I’m honored to make an appearance today on the blog of lovely fellow WSOU alum Ashley (well, I guess I’m the alum; she still broadcasts the news and throws up the metal horns). Homegirl was on the search for some good snack recipes, and I sent a tasty one for chickpea flatbread her way. Check it out on out her site!

While you’re here, though, you may want to take a peek at the rad Natural Vitality giveaway that’s going on—$50 of organic products could be yours! Rules and full info can be found at the top of this BBQ tempeh recipe.

Hay, frandz—hope this shot of BBQ tempeh has you droolin’ on your keyboard, because the real deal had me licking every last bit of sauce from my fingers. Then again, I’m a chronic bowl, spoon and blender lid licker, anyway. Before sharing the recipe, though, I want to share something even more exciting with you: a giveaway!

The lovely folks at Natural Vitality are generously sharing a $50 gift card to their online store with one lucky Eat Well. Party Hard. reader. Natural Vitality creates dietary supplements using organic, plant-based ingredients; a portion of proceeds from these products then funds their Natural Revitalization environmental action initiative (a program that supports organic farming through work with the Bionutrient Food Association, Remineralize the Earth and the Center for Food Safety).

From now until May 28th, $50 of these goodies could be yours! Easy-peasy rules are as follows:

• Leave a comment on this post letting me know what BBQ food you’re craving the most this year
• Receive additional entries by following Eat Well. Party Hard. on Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin’ or Tumblr (one entry per social media platform) and emailing to let me know at eatwellpartyhard (at) gmail (dot) com.

The contest closes a week from today, and the winner will be announced May 30th!

Now, on to the barbecue:

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Wellness on the Web is an ongoing interview series that showcases bloggers who focus on clean, unrefined, nourishing and naturally delicious food. This week, please welcome…

Kirsty | The Natural Foodie
Facebook // Twitter // Email

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Me: Mom, which of these photos is the least ugly?
Mom: The least ugly? What?
Me: Yeah, these photos of that soup I made us. I’m going to post the recipe for it, and it’s hard to make split pea soup look pretty.
Mom: Oh. Uh….
[peruses]
That one. The one where it’s sitting directly on the tablecloth. That does not look good.
Me: Perfect, thanks!
Mom: I mean, it, like, matches the tablecloth. If someone handed me that, I would definitely not want to try it [makes noise of revulsion].
Me: Okay, I get it—thanks, Mom.
Mom: Ew.
Me: Okay, Mom.

Some recipes weren’t meant for beauty contests. This split pea stew (I say stew, not soup, because it’s thick and hearty enough to eat with a fork) is one of those recipes, but I promise you it is delicious. 

Then again, it combines two of my favorite savory ingredients—liquid smoke (ding ding ding! Winner status!) and some type of legume—so maybe I’m a little biased.

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From the NOLA Veggie Fest website

Y’all might remember that I recently disappeared to New Orleans for about a week. I fell head over heels for the city, and even amidst a seemingly endless supply of fried catfish, spicy alligator and pounds of boiled crawfish (yes, these are all worth at least trying, just for the experience), I was actually able to spot a few fellow veggie lovers.

A smattering of stickers pasted around town that declared “GEAUX VEG” prompted me to Google search the term after returning home, and led me to discover the NOLA Veggie Fest, now celebrating its fifth year! Naturally, the existence of such a vibrant, veg-based community in a city so devoted to its traditional soul food got me all geeked out, and I had to investigate.

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Reasons to make this flatbread today:

• It requires two ingredients, a mixing bowl and one 12” pan
• It will help you get rid of leftover sauces, tapenades, hummuses or anything else that needs to be used up before it starts looking creepy
• All of the other bread products in your house have ingredient lists a mile long and you don’t want to put them in your body
• None of the nearby grocery stores carry chickpea flour, so you still can’t test out that chickpea flatbread recipe you’ve been drooling over
• Your mom will actually enjoy it, too, and won’t think it tastes “healthy” (still working on getting this same reaction when it comes to green smoothies)
• You just completed a 120-hour Teaching English as a Foreign Language certification course in six days and need to treat yourself, okay? 

Trust me on this one: it’s easy, it’s delicious and it will make everyone think you’re super fancy. You gotta try it.

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Images courtesy of Tori Leitch/Tori’s Market

Confession time: I find it very difficult to purchase organic products. Yeeeah, I know they’re healthier and yeeeah, I know they’re better for the environment, but really—$3.00 for an organic apple or $1.50 for three regular ones? Most days, my wallet still wins that battle.

However, after a crash course in where commercial-grade produce comes from (provided by soon-to-be grocery store owner Tori Leitch), I’ll be thinking twice before picking up that 5 lb. bag of low-quality corn on the cob this week.

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Note: for two incredible Food Things happening in the next few days, scroll to the bottom of this post. For ketchup, keep reading!

Let’s face it: nourishing family members requires more creativity than nourishing yourself. There’s your sister, whose diet consists largely of Skittles and Code Red Mountain Dew; your brother, whose idea of a balanced meal includes tater tots and a burger (not just one or the other) and your mom, who’s still convinced your smoothies taste like dirt.

In this situation, nutrition is all about the baby steps. It’s about making gradual changes through subtle upgrades to foods your family members already like, rather than turning them off by ruling out old staples entirely. Apparently, not everyone is ready for spinach-infused milkshakes.

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So, uh, April was complete chaos. A road trip, a move, an operation (on a loved one), a complete change of plans for the year ahead and my brother + future sister-in-law’s engagement! Between those things there was a quick 5k (see above), a lot of tears (both sad and happy) and a huge appreciation for the here and now. Anyway! Exciting links:

The Food Revolution 2013 Summit begins this Saturday—it’s all online, and it’s free! Registrants gain access to three interviews per day for a week with 24 incredible speakers, lots of info + tips on sustaining a healthy lifestyle, and free tools + action guides for post-summit reading!

On my “To Watch” list: this documentary. “A Place at the Table shows us how hunger poses serious economic, social and cultural implications for our nation, and that it could be solved once and for all, if the American public decides — as they have in the past — that making healthy food available and affordable is in the best interest of us all.”

Until a handful of challenging-at-the-time factors interrupted the plan, I was all set to make a big-ass move in May. I fully subscribe to the travel-makes-us-better-people school of thought.

Justin Timberlake, dressed as tofu, rapping about spirulina. The end. “Look, if you knew how meat was raised, you wouldn’t eat it.” Preeeeeach.

How cool is this monthly community dinner? “Detroit SOUP has been a part of neighbors giving neighbors over $27,000 towards projects related to urban agriculture, art, social justice, entrepreneurs, land use, and education initiatives.”

What have you been doing this month?

Signs of recovery from breast cancer (from R to L): gifts, flowers and a pink bra decorated with the prayer “CLEAR NODES.” Bought by yours truly, decorated by a more artistically-inclined cousin.

Real talk: for many reasons, last week was a rough week. One spent—for a few days, at least—in the hospital.

Before this post gets all sad, know that I’m okay! And so are my loved ones! But my vibrant, beautiful, I-wanna-be-her-when-I-grow-up mom went under the knife to remove a small strand of some pretty scary cancer. It’s gone and she’s making great recovery progress (time to party!), but it sucked nonetheless.

One part of the suckage? The food. OMG, guys. Why, in an establishment supposedly dedicated to speedy recovery and optimal health, can patients only find fake syrup, fake peanut butter, fake jelly, white bread and iceberg lettuce? Everything was empty calories, artificial ingredients and minimal nutrition. Awful.

If you find yourself (or a loved one) in a similar hospital-bound situation, do yourself a favor. BYOF. Seriously. Because nothing says “Welcome back to consciousness” like gelatinous gravy on instant mashed potatoes, or white rolls from a package alongside hydrogenated oil-filled peanut butter. *Shudder*

4 foods to help you survive the hospital

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