24.2.12

Yes and no

Big brother is a player. He does whatever he wants. Most of the time he is having the time of his life, after all, all he needs is a playmobil fireman in his hand and a firetruck or two...Now that he turned 3 he thinks he is superman at least. Sometimes I hold my head, trying to believe how is it possible that I'm a mother of two, being still such a needy little girl? I want to be the b e s t mom to my kids, I want to be a fun mom, I want to help them create amazing memories and to make them feel, I want to stay young  for them. What ever they want me to - I want to be able. Big part of my teen was music. I simply adored Pearl Jam and Nirvana and one more guy - Aviv Gefen. I remember reading an interview with him many years ago (...) and he was saying that his parents don't believe in curfew. Kids go to sleep when they want to, the fact that the sun is tired doesn't mean kids should go to bed. I was sooo jealous of him and his sister back then, all I wanted is to go to bed my time. Not sun time, neither parents time. My time. His parents were my heroes. So last night we found ourselves laying on the sofa, all three of us (little sister is not part of this story yet..) at  10 pm eating candies and watching The Voice with Aviv.


 A closure? I don't know,  to tell you my feeling? I'm not sure it was the best idea, but big brother sure had some good time. I'm not sure how to deal with this situation again, all I know is that would have made me very happy if my parents allowed me to watch T.V. at that hour when I was little. How do you deal with boundaries?

22.2.12

DIY - cookies mix in a box


Ever since I started to feed big brother with formula I knew this boxes are a treasure.  It took me 3 years to come with an idea.... As you all know I love to bake and baking chocolate chips cookies is like making  scrambles eggs in our home. From now to now. Not a big deal. Pinterest is full of great ideas of homemade  cake/cookies mix as a gift. This is my interpretation. 
I colored spray this formula box with a thin layer and let it dry. In the mean time I packed the ingredients those cookies need. I also added the egg because I'm off to give it in the next hour to my friend. Only thing she needs to add is butter and vanilla. If you want to be extra kind add a bottle of pure vanilla inside....
Of course you have to make the box pretty :)
And don't forget to write in few steps how to use your cute gift!
In a different matter remember the post about the gift I made for little sister when she wasn't feeling very well? I finely found the right framing to that gift! I love old school framing, simple yet beautiful!

20.2.12

Parenthood and another day of sick kids...

I really don't have any excuses for not posting beside - kids are sick again. I'm so tired so today the photos will tell you the story. fair?  






 It was a long day. There is a little bit more ..


And then it was 1/2 over. He went to sleep. She didn't.
Thanks god for PARENTHOOD  (the show, but also in life...) tonight at 22:00, one hour not to deal with my worries...not jealous at Crosby what he is going through.. :) see you all tomorrow with some new energy { hopefully.. } xo

15.2.12

Lovely Day

Valentine  day was never a big deal for us. Don't know why, but since I'm a blogger now (yoo hoo!) I had a need to be part of the celebration. A small contribution is the photo above, after all how can I separate love from kids? and who said it's only for adults?? So I'm dedicate this valentine to my amazing man and to my beautiful kids. Thanks for being in my life. Love you forever!   The truth is that I only wanted to show off my new great find...the carpet! :))) My Israeli friends, this is truly a great find, at h&o  I found this carpet that can fit a hallway or an entrance for only 35 nis! What I was doing there? looking for carter's clothes for big brother. They have a sale now and it's a great chance to buy 40% off! But that's not all...Few weeks ago big brother asked me to buy him boots like mine. The only reason I own hunter boots is because we spent 3 winters in New York, and needless to say it was necessary. I know there are Hunter Boots for kids but here in Israel? to spend that much? for one week of rain? No. I told him I'll think of something and that was it. Last week my mom called asking if I still want this boots for him. I told her I want them to be black with no Dora or any other creature...  My parents live in Beit Shemesh and there are some weird stores there...:) Any how, she found those boots for 35 nis! Love it! Big brother is soo happy. The only thing is I'm not sure when it's gonna rain again..Can't wait to take some photos of him jumping in the  puddle.

14.2.12

Photography tips


People ask me all the time how I take photos of my kids at home with no flash, well, it's simple. First you have to recognize where the best light at home is and in what time and that's it. There is no second and third. My bedroom has the best light during the day because we have a western and southern light. Our walls are white and it helps the reflection. My bed sheets are basically light color as well. All this together gives me tons of natural light to take photos during the morning hours. Sometimes I need to increase my ISO from 100 to 200 or to 250, but I always make sure the speed is no lower then 100. Kids and especially  babies  make very fast movements and our hands are not that stable..So my bedroom is my improvise daylight studio. I wish my living room was the same. 
Look at little sister how her hair grows so fast! or maybe she is having a bad hair day...

I always focus on the eyes. Unless the story of the photo is elsewhere.
Like here.
I hope this are useful tips for you. See you tomorrow with 2 great finds under 35 NIS!!! xo

13.2.12

And the winner is-


After a long long weekend, I found 1/2 an hour to complete my last week mission. I didn't know how difficult it is to commit for a post every day that includes food in it, to prepare everything, to cook, to photograph and all the other stuff around me like big brother and little sister..I think running a food blog is not easy, you need one assistance at least...:)) For example, I really wanted to take the above picture with my homemade chocolate syrup that I did 2 hours earlier, but I forgot to take it out of the fridge and it couldn't get warm in the 10 minutes I had before the steam will fade away...see, this is more a photography blog then anything else..
So the grand finale of last week is pancake!!! Definitely big brother no. one choice! I have the perfect recipe and if you love pancake you must but must try it! Here we go  -
squeeze 2-3 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice into 1 cup of whole milk. Let stand for 5-7 minutes while you mix the rest ingredients.
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 table spoon suger
1 teaspoon pure vanilla 
2 tablespoon melted butter
mix everything and add the milk with the lemon.Mix. Don't over mix.

Butter you pan and drop 1/4 of a cup to the center with your measuring cup. When the bubbles arrive it's time to flip. 

Home made chocolate surup or a cube of butter that's all you need. This pancakes are so moist and soft and tasty it's hard to stop eating them...!And your kids will adore you after that dinner! 
Tomorrow, back to normal, some toys, some great finds, some kids and a lot of photography and yes, mess!!! I hope it was useful this past week with all the recipes I know at lest two people who liked it...:)

9.2.12

Dinner tonight - no rise home made pizza!

The strike hits blogs world! Two kids at home mountains of laundry husband out all day, I could only day dream taking pictures today... The original post was about my mom's best ever meatballs, but at four pm I realized the meat is still in the freezer and the light out side is almost as horrible as yesterday. Going through my instagram  photos I found the above ones! Yes, that's me and big brother making pizza. My friend found this recipe through allrecipe.com
listen to this: it's a no rise pizza dough! 5 minutes to mix the ingredients and another 20 minutes in the oven. 30 minutes and you have amazing home baked pizza, faster then delivery with no msg!!!  are you ready?
how to:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoon dry yeast
2 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup (or as needed) warm water
In a stand mixer bowl mix dry ingredients. Add the oil and half of the water and mix. Slowly, as needed add the rest of the water. Mix about 5 more minutes.Transfer to a floured surface and knead  2 more minutes. Shape as desire - I make small circle I find it more fun! or you can roll one big one..transfer to a baking sheet, add sauce (I like Barilla's Pomadoro)  or what ever sauce you like, the important  thing is to use mozzarella cheese on top and definitely not yellow cheese! Huge difference! And of course add topping as desire.. Put in a preheated oven 190 Celsius for 20 minutes.  Big brother's no. two dinner option. What's no. one?? :)) wait until tomorrow...
  

8.2.12

Dinner tonight - Super classico

 OK. Let's talk business. Here in Israel we have two super classico, Barcelona Real and shnizel and ptitim. Nothing can bit shnizel and ptitim! kids absolutely adore it, and let's face it us too. I'm not 100% sure but I think ptitim is orzo abroad. Today I want to introduce you to our version for that classic dish. Nothing fancy just a little upgrade..
With the egg I mix one shredded garlic clove and with the crumbs - I use Grissini Crumbs - I mix few chopped parsley leafs. Huge change believe me, and your kids will improve their tease!
Second, for the ptitim, my friend Efrat had a great suggestion, to cook them with vegetables stock instead of water. Another big improvement. Cook few vegetables in a pot full of water for 40-50 min (I used carrot, onion, celery, and  zucchini) and add salt. When the soup is cold take out the vegetables and  transfer the juice  to plastic bags and write the date.
Freeze the begs, and you are going to feel so good about yourself!! Next time you need a stock just open your freezer... I love little upgrades like this!     
Oh... when ever you cook classic Israeli food like this don'tyou dare forgetting the ketchup and the petel :)). With closed eyes big brother will finish this plate even in the middle of the night... Resolution? Don't try to be over creative with kid's food. Follow their wishes...      See you all tomorrow. xo                   

7.2.12

Dinner tonight - pasta!

When I started my blog one of the first emails I received was from Deanna from Matkonation. What she didn't know back then is that I was  a loyal reader of her blog for months! This email made me feel like I'm part of the grown up gang..When I  mailed her to to share with me one of her dinner ideas this post was born and maybe a new entrance to our top 5 dinner options. I love blogs world! And I love this pasta sauce! how to shortly:
1 onion 
2 garlic cloves
1 shredded carrot
1 bottle of crashed tomatoes (I used CIRIO)
little less then 1/4 of a cup heavy cream
2 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to test
put chopped onion and garlic in a pot with olive oil. 5 minutes. Add shredded  carrot for another 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the cream, cook over low heat for 1/2 an hour.




















Big brother is not home yet, but the sauce is ready and I'm sure he will go crazy for it!!!
Few tips Deanna gave me: Barilla make very thin spaghetti that is ready in 3 min! it's Barilla no. 1. Second, if your  kids don't like pieces of vegetables in their sauce you can use the hand stick to squash them. last, be prepped and always have a pasta sauce in the fridge!  So, big thanks to Deanna and go visit Matkonation the food and the pictures are amazing! 
A little DIY to add some color to this post - wash the CIRIO bottle and reuse it for a home coming gift! BETEAVON!



6.2.12

Dinner tonight

























It was a long day. The usual stuff and a huge headache I couldn't find a minute to sit and write the post. But here we are with the first dinner of the week. I chose to start with the biggest challenge, try to make big brother eat broccoli. Efrat from what-efrat sent me this suggestion for dinner. Thanks Efrat! It's sure a brave one,but since eggs variations are populer this days in oue home I gave it a try. Broccoli omelet with cottage cheese cloud and chopped salad. Very basic with a twist.. Simmer the broccoli 10-12 minutes and cut to small pieces. Add to a pan with butter fried 3-4 minuted and add the eggs. Simple.
This is definetly not a food blog. There are some great one around...that give you recipes and very detailed how to. This week I'm offering suggestions and sometimes I'll write shortly the "how to".
You really don't think I'm that kind of mother that feeds her kids with healthy green food and that's it...big no! So after big brother finished his plate I treated him with his favorite homemade cookies. Classic recipe that I use for years and always work! Martha's caeky chocolate chips cookies! 
One last thing, to save some time tomorrow, I already cooked the vegetables stock..you should too :) only this three ingratiates and water and you have a stoke! I like to be prepared...maybe becase I'm not that kind of person, and when it's happens I'm proud of myself!
See you tomorrow same place hopefully earlier...BETEAVON!

2.2.12

Thank you for the food on our table

Listen to this: Big brother is hungry!! For three years I'm struggling with his bad eating habits, not that he had any eating habits, he just ate nothing! He speaks fluently from age 2 his vocabulary is to be jealous of but he never said: mom, I'm hungry. Until this week. If you don't deal with this problem, you will never understand how stressful it is, to have a kid that doesn't eat. Fingers cross it's behind us. No more cheerios for dinner, from now on only real food. Not even this  :
or this-


next week will be dedicated to kid's friendly food. I'll try to gather the best ideas from real mothers and share with you daily. It wont be sophisticate, full of special ingredients and anything new. Just five ideas of how to make your kid eat what's for dinner, sometimes I find myself forgetting to go back to a good dinner idea, and we eat pasta again...
I have a friend, who is the best with kid's friendly food, but you will have to wait until next week for that, in the mean time I'll show you her idea for breakfast that she gave me last week:
When I called her to say how much I loved the yogurt and the strawberries and the kisses, she said: it's not yogurt,  it's wiped cream...corruption... (: So next week is:
 Above all,I never take for granted the food and clean water on my table and I remember to say thank you.

1.2.12

Growing up

Little sister is little to her brother but ho boy (!) she has grown up so fast!!! This week was dedicated to organize all their stuff. From clothes to toys to books and to beds. It's like going through old photos, I found lovely memories in every item...So liittle sister got a big crib insted of the temporary one she had. I think she likes it!
We are moving on to a bigger one-
As I was sorting big brother's old clothes I found myself tempting to save some cool boy's clothes for her, last minute I stopped myself, remembering the dream I had to have a girly girl, not like her mommy...From now on-welcome dresses!
Last night we taped some bookplates to big brother's favorite books, and as I thought, It was a good chance to go back to some old books we don't read often..
One last thing, I'm happy to share with you my next week's planner: It's going to be a "what's for dinner week".More details about that on tomorrow's post.
Ho god, let them grow slowly....