Changing things up + Let’s Make Lunch!Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ 

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February 2025
The Queer Kitchen Connection newsletter header image in Food Focused Nutrition's brand colors. It features a whisk on the left, the text, "Queer Kitchen Connection" in the center, and horizontal rainbow stripes on the right edge.
 

Hey Taste Buds,

New years don’t always mean new things. Still here. Still queer. Sometimes a new year just means being confused about writing the date for a while.

This year is turning out to be a lot of personal change for me. While I’m generally optimistic that these changes will turn out well, it’s challenging to navigate at times. Especially when it comes to staying nourished.

I hope that amidst this transitory time that you are in spaces with people who support and nourish you in all the ways. May the strength of community hold us all.

I cherish every one of you; thank you for being here.

Be well,

Jex

 A photo of Jex, a white nonbinary person with short brown hair and wearing glasses and a black chef coat.
 

Send Foodz

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

A zamboni made of graham crackers and decorated with candy resurfaces the β€œice”, leaving a trail through the popcorn on a foil-covered tray. The top of the zamboni has a Professional Women’s Hockey League logo design.

At December’s Food-Play group adventure, I made this graham cracker zamboni because the PWHL hockey season had just started 11/30, but was currently on a 1-week break. Diving into women’s ice hockey really gets me through tough times, and this zamboni brought me a lot of joy in the absence of any games. Other folx came to play too, exploring the limits of their edible materials, and we had a blast! Hope you’ll join us next time around (in June)!

When nachos are a little too challenging to make, sometimes I wait until Let’s Make Lunch! day, and make it when I have an accountability buddy. So it was with this plate of nachos, and I particularly enjoyed the many layers and pickled red onions.

 A plate piled with nachos. From bottom to top: corn tortilla chips, melted cheese, refried beans, salsa, shredded lettuce, tomato, pickled red onion, and Greek yogurt. The plate is on a wooden counter, with a cutting board blurred in the background.
A pot on a gas stove top being stirred with a wire whisk. The pot is half-full of a creamy, off-white cheese that has a thick, stringy, and saucy consistency. A kettle and several jarred spices are in the background.

Vegan mac and cheese can be unsatisfying as a comfort food. Omnivores and vegetarians usually prefer something with dairy, and the creaminess or flavors may not be up to snuff for vegans either. But I remembered an AMAZING mac and cheese I made during the vegan cheese workshop because my coconut smoked gouda didn’t set properly, and now I have a super-satisfying vegan mac and cheese recipe that hits the spot for everyone I know who has tried it!

Sharing food, especially foods that I love to make and eat, is one of my favorite parts of spending time with friends and family. These steaks are one of the easier seitan recipes that I have acquired over the years, and they’re perfect for a steak dinner, slicing for steak fajitas, or adding a bit of protein to any meal.

 A plate filled with steak and potato on the left side, smothered with a chunky mushroom gravy. On the right side is a pile of steamed green beans. The plate is on a wooden table with a fabric placemat.

Want to send foodz? Fill out this form with a photo and story, and we'll try to include it in the next Queer Kitchen Connection!

 

What’s Cooking?

Upcoming special eventsβ€”Food Focused Nutrition-related or otherwise!

Quantity Cooking for Solidarity

We just need one more person on the waiting list for Quantity Cooking for Solidarity to be scheduled. If you’ve been considering it, now is a great time to get on the list and make sure the next public group event fits your schedule!

As alluded to in Send Foodz, I’ve finished testing another vegan recipe to provide menu options for the group to choose from: either lentil-vegetable stew OR coconut smoked gouda mac n cheese (both are intentionally vegan to support meeting the needs of strangers whose dietary needs we don’t know).
 
An image of two yellow sticky notes pinned to a corkboard. Text on the larger, bright yellow note reads: β€œLunch break!" Text on the smaller, light yellow note reads: β€œEvery Tuesday on Google Meet”.

Let’s Make Lunch! is going strong, and we are shifting the schedule to be on the same day every week (Tuesdays at noon EST).

If you’d like some accountability friends or body-double support to make lunch once a week, this is a great place for it.

β€œI appreciate that Let’s Make Lunch truly feels like a collaboration. Jex is right there with us in figuring out how to nourish themselves on any given day. They bring a lot of curiosity, kindness, and creativity and we’ve come up with some fun, easy, and delicious ideas together.”

– Johanna Schram

Reach out via email (jex@foodfocusednutrition.com) if you’d like to make lunch together.

 

Queer Kitchen Connection Zine!

I made a version of this newsletter as a zine! I’m still playing around with its evolution. Perhaps it will be a companion zine? The Qu-zine (pronounced β€œcuisine”)?? Anyhoo, here’s the PDF if you’d like to print and fold it for yourself!

Click here to download the zine PDF!
The cover page of the Queer Kitchen Connection zine for this newsletter (February 2025). It includes a combination of text, the zamboni photo from the Send Foodz section, and Jex's handwriting describing the December Food-Play Adventure.

(Sorry I don’t have a PDF for reading the zine at this time; it will be part of the final evolution! I’d be happy to read it with you if you need this accessibility feature.)

And if you’d like to purchase other zines that I’ve made, I’ve started a zine shop here on Ko-Fi!

 

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?

If I think of Food Focused Nutrition as a tree, I’ve done an incredible amount of work spreading its roots widely and growing a sturdy trunk. And while I have grown some branches before, I’m not sure that I’ve done so quite like this.

While I continue to accept and work with new clients, I am taking on some new activities that I hope will allow me to keep Food Focused Nutrition available longer term.

  • I will soon be streaming on Twitch TV, which is a big challenge that I’m excited about; I’m hopeful that this will help me meet my social needs, some financial needs (eventually), and provide some joy to me and my audience.

  • I am also working part time to handle some clerical elements of conference planning.

Would you like to help me grow? Please forward this email to someone, or share about it on your own social mediaβ€”start a conversation about it, however that works best for you!

Word of mouth has always been the best fertilizer for Food Focused Nutrition, so please remember that however you use your voice: YOUR WORDS HAVE POWER.
 
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 skillet containing a tortilla with tomato sauce, shredded cheese, and four slices of pepperoni on top. Some edges indicate that there are two tortillas stacked up, and the middle seems thicker as though stuffed with something in between.

Skillet Stuffed Crust Pizza,
or Pizza-dilla

(A quesadilla with pizza on top.)

This was something I made for lunch one day because I wanted to use up leftover dipping sauce from a calzone. I kept thinking, β€œbut it’s weird, I could make something else way easier.” But I couldn’t get it out of my head, and so I made it and it was awesome.

Make the weird thing, Taste Buds. Often we think of weird things because they’re something that will work well for us, and we may not understand exactly how until we try it.

Ingredients

  • 2 tortillas or other flatbreads

  • Cheese of choice, for stuffing

  • Other optional fillings: refried beans, mashed potatoes, peppers and onions, shredded proteins, etc.

  • 2 T pizza sauce, marinara, pesto, or another sauce of choice

  • Mozzarella cheese

  • Other pizza toppings as desired

Equipment needed:

  • Skillet with a lid (make sure the tortillas fit in the skillet)

    1. Spatula for flipping

    2. At least 1 spoon

    3. Knife and cutting board

Steps to create:

  • Assemble your quesadilla like a sandwich: spread the cheese and any other fillings on one tortilla. For the pizza in the picture, I used refried beans, mashed potatoes, and shredded cheddar cheese for my fillings, just layering them on top of each other. Put the second tortilla on top to complete the sandwich and press down gently.

  • Heat the skillet over medium heat. Add the quesadilla sandwich and cook on one side for 3-5 min, or until toasted to your liking.

  • Get your pizza toppings ready to go: have packages open, and any utensils you need on hand.

  • Flip the quesadilla, and make the pizza on this toasted side: use a spoon to spread the sauce over the toasted tortilla, then sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top plus any additional toppings.

  • Put the lid on the skillet, and turn the heat as low as it will go. Allow the pizza-dilla to cook for 5-8 min, or until the mozzarella is melted to your liking.

  • Once the cheese is melted, remove the lid and check the bottom of the pizza - if it still needs to brown, turn the heat back up to medium and let it cook for another 1-3 min.

  • Transfer carefully to a cutting board using the spatula, and cut into quarters. Serve and enjoy!
 

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
β€œEdible-in-Chef” Ashley Bovin, Ease Up Consulting
 

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