Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Election Day!




After this month long experiment, it was time for the family to cast its votes. To meat or not to meat? That is the question.

I'm very proud of the family, all things considered. Washington could take a page out of the Caldwell playbook. There were no deals being made in smoky rooms. There was no- you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours conversations levied.

It was a simple, albeit somewhat somber vote.
As I cleared the plates from the Spinach Pie dinner, I said the fated words, "Well, it's the last day of the month. Let's everyone put our heads down on the table and raise our hands if we want to stay veggie."

Joseph (a no-nonsense man) said, "Oh come on. We all know you're going to vote veggie, so is I. Alex?

Alex got up from the table and walked down stairs saying "Veggie".
Poor Liam.
Defeated by a majority vote said, "NO!"
"Oh come on, Pal," I said "You can eat meat, still. I'm just not gonna cook it. And plus you love my food. Tostadas? Homemade Pizza? Chili?"

"Okay," he said. It's just not fair.
"Well, life isn't always fair." I said. "But think of how blessed you are to choose your food each day. 3 meals! AND snacks and things to drink and MEAT at school and friends houses and restaurants..."

"The meat at school moves on your plate," he said.
"Liam..." said Joseph.
"You're right," said Liam with a big blue eyed *sigh*

I am absolutely certain that this is the best choice for our family and I'll share some of the reasons WHY in the next blog.

Dinner Day 28: Spinich Feta Pie



As a (mostly) Arabic Mama, this dinner was a yummy taste of home for me. It's really a lot easier than most folks think.
All you need is an onion, a box of frozen spinach, a package of feta cheese and some filo dough.

Now-working with filo can be tedious and time consuming, but the way I do it (which btw my mother would STRONGLY object to) is to use cooking spray rather than melted butter between the layers.

If I were making baklava or another owey-goowey delight-I'd bust out the butter, but today is not that day. Today is a spray day and it works just fine, thank you very much. ;)

This meal took about 25 minutes from the time I hit the kitchen to the time it was on the table and I felt like a rock star.

The Consensus:
Alex: Oh, I love this, Mom. Please please make it all the time.
Liam: Good.
Joseph: Man, I'm so glad I married an Arab woman.
Me: Yes, Joseph. Yes, Alex. Yes, Liam. Yes, LORD!

The Cost:
$7 for a family of four.
$1.75/person