Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Welcome Back Barbie

growing up, I loved Barbie.  I had lots and like all other girls, I gave them all haircuts.  

Barbies were a right of passage. You grew up watching your older sisters or cousins playing and you just had to have them too. Barbie was everything- a doctor, an astronaut, a vet... her options were endless.

And then the world decided she was bad. She gave girls an unattainable standard of beauty.  She was unhealthy and giving her to a girl only solidified that the girl should only be skinny, pretty, and on the arm of a handsome man.  For years, she was shunned.

But now, at least for this mom, Barbie is back. Their marketing department killed it with this ad. This is the Barbie I remember. The Barbie who could be anything and do anything, regardless of her body.

My daughter has Barbies, and I will continue to buy her more. In this house we chose to accept Barbie as a role model, the be anything woman who my daughter can grow into, not a body dysmorphic beacon that my daughter will judge her own worth against.

Welcome back Barbie, I've missed you. 

NESTLE Halloween Pudding Cups #Treats4All #ad

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #Treats4All #CollectiveBias

Halloween is almost here which means my life has gotten even more crazy! It is amazing how many Halloween themed events one 4 year old can be invited to. Add in my workload and getting events done for my students, and once again, I'm running to Walmart for quick meals and bags of candy to bring to each event.

We normally grab a Hot N Ready pizza or a rotisserie chicken, but when Emma saw the HOT POCKETS® Pepperoni Pizza Snack Bites, she asked for those instead.  As a mom, I saw all the pizza without the mess-- portable pizza for on the go! 

Walmart makes it super easy to find the candy as well. As soon as I walked into my local Walmart, there were big Happy Halloween signs with arrows pointing right to the candy.  I grabbed a bag of  NESTLÉ® Jumbo Assorted Fun Size Candy bars because they were the only mix with 100 Grand bars-- my favorite! Emma loves "Frunch bars, so it was an easy agreement.  I was only going to get one bag but when I saw Bottle Caps in the WONKA® MIXUPS® Assorted Candy bag, I grabbed that too!

We needed the two bags for a friend's party but obviously had leftovers, which is the best part! While I am all for snacking directly out of the candy bucket, on the couch, while watching television, Emmalee wanted to play chef with the candy so I had to think quick. We had some instant pudding in the cabinet so we quickly made that and let it set while we prepped our "chef plates". I didn't want Emma to overload on candy so she was allowed to pick 3 fun-sized candy bars, and I chopped them up and placed each in its own cupcake liner. 

In the craziness of the day, I realized dinner was quickly approaching so I threw the HOT POCKETS® Pepperoni Pizza Snack Bites into the toaster oven as well.  I set Emma up with her pudding cup while they cooked. She had a blast layering the pudding and candy to make a pattern. As she finished, the HOT POCKETS® Pepperoni Pizza Snack Bites were ready!

So easy and delicious! We put our pudding cups in the fridge while we enjoyed the HOT POCKETS® Pepperoni Pizza Snack Bites. So good! And our dessert was delicious too!

I love when I can make super easy, delicious food with my daughter-- we just love "cooking" together. I'm crossing my fingers for more "left over" Halloween candy so we can make more of these pudding cups!

What type of recipes will you try with these Nestle candy bars?