Baking choc chip & peanut butter cookies (then eating most of them)

I started back at yoga yesterday, after taking a month off. Ouch City; the backs of my legs are pretty tender this morning. It seems that, once again, I got carried away and over stretched.
It's amazing how easily our bodies get used to things, whether it be running, yoga or doing nothing at all.
I'm always interested in the physical activities people choose, the exercise styles that are "fashionable". For example, I went to meet a friend in Tel Aviv the other day and I had to pass through Hayarkon Park to get to our meeting spot. There must have been 200 joggers rush past me during the 3 minutes I was on that pathway along the Hayarkon River. They were everywhere, and they all looked really fit. Now, I've tried running. I've even run in 2 marathons. But I've gotta say that of all the physical activities it's gotta be my least fav. I thought about starting with the running thing again last year because I was living in a completely hill-free country side. It lasted a week. All I really got out of it was a confirmation that yes, I hate running.
Anyway, the friend I met with told me that running is what the Tel Avivians do at the end of Spring/beginning of Summer because it is the quickest way to lose weight. And it seems to be working. There are some seriously tiny women at beaches & on the streets. Tiny. Seriously.
To each his own, & I'm sticking with yoga. Today was day 2 of a 2 month training I've decided to do. I already feel long lost muscles coming to life in my shoulders - yummy! I adore this feeling. It's almost worth stopping yoga for a month just to get that feeling again. But not quite.

Cooking Coffee, Thought 1

Who's the foreigner here? Don't be too quick to judge
(or, ultimately, don't judge at all!).

I know there are 60 bajillion blog thingies but I have my suspicions that this may be quite an exciting adventure.
There are many things floating around my head and I don't often get the opportunity to express these thoughts and ideas fully because I am surrounded by foreign speakers. See how I call THEM the foreign speakers?

A wee while ago I moved to Israel with my husband and two children. We had been living in New Zealand for 5 years previous to moving here. I'm sure that if you pause and take a moment to consider the differences we experienced in that shift you'll be impressed at our adjust-ability.
To help you understand, here's how this family is made up: my husband is Israeli born & bred, I am Kiwi born and bred and our kids are Israeli born and Kiwi/Israeli bred. So what we've done thus far (i.e. since meeting in 1999) is spread our time between the two countries as best we can. It has been difficult at times, what with the children expressing longing for whichever country we are not in at that time, and simply readjusting to new surroundings - language, schools, work & day to day living - which, in fact, has not always been simple. ("simply readjusting" - ! a contradiction in terms if ever I heard one) Israel is really a wonderful country. Really! I'm not Israeli, hell, I'm not even Jewish, so no one's paying me to say that. And the people here are just like people anywhere else. Every type of soul is represented here.

The most wonderful thing that happened when I arrived in Israel this time was that I became completely non-judgmental. Let's admit it, we are generally pretty judgmental creatures. So to not judge others was, to me, a beautiful relief. How did it happen? Was it a flash of holy inspiration? A washing over of yogic teachings, We All Are One? No. I realized that I suddenly didn't know how the cool kids dressed or walked because I didn't know what was cool in this country. I didn't know how to tell if someone was likely to be richer or poorer, better or worse. I saw that, wow, we are so very conditioned to know, by site, what stereo-type each other fits. Or by someone's accent. Someone's hairstyle, footwear, which profession they work in, music they listen to, catch phrases they use etc etc. All those things that lead us to assume we know enough about that girl across the street or that guy serving us at the cafe, they all vanished for me. It really was freeing. Then on top of that, noticing that it had happened. Bliss!

Try to count the number of times you assume you know the kind of people that you come across in you day today. How many of those, "typical! female drivers!" sort of thoughts you have on your way out today.

photo of the family home in NZ. couldn't work out how to copy the photo of the israeli family home...... but in a brief description: less green, more brown. taking camera to fix-it shop today, so will post actual current, lovely pictures later this week.

Cooking Lunch, thought 1

When children help cook a meal they're more likely to eat it. Even when it's a little outside their comfort zone.

so GET YOUR KIDS in the KITCHEN

Don't misunderstand my type - I ain't no SuperMa. I don't have my kids helping out with every family meal. More like one or two a week, a good week. And their tasks vary in responsibility depending on how much patience I have at the time.
I am following in my mother's footsteps, of course, as tends to happen. My earliest kitchen task was dealing with garlic. Peeling & chopping. I grew up believing that ALL garlic needed to be chopped really fine. That's just what you did with garlic, you chopped it really fine, and it took 10 minutes. At least. Then I had some kids, and they started to ask if they could "help" in the kitchen. So I said, "Sure! Take the garlic out, peel it then I'll show you how to chop it" and I'd show 'em. When they asked, "Is this chopped enough?" I'd say, "Not quite, a few more minutes". And so it would continue until I had completed whatever cooking thing I'd needed to complete, and then I'd tell them the garlic was chopped enough.
Garlic is a clever tool. The kids feel involved. I feel generous in finding them a task when I'm smack in the middle of a busy dinner prep. And I can keep the chopping going for longer than you'd think.
(Imagine my surprise when I learned that garlic could be so versatile. What!? Put the WHOLE clove in? Just like that? Whole!?)

You can start with something simple: peeling vegetables (if they're too little for knives), washing lettuce or herbs, whisking!!, and if all that don't work out, even getting the kids to get the cutlery out & set it nicely on the table is wonderful.

How do your kids help out in the kitchen? Can you get them more involved?

Today my gorgeous boy child (7yrs) helped me make a dish called Shakshuka for lunch. I used a recipe I found on a great site, Green Prophet which keeps me up to date with all things environmental in the Middle East (which is were life is at the mo). As soon as my camera is back in my hot little hands, I will show you pictures of our delicious lunch..
Shakshuka is quite a typical breakfast/lunch dish here in Israel. I've been told it's from Tunisia, but don't hold me to that! It is a hearty yet light enough dish made from a home-made tomato based sauce with eggs broken in at the end where they are left to poach in the sauce for 5 or 10 minutes. Sounds odd? Tastes fantastic. Eaten with some fresh challah bread (more on that another day), some yummy white cheese & a bowl of olives - not bad, baby.