fftf: hot tip friday #19 ✈️ 🍌🍦

stoop coffee, a GREAT airplane snack, "banana swirl," and fridge thoughts

Hello friends,

Before I get to today’s hot food tips, I have to share the absolute BEST thing I have read on the internet lately, this article: Stoop Coffee: How a Simple Idea Transformed My Neighborhood. When I finished reading it, I felt SO inspired, I immediately sent it to five people and knew I had to share it here. It’s a real story about how one couple simply & intentionally started drinking their coffee on the street outside their apartment (instead of inside by themselves) … and created a thriving community of neighbors who help and support each other.

Since November I have been trying to figure out what I personally am going to do/commit to to make the world a little better and combat the deep divisions that continue to plague our world. It feels so impossible to make any meaningful change as an individual… which often leaves me feeling helpless and apathetic. I have not yet come up with anything that feels consistently doable and that would actually make a difference (and that would also feel joyful/exciting/happy to do). But when I read this article, I was like: THISSSSSSS!! Look what the simple act of moving your daily coffee from inside to outside once/week could lead to!!!! What if we took all the time we spent reading comments on the internet/watching the news, and instead drank stoop coffee with our neighbors?! I feel like that might legitimately make our country so much better. After a while, we might get to know each other well enough to discuss hard things like politics together, and maybe we would actually start to bridge our differences?! One can dream…

Seriously, check out the article for a boost of inspiration! Alright, that’s your serious food for thought for the day… now on to the lighter stuff.

#1 - A free airplane snack you’ll *actually* want to grab!

I discovered my new favorite snacky treat on - of all places - AN AIRPLANE! It’s one of the free snacks given out on United Airlines, can you believe it?!?! Behold: the dark chocolate quinoa crisp from a brand called “Undercover.” This “crisp”/cookie’s got a fabulous crunch and three simple ingredients: just dark chocolate, quinoa, and salt!

Sold at a variety of places including Rite Aid, CVS, Safeway, Whole Foods and Giant Eagle! Check ‘em out and report back to me if you do!

#2 - I forgot how good “nice cream” is! 🍦

Have you made “nice cream” recently? (Also known as “Banana Swirl” in Daniel Tiger world/this book, LOL.) I feel like it was trendy around 2015¹? If you’re not familiar, it’s just frozen bananas blended in a high power blender to make a healthier ice cream alternative. I had not made it since ~10 years ago when it was trendy, but finally did so the other day and WOW, I forgot how tasty it is (if you like bananas)! The texture really IS just like ice cream! Major winner with kids and adults (I think I ate more than my kids did). We just made plain banana with a little bit of milk to help it blend, but I will definitely be experimenting with other flavors (found some ideas here) as the weather gets warmer.

“nice cream” or banana swirl (can’t decide which name I prefer) on a rainy spring day

#3 - Cooking my fridge “down to the bone”…

Question: How low on food do you let your household get to before you go to the grocery store?

Lately I have been letting our fridge get pretttttyyy empty before I replenish, which is NOT my usual way of doing things. Normally this would kind of stress me out (mostly because hangry kids are no fun!), but for some reason lately, I feel like it’s been making me more creative in the kitchen! As an example, I made a really good shredded carrot and radish salad one night, when those were literally the only veggies we had left and I was craving a salad. It turned out to be one of the best things I’ve made in MONTHS, and I was impressed with myself for making this from the dregs of my refrigerator!

Testing out this new “down to the bones” practice has been forcing me to cook more from my pantry and eat through the frozen fruits and veggies I keep around. I’ve even been motivated to actually wipe down (*sometimes*)the inside of my fridge before I shop again because it’s so bare, which feels SO nice! When I shop even though I have existing food in the fridge, sometimes I feel like I’m more likely to waste the older food because I’m more excited to eat the new food…

Just some food for thought on timing and shopping practices! That’s all for today

Happy weekend!

Love,
Jess

1. Apparently “nice cream” gained wide popularity in 2014, so I was close!!