Hi there,
hope you are all doing well.
The week is passing by so fast.
I did some changes on my blog,I suppose everything looks much better now.
I hope to add more links in a few days.
By the way, I am quite happy with the menu I chose for this week,except for the quiche.I don't know where I did the mistake but the base turned out to be quite thick,also the filling was not as creamy as I had expected it to be.
Any vegan quiche recipe recommendations?

Menu Plan Monday

I am finally back to meal planning this week.I hope to try lots of new recipes as recently I have been repeating the same things over and over.

Monday:Broccoli Quiche from the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook p.103
Tuesday:Kidney Beans in olive oil
Wed:Chunky Celery Soup
Thursday:Heather's Quinoa Recipe
Friday: Yotam Ottolenghi's Two potato vindaloo
Saturday:Eat out
Sunday:Fettucine Alfreda (Vegan with a vengeance p.141)

You can find other menu plans at Organizing Junkie

Book Review:The Drinks Are On Me

I have just read a book named The Drinks are on me.
Isn't it a beautiful name for a book about breastfeeding?
The author,Veronika Robinson, whom I have written about here many times,is the editor of The Mother Magazine.



In this book she shares her own experiences as a mother who breastfed her children for 10 years (including 5 years of tandem feeding).
As she says on the foreword,in an ideal world our mothers would have tell us everything they knew about breastfeeding.Sadly we don't live in this ideal world so she tells everything your mother never told you about breastfeeding.
She mentions the common issues about breastfeeding,the latch positions,the problems you may encounter (engorgement,mastitis etc )however what I like most is that there is a huge section about breastfeeding toddlers,tandem feeding,child-led weaning and how it feels to breastfeed older children (her daughters self-weaned at 7 and 8).
Veronika says that her utopia is that children are breastfed at least two and a half years and if parent-led weaning must happen,she wishes it to be gentle rather than abrupt.
This book is a gem, so inspiring!I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended!

Lots of activities this week!

It is half term here so there are loads of activities in town.We went to Kindermusik on Monday as part of the Family Festival.It is a music class for preschool children.Defne enjoyed dancing and singing.Now that she is too old to go to Rhyme Sessions at our local library, we are considering going to Kindermusik regularly.
Then,yesterday we went to London,to the theatre for the first time.
We watched How to Catch A Star (written by Oliver Jeffers)at Polka Theatre.


I suppose it was very successful as the children sit still for 40 minutes and watched the play and really enjoyed it.We are talking about 2-5 year olds here ;)
I would love to take D. to this theatre more often,the only problem is tickets sell out months before!
Running off now as I have to get us ready for today's event:Boogie Babies.

Book Review:The Food of Love

I have been waiting for this book since I had read Kate Evans' other book,Funny Weather.
Since my pregnancy I have read loads of books about parenting and breastfeeding,I have to say this one is extraordinary.
First of all,Kate Evans is a very talented cartoonist.
She talks about all aspects of breastfeeding(there are funky cartoons about how to latch a baby,mamasutra (advanced breastfeeding positions) and parenting with personal experience,up to date scientific information and humor.
She covers all the issues that you face from the moment you have your baby.Cosleeping,babywearing,why you should not leave your baby to cry it out.All of these,make it a perfect book in my humble opinion.
Guaranteed to make you laugh out loud!
I gave my copy to my sister who is a new mama.She also enjoyed reading it.
I wish it was given to all pregnant women for free.
You can find a few sample pages here.

Defne's new play area

We live in a small flat so Defne does not have a room of her own or a play room.
When we moved here, she was only 5 months old and had only a few toys.
As time passed by her toys added up.We bought a toy chest, however, after a time,we found out it was no longer able to meet our needs. Some of the toys live in the depths of the chest where she can never reach. Some of the toys were never played with and there were a few clusters of toys around all the time.
Finally we decided to organize her play area according to the Montessori philosophy and we are very happy with the new situation.
According to Tim Seldin aouthor of How to raise an amazing child the Montessori way),

Left to their own devices,young children may tend to create chaos,but they also have a tremendous need and love for an orderly environment.
When everything has its set place your child can easily maintain order in her room. It is surprising what an impact this can have on their developing personality.

I would have never known this before but seeing my daughter,I definitely agree. D. always puts everything in its place.Sometimes when we are in the shops and she is browsing through the aisles,she takes something from the shelf and after having looked or played with it,she insists that we put it on its place :)
We bought a decent shelf and a few wicker baskets and voila!



We grouped some of the toys and put them in the baskets.For example all her little balls and puppets are in the first basket,the second one contains her kitchen utensils and the third one contains her musical instruments.
Her cuddly toys and dolls are in the toy chest next to the shelf and there are a few boxes on the floor.
This new organization enables her to see all of her toys (we are rotating them) and play with them as she pleases. Also, at the end of the day,everything goes to its place.
To find more info about how to organize your child's environment according to Montessori principles, check out Micheal Olaf's book, Joyful Child (available as pdf.)

Wordless Wednesday

Photo by E.Sarisoy

Click here to see other people's WW.

Hello,
we arrived back to home on Thursday.
We had a good time in Brussels with my sister.Although we spent most of our time indoors due to the cold weather,time flew so fast! My sister's baby is 3 months old now and life with a toddler and a newborn was so very busy.I don't know how mothers juggle with a few young kids!
Last night it started snowing here and when we woke up this morning everywhere was under a snow blanket.Lovely!I haven't seen so much snow since my childhood in Germany.
Defne enjoyed playing with snowballs.
Here are a few pics:




I am hoping to be back with more substantial posts in a few days.
Until then,take care!