The Real Life Cooking Strategy Guide Blog: Egypt; Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Breakfast
Almond Date Smoothie
In Ancient Egypt the typical breakfast was beer, bread, and onions. This smoothie is a modern version of the combination of foods also enjoyed by the Ancient Egyptian Empire.
Preparation Time: 10 - 15 minutes
No marinating needed.

Ingredient and Shopping List:
1 cup of Vanilla Yogurt
1 cup of Myoplex Shake, whey protein shake, goat's milk, or milk (Myoplex or whey for more nutrition)
1 cup of Pitted Dried Dates
1 cup of Almonds
2 tablespoons of Flax Meal, (or freshly ground flax seeds for more nutrition)
½ teaspoon of Cinnamon

Equipment:

Blender

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend for about 2-3 minutes.

Drink.

Note: The brain foods in this meal are yogurt and almonds.

Note: to use Myoplex or whey protein, don't put in one cup of powder, put in one cup of water and one scoop of powder.

Note: Use ½ cup of almonds if you are on a tight budget.

Lunch
Mint Tea
Fenugreek Seed Bread
Turkey Burger
Beans
Preparation Time 15 - 25 minutes.
No marinating required.

Fenugreek seeds are a popular seed used in Ancient Egyptian and modern Egyptian bread. But, for this recipe you can add any seed you prefer. Aniseeds, and caraway seeds are also popular seeds used in modern Egyptian cooking. Watermelon seeds and sunflower seeds are popular seeds to eat in modern Egypt. Other ideal seeds are, ground flax, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and any kind of squash or pumpkin seeds. If you want to surprise someone with your cooking skills, you can even add flower petals. Ideal flowers to add would be flowers that have been grown in your garden, from seed, w/o dangerous chemicals. Popular edible Egyptian flowers are hard to get. But, other edible flowers that may be added include; sunflower petals, squash blossoms, radish flowers, okra flowers, bean flowers, sage bush flowers, basil flowers, mint flowers, rosemary flowers, thyme flowers, marigold petals, purple cone flower petals, or periwinkle petals, lilacs, and dandelions Caution; DON'T EAT ANYTHING GROWN IN YOUR GARDEN or IN THE WILD UNLESS YOU ARE SURE WHAT IT IS. It is very easy to mistaken something poison for food. Just because the fruit or vegetable of a plant is safe, doesn't mean the flower is safe; some plants that have safe fruits DO HAVE POISONOUS other parts such as; potatoes, cherries, and apples.

Originally they type of wheat bread that the Ancient Egyptian grew was a spelt-like bread called emmer, but is way too hard to buy as food today. So we are just going to use the kind of wheat that Pillsbury uses. Modern Egyptian bread is made of maize, which is like cornmeal; not so hard to get, but hard to prepare.

In modern Egypt, lots of beans and a couple of boiled eggs are often served at a traditional Egyptian breakfast, and sometimes, but not often for lunch. Fava beans aka broad beans are the beans of choice. One of their national breakfast dishes is Ful Medames, which is mashed fava beans seasoned with olive oil, garlic, lemon, and salt. Fava beans are high in dopamine, a nutrient that prevents depression. They are one of the few foods in the world that can radically interfere with some medication regimes. If you are depressed, you should still seed a doctor's help, even if you are eating fava beans. Fava beans look sorta like lima beans when raw and sorta like large red beans when cooked, but they taste nothing like lima beans. So we are going to use red beans.

Most lunch dishes from Egypt are hard to make, so I've created my own inspired by Egyptian recipe. At McDonald's at Egypt they have Egyptian inspired sandwiches like, the Fish Mac, the Double Fillet-O-Fish, Chicken MACDO, Mc rabia Grilled Kofta, and Mc Arabia Grilled Chicken, Big Mac Chicken, plus several mega hamburgers like the Mega Mac. The Mega Mac is the Big Mac with four patties, instead of two patties, on a triple sesame seed bun. The McArabia Grilled Kofta is kofta seasoned with tahini sauce. Kofta is like an Asian/Middle Eastern meatloaf. Chicken is a little hard to cook, and chicken burger is hard to find, so I am just using turkey burger and tahini sauce.

Picture of Fel Medames courtesy of Abdullah Geelah

Ingredients and Shopping List:

Fenugreek Bread:
1 tube of Pillsbury Breadsticks Dough
2 tablespoons of Fenugreek Seeds, or the seed or flower petals of your choice
Turkey Burger:
¼ pound of Turkey Burger
Sesame Seeds or Tahini Sauce (Tahini can't be found at Wal-mart. It is sauce made of sesame seed paste. Sesame seeds are also another food that fights depression).
Beans:
1 can of Red Beans
½ teaspoon of Olive Oil
½ teaspoon of Garlic
½ teaspoon of Lemon Juice (from a lemon cut in half, or from one of those little bottles that looks like a lemon with a green cap).
Pinch of Salt
Tea:
Mint Tea or Any Kind of Tea

Equipment:

Microwave
Paper towel or wax paper to cover microwaving food.
Oven or Toaster Oven

Don't completely follow the instructions on the breadsticks package, we are going to add seeds (or flower petals) to the dough before baking. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 375 Degrees. Unroll dough and separate into 12 strips. Roll the dough in a pile of fenugreek seeds. Or instead you may use the seed or flower petals of your choice. The bread is going to be used to make a sandwich. Shape the dough your favorite tool or weapon from your present game or make a pita pocket bread loaf. To see hints on how to make pita bread loaf see notes. Bake for 10 -13 minutes; up to 20 minutes for the pita bread loaf.

Squeeze out or take out 1/4th of the turkey burger out of the package. Roll it into a ball, and flatten it into a pattie. Put in a small microwave dish. Cover turkey burger with paper towel or wax paper. Cook it in the microwave for about 3 minutes until done. Take out of the microwave, and put the turkey burger pattie with the bread to build a sandwich. Spread sesame seeds or tahini sauce on the turkey burger pattie. Put the top on the sandwich, or slide the turkey burger all the way into the pita pocket.

Open the can of red beans, mix in the olive oil, garlic, lemon, and salt. Put beans on the plate. Cover with paper towel or wax paper. Microwave for about 3 minutes. Add the sandwich or the pita pocket to the plate that already has the hot beans on it.

Prepare the tea. Can add sugar, Truvia, or stevia, and cream.

Eat.

Note: The brain food in this meal are fava beans and sesame seeds if you choose to use them.

Note: to make a pita bread loaf. Squeeze the breadsticks together into a big ball. Take a flour covered rolling pin or glass and roll the ball out into a flat circle. Bake in a pan for about 20 minutes. When the bread is done, pull it out of the oven and cut the puffy flat circle into two half circles. Careful its still hot. When it cools off, carefully cut a pocket into the middle of each half of circle, so that you can stuff the meat into the 2 half of circles of bread.

Picture of pita slice filled with falafel courtesy of Gilabrand at en.wikipedia

Note: You may use frozen Old Fashioned Meat Loaf Mix instead of turkey burger if you like. It doesn't come in small packages. It comes in a 3 or 4 pound package instead of a 1 pound package. It also may contain sugar.

Note: If you would like to make tahini sauce, mix together, ½ cup of Sesame Seed Paste, 3 tablespoons of already crushed garlic (comes in a bottle), or crush some 3 tablespoons fresh garlic cloves yourself, ½ teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and ¼ cup of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of parsley powder (found in the spice isle).

Note: Whole wheat flour dough is healthier for the brain than white wheat flour dough, but it is not sold at Walmart.

Dinner
Strawberry or Mango Juice
Koshari
Rice Pudding
Preparation Time: About 15 minutes.
Koshari is another Egyptian national dish. Traditional Koshari isn't made with cheese.

Picture of Koshari at served at Abu Tariq Restaurant, Cairo, Egypt courtesy of Marios

1 cup of Already Cook Rice
1 can of Lentil Soup
1 can of Garbanzo Beans aka Chickpeas
1 container of Already Cooked Macaroni and Cheese
1 cup of Canned Spaghetti
1 cup of Hot Salsa
1 tablespoon of Vinegar
1 tablespoon or one Clove of of Crushed or Diced Garlic
Pudding:
1 container of Ready-to-Eat Rice Pudding
Juice:
1 glass of Strawberry or Mango Juice

Equipment:

Microwave

Wax paper or microwave-safe lid to cover microwaving food.

Mix together the hot salsa, vinegar, and garlic. Open the lentil soup and drain the soup off. Save the soup for another meal or snack. Open the garbanzo beans. Pour the water from the garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) down the drain. Open everything else. Mix together the rice, lentils, garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas), macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti.

Pour the salsa mix over rice, lentils, garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas), macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti. Cover with wax paper or microwave-safe lid. Microwave for about 4 minutes until warm enough to eat.

Grab the rice pudding.

Pour the strawberry or mango juice.

Eat.

Note: This is a meal for sleeping time, not game time. The only brain food in this meal is garlic.

Note: You may use canned spaghetti and meat sauce instead of canned spaghetti if you like.

Note: If you are a more skilled cook, you may add chicken livers to this meal if you like. Just follow the recipe for chicken liver pate, but when the chicken livers are finished cooking, instead of cooling the livers with ice and putting them in the blender, just put them on a plate with a paper towel to drain for a few minutes, add a little salt and pepper, and eat them right away.

Note: If you can handle cooking dried pasta instead of using canned pasta, its healthier. Just boil the proper amount of water (instructions on package) and add all the pasta. When the pasta is done, pour the hot water down the drain through a pasta drainer, then add the salsa mixture. This version would be more like the traditional recipe, since it doesn't include cheese.

Note: Rice pudding and canned spaghetti usually contains sugar or Splenda (for sugar-free rice pudding). Stevia is healthier, but these items made with stevia are not available for purchase in America.

Note: Whole wheat pasta is healthier for the brain than white wheat pasta. It is sold at Wal-mart in the pasta section.