With a Side of Hope

Good Morning!  Happy Tuesday!  Today is really my Thursday because of the holiday.  Tomorrow is my official last day of work before Thanksgiving.  I’m very happy!  My turkey has finally started defrosting.  I’m glad about that.  I was getting a little worried because it felt like a rock yesterday.  When I checked it this morning, it definitely started to defrost.  Yay!  The turkey is the most important part of the meal.  I didn’t want it to be frozen when I start cooking it. 

All day yesterday, I kept thinking about what I was going to make for dinner.  I had an entire dinner planned out for Mike and I and I was just dying to get home to make it!  I haven’t cooked a new recipe in a while and I was ready to try new recipes out. 

I’ve always been infatuated with the Greek lifestyle and culture.  Greece looks like an amazing place to visit.  I remember watching the movie the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 when one of the girl’s stories takes place in Greece.  It looks so tranquil and the food is healthy and delicious.  The basis for the greek is living a good life and living a healthy lifestyle.  I like that and I think it’s important. 

My love for the Greek also deepened when I watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  In this movie you see the Greek lifestyle and culture.  More importantly you see a Greek family’s love for delicious food and for togetherness.  You are watching a girl trying to plan her wedding in the midst of her Greek family filled with traditions and cultures.  The family is so close and there are so many members of her family.  Watching it made me want to have a large family one day.  I never had a big family and I hope that I get the chance to start a big one in the future.  Maybe not as big as that family!  But I would like a big family.

I think all of the healthy living in the world and the healthy eating wouldn’t mean anything if you didn’t have family and friends by your side.  Part of living the good life is being surrounded by those who love and care about you.  Those will honor and support you through anything.  Another part, I think of living a good life is having those family dinners.  Trying to sit down with your family every night to enjoy dinner together. That is so important to me and I want to make that a priority when we have kids.  Do you always sit down to dinner with your family together?  Growing up did you have family dinners or did everyone eat at different times?

I think those moments of having family dinners are the ones where you can share what happened during your day.  You can connect with one another and make memories that will stay with you forever.  To me, that is living a good life.

So last night, I wanted Mike and I to take part of what the Greek do and since I’ve never had Greek food before, I thought I would try my hand at making it.

First up, was our appetizer!

Skinny Spanakopita (adapted from Slender Kitchen’s recipe)

Ingredients:

24 wonton wrappers
10 oz of fresh spinach
1/2 cup reduced fat feta cheese
2 garlic cloves, (**I used jarred)
1/4 onion, chopped
Cooking Spray

Salt and pepper to taste
Small Bowl of water

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Heat the cooking spray over medium heat and add the garlic and onion.  Once it becomes fragrant, add the spinach.   Saute until just tender.

3. Place the spinach mixture in a bowl and mix in the feta cheese.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

4.  Lay out the 24 wonton wrappers on two large cookie sheets sprayed with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. Fill a small cup with warm water and place it near the cookie sheets.

5. Begin assembling the spanakopita by placing a spoonful of the spinach and feta mixture in the center of the wonton wrapper. Wet the edges of the wonton wrapper with the warm water and fold over and press down to close. Once you have stuffed and sealed all the wonton wrappers, spray with cooking spray.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes until crispy. Serve on their own or with marinara sauce for dipping.

Ingredients

Wonton Wrappers

 

Spinach stuffing mixture

 

Wontons ready to be stuffed. They are laying on a cookie sheet that I sprayed with cooking spray

 

Stuffed and Ready to be baked!

 

Skinny Spanakopitas

Look how crispy!

Beautiful Greek Salad

 

 

Such pretty colors

 

 

My salad bowl

 

Loving the Greek life

 

 

Not bad for my first try at Greek food!  Mike absolutely LOVED the spanakopita!  I did too.  I am not a huge feta cheese fan but I really loved it cooked with the spinach!  It was delicious and it came it out perfectly crispy.  I think it would make an excellent appetizer when company is over the house.  It wasn’t difficult to make either. 

 

The Greek Salad came out really good too!  I know that it’s missing some of the traditional aspects of a normal Greek salad such as onion but we are both not fans of onions in our salad.  So I omitted them.  I think the dressing was light and refreshing.  It was the perfect meal for us to share together.  While sitting there eating our Greek style dinner, I couldn’t help but think of how amazing it would be to visit Greece one day and actually try authentic Greek food.  I think I have found a new love for another type of cuisine!  Have you ever been to Greece?  Have you ever tried Greek food?  What is your favorite Greek dish?

 

As the Greek say, Opa!  Have a great Tuesday!

 

“As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You too can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway“

 

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