This is part of a sponsored collaboration with MilkPEP and Latina Mom Bloggers. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

That picture above is exactly how I start my day. I need my milk dose to get going in the morning. It’s not just that…. I need to be stronger, faster and on my toes all the (more…)

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

My dad comes from a long line of excellent cooks. Even he has the touch that makes food so dreamy. As a young girl I would watch the food preparation unfold in his house especially during the holidays. Lots of hands chopping, stirring, whipping, and mashing. My busy eyes would dart from on side of the room to the other. My Grandmother (my dad’s mom, who was born and raised in Tijuana) (more…)

 Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor Board and Latina Mom Bloggers. However, all opinions expressed and recipe is are 100% my own.

In my travels, I remember when I had panna cotta for the first time, in Italy.  It was a day off from touring with my band and I was wandering around the city of Milan.  I was purposely trying to get lost in order to “accidentally” find a treasure of a restaurant to blow me away.  After walking for about an hour or so, I happened to wander into this beautifully colored tiled bakery (Panetteria).  The people that worked in there were loud, happy and celebratory.  Celebrating life I suppose.  I asked them what they recommended to a slightly hungry girl from the United States that wanted to experience a bit of the essence of their culture.  They all immediately argued as to what I should eat.  Back and forth they playfully screamed at each other but in the end, the lady that seemed to be the matriarch of the bunch said I should give the panna cotta a try.  It’s a custard and is very common at most Italian restaurants.

Since that visit, I’ve made panna cotta for my family quite often.  There never has to be an occasion for it.  I don’t necessarily have to make an Italian meal in order to have it for dessert and it doesn’t always have to be a dessert.  I like to make it on a whim and whenever I’m invited to a pot luck.  At these pot lucks, it always seems to be the hit of the party and I’m asked by many for the recipe.

Here is my simple recipe for Panna Cotta….. I will also be making it for Three Kings Day since I have a few Italian friends visiting, and they won’t be around to make us dinner on Feb. 2nd if they get the toy baby. Rosca and panna cotta sound like a lovely combo anyway!  Like I said, it works for almost any occasion and people will love you for making such a yummy decadent treat.  Let me know how it goes! Click here to save some dough and get a great coupon. Or if you are in search of more milk recipes….click here!

Oh yeah, and how was the Panna Cotta in Italy you ask?

Delizioso!!!!!

Ingredients for panna cotta:

• 5 – tablespoons hot boiling water
• 2 – packets knox gelatin
• 1 – cup milk
• 3/4 – cup sugar
• 2 – vanilla beans (cut length wise)
• 1 -pint whipping cream
• 1 – cup 1/2 and 1/2

Directions:

1. Pour boiling hot water in a bowl, and sprinkle with knox gelatin. Mix to dissolve gelatin. Set to the side. 
2. In a small sauce pan over a medium flame add milk, sugar, and seeds from inside vanilla beans. Stir until sugar is dissolved. 
3. Add in whipping cream and 1/2 and 1/2 to sugar/milk mixture.
4. Let it combine for about 3 minutes, then remove from flame.
5. Pour the knox water mixture into milk mixture. Mix it to combine. 
6. Then pour the mixture through a sieve  to collect any bits of knox or pieces of vanilla bark. 
7. Pour the liquid into cups and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. 
8. Top with fresh berries and cookies of your choice. I used strawberries and brownie cookies.
9. Enjoy! 

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor Board and Latina Mom Bloggers. However, all opinions expressed and recipe is are 100% my own.

Let me tell you about my Nina… she is a hot little spit fire packaged in a petite frame and has long luscious locks that drape her face. She has green piercing eyes and a voice that can carry through the French alps if it needed to. In other words she is loud and feisty and good looking. This firecracker was always kind to me growing up and bossy at the same time. As you can imagine she gave direction well, and didn’t take anyone’s crap. My Nina has always been surrounded by a gang of yappy little mean chihuahuas who were meaner than the Grinch. If people came to visit her they  would nip at the ankles of the guests and tug at their pant hemlines. I use to find this amusing since that was the opposite treatment they gave me. They would jump on their hind legs with their tongues sticking out and their tails wagging. The baby puppies loved me. I think it might have been because I always shared my food with them. Let me add this tidbit, my Nina is an excellent cook, and makes very traditional foods. One day many moons ago she was instructing me in a louder than usual volume to try this arroz con leche she had made. I dug my spoon in and savored the sweetness in my mouth. She watched with knowing eyes that her’s was the best. Then that little kitchen filled up with her loud bullhorn voice and she said ” You like it ha Mija? It’s probably one of the best you’ve ever had. Right?” I felt like Dorothy  when she first encounters the wizard of oz…. no room to agree or disagree. I nodded my head. That was that… I never asked what was in her arroz con leche, but I surely wanted to know.

In my quest to eat the most magical arroz con leche… I decided to mix in chocolate and dried cherries. I still wanted it to be super yummy and didn’t know if that would do the trick so I made it tres leches, and low and behold I figured out exactly what my Nina had made that day.

Here are more creamy delicious milk recipes for your viewing pleasure! Or download a MILK coupon here.

Ingredients for Chocolate Cherry Arroz Con Tres Leches:

• 3 – cups water
• 2 – cinnamon sticks
• 1 – tablespoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 – cups long grain rice
• 1 – cup dried cherries
• 1 – cup milk
• 1 – can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 – can media crema
• 3 – Mexican chocolate disks

Directions:

1. In a pot over a medium high flame add in water, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla. Bring to a boil. 
2. Add in rice and dried cherries. Mix to combine, then bring to a boil. 
3. Once boiling lower flame to a simmer and cover with a lid.
4. Allow rice to simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Once rice is cooked, remove from flame and discard cinnamon sticks. Allow rice to rest for a few minutes. 
6. While rice is resting. In a separate pot over a medium low flame mix together media crema and Mexican chocolate disks. Mix until fully dissolved and a chocolate sauce is formed. Set the the side. 
7. In a large bowl add in cooked rice and cherries, milk, sweetened condensed milk, and chocolate sauce.
8. Mix to combine and serve either warm or cold.
9. Enjoy!

Here’s a little video showing you how:

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor Board and Latina Mom Bloggers. However, all opinions expressed and recipe is are 100% my own.

I always scramble at Thanksgiving… with a mad dash to the market to try and get everything in one shopping trip. Of course I’m not completely delusional …  I realize some items need to be bought the day before or the day of the feast. What I do like to buy when I am in one of my Thanksgiving shopping frenzies are a couple gallons of milk. It helps make my mashed potatoes dreamy, my rice dish creamy, and my hot chocolate steamy. I keep my milk coupon in my purse and save a dollar on two gallons. It’s a good way to pocket a buck. 🙂 When I run dry on ideas I always turn to Toma Leche cookbook for more recipe ideas. Click here if you’re looking for some MILKY inspiration! I decided to make a video of one of my favorite rice dishes that I always serve at the holiday table…. plus it doubles down as a main dish for the vegetarians. Happy Thanksgiving!

Ingredients for creamy mushroom chile rice casserole:

• 1 – stick butter
• 1/2 – cup onion (chopped)
• 1/2 – tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 – cups long grain rice (uncooked)
• 8 – ounces mushrooms (sliced)
• 1/2 – teaspoon dried basil
• 1 – teaspoon Lawry’s seasoning salt
• 4 – cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 – cup roasted chiles (chopped) (I used anaheim)
• 1 – cup of whole milk
• 16 – ounces sour cream
• 2 – cups grated pepper jack cheese

Directions:

Watch the 2 minute and 27 second video above to see exactly how to make it! Serve this lovely rice dish this holiday season for a casserole of perfection…. Enjoy!

I’m the wide-eyed bushy tail type who enjoys feeling happy.  I usually wake up in a pretty good mood and full of energy.  Then there are those mornings when I need just a little something to set my “perk-me-up” meter to high and I call it Morning Dessert.  You see, I have run around my whole life telling people “I detest oatmeal, it’s slimey and has what I imagine would be the consistency of eating….” I won’t even finish what I have said, just know it’s not good.  When I experimented with Oatmeal and discovered that it is actually amazing if cooked right, I realized I may have to EAT MY WORDS (something I don’t like to do).  What if I just call it my Morning Dessert, instead of Oatmeal?  It’s sweet and creamy milky and full of fruit… just like many of the desserts I enjoy.  That’s it!  Then I never have to think of that old slime again, I can imagine something decadent and rustic in it’s place.

All this creamy milky dessert talk made me think of my old friend, El Maestro.  He has some exciting stuff going on right now with a new web series called “El Vaso Medio Lleno.”  I seem to be on the same wavelength with El Maestro del Vaso Medio Lleno on several levels these days.

1. We both are always looking for the positive side of life
2. We both have a webisode series, except his is new and is airing from now to January 6th. Click here to see his.
3. We both love desserts made with milk.
4. We both want you to subscribe to our You Tube Channels.  Click here to subscribe to his.  Click here to subscribe to mine. PLEASE. 🙂

Here’s a little treat,  El Maestro’s first video.  Lucky for him he was able to land an  interview and learn how to make flan from the owner’s daughter of the well respected bakery PORTOS in Los Angeles.  Have you tried their Tres Leches with fresh fruit on top?  Its the best but that’s a creamy milky dessert of a different story.  Watch the video you’ll learn to make their flan too!

In the meantime here’s what you need to make my morning dessert. 

Ingredients for Morning Dessert:

A bowl of hot oatmeal

sweet stewed apples

a hearty granola filled with pepitas, raisins, dried cranberries, and almonds

2 – tablespoons dark brown sugar

1/2 – cup of milk

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and enjoy the best morning dessert. 🙂 It’s full of fiber too. Wink. Wink.

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

That’s a picture of my Mom and me.  I’m her only child.  Our bond is unbreakable and as strong as a tsunami.  I think of what a wonderful parent she has been to me my whole life.  She raised me by herself and was a dedicated Mother who did her best to give me everything she could.  People always assume because I’m an only child I must have been spoiled.  I wouldn’t call it spoiled,  I would call it showered with love.  I didn’t grow up with a ton of toys but I did grow up with all of my Mom’s attention.  She always talked to me allowing open dialogue and valued my opinion.  She would recount stories to me of her youth and read me plenty of stories too.  I always remember her reading to me when I was a kid.  My Mom liked stories and she also appreciated good illustration. One of our all time favorite books to enjoy right before bed was an amazing book by the famed author Maurice Sendak called “In the Night Kitchen.”  It’s about a little boy named Mickey who finds himself in the surreal world of the Night Kitchen, when 3 bakers think he is milk and add him as one of the ingredients to make the morning cake.  Right before they are about to put the cake in the oven Mickey makes an airplane out of the dough and uses it to fly out of the cake and up to a big glass container of milk.  Then dives into the milk singing, and takes some of the milk from the container and pours it into the bakers batter so everyone can have cake in the morning. 

I think back on this book and wonder if it was one of the early influences that peaked my interest in baking?  I still love this book and find the illustrations to be close to perfection.  The picture of Mickey swimming in the milk pictured above is one of my favorites.  I am glad that I have found a new collection of modern books to read to my son that also involve milk and amazing illustrations.  Click here to download the books for free.  Who knows?  Maybe one of these books will not only encourage my son to drink milk before bed, which will help him sleep through the night, but they might also spark his interest in becoming an astronaut in search of the milky way or becoming a baker who will use milk in his cake recipe.

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.