11 Sep Inside the Fridge Welcomes the No Meat Athlete Matt Frazier

ITF: Where do you shop for food?

Some combination of the food co-op, the Whole Foods (called Green Life in Asheville, NC, where I live), and the regular supermarket.

ITF: Do you love food shopping or dread it?

Mostly, I dread it. Unless I’m shopping for just one meal and it’s something special.

ITF: What is the single most important thing on your mind when you are shopping for food?

The health of my kids. Our youngest is still nursing, but if I think there’s any chance our toddler will be eating something I’m buying, I almost always make sure to get organic, non-GMO, etc. – where for myself, I don’t always do that!

ITF: How often do you shop?

Probably three times a week. Before our second child came along, we were better about planning and could just do one big trip each week, but it’s tougher now.

ITF: How many do you shop for? Ages? 

Four of us, total. My wife and I are early 30’s, and we have a three-year old boy and four-month old girl.

ITF: What is your weekly food budget? 

We don’t keep close track, but I bet it’s $250 a week. Groceries are one thing that’s really expensive in Asheville! We know we could reduce it by buying fewer organics, but we’re happy with the choice and think of it as an investment in our health.

ITF: How many times a week do you eat out? (based on 21 meals/week)

Almost never. Maybe once a week, but since we’ve had the new baby, it’s probably once a month.

ITF: Do you believe in leftovers?

Absolutely! Leftovers are the next day’s lunch, without exception. We got rid of our microwave a few months ago though, so we heat things up on the stove or in the oven. Leftovers actually taste much better that way.

ITF: What convenience product can you not live without?

Daiya vegan cheese! I don’t like it on anything but pizza, but pizza was the toughest thing for me to give up when I decided to go vegan. So for those days when I’m really craving pizza, it’s so nice to have Daiya in the freezer.

ITF: What brands do you swear by? Why?

I love Food for Life, the company than makes Ezekiel bread and other sprouted-grain products. Our toddler eats so many sandwiches,  English muffins, and things like that, so it’s nice to know that we can give him it in sprouted form and make sure he’s getting some good nutrition from foods that otherwise wouldn’t be so healthy.

ITF: What cooking utensil/piece of equipment/appliance do you live for?

Our Blendtec high-speed blender.

ITF: When you hear the word “homemade” what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Hummus. And almond butter.

ITF: What food/s are important when recalling food memories?

Haha, all my food memories are of non-vegan foods! A friend and I once left on the spur of a moment from our college apartment at midnight, to drive seven hours for a pork BBQ sandwich. We got there and realized our timing was terrible, the place was closed for several hours. So we slept in the car, each got a sandwich when it opened, and then drove back to school.

ITF: How have your cooking/shopping habits changed over the last 10 years?

I only really learned to cook in the past 10 years, and for the first five of those, I was really into it. After I went vegetarian and then vegan, my passion for gourmet cooking unfortunately died and I started looking for ways to simplify (this may have less to do with being vegan and more with having many more demands on my time, including kids and a business). So very often now I’ll just eat rice and lentils with some spinach or kale, and lots of other simple, cheap, healthy meals like that.

ITF: What are your go-to food/nutrition/culinary/cooking website/s, book or cookbook?

My wife and I look up recipes on Oh She Glows all the time, especially for making food for our son. We like Dreena Burton’s Let them Eat Vegan for that too. We cook a lot from Brendan Brazier’s Thrive Foods, and Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Appetite for Reduction, too.

ITF: What was the last meal you cooked from scratch?

Gnocchi, with a simple, garlicky red sauce.

ITF: What was the last meal you cooked from convenience products?

Two months ago, we got a back of frozen quinoa and vegetables from Trader Joe’s and heated it in a skillet. Does that count?

ITF: If one person could cook for you tonight, who would it be?

Mario Batali. His recipes always turn out so well, even when I veganize them, which doesn’t always require much more than skipping the cheese. And I’m a sucker for classic Italian food, especially with Italian wine.

ITF: What are you working on these days that you’d like to tell us about?

It feels like I’m spending every waking hour planning the release of my first book, and a U.S. tour I’m doing to support it. It’s called No Meat Athlete: Run on Plants and Discover Your Fittest, Fastest, Happiest Self, and I’m so excited to share it with the world now that it’s finally finished!

Thank you Matt!

If you would like to be featured on Inside the Fridge, please email Robinsbite intern, Jaime Ruisi- Jaime@robinplotkin.com