Bath crayons - an awesome and super messy invention

T loves to be silly

There are a ton of products on the market for bath time fun. We have used, abused, and recently trashed some ABC foam letters that got a little too mildewy for my taste, and T does love her rubber duckies, who by the looks of it will soon join their ABC friends. However, I would like to share with you T’s favorite bath toy – bath crayons! Now, please be warned, these are beloved by my daughter and loathed by whomever is tasked to clean the bathtub… but T is totally obsessed.

We got the crayons from a friend of mine for T’s 1^st birthday and we are down to the crayon nubs at this point. We love to color in general, but to color on walls is especially thrilling to T. She stays in the bath until her fingers and toes look like raisins and the water is cold. So… if your little on doesn’t really like the bath I suggest getting these to keep them entertained. Of course, T has always loved bath time and we still need these crayons, bubbles and some crazy frog that sprouts water from its mouth, but that’s what being a toddler in 2013 is all about. 

Still being silly... and yes, we color too!

Now, please don't forget that these "washable" crayons need some scrubbing to remove the mess and the little duck eraser is a bad joke, but we still love them. My favorite part is trying to find images in what T draws. What do you see in this photo? My husband and I see a man riding a camel, and that is pretty darn impressive for a 1 year old! 

What do you see? 

Here is where you can get the crayons - http://www.amazon.com/ALEX%C2%AE-Toys-Bathtime-Fun-Draw/dp/B00004U3FX/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1384983149&sr=8-2&keywords=alex+bath+crayons

but they are cheaper at target and toys r us if you time to make it outside... hahaha. 

Tilapia Even a Toddler Will Eat

I have a strangely picky eater on my hands; T loves to eat crazy strong flavors but has some issues with textures. She will keep meat or chicken in her mouth for a while and then gift me a lovely pile of mush; if I’m lucky it will end up in my hands and not on the floor! I think it’s rather odd that my kid will pound Indian food but won’t eat a chicken cutlet. However, I have discovered that she will eat my tilapia – yup, she will chew it and swallow it! The added bonus is that my husband and I love this quick meal as well.

mustard and mayo / prepared crumb topping

1lb of tilapia fillet

2 tbsp French’s honey mustard

2 tbsp mayo

1 cup French’s fried onions (I highly suggest you buy the gigantic bag of these at Costco- so delish)

1 cup of corn flake crumbs

Onion powder, garlic powder and salt to taste

The prep for this is super easy… 

Mix together the mustard and mayo and coat the fillets

In a separate bowl crush up the French’s fried onions and mix with the corn flake crumbs

Now you can hand coat each piece of fish with the fried onion and crumb topping -or take the lazy way out like me… I spray my baking pan with oil and then coat the bottom of my pan with the crumb mixture. I then layer the fish and put the rest of the crumb mixture on top! So much easier and just as crunchy!! I then sprinkle the fish with onion powder, garlic powder, a tad of salt, and a spritz of oil.

Layering crumbs: the much more efficient way to bread anything!

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Viola, fish my kid will eat! I think that is worth celebrating!

See, you can't even tell I breaded the fish the lazy way!

** I have made this exact same recipe on chicken cutlets too, it is a hit (just not with T) 

Party On!

Our Hasbro Birthday House Party

This past Saturday night we celebrated my husband’s birthday with an awesome Hasbro Game Night Birthday House Party. People asked, what exactly does that mean? What is a House Party? Was it actually sponsored by Hasbro? Why, yes it was just that – we hosted a HouseParty sponsored by Hasbro!

About a year and a half ago I joined this wonderful website called HouseParty.com. The idea of the website is to promote products through parties. This is not a Tupperware party style where you receive free products and guilt your friends into coming to your home to dish out money to get their own.  House Parties are advertisements for the company, the host gets free products and is obligated to show off the brand at a house party while friends just need to come and have a good time. Sometimes friends even get a free giveaway too- and they always leave with coupons!

I apply to host tons of parties and am selected infrequently, about 1 party every 6 months. I just checked my stats; I have applied to host a total of 24 parties and was chosen for 3! Not too Shabby, especially considering how awesome these parties are. Applying to host a party takes minimal effort, you fill out a quick questionnaire, post about how excite you are and share your applications with friends on Facebook and/or Twitter. You can also do extra stuff to increase your chances of being chosen as a host, like upload photos, videos or conversations. I am pretty sure that you are chosen based on luck and demographic, rather than the extras but why not, just in case!

Back to our most recent house party - My husband Dave’s birthday is at the beginning of November and he had a Golden Weekend (both Sat and Sun off). Dave is a General Surgery Residency Intern and this means that he practically never has off, so we really lucked out with this party. This was actually the second Hasbro Game Night we were chosen for and we LOVE games so we were psyched. We invited guest and then once we found out Dave was going to be off we morphed our Game Night into Dave’s Bday Bash as well.

House Party then sent us our party pack that came with four awesome Hasbro games – Catchphrase, Taboo, Funny or Die, and Draw Something. They also sent a box of Cheetos new product –a kosher cheddar puffed corn snack, some winner crowns, Hsabro cups, and coupons.   Now between the amazing party pack and all of the snacks, candy, beer, spiked punch and bean dip I made for the party, I am sure you are thinking I wish I went to that party… but it gets even better. The PR department for Hasbro reached out to me and arranged to send their Hasbro PARTY BUS to our already rocking party! Yes, I already thought hosting these parties was super cool and this just blew me away! All of our guests had a truly memorable night, and my husband is going to have a tough time topping this when my birthday rolls around in January!

Playing Catch Phrase on the party bus

Soooo cool! 

I love HouseParty.com and if you sign up and are chosen to host we want an invitation! My sister in law is hosting her very first House Party in less than two weeks and we can’t wait to see her Duplo Lego Party Pack and play at her party. 

I even made this cute Sponsorship sign for our door 

Free Toddler Activities on the Upper East Side

Here is a list of FREE things to do with your children if you live on the Upper East Side… so if you don’t have enough money to have a nanny, and also pay for preschool (which is only from 9-2 so you need your nanny anyway), join the kid gyms, art annexes, and indoor farms, this is the list for you! I must give credit to my wonderful nanny who totally understands that I am not a human ATM and on her own she discovered tons of things to do with Toddler T to keep them both busy, active and entertained.

On Mondays and Wednesdays the 96^th Street Public Library has kid friendly activities. Monday is picture book time for kids at 4PM. This program is for 18 months+ so T fits right in. If your kids are 3+ then check out the Preschool Stories and Films at 10:30AM and 11:15AM. The full calendar of events can be found on their website. http://www.nypl.org/locations/tid/5/calendar

(Located on 96^th street between park and lex)

Nolen Library

T and our nanny regularly head to the MET – Metropolitan Museum of Art -for Toddler Story time in Nolen Library. They usually have this program Monday-Friday, so check out what works for you! The program is from 10:30AM-11AM and you do not need to pay to get into the Museum. Bring a print out of the schedule saying this, because the people manning the admissions desks turned our nanny away once because they were ignorant and a little entitled. Don't worry, it only happened once! Also, for now the MET is actually suggested donation, so if you want to explore the museum with your kiddo, pay a dollar, or a quarter – but beware,  I recently read some horrifying news that this might change.

The schedule can be found here http://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/family-programs/storytime-in-nolen-library/toddler-storytime?eid=R042_%7b3152F630-79B5-4653-8BD3-11A1771E91DC%7d_20131030103000&rpp=10&pg=2

The MET is located on 5^th Ave and 82^nd

B&N story time

On Wednesdays, and I mean every single Wednesday because this is the greatest story time of them all, head over to Barnes and Nobles on 86^th street for 10AM story time. It is always a packed house and T always spends a few hours there playing with the toys and all of her story time friends! The story time is fun, interactive and many times they use a large projector so all of the kids can see the books. There is also story time on Sunday at 11AM but we haven't been yet. For some reason I can’t find mention of the Wed. story time on the website but here it is anyway.

http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/store/2278 (11.7 update: I now know why there is no mention of Wed. story time on the website - It has been put on hold until Jan 2014.) 

Located on 86^th between Lex and 3^rd

If you live or are hanging out a little further down near FAO Schwarz. They also have story time which takes place at 11AM and 3PM Monday- Friday and 11AM, 1PM and 3PM on Saturday and Sunday. http://www.fao.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=10829617

Located on 5th Avenue and 58th St.

Ok, I know all of the above write-ups are about story time! What can you do, it seems like it is the one kids friendly activity everyone is willing to do for free. But story time is always different, educational, social and indoors -and boy is it starting to get cold out- so hip hip hooray for story time! We LOVE listening to books being read and then we come home and read some more!

For non-story time free options- go to one of the zillion cute NYC parks or your local PETCO which we like to call our “free zoo”.  We live close to a Petco so when it is too cold or we don’t have enough time to go to the real zoo, we head to the little zoo to see aminals (as T would say). T loves fishes and our Petco has a lot of them, and birdies, and mice, and bunnies and chinchillas so it is perfect for a quick aminal fix! Find out where your local “zoo” is and I know your kid will love it! Go to http://www.petco.com/ to check find a store near you.

FISHIES!

Our family actually has zoo member ship, and I’ll blog soon about why it is by far one of the most worthwhile things to get if you have young kids and live nearby!  There are a few other gems I'm willing to pay for and I'll let you know about those too. 

The Best Baked Ziti

I don't really understand how people all over the web post such pretty pictures of the food they cook and rave about how delicious it is at the same time. If it were actually as good as you say, wouldn't you forget you had to take a photo and enjoy some of your dish first? I mean, come on people!! 

Toddler T and I both love noodles, pasta, pure carbohydrates- call them what you will. T actually calls them NuNus and even has a doll named NuNu because that’s how we roll. So we cook a lot of NuNus and this recipe is one of our all time favorites, and easy too! I also love this ziti because I am not a huge ricotta fan so the cottage cheese in this recipe is much better, and you can pretend it makes the dish so much healthier and have another bowl.

Cook up a box of your favorite pasta

Then add

16oz of cottage cheese (I like to use 1-2% milk fat, when I make it for other people I sometimes use 4%, because it’s a little creamier that way)

6oz + of your favorite cheese

1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (I love the smooth sauces like Rinaldi – it is also cheap!)

Mix together and put it in a pan, or mix in the pan and have less dishes to wash

Add more cheese to coat the top of the ziti

Bake for 25-30 minutes on 350

T loves to help me cook, so I let her mix the cottage cheese and the cheese together, it keeps her busy and happy while I'm prepping the pasta! 

Here are some add in options: 

Morning star meat crumbles and/or chopped spinach (defrosted and water free)

**I have even added both to the same Ziti and it was wonderful and a good way to add more protein and veggies to your dinner. 

Tripod Rock Hike!

We are so strong! 

This Sunday is supposed to be 65 degrees and sunny, my family considers that to be perfect hiking weather. So I wanted to share with you a pretty awesome hike we went on in late august. The hike is called Tripod Rock and it is located on Pyramid Mountain in Boonton, NJ. The hike is less than an hour from the city, which is our limit with Toddler T because she hates the car but loves the great outdoors. 

We went on this hike with lots of adults and T was the only kiddy. That was the perfect adult to toddler ratio because we don’t own a kiddy hiking transport system so all 6 of us took turns carrying T.  I brought along two sarongs to assist me in holding T and they actually really did help, but it was still nice to let someone else carry her throughout the hike.  If your kids are 4+ they can walk the trail and climb on their own with minimal help, under that age you definitely need a larger adult to kid ratio.

When you first arrive there is a super cute indoor area with a small exhibit, coloring station, helpful staff and a nice bathroom! One of the exhibits pieces showed samples of animal poop and you had to match it to the correct animal. My family loved it, super typical!

Exhibit and coloring station.

The hike we went on included Tripod rock and Lucy’s overlook. It took us about 3 hours, but that is with a toddler, lots of stopping and a lunch break. The trail was moderate, not boring at all, included lots of climbing and definitely do-able. We loved how nicely the trail was marked off, there were markers every few trees and we never worried that we were going to get lost.

Here is the website we found that helped us plan our hike http://www.njhiking.com/best-hikes-in-nj-pyramid-mountain-tripod-rock/ and if you place the coordinates N40 56.820 W74 23.268 into googlemaps.com you can get easy directions.

The best part is that there is no cost at all, there is a small donation box and if you have a great time you can show your appreciation that way. Happy Hiking!  

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Tri State Area, Free, Ages 4+, Adventure-full 

Ridiculously Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Look how moist! I ate this one piping hot. 

My Mother-in-law is responsible for this amazing creation. There are 2 ingredients, that is right, 2! And I try to always have these 2 things in my cabinet as a go-to. Let’s say it is Friday morning and I get a last minute Shabbat meal invite…oh no! no time to really go shopping or cook-- well hello, handy dandy pumpkin muffin recipe. So I tell my friend, of course we would love to come, can we bring anything along? How about some lovely pumpkin muffins?

So here it is…

1 box of spice cake mix** (just the powder, not the created batter)

1 can of pumpkin 14oz, we like Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin

**(if you can not find pareve spice cake you can use a yellow cake mix and add 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground ginger and 1/4 tsp allspice - that is actually what I did in this batch.) 

Mix the 2 ingredients together and plop into cupcake liners (make sure your plopping looks kinda nice, because they tend to look the same after cooking)

Heat oven to 350 and cook for 15-18 minutes, my oven kind of sucks so it varies.

You can choose not to believe me, I was also a skeptic at first and refused to believe my mother-in-law. I must have called her 3 times to make sure I don’t also add the oil, eggs and water first before the pumpkin.

That is it, and now for the best part, no raw eggs so you can eat the batter!! This recipe usually yields 16 muffins, but when I make it I end up eating at least 1 muffin’s worth of batter. Yummanuum! 

Before cooking, please note the missing muffin batter.

Fresh out of the oven and I've already eaten one.

Drizzly Sunday Activity: World of Wings

Before the butterfly "attacked" Daddy

Yesterday my family met up with friends and went to World of Wings in Teaneck, NJ. It was super convenient to get there from the city and was the perfect activity for a damp Sunday. The staff was super friendly and there were loads to do. We would have spent the entire day there if it was up to Toddler T.

The butterfly atrium was super cute; there are lots of beautiful butterflies that T was petrified of, and a cute little koi fish area that had turtles that T loved. She has a thing for Fishies, though.  If you ask her what her favorite animal is, she will respond… Fishies, umanuumee. It is a bit confusing to love fish and also eat them for dinner sometimes. Truthfully usually when we take her to see animals – it doesn't mean the zoo, it means to Petco around our corner and she spends a majority of her time with the fishies.

I think one day Toddler T will yell at me for this one, but I literally can not help myself. I crack up every single time I look at this. It is perfection...  

Back to my point, World of Wings is much more than a butterfly atrium. If your kid is under 5 years old going to this place is totally worth it. There is a GIANT soft play area. It includes a rock climbing area, ball pit, dress up, slides, cars, train sets. You can literally spend the day there exhausting your kid so they sleep well at night. T is a terrible sleeper and she was knocked out last night, ahhh the sign of a good Sunday!

Happy again!

Check out the website - http://www.wowbutterfly.com/main.asp?c=admission

Generally the cost is $16 per adult and $11 per kid. T is under 2 so she was Free! But here is the best part – for a very limited time- Groupon has World of Wings half off!! http://www.groupon.com/deals/world-of-wings-2

There is also a $2 coupon on the website if you miss the groupon deal.

If you are planning a trip to Northern NJ, include this gem in your adventures! 

Easy Crockpot Chili

Before leaving to work, one day last week, I threw together a quick crockpot chili. It was pretty easy and I recommend this as a go-to meal. It is very simple to make adjustments to the recipe based on your family’s preferences and I suggest using your favorite veggies as added substance.  If your kid is picky it is also a good way to trick them into eating some new veggies, everything tastes the same when it’s been cooking all day! 

Baby T really enjoyed the chili, especially the beans and the mess she made eating. Good thing I got her naked first, it saved an outfit, literally, as the mess was not even simple to wash off of her skin!  

Here is how I made the chili –

1lb chopped meat - browned

1 large onion – diced

1 yellow pepper – diced

1 can of kidney bean – 15oz drained

1 can of small red beans -15oz drained

1 can of tomato paste – 12oz

1 can of crushed tomatoes – 14oz

1 large can of diced tomatoes – 28oz

2 tbsp of crushed garlic

2 tbsp of brown sugar

1 packet of Ortega taco seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

The night before I browned the chopped meat and chopped the veggies, because if you are making a crockpot meal to begin with, it means there just isn’t enough time in your day!

The next morning, I threw all of the ingredients in the crockpot and cooked it on low – for a long time. The chili would be good in as little as 6 hours, but unfortunately my work day is longer than that**.  I usually leave it in the crockpot on low from 8am-6pm but this past week my husband didn’t get home from work until after 9:30pm and it was still good!   

The finished product! MMmmmm... 

**As a side note – here is a short vent about crockpot recipes on Pintrest. What good is a crockpot recipe to me that cooks between 4-6hours? I am out of the house for 9 hours a day. Please start to post recipes that fit into my schedule because I would totally make some of them!! In the meantime I will be experimenting and sharing what works…  

The perfect fall Sunday: Apple Picking in New Jersey

This past Sunday we loaded up four cars full of adults and little people and headed out to go apple picking in East Brunswick, NJ. One of my cousins frequents this cute little farm and recommended we give it a try. The farm is called Giamarese Farm, and now, I too highly recommend you find time to go with your family, extended family and some friends.

The farm is smaller than other orchards I have been to in the past and is only open from 10-3 on Sundays, but the small size was perfect for the little ones and meant that the adults had a little less chasing to do and bit more time to horse around. We only spent 2.5 hours on the farm, but that was plenty. Baby T was a little cranky-clingy but still photographed like she was having a ball. Even though the sign said not to eat the apples we were a little naughty and each had one while picking. Baby T spent the entire time chewing the skin off and spitting it at anyone who came by. Next time we have to go peach picking, she actually swallows that fruit!

The apples and produce are on the pricier side, $2 a lb for apples and it adds up fassst, so I recommend limiting how many apples/pumpkins each kid can pick, but we all had a great time!

For a great Central NJ activity check out http://www.giamaresefarm.com/index.asp

 

 

Create your own coloring book pages

My daughter loves to color, well actually she loves to scribble. She displays her artistry in coloring books, on blank paper, with special crayons in the bathtub, or on our rug (which would be a real issue if I actually liked the one we have.) So, I thought I'd make her special coloring book pages featuring her favorite person in the world, her! She was not as thrilled as I expected, but her Aunt DeeDee LOVED the idea and colored the pages to perfection.

Finished Coloring Book Page

And this is how I did it...

  

Step 1. Pick out a picture and open it in Photoshop

Step 2. Duplicate the original layer - 

right click the background layer and click on the duplicate layer option

Step 3. Desaturate the photo

Image - Adjustments - Desaturate

The image will be converted to black and white

Step 4. Duplicate the desaturated layer 

Step 5. Invert the new layer

Image - Adjustments - Invert

Your image will now look Craaaazy

Step 6. Add a color dodge to your Craaaazy layer

Layers- scroll to color dodge

Your Image will now vanish - Ta Dah! Don't be scared, though, we'll get it back

Step 7. Add a Filter: Gaussian Blur

Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur

Your image is really starting to look like a coloring book page!

Step 8. Pick your favorite coloring book filter level

Using the Gaussian Filter Tool pick the best look for your page, here I chose 28 

Step 9. Flatten Your Image
Or you can call it a day here and just print your coloring book page

If you are a perfectionist - Flatten the Image

Step 10. If you are anal and the little dots bother you, use the eraser tool to clean up the image

All done and Colored in by Aunt DeeDee

And just for comparison: This is Baby T's artwork. 

Maybe she'll appreciate this more when she is older!