Food and Beverage
Meal-Prep Tips for a Manageable Back-to-School Menu
Last Updated on July 23, 2024 by Daily News Staff
(Family Features) The hustle and bustle of back-to-school season can cause chaos in households. Class time, field trips and homework typically rule each day, which can make sitting down for a meal seem like a far-off dream. One easy way to save time is simplifying family recipes and prioritizing meal-planning.
Consider these meal-planning tips from the experts at Healthy Family Project, whose partners are donating $16,000 to the Foundation for Fresh Produce to support children’s accessibility to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Choose the meals you plan to make for the week. Cut down on prep time by planning dishes with overlapping ingredients then write out a grocery list to keep from overbuying. Recipes like this Southwest Quiche Muffins Bento Box that include a brief list of widely used ingredients can help you avoid buying items you may only use once.
Stock the kitchen with ingredients your family often uses. Ensure you have the spices, seasonings, condiments, sauces and canned foods to prepare favorite meals at a moment’s notice.
Save time by washing and prepping produce once each week. For example, if you’re using sweet peppers in these Mini Sweet Pepper Sheet Pan Nachos and again in another meal that week, prep all at once so they’re ready when it’s time to cook – just be sure to store in an airtight container.
Serve quick snacks that won’t spoil dinner. Kids often need a little fuel for homework, but complicated snacks can cut into already busy schedules. Keep ingredients on hand for simple options like trail mix, fruit parfaits and meat and cheese wraps.
Use kitchen tools that speed up the process. Pressure cookers and air fryers can help you put nutritious meals on the table faster while slow cookers let you prep in the morning and come home to a hot, delicious dinner.
Visit HealthyFamilyProject.com to find more back-to-school recipes.
Mini Sweet Pepper Sheet Pan Nachos
Recipe courtesy of Healthy Family Project
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Servings: 4
- 8 ounces Pero Family Farms Mini Sweet Peppers, cut into chip shapes
- 7 ounces tortilla chips
- 1/2 cup sweet or red onion, diced.
- 1/2 cup canned or fresh corn
- 1/2 cup queso fresco cheese
- 1/4 cup black olives
- 1/4 cup jalapeno peppers, fresh sliced
- 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, for garnish
- 1 lime, cut into thin wedges, for garnish
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Place peppers and tortilla chips on sheet pan. Layer onion, corn, cheese, black olives and jalapeno peppers. Bake 3-5 minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.
Southwest Quiche Muffins Bento Box
Recipe courtesy of Healthy Family Project
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Servings: 12
- 8 large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- nonstick cooking spray
- 3/4 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup chopped Nature Fresh Farms Tomz tomatoes
- 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 small RealSweet sweet onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup granola
- 1/2 Zespri SunGold kiwi, chopped
- 1 Bee Sweet Citrus mandarin, peeled and segmented
- Preheat oven to 325 F.
- In large bowl, whisk eggs and milk.
- Coat 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or use silicone muffin liners. Evenly divide beans, tomatoes, cheese and onion among cups. Pour eggs over top.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, or until eggs are set and lightly browned.
- Remove from oven and cool in pan 2-3 minutes. Use knife to loosen edges and remove.
- In cup or bowl, mix yogurt, granola and kiwi.
- Assemble bento box with two quiche muffins, kiwi parfait and mandarin slices.
SOURCE:
Healthy Family Project
Author
Last Updated on April 22, 2026 by Daily News Staff
SAN DIEGO, CA — The award-winning JOEY Restaurant Group is continuing its U.S. expansion with the debut of its first San Diego location, JOEY La Jolla, opening April 23, 2026. The new restaurant will be located at Westfield UTC, one of Southern California’s premier retail and lifestyle destinations.
A New Dining Destination for La Jolla
Set in the heart of La Jolla, the 10,600-square-foot restaurant is designed to deliver a vibrant, upscale-yet-approachable experience. Guests can expect a seamless blend of indoor and outdoor dining, complete with a welcoming fire feature, lush landscaping, and a covered patio that opens into an expansive, modern interior.
Inside, the space features a lively bar and lounge area, complete with a DJ booth for select evenings, a curated wine wall, and contemporary art installations. The dining room centers around a striking olive tree beneath a wood canopy, creating a warm and immersive atmosphere ideal for everything from casual lunches to late-night gatherings.
Elevated Cuisine Meets Global Inspiration
JOEY Restaurants has built its reputation on globally inspired dishes and high-quality ingredients—and JOEY La Jolla is no exception.
The menu will showcase a wide range of offerings, including:
- Premium steak cuts like Bone-In Prime Ribeye and Tomahawk
- Fire-torched sushi and fresh seafood
- Shareable plates and handcrafted bowls
- Signature creations like Truffle Udon Carbonara
The beverage program is equally robust, featuring a curated wine selection and handcrafted cocktails such as the Good Life Margarita and Woodsmoked Old Fashioned. Guests can also explore “JOEY Supers,” a creative take on the classic highball with a refreshing twist.
Leadership Behind the Experience
The culinary and beverage program is led by an award-winning team, including:
- Matthew Stowe, Executive Chef and Top Chef alumnus
- Jay Jones, Bar Development Leader and Hall of Fame inductee
- Jason Yamasaki, Group Sommelier
Their combined expertise is expected to elevate JOEY La Jolla into one of San Diego’s standout dining destinations.
Soft Opening and Reservations
Diners eager to get an early look can reserve a table during the restaurant’s limited preview period from April 18–22, ahead of its official grand opening on April 23. Once open, JOEY La Jolla will offer full-service dining daily, including lunch, happy hour, dinner, and late-night service.
Hours of Operation:
- Sunday–Thursday: 11 AM – 12 AM
- Friday–Saturday: 11 AM – 1 AM
Location:
4489 La Jolla Village Drive, Suite 1600
San Diego, CA 92122
A Strategic Expansion into Southern California
According to company leadership, the move into San Diego marks a significant milestone in JOEY’s broader growth strategy. With its strong culinary culture and coastal lifestyle, La Jolla provides an ideal backdrop for the brand’s signature blend of hospitality, design, and globally influenced cuisine.
As San Diego’s dining scene continues to evolve, JOEY La Jolla is positioned to become a go-to destination for locals and visitors seeking a dynamic and elevated dining experience.
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Visit our Food & Drink section to get the latest on Foodie News and recipes, offering a delightful blend of culinary inspiration and gastronomic trends to elevate your dining experience. https://stmdailynews.com/food-and-drink/
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Festivals
Presqu’ile Winery Partners With LAND to Bring Contemporary Art to Santa Maria Valley
Presqu’ile Winery and LAND are partnering to bring free, site-responsive contemporary art to the Santa Maria Valley estate in Santa Barbara Wine Country.
Santa Barbara Wine Country is about to get a fresh reason to linger a little longer. Presqu’ile Winery has announced a new collaboration with Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND), the nationally recognized nonprofit known for taking contemporary art out of traditional museums and galleries and placing it directly into the environments that shape it. The result: curated, site-responsive works—some created specifically for the property—installed across Presqu’ile’s Santa Maria Valley estate.
A winery becomes an open-air gallery—at no cost
Under the partnership, Presqu’ile will serve as a host site for LAND programming, opening its estate to the public for free. Visitors can expect contemporary art integrated into the vineyard setting, with select installations shaped by the landscape itself. The goal is simple and ambitious at the same time: expand no-cost access to contemporary art along California’s Central Coast while creating a cultural experience that feels inseparable from the place it inhabits.
LAND’s approach is rooted in the belief that art should be experienced where people actually live, work, and gather. Rather than building exhibitions around white walls and controlled lighting, LAND supports projects driven by place—work that engages the environment, the community, and the lived experience of the artists creating it.
“Nourishing reciprocity” between art, landscape, and community
Laura Hyatt, Director of LAND, emphasized how the Central Coast setting opens new creative possibilities for artists.
Hyatt noted that collaborating with Presqu’ile gives artists the opportunity to engage with the region’s natural beauty and unique ecology—placing artworks in what she described as “nourishing reciprocity” with the landscape and the visitors moving through it. She also highlighted the long-term potential of the partnership, which allows for deeper exploration over time, expands LAND’s geographic reach, and strengthens connections between Southern and Central California.
For Hyatt, the collaboration is personal as well: her family has roots in the area going back five generations, adding another layer of community connection to the work LAND hopes to cultivate.
A shared mindset: tradition, experimentation, and a sense of place
Presqu’ile framed the partnership as a natural extension of what the winery already does—balancing tradition with experimentation. In the same way winemaking can honor time-tested methods while still pushing toward new expressions, contemporary art can offer new ways of seeing familiar processes and landscapes.
Matt Murphy, co-founder of Presqu’ile Winery, said the family’s appreciation for the visual arts made the collaboration an easy “yes.” He pointed to the opportunity to create “fun, compelling and unexpected” ways for the community to engage with both the installations and the estate itself—and to experience Presqu’ile through each artist’s creative lens.
What happens next
In the near term, LAND will install artworks developed through its programming on the Presqu’ile property, with public access remaining free. The collaboration is designed with community benefit at its center, positioning the estate as a cultural and agricultural destination—not just a tasting room.
Looking ahead, Presqu’ile has submitted plans for approval to develop expanded spaces intended to support free public art, cultural programming, and community gathering. If approved, those improvements would signal a long-term commitment to integrating arts and culture into the estate experience and welcoming future partners whose work aligns with Presqu’ile’s values of openness, creativity, and place-based expression.
Additional details—including participating artists and installation timelines—will be announced as the collaboration progresses.
About the partners
Presqu’ile Winery
Presqu’ile (pronounced press-keel) is a family-owned estate winery in Santa Maria Valley on California’s Central Coast. Founded in 2007, the winery produces cool-climate wines from its sustainably farmed estate vineyard and from a select group of growers across Santa Barbara County. The name—French Creole for “almost an island”—reflects the Murphy family’s Gulf Coast heritage and the winery’s deep emphasis on place.
Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND)
Founded in 2009, LAND is a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to connecting people and places through site-responsive public art and programs. Over 15 years, LAND has presented more than 500 artists across 300+ programs and exhibitions, ranging from large-scale sculptural commissions to billboards, roadside screenings, workshops, and city-wide video presentations—reaching millions of people.
Why it matters
This collaboration isn’t just about adding art to a winery—it’s about rethinking where art belongs, who gets to access it, and how landscape can become part of the creative process. For the Central Coast, Presqu’ile and LAND are setting the stage for a new kind of cultural destination: one where a walk through the vines can also be a walk through contemporary ideas, made visible in the open air.
Source: Presqu’ile Winery
Organization: Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND)
- Presqu’ile media contact: diana@solterrastrategies.com
- LAND media contact: kyle@hellothirdeye.com
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Food and Beverage
Casamigos Introduces New Pre-Mixed Margaritas (Classic Lime + Spicy) Ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026
Casamigos is getting an early start on FIFA World Cup 2026™ watch-party season—and it’s doing it with a little friendly rivalry. The tequila brand announced a new World Cup campaign starring Gabrielle Union and Keegan-Michael Key, pairing the two as playful “hosts” who go head-to-head over a simple match-day question: are you Team Classic or Team Spicy?
The campaign tagline says it all: “Rivals at the game, Casamigos at the Bar.” The idea is less about picking sides forever and more about leaning into the competitive energy of the tournament—then coming together once the final whistle blows.
Team Classic vs. Team Spicy: the new bottled margaritas
Alongside the celebrity-led campaign, Casamigos introduced new pre-mixed margaritas in two flavors:
- Classic Lime
- Spicy
Both are designed for “pour, serve, and get back to the game” hosting—no extra ingredients, no shaking, no measuring. According to the brand, each pre-mixed margarita is 20.5% ABV and made with Casamigos Tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, and natural flavors.
Casamigos says the bottles are meant to keep hosting simple during the tournament’s full 90 minutes (plus stoppage time), whether fans are gathering at home, meeting up at the bar, or celebrating in host cities.
What Gabrielle Union and Keegan-Michael Key are bringing to the campaign
Casamigos is leaning into Union and Key’s chemistry to capture what makes World Cup fandom so fun: the passion, the pride, and the rivalries that can get loud—without getting personal.
Union, who said she grew up playing soccer, is firmly Team Spicy, noting she loves “a little heat,” and that the best part of the sport is how it brings people together.
Key, a longtime World Cup viewer, is Team Classic, saying the “classic rivalries” already provide all the spice he needs.
World Cup activations and limited-time packaging
Casamigos is an Official Tequila Supporter of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ and plans to activate in host cities throughout the tournament with fan-first experiences. The brand also noted that its pre-mixed margaritas will feature limited-time FIFA World Cup 2026™ packaging.
For shoppers, the new pre-mixed margaritas are available in:
- 750ml bottles (about 10 cocktails)
- 375ml bottles (about 5 cocktails)
Casamigos lists 110 calories per serving and a suggested retail price of $21.99 MSRP, with both flavors best served chilled.
What to watch for
The World Cup is still months away, but brands are already battling for a spot on your watch-party table. Casamigos’ move is a clear bet on convenience: bottled margaritas that keep the vibe high without turning the host into the bartender.
And if you’re the type who treats every match like a personal derby, Casamigos’ message is basically this: talk your trash during the game—then toast like friends afterward.
Source:
Casamigos Spirits Company (PRNewswire), March 19, 2026.
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Enjoy responsibly.
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