Spanakopitta

I've decided to make Friday "Recipe Day" on my blog.  I'm always on the look-out for good recipes so I thought I'd share them here when I find them.  This one is a Greek spinach pie.  It's pretty fast and easy to make and I love it!  (So does Vince.)  It's from The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook by Cathe Olson. (One of my favorites!)

Spanakopitta

2 tsp olive oil
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1lb fresh spinach, washed and chopped
2 eggs
1 tsp dried dill or 1 TBSP fresh
1 C crumbled feta cheese
black pepper to taste
8 sheets of phyllo dough

Preheat oven to 375.  Warm oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add green onions and saute 2 mintues, or until soft.  Add spinach to pan.  Cover and cook 5-10 minutes or until spinach is wilted.  Transfer to a colander and let it drain.

In a bowl, beat eggs and dill.  Stir in cheese and spinach.  Season with pepper.

Lightly brush a 10 in pie pan with olive oil (I use a spray).  Place a sheet of phyllo in pan.  Spray with oil.  Place a second sheet over the first but position it so the corners don't match up.  Spray with oil.  Repeat until you have four layers of phyllo.  Spread the spinach filling evenly in the pan.  Turn the corners of phyllo over the filling.  Layer 4 more sheets of phyllo over the filling, spraying each with oil as before.  Tuck corners under pie.  Bake 40-50 minutes, or until golden brown. 

This is from Google Images--NOT what mine looked like!

Excercise-A Healthier Mind and Body

"How old is your baby?"
"6 weeks"
"You look great for having a 6 week old!"
"Thanks!"

But I don't mean thanks.  I mean, please, Mrs Stranger, don't comment on my body, especially since I just gave birth.  I'm not sure why people feel it's appropriate to talk about my weight at any time, especially after it's just multiplied exponentially.  I'm not wearing these yoga pants because I think they're the height of fashion!  It's because they're the only pants I own that fit!!  I know they're just being nice, and trying to pay me a compliment, but all it does is make me feel self-conscious. 

When I originally started this blog, my description of what I would be writing about included exercise, a word I later went back and deleted because I felt like I wasn't really addressing it.  Well now I am, kind of.  SO, to you, Mrs Stranger, I'm going back to the gym!

Penzeys Spices

This is a blog originating from my mother.  A few years ago she discovered a spice catalog (stores too, but none very close to us)  and it became her "thing".  (See, I come by these quirky obsessions genetically!). It's Penzeys Spices and in addition to having all the spices you can find in the grocery store they also have spice blends, salad dressing mixes, herbs and seasonings.  Thanks to my mother, we have a cupboard full of Penzeys.  Evan uses them to season steaks (he has his own method which uses about 4 different bottles), Ellie uses them to season her baked potato, I use them for veggies and to make homemade salad dressing.  They're really very versatile.  My current favorite is Fox Point.  I put it on everything! 

Tyler Florence's Cookbook

Awhile ago I blogged about Tyler Florence's baby food line, Sprout and his cookbook, Start Fresh.  Well, I found not only the cookbook, but also the baby food.  We found the baby food at Giant Eagle.  I bought a  toddler meal (Sweet Potato and Apple Risotto with Turkey) and a baby food pouch (Peach Pumpkin Pie with Graham).Vince and I gave them a taste test.  We both liked the pumpkin pie.  We were so-so on the toddler meal, but in all fairness, we didn't really get a good taste because soon after I served it, Vince got up from the table and our rotten dog jumped up and pulled it off the table.  (Abby gives it two paws up!)

EWG's Cleaners Database is Up!

I'm sure you're all as excited as I am that the Environmental Working Group's Guide to Healthy Cleaning is up and running.  I blogged a few weeks ago that it was coming, and I've been back to the EWG site a few times to check to see if it was up yet, but today's the day!

Butternut Squash Indian Pudding

As I've said before, my garden is producing TONS of butternut squash, which is great, because I love squash, but I'd also want to get the rest of my family to eat squash too, so I need to get creative. (And by that I mean I need to look for recipes because I'm not at all creative in the kitchen!)  So I dug out some old Vegetarian Times and found a recipe I had flagged, but never tried.  It was under there One Food 5 Ways section and the topic was Butternut Squash. 

Late Summer Planting

The other day my mother told me I should be proud of my garden, which obviously I am because I won't stop blogging about it!  So her's yet another blog post about my garden.  I found some kale seeds.  I don't know why I didn't think to look at the store 5 minutes away from me with "Seed Company" in the title, but surprise, surprise they had some seeds.  I bought curly kale and Russian red kale.

Russian Red

Curly Kale