Mother’s Day Love: Q&A with Aviva Gibbs - Plantable’s Director of Culinary Operations, Mom of two, and all-round Superstar.

What’s the best thing about being a mom?

Cuddling with my daughter to watch movies. Getting a text throughout the day from my son that says “I love you, mommy.” Watching them learn the lessons I’m trying to teach them (be polite, don’t eat your boogers, be nice!) 

What’s the worst? 

Being the good and bad guy on a daily basis. I wish I could say YES to everything (can we play roblox ALL day and do nothing else? Ummmm….No?)

What’s your top tip about getting your children to eat lots of veggies?

My son has serious allergies (he even thinks he’s allergic to kale - is that possible?) I use dehydrated vegetable powder (Simply Enof - love it!) and I shake it on his toast, rice, and noodles. It contains up to 80% of your recommended daily allowance for Vitamins A, C, D, E, KB6, B7, Thiamin and Folate. Considering he eats no veggies at all, this makes me feel like I’m doing something! My daughter will eat well roasted brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower. I eat a lot of vegetables in front of them and it helps my daughter to try things when I’m eating them. 

When you get home from work and you only have 15 mins to get a (healthy) dinner on the table, what do you make?  

I’m a short-order cook. I make three different meals for myself and my two kids. I always have quinoa in my house. Benny’s dinner is usually quinoa and/or tofu. He’s pretty simple. My daughter Zoé is more adventurous, so I make a lot of food in batches on the weekends (tomato sauce, kale pesto) and I freeze them in ice cube trays. During the week, I just pull a cube out of my freezer and she has kale pesto pasta in less than 10 minutes! For me, it’s usually a grain bowl with leftover grains I cooked for my son and whatever veggies are in my fridge. I whip up a quick sauce of either miso sesame or lemon tahini dressing to go on top with some nuts.

Check out our blog post “3 Easy, Healthy and Delicious Salad Dressings For Spring!” for Aviva’s Miso Sesame & Lemon Tahini salad dressing recipes (and bonus Cashew Ranch dressing!) 

What is the best piece of advice your mom ever gave you?

My mom said “don’t do what I did - I worked too much, I didn’t enjoy my time with you when you were younger, I spent too much time on the phone. Enjoy the time you have while your kids are young and put down the phone.” She’s an amazing mom to me (by the way). She always puts down the phone for me now.

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