the greatest skill a woman can learn for herself is self reliance
to clarify … so many strong women in my life rely on men. that dependence is dangerous. ladies here are some good ref resources I’ve found helpful on my journey towards self reliance
I was at our local bakery recently and came across a loaf of bread quaintly branded as a “Peasant Loaf”. It was selling for over $6—the irony of this was not lost on me.
In retaliation I have decided to post what I actually think of as a peasant loaf, but with the luxury of finely ground modern flour which is less likely to break your teeth because actual peasant loaf bread is like chewing rocks unless you’re soaking it in soup or stew.
This is a very simple loaf, it requires no special tools and is a fairly forgiving dough for beginners to work with. Also it has the added bonus of looking like an expensive artisan loaf, but costs literal pennies to make once you invest in the basic ingredients.
So what do you need?
Ingredients:
Plain flour (or wholewheat if you prefer)
One sachet of active dry yeast.
Salt.
Water.
Tools:
Bowl
Mug
Prep and bake time total: 2 hours 45 minutes.
Yep, that’s it. You’ll notice that there’s no quantities listed up there, and that’s because you’ll be using the mug to measure everything. This helps to make sure your quantities are consistent, and means that so long as you have a mug and your ingredients, you can make bread. Heck you don’t even need a bowl, it just makes clean up easier.
Again I had Elusive Tumblr Dad help me take the photos so be warned this is going to be fairly image heavy under the cut 😀
Awesome bread recipe + R2-D2 KITCHEN TIMER, makes the bread even more yummy, solemn truth.
At the bakery at school, they call it country loaf if someone screws up a mix enough we can’t call it by its intended recipe
Just a thought
So, I’m a broke ass college kid who has never baked anything more complicated that sugar cookies. However, I have had this in my drafts forever, am snowed in, and ran out of bread. So, I tried it. (Just glad the roomie had a packet of yeast!) And it didn’t turn out too shabby of I do say so. Thanks @thebibliosphere !
Someone should do a post on dressing in a way that looks ‘expensive’ but not breaking the bank
Wear black with gold/cream/silver detailing. Buy items that fit you well at the WIDEST POINT OF YOUR BODY and get them tailored to fit the rest. Stick to simple, clean lines and use accessories (detailing on a black/white purse for understated, a colorful purse for a bigger statement, , brightly coloured shoes if you go for fun shoes at all, funky jewellery) to add individuality and personality. Stick to neutral makeup in nude tones (+ false eyelashes), except for red/pink/maroon lipstick. Paint nails red for universal appeal, white or cream/beige for a bright neutral, black/grey/maroon for darker neutral. Keep them long enough that you can audibly tap them on objects, but not long enough that they interfere with mobility. Don’t touch your own cuticles unless you’re a wizard.
Don’t try go for red lips, red nails and red heels IMHO. Even if you rock Loubs, it just looks so extra- in a bad way. Never coordinate your purse, nails and your shoes around anyone in fashion- it looks good to regular folk but it comes across as slightly tacky, slightly lazy, and very unimaginative to anyone in fashion.
I’m still trying to figure out hair but…That basically covers it, I think.
You should know your skin’s undertone & what jewellery works for you. For example, I have a very golden undertone & silver looks really horrible on me.
Where to shop:
Zara: I find Zara has a knack for tailoring their clothes to fit your size very well. They’re very clean, & often minimalist in nature. Shoes are affordable & amazing, especially if you have wide feet. If you still can’t afford things here full price wait for their end of season sales.
ASOS: they are a one stop shop & you can easily compare prices between brands. The ASOS brand itself is pretty great. If you’re a student, make sure you sign up so you can have a 24/7/365 10% discount on purchases. Their sales are phenomenal & they have a great customer service & shipping policy.
H&M: I used to hate them but they’re upping their game. They’re very good for basics such as camis and long sleeve shirts.
Lord & Taylor: They have a good selection of quality fashion jewellery that looks very decent. I swear by their earrings.
Thrift stores: This is obvi hit or miss & takes a bit more time & a bit more knowledge about the kind of fabric youre looking for etc but one of my most complimented shift dresses was bought at Goodwill for $4 & I also have a lovely silk blouse I got for $3.
Saks Off Fifth: This is Saks Fifth Avenue’s version of Nordstrom Rack. If you’re looking to invest in quality designer pieces but want them at a bargain, this is a reliable source.
Poshmark: This is a site where people buy things from each other’s closets. I sell & buy from there. There was a beautiful asymmetric skirt that got sold out at H&M last year that I ended up finding here in my size. Basically thrifting online & everything is cheap.
The RealReal: Online consignment store for designer goods. If you want to splurge on a designer bag or shoes without paying full price, this is a great place to get pre-loved items.
How to take care of your closet:
It doesn’t mean anything to buy quality pieces if you don’t take care of them. Looking after the things you own will keep your closet looking expensive.
Find a cobbler: I swear by my cobbler. A good cobbler will take your raggedy ass worn out shoes & make them presentable again. I have a habit of wearing my shoes down to the ground but my cobbler fixes them right back up for cheap. Your cobbler will also more likely than not know how to take care of leather goods such as bags.
Find a tailor: This is more expensive than a cobbler but 100% worth it. My tailor has taken some pieces of mine & turned them into gold.
If it says dry clean, dry clean. Don’t ruin your clothes by cheaping out. You’ll thank yourself later.
Get a Nordstrom Debit card. It shops directly from your bank account like your regular debit card but comes with $100 worth of free tailoring each year, even at Rack.
So I was taught a lesson in how to get rid of a migraine in 30 seconds and omfg listen my migraines don’t go away ever but I was shown what part of my body to touch and like???????????????
It’s witchcraft????????? Like I would be burned at the stake if I lived in ye olde days knowing that information?????
What the fuck??????
Spill it! Lol….Hooooowwwww?? Had migraines since age 9….😓😓😓
Its called the T4 push, but I literally can’t find the info online????? I guess I’m not searching good enough? These medical fuckers are holdin out on us lol.
It’s best to have someone do this for you while you stand up and relax your muscles as best you can, but if you’re alone, a tennis ball and a flat surface will probably work. Alternatively you can lie on the edge of a bed at the pressure point. (But no really do try to find someone to do it for you)
Find the area in your spine between either the first, second, third, or fourth vertebrae. It should be sore and uncomfortable to press down on, so look for the one that’s most painful, and press down with as much pressure as you can on that area for 30 seconds.
Realize that 80% of your pain has magically disappeared and keep the info secret if you live in a small puritan town, lest you be tried for witchcraft.
If you don’t have to worry about being burned or hanged, then share the info with your migraine suffering friends.
As someone who wrote a 10k word paper on pressure points for a high belt ranking test in her martial arts class, I can tell you that you just found a pressure point used in acupressure and acupuncture to relieve pain, particularly that in the head. 🙂
Hand to god we discovered this by accident when my husband was rubbing my neck and I nearly collapsed it felt so good
This post was sent by literal angels??? I’ve had a persistent low-level headache for nearly 24hrs and now it’s gone??? In 30 seconds? What gods did you sacrifice to for this information!?!?
As a medical massage therapist, I thought I would give my two cents.
This is good for tension migranes and normal migraines, but actually pretty useless for sinus migraines. It’ll help for a hot second, but quickly come back. (These are usually the migraines behind your eyes, in your ears, and behind your forehead. Sometimes it can feel like jaw pain or TMJ) for sinus migraines, behind the ear in a divot. Press down firmly and pull towards your collarbone. That’ll drain your sinuses. Also, pressing around the eye socket on the cheekbones help. There is also a little triangle up away from the eye in the eyebrow bone. Press and hold pretty hard and that’ll relieve that behind the forehead pain. Also, ear pulling is great to help move sinuses around.
Don’t forget the temples too! Press firmly and hold. Open and close your jaw while holding your temples. It’ll feel weird, but it’ll help with jaw pain. It’ll work a similar way if you hold the jaw joint under your cheekbone.
And never underestimate the power of a foot massage!! Give minutes can be all the difference!! Our feet are our base. If they hurt even a little, somewhere else in your body will hurt. Treat your feet and sinuses kindly!
As a lifelong sufferer from frequent migraines I will reblog this everytime I see it, for myself and my fellow sufferers!!
For TMJ-type pain, put the tip of your tongue against the back of your top front teeth. It won’t go away completely, but it helps.
So if I’m understanding this, it should be the C4 push because it’s the vetebrae in the neck, and from my own medical history, that’s where I have a lot of muscle tension, and I right now my treatment is focused on relieving the muscle tension only in my lower back and shoulders, not my neck directly. I’m basically still using pain killers to mask the pain, and that has kind of stopped working again.
Huh, this sounds like something I need to bring up with one of my numerous doctors/medical professionals. I even have a tennis ball from physical therapy so I guess I could try it on my own? Sounds good to me!!
Reblogging this from my main. If you suffer from chronic migraines or headaches, check out the notes on this. This makes a lot of sense, and I will be trying this out for myself probably later today.
I have $24 to last me til Friday, what should I buy with it?
a pallet of ramen noodles
I hate ramen noodles tho
hmmmmm
bees?
Are you suggesting that I eat bees for a week
This is roughly what I make sure I have in my kitchen all the time along with rough estimates of local prices (MN). I buy a lot of things when they’re on sale and stockpile them.
instant oatmeal packets with fruit in them – $3 probably and this can be breakfast all week and maybe even a lunch or dinner too since you usually get 10 packets
bag of rice – $2-3 depending on size. 1 cup dry rice makes enough for about two meals depending on what you add in. if you get cheap rice, rinse it before cooking
canned beans – usually under $1 per can – mix the can with your rice and you have a meal. chili-spiced beans will make bean tacos. Rinse non-spiced beans before adding to anything.
Tortilla – usually around $3 but you get like 8-10 of them. Tacos, wraps, and quesadillas are all fair game here
lettuce – $2 max around here, either a head of something or bagged precut depending on preference, use as a salad or on tacos
protein other than beans of some sort – probably $5-7 for meat, $2-3 for eggs. sometimes I can get bags of frozen chicken breasts in this price range and each is usually 2 meals if I add in a bunch of veggies. fry/scramble eggs and add to any of the options.
your favorite stir fry sauce – $3ish
vegetables – $5ish. literally anything that you can 1. fry in a pan and 2. you’ll eat. fresh carrots are usually pretty cheap. get frozen if it’s cheaper and you’re strapped for cash/prep time on this part.
alternative to stir fry: pasta (~$2), fresh tomatoes (~$2), cheese (~$3).
cheese and fruit if you have extra – look if your store has loyalty cards for free that you can load coupons on for cheese there’s always one it seems like.
ahh thank you!!!
Reblogging because there’s never knowing who’ll need it.
Adding also: the single most nutritious food on earth is potatoes in their peel. Potatoes + some milk and butter = everything you need. They don’t last all that long, but they’re fairly cheap and the quickest cheat to “How do I not fuck my body up.”
(Cooked potatoes’ll last a while in the fridge. Potatoes nearing the end of their useful lives? Cook them to half-done first, figure out what to do with them later.)
Easiest baked potatoes: slice thinly but not paper-like, spread like cards, brush with oil (a silicone baking brush is totes worth the little it costs), spread salt and pepper (a little less than you think you’d like), cover with foil, stick in oven or toaster-oven at 150C for 40min. (If you have the patience, at that point click up to 180C, remove the cover and add 10-20min.) Reheats well, lasts in the fridge longer than it’ll take you to nom.
Dead-Animal-Free Whole Protein: some legumes + some grain. AKA rice and lentils, or rice and beans. (Maybe some fried onion for flavor; onion’s cheap and stays good a descent while. Fried onion makes everything taste better and keeps forever in the freezer, so frying up a bunch and keeping portions is not a half-bad idea.) (If going for the beans option – lentils are cheaper around here but fuck if I know what it’s like in your area – dump some tomato sauce and oil in; canola or soy are best health-wise, and far cheaper than olive; avoid corn.) Oh, what does instant couscous go for in your area? It keeps for fucking ever, it’s usually cheap, and it takes well to any and all added taste.
If you get to choose, black lentils taste the best and need the least soak-time (0-20min), green lentils are best for cooked stuff and red lentils are best in soups. (Red lentils + potatoes + root vegetables of choice + spices; cut into small pieces, cook, run through the blender if you wanna [stick blender’s awesome], freeze in portions.)
When possible, get instant soup mix. Get the good instant soup mix. (The kind that’s not made primarily of sugar, yeast or both. The rest is optional.) Dump 1/2tsp (or more, but start on the low end) into couscous, or chicken, or sprinkle over potatoes being stuck in the oven. Whatever. It’ll make most cooked-food-type things taste better. And again, lasts forever on the shelf.
If you can have eggs (goodness knows they’re sometimes expensive), dump some tomato sauce in a pan (tomato sauce lasts forever on the shelf), add some oil, onion/beans to cook in it, hot peppers if you wanna, then when it’s nearly ready crack an egg or two in. Hard-boiled eggs last a remarkably while in the fridge, so when eggs reach near the end of their usable lives, just hard-boil and stick in the fridge.
(Have eggs as often as you can, particularly as you have brain-shit going on. You need all the eggs, salt, and 60%-or-more chocolate you can get. Brains are made of cholesterol and salt, so folks with neuro or other brain shit need more of both. Potassium is also aces. You know what has the most potassium? Tomato paste.)
Grated cheese keeps in the freezer for ever. Grated cheese will make a lot of things taste nicer. Preserved lemon juice keeps forever in the fridge. Grated cheese + oil + lemon = instant and awesome pasta sauce that’ll liven up the weeks-old dry pasta in the fridge.
Slices bread also keeps well in the freezer. Try to have half a loaf or a loaf. Dry bread gets cut in cubes, mixed with oil and the aforementioned instant soup, stuck in oven at lowest until properly dry, then kept in an airtight jar to add to soups.
(Over-ripe tomatoes come cheaper. They get turned into soup or sauce, then frozen in portions.)
this is a very good post but why are we glossing over the fact that the alternative to ramen is bees
i have it on pretty good authority that bees are not an affordable eating alternative to ramen.
Seriously, bees are expensive
Trufax.
And speaking as someone who is also living off oatmeal, beans, and brown rice, if you need recipes, I have them!
Today I made 16 bean soup with chicken sausage and it was crazy good and I got 8 servings out of the one batch (froze half). I usually get the cheapest beans I can find, and GOYA bags of beans are usually $1-2. I soaked them overnight,rinsed them, and threw them in a gallon lidded saucepan with 2 boxes of chicken stock (also on sale for $2), two bay leaves, sauteed green pepper, onion, and celery, some garlic from a jar, about two tablespoons of dried herbs de provence,and the “fancy” bit was adding $6 bourbon and apple chicken sausages. You can actually sub veg stock for chicken and skip the sausage and make it vegan and it would still taste great.
Oh and I’ve been doing steel-cut oats. I don’t buy the name brand ones, I just pick whatever store brand/generic I can get for less than $4. They take about ½ an hour to make, but they’re super tasty and I make 2 cups
of dried oats at a time
with dried cranberries and that’s breakfast for 4 days at least.
I’ve also been making black bean soup, red beans and rice, and curried potatoes and chick peas. I got 100 quart and pint take-away containers from Amazon for $20 and they all stack neatly and are perf for one serving of whatever.
Additionally, depending on where you live, whole rotisserie chickens are something like $4-$7 and are easily 4 – 6 servings of protein and on TOP of that, if you stick the carcass in a ziplock bag and then the freezer you have excellent soup makings. Using bones in soup literally squeezes all viable vitamins and minerals out of the suckers. Soup made from lots of bones is great to keep around if you get sick, it’ll feed and sooth you relatively easily and as you get better you can add noodles. ON TOP OF THAT, a quarter to a half cup of soup broth added to a lot of dishes also adds those nutrients PLUS flavor.
So if you lived in a society where you had to secure your communication in order to be yourself around others, here are the apps that could help you do that.
Signal let’s you securely text and make phone calls.
Onion Browser allows you to surf the web without leaving a trail.
Duck Duck Go isn’t super secure but it won’t record your searches like Google.
ProtonMail is a email client that lets you email other secure email accounts.
Periscope allows you to stream live video.
Semaphor is there so you can securely make group chat rooms.
American privacy laws allow you to use these all. So that’s pretty cool.
Because we’re currently living in the prologue of a cyberpunk dystopian novel, imma reblog this.
If you’ve had unprotected sex and are afraid of possibly being at risk for HIV, please go to the emergency room and ask about POST EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS.
Works for up to 48 – 72 hours after exposure to HIV.
BOOST!
I wouldn’t need this but this is actually really cool and I’d like to share it in case anyone might need it.
If you see this on your dash REBLOG REBLOG REBLOG!!!! You could save a life
SAVE A LIFE 🔃🔃🔃🔃🔃🔃🔃🔃
There’s a FDA approved daily medication called Truvada, or the PrEP treatment, that is 92-99% effective in preventing the contraction of HIV.
Private insurance and Medicaid cover it. You can also get it for free in a lot of high risk cities like Atlanta, NY, and San Fransisco.
It’s the same cocktail they give to medical professionals who have had contaminated needle sticks/blood splashes from potentially infected blood. Very effective.
BOOST !!!!!
Please boost. You may think you’ll never need it, but you never know what might happen in your life
andtheytoldustotellyouhello 