cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/39989064
So, before I begin, some context: I'm unemployed and relatively poor and spend a lot of time trying to optimize my grocery bill and finances. I also have some obsessive tendencies, so I'm sorry if that gets in the way - feel free to ignore details you don't value.
That said, I prefer to be frugal more than "cheap", meaning I don't like to buy the cheapest option in all cases, only when it makes sense - and then I try to pay extra for what matters. For example, I buy the cheapest peanut butter and bananas I can find because the higher-cost options don't make enough of a quality difference to justify the price. But I buy whole oats because freshly rolled oatmeal is so much tastier.
I have struggled to find whole oats in a store locally, and I found some online for $0.93 / 100 g. (Would love to hear what better oat prices I should look for, and where I could find them. I might re-engage my search for whole oats in store.)
I like to make a batch of what I call "fiber oatmeal" at the start of the week. Ingredients:
- 1 cup (250 mL) of freshly rolled oats
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) flax seeds
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) chia seeds
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) hemp seeds
I weigh out around 115 grams of whole oats and use a hand-cranked oat flaker / roller. If you haven't had fresh oatmeal, it's very creamy and in my experience is much tastier than oats I buy at the store. It's a luxury for me. You can always substitute old-fashioned oats from the store, though - it just won't be as fresh and creamy, but it's totally fine.
I bring 2 cups (500 mL) of water, once it's boiling, I add a pinch of salt and the rolled oats, and I cook on medium-low until it goes from a liquid-y substance to more of a thick paste - I turn the heat off while it's still a little liquid-y because it thickens significantly as it cools (so don't overcook the moisture out of it!).
Then I grind the flax, chia, and hemp seeds together (I used to just use a mortar and pestle, but I have become lazy and started to use an electric coffee & spice grinder), and I mix those ground seeds into the oatmeal once it's at that slightly liquid / almost solid stage, and take it off the heat. The chia seeds will gel the oatmeal up even more, so remember it can handle more liquid than you think, as long as the oats are fully cooked.
why the flax and chia seeds?
The reason for the flax and chia seeds is mostly to add soluble fiber, which helps as a prebiotic, as a way to increase satiety and reduce hunger (to make the meal last longer), and to help with regular and healthy bowel movements (which is relevant for me because of a surgery that impacted my bowel movements). Note that insoluble fiber (like you get from a typical brand of high-fiber breakfast cereal like FiberOne) will increase bulk of bowel movements and make them harder to pass, whereas soluble fiber will soften bowel movements and make them easier to pass. Not all fiber is equal.
Then I put the cooked oatmeal into two glass pyrex containers, and once cooled, into the fridge.
Here are my estimated macronutrients for this "fiber oatmeal", per 100 g:
- 130 kcal
- 4.37 g fat
- 17.8 g carbs
- 5.59 g protein
- 4.21 g fiber
Then in the morning for breakfast, I take a quarter of the whole oatmeal (i.e. half of a container). I put the portion in a bowl and microwave it to warm it up.
Here are the ingredients:
- 115 g of cooked oatmeal (~$0.30)
- 16 - 25 g (a spoon-ful) of creamy peanutbutter (~$0.10)
- 100 - 130 g (1 x, peeled) banana (~$0.17)
- 50 - 80 g plant milk (my preferred: pea milk or soy milk) (~$0.25)
- 20 - 30 g high-protein granola (~$0.07)
For context, the "high protein granola" is the cheapest off-brand granola, and it is basically a normal granola with soy protein isolate added. You could easily make this yourself at home; I haven't run the numbers on how much money you would save by doing that, but I fully intend to start making my own granola again, once my life settles down and I have time to spend that way.
Usually the cost for this breakfast is around $1 for a single bowl. I like to sprinkle the top with some cinnamon to cut the blandness, and I've been using the same batch of "true" ceylon cinnamon that I bought over a decade ago, so I haven't included that in my cost estimate.
I don't always add a banana - I only add it when there are bananas that need to be used up (my partner eats bananas, I would never buy them myself for ethical reasons; but when there are bananas to use-up, this is how I avoid waste and use them up).
I eat this oatmeal basically every morning during the week, and then during the weekend I change it up for variety and happiness reasons. I haven't gotten sick of this despite eating it for months now.
Here are the macronutrients for a typical bowl of this oatmeal:
- ~500 kcal
- 20 g fat
- 68 g carbs
- 18 g protein
- 10 g fiber
I would like to see more like 20 g protein, but otherwise I think the nutrients are around perfect for being only $1 and for being one of my three meals per day.
For a future post: sometime I'll share my default lunch (when I'm not eating leftovers), as it is also typically around $1 and also aims to be around 500 kcal and aims for 20 g protein. It focuses mostly on eating beans as the main carb and protein, and uses tahini as a way to add fats and protein.
I prefer to keep my daily food vegan for ethical, health, and financial reasons.
Otherwise, I'm open to suggestions and would love to hear about your frugal food habits!
this feels like a potentially sincere attempt to recruit people into an anti-science conspiracy movement - this doesn't really feel different than the kind of reasoning you see with moon landing denialists or flat earthers.
yes, she's involved in the production and will definitely profit from it
wow, that's really out there for being bee movie erotica
they're no longer following the Constitution, in case anyone has noticed ...
Read the actual Watchlist entry instead of Time magazine: https://monitor.civicus.org/watchlist-march-2025/
The United States of America (USA) has been added to our Watchlist as the country faces increasing undue restrictions on civic freedoms under President Donald Trump’s second term. Gross abuses of executive power raise serious concerns over the freedoms of peaceful assembly, expression and association.
Following his inauguration on 20 January 2025, Donald Trump has issued at least 125 executive orders, dismantling federal policies with profound implications for human rights and the rule of law. Some of these orders have eliminated federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, falsely framing them as discriminatory, and have introduced measures targeting undocumented migrants and transgender and non-conforming people.
Since mid-January, many civil society organisations, both in the US and abroad, have been forced to terminate or scale back essential human rights and humanitarian programmes due to growing uncertainty caused by the arbitrary suspension of foreign aid and a broad freeze on federal funding. The lack of clear guidelines has sparked legal challenges at the national level.
The administration has taken steps to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a decades-old institution, and laid off thousands of its employees. It has also withdrawn from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Human Rights Council, exited the Paris Climate Agreement, rejected the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, and announced sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), targeting its personnel as well as individuals and entities that cooperate with it. These actions could further undermine global efforts for climate justice, human rights, and civic freedoms.
These measures come amid a broader potential curb on the freedom of association. On 21 November 2024, the US House of Representatives passed a bill allowing the Treasury Department to revoke the tax-exempt status of non-profits it deems to be supporting terrorism, without due process guarantees. This would grant the executive branch sweeping authority to financially cripple civil society organisations based on broad and vague criteria.
The sustained onslaught on peaceful pro-Palestine solidarity at university campuses has seen students and faculty members increasingly subjected to harsh sanctions without justification. On 30 January 2025, President Donald Trump, signed an executive order purportedly aimed at combating antisemitism, which calls for the cancellation of visas and the deportation of non-citizen college students and others who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests. On the same day, reports alleged that a far-right group was compiling a list of pro-Palestine protesters for potential deportation.
Authorities have also targeted climate justice activists protesting the Mountain Valley Pipeline project in Virginia and financial institutions supporting fossil fuel expansion. Another concern is the growing role of private corporations in suppressing environmental activism. Two key developments exemplify this: the USD 300 million lawsuit against Greenpeace by the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline; and research exposing the fossil fuel industry’s role in driving the proliferation of anti-protest laws.
The first months of 2025 have seen an alarming legislative push in multiple states, further threatening restrictions on the freedom of peaceful assembly. At least 12 state-level bills introduced between January and February 2025 would impose new restrictions on protests. Notably, bills in Indiana (SB 286), Iowa (HF 25), Missouri (HB 601), New York (S 723), and North Dakota (HB 1240) seek to criminalise the use of masks during protests. They could also expose protesters to heightened surveillance technologies and intimidation tactics, as evidenced by the doxingattempts over the past year against pro-Palestine protesters.
Meanwhile, Minnesota’s new bill (SF 1363) introduces new civil and criminal liabilities for those supporting protesters who engage peacefully in demonstrations on a critical public service facility, pipelines or other utility property. These restrictions show a broader trend since 2017 of escalating constraints on protests and could trigger a new wave of repression against those expressing dissenting views.
There are also serious concerns about freedom of expression and access to information, particularly for journalists covering politically sensitive issues. On 11 February 2025, two journalists from the Associated Press (AP) were banned access to White House-related press briefings due to the agency’s editorial policy to continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico by its internationally recognised denomination rather than the presidentially decreed “Gulf of America.” AP filed a lawsuit against administration officials, but a federal judge denied the agency’s request for the immediate restoration of full access to presidential events for its journalists, ruling that access to the president is at his discretion and not a constitutional right.
Moreover, on 25 February, the White House press secretary announced that the administration will decide which media outlets can access the presidential press pool. These recent decisions raised concerns about unprecedented restrictions on public access to independent reporting on government affairs.
Meaning there isn't an instance for women, nor are there multiple communities - as far as I know there's just this one community.
I think the "left" they are talking about are more like tankies or at least socialists who lean towards authoritarianism.
I know some people in my local DSA who uncritically support the idea that Russia is incapable of imperialism and who probably would have supported Assad because they were an ally of Russia.
Meanwhile the kids where I am shout "Vote Trump" and have never heard the Hollywood Access tape because they were children when it came out. It's a mixed bag.
let's keep it that way, the right-wing should be unwelcome everywhere
FYI Texas has been marked as a "do not travel" state on Erin Reed's trans risk map: https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/final-pre-election-2024-anti-trans
PS1 was released in North America in Sept. 1995, 30 years ago.
So the grandpa was born in 1967 to be 28 in 1995, which does make him 58 in 2025.
Still, it sounds more like the grandpa was buying the PS1 for his 8 year old son in 1995.