I compiled this week's menu from The Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. We are trying new recipes this week and really enjoying them. Yesterday we had this ridiculously easy lentil soup.It was very cold here so was a very good choice.
For today I will prepare this eggplant and tofu in spicy garlic sauce.Sounds yummy!

Making Bubbles With A Sponge

There are some amazing blogs which feature interesting activities to do with the kidlets. As much as I enjoy reading them,I do feel overwhelmed by them.Simply because I am not that organised and I am not a crafty girl.
If you are anything like me,then pop on over to The Wonder Years.I like her style: Everything is neat and tidy and most of the materials she uses can be found at any home.
Today we made bubbles with a sponge and Defne enjoyed it.When she began to lose her interest,she wanted a spoon and stirred and then she transfereed the bubbles on the sponge with the spoon.So much to play and learn!

Defne has given up her naps and this leaves me with very little time to blog during the day.When she goes to bed around 7 o'clock I am totally knackered and just want some silence,grab a tea and watch a movie or read a book.
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A few months ago I was in our local health food store with afriend of mine and she asked me if I have ever tried red quinoa.I hadn't so I thought I would give it a try and bingo! I like it so much,I prefer it to "yellow" quinoa now.It has a more nutty flavour in my opinion.It is very easy to prepare and very nutritious.

Photo from Wikipedia

I use this recipe from 101 Cookbooks and it goes down very well indeed.

Raw sweet potato crisps

I bought Shazzie's beautiful book Evie's Kitchen a few months ago and have tried only one or two of the recipes. This weekend I decided to try another recipe and chose the sweet potato crisps.
I decreased the quantity in the original recipe and when they were done,I understood that the sesame oil was not enough.They turned too crispy for our liking but they go well with a bean dip or hummus :)


Evie's Kitchen is a beautiful book full of colorful pictures.


The book is divided into two sections.
In the first section, you can read about Shazzie's personal path to parenting and her thoughts and experiences on pregnancy,breastfeeding and natural parenting.The second section is full of kid friendly raw recipes.
Some require a dehydrator but some are really simple to make.
She also uses a fair bit of superfoods like maca powder,purple corn extract but I guess these can be omitted or replaced with something else.
Hope you have a nice week!

Finally time to write a few words about our holiday.
We flew from Gatwick to Izmir where Soner's family lives.There was a big family reunion where Defne enjoyed playing with her cousins.She is the 10th and youngest grandchild on daddy's side so she had lots of fun there.
One day we visited the newly opened Izmir Wildlife Park.



Then we flew to Antalya to visit my side of the family. My sister also came so we got to have so many baby cuddles.Defne enjoyed playing with Ela -she is 6 months now- and she was so gentle with her.




It was nice getting to see everyone again,despite some family members having health problems.
Defne was great on the plane trips and during the holiday.However towards the end,she was having meltdowns at the drop of a hat. I find this the most difficult aspect of a holiday with a child. Since our routine changes,she sometimes skips naps or prefers not to sleep. Having too many people around makes her more tired and all these conntributions can make her very difficult at times.Overall though,she had a great time with the extended family.
And did I mention that the weather was so nice and warm :)

Days are flying by and I didn't have a chance to sit and write a blog post.
It has been a bit hectic here. I have yet to download our holiday pics.
Today we are homebound as we are expecting a parcel to arrive.
I hope to come back and write a proper post soon...