Hi there,
Big news here! I have a job. And not just any job—one that I’m crazy excited about. I’ve joined Hungryroot, a NY-based company that makes it easy to eat healthily on an everyday basis. My role is VP of Brand and Customer Experience, which means that I’m responsible for making sure every aspect of Hungryroot—from the food to the content to the customer service—is as sparkly and delightful as possible.
This is my first full-time role in almost two years, and throughout my consulting, advising, and exploring I often wondered if I would ever find the right fit. I wrote a Medium post about how I made my decision and why Hungryroot checks all the boxes and then some.
So what does that mean for this little newsletter experiment? I’m not sure. I’d love to continue to send you ways to optimize your life but can’t promise they’ll be on a weekly basis. For now, here’s what is happening in my world:
Digging in: I’m only three days into Hungryroot and I’m already incredibly impressed by what the team has built. The problem they’re solving is the same one I’ve thought about for years: How do you make it easy, affordable, and delicious to eat healthily? Even as someone who loves grocery shopping, cooking, and thinking about food, it’s hard.
I’m biased but I think Hungryroot can be the answer for a large number of people. You subscribe to receive a weekly (skip or cancel whenever) box filled with plant-based, gluten-free foods that are ready to eat or can be prepared in under 15 minutes. We send you what you need to make a certain number of dishes—beet noodles with smashed chickpeas, for example—but you can also mix and match the vegetables, sauces, and salads or add extra proteins to make it your own. I think of it as building blocks for your week—a way of ensuring that you always have a baseline of healthy food in your fridge.
If you want to give Hungryroot a try, you can use code MOLLIE for half off your first box. My favorite dishes so far: the sweet potato Pad Thai; yuba noodles (which I was very suspicious of but loved); and of course the almond chickpea cookie dough.
Sweetening up my new teammates: I couldn’t think of a better way to introduce myself than with cookies. I baked a batch of Ovenly’s secretly vegan salted chocolate chip cookies to bring in on my first day and they were gone within an hour. The dough is very soft so definitely follow the recipe and freeze the cookie balls before baking—and don’t skimp on the salt!
Falling even more in love with the Catskills: This past weekend we were in Mt. Tremper, near Phoenicia, for our friends Melanie and Ron’s wedding. It was stunning and love-filled, and also an excellent excuse to spend time upstate. We brought my parents along to babysit and they basically kicked us out of our rental house so they could have Lilly all to themselves. A couple new finds:
- Foxfire Mountain House: The wedding was at Foxfire and everything we saw—gorgeous aesthetic, tasty seasonal food—made us want to go back immediately. I’m hoping to book a weekend this summer or fall.
- More Red Cottage winners: We’ve rented a handful of houses through Red Cottage and haven’t had a dud yet. The Noorden House was perfect for us—spacious and light-filled, with a great kitchen (rare for rentals!).
- Brunette Wine Bar: Natural wines? Cool wallpaper? Excellent bar snacks? We’ve been dying to go to Brunette Wine Bar, in Kingston, and finally made it this trip. I fell in love with a new grape called orangetraube, and would have left with nine of these tote bags had they not been sold out.
More Catskills recommendations here (it’s Rob’s doc and he’s embarrassed that it’s messy but what can you do), including faves like Phoenicia Diner and Giant Ledge hike.
Loading up on SPF: We seem to have gone straight from spring to summer so I had to quickly stock up on baby-friendly SPF for Lilly and her BFF/nanny share buddy Caleb so they wouldn’t get burned during their park escapades. My cousin Corina is a naturopathic doctor and mom of two so I trust everything she says; she recommended Badger SPF 30, which rubs in easily, has a pleasant scent, and doesn’t irritate Lilly’s skin. Allidah (Caleb’s mom) also picked up Thinkbaby SPF 50, which will be great for longer outdoor excursions and future beach trips.
That’s all for now—have a great rest of your week!
xx
Mollie