Love Letter takeover: It’s worth it, promise

Hello, my plant-eating friend.

Since tomorrow is Mother’s Day, we thought it would be fun to focus on two moms.

First, my fabulous mom and I had a great chat last week for the podcast. This woman is a force. From knowing meat wasn’t for her as a child, to raising me in a very alternative (and meat-free) way, and now, at 81, volunteering and still noshing on all the plants. You’ll love her story!

Then, there’s Brittany. She’s a mom and has been part of Team Dirty for four years now. I always enjoy hearing about her tales of motherhood and trying to feed her family as many plants as possible. Brittany is a seriously amazing mom with three incredible kids, and I’m happy to hand this weekend’s Love Letter stage over to her. Take it away, Brittany. 🙂 And happy Mother’s Day to all the mom varieties out there!

Oh, and one last thing, registration for our Miso Workshop closes next week, on the 16th. If you want in, be sure to sign up here before then. If you’re a Clean Food Dirty Girl Club member, check your email because we sent you a coupon code to get a sweet 50% off.

Molly

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Trying to do this mom and plant-based thing can be stressful AF. It's not just the cooking, it’s:

• Finding time for grocery shopping and picking one kid to come with you without that child being deemed the favorite (BTW, we just launched something to take shopping off your plate)
• Putting things away and then discovering a small human has moved them
• Finding that someone ate all the cucumbers that I needed for a recipe
• Questioning every ingredient and guessing which kid will like it or not
• Making sure there’s ripe fruit that isn’t “too soft” or “not juicy enough” washed and ready to be eaten
• Keeping a mental inventory of what’s in the cupboard, pantry, fridge
• Feeling like the default parent for every single food decision
• Being the only one who knows where the reusable containers are and which ones actually have matching lids
• Making snacks from scratch, or not making them from scratch, and feeling bad about it
• Seeing kids rummage through the fridge while I’m actively cooking dinner
• Cleaning up after batching
• Wishing I were just a “normal mom” who could throw a TV dinner and a can of fruit cocktail on the table and be okay with it
• Dishes. Fucking dishes.

It’s a lot. If you feel me on the above, I can promise you it’s worth it because:

One day, your kid will tell another kid, “Ask your mom to stop bringing that food coloring garbage to school!” <-- True story (we talked about delivery and kindness once the school notified me of the “conversation” 😂).

One day, your preteen will make it a habit of dabbing grease off takeout, pizza, and restaurant food.

One day, your teenager will come home after a week at summer camp practically BEGGING for “real” food.

One day, you're going to be at a chocolate factory tour doing blind sampling and your teenager will be the ONLY ONE in the room that not only identifies the puffed quinoa in the chocolate bar, but pronounces it correctly as well (who knew how to say quinoa before the age of 30, besides Molly? LOL).

One day, when you're at your wits' end and debating on getting takeout again, your kids ask you to PLEASE make a stir-fry instead because they recognize how they don’t feel good after eating said takeout.

One day, your preteen will invite friends over and request a ramen bar for dinner, so you make this version with all the ingredients laid out assembly-line style. And not a single kid will complain that it's all plants.

One day, your preteen will be able to pick out the bok choy you need from the wide selection at H Mart.

One day, your kid will legit look at the back of the two tofu packages and compare protein amounts.

One day, your kid will know how to make miso soup. (Make your own miso next weekend!)

One day, your kid will “sneak” baby carrots into your shopping cart and feel like a real rebel. 🥕☠️

One day, your kid will come over and check the boxes off the recipe you’re following in Meal Plan Club and remind you what awesome features we have at your fingertips.

And one day, your kids will recognize all the love you've put into this plant-based life.

So keep batching what you can, embrace the messy kitchen, dinners at 7:49pm, and try not to be too hard on yourself if you can’t make everything from scratch. Just eat (and feed the kids) more plants, plain and simple.

Talk to me in the Facebook group about your planty #DirtyMomLife.

Thank you for holding space for me and my fam. 🩷

Brittany