Nicole’s e-Pistle “Our Favorite Foods”
September 9, 2026
Greetings, Friends!
Tomorrow is the big day, so I hope you will not mind my making today’s e-Pistle a little less inspirational and a little more of a personal request. Everyone has been so kind to offer their prayers and to help our family in this season, so I thought I would share some information about how we are eating these days, in case anyone would like to test out their culinary skills on our family over the coming weeks. We will have five adults and two children to feed once we arrive home from the hospital sometime next week, and all of us are making healthier choices together (whether we like it or not).
Foods we love (or tolerate for the sake of health)…
I included a picture of the portion suggestions above. Half of our plates should consist of non-starchy vegetables. Some of our favorites are broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, mixed leafy greens, tri-colored bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, carrots, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and garlic. A quarter of our plates consist of complex carbohydrates with plenty of fiber, such as whole grain breads and pastas, legumes, berries, apples, sweet potatoes, and on rare occasions only… white, red, or, my personal favorite, purple potatoes. Finally, we round out the last quarter of our plates with lean protein. The one protein we all agree on is salmon, but we also love combinations of chicken breasts, tilapia, lean beef (on rare occasions), low-sodium cheeses, hummus, low-cholesterol eggs, and nuts (almonds, peanuts, pistachios, and pine nuts).
Our New “Favorite” Foods…
As for sweeteners, we have all cut back enormously on sugar, but if we supplement with anything besides good old-fashioned cane sugar, we stick to Stevia, Allulose and Munk fruit.
Foods we either seriously dislike or try to avoid altogether…
Please leave out onions when cooking if possible… I know, I know, but I got voted out three to one!… We also stay away from pork and processed meats… which means no hot dogs anymore!… Sigh… Finally, we steer clear of artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame and sucralose, and we really watch out for erythritol, which turns out to be detrimental to heart patients.
Most of the other ways people could help out our family have been taken care of. I have a neighbor who is doing our weed eating, and several of you have graciously offered to step in and help get the kids to after-school activities. We also have three grandparents staying with us, but I promise to reach out if we need some extra help. If you are interested in fixing a dish, please contact the Congregational Life Team.
More than anything else, I cannot articulate enough how grateful we all are for you. Your love and prayers mean more than anything else to us and I can only hope to spend the next couple of (decades?) showing you as much love and care as you have afforded my family!
In the meantime, my dear friends… bon appétit!
