Middle Eastern Chicken Wraps

Posted on February 25, 2016

I got this recipe from one of my best friends from college. I’ve wanted to make these for the longest time. She has the recipe perfectly posted here at danascreativekitchen.com. Her mom used to make these for me back in the day along with many other Middle Eastern dishes! They spoiled me and I was already spoiled by my Italian mother so I was constantly eating very well! They made me feel like a queen every visit. We’d sit at her big dinning room table surrounded by her two brothers and little sister and her loving parents. My friend too spoiled me, serving me tea and delicious middle eastern sweets. Oh and I can’t forget the videos she would make me watch of her as a baby! I have to say she was a cutie! I miss those days of pure friendship, where if mom wasn’t cooking for you, someone’s mom was! This dish not only completely satisfies my tummy but also my soul as well. My husband really enjoyed these wraps! My kids ate the chicken with the tortillas on the side. This is an incredibly simple dish to make, although back then I thought I would never be able to make it for myself! I used Mission tortilla flour for the wraps which can be found in any local supermarket. The recipe calls for sumac spice and ground cardamom which can be found in Middle Eastern stores. Unfortunately there is not a local Middle Eastern store near me so I ordered the spices from Amazon.com. I’ve linked the one’s I purchased below but there are many you can choose from. I was happy with my picks! Oh and you need lots of onions for this recipe. The first time I made it, I skimped out on the onions because I only had 1 onion and was too exited to make it but too lazy to run out and get more onions. The second time I made it, I used the right amount of onion and it was perfect! I’ve listed the ingredients below, please visit danascreativekitchen.com for complete instructions.

Ingredients:

2 pounds boneless chicken breast cutlets, cut into small pieces (see photo below)

2-3 tablespoons sumac spice (found in Middle Eastern stores)

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 cup olive oil

1-2 Tablespoons toasted pine nuts

4 large onions, thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

10 wraps

Spelling Wall

Posted on February 19, 2016

One challenge I find when having two children in school is keeping track of their spelling words. Yes, it’s their responsibility to study them, but I wanted to find an easy way to really help them access their words anytime during the week without depending on me and without me having to nag them!

I found these super cute School Tools Pocket Charts at oriental trading. They came in a pack of four. I’m currently using three of them but need to add the fourth one as my older daughter gets 12 spelling words a week. I use one chart each for the two older girls and one chart for my four year old to learn her site words. I hung the charts in our hallway near our playroom so that the girls can see their words daily. As soon as the girls get their new words, they grab the index cards, write down their words and put them in their charts! Anytime throughout the week, I remind them to study and they go and sit in front of the words and copy them onto their clipboards, which are hanging in their playroom. This has really worked and the girls have been bringing home awesome spelling test grades ever since! Best part of all is that I do not need to nag them to study, and tell them to go into their backpacks and get their words. They are accessible to the girls, making it very simple for them to study a few minutes each night. These are great for homeschooling moms too!

You can also find a similar product at Amazon.com

Happy Valentines Day! A bit of this and that.

Posted on February 14, 2016

A lovely pastel picture from Isabel.

A basket of hearts from Melina. My little one said she forgot to make us anything!

I gave each of the girls a valentine mailbox (purchased from the dollar store) and filled it with little toiletries and candies. They love stuff like that and I like it because it’s something useful. Makes them happy and it makes me happy. They also received a Beanie Boo each to hang off of their backpacks.

The day before Valentines Day, my mom invited all of the kids to make valentines Day cookies. She made the girls an apron each and had them waiting for them on each of their chairs. It was so cute! And last but not least, the girls each made valentine cards from their dolls to each of their sisters dolls!

What to do with a couple of fabric swatches

Posted on February 13, 2016

I have finally learned to use a sewing machine! I can’t believe it! All I’ve learned so far is a straight stitch but that’s enough to make me happy! I haven’t had a chance to make anything yet other than fabrics of squares and a little purse for my daughter’s doll ( I wanted to take a picture of it, but I can’t find it!). I am planning on attempting to make the girls some simple clothing for their dolls! I do have lots of fabric swatches that I’ve had stashed away for the day when I do have time to sew something up. My mom is a seamstress and anytime I get an idea of what to do with my swatches I bring the idea straight to her and she executes it right away. I had a couple of old and boring throw pillows laying around and never wanted to spend the money on new ones because they tend to be a bit expensive! So I bought a bundle of fabric swatches at Walmart for about $10 to $13 dollars and had my mom sew up a couple of new pillow cases to cover my old pillows! It was like paying $10 for two new pillows! The swatch bundle usually comes with five, 18×21 inch fabric swatches. Somehow I ended up gravitating towards patterns that the kids would like! Everything I gravitate to these days have something to do with the kids! Now that I know how to sew a straight stitch I’m sure I can sew a new cover myself for the next old pillow laying around the house.

I unfortunately do things the same way my mom does…by eye! Good for me but not for you! I’m terrible at giving directions but If you know how to use a sewing machine I’m sure you know better than I do how to make these simple pillow cases. Here is a tutorial I found if you’d like step by step instructions!

I asked my four year old if she could hold the pillow for me for a picture and as you will see below, all she wanted to do was throw it at me! As you can see while Lia is throwing the pillow, that I used two different swatches to create one pillow. Thanks Lia!

Pastels and Usborne Playtime

Posted on February 8, 2016

My kids and I love to draw and paint but sometimes it’s hard to be inspired. I bought these Usborne Playtime books a few years ago and we continue to use them often for inspiration. Today, the girls wanted to use a new set of Alex Chalk Pastels my friend recently gifted to them and I took the books out and the girls spent a nice amount of time creating beautiful artwork! I think the girls would definitely enjoy I can cut and stick and I can crayon also by Usborne.

Simple Paper Bag Puppets

Posted on February 5, 2016

If you have small paper bags and colored construction paper, these little guys are super easy to make! The kids wanted to make some paper bag puppets so I simply googled paper bag puppets and found many ways to create one! We found a simple tutorial here for the puppy puppet and a simple tutorial here for the owl puppet here.

Simple Felt Hair Clips

Posted on February 3, 2016

These hair clips are so fun and simple to make. I got the cute and simple idea from mycakies.com. All you need is some felt, thread, a sewing needle and some hair clips. You can even use hot glue if you don’t know how to sew or just don’t feel like sewing! I also made some hair clips for the girls to wear on St. Patricks Day. I found some clover patterns here. I cut out the pattern and used it to cut out the green felt. Cut two pieces, sew or hot glue together and hot glue a clip and you’re done!

Jan Bretts, The Mitten

Posted on January 26, 2016

We love reading any story by Jan Brett. Our family favorite is of course The Mitten. Our copy has literally had to be stapled and put back together several times. Not because the kids don’t take care of it but because we’ve handle the book so, so, so many times! I found this really simple and fun activity to go along with the story. I had these printed and kept on hand for a snowy day, and lucky for me and the kids it SNOWED! Lots and lots of snow. It was fun to read the book and do the activity after hours of playing in the snow! You can find a pdf format Here. I’ve found lots of great resources and activities at www.janbrett.com.

Finding a Baby Bird

Posted on April 28, 2015

This time last year we found this sweet little baby bird right next to our garbage cans near our garage. It fell out of a nest high up in our garage. I had never in my life seen a brand new baby bird and was startled at the sight of it. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with it. It laid there so helpless, with it’s mouth open. My little pup was trying to lick him up! I had heard several times that if you touch a baby bird a mother would throw it out of it’s nest and not want anything to do with it. But there was no way that I was going to just leave it there and let nature take its course. I went straight to google to find advice on what to do in this situation. I found this site and several others that gave me easy instructions on what to do. My girls were so concerned for the little guy. I asked them to prepare a box with a towel to keep it warm. Luckily we always have decorated boxes laying around and it was perfect for our little friend. I spent a long time trying to find a nature refuge to help this little baby out. They get so many calls and it takes a lot of dedication to nurse these little birds to the point where they can survive on their own. I finally did find a place late in the evening and I remember dropping everything to take the 45minute drive to save this little bird. My husband thought I was nuts!! I guess it was just motherly instinct! Any mom would have done it! The girls and I always wonder how the little bird is doing and if he’s some where flying around! Now I check the spot to make sure no little birds have fallen out of their nests!

One day I will learn to sew

Posted on April 18, 2015

I Love fabric! I have a small drawer of fabric swatches that I purchase here and there for little projects or just because I like the design on the fabric. Sometimes I buy fabric and send a job over to my mom, like making little bags for the girls or making a pillow case for an old pillow. Sometimes I just take out all of my fabric just to look at it and I wish that I could do more with it! I’ve recently realized how easy it would be for me to actually try to learn instead of wishin! I can take a class or I can have my mom or even my mother- in- law teach me. My mom was a seamstress my whole life and it never dawned on me that I should have or even could have learned how to sew many years ago. Lately though the urge is greater than ever. Maybe because I have three beautiful daughters who constantly inspire me to be creative. It’s definitely on my list of goals for this year! This is an old photo I found (not that old, maybe 2 years ago and wow our yard has changed since this photo!). The girls are just as crazy about fabric as I am! I have a bin of fabric that my mom has given me through the years. I keep it in the playroom and every time they take it out it keeps them pretty busy and I’m always impressed with what they come up with!

Everyday fun. Kids included.