Is that the battles never ends. The most successful parents are the ones that don’t give up. I have come to realise that there is a lot of work to be done as a parent, every single day of your life. Don’t get me wrong, some battles are optional; but some are not. I have not known my children to brush their teeth without me having to nag at them to do so, but it’s not a battle that I can give up on. I will always have to control the amount of junk food that they eat, this is also not optional, and I will also have to keep serving them healthy meals knowing full well that they will have a strop ..read more

When it comes to the art of not using things, the Turkish housewife has this art mastered to a Tee. If you wonder how things are kept so new in a Turkish house then let me help you to unravel the mystery: they don’t use them. Both my mother-in-law and sister-in-law have misafir rooms (not guest room per-se, more a drawing room). I have never been permitted to sit in these rooms. Perhaps because, with my three children, I am a liability. The new-looking sofa set very rarely gets sat on, and the light coloured rugs very rarely get trodden on. I suppose you really do have to be a VIP to have the ..read more

It’s midway through the school year, spring is almost here and I am keeping busy. I have realised that having a lot to do isn’t necessary a bad thing, it keeps the mind busy. I always have work to get on with and can at least never complain that I am bored. I guess there is a lot to be happy about. Blogwise I have been getting the most random spam messages in my comments! These spammers are getting very clever in their generic comments, I get comments such as ‘you make an interesting point!’ and ‘I have been looking into this subject myself!’ One fooled me once I must admit, so I did let ..read more

This has become a regular in our house now. Healthy, yummy and the kids seem to like it too. Ingredients: Tomatoes Spring Onions Cucumber Avocado Parsley Mixed bag of salad leaves Chickpeas Dressing: Olive Oil Lemon juice Sumak Chilli flakes (optional) Salt ..read more

Sometimes I get so frustrated trying to keep my house clean and tidy that I feel like giving up completely. I am forever in the pursuit of perfection, and because I never achieve perfection I am never happy; Here is where I think a superficial clean can help. Just give your house a quick tidy, no more than 15 to 30 minutes max. Just walk though your house and have a look at it through the eyes of a guest and just hide away the mess that is most noticeable, you don’t even have to put things away properly. But what have you really achieved I hear you ask? Well, first of all the house is guest r ..read more

I always feel so much better when my children take a decent lunch to school, and although I can’t always be making boreks for them everyday, these are pretty quick and simple to put together. They are also useful for serving to your guests. I cut up shop bought puff pastry into squares and add white cheese and parsley for the filling, roll them up and egg wash them. You could also add seeds on the top to make them look more presentable, especially if they are for guests. Bake until golden brown, about 30-40 mins. Always use good quality puff pastry. I tried using store brands and th ..read more

This week I have introduced a new concept to my kids; if your bedroom ain’t tidy then you ain’t getting any pocket money. So far so good. The biggest problem I have is myself, I feel bad at the end of the week if one of them doesn’t get paid. I need to stick to my guns otherwise this new system of mine just will not work. I also get tempted to add other chores, but I know that I shouldn’t really do that. They may think that it’s just not worth it anymore. At the moment I still have to remind them of our deal constantly, “If you don’t make your bed soon you will not be getting your pocket money ..read more

When you become a parent, everything is new… forever. Whatever stage you are at in the parenting game is a new stage. It doesn’t just end with having another child, you then become the new parent of two children and that is something new that you have never experienced before. So I would go as far as to say that every parent is a new parent, having to work out how to get through the next new stage of parenting. Even if you were to have 10 children, it would be the first time that you had a 10th child and you’d have to deal with all the new situations associated with that. Things like, how chil ..read more

So I looked in the fridge and what did I see? A whole lot of yogurt. It’s always been my philosophy to ‘cook what you have’. So today I made a yogurt soup. It’s one soup that everyone in my family loves. I’m not sure if there is a correct way of making this, but this is how I make it: In a pan add yogurt (about 500g) and two glasses of water. Add an egg (this makes it what the Turks call ‘Terbiyeli’) and a couple of spoons of flour. Mix well with a whisk. Put this on the stove to start warming then add a handful of washed rice. Occasionally give the soup a mix as it is cooking. In a s ..read more

New Year, new me. Or not. I would like to say that I have big plans this year but that would be a big fat lie. I would still like to lose a bit more weight, but as this was my resolution last year it doesn’t feel like anything new. I still would like to improve my cooking skills and manage to keep on top of the housework for a change, but again there is nothing new in that either. The same goes for parenting, I still want to be the best mum that I can be, so I will just continue to strive to do my best . I once read that in order to be happy in life you need to keep setting (and achieving ..read more