April 12th, 2020

Hello! Welcome to the Granola Grrl newsletter! Each Sunday, I'll be sending out a little email with recipes from my week, information about the local Memphis food happenings, and any other tidbits from the week that I find helpful or uplifting. I hope that this newsletter serves as a bright spot on your Sunday as we all navigate this extremely scary and uncertain time together. Throughout these last several weeks spent at home, cooking and preparing healthy meals and snacks for myself has been my major way of de-stressing and maintaining at least somewhat of a routine. And, my hope is that these recipes will help provide you this same outlet during this time.

All of my dishes and smoothies are essentially made with whatever I had in my fridge at the time since I'm trying to limit trips to the grocery store, so definitely feel free to modify any recipe based on whatever you have on hand. Please send me pictures if you make anything - it would make my week to see them! I hope you have a safe and healthy week and that you enjoy the first of many Sunday newsletters. :)

Honey Sriracha Tempeh

I've done a lot of experimenting with tempeh lately based on what seasonings I have on hand and this one is for sure a winner. It is great plain but it is also SO good on a sandwich as pictured here. Feel free to substitute the tempeh with chicken.

Ingredients

• Four thick slices of tempeh

• dash of honey

• 1 tsp sriracha (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)

•  1 tbsp tamari

• 2 tsp of olive oil

• dried oregano

• dash of white wine vinegar

1. Add the tempeh and all of the ingredients above to a small mixing bowl, leaving a little olive oil for cooking. Toss together lightly.

2. Heat up a small pan over medium high heat, adding a bit of olive oil once the pan is warm. 

3. Add the tempeh to the pan let it sizzle on one side for 1-2 minutes. Once that side is browned, flip the tempeh over for another 1-2 minutes to cook the other side.

4. Once the tempeh is fully cooked, transfer to dish of your choice. I did a sandwich with hummus, microgreens, and spinach. 

Sweet Potato Fries

This recipe has been a "go-to" of mine for years! Usually, I just vary the spices based on whatever I have on hand.

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes

• 1/2 tsp pink salt

• 3/4 tsp Everything But the Bagel Seasoning (from Trader Joe's)

• 1 dash paprika

• 2 tsp olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut the sweet potatoes into thick fries, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide. 

3. Put the wedges into a medium mixing bowl and cover them in all of the ingredients above.

4. Cover a baking sheet with a piece of tin foil. Once the oven is heated, put all of the wedges onto this tin foil ensuring that each wedge is flat on the pan.

5. Bake for 15 minutes on one side and then flip the wedges. Bake for 12 minutes on the other side.

6. Broil the potatoes on high for 2 minutes or until they are crispy. Serve immediately or reheat on the stovetop throughout the week. 

Green Smoothies

We could all use a little more green in our lives around now. And, my fav way to sneak in some green is through a smoothie! Here are my two "go to" green smoothies. 

Creamy Banana Spinach Smoothie
Blend Together:

• 1.5 frozen bananas (around 1.5 cups)

• 1 scoop of protein powder (I use Vega) 

• 3/4-1 cup almond milk

• 1 dollop of almond butter

• 3/4 cup fresh spinach

• 2 pitted medjool dates (optional)

Tropical Kale Smoothie
Blend Together:

• -1/2 cup frozen pineapple

• 1/2 cup frozen mango

• 1/2 cup frozen banana

• 3/4 cup kale

• 3/4 - 1 cup almond milk

Kale Salad Dressing

For those who think they hate kale, try this dressing. It is a game changer.

Dressing

• 1 tsp white wine vinegar

• 2 tsp olive oil

• 1/2 of a lemon

• 1 tsp honey

• Dash sea salt

• 1 small dollop of tahini (optional)

1. Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Add it to a bowl of kale and massage it in. (Massaging kale makes it easier to digest and makes it taste a little less strong.)

2. Add on the toppings! I added hemp seeds, microgreens, tempeh (I used the recipe above!), and avocado. 

Local Products + Services to Try

Tamboli's Mobile Deli

Let's face it, going to the grocery store is not the enjoyable experience that it once was. So, that's why Tamboli's is such an awesome service.  They now have almost all of the grocery necessities  you would need as well as the option to add one of their fresh pizzas or a take-and-bake pasta dish to your order. Even if they don't necessarily have every single item you need, it can at least prolong the time span between grocery runs. And, not only does it help a new local restaurant, but it also supports so many local farms and vendors. All you do is pre-pay for the items you want via their website and you can either pick them up curbside or have it delivered to your door if you are in the Midtown area. I would 10/10 recommend adding some Green Girl  microgreens to your cart as well. As you can probably tell from the recipes above, I add them to literally everything.

Ways to Help Out Your Local Food Industry Folks

The restaurant industry has been one of the hardest hit industries of this pandemic. So, here's a list of what you can do to take care of all of those service industry folks out there:

• First and foremost, check in on them! If you are close with someone in the food industry, send them a text to make sure they are doing ok. 

• If you pick up food somewhere, be sure to tip as well as you would if you had actually eaten there. 

• Buy gift cards now to use later.

• Send a server a virtual tip via Venmo using this list of servers or this randomized name generator. 

• Donate t0 the Memphis Food Industry Emergency Worker's Assistance Fund.

• Support local farms and vendors through the Cooper Young Farmer's Market and local CSAs.

A Different Way to Celebrate Easter...

Let's face it, Easter or any kind of celebration are just super different this spring. But, the good thing is that a good amount of local places are still open for curbside pick-up to make these celebrations a bit more special. While hunkering down at home should be the top priority right now, I also believe that giving these local business support in any way during this time is also super important. Memphis will look a lot different after all of this is over if we don't give our support to help places get through this, even if that means buying a gift-card to use after all of this is over. So, each week I'm going to highlight a couple of local restaurants and stores that are still operating for take out!
This week I wanted to highlight 17 Berkshire and Whitton Farms. 17 Berkshire is a small macaron and coffee shop in Overton Square and they are currently just open from 11-3pm on Saturday for curbside pick-up with the ability to pre-order throughout the week. If you are wanting to go all out one Saturday I would definitely recommend getting the Afternoon Tea!
Whitton Farms is a local farm known for its flowers and produce. They set up shop each week at the Cooper Young Farmers Market from 9am-1pm. Pre-order the flowers online by Friday night (along with any of their local produce), and pop by the Cooper Young Farmer's Market to pick them up (wearing a mask/face covering of course). 
 

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Ways to Get Moving this Week

I've been loving MadFit youtube videos and doing some old school Jane Fonda workouts!

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 For many of us, this next week marks approximately one month of life being insanely different. In this past month, I have noticed so much pressure on us to be spending "all of this free time" doing something remarkable. Productivity looks so different for everyone in this weird season - some people may thrive off of this free time and be more creative and driven now than ever, yet others may feel the least productive they have ever been. And, I am guessing that a lot have probably gone back and forth between these two a lot lately. Over the past couple of weeks, I felt guilty for not being as productive and driven as I would be during the school year and I know that this sentiment is a common one. But, I realized that this is a time of change and transition for everyone out there and sometimes, all of these rapid changes don't equate to the same level of productivity that we are used to at school or at your office. So, don't feel inadequate or less than just because you're not going above and beyond with "all of this free time." We're all just trying to get through this the best that we can. 

Have a safe and healthy week folks! Continue to stay home and wash those hands. :)

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As always, feel free to contact me with questions or suggestions through granolagrrlblog@gmail.com or by direct messaging @granolagrrl on Instagram.