Do you remember all the great commercials on TV when we were kids?  Okay, maybe I’m dating myself by admitting this but every commercial had a catchy tune to it in the 80’s. “I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys R Us kid” or for you local Angelinos “Go see Cal, go see Cal, go see Cal.”  Then there was, “I’m a pepper, he’s a pepper, she’s a pepper, we’re a pepper, wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too?” Ahhh memories…..

The one song that has taken up residence in my mind lately is that old ditty for milk….. “Milk it does, Milk it does the body, Milk it does the body GOOD, pass it on….What you say?  Pick you up anytime of the day.”  These are words I lived by growing up and I want to make sure my 2 year old son does too.  Milk is already a sure fire hit with him, he drinks 3 to 4 servings of milk daily in his sippy cup.  At a certain point I have to draw the line and incorporate milk in some other form.  What does a mom do?  Make Arroz con leche of course (Mexican rice pudding).   I certainly ate my share as a young girl and still do. Today I introduced arroz con leche for the first time to my boy and the results were better than great.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley and Mando Lopez

Ingredients for arroz con leche:

4 – cups water

2 – cinnamon sticks

1 – tablespoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 – long grain rice

1 1/2 – cups whole milk

1/2 – cup raisins

1 – 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 – teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a medium sauce pan (with a lid) over a medium high flame add water, cinnamon sticks and vanilla.  Bring to a boil. Then add rice and mix well, bring water to a boil again.

   Once boiling lower flame to low/simmer and cover pan with lid.  Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from flame.

In a separate sauce pan heat milk and raisins over a low flame for 8 minutes.

Once rice is fully cooked add warm milk/raisins and mix well.

Last add the sweetened condensed milk and ground cinnamon. Mix well.

Serve warm or place in the refrigerator over night and enjoy cold. Either way works.

I’m so thrilled by my arroz con leche. The fact that my son is loving it leads me to share this news with the Master of the Glass Half Full, Simon Felix.  Lets find him on facebook here.  Or get really wild and tweet him on twitter here.  He brings great positivity into my life day after day, I think he’ll be pleased to hear this milk report.  Who knows? Maybe he’ll let other friends know about this arroz con leche recipe… A mom can only hope.

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor’s Board and Latina Mom Bloggers. The recipe and opinions are my own. 

What an exciting time!  The “Master of the Glass Half Full” (pictured above dressed in white) has befriended me and I am thrilled  to help him circulate his message as a “positivity ambassador.”  The Master of the Glass Half Full is a positivity guru on a mission to spread the philosophy of positivity across California.  I don’t know how he found me.  I think  a friend of a friend told him all about me and how much I love drinking milk.  He mentioned a gal told him how I was a firm believer in drinking  a warm glass of milk before I go to bed every night for a sound sleeping experience.  I guess she knew I need my 8 hours of sleep  in order to keep up with my emphatic  joie de vivre.  He then told me to start drinking 3 glasses a day, it makes for a pretty smile. All that calcium builds strong teeth and prevents cavities.  Now I could continue smiling all day long… a form of positivity.

Do you know the story of the Master of the Glass Half Full?  Let me give it to you in a nutshell.  Basically this guy, his real name is Simon Felix, was madly in love and the relationship went south.  His poor heart was shattered into smithereens.  Needless to say he had a hard time seeing life through rose colored lenses after that.  Best said he was now a pessimist.  One day he set out to leave his home town of San Mateo, California in search of self discovery.  During these travels he met an old wise sage.  The sage noticed his negative outlook on life, and decided he needed an uplifting change. The wise sage gave Simon Felix an old box, when he looked inside there was a crystal glass and a note that read “fill this glass with milk.” He followed the instructions and no matter how much milk he poured the glass never filled to the top, and once he started drinking out of the glass it never emptied pass the half way mark. It was permanently half full. The message became clear he would never see the world as half empty again because his glass was always Half Full!  The rest is history in the making. Simon Felix became the MASTER OF THE GLASS HALF-FULL, and is here in California to sprinkle his positivity all over the land.  Follow him on twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.

Let me show you my new friend.

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor’s Board and Latina Mom Bloggers.