Festive Feta-Cheese Salad

It's the Friday before the Christmas Holidays officially begin, and now is the time to whip out our best recipes in preparation for guests coming in and out. This recipe, like a lot of my recipes, was shown to me by my mother. She is seriously so talented when it comes to flavours and making things taste good. She makes it at every special occasion, and it is a hit every single time.

This dish brings only fresh, whole ingredients together, and the taste is very unique. Even vegetarians would have a hard time saying no to this. Now I know how I said this salad is holiday-appropriate, but really, it's perfect for for any occasion, any season, like the summer at a nice BBQ.

Now without further delay, here is the recipe!

Festive Feta-Cheese Salad

Ingredients:

• round, 9-inch serving plate;
• 500g feta cheese, drained, rinsed and cut into small cubes;
• 2 medium tomatoes, cut into small cubes;
• 6 scallions, chopped;
• 2-3 tbsp dried oregano;
• 1¹⁄2 tbsps chilli; and
• olive oil.

Directions:

1. Spread the feta cheese evenly to create the first layer of this salad.
2. Add the tomatoes to make the second layer, then the scallions for the third.
3. Then add the oregano and chilli, and add enough olive oil so that it seeps through to the bottom. Don't be shy.
4. Let sit in the fridge for at least half an hour before serving so that the ingredients have a chance to marinate.
5. Serve!

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Ever tried this recipe? Tell me what you served it with, for which occasion, and don't forget to tag me when you make it!

Becoming a Mom

Almost six weeks in and I can finally say I have a handle on my life again. The first few weeks were quite an adjustment, what with being up all night, diving into the world of breastfeeding, and being a parent. I had waited for this for a long time. I, Alesia Dunn, was finally a mommy.

The night after having my precious baby Lukas was fairly easy—the nurses were amazing and made sure I had all the proper tools and guidance to feed him and take care of him. Once I arrived home, however, I was no longer in the comfort zone the hospital had created for me and other mothers alike. The first night or two back home were a little challenging. Not only was I trying to master breastfeeding all on my own now without anybody's help, but I also realized that my sleep, my dearly beloved sleep, would be compromised from now on, and there was no turning back.

Being sleep deprived, this one challenge took its toll on me the most. I have always loved my sleep, and so it was hard on me emotionally and physically. I remember one night in particular, I was getting so beyond frustrated with my son's crying after being up for so many hours. But an inner voice peacefully reminded me that this is a new world for him and he is probably afraid. I was a mommy now, and this is where unconditional love and affection came into play. Once I was reminded of this, that night and every other night after that became easier and my patience grew from that night on.

Another challenge I faced was leaving the house on time. I remember being late for his very first follow-up appointment at the hospital and then being late for his first appointment with the paediatrician. Why? Well, it was only when I became a mom that I found out I could no longer take showers nor get ready when I pleased. Oh no. I learned very quickly that unless baby is fed, burped, changed and happy or sleeping, I could not do all these "me" things. And then there was the extra time needed to fully pack his diaper bag (and knowing what to pack), bundle him up, secure him in his car seat. But then also remembering to prepare myself a big bottle of water filled with ice, because that is what breastfeeding had led me to crave. Did I mentioned I was always famished? Nursing did that to me too.

Then there were all the little things I always took for granted, such as running into the grocery store to pick something up quickly, tidying up the house, cooking and even blogging.

And finally, another challenge I faced was giving my body the time it needed to recover from delivery itself. I am the type of person who loves going out and being active, but even walks proved to be a tad strenuous.

In the end, I would not change a single thing. I am so happy to have found motherhood and am thankful to have this. The very moment I laid my eyes on my precious son, I knew I was in love, and I knew God loved me, for he gave me one of the most beautiful gifts one could receive. Even his beautiful little cry was mesmerizing. I love all the little things about my baby boy, like the way he searches for mama when he is in someone else's arms, the way he stares into my eyes when I hold him closely, the way he gets hyper and excited around mealtime—these are the little moments I will hold in my heart forever. And I can only imagine the fun times that are to be had in the future.

If there is one piece of advice I could give to a new mom, it is to take a deep breath and remember that things will only get better from here. Someone once told me to not forget the feeling of longing I had while pregnant. It's easy to think of the "now" when the baby is crying and won't go to sleep at 4 in the morning, leaving you tired and frustrated. But if you can focus on the days and nights you spent dreaming of being a mommy to the baby in your belly, it puts all things in perspective and helps you regain control of the situation.

-Alesia Dunn

Let's get social!

Come and join me on Instagram @ChezAlesiaDunn

What were your challenges in the first few weeks of motherhood? What worked? What didn't work? I'd love to know!

My Clever Pregnancy Announcement

Alright, alright, I know I was supposed to post this, like, ages ago, but let's just say I had a very pleasant surprise come my way. Baby Lukas was born, as a matter of fact!! And now, I finally have *some* time to blog again, after the readjustment, all the visits and sleepless nights. Here it goes!

Last March, my husband and I found out we were expecting. But since we lost our first baby at 14 weeks, we thought we would wait a little longer before announcing to a n y b o d y too soon. So we decided to make the announcement to our families over the Easter weekend, with everyone under the same roof. Oye, we were not sure if we could pull it off, but we gladly accepted the challenge, or shall I say, challenges.

Challenge #1:
Getting both families under the same roof at the same time, some time during the Easter weekend without our intentions being obvious. (If we were to suddenly be interested in reuniting both families for a "family night", I am sure someone would have caught on.)

Challenge #2:
Finding a unique way to announce our pregnancy: It had to be perfect and fun.

Challenge #3:
Keeping it to ourselves for almost a month and a half!!!

Okay. Now that you know of the challenges we faced, here is how we executed this whole thing.

Knowing that my husband's parents extended an invitation to my parents the Easter before, we thought we would somehow convince my mother-in-law (hehe, sorry!) to invite my parents again this year and then build on that. On the one hand, my husband was asking his mother if my family would make the invitations list that year and fabricated a story that my parents did not really have any plans this year, and on the other hand, I was asking my parents what they had planned over the weekend, and that they should really join us for a nice dinner and games. Finally, FINALLY, my husband and I succeeded in completing phase one of our plan. Our parents fell right into our trap!

Then came phase two of our grand master plan: Figuring out how to tell them!! Since my in-laws like playing Easter-inspired games when they host Easter dinner, I thought we could somehow incorporate a game of our own. ;) I did a bit of digging, many hours of pondering, and came up with a list of clever ideas. In the end, an Easter egg hunt is what we chose. But no ordinary egg hunt, oh no. I went to the dollar store, bought empty plastic eggs, and placed a number or letter in each one (along with a chocolate egg, of course) and hid them all in my in-laws' basement. Everyone was instructed to find one egg, bring it upstairs into the living room and wait until they were all collected before seeing what was on the inside. Once everyone found their egg, I instructed them to work together as a team and crack the code. *Note* I decided to switch letters for numbers and numbers for letters, and their only hint was D=5. My only exception was Z=0, because there is no letter "equivalent" for 0. So the numbers and letters they found were 14, 15, 22, 5, 13, 2, 5, 18, B, Z, A, E. These symbol, when arranged properly, made out the phrase "N O V E M B E R  2 0 1 5". It was soooo entertaining watching them struggle, but in the end, the tears were flowing as they found the answer. And all of a sudden, this Easter dinner became a lot more significant. It was just fantastic and so meaningful to have everyone who is important to us be the first to know that my husband and I were expecting. And now we have a sweet baby. <3