With the end of school approaching fast, it’s hard to find time to cook (or have sit down meals for that matter). One reason why we love Mel’s Kitchen Cafe blog so much is because she’s a mom of 5; simply put, she gets it.
The blog focuses on creating great family-friendly recipes, but also includes some decadent treats and recipes worthy of family parties or visits from the in-laws.
Finding the right nanny for your family is essential! We work with both caregivers and nannies to pair up the best match for both our member families and caregivers. However, maintaining a great nanny-client relationship is equally important.
Lindsay sat down with Leigh Goldman, a Gymtime Mom, to share some strategies.
Some of the key points are:
Outline expectations
Clarify your policy on days off
Spread good karma
Talk the talk
Avoid being over friendly
Exercise common courtesy
Check out the full article here to learn more about each of those bullet points and get the full run-down on Lindsay’s nanny know-how!
With summer just around the corner, Spring is getting in its last few showers. With a few rainy weeks ahead, we wanted to share one of our favorite indoor play spaces in the city: City Treehouse.
City Treehouse offers a really cute treehouse-themed indoor play area with an interactive water play area, a treehouse to climb and slide from, classes, storytelling, and child-directed activities throughout. Learn more about how your child can dip, dunk, and pour at the interactive area here.
If you are looking for a little more of a hands-on activity, register your child for one of the classes at City Treehouse. Classes are offered in subjects such as dancing, yoga, arts & crafts, baby playgroup, new moms support group, and music. Another great feature is City Treehouse can custom-design a class for your little ones, as long as there are six or more interested children.
Make sure you call ahead, as the facility is reservation based!
Bell Family Company is excited to announce a new partnership with Pager!
Pager is an on-demand medical services company that offers doctors visits to your NYC home, hotel, or office. Pager doctors can evaluate patients for illness, injury, minor skin conditions, school and employment physicals, and much more.
We love the concept of Pager’s on-demand model, and we’ve seen how effective it is for families in need of services! Pager says, “Waiting rooms aren’t kid-friendly. Pager sends board-certified doctors to you within two hours — so your child doesn’t have to leave home when sick or injured.”
Between BFC and Pager, all of your on-demand family needs are covered!
Company culture is something that’s important everywhere, and we agree! The BFC culture and amazing staff are what keeps our member families and sitters coming back year after year. Ever wonder what the special sauce is?
We recently came across this great article on former start-up Airbnb and how they handle bureaucracy and maintaining the close-knit feel. CEO Mike Curtis noted: “the antidote to unproductive bureaucracy is good old-fashioned judgment — having it, hiring for it, and creating conditions that allow people to exercise it.” He also noted that one of the most crucial elements of this is building a trustworthy team filled with trustworthy people.
As many of you know, our hiring process is intensive and thorough. We make sure that our people are coming in with the right attitude and “special stuff” to fit in with the company goals. We support and trust all of our sitters and staff, and as a result, so do our member families!
Check out the rest of the Airbnb article here for some more interesting tidbits!
Bell Family Company is growing! We’ve made a lot of changes to our processes. We’ve made an informative video on how the check-out process works from your account.
Check it out here or by clicking on the picture above!
Ride-sharing and on-demand ride services have been all the rage lately, especially for city-dwellers without cars. One of our favorite new services is Lyft.
Lyft gives you the option to ride solo, or to hook up with another group of travelers headed in the same direction for a reduced fare. This is a great mode of transportation for our sitters and families looking for a reliable service.
What we love about Lyft is you can track your drivers. So parents sending kids to soccer practice with a BFC sitter can see when the ride is scheduled to arrive at the house, the route the car is taking, and get notified when they are dropped off.
Tried Lyft before? We’d love to hear what you thought of it!
Sheryl Sandberg has been in the news a lot this week, showing her incredible strength and drive as not only an executive, but a woman as well. We wanted to honor one of the world’s most visible working women by highlighting some of her infamous “Lean In” tips.
Sandberg’s notes in her best-seller, Lean In, that it is difficult to manage both career and motherhood even before giving birth (something many women can relate to as they head to work in the same flats they wore before their feet ballooned up a size!).
Sandberg believes despite obstacles many women face in the workplace (discrimination, lower compensation, etc), it is possible to still “lean in” with careful planning and a supportive partner. Forbes notes that the five best pieces of advice Sandberg offers are as follows:
Be more open to taking career risks
Skip the people pleasing
Visualize your career as a jungle gym, not a ladder
Allow yourself to fantasize about your career
Start a Lean-In circle or peer group of women you can talk to monthly
Do you agree with Sandberg’s tips? Leave a comment below about your experience with working and motherhood!
Fun enough for the kids. Just grown up enough for the adult palate as well. So simple to make. Ready for it? Sure you are.
I’m Emily, the gal behind Emily Always Cooks. Most of my time is spent in my small Chicago apartment kitchen, whipping up simple, tasty, family friendly recipes. The kind that make your friends jealous. Seasonal ingredients and whole foods are my staple. Healthy, with just the right amount of indulgent comfort food. Follow my blog to see what I’ve been cooking up lately. The pictures are pretty. The food is delicious.
This is a fun twist on macaroni and cheese. I like creating an opportunity to introduce children to new foods and expand their palates, while simultaneously eating something with a sense of familiarity. Stove-top Gnocchi (not Mac) and Cheese with Peas … does just that. It’s a rich, decadent cheese sauce. Move over kiddies, I’m diving in too.
If you’ve never cooked gnocchi (small potato dumplings) before, the time is now. Your family will love these little potato pillows. Just bring a big pot of salted water to a boil (as you would for pasta). Then add the gnocchi, give it a stir, and wait until they rise to the surface. About 3-ish minutes. Once they’ve floated to the top, just strain out the water and you’re ready to go! Easy peasy!
Prepare your ingredients ahead of time. Shred your cheeses and have your milk and seasonings out and ready. The thing about cheese sauce is that things happen fast. Because you’re working with milk, butter, cheese and heat – this sauce can burn easily if you’re not careful. By getting everything prepared ahead of time, you can focus on the cooking.
This dish comes together in under 30 minutes. Being prepared in one pot means minimal clean up. (We love that!) Happy family. Easy clean up. Delicious meal for the whole crew.
Bring a large heavy-bottomed stock pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi and cook according to package directions. Drain, set aside, and reserve. Make sure to toss the cooked gnocchi frequently so they do not stick together when preparing the cheese sauce.
Next, make the béchamel sauce. In the same pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Once the butter has melted, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the flour and cook the mixture, stirring constantly until light brown in color with a slightly toasted aroma, about 3 minutes. Add the milk slowly into the flour and butter mixture, whisking constantly so you get all the lumps out. Bring sauce to a low boil, whisking constantly, then simmer, still whisking occasionally, for 3 minutes to thicken. The sauce should thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Stir in cheeses, mustard powder, salt and pepper until smooth. Note: Do not add your cheese too fast or too soon as this could result in clumpy, greasy chaos instead of creamy, cheesy deliciousness. Instead, wait for your béchamel to reach the right thickness. Then, add the cheese in three batches, making sure each batch is completely melted before adding more cheese.
Add the gnocchi and peas, stirring to combine, and cook over low heat just until warmed throughout. Serve immediately with fresh basil and additional parmesan cheese.
Note: It will originally seem that there is too much cheese sauce for the amount of gnocchi. Trust me – the sauce will continue to thicken and you will be happy with the extra creamy, cheesy deliciousness.
