Sunday Song Day: "Sister's Are Doin' It For Themselves" Reprise with The Big Pillars That Helped Them To Do So!

Great Googly Moogly!!!

If our eyes look bleary, it’s because they’ve either been bugging out of our heads or filled with tears for the last 48 hours; and as we stood in front Apple Valley UMC (<—the beacon of light that already hosts a Community Food Pantry, and is allowing us to rent their unused commercial kitchen <—thus essential to this whole operation <—We cannot thank them enough!!) we were swept up in a tempest of emotions: relief, joy, gratitude, shock, and perpetual high-pitched stress-whir of “AAAHH!”😅

We had a “Wouldn’t it be nice” order goal, we were excitedly only a few spots away from that dream with a week yet to go for sign-ups, and then Vegan CNY did a blast about the business and within 24 hours we’d doubled our “dream” and had to shut down subscriptions out of we-want-to-do-it-right carefulness.

Crystal and I are absolutely stunned and humbled beyond proper words. Our light-filled hope was to start pushing back on climate change and better our community’s health (one affordable meal at a time); and a rather staggering amount of you have lit that hope to pure dazzle.

We’ll be working out a way to increase deliveries in February, so if you missed out: stay tuned.

Continue for: Your Kind Kitchen Crew gets the keys to their kitchen (THANKS AGAIN, APPLE VALLEY UMC! <3) + the unparalleled radius of Tara Cappello’s kindness ; infographics on the cost of malnutrition in the United States; Q’s weekly theme (snails); what this family of three plant-based souls has been eating this week and how we’re moving.

Live Kindly, Feast Kindly, Grow Forward.

Unexpected/Heartwarming News Blast from Vegan CNY.

Business-Owner Mom-Life: when your husband is trying to take a picture of the team gaining access to the kitchen for the first time, and your son is practicing rolling down the ramp in the background. :-)

I’ve blown beyond the myriad multitudes of thanks aimed at my beloved mother-in-law (or “Outlaw” as she calls herself) Tara. She is arguably the kindest person to ever exist and she’s been bettering my life since the first moment I met her.

“In a world of tales and tropes vilifying the mothers of our spouses, I could not have found a greater antithesis on that common theme. Not only is Tara one of sweetest souls on this planet, she was/is the model on which I based my own maternal path, she is one of my best friends, and she is a paragon of perfection when it comes to grandmothering Q.

Tara commands respect, but also has a hearty sense of humor (silly, irreverent, witty); her heart is open to all, but she’ll also pushback on nonsense; she is forever learning/growing forward; and there isn’t a soul who knows Tara who hasn’t been bettered by having her within their realm.”

When Crystal and I were scrambling to sort out where on earth we could find an affordable kitchen (<—because we’d have no money to waste on starting this [<—I’ve been laid-off since the beginning of COVID] and we wanted to make the meals as inexpensive as possible), it was Tara that piped up, “What about Apple Valley UMC’s kitchen?”, and then she did the community outreach and leg-work with the trustees (by email, by phone, by whatever means necessary) to appeal our case.

Above: she’s handing us the keys to the kitchen and letting us in for the first time. <3

This whole enterprise wouldn’t exist without her, and as I’ve said before: the thankfulness and gratitude I have for this soul is immeasurable and beyond expression.

Q’s in agreement with the love. :-) What did I do to get such a declaration? I had simply handed him a glass of water! :-D — Q’s in agreement with the love. :-)

What did I do to get such a declaration? I had simply handed him a glass of water! :-D

https://nutritionstudies.org/about/ ”The T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies was established to extend the impact of Dr. Campbell’s life changing research findings. For decades, T. Colin Campbell, PhD, has been at the forefront of nutriti… — https://nutritionstudies.org/about/

”The T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies was established to extend the impact of Dr. Campbell’s life changing research findings. For decades, T. Colin Campbell, PhD, has been at the forefront of nutrition education and research. He is the coauthor of the bestselling book, *The China Study*, and his legacy, the China Project, is one of the most comprehensive studies of health and nutrition ever conducted.
***Our mission is to promote optimal nutrition through science-based education, advocacy, and research. By empowering individuals and health professionals, we aim to improve personal, public, and*** ***environmental*** ***health.”***

Boy HOWDY do Crystal and I mirror this mission. It is the only mission!

It was perpetual blasts of information like the above, learning that the bacon (and all processed meat) I loved was listed as a YES —there is no doubt— IT GIVES YOU CANCER by the World Health organization and has been for over 5 years (<—!!!!), paired with organizations like the United Nations saying, “Shift plant-based! We need to for planetary sustainability and to avoid the pitfalls of climate change like mass droughts, famines, etc,” that made me realize: people are just not hearing this information, and when they do they don’t know how to apply it affordably/sustainably, and if no one else is going to do something about it: we should.

That thought (and a lot of, “Wish you could cook it for me/us!”) lit the flame to create Your Kind Kitchen and why “Sister’s Are Doin’ it For Themselves” struck a resonant corny chord early on. :-) A zero-waste plant-based ready-made meal-delivery service does not exist, and we have never been business owners, so all of this has been rolling up our sleeves and relying on the guidance of the wise women before us.

I approached Crystal with the idea and the hope of partnering up in July, and she suggested I reach out to the WISE Women’s Business Center for guidance and to see if they thought it was a good idea too; and we were cosmically paired up with Barbara Stone who rivals my mother-in-law in the amount of light, kindness, and enthusiasm she radiates. Best part: she had decades of business experience/wisdom to help guide us green-eared enthusiasts, and she’s been meeting with us weekly to help launch the business; and like Tara, we wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without her.

Best part: business mentoring is free through WISE! They are an absolute pillar of growth and support, and if you’re a local lady with an idea for business to better this community: give them a holler (or a like on one of their social media pages)! Again, couldn’t not have done this without the support of these ladies!

So what was this busy (starting-a-business/while-homeschooling) plant-based family-of-three eating this week? Another lineup of foods we love ourselves and will be serving through Your Kind Kitchen.

How Q dressed up his morning oats and cashew cream: with orange and some flax meal.

Quinoa, quick-pickled cabbage, Q-P kholrabi made the same way but with some diced cilantro (<—this combo is AMAZING!), bell peppers, roasted squash, fresh greens, a dollop of hummus, and some sesame dressing.

Ethiopian Style Lentils (<—Q’s favorite), easy avocado, bell pepper, and balsamic greens.

Pumfu Tostadas with cashew queso, quick-pickled cabbage, and mine is doused with a hearty stress-eating amount of greens because I’d missed breakfast and had instead spent several hours deep in the weeds of business start-up fuss & zero-waste co… — Pumfu Tostadas with cashew queso, quick-pickled cabbage, and mine is doused with a hearty stress-eating amount of greens because I’d missed breakfast and had instead spent several hours deep in the weeds of business start-up fuss & zero-waste container costs. :-D

These have been test-batched and devoured enough that they will likely be in the second week of January’s Your Kind Kitchen Line-Up: I’m calling them Polenta Poppers. :-) They are slabs of stone-ground whole-grain polenta, baked, pulled back out a… — These have been test-batched and devoured enough that they will likely be in the second week of January’s Your Kind Kitchen Line-Up: I’m calling them Polenta Poppers. :-)

They are slabs of stone-ground whole-grain polenta, baked, pulled back out and covered in cashew queso, and hemp parm (<—hemp hearts, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, paprika, salt), thrown back into the oven until they’re just a little crispy, and then we serve them with homemade marinara and top with sprinkled oregano.
They taste like Pizza Hut Breadsticks that vaulted into a whole other level of delicious, and can also be eaten neatly with a fork. :-)

Kitchen Helping Cub micromanaging the sauce. <3

And how are those energy levels going through plant-based feasting? Like the Olympians and Professional Athletes thriving off plant-based feasting, we’ve never been stronger, more energetic, or healthier.

Q randomly shadow-boxing in between math equations. <3 He’s not wasting away: he’s stronger, healthier, more-focused, and more energetic than ever.

But still has the sweet duality to request yoga multiple times through the day.

And we get out to hike in a local park at least once a week. Central New York has feasts of parks to choose from.

And for those keeping up on Q’s Themes and Homeschooling Doodles, here’s the week’s brief (<—because this artistic zealot does upwards of 10 drawings a day on his various school sheets and otherwise!)