I don't love to cook, but I do love having cooked. Especially now that Nekos and I are parents, it seems more important to sit down to real meals, even if Tessa thumbs her nose at them and ends up just eating raisins and crackers for dinner. I'm getting more used to that, and it's getting a little less disappointing. When I think about why I should cook, I think of this "cooking manifesto" from Food 52, which I just love:
- If you cook, your family will eat dinner together.
- If you cook, you will naturally have a more sustainable household.
- If you cook, you'll set a lifelong example for your children.
- If you cook, you'll understand what goes into food and will eat more healthily.
- If you cook, you'll make your home an important place in your life.
- If you cook, you'll make others happy.
- If you cook, people will remember you.
After meeting a local chef, Kristie Agee, at
my office a local coffee shop, I found a happy medium between my dislike of cooking but my love of putting a healthy meal on the table, and that's a service here in Nashville called
My Veggie Chef. It's a vegan meal delivery service, where all the food comes to you in a frozen meal kit. The cost is $80 for five meals that serve 2-3 people, but there's always plenty so that's usually meant dinner for the three of us
and leftovers for lunch the next day. Nothing's been cooked yet, but all the chopping, measuring and grocery shopping have been done for you, and there are just a few directions to follow once you thaw everything out. Each meal takes an average of five minutes to cook.
We are certainly not vegans, but this has been a really cool way for our family to realize that vegan food is not a worst case scenario. Each of the meals we've tried from My Veggie Chef have been scrumptious. And I like that while I don't have to do very much to actually prepare the meals, I am still learning a lot about cooking and getting a lot of ideas from seeing how Kristie put together these meals.
Plus, eat vegan food for dinner, and you'll feel way less guilty about your dessert afterwards. True story. And also, Chef Kristie, the brains and beauty behind the business, is sweet as a piece of pie.
Here are some snapshots of My Veggie Chef meals recently enjoyed:
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| Panko-Crusted Tofu Strips |
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| Healthier Than Thou Bowl |
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| Gnocchi and Roasted Broccoli |
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| Pinto Bean Casserole |
Check out the
My Veggie Chef website if you get a chance! Each week Kristie lists her new menu for the week. Orders need to be placed by Wednesday and pickup or delivery is done each Sunday. :)
