Author: Tristan Klesick

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Change                      

                                        Week of December 25th, 2022                                                      

   I am definitely looking forward to having less sweet options everywhere I go. We have one more week to navigate and then as if by magic, you can’t find an open parking spot at the local gym. Sadly, give it a week or three and the energy to sustain a lifestyle change will wane and parking spots will be more plentiful. 

I imagine if we could see what our health looks like in 20 years from now, it might be a motivating factor for us to make changes today. But honestly, most of us can look to our parents or grandparents and get a glimpse. So real change is mostly accomplished by finding your tribe today and surrounding yourself with folks who agree that the changes you are making are important. 

Thankfully, today there are a plethora of choices online or in person for coaching or friend groups. There are lots of Facebook groups that can be encouraging and uplifting. Change is possible and changing our future is possible, but…change requires a plan, implementation and mostly, you have to believe change is necessary. 

The holiday season can definitely impact one’s waistline or hips or chin. The bottom line is getting back on a dietary track filled with less processed foods, less sugar, and poor fats, is probably a welcome change and possibly a little overdue. 

I like what Doc Amen says, “Don’t drink your calories”. Cutting back on alcohol or going with half the pumps at the local coffee (sugar) stand would be good lifestyle changes for many of us. Going heavier on the veggies for a few weeks and giving your body a chance to reset from the sugar blitz, that is just finishing, would be a great start to the new year. 

A lot of you are getting one of our Essentials boxes. These boxes are designed to focus on certain categories of fruits and vegetables. And a whole lot of us ARE eating vegetables. In these boxes you have your choice of Fruit only, Veg and Salad, Fruit and Salad, and Fruit and Vegetables. Why do we have a Veg and Salad as separate categories? Well for one reason; the cost of food has greatly increased since 1998 when we started Box of Good, so in an attempt to provide meaningful amounts of food (nutrients) we started the Essential Boxes. The other motivation is that many of you prefer cooking type vegetables (veg) and others prefer salad type vegetables. By offering these two categories separately and combined you have more choices to fit your lifestyle and preferences. 

Many of you are also getting a Fruit and Veg Box (without salad items) one week and then getting a Fruit and Salad Box (without cooking vegetables) the other week. This is really easy to set up from your account. Just choose the Fruit and Salad box for one week and make the frequency every two weeks and then select a Fruit and Veg box for the next week and then choose every two weeks as the frequency. Then you will be on autopilot until vacation time. Of course, you can call us and we can set this up for you as well. 

We are honored to be your partners in health. 

Tristan, Joelle and the Box of Good Crew 

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Grandpa Time      

                              Week of December19th, 2022                                                          

I have been thinking about Christmas and all the planning that goes into so much of our lives this time of year. Somehow we find time to add in more events, more tasks, more family.  

At Box of Good this Christmas falls on a perfect day – Sunday. Sunday is the one day of the week that doesn’t require a lot of logistical planning. Essentially, Christmas and New Year’s are going to be as normal as normal can be for our team. 

This last weekend I had the pleasure of watching my newest grandson, Kylan, who is not all that new anymore at 10 months old. His personality is coming to life! There is something absolutely precious about the awe and wonder in a little one’s smile. It just melts my heart to see him crack a smile at all my grandpa goofiness. At least he humors me :)  I was the person with the most availability between his parents’ work schedule. I was definitely rewarded with more than my share of fun. 

I remember hearing a story about a father or a newborn who was from Australia. His family had recently moved to Los Angeles. Well “Mum” and Dad were heading out on a date and needed a babysitter. (Is that still a job for a kid these days?) Well, the young lady showed up and dad answered the door with a towel on one shoulder and a baby on the other. A fairly common look for most parents.  

Dad, “Hi, Thank you for coming. Please come in, we will be ready to go in a few minutes.” 

Babysitter, “Okay”.  
Dad, “Would you like to “nurse” the baby?”  

Babysitter, “A startled look.”  

Dad, gathering that she didn’t want to nurse the baby, said, “Alright, I will nurse him.”  

Which elicited an even more quizzical look from the teenager.   

Now they were both really confused. He was supposed to leave their baby with this teenager who wasn’t willing to nurse their baby. He couldn’t figure it out, in Australia, anyone can nurse a baby, and then as if on queue, it dawned on him that the teen thought he was asking her to breastfeed the baby. I showed her the bottle and explained “nursing” was bottle feeding. Crisis averted and they both had quite a laugh once they were on the same page.  

Thankfully, Kylan’s mom got me all set up to “nurse” him while she was gone! 

Merry Christmas, Tristan, Joelle and the Box of Good Cr 

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Simple Things            

                        Week of December 11th, 2022                                                          

This week’s church sermon was on finding joy amidst the craziness that this holiday season can bring. It was a call to be intentional and to expect the unexpected, both good and disappointing. Finding that happy place between the present reality and expectations is not easily achieved, and that is why grace is more important than ever. 

For some of you, the holidays are filled with mixed emotions. More than a few of you will have one less at the table as this will be the first Christmas without your spouse, a parent, or a dear friend to connect with. I am sorry for your loss. May your sorrow lead to peace as the beautiful memories fill the season.  

For others you have launched a college bound child and they are not coming home, or maybe they are bringing a special friend. And more than a few of you have added to your clan via marriage or subtracted due to divorce, and are now navigating how to accommodate your new normal.  

For us, we are blessed to have our newest grandson and his mom and dad back in WA for the first time in a few years for Christmas. Christmas excitement of a child, or in our case a grandchild, is contagious. We are also blessed this year to have our oldest son and wife coming from NC. Which means, barring any sickness, we will have all of our children, their spouses and our grandchildren under one roof for this Christmas season. All 25 of us. It is no small logistical feat to line up all the schedules to get 25 of us together, and if it works out I might consider it our Christmas miracle. 

Christmas is a season filled with sadness, loneliness, anxiety, but it also has its moments of love, peace and joy. It is perfectly acceptable to feel all of the emotions. I would like to encourage you to find common and unique ways to spread joy to others in your world, and in those moments when you brighten that friend, colleague or family member’s day, pause and experience the joy that comes back.  

Whatever season you find yourself in this Christmas season, we wish you many blessings!. 

Happy Holidays, 

  • Tristan and Joelle 
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Apples of Antiquity  

                                                      Week of October 17th, 2022        

I crave convenience. I don’t know about you, but at least for me life has gotten a ton busier.  Between older parents, children, grandchildren, the farm and Box of Good, my plate is pretty full. It is a good kind of full, but it is full.  

I gravitate to simple things all the time and especially when it comes to eating healthy. Our box menus tend to be built around items that you can easily prepare or grab and go. This is intentional on our part. Because as I alluded to earlier, life is full. Dave Ramsey shares that if you don’t have a plan for your money, Visa does. Sadly, it is the same with the Fast-food industry and not only do their food choices come with a premium they often lead to a with a few extra pounds around our waist.   

If I am going to be “stronger and healthier longer” I have to make a conscious choice today and plan to eat and walk and pause along this journey. I do this by doing a lot of one pot cooking or blending????  

Joelle and I recently celebrated 33 years of marriage and for our anniversary get away we went to Vancouver BC. It was so nice. Stanley Park is a treasure. Remember what I said about being stronger longer, when Joelle and I get away it usually involves miles of trails. It is not uncommon to log 5 –10 miles a day exploring. On Sunday morning, I ordered a green smoothie bowl for breakfast. I usually start my day with a smoothie anyway, but I have never made a smoothie bowl or more correctly, I have never poured my smoothie into a bowl!   

There are a few tricks to making a good smoothie or smoothie bowl. If you love the bright green of a spinach smoothie add frozen bananas and mangos. If you like a berry-based smoothie, I still recommend frozen bananas, but the berries will turn your smoothie red. I make all kinds of combinations and often add a chunk of ginger or some chia seeds. Frozen avocados will add a ton of fiber and a creaminess to your smoothie.   

One trick to making a thicker smoothie is using a 3:1:1 ratio. I use about 3 cups or frozen fruit to 1 cup of greens and 1 cup of liquid. You can always adjust the consistency by adding more liquid or more frozen fruit. 

For the liquid, sometimes I use almond milk other times coconut or oat or dairy. Variety is a key to health.   

And when it comes to toppings, any fresh fruit will do and you can add granola or shredded coconut. It is fun to make the smoothie bowls. The other morning, I made them for the whole family and assembled a selection for everyone to build their own. On reason I am fan of smoothie bowls in particular to just smoothies, is because health experts recommend “chewing” our smoothies??? Apparently, enzymes are released when we chew our food and sends a signal to our digestive system to get ready to process whatever we are sending it.   

By making a smoothie bowl and adding a few fresh fruit or granola toppings it forces us to chew and chewing must be important or we wouldn’t have teeth!  But their was one day last week where I had every intention of making a smoothie bowl. I had cut up the fruit and got out the granola and lost track of time and I tossed everything in the blender and poured in to a cup and drank and chewed my smoothie😊   

  • Tristan 
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Tomato Sauce    

                                                 Week of August 14th, 2022        

Last week I was walking the packing floor and I was drawn to all the local tomatoes that are coming. As a lazy cook or efficient (I will let you decide) I love to make one pot everything and occasionally 2 pots, but mostly I am interested in eating well and with as minimal clean up as possible.  

Around our home there is always lots of cut-up vegetables and fruit available. By prepping vegetables, the kiddos and adults gravitate towards them. It is an excellent strategy to get more veggies into our diets and family’s diet. Add some hummus and a quick nutritious snack or meal can be had.  

All the vegetables are kicking in right now and when I saw the tomatoes from our farm and others on the packing line, I loaded up. I grabbed cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, basil, Italian parsely, onions and garlic and head for the kitchen. Lunch was in the works.  

I could hardly contain my excitement. I prepped the onions and garlic, added olive oil and sauteed them, Then I added the cherry tomatoes whole and the halved the Romas. It was those Romas that first caught my eye, red, firm and beautiful and right next to them we equally vibrant cherry tomatoes.  After the onions and garlic were turning translucent, I added all the tomatoes, and let them sauté for a few minutes, then tossed in a hand full of Basil and Parsley, added a ¼ cup of water brought it all to a boil and then set it to simmer for a few hours. The whole office smelt heavenly.  

Next, I poured all ingredients into a Vitamix to blend it and then added it back to a skillet of Italian sausage to continue to simmer. Time for a flavor check, Yum! The last item to prep was the Pasta and add it all together. 2 pots to clean and we are done. Super healthy, super nutritious, and super easy to clean up!  

Cooking simple and flavorful dishes is my goal. And with fruit for smoothies and vegetables for soups, stews or sauces I can feed our team quick and healthy meals. And I always try to make enough for the next day, too. But more often than not, it all seems to disappear.

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One Pot Meals   

                                     Week of October 23rd, 2022        

   I had almost forgotten what rain looked like, but I was quickly reminded last weekend and grateful for the change in air quality. I even went hunting for my rain gear to layer up for 3 soccer games that the grand boys were playing. I hadn’t donned them for half a year and after a few minutes of scratching my chin, I was able to track them down and enjoy the weather and the games. I have been involved in soccer at some level for over 50 years and truth be told, I relish soccer in the rain. Probably because I have only known the NW weather during this season and so it is familiar to me.  

I also like the weather change because it beckons me to the kitchen with more time to cook. Take this week’s box; I will be using green beans, cauliflower and carrots in a curry served over rice.  I may or may not add chicken, but if I were, I would dice it up and lightly cook it and set it aside. Then add onions and garlic and a little oil to my pan.  I’d sauté them then add the green beans, cauliflower and carrots all diced up to uniform sizes. Sauté a little more, and then add a cup of broth and add in a curry paste, add back in the chicken and simmer this for an hour. At this point when I start to simmer the veggies in the curry and broth, I will add rice to boiling water or broth and then set it to cook the same time as the veggies.  Somewhere around when the rice is finishing up (40 minutes), I would ribbon cut the kale or spinach and add it, along with some coconut milk to the curry and finish simmer for another 10 minutes.   

Technically this is not a one pot meal, but it could easily be all made in one pot. However, my goal is to create two meals, so I am making considerably more than our family can eat. Once we have eaten the curry and rice dish, I will add more broth and water plus the remaining rice to the curry dish and turn it into a soup.   

This is an easy way to eat for a few days and it also happens to be a great way to bless your friends and family with extra meals because this type of nutritious veggie heavy dishes freezes and stores well.  

But true to the title, I could have added the rice, curry, chicken and broth and brought it all to a boil and then simmered the whole recipe and served it as a standalone hearty dish.  

What are your favorite fall soups?  

  

Bon Appetit,  

  • Tristan  
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Earlier this Week

Last weekend, I was up early; earlier than normal. And instead of tossing and wishing I could go back to sleep I got up. I had even turned off my alarm the night before, hoping that I could sleep past 5am. 4:30 came and I was awake, but so was the morning sky. It was definitely worth the earlier start to my day, but truth be told, I will try and get in a siesta later. 

This morning I took advantage of the earlier start and started making sourdough bread, which in reality started a few days ago, when I “woke up” my starter and started prepping it for Sunday baking. That was a whole lot using the word starter, but you have to start somewhere. 😊 Baking is relaxing for me, I am not a pastry type of baker and I am certainly not a detail person, but I do like to follow a recipe at least once. 

I measure my ingredients using a scale. The baker’s formula is so simple 100% four, and then 80% water, 20% starter and 2% salt. So, in a real-world application it looks like this; 1200 grams of flour, 960 grams of water, 240 grams of starter and 24 grams of salt. As is my practice, I add the water, then the starter so it equals 1200 grams. Then I reset the scale to 0 and add the 1200 grams of flour, but this morning I turned off the scale by mistake and started adding flour. The reset and off buttons are right next to each other. I realized that it was turned off fairly quickly, but now I had no way of knowing how much flour I added. EEK! But in reality, close enough will work, so I added more flour and added more flour and then I thought, “this looks close enough.” Life can be similar to a recipe, and processes and habits are important, but when things shift or go awry, it will mostly work out. We will have fresh baked bread and the the kiddos and grand kiddos will make quick work of it.  

Healthy eating is similar to my bread baking experience, we need nutrition, and getting a Box of Good delivered is a great strategy to eating healthier. And because life is always happening, your delivery makes it easier to automate your health because good food is scheduled to arrive at your door. And much like the Baker’s formula helps a baker produce consistent loaves, your Box of Good helps you eat healthier. And for me staying as healthy and strong, as long as I can, is my goal, and it all starts with good food.  

This week we have fun, local purple carrots! I am attaching an article on Purple Carrots I found at https://www.organicfacts.net/purple-carrot.html  

Purple Carrot Nutrition 

Purple carrots have a similar nutrient profile to other types of carrots, with a few important distinctions. These carrots are a rich source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, potassium, manganese, and vitamin K. There is a low level of calories – only 25 calories per cup – and only 5 grams of carbohydrates. When it comes to antioxidants, however, purple carrots have a good lutein and beta-carotene content. Purple carrots also contain more phenolic compounds, such as anthocyanins, than any other carrot variety, except for black carrots. [2] 

Purple Carrot Health Benefits 

The most impressive health benefits of purple carrots include its effects on weight loss, chronic disease, cardiovascular disease, inflammatory conditions, vision, and circulation, among others. 

Weight Loss 

Purple carrots are particularly prized for their place in a weight-loss diet. This low-calorie, low-fat, and high-fiber vegetable is an excellent way to fill yourself up without compromising your dietary goals. Furthermore, digesting all of that fiber can help to speed up your metabolism, which can help with passive fat-burning if you’re trying to shed pounds. 

Cardiovascular Disease 

With high levels of dietary fiber and antioxidants that can help protect the integrity of the cardiovascular system, purple carrots are great for heart health. The fiber can help to lower overall cholesterol levels, which will lower your risk of atherosclerosis, heart attacks, and strokes, as well as cardiovascular diseases. The vitamin C in these carrots is also critical for the strength of the artery and blood vessel walls. [3] 

Reduces Inflammation 

Research has shown that anthocyanins, which are found in high concentrations in purple carrots, can help relieve many different inflammatory conditions, including arthritis, gout, headaches, and even hemorrhoids. [4] 

Improves Vision 

Although purple carrots contain less beta-carotene than orange and yellow varieties, there is also a significant amount of lutein and zeaxanthin in these carrots, all of which can help to improve vision. These antioxidants will reduce oxidative stress in the retina, preventing macular degeneration and lowering your risk of cataracts. [5] 

Improves Circulation 

There is a decent amount of iron in purple carrots, which is great for boosting circulation, but the presence of vitamin C and other antioxidants will also help to prevent breakage and blockage within the circulatory system, ensuring that all your metabolic processes continue normally. [6] 

Treats Chronic Disease 

The high level of anthocyanins found in these colored carrots means that they are excellent antioxidants; these compounds are able to seek out and neutralize free radicals, which are responsible for cellular mutation and other forms of chronic disease, such as heart diseases, and rheumatoid arthritis. [7] 

How to add Purple Carrots to your diet? 

Adding purple carrots to your diet is very easy and healthy as well. Here are some simple ways to add them to your diet. 

  • Purple carrot salads: You can dice some purple carrots and add to any salad of your choice 
  • Roasted purple carrots: Slice the carrots and roast them with some olive oil, salt, and pepper 
  • Stir-fries: You can add purple carrots to while making any stir fry along with your favorite vegetables or meats 
  • Carrots and hummus: You can serve sliced purple carrots alongside hummus 
  • Soups and stews: Purple carrots can be added while preparing any soup or stew 

There are many ways to enjoy purple carrots, so start cooking and enjoy! 

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Hot, Cold & Cabbage 

This weather has felt more like spring than a start to our summer. One thing for sure is our farm team has a lot of weeding to do. 

The boxes are trending towards more and more local and definitely a lot of summer fruit are showing up from the farmers in California. We have been buying from some of these farmers for over 2 decades. They are great at what they do and have the climate and soil types to grow these crops. We are so blessed in America that we have such a diverse farming community and equally diverse regions to draw fruits and vegetables from as well. 

As the climate changes, having many geographic regions will help America to be able to feed itself as well as other countries. Our geographic diversity is so important to not only navigate the effects of climate change, but for our health because we should continue to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables year around.  

If the American population could make one change to their diets it would be to add a few more servings of fruits and vegetables.   

In an Article located at https://nutrition.org/most-americans-are-not-getting-enough-fiber-in-our-diets/ 

Rockville, Maryland (June 7, 2021) — Only 5% of men and 9% of women are getting the recommended daily amount of dietary fiber, according to a study being presented at NUTRITION 2021 LIVE ONLINE. Insufficient fiber intake is associated with a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes, two of the most common diseases in the U.S. 

“These findings should remind people to choose fiber-rich foods like whole grains, fruits and vegetables to reduce their risk for heart disease,” said Derek Miketinas, PhD, RD, an assistant professor at Texas Woman’s University, the study’s lead author. “Based on our findings, fewer than 1 in 10 U.S. adults meet their daily recommendations for fiber intake. For those with diabetes, it is especially important to eat enough fiber since they are at a greater risk for heart disease.” 

The daily fiber goal for females is 21 to 25 grams per day and for males is between 30-35 grams. Your Box of Good is filled with fruits and vegetables that will help you reach the recommended daily fiber goals. As an example, the local green cabbage from Ralph’s Greenhouse this week is packed with fiber. Here is the nutritional profile for 1 cup of raw cabbage. 

  • Calories: 22. 
  • Protein: 1 gram. 
  • Fiber: 2 grams. 
  • Vitamin K: 85% of the RDI. 
  • Vitamin C: 54% of the RDI. 
  • Folate: 10% of the RDI. 
  • Manganese: 7% of the RDI. 
  • Vitamin B6: 6% of the RDI. 

Tristan 

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Mud

In the last 20 years I cannot remember a spring like this. We have had wet Aprils or Mays or even June’s. But I can’t remember a season when all three months were wet. It is what it is, some farmers are skipping whole plantings because the crop they grow like potatoes requires more time to grow than what is left of the growing season. Farming is a unique industry and when you miss the planting window, you have to wait till next year.  

If you were thinking about taking a drive through the river valley’s right now, you might want to wait to wash your car until you get back. I took one of the back roads to town and the road was caked in mud. It was like driving over several of those road “turtles”. You couldn’t miss them if you tried 🙁. But right now, it is go time and if a farmer gets a weather window to plant or cut grass for silage, they are taking it. Which means mud on equipment from the fields will be deposited on the roads. There are more than a few farmers this spring that have chained up their equipment to pull it out of the field. Ironically, mud and chains are more synonymous with the Fall harvest when the rainy season starts early in September. I am praying for a long, extended summer! 

But back to this spring, we are getting close to being fully planted on our farm. We have settled for “good enough” with our seedbeds and hope the vegetables can work it out with the weather to come. As a small farmer, we use smaller equipment, which works to our advantage during these seasons. Having a lighter footprint is kinder to the soil, but also allows us to get in sooner. We also plant our crops by hand.  

Larger Farms have to use the big “toys” to farm as much ground as they do, which means I can get into my fields sooner because of our scale. But we are also feeding thousands of people and they are feeding hundreds of thousands of people. Our communities need all types of farms growing all types of foods.  

Our country is also blessed because we have a lot of growing regions and when one region is off anohter is on. Take last year, the Barley and wheat farmers in Eastern WA had poor yields because of the hot summer, this year they are ecstatic because of the plentiful rain fall.  

Which brings to another point, we need to conserve as much farmland as possible everywhere possible to make sure we can feed ourselves as a nation and the best way to conserve farmland is to support organic farmers like you are doing with each Box of Good delivery you get. Profit is the simplest way to encourage a farmer to keep farming. We farm because of you, our network of local farms keeps farming because of you.  

We are thankful for you.  

Tristan 

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Mange Tout or Mangetout 

I have been perusing my new cookbook One-Pot Vegetarian by Sabrina Fauda-Role. I absolutely love the simplicity of one-pot cooking. And thanks to this book I am learning a few new words to add to my repertoire. Double cream was a word that caught my interest early on. Apparently in England they have a thicker cream than “heavy” and it cooks differently as well. The reason I know this is because Sabrina the author says, “put all the ingredients in the pot, bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer.” If you were substituting “heavy” cream then you would end up curdling the cream. Best to add cream at the end.  

The word I am writing about in this newsletter is mangetout. I had no idea what this word meant. I read and reread the recipe, studied the picture and nothing looked out of the ordinary. I knew what all the ingredients were, except snow peas were not listed but were definitely an ingredient. Then taking a page out of my kids’ book, “duh, just google it.” 

With my trusty I-phone in hand, I looked up mangetout. And low and behold it was referring to young snow or sugar peas. I am still scratching my head over the name of snow peas in England. However, the French word mange tout means to “eat all”. Which would certainly apply to what you do with snow peas – eat all of it. I also find it interesting that in France they call snow peas, sugar peas, referring to their delicate sweetness. 

The French mange tout is certainly a good admonition for all of us. I am going to heartily enjoy my latest one-pot wonder and eat it all, including the snow, sugar or mangetout peas! 

Thanks for choosing Box of Good to help feed your family, 

Tristan