Ocasio Instagram

178 Followers, 126 Following, 7 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from ASN (@ocasio2018). 39.5k Followers, 2,879 Following, 169 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Lele Ocasio-Cloud (@aleshiaocasio). 1.3m Followers, 44 Following, 41 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (@repaoc). 8.6m Followers, 1,761 Following, 451 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@aoc). 2 days ago  U.S. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Sen. Ted Cruz on Thursday there is “no common ground” to work together legislatively after his involvement in the Capitol riot earlier this month.

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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Instagram earlier this week to share photos of her baking bread, something she said she does to relieve stress. Throughout the now-expired Instagram stories, the congresswoman shared tips for bread making and talked about how important self care is to offset pandemic stress.

'In trying to negotiate a COVID package, fighting for a second round of stimulus checks & UI so people can survive (and the sadness of this even being controversial to begin with), managing Congressional transition work and struggling with the economic & health pain so many of us are going through, the stress of the pandemic has felt especially overwhelming lately, to say the least,' she wrote on a photograph that showed her bread dough with a scored top: 'As a bit of a break, I tried to make bread for the first time this week. 9 months after this pandemic started I now understand why so many people took to it at the beginning.'

Baking sourdough was so popular in the beginning of the pandemic (possibly because of everyone's newfound free time), that it was Google's top food-related search phrase this year.

Isiah Ocasio Instagram

She then went on to show a photo peaking into the oven to watch the bread bake, explaining that the only ingredients needed for bread are flour, water, salt, and yeast, with the fifth ingredient being patience because you have to wait for the dough to rise.

'When you're preoccupied with stressful things, sometimes it can feel impossible to slow down. I'm surprised at how grounding and calming this has been,' she wrote. 'Sometimes when the bread is baking we just like to sit here and watch,' she continued: 'It slows down time just enough to get lost in the rise, and ushers the stress somewhere else for a few minutes.'

Representative Ocasio-Cortez finished off the baking series saying she is thinking of all of those that work in service and other industries. As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, many restaurants are closing down on-site dining and many establishments have closed indefinitely.

Brandon Ocasio Instagram

Although the bread baking stories are no longer up on her page (this YouTube video features a screen recording of the stories), the congresswoman recently saved an Instagram Live Q&A to her page where she answered questions regarding COVID stimulus packages while preparing a fish and pasta meal.