In my house, Summer equals ice pops. At any given moment my 1 year old daughter can be found plastered to the freezer door, arms stretched up above her head screaming, "Pop! Poppppp!" I spend my nights blending fruit creations to pour into molds and freeze lest I run out. Not having homemade ice pops in storage could lead to a crazy meltdown. Sitting my children down with ice pop in hand guarantees me at least 20 minutes of uninterrupted me time (as you know I can never get enough of that)! So yes, there is something like an ice pop operation going on over here, and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. 

Pictured above is the Tutti Fruity Pop, Honey Dew Melon Pop, Layered Fruit Pop, Cherry Choco Pop, Watermelon Basil Pop, & Chai Pop.

Please share your favorite Ice Pop creations with me!!!

Here's a few recipes to get your own Ice Pop Operation going:

inspired by Irresistible Ice Pops by Sunil Vijayakar

Layered Fruit Pop:
8 oz strawberries
1/3 cup sugar syrup
2 small ripe peaches chopped
4 kiwis peeled & chopped

Blend each fruit separately, pour one layer, freeze, pour next layer, freeze, etc. 


Orange Dream Pop:
Coconut milk
Orange Juice
Vanilla Extract
Orange extract or essence
maple syrup, honey, or sugar syrup

Banana Fudge Pop:
Bananas
Cocoa Nibs Soaked or carobs
cashews or almonds soaked
almond milk
sugar syrup

Honeydew Heaven Pops
Honeydew melon chopped
sugar syrup or honey 1/2 cup
1 tbsp lemon grass paste
1/2 lemon peeled & cut
Blend. Pour in mold. Freeze.

A birthday is just an excuse to have a really fun playdate. Birthdays are also great opportunities to emphasize values like togetherness, teamwork, creativity, and gratitude. I also like to show my children that although we are gluten-free, dairy-free etc, we still can have delicious fun with food! 

Dirt Cup Recipe (Makes 15 dirt cups):
2 8 oz boxes of Kinnikinnick Foods KinniKritters Animal Cookies Gluten Free Chocolate (put in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin)

4 boxes of European gourmet bakery organics chocolate pudding & pie filling mix (prep with egg and sub with almond milk instead of cow's milk)

1 10 oz container of Truwhip whipped topping (does contain a tinsy bite of dairy in the form of sodium caseinate, but it wasn't significant enough to bother our tummies etc)

3 80g packs of Haribo worms (beef gelatine halal)

Crush cookies to resemble dirt. After the pudding has chilled in the fridge over night mix it with Truwhip to resemble mud. Now layer. Sprikle a layer of crushed cookies in cup, then "mud" pudding-truwhip mixture, then dirt cookies, then poke the worms in. Tah DAHHHH!!!

With that being said, I thought I would share our wholistic healthy teeth regimen. I am not a dentist, but I am the mother of 3 beautiful smiles! Be sure to discuss these options with your doctor.

1. Calcium Magnesium Citrate. My children take this fruity liquid every evening around dinner time. Not only does it build healthy bones from the inside out, but it helps them achieve sleep nirvana.

•  You can get TV/phone for so cheap.
• Your children will feel left out. What do--I have to go.

Poof! With a cloud of smoke some people simply ignite and vanish. Would it be wrong to say the fireworks have become a guilty pleasure? I don't know how many times people have said, "But I texted you!" Only to find out that my phone is this mysterious ancient system called a land line.  

It's not personal. Just like I choose not to partake in these forms of technology, they choose only to function within these specific modes. My girlfriends have tried to do an intervention, and my husband and I have been the center of jokes at a few dinner parties. Does it hurt my feelings? No. Am I embarrassed? No Way!! We know exactly what we are doing and why.

First, a little background. My great grandmother who is 100 years old abstains from technology. To this day, she will not talk on a phone or ride in a car. I think that may have genetically predisposed me for the low tech life. While we did have a television in my childhood home, the only time we watched television was Saturday Morning Cartoons. Yeah Snorks, Smurfs, and Captain Planet!  My sisters and I spent much of our time roaming the swamps and fields. 

 I'm also a complete failure at sitting still for long periods of time. I just don't have the proper genetics or upbringing for screen time. 

So what about my "deprived" children?! Well, the American Academy of Pediatrics says that children under age 2 should not have any screen time (i.e. TV, computer, video games), children over age 2 should be limited to 1-2 hours a day. In fact, a child's eyes are not fully developed until age 7. Excessive periods of screen time before age 7 can hinder that development.  There is some evidence from recent studies in the United States and Australia that the amount of time school-aged children spend outdoors, in natural light, may have some impact on whether they develop mild myopia. Let's not forget that ages birth to 7 are the formative years, which lay the foundation for all learning/development. At this time you want to nurture the brain as much as possible. 

With less screen time, it's easier to cultivate delayed gratification, focus, a Zen mentality, social skills, and most all teaching my children to value people and themselves. So, we may actually be helping our children.

So what do we have against the cell phone? Although we could cite health issues, our reasons for nil cell phone use are more social. We experience richer social interaction and deeper relationships without it. We attribute our wonderful marriage and family partly to our lack of cell phone and TV usage.   

"Yeah, why?"

"I just bit a stone or 2." More crunches.

"Those are not stones, they are your son!" He laughed.

"My son?" Although I recalled laughing at Hakim earlier as he crunched through the rice, nothing was funny now.

"Yes, he put his crystals in the rice. I had to pick all of them out before I washed it. Evidently, I didn't get all of them." 

Here's a good time to inform you that crystals are an integral part of our lives. Each of my children sleep with a glowing Himalayan salt crystal in his or her room. They have crystals charging in their window sills, sewn in their pillow cases, beaded into their necklaces and for every rite of passage they achieve, they receive a crystal as a totem. I wear them around my waist and we go crystal digging every year. More than pretty jewelry, for us, they are healing gateways. The Prophet Muhammad (saw) himself was fond of agate. I call my 4 year old son into the kitchen.


"Son, you put crystals in the rice?"

"Yes, Mom I was cleaning them." He smiles.

They'll really be clean once they come out the other end of my digestive tract (I can hear Dave Chappelle in his Mtv Cribs Parody yelling, "That's Baller!"). Anywho, it just so happens that leaving crystals submerged in a bowl of dry rice (not cooked) is a way to purify them. After agreeing not to use the rice we set out to cook, my son transforms into a car and rolls away. There are children who sprinkle sugar crystals on cupcakes, and then there are those who sprinkle crystals on rice. I gave birth to the latter. As for the rice...Yes, I finished it and had a second helping. After all, crystal digging is nothing new to me. 

 properties of herbs (science), serving (pouring technique and order of presentation), and jazz and classical music.  I have even gone so far as to do themes inspired by my sons: space tea party, super hero tea party, safari tea party, and tea parties based on books. Tea time is an integrative educational experience, but most of all, it is fun and relaxing. 

Kudos to my girlfriend who gave this onesie to my daughter! An amazing accomplishment according to some. Many of our friends have complained that gifting clothes to our children is too challenging. Not because we are too posh or crunchy. But because we prefer not to dress our children with clothing bearing cartoons or name brands. 

But this onesie, I do so love it. Not "I heart" Mom, or Dad, or Step-Mom, but "I heart my FAMILY!" Usually, I get a lot of "I love Mommy" gear (which is necessary because I carried her for 9 months), but then hubby is like "Where's her "Daddy's Girl" stuff and brothers are like "Where's her Little Sister onesie." This way everyone feels included and it makes the statement that no matter who your family is or what structure it consists of (extended, nuclear, foster parents, single parents, etc) there is love for and acknowledgment of all families! Ahumdil'Allah, I have such fashion forward open-minded friends. I give this onesie 2 thumbs up and a faire la bise.

On my gluten-free, dairy-free adventures I discovered the mung bean. I found them at my local Asian Mart. Boiled, baked, steamed, or sprouted, they are delicious savory or as a dessert. The mung bean, native to India, but cultivated in the U.S. since 1830, is a power house. It's high in protein, magnesium, iron, etc. It protects against  several chronic, age-related diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity. Pictured above is my mung bean pie, a Vietnamese dish, with the following ingredients: mung beans, coconut milk (brain food), coconut oil (brain food), eggs (brain food), vanilla extract, tapioca flour, rice flour, etc. With Love--from my family table to yours!

Prepping for a meal in my kitchen probably looks a lot different than what you usually see. Typically prepping involves chopping veggies or gathering ingredients. Prepping for me starts with soaking. If you've read my cookbook (The Rites of Passage Meal Treasury), then you know the importance of soaking.  I soak everything: nuts, seeds, grains, beans, flour, even meats. Here I have dehydrated apple slices soaking (for muffins), walnuts (for a nutmeat ), amaranth (for porridge & smoothies), lentils (for soup, lentil burgers, and sprouting).  Soaking solutions (vinegar, salt, brines, and marinades) and duration vary depending on type of food etc. Soaking may occur on the counter top or in the refrigerator. Click HERE for details on how to soak. Either way it goes my family knows that something good is brewing in the kitchen when they see soaking bowls.

I may inform people that my son has autism because it is the easiest way for them to understand his challenges. Labels make people feel comfortable. If they can fit you into a category, then they relax. Perfect scenario.  Someone strikes up a conversation with my son. He ignores them.

crowds, my son wears a really cool medical bracelet that says  "Autism, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Phone  Number" on the inside, complementing  his Neurodiversity shirt.

On a typical day, he can be found carrying his little sister around (who he calls the pretty princess), doing his chores (with an uncanny enthusiasm that I hope rubs off on his siblings), playing tricks on his brother, wrestling with his dad, riding his bike, strumming his guitar, practicing his reading, reciting poetry, watching trains on You Tube, or telling me how he is not going to brush his teeth or get dressed.