Thanks for visiting Saucy Mommy! My name is Beverly, and I’m a 33-year-old mom who loves writing and food (among many other things). I live in my native Southern California with my husband, Johnny, our sons, five-year-old Jack and three-year-old Derek, and our dog, a Shiba Inu named Atari.

My love of food started early. I was fortunate enough to have my maternal grandmother living with our family — she was an excellent cook and fixed multi-course Taiwanese meals every day. A typical dinner at our house was one fish, two types of meat dishes, at least one vegetable (often two) and one soup. My grandma’s childhood had a heavy Japanese influence, so she was also serious about the presentation of food. I remember her painstakingly forming fried rice into the shape of a rabbit, covering the rice with an expertly fried, paper-thin omelette, then drawing the rabbit’s facial features with precisely appplied ketchup. Instead of buying lunch meat, my mom and grandma would buy pork, pound it with a mallet to tenderize it, marinate the meat, then pan-fry it fresh every morning to make sandwiches for me and my sister. After school, we came home to platters of beautifully cut and arranged fruit, toasted mochi wrapped in nori with soy sauce on the side for dipping, and other culinary delights. It wasn’t until fairly late in childhood that I realized other kids might grab just an apple or string cheese as a snack!

I share my grandma’s love of cooking for my family and of making cute “bento box” lunches for the kids. I want my sons to appreciate a wide variety of good food, but as a busy mom trying to juggle various activities and my part-time tutoring work, I can’t quite manage multi-course meals. I’m always looking for easy, delicious and (at least somewhat) healthy dishes that the whole family will love. About twice a week, I try something new. A while back, I began posting pictures on Facebook of what I made my kids for lunch and dinner. Some friends requested that I make a photo album specifically for food pictures, so that they could easily browse through the album to look for ideas for their own families. I complied, and soon I had requests and suggestions for a food blog featuring family-friendly meals. I know there is an abundance of excellent food and bento blogs out there, but I’ve never been good at saying “no,” so Saucy Mommy was born.

On this blog, I will write about recipes only if I’ve tried them, so that I can tell you what worked, what didn’t work, and whether the kids liked it (Johnny happily eats anything I make, so his reaction isn’t very informative, unless he doesn’t like something, in which case you’d do well to avoid it at all costs). I’ll also post plenty of pictures, so you can see what the final product looks like.

Despite appearances, I do spend plenty of time outside the kitchen. On weekends and evenings, I work as a private tutor, helping kids with their reading comprehension and writing skills, particularly for the SAT I. I got my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University, and I enjoy using my writing skills in a job that lets me help others and spend my days with my kids. I also love working out (hey, it gives me energy and lets me eat copious amounts of food!), particularly running and going to Bar Method classes. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my penchant for shopping. But, most of all, I love spending time with my wonderful family and friends.

Finally, I welcome your feedback through comments or via email at saucymommyblog@gmail.com — the biggest joy of a blog is the feeling of community. I look forward to “meeting” you!