Crazy Lunch Specials

This month we had a few days off of school so we were able to eat lunch out during the week.  We found some great lunch deals.

Since school will be out soon for Spring Break, we thought we'd profile two of our favorite restaurants that have awesome lunch deals.

The Burger Joint in Columbia has a student box special for only $6.99 (grades 1-12) .  It comes with a regular burger, fries and a soda.  It's available ALL DAY EVERY DAY with a student ID.

If you are a college student or adult, try the weekday lunch special - $8.99 for a burger, fries and soda. 

Here's a weekday special - Trattoria Amore Italian restaurant in Dorsey Search Village Center (4725 Dorsey Hall Drive in Ellicott City).  

They are offering "Crazy Lunch Specials" - for $5 you get a side salad, 1 slice of pizza and a small soda.   You choose the slice from whatever pizza they have made that day. We've seen the following pizza varieties ....cheese, sausage, pepperoni, white pizza with chicken and spinach or  mozzarella, tomato and basil (Caprice) and  they are more.

Our 2nd HoCo blogger party!

Held at the Corner Stable in Kings Contrivance Village Center, HoCoBlogs & Columbia2.0  hosted another great blogger party! We gathered in the restaurant's private dinning room where bloggers chatted with one another and enjoyed free appetizers. A number of famous bloggers were there including  HocoBlogs , Hoco Rising, HoCoMoJo and Columbia2.0.  I represented both "Dudes" since Charles had rehearsals for his school's upcoming production of "Suessical The Musical".

Even though there were complimentary appetizers, I decided to have my own order of BBQ wings (plus one to-go order for Charles) and a Shirley temple. The buffalo wings were great - not too spicy and not to saucy.... just right!  The staff was very friendly and VERY attentive.

A cool thing happened at the party.....

Zaching at the Corner Stable - me  with County Councilman Calvin Ball
along with HoCo school board member Ellen Flynn Giles.

A spontaneous "Zaching" occurred in honor of Zachary Lederer who is battling cancer for the second time. Zach was a student at my middle school when he was first diagnoised with brain cancer. Learn more about Zach click here and here 

Thanks HoCoBlogs and Columbia2.0 for holding a fun blogger party.

How to make super healthy waffles and pancakes video

I learned how to make healthy waffles and pancake in my school's Home Economics class.  I have the best Home Economic teacher, Mrs. Strawitch.  The waffles and pancakes were so delicious that I asked Mrs. Strawitch if she would make a video with me to show how easy it is for kids and adults to make healthy foods.

My friend Chris agreed to be the cameraman for this video.  My mom took over the filming when Chris wanted to taste the pancakes and waffles.

Check out our video on Youtube or watch it below.

Thank you Mrs. Strawitch for helping me make this video!

 Here is the Multi grain Pancakes or Waffles recipe:


1/2 cup-all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1/4 cup quick-cooking-oats

2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal (any color of cornmeal will do)

11/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup 2% milk (can substitute almond, soy, skim or 1% milk or use a combo of any them)

1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt (can use plain or fruit flavored)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (we used canola oil)

1 large egg

Optional:

2 tablespoons Wheat Germ

Combine the first six ingredients in a large bowl; stir well. Combine remaining ingredients in a medium bowl; stir well. Add to flour mixture, stirring until smooth.

Spoon about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto a hot griddle or nonstick skillet. Turn pancakes when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Serve with maple syrup, fruit and low-fat granola, if desired. Make 4 servings at a time. For waffles, put the batter in the waffle iron until it is done.

Rudy's Mediterranean Grill - Columbia, MD

2 Dudes and Rudy, the owner.

There's a new restaurant in our town and it's bringing more culture to Howard County...Turkish culture!

Thanks to Rudy's Mediterranean Grill,  we now have more Turkish delicacies to eat in our town. We visited Istanbul, Turkey last year, so we know what good Turkish food tastes like.

As we walked in, we saw the owner Rudy talking to his customers. It's always good to see an owner being friendly. The waiter seated us at a booth and gave us menus. The menu offered a combination of American and Turkish cuisine.

Humus

We couldn't believe how many great Turkish choices there were to choose from! Plus, Rudy and the waiter gave us some pointers on the best dishes! Rudy also informed us that there is one cook solely dedicated to making just the Turkish items- now that's authentic.




We ordered two Turkish appetizers: humus, a  blend of chick peas, herbs, oil and tahini, and patlican salad. My mother makes a similar version of humus, but this one was just a little more on the spicy side. Each humus we try is a little different. The patlican salad consists of smoked eggplant, grilled peppers and tomatoes, lemon and oil. We didn't try it but our parents did. They concluded that it was "good".

Patlican salad 

While the rest of my family ordered Turkish food, I (Thomas) had my own agenda. I was in the mood for a classic American Turkey BLT. It came with home fries. What are home fries? Home fries are kind of like a french fry, but they are smaller and hand-cut into a square shape. The BLT included tomato, lettuce, bacon, mayo, white bread, and a boatload of turkey. It was delicious.

American Turkey BLT

Izgara Kofte- Minced lamb with onion, parsley and Mediterranean spices, cooked over charcoal

Here are the two Turkish dishes we ordered below.

Famous Iskender Kebab- Thinly sliced döner (gyro) over homemade pita bread, dressed with tomato sauce and homemade garlic yogurt sauce.

The meats were tender, seasoned pieces of juicy delicacies. Amazing! The homemade garlic yogurt sauce, salad and rice were great accompaniments to the meats. Really made us feel like we were back in Istanbul.

For dessert, we ordered some Turkish Coffee. It's similar to Italy's espresso but stronger. In fact, it is VERY, VERY STRONG.  

 My family also ordered some homemade Turkish rice pudding.  It had a hard sugary crust then creamy soft rice inside.  It wasn't as thick as its American version but we liked it just the same

 We could definitely tell that everything we ate was made with fresh ingredients. Rudy's is great because with a combination of Turkish and American foods it gives everyone in our family a chance to order something different.  Plus, the owner has a fun personality and was helpful ordering.