Author Archives: The Jewish Lady

Teen Charged with Murdering Rabbi

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In what has got to be a new low, a fifteen-year old boy was charged with murdering a rabbi.

When Hasidic Rabbi Joseph Raksin was murdered last August in Miami, it was initially thought to be a hate crime and Jews around the world were outraged. After a lengthy investigation, we’re now hearing that robbery was the real motive.

What kind of insanity is this when a grandfather is shot down while walking to synagogue at 9:00 AM? The thing that’s so ironic here is that the Orthodox don’t carry money on the Sabbath and the robber literally killed someone for nothing, unaware.

Personally, I wonder where the parents are when youngsters are running wild and have access to guns. That level of family dysfunction can’t be allowed to go unchecked.

Full story can be found here.

Rubber Chicken – 1 Bird, 3 Meals

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Chicken has a reputation for stretching, but just how long can it last? According to some people, a rubber-like 5 meals or more! While I’ve never found that to be realistic—a cup of meat isn’t much, after all—3 meals is definitely doable if the meat is shredded.

I know that if I served whole pieces, a chicken would be only one dinner for my family. Instead, I shred the meat and turn it into different dishes, adding sides like bread and salad to make it more filling.

A rotisserie can be used if you’re short on time, but I like to roast a fresh chicken. Look for something around 7-lbs, or cook two smaller birds at once. When it’s fully cooked and cooled, shred the meat and separate into white and dark. It should yield approximately 6 cups of cooked meat with skin and bones removed.

I’d much rather eat white meat than dark, but if it’s mixed with a lot of other flavors, I don’t mind it as much (think chili, spicy sauce, etc.)

Here are some of my favorite recipes to use:

Chicken Stir fry

BBQ Chicken Sliders

Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad

Chicken Burrito Bowls

Santa Fe Chicken

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Sometimes I will make 3 dinners and other times I’ll do two chicken dinners plus the chicken salad for lunch. Beyond that, it’s just too much of the same (we do like variety around here)!

In addition to saving money, cooking/serving chicken this way also saves time, enabling me to do more things outside the kitchen.

 

What’s your favorite “rubber chicken” meal?

Bright Starts LOLL Play Date

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I received free products in order to host the Bright Starts sponsored play date. The opinions expressed are my own.

Bright Starts™, a toy brand committed to smiles, giggles, and happy babies, is inviting all tiny tots to join the League of Little Laughers (LOLL). With their colorful characters and playful features, these toys meet baby’s playtime needs from 6-36 months with parent-approved products.

Since my little ones are always begging to have friends over and play with toys, I was super excited to host a play date. Here in New England, we’re enjoying unusually warm weather (58 degrees in December). Since it was so nice out, I decided to set up the toys in the backyard, with a special sign to mark the occasion.

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Here’s what we played with:

Spin & Giggle Puppy

This is an adorable puppy with a light-up nose and paws. The bowl wobbles and spins balls around until they spill out. Big buttons help baby discover colors, shapes, and letters while it plays cheerful music.   

Learn & Giggle Fish

This little fish doubles the fun with 2 play modes. In music mode, baby can press the fish scales for sounds and music. An easy-to-grasp handle makes it possible to take this interactive friend on-the-go. Bright colors and reflective scales make it extra fun.

Learn & Giggle Activity Station

This offers a ton of activities to explore and learn with 65 sounds, melodies, lights and phrases. It can be used sitting or standing. Simply press buttons in the window panes to hear phrases, shapes, colors, letters, numbers, object identification and cause/effect. Each flip book page interacts with a different window pane telling stories of different times of day. The fun buttons include kitty’s paw, sun spinner, ladybug, and doggie treat.

Giggables

Amazing little animal balls that giggle, roll, and talk. They tell baby what kind of animal they are and make sweet sounds as they wobble and roll. Six different animal are available.

Bunch of Balls

An assortment of 16 multi colored balls to roll, toss, and play with. The kids loved these, too, even though they’re more basic.

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While the kids were playing, some of the moms stayed with them to supervise and I went inside to make snacks. (I don’t know why, but food just makes everything more festive.) There were strawberry popsicles for all and popcorn for grown-ups and older kids. Yum!

After 4 hours, the party had to wind down, but a magical day was enjoyed by all. We will definitely be using these awesome, interactive toys often and adding more to our Bright Starts collection soon.

Hanukkah Crafts & Cookies

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Last December, I bought some Hanukkah craft kits at Target when they were 70% off. They sat in the stockpile just waiting for Holiday time. It was so nice to pull them out this year, when we felt like being creative.

Each kit came with felt shapes, stickers, eyes, and glue dots. Everything worked well except the glue. According to the instructions, ages 4+ can use it, but I found little fingers to have a lot of trouble unpeeling the dots and they definitely were not sticky enough (take a look at Yellow Dreidel; he lost an eye).

Since I only paid $1.50 per kit, it was a lot of entertainment for a low price, and I’d buy them again. For the next go-round, however, I’d use regular glue and toss the annoying glue dots.

When the crafts were finished, it was on to the cookies. I wanted to make sugar cookie cut-outs in Hanukkah shapes, but after a long search, the Menorah and Star cutters are still missing. (No idea how or why!) Instead, we made a family favorite, Outrageous Cookies.

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These are rich, full of peanut butter and chocolate chips, but very delicious, and yes, all of them were eaten that day.

I love having a quiet holiday at home when everyone is getting along and enjoying each other’s company.

 

How is Hanukkah celebrated at your house?