Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Shared Meals

[Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

At Cornerstone (Cambridge, MA), our own meal program struggles with lingering 
pandemic concerns, equitable rotation of labor, and so on.  But regarding the 
challenge of diverse dietary needs, I’ll offer a practical menu suggestion:

Asian stir-fry.

Asian stir-fry is pretty easy to do in two batches having identical vegetables 
and sauce: One with chicken or shrimp or meat; and the other with extra-firm 
tofu.  So the omnivore versus vegetarian divide is easily accommodated.  (We’re 
about one-third vegetarian.)

But it gets better:
  •  Most stir-fry recipes (like many other Asian recipes) shun dairy.  So 
achieving vegan is well within reach.  (Watch out for Red Boat fish sauce, 
however.)
  •  Rice (jasmine, white or brown) dodges the gluten bullet.  And,
  •  While some recipes call for peanuts et al, these can be provided on the 
side.

Add a tossed green salad including mild daikon radish and a miso dressing.  Now 
it’s a fork-only, one-plate dinner heaped with food.  Great way to use up many 
kinds of leftover fresh vegetables.  Most everyone seems to like it.

------------------
Thanks, RPD
617.460.4549

On March 15, 2023 at 9:27:19 PM, Sarah Lesher (sarah.lesher [at] gmail.com) 
wrote:

Our problem also. No, we have not figured out a solution. Many responses
from "Age has impaired my ability to help cook or clean so I don't think I
should come" to "it's just so much easier with all our busy schedules to
eat at home." And even though our community has only 31 adults, the list
of special food needs is chef-boggling.

Hope other communities have suggestions.

--Sarah Lesher
Cantine's Island

On Wed, Mar 15, 2023 at 7:33 PM Zev Paiss <zevpaiss [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello Cohousers,
>
> Here at Nomad Cohousing in Boulder, Colorado we have been able to offer 2
> meals a week for almost our entire 25 years except for a year plus during
> COVID when they were on hold.
>
> Since the resumption of meals about a year ago we are seeing a constantly
> low turnout and am wondering how other communities deal with flagging meal
> participation?
>
> Zev Paiss
> Nomad Community Room Coordinator
> 1410 Quince Avenue
> Boulder CO 80304
> 720-232-2826
>
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