Pasta Puteneggsca ;)

I apologize for the lack of photo but this disappeared WAY too fast to photograph and when creating it I had no clue it was going to be so stinking amazing. But I can't not document this creation.

• cavatappi noodles
• pesto sauce (i cheated and used a jar)
• half eggplant peeled sliced and diced (i cubed them)
• half a bag of sweet peppers sliced
• 1 can diced tomatoes

1. Saute eggplant and peppers in olive oil
2. Spice with salt pepper and garlic if desired for some flavor
3. After the eggplant has softened and changed color add the diced tomatoes
4. Continue cooking over low heat as the sauce thickens
5. Boil pasta
6. Drain pasta and mix pesto into pasta
7. Add eggplant mixture to pasta
8. Serve and enjoy!

Russian Vareniki - Strawberry Dumplings

If you have a wonderful Russian in your life like I have one in mine, then you may have experienced the heaven that is Vareniki yourself. If not - tune in and give it a whirl yourself!

Ingredients

• 2 C flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp veggie oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 lb strawberries

Instructions

1. Mix flour, salt and egg into a dough.
2. Add water and knead away.
3. Egg oil and continue kneading.
4. Cover bowl of dough with a towel and move on to strawberries.
5. Chop strawberries into small pieces and place into bowl
6. Add sugar to berries
7. Mix and set aside.
8. Go back to dough and break into manageable sections
9. Roll out the dough, and use a cookie cutter to pull out circles
10. Place a small amount of strawberries (you will figure amount more as you work) on one side
11. Fold half of the circle over into a moon dumpling shape.
12. Use water to seal the edge.
13. Use a fork to seal the edge.
14. Complete this process until the dough is gone.
15. Place dumplings into boiling water.
16. Once dumplings float, remove.
17. Serve warm. You can drizzle remaining strawberries and juice over the dumplings. We added vanilla bean greek yogurt as well and it was to die for!

Ugandan Rolex

One of the things you can find on every street vendor in Kampala is a Rolex. But not the kind you are thinking of. A Ugandan Rolex is an egg burrito inside a chapati. In fact, if you just drive down most any street in Kampala you will likely have rolexes brought to your car. The first time I had one of these was this hilarious story of trying one of the "not previously American approved restaurants" which turned out so fun and no one got sick. Ironically we all got sick from one of the Amer Approved restaurants lol. The owner was so excited to have Americans visit and did this whole welcoming thing - it was one of our favorite stories where we met the sweetest people. Anyhow - since most of his menu (not that there was a menu) was fish and meat, he offered to go buy us girls some rolex. Anyhow... I like to make it on occasion for my boy. Here you go!

• 1 eggs
• 1 thin chapati (or tortilla if you dont have any)
• salt and pepper
• handful of shredded cabbage
• sliced tomato
• cooking oil

1. Mix egg and salt and pepper
2. Pour egg mix into pan and fry it up on both sides
3. Place egg round into chapati and throw back in pan
4. Remove from pan and place a row of tomato and cabbage down the center
5. Sprinkle more salt and pepper and other desired spices down the row
6. Fold over one side and roll up the rest
7. Enjoy!

Ugandan Chapati

Chapati is something that we learned about a little too late when we were in Uganda. One of our last nights, friends came over with it and were like "what you haven't tried it yet?". We actually had tried it when we ate Rolex - just didn't know it alone. It is somewhere between a flatbread, naan, or tortilla bread. It is not the easiest thing to cook right - but worth it when you do.

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• warm water
• cooking oil
• finely chopped purple onions
• finely chopped garlic

1. Mix flour, onion, and salt in a bowl
2. Mix water in slowly until you get a thick dough
3. Knead slowly adding in flour as need be
4. Cover bowl of dough with a cloth and let it sit for a t least a half hour
5. Preheat skillet and coat with oil
6. Divide dough into small balls
7. Flatten balls into rounds
8. Dust chapati rounds with flour
9. Fry on each side until both sides have brown marks
10. Enjoy!

Blueberry and Goat Cheese Empanadas

I wanted to make something different for the boys to enjoy tonight. Josiah likes most things with strawberries, but I am about sick of strawberry everything, so I went with a blueberry option. And in honor of Millie and Billy we went with a goat cheese empanada for the win.

This was super easy to make and absolutely delicious to taste.

Ingredients

• 2 cups blueberries
• goat cheese
• 1 T flour
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 t vanilla extract
• empanada dough (freezer section in grocer)
• egg
• table sugar

Steps

1. defrost empanada shells
2. preheat oven to 400
3. pour blueberries in a bowl and add flour, brown sugar, and vanilla extract and mix it up
4. lay out empanada shells and use water to keep them sticky
5. place a spoon of goat cheese and a spoon or two of blueberry mixture in shell
6. fold shell over
7. use a wet fork to press edges tight
8. poke holes in top
9. use egg mixed with water to wash the top of the shell
10. sprinkle table sugar over nadas
11. bake for 15-20 mins or until browned shell
12. enjoy!

Right From The Teat of An Almond :: Almond Milk

So, with the sale of my favorite juice company that made amazing almond milk, I was on a quest to find either a company selling something similar or to make it myself. Well, since I am fond of the occasional (hehe) diy... I found a recipe I liked but didn't love, and tweaked it til I loved it and it came as close as possible to my memory of cali's yummmmmmmy almond milk. So here we go...

• 1 cup of almonds
• 2 dates
• 3.75 cups of filtered water
• 1.5 teaspoons of pure vanilla

1. Soak the almonds in water for 12-48 hours. This step was actually confusing to me as silly as it sounds so let me spell it out. I had lots of questions - in the fridge or out covered or not covered... etc...
   
   Take a cup of almonds, pour it in a bowl or mason jar, cover with clean water about an inch or two above almond line, drop in some clean salt here if you like, do not cover, do not put in fridge, cover with a dry cloth if you are worried about bugs or things getting in... Let it sit. The longer it sits the better.
2. Drain the almonds and rinse them. Place in blender.
3. Add remaining ingredients to blender, and blend until it is frothy and homogeneous. Should be a few minutes.
4. Pour mixture through cheesecloth or nutbag or fine mesh filter into mason jar or clean container. Squeeze the last bits of yummy milk out of the almond meat to get as much as possible.
5. Refrigerate for up to 5 days if it lasts that long lol. No almond teat is safe in this house.

BONUS :: Take the leftover drained meat (almond meal) and either bake it in the oven to use as a snack like granola, or store it in the fridge to use as almond flour (I like to mix it as a portion of the flour when I make homemade bread). Or if you don't have a use you can throw it out - you crazy waster!

The Ultimate Chopped Greek Salad

So my sister and I have been obsessing over this chopped greek salad at our local greek eatery (Hungry Greek) and after repeating visits there much this month I decided to try and replicate it. We absolutely loved our version - though next time I would see if I can buy their dressing or try to make my own. Also would add the beets next time that we forgot this time.

• iceburg lettuce
• romaine lettuce
• tomato
• feta 
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 cucumber
• kalamata olives
• black olives
• chopped beets (optional)
• chopped gyro meat (optional)
• potato salad (we got a small container from Publix deli)
• greek dressing ( I just got marie's greek vinaigrette but next time I would pay more attention to this and possibly buy a bottle from the local greek restaurant)
• pita (who eats salad without bread?)

1. Wash, peel and chop the cucumber
2. Wash and Chop the lettuce, tomato, feta, onion, and olives
3. Place the potato salad at the bottom of a large bowl
4. Mix together lettuce, tomato, cuke, onion, and olives in the bowl
5. Sprinkle feta on the top
6. Pour dressing over the top
7. Mix it all up
8. Toast the flatbread or pita for the side
9. Serve and Enjoy!

PS Make sure you put the collossal olives on your fingers and eat some like that