The Romantic Road

The Romantic Road is one of Germany's most picturesque areas.  It is dotted with quaint towns that date back a thousand years!  On our Epic European Adventure of 2011, we flew into Munich after a short stop in London. We rented a car and commenced the beginning of our 5,000 km road trip.  Our first stop was Rothenburg ob der Tauber. 

It is such a cool town!  The towns along the romantic road have these amazing walls that date from Medieval times.  You can even walk on them and look down on the town and countryside.

The churches are always beautiful, and Rothenburg has an old convent with beautiful gardens.

German food is very heavy on two things--meat and dough (unless you count beer as a food, in which case three things!)  One of these delights that all tourists must try, but not all will enjoy is called schneeballen.  It is a wad of dough (it kind of looks like a ball of yarn) that has been deep fried.  There are various kinds you can get.  My husband, Ben, got a cinnamon coated one.  My mom, got a chocolate covered one.  The verdict = cinnamon received a thumbs down, chocolate had better results!

 

There were flowers EVERYWHERE!  Every town, almost every house.  Window boxes full of geraniums, and violets, and all kinds of different flowers.  I loved it, so beautiful and colorful!

 

We traveled farther South down the Romantic Road to Dinkelsbuhl.  It was very similar to Rothenburg, with the Medieval walls and the beautifully colorful buildings.

 

 

 

I feel like German has surprising similarities to the English language, so its easy to start picking up words here and there, even if you are only there for a few days!  You might even see some surprising road signs--for example, trucks and tanks have different speed limits driving through town!

 

Another thing you might find useful is knowing that women are Damen and men are Herren.  Don't get confused like my poor hubby and use the restroom marked "D"... (Note the embarrassed expression on his face.)

 

 

Our next stop was Nordlingen.  By this time it was getting to the close of the day and we were hungry.  I am somewhat limited by the fact that I am not only vegetarian, but allergic to milk products!  We found this really cool restaurant/hotel that is in an old monastery building.

 

The chef there was so nice.  I had gone prepared on my trip with these really cool cards that let people know what I couldn't eat in their own language (maxlearning.net).  The chef kept coming out to check on ingredients to see if I could eat them.  In the end, he made me an amazing mushroom risotto.

My husband and mom got Vegetable au Gratin, which they said was amazing!

As we left town the church bells were ringing.  The perfect end to a perfect day!

 

 This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24

 



Moroccan Roasted Veggie Packets

So, among other things, I love good food!  I've gotten so much more discriminating with my food over the last 10 years.  My diet is pretty restricted because of my Crohn's Disease and I thought for a while that I would never be able to eat really good food again.  I've found a way around that though.  I have found ways to still make and eat delicious food, while still avoiding the things that will make me feel bad.  I feel totally gypped if I go out to eat and have to spend money on something that I feel I could make better at home (and cheaper!)  I love trying out new recipes.  Thankfully my hubby enjoys it as well.  When I met him, he did not have an adventurous palate AT ALL!  He practically ate off the kiddie menu.  It was either Fettuccine Alfredo, pizza, or mac and cheese!  He refused to eat onions or garlic (which I can't cook without), green beans, mushrooms, pickles or beets.  OK, so he's still firm about the pickles and beets, but I've convinced him that the others aren't so bad thanks to my culinary prowess!  lol!

The beginning of the story of my Moroccan Roasted Veggie Packets starts not in Morocco, but in Sheffield, England!  My husband and I took a trip to England last year and road tripped around the country.  It was amazing!  Its so GREEN and so beautiful and the people are so nice!  They have this wonderful thing called a "Traditional English Breakfast" (which I will talk about in another blog post because its just that awesome!)  Anyway, we had spent a day traveling around the English countryside and touring Chatsworth house, which for those of you are fans of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (the best version--the one with Colin Firth) is Mr. Darcy's home.  It was amazing, and the grounds were gorgeous. 

By the time we got to our hotel that night in Sheffield we were starving since most days we only ate breakfast and dinner.  We looked at our options for eating and chose a little out of the way place called Otto's Restaurant that serves Moroccan food.  One of the great things about England is its kind of a melting pot, so you get a great variety of international cuisine.

So, back to the veggie packets.  We ordered these veggie packets for dinner there and they were so delicious!  I came home and searched all over the Internet for a recipe--none to be found.  At least not like the ones we had.  So, I decided I was just going to have to make my own version.  So, here it is!

Moroccan Roasted Veggie Packets

1 large potato, cubed
1 large carrot, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp. Moroccan seasoning (I got mine from the Savory Spice Shop)
1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1-2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 can garbanzo beans
Phyllo dough
Earth Balance spread

Pull out phyllo dough to thaw.  It will probably need to thaw for a couple hours.  Put all veggies,  seasonings, and olive oil into a gallon bag and shake.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and then pour contents of bag into pan and spread out evenly.  Bake for 20 minutes at 425.  Stir, then bake for another 20 minutes.  Add the garbanzo beans to the veggies.  Layer sheets of phyllo dough and brush each layer with melted Earth Balance.  Put 6-8 layers of phyllo dough down, then put 1/3 of the filling in each.  Fold corners over and brush with more Earth Balance.  If needed, you can add a few more layers of dough if you need to cover an open spot.  Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.  Serve with warmed marinara sauce.