I am excited to share the incredible Feed Phoenix project with Local First Arizona as part of the City of Phoenix COVID-19 Emergency Food Assistance Funding. The project is designed to provide nutritious lunches incorporating locally grown produce to organizations in the City of Phoenix from August to October 2020.
It was an exciting program to participate in Feed Phoenix as the program created beautiful community collaboration with our local farmers, entrepreneur chefs, and organizations.
Serving: Native Health & Harvest Compassion Center
Experience Nutrition had the honor to create and deliver 200 grab-and-go meals in the Phoenix community. We created 50 delicious, healthy meals for Native Health, which serves the Phoenix Native American population with holistic patient-centered care, and 75 adult and 75 kids meals to the Harvest Compassion Center, a food and clothing bank for families in the Phoenix / Maryvale area. Huge thanks to Waste Not AZ for your commitment to feed the Valley’s hungry with food that would go to waste…and for delivering the meals in your refrigerated truck.
Plant-Based Farm-to-Table
As soon as Experience Nutrition was approved to serve our community, I reached out to plant-based Nadira Jenkins-El, to assist with the project. We brainstormed the lunch menu and decided to create a roasted veggie wrap, hummus, quinoa salad, and fruit.
Behind the Scenes with our Farmers
Since Experience Nutrition always focuses on plant-based farm-to-table and creates beautiful food with what our local farmers are growing, we determined the ingredients for the recipes based on what our local farmers were growing.
For the Roasted Veggie Wrap, I reached out to Cindy Gentry, who Sun Produce Cooperative. We purchased ten pounds each of sweet potatoes, purple potatoes, and red onions from Crooked Sky Farms, ten pounds of butternut squash grown by Mark Rhine at Rhiba Farms, and a beautiful Long Island Cheese (Cinderella) Pumpkin from the Orchard Community Learning Service.
For the Quinoa Salad, we received 25 pounds of incredible, just harvested (while I waited) Persian cucumbers from Abby Lee Farms, 15 pounds of green beans, 10 pounds of summer squash, and 15 bunches of cilantro from Green on Purpose.
For our fruit dessert, since watermelons are in-season, we ordered 80 pounds from Crooked Sky Farms.
Now let’s take a look at the beautiful food as the foundation for our intuitive culinary creations for the lunches.
Thanks so much to our local Arizona farmers. Pause and enjoy the beauty.Fresh last summer Arizona bounty.
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The next Experience Nutrition Blogs will feature the recipes and behind-the-scenes fun cooking for the Feed Phoenix Program.Look forward to sharing with you.
Roasted Veggie & Hummus Wrap
Cold Quinoa Cucumber Salad
Kids Red Wrap
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Massaging the Quinoa Salad
Creating the huge batch of hummus.
Quinoa Salad & Classic Hummus. So much fun!
Amazing Roasted Potatoes, Squash and Red Onions
Creating the tasty Roasted Veggie Hummus Wraps
Oh my Yumm…Roasted Veggie Wraps on the way!
Kids Red Wraps
Grab-and-Go Plant-Based Lunches
Kids Red Wrap and Adult Grab-and-Go Lunches
By Melanie Albert, plant-based farm-to-table culinary leader. Founder & CEO of Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona, Award-winning cookbook author, cooking event and retreat host, plant-based artisan caterer. Creator of the new Plant-Based Food Art Movement.
Top 11 Reasons to Go on a Plant-Based Cooking Retreat
by Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO of Experience Nutrition Group, LLC in Phoenix, Arizona, Award-winning Cookbook Author, and Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking Expert
If you’re still curious…
During our Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Fall 2019 Retreat, September 13-16, you’ll experience several days of hands-on, simple plant-based cooking, mindfulness in the kitchen and eating. We’ll enjoy a farm-to-table cooking experience at a local urban farm. You’ll experience self-care with hiking and yoga in the beauty of Sedona.
In the memorable life-changing retreat, our intention is for you to enjoy the cooking and self-care experiences during the retreat and then most importantly take home the experiences and plant-based cooking learning from the retreat to make positive lifestyle changes in your lives.
LEARN TO COOK SIMPLE, BEAUTIFUL PLANT-BASED MEALS
Have fun with hands-on interactive cooking with Plant-Based Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. With hands-on interactive cooking you’ll learn culinary techniques to prepare a variety of plant-based breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
ONE: Learn How to Prepare Simple Delicious Healthy Breakfasts
Learn the basic culinary techniques to prepare plant-based breakfast options and when you return home intuitively create your own breakfasts with your favorite whole grains, nuts, seeds, and fruit.
Whole Grains (gluten-free)
Quick, easy, and tasty nut and seed milk
Superfood Smoothies
Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding
TWO: Learn to Cook a Variety of Plant-Based Lunches
For lunch, our focus is preparing beautiful, tasty raw salads, raw taco, and cold soup.
Raw Massaged Kale Salad with fruit, berries, nuts, and seeds. 3-ingredient salad dressing.
Avocado Tartare with fresh veggies
Raw Almond Walnut Taco with Quick Pickled Veggies
Cold Veggie Soup
Raw Dehydrated Crackers
THREE: Learn how to prepare tasty, healthy plant-based Appetizers, Meals, and Dessert for Plant-Based Dinners
For dinner, we’ll cook complete plant-based meals with delicious Mediterranean appetizers, Veggie Main Dishes, and beautiful, tasty desserts.
Mediterranean Appetizers
Hummus, Hempseed Tabouli, Olive Tapenade
Meals
Veggie Sautés (Roots & Greens)
Roasted Veggie Flatbread
Turmeric Lentil Soup
Veggie Brown Rice Pilaf
Raw Deconstructed Lasagna
Deconstructed Lasagna
Desserts
Raw Superfood Pie
Raw Cacao Berry Pie
Aromatic Apple Crisp
Raw Cacao Berry Pie
FOUR: Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Class at an Arizona Organic Farm
Enjoy a true farm-to-table experience. Tour a local organic farm with an Arizona urban farmer. Have fun cooking your dinner right at the farm with just-harvested produce from the farm and local farmers markets. Enjoy your culinary creations in the beauty of the farm.
Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition. Getting set for a farm-to-table cooking experience.
FIVE: Enjoy an afternoon Snack at a Local Sedona Plant-Based Restaurant
After hiking in Sedona, we’ll stop by a popular organic vegetarian Sedona restaurant to enjoy their delicious plant-based creations and chocolate treats.
MINDFUL COOKING & EATING
SIX: Practice Mindfulness while Cooking, Plating, and Eating
During the retreat, we’ll focus on mindfulness and being present throughout the cooking process. We’ll practice mindfulness while cooking our meals, beautifully plating our food, and enjoying our meals together.
Mindful Cooking. During the retreat, we will focus on mindfulness and being present while cooking, as part of the cooking process and a form of self-care. We will:
Mindfully choose the ingredients (beautiful veggies) and herbs and spices for our dishes.
Mindfully chop our food. (Learn basic knife skills).
Enjoy the beauty, the colors, the textures, the shapes, and the aromatherapy of our food.
Mindfully set up our mise en place. That is, get all of our ingredients in place before we start cooking for mindfulness and organization.
Learn to plate your foods beautifully. Since we eat with our eyes first, you will learn skills to plate foods beautifully. You’ll learn fundamental principles in the art of plating. You’ll have the opportunity to practice plating skills every time we cook and begin to develop your own plating style. We’ll use edible garnishes, herbs, and flowers in our plating to elevate the eye-appeal of our meals.
Mindful Eating.We’ll mindfully enjoy our meals in the beautiful Sedona environment with our retreat community. We’ll enjoy meals in the beauty of the retreat house and in the beauty of the Sedona Red Rocks. We’ll pause, slow down, and really enjoy the beauty and flavors of the food we prepare.
SELF CARE IN THE MAGIC OF SEDONA
SEVEN: Take time for your own self-care, relaxing in the beauty of the retreat house. Get away from day-to-day life. Retreats are the perfect place to really take time for you. Away from work, responsibilities, and technology. During your Sedona retreat, unplug and allow yourself to settle into quiet, to relax, recharge and reflect.
Relax at our Retreat House
EIGHT: Enjoy hiking and nature in beautiful, magical Sedona, Arizona. In Sedona, we can immerse ourselves in nature by hiking with the grounding red rock and expansive big sky environment which provides the perfect place to exercise and unwind. In Sedona, we’ll hike in the Vortex energy, breath in the fresh air, and enjoy the magnificent sunsets.
Cathedral Rock: Melanie Albert’s very favorite spot in Sedona.
Hike at the Sedona Airport Vortex
NINE: Practice yoga on the Sedona Rocks and our private yoga studio at the retreat house. Participate in a yoga class or practice on your own for self-care, quiet, and meditation during the retreat.
Retreat House Private Yoga Studio
Enjoy One-of-A Kind Sedona Experiences
TEN: Enjoy Memorable One-of-A-Kind Sedona Experiences.Only in Sedona experiences. During the retreat, you’ll experience the Sedona magic with Spiritual Reading, and a private Kiva Ceremony.
ELEVEN: Visit Magnificent Antelope Canyon. As a special add-on to the retreat, visit one of the most magnificent spots in Arizona on our adventure day to the Antelope Canyon, one of the most beautiful, mesmerizing, photographic locations in the world. A photographer’s dream, the canyon is known for its wave-like structure and the light beams that shine directly down into the openings of the canyon, creating a supernatural appearance.
If you and your friends are interested in our Fall 2019 Plant-Based Cooking & Self-Care Retreat, September 13-16, 2019 in Sedona, Arizona, please fill out the form and I’m happy to share more and answer your questions. – Melanie Albert
