When we think about how to say “I love you, Earth” with our menus, it starts at home with the way we look at food as a family. In our house, food is never just food—it is care, creativity, curiosity, and gratitude. With Mila growing up around the kitchen and the garden, we want her to see that ingredients are precious and that there is beauty in using what the earth gives us fully and thoughtfully.
For us, that often means whole vegetable cooking. Some of the vegetables we return to again and again—beets, carrots, celery, and beans—remind us that there is usually more to an ingredient than the part most people first think of. Tops, leaves, stems, peels, scraps, and trimmings all have value when treated with care. Anastassia shops with a plan, and Mike often cooks from the refrigerator with waste reduction in mind, so our meals become a balance of intention and resourcefulness. That rhythm helps us use what we have, repurpose what is left, and find new life in ingredients that might otherwise be overlooked.
Gardening is another big part of how we live this idea. With spring around the corner, we are especially excited by all the ways the garden teaches patience and possibility. This year we overwintered peppers and tomatoes to give ourselves a strong start, and we also love replanting vegetables that can regrow, like celery, green onion, leek, and cabbage. We save and replant vegetables for seed too, including beets, radishes, and carrots. There is something grounding about watching food continue to grow, and Mila gets to experience that magic with us in real time.
What we love most is that the earth is always surprising us. Sometimes what shows up in the garden is something people might dismiss as a weed, and sometimes it is a beautiful vegetable we have been waiting for. Either way, it is our job to pay attention and decide how to honor it. We believe saying “I love you, Earth” with our menus means staying open, wasting less, growing more, and remembering that no matter how busy life gets, there are always small steps that can be made. A thoughtful meal, a reused scrap, a regrown vegetable, or a garden discovery with Mila—those are all ways of showing love and respect for the world that feeds us.
Enjoy our recipe for Spring Carrot Top & White Bean Soup!
