recipe

One of my favorite places to go for lunch on Friday is Tazikis. It is a greek style restaurant with gyros and great sides like pasta salad and cucumber salad. I thought about it last time I was there, and I just knew I could recreate cucumber salad at home!!

Theirs just had cucumbers, red oinions and tomatoes with feta. I decided to add some garbanzo beans to make it more filling.

What You Need

1 cucumber (diced)

1/2 red onion (diced)

1 can of garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)

4 roma tomatoes (diced – I also cut out the juicy seedy part so it didn’t over power or make the salad soggy or slimy)

feta cheese (I love feta, I used the entire 4 or 6 ounce container)

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/4 cup of olive oil

2 tsp oregeno

1/2 tsp salt

What You Do

– Combine the red wine vinegar, olive oil, oregano and salt in a small bowl with a whisk.

-Combine the cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, garbanzo beans and feta in a bowl. Add dressing and mix.

– I kept mine in the refrigerator and served it cold for lunches all week.

Enjoy!

I also wanted to share what I have been having for lunch lately. You can really get stuck in a rut with lunches when you bring them at least 4 days per week. I reserve most Fridays for what has become my “lunch club,” where I go out with same group of girl friends. No matter how tempting my co-workers lunch choices are each day, I manage to stick to my guns and eat what I bring. There is so much more than just sandwiches and salads, you guys!

Last Sunday we were settling in to watch some TV. Chris mentioned that he could go for something sweet. I told him that we didn’t really have anything sweet and he looked disappointed. I thought for a moment and said “Hang on!” I searched the pantry and found that I had all of the ingredients on hand to make homemade peanut butter cookies.

Our oven has been broken, so I could only make six cookies at a time in our toaster oven. If that isn’t love and dedication, I don’t really know what is. After the first batch came out, we enjoyed a few. Chris said, “So you made these from scratch?” I said, “Yup, there really isn’t many ingredients needed to make these, we had everything here.” He then said, “This is the best thing you have ever done since we have been married.”

I wasn’t really sure to take that as a compliment or an insult. Thoughts? Haha!

There is nothing special about this recipe. Just a consistent one that makes perfect cookies every time that has been handed down again and again over the years.

What You Need

1 cup sugar

1/4 of sugar in a separate small bowl (to roll cookies)

1 stick butter at room temperature

1 egg

1 cup peanut butter (creamy not chunky)

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

What You Do

-Preheat oven to 375

-Grease baking sheet or spray it with some olive oil

-In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup of sugar and butter. Beat egg into mixture.

-Mix in peanut butter and vanilla until you have a creamy, smooth mixture.

-Stir in flour, baking soda and salt.

-Roll cookie dough into one inch balls, then roll around in the additional 1/4 cup of sugar. Place on baking sheet and press with a fork vertically and then horizontally to form the shape.

– Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

This makes two dozen cookies.

Enjoy!!!

As most of you know, I am from the north, just outside of Pittsburgh. There are a few things up north that you just cant find around these parts, ham salad is one of them! (See also Snyder of Berlin Chips, Nibble with Gibble, real Italian food, a decent cheese steak, the list goes on.)

I remember when I was younger my mom would take my sister and I in to downtown Greensburg to this little deli store called Anderson’s. We would head straight to the back deli counter and order a pound of the ham salad. Then she would pick up fresh baked rolls and some Sweedish red fish and head to the register. Anderson’s had the BEST damn ham salad you ever did eat!

Each year after we moved and went home to visit, my grandma would go to Anderson’s and pick up ham salad for us to have while we were there. Sometimes we would even fill a cooler with some to take back home with us. Unfortunately, Anderson’s closed a few years ago and those days are no more. No one had ham salad like Anderson’s. Not no one. (Hangover style)

My sister scoured the internet and stumbled upon a recipe for ham salad out of Greensburg, PA. With a little hope and a whole lot of praying she chopped up some ham we had left over from Christmas and tried to recreate the masterpiece.

Folks,she did it!!!! And then she promptly met me half way between our houses to deliver to me the best lunch I have had in a long time.

I present to you Greensburg, PA style Ham Salad!!!!!

What You Need

1/2 pound ham, coarsely chopped (real ham none of that deli full of water crap, you can get precooked at the store)

2-3 tablespoons of mayonnaise

3-4 tablespoons sweet relish

1-2 tablespoons drained diced pimentos

What You Do

Throw all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until they’re chopped into a rough paste.

Spread that delicious ham salad onto a fresh bun and enjoy!!!! (I prefer Hawaiian Rolls)

I have heard that people also serve this over hard boiled eggs. You do what you want.

I love pasta. Love it! And while this recipe is not the healthiest one out there, it sure is delicious! Sometimes when I make fettuccine alfredo, the sauce doesn’t turn out quite perfect if I am just throwing stuff together. It seems when I measure out the exact amounts below though, it is perfect every time!

If you are trying to be good and want a lighter/skinnier version, you can do that here.

What You Need

1 Package of Whole Wheat Fettuccine or Linguine Noodles

2 shredded chicken breasts (I use the breasts from a rotisserie chicken (#lazy) or you could boil two chicken breasts)

1 cup of heavy cream

1 stick of butter

2 cups of grated cheese (I prefer Italian blend)

pepper to taste

What You Do

1. Cook noodles according to package

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the butter and cream and season with pepper.

3.  Add the shredded chicken to the sauce mix to warm up.

4. Place one cup of the cheese in a bottom of a bowl.

5. Add noodles to the bowl.

6. Pour sauce/chicken mixture over the noodles.

7. Toss and add the rest of the cheese.

Serve immediately! This one tends to get cool quickly.

I like to add a little crushed red pepper to mine to spice it up, but Chris likes his without.

Enjoy!