09/19/2023
Good evening my darlings! Hope you are all diggin' into your food and lovin' every bite. It was a great day in the kitchen and I hope you can taste all the love we put into each dish.
Just the Tip - How to Make these meals "the best you ever had":
Put your meals in your own tupperware when you return home for maximum freshness!
Add a piece of paper towel to "moist" meals like salad.
Eat your salads first!
Try to heat your food stovetop or in the oven vs. the microwave.
Add a drop of moisture like water or EVOO to meals when heating them covered in the oven so they don't dry out.
Remember if you are ordering 3 or 4 meals, it pays to order the "partial" or "full" order vs. buying a la carte.
If you order the salmon salad or any meat meals, always eat them first!
This week's "food for thought":
This week's favorite has got to be the "Wanna get Lei'd" Hawaiian chicken dish. So many of my favorite foods - pineapple, white sweet potatoes, and leeks all mixed together for the perfect blend of carbs, protein, plants, and FLAVOR. I recommend heating this up in the oven covered or quick ona baking sheet. I pretty much throw all of my meals on a baking sheet for a quick heat in the oven.
Need to get your greens in? Then you are definitely gonna wanna lick this week's bowl in. Legumes, greens, cruciferous veg, sprouts - all powerful, disease-fighting plants, all packed into one delicious dish. You can eat this one cold or hot, but no matter how you enjoy it, rest assured you are getting all the protein you need from plant-based sources like quinoa, hemp seeds, edamame, and pepitas. And you know I am always talking about plant variety so I decided to switch up the usual tahini and use black sesame tahini instead. Hope you enjoy it!!
You can look forward to many more "Autumn" salads including veggies and fruits like apples, squashes, nuts, and more - starting to think about including cooked veggies in our "salads" as a way to prepare our systems for the colder seasons to come.
I would eat the orzo side dish cold, but you can totally heat that one up too
Weekly Fun Food Fact
Did you know that leeks are an incredible plant to add into your diet? Leeks contain PREbiotics, which are the food for the microbiota in our gut. They also contain anti-inflammatory properties that help to reduce inflammation in our immune systems.
Did you know that beans and legumes are the only food group that is known to predict longevity? In one study of 785 adults a 20 gram increase in legumes resulted in a 7-8% lower risk of dying during the study period. In addition, legumes are a staple in the "blue zones", which are the areas of the world known for longevity. Think beans, lentils, peas, edamame....so many great options and so many different ways to eat them. I actually don't love eating beans on their own, but mixing them up in a stew or burger patty and I LOVE them.
Try this:
Try replacing onions with leeks in your next soup recipe, see how you like the flavor.
Try replacing beans in legumes for meat in at least one meal this week. Black beans instead of taco filling.
Go out and grab a container of Cocojune yogurt this week. Add a dollop to meals like soups, salads, bowls, tacos, etc. It creates a creamy experience, but also it's a great , simple way to include fermented foods if you're not a big fan of kraut, kimchi, or kefir.
xoxoxo