Only The Good Stuff For Your Superstar

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

We are a sports family. Our lives revolve around practices and games. Adrian plays soccer, flag football and basketball so we are all over the place, especially during the week. He needs good fuel to get through it all so sugary after-practice snacks are not an option. He loves yogurt so we purchase lots of it in our home. His choice: Dannon® Danimals®! Dannon® Danimals® are the perfect on-the-go option that helps fuel kids' adventures - at school, after school, during practice, homework or to start the day!

Since we are out on the fields so often, I make sure to have a cooler full of yogurts for the team. Sometimes (for a game or special practice) we will add a touch of fun encouragement to the yogurt  bottles. The kids really love it. 

While I was grocery shopping last week, I noticed a new collector's edition package of Dannon® Danimals® featuring different athletes on the bottles. I knew this pack would be perfect for our team treat. The kids would get a kick of seeing which athlete they got and they would be fun to attach a sports-themed label to. 

Dannon® Danimals® provide "Only the good stuff" with no high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors, as well as provides a good source of calcium and Vitamin D. They come in lots of fun flavors (Strawberry, Strawberry Kiwi, Watermelon, Seasonal and Cotton Candy). NOTE: The Cotton Candy/Strawberry flavor packs are on available for a limited time and not available at all stores. 

Now for the labels. Like I mentioned previously, I created these labels for the kids. I want them to feel encouraged and know that I am there to support them all, not just my son. These labels are free for you to download, just right-click, save image to your computer and print anytime!

Materials needed: 1 sheet of labels per pack of yogurt, twine or ribbon, scissors and a one-hole punch. 

Cut out each label and punch a hole in the corner. Cut twine (about 7-8 inches), enough to wrap around neck of bottle and to tie. 

Loop twine through hole in label and tie around the neck of the bottle. That's it. It doesn't get any simpler than that!

Now you just put them in your cooler, cheer on your team as loud as possible and then hand out a treat to your future pros!

FUN STUFF ALERT: Dannon® Danimals® and Play 60 have teamed up with a fun contest. If you find the "Golden Bongo" bottle in specially marked packages, your school can win a Play 60 Field Day with NFL pros. You can only imagine how many packages of yogurt we have purchased since Adrian found this out. He wants to be the one to win the Field Day!!

Look for Dannon® Danimals® at your local Walmart!

What sports do your kids play? What special treats do you take to the fields?

Vegan Tailgate Recipe: Chickpea Croquettes

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

Football is here people and it's time to gather with friends for football madness. Now, gathering with friends to tailgate is always fun but you have to be aware of everyone's dietary restrictions. It's hard since there are so many but since I've know my friends for a long time, I know what to cook and when to bring something extra like my vegan tailgate special: chickpea croquettes!

Growing up in a Cuban household, we ate croquettes ("croquetas") all the time. They were a staple at Sunday morning breakfast and at all birthday parties. Croquettes are usually made of ham, cheese or chicken and that was what we ate. We also grew up eating lots of chickpea stews so one day I thought "Hmmm, what about a chickpea croquette?" and then this amazingness was born!

For tailgating, I like to enhance the flavor a bit so I will always add some hot sauce. For these croquettes I don't go too crazy but I do add a little El Yucateco Habanero sauce to the mix! El Yucateco Black Label Reserve Hot Sauce has an earthy smoke flavor without the sweetness of a chipotle sauce. This smokey flavor brings depth, habanero flavor and the perfect heat to any dish without adding an overpowering smoke taste! Oh and no artificial colors are added. It's perfection in a bottle!

CHICKPEA CROQUETTES

Makes about 10

Ingredients:

2 cans chickpeas, drained

2 tbsp El Yucateco Habanero sauce

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup diced red pepper

2 tsp lime juice

1 tbsp olive oil

To make croquettes: In a food processor or blender, add chickpeas, hot sauce, cumin, coriander, salt, flour and lime juice. Blend until combined.

Pour mixture into a bowl. Fold in red pepper.

Coat a skillet with olive oil. Heat over medium heat. Scoop dollops of chickpea mixture onto skillet. Cook 5-6 minutes and then flip. Cook 5 more minutes on other side. Repeat with remaining chickpea mixture.

Remove from heat and serve!

I purchase El Yucateco Black Label Reserve Habanero Sauce at my local Walmart. Take a look in the hot sauce or ethnic foods section and you will find it.

Do you like chickpeas? Have you ever had chickpea croquettes or any type of croquette at tailgates? 

Scare Up Some Fun With Silly Monster Pudding Cups (FREE Printable)

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

It's Fall and that means it's time to send the kids back to school! Back to school lunch packing can get boring after a while so I like to have some fun with their lunches. One of their favorite snacks are pudding cups so I decided to scare up some fun with silly monster pudding cups. 

Pudding cups are my favorite too so we buy lots of them in our home. While grocery shopping the other night, I noticed that there were Hershey's S'mores Ready-to-Eat pudding cups on the shelf and you know those immediately went into the cart! Hershey's pudding is a rich, creamy pudding made with real Hershey's cocoa. They are a great option for a premium, high quality snack!

My honey got me hooked on creating printables for all her crafts and holidays so I knew a printable was the way to go to make the pudding cups a little more fun! My kids love silly monsters and lunchbox notes so I put two and two together and created these pudding cup wrappers! They are silly, fun and the best part, FREE! These wrappers are on a 8-1/2" x 11" sheet so they are easy to print at home. 

To download wrappers, just right-click, save image and print!

Once you have printed out the pudding cup wrappers, just cut around the black lines. 

Your cut wrappers should look like this. All you will need to assemble the silly monster pudding cups are hte wrappers and double-sided tape!

Turn a wrapper over and stick a piece of double-sided tape to each end, then attach to the pudding cup. 

That's it! You now have a silly monster treat that's delicious and sure to scare up some silly fun at lunch!

Hershey's Ready to Eat pudding cups are available at Walmart and come in S'mores and Chocolate flavors. While you are at Walmart, make sure to pick up a copy of the September/October issue of ALL YOU magazine which has a $0.55 off coupon for Hershey's Ready to Eat Pudding!

Be sure to check out more delicious topping ideas and fun crafts at Kraft.com. I'd love to hear your favorite!

3 Ways I Stay in Touch With My Daughter

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

My daughter, Amberly, is my world. Her birth changed my life forever. She made me a dad, the most important job I will ever have. Deciding to separate from her mom when she was only two was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, not because my relationship was ending but because I knew that I wouldn't see Amberly every single day. Ever since then, I look forward to the weekends when I get to see her (and her brother!) 

Over the past six years, I have tried hard to maintain as much contact with her as possible, not just every other weekend. It's important for me to have an open line of communication with her. It's important for her to know I will be there for her, no matter what. My ex (her mom) and I get along well so it does make things a lot easier on everyone involved. I stay in touch with Amberly all week long.

{ONE}

The easiest way to stay in touch with her is by calling. At first, we had a set time once a week where we would talk over the phone. Thankfully, she has always been a big talker and has always loved talking on the phone with me. Since she started school, the phone calls are more frequent, at least twice a week. She will call me or I will call her. We discuss homework, behavior or just a quick Wednesday morning call to say "Happy hump day!"

{TWO}

Sometimes phone calls are not enough! When I see her on the weekends, the first thing she does is run and give me a big hug. She does not let go. I know she has missed me as much as I have missed her. She is the cuddly type so when I heard about CloudPets™, I knew it would be perfect for her!

CloudPets™ are these cute stuffed animals that lets you stay in touch with your loved ones. CloudPets™ lets you download a free app, register your animal and then you get to send a message to the pet. Your loved one hears the message on the pet and then record a message back! CloudPets™ come with parental controls and only invited friends and family can send a message to your pet. 

{THREE}

Another way I stay in touch with Amberly is to be present. When she is around, my attention is on her. We don't see each other as much as we would like so why be on the phone or working when she is around? My weekend is devoted to her (and her brother!) when they are over. We play, read books, go on outings, always something and always together! Now, I am present, no matter what. If there is a school function, I am there. She can't understand homework explanations over the phone, I drive to her house and we figure it out. Always available and always present is the perfect way to let her know how much I love her!

I can't wait to see her this weekend and gift her her new CloudPets™ Unicorn. The unicorn is exclusive to Walmart. CloudPets™ are also available as a Kitty, Bear, Puppy and Bunny!

Have you seen CloudPets™ at your local Walmart? Who would you gift one too?

Ad: Black and Bleu Burger

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

I love burgers. To me, a burger is man food! My favorite burger is a Black and Bleu burger. Believe me, if I see a black and bleu burger on a menu, I am ordering it. I love it so much that I have even learned how to make one at home. Yes, this is coming from a man that only knows how to fry eggs. Black and Bleu burgers are amazing. They are a blackened burger patty, topped with bleu cheese, bacon, mushrooms and caramalized onions. I mean, does it get any better than this?

My honey knows how much I love burgers so the other day when she was grocery shopping, she bought these  Ball Park ® Flame Grilled fully cooked burgers. I'm always on the go and don't always have time to grill a burger so these fully cooked frozen burgers, which are microwavable, were a great solution!

Beef and Cheese or just Beef? How is a man to choose?

As soon as I saw the bags of Ball Park® burgers in the freezer last night, I knew I wanted a Black and Bleu burger for dinner! I mean look at this beauty!

BLACK & BLEU BURGER

Serves one

Ingredients:

1 Ball Park® Beef with Cheese and Bacon patty

2 rounds of sliced red onions

1 tbsp butter

4 baby bella mushrooms

crumbled bleu cheese

2 slices of thick bacon, fully cooked

1 French hamburger bun

 Directions:
In a pan on medium heat, add butter and onions. Cook onions for about 5 minutes or until softened.

While onions are cooking, put one frozen patty on a microwave-safe plate.

Microwave according to package directions.

Once onions are soft, set aside and add mushrooms to the same pan. Cook 2 minutes per side. A black and bleu burger needs a blackened patty, so as soon as the mushrooms are done, set aside and add the patty to the pan. Cook for 1 minute on each side over high heat. Remove from pan.

Now it's time to assemble your burger. First, cut a French hamburger bun (or any good bakery roll) in half and place patty on bottom half.

Top with crumbled bleu cheese. The cheese will slowly melt over the hot patty.

Add mushrooms over cheese.

Then add the bacon.

Finally, top your creation with the caramalized onions!

I don't add ketchup or mustard to this burger but you are welcome to do so to yours. This is burger-perfection right here and in less than 10 and no grill required!

I was very happy with my dinner and so happy that I can now have a burger any time! Next time, I'm adding a fried egg. Gotta make sure to use all my cooking skills!

Ball Park® patties are available in the frozen food section at Publix. They come in 7 different varieties, so I'm sure there will be one you will love for your burger creation! 

HALL OF FLAME SWEEPSTAKES/GIVEAWAY

Make sure to enter the Hall of Flame Sweepstakes/Giveaway today where you can enter to win your chance at $1000 in prizes! 

What's your favorite burger? Ever had a black and bleu?

Our Car: Keeping My Family and I Going Since 2006

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

As a family of five, we are busy and constantly driving from one place to another. On a typical day, we drive to the gym, back home, to school dropoffs, work dropoffs, school pickups, work pickups, extracurriculars, back home and maybe back out one more time for groceries. Our car barely gets a break so I make sure to keep it well-maintained. Car maintenance can be expensive so I try to do some of it on my own, like change the oil, item replacements and car washes.

A little background on our car. I was born in Cuba and came to the United States when I was 8. I remember getting here and seeing so many cars and knowing one day I wanted one of my own. When I turned 16, my mom didn't have the means to buy me a car so I drove a hand me down for a couple years. When I was 19 and in college, my girlfriend at the time found out she was pregnant. I remember being in my car on a hot summer day and knowing that we couldn't bring a baby into the world and drive her around in a car that didn't have a/c. 

I saved some money (which was very hard at 19 and in college), went to the dealership and bought (financed) a brand new 2006 Toyota Corolla. I wanted a new car and I was able to get one. I was now a father and was determined to always give my child everything I didn't have as an immigrant into this country. This car, my car, saw me through all my child's first, a second child, single fatherhood, graduating college, new jobs and now transporting my new family around town. 

This car has been a huge part of my life and will continue to be. I plan on keeping it around as long as possible so I keep up the maintenance schedule. Now keeping up a maintenance schedule can get expensive, so like I mentioned before, there are many things I do on my own, like change the oil. Changing the oil on a car is not easy but it is time-consuming. You need to make sure you purchase the correct oil your car requires.  Quaker State has svereal varieties available for your car like the  Advanced Durability Motor Oil and Defy-High Mileage Motor Oil.

Every day as I get into my car I am filled with pride knowing that hard work pays off. I have a car of my own. I have made a life for myself and my family. I know that I am serving as an example to my children about hard work and empowerment. I love my car and plan on driving her around for many more years to come!

 Quaker State Motor Oil is available at Walmart in the Auto Care aisles!

Have you had your car a long time like I've had mine? Tell me about it!