About

My name is Jen, and I am a newlywed and a family medicine resident in New York. I have many interests, hobbies and passions, and am always try to find the time for them all despite the busy schedule of a medical resident. Many of my passions seem incongruous (running and cooking, science and religion), but they are starting to come together! First and foremost, I am really passionate about food, especially good, healthy food. I grew up watching my mom and grandma in the kitchen, so learned at an early age some kitchen basics. My grandma’s golden rule is to start any good stir-fry with onions, green pepper, and garlic, and my mom is the queen of the grill! My passion for cooking really took off when I got my own kitchen during my junior year of college. I love adapting old favorite recipes to make them healthier, and think that all healthy food should taste good! You should never feel deprived because you are trying to eat healthier. I am not only passionate about making healthy food, but also learning more about nutrition and how to make better nutrition accessible to everyone. I want to share my love of vegetables (my favorite food group, despite the relentless teasing of my friends) and help people fit healthy eating into their busy lifestyles.

A little on my food philosophy: I like to eat real food – I try to avoid processed foods, cook whenever I have the chance, and buy locally whenever posisble. I love piles upon piles of vegetables because they help to fill you up while being nutrient (but not calorie) dense. My cooking philosophy tends to be fast, fun, no-fuss and healthy! A vegetarian for 5 years, I am again including meat into my diet a few times a week. Most recipes I create and share are veggie-heavy, whether they include meat or not!

A healthy lifestyle is all about balance. I love exercise almost as much as I love food. I have fallen in love with running – I ran my first 10K as a senior in college and my first half marathon the following year. I have run one more half marathon since then, fulfilling my goal of a sub-2 hour race! I finished my first triathlon (Olympic distance = 1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run) in 2011, and so have learned to love swimming and biking (for non-transportation reasons!) as well. I also love being active in other ways: hiking, kayaking, long walks, etc.

Like I said before, I have a really wide range of interests, including paper crafting and scrap booking, reading, learning more about nutrition and community health, science, faith… oh, and learning to be the best primary care doctor I can be! Guess that takes up a pretty big chunk of time…  Anyway, my blog has and will likely continue to evolve over time and contain as many ramblings as it does recipes, so let me know things you would like to see me post about and I will do my best to do so!

Contact me at homemadeadventure@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments!