I never walk places alone…. But Saturday night had me feeling brave. I was at the Dodger game with my family and naturally instagraming and tweeting my where abouts, when I got a text from a friend saying she was at the stadium as well and wanted to say “Hi.”  I couldn’t pull any of my family members from their glued seats to accompany me to walk over and meet my friend.  I thought “I’ll just go by myself, it’ll be a little adventure.”  I popped a piece of Trident Layers Wild Strawberry + Tangy Citrus chewing gum in my mouth and dashed up the stairs to the top of the field area, found the nearest stairwell and the next thing you know I was doing the seventh inning stretch with my oldest girlfriend.  It felt good to recite “take me out to the ball game” at the top of my lungs, and even better to do it in fond company.  It’s in those minutes that you feel connected and full of life.  We kissed goodbye and promised to see eachother soon.  As I walked back to my seat to meet my family, I was so high on the winning energy of the stadium and on having a moment to be silly alone…. I burst into song singing out loud not caring who could hear or who was witnessing my strut.  I pretended to be John Travolta in  “Saturday Night Fever”  singing  “You can tell by the way I use my walk I’m a woman’s man, no time to talk.”  I guess you could say I was feeling sassy.  I guess you could say it was the gum chewing and living in the moment.

I dare you to do the same, take a path you wouldn’t normally take and see what unfolds. These people here on the subway are living it up “All Night Long.”

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign by Latina Mom Bloggers and Trident.  However all opinions expressed are solely my own. 

I don’t usually drive an hour and a half out of my way in the dead of heat to visit a high school cafeteria. That’s exactly what I did last month when  I was invited to come to Arlington High School in Riverside. The Riverside school district is being labeled “The New Heros of School Lunch Cafeterias.” What does that mean exactly? I was so curious myself and had to find out.

On July 1, 2012 new standards governing the nutrition level of food served in the United States schools went into effect under the 2010 Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act.  This is where Rodney Tyler comes in, Rodney is the Director of Nutrition Services, Riverside Unified School District ( They are the 15th largest school district in California).

This man had a vision and wanted to change the way kids were eating in his district by presenting them with healthy food options, and at the same time get the district out of the 3.1 million dollar deficit it was in. He incorporated salad bars in his schools, he started buying produce (veggies and fruit) from local farmers, put a ban on foods coming out of a can in his cafeterias… fresh was the new motto, and then he hired Chef Ryan Douglas from a nearby university to come and create and oversee all the food. This was a completely different approach. People snickered and told him his plan of healthy eating would not and could not work, but Rodney just kept his goals insight of making a better lunch meal and changing the perception of school foodservice. One of the first things he incorporated to entice his students to come and eat in the cafeteria was start daily bar-b-que. He had big grills built and to this day fires up the grills about 30 minutes before the students are released for lunch. This gets the students excited about coming out to eat. It tempts them for a good 30 minutes with the aroma of bar-b-que by smelling up the campus and makes them feel like there is a celebration going on in the cafeteria. When that bell rings, the students are met with grilled bar-b-que chicken and cheeseburgers fresh off the grill (pictured at the top). Can you imagine?

Then he realized if his district was ever going to overcome child obesity they would need to address a few issues. He noticed that many of the students were unable to identify fruit in it’s natural form, but could tell you the name of canned fruits once they were chopped up. With this being a serious problem in his eyes, he decided to not only tour local farms with students but start buying local produce for the pupils to eat everyday.

When he hired Chef Ryan Douglas he asked the chef to introduce food items you wouldn’t traditionally find in a school. Ryan took that to heart and stated preparing salads and fruit platters right away. Ryan also just finshed filming a 6 episode series for the WIC program where he is teaching parents to feed their families at home on a tight budget, but still make it healthy and simple.

Yes. The Riverside School district are the New Heros of the lunch cafeteria, not only did they manage to break all the rules and introduce an awesome healthy menu to their students…. but they were also able to prove to those who thought serving healthy food and climbing out of debt at the same time couldn’t be done…. they went from a 3.1 million dollars deficit in 2002 to paying it off and now sit in 2012 with a 5.7 million dollar reserve! Raise your fork to healthy eating and Riverside!!!!!

Photos taken by: Nicole Presley

A few months ago I was having a really difficult time getting my 3 year old son Max to lay down and go to sleep at night.  I use to allow him to take these ridiculously long naps during the day because I knew he wasn’t getting enough sleep during the hours of darkness.  I was extra worried about his routine of broken sleep because I realized he was starting school and would need to be alert and functioning in order to learn.  That’s when the wires in my brain sparked and I said “No more long naps.”  From that point on I started skipping on the nap entirely or just allowed a 30 minute nap and started putting him in bed by 7pm with a warm cup of milk and a full belly.  This method worked so well for me, I still can’t believe it.  Max now sleeps 12 solid hours!  When before the most he would sleep was around 8 to 9 hours total.  That warm glass of milk is like a magic lullaby that has worked wonders for my son, and in turn,  he’s made such an incredible progress at school.

If you watch Telemundo or Univision you’ll see the cutest California Milk Board spot called “Ya es hora de ir a la cama” between 7p.m. and 9p.m. nightly, as a reminder to parents and children…. It’s Bedtime.  I love the spot so much, I just have to post it here for you all to see!

After I swooned over this spot, I could only hope my son’s nighttime REM sleep is as calming, animated, and imaginative.

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor Board and Latina Mom Bloggers. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

I usually ride the craving wave of what my body wants to eat, and 50% of the time it yearns for salad. Sometimes as a main meal and sometimes as a side. Now the same can’t be said for my son, and I’m having a difficult time introducing salad into his diet. I keep trying and looking for new ways to make this introduction a lifelong habit of his. I want to teach him young to eat healthy. Do I mix more red ingredients in the salad? Should I start with just lettuce? What if I cut all the vegetables up into cute shapes? I tell you it’s been a struggle. Long story short, I was absolutely thrilled when I heard Whole Foods Market (Southern Pacific Region- Southern California, Hawaii, Arizona, and Las Vegas) are donating $$$$$ to help put in salad bars at local schools. My son’s school doesn’t have a salad bar, but if they did this would help with my salad training efforts, not just for my boy but for kids all over the district. Sign me up… What do I have to do? On Sunday Sept. 9th, 2012 Whole Foods Market will donate $1.00 for every pound of food purchased from the salad bar and hot food bars to move salad bars into local schools through The Whole Kids Foundation.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Whole Foods Market, but is a cause I truly stand behind and am proud to be a part of. 

Spicy is one of the preferred flavors in my library of taste, I reach for it and crave it more often than not. This is not a trait I was born with, but a preference I developed. Spice comes to me in an assortment of ways, and pickling happens to be a tradition both sides of my family have enjoyed for years. My Great Grandma Presley use to make her own pickles, and my Grandfather Sandoval always ate a pickled guero chile with his sandwich. My pickling recipe is a mish mash of many flavors pulled from my upbringing and travels rolled into one.  I used onions and veggies for this pickling and added a Red Savina Habanero Pepper from Melissa’s Produce to bring on the heat. Now my sandwiches, and veggie burgers…. will be complete.

Ingredients for Spicy Pickled Onions and Veggies:

1 – Red Savina Habanero Pepper (even a half of one will bring heat)

2 – cloves of garlic (smashed)

3 – 1 inch cubes of watermelon

2 – radish (sliced)

1 – carrot (sliced)

1 – red onion (sliced)

1/2 – teaspoon coriander seeds

1/4 – teaspoon cumin seeds

1/4 – teaspoon oregano

1/4 – teaspoon black pepper

1/2 – teaspoon salt

1 – 8.5 oz bottle of Red Wine Vinegar

a large jar.

See video for instruction.

Store in fridge for 2 days minimum before eating.

Video shot with my iPhone by: Mando Lopez

Those gorgeous New Mexico Hatch Chiles are once again in season from NOW to mid September.  My friends over at Melissa’s Produce sent me a bunch of hot and mild chiles to roast and use for savory spicy dishes. I couldn’t be satisfied with hatch chiles as a seasonal treat so I decided to preserve them for an all year round indulgence. Check out my cool video below to see how.

Drool worthy Hatch Chile Corn Bread Strata….. Click here.

Want to learn to roast Hatch chiles… Click over to Shockingly Delicious.

Photo and video shot with my iPhone taken by: Mando Lopez

That’s a picture of me and you can clearly see mypink KitchenAid hanging out on my counter in the background.  That lovely pink beauty was purchased a few years back to support the fight against breast cancer. At the time I wasn’t blogging but wanted to contribute somehow.

This year, now that I have a blog, I used this vehicle to spread the message to you. I am so honored to have joined KitchenAid in The Cooks For A Cure fight against breast cancer.  I decided to have a Treasury Wine Estates tasting paired with gorgeous cheeses and invite my dear friends. It was a success, I helped raise some money for breast cancer and everyone enjoyed the tipsy party all in the name of a good fight!

If you are interested in donating to breast cancer, please send check donations to:

Susan G. Komen for the cure, P.o. Box 650309, Dallas, TX 75265-0309

Or help spread the word and tweet it to your followers.

 Tweet: Join @KitchenAidUSA in the fight against breast cancer, host a fundraising party from 7/20-7/29. Info:http://ow.ly/bOGkv#cookforthecure 

Thanx to all my friends that helped in the fight! Big Pink Hug!