#which was just a broth made from chicken bones and veggies

[mypartoftown]

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[pacthesis]

nostalgic food

i’ll want to reference this in the future

gỏi cuốn (spring roll with chicken, egg, rice noodle, carrot, lettuce, avocado)

peanut sauce is just peanut butter+water, hoisin+sriracha sauce, and a tiny bit of sesame oil (tastes good with almost anything imo)

yellow curry

rice noodle with chicken, potatoes, yams, onions, carrots in a creamy coconut milk and yellow curry paste broth

lemon juice and salt mix with garlic chili for dipping

bò kho (vietnamese beef stew)

kho is a cooking technique where a protein is braised in a mixture of fish sauce, sugar, and water or coconut juice to make a salty/savory result

bread dips in stew beef/potatoes dip in lime juice/salt/pepper mix

cucumber slices to offset the salty

xá xíu (cantonese style bbq pork)

the seasoning mix is made of sugar, powdered soy sauce, onion and garlic powder, and spices

the pink color very much freaked out middle schoolers at lunch

cơm tấm (broken rice, grilled pork, egg, pickled carrots/daikon with scallions/oil garnish and fish sauce)

bún bò huế (thick round rice noodle with beef soup)

more "fun" than phở imo

bún bò broth: spicy salty flavor (lemongrass, spicy chili, fermented shrimp paste, fish sauce)

phở broth: earthy sweet flavor (cinnamon, star anise, onion, ginger, garlic, herbs)

bánh mì (baguette sandwich with chả lụa (pork sausage), xá xíu (cantonese style bbq pork) coriander leaf (cilantro), cucumber, pickled carrots, and pickled daikon combined with pâté and buttery mayonnaise)

salmon instead of nem nướng̣ (viet grilled pork) with bánh hỏi (rice vermicelli)

feat nori (dried edible seaweed)

wrapped with lettuce and dipped in nước mắm (fish sauce)

bánh cuốn (rice noodle rolls filled with ground meat, wood ear mushrooms, onions)

topped with chả lụa (pork sausage) and fried red onions and nước mắm (fermented salted fish sauce)

a fav of grandpa's

pizza man mispronounces it as "bun goo" which makes my mom giggle cause the way he says goo sounds like penis

bánh tét (glutinous rice rolled in a banana leaf into a thick, log-like cylindrical shape, with a mung bean and pork filling)

bánh rán (deep fried sesame ball filled with mung bean)

bánh da lợn "pig skin cake" (tapioca starch, rice flour, mung bean, taro, coconut milk)

bánh bột chiên (fried taro rice cake, a fav of pizza man)

phở (broth: earthy sweet flavor- cinnamon, star anise, onion, ginger, garlic, herbs)

ive called phở mid but while eating this i was like huh this is good actually then my dad says this time he simmered chicken bones for hours like he's supposed to instead of using canned broth

improvised bún thịt nướng (rice noodle bowl with chopped grilled pork, egg roll, veggies, crushed peanuts, fish sauce)

a way to deal with leftover noodles from gỏi cuốn

every time i eat this i think of the time me and pizza man were in new orleans and he asked if i wanted to eat at a viet place and i was surprised cause he's not really into a lot of viet food but anyway i got bún thịt nướng

thịt kho (pork with eggs braised in sticky savory caramel of sugar, fish sauce, coconut water)

i have distinct flashbacks of being in the middle school cafeteria with my thịt kho and kids around me going "what is that??", "ewwww" lol

cháo (rice porridge with chicken or a white meat fish- often served with crunchy cabbage salad)

my dad likes it with youtiao (chinese donuts)

being sick means eating this! but we also eat it a lot when we’re not sick!

when my mom was young she would say yes to any dude that asked her out and order an obscene amount of food/the most expensive things on the menu and never hear from them again but my dad took her to a cháo place cause that was his favorite but apparently for cheapskates

he proposed two weeks later and she said yes

my mom is such a menace i wanna be just like her

[eusuntgratie]

tip/reminder for anyone stressed about their grocery budget and/or who just loves to eat good food - MAKE YOUR OWN STOCK.

keep a zip-lock bag in your freezer for veggie scraps (literally shit you'd throw away - the ends of carrots and onions, onion peels, celery ends, etc. you can google and/or play with which scraps to use vs. not but mine always has lots of onion and carrot). you can put herbs you like if you want and have them.

if you don't eat meat, when the bag is full, simmer the contents in water for a long time - hours. you can also do it in a crock pot or pressure cooker if you have one. throw in some scraggly veggies from your fridge. peppercorns, bay leafs, some garlic. half a lemon. whatever you want and have. almost-bad tomatoes are fine in there but will make it much darker. simmer until you have broth (a little thicker, a lot darker, smells delicious), strain it and freeze it. use it in soup, sub for water when you make plain rice to make it healthier and tastier. make pastina. add it to other dishes for a nutritional and taste boost.

if you eat chicken or beef (or other meats but thats what i usually use), throw in the bones and scraps too. don't skim the fat (unless you have a medical reason to avoid animal fat).

i keep chicken and beef stock in my freezer ALWAYS and get super pissed when i have to buy broth/stock because it's expensive and tastes like nothing compared to what i make.

i freeze mine in mason jars (leave room at the top so they don't explode in the freezer!) because i'm southern and have so many in my house it should be a crime, but you can use tupperware, freezer bags, whatever you've got.

i ran out of chicken broth last week so i bought a whole chicken for $10 (they used to be $5 wtf) and roasted that in the oven with some veggies which was 2.5 meals for my family of 3 and then put the carcass and leftover bones and scraps in a pot with my freezer bag of random scraps and simmered it forever and the resulting broth smells so good it's making me hungry even though i just ate. i've got a quart jar and 6 pints of goodness going in my freezer and i made it all with stuff that otherwise would've gone in the trash.

good stock is my religion feel free to ask questions <3

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #4

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. In my world, we've had a bit of a weird sickness going on around the world for the last several years now. People jokingly refer to it as "The Plague" sometimes. But it's not really a joke, because lots and lots of people have died from it, and still more have had to be hospitalized, and still others have suffered permanent effects because of it. It's really rather scary, so most everyone tries really hard to avoid getting it or spreading it around. On the bright side, there are vaccines for it now, and tests to detect it, so that really helps a lot, but the danger isn't quite over.

I don't have The Plague, thankfully; I checked. But even if I did, I'm vaccinated, so that if I do end up catching it, I won't feel like I've been hit by a truck nearly as hard. It's about time for me to get my immunity boosted for it though, so I'm going to go do that later today. It'll be lame, because anytime my immune system gets poked by a thing that it feels like it's gotta challenge to a street fight, I get really tired. Still, feeling a bit tired is better than the alternative.

I seem to have a generic and very mild case of the sniffles. The inside of my nose feels just a little weird, and it was really only annoying for one day, and it's already a lot better; I'll probably be fully recovered by tomorrow. All the same, I thought to make a batch of my famous (it's not really famous, except amongst my closest friends, haha!) bone broth:

Ahah... I know it probably looks really bad right now, but that's because it's not all done yet! It's made of leftover chicken bones, fruit and veggie scraps, and various herbs and teas. You have to simmer it for a day or so in water with a little bit of vinegar to help everything break down nicely, so that all the juicy nutrients can seep deliciously into the water! Once it's all done with simmering, you have to use a cheesecloth to squish the water out of everything, strain it, and then season it. It'll be very good when it's ready, and the resulting concoction will lend a body a bit more strength and energy, which speeds up recovery time from illness or stress by just a little bit, and makes the waiting to become well again a bit more bearable. You can use it to make soups, make rice with it, or just drink it straight from a cup; it's good stuff!

It's certainly not like the potions and elixirs and whatnot that are available in your world, which can instantly revitalize a body, ahaha! But this sort of thing, made with love, is imbued with a very weak (but still meaningful!) kind of magic, which makes it the next best thing, in my book!

There will probably be a lot more here than I can use on my own, so once it's ready, I'll put a bunch of it in jars and give it away to my friends, if they want some. I wish I could give you a jar; I know you're doing lots of very difficult stuff where you are, and so I'm sure you could use all the passive buffs you can get! Maybe you could have a few sips, and then feel just a little happier or a little more at ease. Or maybe you could have it as a nice soup or stew; when's the last time you've eaten anything, anyway? I imagine you're being sustained by SOMETHING, but that doesn't mean that you don't need basic creature comforts like a good soup from time to time; for all your phenomenal power, you're still human after all, and you deserve nice things.

I wonder if you've ever been sick with the sniffles, or with generic gut yuck, or anything similar. I wonder if you've had someone nearby to bring you soup when you're feeling unwell. If you've not had these experiences, I hope you can have them someday; even if mild illness is unpleasant temporarily, to experience it and to be cared for in its duration is good medicine for the soul in the long term.

Tell you what: if you're ever feeling icky and you're in my neighborhood (unlikely to the point of being absolutely and utterly impossible, I know, haha! but still...), pop on by for tasty snacks, a good nap, random conversation, and wholesome stuff to do; it'll set you to rights lickety-split, without a doubt - I promise.

Please be safe out there, won't you? And remember to take good care of yourself while you're doing whatever you're doing; too many people are counting on you to allow yourself to break down from stress and overwork. And please remember to ask for help should you find yourself struggling; you might be surprised by just how many hands are willing to reach for you and lift you up.

You are loved. Please come back to us in one piece.

Your friend, Lumine

[spurgie-cousin]

Okay that anon made me go check out Tiffany’s insta and what the hell is that chicken noodle soup recipe?! Literally boiling unseasoned chicken breasts for an HOUR with some veggies in WATER. Not even chicken broth and there’s no salt in the recipe at all. Chicken noodle soup isn’t that hard! It feels like fundie wives make the blandest food when it’s supposed to be their calling to be homemakers.

I didn't believe you (unsalted plain water????) so I went to see for myself and omg you're right. She doesn't even use bay leaves????

She does use butter which may be salted I guess or maybe she's trying to do sodium-free for health reasons but god that shits going to be SO tasteless. You can find sodium free bouillon and stock I'm sure right???

Anyway if anyone out there is going to be making chicken noodle soup from absolute scratch (no boxed broth or anything) ignore Tiffy's recipe and make your own stock first (water, chicken bones, dark meat pieces, herbs, vegetables, and you can use scrap pieces for all of the above bc you drain them out). Otherwise just throw some bone broth or boxed stock in there for the love of god

[missguomeiyun]

Homecooking [Oct ed]

What’s up everybody?!

Slightly more homecooking content in this month’s post. .. as we transition to fall (& winter), noodle soups will be occupying more space in these posts xD

Udon noodles with chicken breast & napa cabbage. Used Knorr chicken broth as soup base.

Ddeok-guk, which is Korean (flat) rice cake soup. I added some dumplings & baby bokchoy in.

Sujebi + chayote in leftover chicken soup. .. & hard-boiled egg. This was my breakfast post-night shift.

Sujebi dish #2 . .. This one in fish cake broth + zucchini. Also very light, but very tasty! 

Sujebi dish #3 . .. I call this the “leftover hot pot special”. I don’t know about you, but when we have hot pot, we always over-prepare foods, so there’s always leftover defrosted proteins & seafood, as well as veggies. The next day, we either have another hot pot or we use the leftovers & throw it all in a pot to make a ‘soup’. This sujebi was made with the soup so it contains: chicken, frozen seafoods, napa cabbage, & some fish balls/tofu. I usually do this with my fav thick rice noodles but I had an opened bag of sujebi, so I used sujebi. Any noodle works.

Sujebi #4 . .. lol bcos I have to use up my sujebi.

Cucumber + egg stir-fry

Leftover yookgaejang with thick rice noodles. AHHH SO GOOD!!!!

This doesn’t look pleasing but I swear it was good! At the beginning of the month, my mom had prepared (ie: de-boned) chicken drumsticks, where she separated the bone from the meat but kept the meat ‘together’ in one whole piece as she deboned. We had plans to use the portable BBQ outside for the chicken thigh fillets; however plans changed. .. we didn’t do that. Instead, I used the chicken fillet pieces to make fried chicken ^^ I didn’t bother cutting the pieces into smaller pieces so that’s why they’re in such large chunks haha

Cheongguk-jang soup. Cheongguk-jang is an extra fermented soybean soup. It’s more savoury & has a greater depth of flavour profile compared to the regular soybean soup (the doenjang). As I’ve mentioned in the past, after trying this since. .. 2yrs ago, I now can’t really go back to doenjang anymore. That almost seems too bland to me. Cheongguk-jang typically includes the common ingredients like onion, zucchini, pork, tofu. .. I skipped the meats & just used zucchini, onion, & napa cabbage. The soup turned out very well!

I fried pork cutlet for the first time. I’ve fried chicken many times but not pork cutlet. I left it frying for soooo long bcos I was scared the pork wouldn’t be cooked thoroughly haha the sauce on the side is just a mix of bbq sauce with ketchup.

*that ripped off part was the 30% off sticker :P

This was a very interesting dip. .. it was heavily garlicky & a little spicy. I didn’t get much “Mexican spice” out of it, which was slightly disappointing but I still was ok with it.

I had the dip around for literally dayyyyyyyysss. It’s quite heavy & salty. It doesn’t really go with anything else I eat normally. So I used it as a pasta sauce. It looks more yellow than it really is IRL. The photo makes it look like that Kraft Dinner ‘fake’ cheese colour but it’s really not! I cooked this late at night for lunch the next day so the lighting is not great. It was alright. Made good use of the dip.

Random Korean snacks I still have lying around my house. .. expired, but still tasty!

I was munching on the above snack & reading a webtoon called MONEY GAME for about 10 days in October. You guys should read it. The length isn’t too long. I found some parts lagged a little bit, but overall, I really enjoyed the series. It’s surprising to me that it was released Squid Game. They shall similar themes - namely a group of ppl in a closed setting interacting with each other, & they play a “money game” for the grand prize.

This is a cheaper way of having naengmyeon - buy the noodles & broth separately instead of the kit! Hmart had 2 types of broth. I’ll try the other one next time, but this beef-based broth was delicious. I found 1 soup serving for 1 noodle serving a bit off, as in there was more soup. In the future, I’ll likely use 1.5 noodles for 1 soup. I haven’t figured it out yet... The noodles are individual ‘servings’ but they’re not individually wrapped so I separated the 10 servings & put them into ziploc bags myself (& froze them).

PLAIN CHEESE RAMYEON~

Another ramyeon I ate this month bcos that’s my quota lol Used up leftover hot pot materials.

Imitation flat bread using naan. Toppings: corned beef, cherry tomatoes, Babybels, & garlic seasoning. This was gooooood!

That is it~

Sorry for the slightly late post.. . been busy lately. I’ve been watching badminton & gahhhhh Short Track 22/23 season has officially started with the 1st stop in Montreal this past wknd. Super exciting stuff!!! Salt Lake City in a few days :D

PS: I’m sad Choi Min Jung didn’t get gold. .. Same with Lee June Seo =(  Hopefully in Salt Lake City!

[yetanotherfreakingfoodblog]

Chicken Paprikash

I continue to enjoy cooking chicken. I thought I had made some good chicken before (on this very blog!!!), but then 2023 came along. My friend gifted me some Hungarian paprika from her travels, so one day earlier this year I decided to make chicken paprikash...and it was a huge hit. The people I made it for were delighted. My partner: "top 5 chickens I've had in my life." My friend: "the ultimate comfort food, reminds me of my grandma." My other friend: "when are we having that again?" You get the idea.

I used this NYT Cooking recipe, mostly. The best thing about this recipe is the comments. I am not Hungarian. I thank the Hungarians for introducing the world to chicken paprikash. I loved having chicken paprikash when I was there in 2008, and I love the comments on this recipe. They are largely an argument over whether this is "really chicken paprikash" or not. One helpful comment says "this is a very bad recipe and not just for Hungarians."

I leave judgment of the recipe up to the reader. All I have to say is that I made this dish, mostly following the recipe, and we loved it. Was it Hungarian? Probably not, as I am just a lady who made this in California for friends from all around. But was it delicious? It absolutely was, and I'll be making it many times over.

I skip the egg noodles and do dumplings instead, more on that in a moment.

Saucy Chicken

Ingredients

6-7 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs

1 tablespoon avocado oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large onion (peeled & diced)

3 cloves garlic (peeled & minced) (I *still* hate working with fresh garlic, I tend to use pre-minced freeze dried garlic in stuff like this which overjoys me. Don't tell my purist friends).

3 tablespoons Hungarian paprika, sweet or hot or a combination -- I love this with hot paprika. I made this so many times that I ran out of the hot paprika my friend got me though, so I also ran through the sweet, which was also wonderful. When I ran out of hot paprika, I started adding about 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper to the 3 tbsp sweet paprika to get more heat. I thought 1/2 tsp was a small kick, I might go up to 1 tsp for a spicier dish.

3 tablespoons flour

14oz canned crushed tomatoes (the recipe calls for "1 cup" but I just put the whole 14oz can in and it's great).

1 cup vegetable broth (I only keep Better than Bouillon veggie broth around, I'm not really a broth purist so I default to veggie broth and this one is a good one. The recipe calls for chicken broth).

3/4 cup plain yogurt (the recipe calls for sour cream, but I always have yogurt around and rarely have sour cream. Recommend using a thicker yogurt, I like Strauss Greek. I also think this recipe is totally fine with less yogurt than 3/4 cup).

Dumpling ingredients

6 eggs

1.5 cups flour

a little salt

more vegetable broth

Recipe

Preheat oven to 400. Season chicken "aggressively" with salt & pepper.

Heat 1tbsp avocado oil and 1 tbsp butter in a large Dutch oven on high. Sear the chicken in batches, skin-side down, until golden & crisp, 8-10 min. Turn the chicken over and sear the non-skin side for ~7 minutes. Remove to a plate to rest.

Return pot to stove. Add onion to the schmaltz in the pot. Cook, stirring & scraping frequently, for ~5 min.

Add garlic, stir again, cook til softened (~3-4 min)

Add paprika & flour, stir well to combine. Cook until fragrant and the taste of flour has been cooked out, 4-5 min. (It will be dry, it's ok, toasty toasty!)

Add tomatoes and broth. Stir together, then nestle the chicken back in skin side up. Slide the pot into the oven (uncovered!) and bake for 25-30 min, until chicken is cooked to 165 and sauce is a bit thicker.

While the chicken bakes, make dumplings! Bring ~4 cups veggie broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Whisk together the eggs, flour, and salt. I use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop (filled halfway) to drop dumpling batter into the boiling broth. (I wish I had a smaller scoop, my dumplings usually turn out on the larger side, but they're really unfussy and supposed to be rustic. You can also use your hands and a regular spoon!). They're done when they're floating, or a bit after. Use a slotted spoon to bring them out. You might need to do this in batches.

Take the chicken pot out of the oven. Remove the chicken to a plate with tongs, then stir the yogurt into the sauce. Put the chicken back into the pot. Serve chicken over the dumplings!

[hyenadon]

Guys listen. My Big Grocery Shop days (which realistically aren't that big it's like 50-60 worth of food but thats still a lot okay!!) suck because I need to spend most of that day meal prepping and peeling/chopping veggies and splitting all my stuff into different bags for convenience and shit like that.

But also.

I just threw every vegetable peel/scrap + the chicken bones from the rotisserie chicken I bought into a pot with some garlic and salt and butter and I think this is the best fucking broth i've ever made. it's rich it's umami it's salty it's comforting. Fucking goddamn perfection here.

[thedisneychef]

Will Bulsiewicz Biome Broth Recipe

Hey there! I'm so excited to tell you about Will Bulsiewicz's amazing new Biome Broth Recipe. It truly is a game changer when it comes to nourishing your gut and improving overall health! Not only does this recipe taste great, but it also provides the body with essential vitamins and minerals that we often lack in our regular diets. In this article, I'll be walking you through all of the incredible benefits of this broth as well as how to make it at home. So let's get started! Biome Broth was created by Dr. William Bulsiewicz M.D., an expert in digestive health and nutrition. He believes that good food should do more than just fill us up - it should heal us from within too. That's why he formulated his powerful blend of nutrient-rich ingredients into one delicious soup base. Plus, making it yourself means you’ll know exactly what goes into each batch for optimal nutrition and flavor every time! Benefits Of Biome Broth I'm so excited to share with you my recipe for biome broth! I've been making it myself for a while now, and the health benefits are amazing. This type of broth is great for your gut health and immune system - two really important factors when it comes to overall physical wellbeing. The ingredients in this recipe are super simple: some chicken or beef bones, water, veggies like celery and carrots, herbs like rosemary and thyme, garlic cloves, onion skins, apple cider vinegar and salt. It's incredibly easy to make too - all you have to do is boil everything together until the liquid has reduced by half. It may seem like a lot of work at first but trust me – once you have made this nutrient-rich broth just once, you'll never want to go back! Not only does it taste delicious but it can help boost your energy levels as well as improve digestion and immunity. So if you're looking for an easy way to nourish your body from within then why not give biome broth a try? Nutrient-Rich Ingredients Having discussed the benefits of Biome Broth, we now turn our attention to its nutrient-rich ingredients. At the heart of Dr. Bulsiewicz's recipe is a commitment to incorporating micro biome-friendly foods that help support and nourish beneficial bacteria in your gut. These include cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts, garlic and onions, mushrooms, green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale, healthy fats from olive oil or avocado, plus spices like turmeric, ginger, cumin, coriander and cardamom. All these ingredients come together to create a flavorful broth full of phytonutrients that help promote digestive health. In addition to providing essential vitamins and minerals for overall wellbeing, this combination of food also helps keep you more regular by promoting better digestion and absorption of nutrients from other meals throughout the day. It’s important to note that if you prefer plant-based proteins instead of animal proteins, there are plenty of non-meat sources available which can provide similar levels of nutrition while still supporting your microbiome health. By including Dr. Bulsiewicz's nutrient-rich ingredients into your diet on a regular basis you will be giving your body everything it needs to stay balanced so you can live life at your fullest potential! Making Biome Broth At Home I'm excited to share my favorite biome broth recipe with you! This dish is a great way to get your gut-brain connection in check while adding some cold weather flavor. It's packed full of nutrient dense ingredients, making it the perfect meal for all seasons. To make this amazing dish at home, start by combining one cup of bone broth with half a cup of vegetable stock and two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add chopped onions, garlic cloves, celery stalks, carrots and any other vegetables you'd like to use. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat then reduce the heat and simmer until all the vegetables are tender and cooked through. Finally, stir in fresh herbs such as thyme or oregano - whatever suits your taste best - along with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy! Dr. Bulsiewicz's Background I'm really interested in learning more about Dr. Bulsiewicz's background. He has a lot of training in medicine, which makes him an authority figure in the field of gastroenterology. He specializes in treatments related to digestive health and nutrition research. I'm sure his experience has been a factor in the success of his famous Biome Broth recipe. I'm curious to know what inspired him to create this recipe and how it has changed people's lives. I'm sure he has a lot of personal stories to share from his journey in the medical field. I'm excited to hear more about Dr. Bulsiewicz's background and learn from his expertise! Medical Training I'm proud of Dr. Bulsiewicz's accomplishments in medical training and alternative healing, especially when it comes to his work on digestive health. He graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, completed his residency at Duke University Medical Center, and is board certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. Plus, he has been a leader in educating doctors about integrative medicine for years! He truly believes that by combining traditional Western medicine with alternative healing techniques like nutrition, exercise, stress management, lifestyle changes, supplements and more; we can all achieve better overall health. It's no wonder why so many people turn to him for help managing their gastrointestinal issues - he knows what works best! Dr. Bulsiewicz often recommends starting off with something simple: his famous Biome Broth Recipe! This delicious broth contains ingredients that are specially chosen to nourish the body’s microbiome and promote optimal digestion. So if you're looking for an easy way to start taking steps towards improving your gut health, this recipe could be just what you need! Gastroenterology Specialization As a gastroenterologist, Dr. Bulsiewicz has made it his mission to help people with digestive issues get the care they need. He knows that maintaining gut health and microbiome balance is essential for overall wellbeing, which is why he offers so many treatment options aimed at restoring this vital balance in his patients. From recommending simple lifestyle changes like his famous Biome Broth recipe to more complex treatments involving nutritional therapy or supplements - he's got them covered! And as someone who has been educating doctors about integrative medicine since before it was mainstream, you can trust him to provide only the best advice when it comes to your digestive health needs. His passion for helping others achieve their optimal state of wellness makes him an invaluable asset in the medical field and one of the leading experts on gastrointestinal issues today. Nutrition Research Dr. Bulsiewicz is well-versed in the gut brain connection and immune response, so it's no surprise that he has devoted a great deal of his research to nutrition. He believes that proper nutrition plays an integral role in maintaining optimal gut health and microbiome balance. Through extensive research, he has developed nutritional protocols tailored to address each patient’s individual needs. Dr. Bulsiewicz also recognizes the importance of education when it comes to nutrition. He regularly holds seminars on digestive health topics such as the effects food can have on digestion and immunity. In addition, he often writes articles for medical journals about the latest findings in nutrition research related to gut health and its impact on overall wellbeing. With all his expertise in this field, it's clear why Dr. Bulsiewicz is one of the leading authorities on gastrointestinal issues today! Enjoying The Broth All Year Round I've been so inspired by Dr. Bulsiewicz's biome broth recipe that I'm finding new and interesting ways to enjoy it all year round. Not only is the flavor unique and delicious, but I'm also having a lot of fun experimenting with different cooking variations. With just a few simple ingredients, there are endless possibilities for creative recipes! In summertime, I love adding fresh herbs from my garden like basil or oregano to give the broth a bright and fragrant aroma. In winter months, warming spices like cinnamon or cardamom make the dish feel extra cozy on cold days. No matter what season it is, I always find something special about the flavors in this nutritious soup. One thing that makes this recipe even better is how flexible it is—you can easily adjust it based on seasonal availability of produce to create unique flavor combinations each time you cook up a batch. The versatility allows me to get creative in the kitchen while savoring every bite of this comforting meal. Frequently Asked Questions How Often Should I Drink Biome Broth? How often should you drink biome broth? It really depends on your individual health and lifestyle goals. If you're looking for general health benefits, it's recommended to have a cup of biome broth each day. For specific purposes (storing tips), you may want to increase or decrease the amount depending on what works best for you. Ultimately, drinking biome broth regularly is great way to incorporate beneficial probiotics into your diet! Is This Recipe Suitable For Vegetarians Or Vegans? If you’re looking for a plant-based diet, or vegan alternatives to the traditional Will Bulsiewicz Biome Broth Recipe, then this might not be suitable. While it can easily be made with vegetable stock instead of chicken broth and omitting butter and non-vegan cheese, there are other recipes that may better suit your needs. It's worth checking out some vegan options before deciding on any recipe. Is Biome Broth Suitable For People With Certain Dietary Restrictions? When it comes to dietary restrictions, biome broth can be a great alternative. The main ingredients are simple and easily replaceable with alternative options if needed. For example, the recipe calls for chicken stock but any other type of non-animal based stock can be used to make this recipe vegan or vegetarian friendly. Additionally, those who have allergies should take extra care when making this dish as certain ingredients may not agree with their sensitivities. With that in mind, having an allergy awareness approach is key when cooking biome broth so everyone can enjoy it safely! How Long Will The Broth Last When Stored In The Fridge? When it comes to storing your biome broth, you want to make sure it's properly refrigerated. This will help keep the broth fresh and prevent any spoilage. Generally speaking, if stored in an airtight container, the broth can last up to 7 days in the fridge. Of course, this all depends on how much of the recipe you made and how large your serving sizes are. It's always best to use a clean spoon for each serving so that bacteria doesn't spread from one person to another. What Are The Differences Between Biome Broth And Bone Broth? Biome Broth and Bone Broth both offer a variety of health benefits, but there are some key differences between the two. Biome Broth is specifically designed to promote gut health, while bone broth has more of an emphasis on immune support. Biome Broth uses specific ingredients that are geared towards improving your microbiome balance and providing necessary nutrients for good gut health. It also contains prebiotics, which can help improve digestion and overall nutrient absorption in the body. On the other hand, Bone Broth mainly provides collagen proteins as well as minerals like calcium and magnesium. These provide a boost to your immune system and helps you fight off illnesses more easily. In conclusion, both types of broths have their own unique advantages when it comes to promoting better health. Conclusion I'm so glad I tried the Bulsiewicz Biome Broth recipe! Drinking it regularly has made me feel healthier and more energized. And I love that this recipe is suitable for most diets, including vegetarians and vegans. Plus, it's easy to make in bulk and store in my fridge for up to a week. Overall, I think the differences between Biome Broth and bone broth are worth noting when deciding which one to try. While both provide many health benefits, the added advantage of using Biome Broth means that people with dietary restrictions don't have to compromise their nutrition needs while still reaping all its wonderful benefits. Read the full article

[rockysrecipes]

How to make the perfect soup

part 1: the broth

So just a quick introduction here, hi, I'm Rayner, aka Rocky, and one of the few precious skills I possess is knowing how to make a GREAT soup from scraps, and I would like to teach you step by step.

Step 0 to the perfect soup broth: you need to squirrel away ingredients.

What I mean is that when you have leftover vegetables, scrambled eggs, egg whites, egg yolks, meat, bones, ect that are unable to be used right away, you need to freeze it for soup. I tend to focus on onions, carrots, chicken and chicken bones, and eggs because they're what I have most.

Typically, when I freeze items for soup, I'll freeze 1 kind of bones and meat scraps (today it's chicken with a random turkey leg), 1 variety of onion (peel, outermost layer, and any scraps. Today, there were red onions and sweet onions in the mix, which is fine), and one or two other veggies or eggs (today I have bell peppers and egg yolks)

Sometimes I keep water from pasta and freeze the bones in it, because the starch from the pasta water adds depth to the broth, but I don't do that often because I don't eat pasta very often due to gluten issues. It's definitely an option though!

The bags typically look like this, this one is ham and pork bones for the next time I do barbecue ham and bean soup. (Ignore my fuzzy bath robe sleeve, please)

Step 1: adding the bags to the pot

So, if you use the pasta water method, you have to let the entire thing thaw to get it out of the bag, because it'll be a giant effing chunk of ice, which is another reason why I prefer to skip that step.

But if you skip the water, you can add all your bones and scraps directly into a stock pot (I use one with a strainer insert to help with the straining step) and cover it with water. Set it on high, and cover it until it boils up. (You can see some frozen pasta water with red onions in there. I have no idea when I made that, but it's good 👌)

Meanwhile, start thawing out any meat you want to add to the finished soup and start chopping veggies for that part, too. I'm making a chicken noodle soup, so I'm thawing chicken breast tenderloins and I have carrots, celery, and sweet onions for later.

Step 2: boiling

Once your broth ingredients are boiling and thawed, you can decrease the temperature and add fresher vegetables like mushrooms or more onions (I always add a whole onion to the broth at this point)

Step 3: let it boil until everything turns the same color

Grab a snack, this takes awhile.

During this part, which can take 45 minutes to a few hours, you want to occasionally stir the pot and add more water as it evaporates off. If you use glass measuring cups, don't touch the glass to the pot. I broke one that way, RIP.

I'll do part 2 when I strain it ��

[amelialincoln]

Stuck With You

“Hey, babe.” Link’s practically frostbitten cheeks burned against Amelia’s as he leant down to greet her with a kiss. “How are you feeling?” 

“Better,” Amelia smiled, rubbing her stomach in a small circular motion. “I wasn’t expecting the morning sickness to last this long.” Link couldn’t help but grin at his girlfriend who looked picture perfect in her oversized woolen sweater and newly formed bump. “What’s so funny?” She grinned back at him.

“Nothing, I’m just lucky,” he replied with a shrug.

“Yeah, I’m sure you were thinking the same thing this morning when you were holding my hair back to keep me from spewing chunks in it.” She shook her head. Link chuckled, tugging off his flurry filled jacket and sitting down beside her. “I doubt we’re going to make it to Meredith’s for New Years at this rate.”

“Most people were cancelling at work. Other than half the staff who live at her place,” he joked. “I doubt anyone is going to be having too much fun tonight.”

“Oh, cause you’re stuck with me instead of drinking with your boys?” She teased.

“Right, Amelia, because I’d rather start the New Year with anyone other than you.” That received a small giggle and he pulled her onto his lap gently. “You feeling hungry? I was craving some soup with it being so cold.”

“That sounds perfect.” She nodded.

“Alright, up you get then.” Amelia gave a moan of protest as he lifted her to a standing position before tugging her hand into the kitchen. Luckily they had vegetable stock in the fridge so the rest was simple. Amelia sat at the island chairs while Link chopped the veggies and chicken before adding them to the pot to cook.

“No pasta?” Amelia whined.

“Why don’t you come over and help me rather than complaining?” Link chuckled. Amelia shot him a look of exasperation before joining him in the kitchen. She searched through the cupboard before finding her favourite bow shaped noodles and adding them to the pot. Link wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin atop her head as she stirred. “Smells good,” he mused.

“Thanks, it was all me.” She received a poke in the side for that comment. The couple waited patiently for the soup to cook before spooning it into bowls and setting the rest in the fridge for leftovers.

“What do you want to watch?” Amelia asked from her place on his chest as she lifted a spoonful of veggies into her mouth.

“I don’t really care.” Link shrugged, absentmindedly wiping a drop of broth from her cheek with his sleeve. Amelia put on some random documentary as the true crime junkie she was and settled into his lap comfortably.

“Not while we’re eating,” Link complained as the narrator ran over some graphic evidence.

“You’re trying to tell me that you’ve got a queasy stomach,” she asked, “when you shove people’s bones back in place for a living?” Unapologetically, Link set his ceramic bowl on their coffee table and swallowed with distaste.

“You were the one throwing up all day,” he grumbled.

“And whose fault was that?” Amelia batted her lashes, never allowing Link to forget that it was his fault for impregnating her.

“Alright, then.” Link picked up the tv remote and clicked the off button before throwing the device far enough away on the couch that Amelia wouldn’t attempt to go after it. “I just want to talk to you, I feel like I haven’t seen you all day.” Amelia’s irritated expression washed away.

“Fine,” she grumbled before pulling out her phone. Link almost threw that across the couch too before realizing which app she was searching for. “Our baby is the size of a mango today,” she stated proudly. “I can feel him getting heavier.” She placed his hand on the underside of her belly and smiled as he acknowledged the new weight there. “His lungs are apparently developing,” she squinted at her phone, “and he might start kicking soon.”

“That’s exciting, babe.” Link rubbed her back tenderly and she relaxed into his touch.

“I didn’t get that with Christopher.” She frowned. “I mean there were phantom kicks...but I don’t know how they’re actually supposed to feel.” “Well we’ll find out soon, I guess,” he offered, not really sure what to say.

“Yeah, exactly,” she said more brightly than he knew she was feeling. “You finished your soup?” She asked, slowly standing up with the assistance from his hand on her back. He nodded as she stacked his bowl on top of her own and made her way back into the kitchen. He followed her cautiously, noticing that she was deep in thought and messaged her neck as she wordlessly did the dishes. Link knew she wasn’t supposed to start nesting until her third trimester but he’d noticed, with amusement, how much of a neat freak she had become over the last couple of weeks.

“You dry?” She finally asked, handing him the pot.

“Sure,” he replied, moving to stand beside her. They stood in silence for a couple of moments longer before he asked, “have you ever heard of a babymoon?”

“Huh?” she replied, her hands deep in soapy water.

“It’s like a honeymoon...kinda but not really.” He scratched the back of his neck. “It’s like a trip you take before the baby comes. Like to celebrate the last time you’ll be together, just the two of you.”

“Sounds kind of dreary when you put it that way,” Amelia chuckled lightly. “It’s not like our lives are ending.” 

“That’s not what I meant,” Link backpedaled. “It’s just to spend some time together before the baby comes.”

“Link, I’m teasing. That sounds really nice,” she assured him.

“Okay, cool.” He sighed with relief.

“I mean I think I deserve it if you can’t manage to give me an actual honeymoon.”

“What, I--”

“Link.” She rolled her eyes. “Teasing, again.”

“You suck,” he growled, flinging droplets of soapy water in her direction.

“Oh, really?” She taunted, spraying an enormous amount of water at him and soaking him from head to toe. “Shit.” She went to wipe suds from his cheekbone and slipped, landing embarrassingly on her ass.

“You okay?” The urgency in his voice immediately ended the joke.

“Link, I’m fine,” she winced.

“Are you sure? We could go to the hospital and--”

“I promise,” she confirmed. He breathed a sigh of relief, hovering over her and surveying her quickly. “Link, I mean it. You can get off of me.”

“Well, when you put it that way.” He grinned cheekily, pressing a lingering kiss to her lips before pulling away and leaving her wanting more.

“Okay, come back,” she whined, ignoring the fact that her clothes were soaked with dishwater.

“Nah, let’s get you in the shower. You’re all wet.” He smirked, pulling off her clothes shamelessly as he led her into their bathroom.

                                                     [][][]

Surprisingly, it was Amelia who convinced Link to stay up till twelve. Usually she was passed out at eleven tops with Link lying awake in bed for hours, deep with worries about parenting, the environment and everything else that he’d be bringing a baby into.

“It’s the baby’s first New Years,” she argued, pulling the fluffy white towel around her dripping body.

“The baby’s first New Years is a year from now,” he groaned from their bed. The hot shower and the amount of cardio he’d just performed had practically knocked him out and he wasn’t sure if he could keep his eyes open for the next half hour.

“Well it’s our first New Years.” She had him with that one. Link sighed before opening his arm to allow her to crawl in beside him. “Fine, I’ll stay up.” He didn’t. Link conked out about a minute later and their bedroom was filled with his soft snores almost immediately. Amelia sighed, running her hand through his hair and kissing his forehead lightly. She picked up a medical journal she’d been flipping through throughout the day and cuddled up beside him.

“Link,” Amelia shook her boyfriend awake.

“Huh?” His groggy voice responded before his eyes shot open. “Is the baby coming? Are you having contractions?”

“Uh, no.” She remarked. “You’re about four months too early.” Link nodded, swallowing nervously and she couldn’t help but wonder if that was what was keeping him up most nights. “It’s almost midnight.” 

“Oh,” he breathed. “Sorry for falling asleep.”

“It’s okay,” she assured him. “I just wanted my New Year’s kiss.” Link glanced at the clock and grinned before placing a gentle kiss on her lips.

“Was that what you were hoping for?” 

“Mhmm.” She bobbed her head. “Thank you.”

short cute domestic fic hope u enjoy! didn’t have time to edit so I probs will tmrw but I wanted to get it up for y’all.

[decastillo26]

Eating My Empire

The Philippines could be a well-known tropical destination, after all, lots of foreign travelers seek its crystal-clear beaches, picturesque landscapes, and warm hospitality that's like no other! However, except for this, it helps to understand that the archipelago is additionally known for its unique and delicious food. Philippines food or Filipino cuisine could be a culmination of over 100 distinct local groups and tribes all throughout the country. One would even say that it's the last word fusion food that not only represents the various cultures everywhere the country but also how “east meets west”. With a fashionable culinary heritage and a good range of food choices to select from, it’s pretty hard to narrow down this list to six Philippines food only but I can share with you here the highest dishes (in no particular order) that everybody mustn't miss when visiting the country.

1. Adobo

Adobo may be considered because the most well-liked dish out of all the Philippines food, and it's definitely loved by everyone westerners’ palate included. In fact, it can even be considered because the ‘national dish’ of the country. the foremost common style of adobo uses chicken or pork meat and it's first marinated in garlic, black peppercorns, bay leaves, soy sauce, and vinegar. After it slow, it'll be browned in oil then simmered to goodness in its marinade. Pair it off with some good ol’ rice and you’re sure to have it as your new favorite viand.

2. Lechon

Lechon or ‘roasted suckling pig’ is additionally a preferred Philippines food and it's commonly served during fiestas or special occasions like birthdays, weddings, etc. Lechon is additionally one among the numerous Spanish influences to Filipino cuisine with 2 typical variants being ‘Manila or Luzon lechon’ and ‘Visayas or Cebu lechon’. the previous is often only seasoned with salt and pepper before roasting; but the latter is sometimes filled with many spices like lemongrass, tamarind, garlic, onions, and chives among many others because it is slowly roasted in an shoot for several hours. it'll be continually basted and turned until the skin becomes crispy a particular feature of the dish that Filipinos love. Once ready, prepare a plate filled with rice and grab some lechon sauce just like the local favorite of ‘Mang Tomas‘ and you’ll be in gastronomic heaven.

3. Sisig

Sisig is another well-known Philippines food that originated within the province of Pampanga, particularly within the city of Angeles. This Kapampangan dish is traditionally made by boiling, chopping, and grilling parts of a pig’s head yes, you read that right like its ears, cheeks, and jowls, which are then seasoned with calamansi, onions, chili peppers, salt, pepper, and vinegar.Now I know, it sounds pretty morbid especially if you’re not keen on exotic food; but trust me once I say that it's delicious. Pair it with a bottle of local beer like San Miguel and you’re sure a treat! finally, sisig is additionally commonly referred to as a pulutan or food that’s best paired with alcoholic drinks.

4. Sinigang

If you’re trying to find something to warm you up during the season, one amongst the simplest Philippines food to do is sinigang! It’s a Filipino stew composed of meat or seafood and uses tamarind (sampalok) because the souring and savory agent to form its acidic broth (kind of comparable to a different dish called paksiw, but this uses vinegar).A traditional Filipino sinigang is additionally actually served as a soup, with many vegetables like water spinach (kangkong), ladies’ fingers (okra), radish (labanos), taro corns (gabi), eggplant (talong), and string beans (sitaw). to feature more to its sourness, ingredients like citruses, gooseberry tree fruits (karmay) et al. also are added.The most common variants of sinigang are pork and fish (like bangus or milkfish), but other favorites are beef, chicken, and shrimp.

5. Bulalo

A specialty of Southern Luzon’s Batangas and Cavite, bulalo is personally one in all my favorite Filipino stew dishes! It’s a treat to eat especially during monsoon season, cold rainy days, or trip to Tagaytay.This traditional light-colored soup is ready by cooking beef shanks and bone marrow until the collagen and fat dissolves into the broth. it's also mixed with different vegetables like cabbage, pechay, potatoes, taro, string beans and corn among many others. For an entire meal, eat it on rice with condiment and calamansi (some would even like patis or fish sauce).

6. Kare-Kare

This is yet one more stew dish in Filipino cuisine but what’s unique about kare-kare as a Philippines food is how it's a thick savory peanut sauce so people who love anything in peanut flavor will love this!Usually for this, it consists of meat like tripe, pork leg, oxtail, beef, or goat (sometimes seafood like prawns or mussels) so mixed with vegetables (at times with veggies only which is termed as guleng kare-kare) in a very flavorful peanut sauce fabricated from ground roasted peanuts or spread with garlic, onions and annatto seeds. Shrimp paste (bagoong) is commonly served on the side so as to reinforce the taste of the dish.

[theauthorstreehouse]

Worldbuilding - Food and Recipes

*The chart above illustrated the dietary resources available to the majority of the nation.

Culture of Food

Food is a huge part of what makes a culture and Verdant is no exception to this. They pride themselves as a nation in which no one goes hungry. In a country where most of the land is desert, this is much more difficult to achieve than one might think. But thought centuries of trial and error they have not only learned to take advantage of the county which the land provided, but to cultivate their own food by utilizing the unique seasons to their advantage.

Verdant food is colorful, packed with flavor, and prepared with passion. The hearth is the center of the household and as such the kitchen and living area are usually inseparable in all but the most wealthy estates. Something is always cooking, and as such it is considered polite to offer an unexpected guest food and drink, and considered very impolite to refuse! If invited over, it is an absolute scandal not to bring something along, even if it's just goat cheese rolled in garlic and chives or a bottle of homemade wine.

Accessibility

When one looks at the scope of what the people of Verdant eat, it is important to remember the wide range of territory in which their nation covers. For instance in the capitol city which straddles the coastline, the bounty of the sea is plentiful. This means that people in the capitol can obtain fresh fish, seaweed and such for next to nothing. However in the further reaches, such as the Speckled Pond Oasis, their ability to serve food like swordfish or lobster is severely limited.

As in all countries, the wealthy always have access to more than those in lower classes. The more processed or refined something is the more likely you have to be wealthy in order to afford it. The more elaborate and time consuming it is to obtain and cook, the more likely you must have thralls or servants available in order to ensure it gets accomplished. Domestic pigs, for instance, do not do well in the Verdant heat and are difficult to keep content. So much so that pigs are considered to be a status symbol and kept like very spoiled pets by the super wealthy and socially elite. Goats and chickens on the other hand are a much more common source of sustenance and can be obtained by all but the most impoverished folk. Even then, foraging and trapping is a common chore given to children. Verdant has only a few laws regarding hunting practices, allowing for easier access to food sources.

Preservation

Food must be properly preserved to last as long as possible. With a flooding season and a sandstorm season to factor into the equation, Verdant folk must ensure their larder will hold for as long as possible. Most meat is cured in salt or smoked to prolong it's shelf life. Jerked meats are fairly common, especially among the working class. Packing in animal fat and storing it in a cool, dry place is an excellent method for ensuring the meat remains tender for months. Herbs are air dried and ground into powders,or drowned in oil or vinegar. Fruits and vegetables are often pickled or soaked in a sweet brine which is often then turned into alcohol. Waste is the enemy, and if anything can be used it will be used. Bone broths are immensely popular as a method for stripping the most nutrition out of an animal.

Household Staples

Some things are just a ubiquitous part of the culture, and Verdant is no exception. There are staples served on every table from rich to poor, though the amount and embellishments may differ. As a part of their initiative to ensure everyone is fed, monthly stipends of grain and rice are provided to the poorer districts, the amount depending upon the size of the family. These come from the silos kept by the Queen's government, which are filled through yearly taxes collected at harvest time. Each meal has rice with herbs, pickled vegetables, and flatbread lightly fried in oil. The most popular dish through out all the nation being a saffron crispy-rice cakes. They keep well and can be stored in cloth and reheated for meals or handed off to a worker to take with them for mid-day meals.

Saffron Crispy-rice Cake

Ingredients 2 cups basmati rice 3 ½ cups water 2 tablespoons kosher salt ¼  teaspoon crushed saffron threads 1 cup plain yogurt 3 eggs 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted ½  cup olive oil 1 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

Put your rice in a bowl with enough water to cover and let soak for about 30 mins. Rinse thoroughly until the water runs clear. Place 3 ½ cups water into a large pot and add a generous sprinkle of kosher salt. Bring to a boil and add the drained basmati rice. Bring to a boil and give it a stir. Reduce heat and let cook till tender. Sprinkle small amount of salt and saffron threads in mortar and crunch until powdered. Add 2 tbsp hot water and stir lightly. Let steep for about ten mins until deep reddish-orange color.

Mix 3 egg yolks, yogurt, ½ cup olive oil, and 2 tbsp salt into large bowl. Add saffron mix when steeping is done.

Pour 1 cup vegetable oil into skillet and heat. Fluff basmati rice mixture and test to see if fully cooked. Slowly integrate it into the saffron mixture until every grain is thoroughly coated. Don't skimp! You want it to be saturated with this mixture.

Once your oil is hot, put in a small bit of rice to test and see if it is ready. If it begins to bubble immediately, you are ready to proceed!  Form the saffron and rice mixture into patties with you hands and carefully place in skillet, frying on each side until golden brown. Remove from skillet and place on rack to drain. Serve with choice of topping.

Note: I have personally made this recipe and let me tell you it packs a LOT of flavor. I've put a fried egg on top, mixed it with sweet coleslaw, tossed it with chicken and even put a thick slice of mozzarella on top and stuck it under a broiler until bubbling! It's addictive and it keeps in the fridge forever! The saffron threads are a little bit pricy, $7.99 for 1 tblsp where I got them. But since it made like five meals it was worth it.

Another staple of the Verdant meal is flatbread with garlic oil drizzled over it. The garlic oil is easy enough to make by chopping and frying large amounts of garlic in copious amounts of oil, then straining. The oil is useful for just about every dish in Verdant and is used liberally. The chips are kept and dried out, then ground as a topping or crusting for meals.

Garlic Flatbread

Ingredients ½ cup warm water 1 teaspoon sugar 1 package dry active yeast (2 1/4th tsp) ¼ cup plain yogurt 2 cups bread flour ¼cup garlic oil 2 tbsp crushed garlic chips 1 teaspoon kosher salt fresh parsley

Instructions

Dissolve sugar in ½ cup of warm water and add yeast to mixture. Leave for 10 mins until the yeast begins to foam.

Mix flour and salt together. Slowly incorporate yogurt until you have a loose, flaky dough.

Add yeast mixture and knead thoroughly until smooth. Place in a bowl and drizzle generously with garlic oil. Cover with a plate for about an hour or until doubled in size.

Lightly dust flat surface and pour dough onto surface. Gently shape into rectangle and cut into 8 pieces. Form each piece into a ball. Arrange on plate and cover for another 15 – 20 mins.

Place skillet on stove top and add 4 tbsp olive oil to pan.

For larger flatbread, roll balls on floured surface until about 1/8 inch thick. For smaller, cut each ball in half and roll till about the length and width of your hand. Add flatbread to hot skillet and fry on both sides. One side will puff up, creating bubbles of air. Once you flip, DO NOT PRESS FLAT! Cook until golden brown around bubble rings and transfer to rack. Once finished, arrange flatbread on plate and give a drizzle with garlic oil. Add sprinkling of salt, garlic chips and parsley and serve.

Note:These are spectacular on their own but tbh I love them with some goat cheese and some of the broken up saffron cakes above. You can also do them sans garlic/salt/parsley and heat one up in the oven before smearing it with blackberry preserves. It's chewy and lightly crispy and just so satisfying to eat.

The pickled vegetables may very day to day depending upon availability. Children are typically sent out as soon as they have eaten to go forage for wild edibles which can be added in to make for a more hearty fare. Knowing how to source edible plants from their environment is a necessity, as it may save their lives during the Trials needed to become a Citizen.

Sweet Pickled Vegetables

Ingredients 1 Eggplant 1 Cucumber 1 Carrots 1 Red Cabbage 1 Leek 1 Squash 1/4th  tsp salt 1/4th tsp ground pepper 1/4th  cup Olive oil 1 Red oranges 2 tbsp Brown sugar Optional: Pine nuts Goat cheese

Instructions

Turn oven on to 400°.

Slice your eggplants,squash, and leeks into widths about the size of your pinkie finger. Toss in drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and place on baking tray. Place in oven for 20 mins or until cooked through. Chop cucumbers, red cabbage and grate carrots into large bowl. Mix to combine.

Take 1/4th cup olive oil and add 2 tbs brown sugar. Juice one red orange and add juice to mixture. Stir to combine until sugar is dissolved.

Once roasted veggies are thoroughly cooked, turn on broiler and roast till lightly browned. Keep a close eye on them. Broilers work quicker than you think.

Once browned, remove from oven and allow to come to room temp. Mix in with rest of vegetables and drizzle the orange dressing over top. Mix generously.

Top with pine nuts and crumbled goat cheese for an extra burst of flavor.

Note: You can really serve this at room temp like a warm salad but it's just as good second day as like a slaw. I love to add it onto rice and chicken for a lunch bowl.

One of the easiest sources for protein across Verdant is the ocean and all the bounty it provides. Even if one doesn't have a boat, they can search along the rocky beaches for mussels and dig into the sand for cockles. Just about everyone has a trap for crabs or eels and takes advantage of this as they taste wonderful when grilled. Spearfishing and diving for urchins are popular methods for obtaining harder to catch food sources. However under Guild law, anything which requires a boat in order to catch requires a Guild permit.

Mussels with Leeks & Tomatos

Ingrdiants 1 lb mussels 1/4th cup olive oil 1 Leek 6 Garlic cloves 1 cup Multicolored cherry tomatoes ½ Red onion 1 tbsp Ginger 1 Lemon 1/4th tsp salt 1/4th tsp pepper ½ tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions

*Check your mussels thoroughly before use!

-rinse thoroughly

-trash any cracked or opened mussels

-if you find a 'thread' on the mussel, remove it

Take a deep saute pan and add in olive oil.

Thoroughly clean leeks between the leaves. They're noted for being dirty.

Chop leeks, red onion, garlic cloves and tomatoes. Add to hot olive oil and cook till lightly browned.

Add in your mussels and cover with lid. Steam for 10 – 15 min until all the mussels have opened up. Stir gently to combine.

Juice 1 lemon and grate 1 tsbp lemon. Stir together with cayenne, salt and pepper until combined.

Scoop mussels from pan into large bowl. Pour lemon juice onto mussels while stirring. Serve.

Note: Mussels are one of my favorite things to eat! There really is no end to the different things you can combine to them but sometimes the simplest is the best!

[fattywrites]

Random Cooking Pro Tips

-any time you’re cooking with onion, wash the skins/roots first, cut them off, and save them in a freezer bag. you can make a stock with these. specifically if you’re cooking for vegetarians/vegans, onion skin stock will make a solid imitation beef stock

-you can actually save ALL of your veggie scraps (as long as they arent nasty looking) for stock. i will be making a much more comprehensive post about this later

-if you’re cooking with freshly grated parm or pecorino or other aged cheeses, save the rind to put in any long-cooking sauce / soup (my favorite is in beans). It adds a lot of extra flavor. Apart from not using waxed rinds you can do this w any cheese rind, just leave it whole & fish it out at the end.

-if you’re making a vegetable soup from scratch, use your scraps from prep in the broth. my personal favorite is to make leek and cabbage soup with a broth made from the leek tops, cabbage core, and chicken. Simmer 1 hour, compost the vegetable bits, shred the chicken, move on with the recipe.

-finish pasta sauces with a pat of butter. they get super silky & shiny and the taste is so much better.

-this isn’t necessarily cooking, but you can make natural dye out of onion skins, haas avocado pits, and carrot tops (separately, don’t mix these). The best things to dye with these are wool fabrics, but you can get a lovely pale pink on linen with onion skin. i may make a post later on with how to do these dye processes, if anyone’s interested.

-you can make your own butter by pouring heavy cream into a food processor and letting it go for literally like 1.5 minutes. if you have kids with excess energy you can put the cream into a jar and let them do it for you.

-when you’re cooking with garlic, add it to a cold pan with whatever fat you’re using and let it sit there infusing the oil while you do the rest of the prep. then when it heats it’s less likely to burn.

-if you’re cooking beans from dry and you want them to taste fire, add them to a pot w your stock, bay, and if you’re using bones, bones. let them cook at least halfway, then use a skillet to prep any other ingredients and add them in. the flavors won’t get as lost and muddled

-if you’re cooking beans from dry and you soaked them first, you can use the soaking liquid to water outdoor plants. they will love it. it’s not recommended to do this with indoor plants because it can cause mold growth, head’s up, but outdoor plants have a stronger biome and they LOVE bean water.

-any time you have bone-in steak, store the bones in the freezer instead of throwing them away. use them any time you’re making a slow simmering soup instead of adding beef broth. much better flavor

-if you need skinless chicken for a recipe but you have skin on, peel the skins off. instead of throwing them away, though, put the skins in a skillet/sauce pot and let them render their fat out. this is called schmaltz and you can use it just like butter/bacon grease

-related to that, if you’re making bacon, don’t throw the grease away. use it to cook other things. stove-top bacon popcorn? bacon-fried eggs? so many options

-don’t use table salt (unless youre baking lol). use chicken bouillon, creole seasoning, or adobo instead.

-salsa is great on chips but it’s also a great way to season meatloaf, pots of beans, soups, etc. if you don’t mind going into the international aisle, you can pick up sofrito (i buy the green one when i cant get my brother to make me epis, which functions the same but has a different flavor profile && can’t be found in stores like. anywhere) and use it as a seasoning sauce as well.

-you can make a really easy curry dipping sauce by heating butter in a pan, adding some curry powder and salt and flour, then adding milk until its the consistency you want

[nancypullen]

Heatin’ Up the Kitchen

You guys.  Am I the only one ready to throw in my apron and quit this job?  I love to cook, I especially love to try new recipes and twists on old favorites.  But something about not picking my own groceries, the fact that each day is just a repeat of the day before, and that it’s a thousand degrees here in Tennessee - well, I just don’t want to be in the kitchen.  I used to cook 21 meals a week.  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week.  A couple of months ago I started skipping breakfast (most days) so every Sunday I make a week’s worth of these cups for Mickey.

There’s a little bit of diced (cooked) potato, green onion, bacon pieces, and cheddar cheese in them.  He cracks an egg into it, stirs it up, and zaps it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. He stirs it again, cooks it another 30 seconds or so and he’s got a yummy breakfast.  He usually has a piece of fruit with it and declares himself full.  They’re so versatile. I’ve made them with lots of veggies, different meats or no meat at all, but this is the combo the mister prefers. It’s easy for me and he’s happy.  For lunch he prefers soup and sandwich or leftovers.  Per his request, every week I make a pot of taco soup (seriously, who eats soup in the summer?).  So breakfast and lunch are pretty quick - I slap together a sandwich for him while the soup reheats, throw everything on a plate, and he’s satisfied.  Dinner is a different matter all together.  I need to start doing meal prep for dinner so that we can just grab something and reheat it without having to turn on the oven or stand over a hot stove.  Actually, this was my dinner tonight.  It was perfect for a 96 degree day.

Vanilla yogurt, delicious plump raspberries, and a sprinkling of walnuts. It was plenty.  I sauteed some chicken for Mickey and tossed it over a big salad.   We’ve been eating a lot of roasted broccoli, though that requires turning on the oven. Ugh.  It’s so easy and yummy.  Just chop off some florets...

Why yes, those are brownies in the background - those were actually worth turning on the oven, trust me.

Anyway, toss your florets with a good drizzle of olive oil, and treat them to some salt and pepper. Then spread them on a baking sheet.

Pop them into a 400 degree oven and then mop your brow with a handy dish towel.  Roast them for about 25 minutes - more if you like them softer.  Toss your florets with some grated parmesan (Mickey’s favorite) or with a tablespoon of lemon zest (my favorite) and enjoy.  It really is that simple.  Great side for anything off the grill this summer.

If you’re willing to stand over a hot stove, at least keep the pots and pans to a minimum.  This meal requires just one pot and one skillet.  It’s a delicious pasta dish and if you’re a single or couple, provides plenty of leftovers which is always a win. I start by filling my pasta pot with well-salted water and bringing it to a boil. Then I heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add sliced onion and green pepper.  

The herbs and spices are key in this dish.  It’s full of big flavor.  You can use Italian seasoning (use plenty!) or this mix that I found online.  It’s easy to mix up a big batch and keep with your spices. 

I use a tablespoon of that mix in this recipe.  Half a tablespoon goes in with the onions and peppers, the other half goes in later.  Here’s a tip.  If you’re using Italian sausage, you really don’t need the extra fennel, but it doesn’t hurt. You could just use Italian seasoning and pepper it up.  If you’re using ground beef or ground turkey, you’ll want the fennel in there.  Either way you’ll want a little zip to it, so if you’re not using cayenne, black or white pepper to taste.  Can you tell that this is one that I made up as I went along?  But it’s good! Once the onion and peppers are tender, add your meat.  I had Italian sausage this time.  After I dumped it in I remembered that I only intended to use half because it was something like 19 ounces. Oops. We had a very meaty dish this time.

You’ll need a can of good crushed tomatoes.

Add the tomatoes to your meat and veggie mixture and stir in the remaining half tablespoon of Tuscan Spice (or whatever you decided to use).

Your water is surely boiling by now, turn the heat down on your sauce and drop your pasta into the water.  I can’t stress enough how much better this is with fresh pasta.  It makes a world of difference.  It’s still quite yummy with any dry pasta you have handy, but fresh pasta elevates it. If you’re using fresh, it’s only going to take about two minutes to cook,  If you’re using dry pasta, probably 9-11 minutes depending on the pasta you choose. Once your pasta is cooked and drained, put it back into the pot and pour the sauce over it. Toss that all together before serving.   In the past, depending on the amount of liquid in the crushed tomatoes, I’ve added a splash of good chicken broth.  If you want to make the sauce extra delicious, take it off the heat and stir a tablespoon of butter into it before tossing with the pasta.  That’s REALLY good. Would you believe that I forgot to snap a picture after putting our dinner into pretty white bowls and giving everything a sprinkling of parsley and grated parmesan? Dang it.  You’ll have to look at this photo of the leftovers being plopped into a container for the next day’s lunch.

Since this is sort of a made-up recipe anyway, tweak it to your tastes.  It’s not fancy, it’s not difficult, and you probably have everything in your pantry. Ingredients you’ll need -  1 green pepper

1 yellow onion

1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes

pasta

ground meat - Italian sausage, ground beef, ground turkey, your call! The spice blend is up to you, whether or not you finish the sauce with butter is up to you, whether you use fresh or dry pasta,etc.   Any way you go, it’s a quick dinner with big flavor.  It heats up the kitchen, for sure, but you’re not in there long.   Could this post be more confusing?  I said I’m tired of cooking and then shared more recipes.  One of the recipes is all over the place and I hardly even gave measurements.  Pffft, you guys get it, right? I think I may stick to yogurt for dinner from now on.  At least until October or November.  

Stay cool, stay well, and remember that ice cream is a dairy and dairy builds strong bones. Fight osteoporosis with a sundae!  Also, I’m a terrible life coach. Don’t listen to me. XOXO - Nancy

[this-lioness]

Rubbish Blog Update

After an intensely busy week we made the most of the weekend, which is to say I got as much shit done as possible.

Saturday I had an eye appointment, then we did the weekly shopping and I came home to cook.  Ended up making some freezer meals (broth-steamed quinoa with peppers and onions boxed up with veggie dumplings and veggies, “chicken” patties with veggies and seasoned rice, baked cauliflower mac and cheese, 1 doz hard boiled eggs for lunches, another dozen made up into egg salad.  

I also used some of the leftover broccoli to make some veggie-and-egg white patties to go along with the veg sausage for breakfast.  While we were out today I picked up a bunch of fresh fruit, so now we’ve got a fruit salad we can dip into for lunch as well.

Even though we’ve been inconsistent with the gym, this has been a lifesaver for me, honestly.  I get to cook (which I’ve missed), and on the nights that we go straight to the gym we have a nice dinner ready to be served in a few minutes rather than resorting to frozen processed stuff or me having to grudgingly throw something together when I’m already tired and just wanting to relax.

I set up a “Google Routine” for us that also turns on some nice mood music and lights when we eat dinner, which has been something nice to unravel us from the day.  I made another for the bedroom when I’m doing my nightly routine.  Sade heavy, of course, because I’m nothing if not predictable.

Speaking of which, I picked up another set of remote-controlled LED button lights today, and installed them in the master bath.  So now I can shower to smooth jazz AND have mood lights, stop being jealous.

(It is probably the tackiest thing in the whole entire world to somebody who is not me, but I don’t care, I love it.)

On Saturday night we finally sorted through the pile of convention crap that’s been clogging up the dining room and took a proper inventory of all the art and jewelry I’ve got left.  I took pictures of our sales sheets as well, and tomorrow (haha, maybe, ugh) I’m going to take a critical look at what’s sold well historically and what makes the most sense to reproduce.

The little hand-painted pendants, for instance, which I dearly love?  Just don’t sell that well.  I only have one or two left, so that’s good, but they took forever to sell, and they are really labor intensive to make.  Meanwhile, the acrylic dragonfly earrings were inexpensive to make, fairly quick to produce, and people snatched them up.

It’s been an interesting experience, to be sure.

We have a pile of stuff to take to Salvation Army, but it rained all Saturday so that was no good.  Maybe some time this week.

Oh, and last Wednesday the handyman came by to install the new door!  MY NEW FREE FRONT DOOR!  (I’m very proud of this, and I recognize that it is childish, but I don’t care.  The dude at Home Depot was ringing up gift card after gift card and just marveling out loud how ridiculous it was.  Proud moment for me.)

I started using a new app that lets you take pictures of your store receipts, also allowing you to exchange the points you earn for more gift cards, so we’ll see how I do with that.  Let me know if anyone wants to give it a shot, I’ll send you a referral!

Finally had an orthopedist appointment last Wednesday as well.  X-rays looked normal, so there’s some sort of soft tissue damage or scar tissue or something?  He couldn’t tell without an MRI, and insurance won’t pay for an MRI (softly singing God Bless America under my breath here), so instead he’s sending me to physical therapy for an “abnormal gait.”  Lovely.  That starts this coming Wednesday, we’ll see how that all goes.

We also went to the gym today and worked up a workout routine in the weights section.  I’m off high-impact cardio for the time being, which means no running, and frankly I really think what I need is to regain, and gain, muscle mass.  Cardio has never really done anything for me at all, although running can be very relaxing, and I can already feel age-related muscle loss setting in.  Can’t have that, so off we go for (ideally) 3 nights a week of weights.

It’s frustrating being so short.  Half the machines that I need to use I can’t because I just don’t fit on them -- my head hits the wrong place, the swively bits press against something they shouldn’t -- and in trying to make them work I end up straining something I shouldn’t.  Marc helped me figure out which ones I could fit on, proper weight and seat settings, so I should be good now.  I wrote everything down, and will work it up into a little chart for myself tomorrow.

I may laminate it, I haven’t decided yet.

In cat news, we are going to have to do something about Rosie.  Laugh as we might about her growling at her food bowl, the amount of absolute hysterics she flies into at feeding time, or the lengths she goes to in order to scavenge even the tiniest crumb of food is getting upsetting.

We can’t offer her anything by hand anymore.  If you try to give her a treat she will bite through your fingers without even thinking.  If you offer her baby food on a spoon as a treat she can no longer contain herself to licking -- she will bite and bite and bite the spoon, and can’t seem to stop herself.  I bought her a slow feeder dish and she spent the entire time biting the plastic bits meant to make her go more slowly, just growling and getting more and more upset, until we scraped everything back into her old bowl.  When she does eat, it’s like she hasn’t eaten in weeks, and she’s convinced someone is going to steal it.

She is a completely different cat when there’s food in front of her.

She is still (and probably always will be) a very tiny cat -- probably only 5.5 - 6 lbs -- but she is at a healthy weight for her size.  I suspect whatever malnutrition she suffered as a kitten permanently stunted her growth.

This sort of behavior can have a physical cause (hyperthyroidism, parasites, etc.), but the copious bloodwork they did on her just a few months ago came back clear, she went through several rounds of powerful dewormers when we first found her, and she is otherwise in good physical shape and health.  She’s also, when there’s no food around, still sweet and cuddly and as loving as she always was.  There isn’t a mean bone in her body.

We saw this once before, in a cat that we fostered when we first moved into this house -- Cooper.  We had to give Cooper back, in part because our other cats couldn’t get along with him, and in part because he was an absolute living nightmare to deal with.  He figured out how to scale the barrier into the kitchen, and would dump the trash can and rip through everything he found inside. He would walk the kitchen counters over and over and over again in case he missed something the last time.  Every single day, multiple times a day.  He’d tear open ANY bag, whether or not it contained food, just in case it might.

Cooper was also found as a starving kitten, although he wasn’t one of ours.  Other accounts I’ve read of these behaviors all have that in common as well: kittens (like Rosie) who were found emaciated, plagued with parasites.  Even long after they find a safe home with ample food and regular mealtimes, that insecurity never goes away. What has helped others, supposedly, is making the cat a safe and secure place to eat every meal, and not exposing it to food at any other time or place than at meal time.

She’s already not allowed in the kitchen, we now have Rosie-proof trash bins, and although we’re already feeding all the cats separately I’ve taken down one of the carriers to lock her in at breakfast and dinner (this isn’t as bad as it sounds -- she wolfs her food down in a minute flat, so she won’t be in there long, and I’m hoping that only giving her meals and treats in that spot will help her feel less exposed and defensive. I moved her bowl into the carrier and she went right in to investigate, so we’ll see what happens at breakfast tomorrow.  Even a slight improvement would be good.  On one hand we laugh at this ridiculous, tiny cat growling so unnecessarily and aggressively at dinner time, but after a moment it’s sort of upsetting because clearly she is super stressed out. I guess that about catches me up.  I’m going to take a nice long shower and listen to smooth jazz amid color-changing lights (SHHH IT’S FANCY) and then maybe do something creative for a bit. I love you all and I hope you’re well <3