Newsletter for February 4, 2025

Three recipes, two tips, one plan

Intro

This week’s three recipes are sweet potato sheet pan breakfast, Tex-Mex shredded chicken tortilla soup, and zucchini and white bean soup

The plan

Should it be soup or should it be something else? Your call! These recipes do double duty as comforting and hearty soups or as delicious rice and pasta dishes. Depending on the needs of your people, these recipes can also be split partway through the cooking process or even mixed into soup at serving time. This can also be a way to honor the preferences of different pallets while not making entirely different meals. Having the same base to a meal but served either over starch or as soup keeps the communal part of sharing a meal while also meeting the needs of everyone at the table. This week’s dishes rely more on previously prepared options, like leftover chicken from a larger batch preparation last week or sausage purchased at the store. Using these options, whether from your freezer or from the grocery store, is a way to bring more and different flavor to this week’s meals while reducing the time needed to make them. Setting up future options can be on a shorter timeline, like week to week, or it can be setting yourself up for time savings weeks or months out, especially freezing conveniently sized meal portions. Enjoy drawing on your previously invested time and effort!

Tip 1

Advantages of soup
Soups are also a great way to increase water intake ¹ for anyone who would benefit from some support meeting their hydration needs while being full of flavor. They can also accommodate soft foods diets without looking notably different. Additionally, if serving from a bowl with a spoon presents a challenge for eaters (whether from dementia ² or another condition like arthritis), soup can be served from a mug which may be better accepted and be easier to manipulate.

Tip 2

Nutritional yeast
Nutritional yeast is a great, inexpensive way to add flavor to all sorts of dishes. Full of B vitamins ³ as well as fiber and protein, it’s been a recurring character in adaptive cooking for a long time as a way to boost both nutrition and taste. Often described as adding a “cheesy” or “nutty” flavor, it blends in and adds a subtle depth of flavor to dishes like soup, chili, or sauces. Adding it to your repository of options expands ways to bring in flavor!

Sweet potato sheet pan breakfast

This recipe makes about 10 cups, 5-7 servings

Prep time: 15-25 mins Cook time: 50-65 mins

Sheet pan meals are great one-dish-to-wash, easy-to-cook options that can scale up or down to meet your needs. This one features sweet potatoes and peppers alongside sausage and/or chickpeas, depending on your preference. Whether enjoyed on its own or under toppings like cheese or eggs, this filling breakfast option takes only moments to reheat when you’re ready to start your day!

Full recipe

Tex-Mex shredded chicken tortilla soup

This recipe makes about six (6) portions.

Prep time: 15-20 minutes. Cook time: 30-45 minutes

Make it as soup or to go with rice or serve over tortilla chips because this Tex-Mex shredded chicken is as flexible as it is delicious. Dairy free and gluten free by default, this dish can meet a variety of dietary needs. Using chicken from last week’s larger batch preparation shortens prep time; if you don’t have any handy, substitute in shredded rotisserie chicken, or another pre-cooked chicken (options linked in the ingredients!)

Full recipe

Zucchini and white bean soup

This recipe makes 6-8 servings

Prep time: 15-25 mins Cook time: 30-45 mins

This soup can come together in under an hour with a taste like it’s been cooking all day. The components for this dish can be prepared in advance, spreading the workload across multiple kitchen sessions. With options to make this both dairy free and creamy, this recipe can adapt to meet many dietary needs.

Full recipe

Shopping list

• 3x bell peppers (at least 2 green)
• 1 onion
• 2 zucchinis
• 1 carrot
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 can black or pinto beans
• 1 can white beans
• 1 can chickpeas
• 1 can diced tomatoes (if using)
• 1 can tomato paste (if none left from prior week)
• 12 c broth for soup, 6c each recipe. 2 c for non soup, 1 c each recipe
  This can be already broth or broth from bouillon cubes, powder, or paste
• chicken or vegetable bouillon
• tortilla chips
• heavy cream or tahini
• lemon juice
• 10-16 oz turkey sausage for soup
• 8-12 oz breakfast sausage for sheet pan breakfast

Maybe

• frozen corn — may have some from two weeks ago
• shredded cheese
• nutritional yeast — available at most grocery stores or on Amazon in small or large quantities
• crispy onions
• bread for soup
• pasta for zucchini & white beans soup or pasta
• rice for Tex-Mex bowls

Spices

• garlic powder or minced garlic
• cumin
• smoked paprika
• thyme
• dried basil
• crushed red pepper flake
• chili powder
• sage - if seasoning own turkey sausage
• ground ginger - if seasoning own turkey sausage

Likely in your pantry

• salt
• pepper
• cooking oil

Citations

1. Soong, J. (2024, January 16). What counts as water? how to stay hydrated. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/healthy-beverages
2. Ciliz, Ozlem; Tulek, Zeliha; Hanagasi, Hasmet; Bilgic, Basar; Gurvit, I. Hakan. Eating Difficulties and Relationship With Nutritional Status Among Patients With Dementia. Journal of Nursing Research 31(1):p e260, February 2023. https://doi.org/10.1097/jnr.0000000000000538
3. Haase, M. (2024, August 30). 4 surprising health benefits of adding nutritional yeast to your diet. Prevention. https://www.prevention.com/food-nutrition/healthy-eating/a62006513/nutritional-yeast-benefits/