's go!" She rubbed her hands together before taking the whisk from Javier and nodded. It sounded simple enough. Just mixing together weird dry powders. And whisking itself was easy enough to do, even without paying too much attention, which was good because the best part of this by far was getting to watch Javier. Even when he was doing simple stuff like beating butter and sugar together, it was kind of sexy; he was just so casually confident in the kitchen. "Right? I don't want to jinx myself but I think I might be a whisk master already. Do you ever just eat the sugar-butter mixture by itself? Because that looks good!"

Before he had been grinning at getting to do the shape he wanted, but now that grin turned into something softer; it wasn’t everyday that Javier was told that someone trusted him. Not that he’d ever do anything to make him untrustworthy, but he wasn’t naive enough to assume that absolutely nobody had preconceived notions regarding the VK’s. Although he’d never accuse Jojo of being like that. After all, if she thought something, she would say it. She was definitely not the type to say one thing and mean another, and maybe that was why he’d appreciated the comment so much, although really it wasn’t that big of a deal. They were only making cookies, not a whole lot of trust was needed in the subject, but it was still very much appreciated to be heard. And he also appreciated the enthusiasm she exuded even while doing something she had said time and time again she wasn’t good at. Javier laughed when she called herself a whisk master and peered into her bowl, a playful gasp leaving his lips. “Wow, that’s the best whisking job I’ve ever seen. And that’s coming from me.” Her question gave him a slight pause, a look of guilt spreading over his face briefly. “Uh, yeah, but no judging me! I only did it the first time I made cookies over here because, well, it was the first time I’d made cookies with fresh ingredients. And I do not suggest eating just butter and sugar. It’s kind of gross.”

Jojo rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile at Javier's surprised gasp; joking around in a kitchen together was annoyingly just as much fun as the lame people in romcoms made it seemed, and she kind of hated herself for actually puffing up a little bit at his playful compliments. Maybe it was too late for her and she was officially a fool with feelings. She'd think about that later, though. Right now, she had a handsome and hilarious boy to mock. "Um, permission to remain unjudged denied! I can't say I don't get the temptation though. It looks freaking tasty." She looked down at the mixture and then over at Javier with mischief twinkling in her eyes. "Hey, are you one of those cooks that gets weird about people sticking their fingers in your food?" she added, sticking a finger out menacingly towards the butter and sugar bowl. "Do you dare me to taste it?”

“I just told you it was gross and you still wanna try it?” Javier asked, laughing as her finger neared the mixing bowl. “I’m not one of those, no, but like I said, I really advise against it.” He made sure the mixer was off before tipping the bowl towards her. “But if you really want to do it, be my guest. Just don’t blame me when it’s the worst thing you’ve ever had. I warned you it was gross.” He had to admit, even though there wasn’t much baking being done and more messing around, he was having a great time. It was always a good time with Jojo, no matter what they were doing. “I’m about to add vanilla, egg, and almond extract though, if you’d rather wait. We’re almost to dough and that tastes a lot better than just butter and sugar.”

For someone who had never been in any relationship before and had only really seen successful ones, Jojo really had a bad habit of waiting for the other show to drop, and so she kept expecting Javier to get annoyed that she delaying their progress, or that she was just goofing off, but it felt more and more like waiting for something that wouldn't come, and that made it easier to be herself. "Yeah! You can't call something gross and honestly not expect me to try and test it out," Jojo snickered. She loved self-imposed dares and trying new shit out, and this felt like a good opportunity to do both of those things. She considered waiting for a moment so she could have the full dough experience as Javier suggested but then she just shrugged. "I'll try it when you get it all doughy too but I'm too curious right now!" Her finger swiped the edge of the mixture and scooped some up. "Cheers," she laughed,  popping it into her mouth and keeping eye contact with him the whole time. The taste wasn't as bad as she had been expecting and she covered her mouth with her hands as she laughed. "Dude... is it bad that I liked it?"

Sure, he’d definitely had worse tasting things on the Isle, but this was gross more so because of texture than anything else. Just watching Jojo eat it made him grimace, remembering his reaction the first time he’d tried the mixture. It was not at all the one she gave him now, and Javier couldn’t help but snicker. “I mean, everyone’s got different tastes?” He responded, reaching for the next set of ingredients to add to the bowl. “But I’m telling you. Nothing's gonna beat the dough. I know they say you shouldn’t eat raw dough because of the eggs and what not, but it’s still amazing. I could sit and eat an entire bowl of it, honestly. Who needs actual cookies when the dough tastes a little better?” After adding in the vanilla and eggs, Javier added the dry ingredients, setting the mixer to low and letting it do its thing. “So, thought about how you wanna decorate your snowman? Do we want royal icing or would you rather use fondant?”

Jojo felt even more like smiling at the look on Javier's face; he looked absolutely aghast, and it genuinely cracked her up that she could gross him out a little bit. And then he laughed and it made her laugh, and her heart felt light. She was still getting used to the fact that somebody's emotions had such sway on hers, but it felt so good right now. "I love raw cookie dough, man," she laughed. "I'd eat it all day, but I guess I wait until they're real cookies. That's the Christmassy thing to do, yeah? And I'm not sure. How are you going to decorate yours? Not that I'm planning on copying you, but you're the kitchen genius here! I'm not even sure I know what fondant is, actually, except that the cooking shows say it's hard to use. Which of those is more fun to lick off? I vote for the best licking experience!"

“You have no idea what fondant is? Wow, I really have failed to teach you anything,” Javier sighed exaggeratedly and shook his head. “But at least you know it’s hard to work with, and honestly it doesn’t taste great. It just makes decorations look better. Especially when you’re trying to create a scene or build something. Royal icing it is, but don’t expect it to come right off when you lick it like regular frosting does. As for how I’m decorating… I’m not sure. I guess I was just gonna do a regular old Frosty type snowman. Boring, huh?” He was really glad that they’d gotten the chance to do this, especially since she’d always said she wasn’t any help in the kitchen. It was nice to have someone other than his sister or dad in there with him, and someone he could really joke around with like they had been. Javier really felt a connection with Jojo, and it made him really happy to know that she hadn’t gotten sick of him yet. He hoped that day wouldn’t come for a long, long time, if it ever did come. For now, though, they had cookies to worry about. What the future held for them could wait; besides, it was much for fun to live in the present with her. “Ready to roll it out? You wanna do the honors?”

"It's not my fault you look hot when you're explaining kitchen stuff," Jojo complained, fake-fanning herself as if he was too sexy at this moment to even stand. "It makes it hard to listen to you when I just wanna kiss your face." She was good at saying bold stuff like that over text but in person, it made her blush a little and she let herself listen about the icing instead. "Eh, some people say boring. Some say classic. Me? I say boring," she joked, "but it'll taste delicious for sure." She nodded when asked about rolling out the cookies and she excitedly took the roller to the dough, ready to show her stuff. "You're not going to get behind me like a guy in the movies to 'show me how it's done', are you?" Jojo jested, her strong forearms making quick work of the dough.

Javier “looking hot” was something he was still getting used to; the only time he thought the word described him at all was in a literal sense, not an attractive sort of way. He scoffed lightly and rolled his eyes, muttering a “yeah, right” as he busied himself cleaning the area while she rolled out the dough. “You know, I kind of thought you’d say that,” he joked, moving the ingredients no longer needed out of the way to make room for the icing. Egg whites, vanilla, and confectioner’s sugar were pulled out instead, and measured carefully into a new bowl for the standing mixer. “Wow, do I really come across as that kind of guy?” Javier snorted, trying and failing to feign offense. He traded his expression for a small pout, adding on, “I didn’t think you thought so little of me.”

Jojo was very familiar with the sort of reaction Javier let out when she called him hot -- honestly, it was the kind of reaction she always had whenever anybody complimented her looks. She was convinced she was the worst looking in her family and just sort of weird-looking in general, but that was different; Javier was actually hot, super fucking hot. She'd thought so even before they started whatever this was. "It's true," she sighed, but otherwise let it go as they started preparing the icing and she licked her lips in anticipation for tastiness. Jojo giggled at his false-offense, raising a brow at him. "Maybe I just wanted to get you behind me," she quipped, shrugging a shoulder. "But seriously though, no. You're the least 'that kind of guy' I've ever met. It's why you're my favorite."

‘You’re my favorite,’ wow. Javier hadn’t expected to hear those words or have the kind of reaction he did; he could feel his cheeks warm as a smile tore across his face. The only people he’d been the favorite of were his father and sister, and that didn’t have nearly the same effect on him as hearing it from Jojo. “Favorite, huh?” he echoed teasingly, or at least that’s how he meant to repeat it. He was sure it didn’t come off quite like that with his cheeks still tinted with blush. It probably came off more like a schoolgirl laughing a bit too hard at a joke her crush had just told, which truth be told did describe how he was feeling at that moment a little bit. Giddy, giggling to himself in a slightly idiotic manner in response to something his crush said. Javier cleared his throat to compose himself a bit, busying his hands with the icing that was quickly coming together. “And if that’s what you really want, I guess I can show you how to pipe the icing onto the cookie. Have you ever used this stuff before? It’s kind of fun, a little like coloring if I’m being honest. Just draw a border around the area you want to ice and then fill it in,” while he explained, he separated the icing into several bowls so they could color it for whatever accessories their snowmen would be wearing. “Is the dough ready to cut and bake?”

[rune-writes]

Holiday Cookies

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII

Shinra Holiday 2020 » Day 1: Bake it til’ you make it

Word count: 1834

Rating: G

Summary: Elena isn't the best cook. As she is trying to make holiday cookies for Tseng, Reno walks in on her.

Note: A bit late, but here’s my entry for the Shinra Holiday 2020 event. This is also my first time writing the Turks, so hope you enjoy :)

Read on AO3.

~*~*~*~*~

“What are you doing?” 

Elena jumped at the sudden voice. Her hand that was stirring another batch of cookie dough jolted to a halt. She knew that voice—that arrogant, half-amused, in perpetual teasing voice. As though he had the entire world in the palm of his hand. Reno stood in the now-open doorway, one brow raised in question. 

How had he found her there? Elena had asked to use the kitchen in the dead of night when all the kitchen staff had gone home. They’d let her, albeit begrudgingly, and lent her the key, making her promise to make sure no one came and stole food from the pantry. Apparently they’d had a case of a thief for several nights, and no, it hadn’t been a rat. 

“Good thing I’m not Tseng, though, right?”

Reno’s scoff brought Elena’s mind back to the situation. At the tilt of her head, Reno made a deliberate scan of the chaotic counter between them. Flour was strewn about, with splashes of milk and butter and egg, and in the center of it all was a plate stacked high with burned cookies. 

Elena’s face went red with mortification. 

“It’s not like no one knows,” Reno went on. “Except Tseng, that is.”

He crossed the kitchen, then sat on a stool he pulled from beneath the counter. He picked a cookie from the top of the stack, burned black and cut into what was supposed to be a gingerbread man, but the edges had crumbled, leaving only a decapitated head. Reno’s smile was crooked, but before Elena could warn him, he had taken a bite off the head. The grimace came almost immediately, his brows scrunched in disgust. 

“What is this?”

Elena looked away and continued stirring the dough, willing her heated face to cool.

“If you’re thinking of giving these to Tseng, I suggest you think twice before—”

“How did you get here?” She cut him mid-sentence. She didn’t need his lecture to know how badly she’d messed up her first batch—and second. And third. Besides, it was two in the morning and she had locked the door. 

“I’m on standby,” Reno replied, as though that justified him visiting the pantry in the middle of the night. “Figured I could swipe a chicken leg or something.” Elena half wondered if he was the one who’d been stealing food, but the thought stopped midway when she heard a soft crunch from behind her. 

Her hand paused. Did he eat another? Those ruined, burned-black, disgusting cookies? Her heart had sunk at the sight of them when she’d pulled the tray out of the oven. But she’d figured the taste mattered more than the appearance and had taken a bite from a tree-shaped cookie. She’d almost gagged. Her second batch had come out still burned, but at least it was edible. Still not enough to present to Tseng, though. 

“You, on the other hand,” Reno went on. Elena glanced at him. He tossed the last of a star-shaped cookie in his mouth, his grin turning wry. “Didn’t expect you to be the sneaky type.”

“What do you mean sneaky?” Reno waved the cookie as if to make a point. Then he eyed the mess on the counter. Elena’s frown deepened. She set her bowl down and turned around to face him, her hands on her hips. “For your information, they let me borrow the kitchen. Unlike someone.”

“At least I didn’t spend a week’s worth of cooking ingredients.” He picked a cookie from the top of the stack, one of the edible-looking ones, and bit into it. His brows drew together, but he still gulped everything down. “Imagine what the chef would say once he sees his storage is empty.”

Reno was exaggerating. Elena was only into her second bag of flour and had only used half a bag of sugar and several eggs. They were only a fraction of what the kitchen staff used daily. She doubted they would even notice. 

“They know I’m making cookies,” Elena said in defense of herself. 

“Bet they didn’t know you’re only just trying it out.” Reno picked another cookie from the plate. He inspected the round and plain chocolate chip, his lips pulled into a deep scowl at the black surface. “Tell me, did you follow a bad recipe, or are you just a plain kitchen disaster?”

“If you don’t have any constructive criticism to give, the door’s that way.”

“I’m just saying.” Reno tossed the cookie back onto the plate before picking another—a cane-shaped cookie with white icing on top. She’d hoped it could have masked the burnt taste, but she’d made the icing too salty. “Don’t be too ambitious if you don’t have any baking experience, and—” Reno swiped at the icing and licked it off his finger. He didn’t bother to hide his revolt. “Don’t mistake sugar with salt, please.” 

That was only one time, though now a bag of icing lay in waste on top of the counter. That would earn her an earful from the head chef. 

Reno exhaled a loud, exasperated sigh. He pushed himself off his stool then moved around the counter, taking the mixing bowl from Elena. “You don’t have enough flour,” he said with a click of his tongue as he tested the gooey consistency of her batter with the spatula. He pinched a little of the batter with his finger, and Elena held her breath as she watched Reno taste it. “At least you used sugar this time.”

“Of course I did!”

He glanced around, then grabbed the measuring cup sitting next to the flour bag. “How many cups of flour did you use?”

Elena bit back her frown as she wondered what Reno was going to do. “Three?” she said. Reno quirked a disbelieving brow at her, and Elena folded her arms. “I followed the recipe okay! It’s not my fault it doesn’t go the way it’s supposed to.”

“Then whose fault is it? The oven?” 

Reno scoffed and reached toward the bag of flour to scoop for another cup. Elena’s eyes grew wide in horror and she was about to stop him. She could do this herself—she had to do this herself. What would be the point if she didn’t make the cookies she would give Tseng tomorrow?

“Just tell him you spent all night at the kitchen,” Reno said, adding half a cup of the flour into the dough through a strainer. He set the cup down, then began mixing the batter. “That’s not exactly a lie.”

“But—” Elena pursed her lips and looked away, ignoring the way her cheeks burned. “Stop reading my mind.”

“Then stop being an open book.”

Elena huffed and gritted her teeth. She could never win against her particularly obnoxious senior.

Reno mixed the batter with the spatula with expert dexterity. He added more flour when the batter was still too viscid, then mixed it some more until the consistency resembled a cookie dough. Elena found herself entranced by the way he moved with ease, the blue in his eyes focused solely on the task at hand.

“Can you really bake?” she asked.

Reno’s laugh surprised her—the sort of startled laughter as if she’d said something stupid. “I’m a Turk,” was all he said, as though that answered everything. She was a Turk herself, but she knew nothing about the kitchen. Though that was nothing new. Her own family had forbidden her to enter the kitchen, even when nobody was home. That was why she had to use the company’s kitchen in the small hours.

What if Reno was only putting on airs and the cookies he made now turned out worse than her own burned batch? What if he was playing her? Elena wouldn’t put it past him. Then Tseng wouldn’t look at her the same way ever again—and not in the way she hoped. 

“You don’t believe me that much?” Elena blinked. Reno was looking at her from the corners of his eyes, a frown playing across his face. “All I want is to save Tseng from getting hospitalized. Now, either you get out of my way or you get me the parchment paper.”

He’d sounded so stern that for a split second, Elena had thought she was on a mission and he was her field superior. She stood at attention, then responded the way she would have as a member of the Turks. It wasn’t until she caught his tiny, teasing grin as she was turning around that she realized he was messing with her. Unease, mixed with exasperation, creeped its way into her heart.

“You’re not pulling my leg, right?”

His delayed answer made her think of the worst. He hadn’t added anything strange into the bowl while she wasn’t looking, had he? She could just imagine Tseng’s expression. The cookie would look good on the outside, but the moment her superior bite into it—the grimace, the disgust, the gag. What if he threw up in front of her? He’d get hospitalized for sure!

“You like him that much, huh?” 

Reno’s eyes were uncharacteristically drawn, a slight crinkle around the corners that made him look... gentle, for once. Teasing still, but kind. In a blink-or-she’d-miss-it moment, his smile turned tender. Then he looked away and resumed his mixing. 

“Relax,” he said. “After tasting your cooking, I fear for Tseng’s life if he has to eat it.” She took offense, her lips pulling into a scowl as a retort formed behind her mouth, but then he said, “Just take it as me trying to express Holiday spirits. I’m being sincere here for once, you know.” 

That was the last thing Elena expected him to say. Holiday spirits? Sincere? Elena never thought those words existed in his vocabulary. For all she knew, her senior’s sincerity only existed on the battlefield when his target stood at the other end of his electro-mag rod. Elena had no reason to trust him, yet she had no reason not to trust him either. Maybe Reno really was doing her a favor. Whatever his reasons had been for visiting the kitchen so late at night, he was here helping her bake cookies when he was supposed to be on standby. Should she take him up on his offer? He’d do things his way no matter what she said.

“Fine,” she finally said. She turned around on her feet, then reached for the parchment papers in the cupboard. She spread it over the counter, but before Reno could scoop the now-thickened dough onto the paper, she held her hand over it, stopping him. “But if Tseng throws up in front of me, I’m going to say you made it for him.”

A pause, in which Reno’s turquoise eyes met her dark brown ones. The grin that spread over his face was almost challenging, but then he laughed a hearty laugh that came from his stomach and shook his shoulders. 

“Deal,” he said, then he scooped the dough onto the parchment. 

~ END ~

[graedari]

This may be weird but since you said you're making bread a lot, do you have any good recipes or tips you could share? Bc ive started making sourdough bc of Quarantine Fever but i really have. No idea what im doing. If not then thats fine!! May your bread be fluffy and delicious amen

This is gonna get long cause ya boi is passionate about bread, it’s midnight, and she’s got a lot of thoughts: 

Alright, let me tell you. YOU DO NOT NEED A GRAND RECIPE FOR BREAD. All you need is 4 ingredients: flour, water, salt, and yeast. That’s a basic bread dough. You need nothing more, nothing less. (I would give you exact amount but ya boi does not feel like getting her textbook of recipes out rn to look up lean dough... Uhhh... If you google some Lean Dough recipes (which implies they don’t have fat, idk if this terminology is making sense) you should be able to find some good ones. this is pretty much how you make baguettes btw, the only thing that makes em baguettes is the shape:)) 

But!!! If you want a good recipe? Like spices??? I HIGHLY recommend this Ethiopian Honey Bread recipe:

1/4 oz. active dry yeast 

1/4 c. warm water

1 egg

1/2 c. honey

1 Tbsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. warm milk

6 Tbsp. melted butter

4 c. flour

We made this in class and it tastes like FALL I kid you not. 

now, to make this shit? You’re gonna mix it together with something called the “Straight Dough Method” and by that, I mean, dump that shit in the mixer and just turn it on. When we make bread, we follow something known as the “10 Steps of Yeast Bread Production” if you google that you can get a better understanding of what I talk about, and like you can make any bread if you know how to do those 10 steps :)

Also I think we baked em at like 425 F  for about 10 min, turning em half way through (let em get brown on the top!!!! We want that color! If it ain’t burnt DON’T TAKE IT OUT OF THAT OVEN BABY)

And you’re gonna finish it with some melted butter AS SOON AS it comes out of the oven (if you’re feeling fancy, add some honey to that melted butter)

And sourdough starter? I haven’t a clue if I’m doing it right, lol. I had a bread class before but it was just all basic breads, this class is my first experience making breads with pre-ferments (which includes sourdough type breads), BUT~! Making a sourdough starter is super easy!!! All you gotta do is combine equal parts water and flour (we did 3 oz. ea.) with 3 oz. of UNWASHED grapes (don’t wash your grapes!!! The natural yeast we’re using will be on the outside!!!) Let that shit sit in an airtight container for 24 hrs. After that, remove grapes, and add another 3 oz. of flour and water ea. Let that sit another day, and do it one more time. BOOM! Sourdough starter! And you can keep that baby alive by keeping it in the fridge and then taking it out to feed every few days (make sure its room temp when you feed it though or the yeast won’t be active to do so!) (also the stuff? It’s gonna REEK. It doesn’t smell good. Do not sniff while stirring.)

Some general tips?

If you’re in an area that you know has high humidity? Don’t add all your water to the dough to start, sometimes you might add too much and make your dough tacky. Always have additional flour to add while mixing just in case you forget though :)

When you are shaping your dough if it’s sticking to your hand? just slightly dampen your hands. It’ll help the dough not stick. (don’t use flour because then you’ll lose the friction your hands create with the workspace that help shape!)

Also if you can, a wooden work area is ideal for working with dough! It’ll help the dough get friction while working with it so you get a tight, clean shape (a wooden cutting board is great for working with your small portions of dough!)

A bench scraper and bowl scraper are your best friends

If you’re making fresh bread, keep in mind it’s only going to last a day or two at best! Fresh bread isn’t supposed to keep! If you want, you can refrigerate dough and the yeast will “retard” and allow you to save the dough for another day of baking (I’d really only save dough for like a day or two) but fresh baked bread can also be frozen and saved for a couple months!

Watch YouTube videos!!! They’re super helpful! I highly recommend the King Arthur Flour channel. They’ve uploaded several videos of their bakeshops where their trained bakers show how to do certain shaping techniques and have several camera angles as well! We’re using these in conjunction with remote learning at my school! :)

Practice and have fun my dude! If the bread doesn’t come out as expected, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you actually think it is. (ya boi royally screwed up her baguettes for her breads final back in January and she still got an A on her final! So don’t get discouraged! Especially if it’s just for fun and family! Just tell them it was intentional!)

Hope your bread is delicious and fluffy too my dude! 

[the-vulgar-vegetarian]

Disney goes Veggie!

Hi Guys

How many of you have a favorite Disney movie? Or have been to Disney land? Or have imagined yourself as a Disney channel star?

The Walt Disney company is one of the largest, most prolific companies in the world and chances are you’ve interacted with them in some way. Most of us watched their movies as children and dreamed about a day at an amusement park in a pair of mouse ears.

Now as adults, or almost adults, Disney world may not be as available a dream but you can always get nostagelic with some food directly from Disney movies.

Here is a list of foods to recreate from your favorite Disney movies

Ratatouille

Ratatouille was an obvious addition to this list. This is personally my favorite Disney movie. I even got a Remi plush for my birthday the year it came out. Ratatouille it’s self is an inherently herbivore friendly dish. However what Remi actually makes is not traditional ratatouille. But you can still make it. The following recipe is courtesy of onesweetappetite.com

Ratatouille

Ingredients

1/2- 8 oz can of tomato sauce

1/2 onion chopped

2 tsp garlic past

1 small eggplant sliced

1 small zucchini sliced

1 small yellow squash sliced

1 red pepper sliced

1 yellow pepper sliced

4 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 C. fresh grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Thinly slice all your vegetables using a sharp knife or a mandolin

Stir together your onion, garlic paste, and tomato sauce. Spread into the bottom of a 9 inch pan.

Line all of your chopped veggies in your dish. I started on the outer edge and worked my way in. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cover your veggies with a piece of parchment paper slid just inside your baking dish. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until your veggies are tender. Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Gopher’s Succotash

Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh, dah duh dah dah...

Ok so I don’t actually know all the lyrics but if the general tune doesn’t start playing in your head then you didn’t have enough Winnie the Pooh in your childhood. Now Gopher’s Succotash may not be the food that comes to mind when you think of Winnie the Pooh but gopher seemed to be the only one with any kind of workable diet. No friends, you cannot live off honey alone. Recipe courtesy of camillestyles.com

Summer Succotash

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels

1 cup shelled edamame

1 small avocado, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

6 sprigs thyme

2 tbsp mint, minced

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

3 tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

In a cast-iron or nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.

Add the bell pepper and red onion, and cook over medium-high until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.

Add the corn and edamame, and cook until the corn starts to caramelize, about 2 minutes.

Turn off the heat, and add the cherry tomatoes, avocado, thyme and mint.

Toss with olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper.

Kronk’s Spinach Puffs

Well Fuck you Ezma. Kronk may not have much but he has those spinach puffs. Spinach puffs are and have always been a party favorite. Make this and enjoy before tossing a meddling old man out a window for throwing off your groove. Recipe courtesy of handletheheat.com

Spinach Puffs

Ingredients

1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 small onion, minced

1 garlic glove, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon chopped dill (I omitted because I dislike dill)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17.3 ounce package), thawed, rolled out into a 12" square, kept chilled

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a standard size 6-cup muffin tin with nonstick baking spray.

Squeeze out as much water from the thawed spinach as possible, too much water will make soggy puffs. Mix the spinach with the feta, onion, garlic, olive oil, and dill (if using). Season to taste with salt and pepper. In a small bowl beat the egg to blend before gently stirring into the spinach mixture.

Cut the puff pastry into 3 equal strips. Reserve 1 strip for some other use (such as Nutella Palmiers). Cut each remaining strip into 3 squares for a total of 6. Place a square in each muffin cup, pressing into the bottom and up the sides, leaving the corners pointing up. Divide the filling evenly among the pastry cups. Fold pastry over filling, pressing the corners together to meet in the center. The pastry cups can be covered and refrigerated up to 3 hours ahead of time.

Beat the remaining egg to blend in a small bowl. Brush the pastry with the egg wash. Bake until the pastry is golden brown and puffed, about 25 minutes. Transfer the muffin tin to a wire rack to let the puffs cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Run a sharp paring knife around the edges of the puffs to loosen before turning the puffs onto the rack to cool slightly before serving.

“Hi Dad” Soup

How could I have chosen this over the leaning tower of Cheese-ah? The world may never know. Nothing will ever top the dancing Bigfoot from A Goofy Movie but the comforting taste of this soup may give it a run for its money. Recipe courtesy of serenabakessimplyfromscratch.com

Vegetable Alphabet Soup

1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 whole Large Onion, Diced Fine Or 1 Small

3 cloves Garlic, Minced

6 cups Vegetable Stock

2 cups Water

5 stalks Celery, Diced

2 cups Carrots, Diced

1 1/2 cups Potatoes, Peeled and Diced

1/3 pound Green Beans, Cut In Bite Sized Pieces

1 cup Peas (Fresh or Frozen)

1 cup Corn (Fresh or Frozen)

29 ounces Stewed Tomatoes, Diced

1 teaspoon Granulated Garlic

1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning

1 teaspoon Rosemary, Chopped

1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

1 cup Alphabet Shaped Pasta

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat and add onion. Sauté onions until starting to caramelize. Add garlic and stir until softened and fragrant.

Add all remaining ingredients and stir until well combined. Bring soup to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until potatoes, carrots and pasta are tender.

Season with additional salt and pepper as needed.

Cheese Soufflé

This one was really tough. I mean you have porridge, you have the mysterious “grey stuff”, you have a whole musical number to pick from. But Cheese Soufflé seems to be the internet’s most commonly copied dish from the movie so who am I to disagree. To bad I can’t get you a recipe for a dancing candle stick to go with it. Recipe courtesy of thekitchykitchen.com

Cheese Soufflé

Ingredients

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, plus more to butter a 6-cup gratin dish

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups cold whole milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

5 extra-large eggs, beaten

2 1/3 cups grated Swiss cheese, preferably Gruyere (about 6 ounces)

3 tablespoons minced fresh chive blades

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

In a medium sized pot over medium heat, melt the 6 tablespoons of butter and add the flour, stirring and cooking for about a minute, until it smells nutty.

Add about 2 tablespoons of milk at a time, whisking to combine. At first it’ll be super thick, but just keep adding liquid and stirring. You should end up with a thick, velvety sauce. If a little thin, cook and stir it for a few minutes until it reduces, or if too thick, add a little more milk.

Take the sauce off the heat and season with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust if needed.

Add the eggs, the cheese and the chives to the white sauce, and mix well to combine.

Pour into the buttered dish and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the soufflé is puffy and well browned on top. Serve immediately.

So there you have it, I’d love to do more so let me know if you’d like a part 2. I could also do some studio Ghibli food or anime or whatever you guys would like to see.

Let me know!

[melo-yello]

Baking with the Wakandan Royals would include:

A/n: I've been watching a ton of baking shows lately so I've been mad inspired to write some domestic headcanons.

*I added Shuri

T'Challa

If you mention to this man you're thinking about baking he's already checking for necessary ingredients quantities and locating the measuring cups

T'Challa's need for order and a systematic approach to life can either be really helpful when you're baking or really annoying

This man takes pride in prepping the pan

I mean oiled, floured, and lined with parchment

T'Challa didn't come to play. He got a cake stuck one time and he's never been the same

I'm tellin you he's a complete ace when it comes to measurements

This man will measure, level, sift, and whisk together the dry ingredients in less than 90 seconds

"Here you go, Love." handing you the bowl and kissing your temple

He even will have the separate little glass bowls in various sizes like he stepped out of his very own cooking show

T'Challa is definitely the clean as you go type

Boi is washing dishes almost as fast you can make them

I've got that, Sweetheart." snatching up dirty bowls and taking them to the sink like clockwork

You already kno he's a stick to the recipe type of guy

You kno better than to tell him "We can just eyeball it" or end any measurement/cook time with "or so"

He will absolutely lecture you on the acute chemistry of baking

After so many times of 'sneaking' in extra pinches of 'this' and 'that' and him catching you'll be forced to put him out to stop his constant meddling

"Challa, I swear to Bast if you say one more thing about the 'balance of baking' and don't get yo ass outta this damn kitchen, Shuri will be an only child!"

He occasionally peeks back in offering his two cents before you glare at him and he slinks back to whatever he's preoccupying himself with

Once everything out of the oven and cooled you can't help but smile and bring T'Challa a goodie for all his efforts and help even if he's kinda a pain

Erik

He will 100% be minding his own business until he peeps you in the kitchen baking something

He immediately steps in to take over whether he knows what you're making or not

Deadass has slid across a counter, swiped the bowl, stuck the landing and been like "Ok Ma, what am I makin?"

Boi will even take your apron and do it smooth as hell too

The first time you thought he was trying to be freaky by grabbing ya ass and kissin all down ya neck in the kitchen but before you knew it the apron was untied and around his neck and he was stirring the bowl that was just in front of you

Growing up basically raising himself and being bounced around from relative to relative made learning to cook essential and he's a pretty damn good at it

And he knows it

Erik deadass cooks like somebody's Auntie

"Baby, lemme go ahead and do that." Is something you'll hear every step of the way

He'll just stare at the recipe for .5 seconds then be like "Do that shit, That shit right there and it'll be bland as hell!"

Erik starts off measuring but gradually shifts into eyeballing everything

He's prone to add pinches of different spices that are no where to be found in the recipe

Erik refuses to cook in silence and will always throw on one of his playlists

Y'all bop all the way from TLC to Daniel Caesar to Anderson. Paak

When all the baking is done Erik loves to humble brag about his baked treats

"Yea me and Bae, kilt that shit." Or "Oh you know, Babygirl can throw down"

That is until his cousin says something

T'Challa: "These are great."

Erik: "Damn Straight it is, T'Chump! Didn't kno my baby could FUCK it all da way up! Who you think taught her that! Who!"

M'Baku

*nervous laughter*

M'Baku has an enormous sweet tooth but can't bake to save his life

Not that hasn't tried but most of those trails ended in flames

Since then the great gorrilla has been banned from most of the palace kitchens

Naturally when you ask "Baku, help me bake some cookies."

He's a little hesitant

M'Baku tries to explain to you that his strong suit is really savory and much rather do anything

He really hates that he's not naturally good at it like most things he does (fighting, leading, flirting, etc.)

This gets him out of helping the first few times before you drag him in kitchen promising "Trust me, I can teach you. It can't be that bad."

With M'Baku's help be prepared to remake batters at least twice

He's either heavy handed or extremely light handed there's absolutely no inbetween with him

He's gonna apologize each time he messes up no matter how many times you tell him it's fine

You put him on mixing duty but he gets bored so he starts distracting you

"Oh that look absolutely scrumptious, My Love." grabbing your ass as measure out brown sugar

"That tastes amazing, My Queen." giving you bedroom eyes as he sucks your finger clean of the batter you were about to taste

"You smell like heaven, Dear Heart." nipping at your neck as you place a pan in the oven

This is also the kinda man that eats as you bake

As soon as they hit the cooling racks he's bodying half of them

Putting up high doesn't work either when your mans is 6'5" and can reach all your hiding places

Only on rare occasions do you actually have sweets to show for you efforts if you only make one batch

3 seems to be the sweet spot since M'Baku eats half of 2

He actually does pay attention when you show him how to do things correctly and each time he makes fewer mistakes and he's so proud of himself

Shuri

Shuri is allergic to anything remotely domestic. Not that its difficult she just isn't interested

Mysteriously she always has all the software updates to do when you ask "Wouldn't it be fun to help me bake something?"

"Yes, My King?!?!" Shuri yells running down the hall after a very confused T'Challa that tells back "Stop calling me that!" as the two run in the opposite direction as you

She's definitely not above making up tech tasks to get out of being forced into baking

"Oh I'd love to but I need to check... Erik's torso to make sure he's healing ok. Too bad he's shy so you can't come." She shrugs pulling Erik into lab before he can get in a word

Or "Oh yes Sergent Barnes, I do have time to look at the mechanics of each synapses of every nerve ending in your arm. This could take a while." practically tackling Bucky as he enters the lab

The only way to get her there is by treachery

"Shuri, come quick! The stan mixer is smoking you have to fix it. Or I'll never bake again." is enough to get her to bolt out of the door and into the kitchen

There's no way she can let your Double Fudge Sea Salt Pecan brownies vanish from her life

"This mixer is absolutely fine, Y/n. Don't scare me like that ev..." trailing off as she turns to see you locking the door to the kitchen

"Noooooooooooooooooooo!"

Once she finds that all exits are blocked off

Vents, windows, and personal secret passages she has installed for times like these

She starts offering 'helpful' advice to really 'expand' your baking horizions

"I'm telling you, Y/n, 1 and 1/4 teaspoons of white vinegar would really help these sweets raise to the ocassion." as she presses record and steps back

You soon learn after several batter explosions and looped videos and gifs sent across the Insta, Twitter, and Snap she can't be trusted

"Oh come on,now! How was I supposed to know it was going to do that?" Laughing as you glare at her wiping yet another batter blow up off your face

Before you accept her advice now it is questioned with "And if I add that it won't end up in my face?"

Shuri will pause then offer something else because she's no evil just mischievous

She pretends to be bored out of her mind the whole time even though she's mentally pocketing all the little steps so she can later try by herself

Every once in a while she'll hit you with an absolutely old school but completely clutch trick you've never heard of before (most likely something she picked up from cooking with Queen Mother) and you pause to look at her

Like "Where the hell did that come from?"

She just shrugs and offers some off the wall flavor combo to throw you off her trail

"Chocolate and peanut butter? Boring. How about anasis and chardonnay." genuinely curious about the combination

Shuri loves to experiment and play with structures and variables esspecially in the kitchen

So tell her your trying to make a souffle or flan and she's there automatically no plots involved or locked doors

Afters all the sweets and practical jokes are out of the oven and cooling and the doors are unlocked

Shuri takes a treat or two and hums looking satisfied with your team work "This was actually fun." mouth half full and gives you a quick hug before leaving

Ever so often she'll come of her own prompting to you wanting to be shown how to make a cookie or some other baked good

And you do but as soon as they're done

She steals like 75% of the goodies as you check some of the few left in the oven and splits them with M'Baku who was already waiting at the door and they run down the hall like small children

Always leaving a note "XOXO, Princess Shuri" and scribbled in the biggest calligraphy that is usually saved for royal documents "Thx from Great Gorrilla,M'Baku" at the scene of the crime

[willow-salix]

Random bit of fun that popped into my head. Grandma Tracy + Selene + cooking sherry =

Selene checked the recipe again and nodded to Grandma. It couldn't be that hard could it, to be all domesticated and shit? She had many manly men that she had to cook for, not that she went in for all the "a woman's place is in the kitchen" stereotypes,  but she did think it was important that they came home to something better than their Grandmother's cooking attempts after a tough rescue, and this one looked like it would be a nightmare mission. 

She could cook most things, basic and homely she called it, having learnt baking from her Nan, although she did like to challenge herself now and then.

She had decided in her infinite wisdom that if she was capable of making simple dishes like lasagna, chilli's, soups, burgers, pizza's pancakes, breakfasts and the like, coupled with the fact that she was actually good at baking, she could manage to help Grandma in her mission. It shouldn't be that hard to make their boys some lovely fresh donuts, something they all loved.  Yep, that was a plan! 

Grandma Tracy had wandered back and forth while Selene was assembling the ingredients, flour, salt, yeast, eggs, milk and melted butter and insisted on helping, trying to add her own selections to the mix which Selene gently vetoed, hiding them in the microwave. It would be fine, with her overseeing the proceedings Grandma couldn't get into too much trouble, could she? 

Selene directed Grandma as they slowly added the wet ingredients into a big mixing bowl, one at a time until they made a relatively smooth mixture, then Grandma added that little by little to the flour, Selene mixing with her hands until they had a rough dough. 

She dribbled some oil onto the worktop, dumped out the bowl and began to knead the slop, gradually feeling it grow thicker and less gloopy, more springy. Damn this was hard work!

"Let me have a try, you youngsters don't know the meaning of hard work."

Selene stepped aside to let Grandma T take her turn, but within a minute the older lady was huffing as bad as Selene was. 

They tag teamed back and forth for a few minutes but her fingers were cramping and she was sure that she had inhaled so much flour she'd be sneezing bread rolls.  She went to wipe her forehead but her hands were so greasy with the oil she gave in. She didn't want to resort to cheating, but needs must. 

She whispered a little chant under her breath when Grandma made her excuses to go to the bathroom and watched as the dough kneaded itself, plumping up and down and flipping itself over as she washed her hands and settled down with a can of cherry coke. The dough flopped itself back into its bowl after a few more minutes and she covered it over and placed it on the windowsill to rise for an hour.  

And she promptly forgot about it, wandering off with Grandma to catch up on "The bold and the beautiful" a TV show that Grandma watched religiously and that had become Selene's guilty pleasure whenever she was on the island. 

Upon returning to the kitchen after learning that Chico was Marion's secret son and that Charlie's amnesia was fake, they found the bowl overflowing and the dough creeping its way towards the floor.

"Stupid magic kneading!" Selene dived at the dough, nudging Armstrong out for the way just as he tried to bat at it with his paw. "No! Bad cat. Leave it!" 

She cradled it in her arms like it was a baby, a big, messy, yeasty baby that was determined to get the fuck out of dodge. She balanced on one leg as she tried to hold it up with her knee, kneeing it like she was playing keepy uppy with a football. 

"Grandma, get a bowl! A big one!" She gave it a big push upwards as Grandma shoved a huge bowl under it, catching the evil, still growing blob. 

"What's wrong with it?" Grandma asked as she poked at it with her finger, diving back when it looked like it would consume her whole hand. 

"Nothings wrong with it, I'm sure it'll be fine."

Against her better judgement, and Selene wasn't known to be entirely sane at the best of times, she grabbed the biggest saucepan they had and filled it with oil, setting it on the stove to boil. Should only take a few minutes....  

She watched as the oil began to bubble and smoke,  knowing it was about as hot as it would get. Witches didn't like boiling oil, call her silly but that had always been something to avoid in the olden days, which was probably why she had taken the few minutes to kit herself out in a huge apron, Scott's spare bike helmet and a pair of Virgil's thick work gloves. Couldn't be too careful. 

She dug her hands into the dough, hitting it with her elbow when it looked like it might try to be the one to eat her before they cooked it. "No! Down! Bad dough!" 

She was sure it would be fine once it was cooked,  witches made everything a bit more lively, the boys could attest to that.

"Watch out Grandma, don't get too close." 

She scooped out a handful and rolled it into a ball then holding it at arm's length, dropped it in the oil like it was a hand grenade. Boom, the oil jumped up to meet her and she stepped back with a squeak of shock. Not good. Nope nope so much nope. Not doing that again. 

"Oh don't worry, it always does that when I cook too," Grandma shrugged as she crossed to the fridge to get herself a drink. "Keep going, it'll be fine."

After rolling another ball, which she caught before it rolled off the counter and across the floor yelling  'cry freedom', she sourced a pair of BBQ tongs to hold it with and dropped it carefully in the oil. 

"That seemed to work," Grandma encouraged. "Keep doing that."

Ball after ball followed and her roll, grab and drop operation was going so well she completely forgot that the oil was actually cooking the damn things. 

"Uh…little too brown maybe…" she fished them out and dumped them into a bowl lined with kitchen towel. She poked them, were they OK? 

"They'll be fine with some powdered sugar on them," Grandma proclaimed wisely, although Selene wasn't too sure. "Do the rest, that's nowhere near enough to feed my boys."

Grandma supervised as Selene slowly worked her way through the dough mass, which seemed to have lost its determination now she had effectively scooped half of it away, though it was still making a strange wheezing noise as it attempted to grow some more. She'd soon put a stop to that! She quickly rolled and tossed more balls into the oil, having perfected her drop and duck technique.  Paranoid that she'd burn the next lot she got them out earlier...Perhaps a little too early, as they stuck to her tongs as she slapped them into the bowl. 

"Damn it."

"Jelly will fix them, " Grandma nodded sagely, "Jelly fixes everything."

Selene threw the last of the balls, now looking slightly less ball like and more like lumps of dough that she was too fucked off with to fix, and began to search the cupboards for something to insert the jam inside the balls. 

She located a turkey baster that Parker had insisted they needed to cook a decent Christmas dinner, and that Alan had secretly been using to squirt the Gordon with. Selene had filled it with whisky that one time and used it to fire at Scott from opposite ends of the couch in an attempt to reach each others mouths. She grinned at the memory.

As if reading her mind- maybe she was a witch too- Grandma vanished and reappeared with half a bottle of cooking sherry. 

"Would you like a little taste? I find it helps me relax sometimes when I'm cooking, you're too tense."

Well, that might explain a few of Grandma's more adventurous dishes. 

Selene looked at the bottle, she could actually do with a little of that right now. She held out her coke can and Grandma poured a healthy splash into the remains of her coke.

"Don't tell John," Selene warned as she gulped down some of the drink for strength as she faced the fried dough balls she was supposed to fix. 

She grabbed a pot of smooth jam out of the cupboard and sucked some up into the baster -not that easy to do it turned out- and holding one of the cooked balls she stabbed it with the end of the rubber syringe. It went right through.  

"Shit!" 

She tried again, splitting another one. 

"Fuck!" 

"Language, Selene!" 

"Sorry, Grandma."

"Let me try," Sally managed to get the tip in one and squirted a generous amount into the donut. But didn't count on the force of her squeezing making the donut shoot off the end and fly across the room to smack Armie in the eye.

"Fuck!" 

"Grandma!" Selene was shocked, but had the terrible urge to giggle. 

Sorry," Grandma apologised, both to Selene and the cat, trying again.

                                    ***

The bowl was a jammy,  powdered sugar covered, slightly oily mess and Selene was on her third can of sherry and coke and honestly, she no longer really gave a shit. 

Who's stupid idea had this been? It was the thought that counted right? 

Grandma had given up over an hour ago and gone to bed, knowing the boys would be heading home soon and Selene desperately needed a shower. She had jam in her hair, sugar sticking to her hands and she'd lost the will to live. 

She plonked the bowl in the middle of the kitchen counter. 

"Sexy spaceman of mine," she texted, "sorry they look like shit…yeah, can't really explain what happened there…but I'll be naked in bed if that helps." She snapped a picture to go with it and called it good, promising to clean up in the morning. 

And she wound her way on slightly unsteady feet,  up the stairs and into the bathroom to shower off the remains of her one and only attempt to cook something you could buy easier,  promising herself a trip to Krispy Kreme in the very near future, and flopped on the bed wrapped in nothing but a towel. 

                                       ***

"John?" Gordon stared at the text that had popped up on all their comms less than 30 seconds ago. 

"I don't even know."

Their brother's long suffering, defeated tone just made the whole thing even funnier. 

"Think you had better get down here, bro," Virgil chuckled. "We'll be home in five."

"Yeah, that's probably wise," Scott added. 

Even EOS seemed to find the whole situation amusing, which in itself was a little bit worrying, as John rode the elevator down to the island. 

Alan and Gordon were staring at the bowl as if it might explode any minute. John spotted the empty sherry bottle in the sink and sighed. 

"Grandma got the sherry out." 

"That's not good," Scott agreed as he too entered the war zone, formerly known as the kitchen, his eyes taking in the precariously piled bowls, the flour that coated every surface, the oil patch that Alan almost slipped in and the grease splattered stove top, the pan of oil sitting abandoned. His bike helmet was on one of the stools and one of Virgil's gloves peeked out from the bottom bowl of the stack, though it was so covered in dough you could barely tell what it was. 

Virgil brought up the rear, his nose wrinkling at the slightly smokey, oily smell that hung in the air. 

"Dare you to eat one," Gordon nudged Alan. 

"Hell no! John should, it's his girlfriend that made them."

"Fiancée," John automatically corrected, poking gingerly at the contents of the bowl. "And no, I don't think so."

"Scott, you're the brave one, you like to take a risk now and then, you do it."

"Like the rescue wasn't risky enough? No way. Virg, you try, it's like modern art, appreciate it."

"Nope, I like my taste buds where they are, Gordo, you do it, it was your idea."

Gordon paled as he looked into the bowl. "All of us?" he asked hopefully. 

The boys exchanged glances and then one by one they all reached into the bowl, their competitive streak unable to resist, selecting the least offensive looking offerings. 

"On three?" Scott confirmed. "One…two…three!"

As one they all tossed their donuts into their mouths, chewing madly, their faces contorting into identical grimaces of horror and disgust. 

Alan raced to the trash can, opening his mouth to let the offending evil drop out of his mouth. 

"Urghh, it was raw inside," he shuddered. 

Gordon followed suit, spitting his out. "Mines burnt."

Virgil managed to swallow his. "Mine was all sugar which pretty much hid everything."

Scott had a dribble of jelly running down his chin to drip onto his uniform, his mouth hanging open as if he didn't dare close it again. Virgil handed him a paper towel and he grateful spat out the offensive food.

"My God, that was foul."

They all looked at John, who was still chewing his dough ball, now matter how much he worked it, it never got any smaller. In the end he too gave up and spat it into the trash. "It was like trying to eat a rubber ball."

Virgil tossed the remains into the trash to spare Kayo and Brains the same horror. "At least they tried."

Too tired to actually be bothered with real food, Scott handed round some bowls and Virgil grabbed a box of cereal and some milk.

They all ate quickly, eating in companionable silence, standing up, leaning against various cupboards and furniture, knowing if they sat down they would likely never get up again.

"Damn!" John moved suddenly, breaking the silence of the room, dumping his half eaten cereal in the sink.

"What's wrong?" Scott frowned, instantly worried.

"I just remembered the rest of her message," he was already running towards the stairs, "I've got a naked woman waiting for me."

Alan shuddered, gagging on his mouthful of cereal. "I did not need to know that."

[cruelangelstheses]

to be loved

fandom: dragon age rating: G characters: sera/female inquisitor words: 1.6k additional tags: canon compliant, self-esteem issues, fluff description: rana lavellan teaches her girlfriend sera how to make dalish hearth cakes. a/n: hello!! :D i wrote this for @serappreciationweek day 2: ships!!

read it on ao3

—

Sera furrows her brow as she reads over the recipe. Looking back up at her girlfriend, she says, “Elfy cookies?”

Rana shrugs. “They’re the only cookies I know how to make,” she says. “Although technically they’re called hearth cakes.”

Sera sticks her tongue out and passes the paper back to Rana. “Whatever. More than I can make.”

“Not for long!” Rana says, setting the recipe down on a crate. “Besides, think of it this way. At least you can admit that you don’t know how to make cookies. That already makes you better than some people.”

Sera pretends to be uninterested in Rana’s “elfy cookies,” but she can’t stop herself from glancing over at the table where the ingredients are already set up. “How’d you get halla butter?”

“Remember that Dalish clan we met in the Exalted Plains?” Rana says as she ties an apron around her waist. “I traded them for it.”

Sera doesn’t quite know what to do, so she just watches as Rana measures the flour. She’s beautiful when she’s so focused, completely ignoring the brown hair that falls into her eyes from its messy, boyish cut. Lifting the sifter above a large bowl, she turns her head toward Sera and says, “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Sera blinks a few times in surprise. “But I’m not…”

“Not what?” Rana says as she starts to sift the flour. “Not ‘elfy’ enough? Screw that. I got these ingredients because I want to bake cookies with you. I want us to make our own ‘us cookies.’ Together.”

At that, Sera gives in and allows herself a smile. “Frigging weird, you are,” she laughs, grabbing an apron of her own and joining Rana at the table, where she’s finished sifting the flour and has begun adding hardwood ash and salt. Meanwhile, Sera grabs the recipe and skims over it to find the next step.

“I’ll do the spices,” she says, grabbing a spoon. While she measures and mixes in the spices, Rana prepares the butter. It feels kind of nice, actually, being able to do something helpful and productive, but she’ll reserve judgment for when the cookies—hearth cakes—are actually finished. Maybe they’ll turn out tasting terrible, and it’ll be all her fault. That seems more likely.

“Okay,” Rana says. “Now we have to rub the butter into the mix until it all starts to look like crumbs. I recommend using our fingers; it’s easier.”

Sera smirks. “Mess! That’s fun stuff.”

Rana flashes her a snaggletooth grin, a smile reserved only for those she cares enough about. Sera counts herself lucky to be able to see it. “I knew you’d like that.”

Rana tosses the hunk of halla butter into the bowl, then presses it into the mixture. The yellow-white mush quickly covers her long, tan fingers, and after a moment, Sera sticks her own hands into the bowl and starts pushing the butter into the mix. Their hands constantly bump each other, and they giggle as their hands go from buttery to coated in thin crumbs. Sera savors her girlfriend’s giggle, another rare joy from a woman mired in bitterness and exhaustion.

When they’re nearly done, Sera takes her index finger and draws a swirly design around Rana’s right eye and down her cheek in sticky crumbs. “Now you match,” she says, referring to the black vallaslin that adorns the left side of her face, though it’s much more intricate than Sera’s last-minute crumb drawing. Rana snorts and kisses her on the cheek.

Sera handles the next step, stirring in the sugar and dried cranberries, while Rana beats the egg in a separate bowl to pour into the large one. They take turns mixing everything together until the dough actually starts to look like it’s supposed to.

Rana gets an excited gleam in her bright purple eyes, eyes that have captivated Sera since the moment she first saw them glowing in the darkness. “This is where they actually start to taste like cookies.”

They sprinkle some flour on the table and dump the dough out. Rana presses her palms against the lump and starts to knead with both hands, her movements strong and sure despite her tiny frame. She looks like she doesn’t need much help, so Sera stands and watches, admiring the subtle ripples of muscle in her arms and shoulders. Finally, when the dough is about as thin as it’s supposed to be, Rana grabs a goblet, turns it upside down, and says, “Cookie time,” before planting it firmly into one corner of the dough, cutting a perfect circle.

They fall into a pattern: Rana cuts the cookies, Sera pulls them out of the dough and sets them on a plate for the time being. When they run out of room to make another round shape, Rana rolls the remaining dough into a ball and flattens it out like she did before, until it’s so small that she can’t cut it with the goblet anymore. “What do we do with that, Inky?” Sera asks.

Rana picks up the little dough ball and rips it into two. Handing one half to Sera and popping the other into her mouth, she says, “We eat it.”

Sera laughs a little and shoves her piece into her mouth, chewing cautiously, prepared to hate it. It’s sweet and flavorful, and she likes the way the cranberries mix with the pastry dough.

Rana watches her expectantly. “Well? How is it?”

Sera shrugs and smiles awkwardly. “I...I like it.”

Rana grins again, and again, Sera feels blessed to witness it.

The final step is to actually bake the hearth cakes over a flame. Rana grabs a flat iron griddle and lets it heat up over the fire in the corner of the kitchen. Per her request, Sera tosses a pinch of flour into the griddle, and they watch as it turns golden brown, signalling that it’s ready.

Rana pulls the griddle out and sets it back on the table, while Sera carefully places the hearth cakes around the edge—“If we put them in the middle, it’ll blacken them,” Rana explains. She can’t fit them all in, so they’ll have to do a couple rounds.

They stand next to each other, watching the cookies get larger. Rana still has the crumb design on her face, and Sera leans down and rests her head on Rana’s shoulder. “You’re fun, Inky,” she says as she stares into the fire. “And you’re sweet, underneath all that ‘Grrr, look at me funny and I’ll knife you.’” They both giggle. When Sera first met Rana, she thought she’d never hear a sound like that come out of her mouth. She seemed too distant, too hostile, too bogged down with responsibility and hurt. For her to open up, to let loose, means more than Sera could ever put into words.

When the first batch of cookies is done, Sera helps pull them out of the griddle and onto the plate from earlier, while Rana replaces them with the unbaked half. Sera grabs one and pops the whole thing into her mouth, even though she knows she should wait until they’ve cooled down.

To the surprise of no one, the cookie burns her mouth, and she has to chew with it open to get some relief. “Piss!” she yells, but she’s smiling, too, and Rana shakes her head in mock disapproval.

“So? How are they?” Rana asks, keeping one eye on the griddle. “Besides the ‘burning your tongue’ part.”

Well, besides the “burning her tongue” part, the baked cookie tastes even better than the raw dough, which shouldn’t be too surprising, but it kind of is. It’s like she was still waiting for the cakes to turn bad somehow.

“They...they’re good,” she says. “I thought they’d be terrible. I thought I’d make them terrible. Not elfy enough to make elfy cookies right. Maybe that’s stupid, but ‘til now, it’s all I knew how to feel. ‘Not allowed to be elfy, Sera, elfy is bad,’ but ‘not elfy enough, Sera, try harder.’ So instead of feeling like a human or an elf, I just feel like...a failed elf.” She frowns and sighs. “So it’s good. This is good. Because now cookies make me think of you and how much I like you, instead of frigging Lady Emmald.” She grabs another cookie off the plate and takes a bite out of it, smiling spitefully. “And now I can make cookies better than she ever could. So she can eat it.”

Rana’s gaze is soft and warm, like a comforting light. “I’m glad, ma vhenan.”

Usually Sera doesn’t like hearing Elvish—her inability to speak or understand most of it serves as just another reminder of her supposed brokenness. But when Rana calls her vhenan, it’s different. It has a certain weight to it; it swells with everything Rana feels and can’t express. It’s a word that Rana shouts in desperation when Sera falls on the battlefield, and it’s a word that she whispers against Sera’s chest when they’re alone at night. It feels right for once, to love and be loved by her.

It’s Sera that breaks the trance between them when she smells the burning. “Inky! The cookies!”

Rana jumps and quickly pulls the griddle out from the flame and sets it on the table. The cookies aren’t on fire, but they’re significantly darker than the first batch.

“Ugh,” Sera says, wrinkling her nose. “See, that’s what happens when you get too lovey-dovey.”

They stare at each other for a short moment, and then they both burst into laughter.

[stevensavage]

Food And Food B.S.

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve's Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

If you follow me or know me, you know I'm a nut for healthy eating (punctuated with intermittent chocolate and pizza because not giving those up).  However as I get into eating healthy, I also find tons of BS, bad advice, and ignorant ideas.  I'd like to cut loose on a few.

Read on.  It'll probably give you ammo next time some pretentious git gets up in your face.

Please note that, since so much BS surrounds food, I'm SURE some of my ideas are flawed as well.  I did my best to cover the ones I'm sure of, but no doubt I'll have some regrets later, at least from what I didn't include.

THERE IS NO IDEAL DIET FOR EVERYONE

Anyone pitching the perfect diet is wrong.  Even people I admire or who are 90% right about stuff tend to do this, and its sad and irritating and wrong.  Some diets are so wrong for certain people they're unhealthy.

We all have different needs, situations, challenges, and advantages.  We have to find the diet that works for us.  This is where reading up and a good doctor help.

(I also take this personally as it's hard to recommend a book to someone, then add "but this part is BS.")

The best advice I ever heard for diets that is applicable across the board boils down to:

Eat diversely (my fave is the power plate, equal amounts of grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables.  If you add animal products its just a part of that)

Eat the least processed food you can.

THERE IS NO SUPERFOOD

Gods save us from the stupid "X food will solve your problems" diets.  Yeah, they are usually obviously BS but still people fall for them and then the BS makes its way into mainstream though.  This is simply not true.

This doesn't mean there aren't absolutely AWESOME foods that are great for various reasons.  its just they won't solve all your problems.  I do recommend finding awesome foods you like, but none is your perfect food.

By the way my perfect foods are:

Cabbage - Low cal, so many nutrients, so easy to use.

Chickpea flour -You can make anything with it, it's got protein and fiber.

Garbanzo beans - Serve them straight up, mash them into hummus, make them into a casserole.

Peanut Butter - Protein, fats, delicious.

Spinach - Just a good green.\

Anyway, find your own superfoods.

EATING OUT IS FINE

We often hear eating out is bad for us, but that usually focuses on restaurants delivering highly prepared calorie bombs.  But that's only one kind of eating out - going to some pricey place that loads you up with unhealthy stuff.

First, delis and supermarkets and local markets often have tons of great premade food.  This food, prepared there (or nearby) is close to home cooking on a larger scale.  Read labels, ask about preparations, and see if they do anything custom.

Secondly, plenty of places that make food have cold or frozen premade meals of equal quality to their deli (usually, they're the deli in a package).

Finally, some restaurants make healthy food, post calorie counts and ingredients, and will do custom stuff for you.  This lets you eat reasonably healthy.

Let's face it, going to a deli, eating out, etc. is sometimes easier.  So don't feel guilty.  Heck, in some cases it doesn't cost much more than doing it yourself.

By the way, some of the best places I've found are specialty and ethnic markets.  The food there is often fresh, well-made, and uses good ingredients.  I usually go to a local Asian market for quick locally-made bentos, and another local market is my go-to for guacamole.

PRECUT/SHREDDED/SLICED FOOD IS OK

Look, I'm for decreasing unneeded packaging.  I hate waste.  I know that buying pre-cut foods and such may be excessive.

Know what?  Some people need that.

Maybe you're in such a rush you don't want to shred a damn cabbage.  Fine, buy pre-cut.

Maybe you've got a physical challenge and aren't up for cutting vegetables for thirty minutes.  Fine, buy pre-sliced.

Maybe you're stressed or facing other mental challenges and don't want to plan preparing something complex.  Good, get something pre-shredded.

Yes, it involves waste, so recycle the containers properly.  Sure, it'd be nice if you could take reusable containers to stores to get a quart of cut onions or something.  Maybe we can work towards less waste as a people.

But until then, don't shame people for using pre-cut food and the like.  Life's tough.

CANNED/FROZEN/ANYTHING IS PROBABLY PRETTY GOOD

Look, as noted I love fresh food.  It's the best thing for you.  Sometimes you have to get "fresh-ish" with canned or frozen foods.  Look, I dunno about you but I'm not going to spend a ton of time preparing garbanzo beans just to mash them into hummus.

From what I can tell canned or frozen vegetables, prepared properly and right after harvest, are pretty good.  Just make sure its not got a lot of added stuff that's not good for you (added salt, preservatives).

Also cans are easy to store, take on trips, last long, and don't use power to keep.  So extra advantages.

THERE'S NO NEED TO COOK FANCY MEALS

Cookbooks and cooking magazines have lovely spreads with all sorts of beautiful foods.  Then you read the recipes and some of them take a load of time and effort which you don't have.

I love to cook.  I love to make food.  I also know sometimes we don't have the time or ingredients or want to make an effort.  Know what?  It's OK to not make fancy stuff or complex meals, no matter how the magazine pictures look.

Let's take a look at a poki bowl, that food fad popping up everywhere.  Know what it is?  A bunch of stuff in a bowl with a sauce.  "Stuff in a bowl with a sauce" is a common form of food all over the place, but we act like it's fancy or special if we slap a name on it and charge fifteen bucks.

A few ideas for you:

A classic "bowl meal" Idea I've seen is just mix a cup of cooked rice, 1-2 cups of greens (probably steamed in a microwave), and half a can of beans.  Then throw on some spices or flavoring, and you're done.

Kimchi allows you to transform any pile of stuff into a spicy pile of stuff.  It's a staple for me.

Chazuke, the classic Japanese quickie of rice+green tea gave me plenty of ideas.  Basically I make a bowl meal, but add an herbal tea (usually lemon or ginger) and a few spices, and instant soup.  By the way, lemon tea and garlic tastes a lot like chicken for some reason.

Sometimes I have sat down to a pile of greens with lemon juice for dressing and a bowl of garbanzo beans in soy sauce.  Done.

SO THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS

So that's my thoughts on food and food BS.  Hope they help out.  Feel free to add other ideas, or tell me where I'm wrong - it's not like I knew this stuff immediately, I had to learn it.

Steven Savage

www.StevenSavage.com

www.InformoTron.com

[langblr-o-kebek]

How to feed yourself cheaply when you live alone

It can be so frustrating and difficult to get used to living by yourself. Apparently cabinets don’t come magically stocked with spices and you have to buy things??? with money???? So here’s a few things I’ve learned along the way along with some links to other great posts that have information along this subject too.

1. Secretly assassinate a relative and collect inheritance

2. Find a sugar daddy

If 1 and 2 are options then the rest of this post is worthless to you, if they are not options, keep reading.

Your first visit to the grocery store Buckle up because it’s going to be the most expensive one

You need to stock your kitchen since you are not a roach and can’t just eat the wooden cabinets. Every kitchen should have some combination of the “basics” which will be your non-perishable pantry items-those things that your parents house seemingly never runs out of. 

The Basics

-Rice -Pasta (+any other grains you might like such as couscous, wheat berries etc.) -Flour -Sugar -Brown sugar (if you’re into baking like I am) -Baking Soda -Baking powder -Spices (for example, cumin, cayenne, oregano, basil, paprika, etc.) -Salt and pepper -Oats -Boullion or cans of stock -Cans of soup/packets of ramen -Coffee/tea

I suggest you buy these kinds of items in bulk if possible. If you have the space to store them, they will last you forever and items like these can make a meal that is supposed to be 1-2 servings into somethings thats 4-6 which I’ll explain later. Also, buying in bulk is cheaper per pound/100 grams (whatever system you’re using) so in the long run, you’ll save lots of money by buying one fat ass sack of rice a year instead of 15 every few weeks. Check your area for bulk stores, places that sell spices and grains by the weight. This will save you cash and can be more eco-friendly if you’re able to use your own bags/containers.

Tips for meals

It is so much cheaper to cook a larger amount of food at a time than making something for each individual meal. This is because for the most part, you can’t buy ingredients sufficient for one serving at the grocery store and you don’t want to buy something you’ll only use once and then the rest goes bad and bye-bye money. Making a meal that will last you 3-4 days is not only cheaper, but also saves time since after the initial cooking, all you have to do is reheat a little at a time later. You can take this a step further and use grains like rice, pasta and couscous to “cut” the food thereby doubling the amount of servings you have. Below are some really easy recipes that I use that last me days.

Things you can make at home for cheap

HUMMUS! Bc it’s a great snack, filling, healthy and is stupid expensive at the store and stupid cheap and easy to make.

-1 can of garbanzo beans -2 T of tahini (you can leave this out if you want, tahini can be expensive) -1 T lemon juice -1 clove of garlic, minced -Cumin, paprika, salt, pepper

Literally throw it all in a food processor and blend. If it’s too thick, you can add more olive oil or save some of the water from the beans and add that as well. If you do that, less salt will need to be added. If you use dried beans that you’ve soaked and shit you will need more salt.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can heat the beans up and smash it by hand, it’s more effort and it may be chunkier but it works. Same goes for immersion blenders.

Fun ways to shake this hummus up

-Roasted Red pepper: Chop 1/3 C of roasted red pepper and add. Replace some of the olive oil with some of the juice from the pepper jar.

-Roasted Garlic: Instead of mincing a garlic clove, expose the head of the garlic (lol) and rub with a little olive oil, making sure it gets into the cracks (lol). Wrap in foil and roast at 400 degrees (~200 C) for 30-35 minutes. Garlic should be nice and soft when it’s done. Roasted garlic is sweet instead of biting like raw garlic so using a whole head is okay and you won’t die when you eat it.

-Artichoke heart+black olive: Chop up one can of artichoke hearts with however many chopped black olives as you would like

-Pesto: Add in at least one tablespoon of pesto

Now the question is, how do I eat my hummus and the answer is, there’s actually a billion ways

-Put it on a sandwich or wrap! -Dip celery, cucumber, carrots, peppers in it! -Eat it with pretzels or tortilla chips OR if you’re a cheap bastard like me, make your own tortilla chips by cutting up some tortilla rounds, brushing them with olive oil, sprinkling them with salt and bake at 350 for 10ish minutes. I usually put mine into the oven right when I turn it on and pull them out when the oven is preheated bc I can’t be bothered to actually figure out a proper cooking time. Whatever, this is way cheaper than buying chips and they’re more filling. You can also make tortillas, it’s cheap and simple, I find they taste better, but it is slightly time consuming. Here’s a recipe. -Eat it with a spoon wgaf you live alone no judgement.

Coffee Creamer

Hell yes you can make this at home. The basic is about 1 3/4 cup of milk (whatever kind of milk, the more fat in the milk the creamier the creamer) and 14oz of sweetened condensed milk. You can also add in a few drops of any sort of extract/honey or some sprinkles of cinnamon/nutmeg whatever suits your fancy! Here is a bunch of variations. Also put 1/4 of a teaspoon of cinnamon per cup of coffee in with your coffee grounds in the filter for a cinnamon scented coffee.

Popcorn

Well, we all knew this one. But honest to god it is so much cheaper and healthier to pop popcorn using a bag of kernels than it is to buy a box of microwave popcorn. Just pour some oil and a tablespoon of butter into a large pan, add the popcorn and cook covered over medium heat. As soon as the kernels start to pop make sure you start jiggling the pan to keep them moving so they don’t burn and ruin your pan. I’m pretty sure you can put the kernels in a paper bag in the microwave too. Throw salt on it, or even cinnamon and sugar cuz why not.

RULES FOR GROCERY SHOPPING

1. buying in bulk saves

2. Don’t buy in bulk if you can’t use it all before it expires-like yeast! Most expiration dates are pretty generous and you can actually continue using the product beyond the date (this amount of time varies, please for your own safety please google it). Yeast is the only food I know of that is true to its expiration.

3. Avoid superstores when possible. Most of the time, you’re paying for the convenience. Superstores are often more expensive because you’re paying for the convenience of doing all your shopping in one place. 

4. Ethnic markets are almost always cheaper-especially for trendy things like Coconut oil (so cheap at indian food markets!!) Find Chinese, Arabic, Indian, Mexican food markets around you and split up your shopping accordingly. 

5. MAKE YOUR OWN BREAD, it can be very easy. Google it.

6. Off brand is just as good as the rest

7. Coupons, grab them in the front of the store if available

8. Just because something is a good deal doesn’t mean you have to buy it. I don’t care if orange juice is on sale, I don’t drink a lot of orange juice. You know what’s cheaper than something being 50% off? Not buying it at all. It costs $0.00 to be smart. 

9. Don’t make grocery shopping a habitual thing. By that I mean don’t go grocery shopping every Sunday or whatever. Go grocery shopping when you need to go grocery shopping. If it’s been a week but you can wait 4 more days, wait 4 more days.

10. Don’t buy fresh herbs, grow them. A packet of seeds is cheap. Plastic pots are cheap. Potting soil can be cheap if you can find a place where you can buy by the weight instead of a massive bag. Plant the seeds according to the packet. Things like basil need to be watered often. Things like rosemary and thyme are okay chilling a couple of days without it. Read the packets and google it. Also it’s so rewarding to watch your little baby plants grow. An herb garden costs $10 dollars at the most to make. Fresh herbs at the grocery store cost $2-6 per package. Fresh herbs make meals taste a million times better I swear to god it’s the best thing you can do for yourself. Growing herbs also helped me with my depression so bonus.

11. If shopping at a super store, as much as possible stay out of the “middle”. What I mean is, things you buy should come from the sections closest to the wall-these include the produce, meat, dairy and frozen vegetables. All the processed foods are in the middle and though some can be cheap, they’re not filling and you end up buying them a lot. Doing things like making your own hummus can keep you out of the middle aisles and it’s healthier. Things from the middle you may need though are tea, ramen, grains, soup, peanut butter. 

12. Plan your trip. Thoroughly look through your fridge and cabinets to see what you’re out of. I even keep a little white board on my fridge where I write what’s in the fridge and what’s run out. Write down what needs to be replaced/what you need for the next couple of meals. Do not stray from the list when shopping.

13. Go to Marshalls or Winners or whatever equivalent for things like olive oil, K cups if you have a Keurig (oh fancy fancy) and cool pink salt. They also have other kinds of oils like sunflower and avocado, and even sometimes protein powders. It’s way cheaper there and you can buy a liter sized bottle of olive oil for like 7 dollars when it would cost at least twice that at a grocery store. 

14. Do not have the same grocery list every week. Prices of things change, your list should reflect that. If you’re wanting to get some sort of fruit for a snack, don’t get apples every week. Get whatever is in season. The prices of fresh produce in stores and markets will reflect what’s in season (i.e. the cheapest things). Lucky for us Bananas are always in season and are a super cheap snack that people forget about. I often wait until they’re ripe, cut them up and freeze them to make smoothies. 

15. Don’t be afraid of tofu. It’s cheap as hell and once you learn how to prepare it, can be a fantastic substitute for animal proteins if meat/fish are too expensive.

16. Don’t forget, so many foods can be frozen. If something is crazy on sale, don’t be afraid to buy more than usual if you are able to freeze it. Here’s a list of things that can be frozen. TBH here, in Canada, I buy those big 3L bags of milk and store the little baggies in the freezer. 

Finally, go to Goodwill stores and thrift shops to find kitchen appliances, dishes, and cookware for cheap! The best 7 dollars I ever spent was on a crock pot. These stores have so many items that last FOREVER, like a good pan, or a classic cafeteria.  Don’t think you can’t cook because you can’t afford the equipment. Kitchen equipment doesn’t have to be a huge investment.

That’s all I have for today. Good luck out there guys.

[grdprotein]

Cheat food- Make it work!

Its 2021 and still when we hear the word diet, we go “ugh, I can’t do that”. We still believe diet is all about sticking to a very strict regimen of not so yummy food, where we can eat what we like and call it a cheat meal. It’s a mindset with which we have grown up and it’s a mindset that is difficult to change. However, eating anything knowing that it's bad for your health is not really the right thing to do. The point of food is to enjoy it, cherish every bite and not feel guilty about it. When you eat the pizza or a burger be aware that it is doing you some good, it has certain valuable nutrients that will do good to your body. When you consume anything knowing its value, it certainly does you and your health good.

Give me any cheat meal and I can convert it into a perfectly healthy meal without altering the taste drastically. It’s not tough it’s only a few very easy food replacements. Let’s call it a food swipe. Hell, even the FMCG giants now are very well aware of the change in demographic preferences. Everything has been modified to reduce calories, with the health-conscious population on a rise. I do not like this term because I believe that everyone should be health-conscious or at least aware of what we are putting in our mouths.

Imagine throwing a party for your friends and not being able to eat what they prefer to eat. Let us just imagine that you have recently fixated yourself on a diet regimen and are absolutely unable to enjoy it because you can’t fathom the courage to break your regimen. Even worst, just imagine going on a trip and feeling guilty every single day because you believe you are eating the wrong kind of food. Let me break your myths one by one and help you enjoy your life while remaining absolutely healthy.

I am sure many of you people would have seen Shilpa Shetty’s Instagram where every Sunday she does the Sunday Binge reel. She is seen eating any random food but she is totally enjoying it. It makes her so happy, which obviously also indicates that she’s refraining from eating that all week and binging on a Sunday. Does that mean that any other food she’s consuming daily, is making her unhappy? One would wonder.

So let’s jump to how you can make your everyday meals healthier and still yummy! What are the topmost favorite cheat meals for everyone? Burgers, for sure! Pasta, UMMM, one would rightly guess so! Any Chinese food, why not? How about Mexican, Bring it ON! Cookies, Oh yes!

Let me quickly try to make some twists and turns to these recipes to make you feel super healthy post consuming these and then maybe never wanting to cheat on your diet, but rather wanting to cheat on your cheat food with these diet-friendly recipes.

Let’s start with the pasta!

If you have no problem with gluten, get the durum wheat pasta. You can also get rice noodles, which are not bad at all. If you want to be gluten-free, you can check out the gluten-free variants made out of ragi. This cuts off the guilt by 50%, plus it adds to the health benefits.

To make the red sauce- Take 4 tomatoes, add some garlic and grind it to perfection. This means tons of Lycopene from Tomatoes and an immunity boost from the garlic. Add some salt+ pepper+ oregano and add the pasta to it. Cook for a while and Voilà. If you top it with a little cheese of your choice, it just adds to the protein boost. Mind you even the Ragi and Tomatoes are adding to multivitamins and protein.

For white pasta, you can use a little butter, add some garlic to the butter, stir it. Add a mixture of a spoon of rice flour in a cup of water. Keep stirring. Add half a cup of milk. Oregano and salt to taste. Your sauce is ready. Minimum fat and healthy calories!

Any Chinese food:

Contrary to popular belief rice is not unhealthy. Yes, it has its fair share of carbs but you can remove the extra starch by boiling the rice in excess water and draining the extra water off. Calorie cut by 25%. Brown rice is always an option.

For the simple Chinese stir fry gravy (Of course, I will not fry anything there)- You need a paste of ginger+ garlic+ Chili+ 2 tomatoes. Stir it on high flame and remove the excess water. Add some light soya sauce to this. Pinch of salt + pepper + Jaggery. For the sourness, you can add half a lemon. You can use this sauce for vegetables, Mushrooms, Cottage cheese, Chicken, stir-fried rice and even quinoa.

Soft Shell Tacos:

For the taco shells: Roll out small flatbreads out of bajra / ragi dough. Gluten-free- check!

For the stuffing:

Soak red kidney beans overnight and boil them before your meal prep.

For the gravy, you need 3 tomatoes+ garlic+ ginger+ red chilli + Carrom seeds. Grind and cook in a pan. Add boiled kidney beans to this.

Chop a cabbage or lettuce very finely.

Stuff the taco shell with the kidney bean prep and top it up with the cabbage, a little mustard sauce. Yes, it’s as simple as that!

Low cal- Check. Protein dense- Check. Anti-oxidant- Check. High Fiber- Check. Good carbs- Check.

Cookies:

Tons of recipes available online for baking healthy cookies at home, however, butter has been the ingredient of choice. How do we bake them healthy? Can we still binge on cookies if we don’t know how to bake them ourselves? GRD Bix and GRD Lite protein biscuits is the way to go as they are made up of compressed technology. With several flavors both sweet and savory, do we even need to bake them at home? Once you read the ingredients and health benefits, I doubt you would want to miss them.

Hope you enjoy these recipe transformations!

[healthycookingnfitness]

How many grams of energy do you think is in a bread piece?

1-What is a bread piece?

A bread piece is a slice of bread. . It contains carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. A bread piece can also contain vitamins, minerals, and some water. The carbohydrate found in the white part of the bread piece is called starch.

2-How many grams of energy are there in a Bread Piece?

Most people would say a few grams of energy. However, if you eat one bread piece from the store, it has more than 400 calories and 80 grams of carbohydrates!

The calorie and carbohydrate content of bread varies according to the type of bread, the brand, and how it is prepared.

One slice of white bread can have just 110 calories or as many as 380 calories depending on which brand you choose.

This is also true for some whole wheat varieties. Some brands are made with honey or fruit juice that adds extra sugars.

Some stores sell smaller portions: half a loaf instead of a complete one; however, this might not be much help since those slices will still be dense in carbohydrates and fats.

In addition, most people eat more than one slice at a sitting! At home, we use real butter when we spread our toast with a knife!

We don’t measure fat grams anymore? But their bread has approximately 24 grams of saturated fat in a two-slice serving. A whole loaf can contain over 300 grams of saturated fat! That’s more than an entire day’s worth!

3-Why does the number of grams matter to me and my diet?

The excess carbohydrates and fats in our diet are the major culprits that cause obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and several other health conditions.

The high levels of sugar found in bread can also wreak havoc on your blood sugar levels.

If you are trying to gain weight or lose weight – let me tell you this right now: bread is not your friend!

You cannot gain muscle if you eat too many carbohydrates or little proteins; every gram of protein contains four calories and every gram of carbohydrate has around three calories; so if you want to lose or gain weight, cut down on carbs, I’m sure that will be very helpful.

4-How do I know which Bread brand is the best for my diet?

There are lots of companies that sell bread with reduced calories, but I strongly advise you to stay away from these.

The reason being is that most “low-fat” products contain extra sugar that makes you put on weight! So keep in mind the calories and carbohydrates when shopping for your next loaf of bread!

As a general rule, stick to whole-wheat varieties like sandwich pieces of bread and plain loaves also incorporate some fiber into your diet by making sure a few slices contain as many nuts or seeds as possible.

This way, you will feel full faster and longer without consuming too many carbs and fats.

Tips for maintaining an energized lifestyle on the go

Bread is not meant to join your diet.

If you’re a person with a busy schedule, it can be tough to maintain the energy levels you need throughout the day.

Here are some tips for staying energized:

1-Keep yourself hydrated by drinking plenty of water and unsweetened tea! Avoid caffeine; this will only make you dehydrated quicker.

2-Eat small, frequent meals throughout the day (5 – 6 times/day). This helps regulate blood sugar and keeps your metabolism high all day long.

If you overdo it, consider eating smaller portions at each meal, but remind yourself that regular meals are better for your body when taking in fewer calories than missing them altogether.

Also, think about incorporating some protein in each meal to keep you satiated.

3-Get regular exercise to help boost your metabolism, fight depression and improve self-esteem; even something as simple as a daily walk or jog can make a big difference in keeping you energized all day long!

4-You should also include physical activity into your schedule if you have the time available for it.

Little things like taking stairs instead of an elevator contribute to feeling better about yourself and burn off extra calories too!

5-How can I use this information to make better food choices today, tomorrow, and beyond?

Now you know that a piece of bread has approximately 80 calories per slice.

So if you think about how much you are really eating on a daily basis, it may change your mindset from considering bread as an everyday food to only an occasional treat.

Let’s say that most people eat five slices of bread at breakfast and two slices for lunch; so this comes out to be around 1,200 calories per day – that’s almost ONE-THIRD OF THE AMOUNT YOU NEED TO MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT!

Our current obesity problem is due mostly to excess carbohydrates in our diet!

This leads us to be overweight or obese, which causes chronic diseases and other health problems. Avoiding raw bread will result in gaining or losing weight.

Tips to remember when eating bread:

Just because it’s homemade doesn’t mean that you won’t count calories!

All carbohydrates are equally bad, and even an extra slice here and there can add up very quickly over time if you continue this behavior.

7-Health Benefits of Eating Bread

Bread has an average shelf life of about two weeks, so it is a good source of energy during the winter months.

Even though bread doesn’t contain any fats, carbohydrates, or proteins, one slice will still give you a decent amount (about 3 grams) of fiber to help regulate your digestive system and promote overall health.

As long as whole grains are used instead of processed white flour for all types of bread, like wheat bread for example; this can be very helpful in preventing stomach problems like constipation or diarrhea.

Also eating a bowl full of vegetables every day will enhance the positive effects that whole grains have on your body.

If not combined properly with enough fruits and vegetables, overconsumption can also lead to indigestion, bloating, and gas.

8-Calories in a Slice of Bread (by Brand and Variety)

Brand Calories per Slice

Arnold Weight Control 90 – 100 calories

Arnold Multigrain 110 calories

Arnold Whole Wheat 110 calories

Nature’s Own 100 calorie whole wheat 15-grain 100 calories

Nature’s Pride (Bimbo) Light 80 calories

Sunbeam Farmhouse Style White 140-150 calories

Sara Lee Deluxe 80% Whole Grain 80 calories per slice

Rolled Canapes Original Wheat Bread – 20 slices per loaf (

Nature’s Own 100 Calorie Whole

Wheat – 16 slices per loaf

Weight Watchers (20 g) 100 Calories

FAQS About Bread

1-What is enriched bread?

Bread with high fiber content that has been enriched with vitamins and minerals (like whole-wheat bread) is also referred to as ‘enriched’.

This makes it more nutritious than regular white bread, but you should not rely on this as a main source of nutrients for your diet.

2-Is rye bread good for you?

Rye Bread has about 6 grams of dietary fiber per serving. It’s made from the seeds of various grasses in the mustard family that are ground into flour and mixed with water to form dough before being baked or steamed into crisp-textured loaves or rolls and enjoyed hot or cold.

3-Which one whole wheat bread is better for my diet?

Wheat Bread is made from ground wheat, water, and sometimes yeast.

There are many varieties of Wheat Bread available in the market ranging from Nature’s Pride 100 calorie whole wheat bread to Sunbeam Farmhouse Style White 140-150 calories per slice.

4-Is it healthier to eat a homemade loaf or a factory loaf?

Bread bought at supermarkets is generally cheaper than making your own because commercial bread contains more additives and preservatives which are essential for keeping it fresh on supermarket shelves for longer before it goes stale.

However, homemade loaves tend to contain less salt and sugar than shop-bought versions, plus you can choose the amounts of these nutrients that go into them depending on taste.

5-Is tortilla bread a good choice for sandwiches?

Tortillas are generally more flexible in flavor than other types of bread, so using them as sandwich fillings adds variety to your daily routine.

However, they’re not very thick or hearty and may not make the most filling of sandwiches.

6-How can I use breadsticks?

Breadsticks are a great alternative to using bread in your meals. They’re perfect for dipping and you can also enjoy them with a variety of sauces and dips such as warmed marinara sauce, honey mustard salad dressing, or even ice cream.

7-Do You think White Bread is Completely bad for me??

White Bread is a type of wheat bread that has been stripped of its wheat germ and bran, which are the main sources of nutrition in all whole-wheat varieties.

8-Is Jalapeno Cheese Bread very bad for digestion?

Jalapeno Cheese Bread contains cheddar cheese, jalapenos, cream cheese, salsa (tomato sauce), eggs, and garlic powder. It’s a spicy twist on traditional cheese bread, but it can also upset your stomach if you don’t eat it in moderation.

9-How many calories are in white pan bread?

White Pan Bread has about 130 calories per slice while ‘Whole Wheat Honey & Oats’ (Nature’s Pride) has about 140-180 calories per slice.

10-Is it healthy to eat white bread?

White Bread is a type of wheat bread that has been stripped of its wheat germ and bran, which are the main sources of nutrition in all whole-wheat varieties.

Nowadays, most commercial loaves contain additives and preservatives that are essential for keeping it fresh on supermarket shelves for longer before it goes stale.

However, homemade loaves tend to contain less salt and sugar than shop-bought versions, plus you can choose the amounts of these nutrients that go into them depending on taste.

11-What is sandwich bread made from?

Most modern sandwich pieces of bread consist mainly of wheat flour, water, and a small portion of yeast.

12-What are the benefits of eating whole wheat bread?

Whole Wheat Bread contains some extra nutrients such as dietary fiber, antioxidants, and vitamin E that your body cannot produce by itself and which will help maintain a healthy immune system.

13-What is the difference between white bread and whole-grain pieces of bread?

White Bread has been stripped of its nourishing bran layer over time.

A lot of major brands commercialize their white bread varieties with additives like Vitamin D to replace some health qualities that have been lost or removed in order to keep them fresh for longer on supermarket shelves.

However, Homemade White Breads are completely different as you can decide how much salt, sugar should go into the loaf.

14-What are some healthy alternatives to bread?

Breadsticks are a great alternative to using bread in your meals.

They’re perfect for dipping and you can also enjoy them with a variety of sauces and dips such as warmed marinara sauce, honey mustard salad dressing, or even ice cream.

15-What is whole wheat pita bread?

Whole wheat pita bread is made from 100% whole grain flour which has more fiber than white bread.

White Pan Bread contains about 130 calories per slice while ‘Whole Wheat Honey & Oats’ (Nature’s Pride) has about 140-180 calories per slice.

Conclusion

Bread is a great source of complex carbohydrates, protein, and fiber. But the most important thing to remember when considering bread as an energy-dense food is that it needs water for digestion!

A slice of white toast with butter contains about 187 calories but only 5 grams of fat. I would recommend eating whole-grain bread instead because they are higher in nutrients like iron, magnesium, or zinc than processed grains.

When you're looking at your diet and trying to power up on carbs before a workout session, make sure you know how many grams per serving there are so you don't overdo it (especially if you have certain health conditions).

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