Homemade Food

I have been in my own place for a little over 4 months at this point and I am very much still crunching pennies. I am going to be crunching pennies for a little while as I very much still have furniture to buy and bills to pay so that's a thing. But that is fine, I have accepted that and I have always been relatively savvy with my money so I can still occasionally buy myself a little gift for doing a job well done on surviving to this point. 

One of the things I do to save on money is looking for coupons or sales, but also, if you pay attention to the expirations on some foods, they will get clearanced out when the stores are getting close to their "Best By" date. Now, I am sure that some people will disagree with me in that not all foods have to be eaten by their best-by dates, there are certainly going to be some people who complain that just because you put it into a freezer does not mean it will last forever. And you are mostly right. But, it does not become poison once that date has hit and freezer burn does not set in overnight. You have time. And let's not forget, you can cook it up right then and there, extend that ticking time of expiration just a little longer, and have food to eat!

I found a ham over the weekend, yes, a whole ham, well a whole butt anyway but it was a good like 6 or 7-pound ham guys. Like the kind you make for Easter dinner. It was on sale for half off! Because it had two days left on its best-by date. So I scooped up that ham, paid a whole $8 for it. Combined with a bunch of stuff I already had at my apartment, I have prepared food that should last me the whole week! I had a giant hunk of ham steak with some over-easy eggs the first day when I prepped the ham to go in the oven. Made instant mash and green beans to be put into 6 Tupperware containers for lunches. Boiled up the ham bone and made homemade ham and potato soup that will be good for a couple nights' worth of dinner. And there's still a big ol' Tupperware of cubed ham in my fridge for me to make into other food!

If you're in my discord, you likely see me post my dinners every so often. They usually don't turn out half bad! But yesterday when I was making the ham and potato soup from scratch, somebody told me I'm a chef with all the foods I make. Maybe I do know a bit more about cooking than the normal folks my age do, but that by no means makes me a chef. I just know how to survive. I know how to fend for myself. I know how to make sure that I am getting my daily nutrients and that nothing is wasted.

Making sure that I ingest those foods and daily requirements is a whole different ball game though!

It isn't hard to learn things. It is not necessarily rocket science to be able to save money. You just need to put a little bit more time and effort into it than just buying yourself a burger at McDonalds. And honestly, homemade food is often better flavor-wise than the restaurants any how! You don't even need to do it from complete scratch and make your own butter or such (not that I would expect you to anyway!) just get the pieces of the whole item at the store and put it all together. You'll find that you can usually make 4 or 5 servings of a meal for the same price as buying a single entree someplace else.

Knowing Your Audience

 If there is one thing that companies are good at, it's knowing their audiences. 

Fortnite is no exception. They know that their player base includes streamers and everyday gamers who are going to be addicted to the pretty colors of the skins and characters, the modern dance emotes in the shop, the iconic loot llama pinata mystery toys, the fun replica pew pews with their Nerf collab, and so many other items.

Companies continue to produce products because they know that we will cave and spend the money on it. 

We enjoy being able to live our addictions beyond the screen. Even more so if it "enhances" our gameplay on the screen. Like this bright yellow control that I absolutely insisted I needed for when I play Fortnite on my switch.

Cinco de Mayo

 Or better known as the day that Americans have an excuse to drink way too much and act silly.

Cinco de Mayo is not meant to be about eating tacos, drinking margaritas, or wearing big hats. For the Mexicans, it is meant to be the anniversary of their victory over the French. And no, it is not the equivalent of the American holiday, the Fourth of July. Cinco de Mayo is not the symbol of their independence, they prefer to use when they first declared war against Spain for that date.

Back in September of 1810, Mexico declared war against Spain who had ruled over them for three centuries since the fall of the Aztec Empire. That day is referred to as their Independence Day because it is when they broke ties with their parent country and started to fight for their right to be a stand-alone country. Five decades later, in 1862, Napoleon was trying to spread his rule to other territories and he sent 6,000 French troops to the coastal town of Puebla. They were unsuccessful. The 2,000 Mexican soldiers that were waiting there that day, fought valiantly and won. That is what Cinco de Mayo represents.

The events that occurred on that day then led to the French withdrawing their troops from all of North America, allowing the American Civil War to run its course without additional parties intervening. This may be why Americans tend to celebrate the holiday more than the Mexicans do, or at least the original reason.

But as with most holidays, the original intent is no longer the actual reason. Instead its a reason to have a little extra fun and be a little extra silly.

Whatever reason you choose to celebrate and whatever way you decide to take part, just make sure you're being safe out there!