My BIG, FAT, GREEK Dinner

   Here at University Land there's a place called The Pita Pit, it's really good, but being married to a college student we don't have the money to eat out all the time. However we both really like Pita's. There filling and as we learned really easy to make! Now neither my husband or I are of Greek decent. I'm German and my Husband's Finn/Scottish/ and French, but we both like good food and trust me when I say that Gyro's are good!!! So this is what we had for dinner the other night! 




PITA RECIPE


1 PKG. GYRO MEAT
TZATZIKI SAUCE
1 PKG. PITA POCKETS
LETTUCE
1 CUCUMBER
2 ROMA TOMATOES
1 RED ONION
1 PKG. FETA


COOK THE GYRO MEAT ACCORDING TO INSTRUCTIONS. TOAST PITA POCKET (IF DESIRED), PUT TZATZIKI SAUCE ON BOTH SIDES OF PITA, ADD GYRO MEAT, LETTUCE, CUCUMBER, TOMATOES, AND ONION...ENJOY!!

This is not our Pita's from the other night,
but this is basically what they look like

Now, we use the pockets because they're easier to eat. They keep all the ingredients neatly tucked inside. You can also use chicken strips instead of the gyro meat. Gyro meat does have MSG in it, which we try to stay away from, but believe me when I say that it's still really good. Anyway, try them see if you like them. You can put any veggie in them and I imagine they'd taste pretty good. The Pita Pit has a whole array of veggies they use, we just like the ones listed above because they give it a nice crisp/fresh taste. Make it your own!!! 

I'm feeling very Vegetarian today...OK maybe not!

   Dinner...Yes it's that time of night again when my family comes to me with their mouth's open and their eyes hopeful...OK so that's only my husband (kidding!!!)...Thankfully I planned ahead last night and started some of the ingredients for tonight's dinner last night...So what am I feeding my ever hungry brood? Veggie Burritos...I feel a wave of disappointment waft over my carnivorous family...OK I'm being dramatic, my boys don't mind veggies, my husband might even like a few. Anyway, burritos are pretty self explanatory...not very many people need a recipe to make them, but you know what I'm going to write it down anyway :D...Why? Because I made homemade tortillas and they are GREAT...that's why!!
   I found the recipe for the tortillas on Cooks.com it's easy, quick, and cheap...which when your on a budget is ALWAYS good!!!

3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup warm water

Combine all the flour, salt, vegetable oil, and water until it forms a dough.

Roll the dough into a big ball and take about an 1 to 2 inch pieces off. Pat the dough flat with your hands or take a rolling pin and roll into circles.

Put the dough on a flat pan on the stove and let the sides cook until there are little brown specks on both sides like you would see on other tortillas. 

(I will add here that we cooked ours in a cast iron skillet and fried them...a non stick pan would probably work good too)

The ingredients for our burritos were cheap! That and I got them on WIC...you know what...shhh!

1. Avocado

2. Roma Tomatoes

1. Red Onion

1. Bunch of Cilantro (don't use the whole bunch or it can overpower the rest)

Pinto Beans 

Brown Rice

I cooked the Beans the night before, just followed the directions on the back.

I also cooked the brown rice using the directions on the back for 4 servings...it's amazing what using and following directions can do!! :D

We would've gotten lime, but we couldn't find any...would've looked harder, but any mom will tell you that trying to look for something at the grocery store when you have two unhappy babes is an impossibility because toddlers and babies are able to hit a pitch that turns their mom's brain to mush...it's a fact!! Anyway, As I stated before my family is made up of carnivores! We love meat, so as I turn around and look at the stove where my hubby is standing I see that he has cooked steak to put on his burrito...Oh well I can't say I didn't try :D As I usually say make it your own...add the veggies you like...homemade/store bought tortillas doesn't really matter....And yes even meat is OK because lets be honest meat does tend to add something to a meal :D Hope Everyone has a good night! I'm going to go enjoy my meal!!

AWESOME PENNE PASTA!

So my husband and I have been trying to eat healthier. We've never been the type to eat at McDonald's everyday, or even every month, but we've eaten our fair share of potato chips. Anyway, we've been looking for healthy alternatives that don't taste like cardboard! The other night we made an AMAZING, inexpensive penne pasta that I thought I'd share with you!!


1 box of whole grain Penne Pasta
2 bell pepper (we used a red one and a yellow one)
4 portabella mushroom (you can substitute different ones)
1 red onion
Italian sausage
Fresh Basil
1 Roma tomato


Cook the pasta (just follow the directions on the box), Saute the mushroom, bell pepper, and onion.(the onion and mushroom take the longest so do those first), cook the sausage (we used the links, cooked them according to the instructions, and then chopped them up).
Mix the cooked food together, add the tomato and Basil...and enjoy!!


I know that the colored bell peppers and portabella are usually really expensive, but we got them on sale at our local WINCO. Keep a look out for sales, you never know what yummy food may become affordable!! This recipe was just made on a whim. Our 2 year old wasn't big on the veggies, but we just gave him some of the pasta and sausage (before we added the veggies) and he loved it!! Hope you like it! Feel free to add/subtract ingredients from it. Make it your own...that's the best part of cooking!!