Easy Homemade Hummus

Whether you like hummus alone, on crackers or veggies or as falafel.  This recipe is sure to please your taste-buds and waistline!  (Notice this recipe has no oil in it!:)


Hummus:
1 can of Chick Peas (Garbonzo Beans), drained
1 T. Lemon Juice
Pinch of Salt
Dash of Pepper
Garlic if desired
Water

Combine the chick peas, lemon juice, salt, pepper and if desired garlic in a blender.  Add water until it is well combined and to your desired consistency.

Enjoy with crackers, veggies or make falafel with it!  :) Sorry it's not a great pic...this was when I was about to make falafel with my hummus!  :)

Fat Free Poppy Seed Muffins

Poppy Seed Muffins (Makes 12) 
2 c. Flour
1/2 c. Sugar
1/2 c. Lemon Juice
1/2 c. Water (or milk)
1/4 c. Poppy Seeds
1/2 t. Baking Soda
1 t. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Salt

Mix together ingredients and fill baking cups (or greased muffin tin) about 1/2 full.  Then bake in a preheated 400degree oven until golden or about 20 minutes. (350 if at high altitude)

Peach Bellinis

What you'll need for this summery cocktail:
1 lb. Peaches
1/2 c. Sugar
1/2 c. Water
2 T. Lemon Juice
1 c. Ice cubes
Sparkling Wine (or Champagne)*
Blender

Start out by peel the peaches.  Then cut them up into small hunks and drop them in the blender, add lemon juice and ice.  Next boil about 1/2 c. water and stir in 1/2 c. sugar until it is dissolved.  Add the sugar mixture to the blender and pulse until the peaches are pureed nicely.  :)  Taste to make sure it is to your liking of sweetness, etc...  Pour into glasses and top off with some sparkling wine.  I used about 1 c. peach puree to about 1/4 c. sparkling wine.  But you can do whatever proportions you'd like!  :)  They'll look something like this....

Enjoy!  :)

* For a nonalcoholic version you can use Sprite/7-up/Sparkling water in place of the wine. 

Cheddar Biscuits

Cheddar Biscuits-Makes about 12
1-1/2 c. Flour
1/2 t. Baking Soda
1 t. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Salt
2 T. Shortening (or butter)
1/2 to 3/4 c. Milk
3/4 c. Cheddar cheese, finely shredded

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  With a pastry blender mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and shortening together.

2.  Stir in milk until moist dough is formed.  (I only needed 1/2 c. but dryer climates will need closer to 3/4 c.)

3.  Mix in cheese until well combined.

4.  Either drop by spoonfuls or roll out (using additional flour and biscuit cutter) and place on a greased (lined) baking sheet.

5.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!  :)

Easy Fiesta Pasta Salad

I love pasta salads!  They are super versitale and super easy and usually super affordable!  :)  So here's a mexi twist on one for ya!  Just in time for hot summer nights and even hotter summer days!

Easy Fiesta Pasta Salad:

~3 c. Cooked Pasta (Any shape really, but bite-sized works best, and try to do whole grain)

1 can Beans, rinsed (Black or Pinto)

1 c. Corn

Garnish:  green onions, chives, garlic shoots, chips, cheese, etc...

Ranchalsa Dressing:

Mix 5 T.  Salsa with 5-7 T.  Ranch Dressing (Adjust to your liking)

In a large bowl combine pasta, beans and corn.  Serve and then drizzle some dressing on each serving.  Then garnish with your choice.  I used garlic shoot clippings and chips.  This is super easy, super affordable and super delish! 

 I just love the dressing!  It's great on lettuce salads too!  :)

Or you can make a salad and then put this pasta salad over it.  So it's a pasta salad salad!  :)  Like this...

Peach Cobbler

 I love peaches!  I love when they are ripe and juicy, or not quite ripe and ready for baking!  :)  I prefer (probably because I will always be baised) Palisade peaches because they are just so perfect.  But this time, and probably as long as we're living in NC, I used North Carolina proud peaches.  They are good, but still got nothin' on them Palisade ones....no offense though.  :)  So...here's a pretty easy recipe for a cobbla for them peaches!

Peach Cobbler: (See bottom for high altitude instructions)
10 peaches
1 c. milk
1 c. sugar
1 c. + 3 T. flour
1 egg
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
3 T. salted butter

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Rinse and peel the peaches.  It's okay if you don't do a perfect job!  :)

 2.  Slice the peaches, discard the pit and place in baking dish.  (1.5 quart casserole dish works really well, and also a 9x13 would work)

 3.  Mix up the milk, sugar, 1 c. flour, egg, baking soda and baking powder until combined and pour over the peaches.

 4.  Sprinkle the 3 T. of flour over the top of the peaches.

 5.  Melt the butter and drizzle over the top like so.

6.  Place cobbler in the middle of the 350 degree oven for 45-55 minutes.

 7.  When the top is looking golden and browning around the edges (like above) it should be done!  (The center will be gooey goodness like a real peach cobbler...fyi)

8.  Dish up and enjoy!  Serve alone or with ice cream!  Crispy upper, gooey inside and yummy peaches....yum-my!  :)

High Altitude Instructions:  As far as I can tell if you are high altitude (let's say over 3500') you should use 1-1/4 c. milk instead of the 1 c. milk.  Then this recipe should work out just fine for ya!  :)  Let me know if you find out otherwise....

Danielathlon

So, I have some good friends who are doing a fund-raiser (Danielathlon) for one of their friends Daniel Riley, who was wounded in action in December.  Here's a link to the facebook page for the fund-raiser.  You can see the flyer below with all the info you need to either go to the event or donate if you'd like!  It's Memorial (Day) Week and a good time to remember those who have served and are serving our country!  :)

Homemade Chocolate Cake with Andes Mints Icing

Here's a homemade cake recipe for ya! (One you can use all whole wheat flour in and no one will even know too!) And I've included just one of the many options for icing! :)  If you like mint and chocolate you're in luck with this one!  But you could use any icing or frosting for this chocolate cake!  :)

What you'll need for the chocolate cake:

2 oz.  Unsweetened Chocolate

1/2 stick (4 T.)  Butter

1 t.  Vanilla

1/2 t.  Baking Soda

1/2 t.  Baking Powder

1/2 c.  Sugar

1/2 c.  Milk

2  Eggs, beaten

1 c.  Flour (All-Purpose, Whole Wheat or combo thereof)

8x8 Pan

What you'll need for the Andes Mint Icing:

Andes Mints

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees  and grease the bottom of your pan to prepare it for the cake. Then grab a medium saucepan and slowly melt the butter and chocolate stirring constantly.

 2.  Once the chocolate is melted remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and milk.  Then gradually mix in the beaten eggs until well combined.  Then using a whisk, mix in the flour until well combined.

3.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes.  

 4.  It should look about like this when it's done.  Make sure it spring back up when you gently press the top of it!  :)  Now if you're a good girl or boy, you'll wait till the cake has cooled and then frost it....

 I didn't wait though...smelled too good...so I cut a couple pieces and very carefully took them out of the pan!  Then I took a pic so you'd see about what it will look like.  This is a corner piece. :)

 5.  Unwrap some Andes Mints and place them in a microwave safe bowl.  (Corelle works well...as you can see:)  Then microwave them until melted.  Be sure to check every 15 seconds or so and stir.  It only took 45 seconds altogether, for my (15) mints to melt.

 Frost away with the melted Andes Mint Icing!   Then if you feel nice, you can take this first piece to your hubby.  (That's what I did...)

 Then I proceeded to make one for myself...and eat it...

 ..and a second piece...but in my defense I cut very small pieces tonight.  :)

6.  Frost away with the Andes Mint Icing you just made!  If you're more patient than I, then yours will look much better than my 1/4 eaten cake...  :)  But que sera right?  It was worth it.  And still looks ok...sort of...  Chocolate and Mint though...perfect combo for this 1st Day of June!  :)  

BTW It's my sister-in-law's bday and also my oldest sister's sister-in-law's bday today!  So Happy Birthday to A and C!  Hope you had a great day!  :)

My Memorial Day Menu

 Here's what I'll be serving up this Memorial Day ... complete with pics and a tutorial on how I dig my dogs.  :)  What will you be serving?  or eating?  :)

 My Mom told me about these chips a few weeks ago.  (Just after she'd gotten back to CO from visiting me...and we'd had NC BBQ in the Outerbanks...)   And ever since she recommended them I pretty much can't get enough.  It's kind of funny too.  I don't really normally like chips that well, especially flavored ones.  But Lays does a great job with these and they are just delish!  Try them for yourselves!  I know they have them in NC and CO at least!  :)

 Green beans with turkey bacon.  Just cook up a strip or two of bacon and then stir fry some green beans.  Then break up the bacon and stir in!  Add salt, pepper and serve!  Yummy!  :)  I like to leave the bean still nice and crunchy too.  

 I'm a picky eat all around...but I'm really picky when it comes to hotdogs.  So these are the ones I like.  (Although, I also like Hebrew National--who wouldn't though?)  Anyway, I not only like these hotdogs, but prefer them to be prepared like so....  (I learned this method from none other than my Mama by the way. :)

 Slit the dogs down the middle and open them like so...  Then place on your bbq grill or foreman (etc...) and cook them until you're satisfied.  I like mine pretty done ...  :)

 Oh, before you cook up the dogs you can smear some butter and toast up the buns if you'd like.  :)  And get out the condiments.

 See, the hotdogs are just about ready!  :)  Yum!

 Then just dress it up however you like....  for me I usually go with mustard and relish, with a little bit of ketchup.  (But I truly prefer Chicago dogs with just about everything on them...)

 And eat it all up.  See how there is meat in every bite?  And it's all equally distributed?  Yep.  That's the way I like my hotdogs...  :)

Don't forget some fresh squeezed lemonade!  :)

 And to top it all off you can always finish you bbq off with some apples or Apple Chips!

Or a dessert...maybe like these bars... :)

Thank you to all of you brave men and women who have served our country, and those who have died protecting our country throughout the years as well as their families!  Happy Memorial Day!

How to make your own Dehydrated Onions!

It's not rocket science...but it's fun...and informative...and I just did some of these last weekend and thought you'd want to know, and see.  :)

 Start by slicing up some onions.  Try not to cry...although they always make me tear up.  Just like chick flicks! :)

 Arrange the slices in your dehydrator however you'd like.  If you are doing several onions you'll probably want to keep those slices from the first pic together.  If you're just doing one onion like I did this time, you can separate them out so they'll dry more quickly.  Whatever floats your boat!  :)

Turn on your dehydrator (away from any drafts and anything flammable of course!) and let it do its magic!  Then check on these little guys every 6 hours or so.  Mine only took 12 hours to completely dehydrate, but then I let them cool down overnight before storing them.

 Once they are dehydrated you can either keep them as slices or chop them up like below.  I wanted the versatility of having diced onions on hand (because they are SO handy!) so I chopped mine all up.   Then just store them in an airtight container at room temp until ready to use.  You could also freeze them...but since they are dehydrated that'd be kind of overkill don't you think?  :)

Happy preserving and dehydrating!  :)

Apple Chips

I love dehydrating things...especially apples!  The only problem is that whenever I do...they just disappear.  Literrally.  I have no idea what happens to them!  ;)  They're too delicious really though...  So here's a simple way to make your own apple chips!   Enjoy!  

All you'll need is:  a dehydrator, apples (Braeburn, Gala, Pink Lady, Fuji especially work well), lemon juice, water and knife/Mandolin slicer.

 So (carefully) slice some apples up either with your knife or slicer.  You can core them first or not.  I didn't this time...but sometimes I do.  :)  Then once they are sliced place them in a lemon juice/water solution.  (Solution= 1 part lemon juice + 3 parts water)  This prevents them from browning!  :)

 After all the slices have been in the lemon water solution for at least 5 minutes you can start arranging them in the dehdryator.  (Pay no attnetion to the stems and seeds I forgot to get rid of before snapping a pic...:)

 Then keep arranging until all the slices are gone OR you are out of space.  :)  Then turn on your dehydrator and let it work its magic....

 In about 6 hours you'll notice the bottom shelf may be getting curled up like this.  So it's time to rotate the shelves for equal drying!  :)  The continue drying for a few more hours.  

Total of 18-24+ hours.  (18 if you want them to be leathery and 24+ if you want them crispy.)  It also depends on the thickness of the slices of course.  Thinner slices will take less time than thick ones.  That's also why I like the mandolin--it's quick, easy and makes them all the same thickness!  :)

This next step is very important!  Enjoy!  :)  Yep, enjoy the fruits of your labor!  :)  Feel free to test along the way too!   Not that I have ever done that...  ;)

Quick and Easy Pesto

Here's a quick, and delicious dinner idea for this week!  Fresh Basil and Garlic Pesto!  :)

Easy Pesto:  (Makes about 6 servings)
Roughly 1 c. of Basil Leaves, rinsed and patted dry
4 cloves Garlic (more or less, depending if you like it)
1/4-1/2 c. Olive Oil
1/4 c. Parmesan Cheese
Pine Nuts or Soy Nuts, for garnish

In a food processor or blender combine the basil, garlic, cheese and 1/4 c. Olive Oil.  Process until it is well combined, and you may have to scrap the sides every once in a while.  Add more oil until it is to your desired consistency.

Serve by mixing into your pasta of choice, and topping with the nuts.  (Goes really well with whole wheat angel hair pasta--as shown in the picture.)

You could also prepare this ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.