things I love: part 12

Sheet Pan Nachos

The best, easiest, most satisfying dinner. Here's how you do it, Rachel-style:

First you lay down chips (ideally Casa Sanchez thick & crispy) in a layer. For the two of us, we use a small baking pan. Sprinkle a small layer of monterey or pepper jack on the chips, then I put some chopped red peppers on top. Now for meat - we’ve done shredded chicken with taco seasoning (or if you can find pepper plant seasoning, use that with the meat) or ground chicken the same way (my fave). OR skip meat! Heat up refried beans briefly with some milk to get them to soften, and put them in a plastic Ziplock and cut the tip to squeeze it out semi-evenly on the chips! Over the meat/beans, layer green chilis, salsa verde, Cholula and black olives with more shredded cheese all over that. Bake at 375 until the cheese looks melted and glorious. Spoon avocado over it + squeeze sour cream or greek yogurt over the top as you did with the beans. And there you have it! Sheet pan 'chos!

Gus' Community Market

AH!!! We have a real FULL grocery store in the Outer Sunset and my lord, it is glorious. I love that Gus' is family-owned and operated and I'm so excited for myself, my neighbors and especially the workers that we no longer need to shimmy past each other through tiny aisles anymore. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Noriega Produce has moved to 44th + Noriega and is now a full-service grocery store. Gus' is offering a meat counter, cheese counter, smoothies, açaí bowls (tested, and approved by me!), a sandwich bar, a crazy large beer/wine/ice cream selection, beautiful produce, and so much more. Swing by!

Beach Pants

A fellow yogi enlightened me and showed me these cotton blend, comfortable pants from our local surf shop, Mollusk. Now that we're almost at a year in work-from-home mode, I'm only putting on jeans for special occasions, so I wanted an alternative to yoga pants for my daily wear, that make me feel semi put together. Enter: Mollusk beach pants. They have versions for men and women, but the guy at the surf shop says men sometimes wear the women's versions anyway? Big fan.

things I love: part 11

Ocean Beach Cold Plunge

I'm someone who goes waist-deep max in cold water, but when a fellow yoga teacher invited me to plunge for our teacher's birthday, I roped in another yogi and off we went! I was terrified to be honest, which made me secretly wish it would get cancelled but at the same time, the fear fueled me to want to get in there and conquer my fear - plus, these days we can all use things to make us feel a little more alive! It hailed in San Francisco early Friday morning so I was even more nervous to jump in sans-wetsuit into chilly Ocean Beach, but (thank you warm sun) it was incredible. If you feel even remotely curious about what a cold plunge feels like, sucker in some friends and run full speed in there! I felt so alive, exhilarated and joyful. I hear it's good for the immune system too, so I count it overall as a win-win-win. Pro-tip, have hot coffee ready for you after, as well as some giant sweats to cozy up in after you get out.

Steep Ravine to Dipsea Trail Hike

A lovely 3.6 mile loop with beautiful redwoods, ocean views at the top and fun terrain featuring waterfalls and streams. It has stairs (some aggressive inclines) and a ladder you have to climb down if you start at Pantoll like we did. We saw some folks with young kids and small dogs - I might not recommend bringing them or grandma along, but overall it's a moderate hike and we truly enjoyed it.

Hook Fish Co. Proof Lab Beer Garden

Most people are aware of Hook Fish by Ocean Beach - pre-pandemic the line was insane. It was a destination for most to make their way out west by the beach where we live. While the location in the Outer Sunset is great and has some seating, the Mill Valley Location by Proof Lab has THE best beer garden. Perfect after the hike listed above! The blackened fish sandwich is hands down my favorite, they have a great beer selection and their fries are to die for. Hook Fish truly cares about where their fish comes from, who catches it and that what they serve is fresh and it shows.

things I love: part 10

Drumroll please... I bring you... more food!

Nothing Fancy

We got this cookbook for Christmas and it has easily become one of my favorites. I think Alison Roman is a genius + if I had to pick a favorite recipe out of this, I truly love the Labneh dip (sooo good) but the hands down favorite is the Frizzled Chickpeas with Feta + Oregano recipe. My boyfriend who hates onions loves it and it has a LOT of onions in it - yet, they're SO crispy, as are the chickpeas. Big. Fan. Try your best to share this, as it's easy to eat the entire thing and then you'll find yourself a full can of chickpeas deep with a stomach ache. Spring for the nice feta, by the way (Valbreso French feta from Whole Foods is our go-to). It's worth it. Oh, and add shallots!

Jeune

Natural wine, delivered to your door! I got a recommendation to check this company out from a fellow yoga teacher and I'm an instant fan. It's reasonable and allows you to have a super fun mail day once a month while exposing you to natural wines that will make your evenings home a little more decadent.

San Francisco Botanical Gardens

So this past Monday was MLK Day, which meant most people had the day off of work, which meant most people fled to a park or the beach. Eager to get in on some of that sunshine + distanced hangs with friends, we were part of that "flee outside" crowd. While we live by the beach, our friends we had plans with don't so the idea of them fighting for parking didn't seem enticing, nor did the beach restrooms. Enter, SF Botanical Gardens! They are spacious, beautiful, have a lot to explore, clean restrooms, water refill stations + you can pass the line if you reserve a free ticket (SF residents). A friend of mine dropped this idea on us all and while I wanted to hit the beach, it turned out to be the best situation on a busy park/beach holiday Monday as everyone's searching for space and sun. I plan to go back to wander and check out all of the lovely corners and greenery very soon.