This pandemic has left me a little paralyzed in creating content for you all. I want to share information that helps you during this chaotic time but…

1. There are a LOT of people out there sharing a LOT of helpful information that has felt a little overwhelming to me.
2. I don’t know what would be the most helpful for you as what is helpful for one is not helpful for another.
3. I’m personally working on coming to grips with this new reality and making adjustments to my life and work as best as I can, though certainly not doing it perfectly.

So last week I decided to sit down, sift through the messiness of it all and decided to focus on one thing for you- food.

We are all handling the food situation differently- stocking up on non-perishables, ordering pickup to support local businesses, or carrying on as business as usual.

In my home, we are doing even more home cooking than normal and I’ve been getting creative with pantry staples and frozen foods. We are still grocery shopping once a week and picking up produce from our local farm, but our pantry and freezer are a bit more robust as of late, just in case we decide to forgo the store for a week or two at some point. It’s a wild time so we are changing things up a bit.

For you, I’ve decided I will do my best to create content that is helpful during this season around food. This will most likely include pantry or freezer recipes, PDFs about how to keep fruits and veggies good longer, meal prepping tips for a once a week prep, and maybe beef up my dessert section, cause who couldn’t use a little sweetness right now?

And if you missed it last week, I have already created a free 3 Day Pantry and Freezer Meal Plan you can snag at the home page. (The recipe below comes from this plan!)

I’m doing my best to put one foot in front of the other, keeping my routine as close to normal as possible, and rolling with the punches. If there is something you would like to see more of during this season, let me know! Leave a comment below and I will do my best to support you. Your suggestion might just snap me out of my current overwhelmed state.

The Recipe~

This recipe has quietly been one of my favorite 10 minute lunches to throw together for years.

It’s got minimal ingredients but somehow everything works together perfectly to create one delicious dish. It’s mostly just lentils and broccoli, making the fiber content high, which means it helps get prebiotic bacteria into your gut. It’s also made completely of pantry or freezer foods so a great option if you aren’t getting to the store soon.

Let me know what you think! And like I said, leave a comment below about ways I can support you and your health during this unusual time.

10 Minute Warm Popped Lentil + Broccoli Salad Recipe

Makes 2-3 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups red lentils
• 2 tsp coconut oil, or a bit more as needed
• 1-1 1/2 cups frozen or raw broccoli
• 2 teaspoons avocado oil
• 1⁄4 cup nutritional yeast
• Sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Cook lentils by package directions until just tender (do not overcook!). Strain immediately.
2. In a large pan over medium heat, warm coconut oil. Add broccoli and sauté until starting to brown, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and place broccoli in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Add pan back to heat and warm the avocado oil over high heat. When oil is hot, add lentils. Move them through the oil a bit and let them sit there sizzling in the pan. They will start to plump up and almost look like they are about to pop. Gently toss the lentils for even cooking.
4. Add nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper to the lentils. Stir.
5. Add in the broccoli and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add salt as needed and serve!

Naturally Vegan and Gluten-Free

Meal Prepping Tip: Make a large batch of this at the beginning of the week and keep in portioned containers in the fridge, warming just before eating.