spinach granola bars???

I've been meaning to blog about this subject for ohhh... at least a month or maybe more, time is not one of my strong suits these days.  Yes you read the title correctly spinach granola bars!  A few months back i purchased the Deceptively Delicious Cookbook, desperate to get some kind of nourishment in what little food i could coax my 3.5 year old daughter to eat.

Now i know and i have been told several times by trained professionals that a child will not starve themselves to death and for the most part i keep that in mind at dinner time, but after hearing countless people say "she's so tiny" and "did she eat, i have snacks" or my favorite "that’s such a tiny bite you should give her more", i start to lose my head.  Doubt starts to creep in and i get panicked, oh my gosh am i starving my kid?? i forget that she takes small bites or else she gags and stops eating for the day, or that she is a normal weight and a bit tall for her age, or that she did eat a pretty good lunch, i forget that i am her mom and i know her.  

Back to point, the granola bars.  Obviously i cant type up the recipe and post it b/c i would have to get permission and blah blah blah, but i can tell you my experience and the end result!  It's a pretty basic granola recipe for the most part oats, flour, cinnamon, sugar but then comes the super sneaky part, SPINACH!  You steam up spinach and then puree it!  After smelling the smell of steamed spinach upon opening the microwave door i was gonna call it quits right then and there.  Me and the maid where both gagging, it's a really awful smell!  No way w/ a smell like that it wasn't gonna be tasted by safiya the super picky eater.  I can’t stress how terrible it smells.  I persisted to the next step of pureeing, at this point i had stinky super green dirty baby diaper looking goo, and my maid laughed at me and left the kitchen.  Once all the steaming and pureeing is done along w/ the gagging and nagging feeling that you’re wasting your time, you’re supposed to mix the gross goo w/ blueberry preserves.  I didn't have blue berry so i used a red jam i had on hand and added some blue gel food coloring.  If the puréed spinach wasn't gross enough on its own imagine chunks of red jam floating around in it.  Then you dump it on the granola base and cover it up w/ some more granola and bake.  The book tells you to wait till it's completely cool before eating it and so we did... despite being one of the grossest things i have ever made the finished product was deceptively delicious!  No one any the wiser except me and the maid ;) they did ask why it was a very electric aquamarine color though, tip don't add food coloring.

Perhaps the funniest thing is safiya the super picky eater still won't touch the granola bars or the choco chip cookies w/ chick peas, but i have sneaked some carrots into her spaghetti and cauliflower into her eggs!

Mabrook Egyptians :)

I wasn't going to do it but i have to... CONGRATS EGYPTIANS!!!!!!
I'm so crazily happy for the Egyptians and so thankful for their courage!!  I always believed in my heart and harped on the point that the voice of a united people cannot be put down, but i never imagined i would get to witness it like this!!  Maybe just maybe my kids will have an entirely different experience of living in the Middle East, they will know they mean something and they can speak and live their lives openly!!  7amdallah and thank you Tunisia and Egypt!!!

my 1st arabic slam dunk


Yes i'm still alive, if not a little lazy.  I was cooking today, that’s right i've been venturing back into the kitchen, and a brilliant idea hit me!  Why don't i blogg some Arabic recipes?!?  I am by no means an expert in the art of Arabic cooking.  For some strange reason every time i've attempted Arabic food the kitchen ends up looking like Beirut after a war, but why not share some recipes that i'm really good at? 

If you didn't know my hubby is Arabic, Palestinian to be specific, so of course if i ever want to have a chance in hell keeping him at our house during dinner i needed to learn how to do a few Arabic dishes.  You would think in an Arabic country and w/ my mother-in-law living just down the road that would be pretty easy, not so. 


red lentil/aka masoor dal

 In the beginning it was me and the internet... try finding Arabic recipes when you don’t know the language HA!  On the occasion that i would find one, finding the ingredients was like a finding lost treasure.  That was almost ten years ago, i was ridiculously shy and too stubborn to ask for help.  Fast forward to my second go here Arabs are posting recipes and have pretty great food blogs, my husband’s cousins have married some awesome wives i have a small understanding of the language and i'm not so shy anymore.  Oh I also have a terrific maid who worked for a Lebanese family before and knows just about every dish!!!  I'm still learning, thanks to my teachers if your reading, but i have a few fail proof Arabic recipes under my belt now.  
My ultimate Arabic recipe is for red lentil soup, or shorbat addus in Arabic.  This is a staple in any Arabic house and it's so easy, probably why i'm really good at it!  I won't pretend that this recipe is all mine, these dishes have been around for ages and all the basic ingredients are the same but every house has its own way of doing it and this is how we do it in my house! 

almost done

 NOTES:  This soup is traditionally prepared w/o stock, now days most people use chicken stock, i am vegetarian so i use veggie stock all ways are equally yummy.  If your into rotting tissue in your food beef or lamb are the traditional choices, although this recipe is such a staple b/c even in lean times it is very filling w/o meat.  On that note some people add cooked rice to the soup or toasted pita at the end of cooking to make it even more satisfying.  Add your salt near the end of cooking to avoid making your lentils tough.  Lastly most people do not let the onions go brown but i love the flavor it gives.  Oh and you can hide carrots in this soup really easy just add them w/ the onions and garlic.  They get blended in the end so no one will know, as if this soup wasn't already super healthy!

Shorbat Addus

a splash of olive oil
2 c red lentils (masoor dal) well rinsed
1 med onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
5-6 c of stock
salt
1tsp cumin

-measure and rinse the lentils until water is pretty much clear.  Let drain.
-chop your onion and garlic.
-heat olive oil, add onions cook until soft and getting a bit brown.
-add garlic and let it go soft, 3 mins maybe.
-add drained lentils to pan and stir, allow the water from rinsing to cook off (the lentils will change to slightly pale orange)
-add the stock (i usually add a few cups at a time to make sure of the consistency)
-cook for 20 t0 25 minutes stirring once and again.  The lentils will start to look like they are falling apart, it's done!
-process w/ a hand blender to your liking, or don't totally up to you.