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Halloween Treats

/ nestingwithanaya / Leave a comment

We were invited to a Pumpkim Carving party this past weekend and it was so much fun. It was potluck style and my daughter and I decided to make some yummy Halloween Treats. Now last time I did this, it was all junk. Candy, chips, cookies! I mean, it was yummy, but not very healthy. The treats we made this time were healthier choices. My daughter really wanted to help, so I ttied to let her do most of the work. But this got super messy at times and I was trying to be neat so the clean up was quick and easy. What we ended up doing was splitting the duties instead.

We started with the Oreos. Super simple. We melted about one cup of orange melting chocolate in the microwave. I do about 30 second increments, stirring in between, to make sure the chocolate doesn’t burn. Then, I drizzled the cookie and she added green sprinkles. Together, we added an eye to it using the chocolate as our glue.

We then worked on our Ghost Cheese Sticks. This one she was able to do all on her own. I did one as an example and then she ran with it. We used a permanent marker and drew some eyes and a mouth on a string cheese. Very simple. She had fun and felt accomplished once she was done.

We moved on to our Mummy Strawberries. I prewashed and dried them so they were ready to go. I melted about one cup of white melting chocolate in the microwave. The goal was for the chocolate to be messy so my girl gave it a try. But her hand hurt after awhile and she wanted me to drizzle the chocolate and she would add the eye. Truth is, she just wanted to eat. She snacked the whole time we were making these things!

There were two more snacks we made that I didn’t photograph individually. The first was a pumpkim made out of a Cutie orange. The easiest treat we made. We simply peeled the orange and used a piece of bell pepper as the stem. The next was Vampire Mouths made out of Apples, Peanut Butter & mini Marshmallows. This one I think was her favorite to make. It was so fun to see the Mouths take shape and also because she was eating all the marshmallows! 🤣 I sliced the apples and smeared a little peanut butter on one side. My girl placed the Marshmallows on top of the peanut butter and then we basically sandwiched them. So it was apple, Marshmallows and apples. This is one of my favorite snacks. Apples & peanut butter, you can never go wrong!

Last thing we made were Mummy Dogs. We preheated the oven to 375° We used one pack of Crescent Rolls Dough and 12 hot Dogs. I cut the dough into strips and wrapped it around the hotdogs. Popped in the oven for 15 minutes. Once they were out, we grabbed our candy eyes and placed them on our Dogs. For this, we used a little ketchup as our glue. These were such a hit for both adults and kids.

Once all our treats were made I assembled them onto a big cutting board to make a cute display. I love how it turned out! There are so many fun treats out there that you can make and incorporate into a board like this. We really had a great time eating and creating. I hope that you get some ideas from here and create your own spooky treats 👻

H E L L O

/ nestingwithanaya / 2 Comments

Hi friends. My name is Brenda Anaya and I am totally new to this blog thing. Its something that sparked interest but never thought I’d actually do. Before I start on my why, let me tell you about myself.

I am 31 yrs old, born and raised in Whittier, Ca. I have a loving husband who I’ve been married to for 6 yrs. When we got married I gained a bonus daughter named Destiny, and later had my first born Ava who is 5 and baby boy, Abram who is now 1.

Prior to having my son, I worked as a supervisor for a company for 12 yrs. It was one of my first jobs where I just flourished. But after so long I felt wore out and was craving something different. I started to pursue other job opportunities but 1. I was being too picky with the job/pay and 2. I wasn’t landing anything. So I put that idea of leaving on pause. Then we found out we were expecting another child. I started to really think about our families future. How was I going to work a full time job and manage my family. It started stressing me out. I have a husband who has a wonderful job and is so flexible because he is always on the road. He can pick up my daughter from school or take her to dance if I’m running late, but how will we do it with two? I mean its possible, but these were just the thoughts I had in my head. So I prayed. I asked God to show me what He wants me to do. Honestly, I was too scared to leave a job where I’ve been at for 12yrs. I never thought it was possible and my heart was uneasy. My main concern was, can we financially afford to do it? Now, I’m horrible with money management. I don’t do well with budgets and I have no will power. So throughout my pregnancy, leaving a job without another one in place, was not an option.

We work so hard and make a decent living where I can admit I can have a bit of a shopping problem. I love all things home decor and clothes for my babies and I. So in my head, my income is much needed. . . for all the fun stuff! But God was starting to show me otherwise. Time came for my maternity leave Jan 2020. Everyone asked if I was going to return and my answer was Yes. Fast forward to March 2020 and Covid19 hit. When I had my son this whole pandemic had just started. So being in the hospital wasn’t too scary. I was allowed to have family in the room during birth and visitors were allowed to meet him. But once we got home, it got real. I had my mom buying me groceries because things were getting bought off the shelves. It was a scary time!

Once my maternity leave was up I couldn’t find it in my heart to return to work. With Covid still happening, my daughter was not back in school yet and now I also had my son. I called to see if I can get an extension or work from home, but those were not options. I had to make the decision to leave, but I was so at peace with it. God was showing me throughout my leave that my income was not needed. That I was meant to be home with my kids. To be that mom that took her kids to school, picked them up, took them for a treat after class, to be there for all the events, to be a room mom (someday)! Obviously with Covid we are limited to what we can do but I am so happy to be home. I know God gave me a talent and I am meant for something special. At the moment I don’t know what that may be. For now, I will enjoy my time as a stay at home mom.

We are currently renovating our home, so I want to share it all with you. All my home decor, party decor, crafts, inspiration, recipes, etc. I am so glad that you are here and that you are joining me on this new venture!