Queer Kitchen Connection #16

Hey Taste Buds!

I truly love this part of writing the newsletter where I write the part that you’ll probably read first. I’ve already been writing for a few weeks, and it’s very nearly time to share it all with you. I don’t worry about it being perfect anymore, and I don’t worry about forgetting something I meant to include…I know it’s enough to start a conversation, and I’m always grateful for the conversations that emerge once I press Send.

Because you’ll read this first, I want to make sure you know that despite everything being “bears” (meaning: I’m at or beyond my capacity for some things, often without much warning), the work I am doing to prioritize connection and build community is slowly helping me get some of that capacity back. I will gradually tear down the “I’m not doing enough” feelings around not having clients. I will figure out the steps that are right for me in the time it takes, and I will do so with the support of my community. Food Focused Nutrition isn’t going anywhere, because there needs to be space for the direct kitchen support I offer in the field of nutrition and dietetics. The way I hold that space will shift as I continue to evolve, adapt, survive, and find more sustainable ways to defy the status quo.

And above all, I want to thank you for being here. Thank you for believing that the support Food Focused Nutrition can offer is valuable, impactful, and necessary.

I appreciate you more than words can say,

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)!

The center of the table has a round serving tray with six adjacent dishes that each make up a wedge of the circle. These contain mango, lettuce, tomato, black olives, cheese, and more cheese (clockwise from top). Most dishes have a spoon for serving.

This serving tray makes tacos with friends fun and easy, because it SPINS! We can all reach the central toppings when we need them, and it requires less passing everything around—especially when you might have your hands full biting into a messy taco. Do you have a fun tool that makes specific foods easier or more fun to eat?

If you’ve been reading along, you know nachos are my go-to food. They have a variety of textures, flavors, and temperatures that meet my needs and keep me nourished. As long as I have the energy and ability to layer the ingredients, I know I can get through the day—and that’s an amazing feeling. What are foods that do that for you?

Nachos layered on a plate with tortilla chips, Doritos, black beans, rice, cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomato, mango, and a dollop of yogurt on top. In the background is a white mug with a trans-pride heart wearing headphones printed on the side.

A blue-rimmed bowl contains white rice topped with chana saag, a mixture of cooked chickpeas, spinach, onion, tomato, and spices.

Similar to nachos is another dish I love: samosa chaat. I find it similar because of the way the ingredients are layered and eaten all together. When I struggle to eat rice (it’s a newer thing—still frustrating), I like to add it to foods like nachos…so now when I make chana saag like you see here, we pick up some samosas and sauces from our local Indian restaurant, and make samosa chaat (ish) with the leftovers so that I don’t struggle with the rice as much. I’m grateful to be able to eat a few dishes with rice again!

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 events—Food Focused Nutrition-related or otherwise!

Sharing Food Focused Nutrition

I need to expand word of mouth effectiveness in order to help more potential clients discover my work. Having 1 or 2 new clients in a year is not sustainable. While I know times are difficult for everyone, I feel like the support I can offer to make nourishment more accessible (especially during stressful times like these) would be significant and impactful if I find the right people.

I’m still figuring out what this looks like. If you’d like to chat about it with me, I'd love to figure it out in supportive conversations with friends, allies, and co-conspirators!

I’m grateful to those of you who have referred folx to me via word of mouth. Please continue to do so, if you can! If you want to talk more about referring someone to me, we can have a conversation about that too!

Quantity Cooking for Solidarity

I haven’t gotten to run this workshop nearly as often as I’d like, and I’m going to change tactics—and you can help! Do you know of a group in your local community that would love a workshop to develop cooking skills that can be directly applied to mutual aid and community support? I’d love it if you could connect us! Either let them know how to reach out to me, or let me know how to reach out to them…or both. (Why not both?)

Animated GIF of a scene from the animated movie The Road to El Dorado. Two characters are saying to and over each other, "Both. Both. Both. Both is good."

Let’s Make Lunch!

Let’s Make Lunch is still going strong. It’s my favorite lunch of the week because I know I’ll have company and support if the day turns out challenging, and I always walk away well nourished. If that could support you too, please reach out about joining our free community lunch group.

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?

Read OUT Loud was an event I participated in and planned my own stream for because queer representation (especially trans/non-binary/asexual representation) in schools would have changed my life. I can’t even imagine how much would have been different if I had seen any reflections of my true self in the world around me.

Thanks to those who stopped by while I was reading or are watching the recording after the event! It makes my heart happy to know these stories and this action resonated with you too.

I will be finishing reading The Devouring Wolf by Natalie C. Parker in future streams (I started it in the last hour of the Read OUT Loud stream: the first 4 chapters were a good excerpt), because I really enjoy sharing queer stories that I love! Every time I find an awesome queer book at the library that I want to share, there will probably be a series of “Story Time with Jex” streams.

Doing an event like this also increased my capacity for hosting events on Twitch that welcome collaboration from others! I dream of hosting open mic-style events at Ace of Mugs, and this was a step towards doing more of that, and that’s exciting! My next steps in that direction will be planning a collaboration stream of some kind - because I don’t think it’s required for every participant to be a streamer to use the “Stream Together” function (though it can help when it comes to sharing and growing communities), but all one should need are a video call setup and a Twitch account. If you’d like to explore this with me, please reach out and we can conspire on something fun together!

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!

Single-Serve Iced Tea

Sometimes you just need something cold!

In a mug you usually use to make hot tea, either microwave half-a-mug of water (~90 seconds works for me), or pour half-a-mug of boiled water into the mug.
Steep your tea of choice (in the usual amount, for the usual time). This will brew double-strength tea because it is half as much water as you normally use.
After the tea is steeped, fill the mug with ice. This dilutes the tea so it is at the usual strength you brew, and also chills it down!
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
“Edible-in-Chef” Ashley Bovin, Ease Up Consulting

Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!