Fall in Love with February

Happy End of February Gleaners!

We are celebrating the end of February and moving into March with the last of our food holidays and updates!

Just a reminder for any Gleaners who are interested: We will be having Empty Bowls at Gettysburg College on April 22nd from 5:30-7:00pm. We will continue to update you about that as it comes but we are SO EXCITED to be back in person (as long as things keep remaining safe!) and able to see your smiling faces!

For now let’s round out the month with some holidays!

February 16th is Almond Day!

Almonds can be delicious! They’re a great source for Vitamin E and eating 6-8 of them a day can improve your overall health! They are also full of antioxidants and have been shown to be able to assist with blood sugar control, blood pressure stability, lower cholesterol levels and reducing hunter to prevent over eating.

In our ongoing quest to educate folks, we also want to explain that almonds are an extremely resource heavy crop. It requires 1.1 gallons of water to grow ONE almond and 1,900 gallons to grow one POUND. Almost all tree nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios and cashews) all use roughly the same amount of water but almonds are in higher demand currently with their use in Almond milks and alternative flours for those folks who cannot process or choose not to utilize wheat or grain. This is taking a large toll on water resources and the availability of land for other crops while also jeopardizing the nutrients in the soil as almonds are chosen as the crop of choice due to demand.

So while It’s perfect to have some almonds here and there, please consider that they, as well as most treenuts, may not be the best choice if it comes to conservation of resources and sustainable practice!

Also please note—Almonds are a tree nut so please be careful if you eat these at work or away from home as there are a growing number of folks who are allergic and may have reactions!

February 17th is Cabbage Day!

Cabbage is a delicious vegetable that can be found in many forms (as you can see in the chart here!). It has been shown to help control blood pressure, protect bones from weakening, promote good eye health, detoxify the body by helping the liver, regulate blood pressure and improve digestion! For this holiday, why not try some Cabbage Egg StirFry or if you’re feeling like you need a warm soup choice you can indulge in this Healing Cabbage Soup or even some Vegetable Cabbage Soup to use up the rest of those little ingredient scraps you have floating around!

February 20th is Muffin Day!

Muffins! They can be sweet, they can be savory, they can be anywhere from borderline diabetes inducing to health conscious. These pastries can be so diverse and that means you can celebrate this holiday with just about any muffin recipe you can imagine! Sweet Potato Muffins are a great way to use some seasonal produce holdovers that you want to use up in the fall and winter months while Zucchini muffins make a more easy to-go version of the bread you fell in love with in the spring and summer. Mini Cherry muffins are just the right amount of sweetness and Maple-chai pumpkin muffins can round out your season in autumn (or remind you it’s coming in every other season!) or you can just go with the classics: chocolate chip! If this is making you hungry like it’s made me, check out these 70 Muffin Recipes to take into this new year for every flavor imaginable!

February 23rd is Banana Bread Day!

Ah yes, banana bread, the brainchild of someone who had forgotten their bananas from the grocery store for just a few days too long and is now trying not to waste. It’s one of the most delicious food upcycles one can create and there are so many additives (see above with muffins—my favorite are chocolate chips and walnuts!) Celebrate this holiday not only on the 23rd but also whenever you also forget your bananas (or when you do it on purpose—we’re not here to judge!). Whenever you decide, check out this great Banana Bread Recipe and get creative!

February 24th is Chili and Tortilla Day!

We’ve come to chili and tortilla day! This is one of the best holidays in the cold of winter to warm up the heart and keep you full and happy all day long. But what makes a chili a chili? Some would say it has to have tomato and meat and be simmered in one pot with ingredients and spices. Others argue that it needs to have beans while still others accuse those with beans in their chili that this is an outrage and definitely doesn’t count as chili. But at the end of the day, whatever you decide to put in chili is your business and it will be delicious! Here’s some great recipes for Classic Meat Based Chili and some Vegetarian Chili that might just knock your socks off (sweet potatoes in a chili sounds divine!). Get creative and add different beans, spices and cheeses to change flavors and hey, why not use your tortilla as a vessel for the delicious flavors? Make your chili mobile or make some cheese quesadillas to dive in with. The possibilities are endless!

February 28th is Strawberry Day!

Strawberries in February! You bet. Like other fruit holidays before, this one draws attention to the fleeting nature of Strawberry season (in most places this is one to two weeks in late May or early June though sometimes with ever-bearing varieties there can be produce almost until the first frost). These can be used to make muffins, as an addition to your banana and zucchini bread, made into jams and jellies and of course eaten just by themselves in a bowl! Strawberries themselves have been found to protect the heart, increase good cholesterol, lower blood pressure and the vitamins and antioxidants in them have even been shown to potentially guard against certain types of cancer (or at least reduce your risks!). Just make sure you give these delicious fruits a good rinse to get off anything that may have been put on them to reduce pests in the field!

We are still chugging right along with minimal changes to seasonal produce. Apples, Celery, Horseradish, Mushrooms, Potatoes, Rabini, Sprouts and Turnips are still the talk of the season so make sure to try and add these to your chilis, breads and muffins!