You all are so amazing and wonderful! Over 11,000 visitors, with over 20,000 views, from more than 100 countries. Thank you very much. I appreciate you looking up my recipes, sending me emails, sweet comments, and answering your questions (as best as I can). Wishing all of you a blessed day. 
From our family, to yours, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy and Blessed New Year.
May you all be blessed in abundance with great health, happiness, prosperity, joy, and laughter, and may you all have food, shelter, water, and clothing to fulfil your needs.
Have a wonderful week!
Wishing all of you a very healthy, happy, prosperous, and joyous new year. Surround yourself with people that love, honor, and respect you, all while helping you to be a better version of yourself. Be good to yourself.
Kalo Mina (Happy Month in Greek). Wishing you all an abundance of great health, happiness, prosperity, and lots of joy in the month of February.
Yesterday was Clean Monday, and the beginning of Orthodox Lent, today is Fat Tuesday (for those celebrating Mardi Gras), and tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. Wishing everyone a safe and blessed Mardi Gras, and please remember, don’t drink and drive. May you all have a blessed Lenten season.
Καλό και Ευλογιμένο Μήνα σε όλους ! Happy and Blessed Month Everyone !
Wishing all of you an abundance of great health, happiness, and prosperity.
All of my life, I have heard of how the Mediterranean Diet helps people live longer. This morning, on the national news, Maria Shriver did a news special on longevity of life in Greece, as well as other places around the world, that she will be featuring. This brought me back to my childhood days, and EXACTLY to how my parents use to cook for us. They featured bean stews made from scratch, potato salad with vinaigrette dressing (no mayonnaise or sour cream), the use of olive oil, and one thing in particular, eating the greens that can be picked on the side of the road, called dandelion greens.
I was so embarrassed and didn’t understand how special these greens were, as I was growing up, because my mom and I would LITERALLY pick them in the grassy fields in New Orleans. In fact, those who didn’t understand, would make fun of us. When she asked for a knife, while visiting my fiance’s parents, I was like, “oh geez, this guy is going to think we’re weird”. Lol. Such a “Big Fat Greek Wedding” movie moment. Lol. Well, now we know. Those leafy greens can offer lots of great vitamins, as well as a delicious salad, especially when cooked and mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, a little salt, and pinch of pepper. This is my mom’s favorite. ♡
Hope you find these and get to try them one day. I snapped a picture of the segment on the morning news.
Have a blessed day everyone!
Look at these unique napkins. The package says they’re conversation starters. There are over 200 sayings. Pretty cool!
What a fun meal! Pita pizzas! Everyone can make their own. All you need is your favorite sauce, shredded cheese, and your favorite toppings. Spray a baking pan with non-stick cooking spray, and bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 10 – 15 for regular crust, and 15 – 20 minutes for thin crust. It’s that easy, and everyone gets their favorite. Make sure to cool for about 5 minutes, cut into 4, and enjoy!
Thin Crust Whole Wheat Pita Pizza, using whole wheat pita bread, cut in 2 half rounds, creating 2 circles, topped with your favorite spaghetti sauce, meat sauce, marinara sauce, etc., your favorite cheese (we used shredded Italian blend and Mexican blend), chopped pepperoni, onions, and bell peppers. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes, or until crust is crispy.
The Regular Crust Pepperoni Pizza. White pita bread, topped with meat sauce, Italian and Mexican shredded cheeses, diced pepperoni, and baked in pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 10 – 15 min, or until desired crust is obtained.
Regular Crust Supreme Pizza, with meat sauce, assorted cheeses, pepperoni, bell peppers, and onions, baked in a pre-heated 375 degree oven, on a non-stick sprayed pan, for about 10 – 15 minutes.
Assorted White Pita Pizzas. Yum and fun!!!! ♡
The Grecian New Orleanian will begin carrying chilled, 1 pound loaf pan sizes of Moussaka, at the Camellia City Market in Olde Towne Slidell, Slidell, LA, made the low carb way, with eggplants, meat sauce, bechamel sauce (has a little flour in it), and cheeses.
Moussaka is one of the most tedious Greek delicacies, but the reward is amazing. It takes several hours to make it, so that’s why I’m sharing with my Moussaka lovers, that I will start having these chilled, in the 1 pound size loaf pans, ready for you to heat in your oven and eat.
Here are a few pictures on the preparation and assembling of a Moussaka. If you would like, you can also add sliced and fried potato rounds to your Moussaka, but I’m leaving them out for my market visitors who like this dish, but want it lower in carbs. Here we go…..
1st, you have to coat your sliced eggplants in salt for a couple of hours, so that all the bitterness can get out (brown water comes out, see my blog on eggplants), then squeeze/pat dry each circle.
2nd, you pan sear each circle until toasty looking, on both sides, on medium heat, in a little oil. Be careful, oil splatters sometimes. Just because toasty, doesn’t mean they’re cooked, make sure middle is edible.
3rd, put your eggplants to the side to cool, and you can stack them as you go. You can also drain on paper towels, but make sure they’re not a towel that shreds easy if wet. Make sure it’s a good quality towel that won’t leave pieces of paper on your eggplant.
4th, you make your bechamel cream sauce by combining flour, butter, milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and adding yellow of eggs to your sauce, by tempering them first. I don’t have a recipe for this, because you have to make as much as you need and want, according to how much Moussaka you are making, so look for a thick bechamel recipe online. If you ever make too much, save it, and add cheese to it, and make macaroni and cheese, or add broth, and make a creamy soup. You have to whisk this sauce for a very long time, to get the lumps out, so don’t get discouraged. If you need to, use an immersion blender to break up any flour balls.
5th, you add yolks (save your whites) to your bechamel by tempering first, and then you add to your sauce and whisk. This holds the Moussaka together.
6th, you make a meat sauce (I have one posted in my blog), and let it cool, and add egg whites to it, and mix well. This will also hold the Moussaka together.
7th, gather all of the Italian cheeses you would like to use.
8th, you create an assembly line, including pans sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. You can pre-heat oven to 350 degrees at this point. Assemble your lasagna with eggplants, sauce, cheese, eggplants, sauce, cheese, and top with bechamel cream. Depending on thickness, should bake for about an hour. Place a sheet pan underneath your pan, in the oven, to catch any boil-overs.
9th, carefully remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes to set. If you serve it out of little individual pans, you don’t have to worry about it setting, but if you’re wanting to cut it to serve pieces, then it needs to cool. Stores great in the refrigerator.
And that’s the creation of a Moussaka. Don’t want to make your own, and you’re local, then come get yours at the Camellia City Market in Olde Towne, and let me do the work for you. Thank you for visiting my blog. Please share, and have a blessed day.
I’m humbled. Over 12,000 visitors, with almost 22,000 views, in over 100 countries. Thank you so much for letting me share my recipe blog with you. Have a blessed day everyone.
Took me a while to do this step in cooking, so I’m sharing a few things with you that I’ve learned from my mistakes, to get me to this point of tempering eggs. So, what is tempering? In cooking, tempering is when you introduce a hot and cold liquid together, but you have to work quickly to introduce your hot liquid to your cold one, so that your end results are what you are looking for.
In this picture, I made the popular chicken soup, called Avgolemono Soup. Now, I’m going to sound like the dad on “My Big Fat Greek Wedding “, because I will break down the word, for those that don’t know the meaning. “Avgo”, means “egg”, and “lemono”, means “lemon”, there you go. Lol. 
If you try and fail, let me make you feel better; I’ve tried for over 20 years, so please don’t give up.
So, in this pot of soup, I made 2 quarts of soup (8 cups), and I used 3 eggs, that I beat with the juice of 2 1/2 medium seeded lemons (I like my soup lemony, so you can start with 2 lemons, if you prefer less lemony).
Choose a large enough container that will allow you to put your eggs, lemon juice, and give you enough room for at least 3 ladles of soup. I don’t want to waste time trying to position my liquid that I’m holding and working with, so I used a glass measuring cup with a handle. I beat the eggs with the lemon juice using a knife. Of course, be careful. Once your eggs have become one with the lemon juice, it’s time to temper your eggs. Will kind if look like the drink, egg nog.
Remove your soup from the heat. This is where I have messed up. IF YOU HAVE AN ELECTRIC STOVE, PLEASE DON’T LEAVE YOUR SOUP ON THE BURNER THAT YOU JUST COOKED IT ON. CAREFULLY, MOVE IT TO ANOTHER BURNER. I used to think that because I turned the heat off, that my burner was okay. Not so. Your soup will keep boiling, giving you an end result of scrambled egg soup. You want a smooth texture soup.
To your egg and lemon juice mixture, carefully ladle 1 scoop of soup, and quickly beat with a fork or knife. Do this same step twice more. Now, take your egg, lemon juice, and soup mixture, and add it to your pot of soup, and mix well. No cooking it, after this step. The heat from the soup will cook your eggs. If you succeeded at this, congratulations, if your soup came out looking a little scrambled, it’s ok. Still edible. Maybe use an emulsion blender to cream up your whole soup. I try to save my mistakes, make something else with them, and try again. Good luck! Please send me your pics. Thank you for reading, and I hope this helps you succeed in your goal of using this technique.
Pronounced “corn mock shoe”, here is my recipe, in a lighter on fat, and lighter on sugar version, for this popular Louisiana side dish. It’s filled with a tasty 10 vegetables, and loaded with vitamins. This will give you 6 to 8 servings. The longer the flavors marinate, the better it tastes. Refrigerate any leftovers. Here we go…..
The Corn Maque Choux by The Grecian New Orleanian
The Corn Maque Choux by The Grecian New Orleanian
6 whole ears of fresh corn, or 12 halves, already cooked, and corn cut off of the cob
1 large onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
3 celery stalks, sliced
6 green onion stalks, sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 handful of fresh parsley, minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper
If you like it spicy, large pinch of cayenne pepper, also called red pepper (don’t touch your eyes after)
Dash of paprika
3 individual packets of steevia
3 tablespoons butter ( or canola or vegetable oil, if fasting)
Non-stick skillet
Prepare all of your ingredients first. Place all ingredients in skillet. Cook on medium, stirring constanly, for about 15 minutes. Yields 6 – 8 servings. Enjoy as a side dish, or as a meal. Can also be added to soups. Please like, share, and rate this recipe, if you made it, and liked it. Have a blessed day.
How do you say it in Greek?
Cantelope – Peepóny (pee-pony)
Watermelon- Karpoúzi (car-pouzi)
Banana – Banana
Orange – Portokáli (port-o-collie)
Apple – Meélo (me-low)
Grapes – Staféelia (sta-feel- ya)
Pineapple- Ananá – (a-na-na)
My high school friend, re-posted this status, on her Facebook today. Her mother wrote it, 1 week before she passed away from cancer. It’s a beautiful reminder to appreciate life.
“Good morning my beautiful children my precious grandchildren and my adorable great-grandchildren. To be able to wake up and see the sunshine everyone takes that for granted just to have the pleasure of opening up your eyes every morning you should be on your knees thanking God for everything he has given us and will give us. And one of these days I will be spending time and a different place. Anyone that can say they don’t want to go to heaven they do not know what they are talking about and yet here I stand ordeal thankful for one more chance to say I love you all my Facebook friends every everyone in my circle I love you all thank you for helping us with our go fund me account it’s giving me enough time to be no excuse yet it’s never enough time but the time that God has given me I will treasure it and look at my people I love deeper and harder and love them more. This is not the time to fuss and argue and fight this is the time to be family. And the ones that are not family love them as much as you can. Everybody has faults Overlook them it’s up to God to judge it is not up to us to run down anyone it is not for us to judge treat people with love and kindness and you will be returned with such I love you all have a great day.”
Καλό Μήνα!!! Happy and Blessed Month Everyone! May you be blessed in abundance with great health, happiness, prosperity, and lots of joy. ♡♡♡♡
My daughter LOVES sushi rolls. I went WAY out of my cooking comfort zone today, and I prepared rolls for my daughter, and of course, I splurged, too. My husband even tried some, and enjoyed them.
What food(s) have you ever prepared, that you felt out of your comfort zone? I would love to see your pictures.
I, personally, messed up so many times, but I was determined to do my best. Here are some pictures. Enjoy, and thank you for reading. ❤
Congratulations to my husband, for using my recipe blog, for thr first time. I’m not feeling well, so I asked him to make me Chicken Soup, using my recipe blog. So proud of him. He cooked a double batch, in our turkey roaster oven. Way to go!!!
