The Foods We Grow Into
The Foods We Grow Into
I was a thriving and surviving ’80s girl.
There were cases of Fanta, Sunkist and Tab in the garage. Cheetos and Oreos were afternoon snacks. Dinner was usually a vegetable out of a can, a starch out of a box with a shelf life of 2,000 years, and some rubberized meat. Always with a glass of milk. The milk helped wash it all down.
I thought everyone ate this way. I didn’t know about farmers markets, fresh vegetables or organic anything. We ate whatever the military commissary had in whichever state or country we were living in at the time. We survived!
Fast forward to college, where ramen noodles with a can of peas seemed both delicious and nutritious. That was the surviving on a budget era. Then came marriage and a baby, all in the first year of my marriage and my 26th year on this earth. Suddenly, I had a little reason to learn more about what I was putting on the table, not just for the sake of my growing babies.
It started with a cookbook, help from my partner Whit, and a willingness to try new things. Babies pushed me toward vegetables like a mo-fo. The science of food came later, when I went back to school in the mid-2000s—some 20 years ago now.
Food, and my understanding of its value, is something I grew into later in life. And I’m still growing into it.
What is your favorite season for food?
Mine is that lovely overlap between summer and fall at the farmers market. One week I’m bringing home strawberries, peaches and corn; the next, I’m reaching for acorn squash, kale and beans. If you’d shown my ’80s self a bunch of kale and told her she’d be excited to take it home, she would have reached for the Oreos.
But time changes our tastes. So does learning how to cook something. I passed by foods for years that I now look forward to eating. A little age and wisdom have helped me enjoy food for its flavor, the people I share it with, and how it helps me feel—not just for whether I’ve made the “right” choice.
A pot of white bean soup can make tomorrow’s lunch easier. Kale becomes something I crave when it’s paired with roasted squash and a good dressing. A date filled with nut butter and drizzled with dark chocolate is a pretty wonderful way to end the day.
I still love the last peaches of summer. I’m also ready to bring home the first squash of fall. Both belong on my table.
Five Fall Recipes
To welcome the season, I put together five recipes I have been making, tweaking and mastering over the last decade and I am sharing with you:
White bean and pumpkin veggie soup for a warm, make-ahead meal
Kale harvest salad with apple and roasted squash
Lemon raspberry chia oat pudding to prepare the night before
Cashew chicken crunch salad with squash, my Queen Bee lunch on repeat
Nut butter dates with dark chocolate drizzle for something sweet
Get all five fall recipes here.
Beans, oats, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds bring fiber and variety to the week. They also make meals satisfying and delicious. I hope you find one recipe you want to make first—and maybe one food you’re ready to give another chance.
Reply and tell me-- What food have you grown to love with time?
My fall sessions started September 9 and there’s still time to sign up:
Method 25 Nutrition Program
Prep. Build. Stack.
🫶
-Jenny
