Presley's Pantry

Disclosure:  I was provided with tickets to the Dispicable Me 2 movie premier to facilitate this post.  All opinions are 100% my own.

My family and I recently went to the Despicable Me 2 premier held at the Gibson Theater in Studo City,  CA.  It was sponsored by Go-Gurt.  It was quite the event to be at….. a lot of good food, movie stars, Minions, and of course Go-Gurts.  Go-Gurts are fruit flavored yogurt tubes that my son went wild for while watching the movie.  Go-Gurts come in 16 varieties and are an excellent source of calcium with vitamins A and D.  Freeze them, then pack them up and go see Despicable Me 2.  It’s in theaters now!

Here are a few photos from the premiere.

Speaking of the movie, Despicable Me 2 had a lot to live up to considering the success of the first one.

Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) is settling into fatherhood and has retired of his villainous ways.  His three girls Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and unicorn loving Agnes (Elsie Kate Fisher) are all as cute as ever and try to convince Gru to date and put himself out there.  Gru’s reluctant until he’s recruited by the AVL (Anti-Villain League) by the beautifully quirky secret agent Lucy (Kristen Wiig).

Gru and Lucy team up in attempt to take down a new super villain known as El Macho (Benjamin Bratt).  With the help of his loyal yellow minions and Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), Gru sets out to save the world once again.

Steve Carell is excellent as the voice for the tough, yet warm-hearted Gru.  Gru is beginning to feel more comfortable as the father to the three young girls and Carell adds another layer to his character in this sequel.  Carell’s performance as the lovable and disciplinary father is truly cute.

Kristen Wiig, who voiced the horrible foster mom, Mrs. Hattie in the first Despicable Me, returns here as Gru’s love interest.  If it weren’t for the Minions, Wiig’s Lucy might be the funniest character in the film.

The major pluses in Despicable Me 2 is the cute, adorable and goofy minions.   The little yellow guys have a bigger role in this sequel and the film benefits all the more from them.

For those Mexican food-lovers in the Southern California area, there is an amazing annual event coming up, the East LA Meets Napa gala organized by AltaMed.  I highly recommend it!  This event brings the tastiness of local Latino owned Mexican food restaurants and wine that is made in Northern California, Napa to be exact.  I had the pleasure of attending a preview tasting for the event at Loteria Grill a few days ago and let me tell you I made sure I had a bite of everything it had to offer.  I attended East LA Meets Napa last year and wouldn’t miss it for the world this year.  I am so proud of AltaMed for providing many underserved communities with quality care for the past 41 years.  This organization continues to prosper and grow bringing more people/families the health care they need.  Support this amazing event by buying a ticket now.  It’s a win win.  You won’t be sorry because the food is amazing, the wine is sublime and all proceeds go to getting more people healthcare by AltaMed.

Chef Jimmy Shaw was a gracious host and his Tacos Bilingue were some of the best tacos I’ve ever tasted.  Beef tongue and pork tongue divided by a slice of avocado.  These are the tacos I’ll be looking out for!

It all takes place at Union Station (800 N Alameda St in Los Angeles) Friday, July 19th from 6p.m. to 9p.m. For tickets, click here!

Here are a few photos from last years event.  Hope to see you there!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by ViSalus. All opinions and recipe are my own.

A friend of mine is on a diet, and is looking for ways to slim down but still keep all her favorite treats in place. I’ll have her at my house over the holiday weekend, so I needed to make sure she would be satisfied with her treat. I didn’t want her to feel left out while everyone else got to eat cake or cookies. I racked my brain for a while, thinking maybe I should make her cheesecake bites, or lowfat chocolate cake. Then after talking to her those ideas seemed to decadent for her weight loss plan. Luckily I had recently got a bag of ViSalus shake mix and a couple of new paleta molds. I thought what if I make a banana visalus mixture and freeze it into paletas then dip them at the tip in a chocolate? I knew that would make her happy since she loves banana and chocolate. I called her and told her all about the ViSalus product, how it is gluten- free, lactose – free, low fat, contains non-GMO soy protein, and low sodium. I then told her I made paletas out of them and they are DELICIOUS, she said she was so thankful cuz she has a hard time finding something great when everyone else is eating dessert.

Ingredients for Banana Paletas:

• 3 – super ripe bananas (if they have brown spots they are even better to use.)
• 1 – cup almond milk
• 2 – rounded scoops of Visalus Vi-Shape Nutritional Shake Mix -Sweet Cream Flavor
• 1 – cup dark chocolate chips (melted)
• 1/4 – cup chopped peanuts

Directions:

1. In a blender add in bananas, almond milk, and Visalus Vi-Shape Nutritional Shake Mix. Blend on high till smooth.
2. Pour mixture into paleta / popsicle molds, then insert sticks and freeze over night.
3. Prepare a cookie sheet with piece of wax paper on it.
4. Melt down dark chocolate chips, either in a double boiler or microwave.
5. Remove paletas from the freezer, then unmold them.
6. Dip the tip of the paleta in melted chocolate, then sprinkle with chopped peanuts.
7. Place dipped paletas on the cookie sheet and place back in the freezer for one hour.
8. Enjoy!

How are you keeping cool these days? I am all about keeping hydrated, and I drink a ton of  H2o. I ready recently that adding cucumber to your water will help with the summer puffiness that the heat brings on. I add a few slices to my water, then I added some peach slices and ice and I was good to go. I guess you know what I’ll keep on hand all summer. Drink it and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• water
• cucumber slices
• peach slices

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to a cup with some ice, and a straw if your feeling fancy.
2. Drink!

I have always been intimidated by pastel de tres leches. It is my cake of choice for every birthday I celebrate and happens to be one of my favorites. I like it topped with fresh fruit best. I decided to gift it to America for it Independence Day celebration.

Ingredients for Pastel De Tres Leches:

• a box of cake mix (white or yellow) (bake according to instructions- time, temp, and ingredients)
• 3/4 – cup of fresh blueberries
• circle cookie cutter (optional)
• 1/2 – cup half and half
• 1 – cup milk
• 6 – ounces of sweetened condensed milk
• cool whip
• fresh strawberries cut into star shapes and blueberries for the top of cake

Directions:

1. Mix cake batter per instructions on the package, then add in blueberries. Pour batter into a 9×13 baking pan lined with wax paper. Allow to come to room temperature. Then place in the fridge over night.
2. Poke cake all over with fork to allow liquid to soak into cake.
3. In a bowl add half and half, milk, and sweetened condensed milk. Mix to combine.
4. Then gently pour all the liquid over the entire cake or cut the cake with a circle cookie cutter to make individual circles.
5. Frost top of cake with cool whip and then decorate with star shaped strawberries and blueberries.
6. Enjoy!

We are heating up in Los Angeles, and 4th of July is around the corner… that can only mean one thing…. Paleta time! These strawberry, blueberry, and chia seed lemonade paletas had to be made.

Ingredients for Paletas:

• 3/4 – cup fresh strawberries
• 1 – cup sugar
• 2 1/2 – cups water
• 5 – lemons (juiced)
• 1/2 – tablespoon chia seeds
• 3/4 – cup fresh blueberries
• Paleta mold

Directions:

1. Add blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and 3/4 cup water to a blender and blend on high until smooth.
2. Pour the first layer into popsicle molds filling them only 1/3 of the way up.
3. Place in the freezer to set first layer for 3 hours.
4. Next mix lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl. Mix until sugar is completely dissolved. Add in 1 cup water and chia seeds to lemon/ sugar mixture. Set to the side for chia seeds to expand while you wait for the first layer to freeze.
5. Now pour the chia seed lemonade mixture into the molds and fill up to the 2/3 mark. Place sticks into the paletas and place bak into the freezer for 2 hours.
6. Add strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and 3/4 cup water to a blender, and blend until pulpy but slightly smooth. Pour the strawberry mixture into the paleta molds to the top. Place in the freezer overnight.
7. To unmold paletas by placing molds into a bath of luke-warm water for 20 to 25 seconds then gently pull out.
8. Enjoy!

My tia makes the best jello cake. She calls them “Pastel de Gelatin.” I personally don’t care what she calls them as long as I get my slice. This year I took my personal stab at it and bought it out in true 4th of July style. One fork in you’ll make jello cakes a part of your summer too!

INGREDIENT LIST:

• 1 – white cake mix
• 1 – 6 oz. box of strawberry jello
• 1 – 6. Oz box of blue jello
• 2 – cups boiling hot water
• a fork
• 1/2 – pint fresh blueberries
• 1 – basket fresh strawberries
• 24 – ounces cool whip

Directions:

1. Bake cake per the instructions on the box in two 8 inch round pans lined with wax paper.
2. Boil water, then place the cherry jello in one bowl and the blue jello in the other bowl. Add 1 cup of water into both bowls. Stir to completely dissolve gelatin. Set each bowl to the side.
3. Remove cakes from oven and poke about twenty holes into each cake with a fork. Then slowly pour 1 cup of the liquid jello mixture over each cake. The first cake gets poured with red, and the second cake gets poured with blue.
4. Place cakes in the fridge to set for 4 hours.
5. Then carefully remove cakes from pan. Remove wax paper from the bottom of the cakes. Place one of the cake layers on a plate.
6. Take a scoop of cool whip and frost the top of the first layer of cake, then top with blueberries.
7. Add the second layer of cake and frost the entire cake. Sprinkle with strawberries.
8. Place back in the fridge to chill for at least an hour.
9. Enjoy!