Jessica Menuck is a creative strategist and model based in New York. Her work is centered in the culinary space, having been a part of companies like Cherry Bombe and the James Beard Foundation. She’s also the voice behind Baby Binx, a newsletter full of recipes and fanciful gift guides. She’s a (very talented) self-taught home cook, who views food as a way to take care of herself and others—which will be obvious to you very soon.
What is your fridge philosophy?
I always try to buy whole foods and eat with the seasons (buying locally is a huge plus too).
Your fridge is always always always stocked with ____.
It honestly changes. I go through intense food phases where I’ll crave the same thing for months and then suddenly move on to something completely different.
Some items in my current rotation are: Cocojune yogurt, a variety of vegetables (like leeks, celery, and carrots), and sausage, which is a newer fixation of mine. Ever since I started shopping at Marlow & Daughters, I love grabbing their sausages for an easy dinner or special brunch.
Also always: eggs, arugula, avocado, navel oranges, Honeycrisp apples, and lots of lemon. Never enough lemon.
Top 5 condiment picks, go.
A goooood olive oil
Miso paste
Toasted sesame oil
I love having a homemade herby green sauce in the fridge
Fine, I’ll open it up to pantry too. Let’s hear your favorite snacks / pantry staples:
Pantry items I love to have on hand for cooking: chicken broth, Rancho Gordo beans, and jasmine rice.
Snack items I love: homemade peanut butter (I honestly have to be careful with this one because I’ll eat it excessively), mixed nuts, cut-up carrot and celery sticks, Bjorn Qorn, Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (my favorite late night snack to eat out of a bowl with a miniature spoon), and Castelvetrano olives.
A meal that’s on heavy rotation these days:
I’ve been loving ground pork over bone broth rice with a vegetable on the side. I usually make the pork with lots of sautéed leeks and shallots. To make it extra special, I’ll add a soft-boiled egg and avocado. It feels like such a simple, nourishing meal.
What’s the mantra you keep coming back to?
Do the best with what’s in front of you.
Shit can get hard, and when it does, it’s frustrating. If you’re anything like me, you’ll spiral and crumble into frustration. I have to stay positive and stay proactive, and sometimes that means taking a step back and adjusting.
What products / practices are part of your regular mental wellness habits?
I try to practice gratitude and positive thinking everyday. Every morning I write in my journal 3 things I’m grateful for, 3 daily intentions, and 3 things I’m dreaming/manifesting.
And your physical?
I am very disciplined when it comes to physical activity and will always make time to work out. I especially love spring, summer, and fall in New York because I’ll take my Pilates ball, resistance bands, or jump rope to the park and work out outside. I really only work out in a gym when it’s below 45 degrees, otherwise I’m layered up and moving outside. I also love to walk. I religiously hit 10K steps a day, rain or shine. And I try to listen to music really loud and sing out loud to blow off steam.
In terms of beauty, I always wash my face. No exceptions here.
What do think is the most underrated part of wellness?
Listening to yourself and actually figuring out what your body needs and requires. It’s actually quite hard and taxing to determine this with the extremely loud and disruptive noise the commercial wellness industry stirs up. Simple things like taking a deep breath before a meal, eating in the company of others, and hydrating are key rituals I always come back to.
And overrated?
I have a lot of thoughts here. I actually centered my undergraduate degree around the commercialization of health at NYU’s Gallatin School (major shoutout to Gallatin). Maybe I’ll publish my concentration on Substack one day, because it really gets into the nitty gritty of how I feel.
But for the sake of keeping it simple here, I’ll say fad diets. And the rapid popularization of GLP-1s.
Picture this: you wake up one morning and feel like shit. What’s your next move:
Listen to Aston Martin Music really loud. And then Ribs.
Give us your ride or die wellness products:
Warm water: I always start my day with a large mason jar filled halfway with room temperature water and half way with boiling water.
Aloe vera juice: I take a 2oz shot first thing in the morning and right before bed. Keeps me regular and my skin clear.
Foam roller: I struggle with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and hyper-mobility. Learning how to work out and properly restore what my body needs has been a journey.
Jump rope: My favorite form of cardio. The minute the temperature warms up, I try to jump rope for 10 minutes outside every day.
Sofie Pavitt Face Mandelic Acid: I literally don’t think there will be a time where I don’t use this product.
One thing you do everyday that makes you the most YOU version of yourself:
I try to do some form of workout everyday and cook at least one meal for myself.
Whose taste inspires you?!
This is so hard! There are so many people. I’ll say my friends Aimee France and Sakura Smith really inspire me to cook for myself.
My boyfriend’s mom, Andrea Gentl, is such a legend. I’m constantly learning so many amazing things from her.
Two people who were really foundational in my learning to cook for myself were my close family friend Lilly Jacobson and my old friend Mia Chae. Oh and Hello Kitty. I really love Hello Kitty.
Big thank you to Jessica Menuck for sharing this taste of her life with us. You can follow her on Instagram, read her Substack, and find her fridge favorites + more here.
Feel free to leave a comment or respond to this email with questions you want asked, people you want featured, or anything else that’s on your mind. Don’t be shy, I love hearing from you.
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