Eat Like a Rabbit

Paco's is a small restaurant on Fairbanks Avenue and should almost have a downtown Orlando address instead of a Winter Park address. With its size and mismatched table linens and chairs, it might be hard to imagine how the restaurant could be celebrating 27 years and consistently have a line of hungry patrons waiting in the small entrance. The easiest answer would be really good food and really good service.

I had been wanting an egg salad sandwich and was happy to make my own with a new supply of eggs purchased for holiday baking. Also, I came across some flatbread and was interested in giving it a try. Paul often likes sandwiches on pita bread, but good pita is hard to come by around here. I thought this might be an acceptable replacement.

Paul declared this creation great. He especially liked the crust. I really enjoy the flatbread as well. I just happened upon some Naan hand-stretched flatbread at Costco. I love making sandwiches out of it or serving it instead of French bread alongside pasta. I think it looks and tastes fabulous.

On occasion, we find opportunity to eat at IKEA. Generally, a sale draws us in, and we arrange to have friends go with us. The activity is so much more fun with another couple. When IKEA Orlando opened, we were still newlyweds, and we took along fellow newlyweds, Tim and Magally Putt. We enjoyed a variety of vegetarian dishes. Magally, also enjoyed the Swedish meatballs, which are not vegetarian.

I really had a hard time finding a simple and appealing recipe for tabouleh. I finally found an excellent one. I served this as a series of "dips" for a buffet meal to a group of 20. People asked for the recipe when it was over and I overheard one educated individual say "That green stuff is good, too." Tabouleh and a hommus side went well with warm un-pocketed pita bread. I noticed a good number of people making sandwiches out of it.

This post refers to the product in the very front of the photograph. The plate was a sampler platter at a buffet. I created the dishes. Hopefully, recipes for the other dishes will be available soon.

This post focuses on delicious, quick meals and the estimated prices for making them. My goal is to help families prepare healthy menus in spite of the depressed economy.

These are the absolute cutest cheeses I've ever seen. They come individually wrapped and in large numbers in Costco's Special Cheese section. Paul can easily take one to work. They look adorable sitting beside a dinner plate. And they make an ordinary salad definitely look unusual. The cheese is very soft and mild. I love to sprinkle a bit of black pepper over the cheese to highlight its true white color.

I love scrambled eggs. Who doesn't? As a child, I watched my grandparents put chives in theirs and it made me sick. Now, I can't eat my eggs plain. Paul put his eggs on top of his English muffin, poured Cholula Sauce over it, and garnished it with Raspberries. All of my items were neatly separated. The differences between a husband and a wife! I will say, I was out of spinach this day. I missed it.

Paul bought me a new cook book that recommended some strudel recipes as show-stoppers. I didn't have the ingredients, but I used what I had on hand and was so excited with the results. I had a few extra pastry sheets and choose to make the Vegeburger Bites, which I have written about before. The purpose for using all the pastry sheets was to clean out the freezer. They are expensive; so I try to buy them from the Pepperidge Farm Thrift Store. I love using them because they taste like I've slaved all day!

I was so proud when I created this recipe. Because our wedding was mostly pink, I had wanted a "pink" pasta sauce. I wish now I had made this creation, then. This sauce was absolutely perfect. I think this recipe is a more elegant alternative to spaghetti sauce, but is healthier than straight fettucini sauce. Also, the mixture makes it great with vegetables. Paul told me to remember how I made it. I hope I always do.

The tubular pasta is a favorite of Paul's called Rigatoni. Because it's larger and hollow, you eat less than you think you do because there is so much air.

This post's guest photographer is Garrett Nudd, an excellent and talented photographer, but an even better friend.

I came across some mini-kabob sticks while in Sarasota for our anniversary. Ever since, I was very excited to make some and did a good bit of research before I finally put the meal together. I served the kabob with steamed brown rice and the Pad Thai sauce from "Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home."

This meal was much easier than I expected, and except for the delay of threading the sticks with my designer-husband, a fast creation as well. I did find a note somewhere in my research to soak the sticks in water before use to prevent splitting. This was my first step of the meal.

This meal was absolutely fun to make. I assure you, a solid vegetable meal like this can be cheap and fabulous. The asparagus and sweet potatoes came from Aldi, a rather unusual but wise grocery store, which is known for very reasonable prices on off-brand foods. A good number have recently opened up in Orlando. My experiences there in America and out of the country have been pleasant.

This is such a great, truly simple, and full-flavored recipe. We found it in the "Moosewood Simple Suppers" cookbook. We had given my mother-in-law the book for a holiday or birthday, and she repaid us with this meal.

I am very proud of this recipe. Becoming a vegetarian is a challenge, especially when some veggie meats don't taste the same as real meat. In my case, I prefer the meats that don't taste like meat because I'm a vegetarian because I don't like the taste of meat. For that reason, this recipe amuses me. I actually don't like this recipe because I think it tastes too much like meat. I recommend this as a taste-test for one who is debating making the switch.

Tomatoes are definitely a can't-live-without-it kind of a food. I almost always have at least one tomato in my home even when they are exceptionally expensive and out of season. This recipe was found at foodnetwork.tv where I do get a few recipes and also some very good ideas.

I was so proud of this recipe. I thought I had found one in a cook book, but once I bought the spinach couldn't find it. So, I just took what we liked and put it all together to create the pictured item. Notice, I cubed the mozzarella like we had at Cafe Epicure in Sarasota. I also purchased mozzarella because that experience taught me that a soft cheese on top of pasta adds a whole new world to a meal.

This is one of those restaurants that appears to be a hole-in-the-wall, but is really a popular and enjoyable place to dine. Paul went there with some coworkers for lunch one day and brought me back a week later for dinner.

I love this sandwich. I have no idea what real bacon tastes like, but I've served it where I volunteer and this looks and smells better. This is great for lunches or for a quick dinner.

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.

I must confess, every time I buy a carton of eggs, I wish I won't use them quickly so I can have an excuse to make egg salad. I learned sometime somewhere to eat sprouts instead of lettuce on my egg salad sandwich, and now I prefer it 100%. Fresh tomatoes and good wheat bread make the sandwich look and taste gourmet.

Don't get nervous, I use a soybean based vegetarian alternative to regular chicken. It comes in large rolls from health food stores and is very versatile. We find many uses from slicing like lunch meat to dicing for enchiladas to shredding for chicken salad.

Both of these recipes came out of The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet which you can purchase through Amazon.com via our website. We're quickly becoming fans of zucchini and greatly enjoyed this feast. The variety of colors was spectacular and the speed to fix the meal gets great reviews.

Don't let anyone ever tell you sandwiches are only for lunch and are not elegant. Sprouts and avocados can be quite elegant because they are "adult tastes". Sprouts are stringy and often odd to kids. Kids may eat guacamole, but without all the additional flavors, avocados can taste rough. When at peak season, with red tomatoes and fancy bread, such a meal can be very good. And let's face it, counselors on weight loss and proper digestion would recommend lighter compared to heavier dinners because people often get home late and generally have larger entree meals for lunch.

We're big fans of Mexican, and generally don't mind a visit to Taco Bell when it's good. However, since Taco Bell has come out with a line of products in grocery stores, we prefer to do Taco Bell at home. We use the vegetarian blend refried beans and on occasion their medium taco Sauce. Most of the time Paul likes his Cholula sauce instead. It has a stronger vinegar taste.

At work one day, I was mentioning to a fellow coworker who loves to cook that I had purchased a beautiful eggplant at the Maitland Farmer's Market the previous day and hadn't a clue what to do with it now that I had acquired it. A patient in my room overheard me and gave me a recipe that has been a success with my family and that has been passed around the office. I've already sent my thank-you letter, but again, I say THANK YOU!