New year, new planner! (and an update)

credit: memecrunch . com

Rosh Hashanah is on its way (less than two weeks now!) and I’m getting myself into a routine now that the move is (kinda) done.

The move? I haven’t posted about it, but we moved again – new country, continent, hemisphere even. In fact, what I always think of as the fall holidays (e.g. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot) are going to be the … spring holidays here? It sounds so strange, but I’ll get my mind around it. Probably just in time to leave – but that’s years away.

So now, for Rosh Hashanah, I usually post a menu (see 2020, 2018, etc.) and some kid stuff (marshmallow bees, mitzvah checklist), as well as lots of prep and planning posts.

This year, I’m living in a temporary house with only what we brought in our suitcases (for now), so a lot of the fancy things I like to do will be hard and I don’t have access to all the foods I usually use. I will be planning it out, but not yet. I need to find my way around!

In the meantime, we’re finding a routine, and I ordered a new planner I wanted to share with you – new year, new planner!

First, what I’ve used in the past (aside from the generic planners from Target): Mom Agenda and The Balabusta’s Daily Organizer (see my reviews here and here, even though the photos no longer seem to show up). I’ve also tried a bullet journal (check out #Bujo on any social media to see some gorgeous spreads!) and blank, undated pages. All had some good stuff, but I have been looking for something that fits me better.

Currently, I’m using Define My Day planners. It’s fairly basic (check it out!), but I love the 3 priority system and the bit of journaling built in. Each book is 4 weeks, and they are undated, so you can start whenever. There are some really good things about this planner that I moved into…

My new Agendio planner! It’s a completely customizable planner. I went with weekly spreads and 6 months to see how that goes. It means the planner itself will not be so big, and I got to take the parts of other planners that I liked and cobble them into something that works for me. Here’s a preview of the weekly spread I made:

After that each week, I have a weekly outline, habit tracker, checklists, menu planner, etc. This means that the way I set it up, I have no monthly pages (that I do on a wall calendar and my phone) or daily pages (although each day has a top three, scheduled items, and other to dos). A whole page was too much for each day for me. Of course, there are templates for each of those things, so you could include whatever you want in your planner, make it a different size, play with color and designs, have a longer run, etc…

The down sides are that there are a LOT of options. It can be overwhelming. I actually couldn’t think of what to put into that second notes section, so we’ll see what I end up using it for. Another down side (but you’ll get this on any non-Jewish planner) is that, while you can reuse dates and events each year once you’ve entered them, that doesn’t work for Jewish dates. However, this one had an option for Jewish holidays, AND it included erev holidays on the right days! There’s no help for putting in the weekly parsha, but at least the holidays are there.

I haven’t gotten the actual printed version yet, but will take photos when I do. We’ll see how it ends up working out! I’m guessing I will want to changes some things, but I’m really excited to get it and start using it.

Anyone else switching planners? Or do you have a good recommendation?

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2021/08/24/new-year-new-planner-and-an-update/

Sukkot hacks and tricks

Sukkah – see the trash can and shelving unit?

Sukkot is kind of a strange holiday – go live in a hut just outside your comfy house? But we do it, anyway. There’s obviously a lot more to it!

Eating and living in the sukkah means a lot of trips in and out of the house and a few logistical issues. To make that easier, I’m going to share some things that make it easier for us – and please feel free to share your own tips and tricks!

  • Put a big bowl /basin and pitcher with water on a table outside the sukkah for handwashing. (Why not inside the sukkah? Because it’s a holy place.) Instead of everyone going inside to wash and then coming back out, you can have them much closer- or split into two groups.
  • Another handwashing possibility is to do it inside before kiddush, and then kiddush and motzei in one fell swoop – we’ve done it this way at two other family’s homes. I’m not sure of halachot / laws on this, so look that up, but it definitely means less traipsing in and out!
  • Put a garbage can with a lid just outside the sukkah. A lid because of of critters, and the can to make it easier to clean up after meals. (Not inside, again – the sukkah is a special place.)
  • Put a small shelving unit inside the sukkah with drinks, papers/plastic goods, bentchers, salt and pepper, etc and cover with a plastic tablecloth (for rain). Fewer trips inside and out!
  • Get a tray to use to bring in foods and dishes. As a former server in multiple restaurants, I can doubly recommend this!
  • Use family style serving whenever possible (instead of individually plating foods.)
  • If it looks like rain, use a (disposable) plastic tablecloth over whatever you have on the table, and tip the chairs in, covering them under the plastic as well. Keeps things drier and means fewer leaves or pine needles when you go to sit. Just take off the covering and go!
  • Laminate pictures and decorations to keep them from being ruined with the weather. Note: Dried playdough sculptures will melt in the rain, too. (Ask me how I know…)

I’d love to hear any of your ideas!

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2020/10/05/sukkot-hacks-and-tricks/

Sukkot resources and links 2020

I hope everyone had an easy and meaningful fast! Now that we’re ended Yom Kippur, we are ready to jump right back into more mitzvot. It’s time to get ready for Sukkot!

Sukkot is a harvest festival where we live (eat, some sleep) in booths – flimsy, temporary dwellings with a roof where you can see the stars. We shake our 4 species (lulav and etrog) and remember that we are completely in Hashem’s hands. (For more details, check out this summary.) Sukkot begins after sundown October 2, 2020. Here’s a link to a calendar for you to determine exactly when it falls for you (and times).

Here are my oldest two in our Sukkah in 2011 – I just love this photo! They are a lot bigger now.

Sukkot (or Sukkos, or Succos…)

Here are some posts that might be useful for you:

While you are working on your menu, here are some other links that might help:

What do you recommend to read around the web for Sukkot? Anything exciting planned?

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2020/09/30/sukkot-resources-and-links-2020/

Sukkot menu 2020

The sukkah is partially set up, but still needs decorations, lighting, and the schach (roof) to be complete. But my Sukkot menu is complete! This year, we’re home alone again for meals. Here’s what we’re having for the full week of Sukkot:

Friday night (Yom Tov (YT) night 1) (meat):

  • Challah, Salads (eggplant, carrot, pepper, zhug, olive, hummus)
  • Main dish: kung pao chicken (and chicken nuggets)
  • Veggie and sides: Roasted sweet potato fries, rice
  • Dessert: Fruit, peanut bars, cinnamon spice cookies
  • Spiced apple cider (our Sukkot tradition!)

Shabbat lunch (meat)

  • Challah and salads
  • Main: Lamb stew (served with couscous or quinoa)
  • Veggies: cauliflower popcorn, honey cilantro carrots, spinach kugel
  • Dessert: Fruit, peanut bars, cinnamon spice cookie cups with bourbon whip

Saturday night (YT) (meat)

  • Challah and salads
  • Main dish: pastrami wrapped honey mustard chicken
  • Veggies: Roasted spiced potatoes, broccoli kugel
  • Starch: Noodle kugel
  • Dessert: Fruit, peanut bars, cinnamon spice cookies, spiced apple cider

Sunday lunch (Still YT) (dairy)

  • Challah and salads
  • Cheddar corn chowder
  • Main: Soft pretzels (Fresh and hot from the oven)
  • Veggie: veggie platter with ranch dip
  • Dessert: Caramel cupcakes

Breakfasts: donuts (another tradition!), cereal, yogurt

Lunches: Sandwiches, quesadillas, quiche/kugels, mac and cheese

Dinners: Leftovers, Corn chowder with cheddar biscuits, non-meat nuggets, pizza

Friday night (meat)

Friday lunch (dairy)

  • Challah
  • Main: Bagels and cream cheese
  • Veggie: veggie platter
  • Sesame noodles
  • Dessert: Chocolate chip cookies, fruit, spiced apple cider

Saturday night (YT) (meat)

  • Challah and salads (eggplant, carrot, pepper, zhug, olive, hummus)
  • Main dish: Sesame beef
  • Veggie and sides: squash kugel
  • Starch: sesame noodles
  • Dessert: Fruit, brownies, spiced apple cider

Sunday luch (YT) (either)

  • Leftovers: will decide either dairy or meat based on what we have and what we’re in the mood for. Usually, this day we’re kind of fancy food-ed out, but we’ll see!

And that’s a wrap. We always end up changing things around, so who knows what will actually be eaten when – that’s not just my family, right? But this helps with shopping and cooking plans.

Wishing everyone a happy Sukkot!

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2020/09/29/sukkot-menu-2020/

Marshmallow Bees for Rosh Hashanah

Yummy marshmallow bees!

This is a fun project that my kiddos and I made to get ready for Rosh Hashanah. In case you can’t tell, baking and doing dessert-type things is my favorite! I came up with this idea to top the honey cupcakes we are planning, and the kids wanted to help. They are cute and sweet and lots of fun!

Starting to dip…

I used both big and small marshmallows, yellow candy melts (the Gefen brand is parve, but dairy brands are widely available), (parve) chocolate chips, sprinkles, and a food color pen for the face details.

My dippers are plastic forks with two tines broken off. I’m fancy like that!

Melt the candy melts and dip the marshmallows, letting them dry on a wire rack or parchment paper. I used these round sprinkles for eyes on the big marshmallows and wings on the smaller ones – but wait to stripe before you put those wings on the little guys!

The stripes are chocolate chips melted with a touch of coconut oil and put into a piping bag. We broke mini marshmallows in half and squished them flat to make the wings for the bigger bees, adding while the chocolate was wet. I had some extra so I piped some hearts to use for serving garnishes.

Put them into mini muffin cups and you’re ready to go!
Little bees

We made these pomegranates (free template here!) and put a bee inside for the kids to deliver to their friends along with our annual Rosh Hashanah card.

Cupcakes, marshmallow bees, and pomegranates aren’t quite enough, though. I suppose I’ll have to go and make some of the other stuff on my 2020 RH menu. Right? I should do that.

Are you making anything fun? Anything new? Any favorites?

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2020/09/16/marshmallow-bees-for-rosh-hashanah/

Caramel Apple Snickerdoodles (non-dairy)

Parve cookies made with oil (or melted margarine) and grated apple.
So. Good.

I had some apples that were going bad – bruises and wrinkling skin. My kids, normally voracious apple eaters, wouldn’t touch them. So I made a crumble, and then I searched for something else. This recipe caught my eye because it had apples and because the fat in it is melted – it’s so easy to make that oil instead of margarine!

Based on this recipe at omgchocolatedesserts.com (check out the site – so many good recipes there!) I doubled it, changed butter to oil, adjusted the sugar ratio, put in more apples, changed the chips … and decided to write it out here. But for good pictures, please check out that original post!

Makes about 3 dozen

  • 1 cup oil + 1/4 t salt (or melted margarine and no added salt)
  • 3/4 C brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 T vanilla
  • 2 med-large apples, peeled, grated, and patted dryer (but no need to go crazy – just not too much extra juice)
  • 3.5 cup flour (up to 1/2 C more flour, if dough is very wet)
  • 1/2 t baking soda
  • 1/2 t baking powder
  • 2 T cinnamon
  • 9 oz bag pf caramel chips (and/or white chocolate chips – we like both)
  • For rolling – 3/4 C sugar and 2t cinnamon (optional. I’ve done with and without, and both are good.)

Stir together oil, sugars, and vanilla until smooth, then mix in apple. Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon in one go, mixing the dry into the wet. Dough will be soft, but not liquid. Add in caramel and/ or white chocolate chips.

Chill for 30 minutes or more. (Important!)

Preheat oven to 350F, and then roll 2t balls of dough in the cinnamon and sugar mixture if desired, placing them on a baking sheet with several inches between. Flatten slightly and bake 9-11 minutes – cookies will be soft and seem slightly raw still, but will firm up out of the oven. Cool a couple of minutes on the sheet, then remove to a rack to finish cooling.

Easy to make parve, chewy, great apple flavor for Rosh Hashanah, and delicious!

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2020/09/12/caramel-apple-snickerdoodles/

Rosh Hashanah menu 2020

The blank slate…

Rosh Hashanah is a little over a week away, and I’m planning my menu. It’s different this year for a couple of reasons – first, we are home and not having guests (Covid-19 rules). Second, the first day of Rosh Hashanah is Shabbat. And third, no more going to five stores in search of that elusive swiss chard or shehechiyanu fruit (again, Covid rules). Two stores (kosher for meat and general for other things) and what we can find is what we’ll have.

We are Sefardi, and at night, our meals have a lot of simanim, or “symbols,” (see this post about some of the simanim and what they mean). Some of the common ones are challah, honey, carrots, beets, and fish, but there are a lot more for us! Here’s my plan, including links to the recipes:

All the honey!!
  • Round challah with honey (check out this quick round braid tutorial)
  • Sauteed swiss chard (I do it like this)
  • Leek patties
  • Squash mini muffins (or try squash tartlets or squash soup)
  • Banana
  • Dates (Plain, although I’ve done a rice recipe that was a hit in the past)
  • Pomegranate (We’re eating it plain, or try a salsa)
  • Black eyed pea / Lubiya relish
  • Apples with honey (yes, there are six kinds of honey sitting in the pantry. We have some gourmet honey tasters here.)
  • Gummy Fish (I used to do a real fish, but succumbed to this a few years ago. It’s so much easier, and people actually eat them!)

Main dishes: Brown sugar rubbed chicken one night, Lamb kabobs the next (backup is a roast, depending on what’s available for meat.)

Honey cupcakes, caramel apple snickerdoodles (recipe coming Sunday!), marshmallow bees, something else good? Dessert is my favorite to make!

Second Night Shehechiyanu special fruit.

——–

Lunches are going to be sushi (by request of the kids!) and soft pretzels for day two. There really is nothing quite like fresh bread hot from the oven, and we have been taking advantage of the slower second days to make a soft pretzel feast! 😉

I know it sounds like a lot, but it always is when there are so many symbolic foods. I’m not making many things that aren’t simanim to minimize what I can, and we’re sticking with a few things I know people around here will like and trying new recipes, too.

I made apple jello “shots” one year, and that was fun! Or maybe I’ll make that apple rose I’ve seen going around.

What are you making?

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2020/09/11/rosh-hashanah-menu-2020/

Rosh Hashanah – in two weeks!

And old picture!

2020 has been a challenging year. But time marches on, and Rosh Hashana is just a little more than two weeks away – already!

Here is my prep list:

  • order seats for shul???
  • pay shul dues (ours have always been due about now for the different shuls)
  • order lulav and etrog sets (including any “learning” sets)
  • new tzitzit for boys
  • order pjs for all kids (our tradition–they are always needed around this turn of the seasons!)
  • order/find needed clothing for kids
  • purchase new special something for kids–legos? clics? Something to add to their simcha (joy).
  • order/find new something for me (outfit? tichel?)
  • check with dh about his clothing needs
  • take care of kittel, if your dh wears one for Yom Kippur
  • plan our Rosh Hashanah homeschooling lessons and projects (like this kids’ mitzva checklist!)
  • plan menu (but with all the simanim (special, ritual foods) we use, that’s a whole post by itself!)

I’m still getting things together here. How is it going for you?

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2020/09/03/rosh-hashanah-in-two-weeks/

Homeschooling elementary school 2020-2021

(A few of these might be affiliate links, where I might get back a tiny (tiny!) piece of anything you spend. Most are simply links to the resources themselves.)

This year, my kids range from 1st grade to 11th grade. And as usual, they are all based at home. I started typing the plans out and goodness, but the post got long! So I broke up the post into general school ideas, high school and middle school, and this post.

***If you aren’t interested in homeschooling, please just skip through these few posts. This is a hot topic in my neck of the world (and internet) right now!***

That’s one of the best things about homeschooling – each kid gets a specifically tailored experience!

Here are our plans:

6th grader: This guy is the definition of a hands on learner, but luckily, he can really buckle down and do (reasonable) seat work as needed. When there are choices, we bring out manipulatives and get him doing, though.

4th / 5th grade: (Yes, she’s right on the cusp) This child really, really misses her friends, so we are making sure to build in partners for her when we can. Most of the above applies to her, and once we can get her back out into the world, she will happily go back to all her clubs, lessons, and playdates.

A good book to get started with – although apparently, coins are in short supply right now!

1st /2nd grade: (Yes, she’s right on the cusp, too.) Most of the above applies to her, although she does less. She’s very creative, but not a strong reader yet, so we’re taking that slowly and letting her build her confidence.

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2020/08/09/homeschooling-elementary-school-2020-2021/

Homeschooling high school and middle school 2020-2021

(A few of these might be affiliate links, where I might get back a tiny (tiny!) piece of anything you spend. Most are simply links to the resources themselves.)

This year, my kids range from 1st grade to 11th grade. And as usual, they are all based at home. I started typing them out and goodness, but the post got long! So here is where I’ll be posting the individual plans for my oldest two children, and I already covered some of the things we’ll do together (good for a homeschool with multiple ages). Then, over the next few days, I’ll add my elementary school plans into the mix.

***If you aren’t interested in homeschooling, please just skip through these few posts. This is a hot topic in my neck of the world (and internet) right now!***

That’s one of the best things about homeschooling – each kid gets a specifically tailored experience!

Here are our plans:

11th/12th grade (Age based, should be in 11th, but he’s been working ahead and should graduate this year!):

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Good for read alouds and listening to audiobooks!

The choice of how to go about homeschooling a high schooler is one that a lot of people write about, but I don’t consider myself an expert on this. I highly recommend you do some research and see what will work for you and your child. What are they looking to do? If college is in the cards, what do the ones they would want to apply to look for? If a GED is sufficient, would that be a better way to go? Or do dual credit and start taking community college courses while still in high school? There are many ways to do it.

Our high schooler is doing an online accredited program so he’ll get an accredited diploma. He’s done EdOptions Academy for the past nearly two years and we are trying out Acellus this summer. Both have strengths and weaknesses in their different styles, but we’ll let him make the decision to finish out his high school career. (Yikes – did I really just write that?!)

8th-9th grade (This child is in 8th grade by age, but 9th in many subjects. He wants to start high school work, so we’ll see how that goes.)

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One of the books he’ll be using this year – he’s a doodler!

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2020/08/07/homeschooling-high-school-and-middle-school-2020-2021/