One of the tips I gave in my last blog was to try new things such as foods! Not only did I try some – I ended up making a few myself. Since I didn’t have classes to worry about, I decided to worry about some yummy meals. Not too bad of a trade-off! Below I’ll show you three of the different foods I made for my family and friends. Panes de Pollo (a hot chicken sandwich): Fun fact: my family is from El Salvador and Guatemala. Panes de pollo is a traditional dish from El Salvador and we typically eat it during Christmas. It’s braised chicken with tomatoes and onions on French bread you can get from a bakery. It’s then topped with potatoes, hard boiled eggs, radishes, repollo (similar to a coleslaw), tomato sauce, and a yellow sauce. This wasn’t my first time making the dish but it was my first time doing it alone. Happy to say the reviews were great! Chupe de Camarones (Shrimp Soup): This is originally a Peruvian dish but I put a twist to it. But I can’t tell my secrets! It has shrimp, yucca, vegetables, cheese, and Peruvian corn known as choclo. I made it twice – once for my friends (one of them is actually from Peru) and the other time for my dad’s side of the family. Growing up my grandmother made this all the time and I’m more than glad to say I got her approval and my Peruvian friend as well! Bacon Wrapped Jalapeños These are an all-time favorite! My brother wants them every year for Thanksgiving. In fact, he’s leaving to boot camp for the Marines in April so over break I thought to myself “you know what let me do something nice for him”. He came with me to the grocery store and realized all of the ingredients I was getting. It’s stuffed with vegetable cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. Pretty simple! That smile stayed on his face til he finished almost all of them! Good luck this semester! As always, thanks for reading and ‘til next time! 🙂