Jaleinda's Kitchen

    It's a calm Tuesday evening in the JKA apartments, laughter and the clatter of pans can be heard from the hallways of the third floor. The smell of seasoned chicken, lime, and onions fill the air, while small bowls of cheese, lettuce, and sauce are being spread across the gray countertop in the kitchen. Yes you guessed it, it is Taco night! Taco Tuesday is a serious holiday in our household. One of my roommates, Jaleinda Thompson, always prepares a feast for my friends and I. As we sit around the living room, laptops in hand working on our assignments, laughing and talking amongst each other, the sound of Spanish music can be heard in the background. "Okay chicas, dig in!" Jaleinda shouts as she puts out napkins and plates. One by one we all scurry to the kitchen to prepare our tacos. Our mouths watering at the sight and smell of the delicious food, we all sang and created our tacos. Hard shells and soft shells are seen on a warm pan in the center of the table, while small clear bowls of cilantro, cut up lime, diced tomatoes, chopped onions, shredded lettuce, and bottles of mild taco sauce surround the counter. 

    As we gather in the living room, each of us takes a seat on the blue couch, two brown chairs, and the white furry bean bag. Only the sound of the crunching of tacos are heard as we enjoy our meal. My two other roommates as well as our friends came up with the bright idea that Jaleinda should start selling her platters. No other person on campus sells cultured platters and who wouldn't appreciate a good home cooked meal? As time went by Jaleinda created her own small business known as Jaleinda's Kitchen. She has made a series of platters like birria tacos, rice and chicken, steak and mash potatoes, chicken alfredo, pasta, and more. She has received over 40 customers and her business just keeps growing. 

    When asked where her passion for cooking came from, Jaleinda exclaims with a smile on her face, "my mother has taught me how to cook when I was younger, I've cooked our meals for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, it has always been my comfort hobby." Before every platter Jaleinda makes, she puts on music using the blue J flip speaker, washes her hands over the steel sink, and hums in a light pitched voice as she prepares her ingredients. Her attire while cooking has always been the same, curly light brown hair in a ponytail with a variety of different color exercise shorts with a tank top. Jaleinda has a weekly menu where you have the choice between two different dishes. The price always depends on the items on the menu, but generally range from $12 to $20.

    Jaleinda's work space is always organized, after every meal she prepares, she washes each dish, cleans the counters, puts away her ingredients in the brown cabinets above the stove, and organizes her leftovers in the fridge. Her availability is from Monday to Thursday, "As in every Spanish household, my kitchen is closed on weekends" Jaleinda chuckles. Till this day, Jaleinda has not received a bad review on her cooking. Her prices are reasonable and she always makes sure to put a generous amount in her platters, so that every customer can have leftovers for another day. She wraps each dish in aluminum foil and in glitter lettering writes down the name of the customer. Deliveries in our apartment suite are always free as our roommates love to help deliver. However, customers outside of the JKA apartments have to pay a fee of $3 for us to travel and deliver to them. 

    When asking the public so far what has their favorite meal been, Jaleinda states " I would have to say my birria tacos have definitely been my favorite meal to make as well as my best selling meal." On a good day she gets a total of 20 orders and starts preparing from 8 am until 6pm where each meal is

ready to be delivered. Each week, she makes a poll on Instagram where she connects with her customers and posts 2 options of what they would like the next week's menu to be. Jaleinda reminisces about how much her business has grown. 

    "To think I started out with just making food for our girl's nights in the apartment to now having wonderful random people eat my food is amazing. I am very grateful for this opportunity and so proud of how I have put myself out there." Jaleinda cries. 

    

    Jaleinda Thompson hopes to inspire other people throughout campus to put themselves out there and do what they love. "There will always be people who want to see you fail or don't want to support you because their friends don't want to, but there are also great people in this school that will support you no matter what and will do everything in their power to see you grow and flourish. Do not give up on your dreams, it is only the beginning." Jaleinda states.