Happy Valentine's Day!

Kyle was away for two weeks and of course, as soon as I started to drive to the airport to pick him up, I started to feel like I'd been kicked in the head, chest and stomach.  Needless to say, our "romantic" reunion consisted of a lot of Nyquil, cold medicine, and of course, some very sexy Vicks Vapor Rub.  To top it all off, the baby got sick at the same time as me, which resulted in the three of us passed out on the couch watching Disney movies.

Eh, could be worse.  At least we were together!

So for all of you healthy people out there, this one's for you.

Before I met Kyle, I boycotted Valentine's Day.  I hosted an "Un-Valentine's Day" party at my house with my girlfriends, or we'd go to one of my favorite places- Swanky Bubbles.  The important part was having yummy bubbly cocktails, and delicious "girl food".  You know what I'm saying, most things that you dip, such as fondue (what is with guys not wanting to dip things?  IT'S AWESOME!) or Greek food, which for some reason, most guys I know just don't like the stuff.  Since most girls I know do like Greek food, I'm going to give you a super simple way to make spanakopita, my most favorite food ever!

Many people refer to spanakopita as a "spinach pie".  I think that's just because they can't pronouce span-a-koh-peet-ah.  Spanakopita!

Don't fear the filo!  Rock out this recipe!

Spanakopita

• 8oz chopped spinach (I use frozen)
• 8oz feta cheese, crumbled
• 1Tb dill
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)
• 1/2 sweet onion, chopped and carmelized
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• Filo dough- defrosted (most packages come with 2 rolls of it.  You need one roll.)
• 1 cup butter (melted)
• 1 egg

Defrost and drain your spinach.  Toss in a bowl.  Add dill, salt, pepper, nutmeg, feta, egg, and onion.  Mix well.

Lay out 3 or 4 sheets of filo on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with baking spray.  Using a pastry brush, paint on some butter.  Spread some of the spinach mixture onto the middle of the filo, leaving about 1 1/2 inches around of filo.  Layer 3 or 4 sheets of filo on top of the mixture.  Paint butter on the filo.  Leave about 1 1/2 inches of filo surrounding the spinach mixture.  Continue to do this until you run out of mixture.  Then top the last bit of mixture with 5 or 6 sheets of filo.  Wrap it around the entire stack of filo/mixture layers, so that it is completely covered.  Tuck the filo underneath so that it looks like a nice, neat rectangle, or square.  Then pour the remaining butter on top, spreading it all over the filo.

Bake at 350 degrees.  Cover with foil for 20 minutes.  Take the foil off after the twenty minutes, and cook uncovered for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

*Note- If you are super fearful of ripping apart filo, you can cook this like a lasagne- use a lasagne pan, and just follow the directions.  Don't worry about tucking or making it look nice.  Just top it with the 5 or 6 sheets of filo, pour the remaining butter, spread it out, and bake according to directions.

In case you were wondering, this is also a great dish to use to sneak in some spinach...my daughter LOVES this!