lets talk takeout
hello from my final form, aka babysitting for gus, aka sitting on a comfy couch and eating free desano pizza and watching disney+ while he sleeps, aka one of my top ways to spend an evening (seriously, parents reading this: i will babysit for the price of one personal pizza if you have better amenities than me, which isn’t exactly hard to pull off.)
eating takeout that was ordered for me by someone else has me thinking about the takeout i order for myself, which is probably the main unnecessary expense i’m still relying on as i try to pare down my spending in general. this isnt binge takeout food im talking about—you can read about that in MY BOOK?!?!? out in 2024?!? We think?—but the food i order on busy weeknights, hungover sundays, and the odd weekday lunch when i decide nothing but delivery ramen with an extra ajitama egg will do.
ive cut my takeout budget way down, and im proud of that, but i still want to work on bringing it down further, if only for the purpose of using up the food i currently have in the pantry before my move ; reading my friend tamar adler’s brilliant new book “an everlasting meal” has completely reconfigured how i think of home cooking in a truly joyful way, and suddenly im not like “ugh all i have is some canned pumpkin and rice noodles”, im like “how can i use this random shit to make something i actually enjoy eating?”
plus, i generally feel better when i’m making big meals with plenty of leftovers once or twice a week and eating the leftovers as weekday lunches instead of picking up lunch and/or ordering dinner the way i often do when i travel (which, a year into my LDR, is a lot of the time); it obviously saves a ton of money, and it makes me feel like a scrappy lil’ broad who can fend for herself, even if fending for myself involves making a giant bolognese while stoned on sunday night and sticking it in the fridge for the week.
i did a lot of very conscious meal prep in brooklyn, largely because ~eating disorder/diet culture~ made me scared of taking in too many meals whose calories i couldn’t define down to the number, and what i’ve learned since is that there’s no point in cooking something with the intention of feasting on its leftovers all week if it’s not something i’m genuinely going to enjoy eating; virtuous, pre-made meals of dry salad and underseasoned chicken breast end up attracting mold in the fridge while i order compensatory takeout, thus spending money on groceries and food delivery, whereas something more caloric and filling—like that bolognese, or a shepherd’s pie, or cincinnati chili—will actually make me likely to finish it before it goes bad.
fridge meal-wise, im trying to double up on protein and greens while still giving my body the carbs/fat it craves (shoutout to my nutritionist we love you mia!) im also trying to be realistic about not expecting myself to quit takeout cold turkey—sometimes you literally have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves—but, you know, It’s A Process.
ok well that was my little spiel about takeout! if i ever buy clothes online again ill tell you about it but we all need to be praying on my downfall on this……i do have a freelance check headed my way, and i need to allocate most of it to moving costs, but maybe i could get a little goofy with a tiny percentage of it? we’ll see.
currently watching: the lizzie mcguire movie, which goes so hard
currently listening to: frankie cosmos, good writing music
currently reading: the late americans by brandon taylor, im like four pages in and consciously rationing myself bc i want to savor this one! also in the ongoing process of finishing big swiss by jen beagin, which isn’t gripping me in quite the same way but i still def recommend for all the gay sex and hudson-area inside baseball.
xoxo,
emma