greetings from pabu !

Hello. First of all, thank you all for all the likes, comments and support! I have been working a lot faster than I am used too to updeat more frequently and consistantly. To answer the cquestions of some user, no, I am not taking comissions right now, but I do want to. Hopefully I can open commissions in earnest soon, it just has been a little complicated for me to do so right now.

Having said that, I am really thankfull for all the reblogs and likes.

This time around is Queen Sonia, wnated to give her a sort of ritualistic atmosphear, since she is a priestess. I am not entirely satisfied in that regard, but I think I got the colors right. Hope you like her :)

1. dried beans and rice are infinitely cheaper than the canned/microwave stuff. just wash, soak (in the case of beans!), cook, and you’re done!

2. on that note, beans and rice, when eaten together, make a complete protein that is easily digestible by your body. if it comes down to it, you can live off that alone for a good long while.

3. when shopping, prioritize ingredients over premade meals. a frozen pizza is just one pizza, but flour, tomato sauce, and cheese can make many pizzas.

4. dry pantry goods will get infested if you’re not careful. adding a dried bay leaf to dried beans, rice, flour, etc. works wonders for keeping out weevils and other nasty stuff. adding a few drops of peppermint oil to a spray bottle filled with water will keep mice away if you spray it on your baseboards, too.

5. canned veggies is veggies. canned fruit is fruit. you ain’t too good for it, so get those micronutrients if you can.

6. potatoes are super nutritionally dense and a good source of fiber. use them to stretch meals. just don’t store them next to onions because they’ll sprout way faster.

7. coupon clip like a crazy person, and get ready to use the math skills you swore to leave behind in high school. saving pennies starts with getting the most for your dollar. if all cabbages are $1.00, get the biggest cabbage you can find. if tomato sauce is cheaper by the ounce in a quart jar compared to a pint jar, get the quart if you can. be smart with how you spend.

8. lentils are a great way to stretch any kind of ground meat. they’re really cheap and if you’re like me and can’t cut meat out of your diet completely for health reasons, they help it last a lot longer.

9. portion control is so key. if a meal is meant to make four servings, make it last four servings. it’s better to be a little hungry four days in a row than stuffed for two and starving for two. weigh it out if you have to.

-dollar tree isn't as good of a deal as you think it is. like OP said, it's better to buy a larger amount that is less per ounce. while it might seem great that a box of crackers is 1.25 at dollar tree, they often sell you less amounts than what you get at walmart and the food tends to be stale too. walmart's great value brand is actually often a pretty good deal if you look closely at how much you're paying per ounce and a majority of the time the quality is actually the same or better than the big name brands that cost more. the only thing i find to be a good deal at dollar tree is hand soap

-if you want herbs, buying them dried is the best way to go. yeah some of those bottles of herbs might cost you 4 or 5 or 6 dollars but you'll probably have that bottle of dried herbs for a few months or more, depending on how much you use. if you need a specific herb fresh for some reason, buy the live plant and repot it in a larger pot. if you keep it in a sunny window and water it once in a while it'll most likely grow back (this takes longer than you think though). prepackaged fresh herbs are always a bad deal and spoil quickly

-bananas are really cheap, good at filling you up, and can be turned into a baked good or ice cream if they start to ripen too much. every time i buy bananas they are almost always around a dollar or less for a whole bunch

-don't buy things in bulk if you're not going to eat it in bulk. the biggest waste of your money is when you throw out large amounts of spoiled foods. shop for your specific needs in mind

-keep your pantry stocked with things like flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder and you can extend the life of your fresh fruits by turning them into muffins or pancakes and putting those in the fridge or freezer. i only have to buy a new container of those once or twice a year. dried pasta is also great to keep around for making soups and mac and cheese

-learn how to cook, and learn how to cook efficiently. chances are you're gonna be tired after a long day at work. you're not gonna want to make something complicated with what little energy you have left. learn how to make something that takes little effort like fried rice or chicken noodle soup. also consider meal prep. i like to make things like pancakes and waffles ahead of time and freeze them if i know i want them later.

-onions in moderation turn a bland meal into a flavorful one. garlic is popular too although some people have digestive problems with it. both have a long shelf life and don't need refridgeration

-i know op says to avoid pre-prepared meals, but it's good to have a few on hand for those days you're way too busy and stressed out to plan a meal. it's still way cheaper than doordash. if you want to get really cheap a can of chunky soup is a great choice

-don't get so cheap that you aren't getting the nutrients you need. make sure you check the nutrition facts before you buy something new to make sure it isn't loaded with tons of strange chemicals added as preservatives. some preservatives won't hurt you but less ingredients is usually less inflammatory for your digestive system (not always the case, but it does help avoid specific inflammation triggers especially if you don't know which ingredients upset your stomach). some things are cheap because they're bad quality. but at the same time, don't let your OCD get triggered by every unfamiliar word on the ingredients

-i wouldn't reccommend doing pizza from scratch like op is suggesting. my mom and sister kept trying to do that but found it stressful and the results weren't what we hoped for. making dough is complicated. what i like doing is using a slice of bread as the crust, adding the pizza ingredients on that, and baking it until the cheese is melted (careful not to burn the bread).