My Laborious Weekend: A Sort of Fashion Editorial

I think I'll shoot here...look at all these cigarette butts and the graffiti, it's gonna make me look all edgy like those annoying teenage European bloggers who always ask me to follow them...

....OMG, shirtless boys working out nearby-MUST GET THEIR ATTENTION.

...mmmhm, I see they're checking me out now...shame they're probably still in high school.

A shopping cart left behind by some homeless person.

OMG! THIS WILL LOOK SO COOL AND EDGY FOR MY FASHION BLOG!

I'm serving broke-ass Midwestern college grad fierceness right here.

...oh shit-I'm stuck.

Whatever. You can't handle all this sexy economic downturn realness.

Them socks an' dat bow is American Apparel an' them shoes is MRKT

Errythang else is Urban Outfitters

...I feel like I'll be stuck working with people who speak like that if I don't get my shit together...

BUT IT'LL MAKE ME SOOO EDGY THOUGH RIIIIIIIGHT?????

Poor Eating Habits | simple recipes for broke people

Recipe #2:

Too broke for ketchup? GRAB A TOMATO.

...you have to admit that title was way more creative than the last one.

So I came up with this (probably waaaay after someone else did) when I wanted to make a hot dog and was unable to find any ketchup or hot dog-ish dressing whatsoever; poor people problems to the max. 

I was so annoyed. It's not like I could have just bought some at the store and I never have money for fast food restaurants so there weren't any little packets around.

But I refused to simply eat the meat with the bun plain...that would make my semi-poverty too real. 

Luckily, my African parents seem to always have a constant stock of certain foods including rice (there is FOREVER some rice), plantains, potatoes and tomatoes; they basically eat whatever would be regularly grown and harvested in the old country.

So I grab a tomato and some spices and I figured I could make some relish, which is a bit ironic because I feel like that's how a rich person would eat a hot dog....

Step One: Grab a hotdog and bake it. First of all, I know nothing about the price or quality of this brand and usually the food is free because I'm currently FREE LOADING okay, #BrokeAndShameless. No matter what the brand, that crispiness on the outside when you bake them is delicious. It should be in the oven at 350 degrees for....until it looks like this...maybe 10 minutes or so? Just take a look as soon as you start to smell hot dogginess in the air and try not to burn it, okay?

Step Two: Spice and dice. Dice up half a medium-sized tomato (a full tomato can make up to five servings) and prep a frying pan with some cooking oil. I went for more salty flavors because I'm trying to recreate a ketchup-like taste, but you can obviously do whatever.

Step Three: Saute it up. As the tomatoes soften, add the spices and use a fork to mash it into a chunky sauce.

Step Four: Grab your bun. As the spread is marinating with the spices, place a bun next to the hot dog that should still be in the oven. The hot dog should be done by now and instead of taking it out, leave it there to stay warm while the bun gets a little crispy on residual heat. I actually opened these up a bit and set them upside-down after a few minutes so the inside would get crispy as well.

I made two because I was super hungry when I was cooking, but then I realized I didn't want to be fat AND poor so I only ate one and wrapped the other up for tomorrow.  I guess this recipe is not just for poor folks but also for people who want to eat slightly (only SLIGHTLY, they're still hot dogs) healthier because I'm pretty sure using fresh tomatoes is better than processed ketchup...as far as the cost, how would I know? I never buy any of this crap.

 So freaking fancy you would never guess there was a two digit number in my bank account.

Poor Eating Habits | simple recipes for broke people

As a new college graduate, I'm currently quite poor 

or, as Tumblr would say, I have more month than money. 

The main thing that has been affected by my state of semi-poverty is of course, my eating habits. Until I get a good job (which will probably be pretty soon) I won't make enough to eat the way I want to, so I have to make due with whatever I can find.

Recipe #1: Bread/Tuna/Salad Dressing

...no, I will not be making up some fancy name for any one of these recipes--that's what rich people do on their stupid, glitzy-ass lifestyle blogs.

Oh, and none of this is very original; that's not really a priority when you're broke.

Step One: Find whatever sub bread you have; one of those $0.99 cent baguettes from your local grocery store will do.  I can't afford to replace moldy food so the one I used was kept frozen until I was ready. After the bread was thawed, I cut it into normal serving sizes and placed them on a baking pan. They were warmed (not fully baked) at 350 degrees for approximately 5 minutes.

Step Two: Add the cheapest tuna you can find and save any leftovers; one can should do for 2-3 servings (gotta stretch it out when there's no money!)

Step Three: Place the tuna on the open-faced bread and put it back in the oven to heat it up for a couple minutes because a warm sandwich tastes more like a proper lunch or dinner than a cold one.

Step Four: After you remove the warmed tuna/bread from the oven, add some dressing, because tuna and bread is dry on its own, but grocery store mayo is too expensive and the little mayo packets are too small to last very long. Make sure to save leftover dressing too because where is the money to buy the salad that will get you another dressing packet? I kept a packet in a plastic bag in the fridge and it lasted for three days.

Finally, you can either place it back in the oven and heat all the ingredients together or eat it as is; I placed mine back in the oven because I don't like the taste of cold dressing on hot food.

Now doesn't that look like something you would buy if you had some money?