Thursday, November 20, 2008

Monkey Munch - Halloween Style

Hi there....

This Halloween I had the pleasure of taking my kids out with the daughter (and friends) of a family friend. It was actually a TON of fun. We all met at [Mary's] House - and we ate dinner, put the finishing touches on our little monkey's as they munched away at something I had never heard of until that point (which is Monkey Munch (aka: Puppy Chow Recipe).

What a great treat! And when we Halloweened it up! MMMMM was it ever amazing!

The ADD ON to this snack recipe - that made it look and feel so much more like a Halloween Treat - was adding Reeses Pieces into the mix. (You know the small Orange and Brown Candied Covered Chocolates that Elliot left for E.T. (the Extra Terestrial) to bring him into the house?).

It was so perfect. Orange and Brown are great Halloween Colors. Great Monkey Colors. & The sole fact that Reeses Pieces were significant to E.T. (our favorite Halloween Movie of ALL TIME)....it just made perfect sense to add these Candied Chocolate Dreams to our Monkey Munch Madness!

(I can't take credit for making the Monkey Munch Snack RECIPE myself - but I can take credit for the idea of adding the Reeses Pieces - and I am so glad I did it, it was brilliant!).



P.S. This is the same Monkey Munch Snack Recipe that was recently profiled on Jon & Kate Plus 8

Monkey Munch Snack Recipe with Reeses Pieces

NOTE: 1-2 average sized bags of Reeses Pieces is plenty (although it is your preference really - you just don't want to OVER KILL the other stuff right).

ALSO: You add them in at STEP ONE with your Chex Mix (as per the recipe below) and viola - Halloween Style Monkey Munch! See below for complete details.

9 cups Chex cereal (any variety)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Stove Method Directions:

  • Measure cereal into a large bowl, add your desired amount of Reeses Pieces & set aside.
  • Heat peanut butter and the butter over low heat until melted. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
  • Pour the melted mixture over the cereal and stir until evenly coated.
  • Pour the mix into a 2 gallon ziploc bag and add powdered sugar, seal bag.
  • Shake bag until everything’s well coated then spread the mix on waxed paper to cool.
  • Refrigerate in an airtight container.

Microwave Method Directions:

  • Place the peanut butter and butter in a microwaveable bowl and melt uncovered on High for 1 minute. Stir.
  • Microwave for another 30 seconds or until mixture is stirred smooth.
  • Stir in the vanilla.
  • Follow the rest of the directions as above in the Stove Method.

*** Suggestion: For variety, you may wish to consider purchasing a box of Corn Chex and a box of Rice Chex. Each box of Chex Cereal contains 13 cups of cereal, and the recipe calls for 9 cups. So one box will give you more than enough for one batch. ***

Hope You Enjoy It!

Sincerely - Cijaye DePradine

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Halloween Supplies for Next Year

So, since our 2008 Halloween Festivities are behind us...it is now the time to take FULL advantage of all of the last minute deals we can find so that we don't have to scramble next year!

They are EVERYWHERE!

You can find:


    • halloween lights
    • halloween invitations
    • halloween skeletons
    • halloween photos
    • halloween masks
    • halloween supplies
    • halloween party supplies
    • halloween videos
    • halloween wigs
    • halloween make up
    • halloween decorations
    • halloween party decorations
    • halloween trick or treat bags
    • halloween props
    • halloween costumes
And so much more for upto 90% off in some cases! All of the Zellers', SuperStores, Walmarts, KMarts, RiteAids and even Halloween Websites are clearing out this years supplies at prices WORTH paying ahead for!

Don't miss out on your chance.

I just got a whole cart full of Halloween Party Supplies and Decorations for next year (not to mention some great Halloween Scrapbooking supplies) - ALL for under $50.00!!!!!

I KNOW next years Halloween Party is going to be a great one because of it!!!


Sincerely - Cijaye DePradine

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Top 10 Games for your Halloween Preschoolers

Games - Halloween - Preschool! Oh my!

What a great age, what great fun. The scope of creativity among our little Preschoolers is uninhibited yet. There are no boundaries, no limitations - and no "blocks". There is nothing getting in the way of a fun game or halloween activity for your preschooler!

Accept options!

Unfortunately I have NOT found much for games halloween and preschoolers combined or even halloween school games (if you can believe this - LOL - there really isn't a lot of WORTHY sites out there), but nonetheless I have found some great activities...and crafts...that your preschooler might love:

Ghostly Halloween Scene
Jack-o-Lantern and Spider Halloween Preschool Craft
Spooky Ghost Preschool Halloween Craft
Paper Plate Preschool Halloween Pumpkin Mask
Pillowcase Trick-or-Treat Bag Preschool Halloween Craft
Preschool Halloween Paper Bag Pinata
Preschool Felt Ghost Hand Puppet
Preschool Halloween Black Cat Hand Puppet
Five Little Pumpkins Preschool Finger Puppets
Uncarved Jack-O-Lantern Preschool Halloween Craft
Veggie Jack-O-Lantern Preschool Halloween Craft
Preschool Mini Ghost Halloween Craft
Mini Ghost Mobile Halloween Preschool Craft
Black Pompom Spider Halloween Preschool Craft
Friendly Black Spider Halloween Preschool Craft
Plastic Jar Jack-O-Lantern Halloween Preschool Craft
Paper Sack Luminaria Halloween Preschool Craft
Black Crow Halloween Preschool Craft
Floating Ghost Halloween Preschool Craft
Black Tissue Paper Roses Halloween Preschool Craft
Scarecrow Halloween Preschool Craft
Scarecrow and Company Preschool Halloween Display



For games for your halloween preschooler...please visit our site and consider getting your own copy of our Ultimate Halloween Party Bundles...

Sincerely - Cijaye DePradine

Monday, October 20, 2008

Halloween for Children...Please Help Make It More Fun!

Forgive me folks for this post as I am a little bit bummed today. I have to rant before getting on with the fun of Halloween this year! I simply have to! (It's like a clearing for me. LOL).

So here's my RANT.

I was just doing a little bit of research online with regards to Halloween and Children.

It shocked and amazed me that there is so little out there. Granted, today - as I post...there are:

  1. 11,700,000 Pages with the words Halloween and Children on them
  2. 3,890,000 Pages with the words Halloween and Kids on them
Which may seem like a lot, but you have to realize that Google is just returning every single page with both of those words on them (not necessarily pages that are focused on those subjects). Thats why the numbers are so high.

When you get in there and really look for the real "treats" (you know the stuff you don't get every year) - you find very little.

It reminds me a lot of the children's halloween treat bags after they have done their rounds - - filled with a lot of the same old same old (tootsie rolls of different shapes and sizes) and barely worth the effort for the rest.

So what do we do about it...

I've tried to do my part, with my Halloween Games For Kids Website, which takes care of my children's thirst for Halloween Fun when they can't find it elsewhere.

But when I think about the candy that sits on my fridge all year long and never gets eaten...or the fact that our school won't let the kids come in costume and certainly NEVER with a mask...it can be a little demotivating.

Granted...the candy sits on the fridge because my children aren't in it for the candy and if the principal imposes a hard fast rule (which is to some degree justifiable) - what can we do about it right?

Honestly...if challenging my kids to get creative with their halloween costumes - and taking photo's of it all (to scrapbook later of course) wasn't such an exciting activity for us...I would say: "let's skip trick or treating this halloween children; instead I'll buy the candy you want and we will stay in and watch a great movie together ".

But I know that tomorrow - I will feel different. Tomorrow I will get back on the "enthusiastic mom" bycicle and start pedalling the Halloween Fun for the Kids.

If you wish to rant...or better yet - sooth mine, feel free to do so.

This site is all about bringing the Halloween Fun for the kids after all!


Sincerely - Cijaye DePradine