We’re thrilled and honored that our friends at Nestlé El Mejor Nido have offered to give away a copy of our book “Bilingual is Better” to two winners. Each prize pack will include one copy of “Bilingual is Better,” plus the two “Poppy” bilingual books offered on El Mejor Nido.

In order to participate you should Like Nestlé El Mejor Nido on Facebook and follow their instructions to tweet why you think bilingualism is better  using the hashtag #BilingualisBetter between tomorrow and Wednesday at 11:59 PM PST.  Here are the official rules (Winner Chosen at Random): https://twitter.com/ElMejorNido

We also invite you to check out the two Spanish-language articles we’ve shared on the El Mejor Nido website:

Los mitos más comunes sobre los hijos bilingües

De regreso a clase: Asegúrate que tus hijos no pierdan el español

And, of course, we love all the recipes featured on the site, like these pumpkin empanadas – yum!

¡Suerte!

Ahhhhh…..one of my most treasured food “discoveries” when I moved to Mexico in my 20′s was the café de olla. I had never tried one before and didn’t even know it existed. This coffee is a delicacy and it’s due to the patience put into preparing it with just the right ingredients like piloncillo, cinnamon and freshly ground coffee.

And because it’s such a special drink, it’s very difficult to find it made from scratch, and that’s even given that I live in Los Angeles. The reality is I don’t have the time to prepare it myself, so I was fascinated to recently find out that NESCAFÉ has created an instant coffee version of the café de olla. I have to admit that I approached the tasting of it with a bit of hesitation because I expected to not like it, but I was wrong. The taste can’t replace the original, but it comes close enough to make me want to drink some more.

To take the Cafe de Olla experience even a bit further, I’m sharing this recipe of Café de Olla Atole made using the NESCAFÉ Café de Olla Instant Coffee Beverage Granules. Would love to know what you think!

Café de Olla Atole

Estimated Times:
· Preparation Time: 5 mins
· Cooking Time: 15 mins
· Yield Size: 4
· Yield Description: to 6 servings

Ingredients:
· 4 cups milk
· 3 tablespoons cornstarch
· 1/2 cup granulated sugar
· 3 tablespoons NESCAFÉ Café de Olla Instant Coffee Beverage Granules
· 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
· Ground cinnamon for garnish

Instructions:
1. Combine milk and cornstarch in medium saucepan and whisk until combined.
2. Add sugar and coffee granules; cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly for about 15 minutes or until thickened (do not boil).
3. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract.
4. Serve warm and sprinkled with cinnamon.

Serving Suggestions: This fragant atole is wonderful with pan de muertos!

Are you on Pinterest? NESTLÉ ABUELITA and NESCAFÉ Café de Olla launched a Día de los Muertos-themed sweepstakes on Pinterest.  Just follow the instructions on how to participate by visiting Pinterest.com/vivecultura for the chance to win up to $200 in prizes! One grand prize winner will receive a $200 gift card and two first prize winners will receive gift cards for $50!  All entries must be received by November 2, 2012. ¡Suerte!

Disclosure: No compensation was received for this post. We just loved the recipe and thought you would too.

We all need a little help during this back to school season. As we try to get our kids ready and excited about leaving their lazy summer days behind for the hustle and bustle of school a lot of us also worry about how our kids will stay connected to their culture and continue to thrive bilingually.

This year Nestlé has taken note and is stepping in. Recognizing the importance of staying connected with our culture and language, Nestlé has created various contests and resources which aim to get our niños excited about school and about staying connected with their roots, something we can totally get excited about! Nestlé is inviting you to visit their El Mejor Nido’s Facebook page, “like” it and be eligible to participate in various exciting activities. Just by “liking” the page and entering the giveaway, you may be able to win one of 700 backpacks filled with school supplies, Nestlé products, and the new bilingual book Poppy’s Best Day Ever!

Another great way to participate is by taking part in the Healthy Lunch Box Contest. Simply submit your favorite lunch box menu ideas for a chance to win $1,000 for yourself and another $1,000 for your child’s school! To enter visit Nestle’s El Mejor Nido Facebook page after August 27th.

Like any bilingual parent we are always on the lookout for bilingual books. Nestlé has designed and produced a series of bilingual books, and they are offering a FREE downloadable PDF copy of “Poppy’s Best Day Ever”

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We love that Nestle is taking bilingual families into consideration during this back-to-school season. There are many great  prizes and resources for us over at the El Mejor Nido site.

The Giveaway!

We are giving away one Nestlé backpack filled with $50 worth of products here!

The backpack includes: one container of Nesquick, Nestlé La Lechera Sweetened Condensed Milk Squeezable Bottle, Box of Nerds candy, can of media crema, two single packs of Nescafé Memento, coupon valid for a complimentary bag of Hot Pockets Snackers, coupon valid for a complimentary bottle of Juicy Juice, coupon valid for a complimentary pack of  Nestlé Purelife Water, pencil case, pack of pencils, box of markers, box of crayons, notebook, Nestlé Coupon Booklet, a bilingual children’s book, and five recipes.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{Picture credit: premus on flickr}

Last Friday I dropped off my girl at her Montessori for the beginning of her last day as a preschooler. The day was extra special because we were celebrating her 5th birthday in the classroom with a Celebration of Life they do for all the kids. Her birthday is not for another two weeks, but she really wanted to celebrate with the friends she really won’t get to see anymore.

In my list of things I needed to get for her celebration were organic strawberries and watermelon, — her two favorite fruits, which she devours with pleasure –so I headed straight to the store to buy them. As you can see in the picture above, my Princess was so proud that she could serve “mi fruta favorita”  to her friends.

After all was said and done, I come back home to an email from days ago from the Fruit for All Project. I knew we were going to write about it, but I hadn’t sat down to watch this video below.

Once I did, it hit home that so many people don’t have access to something like fruit which we take for granted. I thought of how happy these two fruits made my girl and her friends, and how many children are lacking that joy — and nutrition — because 1 out of 5 children in the U.S. are food insecure, meaning they live at risk of hunger.

Now I’m even more thrilled to partner up with Nestlé Juicy Juice to help in their mission to donate up to 35 million pieces of fruit to Feeding America, the nation’s leading hunger-relief charity with more than 200 member food banks.

There are many ways for you to get involved, and also to use it as an opportunity to teach your kids about giving, hunger, nutrition and more.

Between now and August 31, a piece of fruit will be provided to hungry kids and their families each time Juicy Juice is purchased. Your kids and you can also get involved by logging on to Juicy Juice’s Facebook page or FruitForAllProject.com  and www.proyectofrutaparatodos.com in Spanish to complete challenges like games, quizzes and puzzles to earn even more fruit donations for those in need.

Wait. We have more! Juicy Juice has given me 400 meals to donate to a local food bank near me AND another 400 meals for one of YOU to donate to your local Feeding America food bank!

The Giveaway

Just follow the instructions with the Rafflecopter below and we’ll select one winner to donate 400 meals to their local Feeding America food bank. ¡Suerte!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: No compensation was received for sharing this information. Nestlé has provided us with 400 meals to donate to our local Feeding America food bank. All opinions, as always, are our own.

Nestlé has shared with us two easter themed desserts that we can put together with our niños. You can click on the links below to download a printable version of the recipe. Then, scroll all the way down for the Nestlé Easter Basket giveaway!

Click here to download the Chocolate Chip Easter Baskets recipe.

Click here to download the Rainbow Fruit Delight recipe.

 The Giveaway!

We’re giving away a Nestle Easter Basket to one lucky winner! The basket includes:

To enter, just leave a comment telling us what your favorite Nestle product is.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then this is how you can get additional entries (only after you’ve completed the step above):

**Please leave a separate comment for each so we can count them and avoid mistakes.

1. Subscribe to receive blog updates and subscriber-only content via email and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so or that you’re already a subscriber. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with.

2. Follow us on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway including a link to the post http://bit.ly/H5tlju, @SpanglishBaby . Copy the link to the tweet in an additional comment on the giveaway’s post.

Click to Tweet Ex: Visit @SpanglishBaby to win @Nestle Easter Basket with lots of treats http://bit.ly/H5tlju

3. Like SpanglishBaby on Facebook and join a thriving community of parents.

This giveaway ends Thursday, April 5th, at midnight PST and is open to everyone over 18 years of age in the continental U.S. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Check out the Giveaway Rules.