11/07/2023
Happy Tuesday! Another fabulous week of orders and another week of pure joy and gratitude, that I get to keep doing what I love because of all of you. I hope you each enjoy your orders and can carve out some moments this week to truly enjoy what you are eating. I have been making more of an effort to slow down in general, but specifically taking time to eat at least one meal per day, sitting, no screen in hand, chewing, tasting, and enJOYing each bite. It truly changes the eating (and digesting) experience. I hope you can give it a try just once this week! But even if you can't, you can still rest assured knowing you knocked one huge thing off that to-do list this week, and nourished yourself without the hassle of meal planning, shopping, etc. Go you!
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.
"Know What You're Puttin' In Your Mouth (and where it came from)" -
Soup - carrots and onions from INF, ginger from Sang Lee
Salad - herbs and greens from my garden and Sang Lee, micro greens from Urban Coyote
RainBOWL - tomatoes and peppers from Lil' Farm Stand, purple cabbage from Sang Lee, carrots from INF
Those amazing fingerlings are from INF
Cabbage, Romanesco, Cauliflower, from Sang Lee for the "Brassica of the week"
Sweets from Sang Lee as the "root veg of the week"
This week's "food for thought":
Some things never change. And one of those things is me telling you to eat soup for breakfast! Today is the perfect, cool and dreary day to start your day off with a nice hot cup of soup in your travel mug. Plus this week's soup is one of my favorite healing soups and go-tos when the weather changes or if I am feeling a bit run down. Packed with ginger and turmeric for immune and anti-inflammatory support plus red lentils, coconut milk, carrots, celery and more. All the plant-based protein, fiber, carbs, and fat you need to fuel you up for your day.
I would eat this week's salad cold. I think this one would be great paired with a piece of wild-caught salmon baked simply with a little lemon and EVOO for your fatty acid and protein boost.
Usually this time of year I am packing your boxes with lots of warm, cooked foods, but I couldn't resist all the colors of this rainBOWL this week. I would also serve this one cold and could be a great Poke bowl if you wanted to add some tuna...just an idea, but there's plenty of fuel without adding any fish or meat, don't worry!
This week's chicken and broccoli recipe is inspired by an older recipe that happens to be a fan-fave. A healthy take on a classic take out dish, sesame chicken, this one is one of my favorites when I feel the need to indulge but don't to feel the effects the day after. I love some good old take out Chinese, but I always feel lethargic and bloated after eating a meal like that. I recommend reheating this in the oven, covered or stove top for a little "crisped" rice action.
You can eat your fingerlings however you wish! Add them to an omelet or eat as a grab and go snack, these would likely be enough for two, so feel free to share. I would either heat on a baking sheet in the oven at 350+ degrees or right in the cast iron on the stove with a little EVOO for lube.
If you enjoyed the apple cider doughnut cake this week you can thank Karen. Wickham's was closed and decided to sub AC vinegar instead and served it with dinner Sunday night as an experiment. Let's just say - in the future, despite what google advises, you can NOT directly sub apple cider vinegar for apple cider in this recipe, UNLESS you really, really love vinegar. Which I do, but figured you not be as freaky as me...so Karen whipped up it up good with the real deal the next morning for all of you.
Weekly Fun Food Fact
Did you know that despite their bad rep, white potatoes, are extremely nutritious?!
They are packed with Vitamin C, B6, niacin, folate, potassium, phosphorus, manganese, magnesium, and they are a source of plant-based protein (plus fiber, but I didn't want to overwhelm you with the idea that these root veg are so amazingly good for your health!).
I sit here every week and list out all of these vitamins and nutrients and I bet most of you don't even know what they do. So let's dig a little deeper with these potatoes (see what I did there?)
Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin. This means that it dissolves and is delivered to the body's tissues through water, but does not store well so must be eaten throughout the day to keep your levels up. This vitamin helps to control infections, heal wounds, make collagen, makes several hormones that send messages to your brain, and more.
Vitamin B6 is another water soluble vitamin and is imperative for brain development and keeping your nervous and immune system healthy and strong.
Niacin is a B vitamin that helps your body turn food into energy!! It specifically nourishes your nervous, immune, and digestive symptom.
Folate is another B vitamin (B9) that helps the formation, growth, and function of DNA and RNA. IT is needed to produce healthy red blood cells and crucial during pregnancy and early development of the fetus.
Next week I will get into the roles of potassium and the rest of the gang, but I wanted to make sure you had time to eat this week ;-)
Try this:
Try adding black or brown rice to your lentil soup this week to make a complete protein, plus increase your plant variety.
Save your yogurt dressing from the salad, and instead drizzle your salad with a little EVOO and lemon. This salad has a ton of flavor and honestly doesn't need much. Save your dressing for some veggie dip later in the day to prevent hanger before dinner.
Is there an indulgent meal you love but feel awful after eating? I can almost guarantee that there is a healthier alternative to every indulgent meal that can be made at home and give you the same fix you crave. Feeling creative? Try recreating one of your favorite take out meals from home this week. Don't forget to take a pic and tag me!
Enjoy your food, my loves! Don't forget to get your order in soon, I already have a bunch in my box and we sold out early last week.
xoxox