Homemade Hummus

 This is about the easiest and one of the healthiest things to make on the planet. Whenever I see the commercials for store bought hummus, I think about how much money I save by making my own. AND! I know what's in it!
 There are a TON of blog posts about this out there and lots of beautiful pictures and lots of stories as to how they came about to making their own hummus.
This post will be short and to the point so you can get to making it yourself-and save a few bucks by not buying the stuff at the store.

You DO need a food processor for this if you want it super creamy. 

You'll need:

Food Processor

1 can of organic (or not) garbanzo beans/ chickpeas. Drained.

Olive oil

Toasted sesame oil

a squeeze of lemon juice (or about a splash from the bottle of lemon juice in the door of the fridge)

salt and pepper to taste

Sometimes I add a bit of garlic and/or a pinch of cayenne pepper. Today I was feeling a bit spicy, so I added some minced garlic from a jar. Yup. I use minced garlic. In a jar. 

Here we go...

Throw your chickpeas in your processor. Not literally throw them, but you know...toss them in. Put in a half a spoonful of garlic ( about 1/2 a teaspoon), a splash of lemon juice and start your processor to start blending your beans.  Slowly drizzle olive oil in until you see the beans start to come together and get a creamy texture. I usually use about 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil, but you can eyeball it and blend until it looks nice and soft and creamy and yummy. I then add about a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil. Be careful with the sesame oil..that stuff can be potent.  I don't use the tahini paste stuff that most recipes call for. I just think it's a waste of money and since I use toasted sesame oil for a ton of things, this is the most economical for me. Take your blender for a spin to blend it all up. Give it a taste and add salt and pepper to your preference. I love mine a bit salty, but I eat a lot of it, so I try to keep the salt to a minimum. Kind of. 

Chop up some veggies and dig in!

This should keep for a couple days in an airtight container in the fridge. Mine never lasts that long as I love the stuff.

Try getting creative! You can buy some roasted red peppers,chop those up and add it to the top. I like to use sun dried tomatoes and I like to pour a tiny bit of the oil from the jar on top. Don't forget to add some hot sauce or a pinch of cayenne if you like it hot and spicy.

 There are so many ways to doctor this up and eat healthy. It really fills you up too! AND! it's fast. I like fast, especially if I'm wanting to make rice crispy treats and decide to make this instead. Yay for healthy food choices! 

      

Trusting God

In the last year, I've been going through some pretty challenging times, as far as my faith and the role God plays in my life. I wonder...a lot... if God even cares or if I'm just a huge whiner and He would rather engage in my life when I'm not such a huge downer. I know He's always there and I know I can talk to Him anytime I want, but I often wonder if He really gives a rip what I think or care about.
Does He care about the little things? I mean, I know in my head that He does but does my heart think so?
I have a lot of anxiety and worry. I worry about so many things and I'm noticing that the worry is starting to take a toll on my body in the form of gritting my teeth at night and my stomach being a source of discomfort, pretty much all the time. I don't sleep well either. Not sleeping stinks.
So. I've started to turn to God. Not just in those.."oh God oh God oh God" moments but deliberately going to Him the minute something worrisome pops into my head. Or I feel my anxiety kicking in.
 But I think...
Can I trust Him to take care of me which includes all the little things I worry about? Can I believe He has my best interest in mind and believe that whatever happens, will be for my good? Can I trust Him that I DID turn off the stove and I won't come home to my house burned down? ( Having my house burn down is such a huge fear of mine) What if it does? Will I be OK? Will God take care of me?  Will my son be OK? Will he be successful and chase after God all his life? What if he decides not to...what then?
So many things.
So many things that wreck my teeth and make my tummy ache.
So many things that keeps me up at night.

Time for a change.
Time to take God at His word and believe what He says--

7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?[h] And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Matthew 10:29-30

These are two verses that always come to my mind when I begin to worry.
I need to know that God is in control. He's got the plan and I just need to trust Him that the God that made the universe, who knows every sparrow that falls and every human beings hair that's  numbered on their heads- that He knows me and has a plan and purpose for my life. Nothing is too small for Him to care about. I have to believe that. I want to believe that. Lord, help my unbelief. 

Spring

Spring is here.

 I love Spring and not just because of the newness of life beginning again after a winter sleep, but for the relief of winter being over. I love fall, when the leaves start changing and there's a crispness to the air, but knowing the dark days that are ahead of me makes me shiver and not in the cold way. I suffer from terrible depression in the winter months. When Spring comes and the days start getting lighter earlier, the long winter days are coming to an end and my dark days of depression are too.  Spring is always filled with hope for me.

 When I see new growth in my garden and wake up to the birds singing through my open window. ( I love sleeping with my window open) my whole body seems to take a deep breath and as I exhale my whole being seems to untangle itself and I feel the real me starting to come to the surface. I don't like the person I become when I'm depressed. I don't like her at all. When those first clues of Spring come round, I feel it's almost like an awakening for the real me. I just wish I could hold onto her during those dark times. Which reminds me of the saying "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride"

Anyhoo, I love to take walks every day with my dog and with my handy dandy camera phone, I can take pictures along the way.

Chelsea and Tucker. Tuck Tuck leading the way.

New growth on my japanese maple. I love this picture.

These tulips I planted around 7 years ago. I think the originals had babies. 

A photo of my flowering plum.

found these out on my walk

cute little things





Hope you enjoyed a tagging along on my walk with me.