Macaroni with a Spinach and Feta sauce

Ingredients:
300g raw macaroni or other tube like pasta (rigatoni, penne etc)
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 large onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic chopped
1 bunch (500g) raw spinach - washed and stalks cut off
100g feta cheese
3-4 tablespoons breadcrumbs

Method:

1. Boil pasta in hot water and cook according to instructions and taste.
2. In a pan, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 3-4 minutes on MEDIUM until the onions are translucent.
3. Add the spinach. Stir and allow to cook until the spinach is cooked. Do not evaporate all the water.
4. Blend together the spinach mixture with the feta until it is smooth.
5. In a baking dish, put the cooked pasta at the bottom, cover with the spinach and feta mixture. Lightly dust the breadcrumbs on the top.
6. BROIL under a LOW flame for about 3-4 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Omar Khadr - Give me a break!

I had so much to write about after the trip to Alberta - but all that will have to be saved for later. My rant today is about Omar Khadr.

Now, for some bizarre reason, people in Canada seem to be supporting Omar Khadr's return to Canada and his rehabilitation. What nonsense!!! For those who are not familiar with his case - here is the wikipedia version of it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Khadr

Here is a child who was caught in illegal activities in Afghanistan. Shipped off to the Guantanamo Prison and presumably tortured under Bush's crazy henchmen there. I am sorry for that - very sorry. No child should have to go through that. But this is not an ordinary child - this kid was blowing up innocent people! His family openly supports Al Qaeda and who are close enough to the nut Mr. Bin Laden that he attended his sister's wedding. The only reason his family is back in Canada (a country they openly hate and want to destroy) is because they need the medical benefits for one son who was paralysed following a battle in which his father was killed and because the Canadian govt is providing extensive security for them. We are already spending millions trying to keep this single family alive- too much in my opinion.

And now- they want to spend MILLIONS more on rehabilitating Omar Khadr into Canadian Society. What BULLOCKS is this!!!! This family owes us millions of dollars - they have totally mooched off the system, openly professed hatred towards this country, are hands in hands with people who want to blow the rest of us (including a fair number of Muslims who live here) to death and now WE have to pay to bring him and rehabilitate him on OUR LAND!!! How is this even remotely sensible???

Of course as a child he shouldn't have been put in Guantanamo - no one should have been put there. But the US did and it's a US problem now. Why do we want to bring people like that back to stay in our country - let them remain on US soil and let the US deal with them! More importantly why are we wasting valuable tax payer money on a kid who will eventually go back to fundamentalist Islam anyway. It's even more absurd how they want to rehabilitate him - they want him to live in a mental health facility in Toronto (taxpayer dollars and a valuable space in the facility gone), then have his religious views re-conditioned by keeping a full time imam for him (cha-ching - more taxpayer dollars and as a Muslim I do not think there exists anything like a non-religious Imam - he needs to be totally removed from religion - not immersed more in it) - they don't want to allow him to live with his family - but they want him to live with his maternal grandparents. What is the difference????

I feel bad for this kid - he is a product of his environment - but this is something that the US created and I don't see why Canadian taxpayers should be paying to keep terrorists on our soil!

There are so many better ways to spend all the millions we have already spent on this ungrateful family:
- Millions could have been spent to fight the gangs that are showing up everywhere and get those kids on the right track.
- Millions could have been spent on hiring new police forces and training the existing ones so we are better at fighting gangs and destroying them.
- Millions can be spent in after school programs to prevent kids from joining gangs.
- Millions can be spent to increase "Canadian" influence in mosques and madrassas so that no more Omar Khadrs take place.
- Millions can be spent on providing immigrant women with easy access to education so that they break the religious fundamentalist cycles they seem to come to this country with.
- Millions can be spent to ensure that every kid in Toronto has access to summer camps.
- Millions can be spent on creating better medical facilities at Sick Kids Hospital.

Instead, we are wasting our tax payer money by throwing it on the Khadrs. Shame on us!

Double Standards

I almost burst out laughing when I read the first thing Mr. Obama did today after he won the nomination was "reach out to Israel"!!! Mr. Obama - you should be reaching out to the millions of Americans who did not vote for you - not sucking up to the brutal regime that routinely tortures innocent Palestinians. Here is something that both Hillary (I mention her only because her speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) today) and Obama may not know - Israeli's are NOT voting in the US elections - it's the Americans and you need to focus on them! No one cares what is happening in Israel when they can't afford to pay the mortgage on their house, are loosing jobs to China and can't afford to buy a loaf of bread for their family!

Yes of course Israel has the right to exist - the UN created it. But the UN also created a whole bunch of rules on how to treat people in (illegally) occupied lands - the Israelis seem to pick and choose which rules to follow and the US who have so far shown zero commonsense in their Middle East policy allows them to get away with plain murder. What they do in the occupied territories is worse than apartheid and any leader with a conscience should be trying to put a stop to that instead of perpetuating the hatred and bloodshed that is so prevalent in the region.

Hillary - who I am now calling Looseary - went on to talk about how Israel has a right to self defense. Of course it does! EVERY COUNTRY has a right to self defense and an obligation to protect it's citizens - INCLUDING THE PALESTINIANS!!! The problem is when self defense becomes mindless violence as is the case now and when the medieval system of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth becomes one Israeli life for 10 Palestinian ones! Innocent children on both sides are dying and everyone should be putting a stop to that.

She talked about her commitment to getting the kidnapped soldiers back - and I agree - they should be returned - but so should the hundreds and thousands of innocent Palestinians locked up without trial in Israeli prisons. They talk of violence at the hands of the Palestinians - but what about all those kids who were killed because of Israeli's trigger happy IDF and the sufferring of millions of people under Israel's draconian self existence rules. A leader is NOT one that perpetuates stereotypes and violence - but one that reaches out beyond all that to create peace and fraternity where none existed. Mrs. Clinton, your speech today shows you are neither a leader nor a humanist - there is no place for you in a modern international world- please take your dirty game of politics and leave with whatever integrity you still have intact.

And Mr. Obama - get your act together on Iran - you talk about doing "everything" to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons - but shouldn't you also be stopping the illegal nuclear weapons of Israel? The double standard is sickening! I do not think ANY country should have any weapons that can wipe out civilizations. And what exactly does "everything" mean - are you now going to bomb out 65 million Iranis because of claims of "weapons of mass destruction"? Get real Mr. Obama. Have a policy that is sensible. Iran has the right to protect itself as well. Look what happened to Lebanon when the Israeli's decided to bomb out Beirut - you tell me if they were better prepared Israel would not have thought twice about it. Focus on a policy of zero nuclear weapons and force all countries to destroy all their weapons - that is the vision the world needs today!

The Hillary Woes

Over the last 48 hours about 4 women have accused me of being unfair to Hillary Clinton. One of them even went so far as to say I was perpetuating female stereotypes! I assume this out pour is somehow linked to Hillary finally beginning to realize that she mathematically cannot win the nomination. While I am terribly flattered that people think my blog could have had anything to do with changing the course of history and could somehow have caused millions of somewhat intelligent Americans to vote away from Hillary, the truth is I don't have quite that large a following yet.

I did provide fashion advice to Hillary on her website telling her to please never wear those granny puff sleeve jackets she wore on one event. Maybe that was the wrong advice? Maybe Americans could simply not see a tough woman in a pant suit. (I still haven't figured out what the big hulahoo was about the pant suit - it's comfy, you don't have to worry how you sit, you don't have to worry about a run in your stocking, and no one can see your panties - perfect if you are running all day long).

And while there are people who believed that Hillary has done the right thing by staying in the race for this long. I have this to say.

1. If anyone thinks they should go the extra mile to prove their point - do it! I am the last one for holding back people and Hillary staying in the race this long has opened up a more realistic view of Obama and kind of put him on the spot more. Something I am grateful for. (I will discuss Obama at a later date - today is reserved for Hillary). However, staying in the race, also brought to light the several inflated and false entries on Hillary's resume which may have turned more voters off her.
2. Money - For the love of God - if this woman or any of the men standing for elections really had the goodwill of the Americans at heart - they would have spent money that they raised on school programs, medical benefits, arts programs etc - which is a far better way to spend the funds than having their plasticky smiles pasted all over the country.
3. Florida and Michigan. Rules are rules. It was TOTALLY WRONG of the Democratic Party to even consider changing the rules during the game. It is irrelevant whether this helped Hillary or not. What is relevant is that this is another example about a woman who is a sore looser but who is powerful enough to get the rules changed even when she is on the downside.
   

Do I think this is a woman who can make the world better? NO - not after she said she wanted to obliterate Iran from the earth! A land that has 64 million people living on it! While I think both she, Obama and McCain are going to continue to kow-tow to the terrorist state of Israel who routinely brutalizes and tortures innocent Palestinians, I am inclined to believe that of the 3, Obama is the least likely to press the nuclear button and destroy more of our civilization.

Do I think a woman should be President of USA? ABSOLUTELY! But just because a woman stands for the White House, it doesn't mean I have to support her. Women in power is not a new thing for most of the world. Only in close minded America is it still such an oxymoron. The President of USA has unfortunately too much power, and what I would like is someone with common sense, integrity and passion to have a shot at that seat. I did not find this in Hillary.

Hillary has fought a good fight. She has fought hard and when the time comes, I only hope, that she will find it in her to provide support to Obama. Do I see her as a good Vice President? NO. The most powerful woman in North America would never be satisfied in second place.

Diaper rashes - the scary side of motherhood

The scariest thing I have experienced in the 13.5 months of motherhood is diaper rashes. We are in the throes of another one now. These horrible things come out in the bum area and they spread so darn quickly that before you know if you have a baby that resembles one of those monkeys with the red bottoms you see in the zoo. I have to tell you, of all the things about motherhood - this is the scariest.

Baby M seems to be inclined towards getting diaper rashes. She got her first one at a few weeks old, and since then we've been pretty good at observing and checking her out. As anyone with a "rashy" baby will tell you, Canesten and Zinc Oxide are always with us. This time, the rash was so bad, that our pediatrician started us on 1% Hydrocortizone. I found this particularly unnerving. I mean, here we are with a child whose skin and body is fragile and absorbent and now we have to put steroids on her to cure this redness!

I've done so much research about these rashes now, here's a run down on all our attempts.
Washing: We tried to wash her after every poo, and with Baby M holding the official title of "poo master", this means she gets washed about 7 times a day. I can't say this has helped with the rash, but it has given her a cold. I figured the reason it hasn't helped with the rash is because in our technologically advanced diapers, we really can't tell easily if she has pee-ed a bit, you can only tell if it's a full "pee diaper". So she just kind of sits in the pee and so one really knows.

Changing diapers regularly: This is the one mistake we made in India. She probably had a little pee diaper and since we couldn't tell, we let her stay in it for a hour or two much too long. Add the side effects of tropical summer heat and you've got a perfect recipe for a rash. As soon as we realized this, we have been changing her diapers regularly - at least 10 times a day, but it just doesn't seem to get any better. We've even figure out how to change them in her sleep so she doesn't wake up.

Soap: Of the one thing that has totally confused me about baby products, it is soap. Now, I live under the belief that if a product is used on 100 million babies, as in the case of Baby Johnson baby soap, then it's ok to use on my precious little angel. Well, it turns out that it's not quite so simple. My cousin suggested moving from Baby Johnson to Dove (not the infant soap, the regular one) because it's milder. I did that and for 1 day it seemed to be better, but now, it's the same as before. Today, my cleaning lady, who in my opinion should have her own Health Talk Show on TV instead of cleaning my apartment, because of the incredible knowledge she has (a talent totally wasted because of sad circumstances- but more of that on another blog), told me I should fore go soap all together and use only water. If I really want to use something, use cornstarch mixed with water. I have to admit, this also makes sense. But, am I just giving up one set of chemicals in soap to move to another set in cornstarch.

Au Naturel: We know that the best way to get rid of a rash is to leave her au-naturel. But Baby M loves water (she hasn't been introduced to juice yet) and so along with being a poo-master, she also is a pee-master. While we could leave her open for an hour or so, leaving her open the whole day is simply not a hygienic possibility. I really wonder how people who have small untrained puppies deal with their bowel movements since I've never really seen a puppy with a diaper. There are some valid points to learn from them.

Cloth diapers: Our last hope. Luckily, I no longer have to wash and clean and iron (Thank heavens for this!) - they have perfectly respectable diaper services that do this for you. However, it's no longer as simple as just getting a piece of cloth and tying two pins on it. You now have to get a diaper cover. The reason for dealing with cloth diapers is the breathability of cotton, however, with the covers made of plastic or nylon, it kind of limits the breathability of it all. To make it even more complicated, my pediatrician has recommended AGAINST cloth diapers.

Which leaves me to wonder - What in world am I supposed to do?

Fish cooked in a delicate Vegetable Broth

Ingredients:
2 filets of fresh fish with skin
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 large clove garlic
1/2 inch piece of ginger
2 carrots finely chopped
2 leeks finely chopped
100g celery root finely chopped
4-5 stalks asparagus
bunch of fresh spinach

Method:

1. Take 500ml of water in a pan. Add ginger and garlic. Bring to boil for 10 minutes on Medium High flame. Keep covered.
2. Remove ginger and garlic. Add soy sauce. Add vegetables except asparagus and spinach. Cover and cook on Medium until the vegetables are cooked. Remove 1/2 of the vegetables from the pan.
3. Add the spinach and asparagus. Add the fish skin side up. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Serve hot over steamed rice and make sure to pour the broth sauce on top as well.

Rappini with Sesame Seeds

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:
1 large bunch Rappini
2 teaspoons light brown sesame seeds
1/2 lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt to taste.

Method:

1. Cut the stalks off the greens and wash thoroughly.
2. Heat the frying pan. All the olive oil to it. When oil is hot add the Rappini. Be careful as oil will splatter - it's best to use tongs to add the greens to the oil.
3. Stir the greens. Cover and cook on Medium High for 4-5 minutes.
4. Remove in a dish. Add salt, lemon juice and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
5. Serve right away.