New homeschooling resource page! February 27, 2009

I don’t know if you noticed that, but I am working on a new page, trying to put all my links and stuff about homeschooling all together!

You can see this new page called ” Homeschooling Resources“, by going to the top navigation bar.

It is still under construction, I will be adding more links and also some description of the links, but I hope this new page will be done by next week and will be a nice interesting one for all homeschooling moms out there!

If you have a link that you would like to share, please leave it in a comment!

Have a nice day!

Homeschooling and books update! February 27, 2009

Hi there! I will post some news about our progress homeschooling Cecilia.

She is 4 1/2, and in her first year of homeschooling, we don’t use any curriculum, just a lot of resource from the web.

I am so proud of my little girl! She has make a lot of progress in English, she can now speak it quite well.

That is amazing how children can learn so quick and easy!

So, we are currently reading those books, we enjoy them very much:

- Miracle Maker, a life of Jesus, retold and remembered by Mary Joslin

- My Perfect Pony by Gaby Goldsack

- Coleccion de cuentos/Story collection Winnie the Pooh Disney

-My Little Book About by Leap Frog, it is a little collection.
We have : The Birth of Jesus, The Miracles of Jesus, Jesus and the children, David and Goliath, The Miracle of Easter, Noah’s Ark, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Jonah and the Whale, Stories Jesus told, Poems and prayers, The Voyage of Paul,and Cecilia’s favorite: Joseph and the Coat of many colors.

I found all those books in the Goodwill store next to our home, for just pennies! It is a great way to have cheap books, we go there once a month to renew our collection!

I also will begin study some characters beginning of March, thanks to Bethany who shared this great link to Bill Gothard : Definitions of 49 Characters, it is a great resource for Christian homeschooling.

I think we will study two per week, and we will copy Bethany’s idea putting them on a wall.
But instead of pictures, I will try to find drawings that Cecilia could coloring. I am sure she will love that!

So, that is our news of homeschooling!

We basically read books, find stuff from internet, make bubbles, cook, bake, speak, sing, dance, ride bicycle, go to the playground, etc…

What a blessing it is to have my little girl at home and teach her hundreds of wonderful new things!

I think we can tell we are hooked on homeschooling!!

Wanna see what people are hooked on? Go to HOOKED ON HOUSES to find out!

And you, what are you hooked on? Leave a comment!

Natural Healing Part 5: Vitamins and minerals supplements February 25, 2009

Welcome to this Part 5 of our series about natural healing!

In this part, we will learn more about some natural vitamins and minerals supplements.

Are they really worth it? Which are the most efficient and the much more needed by our body? Where to buy them? etc…

Don’t forget to read the first entries of this series HERE if you didn’t yet!

So the first supplement I will talk about is (I think) the most important: MAGNESIUM.

It is amazing how many properties has the magnesium!

I encourage you to read this very interesting article from Walter Last : MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE FOR HEALTH AND REJUVENATION.

Magnesium is so important in our diet, I personally used it successfully after my daughter’s birth, and I was very happy with the results.

I was very tired, without energy, I used to wake up tired, and after only one week of using MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE, I could really feel a huge difference!

Another wonderful supplement is GIGARDINA RED MARINE ALGAE, which is really amazing!

As Anne Gordon says in her website NATURODOC :

Current research on Red Marine Algae has shown that promising results in the control and reduction of both the Candida Albicans yeast (a fungus) and the Herpes symplex virus [...] Researchers believe that Red Marine Algae may serve as a gateway to resist many other types of bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens.

This algae is particularly effective for skin problems. That is why I recommend this ointment which is completely natural and really amazing for all kind of skin problems: VIBRANT HEALTH RMA SOOTHING OINTMENT.

A “cousin” of the Red Algae is the Spirulina.

In France it is well known and especially because of a mediatic ad about how the spirulina could be a solution for the hunger on the earth. (If you want to know how, click the picture, it is in french but would be in english soon)

You can read more information about this amazing algae HERE, and THERE.

If you are an expectant mom, then you will find an interesting entry from Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking, she writes about Preparatory herbs for a natural delivery, and how she uses Red Raspberry Leaf and more to prepare her child birth.

These were the ones I knew about, if you want more information about vitamins and minerals supplements, you can consult this website, which is really a good resource :MEDLINE PLUS.

If you use some natural supplements that works for you, please join us and leave a comment!

Part 6 of Natural Healing will be about natural homemade remedies!

Stay tune!

A little bit of Paris at home! February 25, 2009

Do you like Paris? Do you like art?

I found a blog which will please you for sure!

I invite you to have a look at PARIS BREAKFASTS, you will find nice pictures, anecdotes, and more of life in Paris, and if you would like to take some at home, I recommend that you have a look to her shop.

I love the art she does, wonderful paintings that would fit perfectly in any kitchen or dining room, for a nice unique “french touch“!

Chinese dumplings recipe February 23, 2009

Today I will post my recipe for chinese dumplings!

I really love them, it is a little bit of work for the dough, but it is well worth it!

They are so yummy!

So, here we go for the recipe:

CHINESE PORK DUMPLINGS

You will need:

For the dough:
- 5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup or 1 1/4 cup water

For the filling:

- 1 cabbage
- 1 chinese cabbage
- some green onions
- 1 carrot
- 1 pound ground pork
- some mushrooms (optional)
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon chinese black vinegar

How to:

So, the first thing to do is the dough. You just mix the flour with the water, and the hard part: you have to knead the dough during approximately 20 minutes.
It will be hard on the beginning but then you will feel how the dough becomes soft and easier to knead.
Once it is done, put it in the fridge while you do the filling.

Now you will chop the cabbages, boil water and put them in. When the water boils again, take them out. You have to take off as much liquid as you can from the greens. I use a cloth and “squeeze” them with it.

Then put them in a bowl. Add the ground pork in the bowl.

Now chop the green onions, the mushrooms and the carrot and add them to the bowl.

Add the seasonings and a pinch of salt. Mix it well by hand.

You have your filling!

Now take your dough. Cut the dough in 4 pieces. While you work with one, let the others covered to avoid drying. So take a piece, roll it as a snake and cut it by half, these halves by half, and so on until you have 16 small pieces.

Roll each piece into a flat circle, the dough should be thinner on the edges. Fill your dumpling, with approximately a tablespoon. You can close them by half, or as a small “purse” style.

You will find your personal way, and will do it better the second time!

That’s it, with this recipe you should have approximately 60 dumplings, they freeze very well, so you can froze half if it is too much for your needs.

You can fry them in a pan, steam them or boil them. That is up to you! I do boil them, and they turn out perfect.

If you don’t like pork, you can use shrimps, or you can also do them vegetarian adding some spinach, broccoli etc…

I hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

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Easy yummy very french lemon tart (tarte au citron) February 19, 2009

Hello y’all! I hope you are having a nice week!

Here I am on my baking days, I am having a batch of muffins in the oven right now.

But the recipe I will post now is the one I did yesterday.

This is definitely my favorite dessert EVER !

I was talking to my friend yesterday, she was telling me how much she loves french food, but it is so complicated, expensive, fancy… for her.

I don’t know why people have this image of french food!

You know, there is a lot of “poor” people in France and they actually eat!

French food is about tradition, local good products, nothing to do with those fancy-super-expensive-big-plate-small-food restaurants!

Anyway, I would like to share with you my favorite recipe! It is easy, cheap, quickly done, and so yummy!!

TARTE AU CITRON MERINGUEE

You will need:

For the crust:

- 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 6 tsp ice water

For the filling:

- 2 lemons
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup white sugar

For the meringue:

- 4 egg whites
- 1/2 cup sugar

How to:

For the crust, you mix with your fingertips the flour with the butter, then add salt, sugar, and water. Mix it a little bit and form a ball.
Let it set for an hour, then roll it and place it in a pie pan.
Bake it in the oven 10 minutes at 350 F.

Then, you will have to take the zest of 1 lemon, just the yellow part, not the white. Mince it well in very small, thin pieces.
Squeeze the 2 lemons and keep the juice in a bowl.
In another bowl, put the sugar, add the egg yolks (keep the whites for the meringue!!)
Mix well until it turns white and creamy.
Add the juice, mix well to incorporate it, then add the zest and do the same.

Now you can pour the lemon mixture in the pie crust. Put it in the oven at 375 F for approximately 25 minutes.

Your pie is done!

But since we have the egg whites and it is a french recipe, OK, we can add the fancy part!

Whip up the egg whites until firm (it may take 5 to 10 minutes), when it is done, progressively add the sugar and whip 5 more minutes. They have to be shiny and firm.

When the pie is done, put it out the oven and pour or put nicely the meringue on top. Gently! Then put it back in the oven for 5 minutes or until the meringue is brown.

You have to let this pie cool completely before cutting or eating.

I recommend putting it in the fridge for an hour before eating, so the lemon filling will become thicker (when it is hot it is liquid).

It is also very good the next day, I like to do it Saturday night to eat it as a dessert for Sunday lunch.

Did you like it? Leave me a comment to know how it turned out for you!

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Natural healing Part 4: Bach Flowers Remedies February 19, 2009

This is Part 4 of this series about natural healing. It is about Bach Flowers Remedies.

Did you ever heard about it?

If not, I will try to inform you about this wonderful natural resource!

Remember that you can read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, of this series if you didn’t yet!

What are Bach Flowers Remedies?

The original Bach®Flower Remedies is a system of 38 Flower Remedies that corrects emotional imbalances: negative emotions are replaced with positive.

They were invented by Dr Edward Bach, an English surgeon, in 1934.

The Bach ® Flower Remedies are 100% safe and natural and work in conjunction with herbs, homeopathy and medications.  They are safe for everyone, including children, pregnant women, pets, elderly and even plants.

How do they work?

You first have to know yourself very well to determine which is your character and your state, to find out what is your problem, and therefore which would be the right remedy for you.

As you will see, the Bach flowers remedies are for mental healing, not physical (except for the cream).

Here you have a listing of the 38 remedies and their indication:

- Agrimony: Mental torture behind a cheerful face

- Aspen: Fear of unknown things

- Beech: Intolerance

- Centaury: The inability to say “no”

- Cerato: Lack of trust in one’s own decisions

- Cherry plum: Fear of the mind giving way

- Chestnut bud: Failure to learn from mistakes

- Chicory: Selfish, possessive love

- Clematis: Dreaming of the future without working in the present

- Crab apple: The cleansing remedy, also for self-hatred

- Elm: Overwhelmed by responsibility

- Gentian: Discouragement after a set back

- Gorse: Hopelessness and despair

- Heather: Self-centerdness and self-concern

- Holly: Hatred, envy and jealousy

- Honeysuckle: Living in the past

- Hornbeam: Procrastination, tiredness at the thought of doing something

- Impatiens: Impatience

- Larch: Lack of confidence

- Mimulus: Fear of known things

- Mustard: Deep gloom for no reason

- Oak: The plodder who keeps going past the point of exhaustion

- Olive: Exhaustion following  mental or physical effort

- Pine: Guilt

- Red Chestnut: Over-concern for the welfare of loved ones

- Rock Rose: Terror and fright

- Rock Water: Self-denial, rigidity, and self-repression

- Scleranthus: Inability to choose between alternatives

- Star of Bethleem: Shock

- Sweet Chestnut: Extreme mental anguish, when everything have been tried and there is no light left

- Vervain: Over enthusiasm

- Vine: Dominance and inflexibility

- Walnut: Protection from change and unwanted influences

- Water Violet: Pride and aloofness

- White Chestnut: Unwanted thoughts and mental arguments

- Wild Oat: Uncertainty over one’s direction in life

- Wild Rose: Drifting, resignation, apathy

- Willow: Self pity and resentment

So, here you have all the remedies!

Although the most famous is the “Rescue Remedy“, it consist in a combination of 5 different remedies ( Cherry Plum, Clematis, Impatiens, Rock Rose, and Star of Bethleem), and helps deal with any stressful or emergency event.

It comes in a small bottle, and you will have to take 4 drops of it as frequently as needed until the nerves or emotions are gone.

The Rescue Remedy also exists as a cream, and contains the same 5 remedies plus Crab apple, added for its cleansing qualities. It can be applied to bumps and bruises of all kind.

I used it for my daughter’s diaper rash. It worked wonderful!

If you are interested by purchasing Bach flowers remedies, I recommend that you only buy the original product (be aware of false products). An excellent link, recommended by the Bach Center is this one: NELSON STORE.

You can also find the remedies in your local Sprouts store, or similar “natural” store.

Did you like this entry? Leave me a comment!!

Stay tune for Part 5: Natural supplements, coming soon!

Valentines treats, kids, bubbles and more! February 17, 2009

Hi there,

What have you been up for Valentine’s day? Here we didn’t do anything special, I am afraid that we just don’t celebrate this day, in Europe it is not that important.

So, as we were free from any obligation, we decided to babysit our friend’s daughter Amber. She is a sweet 4 year old, like mine, and we had so much fun!

She is also allergic to wheat, so I found a recipe for her without wheat and we have been making coconut macaroons!

The girls had fun and they both loved the final product!

So, here is the picture of my brunette with her blond girlfriend, and here is the recipe!

Coconut and cornflakes macaroons

You will need:

- 3 egg whites

- 1 1/2 cup coconut flakes (sweetened)

- 1 1/2 cup frosted cornflakes

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

How to:

You will have to blend the coconut and cornflakes together. If you have kids who want to help, give them some cornflakes to “scratch” .

Then you have to whip the egg whites. When it is done, add the vanilla extract and then mix the egg whites with the coconut/cornflakes.

With your hands do small balls to make the cookies. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake them for 15-20 minutes at 300F.

You are done! They are so easy to do, yet yummy! And wheat free if you are interested by that!

For more tasty stuff, go check FOREVER WHEREVER,Kim has many great recipes including a chicken noodle soup today!

So this was Saturday night, on Sunday morning I did some pretzels, they were sooo good! If you want the recipe, check HEAVENLY HOMEMAKERS. I made them with all purpose flour and white sugar (I didn’t have honey).

They turned out great!

Then we went to Church, we had good time and we spent the afternoon bubbling!! Yes, this is the new passion of my daughter, she is crazy about making bubbles!

My mother bought her THIS, and it is a hit! Cecilia can spend hours playing with that in the backyard.

I made some research for our homeschooling, you know if we can have fun and education! … So I will share with you some interesting links about bubbles!

You will find a nice story you can read to your kids HERE, Cecilia loved it!

And I found this great resource for homeschooling, a whole lesson about bubbles and recipe to make your own “bubble mix” . Go check it HERE!

For older kids, you should have a look at BUBBLE.ORG, very interesting stuff.

So, that’s it for today!

How did you spend your week end? Leave me a comment!

Wearing baby: How to? February 16, 2009

Here is a post I wanted to write a time ago but no time!

So, here we go, now I have some time, so I will write about baby wearing, how to, where to buy a babycarrier, etc.

I think first we should talk about why wearing your baby? Which are the benefits for you, and for baby?

I will use “10 reasons to wear your baby” by Laura Simeon. You can read more at Natural Child.

- Wearing a baby is convenient

- Wearing a baby promotes physical development

- Babies worn in slings are happier

- Baby wearing is healthy for you

- Toddlers appreciate the security of the sling

- Baby wearing helps you and your baby communicate with each other

- Slings are a bonding tool for father, grandfathers, and other caregivers

- Slings are a safe place for a child to be

- Slings are economical

- Baby wearing is fun!

I would add baby wearing is so practical for a busy mom! And it is a frugal alternative to pricey trolley, therefore it is ecological.

Now, if you are interested by baby wearing, I recommend this amazing site: The Baby Wearer.

They have all the information you need to make the right choice, and learn how to use a baby carrier, sling, etc…

I also have this video which is great to show you simply how to put on the wrap and how to wear safely your baby.

You can also watch this other video, it is from a very nice french website, but the technique showed doesn’t need understanding of french.Watch it HERE.

For the Spanish speaking people, a great site is MOWGLI .

Did you decide to give it try? Where to buy it?!
Here is a list of some websites who sell baby slings, wraps, carriers, etc…Note that I didn’t buy personally through these websites, this list is just to give you an idea of the different kind of baby carriers and the designs and prices available out there.
The choice is yours and so the responsibility!

- Peppermint
- Wrapnwear
- Attached to Baby
- Sleepywrap
- The Sling station

Know that you can also buy them at Amazon, on Craig’s lists, etc. for a better price maybe. You can also make your own if you have that ability (and a sewing machine!)…

If you (like me ), can not saw, you may like this link about how to make a no-sew baby wrap: HERE

I really recommend to future or new parents to consider baby wearing, it is so nice to feel your baby next to you, it is really great!  I can just find benefits to it.

I would love to read your experience of baby wearing, feel free to leave your comments!

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Breastfeeding stories! February 16, 2009

I just read this a few days ago, and I am so amazed not by the story but by the reaction in the media.

Salma Hayek breastfed someone else baby during a trip in Sierra Leone.

It is something perfectly natural for me, and I am sure for a lot of women in the world.

I want to share a story, well two stories, with you.

The first one is my grandmother’s. She was living in Casablanca, Morocco with my grand father and their 4 kids.

It was in 1943, my father wasn’t  born yet, and my grand father who had the Italian nationality, had to go hide in the mountains because Italy was next to Hitler during 2nd World War and it wasn’t a good thing to be italian those days.

My grand mother was pregnant, she found herself alone with 4 kids and another one in the way, and no husband nor incomes.

My father was born 10th May 1943, and as it was normal my grandmother breastfed him. This was a huge blessing, as she had a lot of milk, and she found out that other women in the neighbourhood had babies and no milk, and as it was in middle of the war, they could not go to take goat milk.

My grand mother, who was named Marie, opened a “business”, she breastfed my father and other 2 babies, for money. She did that during 2 years, until the end of the war, and that is the way she could provide for all the family.

It was a joke in my family to tell we were all alive thanks to my grandma’s breasts! But I love this story!

My grandma thought she wouldn’t have more baby when she get pregnant, and she was afraid to think how she would feed her family.

This is amazing how God provided, during those tough times, and how my father, just a baby, could somehow save his siblings from starving, just by being born!

At the end of the war, my grandfather could return with the family and they all went back to France where they lived happily.

OK, I said two stories! The second one is mine!

When my daughter was born, I naturally breastfed her, I think I had some of my grandmother’s genes for that .

Well, when my baby was like 4 months old, we went for a day in the beach, in Tarifa, the extreme south point of Spain, you can see the coast of Morocco in front.

We were spending a wonderful day, when all of a sudden, a tiny boat arrived just in the beach we were. It was a boat full of african illegal people.

They were like 40 persons, men, women and children, they cross the Gibraltar passage from Morocco to Spain.

There was a lot of people in the beach, and everybody went to help them. They were all starving, with hypothermia, dehydration,  and very tired. Everybody came to give them some food, water, beach towels to warm them, etc.

A few minutes later the red cross arrived and so the coast guards. This was surrealistic!

The case is that there was a tiny little baby crying, he was like one month old, and his mother didn’t have strength to feed him.

While the red cross people were taking care of the mother, I took the baby and I fed him. I could never forget the look of gratitude of this woman! And this little one, his black hand on my white breast!

It was amazing!

Once more, I think God provided, between the thousands miles of coast in Spain, this baby arrived in the exact place where I was. God made that a little starving baby could met a breast full of milk!

These stories are very special to me, I could never forget them, and I really think breastfeeding is a huge blessing that we have to use, and protect!

What do you think about this? Do you think it was a bad thing to breastfeed someone else baby?

Leave a comment!

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