Month: July 2011

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Middle Eastern Lunch

While I was at Walmart yesterday, I found three boxes that made me decide to end my quest for Lebanese ingredients out west. No grocer here seems to know what tahini is!

tabouleh, falafel, and hummus mixes

It felt sacrilegious to buy these, but I was getting desperate! Greek-style falafel doesn’t do much for me!

I made up the hummus and tabouleh first and let them sit for a bit.

hummus and tabouleh (with added tomatoes)

The first taste of both left me relieved. The hummus is flavourful and smooth. The tabouleh is a bit more ‘parsleyish’ than I like, needing some fresh mint, but for a box mix I am quite impressed!

I then mixed up the falafel mix, which would have to sit for ten minutes:

very damp falafel mix

While that sat for a bit, I cut up my mystery fruit. I was right, it’s a melon! It tastes like a canary melon and I’m wondering if this is a miniature version of one. It is VERY sweet.

mystery fruit is a melon!

The falafel mix was getting thicker, but not quite ready yet:

falafel mix getting thicker

Pita offerings are slim out west, but these Greek pitas appeared to be anything but and I took a chance on them:

not-so-Greek pitas

They were stale, of course, so I nuked one for a few seconds with a damp paper towel over top. Took it out and investigated. Sure enough, this was a thin, pocket-style pita, not a thick, pocket-less Greek-style pita. Yay!

stale pocket pita is better than no pita!

I then heated up some oil and while that was going, I dressed up my pita:

a layer of hummus

a layer of tabouleh

Time to check if the oil was hot enough:

that sizzle tells me to get those patties in there!

I don’t have a falafel baller, so I just rolled balls in my hands and lightly flattened them. One minute of frying on each side and voila!

that actually looks like falafel!

Add three falafel patties and the sandwich is done:

The falafel mix was excellent! I could zazoom it up with some toasted sesame seeds next time, and it was definitely missing a drizzle of tahini, but for a lunch at home from three boxes I am very satisfied!

And, yes, I will be eating the leftovers for the next few days. I have no problem with that. 🙂

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Mystery Fruit

I did a Walmart run this afternoon after work to pick up paper goods and cat litter and food. I decided to check out the grocery section to see if they had any good deals and I was surprised to discover that this Super Walmart has a very good selection of things not available in dedicated grocery stores (like falafel mix!). Combine that with good deals and I came out with a full cart of groceries.

Does anyone know what this is?

What the heck is this yellow stripey thing?! It was in the fruits so I’m guessing some kind of melon???

I have to show off a gift I got from a tenant yesterday. He asked me if I liked bell peppers and I replied yes. He handed over a large bag full of frozen roasted red pepper strips!!!

roasted red peppers

There’s a million things I can do with those, not least of which is make up some pimento cheese. I asked my mother for the recipe and she emailed it back immediately (merci!), so I made sure to grab the feta and cream cheese I’ll need for that. I also got the fixings for hummus (very nice with roasted peppers) and tomato sauce (divine with roasted peppers!). You can see hashbrowns peeking out from behind the peppers, another gift from this tenant who works for McCain. Having concluded that these pre-cut potatoes are actually reasonably nutritious so long as I don’t fry them, I’ve accepted all gifts of them and have been using them for quick dinners, sautéing them with frozen veggies and cheese. They are going to be succulent with some roasted peppers. 🙂

Finally, I have to say, once again, that I am grateful to have a large RV fridge and freezer!

very full freezer

I don’t think I could squeeze another thing into there! The fridge isn’t quite as bad, but almost.

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Sleepover

I just got in from visiting Ken and Donna in Mossleigh. What a great weekend for a visit, the weather was lovely!

It was at about 3:30 that I headed out there yesterday, arriving at 5. I had a beer then Ken followed up on his promise of taking me for a ride in their HDT, Pepe! This was my first time in a big ‘semi’ and I loved the view from up high!

We had a nice dinner that furthered my re-introduction into the world of eating pork and included some very yummy cheesecake I had brought along.

Their new toyhauler has a really good layout. I wouldn’t have wanted to stay over in their old Okanagan, but the garage is pretty much a guest suite. It has two bunks, a half-bath, and an exit. I also love the kitchen that’s set up in the nose since I could set out dessert and do the dishes last night while looking down into the living room and following the conversation.

Donna made up the lower bunk in the garage and it was just like sleeping at home, requiring a ladder to climb up and having a low ceiling. 😀

okay, I could have made an effort and made up the bed 🙂

I slept very well… even if I stayed up a bit too late enjoying Youtube on my iPod Touch thanks to the campground wifi. Oh, how I miss you Youtube. 🙂

This morning, I helped Donna with a couple of projects. The gal actually trusted me to cut and hem a lovely curtain she bought to separate the kitchen from the bedroom, replacing a cumbersome sliding door. The end result wasn’t exactly straight, but she was pleased. 🙂

They treated me to an awesome brunch in the dining car. If you’re ever in the Mossleigh area (basically just south of Calgary), you need to go have Sunday brunch at Aspen Crossing! There were hashbrowns, sausage, pancakes, French toast, biscuits, fruit salad, bacon, meatballs, rice, desserts, and more. Yuuuuuuuuuuum.

And, of course, my best buddy Midnight made sure he got in plenty of cuddle time with his auntie Rae. Dogs are amazing that way, you really feel like you’re dealing with a small child. I knew it was me he was happy to see.

This weekend was badly needed after the weekend I had. Thanks guys!

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Off to the Movies

Whew, my brutal week came to an end at 3AM today! I wasn’t as diligent in keeping note of my working hours this week as I normally am, but the low estimate is that I put in 80 billable hours between all my various projects. It’s no wonder I’m wiped!

I have to say that the fliers have been a welcome break since my mother came since she loaded one of my external hard drives with audio books. She’s a big fan of them but I’d never tried them out before. I put one on my iPod and have been listening to a half dozen chapters or so in the three hours it takes to do one day’s worth of fliers. The time, well, flies by!

So the fliers have become a true escape from the daily grind and a treat rather than just one more thing I need to slog through after an exhausting day. Being outside and getting exercise just hasn’t been enough anymore to get me through them. I am absolutely in love with audio books, if not Parisian French, and even ordered myself an iPod case for strapping it to my arm for walking and running.

I’m now off to have a sushi breakfast, then catch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two. I was starting to despair that I was never going to get a chance to see it!

Then it’s off to Donna and Ken’s for some much needed socializing. This will be my first time traveling to Mossleigh on my own. I look forward to the nice long drive through the southern Alberta landscapes. This is quite possibly the most beautiful place I have ever lived.