taxpayer funded, babey~!

low energy ("do not ask me to do any prep work at all, so help me god")

mozzerella cheese wrapped in pepperoni ("pizza tacos"!)

hummus and pretzels or naan (putting the naan in the microwave for like 10 seconds...heavenly)

canned chili (with shredded cheese and sour cream if you have it! boom done!)

instant miso soup (warm and lovely!)

cheese and cured meat, olives, canned fish, crackers, dried fruit, or whatever easy "charcuterie" type items you like

alternate bites of apple and spoonfulls of peanut butter (mixing honey or chocolate chips to the peanut butter is my favorite)

a "deconstructed sandwich": bites of lunch meat, pickles, cheese, cherry tomato, etc (I love roast beef and white cheddar for this)

yogurt and granola or fruit

medium energy ("I'll boil water but don't ask me to chop shit")

boiled eggs and fresh veggies (put a little salt on top of the eggs for pizzaz!)

buttered noodles (take it up to level 10 and add roasted garlic; takes 30 mins in an oven, only one swoop of the knife required)

baked potato with toppings (I like cheese, bacon, broccoli, green onion, and sour cream)

quesadilla (add some canned beans, cilantro, or avocado!)

pot roast (requires a lot of time but not a lot of actual work. I love it with peas!)

cuban sandwich (bread, swiss, pickle, mustard, ham... my favorite thing to panini-ify by far)

pan-fried tofu with scallion sauce (this sauce goes well with everything and tofu is no exception)

pancakes or waffles! (I love mine with jam)

ham, pickle, and cream cheese roll-ups

fried eggs (with toast and lots of butter...so comforting)

fruit smoothie (bananas, frozen strawberries, yogurt...or whatever!)

I hate salad but could write essays on this copycat olive garden salad (throw it in a bowl! chopping required if you use onion)

spaghetti (controversial maybe but angel hair > spaghetti noodles)

pasta salad (olives broccoli fresh mozerella... those little mini pepperonis... yeah)

high energy ("I don't mind chopping some things up!")

stuffed shells with spinach

chicken and roasted garlic (oh my god.....one of my all time favorites)

beef tacos (I like mine with cilantro and onion, and when I'm feeling especially high energy I love a tomatillo salsa)

chicken alfredo

tom kha gai (a thai soup and my absolute favorite! you just need access to galangal)

lasagna! (freezes well and then boom! low energy meal for later)

pad thai! (not as hard as you'd think, as long as you have access to tamarind paste!)

potstickers! (this is a lovely group activity if you want to cook with housemates!)

rice and beans

bang bang shrimp (ogughfhgfuh I love it. you can also do bang bang tofu!)

minestrone soup (so many nice veggies!)

fried rice (put whatever you have on hand in there! broccoli, peas, carrot, and beef is my favorite combo)

broccoli cheddar soup

spring rolls and peanut sauce

skewers (such as beef, onion, zucchini, bell pepper... you don't need a grill, oven works!)

roasted turkey with garlic parmesean asparagus

pork chop with mashed potatoes

other tips:

whenever you think of a meal you'd like to make, take 3 seconds to google search it, take a screenshot of the image results, and put it in a "food ideas" folder. instant visual menu!

I got this website from a nutritionist and it’s become my absolute favorite way to find new recipes. The search filter options are fantastic! Sorting by method really helps me because I think that’s what makes the biggest difference in how much energy you need.

And here are some other ideas for low/medium energy meals:

Cottage cheese with crackers, fruits and/or veggies.

Guacamole with veggies and/or tortilla chips

Chickpeas/garbanzo beans with tzatziki. You could add rice, lettuce/spinach, and/or pita.

garlic blossoms (allium) balls of tiny flowers, may be white to deep purple. literally just the flowering head of the garlic you use in food. it tastes like garlic. but colorful.

elderflower, the blossom of the elderberry bush. can be battered and fried. excellent with elderberry syrup or honey. tastes fruity with a tiny hint of anise. also good in teas and sweets.

Calendula, also known as pot marigold. (please, verify you’re using pot marigold, not regular marigold. calendula is actually a daisy.) tastes similarish to bell pepper, sans crunch. leaves are also edible. should be grown with broadleaf plantain:

as a poultices of calendula and plantain can be used to rapidly heal small cuts and scrapes, and are also helpful for other dermatitis. don’t use it on deep wounds though, as it can and will cause the surface skin to heal before the underlying tissues. all of broadleaf plantain is also edible. if bitter.

…..

Violets taste a lot like a sweeter version of lettuce.

Stock flowers taste like butter, and were frequently enjoyed by Thomas Jefferson.

Fuchsia petals taste like mustard (though the sepals taste like rubber tire).

Carnations have a deep, spicy flavor. Not the bright pepper of a nasturtium — more like cloves.

Chrysanthemums taste like an herbal honey. You can sometimes find syrup and tea in Asian markets.

Tuberous begonias are absolutely tropical! They all have a tangy, citrus flavor, but the intensity of it changes with the color; the white ones taste like apricot and the orange and yellow ones are could sub in for lemon zest.

The Emperor used the magic word

I found out that Down By The River was originally about accepting ceramorphisis and settling down with your “dreamy visitor” by the river. I think that’s neat.

..

I think he does genuinely wish for friendship and companionship outside of the regular illithid and thrall dynamic, but also that his being prevents himself from doing so in a more human way.

He does state that he values freedom above else, and while he does play his cards close to the chest, I also think that this is mainly the result of his own previous enslavement resulting in trust issues, and that he perceives the world around him on a different level than Tav can or Stelmane could.

At the end of the day I think he is mainly just really lonely, and he pushes so hard for Tav to become an illithid because he longs for connection with someone on his own level, but also doesn't feel like he can gain that through other means.

Like yeah, he's manipulative but I genuinely think he means well for Tav and that he does have their best interest in mind (or what he believes to be their interest anyway. Something something hammers and everything is nails). I don't think that he'd want to enthrall them in the classical way even if he could. He wants a peer, not a slave.

(Also I am just a sucker for the trope where someone just desperately wants to be loved for who they really are, and the loneliness surrounded it, sue me.)

hottest scene in the whole game for me