Hummus: A New World of Flavor!

So, I've always wondered how people could be vegetarian. A little... Hmmm.... intolerant of me, right? I mean, I can only eat whole beans so often, and refried beans, while a staple in my home, don't really appeal to me. And, tofu? Well, enough said.

Anyway, friends have been telling me about hummus for a couple of years. I've been curious for some time, but wasn't sure if I'd like it. For those of you who don't know, hummus is the middle eastern version of refried beans, without the refried part. Fundamentally, hummus contains chickpeas (garbanzo beans), tahini (a paste of ground sesame seeds), olive oil, lemon or lime juice, garlic, and salt. You can add other things to add flavor (roasted peppers, sundried tomatoes, etc.). Throw all those things in a food processor and give it a whirl until smooth. It can be used as a dip with veggies or flatbread or as a spread on a sandwich. I am certain there are more uses, but I am relatively new to hummus, so feel free to chime it in the comments section with your favorite way to eat hummus.

So, on Monday, upon strong urging from my friend Alise, I decide to try to make hummus for the first time. Alas, I have no pictures, and I'll admit that it wasn't great. A little too much roasted red peppers, too little olive oil, not the right combo of seasonings... I stuck it in a bowl in the fridge thinking it might get eaten (Oscar will eat almost anything), or it would get tossed at the end of the week. On Tuesday, I pulled it out again, just to see if I had been wrong on Monday. You know, maybe my tastebuds were broken or something. Well, apparently the flavors married overnight and, combined with the crunch of the baby carrot I dipped into it, was DELICIOUS!!! OMG! I sat down with a bag of baby carrots and the bowl of hummus and ate HALF OF IT! Yikes! The rest was gone by Wednesday. Even the dog likes it. I left the bowl sitting on the couch for 10 seconds to answer the phone and the dog jumped up and licked the last few bites from the bowl! Let me just say, I was a bit pissed! LOL!

This morning I decided to make a new batch. The first batch had cilantro in it, but I used the last of my cilantro in the salsa I made last night, so I threw a couple of florets of brocolli into this batch, along with lime juice and roasted red peppers. Yum... OH, YUM!  Then I spied the squash I purchased earlier this week sitting out on the counter and was INSPIRED!  I sliced up the squash and tossed it in the skillet with some olive oil until slightly soft and toasted. I then toasted some multigrain sandwich thins and smeared both of them with hummus and slapped the sliced squash in the middle. Oh. My. Goodness! Heaven. I have a new favorite food, and it is healthy! Here are some pics.

So, with regards to the healthy qualities of hummus.

High in fiber
High in healthy oils
High in protein
Can include veggies (like brocolli) to make it even healthier


FYI: This is not a low fat food. Both tahini and olive oil are both high in fat, but as mentioned before, they are healthy fats.

Here is the nutritional info for "generic" hummus.

The lesson here is try something new and ENJOY!

Some Crunchy Goodness

There is no secret to this crowd pleaser. Just potatoes, oil, a cast iron skillet, a little salt, and a vegetable peeler. But, these are a hit every time I make them. Malena especially, is fond of these, and the sizzle of the potato slices hitting the pan and that yummy smell have been known to elicit shreiks of delight. Obviously, like most of my cooking, these crunchy circles of heaven won't be found in a lowfat/lowcarb/lowanything cookbook. But they are worth it!

Unfortunately, due to my self-imposed lowcarb state, I shouldn't sample these. Well... Maybe I'll have just one... Or two...

A Little Fun!

So, the title of this blog is not just "A Little Food", is it? Nope, a girl's got to have fun sometime! My fun is spending time with family, playing music, and crocheting. I love crocheting. Starting a new project is like picking up a book that a friend has recommended. You know it's gonna be good, but you don't know how it's going to turn out.

This year, I made all five of my nieces scarfs (scarves???) for Christmas. Of course, I waited until the last minute (read: the day after Thanksgiving) to have this brilliant idea. After that, it was a mad rush getting them all finished in time. In fact, as my brother and his family drove into the front yard at my Dad's place on NYE, I was finishing up the last one. Unfortunately, my niece Sara, couldn't make it to the Farm this year, so I had to be happy with sending it back to Arkansas with her mom, Robin. (Thanks, Robin!)

With no further adieu (adue, adew????), here are the finished projects.

You might have notice that one is missing. Alas, I never got to take a picture of the scarf that I was finishing up at the last minute. Maybe she'll send me a picture of her wearing it!

And, just so that you don't think that I've forgone cooking in favor of crocheting, I'll leave you with this shot. Homemade chicken and wild rice soup. YUM!

Homemade Christmas Heaven

So, have you heard about  The Pioneer Woman? Her website keeps popping up from time to time, so I had to take a look. Holy Moly. Well, just check it out for yourself. She cooks, homeschools, takes care of her Marlboro Man, and takes wonderful pictures. She's who I'd love to be, but I'm not. 

I figured, however, that I could at least be a little like her and make her Cinnamon Rolls. Not for myself, of course, since I don't need this kind of help expanding my waistband. But, my neighbors and friends all got a pan of yummy goodness this morning. Yum. Oh, oh, oh! YUM!I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Merry Christmas!!!

Too Good Not to Share!

I found a picture today of a meal that I made a few weeks back that I thought I'd share. 

So, there is no real story behind this meal. Rather, it is a trip down memory lane. When my Dad married my step-mom, Martha, she introduced several new foods to us that eventually became standards in our home.  Broccoli and rice with hollandaise sauce was one of those items. I don't serve it often, mainly because I am the only one in my family that like the hollandaise sauce, and and we all know what that means.  Well, it means that I eat it ALL! And, the main ingredient is butter!  Not good for the waistline or hips, and I don't need any help in either department.

If you haven't noticed, we eat steak around here often. My husband, Oscar is definitely a meat and potatoes kinda guy. And tortillas. Don't forget the tortillas!

So, it's been a while, right?

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's been a few weeks.  But, I've been searching for inspiration!  And, I found it in a squash.  A butternut squash, to be exact.

So, I few weeks ago I watched an episode of Christina Cooks on PBS. I generally find this show a little crunchy for my tastes... All vegetarian, organic, mushy, save yourself while you save the earth...Blah, blah, blah.  But, this episode was about eating foods that regulate blood sugar. Since I have insulin resistant PCOS, I took the show to heart. One of the recipes that she cooked was soup made with squash. I've never cooked squash before. It's kind of like gravy... An unknown.  A lot like pumpkin, but smaller, right?  But, I've never cooked with pumpkin before either (well, nothing more than that canned stuff you get in the store), so this is virgin territory for me.

So, I bought this beautiful butternut squash about a month ago, and then it sat there between my microwave and my stove, taunting me. By the end of last week I was getting ready to draw a face on it, name it Wilson and start having conversations with it!  But in lieu of a new friend that would eventually rot on me, I went looking for a recipe with chicken breast and squash in it.  My old friend, www.allrecipes.com came to my rescue once again with this winner.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Squash-Stuffed-Chicken-Breasts/Detail.aspx

I didn't have any green peppers on hand, though.  What to do, what to do.... Squash, celery and onions seemed like an unambitiously bland stuffing, and I was experimenting here, right? Then my eyes lit upon the apples sitting on my countertop waiting for my next cobbler. Ah ha!  I diced up some apples and sauteed the fruit and veggies together, and VOILA!

Yum! Brown the stuffed chicken breasts and then bake, add some steamed broccoli and cauliflower and a salad and you've got a MEAL!

Trying something new...

I am scared of gravy.

It is true.

I acquired this fear from my father.

Okay, well, I am not actually scared of gravy, per se. But, I am terrified of making gravy.

Let me start over.

My father can do anything. The man's skills know no limit. He can build a pole shed alone with his bare hands and a few tools. He can sew together quilt squares with engineer's precision. He can shoot a wild hog, then grind up the meat for sausage. The man is amazing.

But.... He can't make gravy. It's true. So, I figured if my Daddy, who can do anything, can't make gravy, it must be impossible, right? How could I, a mere mortal who can't build a pole shed or shoot a wild hog (although I have shot a rattlesnake☺) make gravy if my talented father can't do it?

Guess what? I can make gravy! I'd talked myself out of it for years, and all my attemps were miserable failures. I figured that gravy and I just weren't meant to be together, but we might see each other from time to time at a restaurant.

That is, until one afternoon I got an undeniable craving for white sausage gravy. It was irresistable. I posted to my online friends in hopes of getting a good recipe, but it seems that many of them were as lost as I was as to how to make sausage gravy, although I got some excellent recipes for brown gravy. So, my second line of attack after my friends when it comes to cooking is always http://www.allrecipes.com/. I perused several recipes, still intimidated and unsure of my ability to produce an edible gravy until I found Bill's Sausage Gravy.

www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bills-Sausage-Gravy/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

Oh. My. Gosh. I was in hog heaven (pardon the pun☺). This recipe is easy and delicious. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. And, guess what? I can make sausage gravy! Who knew?