Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry

Back on my "creating dinner recipes" grind! The only thing to keep in mind for this is that you'll want the meat to marinate for 15 minutes to an hour. The longer it marinates, the more flavorful it is. So maybe don't start cooking when you're already hangry... Leave yourself a little time and you won't regret it!

Ingredients: 

1 lb Chicken

3 Baby BokChoy

Green Onion

2 1/2 Tbs Soy Sauce

1 1/2 Tbs Sesame oil

1 Tbs Minced Ginger

Cilantro

Directions:

1. Combine Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil ad Ginger with Chicken. Mix Well and leave in fridge for 15 minutes to 1 hour to marinate.

2. Chop Baby BokChoy and Green Onions.

3. Cook Chicken in Large skillet. 

4. Remove chicken and lightly cook BokChoy and Green Onions (til leaves start wilting)

5. Toss Chicken back in and Mix well. 

6. Plate on top of rice, garnish with soy sauce and Cilantro. Enjoy!

Amour Propre Collaboration

     

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Amour Propre. Never heard of them? Well they're a great company that aims to decrease bullying by using student advocates and adults that have come out the other side. And also they have cool t-shirts, which is always fun.

     Calvin, the creator of the company, asked me to think a bit about my story before we met up to shoot so that I could have something genuine and unique to say. So I began to think back to high school and middle school, not exactly the best of times. And it really made me realize that as women, we never truly stop being bullies.  Girls make snide comments behind their friend's back, and continue to do so when they're grown women. 

     So even if I aimed my comments at a teenage version of myself, they could easily be applicable to someone my age. As adults we still need to find the courage to stand up for ourselves, to stand up for others. Every time someone makes a "go eat a hamburger" joke the 13 year old in me cringes and tries to hide in the shadows, but the 24 year old puffs her chest out and looks them in the eye. Insulting my body won't make you love yours more, Insulting my style won't make you trendier, Pointing out my dorkiness won't make you any cooler. 

     Instead, work on loving yourself and loving the people around you, every dorky bit of them. I stand by my senior year motto: You do You.

"Be yourself, everyone else is already taken." -Oscar Wilde

Summer Veggie Rice Bowl

      In case you didn't know, summers in Southern California are hot. Like "I don't wanna eat anything kuz I'm about to melt" hot. So I've gotten a bit stuck on what to make for dinner. One night I decided to pull whatever I wanted to eat out of the fridge and figure out a meal to make out of it. Voila! Cold Veggie Rice Bowl. It's colorful, it's yummy, and it'll make you say "Wow, I'm so super healthy!"

Ingredients:
1/2 c Cooked Rice
1/2 Bell Pepper
1/4 Small Jicama
Handful of Cherry Tomatoes (or 1 regular Tomato)
3 basil Leaves
4 Sprigs of Cilantro, just the leaves
2 Tbs Goat Cheese
Drizzle of Soy Sauce

Dressing:
Apple Cider Vinegar
Garlic Olive Oil
Salt Pepper

 1. Dice all the Veggies (Bell Pepper, Jicama, Tomato) and Herbs (Cilantro and Basil) and combine in bowl

 2. Add Oil, Vinegar, Salt and Pepper. Let sit. The longer you let it sit the more water the salt will pull out and the less soggy your bowl will be. Don't understand that? Ask your high school Bio teacher!

3. Prepare Rice according to instructions.

 4. Put rice in a bowl and add a drizzle of Soy (or Soja) sauce. Top with Veggie combo. Do not dump in the extra liquid in the bottom of the Veggies! Unless you want a soggy mess...
5. Crumble Goat cheese on top.
6. Dig in!!

Other Suggestions:
Things to add to the veggie mixture. MAY NOT BE LOW FODMAP
Cucumber, Beans (black, kidney, garbanzo), cold lentils, carrots, mushrooms, any veggie you want!

Rice& Chia Pudding

 I've liked Chia Pudding, but it always seemed a bit thin to me, kind of like eating a clump of frog eggs...theoretically, I've never actually done that. So this pudding includes rice to make it a healthier version of rice pudding! The mason jar is not mandatory, but you will want something that can hold everything with a bit of space remaining and seals well, kuz you're gonna wanna shake it up!  Top the mixture with anything you want! Substitutes at the bottom.

 Ingredients:
1 cup Cooked Rice
1/4 cup Chia Seeds
2 cups Almond Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Coconut Oil *optional*
1 Tbs Maple Syrup
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

 1. Combine Rice, Coconut Oil, Vanilla Extract, and Maple Syrup. Mix Well

 2. Add Almond Milk

3. Add Chia Seeds and Cinnamon. Mix well. Shake it up.
4. Chill for at least an hour to allow the Seeds to expand and get all pudding-ey.
5. Serve warm or cold and Enjoy!

Substitutes:
Almond Milk: Any type of milk, or even water, if you're feeling boring
Maple Syrup: White Sugar, Brown Sugar, Honey, Agave
* not all substitutes are low FODMAP

Enjoy!!

Fall Forward for Fun

 

      So I've reached that off point in the year where I gear back up to apply for grad schools and I may have only a year left of school free time here in San Diego. So here's my list for fall!

     -Julian is a great little town in east county, and somehow I've never been. So what better time than apple picking season-aka apple pie season!

     -Even with all this fun, I need to make sure I've got my list ready to go when apps get released on October 1.

     -With everyone going back to school the beaches finally won't be as crowded but it's still plenty warm to frolic around!

    - I've gotten pretty comfortable in my breakfast, brunch, brinner routine. But that's no way to live, time to get a bit more adventurous in my food realm!

     -Any article of about moving to a new place will tell you that the hardest thing is that you're on your own when it comes to exploring. So I want to push myself to do one new fun thing each week so that I can finally start crossing stuff off my SD bucket list!

     -Between working 3 jobs, modeling and going on weekend trips, my room is a mess.  It'll be nice to start with a clean surface before heading into application time.

    -Last week I was able to walk for a San Diego designer in LA Fashion week. It was kind of incredible to walk for a packed house at a big event. Hopefully the open calls are on days I can actually make this time!

     -San Diego has heaps of Dia de los Muertos celebrations, so I'm hopign to make it to at least one this year!

     -I'm chronically late with deciding my Halloween costume. This year I'm aiming to decide a month before to allow the max amount of thrifting and creativity!

So that's my list for Autumn! If you want to join me on any of these activities, or think that there are major SoCal activities that I'm missing, let me know!

Keep Adventuring!