I recently came back from 3 weeks at sea level to nearly 5,000 feet in elevation. If you’ve ever made a similar move, you know your body feels off for a while. I’ve written about this in the past. Some may experience higher resting heart rate, disrupted sleep, general fatigue. It’s normal, the body needs a few days (or weeks depending on the person) to adapt.

I chalked up every weird reading my Oura ring gave me to altitude adjustment. Stress scores over 10? Altitude. Poor HRV? Altitude + cosleeping toddler. Body feels off? Altitude. I had a very convenient excuse, and I used it liberally.

What I didn’t realize was that my body was trying to tell me something else entirely.

The Culprit: My almost daily intake of Liquid IV and a whole lot of sodium

I had started drinking Liquid IV almost daily. I thought I was being responsible. I go to the gym for an hour every day. Surely I need electrolytes, right? Wrong. At least, wrong for me.

What I wasn’t accounting for:

• 550mg of extra sodium per day from supplemental electrolytes: on top of an already adequate dietary intake

• Extra potassium, also from Liquid IV, stacking on top of a diet that already includes plenty of potassium

• Spironolactone, which I take for acne: a potassium-sparing diuretic that causes the body to retain potassium, meaning I was already accumulating more than I needed

High sodium intake is one of the most well-established contributors to elevated blood pressure. Research published in Circulation and backed by decades of epidemiological data consistently shows that excess sodium intake even beyond what feels “a lot” is directly linked to hypertension. The recommended daily sodium intake sits around 2,300mg; I was adding 550mg on top of whatever I was already eating. Over days and weeks, that adds up.

As for the potassium, spironolactone works by blocking aldosterone, which causes the kidneys to retain potassium rather than excrete it. Stacking extra potassium supplementation on top of that is exactly the kind of thing that can tip you into dangerous territory, something the NIH and Mayo Clinic both explicitly flag as a risk for people on this medication

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So, did my Oura ring save me?

Kind of? Yes. Maybe. My stress scores were persistently elevated, sitting at 10+ day after day. Oura tracks daytime stress through HRV (heart rate variability), measuring how your autonomic nervous system responds to physiological load.

A consistently high stress score isn’t just “you’re anxious” or “you’re just a stressed mom with a full time job!” it can reflect that your cardiovascular system is genuinely under strain. I kept dismissing it. It’s the altitude. It’s travel. My kid is high maintenance. I’m adjusting.

But eventually the signal (and my husband who hates electrolytes and my mom) was too loud to ignore. I stopped the daily Liquid IV. Within a week, I went to the doctor. Which confirmed the numbers. I had pushed my blood pressure into hypertension territory. And this was after two weeks of mostly daily use. Two weeks.

A reminder

Electrolyte supplements aren’t inherently bad. If you’re an endurance athlete, if you’re sweating heavily for extended periods, if you’re in the heat or in the sauna, they’re helpful and they serve a real purpose. But an hour at the gym in a temperate climate? Your body is almost certainly fine. You are probably replacing what you need with food and water.

The marketing on these products is designed to make everyone feel like they need them. And if you’re like me, someone who takes health seriously, maybe seriously enough that their dumbass might end up in an episode of The Pitt, you may be especially susceptible, because it sounds like the responsible choice. Electrolytes = healthy. More electrolytes = more healthy. Except no. That’s not how it works.

If you are on any medication that affects your electrolyte balance, like spironolactone, ACE inhibitors, or diuretics please, please talk to your doctor before adding daily electrolyte supplements to your routine. This is not a small thing.

And maybe don’t dismiss your Oura ring when it’s yelling at you for two weeks straight. She was right!

If you’re very smart and already knew all of this, congratulations, your story will never earn a Darwin award or end up like the stupid girl who almost gave herself a heart attack on The Pitt. You win!

What I’m Currently Into

🎵 Listening:

Blood Orange — Cupid Deluxe: After seeing them at couchella, I’ve had It Is What It Is on repeat. I was obsessed with this album when it came out and have seen it live, but seeing it again made me miss them. There is something so quietly radical about a song that reminds you that not everything is an emergency, that you can take your time with your own life.

The Bald and the Beautiful Podcast: Look. I need gay men yapping in my ears for at least two hours a day. I live in a deeply heteronormative suburb of northern Colorado, and Trixie and Katya are my lifeline to culture, chaos, and the kind of joyful stupidity that makes everything feel okay. IF YOU GET IT YOU GET IT. If you don’t, congrats.

Enjoying:

TULIPS TULIPS TULIPS!!! In multiple corners of my house. Every street in NYC I walked down. They have so many at Costco! I am fully obsessed and so happy they’re in season and in bloom everywhere I look.

Black Miso Cod from Costco: I have never been to Nobu. The strees are saying (reels) this is a great dupe. The streets are correct. Serve it with steamed rice and vegetables and feel like you are doing something right in this world.

Watching:

The Comeback. I am late. I know I’m late. I don’t care. This show is the blueprint for situational documentary style comedy, not The Office, not Parks and Rec, The Comeback. Lisa Kudrow is doing something genuinely unhinged and brilliant and I love her for it. I love cringe. I love stupid. This is both.

Titanique(NYC). Titanic is my favorite movie. I do Celine Dion impressions in my home (you may never see this consider yourself lucky.) This musical was made for me and my husband. It is feel-good, it is joyful, it is absolutely swimming in Celine, and it is the best Titanic-adjacent theatrical experience in existence. If you are in New York, go immediately.

Thanks for reading!

I love marmalade. I love bittersweet things. It was recently my son’s 3rd birthday and I bought a large bag of tangerines for the party. Unfortunately I forgot about them and we found myself with quite the surplus of citrus. Add to that that I bought costco amounts of grapefruit and sumo oranges. So why not make marmalade?

For this recipe I use grapefruit, sumo oranges, and A LOT of tangerines — Yields 3 quarts. I make a lot because the peeling and chopping is labor intensive so I freeze half.

Recipe:

• 3 pounds citrus: I used a mix of mostly tangerines, sumo oranges, and pink grapefruits.

• 2 cups of sugar

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

• 1 pinch of salt

• 1 cup of water

Method

• Peel your citrus and remove as much of the white part as you can

• Chop the peels into small pieces

• Rough chop the fruit, avoid slicing into any seeds and removing any seeds along the way and set aside.

• Add peels into a large pot and wash the peels with cold water.

• Add (only) the peels to a large pot and cover with ten cups of cold water. Bring this to a boil.

• Once boiling, discard the water and cover the peels again with cold water. We do this to discard that first layer of yuck from the peels.

• Bring this to a boil for at least 90 minutes

• Add the chopped fruit and return the pot to a boil. Cook until the liquid is reduced by about 1/3, another 45 minutes or so.

• Add the sugar and stir. Make sure it’s disolved.

• Mix everything very well and add 1-2 cups of water.

• Using an immersion blender, blend 1/4 of the mixture and mix everything until it’s homogenous.

• When the marmalade is nearly thick to your preference, add the lemon juice. Allow that to boil for 3-5 minutes and turn off the heat. Let cool.

My favorite way to enjoy this is with a nice slice of sourdough and butter!

I also spent a whole day cooking and stocking my brother’s fridge with nutritionally dense food for my sister in law, for when the baby comes. In this post you’ll find everything I made for them and a breakdown of the why behind each meal with the recipe.

• Beef bone broth

• Brisket and spinach soup

• Red lentil and chicken soup

• Chicken, red dates, carrot, ginger and turmeric soup

• Brown rice & quinoa mix

• Sourdough bread

Beef Bone Broth: Foundational Healing

Bone broth is often considered a cornerstone of postpartum nourishment. It’s rich in collagen and gelatin, which helps repair tissues that stretched and worked hard during pregnancy and birth, including the uterus, pelvic floor, joints, and skin. It also provides key amino acids like glycine and proline, which support hormone balance and liver function during major hormonal shifts.

Bone broth also supplies easily absorbed minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus, nutrients that pregnancy and breastfeeding can deplete. If you’ve ever breastfed you’ll know how exhausting it can be. Because it is warm and easy to digest, it’s ideal when appetite is low and digestion feels sluggish.

How I made it:

I roasted bone marrow, beef bones, chicken bones, and then boiled them with apple cider vinegar, celery, onions, and carrots for 4-6 hours to develop a rich thick broth. Added salt at the very end. Here’s a video on that.

Brisket and Spinach Soup: Rebuild Blood and Strength

This soup is a variation of Miyeok-guk (Korean birthday soup) which is originally made with seaweed instead of spinach. It’s common in Korean culture for this to be the first meal new mothers have after birth, and for people to eat it on their birthdays.

It pairs slow-cooked brisket (a rich source of high-quality protein and heme iron) with spinach, which contains iron, folate, and magnesium, all key nutrients for healing and energy restoration. Rich in vitamin K and protein, the iron from beef helps replenish iron lost during delivery and supports energy levels. Spinach adds plant-based iron, folate, and magnesium for red blood cell production and muscle recovery.

How I made it:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb beef brisket, cut into bite-sized pieces

• 1 onion, chopped

• 4 cups beef bone broth

• 2 cups water

• 3 cups fresh spinach (frozen is fine)

• Salt & pepper

Steps:

1. Brown brisket pieces in a pot over medium heat.

2. Add onion, carrots, and beef bone broth + water.

3. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for ~1.5 hours until beef is tender.

4. Stir in spinach until wilted.

5. Season with salt & pepper.

6. Top with lemon or lime if desired

Red Lentil and Chicken Soup: Gentle Digestion + Balanced Protein

This soup offers a great balance of lean protein from chicken and plant-based nutrients from red lentils. Chicken provides essential amino acids needed for tissue repair and support milk production. Lentils supply protein, iron, and fiber which help maintain stable energy and support digestion, which is often sluggish postpartum.

How I made it:

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp ghee

• 1 cup red lentils

• 1 lb chicken breast or thighs, chopped

• 1 onion, chopped

• 2 carrots, diced

• 4 cups chicken or bone broth

• 1 tsp turmeric

• Salt & pepper

Steps:

1. Rinse lentils under cold water

2. In a large pot, sauté onion and carrots with the ghee until soft

3. Add turmeric and mix everything

4. Add chicken and cook until lightly browned

5. Add lentils and broth

6. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer 20–25 minutes until lentils are soft

7. Season with salt & pepper

8. Top with a little olive oil if desired

Chicken, Red Dates, Carrot, Ginger, and Turmeric Soup: Anti-Inflammatory Recovery

This type of soup has been used in many traditional postpartum practices especially in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) because it addresses multiple aspects of healing:

• Chicken helps rebuild strength with high-quality protein

• Red dates (jujubes) are traditionally used to support blood and energy levels and provide antioxidants

• Carrots offer vitamin A, important for immune function, tissue repair, and breast milk support

• Ginger improves circulation, eases bloating, and reduces inflammation

• Turmeric is a potent anti-inflammatory that supports internal healing

This combination promotes circulation, reduces inflammation, and supports whole-body recovery.

How I made it:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken pieces (or 1 whole chicken)

• 6–8 dried red dates

• 2 large carrots, sliced

• 1–2 inch ginger, sliced

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 6 cups water or broth

• Salt

Steps:

1. Place chicken, carrots, ginger, red dates, and turmeric in a pot

2. Add water and bring to a boil

3. Reduce heat and simmer 2-3 hours

4. Take chicken out and break apart

5. Season with salt to taste

6. Serve and sip

Brown Rice and Quinoa: Steady Energy and Nutrient Restoration

Carbohydrates are essential postpartum, especially for energy and milk production.

A mix of brown rice and quinoa provides complex carbohydrates that release energy steadily, helping to stabilize blood sugar and mood. Quinoa is also a complete protein, containing all essential amino acids. These grains deliver B vitamins for energy metabolism, magnesium for muscle recovery and stress support, and fiber to promote gut health.

All of the information in this post are from two books I’ve read on postpartum care and TCM: The First Forty Days and The Fourth Trimester.

Cooking is my love language. Having the opportunity to support my sister in law with her postpartum recovery is a great privilege to me. I hope I can do this for more families and friends in the future.

After the holiday season, I only want simple foods. Beans on toast. Boiled potatoes with green beans and sardines. White rice with soy sauce and cucumber. Braised greens in coconut milk. Marmalade with butter on toast. There’s something about rebalancing my center of gravity after the holidays that I can only seem to find through eating simple foods.

My mother in law brought home tender beans from Spain. They’re classic white beans but so tender they must be kept in the fridge so they don’t loose their suppleness. Last night I was craving something akin to tomato sauce, but with beans, so I made brothy beans like I would make tomato sauce.

This is a very loose recipe—for I was not planning to share it on here.

In a large pot, pour a huge glug of olive oil (1/4 cup give or take), 1 onion cut in half, 1 carrot sliced in half lengthwise, 2 campari tomatoes sliced in half, 1 tbsp dried basil & oregano, 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1 tbsp salt, 2 cups of beans, and 2 pints of water.

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Heat up the oil at medium heat, add the onion and allow it to brown. Flip it over and once it’s golden brown, add the carrots, tomatoes, herbs, and crushed red pepper flakes. Once the herbs are aromatic, add the beans, followed by the water and salt. Once it comes to a boil, reduce to low heat and let it simmer until the beans are tender. This can take from 1 hour to 2 hours. Depends on how tender/old your beans are. Older beans that have been dried for longer will take longer to cook, this is usually why people soak beans. But for new beans that haven’t been dried for long, this is not necessary as they are tender.

The campari tomatoes melt and emulsify with the olive oil and onion creating a liquor like broth. I eat them on toast, or with other simple foods like boiled potatoes. My son absolutely loves them. Although he likes sardines more.

I hope you are having a wonderful start to your year, may this recipe help you find balance after indulgence! :)

Noon to 2:30pm is my sacred time for coffee. 3pm at the latest. I know that if I have coffee after 3pm I won’t go to sleep until at least 11pm (I am usually in bed by 9:15pm.) If i have a coffee after 3pm, it’s usually because I’ll try to watch Pluribus (comment if you’re watching, cause I need to discuss!). Something that I want to get ahead of though is coffee time snacks for the holiday season. I started testing a recipe for an afternoon teacake to make for my family that’s coming to stay with us for Christmas. And I’m so pleased with this one. The genesis of this recipe was a classic chocolate chip banana bread, however, I have to substitute a few ingredients. What usually is yogurt, I substituted with ricotta and a little apple ciger vinegar. Dark chocolate chips for white chocolate chips, you know, for a little decadence.

This White Chocolate & Ricotta Banana Cake goes soso well with a cortado or an espresso. The bitterness of the coffee complements the sweet and moist center of the cake thanks to the banana and ricotta. The top of the cake is crackly and crispy thanks to the sugar it’s topped with. Recipe below.

Ingredients

• Yields: One 9-inch loaf

• Nonstick spray (as much as you need)

• 3 very ripe medium bananas, peeled and mashed

• 85 grams salted butter, melted

• 150 grams ricotta cheese

• 200 grams light brown sugar

• 2 large eggs (each is around 80-90 grams)

• 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract

• 255 grams all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoons baking soda (if you’re at sea level, add an extra ½teaspoon)

• ½teaspoon fine sea salt

• 135 grams white chocolate chips

• ½teaspoon apple cider vinegar (this is to activate the baking soda, don’t skip this because if not this wont rise as there are no other acids in the recipe and ricotta is not acidic enough)

• 1 tablespoon of white sugar (for topping the cake)

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. You can also use butter and/or use parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas using what you have, I used my hands but you can use a masher or fork. Make sure they’re broken apart, some lumps are okay. Whisk in the melted butter, ricotta, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well combined.

3. In a another bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt to combine. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir to combine using a silicone scraper/spatula. Scrape the sides and base of the bowl well to make sure the mixture is uniformly combined. Don’t overmix.

4. Gently stir in the chocolate until combined, then pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread into an even layer.

5. Sprinkle the surface generously with sugar.

6. Put the cake in the oven and bake until the edges of the loaf start to pull away from the edge of the pan, and a tester inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 45-60 minutes.

7. Check the cake at 45 minutes, if raw in the middle, lower the temperature to 325F for 15 minutes, then turn off the oven. If the top of the loaf is becoming too dark before it’s baked through, loosely cover with foil.

8. Turn off the oven and leave the oven door ajar, for around 10-15 minutes. Then, transfer from the oven to a cooling rack. Remove the cake using the parchment paper. Let cool in the pan for 20 minutes before unmolding and cooling completely.

I’ve loved Rosalía since she first came out with Malamente in 2018. I remember how much I would say that word when I first learned it. Malamente, which means, “wrongly done”. “¡Molt malament!” my Catalan teacher would exclaim in class to portray the emotion behind the use of the word. My classes were paid by the government so while I was living there I learned the language because it was free, thank you socialism! Anyway, I was feeling a little worried about her new music after Motomami, overall just curious and hopeful but still anxious, it’s emotional turmoil to love a pop diva.

But when I hit play on LUX, all my worries went away and I let the light in. Divine intervention. And thank god because it’s grim out here. We need this hope. Bjork, Yves Tumor, (maybe) Frank Ocean, and Patti Smith among others break through the album to remind us that everything is just a game but don’t be scared. What she is doing with this album is showing once and for all her musical prowess. Changing the game. Cosplaying different virgins if you will. The amount of people who will flood into classical music will change everything for the algorithm. I’m obsessed with her understanding of composition, story building, taste, execution. Her artistry!! She sings about her deep love for God straight from her chest, in Arabic and Italian which evokes a deeper heartbreaking level of emotion due to the romanticism of those languages. Her Christ Cries Diamonds, which to me, is a ballad of a showgirl. Her Christ is money, when she cries, she cries at the jeweler.

She takes a typical Reprise in an album to another level. She comes down from her divinity to send a quick fuck you to her ex. Her song La Perla, serves as a quick break in healing to remind everyone that she is that bitch. Why do these men keep olimpically fumbling these artists? Lily Allen just rang her ex out to dry. Men, take note! We will shame you! Finally, shaming is back!

Con el revés de la mano, yo te lo dejo bien claro.

With the back of my hand I’ll make it clear to you

She warned to her audience in El Mal Querer’s DE AQUÍ NO SALES. She warned us. But most importantly how dare he? Lemonade was an album about deceit, pain, vindication, and perdón. LUX is about finding the light. Self love within you and making room for the divine. A study of divine vessels across cultures. Chest first music. The thing that elevates your step. Rapture soundtrack. Beam me up Rosi. Allow me to create an internal exploration of emotion through your voice and vision.

At the start of the album, the first human sound you hear is her first breath. And just like that I was swallowed into her air. The introductory piano is something that crawls into your veins and shoots straight to the heart. How is that possible? For a voice to penetrate the deepest emotions of a person. A story. Like a playwrite. But for a brief moment, she stops to play with words.

Medalla olímpica de oro al más cabrón,

Tienes el podio de la gran desilusión

Gold olympic medal to the worst motherfucker,

You’ve got the podium of the great disappointment

Not an award but my favorite, because of how Yahritza delivers this clean cut.

Siempre se autoinvita, Si puede, vive en casa ajena

Always self-invited, lives in others houses if he can

And who better than the Washington native Mexican trio, Yahritza y Su Esencia, to inject true telenovela to this story to remind everyone of what roots to the Norteño culture look like today. She then goes on to live her life, and realize that there is a light, every day a new beginning. Nuevo Mundo starts with wind instruments akin to the sound of a wedding. She almost married that guy!

La Perla is the perfect break from divine healing to send the biggest fuck you to your ex. She knows she is both nothing and simultaneously she is the light of the universe. What I find so interesting about this song is all the synergies to the story of her and Rauw Alejandro share. La Perla is a neighborhood from Puerto Rico, Calle 13 references it in this song from 2019. She also compares their love to a pearl she’s go find at the bottom of the sea if she were ever to lose it, in the song Promesa on their RR EP. But in LUX she enacts the idiom “eres una perla” “you’re a pearl” which gives adds to her lore. See, where I grew up in Santo Domingo, if you burped in public or did something equally nasty, it would be met with a loud “¡qué perla!” “what a pearl!”. It’s a masterclass in reclaiming the story and exposing the worst world disaster. She covers him in awards, these awards should go into the pantheon of dragged fuckboys. She forgives everything by the end though. Which feels cathartic and cleansing, kind of like All Night in Lemonade.

La Perla has a perfect place in the album, because it brings us back to consciousness and takes us through her healing. The vivid writing, the sleek arrangement, the perfect architecture. Quite remarkable. I haven’t been able to listen to much music since it was released. Even wine moms stay winning with the love ballad Sauvignon Blanc.

Anyway if you, too are also obsessed with this album, I would love to chat more about it.

Chana Saag - Chickpeas in spinach gravy

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It is so high and dry (womp womp) here that within the first 6 hours of my first trip to Denver I had to go to CVS to get a new moisturizer. I also was left frantically searching for an avene water spray mister thing because I didn’t want to induce a breakout from too much moisturizer. The heat and humidity of Houston was long gone and my face was feeling it. I was parched. I still am! I am always thirsty here! I hate to admit it but I am now a basic stanley cup girl because it is so dry. Do not get me started on my dryass scalp, that is another journey I am on. Sensitive skin girlies this is a warning.

Anyway, visiting a place and actually living there are two different things, as you may already know from those “I live where you vacation” social posts. Back when I was at a bakery in Houston I learned to bake in a hot commercial kitchen with high humidity (no matter how temperature controlled a place is, the humidity is everywhere in H town), now I am relearning to bake by trail and error what it’s like to bake in a cold and dry kitchen. I love being alive and learning!

Where I live in Timnath, Colorado, I am comfortably sitting at 4,869ft over sea level. That is 1484m for my metric system readers. So, yeah, baking here has me on a learning curve. Not only is my body really feeling it (I also really miss salt water iodine) but my bakes are really feeling it too.

Hard Lessons in Elevation Baking

Heat is hotter

Lol what a dumb sentence but it is true. Whether it’s the heat of the sun (my usage of SPF has sky rocketed) or the heat of the oven, everything is hotter. Liquid evaporates faster and it boils at a lower temperature (wtf?). Baking times need to be readjusted. My sourdough bakes at 500F for 20 minutes covered.

Since the heat is hotter, baked goods need less time

This may differ if you have an older oven. Because the goods bake faster under these conditions, one has to monitor more closely anything that’s in the oven. I’ve learned to decrease the baking time and have earlier check ins, reducing by 5 to 8 minutes per 30minutes as a starting point. When it’s time to uncover the sourdough from the oven and lower the temperature, instead of lowering to 475F for a browner bake, I lower it to 450F for the same bake.

The low air pressure affects everything (not just my lungs)

• Gases expand more freely so leavening gases push more aggressively and cakes and breads can collapse more often.

• Liquids evaporate faster because less pressure “holds them in.”

• Water boils at a lower temperature so moisture can vaporize more readily.

What does it mean you ask? I now have to decrease my leavening agents (baking powder and baking soda) by half! When it comes to sourdough, my bulk fermentation time is shorter as well, instead of fermenting until doubled in sizes (50%-75%) I only ferment until 20%-40% increase. The prooving times and overnight proof will give the dough more time to rise in the fridge.

And yes, when it comes to training and working out up here, it is harder, but trust, when I am back at sea level it’s over for you bitches.

Bread Flour Over AP All Day!

Using flour higher protein (Bread Flour) reinforces the structure and helps the goods “hold” the gas expansion. Bread flour creates a stronger gluten network that helps baked goods rise evenly and maintain their shape as they cool, which is especially important because leavening agents cause baked goods to rise too quickly at higher altitudes therefore it’s easier to overproof them.

That’s all for today when it comes to lessons, more as I continue to learn! Here are my sources for these learnings: 1, 2.

About that Mac & Cheese…

Cooking for my son is becoming more challenging by the day. He’s asking me to make him chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. He is so American it’s gross. So I developed a recipe we can eat as a family on special occasions with special pasta! It’s high-protein too to sneak in more nutrition.

High-Protein Cheesy Pasta

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And by depresso I mean depressed. The hardest part of being a business owner/founder is dealing with the feeling of ennui that sprouts from time to time. Systems and processes to keep the machine going aren’t there because, the machine is you. And keepin’ on while you simply don’t feel like it is not an option, nothing will get done. So I made my favorite “I really don’t feel like putting on an effort” soup.

I always keep bone broth in my freezers. Yes, freezers, plural. I recently acquired a chest freezer and I suddenly have the urge to learn how to hunt and skin an animal to keep it in my freezer to feed my family for the next 6 months. Maybe I’ll disappear to Wyoming next. Anyway. Bone broth. I always keep it in the freezer because it’s the perfect base for an emergency lunch or dinner that is very low effort and deliciously high reward. You can cook rice in it for some enriched plain rice. You can eat it next to a grilled cheese. It’s always nourishing and supportive.

Depresso Dumpling Soup

1. Defrost your bone broth and bring it to a simmer

2. Add frozen dumplings (a freezer staple for me, among many others)

3. Once the soup is boiling, add fresh greens: I did spinach, cilantro, green onion

4. Top with soy sauce, chili crisp (or not!)

5. FIN

Now for a more restorative pick-me-up soup, let me introduce you to the Chicken, Red Dates, Ginger & Turmeric Soup. I love the golden hue the turmeric gives this soup. But the star of this one? Jujubes. Jujubes (AKA red dates or Chinese dates) are a powerhouse fruit in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), especially valued in postpartum recovery. If you are not postpartum but you’re a person who menstruates, jujubes can also be very beneficial as they can improve circulation from blood loss. Maybe you just had major surgery, this would also be really good for that recovery. Perhaps you just need a good bowl of soup for no reason to feel good, that’s also valid.

They are fairly similar to Medjool dates if you’ve had them before, not as sweet or sticky but faintly similar.

Some additional benefits:

• Modern studies suggest jujubes may stimulate erythropoiesis (red blood cell formation). 1

• Iron-rich: Supports red blood cell production, helping restore vitality after blood loss during childbirth.

• Naturally adaptogenic, jujubes help regulate cortisol (stress hormone) and support a balanced nervous system.

• Rich in vitamin C, flavonoids, and antioxidants, jujubes support immune defense and tissue repair.

• Gentle on the stomach and help improve digestion and nutrient absorption, which is key when the body needs maximum nourishment.

• Their antioxidant and polysaccharide content supports collagen synthesis and skin healing, helping rejuvenate postpartum skin and minimize dryness or dullness.

Recipe

Ingredients

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Now for the recipes, these are delicious recipes that support digestion, hydration, and gentle healing. They’re perfect for postpartum or anytime your body craves calm nourishment and healing. With Delightfully Nourished, I’m focusing more on offering healing foods for new parents, especially those in the postpartum stage of their lives. These three recipes are designed for their highly nutritional benefits. They’re what the body craves: Acorn Squash and French Lentil Soup, Porcini Congee, and Seedy Granola.

Let’s start with the Porcini Congee. I topped it with a soy marinated soft boiled egg and chili oil.

Porcini Congee Recipe 🍄

Ingredients

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When I was in college and would visit friends who lived alone they would let me cook for them. I’d always insist. They’d always say that there was nothing in the fridge but I’d end up making something from the nothing in the fridge and they’d be shocked and happy afterwards. These are all memories I love because I deeply love making people happy through the meals I cook for them.

With becoming a parent, or a caregiver there is so much decision and mental fatigue. It can be very exhausting. Putting together ideas and concepts for meals doesn’t come naturally for everyone, but it does for me. And this is why I am creating Delightfully Nourished. I want to help parents from their postpartum journey to full schedules. I want to help caregivers who need to get pep back into their step. To see the colors and light again.

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I have this vision where I can build a community where every parent/caregiver feels nourished and supported. Where folks who don’t know how to help their community can gift them meals or set up deliveries to relieve decision fatigue.

Delightfully Nourished will combine culinary care and whole ingredients to provide reliable and nourishing meals that turn “there’s nothing to eat” into “this made my day.”

I aim to launch mid October, with a very soft launch. In the meantime, you can see what I’m cooking over on instagram.

Special thank you to my lifetime friend Mia Rincón who developed this brand identity for me. I’m so grateful to her and her eternal friendship. We met on MySpace in 2004. She was my first friend with a car and she took me under her wing, and still does in many ways. She offered me my first cigarette ever. I declined because they were menthols. I knew enough by then that menthols were lame.

The month before I was laid off I was telling my work bestie that the vibes were off. I felt like Parvati in tribal council, everything was weird and it was tripping me out. Was I going to get voted off the corporate island? It was small things, like the main team leader wouldn’t engage with me on Slack (lol), my presentations or projects were not a priority (there was always something more important to bump me for), I didn’t gel at all with the male leadership (I struggle with authority and mostly arrogant men). Information with me was on a need to know basis. There was lots of restructuring that was happening and I felt that I had to fight to show my position and insert myself everywhere. I was being edged out in a way, and I saw it happening, and I was complacent with it. Work was hard, like, unnecessarily hard. I was questioning myself over and over. Do I even like this anymore? Am I even good at this? What the fuck am I even doing with my time? And then boom within 15 minutes that was done and dusted. I was at that company for 3 years, the longest I’ve ever worked anywhere! And today I’m diving head first into my own thing. I’ll lay myself off thank you very much!

I’ve had a love affair with food and cooking for as long as I can remember; I’ve always loved cooking and feeding people. When I was a child I was always helping my mom cook. When I was 10 I was already making my own food afterschool when my mom took a full time job. In college I was the designated cook on friend trips. I started my blog Ella Quien Come in 2010 after a breakup. In 2013 I was on an online recipe book in Dominican Republic before I moved to Barcelona to continue my communications studies and get my Masters. I didn’t go to culinary school because I was fearful that the thing I loved would become A Job. And here I am at 35 years old telling my younger self to not be fearful, the only thing that will make me truly fulfilled will be to do the thing I love. Because I simply can’t fathom going onto LinkedIn. I applied to a few jobs and interviewed and my stomach churned. I was rejected from a position I actually thought I wanted and what I felt was deep relief in my belly and my jaw and shoulders relax. If that’s not a clear signal to Follow My Dreams then IDK what is…

But this is not my first rodeo. I was laid off in 2022. When that happened, I started the instagram Delightfully Nourished. I developed a lactation cookie for my friend who was having trouble with her milk production. I was really excited to launch that, until I became pregnant and desperately needed a job, because This Is America. So that took a back seat. Fast forward 3 years and here I am again.

This time around, I am using my severance pay and time to make my 8 year old self happy. I’ve been doing inner child work which focuses on connecting with and healing your younger self by addressing past wounds and unmet needs through exercises where you provide yourself with the love and support you needed as a child. It’s what helped Chappell Roan write The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, and more recently, it’s what helped JADE release her new banger of an album THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY! Two albums I fucking love and spin on repeat all the time. The song Angel of My Dreams, is one of my favorites because of how she sings about the push and pull of being in the spotlight. Anyway I digress. What does making my inner child happy even look like? Putting myself into a project I actually love while I can. Enter Delightfully Nourished.

Making my 8 year old self happy means starting a delivery meal service for busy parents in the tiny town of Timnath, Colorado. Ever since I became a parent, I have to put myself into things in a way that’s viscerally enthralling. It’s like I care too much about my time because I know it’s a scarce resource. I want to combine culinary care and whole ingredients to provide reliable and nourishing meals for parents where I can turn “there’s nothing to eat” into “this made my day.” Also, living in Colorado the past 2 months, I’ve seen how parents eat, and trust, they need something like this.

As for a launch timeline, it’s coming soon. I’m working on pricing, logistics, and fulfillment strategies because I’ll be a one woman operation. Thanks for tuning in.

Resources that helped me get where I am now:

• F45 Training—lifting weights and learning how to train has really helped me channel anger and grief

• Bootstraps—a playlist of songs that to me are uplifting and helped me deal with the anger, grief, and release of being laid off.

• Inner Child Work: 15+ Practical tools

• Benebell Wen’s Holistic Tarot—Learning more about tarot and pulling cards daily

• Morning Pages

So when I was craving nourishing crunchmeal that I could also feed to my son and maybe gift a new neighbor, I found this granola recipe on NYT Cooking inspired by what Eleven Madison Park allegedly gifts their guests for breakfast the next day. Can you imagine getting a little bag of granola after shelling out nearly $500? “Here, some fiber to help your bowels after our dinner..” Anyway chile... I wanted granola, I wanted the deep caramelized almost burnt flavor of sugar and maple syrup and honey to grace my palate. So I took this recipe and spun it to work for me.

Changed I made to the original:

• Used flax seeds and hemp seeds to replace the pumpkin seeds

• Added about 2 tablespoons of honey

• Used about 1/3 of a cup of sugar instead of 1/2

• Did 2 teaspoons of kosher salt instead of 1 tablespoon

• Skipped the sour cherries

• Left it a little longer in the oven until I could smell the fragrance of the sugar and caramel intoxicate my house

• Say it with me, deeply toasted is not burnt!!

A few things I love about this granola are:

• The clusters

• The toasted coconut

• Munching on this all day by the fistful

• Making little parfaits with yogurt or kefir and fruit

• Giving some to my son in a bowl and saying “it’s a snack!!” and hearing him say “ohh I love snack!”

I’ve entered a strange modus operandi now that I am uprooting my life. My heart is torn but at the same time I’m so excited to not live in Texas. The world is descending into chaos and I can’t see it through here anymore. Will I miss living in the most diverse city in the world? Yes and you have no idea how deeply my heart hurts about not being able to access basically any cuisine I want in a 20 min drive radius. I rep Houston and I think I always will in a way. I don’t really care about sports, that’s not me. It’s more of the community. Folks here show up for each other in a way that’s been so remarkable to experience.

However I have a full list of things I won’t miss from Houston:

• The very aggressive driving

• The extreme heat

• Flatlands

• Shitty streets

How will I manage the lack of diversity and food variety that north Colorado has to offer you’re wondering? Maybe I’ll open up my own café.

Recipes I’ve enjoyed lately:

• White beans and seared fennel from boroughchef — so incredibly satisfying

• Creamed greens and black eyed peas (vegan) — a weekly staple and what I call delicious struggle meal

• Huli Huli Chicken — we watched Lilo & Stitch with my son lol

It was also my birthday last week. I am now 35 yrs old and I have a 2.5 year old. Still blogging and churning stuff and my little recipes onto the internet and listening to punk rock. Substack really is the new Tumblr!

I cook myself lunch pretty much every day. I make lunch for my toddler 90% of the time, but more on that another day, if you’re curious I wrote about his lunchbox last year on my blog. Marc and I also enjoy doing elaborate weekend lunches at our backyard, which is how we kicked off the first one february.

The first time we ate outside we made a big hunk of meat with grilled veggies and red cabbage, carrot, and apple slaw with a labneh dressing. Topped it off with a chimichurri salsa that dressed the meat beautifully. Lots of herbs, roasted peppers, vinegar, and garlic.

Braised greens two ways: with kale and white beans with mustard, caraway, and cumin seeds topped with lemon. Mustard greens and edamame, just soy sauce and lime. Fish on the side: crusted cod from costco and steamed salmon.

Mango and yogurt topped with hemp seeds, so good for breakfast or snack.

Hudson’s birthday: we let him eat all the olives he wants (he loves olives), even though they’re super high in sodium and not very good for kids, it was his bday so he got a pass. Marc made him paella on the grill, because he loves rice.

Post bday soup: bone broth straight from the freezer with egg noodles, some parmesan, lemon, and parsley. Torn bread. Heart waffles for valentines. I always make like 15-20 small waffles to freeze for Hudson to have at a moments notice. I make sure they have more eggs and yogurt than normal so he can get his protein maxxing in. Green beans and clams topped with croutons to sop up all the broth at the bottom.

Who the fuck is Cava? Salad. There’s a bed of wild rice in the bottom, topped with greens, caviar lentils, lamb meatballs (leftovers don’t judge me). And croutons. It was not dry despite what you might think, the meatballs were juicy and had plenty tomato onion sauce that melded everything together. The caviar lentils were also juicy and brothy, the perfect dressing. Croutons because I like bread in my salad and my mom made a ton of it because she absolutely refused to compost bread. Hating waste is a good thing I think.

Fish lunches: salmon with left over primavera pasta, over a bed of greens and topped with gochujang sauce. Pan fried red snapper, crispy side up topped with mango salsa, brown rice and kale salad.

“Kimchi jiggae” two ways. Basically bone broth with braised kimchi and tofu. One with rice and green onions. The other with croutons and caviar lentils.

Braised greens with mushrooms, beans, and herbs. Roasted vegetable soup topped with pita chips.

Emergency dumpling soup. I was unexpectedly under the weather having frozen soup dumplings came in clutch. They’re so versatile and satisfying, they are great for anything. And this soup is quite easy and effective for cheering up my body. Bone broth, frozen dumplings, parsley, and lots of lemon. If you happen to have pickled ginger, this would be so good to add, I didn’t have any.

Seeing all of this home cooking I did feels good. There’s something about continuously thinking about food that keeps me inspired. I’m not sure what exactly it is but thinking about the items that are in season, what’s in my fridge, in the freezer, or the pantry feels like putting myself in a small box of energy where I can put things together and make something good and nourishing with whats at my fingertips.

If you would like to see the recipe for anything you saw here on the food diary, let me know in the comments. Until the next time. I hope you’re well and healthy.

My oura ring tells me I’m most relaxed when I’m cooking, which is a fun data driven insight I get to have thanks to capitalism. Since welcoming my son into my life, I don’t get to “have fun” with cooking as much as I did before becoming a mother. And it’s strange because inspiration is much more powerful now than before. So for his second lap around the sun, I decided I was going to make him a tiered cake that was beautiful and had some of his favorite things. Most of those things are my own projections because he’s a little boy who’s only learning who he is as he grows. But nevertheless, I had fun with it. The sketching, thinking of flavors, connecting his likes—even if just tangentially — into a multi layered cake that I know he would not care for at all (he was more interested in the happy birthday song and singing it as well as his new gifts.)

Olive oil saffron honey with mango compote, lemon curd, and Dominican meringue (suspiro).

Olive oil cake because he’s part Catalan. The olive oil cake is a variation from Natasha Pickowicz’s Olive Oil sheet pan cake recipe from her book More Than Cake.

Honey saffron soak for the cake because he loves paella which is made with saffron and honey because who doesn’t love sweet things?

Mango compote because we love mango in this house and Lemon Curd because a sharp clean cut through the sweetness is always needed.

Dominican meringue (suspiro) because he’s also Dominican and my mom was visiting, so it was her contribution to the cake.

Not sure when I’ll bake like this again, I’m mostly into just cooking normie delicious meals “for survival” at the moment. This was fun and it felt beautiful, I hope to make more things like this soon.

A few lessons I've learned along the way? Never underestimate the unpredictability of weather, and always prepare for the worst. That way, everything else feels like a best-case scenario. Best case scenario I work from home on Tuesday while my kid plays in the background. Worst case? We lose electricity for days and have to enable a generator in frigid weather, with a house optimized for cooling (we live in Texas!!!)

Another thing I've learned along the way, is the importance of hearty hot nourishing food. I remember in 2021, lockdown rules were in place but everything is a blur now and we woke up to snow. We didn't prepare, lost electricity in our apartment complex, and had to go gather water in a bucket from the pool to flush our toilet. We met up with our friends who were also our neighbors and I made a pot of chilli in the community grill and we ate our of red solo cups.

Today, my priorities are focused on my family. I made a big pot of beef strew with tons of hidden veggies (toddler learning taste.) Radishes instead of potatoes for extra nutrition. Boil the potatoes on the side and add them in later as a fun side. Carrots, leeks, celery, and onions. Dried apricots and dried plums for sweetness. A bundle of warm herbs and spiced. Red wine.

Recipe

• 2-4 pounds of cubed beef, I used chuck

• salt and pepper, abundant

• 2 tablespoons avocado oil

• 1 cup of sweet yellow onion, roughly chopped

• 1 cup of chopped carrots

• 1/2 cup chopped celery

• 1/2 cup thickly sliced daikon

• 1 pound of potatoes

• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

• 1 tablespoon grated ginger

• 2 cups red wine

• 6-8 dried plums (prunes)

• 6-8 dried apricots

• 1/2 cup loosely packed chopped parsley

• 1 bay leaf

• 3 cinnamon stick

• 1clove

• 3 star anise

• orange peel: 2-3 strips

• 4 cups of chicken stock or bone broth

Method:

Before you even start preparing anything else: start by salting the meat with kosher salt and let tenderize in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Preheat your oven at 350F/ 176C. Then in a cast iron pot, add the avocado oil and once it's sizzling, brown the meat. You'll know it's time to flip the meat when the middle/top of the meat is doming and had little red left.

Remove the beef and place it on a plate. Add your veggies: onions, leeks, carrots, and ginger.

Ad some salt and sweat the veggies for 10-15 minutes. Followed by the star anise and clove.

Deglase with the wine and let everything simmer for 3-5 minutes. Once simmering, add the meat back into the mix. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Top with radishes, add the dried plums prunes and dried apricots and the bundle of spices (cinnamon, bay leaf, parsley, and orange peel).

Let simmer and cover. Pop it in the oven for an uninterrupted hour. Once an hour has elapsed, take it out, mix, check for salt and add salt and pepper to taste. Pop it back into the oven for another hour while checking at the 30 minute mark. You'll know it's done when the sauce is thick and the meat if falling apart. Serve with boiled potatoes or rice, and top with parsley.

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I've written many bean forward recipes on my blog. Almond Green Beans with Lemon Zest and Cotija Cheese. Lemon-Lime Guajillo Pepper Marinated Beans. White Bean Crostini with Mint-Cilantro Vinaigrette. You can see more bean recipes here.

Today I am bringing you another bean recipe. Lemon Guajillo Lima Beans.

• 1 lb Lima beans (soaked overnight)

• 1 lemon, sliced

• 1 large onion, cut in half

• 1 large dried Guajillo chile

• 2 dried chiles de árbol

• 2 tablespoons of dried oregano

• 1/2 cup olive oil 

• 2 tablespoons of salt 

• 4-5 large garlic cloves, smashed

• 2.5 quarts of water

Method

In a large pot heat up the olive oil at medium heat. With a long pair of thongs place the lemon halves in the oli, along with the onion. Let them sear. After 5 minutes check the onion and ensure they are browning. Add the dried chiles and let them fry in the oil. Don’t let the chiles smoke. Add the oregano and flip the onion and lemon. Add the salt. After 2-3 minutes add the beans followed by the 2.5 quarts of water. Mix everything up gently, taste and adjust for salt. Once it comes to a boil reduce to a very low heat. Let the beans simmer at a low heat. Let the beans cook low and slow for about 2-3 hours. 

I love making beans on a Sunday so I can eat them throughout the week.

For example, today I boiled some ring pasta and just mixed them up with the brothy beans. I heated up the beans in a pan and tossed the pasta in when they still nededed like 5 minutes to go. The rings soaked up all the flavor of the broth and finished cooking while the beans were reheated to the core. They were glorious! I would have grated some cheese over it but I was soo ready to just dig in my beany spaghetti-os.