It’s that time of year again – backpacks and school supplies are purchased, and morning rushes onto buses or into carpools reign chaotic during the week. Often, as the year gets busier, we find it hard to keep on track with healthy eating. The last thing we want to do after driving the kids all over town after school or battling over homework is to spend extra time cooking a healthy dinner from scratch. Never mind planning a healthy lunchbox for the next day! We know where you’re coming from, and we want to help.
October is also Farm to School month, so we’ll be sharing tips on ways to incorporate farmer’s market outings with the healthy foods you and your kids are eating at home!
Join us on your own, as a team, or with your school/company/friends/family for this monthlong challenge celebrating the fall abundance!
We were so thrilled to have a team from the Michael & Susan Dell Center For Healthy Living take the VegOut! Challenge this month! The mission of the center (“We advance health and healthy living for children and families through cutting-edge research, innovative community-based programs, and dissemination of evidence-based practices.”) much aligns with the mission of Recipe For Success, both hoping to end childhood obesity and encourage healthy habits.
The center also puts an emphasis on workplace wellness, including a Farm-to-Work Program where Animal Farm brings organic produce to their offices weekly. They’ve been offering recipe ideas & shopping tips on their social media channels, while encouraging both employees & others connected with the organization to participate. For the last day of the challenge, they even hosted a salad swap – where faculty & staff brought their favorite toppings to share and try! They were the perfect partners for the farm-focused July Challenge! To see more about them, check out their instagram & website. And if you’re in the Austin area, consider donating or volunteering!
Rule of thirds – It can help to separate your plate into three sections. One for grains, one for veg, and one for protein. Ideally, the vegetable section should be the largest, then the protein, then grain.
Make veggies delicious – Find a blog you love, and try some of their recipes. If you enjoy the way vegetables taste, you’ll be more likely to eat them! Try Love & Lemons and Cookie + Kate.
Fit it into the schedule – Feel that you’re way too busy to shop & cook? There are plenty of meal-order services out there that will deliver dinner to your door, and all you have to do is put it together. There are also incredible options for prepared, plant based meals that can arrive at your home ready to eat. Sakara Life & Define Foods are great examples.
Plan ahead – What happens when we’re really busy but also want to cook each meal? Sauce is the savior here. If you prepare a couple different sauces at the beginning of the week, you can use them over whatever you make, transforming regular vegetables, grains, & proteins into delicious meals.
Sign up for a CSA – Your local farm probably has one of these, where a basket or box of vegetables will be available for pickup or delivery every week. It’s a great way to get local veggies without the hassle of going to the store. Plus you’re sure to have the epitome of whatever is in season for your area!
Make it a habit – eventually, it will become second nature to have vegetables at every meal, and you’ll feel odd not to incorporate them!
Hello Summer VegOut! Enthusiasts,
We are excited about spotlighting small farms this month hoping to inspire you to buy local while eating your 30 different veggies in July. Did you know that you can earn badges for supporting local farms? The kids will love that! Will you please share your farm discoveries with us on social media with the hashtag #vegout2018—and we will tell the world. In the meantime, here are a few of our favorites around the country.
Brooklyn Grange is a 1.5 acre rooftop farm in Brooklyn, NY. They produce over 50,000 lbs of organic produce a year, and have a long waitlist for their CSA. They also host weddings, farm dinners, tours, and many other events throughout the year with the goal of expanding awareness & understanding around food sources.
Under a Tin Roof is a small family homestead in Wellman, Iowa, offering a CSA of vegetables, meats, and home goods all made on the property. They also have a u-pick market on Fridays.
Working on 20 acres in Encinitas, CA, Coastal Roots Farm is a non-profit growing food for their give-what-you-can farm stand, supporting members of the community who cannot afford organic, healthy food.
Hope Farms Stand
If you live in the Houston area, come visit us on Saturday mornings from 9 to noon at 10401 Scott Street! We’ve got squash, melon, onions, amaranth, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, & more!
What’s in Season?
Don’t know what is in season where you live? Here‘s a great guide to seasonal summer food all over the country. Whatever is in season, bought locally from an organic producer, will always taste better than what you’ll find in the grocery store.
Summer Recipes
Our culinary director, Paola, and her daughter come out to Hope Farms on Saturdays and cook during the Farm Stand. It gives shoppers a chance to taste the produce prepared in ways they may not have thought of before. Want to try what they’re cooking? Here’s the recipe for Summer Veggie Paella:
Servings
Prep Time
4 people
15 minutes
Cook Time
1:15 hour
Ingredients:
4 cups chicken stock
1 pinch saffron
5 sprigs thyme
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow squash cut into 1/4″ coins
1 small zucchini cut into 1/4″ coins
1/2 eggplant cut into 1/4″ coins
1 oz dried chorizo finely chopped
1/2 onion finely chopped …read more
