Nestle Seasonal Holiday Review & Recipe

Mindfulness refers to the practice of always focusing on the present moment. It’s about allowing the mind to be completely attentive to what is currently happening (as opposed to worrying about the past or future.) Mindfulness isn’t abstract, yet it is often easier said than done. Meditation can allow us to practice mindfulness; for example, focused meditation can involve focusing only on our breathing. When we focus on the breath, and allow everything else to clear from our minds, we are permitting ourselves to be fully present and free of wandering thoughts.
To practice mindfulness in your day-to-day, it’s about being purposeful and taking things slowly. You might like to set a positive intention for the day, whether it’s walking the scenic route to work or eating only healthy foods. There are plenty of books on mindfulness which can help you to learn more.
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy has been a stress-reducing practice for centuries; the practice uses essential oils to boost our health. You can either inhale the oils, add them to a bath or mix them with a carrier oil and apply to the skin. Suitable carrier oils include both coconut oil and jojoba oil. Whichever way you choose to use essential oils, there are many benefits to be accessed. Lavender oil, for example, is often praised for its ability to ease stress and anxiety. Lavender also has antibacterial properties which can help to heal wounds. Chamomile oil is an excellent choice for those who struggle with insomnia, while ylang ylang helps to boost one’s mood.
Thai massage
A Thai massage is largely based on healing practices that began in India. There are many health benefits, one of which is relaxation. During a Thai massage, your masseuse will use stretches and apply pressure gently to help your body to heal and relax. One study in Healthline reports that massages have been proven to reduce stress levels significantly. Thai massages can also help to lift your energy levels and improve circulation. With an indulgent massage or two, you’ll soon boost your wellness levels.
Breathing techniques
During times of stress, never underestimate the power of deep breathing! Finding workable breathing techniques are particularly crucial for those who suffer from anxiety. One great breathing technique for reducing stress, commonly used in yoga, is ‘three-part breath.’ The chest, the diaphragm and the abdomen are the three parts used. Firstly you inhale to fill your lungs entirely; it’s important to breathe into every inch of your rib cage, stomach and upper chest. Secondly, you completely exhale. Three-part breath is about breathing fully so that we are no longer restricting oxygen from our blood vessels.

This post may contain affiliate links which fund the My Sparkling Life blog.
Disclosure of Material Connection: This travel was #Hosted which means The company who sponsored it compensated me via all expenses paid trip, cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Day 3, The last day at the D23 Expo! It’s bitter-sweet, I know within 24hrs I will see my kids again, get some sleep…yes sleep, we’ve been up till 1 am, and up at 6:30 am..so sleep is on my mind at this point…Yet there is so much more to see or do! It’s All Music And Games today!
Well to start we get to have breakfast and a Q&A with 4 Disney Short Director/Producers!! WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS SHORT FILMS COLLECTION which was released 8/18 is an an extraordinary new collection of award-winning and beloved short films including the never-before-released Frozen Fever, starring Frozen’s Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Sven and Kristoff, and the Oscar-nominated Lorenzo.
After breakfast we headed over to the D23 Expo for the final day of panels and shopping the show floor! We started at the It’s Game Time: Disney Interactive Takes the Stage panel.
Free Time! Time to explore some more of the Expo Floor!
Disney In Concert: A Silly Symphony Celebration…this was an amazing panel!! I mean, how often do you get to watch Silly Symphony cartoons/shorts with a live symphony?!
After that epic show, we headed over to the Disney Music Emporium to check out the new Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection series. This collection includes 12 collectors edition soundtracks from beloved Disney movies that are all celebrating a milestone this year. Walt Disney Records has teamed up with H2O+ in celebration of the release of The Legacy Collection through an empowering #ShareYourLegacy campaign. Read More
Our last free time, it was time to check out a few of the shops to see what goodies I could find & explore more of what the show floor has to offer. The Pod from Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, Yoda made from Jelly Belly’s, Mini Radiator Springs Replica, and plenty of Disney Infinity 3.0 Fun! Plus, Look, Alex and Ani Bracelets! I stood strong, and didn’t buy anymore, but have several on my list!
“The Tunes Behind the Toons” screening and Q+A panel was our last panel at the D23 Expo. This was a short form documentary that celebrates the power of music in animation. From the silent film days when organists played live accompaniments, to the music within today’s animated features, this documentary traces the origins of cartoon music and its pioneers. We didn’t get to stick around for too much of the Q&A because we had to leave to catch flights.
Once we returned to the hotel, we said goodbye to many of our new friends had some dinner and drinks at the bar and then finally caught my shuttle to the airport at 9:30. My flight wasn’t until 12:50 am PST so it was a good thing I had Mariah from The Simple Parent to sit and talk with until our flights.
Goodbye Selfie
It wasn’t such a long flight from LA to Houston…maybe because I fell asleep right after take off…lol…hey, 4 days of early to rise, late to bed will catch up to you! Then I had a 3 hour layover in Houston…thank goodness it was in one of the smaller terminals so it wasn’t busy and I could just relax and try not to fall asleep. Finally boarded my hour flight to Corpus and guess what…fell asleep again! lol…I made it home around 10:30 am CST. It was a long weekend, but so worth it! I would jump at the chance to do it all over again!
THANK YOU DISNEY & PUBLISISTS (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) FOR INVITING ME ON SUCH AN EPIC WEEKEND! HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN SOON!

This post may contain affiliate links which fund the My Sparkling Life blog.
This is a sponsored post through The Women Bloggers, LLC. which is led by the Kendal King Group on behalf of Nestle. All opinions are 100% my own. #CookingwithGerber
If you have kids chances are you’ve purchased a granola bar or two for on the go snacking, I know we’ve purchased our fair share over the years. But it wasn’t until my youngest was outgrowing the baby food stage that it hit me…I didn’t have to throw or give away all that unused Gerber Baby Cereal! It’s a great recipe substitute! That’s when I came up with this Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Bar. It’s super simple, great tasting and best of all, toddler & adult approved!
Now, I know what you are thinking…because my hubby thought the same thing too. BABY CEREAL!?! You’re kidding right?! Yes! No, I’m not kidding…It’s organic, has plenty of vitamins & minerals and comes in many varieties to suit your taste…it’s a total game-changer for a homemade healthy snack! These Homemade Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Bars are a simple recipe that is made with ingredients that you probably already have in your home.
Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Bar
1 1/4 cup Gerber Oatmeal Cereal
1 cup sliced almonds
2 tbs sunflower oil
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350*.
Spray 9×9 pan & line with parchment paper leaving excess hanging over for easy bar removal
Spread nuts and cranberries out onto parchment lined baking sheet & bake 3-5 min
In small sauce pan, bring honey, oil and brown sugar to simmer. Stir to dissolve sugar then remove from heat & add vanilla.
In bowl combine Gerber Oatmeal, cinnamon & salt. Mix in nut & cranberry mixture then add honey mixture until everything is well coated.
Pour into 9×9 dish and press down using another piece of parchment paper until evenly spread.
Toss a few rolled oats or almond slices onto the top.
Place in fridge for about an hour. Then remove and cut into bars.
My Sparkling Life https://mysparklinglife.com/
Since you don’t want to eat them all in one sitting, wrap them individually with parchment paper and put into ziplock bags. They will be ready to go when you are! With the different flavors of Gerber Cereals, you can mix it up and try various dried fruits and nuts for a variety of tasty nutritious on the go snacks. Try using dried banana (the baking will soften them up) with the banana or strawberry banana oatmeal cereals. Perhaps an Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bar…
You can find more delicious recipes & info on Gerber products on their website.
Have you ever used Gerber Cereal or food as a substitute? What creative or fun ideas do you have?
Head on over to my Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe
to enter to WIN a $50 Gift Card!
Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

As most of his fans know, during our all expense paid trip to LA for the #DoctorStrangeEvent we were able to sit down with Mads Mikkelsen and talk about his role as Kaecilius, playing villains and joining the Marvel Universe. We had plenty of questions roll in from the twitter universe and we weren’t short on questions in the interview…so let’s get to it.
We had a few of the Doctor Strange toys set up at the head of the table where the talent would sit, when he sat down Mads started checking them out and was asked if he will be collecting himself as a figure.
Click To Tweet
Does Mads prefer the villain or hero?
“I’ll take the villain. I mean, in terms of playing characters, I think that any good hero, or any good villain has to be interesting, having both sides of the coin. And I think that’s exactly what Marvel always does, right?”
There were quite a few scenes that Mads enjoyed, but his favorite was the first time he meets Doctor Strange and the battle that ensues…and ends in a speech by Kaecilius that even had Doctor Strange thinking.
So what about that makeup?
“It was fantastic. We were sitting in there for hours trying out this makeup, and I was like, “Oh god, do I really wanna do this every day?” But then it turned out so fantastic, I was like, “Yeah, that’s it. Three hours every day, we’ll do it. It’s worth it, really.”
While sitting there for all that time, Mads didn’t waist a minute…he closed his eyes and went over the scenes he would be working on that day…and when it came to removing all that make up
“our skin was not super happy with it after when you took it off, obviously.”
So I was dying for a few weeks to be able to ask my question…since I’m not only excited about this movie, but also about Rogue One in Decembers…so how does it feel to not only have his name cemented into the Marvel Universe but also the Star Wars Universe this year?
“It’s, it seems appropriate. No, it feels fantastic. I mean, as a bloke who started out acting 20 years ago back home, uh, late starter, I never imagined that I would work in America at all. A little less that I would work in a Marvel film. So it feels as if I’m a very fortunate person.”
Q: Do you feel like you’re being typecast as a villain due to your phenomenal performance in Hannibal?
“I am to a degree over here. I mean, but if the alternative is not to work over here, I’ll take the villain. Luckily I do a lot of different things back home in Europe, so I’m not starving in that sense. Why am I always the villain? If it’s this kind of villain, I’ll take it any day.”
Like any actor, they all tend to have a “mentor” so to speek that they look up to and learn from…for Mads that would be the talented Mr. Christopher Walken.
“He’s a hero of mine, and I think he has the ability to somehow make the villains likeable.”
Who was Mads favorite Marvel superheros as a kid? Spiderman!
“Spiderman was easily accessible, right? He’s a kid, and he’s fun, and he can do stuff, that’s cool. So I think that was easy to identify with as a kid.”
When asked why he wanted to take this roll…there were two words… “It’s Marvel.”
” You know Scott was pitching on the phone the story, and then I remember he said “And then, it’s a lot of, you know, a lot of Kung Fu stuff, flying, but don’t worry, we got stunt guys for that.” I was like, “Wow, hold, wow, wow, hold on, what’d you say?” “We’ve got st-.” “No, no, rewind back, Kung Fu, I’m on.”
“So, it’s like Marvel and flying Kung Fu, I was like, I think that could be a yes. I always wanted to be Bruce Lee when I was a kid & wait until I was 51 years old to be a slightly older version of him, just a less good of course. But it was fun. It was, it was something I’ve always wanted to do when I was a kid.”
The most challenging part of the film?
“Logistic is obviously, you’ve seen the film, you know that it’s upside-down mirrored. It’s like so when we, we try to kind of cope with all that, and we might be hanging upside down, on the ceiling, and so it’s like, “Wow, where’s Strange now? Is he on the left side or the right side? Am I hiding that way or that way?” And we constantly had to go and see the previous little videos they have of what we’re doing with animated characters and try to stand and go “Okay, so he’s there, and he’s, okay, so that means he’s up there.” So, it was very tricky to get that right.”
A lot of actors like to keep things from the set…so what did Mads keep?
“I can’t tell you because they’d want it back”
So still curious minds want to know!
During the interview, we made sure to tell Mads his fans on twitter wanted him to know they love him…
“Oh, thanks a lot. I love them as well”
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
Scott Derrickson Interview Tilda Swinton Interview Rachel McAdams Interview Benedict Cumberbatch Interview
Finding Dory Pumpkin Carving Party Tips Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After

This post may contain affiliate links which fund the My Sparkling Life blog.
The benefits of making your own baby food are enormous …
You know exactly what your baby is eating – none of the dreaded “fillers” commonly found in commercial baby food
You know that the ingredients are fresh and healthy
You can “tailor make” your baby’s food to best suit his/her preferences and needs
You will save money. These homemade baby food recipes cost a fraction of the price of ready made foods
And most importantly … making your own baby food is tremendously satisfying – for you AND your baby.
It’s not nearly as time-consuming as you might think! On the baby food preparation and storage page you’ll learn how to prepare batches of food quickly and easily.
Your baby might be ready for solids if he/she:
Sits up alone, without assistance
Consistently seems hungry after a full feeding
Shows interest in or grabs at your food
Can refuse food by turning head
Has outgrown reflex to spit out solid food
My Sparkling Life recommends introducing one food at a time, waiting at least 3-4 days before introducing another food. Watch closely for adverse reactions such as excessive gas, diarrhea, vomiting or a rash. If there is a reaction, discontinue food and wait at least 2 more weeks before reintroducing the food.
Sweet and delicious, it’s sure to please your little one’s palette. And the recipe could not be easier!
1 package frozen organic peas*
½ cup water
Place frozen peas in steamer. (If you don’t have a steamer, place metal colander over a pot of boiling water and cover.) Steam peas for 6-7 minutes or until tender.
Remove cooked peas from steamer/colander and put in food processor. Add water and process until completely smooth.
Once cooled, distribute mixture evenly amongst ice cube trays or cupcake tins, dependent upon desired portion size. When ice cubes are frozen, remove cubes from tray and store in a resealable plastic freezer bag or freezer container. Label package with contents and date. Use within 1 month. Before serving, let thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
*You can substitute frozen peas with fresh, but I’ve found the quality is exactly the same and it’s much less labor intensive to use the pre-shelled frozen peas. And we busy moms need all the time-savers we can get!
2-3 medium sweet potatoes
1/3 cup water
¼ tsp. fresh ground cinnamon (optional, for babies at least 6 months old)
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, for babies at least 6 months old)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place washed sweet potatoes directly on a baking sheet, lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until sweet potatoes are completely tender. Set aside to cool.
Once sweet potatoes are cool, peel off skin and cut into large chunks. Place sweet potatoes in food processor, add water, cinnamon (optional) and vanilla (optional) and puree until completely smooth. Add more water if necessary, to achieve desired consistency.
Distribute mixture evenly amongst ice cube trays or cupcake tins, dependent upon desired portion size.
Go get your green on with this yummy vegetable staple! Their mild flavor ensures little ones will gobble up their greens!
1 lb. fresh green beans, washed and ends removed
½ cup water
Place green beans in steamer. (If you don’t have a steamer, place metal colander over a pot of boiling water and cover.) Steam beans for 7-8 minutes or until tender.
Remove cooked beans from steamer/colander and put in food processor. Add water and process until completely smooth.
Once cooled, distribute mixture evenly amongst ice cube trays or cupcake tins, dependent upon desired portion size.When ice cubes are frozen, remove cubes from tray and store in a resealable plastic freezer bag or freezer container. Label package with contents and date. Use within 1 month. Before serving, let thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
1 4 ounce large carrot, cut in 1-inch chunks
1/2 cup water
Place carrot in a medium saucepan. Add water. Bring water to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 15 to 20 minutes or until tender.
Remove carrot with a slotted spoon and put in food processor. Add water and process until completely smooth
Once cooled, distribute mixture evenly amongst ice cube trays or cupcake tins, dependent upon desired portion size. When ice cubes are frozen, remove cubes from tray and store in a resealable plastic freezer bag or freezer container. Label package with contents and date. Use within 1 month. Before serving, let thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I was born and raised “Deep in the Heart of Texas”, Austin to be exact! I was the first member of my family to be born in the Texas and I couldn’t be prouder that my parents chose Austin,Tx to call home and start a family!
When I was 5, my parents bought a house and we moved about 30 minutes out of the city, to a small town where I grew up on 2 ½ acres…guess you could say living the Texas dream! Some of my favorite memories are the big BBQ get together’s we would have with family and friends. Brisket, Burgers, Beans, Deviled Eggs…That’s Texas dinner at it’s finest!
Now that I have my own family, there is still nothing better than a BBQ get together! Lots of friends, family and good food. Over the years I’ve had fun turning some of our favorite BBQ snacks into something the kids will love, like my Kid Friendly Bacon Cheddar Ranch Deviled Eggs!
Bacon Cheddar Ranch Deviled Eggs A kid friendly version of a traditional deviled egg.
12 Hard Boiled Eggs
5 Strips of Bacon
1/2 Cup Ranch
3 Tbs Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Place your eggs in a pot add water to cover. Bring to boil then turn off and cover for 10-12 minutes. Remove and place in cool water for about 15 minutes.
In the meantime cook your bacon. Once done set aside to cool.
Peel your eggs, slice in half and remove yolk placing it into a bowl.
Chop up 3 slices of bacon into bacon bits. You will use 5th for garnish.
Mash up your yolk and add in remaining ingredients. Mix well.
Use a spoon or piping bag to fill your egg halves with the mixture.
Garnish with bacon pieces and cheese shredds.
If you’re looking to do an adult version, mix in some green onions or add some heat with cayenne pepper.
My Sparkling Life https://mysparklinglife.com/
Texas has always been home to me and my family, and we like to buy local whenever possible. Recently I found a product found exclusively at Walmart, that’s just 2 blocks from out new house! Lone Star Eggs produced by CCF Brands just for Texans! They were a great discovery because we eat a lot of eggs at our house. They are a great source of protein and you can use them to make so many things.
To learn more about Lone Star Eggs, visit the Lone Star Eggs Facebook page and enter for your chance to win a year’s supply of eggs!