I Love Vacations

So it's been forever since I've blogged. I wasn't that great when I didn't have a baby, but now I've pretty much abandoned my blog. But to all my avid readers, rejoice, I have decided to re-enter the online blogging world now that I am getting 8 hrs of uninterrupted sleep a night.

Yes, before you do a double take, I did just say 8 hours. For all you new mommies out there, there is hope that you will once again rejoin the human race and not walk around like a zombie anymore. I'm saying mA and knocking on wood and doing everything else not to jinx myself, because Ibby has great sleeping habits mashAllah. I feel human again. I actually brushed my hair the other day.

Mommyhood has been a learning experience. I thought having a set of twin bro and sis that were 19 years younger then me would of prepared me for taking care of Ibby. Boy was I wrong. With the twins, I could hand them off to my mom whenever I couldn't handle them. With Ibby, I have nobody to hand him off to.
The first few weeks were pretty hard, especially when your OCD like me. I freaked out when he coughed and I would cry along with him when he cried. He once gagged a little bit on his vitamins and I was this close to calling an ambulance. Needless to say, I was pretty tense those first 6 weeks.

Afterwards, things got easier. I learned his cues for hunger, I realized that sometimes babies cry for no reason, and I got used to not sleeping. Sleep. Had I known how sleep deprived I would be I would of probably spent my entire pregnancy hibernating.

Nowadays, I am vacationing at my parents and its been AMAZING. The fact that there is no snow and  I don't have to do all my housework in 2 hr increments when Ibby is sleeping has been great. Eating my mom and grandmas food  has also been a pleasing factor. Seeing all my friends and having a social life is fun. Talking to someone who talks back to me during the day has been refreshing. It is a much needed vacation. I will be cooking with my grandma, so a delicious post is to follow iA. Stay tunedd!! =)

And Baby Makes Three!! ( Alhumdulilah)

I'm sure all my hundreds of readers have noticed how I haven't posted lately. Well, on December 19,2010 we were blessed with Ibby! Since then, I've had no concept of day or night, and my days have been 3 hour intervals of feeding, burping, and diaper changes. Now, almost two months later, I think we finally got the hang of it and I can attempt to post on my blog.

Lets start from the beginning, on how Ibby decided to make his appearance.

My due date was December 25th, but around the 15th I became a bit impatient. I decided it was time to get things rolling. From then on, I cooked, scrubbed, and walked obsessively everyday. Finally, on December 17th,  I started having contractions.

Friday the 17th started out like any other day. I woke up with a lot of energy and decided to scrub my house again in hopes of inducing my labor. When I say scrub, I mean no crevice or corner was left behind. The insides of my cabinets were wiped. My refrigerator was cleaned. I got on my knees and cleaned all my baseboards. Now some of you might think this is a bit much, but I was a woman with a mission. After my cleaning frenzy, I decided I needed to take a long walk to speed things up.

That night, my husband and I went to\ an indoor botanical garden. They had a special candle lit tour, which turned out to be retarded, because it was so dark we couldn't see any of the plants. But we walked all over the place, and I started feeling some painful irregular contractions. I'm sure everyone around us thought I was crazy, because I had to stop every once in a while to breath through my contraction. After that, we headed to my favorite Asian restaurant and I had a huge meal to tide me over for the next 3 hours.



All night I was having contractions, around 10-15 minutes apart. By morning they were getting more painful, but still irregular. We decided to get some shopping done. We got in the car to go buy a baby chair. I decided I couldn't go into labor unless I had my chair. Now my city only has 3 baby stores, so our options were pretty limited. We drove to Baby Depot, and my husband dropped me off in the front so he can park the car. As I was walking in, my contractions kept getting more and more painful. I had to stop every few minutes as I was walking to the back. People were staring at me, and probably thought I was some obsessed shopaholic who had to have one last shopping spree before she popped. Or maybe they were staring at me because I was in obvious pain. After what seemed like hours, I made it to the back of the store. My husband caught up with me, and we both came to the conclusion it was time to cut our shopping trip short and head home. Of course, I couldn't leave without my chair. I randomly picked a chair and went to pay, all the while having contractions.

Now comes the most annoying part of labor. How do you know when to go to the hospital? My water didn't break, and my contractions were 8-10 minutes apart. My doctor said not to come in unless they were regular. Um, hello, my uterus isn't a machine! I was pretty sure my contractions were never going to be exactly 8 minutes apart! We finally decided to head to the hospital around 8 PM, because the pain was starting to get unbearable.

I walked into the hospital, where I had spent the past 7 months coming and going to my OB appointments. When they hooked me up in triage and checked to see how far I was dilated, they said I was only 2 cm and they couldn't admit me till I was 4. I felt like the nurse had taken out a huge needle and burst the huge bubble I had above my head which was brimming with excitement about the prospect of finally having the baby. There was no way I was going home without a baby. We got up, and decided to walk around the hospital until I was dilated enough to be admitted. I needed my pain meds!

We walked, and walked, and walked. Finally, when it got to the point that I couldn't stand through my contraction, around midnight, I went back to have them check me again. I was 4 cm! Yayyyy I was finally admitted.

Now, I became slightly delusional as my labor progressed. After I was admitted I thought to myself, hey, I'm doing ok without the pain meds, maybe I can go without an epidural. I can be one of those cool moms that has the proud badge of a NATURAL BIRTH and everyone would stare at me in awe when I told my birth story. I already had the story composed in my head on how things would go:

"No it wasn't hard at all guys. I mean, I was in labor for like 2 days, but I bore through it, and somehow came up with the strength to bear the pain. Look, here's the trophy I got at the hospital for having a natural birth."

 Everyone would smile at me and pat me on the back, all the while thinking in their heads, wow she was so brave and strong.

30 minutes later, reality set in, and my delusions were swept away with waves of pain I had never experienced before. It was time for an epidural.

Epidurals are great. After I got it, I felt like I was having a sleepover at the hospital, and my labor and delivery nurse chatted with me all night. I didn't feel anything, and the rush of adreneline in my veins made everything feel suprisingly pleasant. Finally, my doctor came in to check me at around 5 AM. She had warned me that once I took the epidural, my labor would slow down. Ok cool, I can spend all day like this! When she came and checked me, I was fully dilated and ready to push.

At that moment, I was hit with a huge anxiety attack. Apparently pregnancy isn't just getting a cute basketball belly, buying tiny clothe, and having strangers smile at you and open doors. You actually have to have a baby. The fear set in, but I'm glad it was then and not my entire 9 months of pregnancy. I started pushing, and 36 minutes later, the most amazing thing I've ever experienced happened, Ibby came out and was placed on my belly.  All you moms out there know what I'm talking about. That feeling you get when you finally see your baby is amazing. The entire room disappears and all you can see is this little bundle on your chest trying to adjust to the outside world. I'll never forget that moment. Afterwards was a flurry of pictures, phone calls, and off to my room we go! To be continued.....

Chicken with Couscous Halabi Style

I think this was one of the first recipes I learned from my mom. Its an easy dish, just requires a bit of prep work.Ive been making some fatty dishes lately, so I decided to go healthy today. =)  Take out your chopping boards and sharpen those knives! One of my friends suggested to me that I take pictures of the steps as I'm cooking, so here goes. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

6 Peices of Chicken with thigh skin on
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 red pepper
2 Carrots
5 vine tomatos
1 Vidalia onion
1 can of garbanzo beans
4 tablespoons of fresh crushed garlic
6 tablespoons of olive oil
Crushed red pepper ( add as much or as little as you want, depends on how much heat you'd like.)
4 tablespoons of cinammon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of all spice
2 teaspoons of tomato paste
1 vegetable bouillon
Couscous ( Get the boxed instant couscous, and make as much as you like, just follow the instructions on the box but use the broth that were going to make, more instructions later)

First, cut up all your vegtables. You can use any vegtables you like, but these are the ones that I like to use.

 

Then, Take your garlic, olive oil, and crushed red pepper and combine them into almost a paste.

Take the chicken in a large pot and put about half of the garlic paste on top. Saute them for about 4-5 minutes on high heat.

Add 5 liters of water I know like this seems alot, but its going to cook down alot and your going to need the broth for the veggies and the couscous. Add the cubed vidalia onion, all the spices, and a vegetable bouillon.

Bring to a boil, and then turn the heat down to medium and let it simmer for about an hour, until the chicken is cooked.

Remove the chicken and put it in a baking pan. Add about half of the leftover garlic paste, and add a teaspoon of tomato paste to that. Cover the chicken with that and let it bake in 450 in the oven till the skin is crispy, your not cooking the chicken, just browning the skin.

Add the tomatoes into the broth. Once it comes to a boil, add your vegetables and garbanzo beans and lower the heat. Let your vegetables cook at a simmer. Near the end of cooking your veggies, add the remaining garlic paste. Once they are done cooking, remove them. Be careful, and make sure that you don't overcook them. Now, if your using different types of veggies, you may want to add some before others. For example, some people like to use summer squash. If you do that, you'll have to add it before the zucchini, which takes less time to cook. Play around with your vegetables and use what you like. Some people also like to add raisins near the end.

Now, follow the instructions for cooking the couscous. But instead of using water, use the liquid from the vegetable broth.I also like to add a teaspoon of tomato paste to the broth for the couscous and some salt. Traditionally, couscous is steamed, but not all of us have a couscousi pot. =)

Once the couscous is done cooking, Take a large plate. Add the couscous, ladle a some broth, and then add the vegtables. Finally, add the chicken on top. Have some of the broth on the side for people to add if they'd like, its delicious! Enjoy!! =)

Shrimp with Rosa Sauce

A couple of weeks ago, we went to dinner @ this place called Buca Di Beppo. Everytime we try to go, its insanely crowded. So this time we made reservations. I decided that the crowds must be because:

A) The food is really good
B) They have huge portions ( I was leaning towards 2, we all know how much american's love supersized portions.)

Turns out its a family style restaurant with pretty good food. So we split a salad and a pasta dish.  We ordered shrimp with rosa sauce. Before we ordered, we told the server we only want vegetarian food, ( bc my hubby is zabiha.) Much to my disappointment, the rosa sauce they made used their alfredo sauce, which has chicken stock in it. So we ended up getting shrimp with  marinara sauce. After I left, I was determined to try some rosa sauce. I researched online and made some of of own. Here's my attempt: ( FYI this is by no means healthy, but hey its ok to splurge sometimes right?)

Shrimp with Rosa Sauce

- 1 pound of cooked shrimp ( I bought some yummy pre cooked frozen shrimp)
- 14 oz of thick, yummy marinara sauce. ( Don't use anything too liquidy, like prego or something.)
- 6 oz of whipping cream
- 2 cloves of garlic smashed ( FRESH people!!)
- 1 finely diced shallot
- 1 finely diced small red onion
- some red pepper flakes to your liking
- 6 ozs of broccoli buds
- 8 oz of mushrooms thickly sliced 
- 3 ozs of  frozen peas ( Just eyeball the veggies, use as much or as little as  you like)
- 1 pound of macaroni, bow tie, penne, etc.
- 2 cups of freshly grated parm cheese.
- 2 cups of freshly chopped roma tomatos
- About 5 fresh basil leaves, chopped


Now, obviously, boil your pasta, and about 5 minutes into boiling it, add the broccoli buds and peas. Wait till everything is cooked and drain it.
 Take a large sauce pan, add some olive oil, enough to cover the bottom, and add the smashed garlic, shallot, and red onion over medium heat. ( If the heat is too high the garlic will burn.)
Let them saute till they start to soften, and add the mushrooms, a sprinkle of fresh black pepper, and some red pepper flakes.
Once the mushrooms are about halfway cooked, add the marinara sauce and the whipping cream. Add the cooked shrimp, fresh tomatos, and basil. Let it simmer on medium heat covered till the sauce thickens and reduces.
Once the sauce reduces, ( takes about 10-15 minutes) remove from heat, and add the parm cheese. Stir it in till it melts.
Mix in the pasta and enjoy!! =)

Chili Mac

Have any of y'all had hamburger helper? I think you either love it or hate it. Me, I love it. That delicious fake cheese sauce and god knows what else with a pound of hamburger is yummmmyyyyy. My mom never made it for us, but my dad made it a few times when my mom couldn't cook or was out of town. I loved it.


But I've decided to ban all preservatives from my diet, so hamburger helper is probably one of the worst processed foods you can ever eat. It's high in sodium and trans fat. I decided to attempt my own version of hamburger helper, minus the trans fat And sodium.


Ingredients:

1 box of elbow macaroni
1 pound of ground beef
1 8 oz can of rotelle diced tomatoes ( the garlic and green peppers one.)
1/2 a packet of taco seasoning
1 medium red onion
1 one diced bell pepper
1 8 oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 cloves smashed garlic
1 teaspoon of cumin.
1 12 oz package of shredded taco cheese or Mexican cheese
2 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of butter
2 cups of milk
Salt and pepper

Boil your pasta, make it al dente and drain it.
In a large skillet, add a little bit of olive oil and heat it up. Add your chopped onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Sauté over medium heat until soft.
Add the ground beef. Cook throughly.
Add the can of diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes on medium heat.
Add the half packet of taco seasoning.
Turn the temperature down to medium low heat, and let the sauce simmer a little bit for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Once it's done cooking, taste it and see if it needs salt.
Take another pot, and melt the butter on medium heat. Whisk in the flour, and then keep wisking into it forms into a paste and all the flour is slightly golden. ( your making a roux.)
Wisk in the milk, and turn the heat up to medium high. Let it come to a boil, and whisk it the entire time. ( this will take about 10 minutes.) once it becomes thick like a béchamel sauce, take it off the heat and put in about 8 oz of cheese. Stir it unti the cheese melts.
Combine the finished meat sauce, cheese sauce and pasta in a greased casserole dish. Top with the remaining cheese and bake for 20 minutes on 375, until the cheese starts to get golden and bubbly.

Enjoy!!!! :)

Lard Rant

There is a bakery in town that has delicious bread. I buy it sometimes, such as their basil pesto bread, or sun dried tomato bread. I've been going there since I've moved here. Lately, me and the hubby have been discussing the dangers of preservatives. Have you ever looked at your package of bread from the grocery store? It contains very little yeast, flour, and water. Instead it is a list of chemicals and stuff I can't pronounce. So I decided, hey let me pay a little more and I'll buy some fresh bread from the bakery. Today I headed to the bakery, and decided to ask what exactly their ingredients were in their bread.

" hmmm, I'm not really sure. Yeast, flour, sugar, water.." She pauses for a minute.

Me: " Oh that's it? That's great! I'll start buying bread here weekly."

" Oh yeah, we also put lard."

LARD?!?!? That was the first time I've ever heard of Italian bread having lard. My jaw literally dropped. I've read ALOT of bread recipes, and I've rarely encountered lard. Shortening sure. But lard?!? The only other bread I know that sometimes uses lard are tortillas.

I informed them that an ingredient like that is something one should mention, because many people do not eat pork. And a lot of people don't eat lard for medical reasons, such as hmmmm heart attacks. Needless to say, I was mad.


Oh well. I will move on from this tragedy. People! Before you buy bread at a bakery ask them for their ingredients.

Lentil Yumminess

So I recently joined a book club here in town. Minor problem, every book they've done so far I've already read. SO I haven't been even going to the book club meetings. I just got the email for next months club, and its a book that I've already read. It's called White Tiger, and it's a very gripping novel. I think I will have to suggest August's book club choice, so it'll be something I haven't read yet.

So today I will share with you my go to recipe when I can't think of anything to cook, and I always have the ingredients in my house. I call it, Mujadara. Desi's call it Kichri. Masri's call it Kuchari. Mujadara is an easy dish, but its all about getting your liquid measurements right.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of rice ( I only cook with Jasmine rice, unless I'm stuffing something.)
- 1 cup of green lentils
- 6 cups of chicken broth
- 1 large vidalia onion
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of butter

That's it! =)

- First, take your rice and soak it as your preparing everything else.
-Now, slice the onion, and take about a quarter of the onions and a little bit of olive oil and saute them in a pot. Let them get soft, and then add the chicken broth and the lentils.
- Bring the lentils to a boil, and then let them simmer. You have to check the lentils by tasting them. You want them to be halfway done, so somewhat soft but still have a bite to them. For me, it takes about 10-15 minutes to get them to this stage. If they get completely cooked, then your Mujadara will be mushy. 
- Now, strain the lentils and onions out, and save 3 and a half cups of cooking liquid.
- Combine the 3 and a half cups of broth and lentils and onions in the pot. Bring to boil, strain the rice, add some salt, and dump it in. Bring it to a boil again. Once it boils, but it on LOW heat, and cover. Cook for exactly 16 minutes.
- In the last 5 minutes of cooking the rice, take a frying pan and melt the butter and olive oil. Once the butter is melted, add the rest of the sliced onions. Saute them on medium high heat until they start to brown and become crispy. This takes about 10 minutes or more. Be sure your constantly stirring it, because it burns easily.
- Once the rice is done cooking remove it from the heat, add the contents of the frying pan ( onions and the butter and olive oil) into the rice. Stir it so that it is absorbed into the rice. Cover it and let it sit for 5 minutes.

And its done! I usually serve this with a cucumber, garlic, and mint yogurt sauce. = )