News at HMFA

Hello HMFA friends and supporters,

It's been a while! But, we have some exciting news to share at HMFA:

1) We are having our Annual Fundraiser on:

Wednesday, October 19th at Johnny D's in Somerville, MA at 7pm.

Your purchase of a $15 ticket will go to support another great year of HMFA serving free fresh, local, and healthy meals to our community! Check out these local bands at our fundraiser:

*Creature Breath

*Andrew Greene with Eric Salt

*Sam Otis Hill and Company

*Anger Management

We look forward to seeing you there! If you have any questions about the fundraiser, feel free to email us at heartymealsforall@gmail.com.

2) Check out Rebecca and Yvette on Somerville Gives Back, a show produced by the Somerville Communications Department, that highlights non-profit organizations in Somerville. Its a great clip about the program and you get to see the meal prep in action!

http://www.somervillema.gov/view-videos

3) We are blessed to have a new intern, Elizabeth Espen, helping out with the program. You will probably see Elizabeth around at the meals and likely receive some email contact from her at some point, so please help us in welcoming her into the HMFA family!

4) Last, but definitely not least, we recently heard that Hearty Meals for All will receive a grant from the Somerville Health Foundation. Part of this support will help us to create a recipe book, so stay tuned. The rest of their generous support will help us continue to offer locally sourced, healthy meals each month. Thanks, for your continued support, SHF!

Thank you all for your continued interest in and support of our program!

Peace,

Emily, Rebecca, Yvette, and Elizabeth

Join us for our twist on a Thanksgiving meal!

As you can tell from the pictures above, October's meal was a delicious success! Our guest chef, Arathi Ravichandran, whipped up some traditional Indian grub (chickpeas in stewed tomatoes and cabbage with mustard seeds). It was tasty!

Join us this month on November 12th at 6:30pm for a delicious fall meal. We will be serving slow-cooked, apple stuffed pork from Austin Farms in Western Massachusetts with a cider gravy and mashed potatoes. Yum! And expect a delicious fall-themed dessert as well.

Hope to see you all next Friday to celebrate the harvest!

Peace,

Emily and Rebecca

August Meal a Success!

August 13th 2010: Turkey & Tofu Salad w/ Couscous & Green Salad

Delicious Turkey Salad made with Greek Yogurt.

Turkey courtesy of New Beginnings Farm.

Emily & Ilan serving a fresh & local green salad.

Kali & Richard making the special dessert!

Thank you to everyone who supported and joined us at August's hearty meal!

The menu was turkey salad made with greek yogurt, a fresh and local green salad, steamed corn on the cob, couscous with slivered almonds and currants, and a tofu salad. Dessert was homemade chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies with a special fruit and chocolate pudding truffle made by Richard!

Good company, good food, and good weather made for a successful meal. A special thanks to New Beginnings Farm for supplying the turkey and to When Pigs Fly bakery for all of the bread for sandwiches!

See below for the recipe for the tofu salad. We hope to see you next month on September 10th at 6:30pm!

Emily and Rebecca

Tofu Mock Chicken Salad:
1 block extra-firm tofu, drained and cubed
2-3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 large red onion, diced
1/4-1/2 cup crushed walnuts
a couple of handfuls of red graped, halved
1/4-1/2 cup golden raisins or craisins or both
Veganaise to taste (around 1/2 cup- add by the spoonful and mix in to prevent drowning it)
Paprika to taste
Onion Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and chill for at least 1/2 hour-1 hour for best results. Can be eaten alone, on a sandwich, atop a salad, or any other way you choose!

Celebrate our 1 Year Anniversary with Us! Friday, June 11th

One-Year Anniversary BBQ with Hearty Meals for All!

Where: Somerville Community Baptist Church, 31 College Ave in Davis Square

When: Friday, June 11th, 2010 at 6:00pm

Who: All are invited and encouraged to attend! Community members, volunteers, donors, sponsors, and supporters...

Join us for a BBQ featuring burgers and lamb sausages from New Beginnings Farm and pork sausage from Dave's Fresh Pasta, complete with veggie sides and ice cream sundaes.

We hope to see you there!

Picture above from our visit to New Beginnings Farm this past weekend :)

Emily, Rebecca, & Yvette

Next Meal: THIS Friday, April 9th, 2010

Join us on Friday April 9th at 6:30pm for a delicious meal of slow-roasted lamb, veal marsala, and tofu marsala!

We are holding a special, FREE CPR training at 3pm at the Church as the workshop for this month's meal. Juanita Allen from the Natick VNA will be facilitating. This is a great opportunity to get trained in CPR! Space is limited, so if you would to join us, please email us at heartymealsforall@gmail.com ASAP!

Our March meal was a success with over 40 guests enjoying a delicious meatloaf, a lentil and barley vegetarian loaf, mashed potatoes and sauteed greens. For dessert all enjoyed homemade ricotta cookies and a hot chocolate bar!!

Hope to see you all on Friday!

HMFA has made the news!

Hello,

Just a quick note to encourage you to check out the Somerville Journal's article about Hearty Meals for All.

Also, our friends at the Somerville Scout wrote a nice blog post about us!

Our February meal was a success- the Vegetarian Bean Chili was delicious! Check out Yvette's yummy recipe below.

Come join us on March 12th at 6:30pm for Grass-fed Meatloaf and Lentil Loaf with Mashed Potatoes.

Vegetarian Bean Chili

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup Tomato paste
3 T Soy sauce (preferably Tamari low sodium)
2 T Agave syrup or brown sugar
Chipotle in Adobo (can)
yellow onion, chopped
red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
1 medium sweet potatoes, shredded (using a cheese grater)
4 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 cups fresh tomatoes, diced (or 1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes)
2 cups Imagine vegetable broth
1 (15oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15oz) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15oz) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
salt
black pepper
dried basil
dried oregano/marjoram
Cumin
Chili Powder
Smoked Paprika
1 bay leaf
Lime juice (2 limes)

Garnishes: chopped fresh cilantro, green onion slices, shredded cheddar cheese, hot sauce, chopped jalapeno

Roast bell peppers in the oven at 400, steam in foil and peel skins and chop. (you can skip this step and add them raw)

Make chili base – Mix the tomato paste, soy sauce, agave or brown sugar and the chipotle in adobo together in a bowl. NOTE: start with 1 tablespoon of the adobo sauce and then increase to taste and desired hottness. You may want to chop some of the chipotle chilis and add them too. The tomato paste will cut the heat somewhat.

Heat oil in a heavy large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add onion and garlic. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender.

Add paste and begin to caramelize over medium heat (3-4 min), then add peppers and half the shredded sweet potato. Continue to caramelize and cook until the vegetables have softened and the flavors have come together. Stir occasionally for about 5 minutes.

Add chili powder, smoked paprika and other spices and herbs; stir and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes and broth. Simmer, uncovered, about 20 minutes until tomatoes break down and chili begins to thicken. Stir in beans, and simmer another 15-20 minutes.. Remove bay leaf, and stir in lime juice.

Garnish with cheddar cheese, chopped fresh jalapeno, scallions, and lots of fresh cilantro. Served over steamed rice. Add grilled or left-over chicken.

Valentine's Day Meal, tomorrow!

Hi All,

Our next meal is tomorrow night, Friday February 12th, at the Somerville Community Baptist Church at 6:30pm. Come early at 5:30pm to volunteer and/or to hear a mini-presentation on the Magic of Beans :)

We will be serving Vegetarian Chili, Cornbread, Squash, and Chocolate Chip Cookies (generously donated by Dave's Fresh Pasta). We will also have a little Valentine surprise! Hope to see you all there!

Check out our friends at the Somerville Scout's blog post about us!

Peace,

Emily