Finding AWE in food, healthy airplane + travel snacks, and one of my FAVE weeknight dinners

Before we jump in, make sure to check out my recent episode with Jay Shetty for On Purpose! Please watch and if it resonates: comment, like, and share!

Watch on YouTube here. Apple podcast here. Spotify podcast here.

Welcome back! This week’s newsletter includes:

• 🥑 Good Food: Unbelievably delicious lower-carb “Shepard’s pie” with whipped cauliflower topping - one of my fave weeknight dinners 🤤 

• 🔄 Good Swap: Healthy travel snacks! 🛩️ 

• 🧠 Good Thought: Finding AWE in food (An EXCERPT from Good Energy!)

🥑 Good food - Lower-carb “Shepard’s pie” with whipped cauliflower topping - one of my fave weeknight dinners (aka, a “Good Energy” take on Shepard’s pie!)

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I absolutely LOVE cauliflower because it is versatile and it’s packed with micronutrients, isothiocyanates (which change gene expression to regulate oxidative stress!), and fiber. (You can read more about the science behind why cauliflower is so incredibly healthy and magical in my Newsletter #5).

Dr. Robert Lustig describes fiber as being “half of the solution” to the obesity epidemic. Despite this, the majority of people do not consume NEARLY enough fiber. The USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans state that over 90 percent of women and 97 percent of men do not meet the recommended daily intake of fiber, which is already set at an extremely low 25 to 31 grams per day (depending on age and gender). 🤦‍♀️ Ideally, we should aim to consume 50 grams or more of fiber daily. The cauliflower and chickpeas in this recipe get you a lot of the way there!

So let’s get some more fibrous vegetables into our cooking, shall we?!

This cauliflower bake by Amy Chaplin from Whole Food Cooking Everyday (one of the best cookbooks) is one of my FAVORITE dinner go-tos. It’s one of those meals that is very simple to make but feels “fancy” and special. The leftovers are even better. SAVE THIS RECIPE! It doesn’t disappoint.

🧑‍🍳 Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Cauliflower Bake by Amy Chaplin 🥦 🍄 🥘 

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

For the cauliflower topping

• 1 large head (2½ lbs) cauliflower - cut into 1½" florets

• ½ cup raw cashews or macadamia nuts

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast, plus more to taste

• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

(💡PRO Tip: I make this cauliflower topping frequently in its own as a low-carb mashed potato alternative, or I will throw in a couple roasted beets or carrots to the blender with the cauliflower which transforms it to fun pink or orange, respectively, and then use that purée as a base on the plate and top it with meat or fish!)

For the mushroom and caramelized onion filling

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin coconut oil

• 1½ lbs shiitake mushrooms - stems removed and caps thinly sliced (Note: I often use baby bella or white button mushrooms, as they are significantly cheaper and it turns out just fine).

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

• 3 medium onions - quartered and thinly sliced lengthwise

• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

• 6 cups (6 oz) sliced Swiss chard

• 1½ cups cooked chickpeas (1/4 cup cooking liquid reserved) or 1 15 oz can (drained)

• 2 tablespoons tamari (note: this is doubled from original recipe, but I think it tastes better this way!)

• 4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (note: this is doubled from original recipe, but I think it tastes better this way!)

• ¼ cups filtered water if using canned chickpeas

• 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder

• 1 tablespoon filtered water

• freshly ground black pepper

Note: Sometimes I add half a pound of cooked ground bison, venison, or ground pasture raised beef, which works great too and adds protein!

Instructions

Cauliflower topping

1. Set up a steamer pot with about 2 inches of filtered water in the bottom (the water shouldn't touch the bottom of the basket) and bring to a boil over high heat. Arrange the cauliflower florets in the steamer basket, cover, and steam for 10-12 minutes, until the cauliflower is cooked through but not falling apart. Remove from the heat and set aside.

2. Put the nuts, olive oil, nutritional yeast, and salt in a high-powered blender and add the steamed cauliflower. Starting on low speed and using the tamper stick to help press the cauliflower down, blend, gradually increasing the speed to high, until completely smooth and thick; use the tamper stick to keep the mixture moving and to scrape down the sides as you go. This will take a couple of minutes. Season with more nutritional yeast and salt to taste and blend to combine. (Note: a high powered blender like a Vitamix is very helpful for turning this into a divine, silky consistency.)

Mushroom and onion filling, and assembly

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190° C).

2. Warm a large skillet over medium-high heat and pour in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the mushrooms and the thyme, stir to coat with oil, and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring only every minute or two (to allow the mushrooms to brown), until the shiitakes are golden brown. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

3. Add the remaining tablespoon oil to the pan, then add the onions and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, or until beginning to brown. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the onions are soft and lightly browned. Remove the lid, add the salt, and cook uncovered for another 5 minutes, or until the onions are caramelized. Add the chard, cover, and allow to steam for 3 minutes, or until tender. Add the chickpeas, cooked mushrooms, tamari, balsamic vinegar, and chickpea cooking liquid or ¼ cup water, raise the heat, and bring to a simmer. (Add cooked ground meat at this step if using). Dissolve the arrowroot in 1 tablespoon water, stir, and drizzle into the simmering mixture, stirring constantly. When the mixture has returned to a simmer, remove from the heat and season to taste with pepper and more salt.

4. Transfer the mixture to an 8-inch square or equivalent baking dish and smooth the surface. Spread the cauliflower topping evenly over the filling. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and the topping has begun to set. Turn on the broiler and broil the bake for 3 to 6 minutes, until the topping is golden and browning in parts. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.

5. Once cooled, leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To reheat, put the bake in a baking dish, cover, and warm in a 400° F (200° C) oven until heated through.

If you make it, I’d love to see! Tag me on Instagram @drcaseyskitchen and Amy @amychaplin.

🔄 Good swap - Healthy travel snacks! 🛩️ 

One of the worst offenders of the “unholy trinity” of foods we should fully avoid - ultra-processed grains, ultra-processed sugars, and ultra-processed seed oils - are airports “food” and airplane “snacks.” It’s hard to find a metabolically healthy meal or snack at most airports, which is why I’m sharing my go-to travel tips for airline travel. 

I take one of the following two approaches: 

1. 👜 BYO FOOD BAG with snack from home. It’s a little trick that generally food bags don't count as your carry-on or personal item. While this is not explicitly written anywhere, you are allowed to bring a bag of food purchased from within the airport as your 3rd item, and every time I’ve been questioned, I just explain this is our food bag and they let it through! If they really pry, you can say confidently you have a blood sugar friendly diet that you need to maintain (which is true for all of us - we ALL want to maintain healthy blood sugar).

2. ⏰ Fast during your travel time - I find that one of the best times for me to do an extended fast, such as 16-24 hours, is during travel. This way I avoid the temptation of any of the cookies or snacks, and I focus on hydrating and giving my body a reset. I always bring some electrolytes with me when fasting during travel. 

Some tips: You can bring containers that contain up to 3.4 ounces of liquids or pastes, so put anything that is liquid (salad dressing, nut butter, hummus, guac) into 3 ounce glass jars, like these. 💡 Life hack: If you bring a freezer brick that is fully frozen, you can bring it through security. 

When I travel, I also make sure to stay consistent with my supplement routine. I travel with a mega-bag of supplements because my body needs extra resources during trips, given time changes and exposure to lots of people 🤧. Specifically, I take Timeline for mitochondrial health, WeNatal for Her multivitamin (and my partner takes WeNatal for Him), extra zinc and vitamin C (for immune support), and curcumin every single day and I make sure not to forget when traveling. 

Here are some of my favorite plane snacks and meals, and in the below table I break down some of the most common snacks served on airplanes, and better-for-you alternatives.

• 🍊 Sturdy organic whole fruit: oranges, apples, unripe pears, avocados 

• 🫐 Jar or baggie of mixed fresh berries 

• 🥜 Organic nut butters in a small 3 ounce jar; or, Artisana makes great snack packs 

• 🫙 HOPE hummus (the only hummus without seed oils and organic!) or a homemade hummus or dip in a small jar 

• 🫘 Brami Italian Snacking Lupini beans (these are so special because they are high in fiber and have zero net carbs, while having lots of protein) 

• 🥛 Yogurt pouches - Cocojune yogurt pouches are 3.2 ounces! Or pack grass fed yogurt in a small 3 ounce jar for a little snack.

• 🥓 Paleovalley or Chomps 100% Grass Fed Beef Sticks

• 🥚 Hard boiled eggs (if you pre-peel them before your flight and eat them quickly, they really don’t smell!)

• 🌱 Chia seed or Zen Basil seed pudding in a 3 ounce jar (Use my code DRCASEY for 10% off your next order at Zen Basil!)

• 🩵 A bag (or 3) of Flackers (always) 😍

• 🧀 Grass-fed cheese

• 🥜 Unroasted, organic nut blend (with a few organic goji berries and date sweetened chocolate chips for a fun trail mix!)

• 👝 Dinner leftovers, like ground bison with roasted vegetables 

• 🥗 Big “clean out the fridge” salads (Note: You can mix the dressing into the salad before the flight to not worry about liquids, or pack 3.4 ounces of dressing in a glass jar and mix on the plane)

• 🍽️ Don’t forget silverware! I bring a dull bamboo knife (so it doesn’t get taken by security) and a regular metal fork. 

In Good Energy, you’ll find a complete list of all my packaged food recommendations for grab-and go moments like travel.

🧠 Good thought - Finding AWE in food (EXCERPT from Good Energy! 📚️ )

If adhering to an organic, unprocessed diet as a human in the twenty-​first century were easy, we’d all be eating clean healthy food all the time!

Instead, it takes conscious daily work to go against the tide of normal culture to make consistently healthy food decisions.

I tap into a sense of awe and wonder about food that lets me appreciate its impact on my life and inspires me to make the healthiest choices possible.

The following are some of the things I reflect on as I tap into my appreciation for the miraculous interaction between food and my body:

☀️ I reflect that all the energy stored in the cellular bonds of the plants I’m eating was originally a packet of photon energy that started in the sun, traveled through space, and then was absorbed by a plant’s chloroplast, transformed into glucose, and taken up by an animal that I might eat. Chloroplasts in plants are remarkably like the mitochondria in humans, which ultimately convert that glucose formed in plants from the sun into ATP that I can use to power my life and my ability to think and love. And when I eventually die and go back to the ­earth—​­ hopefully in a natural burial like my mother’s, where my body is put directly in the soil to be decomposed by worms, fungi, and bacteria and reenter the greater ecosystem— ­my body’s material building blocks will help grow new plants that will convert more of the sun’s energy into glucose in an infinite loop of mystical transformation.

🫂 I reflect that the mitochondria that process energy from food to animate our tissues are inherited entirely from our mothers, passed down through millennia in an endless progression of nesting dolls along a matrilineal line. The mitochondria from the sperm essentially melt upon fertilization with an egg, while our mother’s mitochondria persist and create all the energy we need to do everything.

🦠 I reflect on how mitochondria historically started out as bacteria that were engulfed by more complex cells and worked together to create a more powerful entity. When I think about my mother in quiet moments, I visualize that unbroken lineage over millions of years and of my mother’s cellular engines living through me in this spectacular way. ­ She—​­and every woman before her in our lineage—​­ are living through me as I type these words. I do not want to hurt that gift through my food choices.

⚔️ Modern life is an assault on our mitochondria, which means it’s an assault on our ancestors and our mothers, an assault on the creative, generative force of the feminine in all of us, and an assault on our animating life force. It’s an assault on the miraculous flow of cosmic energy from the sun, through the soil and plants, through bacteria in my gut, through my cells’ mitochondria to create the energy that sparks my consciousness and the statistical near impossibility of me. Out of respect for all of this, I must push back. And I do that through what food I choose to buy, cook, and eat.

👩‍🌾 I reflect on the fact that a teaspoon of healthy soil has more living organisms in it than there are people on the planet, and all those little bacteria, nematodes, and fungi are working around the clock to alchemize air, water, sunlight, soil, and seed into everything humans need to survive and be happy. I think about how we have murdered our soil’s life force with pesticides and industrial agriculture, but how there is an incredible, hopeful movement of regenerative farming advocates fighting to bring this life back because our ­ lives—​­ and the biodiversity that allows for our ­ lives— ­ depend on it.

✨ I reflect on the nature of the gut. In one frame of reference, the gut is just a tube of tissue. In another frame of reference, it’s the interface between the cosmos (i.e., everything in the universe) and “ourselves.” As with all relationships, poor boundaries lead to toxic outcomes. No ­ boundary—­ physical or ­ psychological—​­ is more important than your gut lining. I’ve worked on personal boundaries a lot in therapy, and I am convinced that healthy emotional ­ boundaries—​­ such as being clear and vocal about what you will and will not let into your ­ life—​­ are what make relationships functional. Your gut lining is a boundary between you and everything else in the universe that is poised to inundate and overwhelm your biology and generate unrelenting inflammation. Healing and strengthening your gut lining with ­ food—​­ therefore creating and strengthening this critical boundary and reducing intestinal permeability or “leaky gut”—​­ allows you to be selective about what you want to take in from the universe on a material level. You can choose what serves you.

😥 I reflect on the fact that many of the problems in ­ society—​­ including violence, mental illness, developmental issues, and ­ pain—​­ start in humans, and humans are made by cells that become dysfunctional largely because of oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and chronic inflammation.

✨ How miraculous that food can directly combat those things. We can’t have a healthy society without ­ well-​­functioning humans. We can’t have ­well­ functioning humans without ­ well-​­functioning cells. And we can’t have­ well-​­ functioning cells with mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and cellular and hormone disruption from toxic chemicals in our food. We combat those things through ­ nutrient-​­dense, unprocessed foods grown in living, thriving soil. Many of us are addicted to processed food but have had trouble mustering the strength to quit because we don’t really know what awaits us on the other side.

What awaits us is a maximally positive experience of our one life.

Continue reading Good Energy here.

With gratitude, 💓 

Dr. Casey

👀 In Case You Missed It

💻️ Are you overwhelmed and need administrative & life support? My recommendation: consider a remote Executive Assistant 👇️ 

It takes a LOT of people to help bring a book to life, and one of the KEY people in my life who helped me bring Good Energy into the world is my incredible Athena executive assistant (EA), Nina. Nina and I are paired through Athena, a company that trains and pairs elite remote executive assistants with clients with the goal of “10x-ing” their ability to delegate and be efficient. And Athena will even help train you to delegate better, so you can focus on your zone of genius.

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📺️ Good Energy on the News!

I had the pleasure of talking about metabolic health and Good Energy on The Brian Kilmeade Show. Watch the full segment here. It’s a good one!!

📑 New Good Energy features

Check out these recently published articles:

• “Why a Healthy Diet Is Not Enough for Fertility and Pregnancy” on the WeNatal blog

• “How the Mysteries of Metabolism Hold Answers to Lifelong Health” on the Next Big Idea Club magazine

• “Hacking your metabolism with Casey Means” on the Healf blog

🎙️ New podcasts!

Check out these recently released podcasts where I talked about metabolic health and Good Energy:

• The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube)

• Barely Filtered with Aurora Culpo (Apple Podcasts and Spotify)

• On Purpose with Jay Shetty (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube)

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