Friday, July 29, 2011

Spanakopita Recipe











Ingredients:

3 boxes of frozen chopped spinach .99 cents each = $2.97 (I recommend using 4 boxes)
1 small block of feta 8 oz $3.99 (I recommend using 2 blocks)
Dill Weed $1.59 (I bought the Badia brand which is in with the Spanish foods their spices are super cheap)
Pam cooking Spray (I used both the olive oil kind and the butter flavor) $2.89 each
2 large eggs $1.49 for a dozen
Athens Phyllo Dough $3.69 (only used 1 roll out of 2)
2 bunches of scallions or green onions (whatever you want to call them) $1.18
1/2 container of cottage cheese $2.79
1 bag of Success boil in bag rice (do not cook!)
salt and pepper to taste
splash of lemon juice
olive oil



So for $20.59 I had way more than enough to make a large pan and have certain items extra (Pam, eggs, dill weed, phyllo dough). At the restaurant I go to a small piece of spinach pie is $4.99 and I am guessing in the pan I just made there is probably anywhere from 9 to 12 pieces depending on how you slice it (possibly even more).



If I bought 9 pieces it would cost me close to $45! So this is a very good savings!


****Put frozen spinach and phyllo dough in fridge overnight to thaw.******



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.




Drain as much water from spinach as possible. This is my least favorite thing about spinach.



Wash scallions, chop both white and green parts up nice and small. Saute them in olive oil, sprinkle some dill weed (depending on your taste), a splash or 2 of lemon juice and salt and pepper.




After the scallions seem nice and sauted add the drained dry spinach and mix together and cook some more. To get all the flavors combined. Let cool.




In a very large bowl crumble up the feta. Try to smash it up as much as possible. Add 1/2 of the container of cottage cheese (I wasn't so sure about the cottage cheese but you can't tell). Though next time I will add 1 more pack of feta and 1 more pack of spinach. Combine feta and cottage cheese until they are mixed.



To large bowl of feta cottage cheese mixture add the spinach mixture. Mix really well. Eat some now if you must.



In another bowl crack the eggs and stir like crazy. Now add this to the spinach and cheese mixture. Mix everything up really good.




Open up 1 bag of boil in bag rice and mix throughout the spinach and cheese mixture. This will help to absorb any extra moisture from the spinach. This is actually the way they serve it at that restaurant. I was not aware they were being sneaky. lol




Now the fun part. Working with the phyllo dough. But I think I outsmarted it! I used Pam instead of brushing melted butter with a pastry brush on each sheet of it. I was scared that it would not turn out right but it seems and tastes just fine to me.




I used an 8x12 sized pan. Spray pan all over the inside and up the sides of it.





Unwrap 1 of the rolls of phyllo dough. Take 1 piece (it is very thin) and place it inside the pan. Spray pam all over it. Take another piece and do the same. Each time 1 piece at a time with Pam sprayed on it. Do this with about half of the roll (say 10 to 12 sheets?). Now add your spinach mixture evenly all on top of the sheets of phyllo dough. Now do the same exact thing with remaining sheets making sure to spray them. I read that you should score the top sheet to make things easier when cutting. Go for it if you want to. Spray top sheet as well.





Now throw it in the oven and check it at about 15 minutes to get an idea. Turn it around if needed. Put it back in for another 10 to 20 minutes depending on your oven. It should look pretty and golden. I highly recommend adding the rice because of the moisture of the spinach. My phyllo dough did not at all taste doughy and I am guessing this was the reason.





I have heard so many horror stories about how hard it is to work with phyllo dough. I didn't think it was bad. Of course I didn't make anything fancy I just layered them. I plan to make a Greek apple pastry with the remaining phyllo dough in a few weeks. I will again layer them in a pan.

Calorie and fat content: I have no clue! Just eat it and enjoy!!!








MIA

So a lot has been going on for me lately. Hence the reason there really hasn't been too many posts. I had a death in the family which I am still trying to push in the back of my mind so I don't have to deal with it just yet. I also have been getting things squared away for school. I should be starting school in August as long as nothing goes wrong prior (knock on wood). Some other things have been going on that is not at all good so I am trying to remain hopeful.

I have gotten a lot of things accomplished in the past few months and even if no one else is I am very proud of myself. Everything I have been doing and am doing I am doing for my son. If you have been following you know that my family is well not the most caring nor considerate to say the least. So at times it can get very difficult.


As I type I have a spanokopita in the oven. I have never attempted to make one before so hopefully it turns out yummy. I love spanokopita so much and so does my son. I made a huge pan full (no triangles for me). I didn't really go by a recipe (I rarely do) and just got ideas from various recipes I found online.


Depending on how things go in the next couple of months I hope to have more posts up each week. I have a lot of ideas brewing around in my head so it should be good.

I haven't been going shopping much (due to lack of funds) and the best part? It hasn't really effected us since we have been stocked up from previous sales.

Now I just have to stock up on the following:
Pur faucet refills
vacuum bags
cotton balls
rubbing alcohol
filters for my air purifier
filters for my dehumidifier
filters for my window unit ac


The timer just went off. Wholly molly! It is SOOOOOO GOOD!!! I will take some pictures of it and post later and give somewhat directions and kind of a recipe. lol

It seriously tastes like this one I like at a certain Greek restaurant.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

magicJack

So recently I had an issue (I think a storm fried them both even though I have a surge protector) with both my modem and my Vonage phone adapter (router). I was able to go to the cable company and get a replacement for my modem. So I was once again able to go online but I could not get my router to work. I sent my router back today and Vonage is sent me out a replacement today (which I should get in a couple of days - free of charge). I have been with them since 2004 I believe.




Well, my cell phone which is Virgin Mobile which is a pay as you go type (which is great for emergency use) costs 25 cents a minute and 7 cents a minute after that. I like it for the fact that I use it for emergencies (calling AAA for instance) and that I only have to add $20 every 3 months. But if I have to use it to call the cable company when my modem is not working it sucks cause I am on the phone for at least 20 minutes but again that normally does not happen to often. Well, of course this week was a week I needed the use of a phone constantly (I am not a phone person at all so I can go without a phone for long periods of time (days etc.). Unfortunately, I HAVE to make an EXTREMELY important call and today was trying to make it and all the wait times were anywhere from 38 minutes up to 60 so minutes! So yeah my cell phone so isn't going to work for that. So I went and bought magicJack from Office Depot today.



That was back in May and I have been using it ever since. I did get my Vonage back but I haven't gotten around to hooking it back up. Though that is because I have a hard drive to installed and replace ethernet adapter and I didn't want to have any issues. A friend was supposed to install both but has been MIA ever since so now I have to try and do it. The ethernet thing should be simple it is the hard drive that is making me nervous.

Not saying that MagicJack is 100% perfect though. You do have to actually be online while using it. I would advise against browsing online while on the phone because it will make voices kind of echo and sound funny. But as long as you just talk while on the phone and don't play around on your computer there is no issues. If you are not online your calls will go to voicemail. For basically 40 bucks a year it is a good investment. Of course if your internet is not working well then you are out of luck.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Ebates

Ebates has online rebates and coupons for over 1,200 stores! This is one of those stores that you go through their link to whatever shopping site you choose and then you get cash back on your purchase. They also have coupon codes available on their site to help you spend less. I have been using them a lot since I signed up and have already had 2 checks sent to me. They also offer specials where they double the cash back for certain stores.

They are free to join and they generally have a sign up bonus of $5 to $10 when you sign up. Go here for details.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Gift Card Rescue

Here is a way to buy gift cards for cheaper than their face value. You can also sell any gift cards that you do not want!