11/14/2023
Happy Tuesday! Hope you are all off to to a great start to your week, equipped with some food to fuel you along the way. Thank you for another great week!
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)" -
all carrots, potatoes and onions are from Indian Neck Farm (INF) in Peconic.
Delicata and Butternut squash from Sang Lee and INF
This week's "food for thought":
Let me start off with a big apology for your missing "baked sweet potato" this week. When my food delivery arrived, they were down one big box of yams and I yam very sad about that too! I, however, did get some NYS grown brussel sprouts and make a quick impromptu decision to sub for an autumn quinoa salad. I hope you enjoy it! You can eat this one cold or hot, your call.
I also found a sale on some delicious organic romaine from a farm upstate and this week's salads look gorgeous with all of that green. Nothing worse than picking up a bag of sad, pale romaine. The greener it is, the more rich with nutrients! Greek salad blends are always my favorite, hope this one is a hit for your taste buds like it was mine!
I would reheat your sausage dish stovetop or in the oven on a baking sheet. Let the veg and sausage crisp up a little for added flavor and texture.
I don't usually offer this vegan pot pie. Not because it's lacking in flavor, but because it is a MESS to serve. In the future, I will try to plan ahead and order small individual size toss-away baking dishes, but this time, I hope you enjoy it either way! Super easy recipe, packed with plants and comfort. You can just throw this one in a pyrex and reheat in the oven for best results.
If you managed to get home without eating your campfire cookies, you could also heat these up in the oven to get that melty marshmallow game!!
Weekly Fun Food Fact
Root veg and squash is the dominant crop this time of year and sadly these incredible vegetables are avoided by many for being "high carb" foods. And yes, as far as vegetables go, these are the higher carbohydrate veggies, but these carbs are essential for your health and definitely not to be feared. I actually think you should worry more about the consequences of avoiding these foods than anything else.
It is important to remember that the food we eat is not just for "maintaining" a certain body image. It is for fueling your joints, brain, blood, hormones, immune system and more. How we look is the least of it! That said, if we eat a healthy balance of complex carbohydrates, this should not be the cause of weight gain. Instead it should be the cause of great energy levels and fantastic metabolic function across the board.
Squash including delicata, butternut, pumpkin, kabocha, etc. are packed with Vitamins C and A which help to keep your bones healthy, immune system in tip top shape and your vision intact!
They contain magnesium which helps to keep your heart in good rhythm and help to make DNA.
Root vegetables help to manage blood sugar (yes!! high carbohydrates can be good for blood sugar levels!), are a great source of prebiotic fiber, and have tons of anti-cancer nutrients and minerals!
Try This:
Have leftover veg in the house? Try making your own pot pie.
Chop up all the veg and saute with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic, until tender. Mix in a little flour (gluten free blends or arrowroot work well) to the veg and add a bit of water, or broth, plus a little of your favorite milk (I used homemade almond and coconut for this weeks), bring to a boil and then reduce heat until thickened. Pour into a baking dish and then pour pancake batter on top. Heat at 250 until the batter is browning and the filling is bubbling. You make anything into a pot pie and this is an excellent freezable dish!
xoxox