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Audrey JoAnn | Content and Copy Writer

Compelling Copy for Female Founders

Buffalo Baked Shrimp with Wild Rice Salad + Walnut Green Beans

January 21, 2016

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Food! I haven’t done a food post in so long, you guys, and that’s because I’m pretty sure I’ve made every single one of my go-tos for you on here already. I like to pretend I’m a cook who’s, like, really creative in the kitchen, but to be real with you, I make the same seven things week after week and then live off leftovers and the Whole Foods cafe. You now know all my secrets.

So, if you’re a particular fan of reading about meals I like (I’m pretty sure that’ll be a grand total of two people I’m describing), sorry food’s been MIA. But just for you sparkling, two human beings, I looked up (and also kind of made up–looking at you, rice salad) a couple new recipes to try out!

These are more health-conscious takes on rich and fulfilling foods I love, but you’ll find no frying of Buffalo shrimp nor any calorie-amassing salad dressings here. In other words, it’s a solid meal with decadent flavors that also makes your middle school health teacher who taught you the Food Pyramid very, very proud.

Buffalo Baked Shrimp Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails off
  • For the Buffalo marinade:
    • 3/4 c. hot sauce
    • 1 tbsp. melted butter or olive oil
    • 1 tsp. garlic powder
    • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Rinse shrimp in a strainer under cool water thoroughly. Mix marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Pour shrimp and Buffalo marinade into a gallon Ziploc bag and shake until all shrimp is covered. Place in fridge to set for an hour or longer.

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Pour marinated shrimp onto a cooking-sprayed baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes.

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Say hello to my kitchen helper, and also my supercute pink slippers.

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Wild Rice Salad Ingredients: (I was seriously craving a pasta salad when I came up with this healthier rendition. It has similar ingredients to a PS, but instead of the carb-heavy pasta noodles, I opted for a wild rice medley.)

  • 1 c. uncooked wild rice (should make about 3 cups when cooked)
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 raw jalapeños (depending on your spice affinity–mine is large–but you can use 1 or none), chopped
  • 1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook wild rice according to packaging. After it’s done, place in a large bowl in the fridge to cool temperature to room temp or cooler. Add in the veggies and mix in the oil and vinegar as the dressing. Finish with salt and pepper to your taste preferences.

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Walnut Green Beans Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs. green beans (I recommend getting them pre-trimmed to save yourself the hassle!)
  • 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
  • 2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
  • 2 tbsp. almond oil
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake walnuts on ungreased baking sheet for 7 minutes.

Put washed green beans in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse under cool water until completely cooled to room temp or cooler.

Heat almond oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add green beans and mix regularly for about 4-5 minutes. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Remove from heat and mix in walnuts and parsley immediately.

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3 Recipes To Get You Out of Your Breakfast Funk

November 16, 2015

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I have a strong feeling that people who don’t, or forget to, eat breakfast are most likely certifiably insane. How do you forget to eat the best meal of the day? And more importantly, how do you not rip off everyone’s head from the pre-lunchtime h-anger? You probably want to, you psychopath. Eat your breakfast.

Last week I was running majorly late one morning. I had to leave earlier than usual to go to the DMV, which is always a joyous trip in itself, and get my Texas driver’s license. I was already feeling bittersweet about revoking my last piece of being a Nevadan (I’ve lived in Texas for five years, so I guess it’s been a long time coming) and simultaneously rushing to get ready while feeding, taking out, and playing with Piper, the world’s neediest dog. (And cutest.) Also, did you know you need to bring about five different types of documentation with you to get a license in a new state? Those were fun to track down in my waning morning prep minutes.

Plus, I’m usually one of those people who takes the 30 minutes in the morning to wash fruit and cook eggs and bake toast (separate discussion, but does anyone else think toasters are irrelevant when we have just-as-fast ovens to toast bread?). I go all out for breakfast, because if I don’t then I become one of those aforementioned crazy people.

Well, that morning a week ago I needed to get out the door without the time for my regular breakfast routine, so I grabbed a pear. I thought, People eat small breakfasts on-the-go all the time! Apples, nutrition bars, scones. I got this. Nope. Big mistake. I spent my entire morning at work — after a surprisingly quick experience at the DMV, which left me feeling pretty chipper at first — counting minutes until I could go get lunch. This was pretty much how my morning went:

10:48 am: Almost one hour till noon, an acceptable time to eat lunch and not be starving when I get home from work tonight.

11:32 am: Maybe 11:32 is late enough in the day to eat that I won’t be outrageously hungry after work. It isn’t noon, but it’s, like, almost noon.

11:47 am: WHO AM I AND WHAT AM I DOING IN LIFE AND WHERE IS THE NEAREST SANDWICH?

All that to say, I need my breakfast, and you do, too. Here are my three favorites that tide me over until at least noon, with a pot of coffee, of course. Give them a try if you’re needing some breakfa-spiration. (I should copyright that.)

Fried Eggs + Ezekiel Bread Toast

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Ingredients:

2 large organic eggs

2 tbsp. butter (I used Earth Balance Original Natural Buttery Spread)

2 slices Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Bread (the BEST BREAD nutritionally you could ever eat)

1/2 an avocado, sliced

Hot sauce, obviously (I used Cholula)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and toast bread on a baking pan for 7-10 minutes or until desired brownness (or, if you have a toaster, which I do not, toast your bread that way).

Melt 1 tbsp. butter in a frying pan on low-medium heat. Crack eggs into the pan and maintain the low-medium heat. Add a little bit of the remaining butter at a time into the pan every few minutes until they’ve cooked through to your preference. I did mine over-medium and it took about 12 minutes. (Most people think a good egg is fried fast on high heat, but the adding butter continuously and slowly on low-medium seriously makes the most perfect fried egg; you’ve got to try it, y’all.)

Serve with avocado, salt and pepper, and hot sauce.

Calories: 591 // Fat (g): 39 // Carbs (g): 41 // Protein (g): 22.8 // Servings: 1


Raspberry, Greek Yogurt + Granola Bowl

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Ingredients:

1 c. Greek yogurt

1/2 c. granola (I used Kellogg’s Ancient Grains Granola: Cranberry Almond)

1/2 c. raspberries, or other fruit

1 tbsp. organic white chia seeds

1 tbsp. organic local honey

cinnamon, to top

Directions:

Mix yogurt, chia seeds, and honey in a bowl. Top with granola, fruit, and cinnamon.

Calories: 615 // Fat (g): 28 // Carbs (g): 81.7 // Protein (g): 18 // Servings: 1


Veggie Scramble + Smashed Breakfast Potatoes

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Scramble Ingredients:

2 large organic eggs

Mixed vegetables — I used:

1/4 c. red bell pepper, chopped

1/4 c. ​green bell pepper, cho​pped

1/4 c. red onion, chopped

1/4 c. white mushroom, chopped

2 tbsp. jalapeno, chopped

1/4 c. Mexican blend cheese, to top

2 tbsp. roasted tomatillo salsa, to top

Salt and pepper to taste

Coconut oil cooking spray

Directions:

Spray nonstick frying pan with coconut oil and turn on the stove to medium heat.

Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk until whites are blended with the yolks. Set to the side.

Saute veggies in pan for 5-7 minutes with salt and pepper. Pour the whisked eggs directly over veggies and scramble until firm.

Top with Mexican blend cheese and tomatillo salsa if desired.

Calories: 371 // Fat (g): 27.6 // Carbs (g): 11 // Protein (g): 20.4 // Servings: 1

Smashed Breakfast Potatoes Ingredients (It’s easiest to make these the night before, but also doable in the morning if you’re a freak like me and wake up at 5 am most days. They’re easy to make but time-consuming because of the boiling and oven time.):

1 bag of Dutch yellow baby potatoes (found at Trader Joe’s — about 16 potatoes total; you can use other types like fingerling potatoes as well)

3 tbsp. olive oil

Garlic salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste

Coconut oil cooking spray

Directions:

Bring potatoes to a boil in a large pot of water. Let steadily boil for 25-30 minutes — until the surfaces of potatoes are easily puncturable with a fork. While the potatoes boil, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Strain potatoes and place on coconut oil sprayed baking sheet. Smash with a fork or potato masher. Drizzle olive oil over top and sprinkle on salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Place in oven for 15 minutes. After the time is up, turn on the broiler for 2 minutes to crisp and brown the potatoes’ tops.

Calories per serving: 251 // Fat (g): 10.5 // Carbs (g): 40.3 // Protein (g): 4.1 // Servings: 4

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Spicy Vegetarian Chili

November 13, 2015

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Crockpots are the real MVP. When I was in third grade, my school hosted a book fair in the cafeteria during the fall. One day, my mom came to pick up my sister and me from school, and we went to check out the book fair before heading home. This was around the time when I was making handwritten, custom breakfast menus for my family members on weekend mornings. I was in the I-want-to-be-a-chef-when-I-grow-up stage, times one hundred.

Scanning the aisles of colorful covers at the fair, I passed up Harry Potter and Judy Bloom for the tiny cookbook section. I found a goldmine that promised 300-plus crockpot recipes that you could throw together in the morning, let sit all day in the ol’ pot, and serve hot for dinner. I was the happiest 87-year-old in a child’s body at that book fair. I begged my mom to shell out the money for this thick hardback – my very first cookbook. It must’ve cost at least $25, and she wasn’t budging. I promised her that I’d make every single recipe at least one time, starting tomorrow if she’d like! Seriously, all of them. Promise!

That got her. My mom of four kids – who now has a sign hanging in her kitchen that reads “I kiss better than I cook” – probably knew that her 11-year-old wouldn’t possibly make all 300-and-more crockpot dinners, but I bet the allure of a few nights off of cooking was good enough. Or she was appeasing me. Either way, we got the book, and the next day I made the first recipe: rosemary chicken. And then I decided I didn’t like rosemary very much.

I’m pretty sure that was the one recipe I ever made. I don’t think my mom still has the book. I don’t, and if I did, I doubt a book of poultry and roast concoctions would be much use to me, a now vegetarian. But whenever I go home for Thanksgiving or Christmas, I still always look most forward to my mom getting out the crockpot and throwing together the best slow-cooker recipe there is: her spicy chili. It’s the top of my list of home-cooked meals. She makes it meatless for me, but feel free so saute some ground beef or turkey and throw it in. And don’t forget the cheese and sour cream on top, because duh.

Enjoy!​

(Recipe below.)

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Ingredients:

1 15-oz. can dark red kidney beans

1 15-oz. can Cannellini beans

1 15-oz. can Great Northern beans

(You can really use any type of bean: black, pinto, etc.)

3 15-oz. cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes

1 5-oz. can tomato paste

6 celery stalks, chopped

1 medium white onion, chopped (and if you can’t chop onions without profusely crying, like me, my boyfriend is happy to volunteer to help you)

3 Serrano peppers, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 tbsp. chili powder

1 tbsp. cumin

Salt & pepper to taste

Shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips to top — obviously

Instructions:

Combine ingredients in crockpot on low heat. Let set all day — I left mine for about 8 hours. OR, if you don’t have a crockpot (first off, what are you even doing with your life?): combine ingredients in a large pot and let simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Calories per serving: 162 // Fat (g): 0.4 // Carbs (g): 30.8 // Protein (g): 9.3 // Servings per recipe: 10

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Easy Margherita Spaghetti Squash

November 9, 2015

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You know what I like about spaghetti squash? You get a sore-arms-the-next-day workout in the process of cutting those things open. I got my knife stuck in it at one point, and I halfway felt like I was in the movie “The Sword in the Stone,” and halfway felt like I was one solid tug away from chopping off a finger. My adrenaline was pumping. I was feeling alive. And I hadn’t even really gotten started with the cooking part yet. That’s what you want in your daily dinner-making situation, I tell you what.

(Recipe below.)

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Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash

3 Roma tomatoes, diced

1/4 c. basil, chopped

12 mini mozzarella balls, halved

2 tbsp. olive oil

Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste

Coconut oil spray

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400. Cut squash in half, lengthwise (easier said than done). Scoop out loose insides and seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Place face down on baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes.

Remove from oven and turn on broiler. Scrape out squash insides with a fork into large bowl. (It should be a spaghetti-like consistency, but you know, squashy, too.) Mix with basil and tomatoes and pour mixture into coconut-oiled 9″ x 5″ x 2.5″ loaf pan. Top with mozzarella ball halves. Place under broiler for 3-4 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and browning. Wait a few minutes until it cools, then plate and dig in.

Calories per serving: 368 // Fat (g): 25.8 // Carbs (g): 24.1 // Protein (g): 15.4 // Servings per recipe: 3

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Welcome! I'm Audrey, and I adore connecting with female founders and telling their stories in a way that matters & lasts for years to come.

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audskelton

Who do you think was more excited about this day t Who do you think was more excited about this day trip out to the coast... us or Wallace? 😅😂 I love them. Also, I can’t get over the burp cloth on John’s shoulder. Ya know, just in case. #newparentlife
One hour, just us two in our backyard with a big c One hour, just us two in our backyard with a big charcuterie board, a deck of cards, a couple glasses of rosé, and no baby monitor. 🤎

The first week of Wallace’s life? I ached even being in another room from him (#hormones). I was a wreck of emotions and had legitimate baby tunnel vision... preeeetty much nothing else mattered. But things have been balancing out this past week, and today was so needed.

My mom is in town all month and watched Wally for us so we could have some time just us two—yep, in the backyard because of shelter in place restrictions from COVID. (Plus let’s be real... I’m not quite ready for an out-of-the-house date yet anyway. 😂)

As much as I desire to be a present + loving mama and ambitious business owner, it’s just as important to me to prioritize our marriage with little moments like this to just be in each other’s presence (and not just talk about burping and swaddling and bedtime routines, like most of our recent convos).

Here’s to (almost) 2 weeks of being parents, @the_beermonger. I think we’ll do okay.
My two favorite guys in the world. 🤍🌎 My two favorite guys in the world. 🤍🌎
Me, trying to figure out what to do with my hands Me, trying to figure out what to do with my hands without a bump. 👐🏼 Wallace, trying to figure out what we’re doing out of the house. 🤨

First family walk in the books! All of 10 minutes. 🤪 (Also, does anyone else notice the rainbow over Wally?... My heart. 🌈🥺)
1 week old. 🤎 The hardest, most emotional & mos 1 week old. 🤎 The hardest, most emotional & most rewarding week of my life. Babies’ sleep schedules, y’all. They are not for the faint of heart.

Wallace is hitting all his milestones, has learned the alphabet, and is picking up Latin. Just kidding. But he CAN poop 3 times in an hour and a half 😎, and he eats like a champ, is so strong that we prefer to tag team diaper changes for now, and makes the sweetest, cutest noises all day long. (And night.) Like even his cry is cute. 😩

One of my friends called this time the “wet weeks”: urine, breast milk, spit up, night sweats, tears, blood, more tears. It’s a lot, and it’s temporary. So even in the hard moments, we are reminding ourselves that the hardest things are often the best things. 

And this really has been the best thing.

So, so thankful for a hands-on husband who’s been so involved in everything... there’s something indescribable about watching your partner care for your child and step into a big, new role like this so gracefully. And we are thankful for ALL of the support, near and far (... mostly far), from our family and friends and coworkers. What a week... here’s to continuing to figure it all out together as a family. 😌
At 5 a.m. my water broke and at 3:44 p.m. our worl At 5 a.m. my water broke and at 3:44 p.m. our worlds and hearts were changed forever. Everything in between was a gritty, fast-moving tidal wave of emotion, pain, instinct, and a kind of love I never could’ve imagined.

Welcome, Wallace Ronal Skelton. 🤎 You kept us waiting until you decided, very quickly, you’d like to be here. I’m still in disbelief that you are ours. 

January 4, 2021 • 7 lbs 4 oz • 20.5 inches • Sweet as can be.
Well, this baby friend doesn’t exactly have our Well, this baby friend doesn’t exactly have our sense of punctuality which realllly threw me for a loop after thinking & saying for months that I was certain he/she would get here early. I’ve drank 3 boxes of raspberry leaf tea in 3 weeks, walked dozens of miles, eaten way too many dates, done hundreds of squats and bench step-ups... and now I’m surrendering. You come whenever you feel like it, little one. I’m comfy enough and can still sleep through the night (minus a bathroom break or two) so we will just keep on waiting and letting you teach us our first lesson of parenthood: PATIENCE. I knew I could always use some more of it. 😉 #40weekspregnant #pregnancy
scenes from our blissful, muddy, much-needed morni scenes from our blissful, muddy, much-needed morning hike. ☀️🍂 in a year that’s felt like 5, getting outside whenever we can has been my favorite way to reset. so thankful to live in such gorgeous surroundings!
our first and probably only christmas just us thre our first and probably only christmas just us three! quiet and simple and a little sad but mostly filled with hope and gratitude. hope yours is special in all the best ways. 🤍
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