Author: Abigail

chicken rice pilaf bento lunchbox

Bento Lunch box Recipe: Chicken Pilaf

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Our yummy lunchbox recipe for you this week is Chicken Pilaf. It is always a hit and miss for me when cooking basmati rice, most of the time it turns out mushy. As my friend would say “basmati is no good when sticking to each other” I prepared this pilaf recipe twice this week and the basmati rice was perfectly cooked. The kids love it as well, that is why they had for school lunch and more at home. Chloe’s: Chicken pilaf, strawberries and cereal bar Vierte’s lunchbox: chicken pilaf, baby carrots, dried mangoes, kiwi and cereal bar   Give it a try and let me know if your kids enjoyed this Chicken Pilaf recipe as well.

Recipe Zaatar Feta Pinwheels

Bento Lunch box Recipe: Zaatar Feta Pinwheels

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We survived the first week of back to school! Well, technically it was not 5 days of school week for us but still, YAY! For us UAE residents our busy school and work week begins on Sunday till Thursday. We have Friday and Saturday as our weekend. Our back to school week was a breeze, both kids woke up on time and no major morning drama. LittleMiss did have a rough start in school but was fine after. I first had a taste of Za’atar pinwheels when LittleMiss and I attended a Baby Massage class. After that, I have a weird craving for the flavor ever since and would eat one whole Za’atar Manakish just to satisfy myself. This week I finally got a chance to re-create the za’atar pinwheels I had 4 years back. It is super easy to make, perfect size for your kids lunchbox and yummy too. Our De’Longhi MultiFry Machine is becoming one of our favorite kitchen gadgets, it has literally saved me from spending more time in the kitchen. This machine also allows me to “fry” food by using …

LittleMiss C’s first day in Kindergarten 2

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It is officially back to school for us. Today, LittleMiss C begins this academic year in Kindergarten 2. How I beg her teacher to let her stay in KG-1, I just think she still so young (turned 4 years old last June) to move up the next level. Teacher assured me that with a little bit more work at home she will manage just fine. We started off the day great. I woke-up before the alarm. Lunchbox prepared the night before. Summer homework pack in her school bag. She was beyond excited on our way to school. We reached school and met her teachers who coincidentally was also Kuya V’s adviser when he was in KG 2. He became very excited for her “You will have fun. They were my teachers before too.” Tears… No idea what made her upset. She even greeted teachers when they met her. I spent 30 minutes consoling her and finally decided to just leave her in tears beside Teacher Belle. I was heartbroken. I wanted to just carry her …

Little Prince Courtyard Playhouse Casts

The Little Prince by Courtyard Playhouse

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We have two copies of The Little Prince book but we have not finished reading the story. I bought our very first copy when I was pregnant to Kuya V, we never get to finish the book in one sitting though. Thankfully, a movie was released adapted from the story of the Little Prince last 2015. Oh how we enjoyed the movie and yes we finished the whole movie in one sitting. Vierte started flipping through the book and declared that he’s done reading it. An invite came to my inbox asking to bring the kids along for a magical and interactive experience to watch The Little Prince at The Courtyard Playhouse , I immediately replied YES. I knew that both Kuya V & LittleMiss C will enjoy the interactive play experience, it is also a first time for all of us. The Courtyard Playhouse, is Dubai’s first independent, family owned and run, KHDA licensed performing arts training centre dedicated improvised theatre. The theatre is located in Al Quoz area just right next to the Times Square and near …

Iftar at Horizon, Amwaj Rotana

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One thing we love about Ramadan is the sense of community amongst all expats here in the UAE. This year, the kids and I witnessed breaking of fast in our nearby mosque, dates and water were distributed to everyone. A lot of charity initiative during Ramadan is also happening around the UAE some of them are #FillingTheBlues and #SharingTheFridge campaigns. As a family, we do not go to a lot of Iftar events as we are not fasting but we do make an exception especially if we are given a chance to share it with friends who are observing Ramadan. Our family went to Iftar at Horizon, Amwaj Rotana on a busy Friday night where we joined our friends. Horizon has a good selection of Iftar buffet from appetizers to desserts that focus more on Middle Eastern cuisine. There was something to satisfy everyone. The dish called Lamb Ouzi stood out among all the mains for our family, we found ourselves going back for more. Table arrangements was quite tight and just enough room to walk around. It did not give …

Mattel Play Town City Walk Dubai

Indoor Fun at Mattel Play! Town

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It is difficult to please two kids who like different things, my eldest who is 8 years old want “big kids” fun stuff while our nearly 4 years old LittleMiss demands that her Kuya always play with her. We are on a mission to find a place that would be fun to both kids, so when I read that Mattel opened an indoor play area at City Walk Dubai featuring our favorite characters I just knew we should check it out. Mattel Play Town is the newest indoor play area that is catered towards children ages 2 – 8 years old that promises an engaging “eduplay” experience built around five well loved characters: Angelina Ballerina, Thomas & Friends, Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam and Barney. We (yes, me included) had fun exploring all five areas, we started off with Thomas & Friends soft play area. What I love about this area is the viewing deck where parents can sit and see what the kids were doing in the soft play. Mom & Dads are welcome to join the kids …

Honey Soy Chicken recipe

Honey Soy Chicken with De’Longhi Multifry

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I have been using my De’Longhi MultiFry for more than 1 year now and it has reduced my work time in the kitchen. The first time I got to use the MultiFry was with Chef Osama where we made Um Ali. Some Dubai base Mama media influencers were invited to celebrated Mother’s Day with Chef Marta and De’Longhi at Galeries Lafayette Gourmet, The Dubai Mall. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Abigail | Home • Food • Lifestyle • Dubai (@cuddlesandcrumbs)   Chef Marta Yanci taught us how to properly use the Multifry and showed us 3 recipes (fries, pizza and muffin) that we can re-create at home. The kids and I prepared Sweet Potato fries and it was surprising that both really liked the fries. I have mainly been cooking most chicken dishes and crispy lechon on our MultiFry because it just cooks much faster and use a small amount of oil. Kuya V has requested that we recreate the Chicago style pizza and muffin that we prepared with Chef Marta, watch out …