Category: Newsletters

Spinach and Shallots                              Week of January 26^th, 2023        

This week we are offering a great menu. As I was looking over the menu, I really enjoyed the nice assortment of fruits and vegetables that are featured in your Box of Good that Alaina and Kelsey selected. I was immediately drawn to the shallots and spinach. Of course, it is not the local farm season for spinach, but when I saw spinach on the menu, my mind drifted off to a cool fall morning in late September a decade or more ago. 

  We were on “bolt” alert for this crop. It was a variety that often could grow twice the size of normal spinach if the right conditions were present. I was nervous that we would lose the crop if we waited much longer. The leaves were huge, so big I remember my daughter holding up one leaf and she hid her entire face behind it 🙂. Everything had to line up perfectly for this to happen and that Fall season it all lined up. 

Bolting is a term used to describe when a plant goes to seed. You see this in a lot of vegetating crops like spinach, chard, kale, etc. A change in weather or prolonged heat can cause stress and because the plant’s primary goal is reproduction at some point it will switch from growing to seed production. When a plant thinks it has enough reserves, it can at any moment start bolting and switch to making seeds. My goal is to help the plant stay in growing mode. Yes, you can often eat plants in the bolting stage, but normally they are getting tougher and can have a bitter taste. This stage is usually called Raab, like Broccoli Raab or Kale Raab.  

This week California “non bolting” spinach is on the menu with WA shallots. Here is my take on spinach and shallots. After I had washed the spinach and discarded the stem ends. I would chop it up, add blackberries, raw shallots, thinly sliced, and drizzle with a fruity vinaigrette. Or if I was looking to cook a quick meal, I would sauté the shallots and red pepper with some garlic in some butter or olive oil until they were translucent and then toss in the spinach and wilt it down. Season with salt and pepper or your favorite seasoning and serve ASAP.  
 

Lastly Spinach is great added to soups, smoothies and salads.  

Thank you for choosing Box of Good for you and your family. 

• Tristan, Joelle, and Alaina and the Box of Good Crew  

                Week of February 12^th, 2023        

The Spring Broccoli coming out of California has been absolutely, hands down, super fresh and tasty. I know after years of farming, some things just get my attention. And the Broccoli has been front and center. Personally I love to boil broccoli. “What did he say ‘boil’ broccoli?” I absolutely said boil. I did not say, “Boil to oblivion!” I like to add a generous amount of salt to the water, so it tastes salty. Then I cut up the stems into 1/4”x1/4” chunks and then add the florets. I will then toss all of the broccoli into the water. If I had an hour or more I would let the broccoli sit and then bring it to a boil. It will take only a few minutes to cook once the water begins to boil, but check with a fork or knife for your desired tenderness. When it is perfect for you, strain and eat. I don’t think you need to add anything but you could season it with butter or some parmesan or whatever your family’s go to seasonings are.  

Asparagus (resharing from last week) 

When I first started in the produce industry it was in NW Portland in 1993. I was a produce clerk, learning the difference between butter lettuce and leaf lettuce or navels and valencias. I remember my first Thanksgiving Holiday asif it was yesterday. In those days, we would work overnight and get the store ready for holiday shoppers. The owner came wandering through at 4am and I was on the other side of the produce rack and I heard him say, “The grass display is a little light”. I set that side of the rack and after he left I asked the manager, “Where is the grass?”  When I walked over I did see the wheat grass that we were selling to pet owners and juicers, but that wasn’t what the owner was referring to. My manager smiled one of those Cheshire cat grins and he pointed to the Asparagus, of course Grass = Asparagus, duly noted.  

                                         Week of January 15^th, 2023                                               

What is Chicory? I am glad you asked. This is a large group of vegetables that graces the tables of many Europeans, but tends to be less popular on this side of the “pond” with Americans. There are as many types of chicory as there are lettuces and they range the gamut from sweet to bitter tasting. Some of the most common names are Belgian Endive, Escarole, Curly Endive, Frissee and Radicchio. However, the most well known chicory plant is the Dandelion! I swear I grow acres of dandelions every year in our pastures. Sometimes I have even considered mowing 2 foot strips and pretending I have fields of Daffodils (Big Smile). Ironically the Dandelion is an important plant as it has a deep tap root that mines nutrients and brings them to the service so that when the plant dies back or gets mowed those nutrients are added to the top of soil structure.  

A few weeks ago, our supplier had sent us a mislabeled case of lettuce. It doesn’t happen often, but Curly Endive showed up serendipitously. Since we normally don’t have chicory’s on the menu, I noticed the interloper straight away. If I could do cartwheels, I would have probably tossed in a back flip, too. I was that excited!  

In fact I was so excited that I grabbed a head, some onions, mushrooms, garlic and broth and proceeded to cook up a quick lunch for the team. Now if you have been a customer for a while, you know that I am a big fan of simple, quick and one pot meals! I firmly believe that nutrition is minutes away and cleanup should be quick and easy too.  

The Curly Endive in some of your boxes this week and can be used as a salad item or as a vegetable like kale, chard or spinach. Use the whole thing in a pot of soup. Because the Curly Endive has an open structure it is easy to clean with a quick rinse, then pat it dry and lay the whole head on its side and cut it into 1-2” strips all the way down to the stem end. For me, I look to saute the onions and garlic and then add broth and everything else. Add the greens at this point, season and cook for 30 minutes on medium. Don’t be afraid to add other vegetables or proteins. Soups are a great way to eat healthy and eat your veggies! 

Here’s to a healthy 2023! 

• Tristan, Joelle and the Box of Good crew 

                                   Week of January 22ⁿ , 2023  

Joelle and I attended a trade show in South Carolina last week. Our oldest son and his wife live only a couple hours from there. I attended the show and talked to other small businesses (one of my happy places) and Joelle explored the trails (her happy place) in and around SC and NC. Micah and Elise picked up Joelle and they hiked all morning and I was able to join them for the afternoon. Then Joelle and I did more hiking and exploring the next day in the Brevard area of NC.  

Transylvania County in NC is definitely the land of waterfalls. We visited Rainbow Falls, Triple Falls, Hooker Falls, Table Top State park, Wild Cat Falls, and Devil’s Kitchen in Caesar Head. Pretty Place outdoor chapel was definitely a highlight and a must see if you are in the area. This was an epic spot to sit and ponder the Creator amidst breathtaking views.  

When traveling it’s fun to try unique and cultural foods. We expected Southern cooking, but Greenville also had quite a broad range of foods we were able to enjoy. I’d say we probably fall into the category of “foodies” and enjoy researching and finding restaurants, farm stands and whole food markets that invest in the local economy and local farms. As fun and delicious as the food was on our getaway, coming home to our kitchen was…well…home.  

After having not been in the kitchen for almost a week, I was eager to get my creative culinary juices flowing. I’d been wanting to try the Curly Green Endive from last week’s box. I went to the shop and I grabbed that, along with some other staples. We cooked not one, but two one pot meals. The first was a Quinoa Sweet Potato casserole and the other a Salmon with Bok Choy and Endive. And while those two were cooking on the stove top we cooked one of our mouthwatering Brown Sugar Pear Pie from Wild Crow Pies. A couple friends joined us and everyone left satisfied and full! There’s nothing like home-cooked tasty, healthy meals! I love being a part of my meals from start to finish.  

It was good to visit our out of state kids and to experience SC and NC, but it’s also good to come home. There’s no place like home or like home cookin’! 

Enjoy this week’s box and cook up something healthy and delicious! 

• Tristan 

                                           Week of January 29^th, 2023        

Years ago, we added three assorted bags to our offerings. Several folks wanted an extra head of lettuce or carrots or some apples and bananas. But way back in the beginning when online shopping was just getting going the shopping platforms were not as easy to navigate. During these early years we created “curated” mini menus, AKA the Assorted Salad, Assorted Veggie, and the Assorted Fruit bags. Our assorted bags are great additions to supplement your Box of Good. Think of these as similar to “mini” Essential boxes that contain 3-5 types of produce.  

Because many of you love more salad or cooking vegetables or some more in season fruit and are happy with a grab bag approach these were the perfect addition. These assorted bags are easy to order and can add a little extra of a certain type of fruit or vegetable quickly and easily but save time not having to order items individually. It is also a great way to get an extra type of produce (salad, cooking veggies or fruit) without having to order another box. The assorted bags pricing is $7 for the Assorted Salad and Assorted Vegetables and $11 for the Assorted Fruit bag. 

Of course, today you can order one of our Assorted Bags, or you can just easily add any item to your delivery by shopping online at Box of Good. We are happy to hand pack your fresh produce however you prefer to order them – so shop away! 🙂 

If you would like to have some extra produce weekly or every other week and are happy with a grab bag assortment of produce, consider adding an assorted bag with your next delivery.  

Thank you for choosing Box of Good for you and your family. 

• Tristan, Joelle, and Alaina and the Box of Good Crew 

                                      Week of January 8^th, 2023                                                 

As we move through citrus season and add a variety of oranges, mandarins, grapefruits, and pummelos to your boxes, we sometimes have people wondering about something: How are seedless oranges, well, seedless? Does it take genetic modification to create seedless oranges? 

This is a fair question! After all, with what we know about biology and the furthering of plant species, a fruit not having seeds seems contrary to everything we’ve been taught. Thankfully I can assure you that seedless oranges are in the category of non-GMO and every orange we send in our Box of Good is organic as well. Let’s take a moment to look at the history and biology of seedless citrus! 

Seedless fruits originate from plants that are, for all intents and purposes, “infertile”. This means that the plants or trees produce fruit but the fruit itself has no way of then creating a new plant to continue the genetic line. Instead of planting seeds to obtain seedless fruit, they are instead grown through a process called grafting, in which a shoot from one tree is attached in a specific manner to another tree and then the shoot grows as if it were originally part of the tree. This is how we get many varieties of fruit (you may have heard of this particularly related to apple trees as this is quite popular in the apple industry). In this case, shoots from a seedless orange tree are grafted, or propagated, onto another tree, and so on to continue growth. 

Historically speaking, a tree that produced seedless oranges was discovered in the 19th century in South America. From there, grafting was used to begin the process of growing what we now know of as navel oranges! Similar processes have been used for other seedless fruits as well, such as grapes and watermelon. Not a product of genetic modification, but rather inventive growers capitalizing on unique mutations in fruit to provide enjoyment and convenience to the consumer! 

I love learning more about the processes of growing the food that we are so quick to enjoy. As a culture, we tend to be so separated from the food we eat and lack knowledge about its origins, the time and care that it took to grow it, and how it makes its way to our plates. The more you know about the food you eat; the more appreciation you have for it and the greater intentionality you will have with ensuring that what you eat is what’s best for you! 

As we continue to strive to offer you the very best of food options, we will also strive to provide resources, tips, and education about that food.  

-Emily and the Box of Good Team 

                             Week of January 26^th, 2023        

This week we are offering a great menu. As I was looking over the menu, I really enjoyed the nice assortment of fruits and vegetables that are featured in your Box of Good that Alaina and Kelsey selected. I was immediately drawn to the shallots and spinach. Of course, it is not the local farm season for spinach, but when I saw spinach on the menu, my mind drifted off to a cool fall morning in late September a decade or more ago. 

  We were on “bolt” alert for this crop. It was a variety that often could grow twice the size of normal spinach if the right conditions were present. I was nervous that we would lose the crop if we waited much longer. The leaves were huge, so big I remember my daughter holding up one leaf and she hid her entire face behind it 🙂. Everything had to line up perfectly for this to happen and that Fall season it all lined up. 

Bolting is a term used to describe when a plant goes to seed. You see this in a lot of vegetating crops like spinach, chard, kale, etc. A change in weather or prolonged heat can cause stress and because the plant’s primary goal is reproduction at some point it will switch from growing to seed production. When a plant thinks it has enough reserves, it can at any moment start bolting and switch to making seeds. My goal is to help the plant stay in growing mode. Yes, you can often eat plants in the bolting stage, but normally they are getting tougher and can have a bitter taste. This stage is usually called Raab, like Broccoli Raab or Kale Raab.  

This week California “non bolting” spinach is on the menu with WA shallots. Here is my take on spinach and shallots. After I had washed the spinach and discarded the stem ends. I would chop it up, add blackberries, raw shallots, thinly sliced, and drizzle with a fruity vinaigrette. Or if I was looking to cook a quick meal, I would sauté the shallots and red pepper with some garlic in some butter or olive oil until they were translucent and then toss in the spinach and wilt it down. Season with salt and pepper or your favorite seasoning and serve ASAP.  
 

Lastly Spinach is great added to soups, smoothies and salads.  

Thank you for choosing Box of Good for you and your family. 

• Tristan, Joelle, and Alaina and the Box of Good Crew  

                             Week of December 4^th 2022                                                          

 These tiny cabbages are in a class all by themselves. Brussels Sprouts are one my favorite vegetables and are a staple all winter long. As a farmer, I’ll just say, growing these beauties are not for the faint of heart. I usually defer to my neighbors who enjoy the challenge. The goal is to transplant in late July so that they can get well established, and then when the cold weather sets in they are mostly mature and will continue growing at a slower rate. And since we live in the floodplain, that isn’t protected by dikes, coupled with the fact that they take months to grow, I have left this veggie to other farmers to supply the Box of Good. The cold weather is what imparts a sweetness to the Brassica family (Cabbages, Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Brussels Sprouts).   

I am including a link to a YouTube video with 3 different ways to prepare Brussels Sprouts by Brian Lagerstrom. He has a French feel to his cooking and an easy-to-follow style.   (youtube.com/watch?v=1LlZJFfJyxk)  

I am going to try blanching them this week. I don’t usually blanch my vegetables, but after watching him do it, I am all in. I am not sure why I haven’t blanched much before, but I can definitely see some advantages. It can help vegetables to not get overcooked (which I think overcooked Brussels Sprouts have given them a bad rap). I also loved his take a on a grated Brussels Sprouts salad and for sure his recipe could easily be adapted for broccoli or red or green cabbage. Having a few techniques to draw upon that can work across many different veggies is important knowledge to have in your cooking repertoire.  

However, blanching full size cabbages is not recommended, but for sure grating them makes a lot of sense (think fancy coleslaw). The other night Joelle and enjoyed an Apple Ginger Cole Slaw at the Blue Heron on Camano Island. I like ginger and apples, so combining those flavors with cabbage provided a light and refreshing appetizer.  

This week I will be blanching up some Brussels Sprouts. How about you?  

Walnuts  

On the home farm, our walnuts are ready to enjoy! We will be putting them into a menu shortly, but for now you can add them to your order. 

  

-Tristan, Joelle and Box of Good Crew  

                                        Week of December 25^th, 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 

                              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 

                        Week of December 11^th, 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 

                                                              Week of August 1, 2022        

With some of you new here, we’d like to share with you a few things to help you get to know us better, and also give you some important information that relates to your delivery.   

Tristan and Joelle Klesick have been providing home delivered, organic, produce locally since 1998. During the local farming season, they grow vegetables in the beautiful Stillaguamish Valley at their home farm, Klesick Family Farm, as well as source fruit and vegetables from a variety of PNW farms. They see you as partners in the important task of being good stewards of the land, and keeping local farmland viable for the next generation! You will have an opportunity to hear from them, along with our helpful staff, in the weekly newsletter, via recipes, produce tips, and farm and health musings!   In order to meet all of our customers’ produce needs, we also source produce year-round from warmer regions. All of our produce is always certified organic and GMO-free! We also carry a large variety of organic and natural grocery items, including local dairy, meat, pies, kombucha, eggs, soaps, coffee, meal kits and more! We’d love for you to be able to eat healthily and locally, while creating more time for you to pursue the things you love to do!  

Be sure to check out our “How to store your produce” section on our website. We’d encourage you to use reusable produce storage bags or containers. We also have plastic and biodegradable bags available for purchase. Taking care to store items in their ideal setting is key to their longevity. Our aim is to send out only the highest quality produce. If you ever receive something upon delivery that is sub quality or you are missing an item, please let us know and we will credit your account or send out a replacement with your next delivery.  

When you’re done unboxing your produce, fold up your box and put it out the morning of your next delivery, and our driver will pick it up. We reuse our boxes to minimize waste.  

Be sure to follow us on social media, and read our emails for specials and seasonal offers. You may also like to check our website on Friday afternoons to get a sneak peek at what’s coming in next week’s boxes.  

If there are produce items you just don’t care for, or you have food allergies to certain items, no problem. Just call or email to make a substitution to your box, for only $1 extra. You can also add an item as a “never send” to your account; meaning if that item is ever on the menu for your box, we will “never send” it to you and will make a substitution for that item.   

Creating a custom box of items that you know you’ll love is also a great option. You can go to our website, click on “Shop” and simply select the items you wish to purchase and add them to your cart. You can also set that up as recurring, so you can have the items in your cart come automatically each week. The options are endless! You have total flexibility with when and how much produce you receive to best fit your family’s eating habits.  

Please note that from the “Deliveries” page in your account, you can add, edit, remove, or adjust your delivery up until 8am two days prior to your delivery. Please call or email for any late changes.  

If you still have questions, be sure to check out our FAQ’s page. If you’re just not sure how to best order for your family or would prefer to talk it over with us, we’d love to help you with that. Don’t hesitate to contact us for any reason through email, phone or the address listed below.  

Once again, thank you for choosing Box of Good for all of your produce and healthy grocery needs. Eat well!  

-Alaina Klesick, for the Box of Good Team  

                                                      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 

                                                 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.

                                     Week of October 23^rd, 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