Queer Kitchen Connection #3

Welcome Taste Buds!

It’s a wild time in the world, how are you holding up?

January was a birthday whirlwind of connection with friends and playing lots of fun games—some dear friends even invented a game for me called Waffle Race, and now I can’t wait to play this game at a brunch party where I serve waffles! This gaming tradition always helps me recover and re-center after the stress of the holidays, and I’m so grateful for all the friends who took time to share in play with me.

And now February feels like one thing after another with no breaks, even as I experience several breaks in my schedule and bizarrely-warm weather for Buffalo.

If you also find yourself reeling a bit, perhaps we can collectively take some time to enjoy a favorite hot beverage, holding the warmth in our hands, breathing in the steam, and otherwise taking a few precious moments away from stressors. What other things help you take a breath in the midst of chaos?

May we find our footing amongst friends,

– Jane

Send Foodz

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

A chocolate-topped peanut butter pie with an Oreo crust and peanut butter drizzle on top, in a foil pie tin. Other refrigerated foods are in the background.

Just remembering this peanut butter pie I made with a client had me craving it again. Creamy, fluffy peanut butter fluff (essentially) in an Oreo-crumb crust and topped with chocolate and a peanut drizzle just sounded perfect! So I made it again last week, and it was even better than I’d hoped! It can be rich, though—great to share with friends. ;)

Sometimes the foods I make don’t turn out quite right, and they certainly aren’t always photogenic. This was supposed to be vegan brie, but it was too soft-set to hold its shape. So it glopped, but this wasn’t a bad thing! We had a delicious cheesy spread that we put on everything for a few weeks, and I’d do it again.

Beige glops of vegan cheese in a white, rectangular plastic container.

A top-down view of a cookie sheet with 6 small graham cracker houses built on it. Each house is decorated in a color of the rainbow with M&Ms, Skittles, and Nerds. There is a rainbow candy path down the center and trail mix scattered on the ground.

At our last Food-Play Adventure we mixed up an egg-free royal icing and built and decorated structures to our tastes. I started a rainbow village because I wanted to have more HoliGay Queer, and I’m certain that constructing, decorating, and then snacking on this village helped me and my partner survive the end of the year. Maybe no one has told you yet today, but I’m glad you made it to now, and I’m glad you’re here.

Roasting vegetables takes time, but they always look so beautiful mixed together on a tray. For this batch, I had to chop the sweet potatoes and broccoli into small, relatively uniform size so they would cook evenly…and if I could find pre-chopped or frozen sweet potatoes you can bet I’d be doing that instead! Something about the texture of these roasted veggies with chickpeas really hit the spot that day.

A close-up texture view of roasted vegetables: diced sweet potato, broccoli florets, and chickpeas.

Peeled, halved clementines, sliced cheddar cheese, and cubed seitan on a round, blue-rimmed plate. An open sleeve of Saltine crackers sits to the right of the plate.

This has taken over nachos for my go-to food. Some combination of fruit, cheese, and crackers—sometimes with additional protein, sometimes not—has become a new safe food since I currently don’t like the texture of tortilla chips. Sometimes foods taste too much, feel too much, or are otherwise not working, and we have to figure out another thing to try to stay nourished. If this is your experience and you could use some support, maybe we can work together to find some new ideas!

Taste Bud Contribution

A hand holds a veggie-filled steamed bun with a bite taken out of it close to the camera. You can see the lentils in the filling. The bamboo steamer basket is blurred out on the table in the background.

This Thanksgiving, I'm planning on making my veggie nikuman again! It's a recipe I love, but whenever I try to show it off in someone else's kitchen, the dough doesn't agree with me and refuses to cook. This year I'm in a new house and a new kitchen, so I'm going to consciously treat it like an experiment, the way it was when I first made nikuman. Things might go unexpectedly, but I'll roll with it. ('Roll' with it, hee, get it, like a bread roll?) ~Kylee A

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!

Nutty Cheese Adventure

SAVE THE DATE!

Sunday, May 7th, 2023
3-5pm EDT on Zoom

On a white background is a light tan chihuahua with its tongue sticking out. A green thought bubble to its left contains a wheel of cheese with a wedge cut out. Below is red text that reads: "Spread the CURD—invite your friends!"

Based on feedback from my Nutty Cheese Workshop last summer, this year we will have a single Nutty Cheese Adventure!

Using only the best cheeses and techniques from the workshop, we’ll cook up to THREE nut-based (vegan) cheeses together. Prepare for your summer snacking spreads with professional and community support!

If you want to be reminded when registration opens for this adventure, please reply to this email and let me know to add you to the list.

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?

My Roadmap to Now

Jessica Wilson, MS, RD, came to speak at my alma mater about her book, It’s Always Been Ours (I highly recommend reading it—it’s EXCELLENT). This was particularly incredible because I had the opportunity to meet one of my current teachers, and did so in the presence of former teachers. It became so clear to me how far I have learned beyond my initial nutrition training.

Jane, a white non-binary person, excitedly holds up a copy of Jessica Wilson’s book It’s Always Been Ours.

When I first graduated, I didn’t know anything about weight inclusive practice; I hadn’t consciously realized that the medical field pathologizes bodies and this harms people; and I certainly knew of very few Black dietitians (I met only one during my clinical rotations).

After I graduated, passed the RD exam, and came out of survival mode, I started to notice more starkly who was left out of my education - and who was deemed “unhealthy” purely for existing in the body they had. I started seeing how access to food (particularly “healthy” food) was being gatekept with high prices in a store that claimed to welcome everyone.

And then I met Lore and Christine of Positive Force Movement at what turned out to be a formative time for Food Focused Nutrition: they gave me language for the oppressive systems I was starting to feel but couldn’t yet describe, and the guiding principles for my work gained strength from the wisdom and community they shared. Once I learned of the harm, I had to stop doing harm.

I began dismantling the fatphobia I learned in school and noticing blatant weight bias in research thanks to work by Ragen Chastain and learned about frameworks for practice like Health At Every Size (HAES) (trademarked by the Association for Size Diversity And Health) and Intuitive Eating.

I started following and listening to Black dietitians the moment I joined Instagram—they’re ALL on Instagram, not Facebook! And I learned about how even HAES and Intuitive Eating can be problematic if someone tries to apply these frameworks to everyone, because their guiding principles didn’t take oppressive systems into account and would leave people behind if they weren’t cisgender white women.

I am constantly adding new teachers to my social media feed (and to my list of continuing education events I hope to attend), particularly those who are Black, brown, indigenous, fat, disabled, neurodivergent, queer, trans, or share a combination of these intersecting identities. Why? Because these are the voices I rarely or never heard from during formal education, and these are the folx who are still most affected by systems of oppression. These are the people who can help me see things that my unearned privileges have made me unaware of, so I can keep learning and be better.

My teachers have brought me to where I am, and I aspire to continue learning beyond what they teach me and help re-shape my profession to do less harm. Part of that work is to uplift those who taught me so others can follow and learn too.

Here are 10 more folx who often help me gain new perspectives:

@FedUpCollective • @BIPOC.EatingDisorders • @ProjectHEAL • @Crutches_And_Spice • @UpgradeAccessibility • @RDs_For_Neurodiversity • @LivedExperienceEducator • @TheFatDoctor • @SacredSpaceForFatBodies • @BodyHonorNutrition

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 recent post about the fund on Instagram or Facebook!

Suggest-ipe

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

An ice cream sandwich on a plate. The sandwich is made with two chocolate chip cookies and a scoop of cookies and cream ice cream.

Ice Cream Chipwich!

For an ice cream sandwich with all the goodness you want, and nothing you don’t, make the Chipwich of your dreams:

Ingredients

Chocolate chip cookies (or other cookies of choice)
Ice cream (any flavor!)
Peanut butter or other spread like Nutella, jam, etc. (optional)
Mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or other coating (optional)

Steps to Assemble

Select your cookies of choice to make a sandwich. Note that harder/crispier cookies will squish the ice cream out when you bite into the sandwich, whereas softer cookies will do this to a lesser degree.
If using a spread, spread a layer on what will be the inner side of one or both cookies. Thicker layers of some spreads may contribute to ice cream sliding out of the sandwich.
Place a scoop of ice cream on one of the cookies, and place the other on top. Sometimes having slightly softened ice cream helps the sandwich come together.
If using a coating, roll the edge of the sandwich in the coating so that it sticks to the ice cream.

Enjoy promptly, in all of its messy glory!

That’s all for now!

Queer Kitchen Connection is a quarterly 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 Jane Calvert, RDN, Food Focused Nutrition
“Edible-in-Chef” Ashley Bovin, Ease Up Consulting