We Tapped 3 Foodies for Work-From-Home Meals to Whip Up With Pantry Staples

Photo: Courtesy of RASA

Working from home makes you miss things like chatting about “White Lotus” over lunch with your coworkers. But just because you’re WFH with no one to discuss the finale with doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take that lunch break. Whip up something delicious with these easy recipes made with ingredients you probably already have at home.

We tapped Mia Rigden of RASA, Wendy Lopez and Jessica Jones of Food Heaven, and Gaby Dalkin of What’s Gaby Cooking and asked them to share their go-to work-from-home recipes—and it’s safe to say they did not disappoint. From everything-but-the-kitchen-sink soup to not-so-boring pasta, you’ll be eating well this week.

Kitchen Sink Soup

An excellent way to make the most of unused produced that’s sitting in your crisper drawer, this soup, courtesy of Mia Rigden, a nutritionist and the founder of RASA, is nutritious, flavorful, and a perfect way to reset. Make a big batch and freeze leftovers so you’ll always have a healthy meal on hand.

Instructions:

1. Heat coconut oil or ghee in a Dutch oven. 

2. Add onions and garlic, stirring until fragrant, then add vegetables and stir for a minute or two longer.

3. Add broth then enough water to cover the vegetables (about two cups). Let simmer for 20-30 minutes and puree in a high-speed blender (or with a hand blender) until smooth. 

4. Season as desired and serve with a squeeze of lemon, a splash of olive oil, and some sea salt

For a step-by-step tutorial, watch the Ask an Expert Live segment via Create & Cultivate’s Instagram here.

Mia Rigden

Nutritionist and founder of RASA

Turmeric Vegetable Fried Rice

This recipe puts a colorful spin on traditional fried rice with extra anti-inflammatory power! Wendy Lopez and Jessica Jones, registered dietitians, certified diabetes educators, and the founders of Food Heaven, bring us this easy and delicious way to make the most of super-spice turmeric!

Instructions:

1. When cooking your brown rice, add 1/2 tablespoon of turmeric to the boiling water, and cook as per package instructions. Set aside once done.

2. In a large pan, heat the sesame oil, and add the onions. Sauté for 1-2 minutes over medium heat.

3. Add in the eggs, and cook for 1-2 minutes.

4. Then add in the mixed vegetables, 2 cups of cooked turmeric rice, and the soy/tamari/aminos.

5. Cook over low heat for 4-5 minutes.

6. Turn off the heat, and mix in the cabbage and sprouts. Add salt, to taste, and top with scallions. Enjoy!

Recipe Note: The vegetables in this recipe are totally flexible and you can use whatever frozen/raw veggies you have stocked in the fridge. 

Wendy Lopez and Jessica Jones

Registered dietitians, certified diabetes educators, and founders of Food Heaven

Calabrian Chili Pasta

Pasta, our fave go-to for easy dining, doesn’t have to be boring! Gaby Dalkin is a trained chef, recipe developer, entrepreneur, and the founder of What’s Gaby Cooking, shows us how to spice up the pasta you are probably eating for the millionth day in a row.

Instructions:

1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Cook the Cassarecce according to the package directions. Once al dente, drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water for future use and set aside.

2. In a large sauté pan, add the olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the lemon zest (saving the lemon juice for later) and sauté for 15 seconds. Add the Calabrian hot pepper paste and stir until everything is evenly incorporated.

3. Add the cooked pasta and stir to combine. If you need to add a few tablespoons of the reserved pasta water to thin it out, go ahead. Add the lemon juice and toss to combine. Season with salt to taste.

4. Sprinkle the pecorino over the pasta if desired and toss to coat and serve immediately.

Gaby Dalkin

Founder of What’s Gaby Cooking

This story was originally published on April 13, 2020, and has since been updated.

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We Traded Our Morning Coffee for Matcha Collagen for a Week—Here’s What Happened

How do you start your day? If you’re like 64% of Americans (ourselves included) it likely starts with a cup of coffee. In the mornings we like to practice what is known as “procaffeination,” or the tendency to not start anything until we’ve had at least one cup of coffee and until the caffeine has had a chance to kick in.

Coffee has become such a ubiquitous part of our lifestyle and our culture, with more Americans choosing it per day than any other beverage. But in the pandemic era of WFH, caffeine can become a mental and emotional crutch. More people are feeling the pressure of an always-on work culture with the shift from in-person meetings to virtual ones. This, combined with a year of irregular sleep schedules and coping with a collective uncertainty, can have you reaching for an extra cup (or four) to feel like you can keep up. In a world that doesn’t ever switch off, burnout is very real—and so is our addiction to caffeine. 

If you’re anything like us, it’s likely hard to imagine starting a typical morning without coffee—in fact, the mornings without coffee commit to memory in much greater detail–and so the thought of giving it up permanently seems unbearable. 

But, what if we told you there's a replacement that could give you natural, sustained energy without the caffeine crash you would normally get from coffee. What if it also included a variety of age-defying benefits as well as those for digestive health and joint health, AND improved endurance, while helping the body maintain balance with stress-relieving and immune-boosting properties.

Enter Further Food’s Matcha Collagen Peptides.

You’ve likely heard of matcha before; a high-grade green tea that has been ground into powdered form. Because of the unique way that it is grown and harvested, matcha has more antioxidants than other green teas and is considered a true nutritional powerhouse. 

Further Food combined delicious, superior tasting organic matcha (cultivated by a 10th level Japanese Tea Master, the highest level of Chasi and one of only 13 people in the world to hold this certificate) with their best-selling hydrolyzed collagen peptides and organic cordyceps mushroom into one clean label product that delivers all-day glow, all-day energy, and plenty of benefits.

These three ingredients are a powerful combination, according to Further Food’s Chief Science Officer, Dr. Chris Oswald, D.C., Licensed Nutritionist and Functional Medicine Practitioner. “Collagen is great for a variety of beauty benefits such as glowing skin, thicker hair, and stronger nails. It also has additional benefits for digestive health and joint health. The combination of collagen with matcha and cordyceps mushrooms gives you a daily beauty fix while also delivering mental clarity and productivity benefits from the natural caffeine found in matcha and endurance and fatigue-fighting benefits associated with cordyceps.”

Inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine, Further Food's Matcha Collagen has all the benefits of collagen with the ancient healing powers of adaptogenic mushrooms. All of their products are formulated by doctors and backed by nutritionists, health experts, and herbalists.

If, by now, you’re feeling “matcha curious”, and wondering if you would survive or thrive if you traded your coffee for matcha for one week—well, so were we. 

So, the C&C put Further Food’s Matcha Collagen Peptides to the test for a week and logged our results. Keep scrolling to read the verdict! 

Jessica, Director, Accounts

FIRST IMPRESSION: To be totally honest, I am not normally a matcha fan which is actually why I was so eager to give up coffee for a week and add this to my morning ritual! I noticed how easily the powder blended with the steamed milk and the flavor was nice. I felt like I had ordered a $7 matcha latte!

FINAL VERDICT: I find that with my morning coffee, I can be jittery and anxious. I always crash around 2 or 3 PM and need another cup—with Further Food’s Matcha Collagen powder in my latte every day, I noticed sustained energy throughout the afternoon and early evening and didn’t even catch myself thinking about my cold brew! I also felt a lot more focused on each task, rather than jumping around my to-dos as I normally do, I really felt like I could spend the time needed to get my work done efficiently. Overall I feel good and am excited to keep this up to see how the collagen affects my skin.

JESS’S MATCHA RITUAL: Each morning, after I made myself and my (almost) two-year-old daughter breakfast, I made myself a hot matcha latte with steamed oat milk and one scoop of Further Food’s Matcha Collagen powder. Occasionally, I added a little bit of cinnamon, cardamom and honey just for a bit of an elevated morning drink and used my super whisk to make it really foamy! It was really nice to enjoy while we shared our breakfast.

Sarah, Associate Marketing Manager

FIRST IMPRESSION: I love a good matcha–so much that I justify spending $7 on one at a coffee shop here in Los Angeles, and mostly because I have never been successful at making it myself at home (though I’ve tried!). I have been on the hunt for a good matcha for a minute now, and I won’t name names but I still have a few pouches sitting in my pantry that just weren’t up to par. 

Naturally, I was a little nervous that this one would fall short but I was happily surprised. The matcha whisked together well, tasted as delicious as I expected, and I liked that it saved me an extra step by including collagen and cordyceps. Collagen has always been a part of my daily beauty routine–I definitely notice a difference in my hair, skin and nails when I’m incorporating it daily.

FINAL VERDICT: As a lover of at home coffee and a victim to not so great matchas of the past - I’m stoked to continue to incorporate Further Food’s Matcha Collagen into my morning routine! Not only was I happy to skip the step of adding my daily supplement of collagen to my morning beverage (work smarter, not harder!) but I genuinely saw a shift in my energy levels. 

I wasn’t watching the clock for the next appropriate time to have another cup of caffeine but was more often shocked when 4 PM rolled around and I had powered through the afternoon without my normal second cup. 

SARAH’S MATCHA RITUAL: I consider myself to be exclusively an iced beverage person, regardless of the temperature outside. This, for the most part, has made dissolving supplements in my morning beverage… tough, which is why I was pleasantly surprised at how easily Further Food’s Matcha Collagen dissolved, even at room temp.

Not to #humblebrag but I nailed my at home iced matcha latte and knowing that my matcha powder already was packed with the collagen I needed made the experience that much better. First thing in the morning, I boil some water and add a scoop and a half of the Matcha Collagen. After a good whisk, I set it aside to make myself some breakfast. When I’m ready, I pour my matcha over a big glass of ice, top it with some foamy oat milk, and enjoy! 

Drea, Director, Content

FIRST IMPRESSION: Coffee for me, is more about ritual than the caffeine. It signifies a moment all to myself each morning, before the day’s distractions and obligations begin, and where time is measured by volume of sips remaining rather than by the hands of a clock. Though I usually cap this ritual at one cup, I’ve practiced it since my college days. I was a bit nervous to see how my body would respond without the additional caffein and prepared myself for an epic headache–and was surprised that I felt…totally normal. 

As an avid collagen addict, I was really impressed with how well the powder dissolved in hot water – usually matcha requires a special whisk (and a little bit of effort) to achieve a perfectly smooth consistency. With only a few stirs, Further Food’s Matcha Collagen was completely blended, which is actually an indication of a high quality matcha. The taste was exactly what one would expect from matcha–no subtle notes of the collagen or cordyceps. 

FINAL VERDICT: Honestly, I think I may have become a bona fide matcha drinker as a result of this experiment. Especially towards the end of the week, I felt a noticeable difference in energy that was more sustained and less scattered. The matcha–and maybe the cordyceps or the combination of the two– provided a sense of calm and clarity that by comparison, made me realize how anxious coffee had been making me feel. I’m not sure I would have ever noticed the feeling if it weren’t for comparison. 

DREA’S MATCHA RITUAL: The first thing I do in the morning is put water on to boil. My matcha ritual is pretty minimalist, even more so than my coffee ritual without the extra step of adding collagen, but I might try adding it to smoothies next week (and will report back). Once the water boils, pour over 2 scoops of Further Food’s Matcha Collagen. Give it a few stirs and then add a splash of unsweetened oat milk. Sip and enjoy!

USE CODE: CC15 to get 15% off any Further Food product at FurtherFood.com (new customers only) 

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3 Quick and Easy Recipes to Make When You're Too Busy to Cook

Here at Create & Cultivate, we know how busy life can get. Amidst a hectic schedule, it is far too easy to forget to take care of yourself in the mix. However, therein lies the contradiction: if you do not properly nourish your body, you won’t be able to perform anywhere near your best. So, we sat down with food blogger Kenzie Burke, who gave us a few of her favorite quick, easy recipes, and explained why it’s important to make time for food.

“I am a huge proponent of cook it once, eat it two or three times.”

—Kenzie Burke

Create & Cultivate: How can we food prep when we feel like there’s no time? What is a good hack?

Kenzie Burke: My mindset is that no matter how busy you are, there is always time to do things that matter to you. I understand what it is like to be insanely busy. Some days I cannot even manage to text one person back, but I know that I need fuel to perform at my best. It’s possible that you’ll have to stay awake 20 minutes later than usual to make tomorrow run smoother, or perhaps you swap out prep cooking in place of your evening Instagram scroll. Give yourself this gift. This probably isn't the answer anyone wanted to read but, where there is a will, there is a way. As mentioned before, I am a huge proponent of cook it once, eat it two or three times.

C&C: You are anti-diet—why? What is your food philosophy?

KB: My food philosophy is ‘make it a lifestyle.’ You’ve got to fall in love with your life. You have to wake up every day enjoying what you are doing or you just won't live a satisfying life. I believe this sentiment carries over into the foods we eat. You have to love what you eat and want to eat well. I’ve found that those who diet seem to fall off quite easily and feel limited and trapped. In my practice, I get to the root reasoning behind eating well. Why do you want to eat well? For your health? Body? Family? Taking care of your body is taking care of you.

You cannot show up as your best self for your friends, family, partner, and career if you don’t put your own oxygen mask on first. Find your why. To be more specific about what I love to put in my body, I really focus on whole foods. For lunch and dinner I try to make half my plate a veggie. I love to optimize digestion with food combining and plant-based food. I explore this concept further in my e-book as it has changed how I feel at an almost soul level. I feel like I vibrate on a whole new frequency.

3 Quick and Easy Recipes to Try This Week

Artichoke Heart Salad

Courtesy of Kenzie Burke

Ingredients:

Romaine lettuce
Cucumber
Chickpeas
Olives
Artichoke hearts
Red pepper flakes

Ingredients for the dressing:

3 large lemons
3/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Note: This makes a big batch you can keep in your fridge and use throughout the week.

Directions:

Chop romaine into fine pieces, peel and cut cucumber. Plate lettuce and cucumber with chickpeas, olives, artichoke hearts, and top with red pepper flakes. For the dressing place all ingredients into your blender and blend. This dressing stores well in the fridge. Finish salad with this simple salad dressing.

Tropical Bub Smoothie

Ingredients:

Cup of frozen mango
1 banana
Chunk of cucumber
Spinach or lettuce
Chunk of ginger
1 date
Coconut water
Spirulina powder
Shake of cinnamon

Directions:

Place ingredients in a blender and blend!

Simple Chickpea Pasta

Ingredients:

Chickpea pasta
Handful of cherry tomatoes
1/2 an avocado
1/2 of a lemon
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Nutritional yeast

Directions:

Cook the noodles by following the directions on the package they come in. In a sauté pan; sauté the cherry tomatoes on medium heat in olive oil until they are soft.

Once the pasta has finished cooking plate the pasta with the cherry tomatoes, sliced avocado, and finish the dish with a drizzle of olive oil, squeeze of 1/2 of a lemon, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast.

This dish is ready to eat. It is also good cold.

Love this story? Pin the below graphic to your Pinterest board.

This story was originally published on September 5, 2019, and has since been updated.

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Happy Hour: The Traveling Round of Cocktails

We know sometimes it can be all hustle and no flow. Rachel Mae Furman is  Create & Cultivate's resident Leisure Expert, and our go-to girl for tips on cocktails, parties, and the art of entertaining. She'll regularly be serving up the best ways to mix and little business with pleasure. It's always Happy Hour somewhere, so we'll drink to that. —JM

The Traveling Round of Cocktails
by Rachel Mae Furman
 

Summer is upon us and that usually means lots of potlucks, BBQs, picnics and backyard parties. To which, of course, you should never show up empty handed. And while everyone else shows up with the standard bottle of rosé, why not show your host that you appreciate all of his or her efforts with a little something special? 

Since I appreciate a good cocktail wherever I may be, I like to bring the bar with me. But I’m not talking tools, shakers, and mixers, or jello shots. I mean a good round of craft cocktails that's portable and ready to go. Here’s all you’ll need for a Traveling Round of Cocktails:

Ditch the standard bottle of rosé for your next hostess gift and try this instead

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1) Choose Your Recipe

Anything from a citrus cocktail like a Vodka Lemonade to a stirred cocktail like an Old Fashioned or Negroni. Liquor.com or the Epicurious app are both great place to start for inspiration. It's best to skip a recipe that requires soda for this one, as bubbles don’t travel well (that said, you could always add a splash when you get there)!

2) Choose Your Vessel 

Mason Jars are the way to go. You can pre-make each cocktail, screw on the lid for travel, add some ice when you get there and give it a good shake. It’s like your own individual cocktail shaker!

3) Choose Your Package

Invoke some serious wow factor when you show up to a party with a vintage mini suitcase and pop it open to reveal your round of drinks. Any decorative box or storage basket could do—once you’re thinking cocktails, take a peruse around Michael’s Crafts or Target and soon every box will start looking like a potential bar!

4) Keep It Cute

For extra credit, I cut a piece of cardboard the shape of my suitcase lid and spray-painted it with chalkboard paint to write my drink recipes on. You can also find cute mini-chalkboards online or at a craft store. Also consider custom print mason jar labels with your logo or an image for the occasion, and/or line the inside with a pretty kitchen towel in a coordinating color. While everyone else shows up with the ninth bottle of rosé for the evening, revel in your hostess magic as you offer them a cocktail from your suitcase!

Added Value: Here's my go-to recipe for a Peach Negroni

 

Negroni Pesca (“Peach Negroni”)

1oz Gin (I like Art in the Age SAGE Gin for this one)

1oz Suze Liqueur

1oz Lillet Rosé

3 Dashes Peach Bitters

Stir all ingredients together with ice, garnish with a grapefruit peel, and enjoy!

Rachel Mae Furman is a self-proclaimed “Leisure Expert" on a quest to elevate moments, create occasions and curate experiences at any given moment. She has spent the last decade traveling the country scouring the back roads and small towns of America for inspiration, then jet-setting from city to city on the corporate dime, building booze brands in the liquor business. Inspired by her Grandmom Doris to be the perfect little hostess, Rachel is known for whipping out a mason jar Old Fashioned from her purse just when you need it. Her blog Smoke & Honey celebrates the art of leisure, from cocktails to entertaining, style to homemaking. Follow her @rachelmaefurman.