Shab's Pita Stroller is a takeout place by my house. I have lived here for over 4 years, and I just started going to Shab's a few months ago. What was I thinking?? They have a lot of good vegetarian options. For some reason I can't resist ordering the Falafel Pita Stroller, pictured here. This one was a little dry, next time I'll have to ask for more tahini sauce. Sorry for the bite marks- I had already started devouring it by the time I remember to take a picture. Ha!
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I love having alternative burgers like veggie, soy, or salmon. I tried this salmon burger recipe and it didn't disappoint- it was flavorful and easy. I baked mine instead of the recommended pan-frying, mainly because I already had the oven on & didn't feel like standing over the stove.
My burger is topped with lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo & mustard and served on a Martin's Potato Roll. Pictured here with roasted root vegetables on the side. Matt and his mother both grew up making these cookies as kids, they are from an old family recipe courtesy of Grandma Ottavia. As with many family recipes this one has not been recorded anywhere, so here is my version. My favorite part of baking these cookies is that Matt still goes crazy with the sprinkles, just as he did as a kid.
This is definitely not a healthy eating recipe, but a delicious holiday splurge! Cookie Ingredients: 1/2 lb softened butter (2 sticks) 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 lb powdered sugar 1/2 tsp baking soda 2 eggs 1/2 tsp salt 3 1/2 cups flour, + more for rolling 1 T milk 1 tsp vanilla With a spoon, mix powdered sugar & eggs together. Doing this will coat the sugar & keep it from flying all over your kitchen. Add butter, and beat with an electric mixture until well incorporated. Add in everything else except the flour, then beat again. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well well until it forms a dough. You'll have to abandon the mixer & use your spoon when adding the flour, it's too thick at this point. Refrigerate for about an hour or two, or even overnight if you prep the dough ahead of time. When you're ready to make cookies, flour your work surface and roll out half your dough. It should be a bit thick, your cookies will get too hard if the dough is thin. Now the fun part- cut with your favorite Christmas cookie cutters & place on a non-stick foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes. Do this in batches until you've used up all your dough. Once the cookies are cooled, move on to the icing. Icing Ingredients: 1/2 lb powdered sugar milk 1/2 tsp vanilla Put powdered sugar in a bowl, then stir in vanilla & splashes of milk until it forms a spreadable icing. Spread icing over cooled cookies, then top with a variety of your favorite holiday sprinkles. When it's cold & windy outside, there is nothing like a classic bowl of chicken noodle soup to help take away the chill. My sister & I both add corn to our chicken noodle; we remember eating it that way as kids. This recipe makes about 4 hearty servings.
I am a big advocate of free range chicken, so I make sure to buy organic free range chicken and broth. I used 1 box of low-sodium broth & 1 box of regular sodium broth- this seemed to be the right amount of saltiness. If you use 2 boxes of low-sodium you may need to add salt to taste. Ingredients: 2 cartons (8 cups) chicken broth 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast 4 stalks of celery, chopped 8 or 10 baby carrots, chopped 2 big handfuls of frozen corn 1/2 package of wide egg noodles (I use Smart Taste brand) pepper to taste Heat a little olive oil in a large soup pot, then sautee the celery & carrots until they start to get tender. Add corn & cook for a minute to take the chill off. Pour in both cartons of broth & bring to a boil. Add the chicken breast, then cover the pot & simmer for about 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken and add the noodles. While the noodles are cooking, shred the chicken & add back to the pot, then season with pepper. Once the noodles are tender, the soup is done! Got this smoothie idea from my sister, Rachel. The key is using coconut milk instead of regular milk- I bought SO Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk out of the refrigerator case.
Ingredients (for one): 1 frozen banana 1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks 1 cup coconut milk 1 scoop vanilla protein powder 1 tsp honey Blend is a strong blender until smooth & creamy. When I saw this recipe- "Meatiest Vegetarian Chili"- I knew I had to try it. I love chili, and wanted a no-meat version that tasted like chili, not vegetable soup. This seemed to fit the bill.
I took one of the reviewer's recommendations & used soy sausage instead of regular tofu. I also used a combo of black & pink beans, and cut the recipe in half since I'm only feeding a family of two. Pictured here with avocado, sour cream, & cheese. Sometimes (OK, a lot of the time) I really crave avocado so I think of different ways to incorporate it into my meal. This scramble could also be made as an omelet, assuming you have better omelet making skills than I do. I ate this scramble with a big potato that I diced & sauteed in olive oil.
Ingredients (for one serving): 2 eggs, mixed with a splash of milk 1 plum tomato, chopped 1/4 an onion, finely chopped 1/2 an avocado, mashed up with cilantro & lime juice Sautee onion in a little olive oil, until tender & beginning to brown. Add in tomato & eggs, scramble until eggs are set. Season with salt & pepper to taste, then top with avocado. My first Pad Thai experience, ordered from Golden Chopsticks in Harrisburg. My only complaint was that the menu said "shrimp and vegetable" so I was expecting more veggies. After doing a Google search I learned that this is typical Pad Thai- noodles, bean sprouts, onion, shrimp, peanuts, & a combo of delicious sauces. I like to have more veggies with dinner, so I'll have to try the all-veggie version next time instead of the shrimp.
My nutrition advice if you're ordering this kind of takeout is to not eat the food directly from the container- put it in your typical dinner dish you use at home. You can see my rice or pasta portion size pictured in my Cabbage & Shrimp with Peanut Sauce. When I put my usual amount of Pad Thai in my bowl, the takeout container still looked completely full! In fact, I was really hungry & ate about a bowl and a half. The picture you see here is the takeout container after I ate my dinner. This one takeout order will be enough for 3 meals, not one. My first holiday baking of the season! Okay, this is more of a fall dessert, but it counts as a Christmas treat if it's in a festive snowman wrapper, right? I have no idea where I got this recipe, it's written by hand on a piece of paper that I've had for years.
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, spoon into 12 muffin cups, then bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Ingredients: 1/2 c brown sugar 1 t baking powder 1/4 c oil 1/2 t baking soda 2 eggs 1 t cinnamon 1 1/2 c pumpkin 1/4 t salt 1 1/2 c flour (I use white whole wheat) 1 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice 1/2 c dark chocolate chips This was such a good dinner. I followed this recipe almost as written, only I used a little honey instead of sugar. Served these veggies with a piece of baked salmon topped with BBQ sauce.
Roasted beets n' sweets + BBQ Salmon = yummy! |