All posts filed under: Personal

How I Use Cooking & Baking as a Mindful Meditation Tool in 2 Steps

Published by Joanne

Cooking and baking connect all of the senses, you just have to notice how it happens. They offer us an opportunity for us to coach the mind to be present. If you learn how to cook mindfully, cooking can be a tool of mindful meditation. I’ve practiced mindful meditation consistently for the better part of 5 years. I’ve also done several mediation immersions. One, a 1-week meditation immersion guided by Madonna McManus, who holds a Ph.D. in Cancer Biology and Experimental Therapeutics and several other meditation immersions through apps like Waking Up, HeadSpace, and Calm, in addition to daily asanas. A little background on mindful meditation According to Wikipedia, mindfulness is the psychological process of purposely bringing one’s attention to experiences occurring in the present moment without judgment which one develops through the practice of meditation. Some of the benefits of mindful meditation Mindful meditation is proven to improve focus, reduce stress and irritability, and creates neuroplasticity (the creation of neuropathways in the brain). For me, the biggest benefit of mindful meditation is the creation of Neuroplasticity. …

Eats All Around: A newsletter by me (Ella Quien Come!)

Published by Joanne

Hello everyone! I’m going to try and keep this quick. This post is about the newsletter I’ve just launched. My life has changed SO much in the past month. I now live in Houston, Texas, most of my routine has drastically changed, and my cooking flavors are wildly different (I’m exploring more Tex-Mex vibes now!). To be honest, I’ve been feeling lazy AF so the blog and my overall creative process has been suffering. I’ve needed somewhere to channel all of that energy, so I created a food newsletter.   I know you don’t come here to read about my personal life and you’re here for the food, so rest assured I got you. Instead of updating the blog once a month (riiight), I’ve opted to start a bi-weekly newsletter where I share short recipes and other food stories. Would this be something that is of interest to you?

Shakshouka brunch

Published by Joanne

Sunday mornings are always easygoing at my place. No alarms and no rush; just a flow of “do as you please” in the air. Today was no exception. I sat on the couch and with a cup of green tea watched an episode of Chef’s Table. It left me stunned. It features Jeong Kwan, a Buddhist nun who resides in a temple in South Korea and cooks vegan cuisine in the most spiritual way I’ve ever seen in my life. I really identified with her approach to food because of her sense of community and communication. “With food we can share and communicate our emotions. It’s that mindset of sharing that is really what you’re eating. There is no difference between cooking and pursuing Buddha’s way.” Man did this inspire me for today. I embodied her mindset and went off to cook a beautiful Shakshouka brunch with some intimate friends. A few had never tried this before and I was beyond excited to make it for them. Over bloody marys we chopped crisp bell peppers and roasted …

Was That Really a Sabbatical? Baked Green Tomatoes and Why I Haven’t Been Blogging.

Published by Joanne

Well, now I am. I’ve been ‘off the blog grid’ for over a year now and I’ve finally come back, writing in English this time. Don’t know, I feel I express myself better in my native language. So… Yeah, I’ve been absent. Busy. On a sabbatical. On a hiatus. Whatever you want to call it. But overall I’ve missed blogging, mostly because of my lack of time, but to be honest I really hate that saying; “Oh I don’t have time for that”, I think it’s because I’m a firm thinker that there is no such thing as “not having enough time” for something, to me that’s just an excuse to not do things… If you want to do something, make time for it… So, well, here I am making time. And I brought tomatoes.

Un pastel de manzana en el campo.

Published by Joanne

Antes de empezar a hablar de lo que va este post y adentrarme en el tema, quiero dedicarle esta entrada a mi fallecido amigo Miguel Miranda, quien además de ser una maravillosa persona y  muy buen amigo, era uno de los que más me alentaba a que nunca dejase de escribir por aquí, en cualquier proyecto que tuviese siempre fue un gran apoyo para mí. Gracias Migué por tu apoyo siempre, aunque nunca me volverás a decir “¿Dime hartona, dónde comiste hoy?” pensaré en ti cada vez que vaya a un bar o restaurante en Barcelona, tu ciudad favorita.  El fin de semana pasado estuve en Oviedo y me inspiró mucho, las vistas son impresionantes y el frío solo me daban ganas de acurrucarme con una taza de té y ver películas toda la tarde, soy así de simple. Hay veces que pienso que no me molestaría para nada irme al campo y vivir ‘una vida simple’ horneando pasteles y cocinando todo el rato… Pero claro, eso es solo una idea que seguro no pasa de ahí, …

Fin de semana en Oviedo

Published by Joanne

Este fin de semana que pasó, estuve en Oviedo, he regresado a Barcelona con 10 libras de más y estaba preocupada de que no me admitieran en el avión por sobre peso, no pero en serio cuanto comer. Es una ciudad bastante tranquila y muy bonita, donde se come y se bebe MUY bien…también se pasea pero para mí fue un segundo plano. Primero a lo primero, la Fabada Asturiana, que aunque es un plato que no me llama demasiada la atención porque tiene tanta grasa y el embutido al que más le temo (la morcilla), es un must si estás interesado en probar un plato muy típico de la gastronomía de Asturias, es un cocido tradicional que tiene alubias blancas, chorizo, morcilla y lacón. Después de esta ‘fartura’ como dicen en Asturias, comí un segundo plato (sí porque la fabada era un primero) que consistía en un Lenguado relleno de cangrejo, rebozado y frito con guarnición de ensalada, gambas y patata… Después de todo este blog es ‘ella quien come’ no ella quien deja …