Rebel Ventures, a student-led nonprofit healthy food business and Round-up for Change recipient, has produced a blog post to share with the Mariposa community about their experience with healthy eating during the COVID-19 outbreak. Read more from them in their own words!
Rebel Ventures entrepreneur preparing a dish in their commercial kitchen
For every round-up donation received in April, Rebel Ventures will donate the funds toward a healthy meal for Philly public school students.
Healthy Deliciousness at Home + Recipe
Written by: Dayanna S., junior at Carver Engineering & Science High School, Communications Specialist at Rebel Ventures; Shaniya B., senior at West Philadelphia High School, Kitchen Manager & Sales Team at Rebel Ventures; Tiguida K., sophomore at Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) High School, Social Media Manager & Grant writer at Rebel Ventures
Soups And Smoothies from Dayanna
As a teenager, the COVID-19 crisis is difficult for reasons that have not been talked about much. Before the announcement of school closures and a stay-at-home order, I was thinking about my junior prom - what I would wear, how I would get there and what my friends and I would do afterward. I was filled with excitement for a school trip to the Galapagos Islands that was scheduled for early next year. It’s been hard to accept that life as I was expecting it has changed drastically.
The Healthy Deliciousness at Home project has really kept me exploring new ideas and styles of cooking. I have personally made a couple of recipes that I’m very proud of, including a tropical mix smoothie bowl that included mangoes, papaya, melon, pineapples, and strawberries. I topped it off with some trail mix and honey. It was a little strange to eat my smoothie instead of drinking it, but it was very good. Watch the video I made above!
Homemade tomato soup prepared by Dayanna S.
In addition to my smoothie bowl, I also made a recipe inspired by my family and my love for soups. I made a Tomato soup recipe that makes around 8 to 10 servings and I blogged about here!
Healthy Chicken Breast Dinner from Shaniya
Baked chicken, rice and string beans prepared by Shaniya B.
I am Shaniya, a youth entrepreneur at Rebel Ventures. My work includes managing our kitchen inventory and supporting our sales team. We are in a tough time, so my colleagues and I decided to jump over the obstacles and work virtually to still be successful as a business. We strive for healthy deliciousness and won’t let anything get in our way of that. Every week, we are finding ingredients in our home to make dishes with a healthy twist.
Recently, I made seasoned baked chicken breast, white rice, and string beans and paired this with a strawberry banana smoothie. I used olive oil because it is high in monounsaturated fat - which we learned is a healthy fat in a culinary medicine program we have at Rebel. I created that dish because I enjoy eating baked chicken, it was healthy and my family also likes it. The experience was fun and creative and I was able to show off my skills from home.
I miss my co-workers and working in a professional environment, but our bodies and health are important so working virtually from home is the best choice for us right now.
Documenting the Process from Tiguida
Tiguida K. at home during quarantine.
My name is Tiguida and I am a 10th-grade youth entrepreneur at Rebel Ventures. I manage our social media accounts, and support grant writing and accounting. The Rebel crew has been separated physically but we’ve continued our work in other ways.
With Healthy Deliciousness at Home, the crew has been tasked with making meals at home while also documenting it as an Instagram Story or blogging about it on our website. Recently, my mom and I made peanut butter sauce with boneless chicken and rice. I really enjoyed making this dish because I have been eating since this since I was a child and for the first time I got to make the recipe step-by-step and saw first hand what went into the process. Because of that, I’m grateful that Rebel helped me take the leap of faith in what might become a new hobby.
Check out our Instagram page @rebel_ventures and subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date with us. Also, we would love for you to document and share your Healthy Deliciousness at Home experience with us!
Below is an Apple Crisp recipe from the Rebel Ventures crew. This recipe is something fun and easy to do while at home quarantining. When finished you’ll have a healthy homemade dessert for the week.
Apple Crisp Filling