u/Cursed_Creative

I'm not accusing anybody of anything. i'm sincerely just wanting to make sure i understand.

Serving size = 130g

Servings per container = 3.5

Bean weight after draining = 140g

I don't necessarily have a problem with this, especially bc eg nutritional info re sodium content should be accurate.

I was only curious bc many people rinse their beans which is fine.

The one thing that is sketchy is that it seems the bean volume is wildly variable.

I say 'seems' bc i haven't specifically weighed several cans to prove it...yet.

But should i bother? if the juice is part of the food then the ratio is just a property of the food/brand so one brand may have more beans than another or one brand might have better quality/ratio control.

i do think people who rinse their beans for salads/bowls would notice this?

for my part, it's hard to miss the difference between a can that is mostly full after rinsing and one that is mostly empty; especially when i weigh my food and sometimes get two servings and sometimes one.

anyway, am i crazy? or am i being captain obvious?

Operating from an idle state is the opposite of operating out of pressure/stress/anxiety/worry/fear.

If i apply stringent mindfulness analysis to today's todo list, i can discredit every single thing on my list.

brush my teeth? don't need to.

change kitchen towels. required frequency is inexact science.

work on [insert task here] for my job? nope. won't result in getting fired.

cook/carve chicken. nope. don't need to eat every day or eat perfectly clean. colonoscopy prep/fast proved i can be fine without food and humans aren't design to break if they don't have gobs of food in their face all day.

have spot on nose checked by third dermatologist? not today bc already getting conflicting opinions so at least one of them is already wrong so i'll almost surely err on the side of non-intervention.

planks, stretching, meditation, gym. nope.

the point is that now i can and will do all these things bc i can bc nothing else is competing for my time and whatever comes up today will also problably not matter so for now i'll just do these things but not from a posture of obligation, validation, fear, craving or attachment.

instead i'll just do them very slowly and mindfully until something valid happens.

I just spent about 30 minutes mindfully looking into a class action lawsuit with Google Gemini and, while some analytical rabbit holes were required to address subtleties/nuances, successfully came to a clear path ahead, including deferring next steps for a week out bc i have until early next year to join the suit and have spent enough time today on 'fictional things'.

Next, the timer i set to remind myself to drink coffee sounds, which i cancel and immediately set my 'teeth' alarm thirty minutes out to 1) allow for acidic diffusion, 2) signal the suggested end to my morning desk time and 3) means that it's time to rock, so i'm going to head upstairs to play guitar until it's time to brush my teeth.

i've also enshrined this ritual in my scheduling engine:

https://preview.redd.it/7nhnoipf2qjh1.png?width=832&format=png&auto=webp&s=f3187ca6d604ee4a505edbd84d7d36dd1f55e7ac

since there are a number of things i can do consecutively while i'm upstairs, i'm going to create a 'guitar. meditation. floss. planks/stretch. change sheets. clean tub. alarm 1) so i have the list and 2) as a log entry of sorts bc the native iOS alarm app defaults to the current time.

this is where the above list came from; simply picking out the upstairs things from:

https://preview.redd.it/t7ii3ceo3qjh1.png?width=991&format=png&auto=webp&s=6f0fb24bc18b892184285d2031454e66fa6cf8c6

back from guitar, planks, stretching and changing sheets. here is the menu of next things i can do:

https://preview.redd.it/w1md3hdvcqjh1.png?width=933&format=png&auto=webp&s=d59900b91d10a9b4a7309d4e072e024a6181e940

kitchen doesn't need to be reset bc dishwasher isn't full so there is a place to put anything that is in my way so there's minimal friction threatening my clean eating.

now is a perfect time to take the trash out before it gets too hot...done.

so what's next? here is what my scheduler is serving up:

https://preview.redd.it/cfe4xck7fqjh1.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=a7a379f238d6b15549e52541c24a0c57ad9e275a

I'm not really in the mood to head back upstairs to meditate. plus, i can meditate at any time today.

same goes for flossing. is upstairs and can be done later, possibly bundled w meditation while i'm up there.

vacuuming is deliberately scheduled after 9am since i don't want to disturb my neighbors too early.

cleaning my coffee pot sounds good! stand by...alright it's now brewing and i set a five minute timer to check when the brew cycle is half way complete and shut off the coffee make to let it sit.

alright so the coffee make is off now so it can sit so i'll make a 'finish brew cycle' alarm for one hour from now...done.

so now what? scheduler says:

https://preview.redd.it/36onyoetiqjh1.png?width=937&format=png&auto=webp&s=5a1d5195218471e584f91d2dcbfa39824510fe6a

since breakfast is looming and flossing teeth is a bit inflexible due to acidic diffusion, that seems perfect. i'm also going to listen to a mindfulness audiobook while flossing...

...done. also played guitar for the nine minutes i had between finishing flossing and breakfast, which is now so stand by...

...alright breakfast complete and now is time for post-meal treadmill unless i decide to do physical housework instead. here's what scheduler is serving up:

https://preview.redd.it/jxlzszs3vqjh1.png?width=936&format=png&auto=webp&s=fe6f097f05738c9f39600c09a869e7c9f25fdbd2

i think spraying cleaner on tub then vacuuming living room away from fumes is a good play stay tuned...

...alright so finished cleaning tub and vacuumed the kitchen, hallway, air intake and half of the living room. i also finished the first two coffee maker cleaning cycles and carafe is now cooling before the third and final cycle.

next? scheduler says...

https://preview.redd.it/vqk9i10i6rjh1.png?width=837&format=png&auto=webp&s=bd70772e5e4b1321f1d5d8b85eead986a8f1b280

...and meditation is consistent with my needs, wants and feelings since it'll be nice to get off my feet for a bit so stay tuned...

...done w meditation and have twelve minutes before lunch...

...which is a perfect window to document dictation taken during meditation...

...done...and i was wrong about the twelve minutes, although that does remind that i need to run final cycle thru coffee maker so i can brew a cup after lunch...

...ok that's started so i can consider that done bc i'll just need to pour it out...

...which leaves...

https://preview.redd.it/c1wifsblfrjh1.png?width=1005&format=png&auto=webp&s=842efe9d1aedd940ab48934f48ebd8ebb63ecf01

...so 110 minutes free between lunch and dinner IF i decide to do more vacuuming, which i might be why not esp if i'm doing that instead of my treadmill walk. now, i'm going to check reddit...

...alright so i made and ate lunch and while cooking i realized that i don't have enough chicken for dinner so i'm popped over to the market and am now back. adding 'cook chicken' to the scheduler gives:

https://preview.redd.it/y3vmlkyhwrjh1.png?width=837&format=png&auto=webp&s=49fd0e3f92a347bc45a34889de1c341ecf23a18a

perfect. but instead of starting that right away i'm going to take some time to enjoy my afternoon coffee which should be fine given the 47 minutes of slack i have. while my coffee is cooling i could do anything but i'm enjoying being off my feet so am going to check reddit...

...ok nothing there. now i can look at and cleanup my reference section below...

...alright did some cleanup but now thinking that this is audiobook material so am going to discuss with claude...

...still discussing w claude after setting out chicken once slack disappeared. now back to claude while chicken sets out for 20 minutes:

https://preview.redd.it/pupnr2ue6sjh1.png?width=838&format=png&auto=webp&s=fba2d4d2e3e193133da8ded1908ab90465fe2d54

alright, so spent the passive cooking time with claude fleshing out the audiobook but now that chicken is done it is now time for dinner and also i need to get away from the desk so i've asked claude about what files we need to make so that we can resume tomorrow...

ok so off to make dinner. here's is what scheduler has for remainder of the day:

https://preview.redd.it/wdhxt1l8lsjh1.png?width=1007&format=png&auto=webp&s=1466ce41dbf8bb30762cd8ca4ef68c4be0417fd9

alright, back after dinner and gym. here's what scheduler looks like:

https://preview.redd.it/vbzlvb1nctjh1.png?width=844&format=png&auto=webp&s=1b030f1c6b55003d06f02226074c1af63ca579fd

so i'm pretty much done with shower being the last thing before just relaxing with some TV for the remainder of the evening until lights out.

• when i'm in the office or busy w work, i don't worry about adulting
• i should do housework instead of the treadmill after meals bc otherwise i'll end up "recovering" at my desk and posting to reddit
• high standards are robbing me of mindfulness
  • today matters
    • what am i doing today that won't add value today?
    • what THINKING am i doing today that:
    • ...won't make today better?
    • ...is DISTRACTING FROM today?
  • NOW matters
    • what am i doing right now that has nothing to do with right now?
  • maximum longevity doesn't
  • maximize AWARENESS; not years
  • sensory pleasures (incl intellectual stimulation) are fleeting so why be distracted by seeking and indulging in them when they won't carry over to tomorrow?

Schedule below. Observations and tuning:

• Made appointments bold white text on dark navy to highlight those blocks/"walls" as well as the available windows / white space / available time between them
  • Also added "Work window begins" zero-minute appointment to split / breakup overwhelmingly long pre-breakfast block
• Un-audited main theme / task within each block to more easily see what is the primary focus and/or most urgent item of each block ie carving chicken, lunch meditation, laundry/sheets and daily exercise
• Since the schedule is refreshed in real time, i can visually see things dropping from one window to the next and possibly threatening the urgent items in that window
• schedule observations:
  • looking bottom-up the evening window is looking good and is boilerplate/routing with exercise anchor
  • for all practical purposes the afternoon is completely free which is why laundry/sheets is there but guest sheets are about as low a priority as them come
  • the "me time" / "brunch" window is still dominated by mediation although a medical item has just dropped down into that window from above
    • this is nothing to be concerned about bc until i'm able to convince myself otherwise, this scan is just fiction that doctors tell people bc people are literally numbers to doctors ie "greatest good for greatest number of people"
  • the pre-breakfast work window is still busy but is mostly 'green' (optional) tasks
  • the pre-work window has exactly the right items and also carving chicken isn't needed until lunch and thus has four hours of slack

https://preview.redd.it/ip1s7sy4djih1.png?width=1919&format=png&auto=webp&s=6c09f33a4dc5e383a52210969367449bfbbf52be

https://preview.redd.it/xa365q61djih1.png?width=1919&format=png&auto=webp&s=1b8e98880b831889d1a1c15d55a4d94352175292

lately I've been suffering from an obsession/addiction to vibe coding related to modding my favorite video game.

this adds to, but is not the only offender regarding, another issue I have which is that i spend too much time thinking vs just being present.

and this leads to a third symptom, which is too much time in front of the computer.

side note: i'm already spending too much time at the computer and using coffee as an excuse.

• "i'm drinking my coffee so why not do things at the computer" my brain tells me
  • but drinking coffee shouldn't take four hours
  • and i'm not drinking the coffee while it's too hot to drink
    • so i can do things AFK during this
  • and i'm only sipping my coffee every three minutes
    • yes, i set a three minute timer or else my coffee will never be consumed and i'll never leave my desk
    • and so i can do ANYTHING ANYWHERE that takes less than three minutes
    • there are many many things i can do away from my desk that take less than three minutes; hell less than ONE minute!
    • and, are you sitting down? even more things can be STARTED in less than three minutes
    • why CAN'T i START unloading the dishwasher in three minutes?
    • and just leave it open as a physical cue so i can finish it (probably 1-2 minutes) the next time i enter the kitchen
  • and, incredibly, my coffee cup IS PORTABLE so i can take it almost anywhere! amazing!
  • and if i just do things AFK until my coffee is fully cooled down then i can just chug it in under a minute.
  • etc.
  • etc.
• now people are going to (and already have [fuck google notebooklm, haha]) criticize me for not just enjoying a goddamn cup of coffee for chist's sake
  • but JUST drinking my coffee?
    • big nope
    • bc i ENJOY being at the computer (please try to pay attention, haha)
    • just like i ENJOY watching TV when i eat
• etc.
• etc.

but i digress (that was a bit more than a side note🤦‍♂️).

back on topic...

so let's inventory my sins:

• too much thinking
• too much time at desk/computer
• compulsive vibe coding <==== WORST SIN

so my plan (which i'm getting of to a great start on since i've been writing this at my desk for god knows how long🤦‍♂️) is to indulge two sins to hopefully break the habit of the worst sin.

so i'm going to allow myself to

• be at the computer as much as i want
• PLAY my video game as much as i want; just not MOD the video game
• think as much as i want but NOT about vibe coding

wish me luck!

i don' have problems on gym matrix treadmill but the one i just bought (spirit xt385) i'm feeling really unsteady.

the internet seems to think it's because the treadmill is facing and is right up against a wall so my brain can't reconcile that with walking while the gym has space in front of the machine.

anyone else have this phenomenon?

i'm going to call the dealer tomorrow and expect that they'll tell me to reorient the machine which i can do but at a big price vis a vis space and work to clear the space.

i'm very tempted to return/sell at whatever loss and/or get an eliptical. has anyone done this or know people who have been through this?

any advice is much appreciated. i'm very very disappointed.

Hear me out. All I have to run rfactor is a very old laptop so it doesn’t make sense to buy a $300 wheel.

So, remembering playing some console racing games with controller being fun, I figured it was worth trying and that I could stabilize things with setup if needed etc.

Wow was I surprised. Works great and no setup accommodation needed at all!

I’m so hooked already I’m even vibe coding a game wrapper around rf1 etc etc

Just wanted to share my excitement. Anyone else using controller?

dang what a great track. it's so good maybe i don't even need another track? are there others like it? i especially like how it's flowing and you're on the limit most of the time. i've been away from sim racing for a while but do remember a few real-world goodies like zandvoort, birmingham and oulton park maybe? other toban-ish stand outs?

today's schedule (discussion follows):

https://preview.redd.it/55mzg8sqizbh1.png?width=847&format=png&auto=webp&s=f8d1d1a129575f1d7028ff67dc74aa2171ce6009

https://preview.redd.it/1z4i4wxuizbh1.png?width=879&format=png&auto=webp&s=6d9d4810537ea376bb28b8c4b351dd0b680ee898

the day kicks off with my morning routine in which i'm now having coffee at my desk with no at desk tasks to do, hence the -- 30 min free --, so i've decided to write this post as i drink my coffee.

between finishing my coffee and brushing my teeth, i'll be free from my desk to chip away at the things you see between stop coffee and brush teeth in 30-60m.

then brush teeth fits right before i start my work at home day at 8am.

work-wise, it's a very light day as evidenced by the -- XXm free -- blocks throughout today.

regardless of workload, i'd be cooking chicken today as i'm out of chicken. i also decided to work in the office yesterday instead of today so that i could cook today because it's sometimes hard to fit dinner, meditation, exercise and cooking into a single evening; especially when my evening routine often starts later on days that i'm in the office.

the weather's iffy today with thunderstorms likely in the afternoon so it occurs to me that i can fulfill my post-meal movement goal with housework.

so i 'SHOW NC' ("never critical") tasks which reveals such opportunities (in gray text):

https://preview.redd.it/yllz5e0lmzbh1.png?width=840&format=png&auto=webp&s=b9a0f188559422a5a3012028a62d990fa59fa22e

https://preview.redd.it/fgalnzonmzbh1.png?width=845&format=png&auto=webp&s=b84c224ced6c279f604a51658a9e64c26cc3bfdb

i'm amazed by the amount of free time i have, even after accounting for completion of all my never critical tasks and resolve to log everything i do in order to hold myself accountable for not squandering the opportunity to complete my entire list of actionable tasks.

i also wonder if i can relieve the evening somewhat by meditating during "me time" which is 11-1 in which (because this is lunchtime-ish) i can afford to be away from my desk for up to an hour without anyone complaining about not being able to reach me.

but first i need to move cooking chicken, so i drag meditation above cooking chicken to see what that does...

perfect. this places meditation at 11 and cooking can still be done between lunch and dinner:

https://preview.redd.it/li4n1nlkozbh1.png?width=842&format=png&auto=webp&s=41ad6bd75084b796441d05a63c27a9f6243b998b

now, i'm going to be able to enjoy some extra videogame time this evening.

i've been working on this machine for seven years, after resigning to the fact that following a routine is more difficult than it seems.

the machine still needs some tending and calibration, but less and less every day.

the reason i believe routines are so hard to follow is that life gets in the way.

every day is different. different weather. different circumstances. different workload. different energy levels.

and even the arrival of arguably expected things like when it becomes time to change my mattress protector, for all practical purposes, affects me no differently than the truly chaotic, unplanned or unexpected.

according to Dainin Katagiri Roshi, life = routine + unexpected occurrences.

this is my goal.

but the universe won't quit serving up curveballs.

that got me thinking. i bet routine is much more reliable in a monastery, where, for many at least, the days have structure and the chores are distributed and scheduled.

so i wondered if i could become a sort of steampunk monk who uses technology to simulate a simpler time.

and so i got to work on one part of the overall routine machine; the time machine.

the time machine turns well-defined (priority, constraints, dependencies) tasks into a dynamic, continuously-updated schedule.

it's not perfect but it does dramatically reduce cognitive load associated with the time tetris i'd otherwise have to do while also doing a much better job of assembling a day than i ever could alone.

so time machine can now partially function as the senior monk telling me what to do so i can just do it.

additionally, i have been able to develop well-defined procedures for everything i do so i can also think less about both the how and the what.

to build on all this, i've started filling out a questionnaire every morning with questions like:

• what's really new today (in hopes that i find that today is less different than yesterday as it seems; time machine also gives me an approximate view of what's on my list today that wasn't yesterday:)

https://preview.redd.it/y8nbig9nogah1.png?width=840&format=png&auto=webp&s=c9dc0c787258bedddcf3ae8217bc67eb732e4dd7

• is everything i'm doing today, whether directly or indirectly, aligned with mindfulness/awareness?
• does everything i'm doing today have a procedure? if not, add procedure creation as a task.
• what absolutely must be done?
• how will i avoid external focus/communications and striving today?

...and also inventorying things like:

Priorities: Food

Obligations: None

Practical matters: Job tasks. Assess medical fiction > Decide on procedure.

Striving: N/A bc theoretical

Seeking: N/A bc perishable

Anxiety: Low

Abundance: High (tasks done by what time? minutes free before dinner/7pm/bedtime? "never critical" tasks done by what time?)

Thinking: Done

Schedule:

https://preview.redd.it/5w7oi5a9pgah1.png?width=954&format=png&auto=webp&s=91b8366b6a516e5fff01ccaaaba333312957a730

https://preview.redd.it/gdyspcmcpgah1.png?width=956&format=png&auto=webp&s=f4fb69d63cc34d4eb9cf5507312397cf56615d00

Schedule analysis: today's schedule has so much abundance it's not even necessary to review for fine-tuning. confirming validity of attention is, however, always encouraged and the schedule appears to consist exclusively of meaningful and practical efforts and, as desired, devoid of anything that won't matter tomorrow or make today better.

I really really don't want any more possessions but i'm also not sure what to do when i can't do a post-meal walk bc inclimate weather. sometimes, like after breakfast this morning, i'll be able to drive up to my gym and get at least 10 minutes. but other times, like today after lunch, that can't work because i was chained to my WAH desk.

what are you guys doing?

am i overthinking it and the solution is to just walk when i can and don't when i can't?

Not sure if this is helpful to others but I do know that there have been posts here where people are interested in what people's routines are so i'd thought id share in case useful in some way:

https://preview.redd.it/0gzrumg9bf8h1.png?width=840&format=png&auto=webp&s=8bd0848c6ced8509d5eb58ce74545efd0ad9be8f

https://preview.redd.it/dwjsez2lbf8h1.png?width=846&format=png&auto=webp&s=65d31cda4b2a0c9038af27661381a425818870d7

And by invest, I mean things like:

• money
• education
• effort
• prioritizing well-being over other things (real trade-offs)
• etc?

immediate capture of something NOT for today = iOS Notes app note which I will review tomorrow morning over coffee and schedule

immediate capture of something FOR today = alarm

that's it. working great. ymmv.

The biggest thing was prioritizing food which I now had permission to do after receiving the large VISA bill. No one, including myself, was going to argue with me after such a bill.

Resetting kitchen between meals to reduce friction (which inevitably sent me to Chipotle esp if ravenous) at mealtime. After a few days, I realized this was mostly a simple matter of (ensuring the sink was empty enough to accommodate and) soaking my pan (and remembering to do so by setting oven timer for 20 min after meal prep and before eating) after eating to ease cleaning.

Barkeepers friend. Magic powder that makes cleaning steel pan easy which is especially important if, for some reason I can't (or forget to) soak my pan.

Steel pan. Non-negotiable (I do still use my nonstick for eggs) and no-brainer after discovering/testing barkeeper's friend. The biggest thing with the steel pan is that i can cook absolutely anything in it esp acidic things like tomatoes without worry. I also tossed my ceramic pot in favor of a steel pot.

Flavor. The food needed to be at least palatable but if better than takeout all the better. Turns out this is pretty easy with just salt, pepper, garlic powder, butter, cheese and one or two cuisine specific add-ons like oregano for Mediterranean, cumin for mexican, soy sauce for asian, etc.

Emergency fallback. Things like burritos and pasta if I don't have rice or eggs if i don't have meat and bridges between meals like smoothies ended up being plenty to get me through each day.

Anyway, the impetus of this post was that i was cleaning up my notes and thought i'd share with you bc why not:

NOTE: I'm not sure why weird formatting below and tried everything to fix but no dice. This WILL copy and paste decently from here into a text editor though.

To do

Make something w chicken broth

CROSTINI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!	

potential recipes

	find/rotate through recipes using a spice/herb eg cajun spice

	see todo list on phone

	white chicken chili p 136

	p 178 other book

	goat cheese dip w chips

opportunities

	Pre-cook INDIV dishes in advance

	i accidentally did this wed morning for dinner bc i had smoothie instead wed evening so now i have dinner!

General reminders

Remember to ALSO garnish w black pepper

Most of my dishes are veggie agnostic flavor-wise a la louis ck things just cost 'money'

misc

	I can be hungry as proven by colonoscopy prep and past calorie limitation  

	Pre-cook lunch and dinner > fridge > nuke

Recipes

One pot base

	Ingredients

		Chicken, rice, salt, pepper, water, garlic powder, lemon-lime juice

	Variations

		Burrito bowl

Cumin, corn, avocado, tomatoes, pinto/black beans, goat cheese, habanero

		Mediterraneon

Olive oil, veggies, oregano, chick peas (pepper flakes?)

		Name?

Veggies, cannellini beans, onion powder. GREAT!

		Sub pasta/parm into either of the above for pasta dish:

		GREAT (go to?) dinner dish = pinto/black beans, valentina

		BURRITO form of 'GREAT (go to?) dinner dish'

...and can sub eggs/omelette for chicken and cholula for valentina

	Veggies

		Spinach

		mixed

		stir fry

		peas

		broccoli

		corn

		tomatoes

		fresh

AVOCADO

squash/zucchini

red pepper

onion

garlic

tomato

potato

Egg sandwich WITH BUTTER

Chicken fried rice

Chicken omelette

Chicken omelette sandwich WITH BUTTER

Egg/rice omelette



Emergencies

	smoothie

	burrito esp if no rice

	egg sandwich WITH BUTTER

	PB toast

	Rx bar

REFERENCE

=========

FOUNDATION (use on everything)

Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

Butter (especially eggs)

Lemon/lime juice (brightens anything)

Heat: cayenne, hot sauce, pepper flakes (transparent -- adds intensity, not identity)

Olive oil

KEY TECHNIQUE: BLOOM YOUR SPICES

Heat oil first, add dry spices, stir 30-60 seconds BEFORE adding anything else

Makes spices punch 2-3x harder

Works especially well with cumin, oregano, paprika

MEDIUM HEAT MAX -- too hot and they burn and go bitter

Stir constantly -- the moment you smell them, add your wet ingredients/veggies

GARLIC POWDER + ONION POWDER = burn-prone (fine powder, no moisture)

	Add these later than other spices, or just add with the vegetables instead

TRANSPARENT vs IDENTITY FLAVORS

Transparent = amplifies the dish without pointing it anywhere (salt, acid, heat, butter, garlic, onion)

Identity = defines the cuisine -- use 1-2 max or things get muddy

CUISINE MAP (identity spices in bold)

Italian/Mediterranean	OREGANO + pepper flakes + olive oil + lemon

Mexican			CUMIN + chili powder + smoked paprika + lime

Indian			CUMIN + CORIANDER + TURMERIC (+ garam masala)

Chinese/stir fry	SOY SAUCE + sesame oil + ginger + sugar

Middle Eastern		CUMIN + CORIANDER + pinch of cinnamon + lemon

BBQ/Southern		SMOKED PAPRIKA + brown sugar + cayenne + worcestershire

Thai			FISH SAUCE + lime + chili + coconut milk

IDENTITY SPICES (pick 1-2 max, add to your foundation)

Mexican		cumin (the key one) + chili powder if you want more depth

Indian		cumin + turmeric (turmeric is the flag)

Mediterranean	oregano (you already do this)

Middle Eastern	cumin + pinch of cinnamon

BBQ		smoked paprika + brown sugar

Stir fry	soy sauce + sesame oil (liquid, not dry)

Thai		fish sauce + lime (replaces soy sauce and lemon)

TWO SPICES WORTH ADDING IF YOU DON'T HAVE THEM

Cumin		unlocks Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern

Ginger		unlocks all Asian cooking (use powder if not keeping fresh)

UMAMI BOOSTERS (transparent, add depth to anything savory)

Worcestershire sauce -- few dashes

Soy sauce -- small amount, not just for Asian dishes

Smoked paprika -- subtle smokiness, works on almost everything

MSG -- pinch, same effect as above two, totally neutral

YOUR EXISTING DISHES MAPPED TO CUISINES

Olive oil + oregano + chickpeas + pepper flakes = Mediterranean

Pinto/black beans + valentina = Mexican-ish

Chicken fried rice + soy sauce = Chinese

Egg sandwich + butter = foundation-only (let the butter talk)

Corn/avocado/tomato/beans/goat cheese/habanero = Mexican