Fried Eggs with White Cheese (Beed ma'li gibna beeda)

Ingredients:

* 4-6 slices hard white cheese

* 4-6 eggs

* cooking oil or spray

* salt & pepper

Instructions:

*  Slice the cheese 1/2 inch thick & fry in skillet, turning & frying on both sides.   Remove the cheese to one side of the serving dish, keeping warm.  Break eggs and fry in the same fat.   Serve the eggs alongside the cheese and season with taste. Garnish as desired.

*  Here in Europe, I used fresh cheese from here, which I found at Kaufland, Billa, Carrefour, since Gibna or local Egyptian cheese, is not available here.

Cucumber Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:

• * 2 can chickpeas, drained
  
• * 1 cup chopped tomatoes ( or more if you like tomatoes)
  
• * 1/2 cup minced onions
  
• * 1/2 cup sliced celery
  
• * 1 cucumber sliced and chopped
  
• * 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  
• * 1 teaspoon dill weed
  
• * salt & pepper
  
• * 3 teaspoons red wine vinegar
  
• * 1/2 cup olive oil
  

Instructions:

* Mix oil & vinegar well and set aside.
* Combine all other ingredients and toss with the oil and vinegar mixture. Chill before serving and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

Colorful Stuffed Sweet Peppers (Filfil rumi mahsi MaAa lon)

Ingredients:

3 large sweet peppers, green, yellow, orange or red

2 Tb. unsalted butter

2/3 c. corn kernels off the cob or canned

1 small onion chopped

¾ lb. Italian sausage turkey links, sweet or hot

2 c. crumbled corn bread (approx)

¾ c. shredded pepper jack cheese*

Instructions:

• Heat over to 350F. Slice peppers in half from stem to bottom and remove stem. Also remove seeds and membranes, and set aside.
• Melt butter in skillet. Add onion, corn and sausage, breaking the sausage apart with a spoon or spatula, and cook until the sausage is no longer pink. Add crumbled corn bread and a little water if mixture seems too dry.
• Divide filling among peppers evenly and top with shredded cheese. Bake peppers at 350F, covered, for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and peppers are tender.

* If pepper jack cheese is unavailable, use shredded mozzarella and add hot peppers to taste.

My Favorite Arabic love song

 Bismillahi Rahmanu Rahim

I don't know with which one to begin because I have so many Arabic songs that I love so much and I love to listen over and over again!

Allah, soon ... so soon the time will come! I can hardly wait for the moment when a bound will be tight forever!

Every love song that I love is connected to a precious moment from our love story: Kadreyah and Karim :) AlhamdulilAllah!

The moment when I first saw my husband...

...the moment when he first saw me...

...I remember the moment when our eyes met each other first time...

Our story goes on with so precious moments... so special and indeed... so rare between couples... sometimes I was thinking that it is not fair and I was asking myself, I was asking my beloved husband that how come all those beautiful things? And if I really deserve all the goodness and all his precious love for me?... I was thinking to this because meanwhile I have these things in another corner of the world... someone is suffering... another one is hungry... many are crying... much more are hurt and destroyed... so how come that I was receiving so much grace from Allah?

Than my beloved one was all the time reminding me that for every good thing, for every good thought, for every good eyes look and for every simple kind fact, for every blessed word... for every moment when we stop a moment to see the others and for every second when we take for our "precious - busy" time to give a hand to a person in need... we receive back much more that could we think... and much more that could we imagine... even if it comes later, over the time... Allah never forgets and HE gives us every little thing in the right moment with a right way!

Also, in hard times Allah never gives us more than we could take or that we could stand...

I love you my beloved husband!

Our story continuous with a very beautiful part... the part when Allah send us on the same road life and put us in the road of engagement...

Marriage what is one of the most beautiful dreams we had from the moment we discovered that we are in love with each other! ALHAMDULILALLAH!

I know that I have reached home! You are my home, my beloved husband!

And now check out what is behind the story :)))))))))) the real one without nothing hidden :D...

Karkady - Hibiscus Tea

Karkady is one of the most popular and unusual drinks that you can find in Egypt. Made from the dried, dark red petals of the Hibiscus flower.  It is served in many of the popular cafe's throughout Egypt. The best Karkady comes from Upper Egypt. Be sure to bring home a bag of dried petals from Aswan or Luxor.

* 1 cup hibiscus petals

* 2 cups sugar

Pick over the dried petals, removing any stems or leaves.  Soak the hibiscus petals in cold water to cover for 1-2 hours. Transfer the petals and water to a pot and bring to a boil. Remove the pot immediately and strain the liquid through filter paper.  Return the petals to the pot, add fresh cold water to cover, and repeat as above.  Repeat the process until the karkady loses its reddish hue.  Then, discard the petals and sweeten the juice while it is still hot.  Serve cold, although it is a pleasant drink when served warm in the wintertime.

It is possible to purchase hibiscus tea bags from other lands as a substitute, but the intensity of flavor will not be the same. I have found hibiscus tea bags from Europe in the international food department of a very large supermarket.

Raspberry Mint Cairo Cooler

I feel kind of thirsty... so how about a nice refreshment drink?... especially because the hot days of summer are almost here...

Ingredients:

1  cup fresh mint

2 1/2  cups pineapple juice

1  cup frozen raspberries

3   ounces frozen limeade concentrate, thawed

16  fluid ounces cold carbonated lemon-lime beverage lime wedge (to garnish)

Instructions:

1. Rub the mint leaves around the inside of a large iced tea jug or pitcher, then drop them in. Pour in remaining ingredients and mix well.

2. Serve with a lime wedge on the edge of the glass.

Bon apetit! 

Basboosa - Semolina Cake with Honey and Lemon

 Bismillahi Rahmanu Rahim

I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!

Ingredients:

Ingredients

Semolina flour / sooji  / rava - 1.5 cup

Butter - 1 stick or 1/2 cup, softened (If you do not want it to be very rich, you can try adding only 1/2 stick or 1/4 cup. I have tried this recipe twice and the second time I used only 1/4 cup butter).

Plain yoghurt - 1 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

For the honey syrup

Honey - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Rose water - 3 tbsp or 1 tsp rose essence

Lemon juice - 2 tsp

Method

1. Cream  the butter and 1/2 cup sugar using an electric mixer. Add yoghurt and vanilla extract. Beat until combined. Now add the semolina flour and baking powder. Mix well with a spatula until you have a sticky dough. Let it rest for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat an oven to 375 F. Transfer the dough into a well-greased 7 x 11 inch baking dish or a 10 inch round cake pan and level the dough using your hands. 

3. Bake for 20 minutes. Take out the baking dish using your oven mitts. Now cut the partially baked dough to squares or diamonds. Press an almond or any nut you prefer onto each diamond. Now return the baking dish back into the oven and bake for another 13 - 15 minutes till the edges are brown. Now put it on broil mode for 2 - 3 minutes so that surface will turn golden brown. Take it out of the oven.

4. Meanwhile combine the honey,  sugar and 2 tbsp rose water in a saucepan. Stir at medium-low heat until the  sugar dissolves and the mixture has a syrupy consistency ( would not take more than  7 - 10 minutes). Add the lemon juice and 1 tbsp rose water. Turn off the stove. When the basboosa is done in the oven, take it out using your oven mitts. Pour the honey syrup all over the hot basboosa. Cool and take out the cakes from the baking dish using a metal spatula. It tastes best after 1 - 2 days. Enjoy!!

If you note... I didn't add here no information about calories :D :D :D... I just want to enjoy this without looking to numbers :D :D :D.

Egyptian Koshary Pasta

 Bismillahi Rahmanu Rahim!

I am telling you from the beginning that I just simply adore this dish :) and I love also to made this :)! It was not a success from the beginning and I am still improving myself :D... but I love to try and to experience and I don't give up until I am not at least close to be perfect ;)...

Oh! and I have to tell you that no matter how much I love food, I still want to enter on my high school clothes and to have a healthy body and a harmony with myself! Besides, 3asady loves that his wife looks good and... sexy ;)... so pay attention to the calories too ;) and don't forget that we have to eat to live, not to live to eat! ;)

This meatless dish layers common grains, such as rice, lentils and pasta with a tomato-cinnamon flavored sauce.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked rice

2 cups cooked penne pasta

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon Ground Cumin , divided

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 cup cooked lentils

1 can (15 ounces)  crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon  Crushed Red Pepper

3 medium yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)

2 medium onions, thinly sliced (about 2 cups), optional*

Instructions:

1. Combine rice and pasta; spoon in bottom of shallow serving platter. Keep warm.

2. Whisk together vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, and garlic powder in a medium bowl. Add cooked lentils and stir to combine. Spoon over rice and pasta.

3. Combine tomatoes, water, sugar, cinnamon, salt, remaining 1/2 teaspoon cumin and red pepper in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat about 5 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally. Stir in squash. Spoon tomato mixure over lentil layer. Partially stir tomato mixture into other layers, but do not completely combine all layers. If desired, prepare crisp-brown onions as directed below and add as a topping.

*Cook onions in large skillet with 1 tablespoon oil over high heat, stirring frequently, until brown and slightly crispy, about 10 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 169, Fat: 1 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 281 mg, Carbohydrates: 34 g, Protein: 7 g

Ingredients for Hand Cream / Lotion Making

There are many ingredients commonly used in hand cream and lotion making. Here is an ingredients list to help you understand what to order and what the various items do. 

Aloe Vera
This is a plant that has thick, long pointy green leaves. If you go into most plant stores you can buy aloe vera or at least look at the plant to see what it's like. The sap of the plant is a natural healer. If you get sunburned you often put aloe vera on the burn to help it feel better. 

Vitamin E
Probably the most common vitamin found in skin lotions. Vitamin E definitely DOES affect the skin and its ability to heal and grow. However, most studies I've read say that vitamin E comes in via the blood stream - i.e. you eat Vitamin E through food or vitamins, it gets digested, goes into your blood and reaches the cells. Your skin layer on top is *dead* skin - it can't grow. So putting Vitamin E on your top, dead skin doesn't really help much. From what I've seen, vitamin E can't absorb past through those layers of dead skin to get into the cells of the live skin below. Still, if you like adding vitamin E to your skin care process, it's cheap and won't hurt. I would still make sure you eat appropriate amounts daily through your MOUTH :) That is the best way to keep your skin health.

 

Olive Oil
Olive oil has been used for thousands of years. The Romans adored olive oil and would bathe and massage with it. It is light, nicely fragrant, and really good at moisturizing your skin. I highly recommend it. Heck, you can cook with it too :).

 

Glycerine
Glycerine is also spelled glycerin and also called glycerol. Glycerine is actually used in cooking as well as in cosmetics. It's a slippery, sugar-based item that is a humectant. This means it brings in moisture, which is perfect for soaps and lotions. I personally adore creams that are made with glycerin - they are very smooth and soft without being greasy. In wine, glycerin can add a smoother mouthfeel. 

Soy Lecithin
I always mistype this as lechithin for some reason!! It is lecithin with only one H. This is an emulsifying agent. It's something that lets an oil and water mix together. If you don't have this sort of stuff in your blend, then after a few minutes you'll start to see your mixture separate out into an oil layer and a water layer. 

NOTE: If you use the caplets, they are a ROYAL pain to cut open one by one. I highly recommend boiling some water and dropping the caplets into the water. The caplets will burst, but the soy lecithin will stay in little balls and can be fished out. Or, if your recipe calls for water, just start out by using that water for this process and fish out the caplets. 

Emulsifying Wax
Sort of a two-in-one mixture. You get the wax for the smooth coating, plus you get an emulsifying agent built in. Emulsifying agents are the things that get oil and water to mix together, rather than separate out. 

Beeswax
Wax adds a nice protective layer or coating to your skin or lips. Many lip glosses involve beeswax for that reason. They keep your lips from chapping and stay on for hours. Beeswax on foot lotions helps to keep the lotion in place and to protect you from callusses. I would use more in those locations, and less in areas like the face. You probably don't need your face to feel waxy :) NOTE: You can't just nuke beeswax - solids don't melt well in microwaves. If you are using the beeswax with other oils, melt the beeswax in whatever oil you're going to use anyway. 

Unibase / Hydrophilic Ointment
There are a number of names for this stuff. In essence it is a lotiony base that helps the other ingredients all blend together well. You usually have to special order it. 

UltraMaize / Structure XL
This is a smoothing agent - it helps give your cream or lotion some texture so that it feels a little thicker and more smooth.

Glossary of Hand Cream / Lotion Terms

There are many terms used in hand cream and lotion making. Here is a glossary to help you understand what to order and what the various items do. 

Humectant
A humectant is something that helps to draw moisture in. Glycerin is a common humectant, that is used in soaps and lotions. I happen to personally LOVE glycerin based soaps and lotions - they help your skin feel soft without feeling greasy at all. 

Emulsifier
You probably know the old adage that oil and water don't mix. Of course, oil and water are two main ingredients in pretty much every lotion and cream! The first times I made lotion recipes, they immediately separated out into an oil layer and a water layer. This is because I didn't have enough emulsifier in there. The emulsifier lets those two items mix together. 

Unibase / Hydrophilic Ointment
There are a number of names for this stuff. In essence it is a lotiony base that helps the other ingredients all blend together well. You usually have to special order it (yeah, and when you find it, make sure you buy enough for the entire process of creaming).

Basics of Hand Cream / Lotion Recipes

Before you start making your own hand creams and lotions, there are a few basics that you need to understand. These basics will help you with whichever project you are working on. 

Keep Everything Clean
Modern lotions can last months because they pump the lotion or cream full of preservatives. While that's great so that the lotion can sit on the store shelves for months before you buy them - it's not good at all for your body. On the other hand, if your mixture has no preservatives, and you get some bacteria in there, it'll grow and turn your lotion green. So make sure you wash your hands, have clean bowls and mixing utensils. 

Store Your Lotion Well
For the same reason, you want to store your lotion in a way that it can last until you're done using it. Keep it somewhere dark and cool. The fridge will help it last up to a month usually, but if it's a pain for you to keep it in the fridge (or you don't like cold lotion!) then anywhere cool and dark will work out. 

Pay Attention To Ingredients
Not all ingredients are the same. Sure, distilled water is probably distilled water anywhere you get it. On the other hand, some fragrances are much higher quality than others. If you're going to be smelling this stuff all day long because it's stuck to your skin, it's worth it to go with a fragrance that smells nice rather than a cheap one that is sickly sweet and chemically. Often it's just a few cents difference, too. Do research and give various options a try. 

Follow the Recipe
It might be tempting to cut the recipe in a quarter to test it out. However, a lot of times - especially with blending and heating - you need the larger quantity so that the blades of the blender can actually grab onto and move the liquid, or there is enough liquid to heat up and blend properly. Go with the proper quantity first. If you get it to work well, you can experiment with reducing it for future runs. Usually the ingredients are inexpensive enough that it won't be a big waste - and you can always give excess to friends and family as a gift.

 Here are some creams that I made for spring for 2 special women from my life:

Hand Cream and Lotion Recipes

Paying attention to proper skin care is a very important part of every person's life. This isn't about being vain. Your skin is your body's primary defense against infection and illness. It is critical that your skin is healthy - well moisturized, protected from sun, if you are going to have it do its job for the many years you hopefully will live! Besides the more serious issues such as skin cancer, there are all of the colds and illnesses that you could avoid getting, because your skin helps to keep you safe. 

Creams and lotions can get expensive, though. Many people really want to keep their skin healthy but just can't afford the high prices of quality cream and lotion. The cheap creams and lotions are often full of junk materials that you wouldn't want anywhere near your skin! By making your own cream and lotion, you can have high quality skin care at a nice, low price. These are also perfect for gift giving! 

I will present you in the next articles the recipes for every product from below! Have fun with "creaming yourself"!

Getting Started

Basics of Hand Cream / Lotion Recipes
Glossary of Hand Cream / Lotion Terms
Ingredients for Hand Cream / Lotion Making
Why Have Different Types of Cream / Lotion
Cost Analysis for Handmade Cream

Recipes
NOTE: These are listed in the order I made them, so if you read them in order you can get a sense of what works and what doesn't work in lotion / cream making. 

Glycerine Rosewater Lotion Recipe
Glycerine Olive Oil Lotion Recipe
Glycerine Wax Cream Recipe
Glycerine Aloe Cream Recipe

Supplies
The place I get containers and lids from is from IKEA  and BayouSome or from a shop in my neighborhood that has small bottles or other types of containers hermetically closed. I don't have an affiliate plan with them (BayouSome) - I simply, honestly recommend them as having good products.

 

Aromatherapy - Aromas and Meanings

Aromatherapy is not some sort of arcane, made-up science. There are well known associations between certain smells and certain physical reactions. Smells are simply combinations of chemicals - and the body reacts to those chemicals in known ways. Some chemicals cause us to fall asleep - other chemicals cause us to become more awaken. 

In addition to these built-in reactions, we also learn reactions over time. If you grow up and always go with your grandmother to pick strawberries, and this is a wonderful memory of yours, then you will have happy thoughts when you smell a strawberry aroma. If you on the other hand always smell oranges when you go to a dentist you hate, then the smell of oranges might cause unhappy feelings. So in the end aroma reaction is a combination between the natural reactions your body tends to have and the learned reactions that you develop over your own lifetime. 

Here are some traditional aromas and reactions that most people have. 

Citrus

Citrus is a very acidic, sharp, fresh aroma. There is a reason people drink things like orange juice and grapefruit juice in the morning - this aroma tends to wake you up and refreshen you. Citrus is great for a morning wash or a mid-day rejuvinating splash. 

Lavender

One of the best known scents for calming and relaxing. There are lavender bath soaps, lavender lotions, lavender pillows, and much more. 

Rose
The aroma of romance and first love. Rose petals have been used since the days of the Greeks and Romans to celebrate love and romance. 

Glossary of Skin Care Terms

There are many terms used in skin care marketing. Learn to know which mean something and which are marketing-speak! 

Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHA)
A skin texture assistant, helps smooth out lines and wrinkles. 

Beta Hydroxy Acids (BHA)
This is used in many anti-acne medicines. Salicylic Acid is a BHA. These help clear out pores and reduce inflammation if your skin is irritated.

Cocoa Butter
Cocoa butter is the primary ingredient in chocolate - it's the natural fat found in cocoa beans. It's supposed to be kept in a fridge - of course most cosmetics don't store in a fridge. It has natural antioxidants in it. Some feel it can last up to a year at room temperature because of the antioxidants. Cocoa butter was first extracted from cocoa in 1828. Cocoa butter has about 5 IU of Vitamin E per oz. 

Jojoba Oil
Jojoba oil comes, naturally, from the jojoba plant. This plant is found in the southwestern parts of the US. It is prized because it is gentle, very much like natural human oils.