26 Jun Inside the Fridge Welcomes Blogger and MD/PhD Student Joanne Bruno

Inside the Fridge welcomes Joanne Bruno!

Joanne is a vegetable and cupcake-loving MD/PhD student living NYC. She’s the voice behind the blog Eats Well With Others. Joanne combines her passion for food with a love of exercise and runs endurance events while raising money to fight cancer. She is also snarky with a penchant for hyperbole…so take everything she says with a grain of salt.

ITF: Where do you shop for food?

JB: I shop at a mix of stores. Mostly, I find myself at Whole Foods (since it’s actually the cheapest supermarket in Manhattan, if you can believe that) but I also use an online grocery store on occasion (called Fresh Direct) and go to Trader Joe’s for specific things (cookie butter is my life). And, of course, I also frequent farmer’s markets as much as possible.

ITF: Do you love food shopping or dread it?

JB: I adore food shopping. It is one of the highlights of my week! It’s always so fun to see what new produce has come into season or any new products they might have.

ITF: How often do you shop?

JB: I try to limit myself to once a week, but sometimes things come up and I have to make a second pit stop in the middle of the week.

ITF: How many do you shop for? Ages?

JB: Most of the time it’s just me and my boyfriend, but every so often I do cook for friends and family or special events.

ITF: What is your weekly food budget?

JB: Ummm sorry what is this “budget” of which you speak? In all seriousness I try to limit myself to $100 a week. Some weeks it’s less and some weeks it’s more. That sounds like a lot but when you consider that I almost never eat out, it’s actually not TOO crazy.

ITF: How many times a week do you eat out? (based on 21 meals/week)

JB: Rarely…maybe once if at all.

ITF: How do you plan your weekly meals? Create a spreadsheet of fly by the seat of your pants?

JB: I menu plan so that I know everything I’m making during the week but I don’t assign specific meals to specific days. Rather, I try to cook as much as I can on the weekends when I have more free time (and more sunlight) and then we eat lots of leftovers.

ITF: What is the most coveted food in the fridge right now for each member of the household? Why?

JB: I think both me and my boyfriend are pretty big ice cream fanatics. But I also have a soft spot for swiss chard.

ITF: What convenience product can you not live without?

JB: Cookie butter, peanut butter, and honey sesame almonds. Love.Them.

ITF: What brands do you swear by? Why?

JB: I adore King Arthur Flour for all my baking needs and lately am obsessed with Rancho Gordo beans…they have so much crazy cool variety.

ITF: What cooking utensil/piece of equipment/appliance do you live for?

JB: I couldn’t live without my stand mixer or my food processor. Cliché, but I use each them almost every day.

ITF: When you hear the word “homemade” what is the first thing that comes to mind?

JB: Pie. Definitely pie.

ITF: What was the last meal you cooked from scratch?

JB: Last night I made Persian rice-stuffed zucchini for dinner. Super tasty.

ITF: What words of wisdom or advice do you have for other folks who are doing their best every day to fill the fridge?

JB: So much of the stress about cooking revolves around figuring out what to make for dinner every night, so make enough of one thing so that you can have leftovers. Also, anything tastes better with a fried egg on it.

Thank you, Joanne!

If you would like to be featured on Inside the Fridge, please email Robinsbite intern Destini Borchardt- Destini@robinplotkin.com