That Jessica Alba, she's just like us — managing a billion-dollar company, serving as a brand ambassador for ZICO Coconut Water, making cameos in Taylor Swift music videos, and looking outrageously pulled together every step of the way.
OK, maybe her life doesn't exactly parallel ours, but when it comes to food, she is all of us: No time to cook elaborate meals, snacking throughout the day, and dousing everything with sriracha. We got the tastemaker to dish on her favourite meals — and the thing that's always, always in her fridge.
If we opened your fridge, what's the most unexpected thing we'd find? "The variety of hot sauce. I have five or six different types in my fridge," she says. You can almost always find spicy buffalo wing sauce, Tabasco — "love the vinegar flavour" — sriracha, Cholula, and at least one habanero sauce. "Anything habanero-Caribbean-flavored, I'm down with."
Most little kids hate spicy foods. Do either of your daughters (Honor, 7, and Haven, 3) like it?
"Honor wants Cholula on all of her tacos, on her breakfast — even her eggs, like breakfast tacos — and she'll straight pour it on chicken. If I make roasted chicken, she'll want Cholula on it."
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/2g7s-sMuj4/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">Happy Mothers Day������</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Jessica Alba (@jessicaalba) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-10T20:19:41+00:00">May 10, 2015 at 1:19pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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What about sweets? Any desserts you absolutely love?
"I'm not much of a sweets person. I actually have low blood sugar and low blood pressure, and I get very woozy if I don't have enough salt," she says. "When I do hot yoga, water isn't enough. I need to have salty water or I'll have coconut water."
Is salty water something you buy or make? "I just add a pinch of salt to water. I really like pink Himalayan."
How'd you learn that you needed more salt in your diet? "I told my doctor I eat an abnormal amount of salt, and he said, 'Did you know it's because you're naturally low? Your body overcompensates and needs more salt,' so that's how I justify all the salt I pour on everything."
You made an incredible birthday breakfast in bed for Honor's birthday on June 7th. What's the story behind it?
"She wanted Cream of Wheat, pancakes, and my husband makes fried salami — not bacon, but fried salami, so they're like salami chips — and she wanted hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream, plus extra whipped cream. She knew exactly what she wanted."
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/3oh-w7suhL/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">7 years ago, I experienced the most profound unconditional love! Happy Birthday to my big girl Honor! Birthday bfast in bed- can't believe she's 7! ������</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Jessica Alba (@jessicaalba) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-06-07T15:40:15+00:00">Jun 7, 2015 at 8:40am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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Speaking of those pancakes, do you have a special recipe you swear by? "I know they say you shouldn't whisk pancake batter, but I do. I like to make them crepe-like. I make them out of gluten-free pancake mix, and I just thin out the batter with extra olive oil, egg and almond milk. Then, I whip it to death, and that makes really thin pancakes."
Are there any foods you're surprised that your kids eat? Carrot and avocado salad topped with homemade dressing — a blend of lime juice, coconut water, olive oil, salt, and pepper. "They go bananas for it. They'll chow on that, even if they have their favourite pasta or hamburgers, or whatever with it, they'll eat that first. I don't even have to ask them to eat their veg."
If we stopped by your house for dinner one weeknight, what would you probably be making? "I try to always have a salad, and I always make my own salad dressing — it just tastes better. I'll often make a chicken quesadilla with corn tortillas — and gallons of hot sauce. Literally. It's like I'm trying to burn a hole through my stomach. It's so good. It's such a problem."
What's your top guilty-pleasure snack? "Nachos." Jessica says she'll put just about anything on them, but her favourite toppings are homemade black beans and jalapeno-almond cheese. "I've been trying to use alternatives to dairy ... and Whole Foods sells an almond cheese that melts surprisingly well, but you have to grate it. You can't do slices."
Do you have any tricks for making salads — particularly kale — taste better? "A chef told me you need to massage the kale, and it makes all the difference in the world. You know when you get fresh kale salad and it's just too raw and it's not pleasant? So you just massage the kale with the dressing. You have to eat it right away, though."
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/1oiwzmsusH/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">Chocolate hazelnut+ banana + almond butter sandwich on whole grain bread w veggies n 2 dips #lunch #weekendz #momlife</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Jessica Alba (@jessicaalba) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-04-18T22:44:17+00:00">Apr 18, 2015 at 3:44pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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What are your go-to snacks during the week?
"My favourite snacks are my kids' favourite snacks, because they steal all of my food," she says. The standbys? Popcorn and hummus with cucumber, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, and cauliflower.
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