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Food & Beverage Podcasts

Food For Thought… Cooking is Therapy

Food for Thought… Cooking is Therapy – VC Social

Welcome to “Food for Thought… Cooking is Therapy,” a podcast connecting us with the most powerful relationship we all have, food. From our experienced team of foodies and chefs we welcome you on this culinary journey as we explore, invent and learn more with each other about how food touches our souls, fills our hearts and bodies with nutrition, comfort and wonder. Please join us in finding your inner chef….

Cast:
Jennifer Love
Ramon Martinez
Valerie Bustos
Cory Paul

Important Links:
Calfresh
VC Basic Needs
Food Pantry

I love to cook using as much as possible, straight outta my garden 👩‍🌾 I’ve been harvesting many greens lately 🍲 We are so fortunate here as our farmers markets have anything we can’t grow 👩‍🍳 this week I picked a bag of lemons 🍋 🌳 and grabbed a bunch of mint 🍃 I’m trying to cleanse and lose a few lbs 🥴 At the moment I’m cooking up some veggie chowder 🥣 the aromatherapy is a delightful smell of onions n garlic 🥰 Have a great weekend all ⛅️
– Jennifer Love

There’s something so special about cooking that has turned it into something that is more than just a hobby or a chore to some people. I use it as a therapeutic escape, as a place where I can unwind and forget about all the stress in my life. I get stressed when there’s other people in my space because my kitchen is very small. Even though I like to be alone in the kitchen, I love cooking for my nieces and nephews. There is something so special about seeing the smiles on their faces, so content with the smallest of things. Whether it’s mac n’ cheese, a quesadilla, or even a simple fried egg they are always so appreciative and thankful for everything I do for them and It makes me so happy.
– Ramon Martinez

I love to cook ,but when I can not, I look for good food with good ingredients.  My favorite food is Indian food. I have not been successful in making it myself, but I continue to learn about new recipes. I learned to cook from my grandmother. She taught me to measure things out when baking, which I do not bake. My aunt is the baker. I enjoy creating food for friends who want home cooked food. I am famous for my burgers and my eggs and potatoes! Cooking makes me feel good, and I am able to share it with friends.  What makes you  warm the soul and makes me feel close to my grandmother who passed away in Oct 2011. We did everything together. What makes you feel good? Is it a feeling or a particular smell of something cooking? Stews.
– Cory Paul

Cooking is definitely something I have a love hate relationship with. I am a baker at heart so measuring is something I value, but entering a world where you “measure with your heart” was definitely jilting. Cooking can be such a healing experience, the way we somatically move while we cook can bring such peace. Seeing the building of community through potlucks and dinners is something I always love to witness. Food is something that nourishes us all, why not use it to bring us together.

–Valerie Bustos

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Podcasts Sports & Leisure

Get To Know Julio Rey, Student Athlete At Ventura College

Hello everyone my name is Clarissa and I recently just interviewed Julio Rey on my podcast. Julio Rey is an alumni here at Ventura college, who not only graduated here but played football for two years here as an offensive line. Julio has officially transferred to Northeastern State University of Oklahoma and wanted to continue to pursue his athletic career. Me and Julio talked briefly about his student life, athletic life, and also social life. We also talked about what personal and athletic goals he aspires to get out of his new journey at Northeastern State University. I hope you guys enjoyed listening to my podcast because I definitely had a great time getting to know Julio and learning about the life of a student athlete. 

Leave a comment below and let me know what student or student athlete you would like for me to have on my next podcast episode.

Click the links below for more information and access to the podcast.

Follow the VC social ⁠https://vcsocial.biz/⁠

Clarissa Gutierrez

VC social: ⁠https://vcsocial.biz/about-clarissa-gutierrez/

Get To Know Julio Rey, Student Athlete At Ventura College – VC Social

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Podcasts Student Life at VC

Successfully Managing Parenting, Going to College, While Also Working

Deseray and Nancy discuss how they manage to be parents, full time college students and work full time. We provide valuable information on how we have been able to manage a full schedule, find support (financial and mentally), and share advice on time management tools and study habits. We hope to empower other parents to take the leap to pursue a higher education if that has been something on their mind. By having the right support, self care, time management, and healthy study habits we strive to set the example of being able to set and achieve goals that improve and elevate our lives as we are called to become business executives. Deseray has a son and a daughter and they are all going to college at the same time. Nancy has three sons (14 year old and 8 year old twins). Both have a full student schedule and also work.

⁠https://vcsocial.biz/nancy-olascuaga/⁠

⁠linkedin.com/in/nancy-olascuaga-6520177a⁠

⁠https://vcsocial.biz/about_deserayradziewicz/⁠

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⁠https://www.instagram.com/my_fourlegged_furballs⁠

Music

⁠https://click.pstmrk.it/3s/uppbeat.io%2Ft%2Fandrey-rossi%2Fseize-the-day/vZub/BAW0AQ/AQ/187c28c2-428e-4cfc-ad62-4c6e02aa7798/4/jSUpJenczN

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Local Business Spotlight Podcasts

Marketing Perspectives from Ventura College Business Students

Marketing Perspectives from Ventura College Business Students – VC Social

This podcast will talk about different marketing perspectives, perspectives such as marketing for oneself and marketing for other people or small businesses. We will also mention a few things that have worked for us so stay tuned because they may work for you too.

Connect with us through our socials:

Carlos S. Alvarez V. | ⁠About Carlos Alvarez

⁠@swiper_is_the_best⁠

Kassandra Olguin | ⁠About Kassandra Olguin⁠

⁠@tanas.treasures⁠

Alyssa Moreno | ⁠About Alyssa Moreno⁠

⁠@morenoalyssa_⁠

⁠@oxtownclothing⁠

Ivonne Galindo | ⁠About Ivonne Galindo⁠

⁠@galindoscustomdesigns⁠

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Podcasts Student Life at VC

Post-COVID World

Five students go into depth about how COVID-19 would impact their high school experiences and how learning online would become more of a chore. The lack of motivation would impact every student differently as well as learning to adapt to their situation. Now in the present time they speak about how going back to school is a struggle to overcome social anxiety after not being able to communicate with others face to face for almost 3 years. Professor Nick speaks on his behalf over his experiences teaching during and after Covid-19. He speaks about differences he has noticed.

Follow Yahaira’s Instagram 

VC Social: https://vcsocial.biz/about-yahaira-arevalo/

Follow Isabella’s Instagram

VC Social: https://vcsocial.biz/author/bellaeruiz/

Follow Mixtli’s Instagram 

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Follow Koby’s instagram 

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Food & Beverage

MadeWest: A Brewery With A Mission

This is the story of MadeWest Brewing Company, which was founded in 2013 by Mike Morrison and his good friend Seth Gibson. MadeWest was born in a small garage in San Diego, CA, where the home brew kit was put to work, and their very first IPA was made. Mike and Seth believe that great beer brings people together, and they knew immediately that there was something magical happening. http://www.madewest.com

After winning second place at a brew competition, it was clear that people loved the product. Fast-forward to 2013, MadeWest finally opened its doors in the town of Ventura, CA which finally received its first taproom and brewery. Today, their mission is still the same: Make good beer and get people together. They work hard to stay with the current trends while still being innovative at the same time. They do this all while collaborating with their good friends over at Prospect Coffee Roasters to make award-winning Porters. At either of their locations you can browse and purchase from their wide array of clothing and goods collection. From shirts, hats, mugs, and growlers, there is sure to be something for everyone. They serve as excellent mementos to help remind customers of the great memories they experienced after enjoying a craft beer.

Some of their award-winning beers are part of collaboration with other well-known breweries. These are part of a Short-Lived Series, but you don’t want to miss out when these get released. Follow @madewestbeer on Instagram to get updates on all things beer. You may also visit http://www.prospectcoffee.com to learn more about how Prospect Coffee got into the game with MadeWest Brewing and how their love of coffee parallels their love of beer.

If you have not been to their original location, stop by during the week and say hi to Mike if he is in the taproom or just drop in for a pint of the best beer in town. I am sure you will be greeted with a smile and will want to immerse yourself in the nostalgia of craft brew beginnings. Sample the beers and give some honest reviews. I truly believe that this is a note-worthy experience. I know I have always enjoyed sharing a beer with friends as well as making new ones while surrounded by their fantastic community.

Customer testimonials are a true testament to how well this brewery has been received by locals and travelers alike. See what a few customers had to say.

From MadeWest Customers

“This place is awesome for so many reasons. The most obvious is great beer and variety of it. I have 2 kids and the place is great to grab a drink and hang out on the patio while they play one of their giant Jenga games. Great to have a place like this in Ventura!” -Matt Leonard

“Dog friendly brewery with several great beers on tap, plus food trucks on the outside patio. Fun inside space, great for a large group. They also have four packs, growlers that are available for take away once you’ve sampled their beers in house” – Laura Williams

Commercial Video
Image of tap and award medals
Image of last week’s award for best pale ale
Categories
Student Life at VC

Beauty Industry Affects On Female Identity

The beauty industry negatively affects female identity along with the contribution of social media. Women are constantly being reminded of what is considered beautiful in our society with standards that for the most part aren’t realistic. These standards put a lot of women in a state of mind that prevents them from appreciating their true worth. Along with this, it leads them to develop mental health problems such as low self-esteem, social anxiety, psychological stress, eating disorders, and others along with having the wrong perception of beauty.

For a long time, the industry of beauty’s main purpose has been to develop, sell, and promote cosmetics, perfume, skincare, and hair products they don’t really care about the damage they are causing when promoting unrealistic standards for the most part and although we see more divers promoting along with body positivity nowadays the industry still negatively affect women. Social media is a big contributor to the negative effects when it comes to product promotion. When it comes to social media platforms society is the one that decides what is true beauty and what it isn’t. Truly our own society is at fault for having high standards that for most are unrealistic. As for most females seeing these standards change drastically very often swifts the perception of beauty.

Women are only trying to fit into the crazy beauty industry standards but the standards are constantly changing. Therefore most females feel like they are never going to be good enough when it comes to their physical appearance. Unfortunately these standards not only affect the older females they start affecting the younger ones as well. As they enter the beauty industry world along with the social media world at a young age they start to notice the wave of what are true perceptions of beauty according to the industry and its contributors. At such a young age this will have a big impact on new generations of females by affecting their identity on what a woman should look like.

The beauty industry for the most part affects women negatively although there are sparks of hope that have positive effects on some women. There is still a lot that the beauty industry needs to do to truly focus on helping women prevent mental health problems as well as help the ones who have developed severe mental health problems along with the help of social media platforms. In the end, true beauty goes beyond just appearance it’s your own perception along with your true worth.

Categories
Food & Beverage

BLVD BURGER CO.

A menu review with employee-favorite recommended food!

Have you ever craved a nice burger in an ambient, relaxing setting? Well, have I got the place for you at BLVD BURGER. This is located at 2145 Ventura Blvd in Camarillo, right off the freeway. On the main strip of restaurants, lays this beautiful burger joint that I find myself going back to revisit time after time.

You may be wondering what really makes a great burger. Can it be the cheese, how the beef is cooked, the limitless toppings you can add within the burger? Well, I came across an article, chefs weigh in on what makes a perfect burger, and every individual described their perfect bite.

Now, a little bit about this burger place happens to be they have a sit down restaurant with a bar attached where you can try local brewed beer to pair with your food. Music from artist like Tame Impala, The Maria’s, Steve Lacy, etc. are all a part of the playlist. A big screen tv is present in the bar to watch your sport games. Lastly, there are a few old school arcade games to play such as Pac-Man.

Time for the juicy part, during my visit to this burger place, I wanted to review the menu, but with a twist. So, that’s exactly what I did, I went on to order what the employees favorite menu items are. The first person, AJ, which was the person who took my order, told me that his favorite two items off the menu are chicken club and pineapple burger.

After ordering my food, I grabbed a seat at the bar to order my beer. I asked Christian, our next server, which was his favorite beer off of the menu. He told me the one he really enjoys right now is Malibu Brewing Company’s Happy Days Honey Blonde Ale. The beer did not disappoint, but unfortunately, I did not get a picture of my beer for the purposes of this class.

My overall pick of what I enjoyed the most would be the chicken club. I found this one to be flavorful, the chicken was cooked just right, and the serving of fries was just enough to leave you satisfied. When I make the trip back to this location, I will definitely be ordering this chicken club again.

Well there you have it, BLVD BURGER will always be a must visit burger joint so go ahead and check it out for yourselves. Check out their Instagram account for photos of the food and events they got going on. Also, check out their menu to see what you might order on your visit.

What would you guys pick? The pineapple burger or the chicken club, or would it be something else from the posted menu down below?

Categories
Arts & Entertainment

How to Enjoy Your First K-pop Concert

You have been either streaming their latest albums, or watching their performances online a little more often than usual, and never thought the day would come that you could even see them live. And suddenly you are finally going to your first K-pop concert.

While they have finally released information about where they are going on tour you realize it is only a couple months away. This can cause you to wonder if you will be traveling to a new city or even going out of state, too. Also, consider going with people you know or even mutuals you have met on social media as well. There is no need to worry because we all been there and a reason why I want share some tips to make your first K-pop concert enjoyable!

  1. Arrive early

In K-pop, a big priority is merchandise so I’d advise getting some official gear. Depending on the venue, the merchandise booth will open early before the concert starts. It’s better to show up a few hours early to get a good spot in line especially since merchandise sells out fast. Make sure to check official venue, social media, or website for updated information.

2. Check the venue’s bag policy

This is the most important information you will need especially with the clear bag policy if you’re not aware of it. I would make sure to visit the venue’s website so you know which back to buy before the concert.

3. Dress comfortably

A common thing in the K-pop community is wanting to look cute, but if your feet are hurting by the time when you get to the venue, you probably won’t enjoy the concert. Especially when the concert involves a lot of dancing, and jumping, you would want to wear comfortable clothes.I would want to be realistic about what you’re going to wear which you can always find a lot of inspiration on Pinterest, X, or Instagram.

4. Stay hydrated

Depending on how long you’ve been at the venue, concerts especially can be long and crazy make sure you stay hydrated by bringing a water bottle with you and also bring snacks to keep yourself energized throughout the show.

5. Bring extra batteries and a power bank

Since we’re at a time where we’re always on our phones and taking pictures and recording every movement at concerts, it’s important to keep your phone charged so make sure to bring a power bank. A popular thing is having a light stick to always bring extra batteries for it as well.

6. Be present & have fun!

From personal experience, we sometimes get a little carried away between trying to record and sharing all of our favorite moments on social media. It’s okay to put your phone down during one or two songs just sing along and dance because you never know when your artist will come back again to enjoy the moment. This also being your chance to experience magic of K-pop live, so make the most of it!

Categories
Sports & Leisure Student Life at VC

Taking the “JUCO” Route: Here at Ventura College

I was able to get an exclusive interview with Aiden DeMello, a right-handed pitcher for the Ventura College baseball team, where we got the opportunity to get important information about the route and the diversity collegiate athletes face. While we conclude the interview with keys of keeping the electric team rolling into a successful year.

Question: What inspired you to pursue baseball at Ventura College?

Answer: Since I could remember, my number one goal in life was to play baseball at the collegiate level. Unfortunately, coming out of high school I received very little attention from 4-year universities. Feeling like my childhood dream was slipping away, I decided to pursue the “JUCO” route. I have always admired the dedication and sacrifice that junior college athletes go through. It takes a competitive mindset and a winning culture to be successful. I felt Ventura College embodied these exact things and that is what inspired me to pursue Baseball here.

Question: What major are you pursuing and why? How do you balance academics and athletics and a college athlete?

Answer: My major is Sports Journalism with a minor in Broadcasting. All my life I have been in love with anything to do with sports. Whether it was a random Tuesday night baseball game or Super Bowl Sunday, I was always excited to watch. I have also always had a knack for arguing over sports topics. Because of this passion, I decided to make a career out of it.

Being a student athlete, it is definitely hard finding time for academics. It is often challenging and burdensome to cut time away from training to finish an essay or vice versa. It really comes down to sacrifice. Sadly, I have had to cut time away from friends and family to keep my grades up. No more friday nights out with the boys and movie nights with the family have been exceedingly hard choices I have had to make to make sure I keep a high gpa.

Question: Being in your sophomore year, what are your plans academic and athletics wise after Ventura College?

Answer: My initial plan is to transfer after this semester to a 4 year university and continue to play baseball. Last season I suffered a shoulder injury early in the year that effectively ended my true freshman season. Luckily, I was granted a Medical Redshirt and received that year of eligibility back. So if I don’t receive any offers after this season, I plan to come back next year and use my last year of juco eligibility.

Question: What are the keys for success this year as a team?

Answer: The number one key for success this season is limiting the mistakes. We dropped a crucial series to a rival in Moorpark College because of foolish mistakes. The week after we played the number one team in California and played a flawless game, earning us a win. We have an extremely talented and well rounded team this season. If we are able to limit our mistakes, you will see us in playoffs come May.

Question: Why should people go to a Ventura Pirates baseball game?

Answer: We have an exciting team this year. At every position we have athletes making plans and hitting home runs. Our guys on the mound are throwing gas and striking batters out at an elite rate. Before the week we were ranked inside the top 20 teams in California. There really isn’t a reason why someone shouldn’t consider coming to a game.