Mini Pita Tea Sandwiches

I'm obsessed with all things mini. Mini automatically equals cute. When I saw the mini pitas at Trader Joe's the first time, I restrained myself. But when I went back a week later & saw them again, I had to get some.

I'm also obsessed with hummus. Any vehicle that will get more into my mouth makes me happy. When I started thinking of what to do with the mini pitas, the two automatically had to go together.

It seemed like they needed a crunch, so I added a slice of zucchini in each pita. They were the perfect size!

So cute! So crunchy! So good!

We had ours with Cranberry Green Tea, an apple, bell pepper slices & popcorn. It was a cute little Sunday lunch. The Bup felt very un-manly but somehow he got over it and ate every last bite. 

I packed more in my lunch box for work the next day. They're very transportable & make a packed lunch feel more elegant.

Mini Pita Tea Sandwiches

Serves 2

10 mini whole wheat pitas

3-5 T hummus, any variety (I used Roasted Red Pepper & White Bean Basil)

1 small zucchini, sliced into 1/4" thick coins

Carefully open the pitas by cutting around the edge. Place a slice of zucchini into each pita and top with 1-2 teaspoons of hummus. Close pitas. Enjoy!

Wine, Food & Kittens

 

Happy Monday! We took a mini-trip this weekend to visit Aunt Connie. Despite the dreary weather, we still did a lot of visiting, playing with kittens, eating, wine tasting, & shopping.

First up, playing with her new kittens, Martha & Quinn. They have SO much energy & were into everything. We left them home to get into mischief while we did some shopping.

As usual, we went to Lowe's, Trader Joe's & Roots. After last weekend's trip to Trader Joe's, I didn't need much, but I didn't have to look hard to find a few things. :-)

For dinner, we went to El Azteca. The service was super prompt, almost to the point of speedy. We were in & out in less than an hour. Plenty of time for a margarita, though!

I enjoyed the Plato Salud which was mixed veggies, Mexican rice & black bean soup. The veggies were cooked just the way I like them & were nice and crunchy. I usually feel like Mexican is too laden with cheese & glop, so this was perfect for me!

Both restaurants we visited this weekend had an entire vegetarian section on their menu! Yay for ethnic cuisines!

The Bup got the Vegetarian Dinner, which was a vegetarian burrito, cheese enchilada, bean taco, beans & a side salad. His was the more stereotypical cheesey dish.

Connie got Crab & Shimp Enchiladas which came with Mexican rice & refried beans. The picture got washed out cause of the lighting in there, sorry.

After dinner we went back to the house to play with the kittens some more. Martha was on the prowl, ready to attack!

They were both interested in the Bup's tools & our Trader Joe's bags. Any cat that likes Trader Joe's is a smart cat!

He just couldn't resist & had to climb right up and sniff around.

They loved my pants with the drawstrings at the bottom. So cute!

Look at that picnic spread Connie prepared for us! We had veggie pitas, hummus & pita chips, pesto penne pasta, and green bean chips.

Elk Run was the first winery we visited. 10:30am wine tasting, anyone?

It hadn't started to rain yet, so we were able to step into the vineyards for a quick peek. The bunches of grapes were almost black & so pretty.

As we were driving down the road from Elk Run to our next stop, we spotted a sign for Loew Vineyards. I'm so glad we turned around & went to check it out! Their wines were very good & the people were friendly.

Our favorites were the Country Classic, which has blackberry undertones, & the Apples & Honey, which was just that - apples & honey flavored. When we both agree on wine, it must be good! The Bup likes dry & I like sweet. Maybe our palates are maturing...

Our final winery stop was Tarara Winery. It was by far the most sophisticated & established of the 3 stops.

They had gorgeous stonework & nature surrounding the tasting room. This area even smelled like wine, and they were just storing their equipment there. It was neat to see it & compare the crusher in size to Dad's. Their crusher sure will smash a lot of grapes! 

We started out with 2 white wines, both on the drier side. The Charval 2009 was billed as the white wine for red wine drinkers because of it's layers of flavor.

I actually drank all 4 tastings of the dry reds! The real question is, were they that good, or had I already had a lot of wine? I'm going with a combination of the two. :-)

Our plan was to have a picnic on the deck at Tarara, but the rains spoiled that.

We ate in the car, but that didn't stop us from having a gourmet feast! My pita had mushrooms, lettuce, carrots, bell peppers, and hummus in it. On the side, we had penne pasta with pesto & green bean chips. Everything was delicious!

A little bit down the road was a tent that was making and selling kettle corn. Connie had been there before and remembered that it was amazing. This bag was HUGE! It went all the way to the floor of the car. We're still eating away at it, and it's the best we've had.

We headed to the Leesburg Outlets & then to dinner at a little Thai place near Connie's house. I got the Tofu Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce (YUM! I could eat that with a spoon.) & Coconut Soup.

Yes, that's how I feel, too. So sleepy!

Thanks for the fun time & company, Connie!

Papaya Lessons

Sometimes I get excited about stuff and then don't read the fine print.

Example: I think I'm buying a papaya for $.99 and instead pay $3.49. Apparently that sign said $.99/lb, NOT $.99/papaya. I picked the biggest one I could find, because hey, I should get the maximum food possible if it's all the same price.

I do really well with my grocery budget, almost every time I go to the store. My first stop is always the produce section and I buy anything on my list and also other fresh stuff that looks like a good deal. Hence my buying a papaya.

Since then, I read that papayas are one of the most common fruits to be genetically engineered, so I probably won't be buying any papayas in the future.

But we are enjoying this one! And hopefully next time I learn from this and read the signs more closely.

A Quick Visit

On Sunday we went to visit our aunt down near Baltimore. That's Shea, her kitty. As usual, this involved the Bup helping with some handy-man work around the house and us all going to Trader Joe's, my all-time favorite grocery store! This time around we tried a new grocery store, Roots Market. They sell whole, natural foods, mostly organic and local, and are socially and environmentally responsible. I loved the selection and variety.

For lunch, we went to their partner restaurant, Great Sage. They serve vegan food and bill themselves as "Organic Green Cuisine." I wanted to try EVERYTHING. I got the Roasted Vegetable Wrap. It had eggplant, sweet potato, hummus, and plenty of other delicious veggies inside. I wasn't excited about the chips, but the wrap was so filling I didn't need a side. Plus we shared an order of the Almost Raw Vietnamese Spring Rolls. They were so good that they were gone before I got a picture. And they came with peanut dipping sauce. I may or may not have licked the bowl clean... :-)

The Bup got the Great Sage Chili and Brown Rice with Fresh-Baked Cornbread. Talk about a HUGE bowl of food! He was happy.

Aunt Connie got the Thai 'Chicken' Salad. It had soba noodles mixed in with the veggies. It was her first experience with chicken-that-isn't-from-an-animal and she enjoyed it. We joked about Tofurky and whether this should be call Toficken. Bad joke, I know.

A lot of people shy away when they hear 'meat substitute.' The Bup and I have tried many varieties. The only product we've tried that is 99% identical to meat is the Smart Grounds Original Veggie Protein Crumbles. We've made soups, sloppy joes, and taco salad, all with great success. Our other standby is Tofurky for sandwiches. Deli meat has too many issues that I won't go into. But Tofuky is a great substitute.

I wish there were restaurants like this in our area!

Reasons

I have to admit, I started this blog simply because I wanted to try it out. I love reading other people's blogs and always feel like I learn something. They also motivate me! So many accomplishments, so much time spent to do things that can seem intimidating. But somehow when someone writes about what they did, it's inspiring!

Hopefully I can share the many things I learn as I go along. My passions are mainly for the many aspects of food: nutrition, gardening, health, cooking, baking, eating...  But I'm also passionate about taking care of the earth and my future children. Usually, the two are intertwined.

Grocery shopping is a great example! Now, I LOVE grocery shopping. I'm not one of those people that goes in and out like it's a chore. I need plenty of time. Something might catch my eye! I can stand there looking at the pasta, trying to decide: which is the best deal?, should I use a coupon?, get a different kind?, which is the best for my  health?, is the organic worth it? All that without buying a single box. I just like to look and learn. It drives my husband crazy. (Added bonus? Perhaps!)

Usually my decisions end up being made based on the price, on whether I can get it in organic, on whether it has high fructose corn syrup in the ingredient list (like BBQ sauce), and on packaging.

All this, just because I found a great company, Blue Avocado, that promotes and sells using your own bags when you shop. I love their bags! For now, though, I'll have to keep using my freebies. They all work the same, I suppose. My local grocery store gives 3 cents back for each bag we bring to use! I'd do it anyway, but I love the incentive. I wish more places did that! Like Aldi, where they charge you just to use a bag at all. Very smart, even if they don't do it primarily to be eco-friendly.