Mushrooms with Sweet Onions

No matter how unfocused I am, I have to feed my family. Last night I made another light, yet satisfying dinner- Fish with sauteed mushrooms on the side. Mushrooms are another great alternative to meat during summer. Whether it's huge portobello baked with stuffing or mushroom soup, or my case, side dish mushrooms, these savory guys can really wake up your taste buds and satisfy your craving for that earthy, juicy, robust bite. Here is how I make them to go along with fish/pasta.

Sauteed Mushrooms with Sweet onions

2 packages of baby portobello mushrooms, washed, halved/quartered

1 large onion, chopped ( Vidalia onion recommended)

2 tbsp butter

Oil

Salt, Pepper

Fresh Herbs

Sour Cream - optional

1.In a large pan heat some oil, add chopped onion - saute until golden brown, do not salt

2. Add mushrooms, mix - saute 15 min on med, do not salt.

At this point the mushrooms and onions will cook and some will even caramelize a little.

3. Add butter, salt, pepper -  saute until butter melts.Garnish with fresh herbs.

4. If you feel you need extra love - add a couple tbsp of sour cream.

I didn't.

But you can ;)

Enjoy!

Focus

Image via petelaburn.wordpress.com

I have been feeling somewhat uninspired & scattered these past a couple days, hence, the light blogging. I have all these ideas and tasks flying in my head, but I was simply unable to stop and concentrate on a single thing. The first and foremost:
-Alina's Birthday coming up ( Aug 17, but celebration is on 21st) This year we are gathering a small, really close group of people, basically just an immediate family and celebrating on Saturday morning in our newly renovated backyard. At this point we don't really have many friends with kids, some are just starting the process, others have really small babies, therefore, instead of a big party full of adults ( which is no fun for a 3-year-old) we have decided to keep it small this year, but cute and fun nevertheless. My job is to make sure the place is well-decorated, kids are entertained, adults get along and have a great time.  And that's what my head is preoccupied with right now.

• decide on the cake design/flavor
• purchase all the birthday accessories such as tablecloth, napkins, balloons, disposable dinnerware.
• come up with activities/games/ entertainment for kids ( should be 5 kids total, including 2 of mine)
• finish all decorations

I am sure I am forgetting something....

There are also some unfinished projects that await for my attendance, like,

• sealing the outdoor tile in the backyard before summer ends
• repaint our front porch railing and door frame
• sealing the front door to preserve finish

And some new projects that are coming up:

• make bench cushions for our extra-long :) backyard bench
• plant something in our new backyard flower bed
• make draperies for our master bedroom
• make draperies for our living room
• make draperies for Alan's room
• make new crib sheet for Alan

Hopefully, I will get back my ability to focus and be efficient soon, and will finally conqure all the items above.

Brooklyn Children's Museum

Yesterday my mom and I took the kids to the Brooklyn Children's Museum. They had a blast!

Sand station was a favorite!

Hello there!

Waterworks, here I come!

I never want to leave..

You are silly, brother.

Make some noise!

Busy shopping at the children's grocery store...

 What else was on my shopping list?

Hmmm, I wonder what this is? Whatever it is, I'll take it!

At last, dancing!

Grandma joined the party!

This was the first official successful kids trip. We had taken them to the beach a couple times, but it didn't worked out that well. I know parents who take their kids everywhere from day one, and I am amazed at how they do it. I've waited this long to start taking them places because :

1)Both of them get motion sick if traveling in the car for more than 15 min

2) They have unpredictable reactions to new places/people/ activities

3) It's not easy to take care of two little toddlers by myself

So now that they are almost 3 & 1.5 year old, it is a little easier to make such trips, and I am going to try to make it happen.

Homemade Chinese

I love making Chinese food at home. Recently I have discovered a great source for delicious asian recipes - Appetite for China.  General Tso's Chicken is the first recipe I tried, and it turned out so well, I made it again a few days later. I pretty much followed the entire recipe except the sesame oil. I just....well...I...dont...really....like...it  - dont judge! Perhaps, together with so many ingredients I would not really taste it, but I did not want to risk it. So a little splash of vegetable oil did the trick. Otherwise, the recipe is perfect, hope you enjoy it!

Thanks Appetite for China!

* Update: To get to the actual recipe click on "Appetite for China" above highlighted in blue. I did not see the point of retyping the exact recipe here - link is easier :) My only change from the original is that I add red bell pepper to the mix, just to get more fiber into the meal.

Just what I was looking for!

My daughter has just started to take interest in coloring books. But the ones we have are too detailed for her as she still having troubles staying inside the lines. So I was looking for large scale simple line drawings that are usually used in preschools. And today I found the perfect place to get them- Twisty Noodle has tons of objects/people/letters to select from, and it's free!

What to give to a 3-year-old boy for his birthday?

My daughter got invited to the very first birthday party. It's her daycare buddy, and he is going to turn 3! WIth all the excitement and explanation to Alina of what a birthday party is going to be like, I totally forgot about THE birthday present until today.Thankfully, I still have 6 days to get something special. Ok, so I am thinking: he is 3, he is a boy, what does he want? Quick search online, and I stumbled upon a great webstore - Oompa. The have a huge selection of toys that are eco-friendly, made in the USA, made in Europe, and just simply unique and adorable! There are too many to post here, just go to their website and see for yourself. Here is what we got for the little birthday boy:

E-Truck looks totally awesome! Modern and well-designed to last.

Forest Friends Block Puzzle has 6 pictures to put together! My daughter loves this kind of puzzles!

Because you can never have enough of colored pencils, and these require no sharpener!

 ( though Oompa has really cute pencil sharpeners ;)

Dedicated to all the Baby Girls to be born soon!

Two of my pregnant girlfriends are having GIRLS! Yey! Girls rock! To celebrate this great news I am doing a post about wonderful modern fabrics that I think can inspire anyone to create the cutest nurseries for girls. Not your-ordinary-disney-kind-of cute, but unique, sweet, elegant, modern kind-of-cute. Seriously, this Etsy shop makes me want to have another baby just for the sake of designing a nursery around their fabrics. WHICH ONE IS YOUR FAVORITE?