The Photographer's Wife Parenting, Disney, Travel, Reviews & Other Randomness

Happy Halloween! Here’s one of our creations from the Halloween Party this past weekend…Zombie Flesh Cupcakes!

Brett usually comes up with some fun, creative Halloween-themed food items for his mom’s annual Halloween Party. He usually makes about 2-3 things. Sometimes I’ll make something…usually crockpot meatballs, which require almost no effort on my part lol, but the past few years it’s been all him.

This year, the item I was looking forward to the most were his cupcakes. He takes his cupcake duties pretty seriously and his are some of the best ever. Back when the menu items were discussed, he offered to make cupcakes, but hadn’t decided what exactly he would make.

When we were in WDW last week, one of my must-try items was the King Cupcake only available at the Pop Century resort, which I got on our way home from the World.

It’s a chocolate cupcake, filled with banana, topped with peanut butter frosting and candied bacon bits. It was so delicious, it inspired Brett to make something similar for the Halloween Party!

Zombie Flesh Cupcakes!!

He thought they would be better without the banana filling and I didn’t care either way as long as he kept the other three ingredients. Here are the steps!

 

Chocolate Cake:

This one is easy. Just prepare your favorite chocolate cake…boxed mix, from scratch, already made from the store…we don’t judge We used Halloween cupcake liners like these ones.

 

Peanut Butter Frosting:

Brett used this recipe for peanut butter buttercream frosting and tripled it to make enough for 32 cupcakes. Once ready, he put it in a piping bag and swirled it on top of the cupcakes.

 

Candied Bacon:

Mix together in a bowl: 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 tbs of cinnamon, then coat each piece of bacon, then place bacon on a rack on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

We used Hormel Black Label Maple Flavored bacon to have thick pieces of maple bacon perfect for candied bacon.

Cut up several pieces of bacon into tiny pieces and then cut the rest into pieces a few inches long. Place 1 larger piece on each cupcake and then sprinkle the rest of the bits on top of the cupcakes.

Enjoy!

I think these aren’t just for Halloween and should be made for my birthday too (wink, wink Brett!).

 

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I am currently a member of the Hormel Foods Extended Blogger Program and this post is part of my involvement with the group, however I purchased this bacon on my own and totally ate like 6 of these cupcakes myself.

Right now, I’m millions of kids are about to be swimming in their hauls of candy from trick-or-treating, gorging on sweets, sweets and more sweets. Unless your neighborhood hands out money…did anyone used to get excited when they would hear coins dropping into their bags? Some of you may even have more chocolaty-filled events coming up this weekend (Boo for Halloween being on a weeknight)!

Either way, now is the perfect time to focus on good habits when it comes to keeping your and your kids’ teeth clean and healthy. I know, buzzkill, right? Well, clean and healthy teeth are on my mind since not only did I just enroll Trent in my dental plan and will be scheduling his very first visit to the dentist soon, but I was also sent an Oral-B Pro-Health Electric toothbrush to review.

I am very weird in that I actually like going to the dentist…but only when I get good news…no cavities! So a good toothbrush, toothpaste and floss is a must. I am trying to pass on good oral hygiene habits to Trent. He patiently waits for me to hand him his toothbrush each night after his bath and he tries to brush his own teeth. Since I know he doesn’t get all of his teeth, I try to help him out afterward, which he doesn’t quite like, but oh well.

The toothbrush I was sent is a little beyond Trent’s age, but if you have a a child 8+ at home, then this would be great! But just because it’s geared towards tweens, it still says 8+, and since I fit into the 8+ category I decided to give it a try myself!

Some information about the Oral-B Pro-Health For Me Vitality Toothbrush and Oral-B Pro Health For Me Sensitive Clean Brush Heads available at Walmart!

It’s the perfect electric toothbrush for kids. It is designed to cater to the oral health needs of tweens without cramping their style. This electric toothbrush has a waterproof handle with fun designs and is compatible with multiple toothbrush heads. It also features a brushing timer that ensures their brushing style goes the extra mile for the dentist-recommended 2 minutes.

This brush head provides a gentle brushing experience.

• 2 Minute Timer - Signals to let you know when you have completed 2 minutes of brushing.
• Replacement refill heads feature extra-soft bristles
• Gently Power away gunk

I think the best part about it is the 2-minute timer. Kids can be so distracted with tv, social media and just life in general that this timer will help make sure they brush as long as they should…without you standing over them…because who wants to do that? Not me.

I often wonder how much/little time I take to brush, so I especially love being told I brushed for enough time without having to keep an eye on a clock.

I also like how the bristles indicate when the heads need to be changed. I’m impressed with how little room it takes up on the counter…I need my space!

Here’s some more information from America’s ToothFairy:

Good oral hygiene is important but did you know there are MILLIONS of at-risk kids that can’t sleep at night, eat properly or even concentrate in school because of painful tooth decay? Without the financial resources for dental care or even a toothbrush or toothpaste, these kids find themselves caught in a downward spiral of pain and humiliation, from getting bullied in school to enduring an agonizing toothache on a daily basis.

This Halloween, Trick or Treat with America’s ToothFairy and help rescue kids from pain by raising funds to provide dental care, preventive services and oral health education for vulnerable children and their families. 100% of Trick or Treat with America’s ToothFairy donations will go directly to helping children in need. You can also be entered to win a Halloween Jack-o-Lantern bucket filled with 144 toys. Kids can get involved too and receive fun stickers and a certificate recognizing them as an Official ToothFairy Helper by the ToothFairy herself! Click here to download your great Halloween games, a song, and a calendar filled with super spooky fun activities for the entire month!

Tips for a Health Halloween from America’s ToothFairy!

Make this year memorable and sweet without all the sugar with these fun tips for a healthy Halloween!

• Give ‘em a treat without the sweet! Hand out sugar-free candy, toothbrushes or fun little toys to trick or treaters or at your party.
• Make sure your child has a healthy meal before Halloween festivities to avoid snacking and a sugar overload!
• If you are hosting a party, use healthy foods to make fun treats that the kids can enjoy. With a little fruit, some paper plates and toothpicks, children can create their own Monster Face. Melonballs or grapes make great monster’s eyeballs, simply spear the melonballs with the toothpicks and poke through the paper plate. For the monster’s nose, spear strawberries or orange slices, and for the monster’s smile, a banana will do just fine!
• For a healthy smile year round, remember to brush, and floss your teeth twice a day and visit your dentist once every six months! For children ages 6 and up, use a fluoride rinse.

Trick or Treat with America’s ToothFairy this year and help raise awareness and support to portect young smiles and help kids in need!

Buy:

Oral-B Pro Health For Me Rechargeable Toothbrush and the Oral-B Sensitive Clean Brush Head Refills are available exclusively at WalMart.

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I received this item in exchange for my review and sharing this info. The review is my own opinion. Thanks for reading and Happy Halloween!

Wow, these past few days/weeks have been super crazy! We got back from WDW late Thursday night, then I went to a painting party on Friday night (post and VIDEO to come in the next few days!), and then Saturday night was our family’s annual Halloween Party! All of that while being sick too. Sorry to those that were near me the past few days - I wasn’t about to miss out on any of the festivities and I made sure to use my hand sanitizer!

Before I get to this year, here is a photo of what we dressed up as last year…a pirate family!

OMG look at how adorable Trent is in his little pirate costume! Kills me. Luckily, we’ll get to wear these costumes again for the Pirate Party on the Disney Cruise in January, although I will need to get a new costume for Trent since that one is now too itty bitty for him. I’m hoping to score a good deal with either a last-minute Halloween or after-Halloween discount.

This year, we had an even tougher time deciding what to be, since we knew we were also going to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party in Walt Disney World. The last time we went (2008 I think), I dressed as a Disney character and had the best time, so I wanted to do SOMETHING Disney. But it seems like we found issues with almost every idea we thought of…ORRR it may have been because Brett decided what HE wanted to be long before any of it and there was no convincing him otherwise. Yes, my friends, my husband takes Halloween very serious and will hopefully one day transition his costume efforts to his kids instead of his middle-aged self. But I digress…

This year, we were a Star Wars family!

Brett was Anakin Skywalker, I was Padme Amidala and Trent was Yoda. I’ll talk more about where we got our costumes in another post, as some of it was purchased and some of it was made by us Brett.

Trent was kind of a butthead with his costume, sometimes he didn’t mind wearing it and most of the time he didn’t want anything to do with it. Like at the Halloween Party at WDW. That would be why we have ZERO photos of us at that party (which makes me incredibly sad)….we barely left the hotel room without him ripping it off.

But at least he left it on a little while longer at this party.

Note to self: A skin tight all white costume is a very bad idea after a Disney vacation.

Onward.

Here are some other cool costumes from that night:

A Gladiator…with camouflage shorts lol

A cheetah. Auntie Jane always creates her costumes from random stuff from her shop. So simple and creative!

A witch.

A firefighter…at least a teenage girl version of one.

A Witch and a Warlock.

One Night Stand and 50 Shades of Grey. Mr. One Night Stand took his costume off after 10 minutes because he couldn’t eat, drink or sit in it! But we sure did have a good laugh for those 10 minutes. Yes, there was even a condom on it. And yes, there were actually 50 shades of grey on her. Home Depot is going to start charging for their paint samples lol.

Evil scientist and a pirate.

The hosts with most…a ghost couple!

A goddess and a lumberjack (or Billy Mays or the Brawny guy)

A Flapper girl.

Besides the costumes, the food is always a big deal! Most people bring a Halloween-themed dish or at least think of a Halloween name for it.

Brett made a cheese ball shaped into a pumpkin (recipe post forthcoming). This was a hit. Cheese + Doritos is always a good thing in my book.

He also made “Zombie Flesh Cupcakes” - Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, topped with candied bacon…modeled after the King Cupcake at Pop Century in WDW!

He also made his famous deviled eggs, with a Halloween twist! It killed him to touch the chives for the pumpkin stems…he HATES any kind of onion. These were also quickly entirely consumed.

Mummy dogs. If you make these, I suggest cutting the hot dogs in half to make bite-sized mummy dogs that are easier to grab and eat.

Chocolate spiders.

Witch’s Brew Trifle (you can see the recipe on my sister-in-law’s blog here).

Bones and blood (breadsticks and pizza sauce).

Various chocolate treats.

Crunchy zombie eyes…a Pinterest favorite with a Halloween spin.

An annual must…a vomiting pumpkin! That’s some tasty vomit (cream cheese/corn dip).

Trail mix.

Chocolate wizard hats.

The dessert table in all it’s glory.

Sweet Ogre Eyes (meatballs).

Kitty litter and poo (rice and beef). It felt weird eating from this!

Various drink concoctions.

Brett’s mom sure goes all out with the Halloween decorations. Here’s just a sample…

It was a somewhat chilly night, which made sitting by the fire all the more delightful.

Trent had his own little glowstick lightsaber, but he much preferred Brett’s fancy lightsaber!

That’s not very nice, Yoda.

May the force be with you!

 

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xoxo

Lynn

With cold & flu season coming quickly, it’s always a good idea to do what you can to protect you and your family. I always keep hand sanitizer at my desk at work, as that seems to be the place where most of our sicknesses come from (lots of parents with kids in school or daycare there). However, in the past, I have not been the best about using it as often as I should, mostly because I try not to overdo it with harsh sanitizers because I believe it messes with your body’s natural ability to fight germs. I am especially hesitant to use sanitizers on Trent’s skin, but can recall numerous times when it would have been helpful to be able to put some on him after some questionable germ contact without a sink around! And as I sit here with Trent and I both sick, now more than ever do I feel like I need get better about protecting us!

I was happy to be introduced to a line of gentler, more natural hand sanitizers, ones that can even be used on young skin like Trent’s, called Mother’s Therapy Organics.

 

They also have a Germ-Fight’n hand lotion that that will leave skin soft and smelling great while fighting germs. You can see in the photo below that the lotion is light and not thick so it rubs in easily and doesn’t feel sticky. I love that it comes in a pump bottle, making it easier and more convenient to use!

Natural citrus essential oils and extracts power through germs naturally while soothing aloe vera encourages multiple daily use. The alcohol-free clean smell and non-greasy formula is water-based and not thick like some lotions that stick to the top of skin.

I love the light cucumber scent that is not one bit overwhelming.

They also offer travel sizes that you can hang on bags, in your car and on a stroller!

And if you are just looking for a light lotion for baby without sanitizer, then try the Baby Lotion!

A baby’s newborn skin is especially susceptible to absorption. It’s therefore essential that what you place on your baby’s skin will not damage the cells which are just building!

Mother’s Therapy Organics™ Baby Lotion is the natural alternative to rubs or creams that often do skin more harm than good. Our non-greasy lotion maintains the delicate balance found in babies skin while offering a relaxing sensation that soothes sensitive areas.

Giveaway!

Up for grabs: 1 family pack of hand sanitizers from Mother’s Therapy Organics

How to enter: We’ll be using Rafflecopter for this one, so there are multiple ways to enter…pick one or pick them all!

This giveaway ends on Sunday, November 10th, 2013 at 11:59 pm EST. US residents only please. I will contact the winner the next day by email and will announce the winner as an update to this blog post. Good luck!

{If you are viewing this post in an email or RSS feed, please click over to the blog to enter the contest using the Rafflecopter form }

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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xoxo

Lynn

I received these products in exchange for a review and giveaway. All opinions are my own and honest.

Both Brett and I are really bad about remembering to take our vitamins. Since we have been trying to eat less in order to lose weight, we want to make sure we are still getting the vitamins are bodies need, but unless we have the bottles sitting on the counter, it has been difficult to remember to actually take them. However, we haven’t missed a single day since switching to adult gummy vitamins!

Upon being offered a bottle of Smarty Pants Gummy Vitamins for Adults, we thought it would be great to try to see if we could be better about remembering to take our vitamins if they actually tasted good and it has worked. Actually, when I first got them in the mail, we couldn’t wait to dig in to try them…it was almost like Halloween with Brett and Trent reaching for them as I opened the bottle.

About Smarty Pants Gummy Vitamins for Adults:

At first we were surprised that a daily serving was 6 gummies, but since they taste so good, we had no trouble consuming our daily allotment. In fact, we wished the daily serving was even more than 6!

These Smarty Pants gummy vitamins have a slightly sour coating on them, making them taste even more like a treat…a healthy treat!

At 6 gummies a day, a bottle of 180 gummy vitamins will last you 30 days.

Since these vitamins are for adults, we couldn’t let them be a vitamin for Trent, but just to see how he would like them (since we are considering starting him on vitamins since he is not the best eater) we gave him a small piece of one…and he LOVED it! He kept wanting more and would even see the bottle and start reaching for it. I guess that means we need to get a bottle of children’s gummy vitamins!

If you’ve ever considered trying gummy vitamins, I recommend going for it. We definitely remember to devour take our vitamins now and we actually enjoy them…as opposed to some big horse-pill vitamin. We also love that they contain fish oil, which is a great source of Omega-3, without the yucky fishy aftertaste.

They have vitamins for weight management and for kids, too!

 

Buy:

SmartyPantsVitamins.com

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Find a store near you (Don’t forget to use this $5 off Coupon!)

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xoxo

Lynn

I received this product in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own and honest.