be safe.......be healthy.......be savvy
ABOUT JILLIAN & MINDFUL MEALS BY KIDS
My name is Jillian Raymer and I’ve been a Girl Scout for 13 years.
Since I was three years old I have loved helping out in the kitchen. As I got older, I enjoyed making meals for my family.
At age five, my mom bought me my first cookbook which I still use to this day. In fact, many of the meals that are in my blog are inspired from recipes in that cookbook. I started to get a grasp on cooking, adding in different ingredients and creating my own concoctions.
I am entering my thirteenth year of Girl Scouts. However, it was not until quarantine, that I discovered the idea for my Gold Award, Mindful Meals By Kids.
During the pandemic restaurants were forced to close, so my family and I thought it would be fun to hold competitions to determine who could create the best nutritious meal under $20. This inspired me to spread the message that you can still make delicious, yet nutritious meals on a budget.
During my sophomore year in high school (Spring of 2020), I initiated Mindful Meals by Kids. I made sure that I was only sharing the most reliable and helpful information by getting my SERVSAFE certification and collaborating with nutritionists specializing in pediatrics, and dentistry.
I believe starting healthy habits at a young age leads one to maintain a sustainable, healthy lifestyle.
JILLIAN
JILLIAN’S BACKGROUND IN COMMUNITY OUTREACH
In addition to starting Mindful Meals by Kids, since joining Girl Scouts at age five, Jillian has been involved in helping to provide clean and nutritious meals to those in need. Jillian discovered that giving to people in need was necessary and extremely rewarding. She donated her Girl Scout cookie proceeds to non-profit organizations that she was passionate about, such as Women of the Wells and Rise Against Hunger. She has also helped in donating food to the Huntington Beach Youth Shelter, Community United Methodist Church food closet, Girl and Boy Scouts annual food drive, and Second Harvest Food Bank.
Jillian was also given the opportunity to travel internationally to Tijuana, Mexico and volunteer at an orphanage when she was eleven years old. This experience gave her appreciation for food quality. Inspired by her trip, she decided to focus on making a difference by supporting her local community. With guidance from her family, she prepared holiday meals for a local youth shelter and single mothers. She has volunteered her time feeding the homeless through Community United Methodist Church SHIP program.
As a high school student, Jillian has applied her experience with food outreach and has expanded it through to Recycle-holics, a club at her high school in which she serves as the Vice President. Jillian acknowledges the importance of a dollar and food waste. “Waste not, want not”. In this effort to keep the environment sustainable, she connects this to her passion for clean and sustainable eating as well.
Jillian is also a member of OC Cares which supports youth leaders. She believes that it is important for young people, like herself, to follow their passions early on and get involved in their community. With the help of OC Cares and Girl Scouts, Jillian has developed many valuable leadership skills to continue her passions and expand it to a broader outreach. Jillian hopes that Mindful Meals will be accessed nationally and even globally. Although Jillian originally created these meals for kids to follow, she also believes that the recipes on Mindful Meals by Kids would benefit college students who are typically busy studying and concerned with school expenses. This blog can also be useful to young adults who may be budgeting and creating grocery lists for the first time or wanting to make home cooked meals that are quick and healthy.
It is Jill’s goal that what began as a family cooking competition will expand and be a springboard for others to inspire and educate youth as well as novice cooks… to BE SAFE, BE HEALTHY AND BE SAVVY in the kitchen!
Mentors
Katherine Ahn (Wallace), DDS
Founder, Aviara Centers & OCCares
Dr. Katherine Ahn (Wallace) began her journey in wellness from birth, being raised a vegetarian by her health-conscious parents. Dr. Ahn developed a special passion for learning about how Lifestyle Compromise can lead to systemic diseases and how a healthy lifestyle can prevent and reverse the disease process. This early exposure to wellness piqued her interest in healthcare as she earned a degree in dentistry from the UCLA School of Dentistry in 1993. She also completed a two-year pediatric dental residency at UCLA where she acquired skills in children’s dental wellness, craniofacial development and early orthodontics. She continued to further her knowledge and experience in advanced Reconstructive Dentistry, Sleep, TMJ & Orthodontic Therapies. This deepened her understanding of the connection between orofacial muscle imbalances and underdeveloped jaws, faces and airway and how Airway Compromise can lead to breathing & sleep disorders as well as craniofacial pain.
Understanding how Environmental Compromise (e.g. stress, loneliness, abuse, trauma,…) can lead to mental and systemic disorders and how a positive environment filled with love and purpose can promote wellness, Dr. Ahn founded OCCares, a non-profit organization that works with UCI and Pepperdine University to educate the youth on how to make a positive impact through compassionate leadership. Through OCCares she mentors students who are committed to creating social impact projects like “MindfulMealsByKids.org” and “Recyle-Holics.org” and operates the “Aviara Collaborative Care Project”, a platform created in partnership with Aviara to further the Mission of OCCares; to raise the next generation of social entrepreneurs.
Ultimately, Dr. Ahn’s life-long experiences culminated in the creation of Aviara Centers where exceptional interdisciplinary providers in Sleep, TMJ, Orthodontics, and Whole Body Wellness address the Three Pillars of Wellness: Healthy Airway, Lifestyle & Environment in one cohesive treatment philosophy. Dr. Ahn and her team at Aviara Centers are leading the way in revolutionary approaches to treating the root causes rather than the symptoms of disease to help their patients Breathe, Live & Smile.
https://www.occares.org/
Patricia Ronald Riba MA MD
Dr Riba is the founder and Medical Director for Dr. Riba’s Health Club (DrRHC), a community-based organization designed to prevent and treat nutrition-related health problems in children aged 0 to 5 years and their families. DrRHC offers a variety of programs and services at multiple sites throughout Orange County. Dr. Riba and her multidisciplinary team reach over 1,800 underserved families through individualized patient care plans, community and provider education and training, school-based programs, and Parent-Child Feeding Interaction Therapy.
Dr. Riba attended Boston University School of Medicine and completed her residency in general pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
Prior to her current position, Dr. Riba worked as a Pediatrician for Orangewood/Juvenal Hall, Doctors of Children in Irvine, CCHC/AltaMed in Huntington Beach, and as an obesity consultant for the Latino Health Access Obesity Program.
In 2008, Dr. Riba received the “Healthy Smiles: Hero of Oral Health Award.” She was recently honored as an “Agent of Change” by the Children & Families Commission of Orange County and received an “Excellence in Philanthropy Award” from the Orange County Community Foundation.
Her work has been featured in the Orange County Register and the Huntington Beach Wave. In addition, she has appeared on KDOC and KOCE as a childhood obesity expert. Dr. Riba’s program is increasingly being recognized throughout Orange County as a promising approach to nutrition-related disorders including diabetes prevention, obesity, Failure to Thrive, and feeding dynamic issues in children 0-5 years of age.
CHECK OUT THESE HEALTHY AND BUDGET FRIENDLY RECIPES!
