Happy 100th Post!!

It's finally here!!  My 100th post!!  I celebrated this past weekend with a bunch of friends and now it's time to write all about it.  Sorry it took me so long to get it up!  Anyways, I can't believe it's been nearly 8 months of blogging!  I've had one giveaway and a couple of shout outs on Mile-Posts, a blog written by my runner friend Dorothy, and I'm scheduled to do a Thanksgiving-themed cooking demo in November!

I've cooked and baked more than ever before and have fed a lot of friends and family, and of course sisters (and brothers).  I've thoroughly enjoyed all your comments, suggestions, and ideas on the blog and on my Facebook fan page!  Please keep up all the good work and continue.  Also, if you make any of my recipes I'd love it if you could upload pictures to the FYS Facebook page.

I am currently at 192 Facebook fans.  My goal is to get many more fans and to do that I need your help!!  Please visit the page, you can access it by clicking here.  Once you are there under the profile picture (Which is a picture my new apron that I got as a gift from my friend Sarah at my 100th post celebration.) there's a link that says Suggest to Friends.  When you click on that you can invite friends to join Feed Your Sister on Facebook!  Let's see how many fans we can get together!

Now onto the menu for the 100th post celebration.  I decided on going back to my Israeli roots and making a Meditteranean/Israeli themed meal.  On the menu was potato and feta bourekas, shakshuka, and a carrot and cucumber salad.  For dessert I made a non-dairy pumpkin pie (I chose this dessert because it's one of the recipes I had to try out for the cooking demo). Here's a few pictures of some friends enjoying my good eats!

Potato and Feta Bourekas

(makes 18 bourekas)

1 box Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry, thawed

8 medium yukon gold potatoes (or any potato you like)

1 pound Israeli Feta, crumbled (or any feta you like)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup olive oil

1 egg + 1 tablespoon water, scrambled (for egg wash)

1 cup sesame seeds (for topping the bourekas)

all purpose flour for dusting

NOTE: You can either peel the potatoes before boiling or after.  If you choose to peel before boiling, peel and then cut into large chunks to speed up boiling process.  If you choose to peel them after, boil the potatoes whole and once cooked peel skins off.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Once the water is boiling, place potatoes in the pot and let cook until fork tender, about 30 minutes (or sooner if they were cut in chunks). Drain and let potatoes cool slightly and peel the skins off.  Place peeled potatoes back into the hot pot along with the olive oil, salt, and crumbled feta.  Mash together until smooth.  (If you want to make a smoother consistency you can add more olive oil or butter or cream, if you like that.)  

Set potato mixture aside.  Sprinkle flour on a marble surface or piece of parchment paper.  Roll the dough to make a large rectangle and cut pastry into 9 squares. 

Place about 2-3 tablespoons of the potato mixture in the center of each pastry square.  

Fold square corner to corner, to make a triangle shape, and seal with the prongs of a fork around the edges.

 Use a pastry brush to brush on egg wash over each bourekas and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds.

Repeat all steps using the second sheet of puff pastry from the box. 

Bake bourekas on a greased baking sheet for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.  

To Freeze: Do not bake!  Freeze them on a baking sheet for about 2 hours and then transfer frozen bourekas into ziploc bags.  To cook, thaw out and bake as directed above.

Enjoy!

Stay tuned for the other recipes coming this week!

Quinoa, Take 2

NOTE: This photo is of the salad minus the mixed greens! Now you have a visual!

So I was invited to my friend's house for a BBQ and of course I offered to make something to bring. She said make a salad. Lately I've been eating a lot of quinoa and actually looking for it more and more on menus. I haven't had much luck finding many restaurants that serve quinoa. Oh well, I was going to make a salad that contained quinoa for the BBQ. I went with a Greek themed salad. I bought red inca quinoa at the supermarket for the salad. Now, not sure if you remember that last time I made quinoa, but if you click here, you'll remind yourself that it wasn't a big hit. I finally can say that I think I just overcooked it, if that's even possible.

I totally forgot to take a photo of this recipe, but I swear I made the salad and literally there was not a leaf left in the bowl! Everyone enjoyed it very much and my views of quinoa have changed forever. I can't wait to make this salad again!

Here's the list of ingredients you'll need to make this easy, healthy, protein-packed, light summery, and perfect-for-a-bbq salad!

Greek Style Quinoa Salad (serves 8 people)

1 cup uncooked red inca quinoa (if you prefer white quinoa that's fine too!)

1 container of mixed greens

1 red bell pepper

1 container of grape tomatoes cut in halves or quarters

1 english cucumber peeled and chopped

1 can chickpeas rinsed and drained

1 bunch parsley chopped

1 block of your favorite feta (I used Israeli feta)

Greek Dressing

the juice of 1 and a half lemons

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)

1. In a pot bring 2 cups of water and 1 cup of the quinoa to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and then cover and cook for about 15-20 minutes. Pour cooked quinoa in a sieve and then rinse quinoa with cold water to cool off. Drain and set aside.

2. Place the mixed greens into a large salad bowl. Cut the vegetables to your desired size and place in the salad bowl. Place chickpeas in the bowl as well.

3. Place cooked quinoa and parsley in the salad bowl. Break up the feta with clean hands and place in the salad.

4. To make the dressing combine ingredients and pour over salad. Toss to combine ingredients and enjoy!