Eat Like a Rabbit

Three of the magazines I subscribe to: Parenting The Early Years, Parents, and Bon Appetit, had falafel recipes in their March 2010 issues. (Sorry, only Bon Appetit seems to have their recipe on line.) Is this some special month or just falafel screams "SPRING!"? Either way, the stories brought back great memories of our research of "The Best Falafel in the World" when we were a couple weeks away from a trip to Paris last year. The difference being, we are in Sunny Florida and no where near the Stravinsky Fountain. I knew I just had to give one of the recipes a shot.

After a little comparison, I chose the Parents recipe, and was quite happy with it. Just for kicks, I may try the others. . .or I may track down someone who has a secret ingredient that will make it out of this world.

Our first night eating local started off pleasantly in at a great little restaurant on Orange Ave. in downtown Orlando. Virgin Olive Market used to be on Clay, and I think the change in location surely must have increased its exposure. There was a nice, steady stream of customers during our entire dining experience. Virgin Olive makes the grade in a couple of areas. First, it is a fast, very friendly, and significantly cheaper restaurant than the two restaurants it's sandwiched in between. Next, it holds down the spot as a source for good coffee and breakfast in the immediate vicinity. Also, it offers healthy (generally), light, budget friendly meals on top of some unusual foodie items for sale to take home.

When Paul's folks were getting to Orlando last night, it was near dinner time. I asked Paul if he wanted to meet them somewhere and eat faster. I wasn't surprised with his choice of Dandelion CommuniTea Cafe. We have done a lot of eating there recently, including last month when Paul took a group of fellow attendees at an internet conference there for dinner on a Saturday night. The restaurant is a great choice for individuals who are vegan or who are allergic to dairy or wheat. Since I have pretty much been perfectly happy with salad, grapes and an occasional pizza during this pregnancy, I was more than happy to visit the restaurant for a salad I didn't have to make or clean up myself.

In case we haven't shared a photograph of it before, the Giddyup can be a salad or a wrap in "haystack" style--chili, blue corn chips, mixed greens, tomatoes, scallions, and vegan or organic cheese. We always choose the side of hummus, and Paul adds a ranch-style salad dressing called "green goddess" for an extra $0.50. My salad included a nice variety of vegetables, and I always like the sunflower seed topping.

While out with my mom one Friday, we stopped at a bookstore and ran into our pastor's wife. She asked us if we wanted to join her for lunch and recommended a health-food store like Whole Foods called Chamberlin's. I'd never been there before, but I once heard a patient rave about their yogurt. I was excited to give it a shot, but was saddened to learn that they no longer offered frozen yogurt.

The salad bar looked really good, but some reason (possibly the price) deterred me, and I went for a sandwich. My mom ordered the vegan chicken pot pie, and we split the pie and the sandwich. I think we both preferred the sandwich over the pot pie.

I was really impressed by the freshness of the tomatoes and cucumbers off of the salad bar that went into my sandwich. I also thought the way they sliced the top off of the pita bread was interesting. It was the first hummus I had had since being pregnant, and it was very good. The tabouleh seemed a bit strange because I had never seen a recipe with bell peppers in it. I don't think it was bad at all. In fact, with the veggies and hummus it was very good. I just didn't expect it.

I finally decided I could handle going back to my favorite old lunch standby of Suzie's flatbread crackers, carrot sticks, and hummus. Likely, I will need more food than that, but I'm learning to eat more smaller meals. So, I shopped Target's selection of hummus today and found three brands, but only Sonny and Joe had a plain traditional hummus available.

It was very good and even creamier than our favorite, Hannah's. I liked how it was sprinkled with a touch of olive oil and some delicious dried herbs. You can tell Paul didn't even wait to take a picture before he dove in. I won't compare it to Hannah's any more because I think they are both good in their own way. Sadly, Hannah's is considerably cheaper, but I don't visit Costco enough to stock up.

As for the crackers for dipping, Suzie's had been off the shelves for a while, and I had been buying them at Trader Joe's. I know Archer Farms also has a selection of flatbread crackers, but they can be expensive. As alternatives when they are a great price, I will use a rosemary bread from Costco or rosemary Triscuits. Both are yummy with hummus.

I hope this is a sign that the rest of my eating habits will return to normal soon.

After my first ultrasound, we headed over to Park Ave. in Winter Park for a lunch. I knew immediately I wanted Powerhouse Cafe. On a hot midday in the scorching Orlando summer, I wanted the coolness of a cold sandwich and a smoothie. Not to mention, frozen fruit in general makes me very happy right now.

Ironically, just today I was talking to a coworker who was meeting her husband for lunch in Winter Park about the cafe and told her about the specials (but forgot to tell her about the coupons) and how the sandwich and smoothie cost me under $10 and she said that that was a good deal because a burger and fries at any other restaurant on Park Ave. can cost $17. I haven't talked to her to see if she took my advice.

Fiber has five key health purposes if I recall correctly from my nutrition course: 1) Prevents constipation, 2) Prevents colon cancer, 3) Lowers bad cholesterol, 4) Helps control weight, 5) Wards off diabetes. And the day I wrote the post about counting my daily grams of protein, it occurred to me when people learn I'm a vegetarian and ask if I get enough protein, I should be asking them "Do you get enough fiber?" Being from south Louisiana, my experience has generally been that people will down meat before they pick up a fork and down salad. In fact, many people I know would vote meat and potatoes over quality fruits and vegetables. Anyway, as long as I was counting and am not so interested in counting calories because I am not trying to lose weight, I thought I'd better check our fiber intake along with our protein intake. Sadly, this takes a good bit of time; so I'm a week later typing this than the words been mulling around in my brain.

Harmoni restaurant and market in College Park, Florida was one of the first posts on Eat Like a Rabbit and has been one of the more popular posts ever since. In the Sunday, March 22, 2009 Orlando Sentinel, I came across an interesting addition to that post in the Dining section.

The Pampered Chef is a company similar to Mary Kay where people come to your house and host a party selling their wares, but it's even more like Tupperware because the focus is selling items for the kitchen. I have only had two experiences with Pampered Chef, only one included a party. The other was someone handing me a catalog. Do you know where the products are that I purchased from the catalog? Me either.I suspect they're buried deep in a drawer because they weren't very useful when I brought them home. Do you know where the item I bought at the party is? Believe it or not, the cookbook is right beside me. . .but not for long.

This is a small, hole-in-the-wall restaurant with a Mediterranean food store attached. It has a Greek menu and has been voted Orlando's Best for a few years, with framed advertisements above the cash register. However, when you look at the plastic table covers with pictures of different kinds of pasta and the "silk" leaves and plastic grape clusters hanging from the ceiling, you might get slightly confused. Paul had a falafel sandwich in a great thick bread wrap. I had the hummus and tabouleh sandwich. Both had lettuce and tomato added with a creamy cucumber dressing coating every bite.

Chicken Noodle Soup has always been a favorite to me. My mom has had this recipe forever and when my grandmother had a day care center, she cooked it for the kids. And the moms could never understand why their kids refused to eat the soup they warmed from a jar. Those were good memories.

For an all-girls mini party, I needed a simple mid-afternoon snack to be more of the main dish for a small group. I already had some crackers made of a variety of seeds--flax, poppy, sesame,etc. The crackers have a great and unique flavor. I simply wanted something to add to them. I then selected a plain, but well seasoned hummus and a medium salsa as dips.

Not much surprise, here. The food was awesome. I have to say I liked my wrap better than Paul's black bean burger, but I'm sure it's just cause black beans aren't my favorite. I do love sprouts and although the menu said sprouts came on the sandwich, I was unlucky to visit on a day when they were out of sprouts. But don't complain yet. These people pride themselves on freshness. So, who am I to complain about not getting sprouts when it's better than getting nasty sprouts?

Paul took me to lunch on Friday to a wonderful restaurant we haven't been to in ages. The set-up is modern and cafe-ish (sometimes with live music or readings) and. . .vegetarian! Vegan items are clearly marked. In Florida, it rarely gets cold enough to enjoy a good cup of HOT tea. Logically, Infusion serves cold meals to offset the heat of the drink. There are many more tea options on the menu than there are food options. The choice of the day was a camomile (non-caffeinated) tea brewed in front of your very eyes for as long as use wish. Three hour-glass timers help you decide the strength of your tea.