Receipy for happiness

I am in the middle of my holiday reading of 'The Monk who Sold His Ferrari". Sounds a Catchy, New Agesh and extensively American..? Those were my exact thoughts as well! However, given my good will thanks to holidayed and relaxed mind I gave it a chance.. and to my great delight every page has contained some inspiring thoughts for increasing happiness..

 I look around and am so very proud to recognize that many people around me have already figured it all out..

My daughter's delight in learning to place a cork on a bottle..My parents happiness over their newly bought and renovated "vinyard"..My sister's enthusiasm over her fresh start-up..My husband's proudness over recently finished garden terraces..

So much positive energy and happiness they all have! They also share a common strategy: they've set clear objectives, believed it will work-out, but also (and most importantly) worked very hard to achieve their dreams..

So very simple and yet..

Sivananda cookies

Dearest,

My intention is not to start practicing recipe swapping, but merely to share the below Exceptionally Savoury Treats for your taste buds recommended highly by my little sister from Mexico. They were test-driven yesterday and seem to work also without attending the yoga class first. 

For other gourmand yet healthy recipes you should check the "Yoga Cook book: Vegetarian food for Body and Mind" by the Sivanda Yoga center. 

SIVANANDA COOKIES

These large, energy-packed cookies are a standard after-class treat at most Sivanada Yoga Centres around the world. They are very nutritious and make a meal in themselves.

250 g rolled oat

100 g  wholewheat flour

150 g brown sugar

50 g raw unsalted peanuts

1,5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1,5 teaspoons ground ginger

0,5 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg

0,5 teaspoons baking pow

200 ml oil

about 200 ml (less!!) water

50 g raisins or sultanas

1 dl sunflower seeds

0.5 dl almonds (grounded)

Preheat the oven to 200. Oil 2 or 3 baking sheets. Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, add the oil and mix thoroughly. Stir in enough water to make a firm mixture.

Take a spoonful of mixture, about the size of a ping-pong ball. Roll it into a ball, place on one of the oiled baking sheets and flatten to a round about 10 cm in diameter. Repeat to make 12 cookies. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden at the edges. Cool on a wire rack.

Use sunflower seeds, roughly chopped almonds and/or desiccated coconut instead of, or as well as, the unsalted peanut

Be assured Your Body will Thank you :) 

Nothing but the truth

I am a woman of principles, and as most women of principles I don't mind (at all) sharing them in abundance with my surroundings. Furthermore, I have come to realize yet again how incredibly difficult it is to "Walk-my-Talk" - whether at work, educating my daughter (and husband) and especially myself.. Besides, there's no question that motherhood is an ideal trap for some major hypocrisies to get ground.

One way Not to walk-the-talk is to do it Silently. In this case nobody actually remembers your once vocalized principles and you're the only fortunate witness of the hypocrisy taking place. The result should be an emotion of at least minimum remorse (rarely the case) and a promise of a future re-orientation. 

More uncomfortable is the situation, where you have clearly vocalized your principles, you've broken your own rules AND your audience recognizes this. This creates a feeling of shame, multiplied by eternity in case the witness is your own children. Then it is your credibility as a Parent at stake. 

Therefore I decided to take a stance and have a moment of honest auto reflection.

-I am not eating two warm meals per day myself and do snack in between meals. I even drink coffee taking immense pleasure out of it not to mention finishing the cookie dough bowls. With fingers.
-I too have bad days and feel like crying my mind out just because it does make me feel better, especially if I have an attentive audience :)
-I also enjoy discovering new places and trying out new things even though somebody wise tells me to be careful and not to touch and taste everything. Where's the fun otherwise!
-I too have mornings when I want to sleep-in, stay in my pyjama and continue to tell stories to Mr. Paddington.
-I too get mad if a colleague steels my ideas and presents them as his own. I will be pissed-off and do not want to share my toys either.
-I too utterly hate when weekends end, holidays end, chocolate cake ends..

Sometimes Mommies DO eat their own words. 

Smile!

These made me smile this week when returning home:

-Taxi driver asking me with a strong French accent if I am a "BizznessWuman" (I suppose yes, indeed. I am a female traveling for work..)
-The same taxi driver asking me if he can take language lessons with me (the rest didn't make me smile anymore)
-My husband's happiness when I got back home - with Mozart's Kügels !
-My daughter (15m) reminding me that she's not allowed to touch the CD-player, when I asked her to play music
-Jogging in the forest in three-some and a fellow runner cheering: "At least the little one is leading!!"

Enjoy the weekend! 

Happy hol(y)days !

Dear All, I am happy and proud to announce we have a natural born little globetrotter among us =) We are back home from our beautiful vacation in the Dominican and while with my husband we are still recovering from the Jettie our 15 month old daughter is back full speed.. It is amazing how flexibly she accustomed to the new environments,(lack of)  rhythms, people and food. My biggest fears, the long flight and food turned out to be her highlights: she slept 3/4 of both flights leaving only couple of hours for entertainment. Her favourite hobby quickly became catching the attention of fellow passengers and making fanny faces - she thought it was absolutely hilarious! I am not sure the others appreciated her intruding to their intimacy, but I didn't really care as in those circumstances her contentment level was grossly prioritized over any notion of politeness.

Some hints for the long flight: triple the amount of drinks and snacks they would usually consume over same time period. I don't know why, but she just kept eating and eating! Carrot sticks, baby cookies, rice cakes, tetra drinks..all goes. The one new toy per hour worked wonders. In fact I had taken her old toys away some time ago and "re-introduced" them during the flight - what a delightful re-union! Finally, Comfort class does gives more foot space and frequent snacks (along with the champagne :)).

Dominicans are such positive and extensively child-friendly nation; some unbeatable examples: we got picked out from the passport check lane to go on a separate high-speed "baby lane", baby bed was waiting us in our hotel room and the room was given from the ground floor close to all facilities (without request), but above all, the hotel staff of all levels and EVERYWHERE were greeting her, remembering her name and keeping her entertained - quite exceptional and unexpected!

How did we spend one week then? By admiring flamingos in the morning from our terrace, eating tropical fruits (she could eat half-kg water melon for breakfast and I am not kidding), playing in the pool (yes, her water fear episode is history!!), enjoyed massages at the beach, and of course of the beautiful warm Caribbean sea and sand..It had worried us with my husband how we could keep ourselves happy without the usual "adrenaline-filled-excursion treats" we used to do during the BBE 'before-baby-era' and to be completely honest: had we stayed longer we probably would have given in for the temptation once or twice again..

All in all, I feel some kind of cap has been now surpassed and the holiday exceeded my expectations in so many levels I can only warmly recommend! On to planning the next ones!

Happy first of May to all! 

KSF's for traveling

After over two years on strict budget diet, my husband went a bit crazy last night and bought us a last-minute trip in a faraway country. This means a long-haul flight with our Toddler. Which is why this morning I jumped into a careful consultation process with our entourage to capture the best practices. (nb! I have yet to consult my guru-traveller sister)


To focus my research and evaluation I have identified Key Success Factor (KSF) for our holiday:


1. Smooth travelling
2. Pleasant Stay
3. No earthquakes or other natural disasters


I am most concerned by points 1 and 2. 


A key element in Smooth Travelling seems to be Toddler Entertainment during the flight. My boss revealed his wife relies on Bribing ie. introducing a new toy for every rolling hour. Sounds promising, although eighteen toys alone will make up my hand luggage. Others rely on food: raisins, cookies and the queen of all: a Lollipop! Apparently a lollipop in mouth makes screaming a real challenge. Sounds reasonable. Some other more and less creative tips included: DVD's (special occasion), making baby sleep on the dinner table - to ensure the previous works the recommendation is to skip before-flight naps and let first your toddler run the plane around until exhaustion. To be tested. And she needs to learn to walk first. 


The pleasant Stay covers a lot: Happy toddler, unstressed Husband, both fed and kept amused 24/7, clean and calm hotel, no risk for cholera by consuming hotel food or beverage, no malaria, dengue or other known or unknown sickness, unfilthy beaches and my ultimate key criteria: SUN AND SEA! The last two are fortunately facts in the place we are heading. For the rest the recommendation was to bring the baby's food along (?), a full medication arsenal, water boiler, UV costumes, sun screens, mosquito nets..Gone are the days with travelling on visa and tooth brush only..


For the third one I pray. And consult actively http://www.iris.edu/dms/seismon.htm.


Fortunately I have still weeks to fuzz, worry and potentially change my mind about the whole trip :)  

Premium service

Our daughter has been now one full week at the new day care. To our great relief the transition seems to have gone smoothly - no (unusual) cries, tantrums or nightmares identified.  Apparently she is social, smiling and taking already lead in the team (yes, apparently possibly at age of 13 months!). I am not surprised though - I would be shining as well given the royal level of service she receives:  In the morning we can pass by the medical service to ensure our angel is fully fit for the day at the care, the milk lady prepares the bottle for her, two carers gently welcome her in their sunny arms at her dedicated section, where her friends with max 6 months of age difference are waiting her to play. At lunch time they are served a delicious and nutritious meal carefully planned by a dedicated nutritionist with premium products. The cleaning lady comes twice a day to clean the playground and the toys. In the afternoon, the toddlers are taken to improve their psychomotricity with special exercises - every second day it is replaced by storytelling or music class. The nurses pass twice a day to check the sweethearts are still doing healthy. The child psychologies are visiting the section to observe the development of our angels and are accessible for parents wishing to discuss any concerns we may have. The carers are reporting meticulously every single poo, peep and siesta our princess takes and documents this for us with 10 min. intervals when we come pick her up in the evening. On top of all the carer/baby ratio compared to the past moved from a whopping 3:18  to 2:3! Even the fact that I need to pass four times the Security services every single day when picking her up could not make me happier. I am confident she's at the best  place possible - after being home with mommy.