What a New Wine Biz, Cronuts and Hiking Have in Common

Reliving an epic month + a new exclusive recipe!

Hello Friend and Happy Labor Day!

I can’t believe in less than three weeks it will be Fall which actually means nothing in Texas. (If Puxatawny Phil was an armadillo, he would see his shadow indicating 6 more weeks of HOT!🥵)

Gratitude is the theme of this newsletter, so thank you so much for showing up to read what I write.

I also have an exclusive new grill recipe just for you. It’s delicious, healthy and makes use of abundant September produce (and it has alternative cooking methods if grilling isn’t an option.)

But for all you PSL and sweater lovers, I see you and I promise I have cozier recipes and meal plans coming.

Now onto Gratitude…

With Gratitude

Being mindful and gratefulness have been goals for this year. Practicing that here on my monthly newsletter, I am doing a little recap of August, celebrating fun things, business achievements and acknowledging you, my subscribers who keep me motivated each week.

Family Things

First, my husband is starting a new local wine event business and I’ve had the opportunity to help him set up his website and brainstorm ideas. He’s never been an entrepreneur but with 15 months of unemployment after a major hit to his company’s IT department last year, he’s decided it’s time to make his own path and I’m here for it! So excited for him!

Second, we got to visit my sister and BIL in Colorado Springs hoping for a break from the heat, but hit a hot weekend there, too. The photos of our hike up 7 Bridges are not exhibiting the amount of sweat we were experiencing on this 96 degree day! In spite of that, we had so much fun spending time with them.

Several years ago (now that I’m thinking about it, 25 or more years ago!) we sat around the table talking about the idea of choosing to spend time intentionally as friends not just family. That really resonated with me and though we’ve had our challenges at times - just like any friends or family - we truly LOVE and seek out time to spend with each other. I recognize that’s not always the case so I’m very thankful.

Hiking 7 Bridges in Colorado

Food Things

I got to eat a real, live Cronut! For many of you, this isn’t a big deal and Cronuts are old news, but for those of us who can’t generally tolerate gluten, it’s HUGE. I’ve heard about Cronuts forever but since I don’t eat gluten and haven’t gotten over to Europe where the flour is grown and processed in a way that makes it more tolerable, I have never gotten to experience this croissant donut hybrid.

Dad’s Donuts in COS are doing things next level. Their flour is imported from Europe plus they ferment their dough for two days. While these things don’t change anything for those with Celiac or a wheat allergy, these two factors made it possible for me to try one with no repercussions. Just pure joy!

Business Things

Hats off to my paid subscribers. I can’t thank you enough.

Each month my time is divided between developing recipes, creating meal plans, buying groceries, putting together the detailed cohesive meal plan PDFs, writing essays and curating all my favorite cooking tips, tools and resources for this newsletter. While it’s a little less easy to define and a bit unconventional, it’s my small business and it takes a lot of time and money and you make it possible

A Look Back at an Epic Month

It’s been a busy month here at Real Food Sanity. A few highlights:

• First and foremost a big shoutout to all my newbies!! Real Food Sanity hit over 500 subscribers on Substack (including free and paid) with the number climbing everyday! 🎉🎉 As of this writing, I’m at 539!

• Created 20 new budget-friendly meal plans including a full PDF with all recipes, shopping list, subs and cheats + an optional meal prep guide to get dinner on the table in 15-20 minutes.

• Wrote 12 new posts - recipes, meal plans and more

• Introduced my Food Philosophy to Real Food Sanity (it’s not what you think)

• Shared a peek into my kitchen and behind the scenes with Real Food Sanity over at Foodstack

• Wrote a guest post about resilience with our time living in Napa Valley as the vehicle. It will be coming out in the next few weeks so I will keep you posted.

• Met with another Substacker to discuss future collaborations on both of our ‘Stacks. Stay tuned for more on both of these exciting journeys.

• Christina Heiser
  interviewed me on her Substack about self-care cooking

• In case you missed it since all schools will be in session as of this week, I posted 7 Lunch + 5 breakfast ideas (with variations) and included the link so you don’t have to go looking.

• Added a SHORTCUTS, SUBS & SUCH page with my favorite Real Food shortcuts, storing tips, subs for food allergies and more!

• And finally…Created a new exclusive full meal recipe for you!! You can grab it below.

How You Make a Difference

When you choose to be a paid subscriber you:

• Are a micro-investor in my small business resourcing me to do all the things I listed above.

• Provide the means to pay for software, groceries and all the pieces and parts required to keep Real Food Sanity up and running

• Give me the chance to grant scholarships to those who cannot afford the small fee but want to feed their families well.

So thank you, thank you, thank you for investing in me and trusting me to invest in you in return by sending you quality content and meal plans to help you find the joy and ease in cooking. Read on to see all that’s been happening.

Join this growing, beautiful community by clicking this button. In return you will get instant access to Weekly meal plans and more than reimburse yourself the subscription fee through the savings you will see with my budget-friendly recipes and shopping list. Plus you become a micro-investor in my small business! Win-Win!

If the small $7.99 monthly fee is more than you can pay, I still want you to feed your family well. Please reach out and I will gift you a membership.

It’s an honor to serve you and I would love to hear more about what you would like to see from me - specific recipes, food tips, videos, anything related to real food and meal planning. I’m here to serve you. Please comment below and let me know.

xoxo,

Christi

Ceviche Style Grilled Mahi Mahi

Ingredients

• 4 12” metal skewers or 8 8” wooden skewers (soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes)

• 4 Mahi Mahi fillets cut into 1 1/2” cubes

• Avocado Oil to brush

• 3/4 cup lime juice (about 6 juicy limes)

• 1 tbsp minced garlic

• 1/4 cup EVOO

• 2 tsp sea salt

• 1 English cucumber, seeded and diced

• 1 large tomato, diced

• 1 jalapeno, finely chopped

• 1/2 small Red or White Onion, finely chopped

• 3/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

• 2 small avocados, diced

• Tortilla Chips to serve

Here’s the link to the full recipe here on Substack, or you can click the button below to download the PDF.

Ceviche Style Grilled Mahi Mahi

58.4KB ∙ PDF file

Download

For ceviche lovers who are afraid of making raw fish at home.

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