about

Hello, welcome to my official food blog!

My name is Jenn.  I'm a 26 year old student living in the Greater St. Louis area.

I'm usually preoccupied with school, but I do find the time to cook for myself.  This blog will serve as a platform for me to share my favorite recipes with you all.  It will also be a place where I can easily store and organize my recipes without cluttering up my bookshelf.

I wanted to start this blog, because I'm asked about my diet all the time.  Many people, including myself, have equated my body type to a fast metabolism or to Asian genetics, but I'm not sure that explains it entirely.  I do have a small stature, but that doesn't mean I'm not capable of gaining weight.

Case in point, my freshman year in college will always be remembered as a deeply bipolar year, and as a result, I became the epitome of an emotional eater.  My roommate, Kim, and I lived off of chicken nuggets, cheese brats, jalapeño poppers, and Hamburger Helper.  Totally good and totally good for you.

We also spent many hours wallowed up on the futon together with 'Teardrops On My Guitar' playing in the background as if that was going to rescue us from the hole we dug ourselves in.  Yeah, we were pretty cool.

me and kim as freshman (2006)

sophmores but still carrying the 'freshman 15' (2007)

Needless to say, I surpassed the meager 'freshman 15' and gained a solid 20-25 pounds.  I hadn't noticed a major shift in my weight until I went home for the summer and my grandmother commented on my exceptionally healthy appearance.  (In the Asian culture, looking a little heavier than your normal self is a sign of health, wealth, and prosperity.  I mean, why do you think Buddha looks the way he does?)

Anyways, that was the first time I have ever considered how the quality of food I ate factored into how my body was shaped.  It was never something I had to keep in check, but I knew I needed to adopt better eating habits in order to shed the weight gain.

My pre-college body was the result of being fortunate enough to eat well at home.   The majority of my meals were healthy and home-cooked, so I was able to stay thin without even trying.  All along I thought I had some magical Asian genes that made me naturally skinny, but truth of the matter is, I'm not magical and I definitely learned that the hard way.

Now that I have my booty back on track, I'm a firm believer of the idea that the body is 'made in the kitchen and sculpted in the gym'.  I say this because the weight loss approach I took focused on getting back to the basics and not some crazy, fad diet or workout plan.  Honestly, there are soOo many diets out there, and it's a wonder to me how people even keep up with them.  In my opinion, it's really as easy as just cooking for yourself and getting in some exercise everyday.

It took us a couple years, but we got our groove back (2009)

I suppose my 'skinny secret' is to eat as natural as possible.  I don't buy too many processed foods.  I'm a proponent of Chinese food therapy.  I don't mess with diet, light, low-fat, fat-free mumbo jumbo, because the alternatives never seem to satiate me.  They are loaded with fillers and flavorings in order to compensate for what was taken out of them, and they still don't taste as good as the real thing.  All I ask for is a little butter made from real cream from a real cow.  (Note that I said a little butter.  I think portion control is very important.)

This is a bit unrelated, but I do want to add that I love visiting the farmer's market every Saturday.  As long as my time and wallet allow it, I will continue to buy as much locally grown and organic produce as I can.  I know it's better for me and better for the environment, so I try to keep that up.

Frankly, what I've said so far is neither here nor there.  If you want a chiseled six pack and a gun show, then I may not be the girl for you.  But, if you enjoy eating healthy food and would like to add some more recipes to your collection, then you've stumbled upon the right blog.  Also, if you share the same sentiments as I do regarding lemons, then be prepared for ALL the lemon recipes.

As I always say, "you gotta know how to eat - to know how to cook", so let's get to it, shall we!


mànmàn chī,
*jenn

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