nourishing Food care basket
One of the most important things I’ve learned about loss and grief is this: when someone is sick or grieving it is not helpful to say “let you know if there is something I can do.” When going through a tough time you have a lot on your plate, few people are able to do the complicated math required to determine what you’re good at, what they’re comfortable with, what they need, and let you know what you can do to help them. What people need is for us to show up in the ways that we can.
I truly enjoy the process of putting together gift baskets and showing love through food, so food based care baskets are my go to for supporting my people. I put this care basket together for a friend recovering from Covid and wanted to share it to inspire someone else to spread the love. Never underestimate the impact your kindness can have on the world, your love makes a difference.
This nourishing care basket is designed to bring comfort and delicious sustenance to those recovering from illness or simply needing a pick-me-up.
The basket includes:
Roasted Organic Chicken, Potatoes, and Carrots
Organic Chicken Bone Broth: Packed with immune-boosting ingredients like garlic, ginger, turmeric, and spices
No-Knead Artisan Bread: A simple and delicious homemade bread (Recipe)
Organic Noodles: to make the soup chicken noodle
Gluten-Free Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
I’ve learned along the way the value of mason jars: they make transporting more easeful and are perfect for storing any leftover food in the fridge. Keeping all the items separate also allows the recipient to feed select items a la cart, drink the broth on its own, and make a variety of snacks and meals beyond the chicken noodle soup.
Jars also helps with freshness. Even when I’m serving soup at home, I keep the noodles separate so they aren’t mushy and have a good bite when added to the warm broth.
I also tend to roast the veggies separately and add them to soups and stews at the time of serving for max flavor and better texture. Leftovers are just as good (if not better) with this method.
For this care basket, I added labels to my jars by cutting pieces of card stock and handwriting the ingredients.
The labels are definitely optional but I did it to communicate the spicy factor of the broth and to make it easy for the recipient to know what the ingredients were.
Friendly reminder that putting together a basket is not about perfection. Put together the gift in an energy of love and ease and it will come through to support not only the receiver of your offering but you as the giver as well.
I found a basket around the house and a cozy wool blanket to pack everything up in.
Remember, the energy you are in when creating a gift is an important component. Making something with your hands in the energy of love is the best way to heal yourself and others from the inside out. May you be well and spread love the love!
