Moussaka – aka “Eggplant Lasagna”

Posted in Entrees by

I spent most of my childhood in Dallas and it’s a place that i’ve called home for so many years now. So, since I had some time off school, I decided to go visit family that I have in Dallas.  While I was there I spent some serious quality time with my Teta (Grandma, in arabic).  I took full advantage of this time and was able to get some awesome recipes from her! 🙂

My goofy little cousins!

Tonight I made moussaka for dinner and it turned out delicious.  If you don’t know what moussaka is, the best way to describe it is as an eggplant lasagna. This is one of my hubby’s favorite meals so I was pretty nervous about making it.  I know I don’t quite have the skill level of my grandma or even his mom, so expectations were high! Nonetheless, it turned out yummy!!

Just as a heads up, this took me about 40 minutes to get everything together and in the oven. If you’re making this recipe for 2 people, cut all ingredients and cooking time in half!

Ingredients:

  • 2 Eggplants
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 cup rice
  • 1 small chopped onion
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground red pepper (optional, added for spice)
  • 2 cans tomato sauce
  • 1 can diced tomato
  • Shredded mozzerlla cheese
Instructions:
  1. Make 1 cup of rice.  Allow to cook while you prepare the rest of the meal.
  2. Prepare 2 eggplants: cut off ends of eggplant, peel eggplant using vegetable peeler.  Cut lengthwise in to 1/2 inch thickness.
  3. Take each slice of eggplant and brush olive oil on both sides.  Then sprinkle both sides lightly with salt and pepper.  Place on baking sheet.
  4. Set oven to broil.  Place baking sheet in oven for 5 minutes.  Then remove from oven and flip slices of eggplant over.  Put back in oven for 5 more minutes. Then set aside.  (This is an alternative to the traditional way of making moussaka, which is deep frying the sliced eggplant.)
  5. Heat 1 tsp olive oil, brown 1/2 cup of chopped onion. Then add ground beef and brown.  Drain any excess fat.  Season ground beef with salt and pepper.  (I used approximately 1/2 tsp of each).  Set aside.
  6. In small pot heat 1 tsp of olive oil.  Brown 1/4 cup of chopped onion.  Add 1 can of tomato sauce, 1 can of diced tomatoes.  Bring to boil.  Season with 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper, and 1/4 tsp of ground red pepper.  Set this sauce aside.
  7. In a separate bowl, add 1 can of tomato sauce with 1 cup of water.  You also want to season this watered down tomato sauce with salt, pepper, and ground red pepper.
  8. Now we are ready to assemble the lasagna!  Use a 13×9 baking dish.  Brush baking dish with olive oil.  Line bottom of pan with a small amount of the watered down tomato sauce.
  9. Line baking dish with sliced eggplant.  Add ground beef on top of the first layer of eggplant.   Then add layer of tomato sauce with diced tomatoes.  Sprinkle a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese.
  10. Place a second layer of eggplant.   Spread remaining watered down tomato sauce on top layer of eggplant.  Sprinkle top of “lasagna” with shredded mozzarella cheese.
  11. Cover baking dish with foil.  Bake in oven on 400 degrees for 35 minutes. You should see some of the tomato sauce bubbling on the very bottom of the baking dish.  Remove foil and bake for 10 more minutes.
  12. Remove from oven.  Serve over rice and enjoy.

National Yoga Month

Posted in Fitness, Yoga by

Did you know that it’s national yoga month?  I recently found out and just wanted to share with everyone! If you’ve never tried yoga before this is a great opportunity to get a free one-week pass to a local participating yoga studio! Or, if you’re a yoga junkie but you’re a poor student and can’t pay to attend classes regularly, this is a great way to sneak in one free week of classes!

I’ve really come to love yoga over the past year or so.  At first I wasn’t a huge fan, but now I need it, particularly since I started dental school. It helps bring me back to a calm, relaxed state and I am able to temporarily forget about all that I’m stressed about.  Not to mention, it’s such a great, great workout. Since I’m not able to attend classes regularly, I do a lot of yoga DVDs at home.  I also try to snag every yoga deal I can find on groupon, living social, and faveroo.

That being said, I feel like this is such a great opportunity and I just wanted to share it with everyone!  So here’s the deal – 1600 studios nationwide are participating, so find one near you (that you’ve never been to, because you must be a new student to qualify) and sign up.  You will get one week of free classes!

Check it out here and go get your “ohm” on!

 

 

Bow Tie Pasta with Italian Sausage

Posted in Entrees, Pasta, Recipes by

So I have a confession to make.  You see, Mina hates sausage in his pasta. I was tired of doing pasta with a simple meat sauce…so I decided to try to be sneaky by taking the sausage out of it’s casing and I treated it like ground beef to make a pasta sauce.  So when I came to serve dinner, I didn’t mention that there could possibly be sausage in the pasta… just to see if perhaps he would give it another chance. Sneaky sneaky, I know. And  well, I failed. I suppose it was a worth a try though!  He noticed the sausage and wasn’t a fan. On a more positive note, I liked it and so did a friend who was having dinner with us!   So, if you’re a fan of sausage then I think this recipe is worth trying!

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound spicy or sweet Italian sausage (I used spicy)
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 can (15 ounces) tomatoes, diced
  • 3/4 cup tomato sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano, crumbled
  • 1 teaspoon dried leaf basil, crumbled
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 8 ounces bow-tie shaped pasta, or farfalle
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
1. Remove Italian sausage from casing.
2. Heat olive oil and brown garlic, onion, and sausage.  Drain excess fat.
3. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
4.  Cover and put on low, allowing it to simmer for about 20 minutes.
5.  Cook pasta and drain water. Mix sauce and cooked pasta together.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
I ran out of lettuce for a traditional salad, so on the side I made a cucumber, tomato (I had red and yellow tomatoes), feta cheese, and dried cranberry salad.  I seasoned it with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and some parsley.  It was delicious!

Fresh Peach Muffins

Posted in Breakfast, Dessert, Recipes by

I think breakfast might be my favorite meal of the day.  But I typically don’t get the chance to really enjoy breakfast as classes start most mornings by 7:30.  So, I try to make muffins or other quick, on the go breakfast type items at the beginning of the week.  Today I made peach muffins since I had a couple of really ripe peaches. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com but I as usual I couldn’t help but tweak it a bit.  Before peaches are completely out of season, I definitely think these are a must-try!

Ingredients: 

  • 1/2 cup light margarine
  • 3/4 cup sugar (or Splenda)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup yogurt (I had peach greek yogurt, so I used that)*
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda*
  • 1 1/2 cup chopped fresh peaches (Be sure to remove peel from peaches)
*You can substitute the yogurt for sour cream, in which case you wouldn’t need to add the baking soda
Instructions: 
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Add egg, yogurt, vanilla, and honey, mix well.
3. Combine flour,  baking powder, and baking soda; stir into creamed mixture just until moistened.
4. Fold in peaches. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
5. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack.

 

“Pigs in a Blanket”

Posted in Appetizers, Recipes, Side Dishes by

Mina was invited over to a buddy’s house for a fantasy football draft party.  This is a conversation we had several hours before the party:

Mina: They’re having wings tonight and they asked me to bring a side dish.

Me: Ok, what do you want to take?

Mina: I don’t know…what do you think about some ranch dressing?

Me: (dying laughing) Um. Well, I don’t think that constitutes as a side dish…

So, I took charge of the side dish situation and made a newer version of pigs in a blanket. They were a huge hit and now that football season is in full swing, I know that we’ll be having many football watching parties and these will definitely be made again!

Ingredients:

  • 1 package of reduced fat crescent rolls
  • 1 package chicken italian sausage
  • Slices of your favorite cheese, I used muenster cheese because that’s what I had
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Garlic salt
Instructions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Boil sausage in water for 5 minutes. Slice sausages in four equal pieces (I cut them in half horizontally and then again in 1/2 vertically)
3. Unroll dough in to triangles.   Place 1/2 a slice of cheese per triangle along with a slice of the sausage.  Wrap triangular dough around dog and cheese.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4.  Sprinkle each with a pinch of  parmesan cheese and garlic salt.
5.  Bake on 350 for about 13 minutes, or until golden brown.
6.  Dig in and enjoy!

Logans Roadhouse

Posted in Life by

Yesterday Mina and I drove to Dayton to see visit some friends: Mike, Sarah, and their daughter Sophia.  It was a last minute, unplanned trip (the best kind of trips) and we loved every second of it. They’re practically family.  We always have such a great time even though we basically do a lot of nothing.

 

Sophia and I


For dinner we went to Logans Roadhouse, and well I need to discuss the situation at Logan’s.  Have you ever been?  People just throw their peanut shells ON THE FLOOR. Please look at exhibit A:

I think I was having an anxiety attack.  Every time I saw someone throw their peanut shells on the floor I wanted to go pick them up.  Ask anyone who knows me…I’m a clean freak.  In fact  I might be clinically diagnosed as slightly, borderline OCD.  Mina was having a great time. He had a huge grin on his face every time he threw shells on the floor.  Every time he dropped the shells, it brought him great joy and me great stress.  If they had handed me a broom, I would’ve swept the floors for them…

Has anyone else ever shared this same experience?  Stress.ful.

Stir Fry Overload

Posted in Entrees, Recipes by

Yesterday for dinner my friend Mary and I made some chicken and vegetable stir fry.  I think we made enough to feed a small country.  It’s an Egyptian thing…Egyptian mothers only know how to cook for armys of people and I think I have inherited this gene.  I rarely can get the portions right.  I guess the theory is, I’d rather everyone be stuffed and have tons of left overs then for someone to walk away from the table a little hungry.  Crazy, I know.

Anyways, I think I went a little (by a little, I really mean a lot) overboard on the fresh veggies I bought to put in it: broccoli, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms, carrots, onions, zucchini, eggplant, sugar snap peans…I couldn’t help myself but pick up every vegetable I love. This combination worked out perfectly! It couldn’t have been better.

I’m not going to make an ingredient list for this recipe, because everyone likes different vegetables.  So I’ll just walk you through the steps of how I put this all together!

1 Get some rice cooking. Rice typically takes awhile to cook so I started that first.

2. Chop 1 pound of  chicken breast into cubes.  Season with 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp ground red pepper (for spice)

3. Brown 1/2 cup of chopped onions and cubed chicken in pan.

4. While chicken is browning, chop vegetables in to cubes. Add about  tsp of olive oil to lightly coat vegetables, along with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp of ginger, and 1/2 tsp red pepper (same spices that were on the chicken!).

5.  Put vegetables in separate pot on medium-high heat. Allow vegetables to cook through, mixing regularly.

Mary while mixing the vegetables, "I feel like a real housewife of Columbus."

6. Add 1/2 cup of soy sauce.  (I had a lot of veggies, so this might be too much soy sauce for you!) I used a light, low sodium soy sauce from the grocery store.  It was perfect.  Some soy sauces are too salty.  So taste yours before adding a ton to your veggies.

7.  Once veggies are cooked down and tender.  Add chicken.

8.  Serve on rice.  Dig in and enjoy!

After dinner a group of us went and saw a comedy show at the funny bone.  Mina got to see the third love of his life (#1. Me, #2. Diesel) Tommy Johngin.  He says I’m jealous of his love that he has for Tommy…but that’s not true.  I know I’ll always be number one.  Overall it was a successful dinner followed by a successful evening of friends and laughter. What more could I ask for?

Tommy's the one in plaid!

 

Chicken Enchiladas

Posted in Entrees, Recipes by

Tonight was Mexican night in the Doss household! We had chicken enchiladas and beef nachos! Yum! I even made Mina wear a sombrero throughout all of dinner and only speak in Spanish…just kidding.  Although that would’ve been pretty entertaining.

Tonights recipe isn’t all that healthy for you, but the enchiladas were full of flavor and everyone seemed to really enjoy them. Hope you enjoy them too!

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound chopped chicken
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1 (10.75 ounce) can reduced fat cream of chicken Soup
  • 1 (8 ounce) container light sour cream
  • 1/2 cup corn
  • 2 cup of your favorite salsa
  • 1 chopped green onion
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
  • 1 tsp ground red pepper (*optional, add for spice)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp back pepper
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • 1/2 cup of refried beans (or black beans)
  • 10 low carb tortillas
Instructions:
  1. Heat oil in pan.  Brown onions and chicken.
  2. In a medium sized bowl mix together cream of chicken, sour cream, corn, salsa, green onion, diced tomatoes, red pepper, pepper, salt, shredded cheeses, and cooked chicken.
  3. Warm up tortillas in microwave.  If using black beans add to mixture in bowl.  If using refried beans, line tortillas refried beans.
  4. Fill tortillas with chicken mixture from bowl.  Place filled tortilla, seal down in a large  baking dish.  This recipe makes a lot! It made about 10 full sized tortillas.
  5. Top tortillas with extra filling and extra shredded cheese.
  6. Cover with foil and bake in oven on 350 for 40 minutes.
  7. Dig in and enjoy!
We had some friends join us for dinner so I also made a plate of nachos on the side!

Stuffed Green Peppers

Posted in Entrees, Recipes by

Brace yourself for an AWESOME recipe. I made green bell peppers stuffed with ground beef and rice for dinner tonight.  Growing up my mama always made these for dinner.  She gave me her recipe and I swear I was following it, but mine never turned out as good as hers.  The stuffing always dried out.  Perhaps I wasn’t putting enough love in to it. But tonight, I had no such problem! I combined my moms recipe with a couple other ones that I found online…mission successful.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 3 large green peppers
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped onions
  • 1/2 pound lean ground beef
  • 1/2 can diced tomatoes (8 ounces)
  • 1 can tomato sauce (16 ounces)
  • 1/2 cup rice
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper (*optional, added for spice)
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I used a blend of cheddar and mozzarella)
Instructions:
  1. Cut tops of green peppers off. Chop off enough of the tops of the green peppers to have 1/4 cup diced green pepper. Remove seeds and membranes from inside of peppers.
  2. Place whole green peppers in pot of boiling water, uncovered for 5 minutes.  Remove from pot and invert on paper towel.
  3. Heat olive oil in skillet.  Brown onions, ground beef and 1/4 cup of chopped green pepper.  Drain off excess fat.
  4. Add 1/2 can of undrained, diced tomatoes, 1/2 can of tomato sauce, rice, water, salt, italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, and black pepper to ground beef mixture in skillet.
  5. Bring to boil.  Reduce heat and cover until rice is tender.  I used brown rice, so it took about 45 minutes for my rice to cook. (white rice should take ~20 minutes)
  6. Stir in cheese.  Sprinkle salt on inside of green peppers. Stuff peppers with meat and mixture.
  7. In a casserole dish deep enough to hold green peppers up right, add remaining 1/2 of tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of water. This will act as a “bath” for the stuffed peppers to finish cooking in.
  8. Place stuffed peppers in casserole dish. Sprinkle peppers with a little extra cheese. Cover and bake on 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
  9. Dig in and enjoy!

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Posted in Dessert, Recipes by

It’s been a great first day of “summer” break.  I slept in, ran some errands, had lunch with the hubby, and when I got home I tried to fight the urge to bake…and I failed.  These cookies turned out amazing! They are so so moist and chocolatey and well, they hit the spot. Unfortunately they were soo good that I’ve already eaten three…and they’ve only been out of oven for 30 minutes. Epic. Fail. Hopefully I can pawn them off on friends before I eat them all!

Side note:  You know who’s not having a good day??  Diesel.  Poor puppy has an ear infection and a hurt paw…he looks so sad and helpless.  He’s on pain killers, ear drops, and antibiotics!! Poor pumpkin. His favorite treats are ice cubes (weird right?), so he’s been getting extra ice cubes and lots of love today…. hopefully he feels better soon!

Anyways, back to the cookies. Here’s the recipe, enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup margarine
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar (or splenda!)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients using a wooden spoon. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies.
  3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. Dig in and enjoy!