Five Question Friday

 Mama M from My Little Life used one of *my* questions for this week's Five Question Friday!  My name is on her blog and everything.  Obviously I am way more excited about this than I should be.  I'm lame.

1. Can you drive a stick shift?
Nope.  Carlene told me about this woman she read about in Reader's Digest, I think, that was kidnapped and couldn't get away because the only vehicle on the property was a stick shift.  My mom tried to teach me, but I never got a chance to put it into practice so I basically forgot. 
I don't know if I believe that story or not.

2. What are two foods you just can't eat?
Before becoming pregnant with our twins I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian for almost 14 years.  But about two months into the pregnancy I started craving meatball subs, BLTs, and even eventually eating a few Wendy's cheeseburgers.  Four months later I am still eating some meat but I still can't stand beets or licorice.  Bleck!   

3. Do you buy Girl Scout Cookies? What is your favorite kind?
I have bought a couple of boxes of Samoas in the past but, in my opinion, they are too expensive.  For $3.50 I expect more than a dinky box of cookies!  The coconut, caramelness of the Samoas is AMAZING.  Edy's even makes a Samoas ice cream.  Oh my gosh!

4. How do you pamper yourself?
These days my idea of pampering is taking a shower daily and brushing my teeth.  Seriously.  Or getting to wear my hair down instead of pulled back all the time.  There's always the risk of someone spitting up in my hair.

5. What is your nickname and how did you get it?
Steph is a common nickname for Stephanie, of course.  But since I was little some of my family members call me "Stuff."  I don't know how it started.  Maybe it's just that it sounds an awful lot like Steph.  (shrug)  And of course there are the mean nicknames the boys in middle school gave me because of my red hair......

Camp Food For Vegetarians

The Pope and I are going camping this weekend on an island in the ICW with some friends. We have to pack light since we are taking our canoe over to the island. We are also thinking of going up to Pilot Mountain for some more camping for our first anniversary, June 28.
You probably know that I am a vegetarian but this vegetarian likes to eat (maybe too much). So all this camping got me thinking about some convenient, easy things I could pack to eat. I found several nifty ideas online, things that I hadn't considered.

Ramen noodles, just add hot water
rice and beans
Fantastic Foods makes tons of "just add water" items (I like their hummus and sloppy joe mix!)
one of Jon's favorite camp foods (besides smores) is trailmix
instant oatmeal
pancakes (they even make just-add-water-to-a-bottle-and-shake-mix now)
single pack drink mixes (Crystal Light or others)
hot chocolate mix
REI has a whole section of vegetarian food options

The Pope also found this website for camping recipes. Don't eat the Margarita Cheesecake!

The thing to remember with processed camp foods is the high sodium content. Read your labels, folks!

Greek Antipasto Pita

Here's another yummy recipe from my Simple Suppers cookbook. I like this one because it's made with all fresh stuff. And wow is it good!

2 T olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 T chopped fresh dill (or 1 t dried dill or oregano)
1 celery stalk
1 large tomato
1/2 red bell pepper
1 cucumber
1/4 red onion
8 pitted kalamata olives
salt and pepper
4 pita breads

In a bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, garlic and dill. As you prepare the vegetables add them to the bowl: dice the celery, tomato, bell pepper, and cucumber, mince the red onion, chop the olives. Toss well. Add salt and pepper to taste. The filling tastes best if it sits at room temperature for at least 10 minutes. It will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Cut the pitas in half and toast them lightly. To serve, stuff each pita half with filling.

*I usually leave out the celery, and sometimes I substitute roasted red pepper for the bell pepper. I also sprinkle feta cheese on top right before serving (remember feta can be salty so if you serve it with feta, watch the salt in the recipe).

Steph the chef

We got several cookbooks as wedding gifts. One of those cookbooks is Simple Suppers, The Pope's best man and his wife gave it to us. One day I sat down to label a few recipes I wanted to try and happily realized the whole cookbook is vegetarian!
One of the recipes from Simple Suppers I tried was roasted ratatouille (see recipe below). We loved it!
Then, while looking for recipes online I found the website allrecipes.com. I've tried the following recipes from there: mmmm...brownies, carrots with dried cherries, and vegetable orzo. I plan to make some "granola" bars for The Pope, too, oaty cereal bars.
The coolest thing about allrecipes is they let you save your favorite recipes on their site in your "recipe box." They have another feature "ingredients" where you type in the items you want in your recipe or the things you don't have in your pantry. It automatically pulls up all of the recipes that fall into that category. Pretty darn cool.

Roasted Ratatouille
1 zucchini
3 onions
1 eggplant (peeled)
2 tomatoes
2 red, green, yellow bell peppers
6 garlic cloves
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Cut all the vegetables into 1-inch chunks and place them in a large bowl. You need between 12 and 14 cups total. Coarsely chop the garlic. Toss the vegetables and garlic with the olive oil, salt, and pepper, and spread on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes and then stir the vegetables. Continue to roast for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring again after 20 minutes, until the vegetables are fork-tender and juicy.
While the vegetables roast, chop the basil. When the vegetables are done, put them in a serving bowl and stir in the chopped basil.
I served my ratatouille with crusty bread, but you can also serve it with rice or salad.

List of Books

This is a list of books I've added to my Christmas list.

How To Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman
The Coffee Companion by Jon Thorn
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Student Vegetarian Cookbook by Carole Raymond
The Only Wine Book You’ll Ever Need by Danny May
Seashells of North Carolina by Hugh J Porter
North Carolina Beaches by Glenn Morris
How to Read a North Carolina Beach by Orin Porkin
You Can Make ‘Em Dog Biscuits Cookbook by Janine Adams
Last Train to Memphis by Peter Guralnick