"Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid” ~Albert Einstein"
Stress management - what do you do?
ugh…. stress management…. not my strongest point. I tend to be a worrier, unfortunately. It’s getting better because,well, first step: I’ve realized that it IS a problem-thanks for the wakeup call ALL OF LAST YEAR-and I am actively working on it every day, but jeez louise, even if my mind says you’ve got a handle on it, my body says uh uh uh you are internally freaking out. Sometimes I don’t even realize that I’m stressing out until I’ve realized I haven’t taken a good breath for the past 15 min or - all of a sudden, for no good reason, my stomach starts going crazy on me. Thankfully, I am finding wonderful ways to help manage it and become more mindful.
Here’s are 10 tips that help me:
The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character;
So watch the thought and its ways with care, And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings. ~ the Buddha
Excerpt from a wonderful book Buddhism for Mothers
Ninjago Cupcakes!
We just got done celebrating my youngest son’s 6th birthday. Lots of “oh my gosh, how did that go by so fast?” and “I don’t care about the number, that little guy is still my baby” moments. This age is so stinking fun, though. He’s now at the age where I can actually participate and *gasp* enjoy playing with the toys with him.
Oh, come on, you know you don’t always enjoy playing with their toys with them OVER and OVER again.
Luckily, Maddox is obsessed with everything Lego, which is just so fun. He is especially into Lego Ninjago. If you’ve never heard of them they are Lego ninjas that each have a story and personality about them and they now even have a cartoon, so those little lego figures are VERY real to him.
So in the spirit of all things Lego, I made Ninjago cupcakes!
By the way, I was thrilled at how quickly and easily I could get these made.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own Ninjagos:
EASY & Delicious Apple Crumb Pie with an Almond Crust
I have found an awesomely delicious, slightly different from your mom’s, apple pie. It’s an apple CRUMB pie. With an ALMOND CRUST. Yummm!! It’s so easy. No rolling pin necessary.
Please forgive the crappy pictures. Obviously I need to work on it.
Now, I am PICKY when it comes to apple pie. I won’t eat the stuff out of the store. For me, it has to be HOMEMADE. I also hate that apple pie filling in a can. It’s disgustingly sweet and if you’re going to make a homemade pie, and it’s this easy, why not take a few extra minutes and cut your own apples. One of my favorite places in the world to go is Crane’s Orchards back in my home state of MI, so this was just an obvious, but now that I live in NY I went to my local grocer and bought some apples.
Here’s the trick to a good apple pie. APPLE TYPE MATTERS. You don’t want an apple that’s too watery, like the Macintosh. Those are good for applesauce, and I don’t particularly care for the overly tart green apples. This time I chose to try out Cortlands and I really enjoyed it. They were only slightly tart, how I like, and they definitely held their shape. I actually wouldn’t mind a little more soft of an apple, but these were great.
Now, make sure you read the recipe all the way through FIRST. Believe me, it’ll help you when you’re following the instructions. Also? If you’re a non-baker or beginner baker and are already intimidated by making an apple pie from scratch, don’t worry about a few steps. It’s easy.
You can make the crust ahead of time if you’d like. Just pop it, covered, in the refrigerator, until you’re ready to use it.
So here’s what you need,
Cooking School!
I am so excited! I have recently rediscovered my passion for cooking and baking. I.Love.It! Food gives me all those warm happy cozy feeling. It’s a way for me to express my love and appreciation for others. It’s something I’ve been doing since I was young and incidentally as a teenager became the cook in the family, which was a role I LOVED. Now I want to learn how to REALLY cook. I want to know the hows and the whys you’re supposed to do what the recipe tells you to do, and more, I want to CREATE my own delicious food.
So, I am taking the next step.
I’m allowing myself to be completely obsessed and immersed in all things culinary, which honestly isn’t a far cry from what I already am. I’ve decided to start with taking local classes. I discovered the New York Culinary along with a place called The Kitchen that has some great topics that they cover in their classes.
Also? I purchased some highly rated really-teach-you-how-to-cook cookbooks. Not just a bunch of books with a bunch of recipes. They just arrived today. See!!
I’m CRAZY excited.
The Chocolate Room
oh.my.gosh you guys. I have discovered a wonderful place. A place that smells and tastes so good that you forget any and all problems in the world. A place filled with the most heavenly deliciousness you could imagine. A place that gets your insulin maker pumping. A place filled with chocolate. Wonderful, delicious, sweet chocolate.
Yesterday, I took Maddox (5 yr son), along with Jaden, to get his haircut at Lulu’s, a fun place that sells toys and kids can watch movies while getting their haircut.
Afterwards, we went out for hot chocolate. Not just any hot chocolate, but REAL hot chocolate. I took them to a place called the Chocolate Room on 5th Ave. here in Brooklyn. http://www.thechocolateroombrooklyn.com/
This place is famed for their chocolate cake, which was featured in Oprah’s O Magazine, but this time I really wanted to try their hot chocolate and oh. my. goodness. I was not prepared for what they gave us. It wasn’t that powdered stuff out of a can that gets watered down. This was LIQUID CHOCOLATE in a cup. Delicious! You can even get a hot chocolate float. Jaden got a vanilla ice cream hot chocolate float and Maddox got a mint ice cream hot chocolate, and I had mexican hot chocolate. HEAVEN. I could barely drink the whole cup it was so rich and delicious. It reminded me of the deliciousness that oozes out of a molten chocolate cake. sigh… I can’t wait to go back and try their Oprah famed cake.
I wonder if they have a punch card for frequent visitors. I have found paradise.
(Source: thechocolateroombrooklyn.com)
Sick Day
It’s holiday break. I had it all planned out. We were going to spend the whole day at the well reviewed Brooklyn Children’s Museum. Woot!
Then, last night, my poor Jaden (8 yr son) got a fever. And? Woke up with one.
So, sick day for us.
Fever, headache, his eyes hurt, and upset tummy.
Now, we don’t mess around with upset tummies. He asked if he could lay in the bathroom and I gladly agreed. Sleeping bag and pillow all set up comfy. (Don’t worry, thankfully, I had just scrubbed the bathroom “just in case”.)
My poor little guy.
And that’s where he”s been most of the day. Thankfully the bathroom facilities weren’t required by his stomach so I put him in his bedroom to sleep the rest of the day.
To be honest. I’m not that disappointed about missing out on the museum. It’s kind of nice having a cozy day in. My youngest son (5 yr.) got to play video games, we watched movies. And of course, I have to have chicken noodle soup cooking. I had it planned, but Jaden must know from previous experiences that sick days = homemade chicken noodle soup because he asked and I did. Mmmm….smells so yummy.
And I don’t want to admit it, but aside from the sick part, sick days are nice. It feels so nice to take care of him. Parenting isn’t easy, but sick days? Sick days I’ve got down. They need lots of love and snuggles, comfy cozies, and some homemade chicken noodle soup.
And who doesn’t love a day full of snuggles from their “big boy”?
Purpose, Passion, & Play = Really, Truly Living
With my new transition in life going from a stay-at-home mom to kids in school FT, I’ve been asking myself “what the heck now?” I’ve been really introspective in figuring out what my next adventure will be and I’ve been struggling with pure happiness. The last few years have been a bit of a struggle for me emotionally as we have gone through a few country-wide moves, more goodbyes than I ever want to have, along with all the ups and downs of a startup life. I’ve always tried to carry myself with the grace and dignity of Jacqueline Kennedy or Grace Kelly, but I know I’ve had a few too many failings to want to admit to.
Lately, I’ve gotten pretty sick of myself. You know what I mean? Playing the whole victim thing and asking myself very unhelpful questions. This is not my normal. My friends (affectionately) refer to me as bubbly and happy. Always having something in the oven, cracking jokes, thrill seeking, daring. So I’ve been trying to figure out what the heck happened and more importantly, how do I get it back?
