This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Pop-Tarts.
As a general rule I try to keep a close eye on the amount of sugar our little boy consumes over the course of a day. I’m not opposed to the occasional sweet treat, of course, but I definitely don’t think that dessert should be an all-day-long event. As a result of that, we have an ask-before-you-eat candy policy in our house. In addition, we don’t typically have lots of cakes and pies and cookies on hand – mainly because if they’re here, I AM POWERLESS TO RESIST THEM.
So maybe the sugar regulations in our house aren’t really about the young’un at all. Maybe they’re about his mama, who is BUT A WEAK VESSEL.
However, where mama and child both are concerned, there is one day – ONE DAY – every single year when I don’t monitor the sugar intake at all. I don’t even try.
Any clue as to what day that is?
Yep. You’re right (because you’re brilliant). It’s Halloween. Because whether you trick or treat in the neighborhood, go to Trunk or Treat at your church or celebrate at your school’s Fall Festival, one thing is for sure: there will be an abundance of sugar in all manner of forms. And every once in awhile, it’s fun to turn off the moderation button and surrender to the sweetness.
The other day I was trying to think of something fun I could make to hand out when the neighborhood kids come by on Halloween night, and I since I had a surplus of Choc-o-Lantern Chocolate Fudge flavored Pop-Tarts on hand, I asked our little guy if he thought there was a neat dessert we could make with them. He LOVES the Choc-o-Lantern Pop-Tarts, so he was all about incorporating them into a Halloween treat.
They’re pretty much my seven year-old’s love language.
After we bounced a few ideas back and forth, we came up with a plan: Choc-o-Lantern Crispies.
I know. It sounds crazy. But the end result will absolutely delight the kids in your life.
Oh, who am I kidding? Adults will love them, too.
Here’s how you make them:
8 Choc-o-Lantern Chocolate Flavored Pop-Tarts
3 tablespoons butter
1 10 oz. package marshmallows
6 cups crispy rice cereal
Place 4 Choc-o-Lantern Pop-Tarts in the bottom of a 13×9 casserole dish. Melt butter in a large saucepan, then add marshmallows and stir until mixture is completely melted. Remove from heat, then add cereal and combine. Use a spatula to gently spread cereal mixture on top of the Pop-Tarts, making sure to spread it evenly. Top with four more Pop-Tarts, pressing down firmly to make them stick. Cool for 5-10 minutes, then cut and serve – or wrap in plastic wrap and tie with ribbon for festive individual treats.
If you’d like to win a $100 Visa gift card courtesy of BlogHer, leave a comment that answers the following question: is there any day of the year when you happily break the normal food rules in your house? Any day when you lighten up just a bit?
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And finally, here are the official rules.
Happy Sweet Treat, everybody!
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Birthdays are “no rule” days…one year my daughter ate chili for breakfast on her birthday. We also have a rule that when it’s your birthday, you get to pick the restaurant we all eat at for dinner.
Birthdays, definitely!
We’re pretty lax most of the year, really. I always thought having strict food rules made food an ‘issue’ for kids. The same parents always seem to be having struggles at every meal with their children. “Eat X more bites of this and Y more bites of that …” Not my parenting style. They pretty much ate what we gave them. If they didn’t, no big deal. I was never a short order cook, but I would let them have something else. None of them were ever a problem when it came to food. (Thank God)
yes lots more than we should probably that we slack off. I will just have had bad day and be tired and order pizza or microwave something fast. I am embearessed as a Mom to admit that. Mostly Saturdays are definite days we will really be relaxed.