Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with Latina Mom Bloggers and Dole Packaged Foods, LLC. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

I seriously run around like a chicken without a head. Every single second of my day is jammed packed with something to do. I long for extra time to spend with my son since he is on summer vacation and his days are being spent here in the house. Sometimes I just have to stop working, put my phone away and have some one on one time with my baby boy (well he’s not really a baby, he’s about to be 4). I’ve been thinking of different ways to pass our time together in the scorching heat. I signed us up for swimming lessons, and have several big outings planned for the warm weather…. everything from road trips to amusements park adventures, but what should we do on the days when I just need a moment to bond with him? Here’s what I came up with and how I came up with it…..

My son loves popsicles and asks for them every other minute throughout the day, especially in the heat, and I don’t necessarily want him to have all that sugar. He was asking for another popsicle the other day and as I opened the freezer door about to grant him his request,  I saw a Dole Fruit Squish’ems frozen on the top shelve of the freezer… the light bulb went off. I realized he and I could eat the delicious all natural Dole Fruit Squish’ems as our summer bonding treat. He’ll be happy that Mom gave in to his frozen treat whim, and I’ll be thrilled knowing I’m giving my son a BPA, GMO, and Gluten Free snack that is kinda like a frozen slushy. He’ll have his pick of all natual Apple, Mixed Berry, or Strawberry-Apple, and I’ll have the pleasure of squishing him in my arms all summer long!

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with Latina Mom Bloggers and Dole Packaged Foods, LLC. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

Does this picture excite you with the idea of Mexican candied fruits and a little candy on the side?  I placed my candy guide on Babble.  Click here to see the complete list of all my favorite goodies.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post between Latina Bloggers Connect and FritoLay. All opinions and the recipe are my own.

If you know me well, then you know for a fact that my house has a personal cabinet dedicated to chips (if we don’t have a minimum of 5 bags in the house then their will be a  problem), we eat chips with everything and since I could speak my number one chip has always been Lays. I also enjoy bringing friends together for a great time. Last Tuesday my friends and I got a jump start on Cinco de Mayo with Lay’s #StaxQueRico flavors. I asked all my guests to come over, sort of potluck style, and to bring a dip that would pair well with the new Stax crisps or a dish inspired by the crisps. It was a complete success…. All sorts of yummy dishes made their way into my kitchen and we had an amazing time. Here is what we had: pork adobada, strawberry mango salsa, spicy avocado sauce, hot dogs topped with stax Adobadas crisps, chicharrone chicken, chile verde, sangria, bloody marys, and my bacon bean dip and fish ceviche.

Check out these pictures from the party:

Ingredients for Fish Ceviche:

• 3 – cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 – cups of finely chopped white fish (either halibut or tilapia, or a mixture of both)
• 3/4 – cup finely chopped red onion
• 1 – cup finely chopped tomato
• 3/4 – cup finely chopped cucumber
• 1/2 – cup finely chopped cilantro
• 1/2 – tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 – tablespoon salt
• 2 – ripe avocados (diced)
• Tapatio (optional)

Directions:

1. Add lemon juice to a large bowl, then add in the small fish chunks. Place in the fridge, and allow to refrigerate for 5 hours or overnight.
2. Next chop red onion, tomato, cilantro and cucumber. Add all veggies to fish/lemon mixture.
3. Give it a good mix then add garlic powder and salt. Mix to combine.
4. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place back in fridge, and allow to refrigerate for 1 additional hour.
5. Right before serving mix in avocado chunks.
6. Serve right away.

Disclosure: This post is compensated by Latina Bloggers Connect and Frito-Lay. The opinions are my own.

Are you going to be there? I am with bells on! It’s the party to be at! Let’s get the Cinco de Mayo celebration going early. It seems I just can’t get enough of Lay’s, and especially now with their new flavors. Get a load of the new line of crisps: Flamas, Limon, Adobadas, and Chili Limon. They have that irresistible crunch and flavor that help me kick back and relax! All that in a #StaxQueRico crisp…. Now that’s reason to celebrate. Join me and some friends Thursday May 2nd 9p.m. EST / 6p.m. PST on TWITTER by following the #StaxQueRico hashtag. We will mingle there! Click here to RSVP, so I know you’re coming.

Click here for #STAXQueRico Twitter Party Rules and Guidelines

Have you ever wanted to help fight hunger for the people of your local community?  Well here is a simple and easy way to do just that.  Please join General Mills, Big Machine Label Group, Feeding America and a group of Latina Bloggers to help in this devastating fight.  Did you know Latinos are disproportionately affected by food insecurity?  More than 1 in 4 (26.2%) Latino households are food insecure as compared with 1 in 7 (14.9%) households overall.  This is awful and you have the power to help change that.  All you have to do is buy a participating General Mills product (ie: Cheerios, Yoplait, and Nature Valley) for your own family to enjoy and enter the code from these packages at OutnumberHunger.com.  Each code submitted helps Feeding America secure 5 meals on behalf of a local food bank based on the Zip code entered.  Isn’t that awesome?!  Feed your own family and another family at the same time.  Let’s have a twitter party and tell everyone about it.  Join me!

 Please register to join the twitter party,  just click here!

Share the tweet posted below with your twitter friends, and help spread the word: 

Join #OutnumberHunger bilingual twitter party Tuesday 5/7 9pET to help fight hunger in local communities. RSVP here>http://ow.ly/k5lIH

Prizes: Baskets of General Mills products, Outnumber Hunger t-shirts, and your help of making a difference to people who need it the most.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post by Latina Bloggers Connect. I am thrilled to be associated with this beautiful cause.

 I’ve had my eye on Easter for the last couple of days and am counting down the days for the Easter Bunny to hop through town, so my boy can take photos with his furry friend. In the meantime, I have been decorating my house and building my son’s Easter basket behind closed doors. He was napping when this photo was taken. Click over to Babble where I show how I built this Easter basket and bought EVERYTHING at Target! Happy Easter.

I live in Southern California, and yes it might be a little chilly at night sometimes, but for the most part it heats up during the day. It’s not uncommon for the heat to reach up to 85 degrees on any given day in February or March so the paleta making has started to take course. Plus my son is obsessed with paletas so it’s a great way to sneak fruit that he won’t normally eat into his diet. Here is my Melon Raspberry Paletas for you to enjoy when ever mother nature decides it’s going to be a hot day.

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