Queer Kitchen Connection #7

Hi there, Taste Buds!

My brain slips into reflection and evaluation a lot lately, but I’m working on taking action one step at a time.

One such step I’m taking is to stop posting on social media. My accounts will still exist for people to “find” me or sus out if I’m real, but I refuse the pressure to maintain the hustle, and I don’t have the capacity to constantly acknowledge injustice and tragedy and somehow tie that into my work so I don’t feel icky about the hustle.

Instead I will be focusing my energy on real-time connections (virtual, phone call, and/or in person), slowly updating the Food Focused Nutrition website, and this newsletter; I find it more rewarding and much easier to be my whole, complicated self in these spaces.

Last year was a really difficult year for Food Focused Nutrition where I couldn’t make ends meet. I already have so much more energy and forward momentum from the real-time connections I’ve been building, and I’m hopeful for the gradual evolution of my website to have a strong comeback year.

That said, I would love your support in helping my work find growth in the coming months! Please share this newsletter with someone you think would enjoy it. Please reach out if you want to build on our connection in real-time or conspire to create something cool!

If you forward this newsletter to a friend you think would like it, I’m offering a deal! If they reach out to schedule something with me from reading the newsletter, you’ll get 50% off your next adventure. OR consider adding a free guest to your next adventure so they can learn what it’s like to work with me in good company.

Be well,

Jex

Send Foodz

Food pictures, stories, and connection from my kitchen (and yours)!

An overhead view of a round baking dish filled with eight cinnamon rolls. There are chocolate chips visible in many of the cinnamon spirals.

I baked these chocolate cinnamon rolls for a friend’s birthday. I’m not often a baker, and I didn’t get to share these with my friend (except in pictures), but I knew I had to spend at least a part of her special day covered in flour because baking is one of her favorite things to do. It was a delicious way to celebrate having her in my life!

Sometimes making less is better. You know those recipes that always make a lot? Well, it’s ok to make less. Because if you’re not making the big batch because it’s too much, then a smaller batch will always be more than zero. I share more from my experience making these yummy, life-changing pupusas in The Intersection.

An overhead view of a plate with three pupusas slightly overlapping along the top edge of the plate. Partially in frame is a mug on a knitted coaster and a small bowl of salsa.

A view of Jex’s living room, with red walls, a TV, shelf of books, plant, and clutter. In the foreground is a spread of finger foods with a cup of coffee, napkins, and a remote. “The Last Jedi” movie is cued up on the television.

To acknowledge New Year’s, Kit and I shared several spreads of different dips, dippers, and finger foods while we watched a mini Star Wars marathon. This was one of our mini-spreads around midday: onion dip and potato chips, chili cheese dip and tortilla chips, grapes, and coffee. It was a tasty way to enjoy the day!

Taste Bud Contribution

“I've been on a [vegan] fugazetta run lately, partly because it's really fun to say, and also because it's freakin' delish and pretty easy to make with pre-made pizza dough. The first one is mushroom and 'cheese,' with onions; the second (three nights later) is pesto, tomato, and 'mozz' with 'parm' on top. Makes a great lunch cold the next day, too!” ~Taste Bud Lauren

Looking down at the stove top is a skillet filled with golden-brown, slightly domed flatbread with a nest of caramelized onions toasted on top.

Looking down at the stove top is a skillet filled with a high-domed stuffed flatbread topped all over with shreds of vegan Parmesan cheese.

Want to see what goes into making fugazetta? Check out this fugazetta recipe by The Spruce Eats. But remember, making the dough from scratch is for people who have free time—buy the pre-made pizza dough if that will support you!

Want to send foodz? Reply with a photo/story and we'll try to include it in the next Queer Kitchen Connection!

What’s Cooking?

Upcoming special events—Food Focused Nutrition-related or otherwise!

A photo of two yellow sticky notes pinned to a corkboard. The larger, bright yellow note reads: “LUNCH BREAK!” in black marker. The smaller, light yellow note reads: “Alternating Tuesdays and Thursdays on Google Meet”.

Let’s Make Lunch!

At the end of last year, I started a small community gathering called Let’s Make Lunch! It’s been lovely to connect with others as we show up in community to nourish ourselves, even on the more difficult days. I plan to continue hosting this community for the foreseeable future, and I hope you’ll check it out! Learn more about what to expect at the new Let’s Make Lunch! page on my website.

Speaking Engagements

Next month I’m really looking forward to joining the Madison County LGBTQIA Network to facilitate a group-led conversation about nutrition and self-care.

This evening of queer self-care will include free chair massages and a make-your-own-tea-blend station in addition to discussion about nutrition, nourishment, and accessibility.

For more information, you can find the others participating in this event on social media: @madisoncountylgbtqianetwork and @jf_bodywork (but if you’re also reducing social media, here are websites: www.madcolgbtqia.org; www.jf-bodywork.com).

Would you or a community group you know like to have me come facilitate a group-led discussion about nutrition, queerness, and/or accessibility? Reach out anytime!

More Queer Kitchen Connection 💜

I’m devastated by the news out of Gaza every day. I’m devastated by what happened to Nex Benedict. I’m devastated by the Buffalo Police killing another black man yesterday (2/24).

While it’s great that emotions aren’t finite when it comes to things like love and joy, it’s so hard when the never-ending emotions are grief and anger. I have so much of it to go around.

As I mentioned before, it’s easier for me to be my whole, complicated self in a space like this newsletter. That means I’m likely to share about the complex feelings I’m navigating, and invite you to share yours. But I want to spread it out a bit more, because there’s way too many feelings all the time. So this newsletter will be every other month, going forward (next one will come in April).

Thank you for being a part of this community; I’m so glad you’re here!

The Intersection

I'm always working on making Food Focused Nutrition more accessible with baked-in, intentional inclusion. What's the latest step in my journey?

Sometimes recipes can shut me down or stop me before I even start, and that gets in the way of me nourishing myself the way I want. My therapist might call it all or nothing thinking; I call it frustrating.

Here’s an example. I’ve been wanting to make pupusas for several months now. They’re one of my favorite foods that I’ve learned about and explored in adventures, but shaping them requires a lot of hand work. And my hands don’t do that very well right now. So before I can even start the recipe, I know I have to stop because my hands won’t be able to shape all the dough into pupusas. But I still want them!

And one morning (it was a random Tuesday, absolutely no idea why it happened that day except that my craving and disappointment had been intense the night before), I saw the masa harina, and said “fuck it, what if I made only 1 cup of dough?” So I stumbled into it without doing careful math, because I didn’t want to talk myself out of trying. The first pupusa was a little too dry, and the last 3 were a little too wet, but I was able to shape and cook 4 pupusas for breakfast and they were SO GOOD.

So now I’ve done the math for a 4-pupusa-size batch of dough (so hopefully they’ll be the right amount of wet), and that’s going to be the size of my pupusa recipe for the time being. It’s a real bummer to not have leftovers after doing all the shaping, but it’s so much better than never getting to enjoy them at all!

Whether your overwhelming recipe is deviled eggs (you can make only 1-3 eggs if you want), or cinnamon rolls (a smaller dough ball can be easier to knead and roll out), or something else that’s usually big or for a crowd…chances are you can make it smaller and more manageable at the same time.

And if it’s a food you love, something that nourishes your heart and soul too, that extra work of reducing the recipe is worth it every damn time—even without leftovers.

On a green background is a red starburst "bang" shape, as in a comic book, with lines and stars emitting from it. Within the shape is text that reads, "Support the Pay It Forward fund!"

All contributions to the Pay It Forward Fund support folx in accessing low- or no-cost services with Food Focused Nutrition. Learn more or share my post about the fund on Instagram or Facebook!

Suggest-ipe

Because the way I see it, all recipes are merely suggestions!

A blue-rimmed bowl of soup with a blue-and-white cozy around the outside. The soup has visible pieces of carrot, green beans, spinach, corn, kidney beans, pasta, and onion in the broth.

Quick Vegetable Soup

I’m not much of a soup person, but when it’s cold there’s something about a warm mug of soup that feels extra good. Lately, I’ve been improvising vegetable soup from the canned goods we have in our pantry, and I’ve been finding it to be quick and generally easy on my hands!

Sauté in 1 T oil for 3-5 min:

1 onion, chopped
1 T garlic, minced
2-3 ribs celery, chopped (optional)
½-1 c frozen green beans

Drain the canned goods (below) all together in a big colander:

1 can carrots, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 can beans, drained and rinsed (kidney beans, chickpeas, etc.)

Add the drained canned goods and the following to the pot:

1 can diced tomatoes (NOT drained)
3-4 c water and 1 T bouillon (or equivalent broth)
1-2 T Italian seasoning or other herbs of choice; 2 bay leaves; black pepper to taste

Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 min. Taste and adjust for salt before serving.

To change it up and make something more like a minestrone soup, I doubled the beans and tomatoes, and added a bag of frozen spinach and 1 c small pasta shells. I also added more water/bouillon (but I don’t remember how much…enough to make it look like soup).
Add vegetables that YOU enjoy, whether those are canned or frozen (or fresh—it may not be as quick or accessible all the time, but you do you!).
What I love most about this soup is how quickly it comes together, and it’s a solid 2 meals for me and my partner. The onion cooks quickly, and everything else just needs to be warmed up. While it simmers, consider preparing a side salad or sandwich, or serve with crackers or bread and butter.

As with all the Suggest-ipes, I’d love to hear if you try it, and how you made it work for you!

That’s all for now!

Queer Kitchen Connection is an every-other-month newsletter from Food Focused Nutrition.

I want this newsletter to be an invitation for us all to foster more connection around food.

My dream is that Queer Kitchen Connection will be the start of a conversation, and I welcome you to taste, savor, and share in the creation of community with direct replies to the newsletter.

Author Jex Calvert, RDN, Food Focused Nutrition
“Edible-in-Chef” Ashley Bovin, Ease Up Consulting

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