Nutrition in a Nutshell

The importance of good food

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Cooking up Kindness Week 1

Here we go! The first week of the Cooking Up Kindness Project is here. This week’s meal is:

Vegan Chili and Gluten free Corn Muffins served with cheddar cheese, sour cream, and honey butter.

This vegan chili is loaded with veggies and legumes and is gluten free. It’s rich in fiber, vitamins A, C, and some Bs, and several antioxidants and provides a fair amount of protein. Not only does the fiber aid in digestion, but it acts as a prebiotic and provides food for your gut microbes creating a healthy microbiome. The vitamins and antioxidants help with cellular functions and prevent DNA damage by free radicals.

The cornmeal in the muffins is an additional source of both soluble and insoluble fiber which aid in digestion. Try to use organic cornmeal if possible because nearly all regular corn has been genetically modified.

The shopping list for this week’s meal can be found here. 

Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, start chopping those veggies and make the chili. Find the chili recipe here. While the chili is simmering, make the corn muffins. Find the GF corn muffin recipe here. Once the corn muffin are done, make the honey butter. Find the honey butter recipe here. I’ve specified canned kidney and pinto beans in the recipe, but if you have the time, using dried beans that have been soaked and cooked is even better. Substitute 1 ½ cups of cooked beans for each can of beans in the recipe. One cup of dried beans yields approximately 3 cups of cooked beans. 

Assembling the meal to gift

Let the chili cool a bit before transferring to repurposed glass jars or a foil pan. Put the corn muffins in a box, bag, or other container. For the accompaniments, grate about 1 cup of cheddar cheese for a family of four and put in a jar, repurposed container, or even a plastic bag. Put about ½ cup of sour cream in a small container. Place the honey butter in a small container. Pack all of the components into a bag or box and add a note telling the recipient what is in the meal. My note will look something like this:

Vegan Chili and Gluten Free Corn Muffins. 
This meal includes vegan, gluten fee chili, gluten free corn muffins, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and honey butter. Heat the chili in a pot on the stove before serving. The corn muffins may be heated as well. Serve the chili in bowls with a handful of cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Slice the corn muffins in half and spread with honey butter. Enjoy!

Notes and suggestions:

  • To make the meal completely vegan, you can use the vegan variation of the corn muffins included at the bottom of the recipe. Then simply substitute vegan cheese and vegan butter for the regular versions. Aquafaba is the liquid from cooking beans and is a great egg substitute. When you drain the pinto beans for the chili, reserve the liquid from the can and use that for the aquafaba.  Also, note that honey is not vegan, so just provide plain vegan butter.
  • If you don’t have the gluten free flours on hand and want to make regular corn muffins, follow the recipe but use 1 cup of unbleached flour and omit the oat flour, brown rice flour, and tapioca starch. 
  • If you can make this a gluten free, vegan meal, that would be wonderful and provide the lucky recipient with a tasty meal that nourishes their bodies and promotes a healthy gut. There is some research that shows that gluten is an irritant to most people, so providing a meal free of gluten may be beneficial to anyone, not just those who are gluten intolerant. But, as always, do what you can. If making gluten free corn muffins is too much, just use regular flour – just make sure the recipient knows the muffins are not gluten free. If you want to make it vegan but can’t get the vegan butter and vegan cheese, just serve it without them. Be kind to yourself and make it as simple as you need to.

Now for Gifting the meal:

When I am ready to post the meal, my message on Buy Nothing looks something like this accompanied by a photo of the meal:

Hey Buy Nothing Community, once again for Lent this year I would like to offer one healthy nutritious meal each week to someone who could use it. I was hoping you could help me find some hungry takers.  If you or someone you know could use a meal, pm me. I would be happy to deliver it. I’ll try to have it made by the middle of each week. 
This week I am offering Vegan Chili and GF corn muffins. I use all natural ingredients, most of which are organic.  I can provide a list of ingredients.  I do not have a strictly gluten free kitchen but I am really careful about cross contamination. I will include shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and honey butter unless you are vegan. 

For subsequent weeks, I use the same first paragraph, but change the second paragraph to reflect the current meal. Remember to post a new photo.

Feel free to use the photos from my recipe if needed.

Thank you for joining me in this endeavor to spread a little kindness in our world.

I hope you enjoy making and gifting this meal. Please share any positive feedback you get when you gift your meal. I would love to hear it! Also reach out with any questions or comments.