Falafel with Tahini Sauce, Tabbouleh, & Baklava

When I was 13 years old my father took me to Israel. It was the most amazing place I have ever been in my life. I walked where Jesus walked, I saw thousand year old ruins, it was indescribable. The funny thing is though, one of my favorite memories of that trip was walking around modern Jerusalem with my dad and eating falafel, something I hadn't ever heard of before.

SO, since my mom is out of town, I wanted to have my dad over for dinner and make something fun. So why not go all out!? When in doubt, go all out! That was my theme for dinner. I have never made any kind of Middle Eastern food before, but if your going to fail, fail big.

I found this recipe for Falafel that looked really good and straight forward. Last minute I had to call in some help from a friend. I realized I didn't have enough time in the day to finish everything, so my amazing friend came over to help for several hours!!!

I don't have a food processor, so the whole mixing process was a little difficult. I recommend a food processor, it would have been a lot easier!!

We had to add a lot more flour than the recipe called for, but in the end it worked out great! Just go with the flow!

The cooking process was actually really quick.

All done and ready for the pita!

I wanted to have a salad with dinner as well, but wanted something Middle Eastern as well, so we made Tabbouleh. I was really nervous about making it because it calls for bulgur or quinoa. Quinoa is from the Andes mountains in Peru and is probably the one Peruvian food I hate!!! I can not believe its become this huge thing here! Yes, I understand its super healthy and wonderful and whatever, but its gross!!! Maybe I've never had it cooked right, but I do NOT understand the big deal! Eww. So obviously I made it with bulgur, which is what they use in the Middle East anyway. But since it was compared to quinoa I was nervous, but still willing to try it out.

Here is the salad before the bulgur.

It was surprisingly really good! So very different from anything we normally have, but so good AND healthy! WIN!!

Then I knew exactly what I wanted to make for dessert, but wasn't sure if we could pull it off, Baklava. It was actually really really good and not nearly as hard as I thought! Holy cow, the things you can do if you just try!!!!

Lots and lots of phyllo dough!

Brush on melted butter and add nuts. 

Then more phyllo, butter, nuts and repeat several times!!

Slice up all pretty like and bake for 40-50 minutes. 

While its baking you make the honey glaze that goes on top.

As soon as it comes out of the oven add the glaze. Let cool to room temp.

And DIG in!!!! This is going to sound really crazy, but I don't like nuts...and it was good!!

Here is everything together (minus the baklava and pita). The recipe doesn't call for it, but the way my dad and I ate the falafel was in a pita with tomato, cucumber, feta, and the tahini sauce. So we added those extra few things.

Ummm....yeah.....IT WAS GOOD! 

The food was good and it was super fun to try something not only new, but totally outside the box AND something that reminded me of my childhood with my dad! It was fun to share memories at the table as we ate. Food is good, stories are better, and family is the besets!!

Picky Eater Part Dos!

I have been trying to outsmart my picky eater for a while, well I had to take a break when he got sick. Why? When you are sick the best way to heal is to eat healthy right? Well, Luca refused to eat...ANYTHING! He was on a total food strike for almost 2 weeks. I actually started getting scared by how little he was eating. I have no idea how he was able to survive on the 3 to 4 bites of food he was eating, A DAY! All the sudden about 3 days ago he started getting his appetite back. Each day since, he has eaten a little more. So now, finally, I am back on track to outsmart my picky eater.

Like I have said before, most recipes people put out there for picky eaters are a joke! Luca won't even touch, no less lick, a disguised vegetable OR fruit. I search and search for hours for good recipes and normally come up with about 1 or 2. Here is a new one Im trying today, Carrot Muffins. Now, lets be honest, there is more sugar in the muffins than carrot, but its a small start! I would much prefer carrot muffins as a snack than his usual goldfish or cheese. There isn't anything wrong with goldfish and cheese, but the kid needs some veggies in his life! And I plan to use the left over puree in my spaghetti sauce for another day!

So here for hopin'!

Carrot puree

Dry and wet ingredients

Mixed together

Ready for the oven!

Done!

This guy is pretty easy to please, so I wasn't surprised when he begged for a muffin! I have to admit though, I ate one too! A cook has to try her own food right? Umm...they were pretty good! And taste NOTHING like carrots. 

But this is who really is the judge. Mr. Picky himself.

He kept me in suspense for a long time. He just held the muffin....

Its like he knew!!

A little taste, then a BIG taste, then he ate the whole thing! Its a May 15th miracle!!

I will be making this again for sure, but will probably change up the recipe a little. Ill add either more carrot, or maybe add some spinach, and Ill probably cut back a little on the sugar!

Success!!! Happy Friday! And happy eating!!

Puff Pastry Roses & A Dinner For A 40th Anniversary!

I have seen this beautiful dessert on Facebook several times over the last month or two. The second I saw it I knew I had to try it! I knew this was something that my mother would love, not only it is beautiful, but also tastes great!!!

This year Mothers Day is actually the same day as my parents 40th anniversary. My brothers and I have been secretly planning for my older brother to come up the Friday night before (last night) and have a surprise dinner, so I thought that would be the perfect time to make this beautiful dessert!

I also tried a few new recipes for dinner. I had to find something that would stay well for a few hours because we took it out to Arrington Vineyards. So I made all the food and dessert and we took it out to the country hills to a beautiful local vineyard on one of the most beautiful nights this spring. It was a fantastic evening and I am so grateful my brother was able to come up!!

The most important thing here is to get the apples super thin! This was my test 

run several weeks ago, for last nights actual dessert I sliced much thinner!

Lemon in water. Microwave all the apple slices for 3 minutes.

3 T of apricot preserves with 1 T water. Microwave 1 minute.

Roll out a thawed puff pastry.

Slice into 6 even pieces.

Put apricot preserves on each slice.

Spread out apples overlapping and a little cinnamon.

Fold over and then roll.

Looks like a rose!

With thinner apple slices it looks even better!

Place the roses in a muffin pan and cook for 40-45 minutes.

Aren't they beautiful!?

Add a little powdered sugar.

Here was a rose from last night with the thinner slices. I think they turned out beautifully! A perfect Mother's Day dessert!

Here is the dinner I cooked. I wasn't able to take many pictures because I was in a hurry to get it all finished and out the door. Asparagus, always a favorite!! Prosciutto and rosemary wrapped chicken thighs (I never thought I would make a Rachel Ray recipe, but when something looks good it doesn't matter where you get the recipe), a new recipe I'll be making again!! And Pioneer Woman's roasted carrots, not pictured is the amazing vinaigrette you add on top right before serving that has fresh thyme, rosemary, dijon mustard, garlic, a little white wine vinegar, and olive oil. I also picked up some dinner rolls, if you have guys whether brothers, husband, or dad, you know the rolls are important!

My brother Joel (who lives in Mississippi), my amazing dad, my beautiful Mom, me, and my baby brother Jesse (who is a traveler and almost never in the States anymore).

40 years of marriage! Words can not express how grateful I am to them for their perseverance and love for each other! Without them I would be nothing! I love them to the moon!

I am so blessed and grateful for my family and the sacrifices they all made to pull off a wonderful evening!!

Greatest Cinco De Mayo Snack Ever!!

I signed up to bring snack for Santi's preschool class this week, Wednesday and Friday. I was trying to find a fun idea and was coming up short...until I changed my search. I decided to look up fun cinco de Mayo snack ideas (although it's actually today). I found THE CUTEST idea ever!!!!

I have already apologized to Santi's teacher for the sugar overload. I normally try and keep the sugar to a minimum. Years ago I was a teacher at Santi's preschool and know what 12 3 year olds on sugar looks like!!! Its not pretty y'all! You can literally time 2-3 minutes after sugar intake....insanity!!!

But this HAD to be made...wait for it....

Oreo, icing, coconut, cinnamon candies, sprinkles, & oreo filling. The cutest tacos ever!!!

Start by taking apart golden Oreos and scraping the filling out.

Cut about 1/3 off one cookie, then place the cut one on top of the other to 

get the exact same size for both, cut again.

Place all the Oreo filling in a zip lock and cut a small hole in 

a corner of the bag, this will be the sour cream.

Fill each taco with chocolate icing, or taco meat.

Dye some coconut green to make lettuce.

Add tomatoes and cheese, otherwise known as cinnamon candies and yellow, orange and white sprinkles. Honestly separating the sprinkles was the hardest part of this whole endeavor!

Add the sour cream, Oreo filling, or you could always buy white frosting.

The end.

I mean seriously though! I am going to have to find another reason to make these again! They are just too darn cute to only have once a year!!!

Santi got to be my tester! He approved!

I plan on being a much more responsible mom on Friday!

Santi chose these cute butterflies for the other snack.

He ate everything except the celery....I tried ok!?

Feliz cinco de Mayo!!