Everybody loves a giveaway…. including me! I have a favor to ask…. would you be willing to fill out this easy 10 question survey in exchange for a chance to win a $50 Walmart gift card? If the answer is YES…. simply CLICK HERE, answer the questions, and submit.

THE RULES:

1. In order to qualify… you must list presleyspantry.com as the site that referred you to take the survey (question #1 of the survey).
2. When you have completed taking the survey…. Come back to Presley’s Pantry and leave your name in the comment section below.
3. A winner will be chosen on Oct. 9th 2014 at 11:00p.m. PST. from the names listed below.
4. Thank you in advance.

I have heard every last story there is to hear about the days when Los Angeles had a proper football team.  My fiancé relives the one event of him (he was 8 years old at the time) actually meeting John Madden (Raider’s Head Coach) while on a family vacation in Vegas right after The Raiders had won the super bowl and has the picture to prove it, as it now hangs proudly in our home.  He reminisces the days when he was a young man going to see his beloved Raiders at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and getting there two hours ahead of game time to tailgate in the parking lot with his Dad and friends.  He says they had a small portable bar-b-q and used to make carne asada quesadillas right on the grill before the kickoff, and always finished the story with the how great taste the charcoal gave the meat.  If you live in Los Angeles, then you know the grief many football fans face with no team to represent the massive metropolis that is The City of Angels. Football fans call it a travesty.

With the Fall season brings football season back on the tube every Sunday and Monday night, we have been inviting people over to watch the games.  This past weekend I was at Walmart shopping for snacks to entertain our guests when I came across an entire aisle of small portable bar-b-ques ($21.00) and piles of Kingsford charcoal (twin pack $13.38)  I quickly thought about my fiance’s stories of tailgating and how it would be fun to recreate those moments at home with a small charcoal bar-b-q.  When I saw how reasonably priced the charcoal and the BBQ pit were I grabbed them and hurried over to the meat section in search of some thin cut steak to make carne asada quesadillas.  Of course I found exactly  what I was looking for, high quality 100% beef that’s 100% guaranteed.

The home tailgate was such a welcomed surprise by my fiancé and of course all our guests loved the steak (carne asada) quesadillas.  It was the next best thing to actually being in the parking lot.

Now that I got my portable grill and lots of Kingsford charcoal I found a bunch of additional recipes and tips on how to up my game on Walmart.com.

What you’ll need for steak quesadillas:

• a small portable grill
• a bag of Kingsford charcoal
• thinly sliced sirloin tip steak
• salt, pepper, garlic powder, and /or chile powder
• flour tortillas
• grated jack, queso quesadilla or Oaxaca cheese
• chiles – red peppers or jalapenos

Directions:

1. Fill grill with charcoal. 
2. Then follow lighting directions on the bag of charcoal.
3. Allow charcoal to turn white (hot) and ready to grill. 
4. Lightly season meat with spices.
5. Place grilling rack on top of hot charcoals using a thong.
6. Place meat on grill and cook on one side until the blood rises on top of the meat (about 4 to 5 minutes). 
7. Now is a good time to add the chiles to the grill as well and cook on each side until charred.
8. Flip the meat over and cook until cooked all the way through (about 2 to 3 minutes). 
9. Remove meat from grill and cut into long strips. Remove chiles from the grill and place to the side.
10. Fold a flour tortilla in half and stuff with grated cheese.
11. Place directly on the grill and cook on each side until cheese melts. 
12. Remove from grill and stuff with strips of meat. Cut in half.
13. Serve with charred chile and a bowl of guacamole!
14. Up your game and enjoy.

I have a friend who is getting married in a couple of weeks and asked me to make a fancy appetizer for her bridal shower.  She said she wanted something super tasty, simple, in season, and then she threw in the words “elegant and stylized.”  I pondered this idea for a while and wondered what I could come up with.  I never want to disappoint a bride, especially in her glorious moments of celebration.  My thinking cap was running on overdrive when the idea of grapes crossed my mind.  Grapes are in season and super tasty right now, that was all I needed to get the ball rolling.  I started looking around my local markets for grapes.  I’m the type of person that will pick a grape from the package before I purchase a bag, clean it on my clothes, and plop it in my mouth to measure how sweet they are.  I walked into Walmart and lo and behold was a huge display of grapes.  I ran over and scanned the wide variety they had…. seedless, organic, table, seeds, champagne, green, red, and black.  Hmmmm, choices.  I settled on black seedless grapes, not only would they add a pretty color to my appetizer, but they were the most flavorful.

I personally love grapes paired with nice cheese and must admit to eating that combo quite often while I work or watch television. But I wouldn’t be any kind of friend if I just plated the two and served them that way.  Once I was back in my kitchen I started to experiment with cheese and grapes…. here’s what I came up with.  I pinched a bit of goat cheese and patted it flat in my hand, then carefully rolled the grape in the center of the cheese till it was fully encased, then I encrusted it in chopped pistachios for a wonderful little nibble. That’s it, 3 ingredients and the brides wishes were met!

Ingredients for grape goat cheese pistachio nibbles:

• black seedless grapes
• goat cheese
• shelled pistachios (chopped)

Directions:

1. Rinse and dry grapes.
2. Remove each grape from stem/vine.
3. Take a teaspoon of goat cheese and pat it in the palm of your hand to create a flat surface.
4. Place a grape in the center.
5. Then carefully roll the cheese around the entire grape until fully covered.
6. Place covered cheese grapes on a plate and store in fridge while you work on all the other grapes. 
7. Chop pistachios.
8. Then roll each grape in chopped pistachios to coat. 
9. Enjoy! 

And if the recipe is not enough for you grape lovers…. here is a quick video on how to make grape jelly in 30 seconds:

My day starts at the crack of dawn these days, it seems my heart has it’s own race going on and it is pumping full of energy the second I open my eyes.  I’m ready to go with a million things passing through my mind of what needs to get done. I’m not sure if it is the adjustment of my son going to school, or if I have decided to really make the most of my time. I think it may be a little of both. With that said I am going to make the slow cooker my new friend and have it do most of the work for me so I could get other stuff done. Take something as easy as a pot roast and think of all the possibilities that can come from a pot roast turned to shredded beef. First and foremost I think of a shredded beef torta with a little au jus from the meat soaked into a fresh bolillo…. oh yeah…. I’ll let my mind ponder that for a while. Then I could turn that pot into a plate of machaca for breakfast, or a quick plate of soft tacos for lunch. I’ll have something on hand to feed my son when he comes home from school. I’m telling you my mind is everywhere these days, but the one thing I don’t have to think about is where I’m going to be able to get all of these ingredients for this recipe, because I already know the answer…. Walmart.

Ingredients for shredded beef tortas:

• 4 to 5 – garlic cloves
• 1 – onion (sliced)
• 3 to 5 – pounds chuck pot roast
• a pinch of oregano
• salt (to taste)
• pepper (to taste)
• a pinch of chile flakes
• 3 – cups beef broth
• bolillo

For directions watch the video posted above. 

“Chop, chop, chop”…  I’m singing the noise of the knife hitting the cutting board that I use for my chopped salad.  This repetitious chopping sounds like a symphony to my ears knowing a lovely salad will be stacked up high in a bowl as soon as I get it all sliced, diced, and slivered.  I’ve come to crave my salami chopped salad more then I want to admit and thus far have only made it for my immediate family.  I think it’s time to spread the lettuce wealth around and unleash it on my blog.

As you know Labor day is around the corner, and everyone I know is getting their last of the Summer Ya-ya’s out, me included!  When my family potluck sheet stumbled upon me and I was forced to pick a dish to bring way in advance, I signed up for my chopped salad. I know it can be severed as a great side with anything else that is being served, or it works well as a little appetizer, or it has enough star power to steal the whole show. Yes, I’m still talking about the salami chopped salad.  I have even made a vegetarian version for my Mom a few times.

So there you have it folks, I’m taking a chopped salad to my family Labor day potluck. Check out the recipe, you may want to chop some salad yourself.

Here’s the best part:  I can get everything I need for my most spectacular salad at Walmart. They got it all.

Ingredients for salami chopped salad:

• 1 – head iceberg lettuce (sliced thin)
• 1/2 – head purple cabbage (sliced thin)
• 1/2 – cup mozzarella cheese (grated)
• 1 – cup salami (sliced thin)
• 1/2 – cup yellow raisins
• 1/2 – cup pistachios (roughly chopped)
• 1 – peach (sliced and chopped)
• 1/4 – cup pepperoncini (sliced thin)
• 1/2 – cup green olives (chopped)
• 1/2 – cup cucumber (sliced and slivered)
• Italian dressing
• Red bell pepper (sliced into slivers)

Directions: 

1. On a large cutting board slice, chop or grate all ingredients. 
2. Place ingredients into a bowl and toss with salad tongs or with your hands.
3. Drizzle top with a little bit of italian dressing just to taste.
4. Top with red bell pepper slices. 
5. Enjoy!

For more Labor Day recipe ideas click on the links below!

• Lemony Basil Orzo Pasta Salad
• Creamy Chicken Artichoke Casserole
• Key Lime Pie
• Red White And Blueberry Angel Cake
• Mac and Cheese Deep Fried Bites
• Jack Daniel’s Smoked & Grilled Burgers
• Easy Labor Day Picnic
• Mango Chicken Skewers
• Cookie Ice Cream Bowls
• Garlic Sauteed Sugar Snap Peas
• Frozen Berry Lemonade

Set the alarm clock, it’s back to school time. Time to get all our ducks in a row and let the freedom of Summer go. I’ve been looking forward to my son going to his new school (he started Kindergarten) and feel like I’ve been preparing since spring when we found out he was excepted to one of the best schools in the entire city. Since the school was new to me and I wasn’t sure how they went about serving lunch, I starred to mentally prepare how I would approach my son’s lunchbox. I know you may find this hard to believe, but my son is a very picky eater. He likes what he likes and will not venture too far off that menu.

When I was a little girl I used to get bussed out to a school in Brentwood. Most of my peers were Jewish kids (I’d say 85%), and if I remember correctly there was a small handful of other nationalities that were driven in from the inner city (that would be me). My Mom use to pack me a lunch of quesadillas which was the complete opposite of what my friends at school used to have for lunch.  It was like a trading stock market everyday at noon for me, my fellow students would beg to trade me their cream cheese bagel or pita sandwich for my quesadillas. I did sometimes, but most of the time I had to decline their offer. I guess I was a little like my son is in the sense that I adored the melted cheese quesadilla served hot or cold. My Mom knew that was something I would definitely eat and didn’t have to worry that I would pass the day starving. I’m cut from the same cloth, and know this lunch is one my son will eat no matter what.

He started school last week, and is learning math, hand coordination for writing, simple reading, and the introduction to the 50 states. That’s a lot for a little kid (he’s still four, soon to be five), so keeping him well balanced and fueled with a nutritious lunch is key.  I found the perfect little lunch kit at Walmart. The lunch blox kit by Rubbermaid has a blue ice stand included that all the blox snap into so this keeps the lunch cold. I also happened upon The Picnic Lunch Box by Neat-Oh that carries the lunch kit perfectly inside, then transforms into a place mat when ready to eat. I knew my son was set for lunch. Plus Walmart has everything I need to pack my son a healthy yummy lunch.

Ingredients for quesadilla lunchbox:

• flour or wheat tortilla
• colby jack cheese
• turkey slice

Optional:

• pistachios (I used sweet chili flavor)
• cherries
• strawberries
• cherry tomatoes
• baby carrots
• goldfish

Directions:

1. In a pan or on a comal over a medium heat place the tortilla.
2. Break up two slices of colby jack cheese and place on half of the tortilla.
3. Then place a slice of turkey or any other sandwich meat and top with a few little pieces of cheese. 
4. Fold tortilla over to make quesadilla. 
5. Cook on each side until cheese melts and the outside is golden crisp.
6. Cut into triangles (easy for little hands to eat).
7. Fill the rest of the lunchbox with anything your kid likes. I gave a few options of what I used.
8. Enjoy!

I feel like I have been preparing for a marathon. Practicing small little jaunts, that are priming me for the big day. My son is going into kindergarten, and even though he has been in preschool for a while now, it just feels different. I have this overwhelming excitement building up in me for various reasons, but one of the main ones is our morning routine. I keep going over the basics of what needs to be done, in order to get out of the house on time and get him there ready to take on his day. This routine I’ve been planning has to be consistent and easy to attain.

1. Lay out the uniform the night before. This will take the guess work out of what he will be wearing and allow him to just focus on putting his clothes on fast.
2. Make him a healthy breakfast. I plan on making a decent batch of bacon or sausage that could last for a few days in the fridge. That way in the morning all I have to do is make an egg and put it between two pieces of toast along with a slice of cheese and the bacon for a breakfast sandwich. He is going to have to be at school all day long, and I want to make sure I send him off well balanced and prepared to take on his scholastic learnings. Plus I don’t know if he will eat at lunch time, and at least I know for sure he’ll be eating a big breakfast.
3.  Make sure he takes his daily vitamin. People have warned me when your kid goes to school he/she is sure to bring home a cluster of different illnesses (cough, cold, flu…. you name it). I am going to take an extra preventative step and make sure he is loaded up on his daily vitamin. I know it won’t keep everything at bay but I’ll take any extra assistance a gummi vitamin wants to help provide. 
4. I’ve been teaching him how to wipe down his table/desk with clorox wipes when ever he eats, or does busy work at his desk. I like the idea of keeping the space where he will spend most of his time germ free. A healthy child means “no” missing school, and a better education for him since he’ll be present. This will be part of our morning routine, having him get his backpack ready with a folder, school supplies, lunchbox and his clorox wipes, so he could wipe away while at school too. 
5. Laying down the rules. I figure I will start each morning with a little pep talk, and a schedule of what he can expect from his day. I will write down the list on a big note pad, and go over the details with him. Then I’ll give him a burst of love and send him off to school with positive energy by his side.

The best part of this routine is I’ll be able to get the uniform pants, ingredients for breakfast, daily vitamins, clorox wipes, and big note pads all from Walmart, which will make it so easy to attain my morning routine throughout the year.

Ingredients for breakfast sandwich:

• wheat english muffin
• 1- slice colby jack cheese
• bacon (cooked)
• 1/2 – teaspoon butter
• 1 – egg

Directions:

1. Toast english muffin in toaster or toaster oven until crisp.
2. Once toast is done place cheese slice on one of the toast slices.
3. Place bacon on top of cheese.
4. In a small frying pan over a medium flame add butter and allow it to melt. Coat the pan with butter.
5. In a bowl whisk the egg until scrambled.
6. Then pour egg into the small frying pan and cook on one side for 3 minutes, then flip and cook the other side for 2 minutes.
7.  Remove egg from pan and place on top of bacon. Top with remaining toast.
8. Enjoy!