🥔 Food People, Parent Picks: Natalie's Favorite Things
Wholesome Nat on the cashew sauce that fixes everything, frozen rice with no apologies, and the blender she'd be lost without.
Food People, Parent Picks: we ask our favorite chefs, food writers, and industry insiders who we interview in our Order Up! Series to share the products, books, and bites they can’t live without.
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Earlier this week we talked with Natalie Kotesova about feeding her three boys without the pressure: the sweet peppers her oldest swears he hates, why she never makes separate meals, and how a hypothyroidism diagnosis sent her digging until food changed everything. If you haven’t read it yet, start there. It’s good context for how she stocks her kitchen.
Today we’re getting practical. Natalie walks us through the staples, tools, and shortcuts that keep her plant-based kitchen running: the sauce that gets her kids to eat almost anything, the frozen shortcut she won’t apologize for, and the splurge appliance she’d buy again. Quick, specific, and easy to steal.
Three pantry or fridge staples you always have on hand?
Bananas, almond butter, and maple syrup.
A kitchen tool you use every single day?
A high-speed blender. A million times over.
A store-bought shortcut you don’t apologize for?
Frozen rice. It’s overpriced now, which is insane. Sometimes I stand there wondering if I really want to pay five dollars for a small pack, or just buy three bags and cook it myself. But it saves the meal some nights.
A grab-and-go snack you always carry?
Bananas.
One weeknight meal you make on repeat?
Creamy pasta with broccoli. The sauce is cashews blended with water, garlic, and nutritional yeast. It comes out cheesy and creamy.
A main dish from childhood you still think about?
Molé, with rice. My grandma made it with chicken. Probably my favorite meal ever.
A sauce or seasoning trick that instantly makes your kids eat something?
That cashew sauce. You can turn it into a dressing, stir it into pasta, or use it to make almost anything richer. It’s my go-to.
A cookbook, app, or creator you turn to for inspiration?
Ellen Fisher. She doesn’t make videos anymore, but I learned so much from her old “what I eat in a day” content. She has a great podcast now.
Besides the green smoothie, your go-to breakfast for energy?
Homemade muffins. I make them with almond flour and oat flour, with almond butter and yogurt in the batter, then add whatever veggies we have or some chocolate chips. The boys love them.
A kid-friendly food you secretly can’t stand but tolerate?
Nuggets. We’re plant-based, so it’s the Impossible or Beyond ones. You can make healthier nuggets at home, but every once in a while these just hit different.
A healthy-ish convenience food your kids are obsessed with?
Potato chips. We buy the ones made with avocado oil, the cleaner brands. They don’t add much beyond being a fun, crunchy snack, and that’s okay.
One splurge kitchen appliance you love?
My Nama milk maker. It was expensive, but it makes the milk so creamy and good.
Anything you’re working on that we should know about?
I want to put together a little ebook of kids’ birthday party food. Birthday parties are usually a free-for-all of junk, and it doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve been making mindful party food for my kids for seven years, and people always ask me to bring what I made or make it for them. I think it’d be worth gathering in one place.