NYC with kids!

Years ago I started a blog about things to do, eat, and places to shop in New York City for all of the out of town guests I had over the 10 years I lived there.  It was so much easier to put it all in one place for them to look at before coming to visit me!  The posts are still up but haven't been updated much since I left NYC about 3 years ago.

Here's where you can go to find the info:
www.dahliasnyc.blogspot.com

On my way to NYC!

Now that I have kids, I thought I'd add a little to that by including all of the fun places I take my kiddos when I go!  Here's a list of my top 10 places to go with kids:

1.  Central Park Zoo
My daughter loves this zoo and especially loves to see the penguins and sea lions.  I love this zoo because it's small and manageable!  You can get it all in before naps!  This time around we went in the afternoon and got to see ALL of the animals!  We saw the grizzly bear, red pandas, snow leopards, penguins, and sea lions!  It was great!  We like to walk along 59th street afterwards and see all the horse drawn carriages and then have some lunch at the Whole Foods at Columbus Circle or my favorite Tomato Soup at The Smith in Lincoln Center!
www.centralparkzoo.com

2.  Transit Museum
We LOVE to go to the transit museum and go every time we're in NYC.  My daughter loves to play on the city buses and walk through the different trains!  It's located downtown Brooklyn and is underground just like going into the subway station.  Afterwards, we usually walk to the Barnes and Noble to use the bathroom and read some kids books!
http://www.nytransitmuseum.org/

3.  Brooklyn Children's Museum
This is an all day event!  There is soooooo much for the kiddos to do here.  There are water exhibits to play in, sand boxes, dress up and play areas, an area specifically for babies and toddlers to play in, special art exhibits, an outdoor greenhouse, the list goes on and on.  This is a FABULOUS place for the kiddos (especially on a rainy day).  They also have a cool, food truck styled cafe upstairs that's great for having lunch!
http://www.brooklynkids.org/visit/

4.  Children's Museum of Manhattan
We didn't get to make it here during this trip because it was closed for construction, but have gone several times in the past.  There are different floors of activities for the kiddos.  Lots of slides, transportation activities, puzzles, play areas, art areas, etc.  This is another all day event that is especially great for rainy days!  In the summer they also have a water area out back!  One of my FAVORITE dessert places is also located across the street if you have a chance to visit Cafe Lalo http://cafelalo.com/

http://cmom.org/

5.  Museum of Natural History
My daughter loves the dinosaur exhibit the best.  We like to walk through and see how tall they are and just wander through the different exhibits.  There is also a secret children's room (The Discovery Room) and story time that happens at the museum for those parents "in the know". You have to go early and get a number in order to enter.  The area is very small so they only allow a certain number of families to attend each story time.
http://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/families/discovery-room/

6.  Fort Tryon Park
I used to live up in Washington Heights and this park was one my FAVORITE things about living up there!  I still believe it's a hidden gem that not a lot of people know about.  There's a beautiful flower garden, gorgeous views of the Hudson and Jersey, playgrounds, grass spaces, The Cloisters museum, and the list goes on and on!  If you haven't made your way up there before - you REALLY should!  If you walk down the street a little there is a great little grocery store, coffee shop, and diner (Vicky's Diner) if you want to grab a bite!
https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/fort-tryon-park

7.  The High Line
This above ground park was built on the old train tracks that used to run through Chelsea on the west side of Manhattan. We love to go and just take a walk! It's beautiful to walk through and get a different view of the city!  We also love to get an artisan popsicle from People's Pops (we love the soursop the best http://www.peoplespops.com/ ) while we walk!
http://www.thehighline.org/

8.  Bronx Zoo
As a teacher in NYC I went to the Bronx Zoo twice a year, every year and the trick I've learned is to NEVER do the whole zoo in one day!  It's soooooo much more enjoyable when you learn about something specific, go see that exhibit, have a picnic lunch, and go home!  Then you can do it all over again when you read and learn about something else!
www.bronxzoo.com

9.  Subways, City Buses, and Ferries
My daughter is OBSESSED with anything related to transportation and although she loves the transit museum, she loves actually RIDING on these things even more.  Just getting on the subways, city buses, and even the ferry to Staten Island are all great experiences!  If you take the Staten Island Ferry across, you get a free look at the Statue of Liberty along the way!
http://www.siferry.com/

10.  Brooklyn Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge Park
We love to take a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and see all the sights and hear all the sounds!  We also love to walk along the Brooklyn Bridge promenade and walk through the Brooklyn Bridge park.  These are all in the same general area, but are too much to do all in the same outing.  We love to get homemade ice cream from just under the Brooklyn Bridge (http://www.brooklynicecreamfactory.com/) and walk on the pier and see all the boats, ferries, and water taxis go by.
http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org/

Now, of course, there are TONS of other places that are amazing for kids in NYC (hundreds of parks, splash pads, playgrounds, Intrepid Museum, etc.).  These are just the places I like to go the best!!!

Feel free to add more ideas in the comments box below!

Turkey Meatballs!

My daughter LOVES a book called "Yummy, Yucky!" and reads it at least once every day!  It's a very simple book about things that are yummy and things that are yucky (and thus SHOULDN'T be put in your mouth!!)...lol.  We were reading it with her last night and one of the things that is labelled as "yummy" is spaghetti and then we read another of her favorites this week called "Fire Engine No. 9" where after the firefighters save the child from the fire, they have an Italian dinner of spaghetti with meatballs....and we realized she's never had meatballs before!  So that was the inspiration for tonight's meal :)

I went onto Pinterest and loosely followed the following link:
http://gimmedelicious.com/2014/06/04/turkey-meatballs-in-tomato-sauce/

I also added some garlic powder and onion powder to the turkey mixture and used seasoned Panko instead of breadcrumbs because that's all I had!  I also made my own sauce and recommend you use a marinara that you like!  I watch a lot of cooking shows and vaguely remember always being told to sear the meatballs before putting them in the sauce and so I also did that even though the recipe doesn't call for it.

Here's how my turkey meatballs turned out!

I made a large dish of it with some penne underneath

I had extra meatballs and seared and cooked them so I can use them in a wrap or something later this week

Meatballs simmering after being seared

Searing meatballs in my Calphalon pan in some olive oil

Seasoning my turkey meat (I used a combination of ground turkey AND turkey sausage)

Smells like fall!

Every year around this time when I was living in NYC, I would go apple picking with my good friends the Lee Sams!  This year, I happened to visit NYC a week after they went apple picking and was able to bring back some freshly picked apples to make apple crumble with!  This used to be an annual baking day (or days sometimes) with my good friend Celine!  She would make all kinds of pies and crumble using the freshly picked apples and I would be her "helper"!  LOL!  I would always bring some of these apples into my classroom and have my kids make apple crumble because it's SOOOOOOO easy to make! I highly recommend making this simple and delicious recipe at home with your kiddos!

Here's Celine's recipe:

Ingredients:
4-5 peeled and cubed apples
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I like to put more in mine!!!)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup melted butter

Directions:

1. Place apples in a greased 9x9inch baking dish
2.  Sprinkle a small about of cinnamon and nutmeg on top and rub into the apple cubes
3.  Blend together the remaining ingredients without the butter at first and then add the butter and mix together
4.  Crumble handfulls of the oatmeal mix over the apples
5.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes (or until the topping is golden brown)

We LOVE to eat this warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

Here's how mine turned out:

Oats mixed with other ingredients

Spices rubbed into cubed apples

Peeled and cubed apples

The ingredients

If you don't have one of these apple corer/cutters - get one!  They're amazing!!!  I had 6 of them in my classroom and would have my kiddos do all of the cutting of the apples!

Peeled apples

Overnight Oats

Now that we're back from vacation, it's time to get back into our regular routine!  Part of that routine is helping the hubby out with breakfast for his workdays.  I HATE oatmeal! LOL.  But my husband and 2 year old love it!  I found this idea on Pinterest a few years ago and have been making it for my husband ever since.  I usually make batches of 4 at a time and it lasts him the week at work.  I start by putting some oatmeal at the bottom of a jar, I top it with some fresh grated nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, sliced almonds, raisins, and a teaspoon of brown sugar.  That's all!  Each morning he pours boiling water over it and lets it sit until he gets to work and then eats it.  It's super quick and easy!

Here's what it looks like:

Back to regular life...

We always try to clear out our fridge before leaving for vacation so that when we come back, we waste less and are ready for fresh groceries!  Part of our "coming home" routine includes the obvious unpacking, laundry, cleaning up, and grocery shopping.  I like to get fresh meats and make my green seasoning (see previous post on this) and season the meat.  I divvy the meat up into separate Ziploc bags, mark them, and place them in the freezer.  I was able to pull one of these previously frozen and seasoned chicken bags out of the freezer when we got back and make a super easy chicken dish for the fam!  I sliced up some potatoes (thinly sliced) and some onions and lined the bottom of the baking dish with them.  I sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and drizzled olive oil over them.  I laid the chicken over the potatoes and onions, also sprinkled them with salt pepper, and olive oil, and then baked it at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for about a half an hour.  I then put it under the broiler for another 10 minutes to get it crispy.  I made some basmati rice and steamed some frozen mixed vegetables on the side, and voila - dinner for tonight and lunch for tomorrow!

Here's how it turned out:

Completed Chicken and Potatoes

Seasoned chicken in labeled Ziploc bags for the freezer

Chicken with homemade green seasoning

This is my 2 year old's version of dinner tonight

My 4 month old started green peas this week!

Lunches ready for tomorrow

We also bought a few packets of Sorrel while we were in NYC this week!  Got to make our first batch to go with dinner!  For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a Hibiscus drink that West Indians make. Many people spice this differently, but we like to add cloves, orange peel, ginger, a Bay leaf, and cinnamon to it!

Here's our Sorrel to go with dinner:

A cold glass of Sorrel

The jar of Sorrel we made using 2 cups of dried Sorrel and 9 cups of water

Here's what a bag of dried Sorrel looks like

After steeping the Sorrel and spices overnight