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Food & Beverage Mother's Day Cook-off

Big Grandma’s Enchiladas Rojas (Red Enchiladas)

A Mothers Day Tribute

My mom and I making Christmas tamales. I’m sorry, I can’t share that recipe.

Looking back on my childhood, I remember my mom always cooking some of the best dinners. Many of the dishes she would make came from my Great Grandmothers cook book. One of my very favorites was Enchiladas Rojas because they’re so delicious!

When I moved away from home, I had to learn how to make these. I remember calling my mom to ask her for the recipe because I was craving them and wanted to make them for my friends. Since then, I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve made them and when I do, I always think of my mom and my childhood. This recipe will definitely keep getting passed down to generations to come.

Ingredients

  • Las Palmas Red Enchilada Sauce
  • 1 1/2 lbs. of ground beef
  • 1 Tbsp. of McCormick Taco Seasoning Mix
  • 18 corn tortillas
  • 1 7.25 oz. can of sliced olives
  • 1/2 cup of diced yellow onion
  • 2 lbs. of shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • Vegetable oil
  • Oven-safe glass dish( I used a 9.5 x 12.5) and it held 12. You can use a bigger one to make more or use more than one dish.

Servings: 8-12 Prepping time: 30 min. Cooking time: 15 min.

Directions

  1. Set your over to 375 degrees.
  2. Fry your ground beef with taco seasoning and onions. Set aside.
  3. Pour some enchilada sauce in your glass dish to cover the bottom.

4. Lightly fry 1 tortilla on both sides, in a small frying pan with oil

(make sure there’s enough oil in the pan to submerge the tortilla).

5. Once the tortilla is fried, put it in your dish with the sauce. Flip the tortilla over to make sure the sauce is coated all over.

6. Add some meat and cheese to the middle of your tortilla.

7. Fold over both sides of the tortillas and flip it over, so the fold is on the bottom. Place your first enchilada at the top left of your glass dish to create a line. It’s ok if a little meat or cheese out.

Repeat steps4-7, adding more enchilada sauce as needed. When your dish is full, it should like the picture below.

Caution: Don’t submerge your enchiladas in sauce, you only need enough in the pan to coat the tortillas.

8. After your dish is full, add a light layer of enchilada sauce to the top. If you have too much sauce in your pan, you can use a spoon to take some out and pour it on top. Note: You will not use all of the enchilada sauce.

9. Add cheese and olives, if you wish.

10. Place your dish in the oven for 15 minutes.

Your enchiladas are ready to be served! You can add sour cream, if you’d like. Also, below you can find my recipe for my Mexican Rice. Enjoy!

If you were served 3 dishes that looked the same and you knew your mom made one of them, could you guess which dish was hers? I’m sure I could!Watch below👇🏼

Recipe for Spanish Rice

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups of Jasmin or long grain, white rice
  • 3 oz. of tomato sauce
  • 3 cups of water(room temperature)
  • 1 tsp. of cumin
  • 3 tsp. of Knorr chicken flavor buillon
  • 1/2 cup of diced yellow onion or 1 tsp. of onion powder
  • 2 cloves of minced garlic or 1 tsp. of garlic powder
  • 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
  • 2 quart pot or deep pan

Servings: 12 Prepping time: 15 min. Cooking time: 20 min.

Directions

  1. Heat up oil in your pot on medium heat.
  2. Add rice, onion and garlic. Stir frequently Note: If you’re using powder, wait until your rice is brown before you add it.

3. When your rice is light brown, lower the heat and pour in your water slowly. It will steam a little so avoid getting burned.

4. Turn your heat back up to medium, to get your water boiling. During this time, add tomato sauce chicken bouillon and cumin. Stir

5. When your water is boiling, turn your heat down low and cover your pot. You will not need to stir your rice anymore.

6. Let your rice cook on low for 20 minutes. You will know it’s done when there isn’t any water in your pan and it looks like the picture below.

7. Serve and enjoy!

Categories
Mother's Day Cook-off

Easy Chia Pudding

Healthy, tasty and easy to make ? Sign me up ! Chia seed pudding can take forms of different flavors and benefits. Chia seed pudding has a special place of my heart because I began making it during the pandemic. I would make it for my mom and my loved ones.

Below is a video of the benefits of chia seeds

“Once you make this chia pudding, it will be a staple in your fridge. And then you can get try more chia pudding recipes”.

https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/3-ingredient-chia-pudding/

What you’ll need :

  1. Chia seeds
  2. Mason Jar or a container similar
  3. Sweetener of your choice. This step can vary, you can use coffee creamer, honey, matcha or regular liquid sweetener
  4. Spoon
  5. Milk or dairy-free milk of your choice
  6. optional, fresh or dried up fruit

Step one: With you mason jar, add 3-4 spoonful of chia seeds. You can be generous on this part

Step two: Add your milk to you chia seeds and mix it with the spoon.

Step three: Add your sweetener and stir again

Step four : Taste it before putting it in the fridge, to see if you’d like to add more sweetener or not.

Step five : Place it in the fridge overnight or for 4-5 hours until it looks harden and looks like in the picture

Step 6 : Enjoy !

This dessert is great for breakfast or even a snack in between meals. It is easy to make for events or for that special person!

Categories
Food & Beverage Mother's Day Cook-off

Heavenly Angel Food Cake

A Mother’s Day Special

In 1914 Mother’s Day became a national holiday in reverence to motherhood. Honoring the sacrifices mother’s make for their children. They say a mother’s role is to be God’s angels on earth. I thought it would be best to share an angel food cake recipe.

Ingredients

1 Cup Cake Flour

1,¼ cups of sugar

1 1tbsp sugar & 1 tbsp ground cinnamon combined ( put aside for now)

12 large egg whites

1 tsp cream of tartar

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp lemon juice

6 oz. dark chocolate 74% or higher

½ cup butter

1½ cups of powdered sugar

¼ Cup whipping cream

6 oz. almond slivers

Strawberries 

Directions

Preheat Oven 350 degrees

Beat egg whites until they become foamy. 

Next add cream of tartar with salt and  beat until soft peaks form. 

Add ¾ cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beat until stiff peaks form. 

Mix cake flour with ½ cup of sugar 

Add to egg white mix a 1/4 cup at a time.

Add vanilla, honey and lemon juice.

Take ⅓ of batter and pour into an non-greased 10 inch tube pan. 

Take the back of a spoon and run it around the batter in pan causing an indentation. 

Sprinkle 1 tbsp of cinnamon & sugar mixture around indentation.

Add another ⅓ of batter to the tube pan, create indent again and sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon mixture in the indent. 

Finish pouring in the rest of the batter and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 mins. 

Let cool for 45 mins. 

Use a butter knife to run along the inside of the tube pan. Flip the pan over to make the cake come out of the pan. 

Making the glaze

Melt dark chocolate with butter over low heat, stir frequently. Use a small saucepan

Remove small saucepan from heat. 

Mix in powdered sugar and whipping cream. 

Spoon evenly over cake.

Do a little extra! Pour almond slivers over cake and add strawberries on top.

Now there is something I do have to tell you and it is a bit of a confession. I took some considerations when putting this together. Some might consider this a bonus. Eggs, cinnamon, honey, vanilla, dark chocolate, almonds and strawberries are all listed as aphrodisiac foods. Why? Because every mother’s day needs a mother’s night.

Categories
Mother's Day Cook-off

Maria’s Chilaquiles Recipe

I’d like to present to you my mom’s favorite dish to prepare. Today you will taste the savoring spices, and flavor of the traditional Mexican Salsa Roja. If you enjoy eating chips and salsa while watching your favorite TV show, or simply while you wait for your food at a Mexican restaurant, then you will love Chilaquiles.

Enjoy the Recipe. This Chilaquiles recipe has been passed down by my mom’s great grandmother. In mexico my grandmother would cook for her family, and always used a big pot. We laugh every time we see pictures of my grandmother in the kitchen with her big pot, because it is twice her size.

Maria Escobedo ‘s Salsa Roja (Red Sauce) Chilaquiles.

Recipe:

  • 12 Tortillas (My mom uses Guerrero White Corn Tortillas.) You can use any type of tortillas you want, but it must be Corn Tortillas.
  • 6 Red bell peppers, (you may use any type of pepper you want ex: Green peppers.) 
  • 3 tomatoes 
  • Mazola Corn Oil (Any cooking oil you’d like.)
  • One Whole Onion
  • Cacique Ranchero, Queso Fresco.
  • Garlic 
  • Salt
  • Oregano 

Step-By-Step Cooking Tutorial: 

Step 1: Cut up the 12 Tortillas into wedges.  My mom recommends pretending like you are cutting the tortillas into dipping chips. 

Step 2: (The Traditional Part) Time to make the Salsa Roja (Red chili sauce) 

  • You will need; Cilantro, Red Bell Peppers, Garlic, Onion, and Lime. 
  • Step 1: Chop up 2 Red Bell Peppers. (Or use Chile De Arbol, My mom recommends this tree pepper, to add intensity to your Chilaquiles. Careful, this spice is spicy!!)
  • Step 2: Cut up ¼ cup of cilantro, and 1 clove of garlic, then add a little squeeze of lime. 
  • Step 3: Prepare a pot to boil,  sprinkle 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and dump your prepared salsa ingredients into the pot, and boil for 6-10 minutes on medium heat. 
  • Step 4: After your salsa ingredients are boiled, pull out your salsa blender, 

(Make sure to have a designated salsa blender, because you do not want to be tasting red salsa on your morning smoothies.) 

Add the Boiled Ingredients into the blender, and blend blend blend. Boom, you have Salsa Roja Ready to use. Enjoy with caution, your tongue may explode. (Just Joking.)

Step 3:  Prepare a pan filled with ¼ cup of Mazola Corn OIl, then heat up the oil on medium heat. After 5 minutes, add a quarter of the tortilla wedges into the Oil pan. 

Step 4: Every 5-6 minutes while the tortillas are fyring, make sure to take them out, place them on a Perforated Pan, let the oil drip away, while you sprinkle salt on the Tortilla wedges. You can add onions, or any toppings of your choice during this step. 

Step 5: Once the tortilla wedges are fried to your liking, add your salsa into the pan, and mix it in. The tortilla wedges will turn into a red color, then heat them up on medium heat for 5 minutes. 

Step 6: You are ready to taste the delicious chilaquiles. Yummm!

Now, time for dessert! Checkout our fellow classmates Arroz Con Leche for a delicious treat.

Make sure to add these to your shopping cart, on your next visit to the grocery store. 100% Mexican flavor that will add a genuine taste of flour.

Categories
Food & Beverage Mother's Day Cook-off

Mama Reina’s Arroz Con Leche

A Mother’s Day Special

Authentic Salvadorian Rice Pudding

For as long as I can remember, my mother has been my source of inspiration for life advice, fashion, and homemaking. Born and raised in the tropics of El Salvador, my mother has mastered the art of embracing new traditions while still paying homage to her home’s heritage. In a true matriarch fashion, she has kept old traditions alive by passing down her inherited knowledge to the generations after her. As age inevitably approaches all of us, the importance of maintaining cultural traditions only becomes more imperative.

My mother Reina photographed at a family event—circa 1990’s.

During my coming of age, it was only natural for me to learn about the traditions that came before me, and those that will continue to exist after me. One of the most precious forms of tradition that has been passed down to me was learning how to make my mother’s arroz con leche (rice pudding). This divine confection is considered a specialty in my household—only making appearances during major holidays such as Christmas, New Years, and most recently—Mother’s Day. Enjoyed warm or cold, this traditional Salvadorian dessert is a treat reminiscent of the culture in Central America.

Arroz con leche (rice pudding) garnished with cinnamon and lemon zests.

Although I was not born in the motherland of my parents, I still find myself craving a deeper connection to the ancestors that came before me. As I become more integrated into the culture of my generation, I become worried that I am losing touch with my ancestral roots. In order to restore my sense of connection, I have found delight in learning traditional family recipes from the best chef I know: my mother. 

Before she can begin her cooking tutorials, my mother finds herself immersed in memories of the past by sharing stories from her childhood in El Salvador. I enjoy listening to these tales in order to gain insight of the lifestyle in El Salvador—although in my humble opinion, this small tropical country deserves to be seen rather than described:

Views of El Salvador captured via drone.

Besides my own family’s cooking, I also enjoy finding new recipes to add to my own personal cookbook. I recently learned how to make sauce from scratch after reading about the Norris Family Marinara Sauce Recipe. (Which has since been added to my cookbook—and it should be on yours, too.)

Passing down family recipes is not just a nostalgic pastime—it allows us to honor our culture in the best way possible: by immortalizing a connection to our ancestors. Families across the world embark in this shared tradition to preserve their ancestral roots, and to create everlasting memories—one home cooked meal at a time.

Recipe card for arroz con leche (rice pudding).

Ingredients

  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup white rice
  • 1 cup milk
  • 14 oz evaporated milk
  • 7 oz condensed milk
  • cinnamon sticks
  • pinch of salt
  • lemon zest (optional)
  • ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions

  1. Boil 2 cups of water in a pot under high heat.
  2. Add 1 stick of cinnamon to boiling water.
  3. Once water comes to a simmer, add 1 cup of white rice.
  4. Allow ingredients to simmer for 10-15 minutes; stir occasionally.
  5. Check that rice has absorbed water, then add 1 cup of milk. (Use dairy-free milk as a substitution.)
  6. Add 14 oz of evaporated milk and 7 oz of condensed milk. Continue stirring to prevent rice from sticking to pot.
  7. While stirring, add a pinch of salt. (Optional: toss in a zest of lemon for flavor.)
  8. Do a taste test for sweetness; add more condensed milk if necessary for a sweeter flavor.
  9. Allow pot to boil for 10-15 minutes while stirring occasionally until rice becomes soft.
  10. Remove lemon zest. Check rice and lower heat until ready to be served.
  11. (Optional: garnish dish with a dash of ground cinnamon for an extra kick of flavor!)

From my family to yours, enjoy a traditional Salvadorian dessert with your loved ones this Mother’s Day.

Categories
Mother's Day Cook-off

Cóctel de Camarón Recipe

Every year for my birthday my mother always makes me one of my favorites, Cóctel de Camarón, which is a Mexican Shrimp Cocktail. For all of my brothers birthdays and I she asks us what we want to eat and makes us our favorites. From all of my brothers, I am the only one that likes it besides my mother and my father.  

Every time for my birthday that she’d prepare the Cóctel de Camarón it was us two eating it together. I like to add Valentina on mine to add some spiciness and more delicious flavor. I also like to grab a saltine cracker, some people like to eat it with tostadas and dip it in the Cóctel de Camarón, bite it and eat some Cóctel de Camarón. I love the flavor of the shrimp with the avocado and cucumber. Just by thinking about it, my mouth waters, so let’s get started with the recipe. 

🄸🄽🄶🅁🄴🄳🄸🄴🄽🅃🅂:

For the Cóctel de Camarón:

  • 1 pot 
  • 1 bowl
  • 1 pound large uncooked shrimp 
  • About 3 cups of water for cooking the shrimp
  • ½ of a ketchup bottle
  • 2 cucumbers diced
  • 1 chile serrano diced
  • 4 small tomatoes diced if large then 2 tomatoes
  • ⅓ cup of a diced white onion 
  • ½ of  a cilantro chopped
  • 3 large avocados diced
  • Juice of 2 lemons 
  • Salt to taste
  • Saltine crackers or tostadas

To Serve:

  • Original Premium Saltine Crackers or Tostadas
  • Ladle
  • You can choose from the below:
    • Plate
    • Glass Cup
    • Wine Glass 

Optional:

  • Valentina or Tapatio Hot Sauce to taste

🄳🄸🅁🄴🄲🅃🄸🄾🄽🅂:

  1. Wash the shrimp, peel, and clean them if did not buy them peeled or cleaned
  2. Then add 3 cups of water to the shrimp in a pot
  3. Add salt to taste to boil in a pot in medium heat until cooked and they are soft and turn pink
  4. Once the shrimp is boiled to a good pinkish color and soft, let it cool  (do not drain you will need the water)
  5. Dice cucumbers, chile serrano, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and avocados 
  6. In a large bowl, combine all of the diced ingredients which are: cucumbers, chile serrano, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, avocados
  7. To the pot of shrimp add the ingredients from the bowl
  8. Add lemon juice with half of the bottle of Ketchup 
  9. Taste for salt, if needed add more 
  10. Serve with saltine crackers or tostadas

And there you have it, you can use a ladle or regular spoon to scoop some in a plate, a cup or to make it even fancier in a wine glass. Now, take a bite of a saltine cracker with some of the Mexican Shrimp Cocktail and enjoy! Make it as many times as you like!

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Student Life at VC Uncategorized

The Added Values of Memories

Building new happy memories is essential to our mental health. They build bonds in our relationships. Building new happy memories builds strength upon our identity. Some of our strongest memories we hold onto are our first time experiences. If its a bad experience then we avoid ever doing it again, but if its a good experience then we do it over again. Some go as far as taking the activity that created the positive memory and making it a hobby and in some cases a business.

According to Health.USNews.COM several benefits are related to good positive nostalgic memories. They are the following.

  1. Mood booster – A mood boost is an action, activity that helps fortify against depression, stress and anxiety. Could possibly lower PTSD episodes.

2. Triggers inspiration and motivation – Inspiration is mental stimulation that evokes you to do something creative. Motivation is a process that creates and maintains goal-oriented behavior.

3. Provides glimpse of your authentic self – as we peel back the onion layers to ourselves we become our best versions of ourselves. It is called our authentic self because this is where our words and actions match our core identity.

4. Can help with problem-solving – Identifying, prioritizing, and coming up with a slew of solutions is something we humans naturally do. Without this we are under stimulated and we don’t grow maturely.

5. Helps you handle tough situations in healthier ways – This is how we build our resilience. this creates healthy empathy and altruism meaning the desire to selflessly act for a greater good. One of our strongest acts of compassion as human beings.

6. Can give a greater sense of meaning in your life – A healthy foundation for our approaches to life.

7. Improves relationships – Adding up and combining our six previous listed benefits ultimately lead to healthier, happier relationships which create more grand memories which we then gain more of these seven incremental benefits. Think of it as a positive snowball effect.

I would love it if you, the reader were to participate in a mental health exercise or game rather that I came up with. It’s called “The Adventure Date Challenge”. The rules are simple. Go on a date. It could be with your life partner, a family member or even a pet. You get to set the tone. Visit all four places in the picture below and take a selfie, hashtag your photos with #VCSocialADC and in the comments below share with us your best experience because we love to hear about how you seized the day.

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Student Life at VC

Mental Health Awareness Month is Coming in May

According to the NIMH, 1 in 4 Americans suffer from a mental health illness. Young adults between the age of 18-25, have the highest mental health rate of 30.6%

How Do you Know if you are not Mentally Well?

  • Excessive paranoia, worry, or anxiety.
  • Long-lasting sadness or irritability.
  • Extreme changes in moods.
  • Social withdrawal.
  • Dramatic changes in eating and sleeping pattern.

What Causes Mental Health Disorders?

  • Genes and family history
  • Life experiences, stress, history of abuse, especially during childhood
  • Biological factors and chemical imbalances
  • A mother’s exposure to viruses or toxic chemicals while pregnant
  • Traumatic brain injury

What Could Happen if Mental Health Goes Untreated?

  • Unnecessary disability Unemployment
  • Substance abuse
  • Homelessness
  • Incarceration
  • Suicide
  • Poor quality of life

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Student Life at VC

2022 Graduation Gift Guide: Top 10 Must-Haves for College Grads

It’s the moment we have all been waiting for: graduation season has approached us and it’s time to commemorate the graduating class of 2022! Whether they studied virtually or in-person, earning a diploma or degree is a significant academic achievement for many students—and they deserve to be celebrated accordingly. As this chapter in a student’s journey comes to an end, friends and family can show their support by gifting a college grad with something that they need. The best gifts are often the sentimental kind—but when in doubt, gift cards are on everyone’s wish list.

How will you be congratulating the scholar in your life? VC Social has researched the top 10 must-haves for the graduating class of 2022—starting at $25. Keep scrolling to find the best gift ideas for the graduate in your life. (Listed by price: lowest to highest.)

1. “We’re Not Really Strangers” Card Game $25

We’re Not Really Strangers Card Game—Target

The best ice-breaker for grad parties and hosting game nights with friends. Warning: be prepared for deep questions!

2. Custom Graduate Frame $35

2022 Custom Graduation Tassel Frame—Things Remembered

The best sentimental gift money can buy: a custom frame to celebrate the graduate. Consider pairing this gift with a diploma frame too!

3. JBL Go 3 Portable Speaker $29.95-39.95

JBL Go 3: Portable Bluetooth Speaker—Amazon

A pocket-sized speaker for a grad on-the-go. For under $50, this little boombox will bring the party to any gathering.

4. Instant Qt Mini Vortex Air Fryer $49.99

Instant – 2Qt Vortex Mini Air Fryer—Best Buy

Give the gift of quick and easy meals with a mini air fryer. This compact air fryer is budget friendly and will be sure to inspire more home cooked meals!

5. Alumni Merch $59.98

Ventura College Champion Hoodie—Ventura College Bookstore

Alumni merch and college apparel are great gifts for nostalgic graduates that want to showcase their school spirit. Support the alumni’s school by purchasing directly through the school’s website or bookstore.

6. Vankyo Mini Projector $69.99

Vankyo L430 720p Projector—Target

Movie nights at home will never be the same thanks to this mini projector. This tech gift is ideal for stay-at-home enthusiasts.

7. LaCie Rugged Mini 1TB Hard Drive $79.99

LaCie Rugged Mini 1TB Hard Drive—Staples

For the tech-savvy graduate: a hard drive is a very useful tool for organizing digital data—during and post-college!

8. Samsonite Slim Backpack $99.99

Business Slim Backpack—Samsonite

A polished laptop bag for the graduate’s next professional journey.

9. Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 Instant Camera $130

Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 Instant Camera—Urban Outfitters

In an instant, the graduate can document their best memories with this nostalgic camera (including receiving this gift). Say cheese!

10. Apple AirPods Max $469

Apple AirPods Max—Best Buy

Now presenting the hottest gift of 2022: Apple’s new AirPods Max. Ranging in 5 different colors, these headphones are a fan favorite— your graduate will be sure to get good use out of these!

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Uncategorized

How to Save the Earth while Shopping !

By : Evelyn Nunez

Vendors at Streets of Vintage

How can shopping at a flea market help us save the earth? Our carbon foot print makes a huge difference and if we can shop locally it can help not only the earth but help our community. When we think of flea markets, we think of them far away. LA flea markets are one of the best because vendors from all SoCal come to see what they offer.

What is Streets of Vintage ? It is a local vintage store in Oxnard, they offer clothing from different sizes and styles. They developed the flea market during the pandemic. Within the short period, they created a great community within Oxnard

Vendors at Streets of Vintage

Helping the earth does not always mean to recycle or to buy something to change a habit. It can easily be something we can do in our community. As an Oxnard local , challenge yourself come and walk here, don’t use your car! If you’re not from here, take public transportation to reduce your carbon foot print ! You don’t drive or too young? It can be simple as bringing your own bag or following the vendor online through their social media account.

For more information, please listen to our latest podcast where I talk about the vendors and their other locations!

Snapper Jack's Taco Shack VC Social

Snapper Jacks Taco Shack is currently celebrating their 25th anniversary. They offer a mix of Mexican and seafood from three different locations. These locations are in Venture, Camarillo and Thousand Oaks. With a wide variety of items on their menu, and nine different savory salsas to spice up any item on the menu at their salsa bar. In this episode we dive right into the core of customer experience—from the ocean-themed ambiance to the enticing sound of fresh fish cooking on the grill to welcoming smiles, the relaxed beach-town vibe, or the ideal Baja-style taco, which embodies the Snapper Jack’s, accompanied by positive vibes.Jana SinsonVC Social: About MeInstagram: @_jxnxmxysnJazlyn PonceVC Social: About MeInstagram: @jazlyn_p
  1. Snapper Jack's Taco Shack
  2. For Your Review – Future Stars
  3. Tender Is The Flesh – Bookclub Podcast
  4. Glow Up Diaries
  5. DYI Raised flower bed