Sometimes I wish I was the type of food writer who got to write about cups of creamy tomato soup served in big mugs and topped with grilled cheese that is equal parts with a gooey center and crispy edges. While the layers of texture and flavor in a vegan Lebanese moussaka make me just as excited, it feels like a harder sell in a society that glorified donuts for breakfast and quick-and-easy meals toddlers will love.
It feels like an uphill climb convincing the sleep-deprived and patience-tried mothers everywhere that the forethought it takes to roast eggplant at 7am is worth it. And let’s not forget the iron will required to make said eggplant enough times that your three-year-old eats it for dinner without complaint.
When I think about what I want my kids to say when someone asks them what their mom does—or did—I want them to say I fought for them and for every kid like them whose. I want them to know their mama fought for their physical, emotional, and spiritual health, and that’s why I don’t write about bubbly cheese or about lemon Bundt cake that tastes like the first day of summer. Though, I do still love to read about such delicacies because those food writers just make it sound so sexy.
This week, plant-based meatballs were on the menu. Nicole and I did a meatball swap. She made these quinoa cauliflower (not) meatballs, and I asked my dad to make these mushroom quinoa (not) meatballs because we are still displaced because of the great air conditioner flood of 2022, and I am not coping or cooking.
What we loved: These are a great neutral-tasting way to get veggies into a pasta dish—or you can just serve sauce over them, no pasta required. Just be sure to pick a no-sugar added sauce! Quinoa is a whole grain and complete protein, so we are huge fans.
What we changed: Nicole threw some spinach in the food processor because we always add greens where we can. She opted to pan fry them in olive oil for added healthy fat.
What we loved: These are packed with flavor and nutrition. They are a great substitute if your family loves a good bowl of pasta with meatballs; they would also make a great appetizer with a toothpick because they stay together like a dream. (If you’ve ever made meatless meatballs, it’s rare they stay together this well without vital wheat gluten.) With nutritional yeast and quinoa, you have two complete proteins in this plant-based meals, and mushrooms always make us happy with their vitamin D and other antioxidants.
What we changed: If your kiddos don’t like anything spicy, skip the red pepper flakes. We added extra nutritional yeast when we served our meatballs for the protein and b12.
Also on the menu this week was this Lebanese Moussaka that I ate for a week straight because I made so much and it’s supposed to be eaten cold which makes it the world’s best leftover meal.
What we loved: All the veggies. This fiber-fueled meal is super easy to make, and it’s super versatile. You can serve it warm over rice, or use naan bread to scoop it up right out of the refrigerator. The cinnamon and caramelized onions give it sweet undertones with no added sugar.
What we changed: Like most things we review, it needed greens. I ripped up an entire package of spinach and threw it in there a couple of minutes before I turned the stove off.
I want the American grocery store to be a safe place for all families. I believe you shouldn’t need a PhD from Google to navigate feeding your family, and I know it will not change without people like you and me choosing vegetables over packaged foods most of the time. At the same time, I’ve been sleeping on the floor of my mother’s art room with my family for four for the last 33 days. I am a month behind on all my writing projects—and falling farther behind by the minute. So, I thought you should know this is a safe place to serve your kid buttered noodles because sometimes that’s all we can muster.
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