Commons Café

🎼 `Tis the season to not know what to buy anyone!

Luckily, no matter how big or small, we`ve got ideas from our team of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDN) and Chefs to keep your family and friends feeling their best year-round.

🔪 Make cooking easier by gifting a quality knife, cooking utensils, cooking classes, a cookbook (or two!), or even an airfryer.

🧘‍♂️ Motivate activity and body attunement like yoga mats, wireless earbuds, a sleep and health tracking ring, or a theragun/theracup.

🥛 Give the gift of hydration, which plays a key role in sleep quality, cognition, and mood. Ideas include a single serving blender, a rehydration water bottle, a mocktail gift set, or a popsicle mold!

🌱 Encourage a new hobby with a plant, an indoor garden kit, a sourdough starter kit, a mushroom growing kit, or a puzzle.

🛌 Encourage relaxation with luxury candles, shower steamers, tea, coloring books, and even meditation cards!

✍️ Subscribe your loved one to Purple Carrot, Masterclass, a composting service, or an imperfect produce subscription!

💳 Support your local community with a giftcard to a local farm to fork restaurant, spa, or fitness store.

Get a full rundown of our recommendations (including links to specific products!) at the link in our bio. #GiftGuide #GiftIdeas #CookingGifts #WellnessGifts #CulinaryGifts ...

Eat fresh and waste less with these 7 tips to reduce food waste!
1️⃣ Berries hate baths. Wait to wash berries until you`re ready to eat them! Store them loosely covered in a single layer on a tray lined with a dry cloth or paper towel.
2️⃣ Basil likes to be the center of attention. Store basil like you would a bouquet of flowers by trimming the ends and placing the cut ends down in a jar of water on the counter.
3️⃣ Other herbs are shy. Store them loosely wrapped in cloth in a breathable bag in the high-humidity drawer of the fridge.
4️⃣ Nuts and flour love to chill. Shell-free almonds, walnuts, pecans, and pistachios will last in the refrigerator for up to two years or more! Plus, store flour in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer to double longevity.
5️⃣ Whole grains prefer the dark. Quinoa, bulgar, millet, spelt, etc. just like to be in a dark, cool place and can also be frozen for long-term storage.
6️⃣ Let cheese breathe. Wrap your cheese loosely in waxed paper!
7️⃣ Apples grow up fast. An apple on a counter will ripen 6-10 times faster than in your fridge. Store them, unwashed, in a breathable bag in the low-humidity drawer of your refrigerator to make them last up to six weeks.

These tips to help keep your fresh food happy are adapted from Dana Gunders’ indispensable Waste Free Kitchen Handbook and the related website savethefood.com. Check them out for a more in-depth rundown. #EatFresh #SustainableEating #FoodStorageTips #WasteLess #KitchenHacks ...

Three words: holiday 👏 leftover 👏 ramen 👏

Use your leftovers from your next holiday meal to whip up this make-it-yourself one-pot ramen.

Makes 8 servings

INGREDIENTS
8 cups of chicken stock
2 cups water
6 ounces ham, sliced or cut into 1-inch squares
12 ounces turkey, sliced or cut into 1-inch squares
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
12 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced
4 teaspoons soy sauce
10 ounces Udon noodles
3 cups cabbage, shredded or chopped
Hot sauce, to taste (optional)

DIRECTIONS
In a medium size pot, combine the chicken stock and water.

Bring to a simmer and add the chicken, ham, carrots, and mushrooms. Cook over medium-low heat at a slow simmer for about 12 minutes or so.

Add the soy sauce and continue to simmer. Taste the broth at 30-minute intervals until the flavors have developed to your preference. The longer it simmers, the more developed the flavors will be.

Once your broth is rich in flavor, add the Udon noodles and bring to a rapid simmer. Cook Udon about 10 minutes or until they are soft on the outside but have a firm, not crunchy, center.

When the Udon noodles are cooked, remove the pot from the heat. Ladle into 4 large bowls and top with the shredded cabbage. Add a splash of hot sauce to taste and dig in!

#FightFoodWaste #HolidayCooking #OnePotMeal #EasyRecipes #RamenLovers #ComfortFood #CookingWithLeftovers ...

We are excited to have @momohouse.pdx back in Commons tonight from 5p-7p! Swing by to grab some delicious food and say hi! ...

Did you know that 30-40% of the food supply in the United States goes uneaten? This holiday season, avoid contributing to food waste by bringing new life to your leftovers!

🦃 Transforming turkey and other proteins. Move beyond the basics like sandwiches and consider making a turkey soup or chili or even a turkey ramen!
🥕 Revamping vegetables. Toss your leftover vegetables into a frittata, quiche, or grain bowl. And those pesky sweet potatoes? Mash `em up with spices and leavening agents to make sweet potato pancakes!
🍞 The great bake off. Leftover bread can be repurposed into French toast or bread pudding, and stuffing would be delish in a breakfast bake!
😋 Get saucy with it. Use gravy to enrich a pasta dish or serve as a base for stew and mix your cranberry sauce into yogurt or oatmeal!
🥢 Make non-traditional pinwheels. On tortillas, layer turkey and cranberry sauce, roll it up, and slice into bite-sized pieces! Or try using seaweed sheets and starting with a layer of rice before adding turkey and cranberry sauce for a faux-sushi inspired meal.
🍕 Pizza party! Roll out dough or even pita and build your pizza: cranberry sauce base, turkey, roasted vegetables — you name it, it`s delish!
🤝 Spread the joy! Organize a leftover-style potluck to enjoy the fruits of your labor while promoting sustainability.

Make the most out of your holiday meals with these three tips:
1️⃣ Quantity control. Prepare less food and think about how you might use leftovers in advance.
2️⃣ Label and store. Clear, airtight containers with dates will help you use up items before they expire.
3️⃣ Freeze for future use. If you aren`t going to use it right away, freeze it to enjoy later!

#FightFoodWaste #FoodWaste #SustainableEating #FoodSustainability #CreativeCooking #HolidayCooking ...

Explore Indigenous foodways for Native American Heritage Month! These four cookbooks by Indigenous authors showcase foods that explore their diverse cultural heritage.

1️⃣ In "New Native Kitchen: Celebrating Modern Recipes of the American Indian," authors Freddie Bitsoie and James O. Fraioli celebrate Indigenous cuisine with recipes like Cherrystone Clam Soup from the Northeastern Wampanoag and Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin from the Pueblo peoples.

2️⃣ "The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen" by Sean Sherman (with Beth Dooley) is a rich education and a delectable introduction to modern Indigenous cuisine of the Dakota and Minnesota territories, with a vision and approach to food that travels well beyond those borders.

3️⃣ "Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky: Modern Plant-Based Recipes using Native American Ingredients" by Lois Ellen Frank, PhD celebrates eight important plants Native Americans introduced to the rest of the world: corn, beans, squash, chiles, tomatoes, potatoes, vanilla, and cacao. Lois pairs this rich history with delicious, modern, plant-based recipes.

4️⃣ "Where People Feast: An Indigenous People’s Cookbook" by Dolly Watts and Annie Watts is the culmination of a lifetime dedicated to introducing people to extraordinary foods that are truly North American. From Indian Tacos and Venison Meatballs to Blackberry-Glazed Beets and Wild Rice Pancakes, the mother-daughter duo explores both traditional and modern Indigenous cuisine.

#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NAHM #IndigenousCuisine #IndigenousFoodways #ModernIndigenousRecipes ...