Hi Guys! Hope you are doing well! I wanted to share my easy meatball recipe that I have been cooking weekly and, trust me, if I’m making it, you can too!
You will need the following:
1 lb. ground beef (80% lean – you need some fat in there!)
1/2 cup of Panko breadcrumbs
1 egg
squirts of ketchup to taste
garlic powder- teaspoon
onion powder- teaspoon
Tomato sauce- we love Rao’s or Michael’s of Brooklyn
Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and form them into balls – depends on how big you want them – to your taste. You can place them onto parchments paper – it’s better than foil. I bake them at 350 degrees for 15 minutes – if you like them more well done cook for a little longer and you can flip them. I like to under-cook them in the oven and then finish them in tomato sauce. When you are done baking place them in tomato sauce at a low heat and serve by themselves or with pasta!
Supplies needed: colored construction paper, scissors for kids, glue stick, old magazines.
I rarely did art projects with Jake and Chloe, as I was always too busy running around with them – going to birthday parties, Bal Harbour shops, lunches, pool dates, visiting relatives. I always tried to keep us busy to be out of the apartment! So last Monday came as a total shock when we weren’t allowed to leave + had to home school.
I grew up looking through glossy magazines and collaging. It’s something that’s relaxing for me and that we can all do together – I have stacks and stacks of magazines and for some reason I refuse to throw them out.
So here is the project: cutting letters from magazines and taping them onto colored paper and sticking them on the wall in alphabetical order (it’s takes forever- we have only made it to sticking letter F on the wall. We cut as many letters as we could – until it got boring! We laid them all our table and chose the best letters to tape on wall! It’s so easy and extremely entertaining plus they are learning cutting skills + letters. It’s also something I could do with both kids together {almost 3 and 5}. We are now starting to cut pictures to go with letters. Stay tuned!
I decided I wanted to plan something special for the kids for their first day of school.. They are always asking if they can eat dinner on our balcony so I knew this would be special. Only problem was I was too busy to actually go to any store to purchase items.
So thankful for Walmart’s overnight free shipping! All I did was enter NextDay mode on the app and everything that was available popped up. I ordered everything on a Monday and had it all delivered Tuesday.
I was able to pick everything including the beautiful table cloth which is reversible, napkins which I totally had run out of, plates, colorful cups made from acrylic, and a set of three vases! I also needed a fresh set of utensils and found some at a great price point. When we have people over I never have enough! What’s even better is that I received everything in just one box. It’s free shipping with orders over $35.00.
So if you are thinking of planning a party or if you need last minute house hold items Walmart has you covered with their next day shipping.
Happy Hump day!
I am in no way a food critic or a restaurant critic, but I travel often enough and go to many restaurants to know when a place is good vs. bad.
So last week Chase was on a business trip and I was sleep training Chloe. We woke up Saturday morning and my in laws picked up Jake to have a special day with him. I absolutely love going to the Design District and was dying to go to the Dior Cafe. So I asked Chase if we could go, I put on a cute dress because I was going to ask Chase to take some pictures, and how can he say no if I look cute?
We get there and everyone is there for the exact same reason – to take pictures. However, I am the only one with a toddler. Not only were the staff super rude – they never even tried to get Chloe to smile! The customers were just as rude. Chloe would go up to them and smile and they wouldn’t give her a smile back.
I totally understand it’s not anyone’s job to get Chloe to smile, but when you are spending $12 on a coffee don’t you think the staff should help at least?! I will say, however, that the coffee was amazing and I know my coffee. I would go back – but I would leave kiddies at home. I felt like we were in Europe:) So if you live in Miami and you want to feel like you have gotten away, check it out. It’s a very cute rooftop on the third floor of Dior. Just don’t forget to leave the toddlers at home, even though it looks like a perfect place for them with the fake animals, etc.!
We got Chloe a toddler bed vs. a bigger bed! I didn’t understand the concept of a toddler bed because the crib I bought for Jake converted into a full bed(I had no idea what I was doing) so I bought a whole new mattress for Jake! Jake never ever liked his bed – it was too big for such a tiny human being. To this day we have a cot next to our bed that he sleeps in 80 percent of the time. With Jake we didn’t do the “cry it out”.. it’s all my fault, I don’t like to hear crying. So when he was 18 months old, and throwing up in his crib to get out, Chase and I thought it was time he moved into a big boy bed. Little did we know we should have let him sleep in his vomit! Sounds awful, but so true.
I thought for sure Chloe would sleep in her crib until she was FOUR {we have friends whose almost four year olds sleep in cribs}. About ten days ago, Chloe climbed out of her crib. I panicked and she slept in OUR bed for the next four nights – her bed arrived on a Monday and we assembled it Tuesday. Chase flew out to California for business Tuesday morning and said I must train her {ps I’m the most laid back person when it comes to letting our kids in our bed}. BUT because we fucked up so much with Jake and he still comes to our bed I got the message. When Chase gets home Chloe must be sleep trained.
Tuesday night – the first night she slept in her bed – was a disaster. I had no idea what I’m doing. I laid in the middle of her floor while she was in her bed. She fell asleep (took her forever to fall asleep, and my brain started flashing to our new beginning where I’d have to spend hours putting Chloe to sleep). After spending two hours in her room trying to hush her, I was exhausted so I just brought her to my bed! I asked all of you what to do and the best suggestion was to let her cry it out and get a gate!
Wed night- we have the gate in place and Chloe falls asleep fine. Then she wakes up every hour to make sure I’m in her room which means I run into her room every hour that night! I’m a zombie – so exhausted! – and you all tell me to let her cry going forward.
Thursday night – I wait in Chloe’s room until she’s asleep. She wakes up at 9 pm and cries until 10:30. The director of Jake and Chloe’s school said that I should speak to Chloe through the camera so I do this and it works! She goes back to bed and sleeps all night until 6 am!
Friday night- Chloe cries and screams for 20 minutes and passes out!
Let’s see what happens tonight but I feel very accomplished! Lucky Chase came back at the perfect time! I am using this turtle that lights up at night with stars which I think Chloe really enjoys.
So my advice for a mom going through this is to make sure you get a toddler bed so that they feel cozy, a gate is a must, let them cry, try to speak through the camera telling them they are ok, and lastly get something that lights up!
Hi!
I am so happy to share with you our first family pictures! Do not even ask me why we waited this long, but better late then never right?! BUT we got so lucky today was the first real Fall day in Miami! So we were shooting pictures and the weather was amazing.
I am loving these pics of us that it was hard to pick a few to share. Our photographer, Amanda Osovitzki, began taking pictures after having her sons because she developed an eye for capturing the perfect memories for every occasion. All of these pictures were taken in less then 20 min. Photo shoots that include kids have to be super fast because they have little patience- ok Chase is included in this as well!
Amanda is doing 20 minute sessions for $150 in November and you get 20 edited pics. I highly recommend if you need to get your holiday pictures taken and you live in Miami. Her email is amandaosovitz@gmail.com.
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