'shroom sando

On a whim, I took some random stuff from the refrigerator and combined it to create one hell of a sandwich... I call it, the 'Shroom Sando. If you prefer more protein, add some grilled chicken to that sucker... it's quick and easy and will leave you a very happy camper.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms, balsamic vinegar, olive oil,

dijon mustard, gouda cheese,

avocado, pesto & artisan bread

Marinate sliced mushrooms with 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and a tablespoon of dijon mustard [in a ziplock bag] and refrigerate for at least an hour. Sautee mushrooms with marinade until soft. Spread pesto on your bread, add mushrooms, smashed avocado and top with a slice of gouda. Bake in the oven, open-face, until cheese is melted.

the best-o pest-o

Pesto. I would put it on everything if I could... and I kind of do: toast, chicken, pasta, empanadas, a sandwich... you name it. Although Trader Joe's carries a decent packaged pesto and some of my favorite Italian restaurants make it pretty well in house, nothing beats the pesto my mom makes from scratch. It's garlicy, fresh and the prettiest shade of green, how could you not want this on every piece of your food?

Ingredients:

3 cloves of garlic, handful of parsley,3 to 4 cups basil leaves, 

3/4 cup parmesan cheese & 1/2 cup walnuts

Throw walnuts and garlic into the food processor. Add parsley and basil and grind down. Keep food processor going and drizzle olive oil until it's the right consistency for you.

I bought some gnocchi from Whole Foods made by The Pasta Shop, which were very soft and handmade. I highly recommend serving the pesto as a sauce with either gnocchi or pasta with grilled chicken.

"When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too."

                    Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist) 

food for my sol

If I had to pick one place to eat for the rest of my life... well, I could never do that. But Sol Food in San Rafael, Calif. would definitely be a possibility. Besides that, they will undoubtedly be catering my wedding (sorry, future husband, where ever you are, you don't have a say in this). This restaurant is incredible and their food is something I always look forward to eating when heading back to the Bay Area. Although technically Puerto Rican cuisine, many of the menu items reflect some of my Cuban family favorites, which is another reason I like this place so much. As you can see from the photo above, Sol Food has an obnoxious yet endearing bright green exterior. Inside, photos of the owner's family members and other iconic Puerto Ricans cover the walls and are featured on the numbers you receive after placing your order.

Almost every day of the week, Sol Food has a line out the door of faithful patrons trying to get their fix of arguably some of the best food in Marin County. If you don't feel like waiting, recently relocated next door to the restaurant, Sol Food offers a to go shop called La Bodega, where you can get the full menu to go without waiting in line. As if things couldn't get any better, if you live close enough to their Lincoln Avenue location, THEY DELIVER.

Interior

One of Sol Food's specialty's is their Pollo al Horno, made with farm raised, organic chicken and coated in garlic and a plethora of herbs and served with salad, beans, rice and a platano (tostones if you're into the more savory platano or maduras if you prefer the sweet strain).

Although they don't serve alcohol, Sol Food has homemade, fresh squeezed juices (limeade shown above) that they serve in a mason jar.

Since I am very much a creature of habit, I always order the same thing: the vegetarian platter, served with black beans (so good they give my mom's homemade beans that marinate for 24 hours a run for their money), Sol Food's delicious and buttery rice, salad and a platano, I always choose the garlicy tostones.


But the last time I was at Sol Food, I decided to branch out and try something new, so I got the veggie deluxe sandwich with tostones instead of bread. Although there was just a tad too much mayo, the sandwich was absolutely delicious and I loved how they used the platanos instead of bread, super creative and tasty! (It was devoured too soon to snap a photo...)

college educated, she graduated

[The Thrill- Wiz Khalifa]


Some might call it cliche, but I think this song is more than appropriate for our current state. College graduation, an event that's supposed to make you feel accomplished and grown up has left me feeling depressed and confused these past couple of days. Our entire lives, up until this point, have been spent in a classroom: learning, taking tests and completing homework assignments or busy work. But although our time in the classroom has ended (at least for now), the learning has not. This time, however, the learning is done in the real world, where mistakes are not just a lower grade on the report card, but can lead to major consequences, which is, for lack of better words, SCARY AS HELL. But even though I've been the queen of the "my life is over, I have nothing to look forward to now that college is over" mindset, our lives are just beginning. In the week and three days I've been graduated, I have probably spent half of that time sobbing, convincing myself that my life really is over, and the other half of that time drinking and partying the tears away (not to sound like an alcoholic or anything). But now that I've calmed down a little and taken the time to actually feel like a college graduate, it feels kind of good, refreshing, even. I've started to think about all the things I want to do with my life: projects I want to start, jobs I want to have, businesses I want to create and trips I want to take, all of which are now possible with a college degree. As everyone has been telling me, there is a life after college, and that life is good! I could sit here and make a list of everything that I'll miss (the beach and my friends, to name a few), but it's important to concentrate on the things that will be gained after college. Thinking ahead two weeks to my six month adventure to India, I know I will be gaining tons of perspective and knowledge that no college professor could have ever taught me, and that is not only exciting, but just one thing out of a million I have to look forward to.