Tips on taking a road trip with your baby!

Taking a baby on a road trip requires serious planning since the baby has many needs and cannot communicate with words to let us know what he wishes for. 

So we should be well prepared and well aware of what we should expect while traveling with a baby

Here are few tips:

1. The longer your baby will be strapped in his car seat the more fussy he will get.  That is why you should plan for few breaks during your trip so everyone could stay calm and enjoy a peaceful ride.
2. Plan for the unplanned surprises like a diaper explosion or a long unexplained cry.
3. Prepare all you need to have a pleasant drive:  window sun-shades, baby's favorite music, his favorite toys, books to read for the baby, extra everything: diapers, milk if he's formula fed.
4. Try making your car an entertainment center for the baby by dangling few toys from the ceiling

Let’s make a useful super mom checklilst together, shall we?

1. Diapers
2. Baby’s blanket
3. Clothes for your baby and you better consider climate change between states
4. Sipper cups or Bottles if your baby is formula fed
5. Pacifiers
6. Enough baby milk for the whole trip
7. Bottle warmer if needed
8. Baby’s regular sleep music
9. First aid kit/prescriptions/medications
10. Carseat pillow or head support
11. Window shades
12. Music or books on tape or CDs
13. Snacks and drinks for the adults
14. Cooler
15. Plastic bags for your dirty diapers
16. A bag for your dirty laundry
17. Empty plastic bags for leftovers and trash
18. Cell phone
19. Money/wallet/purse/ID
20. Medical and insurance information/emergency phone numbers
21. Maps/driving directions
22. Stroller
23. Camera and film
24. Suitcases

And most importantly, drive safely and enjoy your ride!

 

You might also want to read:

Parenting: How to get my child to sleep alone at night?

 

Housekeeping Advice: Prevent Garlic Waste

Garlic is a vegetable that is very high in nutrients. It's a good source of Calcium, Phosphorus and Selenium, and a very good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and Manganese. Adding to this, many preliminary studies suggest that garlic consumption may reduce the risk of developing several types of cancer, especially cancers of the gastrointestinal tract.

Yet, we all try to avoid garlic because it causes a really bad breath and a gastrointestinal distress ( that is the medical version for gas ;) )
That is why, when most of us buy garlic, even the smaller quantity ( 4 heads package), we end up throwing half of it away at the end of the month!

Don't be afraid to use garlic, there are many ways we could use this vegetable without risking a bad breath nor other complications.

1. Prepare Garlic-Olive Oil: In a 75 cl bottle, add 6 peeled garlic cloves and fill the bottle with olive oil. Seal it, and set aside for 3 weeks. The Olive Oil will have a wonderful garlicky taste that is not too fiery and is gorgeous in a salad dressing.
2. Use skinned cloves to roast your meat: When baking, roasting or grilling meat, fish or chicken throw a couple of clean skinned cloves in there. It will give your meat a warm garlic flavor that no one can resist!!
3. Garlic dip: Eating garlic dip can cause a bad breath but believe me it's worth it!!! Just prepare some and store them in the refrigerator.
4. Baked Potatoes: with roasted garlic are one of my favorites.

So, in conclusion, there are many ways to use garlic and to prevent its waste at the end of the month. Try, on the day you purchase your garlic, to prepare your garlic oil and garlic dip, this way the rest will be surely used for cooking during the month and you won't end up throwing a high nutrients treasure in the garbage!

Related Posts

How To Be Super Mom: Tips on how to store made-ahead homemade food

Father's Day- Potato Chocolate Cake

A Delicious Chocolate Cake Recipe That You Can Prepare With Your Kids For Father's Day

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 3 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:

• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 3 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 tsp whiskey
• 1 tsp butter 

For the Chocolate Ganache

• 225 g finely chopped dark chocolate
• 1 cup heavy cream

Baking Directions

1. With an electrical beater, mix both sugar and butter until smooth and creamy. Use this method  with every pound cake and I guarantee you'll obtain a wonderful spongy result!
2. Add the eggs, whiskey and vanilla extract while beating.
3. Then add the potato, flour and baking powder
4. Grease a 20 cm round cake mold , pour the batter and place in a preheated oven (350 degrees F- 175 degrees C) for about 35 minutes
5. Meanwhile, pour 2 cups of cold milk in a saucepan, mix-in the flour and the cocoa and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. 
6. Add the sugar, the whiskey and the butter
7. Keep stirring until the mixture is creamy
8. Set a side to cool.
9. For the ganache, boil the cream until it starts rising up then you will know it's perfectly ready to be poured over the finely chopped chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Let the ganache sit at room temperature until it cools. This will take about 4 hours.

Cake Preparation

1. Allow the cake to cool, about 1 hour. Cut it in 3 layers, and spread each layer with our delicious chocolate filling. You can sprinkle some chunky caramelized almonds, yum yum!!!
2. Now, before covering the cake with ganache, trim the borders to get a perfect round, then cover the cake with butter-cream to hide all the imperfections (optional) and cool it in the refrigerator. 1 hour later, place the cake on a cooling rack, and pour the ganache in a circular movement,  starting from the center of the cake and  heading towards the edges.

Let me wish you a Happy Chocolaty Father's Day from How To Be Super Mom and Bon Appétit!!! 

Related Topics:

Father's Day Breakfast: Chocolate Crepe with Strawberry and Walnut

 

Let's Craft: A Blooming Popcorn Spring Tree

 How To Be Super Mom Spring Blooming Tree

* Easy Craft For all Ages

Supplies Needed

• Small Tree Branch
• 1 Cup of Popcorn
• 1 Green Crepe Paper
• Glue
• A small flower pot

 Directions

• Fill the pot with dirt and stick the tree branch

• Wrinkle the green crepe paper into tiny balls ( they will represent the green leaves on a spring tree)
• The popcorn will represent the small white flowers on a spring tree
• Start gluing both of the popcorn and wrinkled paper to the branch

Related Posts:

Let's craft: Funny Smurfette Paper Puppet

Let's Craft: Funny Animal Head Straws

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Father's Day Breakfast: Chocolate Crepe with Strawberry and Walnut

A super mom delicious breakfast that says I love you.

Let your children help you prepare this easy, mouthwatering breakfast.

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp whisky
• pinch of salt
• pinch of white sugar

 For the filling:

• 1 tbsp full of Nutella Chocolate
• 2 strawberries
• a sprinkle of chopped walnut

Directions

Mix flour, milk, canola oil, egg, vanilla, whisky, salt and sugar, beat them well and let them rest in the fridge for 1 hour in a covered bowl.
Heat a pan, put a ladleful of the mixture and turn the pan over the sides to spread the batter all over the surface. The layer of batter must be thin.
Cook it from both sides and then repeat with the rest of the batter
Spread the chocolate on the crepe then you can either fold it or roll it
Add the strawberries and Bon Appétit!

 

Homemade Hair Mask

How To Be Super Mom: Hair Mask Recipe

You sure have read a lot of articles about homemade hair masks recipe: banana and honey, eggs and milk, milk and honey,... etc. Personally, I would never put eggs in my hair nore mashed bananas!!!
Professional hair masks has an excellent shiny effect on our hair but could be really expensive!

You don't have to loose an arm and a leg to buy expensive hair masks. How To Be Super Mom will give you an affordable homemade recipe which you can use safely without having to avoid bees everytime you go out!!!
Be careful you will get addicted!!

Mix lavendar oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil and castor oil. Heat them for 10 seconds in the microwave and apply them to your wet hair.  Wear a hair mask and leave them on for as long as you can (min. 15 minutes). Then wash them with a mild shampoo and lukewarm water.

P.S: The oils are easily found at a preserve shop or at the pharmacy.

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Beauty Tips and Secrets:How to Wash Hair

As we have mentioned in our previous How to be Super Mom post: " Natural Beauty Tips and Secrets", to look good you should follow a healthy life style. Eating well, exercising daily, drinking 2 L of water a day and sleeping well will help us maintain our figure, have a glowing skin and a healthy hair.

But other than the general beauty rules there are always some secrets we could dig out to have a beautiful silky hair; Let's mention few tips:

How to Wash Hair

• Restrict the use of chemical based hair stuff such as hair mousse or hair gel. These will dry out the hair and result in hair falling.
• Be ware not to put any hair stuff directly on your scalp to prevent pores from clogging and reduce the risk of hair falling.
• The blow dryer is not always the right choice: instead, you can pat your hair with a warm towel and allow your hair to dry naturally unless you were in a hurry then you  have no other choice but to refer to your blow dryer! Cold air is much more suitable for your hair than the hot air.
• Start by combing your hair from the ends to remove any tangles and work your way up.
•  If possible avoid combing your hair while wet this will prevent breakage ( for curly hair you should comb it while wet otherwise you won't be able to remove tangles)
• Always use conditioner to moisture your hair but avoid applying it on the roots, only on the 2/3 of your hair length.

• Brushing hair before heading to the showers will help decrease hair breakage and stimulate the blood circulation in your head. 
• It is crucial to start every hair was with water to remove all the dirt and dust that could have piled up during the day.
• Apply a small amount of shampoo and lather your hair starting from the roots all the way down.
• Avoid lifting your hair, and that is a common habit, this will increase tangles, wash it while massaging your way down the length of your hair.
•  The minute you think that you are ready to rinse, give it a second thought! another 3 minutes massage won't hurt your scalp; Controversially, it will help increase the blood stream in your head.
• Start rinsing with a lukewarm water. And for a shiny look close the cuticles by rinsing with cool water. 

Every mother dreams of being that super mom with silky hair, shiny skin, gorgeous figure and attractive manicure. To do so, you will have to divide the tasks of self care throughout the hours of the week. A fast manicure before heading off to bed once a week won't take long. Supermom, all you need is a light color on which the scratches and blisters will hardly show. Which means that keeping your hand in water all day won't be a huge problem. You can always use the homemade hand mask posted by How to be Super Mom to give them a smooth silky touch and don't forget to use a hand moisturizer at least 5 times a day.

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Summer is near! When should I take my baby for a swim?

Now that summer is near, the most popular question is when can we take our baby for a swim.

Some say that you can take him as soon as he is 6 weeks old.
As a mother, I advise you to wait until after 1 year, then he will have a stronger immunity and would have had most of his shots.

Usually, our pediatrician, and she is more like a mother to me, allows herself to give me some personal advice. And one of those advice is to try to wait till after 1 year old, meanwhile she suggested we get a small inflatable pool where our kids could swim in the shade, in a clean water free of chemicals and germs.

Whatever your decision is, please always look after your kids when they are swimming never leave them unattended; let them wear a life jacket, put a high protection sunscreen and a hat!

Have a great Summer!!!

Recipes:Fish Fingers

How To Be Super Mom: Fish Fingers

Ingredients

• 4 fish fillets
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• white pepper to taste
• salt to taste
• 300g flour
• 300g breadcrumbs
• 3 eggs lightly beaten

Directions

Cut the fillet into 4 cm large finger, marinate them in milk, mustard, white peper and salt.

Mix the flour with the herbs, roll fish in the flour mixture. dip in eggs then breadcrumbs.

Store them in the freezer or use them instantly. You can either deep fry them or bake them in the oven.

I choose to bake them for a healthier result :D

You can serve them with cocktail sauce on the side and Bon Appétit!

* If you like this recipe add it to your : How to be super mom manual!!!

Recipes: Chicken Potato Croquette

Ingredients

Basic Potato Mixture

1 kg old potatoes, peeled, chopped and boiled
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp cream
150 g plain flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
150 g breadcrumbs
vegetable oil for deep-frying

Filling

2 cans corn, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken ( about 200g)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tsp chicken stock powder

Directions

Mash potatoes well, stir in egg yolks, cream and the filling ingredients. Cool.
Shape into small fingers, roll in flour, shake away excess flour, dip in eggs, then breadcrumbs.
Place on oven tray, cover and refrigerate for instint use or if you want to store in your freezer place in single layers, between sheets of freezer paper in an  airtight container. This makes them easy to separate.

Our freezer is my best friend!

How To Be Super Mom: Tips on how to store made-ahead homemade food

 

 

I have a thing for freezing home-made food. I like to prepare escalopes, cordon bleu, filled pastries, stews, lasagna casseroles and freeze them for emergencies!

I also buy boxes of seasonal vegetables, prepare them and freeze them: tomatoes (peeled and cooked), green beans, spinach, green peas, ...etc.  What's better than freshly, home-prepared, frozen vegetables?

The advantage of freezing food is that you're never out of ideas. If you haven't prepared today's menu just take a tupperwear out of the fridge, thaw it and lunch or dinner will be ready in no time!

Today I am having one of those "emergency" so called days and my savior was a green beans stew tupperwear. All that is left for me to do is prepare vermicelli fried rice and lunch will be served!
When having a 3 months old  baby, it is very hard to be able to cook everyday, but I don't encourage ready-made food nore microwavable meals that is why, everytime I get the chance to cook I always consider preparing an extra portion  and my freezer will be always filled with delicious homemade meals without any extra effort! You see now what a great friend my freezer is?

Numerous are the recipes that can be stored in your freezer so why not sacrifice this week for freezer suitable recipes? But before, let us run along few tips on how to safely freeze our food:

How to store

Here's how to store different kinds of foods safely and efficiently, so you also make the most of your freezer space.

Liquid-based dishes:  Store dishes, such as soups and stocks, in airtight containers. Leave a 3cm gap at the top so the liquid can expand as it freezes.

Fritters and patties:  Place, in single layers, between sheets of freezer paper in an  airtight container. This makes them easy to separate.

Muffins, cakes & slices:  Wrap muffins and individual slices of cake in a double layer of plastic wrap, then in foil. Store together in a sealable plastic bag.

Purees:  Freeze purees, and even concentrated stocks, in ice cube trays, so you don't have to thaw the whole lot when only smaller quantities are needed.

Mince: Place in a sealable plastic bag and press to flatten. This allows the mince to thaw more evenly than when it's frozen in a ball shape.

Pasta bakes:  Cook pasta bakes in freezerproof, ovenproof dishes. Cool. Cover with a double layer of plastic wrap, then in foil and freeze.

Crepes & pancakes: Layer each one between sheets of freezer paper, so they don't stick together when thawed. Store in sealable plastic bags.

Packaged meat:  Remove meat, such as steaks, sausages, chops and fillets, from the supermarket packaging. The supermarket wrapping is designed to allow oxygen in to keep the colour of the meat bright and, while this is fine for refrigerated storage, it leads to freezer burn in the freezer. Instead, wrap portions separately in a double layer of plastic wrap, or layer them between sheets of freezer paper, and store in an airtight container. This makes single portions easy to separate.

What not to freeze

Some foods just don't freeze well. Follow this list to find out what foods you should avoid freezing
.
Vegetables with a high water content (such as cucumber, celery and lettuce) should not be frozen because the water expands during freezing and damages the structure of the cells. This makes them mushy when thawed.

Jam turns runny and watery when frozen and thawed. This is because freezing causes the sugar to break down.

Dairy products (such as milk, yoghurt and cream) should not be frozen because they curdle when thawed.

Egg-based sauces separate and whole egg shells crack when frozen. Raw egg whites, however, can be frozen in sealable airtight containers and thawed for use in recipes.

Foods with stuffings, such as whole chickens, should not be frozen as raw meat juices can be absorbed by the stuffing and cause bacteria to grow.

 Add this article to your "how to be super mom" manual

References:

How to freeze food, by Michelle Southan