Jennifer is a clinical nutritionist, postpartum chef, and the founder of Nouri, a healthy meal plan purposely made to support women through pregnancy and motherhood.
What have you been busy with lately? Tell us about a usual day for you.
All the things! As a mom and business owner, each day is a little different. Today, for example, is Monday. I wake up, make coffee, and have some time to myself before the day starts. Hopefully, my son John doesn't wake up too early!
Then I'll head into the kitchen to observe the Nouri production. I spend a majority of the day in the kitchen with my team. It’s a very busy day in the kitchen to oversee packing, driver logistics, etc. While a Tuesday can be mostly spent at home in many Zoom meetings, marketing projects, etc.
What’s your favorite spot in the house?
My favorite spot at the moment is my garden. I take a lot of pride in growing things. This season, I was very particular about challenging myself with growing heirloom varieties from seed. I'm currently growing red long beans, cranberry beans, tatsoi, basil, radicchio, and a couple of varieties of tomatoes. I also planted some calendula!
How do you spend your free time?
I spend a lot of time with my son. He is 2.5 and has so much energy. We love to have mini adventures – a hike, the library, playdates, or visiting a local farm.
On my own time, I love to read. That could be anything from cook books to nonfiction. I love to cook obviously, and I look to a lot of different things for inspiration. I listen to podcasts on long drives.
My husband and I just started to rewatch Mad Men, a show we are obsessed with.
Any homemade specialties you’ve been making?
So many! As the Culinary Director of Nouri, I'm always thinking of new recipes and menus. We have a good amount of Filipino recipes but I always want to make more. Especially focusing on traditional ingredients, like coconut and ube (purple yam)
What are some of your favorite items in the house?
I love the kubo baskets! They're particularly helpful for the garden, as a serving basket for outside dining or a picnic. I also love my plants. I've had this fiddle fig tree for 6+ years now. I've cut a few saplings from it, which is nerve racking! But I've actually successfully propagated three, and am waiting on my next batch to take root.
Walk us through your area and neighborhood. What are some of your favorite spots to go to?
I'm actually upstate now, I live in a village where my husband grew up, known as Millbrook. It's a little less than two hours away from the city. I obviously love the space, the cute little shops, and the proximity to really great hikes, farms and animals.
We used to live in the Lower East Side area of Two Bridges, which was probably my favorite neighborhood ever. I would visit my favorite Chinatown markets for traditional ingredients, Skyting for Yoga, Little Canal for coffee, Kikis for dinner, and Jing Fong for dim sum.