Posting challenge

[magnetic_pole]

First off, is anyone about for a quick SPAG beta tomorrow, Sunday, September 22? It's a gen fic, a couple of thousand words.

Second, posting's begun today over at hp_silencio! Already there's a visual novel up, Greenhouse, and I'm excited to see what it looks like and what folks chose to do for this fest.

Oh! And Korra's begun again. Watched the first episode last night, though I was too tired to appreciate it fully. May need to watch again.

Finally, on a related note: the better half and I started an elimination diet-type eating plan earlier this week, and I've been cooking like mad. Three meals a day requiring some kind of preparation, plus grocery store trips, and I'm exhausted. Part of the point of the diet is to move away from restaurant and processed food, and I can see why that's important, but gah! Restaurant and processed foods are easy and fast, and cooking everything from scratch is a lot of work. *cue sad music* I know, it's ridiculous I'm on the verge of middle age and still not cooking. Remember how I was talking about not being adult enough to face up to killing my own bugs, and one of you wisely said adult life was figuring out which problems you needed to face up to and which you could foist off on others? I'm working on facing up to this one. Up briefly from one nap, and about to take another....

Comments

[musesfool]

I find a combination of pre-made food (I like to buy pre-breaded chicken cutlets for example - then I only have to cook them) and cooking at home works to avoid being exhausted.

Also, if you don't have one already, I recommend a crockpot/slow cooker, because it doesn't require a lot of work, and you can make meals in big batches for the week. You can also mix up stuff and put it in the freezer and then dump it all in the pot before leaving for work, and it will be ready when you come home.

[magnetic_pole]

I'd just discovered our slow cooker! They're great. Right now we're doing mostly fruits and veggies, but I can't wait until I can go back to foods that do well there.

You're such an amazing cook, V. It heartens me to hear you don't look down on pre-made things. I think that over time I'll figure out how to fix things ahead of time and plan more wisely, too. M.

[liseuse]

I am also on the bandwagon of "some pre-made things are basically the best thing because they provide X ingredient I need, but am never going to bother making because, ugh, effort". I'm a big fan of "cook 6 meals all in one day and shove them in the fridge and freezer and then take them out the night before" when at busy times. Because, you know, sometimes after a long day there is no way I want to stand in front of the cooker. And at least that way I know I've made them, I know what's in them, and all I have to do is re-heat them. Admittedly this works way better in autumn and winter than summer. It also helps that I will happily eat the same thing three days running.

(It also possibly helps that, from what I can figure out, restaurant food in the US is way cheaper than in the UK. I'd go broke in about a month if I didn't make most stuff myself. Plus, getting the leftovers to take home is not really a thing here unless you're eating in a Chinese, and sometimes Indian, restaurant. Sadface.)

Good luck!

[magnetic_pole]

That's usually how I operate, too--since I've been cooking this year, it's been a lot of large, slow cooker meals spread out over a couple of days, with half reserved for freezing. I'm ready to go back to that.

You know, I think you're right about restaurant food, which was shockingly expensive to me during the times I lived in London. I think the most wonderful vacation we ever had was in Malaysia, which is filled with low-end, casual places and street food. I think if I lived there I might never eat at home. M.