I don't know about you, but chocolate is definitely one of my weaknesses. And, although I do try to eat it in moderation, my cravings get the best of me in the evenings, and I am usually asking my hubby if he wants to make chocolate chip cookies. We are famous for making cookies late at night, and have found Nestle Toll House Refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough to be the easiest way to make our late night snacks. That's why I was excited when I learned that I was going to be a part of the Nestle Toll House Blogger Outreach Program!

Nestle Toll House understands that the transition from summer to school means the start of busier schedules, which can make it more difficult for families to stay connected. With the new school year upon us, Nestle Toll house is sharing new ideas and reasons to bake...because baking is one way we can connect and spend time with loved ones.

The Top 10 Ways Nestle Toll house can help keep families connected during back-to-school season.

1. Brighten your child's day by packing a homemade chocolate chip cookie in his or her lunch along with a note letting them know you're thinking about them while they're at school.
2. What better way to greet your children when they come home from school than with the smell of fresh-baked cookies? Reconnect over cookies and a glass of milk and catch up on their busy day.
3. Keep the family together around the dinner table longer by baking a delicious batch of Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies for desert.
4. Play with your food! For fun, after-school activities use Nestle Toll House Refrigerated Cookie Dough to create cookie puzzles and other fun cookie games the whole family can enjoy.
5. Make math fun by baking Nestle Toll House cookies and letting children help with the measurements.
6. Create special weekend moments and enjoy family breakfast together. For a sweet start to ta Saturday morning, try adding new Nestle Toll House Mini Morsel Toppers to chocolate chip pancakes.
7. Help your children Bake Some Love for their whole class by baking cookies for classroom parties.
8. Support your child's sports team or after-school club with a bake sale. No bake sale is complete without Nestle Toll house chocolate chip cookies.
9. Create new, lasting memories together by baking family recipes with your children.
10. Sweeten someone's day by helping your children bake cookies to give to their favorite teacher, secretary, school nurse, or bus driver as a special treat.

I really enjoyed reading through the list of ways Nestle Toll House can help families spend time together, even during busy times like back-to-school season. Even though I don't have children in school, September marks the beginning of busy season for my hubby at work. These ideas inspired me to make sure that the kids and I are spending time with him when he is home at night, and what better way to do that than making cookies together!

We were sent a Nestle Toll house back-to-school kit full of goodies to help get us started. The kit included:

• one adult apron
• one child apron
• exclusive Toll House recipe cards
• Nestle Toll house morsels
• Coupons for free Nestle Toll House Morsels and Refrigerated Cookie Doughs
• Sticker labels to put on a bag of cookies to brighten someone's day
  

Kaelyn loves to help me in the kitchen, so I knew this was going to be something fun we could do together. When I asked her if she wanted to help make cookies for Daddy, she was more than willing. Of course, the child-sized apron made it even more fun!

We decided to make the chocolate chip cookies. I love the refrigerated cookie dough, because it's so easy to use. The package comes with the cookies individually cut and ready to be placed on a cookie sheet.
Kaelyn likes to help with that part and has gotten very good at counting them as we go.

In just 12 minutes, we have a yummy pan of cookies ready to eat. They were delicious! Daddy loved his bag of goodies too!


Of course, we had to try out the Nestle Toll House Morsels Mini Toppers...so we had a little ice cream with semi-sweet morsels on top! Yum!


The kit included some great Toll House recipes that I can't wait to try out as well. How about these Dipped Chips & Pretzels, or these Make it Your Way Cookie Cups!


Win It: One very lucky reader is going to win a Nestle Toll House Back-To-School Kit like the one we received. It includes: one adult apron, one child apron, exclusive Toll House recipe cards, Nestle Toll House Morsels, 3 Coupons for FREE Nestle Toll House Morsels and 3 Coupons for FREE Refrigerated Cookie Dough, and labels!

Mandatory Entry- Visit Nestle Toll House and leave a comment letting me know a recipe you'd love to try!

Extra Entries: (Optional and only valid after the mandatory entry has been completed. Leave 1 comment for each extra entry)

1. 2 extra entries- subscribe to A Mom's Balancing Act via e-mail (found along the side column) and leave TWO comments letting me know.

2. 5 extra entries- blog about this giveaway (linking to this post and Nestle Toll House) and leave FIVE comments with the URL to that post.

3. 1 extra entry- Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (You can tweet once a day for 1 extra entry every day)! You can copy and paste:

Spend quality time with family baking! #WIN a Nestle Toll House Back-To-School Kit! #momsbalancingact http://tinyurl.com/23f8rzd Ends 9/23

4. 1 extra entry- Post my blog button or blog URL to your blog and leave a comment with the URL to your blog. (If it already is, leave me a comment letting me know)

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6. 1 extra entry- Become a Fan/Like Nestle Toll House on Facebook

7. 1 extra entry- Share about this giveaway on Facebook (when sharing, please tag @A Mom's Balancing Act so I can easily verify) Share - You can click here for easy instructions on how to do this

8. 1 extra entry- Follow my blog publicly on Google Friend Connect

9. Enter any of my other current giveaways. Leave me a comment on which one(s)....ONE entry for EACH giveaway you enter!!

Leave one comment for each entry you complete above including with each, your e-mail address so that I can easily contact the winner!!

This giveaway will end September 23rd and is open to the US Only

**The products for this review and giveaway were provided for free by Nestle Toll House! The opinions here are my own and were not influenced in any way. The experiences and opinions of others may differ from my own**